15 Year Celebration

By the end of this month it will mark my 15th year as a wrestling fan. Over that time I've seen some pretty awful shows but also some pretty amazing shows so why look at the negative when you can be positive. In celebration of my 15th year as a fan I'm going to review the 15 best shows I've ever seen. Now keep in mind these are shows I've seen not the best shows of the past 15 years. So let's start with IWA Mid-Souths "A Rotten Farewell" from December 7th 2007, this shows main focus was on Ian Rotten retiring from the ring.
Ian Opening Promo: Ian goes over some highlights of his career. Two little notes, first Ian has an epic beard imagine Triple H/Harley Race handlebar beard but with the Hollywood Hogan dye job. Second it’s a pretty packed show for IWA Mid-South not really an empty seat. Very good and emotional promo like you’d expect from Ian who is “retiring” tonight, may be a little long but like I said you should expect that from IWA Mid-South. Opening ends with Ian getting several gifts which includes a plaque from Jim Fannin and the non-wrestlers, an awesome looking trophy from the wrestlers and some special boxing shorts from the Naptown Dragons. During the promo Ian mentions that he’s getting called Terry Funk tonight and he doesn’t want to be like Ric Flair, for those who don’t know Ian would return to wrestling in mid-2008 and is still doing shows.
Mike Stevens vs. Chrisjen Hayme: First of I do not like how Hayme spells Chrisjen. It’s Christian, what the hell are you doing? Eddie Kingston’s on commentary and this is already gold to me but let’s start the match. From the beginning you can tell this will be a big power man vs. small fast man match but the small man (Hayme) is playing the heel. Running powerslam from Stevens, big fan of that move but seriously early on Steven’s is making everything look impactful. Hayme get’s the advantage with an enziguri. Both guys are left handed which is rare in a wrestling match. Stevens comes back with a chokeslam and follows with a top rope elbow, seems weird to see a chokeslam on an indy show. Hayme wins with a 450 splash.
Jack Thriller vs. Jimmy Jacobs: Jack has the nickname “The Serial Killer” and he has the worst look for it. Imagine a ginger, tubby guy in a green singlet who jigs randomly. Nothing about that screams Serial Killer especially when you’re up against Jimmy Jacobs who in late 2007 was in full Age of the Fall gimmick. I really like how they’re doing a feeling out process but it’s more vicious as they have a history, just throwing in strikes at certain points helps a lot. Thriller gets the heat by hitting a Knee Stunner and the proceeds to work on Jimmy’s leg. A Knee-DT/EvenToe love those names and I don’t know what to call that move. In a great sequence Jimmy goes for a Tornado DDT but turns it into the End time, Jack the hits a Northern Lights and Jimmy’s leg hits the corner. The crowd get really hot as both guys start hitting big moves and even start chanting “Tap” when Thriller locks on the Figure-4. Great sequence when Jimmy goes for the Contra Code lands on his feet, Thriller grabs the leg and attempts the Figure-4 but gets caught in a Small package for a near fall. The end comes with Thriller locking in the Figure-4 and after Jimmy tries to edge himself to the ropes he taps out. Just a fantastic match which I think would have been better fitted as the opener as the fans ate this up.
CJ Otis vs. Bull Pain: This is nothing but Bull beating the crap out of CJ for a long time. Nothing really to note except they were building Otis as the Deathmatch Destroyer and then he gets destroyed by Bull Pain. But it pleased the fans.
Billy Roc vs. Brian Skyline vs. Ricochet: Mitch Page is on commentary and he takes away from the match so much making fun of them for being smaller guys. Very fast paced as expected from these 3. All 3 are babyfaces which makes for a weird dynamic. They do the breaking up the pin spot and asking “What are you doing” which I hate. We get one guy after another hitting dives to the outside. Roc hits a standing Slice Bread No. 2 for a near fall on Ricochet. Match ends with Roc pinning Skyline with a Ranhei. Good match, a little rushed but everyone looked good. After the match Ian puts them over in a promo.
Iron Saints (Vita, Sal & Brandon Thomaselli) vs. Naptown Dragons (Dustin Lee, Scotty Vortekz & OMG): Drake Younger goes on commentary, him and Ben Jordan go over the fact Drake is the 4^th Dragon and Ben has known the Saints for years so he could be the 4^th Saint. Sal and OMG start and I have to say OMG has to be the most awkward wrestler I’ve ever seen. OMG’s T-shirt says “Luchadork” hard to argue that when he has the transformers logo tattooed on you. It should be noted that the Saints (Sal & Vito) are the Tag team champions and the belts are copies of the WWE World tag titles, always speaks highly of your company. Very awkward between the Saints and the Dragons at points. The Saints get the heat, quickly, by attacking Scotty’s arm which he injured at the Carnage Cup the weekend before. Scotty fights back and leads to all 3 Dragons hitting plancha’s but they’re all attacked from behind when they get back in the ring. They pick on OMG with a great Triple Mafia kick and get the heat back. Sal kills OMG with a lariat. Vito hits a high knee and we get a Macho Man reference, sorry JR no love for Harley Race. OMG finally gets the tag after he nearly messed up several spots, which is regular in an OMG match believe me. The Saints hit a double team move and Brandon hits the Deal (powerbomb to the knees) which leads to a pendulum double stop and 450 for the win. This was really the Saint’s show as anytime the Dragon’s got offence it looked sloppy and awkward.
Michael Elgin vs. 2 Cold Scorpio: A much bigger Elgin than what we see in ROH today. We have Brandon Thomaselli on commentary now. Back and forth chain wrestling to start. Elgin gets the heat after hitting a jumping shoulder block of the apron. I have to say that it’s amazing that Scorpio would end up giving Elgin so much especially when you consider he had all the right in the world to just go in and destroy Elgin. A very strong style type match with lots of hard strikes and suplexs. Scorpio gets the advantage after a bicycle kick in the corner. They start trading big moves which include a moonsault from Scorpio and an Oklahoma Stampede from Elgin. Elgin hits a great looking powerbomb after catching a kick and then drills him with a seated lariat for a near fall. Scorpio wins with a roll up out of nowhere. A rather slow match that picked up and made Elgin look great but we didn’t get a 450 from Scorpio, I’m glad we didn’t as that would of been the 3^rd tonight and 2^nd in a row.
Drake Younger vs. The Sandman: For all of you thinking this will be hardcore it isn’t. This match is nothing but comedy and little action. The back story here is that Drake almost lost his ear the week before in the Carnage Cup and Sandman came up with this match so they didn’t have to do anything risky. As great as Sandman’s entrance in ECW was in IWA Mid-South it’s just him giving out beers slowly and doing very little. It must have been the fans who made it great. Drake’s wearing the Rick Steiner headgear. We start with Sandman asking to see Drakes ear, Sandman then gets a call from his mom the fans cheer and he tells her “No I’m not at a bar”. They do lots of mat work, which is odd to see from Sandman, eventually he grabs a beer and a camera man tries to steal it. The match ends when Sandman swings his cane and his caught in a School boy. Pretty much nothing here but the fans and commentary made this. It was tough to watch.
Mike Quackenbush vs. Chris Hero vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Eddie Kingston-4 Way Elimination for IWA MS World & Light Heavyweight title: Before we start Quack decides to put his Light Heavyweight title on the line as well as the World title, meaning behind this is that he hadn’t been defending the belts often in IWA Mid South. I should note the World title is a copy of the old, old WCW title and the Light Heavyweight title is the WCW cruiserweight title. We start with Quack and Hero trading holds, eventually Eddie is tagged and this leads to Hero running off and Chuck coming in, keeping that feud alive. Kingston is hitting every type of suplex you can think off. Pretty much a tag match as Chuck & Hero were team mates in Chikara at the time. They hit some pretty great double teams move. Hero turns on Chuck early just to make it clear that he’s THE heel of the match. Match breaks down to Hero beating up someone throwing them out and then beating up someone else. Hero hits his rolling elbow to Kingston which leads to Chuck coming in and taking advantage of Hero and then Quack doing the same to Chuck. A sick inverted brainbuster from Quack to Chuck. Quack is the first man eliminated when Chuck rolls him up leading to him being the new Light Heavyweight champ. The action is so fast in this match. Chuck is the next guy eliminated when Hero catches Chuck in a kravate after a moonsault attempt and hits a Kravate buster. Hero and Kingston trade sick shots like we’d expect, these two legit don’t like each other and beat the hell out of each other as a result. Hero hits an impactful powerbomb. The finish comes when Kingston hit’s two backfist to Hero to become the new World champ. After the match Kingston does a great promo which leads to Scorpio coming out and setting up the title match for the next show.
Rollin Hard vs. Corey Shaddix vs. Insane Lane vs. Freakshow vs. Jimmy Clough-Hardcore Battle Royal: Nothing to mention here, this is what I hate about Deathmatches is matches like this where fat no-bodies (seriously the commentators don’t even know who some of the guys are) just hitting each other with crap and bleeding. Rollin Hard was an IWA Mid South legend and this match was really just to put over his return (he came back from cancer which sadly took his life a little less than a year later). Eliminations happen in this order Corey, Jimmy, Freakshow, Lane. Really a nothing match.
Ian Rotten vs. Mickie Knuckles: Jim Fannin & Socks on commentary. Match starts badly when Mickie comes out to Ian’s music and Ian comes out to Mickie’s. Ian’s in his shorts given to him earlier, beats his normal gear which is t-shirt and jeans. Ian quickly hits a low blow to no effect in an amusing spot. They begin trading stiff shots rather quickly, would be hard to watch if it was just Ian doing these shots but Mickie gives as much as she takes. We get the sit down slugfest early as well which Ian wins and then nails an insane chair shot. Mickie is busted open, I never get used to watching women bleed in matches. Mickie fights back with a series of headbuts which lead to Ian bleeding. Ian nails a spinning heel kick which looked great, well for Ian. The two trade headbuts while wearing barbed wire in a stupid spot in my book but it got the fans going. Ian fights back by grabbing her boobs in an awkward spot if the rumours are to be believed. Both trade of B-Boy dropkicks. Ian hits the Rotten Rush for a near fall. Mickie pins Ian after a Shining Kick but Ian gets his feet on the rope this leads to Mickie putting barbed wire on Ian and hitting a second kick for the win. No one really got the advantage but this was a good match. Afterwards Ian cuts another long promo to end the show. They do another backstage promo which is just seconds and an angle with Drake being attacked which went nowhere.
Verdict: I love this show but it suffers in terms of time, it into the 5 hour range, and if it didn’t have the opener, CJ/Bull and the Hardcore battle royal you would of got the same effect if not a better show. But despite those minor things you can watch this show pretty easily and the Jimmy/Thriller and the 4-Way we’re the stand outs. Main event was also good just in terms of the emotion involved.

Once again thanks for reading, if you did, let me know what you think and hopefully I've got you looking forward to my next show review.

Hold on, what?

Extreme Rules is tomorrow night and instead of previewing the event I thought I would look back at some matches that made people say "What the hell?" while it happened. A strange subject but one that popped into my head.

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1997
Enough said really but I'll go into some details. If you're a wrestling fan, and if you're reading this you are, then you will know what happened in this match. I believe that no matter who you are when you were watching this match you said "What's happening" during the finish of this match. Now this has grown in legacy and is still debated about whether it was a work or a shoot but the only people who truly know are Vince, Bret & Shawn and they are playing it as a shoot and who am I to question that.

Kenny Omega in DDT
If you have not seen any of his stuff search them out on Youtube. Whether it's pulling off Zangriefs Ultra Combo on a blow up doll, wrestling in the sea or having a match with an 11 year old girl you can't help but question what you are watching. While those scenes sound weird, and they are weird the fact is that the fans in DDT love watching this weird stuff but their Japanese and in defence pretty much everyone else loved it as well.

Brian Pillman vs. Kevin Sullivan in a Strap match at Superbrawl 6
Let me set the picture. Kevin Sullivan is in the ring with a strap, Brian Pillman runs down and jumps on Sullivan. The two trade blows. Pillman then shoves the official and grabs a microphone, he yells "I Respect you, Bookerman" and leaves. The match didn't even last a minute and we all asked "What happened there?". Arn Anderson would go down and him & Sullivan tried to have a little match which didn't last long either.
This is one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history and was the launching pad to Pillman's Loose Cannon character. Even some wrestlers believe it was a shoot but Sullivan has said publicly that it was a work. Pillman was my first favourite wrestlers and is still one of my all time favourites and this match shows how great that character was. It got everyone asking questions and it remained that way for pretty much the rest of his career.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Taz at Living Dangerously 1998
The build to this match was simple. Taz was submitting everyone and was really the King of ECW. Bigelow came in as a veteran and established himself as the monster in ECW so this match was if Taz could stop this monster. This match was brutal and if you have the "Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD Taz actually does commentary and you get a good look into the match itself. Anyways near the end of the match Taz climbs on Bigelow's back and locks in the Taz Mission, the referee is behind them and cannot see Bigelow tapping out (very lightly), Bigelow throws himself backwards and the two go through the ring! The referee's reaction summed it up and he jumped back and threw his arms in shock. This was an incredible spot and one that ECW would show in it's opening videos for years. They tried to recreate the moment at Heatwave however it was through the ramp and seriously lacked the surprise as you had the feeling they would have to out do themselves. But back to the match. Nothing would happen for a good 30 seconds or so eventually Bam Bam would poke his head out and the crowd went nuts, he would then pull Taz out (who was legitimately out by the way) and quickly pinned him. What a way to beat a guy yet keep him strong, you have to throw him through the ring to beat him!

Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco in a Hardcore Evening Gown Match at King of the Ring 2000
Did the title make you say what? These two Hall of Famers had to do a match in drag! The story of this match was that Brisco beat Crash Holly for the Hardcore title, he then went backstage and celebrated with Pat who was pouring champagne over his head. He would then smash the bottle over the his head and beat him for the title, this was when the 24/7 rule was in effect. On the next show Pat would hide in the women's locker room in drag aka dressed as a woman. Gerald would dress in drag and attack Pat, Vince McMahon saw this and made the match. I'm not going over this match but they used weird weapons, got stripped so show they were wearing bra & panties and ultimately Crash Holly would run in and win the title back. Just random and weird. Seriously when this match happened I asked myself, "What the hell did I just see?" and time has not changed that.

Hulk Hogan at Uncensored
The bulk of this blog will be on this subject. WCW's Uncensored PPV usually consisted of a few matches that made you question what you were watching, Harlem Heat vs. Nasty Boys in a Concession brawl comes to mind. But when it comes to Hogan he's had more weird moments at the event then anyone else. So lets look at them.
vs. Vader-Leather Strap in 1995: The match goes pretty normally until Ric Flair, dressed in drag, would get involved. During the course of the fighting the strap would come off Vader and Hulk would put it on Flair, he then proceeded to touch the four corners, which was needed to win. Bobby Heenan, who was on commentary, stated "He's doing it to the wrong guy he has to do that with Vader" but the match would end and Hogan won. I guess they did this to keep Vader strong but it still made no sense.
w/ Randy Savage vs. Alliance to End Hulkamania-Tower of Doom in 1996: What's the Alliance to End Hulkamania I hear you ask, well it was a group of 8 guys! It had some big names in that group as well including Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Kevin Sullivan and Ric Flair. I can't remember everything that happened, it was a cluster bomb but it was a cage with several levels. Ultimately Hogan & Savage would beat the Alliance killing off 8 potential feuds in one match. I'm never a fan of handicap matches and I hate when things like this happen (I hated when DX would beat the Spirit Squad 2 vs. 5) and I really don't like the idea of 2 guys being able to beat 8! Especially when 2 of them had been World champions! But this is Hogan I'm surprised he didn't get Savage to turn on him and still beat them 9 on 1.
Team nWo vs. Team WCW vs. Team Piper-Elimination match in 1997: Surprisingly this was the match that made the most sense which involved Hogan at Uncensored. This was a Open the top rope battle royal which also involved pinfalls and submissions. The match would break down to the entire nWo team (which Hogan was in) and Lex Luger, Luger would eliminate Savage, Nash and Hall but would then lose to Hogan after getting spray painted in the FACE! My only complaint is that at the time they were building Luger to beat Hogan for the belt (for all of one week) so why not have him beat him here when Hogan's title wasn't on the line. Why? Because it's Hogan and he doesn't lose to anyone, well without serious bitching!
vs. Randy Savage-Steel Cage in 1998: Both men were in the NWO at the time but they were breaking up at the time, Savage had cost Hogan the title the month before. The match itself was going fine until Brutus Beefcake aka Hogan's Butt buddy, came into the ring. Hogan and Brutus faced off with Savage for seemingly forever until Sting came down from the rafters to help Savage. The face off continued for even longer until Savage clothesline Sting and left yelling "I don't like you and never will" to Hogan. None of that made sense. If Savage didn't want Sting's help he could of just left and let Sting attack Hogan without clotheslining him.
vs. Ric Flair-Barbed Wire Steel Cage First Blood match in 1999:
Sweet lord this was so confusing. The match was for the WCW title and Flair's career. Before the match it was announced that the only way to win was to make your opponent bleed. So the match started and pretty quickly Flair was busted open, not a little but a lot (shocking I know, who would of thought Flair would bleed). The match didn't end. Hogan got busted open, another shocker, it still didn't end. Hogan went for the pin and the referee told him he can't win by pinfall. So how would it end. Well eventually Arn Anderson threw in a tire iron which Flair used, behind the referee's back for some reason, locked on the Figure 4 and the ref counted 3! WHAT! I don't know what happened here but it was just confusing, if anyone knows the back story I would love to hear it.
vs. Ric Flair-Apple Pie Indian Strap match in 2000: First off I thought this was a "Yappa Pile Indian Strap Match" when Hogan cut that promo.I don't know what made that match a "Apple Pie" Strap match or why it was a Indian Strap but this was late WCW so who knows. So the match involves whipping each other, blood etc. etc. But it was the finish that got everyone asking questions, Hogan touched 3 corners he then hit a leg drop and pinned him, he then touched the 4th corner. So he basically didn't just want to beat Flair but overkill him. "Hey look not only could I win this match but I can pin him as well".
Summary: Hogan's a dick and I feel sorry for Flair. It was brought up on the LAW's Review-a-Wai podcast that Hogan was known for over doing backstage politics but you have to complain that Flair didn't play them enough and by looking at just this shows history you can see that's turn.

Well that's done. If you've given this a read thank you very much and let me know what you think. Do you agree, disagree or don't care? Let me know, always love talking wrestling.

Let's Just Talk

The simple act of cutting a promo seems to be a dying art by the simple fact that everyone is scripted and end up cutting a promo as if they are trying to remember what was given to them. Sometimes I love just watching promos to me a promo can build a program more than an actual angle so in this blog I decided to share some of my favourite memories and promo cutters. I'm also going to attempt adding videos again, wish me luck! Seriously wish me luck.


Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from Survivor Series 1996
No videos here as I can't find any that isn't the full match. Survivor Series 1996 was one of the first shows I got on tape and this match in particular stood out. The story was simply, Austin called out Bret as he wanted to beat the best. Bret was away from the WWE and when he returned he announced he wanted to face the best which was Austin. Simple and effective. And on the night the opening promo video was fantastic and then both got a chance to speak. Austin's promo was basically "You build Bret up as someone to be afraid off but I'm not." The best line was "A cliche's a cliche's and a Ass whipping is a Ass whipping". But it was Bret's that stood out to me, Bret has never been know for being a great talker but he was great here, "The one thing Steve Austin has going against him is that this is Madison Squared Garden and I meant it when I said it's not a church but it's Holy ground. Steve Austin you're going to learn that I'm not greedy for money, I'm greedy for respect and when all's said and done you will respect me". When you combined these promos with a fantastic match and you a very memoriable show!


Arn Anderson's Fall Brawl 95 Promo

I don't know the full story of the match but this was for Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson, the two were part of the Legendary 4 Horsemen and looked at each other as legit brothers. I posted this in my groups a while back and the general view that everyone agreed with was that Arn was seriously underrated. He was a fantastic promo and this was a prime example of how good he was. Arn didn't bury Ric in this promo in fact all he did was explain why he felt that he had to win and put over just how important the match is overall. Simply a great promo that can teach others how they should cut a promo.

Tully Blanchards's Heroes of Wrestling Promo

Such a shame this promo was for such a awful show. Tully showed some serious anger which I'm guessing was legit after since he couldn't get back into WCW after he left WWE and WWE didn't keep him. This is another example of how Flair almost over shadowed every other horsemen. We all remember Flair as being a unbelievable promo guy but his team mates were probably one par with him. Enjoy this promo as it was the best thing on Heroes of Wrestling show unless you love a drunk Jake Roberts rubbing off a snake!

CM Punk

I could put his infamous promo from last year on here but I thought I'd share this forgotten gem. Punk is one of my favourite wrestlers and a bit of a idol to me (he's the P in my L.R.K.P tattoo and the K will also be mentioned later). Punk isn't only a great wrestler but probably one of the most consistent when it comes to his promo quality. His ROH promos were all great, his MLW promos were great and he's probably the best promo guy in WWE right now. I can't say enough how good I think Punk is and most people would agree with that opinion.

Jon Moxley

I feel that Moxley has a weird voice but that doesn't change the fact he knows the art of promos very well. Moxley has always come off as the second coming of the "Loose Cannon" and his promos are probably the key to that. The promo above sums up the Moxley character extremely well "Either I win the title or you put me out of my misery, either way I win!". I've only seen a little bit of his FCW stuff but it's still amazing and proves that when (not if) Jon get's called up to the WWE he will be ready and if they given him the mic he will make a great impact.

Steve Austin's ECW Promo

Do I really need to say anything! This promo is famous just because of how good it is. I don't even need to tell you the situation as Steve does it in the promo. I remember watching this on one of the many Steve Austin DVD sets and they included the camera turning to see everyone and Sandman yells "Wow! That was Fucking Awesome" and that sums up this promo really.

Dusty Rhodes Hard Times

I'm going to be honest I think Dusty was really overrated when it comes to his mic work. While I think his promos during his program with Flair, which this one was, were great. I found most of his promos made no sense and weren't that memoriable. I still think he was a good talker but he wasn't as great as people said he was. Anyways on to this promo and one of the reasons was because Dusty connected to the people by picking up on legit problems and relating that to his situation. Simple? Yes. Effective? Of course.

Ric Flair's Promo after Wrestlemania 8

This was one of the first Mania's I every watched, I borrowed it on video from the video store and I loved the Randy/Flair match. Even though I was young and didn't know much about wrestling I just loved that match. And this promo was so great. It really put over the situation and the image of Flair bloody but also a mix of calm and angry was awesome to see. This is the Flair you can't see today because he doesn't make sense today but this shows why Flair was as great as he was. On a different note if you have the time you should also check out Jake Robert's promo from the same Mania as it was great as well.

Eddie Kingston


The two promos above are two of my all time favourite promos ever. I love Eddie Kingston and his promos are probably a big factor in that. I love watching him work but I love to listen to him talk as much if not more. I could post so many promos from Chikara and if you're impressed with these please go on youtube and check out some of his other ones. I know the first promo pretty much word for word I've watched it so much as it just has a lasting impression, whether it was the words he was saying or the rain in the background it just sticks with me.

So there you go. There's a chance you will come on here, watch the promos and read the final paragraph and if you do it's fine. The purpose of this was to highlight some of my favourite promos and I hope you like them as well. If you do give this a read let me know what you think and thanks for reading.

Wrestlemania Preview

I wanted to do a little preview of Wrestlemania since it's this Sunday and it's one of the biggest shows of the year but I have to do it now as I'm going to be visiting a friend over the next few days which means being on long train journeys and being very busy overall. I won't get back till late Saturday and don't really want to do it on the day. So here we go my take on Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres
This match is very much up in the air as Maria suffered a broken rib but it wasn't looking good when she was at full health. Don't expect this to get any time what so ever and this will be carried by Beth and Beth alone. This will be the blink and you miss it match and I don't care. Maybe if we're lucky Maria will be replaced by Natalya. This is really a toss up when it comes to a winner as either side could win but I'll go with Kelly & Maria just because it's Mania.
Winners: Kelly & Maria

Santino, Truth, Kofi, Ryder, Khali & Booker T vs. Dolph, Swagger, Otunga, Henry, Miz & McIntyre for GM Role
Ah the too many people match just so everyone gets a paid day match. I really see this breaking down fast and resulting in everyone hitting their finishers one after another. But I do see it getting some time as well, probably a max of 10 minutes. I really want Team Johnny to win as I hate Teddy Long and never want to see him again but with McIntyre on the team they could very well lose because of him.However it still makes more sense to have Team Johnny win as he's gained more attention during his short time as GM then Teddy has ever gotten. It makes no sense for Teddy to run both shows.
Winners: Team Johnny

Randy Orton vs. Kane
Talk about meaningless! These two would of made more sense in the 12 man tag rather than getting a singles match. The feud has done nothing and the reason behind it is completely stupid. Again I don't see this getting much time and I don't see it being that good. Orton has really been screwed this year, he was a top choice for the Rumble winner and he missed the Elimination Chamber. Kane was given an awful program with Cena which did nothing but kill time for Cena. Really this was thrown out there and it's done nothing. I find it funny that Orton said people were looking forward to this as I don't know many who are. I'd like this feud to end here so I'll go with Orton but that might not end it sadly.
Winner: Randy Orton

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship
I like the idea behind this feud of Rhodes making fun of all of Show's past Mania's. It reminds me of Edge & Foley back at Wrestlemania 22 when Edge brought up a similar fact. Sadly this build has been pretty one sided and it screams Show winning the title so he can have his Wrestlemania moment. I like Rhodes and I'd like him to get a bigger push to the main event maybe losing the title here will lead to a push. Honestly it wouldn't hurt the title to go to Show as it's been pretty meaningless for a while now. Still not a fan of Show's work but it is what it is. I think this will be OK but just be OK and nothing special.
Winner: Big Show

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship
How can a World title match be as overlooked as this match!?! It's sad that the Rumble winner has received such treatment. This should get plenty of time and should be really good. I think this has been greatly overlooked and could very well steal the show, seriously when was the last time these two had a bad match? Again it's been overlooked story wise and it's focused more on AJ and Daniel rather than Sheamus and Daniel. A few months back I would of gone with Sheamus winning but he's lost so much momentum in my view. I see Daniel retaining and then going on to lose to Sheamus further down the line at another PPV with maybe AJ turning on him then. It should also be noted that this match was on last years card but was bumped off, oh how much things have changed in just one year.
Winner: Daniel Bryan

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship
I think we can agree that the build for this match was much better when it was about who is the true best in the world and has gotten weird now they're focusing on Jericho calling all of Punk's family addicts. Watching their first promo together in the ring was incredible and I wanted it to continue like that. But when it comes to the match everyone has said that this will likely be the best match match on the card and I can't argue that. I see this as being awesome. These two had a fantastic series a few years back and I think we will see more of the same here. It makes sense for Punk to retain as we don't know how long Jericho will remain in WWE for but if Jericho wins expect Punk to regain it sooner rather than later.
Winner: CM Punk

HHH vs. Undertaker in the Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as the Special Referee
HHH loves to put in time just for the sake of it. I expect the same this year, it could very well get about the same amount of time as last years sadly. My view on this match has constantly changed, I didn't care when they were thinking of doing it as I wasn't too impressed with last years match and didn't want to see it for the 3rd time overall! I became interested when they announced the Cell as I'm thinking they will do blood and the match will be good but when they announced Shawn as well I got annoyed. Everyone is going to be looking at Shawn for if he's going to double cross someone or not. I've listened to many podcasts and previews of the show and I agree that this will likely be the most emotional match on the card but I'm still not that interested in it. As for who wins I'm going with Taker, I don't see the point of breaking the streak to put Triple H over when he's going to do nothing after Mania. Plus I'd like Taker to go 20-0 and maybe leave it as that just because I like things in 5's or 10's.
Winner: Undertaker

The Rock vs. John Cena
A year of build up! Or try a year of bitching about the other on Twitter and a month of endless promos. I know WWE want this to be the biggest match ever but they've done so little and what they've done I couldn't care less about. And this remains me why did they team at Survivor Series? What a waste of time and it shouldn't have happened in my opinion but that's a whole different issue. I fully agree that this will pull in the crowd as non-wrestling fans will tune it for the Rock and many have heard of Cena. People say it's a dream match, it's not one of mine but I can see how it is a dream match. I really don't see this being as big as WWE hopes it is. One thing is for sure the fans will be into this match but like many of Cena's matches it will be more anti-Cena than pro-Cena. I don't expect this to be awful as Cena can work when it counts and Rock was a pretty good worker back in the day so it could be good. When it comes to a winner it has to be Cena, what would be the point putting over Rock unless you plan to do a rematch and if you do it will be a while away and I don't want that.
Winner: John Cena

Overall: Honestly I'm not too bothered about this show. I'm interested in the World and WWE title matches. While the focus has been on HHH/Taker and Rock/Cena both those matches don't grab me at all. The rest of the card is pretty meaningless to me and with the lack of time they'll get makes them even more meaningless to me. Combine that with the rumour that we'll get a Brodus Clay squash as well and I think I will likely be skipping this event.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading it and let me know what you think about Mania this Sunday.

The little things matter

I've been a wrestling fan since 1997 and as a result I'm now a fan who is aware of the smaller details during a match. So I thought I would share 5 of the small things I love and I hate when it comes to wrestling.

Things I Love
1) Unique Gear
I love when wrestlers have special gear for a match. Whether it's CM Punk wearing a Macho Man style trunks as a tribute, Shawn Michael's anti-Taker look he had for Wrestlemania 25, Ultimate Warriors Wrestlemania 8 outfit and so many more. There are three great examples for this point the first is Rob Van Dam, while he does repeat some of his singlets they are still unique to him and they usually stand out. Another example to a lesser extent is the late great Randy Savage, his outfits were so outstanding and he rarely repeated them but he also had times where he would simplify his gear a lot. The best example and the one I really love is Rick Rude. I don't think I've ever seen him wear the same trunks twice, they were all special for that event and would often insult his opponent or put him over. I would spend the beginning of his match trying to work out what was one them and the rest loving his work as he was one of the best.

2) Heel Managers who get involved every chance they get
I'm not talking jumping up on the apron or pulling the ref out every 5 seconds but there is a great way to work it. This point hit me while watching a tag match between Steve Austin & Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat & Sting. Sherri Martel was the manager of Flair at the time and every time the babyface was laying near the ropes and the ref was distracted she was attack by going for the eyes or choking. It was nothing major and it didn't change the match flow in any way but why not do it? Now we don't see this these days as the art of being a manager is completely dead but if they do return maybe think about doing this more often.

3) Brilliant Commentators
JR, Gordon Solie, Bobby Heenan, Eric Garguilo, Ben Jordan (check out 2006 IWA Mid South and see what I mean), CM Punk, JBL, the CHIKARA crew aka Ultramantis & Eddie Kingston and also Joey Styles. When you have a someone who knows what they're talking about and can make the match important when it has to be it's great. Sadly we have really annoying commentators like the King, Cole, Booker T, Mike Tenay & Tazz who are unbearable to listen to.  It's such a shame as good commentating can make a good match great while bad commentating just makes you want to mute the TV.

4) Going back to what we forgot
I love those moments when you say to yourself "When did they do that?" during a match. It's happened a lot and works really well when someone removes the turnbuckle pad but places the pad back on. Check out the HBK vs. British Bulldog Saturday's Main Event match for a great example, Shawn removes the pad but places it back the match continues for 5 minutes or so and Shawn reverses a Irish whip to the corner and all of a sudden the pad is on the floor. It's a nice simple concept called remembering what you did earlier, I wish more guys would use it!

5) Blood
I'm not morbid or blood thirsty but blood can really help a matches story. I do feel that matches inside Cages, the Hell in a Cell or the Elimination Chamber really helps put over the dangerousness of those matches. I don't agree with Flair or Hogan bleeding from a punch like they do now and I only think WWE should use blood when it's needed. The upcoming Hell in a Cell should have blood in my opinion and I will be surprised if it doesn't.

Things I Hate
1) WHAT!
Talk about beating a dead horse! Steve Austin himself has said he regrets creating this. The fans saying "What" during the gaps in promos was funny in 2001/2002 but it's a decade later and it's just annoying now. No wonder people groan when a episode of RAW has a lot of talking as those who are good usually get drowned out by these fans chanting "What" and amusing themselves. Speaking of fans who amuse themselves....

2) Dickhead Fans!
Specifically the asses who were at the Arena and often the New York fans. I don't want to say everyone one there is an awful fan and when their on and care they can be the best crowd in the world but the people is that 9 times out of 10 they're dead for matches because they feel like they deserve better than what's in the ring. The fans can be ass holes, I watched a fantastic match between Justice Pain (a rare one for him) and Sonjay Dutt in CZW and the match was ruined by the fact the fans couldn't care because they deserved more. The best matches are the ones where the fans are hot for the action, you get a sucky crowd and you get a sucky show. That's why I love CHIKARA as they're fans love the action. I could also mention the idiots in the Impact Zone but I prefer to ignore TNA all the time.

3) Becoming Superman
We've all seen it a match that just won't end because a guy is always kicking out. I understand near falls build suspense and that's not what bugs me, what bugs me is when guys hit their finishers over and over while the other guy keeps kicking out. A prime example is John Cena who you have to shoot with a gun just to beat it seems. This is up there with the Elimination Chamber moment when a big guy gets hits with 3/4 finishers in a row (by the way they've done that treatment to Cena as well). I understand you want to put over guys but you don't have to kill a guys finishers.

4) Social Media
Or any gimmick wrestling gets it's hands on, I'm picking Twitter as it's the key thing at the moment. I understand you want to use this new media to make your product bigger but come on. We don't need it mentioning every 5 minutes and we don't need segments designed for the sole reason of being a top topic on it or whatever it is don't look at me I don't use twitter. Hopefully this will come and go soon.

5) Pass Out Submission Finish
At Wrestlemania 13 Steve Austin lost to Bret Hart in a submission match by passing out while being locked in the sharpshooter. Austin was bleeding heavily and the image is one of the most famous moments ever. Ever since that day numerous wrestling companies and wrestlers have copied this finish and it pisses me off. Instead of using it to put over a babyface who just won't quit like the original did all this shows now is that we've backed ourselves into a whole and we need this guy to win without burying this guy. I remember reading that Nigel McGuinness passed out to Jimmy Rave in a submission match and the fans chanted Bullshit. Damn straight! It wouldn't of hurt Nigel to tap in fact it would of helped Rave. This finish is so overused when it comes to submission matches that it's just annoying. Heel you could put any overused finish in this category, the Magnum/Tully Cage match finish, the Bret/Piper roll up finish. It just scream that guys aren't creative and while they want to pay homage they'd be better off trying to be original.

As the title suggests these are just small things and in the grand scope of things these can either just add or take away from a match or wrestler. This isn't anything serious but these are just the things I love or that bugs me when I watch. Cheer for watching and let me know what you think.

6 Things to Expect at the Chamber

The Elimination Chamber is just over a week away and with 6 people in the chambers match I thought it would be a good idea to share 6 things I expect to see in those matches.

Show or Khali to get hit by multiple finishers before getting eliminated
Let's face it there hasn't been a chamber match that hasn't featured a massive "monster" in the match and as such they are often eliminated by a number of guys hitting their finishers. It's always a wise decision as it helps make these massive men look that much more of a threat, which they should do. My only problem I have with this is that one year they did this with JOHN CENA! What the hell? But in terms of the people in the chamber this year expect Khali or Show to get the multiple finishers spot.

The Raw Chamber will revolve around Punk and Jericho
Look at just who's in the match and think what they will be doing at Mania? These two are rumoured to be working with each other at Mania and they other 4 are pretty much doing nothing. Punk or Jericho will likely leave with the title and they will likely be the final two in the match, I can see Punk starting the match and going to the end. This match could revolve around these guys but the other 4 could at least make a impact during it.

Anyone but Show & Khali could leave with the belt in the Smackdown match
This is kind of open but look at the match. Granted some have better chances than others but with Sheamus facing the winner at Mania I can easily see him face any of the four. Cody Rhodes is the longest shot as he's the Intercontinental champion and isn't ready for the World title. Wade Barrett is the second longest shot but he could very well win it, Barrett vs. Sheamus could be good at Mania. The best chances are Orton and Daniel and too be honest I'm going with Daniel. Daniel is shining as a heel right now as his work deserves to put him in the Mania main event. Orton doesn't need the win or the belt right now it would make much more sense for him to face Barrett at Mania although their talking about a former World champions Money in the Bank which would feature Orton. My pick is for Daniel to retain but like I said I wouldn't be surprised to see many others leave with the belt.

Kofi Kingston will do the craziest spots
Kofi had the most memorable spot in the Rumble match this year and he's the biggest "dare devil" of all participants in the Chamber this year. There is always one who takes huge risks and is remembered whether it be RVD doing the spiderman in the first one or John Morrison jumping all over the chamber last year. Kofi will likely do at least one crazy spot which will be a highlight.

The Miz won't last long
The Miz is very much in the dog house at the moment. He's being blamed for the low Survivor Series buy rate, which is so stupid, and this past Monday he didn't catch R Truth which could of lead to Truth getting seriously injured, thankfully that didn't happen. Miz has been in a lot of trouble lately and it's a shame that he'll probably pay the price here after he had such a long, strong showing in the Rumble. Miz was meant to get a big push late last year and was rumoured to work with Punk for the title and now he'll likely get beaten really quickly which is funny as Truth usually doesn't last long in the chambers, seriously he didn't last 2 minutes in his chamber debut and he didn't last much longer he his second one.

To be surprised if Khali actually makes it to the ring
Khali is such a physical wreck that it's painful to watch him walk let alone work! Khali is a awful wrestler and does not deserve to be in this match, he's only there to replace a injured Henry. It doesn't make sense to replace a injured guy with a guy who can barely work and is probably more of a wreck then the guy he's replacing. Khali only just returned at the Rumble to no ones care and now he's in this match. Honestly I hope they replace him with someone else as the match is already hindered by the fact Show's in there. On a different note was anyone else disappointed that Show was number 30 in the Rumble? With all the hype of mystery people and possible returns and they pick Show as number 30! Such a let down just like Khali replacing Henry and we're back on point!

Anyways there you have it 6 things I expect to see at the Elimination Chamber. Let me know if you agree or not, I'm always up for talking about wrestling. Thanks for reading.

Time for a Rumble

In 2 weeks time one of my favourite events of the year will happen. The Royal Rumble! I love this event every year and partly because of the Rumble match itself. So I decided to have a little look back at some past Rumbles. Now I will say this if you want to hear reviews of all the rumbles then check out Aftermath radio where Jimmy Kordeas and Arda Ocal are looking back at them all and they are fantastic podcast. Anyways I'm going to look at 3 Rumbles from the 90's and 3from the 2000's. For each event I'll pick what I thought was the best match, what was the worse and share my view on the Rumble match. So lets begin. 

Royal Rumble 92-Greatest of All Time
Best Match: The New Foundation vs. The Orient Express. This match could not compare to the fantastic opener that was the Rockers vs. Orient Express from the previous year however it was a damn good match. To me Neidhart and Owen were always an odd team but to be honest Neidhart just seemed to do very little after breaking away from Bret. Anyways this was a great way to open the show.
Worst Match: The Natural Disasters vs. LOD for the Tag Titles. The Legion of Doom were never the greatest workers and the same could be said for the Natural Disasters so you can imagine the results. In fairness it was not that bad but it wasn't good. Basically it was 4 big men being big. Enough said.
Rumble: What can you say apart from this was probably the greatest rumble ever. One of the most high profile rumbles ever. The match itself was for the WWF championship and so many stories were going on but the main story was Ric Flair. Flair walked in at number 3 and ended up winning the entire thing. Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon do a fantastic job on commentary helping put over Flair and the situation. This is a rumble that has to be watched. Flair won by eliminating Sid Justice, with some help from Hogan, and he then cut one of the best promos ever. My personal highlight was Jake Roberts reaction when Macho Man came out, Randy ran to the ring and Roberts hid. Randy then looked around for him but Roberts came back in after Savage was knocked down. I don't know I just liked that.

Royal Rumble 95-Hey look it's Pamela Anderson
Best Match: Diesel vs. Bret Hart for the WWF championship. Granted these two had a better match at Survivor Series but this match wasn't bad either. At that time it was weird to see babyface vs. babyface and to have both men trade off getting heat. Bret was always great in the ring and Diesel could have a good match with the right guy. What was a let down was the finish. During the match interference happened twice with a group (lead by Shawn Michaels) beating up Diesel and then a group (lead by Owen Hart) beating up Bret. The finish came when both groups came down and attacked leading to a no contest. It was a downer to an otherwise great match.
Worst Match: Undertaker vs. IRS. At this time Undertaker just went through the mentions and did the same old thing. IRS didn't do much hear either apart from get his tie grabbed. The quality in the ring was bad but I think the purpose was to move the story along, the Undertaker was taking out the Million $ Corporation so in this match the Takers urn is stolen and King Kong Bundy beats him up. We move on.
The Rumble: The fastest and in my opinion worst Rumble ever. Entrants came ever minute and there was a serious lack of stars in there. Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog start and end the rumble match. In my view I don't get why they put such a focus on Shawn being number 1 and winning, if the interval time was like previous years it would of been a big deal. To be fair to Shawn he bumped his ass off he was flying all over the place. The highlights to this rumble were the infamous "one foot" finish which made it look like the Bulldog won but my personal highlight was Bret Hart coming out and beating up Owen & Bob Backlund when they were entering the rumble causing them to be eliminated in seconds.

Royal Rumble 97-Look at this place it's massive!
Best match: Hunter Hearsy Helmsley vs. Goldust for the Intercontinental title. To me this match showed just how good these two were and were going to be. This match was extremely physical with the action getting very hardcore. I remember Goldust just beating the hell out of Hunter with the steel steps. The match had everything, someone got burned with a cigar, steps were used, the title belt was thrown around and we got some kissing. It was a great brawl and a great match to open the show, and it helped advance two young careers.
Worst Match: Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq. Great googly moogly! As Jim Cornette would say. I like Ron Simmons but Ahmed Johnson was not great. The hype to this match was fantastic it's just a shame in the ring work was crap mainly due to Ahmed's limitations.
The Rumble: This was a little bit of a mixed bag star wise but it wasn't bad. If anything it helped Stone Cold into a star. Him being in the ring by himself so often was great and the way he used that time as well. The match was filled with ups and downs moments in terms of action but the final section, started when Bret Hart came down was the best in my view. Highlights included Austin being eliminated but not being seen so he comes back in and wins it. Another highlight was Jerry Lawler, who was on commentary, says "It takes a King" he enters the ring and gets limited by Hart in seconds and then gets back on commentary and says "To know a King". Just great!

Royal Rumble 02-Hey in case you didn't know the Games back people!
Best match: Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon in a Street Fight. We never imagined this match would happen but man what a match it was. Flair is one of the greatest ever and in the right situation Vince can put on a great match as well. Vince dominating Flair made sense as Vince was probably in better shape than Flair (looks wise anyways). Everything about this match just flowed so well, we hated Vince when he took pictures of Flair and gave it to his kids at ringside and we loved it when Flair came back and kicked Vince's ass. Just a fantastic brawl in my view.
Worst match: Spike Dudley & Tazz vs. The Dudleys for the Tag title. Why did Spike and Tazz have the tag titles? And why for so long? This match was short and basically consisted of Spike getting his ass kicked and Tazz making the save. Which wouldn't be bad if a) we hadn't seen it hundreds of time in ECW and b) Tazz wasn't the smallest guy in the match. The highlight here, Stacy Keibler man is she hot!
The Rumble: Not bad was a nice little mix of stars and you could see several possible winners but sadly it was all based around HHH and his return. The final section with Angle and Hunter was great and to be fair HHH winning made perfect sense. The match had it's lows but the final section was fantastic. Highlights included Maven, who was pretty new after winning Tough Enough, eliminating the Undertaker in a shocking moment. Mr. Perfect returning was a personal highlight and him spitting out his gum and swatting it away while HHH tried eliminating him was amazing. I also loved the Hurricane trying to double chokeslam Austin and Hunter and the two of them just throwing him out.

Royal Rumble 04-The Rumble that never happened!
Best match: HHH vs. Shawn Michaels in a Last Man Standing for the World Heavyweight Championship. I always had mixed feelings when these two met in the ring, sometimes they put on a awesome show but other times it wasn't anything special. This match was something special. You could feel the heat in this match and this was a prime example of when blood can help a story. These two beat the hell out of each other and it was brutal. Now the match ended in a draw but by watching it you can understand why. The match ended with Shawn hitting Sweet Chin Music on HHH and because Shawn had lost so much blood he couldn't get up either. It looked like he could of won if he was in a slightly better condition and Hunter got to keep the belt leading to a possible rematch down the road.
Worst match: Brock Lesnar vs. Hardcore Holly for the WWE title. I hate Hardcore Holly and the fact that he only got a title shot because Lesnar shoot injured him sums up Holly's career in my view. This match was just all kinds of wrong. Brock could put on a fantastic match but Holly was just awful, I've never seen a match with Holly in that was worth watching again apart from his Hardcore title and that's just because he got his ass beat with weapons! Seriously though I bet many people weren't even aware this match happened.
The Rumble: Now this is a bigger deal. Chris Benoit, you know THAT guy, entered number 1 and won the whole thing after going over an hour in the ring. Benoit eliminated Big Show in a dramatic final segment to win the match. What I really liked about this match was that it looked like were going repeat the 95 Rumble and have both 1 and 2 at the end, number 2 being Randy Orton, but that was changed when Mick Foley made a surprise return and eliminated him. The other highlight here was the teasing of the Undertaker's return which caused Kane to be eliminated. We all knew Taker would return but this was the beginning of the Dead man coming back!

Royal Rumble 07-The Old Timers can still go
Best match: John Cena vs. Umaga in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE title. 2007 was one of the best years for Cena in my eyes, his in ring work was fantastic and this kicked off his year. Umaga was an unstoppable monster who Cena just barely beat earlier in the month so we all thought that he couldn't win here. This match was insanely brutal and dramatic. Umaga really went out of his way to go through some insane stuff to help make him look great and in term make Cena look great. At this time they were 3 announce tables at ring side and I remember Umaga running over 2 and trying to splash Cena on the 3rd but Cena moved. This is another match were blood helped tell a story, that is one of the things I miss now WWE is PG. The finish came when the top rope was unscrewed and Cena applied the STFU with the rope wrapped around Umaga's neck and repeating it several times. It looked brutal so much so that on the next night Umaga was so bruised by it it was insane!
Worst match: Bobby Lashley vs. Test for the ECW title. I can't tell you how glad I am that Lashley doesn't wrestle any more. He was just awful and his wife cut a better promo then he could. The man marked as "the next big star" was just wrong on so many levels. Now I liked Test (RIP) but he wasn't brillant and couldn't make Lashley look good. Hell very few could.
The Rumble: Looking back at the list of entrants not many could of won it but I didn't see Taker and HBK being the final two. Boy was I glad they were though as they probably put on the most dramatic finishing section of any rumble match ever! But to honest apart from the ending there is very little I remember from this Rumble. The fact is that the final two men would both be challenging for each brands World title at Mania that year and that is how the Rumble should work in my view.

So there you have it, a little mini review of 6 Rumbles in the past. I will end this by saying I hope and pray that Jericho or Orton don't win the Rumble this year. My pick is Dolph Ziggler but I'll be happy if Sheamus or Wade Barrett won it.