Elimination Chamber Preview

Hello once again folks!  Glad you're hanging with me once again for another post in my Wrestling Cypher.  This week we focus on the previews and predictions for their recently brought back pay per view Elimination Chamber.  The announcement of this pay per view shocked audiences when it was announced on Raw two weeks ago that they would have this pay per view exclusively on the Network.  This was done as a means to further give people reason to subscribe to the Network, and what a better time than on the last day of the month.  They did, however, screw the kind people in Greenville, SC out of a live event because of this last minute move and told ticket holders to hold on to them as they will return later for a live Raw.  Am I looking forward to this WWE Network exclusive?  Nope, quite frankly.  Call me spoiled from NXT's special events, but the main roster hasn't been able to captivate like they completely could.  Even the go-home shows from Raw and Smackdown leave one asking, "Is that it?"  With that being said, let's get into it.

WWE World Heavyweight Title
Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins (c)

These two aren't any strangers to each other whatsoever, as they've competed quite a number of times within the past year alone, and now add to it the big title now.  This will no doubt be a great one on one contest between these fantastic competitors, but as with most cases, expect The Authority to get involved somehow, and Seth will sneak his way out of the match with a win.  It's time for Rollins to move on past Reigns, Orton, and Ambrose, so here's to new challengers for him.

Winner: Seth Rollins

John Cena vs. Kevin Owens

This will be the most intriguing match of the night as the current WWE U.S. Heavyweight Champion, John Cena, will face NXT Champion, and their biggest heel, Kevin Owens.  Fresh off retaining his title at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, Owens will look to pull off the biggest win of his fifteen year career with a win over Cena.  He has all the capabilities to not only be the most successful NXT Champion ever, but whenever he gets to the main roster, he will definitely be the biggest heel on the main roster.  Cena serves nothing to come away with a win over Owens so the wrestler formerly known as "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen will somehow continue his incredible momentum as the biggest source of hatred at NXT and will defeat Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect.

Winner: Kevin Owens

Neville vs. Bo Dallas

Throwaway filler match.  These former NXT Championship rivals will compete in a bathroom break-type match.  Neville isn't the problem, but Dallas' main roster run has been an absolute bust so there's no real reason to invest in this match.  Expect Neville to continue to rise and Dallas to continue to plummet.

Winner: Neville

WWE Divas Title Match/Triple Threat Match
Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige vs. Naomi

This could be a somewhat intriguing match, as all three are on top of their games right now.  It behooves me how, even with her attitude change, that Naomi still isn't the Divas Champion.  If it doesn't occur now, it won't ever.  She has enough momentum to do so and she's the only one in the match who hasn't held the title yet.  I'm expecting Naomi's coming out as the Divas Champion...finally!

Winner & new Divas Champion: Naomi

WWE Tag Team Championship/Elimination Chamber Match
The New Day (c) vs. Los Matadores vs. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Prime Time Players vs. The Ascencion

How the hell they're gonna pull off a six team Chamber match is beyond me, but regardless, I won't be terribly impressed by this one.  I'm still a little sore that Harper & Rowan aren't in this match, but whatever.  I expect that, somehow, The New Day will continue their run as champions, thus continuing the annoying claps.

Winners: The New Day

WWE Inter-Continental Title/Elimination Chamber Match
King Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Shaemus vs. Ryback vs. R-Truth vs. Rusev

This will be the better of the two chamber matches, but don't expect this to be a classic.  Why Truth is in this?  Beats me.  In any case, this is for the vacant title that Daniel Bryan had to vacate due to injury.  I'm not really a fan of seeing most of these guys win the title, but right now I may have to give this to Shaemus due to momentum and how hated h would be as a 2-time champion.  Truth is all but a failure at this point, Rusev isn't ready for the title yet, Ryback isn't too far from Truth at this point, Barrett is already king and is slated to be the best MITB winner, and creative is halfway on Ziggler.  Shaemus seems like the most logical choice.

Winner & new Inter-Continental Champion: Shaemus

This won't be an outstanding event, especially due to the short builds to these matches, but what else is new?  Come back next Tuesday and check out the results and review of the event.  Until then, have a great week and stay up on the other promotions such as Lucha Underground, Ring Of Honor, and others.  Take it easy!

NXT Takeover: Unstoppable Results & Review

What's going on good people?!  Thanks for coming back around to the Wrestling Cypher and hanging with me again.  I'll be going over last night's stellar NXT special and what may be to come for the stars of NXT from last night.  I've often said that NXT is what Vince McMahon's main roster should be on a regular basis.  With the unfortunate news that broke yesterday of TNA getting dropped from Destination America, the need for more alternative programming is more needed.  I know you're saying that NXT isn't alternative programming, but if you think about it, NXT is alternative to the "sports entertainment" mantra that the main roster presents.  NXT relies less on storylines per se and more on the action, physicality, and story telling that takes place in the ring.  With all that being said, let's begin the review.

The show started off with video of Hideo Itami seemingly getting assaulted by the way he was writhing in pain and clutching his shoulder in the parking lot.  Coincidentally the NXT Champion, Kevin Owens, just so happened to walk by and say, "That's a shame".  Itami will be out of action for a good portion of the year with surgery and rehab so here's to a successful recovery for one of the best to come from Japan of our era. 

The first match was supposed to feature him in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Title, along with former contender Tyler Breeze and the always exciting Finn Balor.  Due to the "attack" in the parking lot, it became a one on one match and both guys' entrances were noteworthy.  Breeze, as usual, went the modelesque route with his entrance.  Although it was catchy, next came Finn Balor.  Anyone who knows his history in Japan is more than familiar with his insane entrances for big matches (his love of comic books plays highly into what character he wants to be portrayed as when he goes out in front of everyone).  He came out as his alter ego, the Demon King, complete in his incredible, yet eerie, makeup and body paint, along with his creeping and crawling to the ring.  Unquestionably one of the biggest pops all night, and the only entrance to receive a "That was awesome" chant for ring entrances.  To say that Balor has it all is an understatement.  Although he has stated that he's in no rush to go to the main roster, whenever he does, he will be headlining Wrestlemania one day, no doubt about it.  As for now, hie did a great job with an equally focused "Prince Pretty".  This would've been even better with Itami, but it was a great start to the event.  Balor defeated Breeze with his Coup De Grace double stomp and is now the number one contender for the title as Owens looked on backstage.

Up next was a women's tag team match involving former NXT Women Champion, Charlotte, and Bayley against newcomer Dana Brooke and the newly heel Emma.  Not a spectacular tag match but at least the women did pretty good.  Bayley and Charlotte (Flair) won this one.

The next match was former ECW/TNA World Champion Rhyno against the man known as "The Lone Wolf" Baron Corbin.  This wasn't a pretty match, and there was one very brief instance of a "boring" chant, but at the end, Corbin nailed "The Man-Beast" with the End Of Days finisher and defeated the burly Detroit native. 

Next was the NXT Tag Team Titles, as the champions Blake & Wesley faced the always entertaining duo of Enzo Amore and Big Cass.  The two Jersey Boys had the audience in the palms of their hands and it's always a good time with them getting television time.  After Cass loudly, as usual, proclaimed the champs as "S-A-W-F-T", it was time to get it on, and this was a better match than I thought it would be.  Blake & Murphy are actually a very good team that somewhat reminds me, in terms of chemistry, of Billy & Chuck (only without the gay innuendos that we got every week from Billy & Chuck).  Near the end, NXT star Alexa Bliss came to ringside and attacked Amore and Cass' sidekick, Carmella.  With the distraction, Blake & Murphy took advantage and defeated Cass and Amore to retain the belts as Bliss walked to the back and raised the hands of the duo.

Next up was the NXT Womens Title match between the challenger Becky Lynch and the champion "The Boss" Sasha Banks.  Quite frankly folks, this was the best wrestling match all evening long and has to be considered one of the single best matches all year from either roster, male or female division.  This was an absolutely awesome match, and we saw the best effort from both young ladies that we may have ever seen from them, especially Lynch.  Lynch, who spotted orange hair and a more focused demeanor, came up just short and was defeated by Banks, but to say Lynch has officially arrived is a poignant statement.  The crowd gave her a standing ovation for about ten minutes as she was becoming increasingly emotional during this time.  A simply unbelievable effort from both women.  Lynch will make a great champion one day.  As for Sasha, this was her best match as well, but she continues to improve every time we see her.  The real life cousin of the big homie Snoop Dogg grew into her own in this match and showed she deserved the title.

Now it was time for the main event for the NXT title, as the gamie, (although less than one hundred percent) challenger Sami Zayn squared off against the ruthless, yet incredibly talented, champion Kevin Owens.  I documented their history on the last posting, but this was a fight from the word 'go'.  Near the end, Sami tried to perform a poncha, but was caught by Owens for his Lights Out pop-up powerbomb on the outside.  The match was over because Zayn could no longer defend himself, but Owens was relentless as he kept brutally beating the defenseless Zayn.  As Owens was getting his belt and a steel chair, some new music played.  Unfamiliar music.  Out came the one and only SAMOA JOE!!!!!!!!  The crowd went completely ape shit, as the man that has won over twenty championships (eleven of which with TNA) locked eyes and went face to face with Owens in an epic stare down.  These two are totally no strangers to each other from Ring OF Honor, but it has been many years since those two have fought.  The crowd went into the signature pro-Joe chant, "JOE'S GONNA KILL YOU!"  Owens eventually walked away stating that he was watching Joe, and that's how the show ended. 

This was yet another strong showing from the guys and gals at NXT.  Kudos to Triple H for his vision of NXT and these absolutely spirited shows.  Although this is not as consistently great per weekly show as Lucha Underground, these Takeover events are well worth the forgiveness.  This is the only promotion that I'm aware of that the Women's division can take control and have the best match of the evening, but what we saw with Banks and Lynch showed us it could damn sure happen.  We've seen similar memorable battles such as Charlotte vs. Natalya, Emma vs. Paige, and the Fatal Four Way match that Sasha won the title in.  I'm very proud that Sara Del Ray has taught these women what putting on true wrestling matches are like, instead of the occasional bathroom break match WWE has traditionally been known to do over the last several years.  I give this event a 4.5/5 and I have no doubt that their next special event in August will be every bit as compelling and hard-hitting as the rest.  Vince, you better put your ego and stubbornness to the side and look at what your son-in-law is doing with NXT.  This is an outstanding product and may only get better.  If you're not already on the NXT bandwagon, what the hell are you waiting on.  As I said in anothert post, with Paragon Pro starting their television deal in June, ROH, Lucha Underground, AML (out of Winston-Salem), and the weekly episodes of New Japan Pro, now is a great time to be a wrestling fan again.  Once Global Force gets off the ground and moving, wrestling will start having alternatives instead of the main roster of WWE as its fix.  With NXT, the future is coming, the future is now! 

That's all for now folks, but I shall return next week with a preview of Elimination Chamber (sigh).  Until then, have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend and save me some food from the grille.

NXT Takeover: Unstoppable Previews & Predictions

What's happening folks!  Glad as always you could join me, and man oh man do I have an exciting previews & predictions post today.  This evening, the WWE Network will present NXT's quarterly special, Takeover.  Tonight's event, NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, will attempt to continue to expand their already devoted audience and show why they're truly the brand on the rise, other than Lucha Underground and Global Force, in the sport today.  Since their first major NXT Takeover special, they've been all the buzz, and in most cases they've forced their major league competitors to step their game up and provide better quality with their product, especially for the pay per views.  Exceptional matches and memorable debuts have been tthe norm for the NXT specials and this looks to be no different.  With that being said, let's begin.

NXT Title
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (c)

Quite frankly, this is the best rivalry on either roster.  Of course this rivsalry has gone back over a decade and has produced some of the most memorable classics ever seen in our sport in the indies.  Back when they were El Generico and Kevin Steen, they've sent each other to hospitals and have hurt each other on numerous occasions.  Their most recent encounter in the indies was actually at ROH's pay per view, Border Wars in a Ladder Match, in which Steen (Owens) put Generico (Zayn) in his vaunted package piledriver through a ladder.  Insane stuff!  However, their last encounter on NXT resulted in a hell of a match, but the ref stopped the match due to kayfabe injuries sustained by Zayn so Owens won the NXT title.  With their recent contract signing and other altercations leading up to tonight's match, you can expect a match of the year candidtae with this one, even moreso than the last encounter.  Also, based on the epic altercation this past Monday between Owens and U.S. Champion John Cena, don't be surprised of Cena showed up for this one to either cost Owens or to get him after the match.  This will be a hard one, but I'm going to say that Sami will walk away a two-time NXT Champion.

Winner & new champion: Sami Zayn

NXT Tag Team Titles
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassidy vs. Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy (or shortened to Blake & Murphy) (c)

This will be an fairly entertaining match, if not for nothing else, Cassidy and Amore are a very funny, yet highly talented, team and this could finally be the big win for them.  Blake & Murphy have been a surprisingly very good team to hold the belts.  They've finally gotten over as this annoying team that you 're starting to love to hate (think a young Edge & Christian) and with them making advances with Amore & Cass' friend Carmella.  While this may not be a potential classic like the main event, I expect good things from this match, but unfortunately I have to go with Blake & Murphy for the win simply to continue their momentum. 


Winners: Blake & Murphy

NXT Women's Title
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks (c)

This will likely be a wildcard and the undercard show stealer.  The young lady known as "The Boss" Sasha Banks scored a much deserved win at the last NXT Takeover event to become the NXT Women's Champion.  Don't let her fool tiny size fool you as she has become a very talented in-ring performer gradually throughout the past year especially.  Becky, meanwhile, is a hellacious talent that has been wrestling for over a decade now.  This young lady, who was trained by Finn Balor at the age of seventeen, has been wrestling in Japan, France, and all over Europe.  She has come a long way since her debut in 2013, and now she has become a bonafide threat to the title.  Look for a spectacular match and possibly the breakout match for Lynch, but I expect banks to remain champion, if not barely. 

Winner: Sasha Banks

Charlotte & Bayley vs. Dana Brooke and Emma

Staying with the women's division, this should be an interesting tag match.  I'm not going to put it up there as a highly anticipated match of the evening, but I think it'll be a good match to start with.  What's intriguing here is the heel persona of Emma, which to be honest I don't see going over too long.  She's a natural babyface and she needs to own it.  Her partner is a newcomer but is not too bad in the ring, although hopefully she'll improve greatly over the next several months with Sara Del Ray as her teacher.  I expect Charlotte and miss hugger herself, Bayley, to come away with the win.

Winners: Charlotte & Bayley

Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno

How nuts was it to see "The Man-Beast" return to the WWE after being gone for over a decade?  He looks better than ever, and a career resurgance at this point in time wouldn't be so bad.  The former ECW Champion (the REAL ECW) is facing the intimidating and awesome "Big Bad Wolf" Baron Corbin.  The former Arizona Cardinal linebacker has been nothing short of a badass since debuting last year.  This will be a big test for both men and I see this as being a rough and rugged affair.  Don't expect any scientific stuff here folks.  Asses will get kicked here.  I'm going with Corbin in this one, but this won't be a walk in the park for neither man.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Contenders Match for NXT Title
Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze

Originally slated as a triple threat match, Hideo Itami won't be able to wrestle due to his shoulder injury so the match will now be a one on one affair between "Prince Pretty" and the phenomenon formerly known as Prince Devitt internationally.  I'm a pretty big Breeze fan, as he has shown his more aggressive side and has what it takes to be a good main roster mainstay if marketed right.  However, Balor is a sight to see.  His ring entrances are stuff of legend and his in-ring style is second to none.  I expect the "Demon King" persona of Balor this evening, and that spells trouble for Breeze.  This will be another big time match that could be a potential show stealer (definitely if Itami were to have still been in the match), but I expect Balor to emerge victorious.

Winner: Finn Balor

This will be a fantastic evening of athleticism and in-ring storytelling.  What could make this event historic would be if the rumors prove to be true and we see the debut appearence of the legendary Samoa Joe in NXT.  Rumors have been rampant about seeing Joe on NXT and there's no better stage than tonight, as well as the recently signed indie fave Uhaa Nation.  Come back tomorrow for my review of NXT Takeover: unstoppable.  See you guys and gals then!  Enjoy tonight's potentially epic show.

Payback Review

What's up peoples?! Glad you could make it back with me.  This time, I'm posting my review of WWE's recent Payback pay per view this past Sunday.  The event took place from Baltimore, which is surprising considering all the very publicized turmoil that the city has been experiencing.  Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch.  With that being said, on to the matches.

The first match of the evening, post the kickoff show and that God-awful Meta-Maniacs vs. Ascencion crap, was Dolph Ziggler vs. Shaemus.  Admittedly, this was a better match than even I anticipated.  Ziggler had a great accounting for himself, which isn't unheard of anyways from "The Showoff".  The match was definitely a back-and-forth affair, but the turning point came when Dolph delivered a headbutt to Shaemus.  The impact badly lacerated Ziggler and he became a bloody mess in seconds.  The ref clearly wanted to have the guys wrap the match up so that the doctors and can tend to the deep wound just above the right eye of Ziggler.  Shaemus hit the Brogue Kick to put a highly bloodied Ziggler out of his misery and for the win.  Doctors and refs tended to Ziggler and escorted him to the back with a blood-stained towel.  He ended up with ten stitches, but once again Ziggler showed that he would do what it took to entertain the fans and to win.  I can't help but wonder why people feel the need to headbutt Shaemus?  Daniel Bryan did it and he took eight stitches and has the scar to show for it.  Now, Ziggler did it and has ten.  To all future opponents of Shaemus, chill with the headbutts.

Next up was the tag team title match between the challengers of the former champions, Tyson Kidd & Cesaro and the new champs, The New Day, who were represented by Kofi and Big E in a two out of three falls match.  Their last encounter was actually pretty good, and this one was even better.  As the challengers won the first fall and the champs won the second, the finish came when Kofi switched with Xavier Woods on the outside behind the ref's back and he rolled up Cesaro for the win.  Very heelish move, but got The New Day the win.

Next up was Ryback and Bray Wyatt in a one on one match.  Truthfully this was a yawn.  After two halfway decent matches, this was a bore.  Usually any match concerning Ryback is, and this was no exception.  During the match, Wyatt executed a running senton splash on Ryback and injured his ribs, perhaps even broke them.  I was expecting Luke and Erick to reunite with their leader/brother, but I guess that will be for another time.  In any event, Wyatt won with Sister Abigail and put an end to the snooze of a match.  Although Ryback doing his version of a frog (or in his case a bullfrog) splash on Wyatt was an entertaining touch for two seconds, it still stunk.

Next was the U.S. title match between the champion John Cena and his more than formidable challenger, Rusev, in an I Quit match.  If you were expecting the incredible I Quit match Cena had with Randy Orton or especially his bloodbath of an I Quit match with JBL at Judgement Day of 2005, keep dreaming.  What was exhibited, however, was a good to decent fight between a veteran and a young lion who should one day be an even bigger deal than he is right now.  This was far from either of the two instant classics I just named, but there was enough brutality to give a few nods of approval.  There was that one spot where Cena did his Attitude Adjustment on Rusev through the pyro table that was briefly okay, but still it was whatever because we've seen that spot done more than once.  In the end, Cena won with his STF with a piece of ring rope across the face of Rusev and he was saying something in Bulgarian that apparently translated into Lana screaming at the ref Rusev said that he stated that he had quit.  Cena is still undefeated in I Quit matches.  Needless to say, Rusev likely cussed out Lana in Bulgarian.

Next was the former NXT Tag and World Champion Adrien Neville vs. the 2015 King Of The Ring, King Barrett.  This was an average match basically, but all props to "The Man That Gravity Forgot" for showing he can hang with anyone on the main roster.  He needed his first pay per view win and he got it, albeit by count out as Barrett got himself deliberately counted out.  From there, he assaulted Neville and tried to nail him with the scepter but Neville avoided it and eventually hit him with his astounding Red Arrow finisher. 

The Divas tag match was next as the newly babyfaced Bellas (??) faced the new tandem of real life cousins-in-law Naomi and the returning Tamina Snuka.  I personally feel very bad for Snuka because she's a hell of an athlete but she lacks personality and mic skills.  A little time at NXT might help her a lot.  Look what it did for Tyson Kidd's career.  In any case, the match was okay at best.  It wasn't any better or worse than any of the other matches on the card.  Well, if I tell the honest truth, it was still better than Ryback and Wyatt.  Naomi and Snuka picked up the definitive win.

Finally, the main event is here.  The WWE World Title in a Fatal Four Way match between Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, and the champion Seth Rollins.  It was of no coincidence to me that these four men who were in last year's Payback main event were in this main event for this year's Payback.  This was actually the saving grace for this very average event.  This was simply fantastic.  it was almost like they put us through all that mediocrity for that main event.  It was worth it.  I'm typically a fan of their multi-participant matches like Fatal Four ways and Triple Threats, and this was one of the best in recent memory in terms of FFWs.  A major spot occurred when the former members of The Shield (Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns) did a Shield-like triple powerbomb on Orton through the announce table.  Yes, that was a big mark out moment, as we temporarily had that vision of The Shield reuniting.  Didn't last long, but it was awesome regardless.  The end came when Rollins delivered a Pedigree (a la his mentor Triple H) onto Orton and picked up the win.  Yeah there was a ton of interference from Kane and J&J security, but we knew that was going to happen.  It actually didn't take away from the match, in fact it added to the story of The Authority willing to do whatever it took to keep the belt around the waist of the cocky young champion.  Plus Kane's job was on the line. 

As a whole, this was a 2.5/5 event, but I may put it as a 3 due to the main event.  Unfortunately, this will take a hell of a back seat to NXT's Takeover event this week.  Expect a preview and prediction of the NXT event later today.  Anyways, WWE continues to produce average to below average events while produces excellent events.  Within two weeks, the Elimination Chamber pay per view will take place and we'll see how it fares to this bland yet not horrible Payback event.

That's all for now but I'll be back later for the NXT Takeover event slated for tomorrow.  Have a great one!

Lucha Underground: The Future Is Now

What's happening peoples!!  Thanks for tuning back in for another bit of my mind about what's good (or bad) in professional wrestling.  This time, I'm going to talk about the phenomenon that is Lucha Underground.  This promotion has taken over the industry by storm since last year and has steadily grown in popularity and within the locker room in terms of big name stars.  The concept has grown to be a soap opera of sorts, with a power hungry boss in Dario Cuerto (sound familiar right?) and his roster of luchadores and North American indie acts, with a few bigger stars mixed in as well competing to be the best in the Lucha Temple.  The "Temple" is based out of Boyle Heights, CA and is currently seen on the El Ray Network.

The current reigning and defending Lucha Underground Champion is Prince Puma.  Prince Puma is really the international and indie star Ricochet under a mask.  Known for numerous championships in PWG, Chikara, Dragon Gate, DGUSA, and NJPW, it's very fitting that he's champion, being that his super flying style and extreme style is just what LU needs as champion.  Among the luchadors on the roster are Fenix, Pentagon Jr., King Cuerno, and Aero Star, all of which are very accomplished wrestlers from Mexico that have had great careers in the AAA promotion as well as CMLL.  There are known indie guys in the locker room as well such as Son Of Havoc, Cage, The Mac and Killshot that provides lots of excitement, but there also more internationally known figures such as Mil Muertes, Angelico, Jack Evans, and Jeff Cobb that give more intrigue to most North American fans that may not know much about them but may have heard of their accolades.  In the case of Mil Muertes, fans may best remember him as the character Judas Mesias in TNA, who had that bloody feud with Abyss briefly in 2008.  However, there are more familiar names such as former TNA star Hernandez, and former WWE standouts Johnny (Morrison) Mundo,Chavo Guerrero Jr., Big Ryck (formerly Ezekial Jackson), Konnan, and especially the current AAA Mega Champion (AAA's version of the World Title), Alberto (Del Rio) El Patron.  Let's not forget the ladies of LU, which consist of former Tough Enough contestant Ivallise, current AAA Mixed Tag Champion Sexy Star, and former NXT ring announcer Black Lotus.  The broadcast team consists of former WWE broadcaster Matt Striker and former AAA/WCW star Vampiro, and the ring announcer is Melissa Santos (fellas, she may very well be the most gorgeous ring announcer in the entire sport today, bar none).

Still a new product in mainstream professional wrestling, the pressure is on for them to be the credible alternative to the predictable WWE and the much struggling TNA.  Every week, they continue to impress and dominate with exceptional high flying moves and incredible in-ring story telling.  There has never been such a thing as a bad or sub par episode of LU since its induction.  It's hard to say what the best match since it's induction has been, but if I had to pick a favorite thus far, it would have to be the Grave Consequences match between Fenix and Mil Muertes.  Grave Consequences is their version of a Casket Match, and Fenix utterly tore the place apart and tore the house down.  Once Muertes ripped the mask almost completely off the young Fenix and stuck him in the head with the metal hook connector that connects the turnbuckle and post and busted Fenix open to the point that he was a bloody mess the whole match, the fight showed just how tough Fenix can be and how much heart he has to succeed.  It also showed how brutally vicious the wrestler formerly known as Ricky Banderas, or El Mesias, really is.  In the end, Fenix won, but I would really have to put that match as my current standout favorite match since watching LU earlier this year.

This is one highly revered product of wrestling and rightfully so.  The broadcast team of Striker and Vampiro is great in itself.  We already knew just how damn good Striker is and how he has finally found his calling as a play-by-play guy, but Vampiro isn't half bad either as the tweener commentator.  The ladies that do fight like Ivallise and Sexy Star can kick the asses of Divas like the Bellas quite unfairly.  Plus, it's also great that more established names such as Mundo, Konnan, and El Patron give the promotion further validity but not to the point where they take away from the younger guys or the luchadores.  This is a sport for the youth, and this promotion is about the youth but also to expose more international talent and indie talent to the mainstream.  Another thing that is rather cool is that none of the matches break away for commercials, which annoys the hell out of me personally whenever I watch WWE or TNA.  LU promotes full air-time for their matches, which 90% of the time fast paced and non-boring.  The crowd is passionate and shows support to every single match.  This is also TV-14, which means blood, violence, and language is allowed, which is very welcomed in this bland, predictable PG era.  What's very interesting, however, is the fact that this is set up like a soap opera of sorts, only it's centered around the wrestling aspect.  This, Vince McMahon, is what "sports entertainment" is supposed to look like.  To add to that, Dario is a true version of a manipulative owner, or GM, and can give The Authority a run for their money in terms of heel authority figures.

I've always raved about the quality of wrestling that ROH provides, especially considering the graduates that have come from there such as Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Austin Aries, and several others.  I'm still a fan of theirs, a big one, especially when it comes to their pay per views and their special programs that involve New Japan Pro.  The only downside to ROH is they aren't extremely consistent with the excitement value and of course the production value.  Trust me, I would still take quality match work and in-ring story telling over Vince's version of sports entertainment anyday, but that's those are the only negatives to ROH.  With Lucha, I think some storylines can be tweaked to put more suspense and drama to them, but overall, Lucha Underground is the future of the game, and their special event, Ultimo Lucha, is around the corner. This event promises to be the biggest event Lucha has put on and marks the end of season one of the tapings of LU.  While New Japan Pro Wrestling is still the best promotion in the world, with AAA a close second, LU may very well be the best pound for pound organization going today.  One can only imagine what would happen if they went the pay per view route and if they traveled to do some house shows.  Perhaps, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  We saw how that worked for TNA.  While we all look forward with much anticipation to the mainstream arrivals of Paragon Pro and especially Global Force Wrestling, once they secure a television deal (stop tripping CMT), we still have a lot to continue to enjoy with a company that hopefully will continue to soar in Lucha Underground.

That's all for now cats and dogs, but before I leave, I'm going to present the match from LU that I was raving about.  The vicious, bloody bout between Fenix and the animalistic Mil Muertes.  Viewer discretion advised, but overall this was a FANTASTIC match, and the story told here showed why these are two of the ebst wrestlers in the world.  Take care until next time folks!

Payback Preview & Predictions

What's going on folks!  Hope everyone has been enjoying their week and I'm glad you're riding with me again.  This post is about the upcoming WWE Payback pay per view taking place this coming Sunday, exclusively on the WWE Network.  Last year's Payback was a fairly decent event with the main event being Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista) vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and the now WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins).  How ironic is it that most of the same people from last year's main event are participants in the main event of this year's Payback?  Also last year, John Cena was involved in a big time Last Man Standing Match with Bray Wyatt, in a match that saw Wyatt really breakout in a main event-esque role.  This year, Cena will be involved in a struggle against the animalistic Rusev for the U.S. Title in an I Quit Match.  With this little bit being said, let's start with my predictions of the upcoming event. 

WWE World Heavyweight title/Fatal Four Way
Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton

This may see to be the most intriguing match of the night but not because of the action necessarily.  I can't help but wonder if the fact that all Shield members are in this match and then there's Orton.  Remember it was last year that all three Shield members were in action against Orton and Hunter.  I can't help but believe that there's a swerve involved here.  It's been rumored that Dean was going to be as big of a major player as Roman and Seth currently are this summer so this could add additional fuel to the fire.  Plus with Kane clearly about to leave The Authority, this could make interesting situations more apparent with turns from Ambrose, Reigns, and Kane that night.

Winner: Seth Rollins

WWE U.S. Heavyweight Title/I Quit
John Cena (c) vs. Rusev w/ Lana

This should be a no-brainer, as the "never give up" mantra of Cena would be totally thrown out the boat should he quit.  Besides, he's undefeated in this match (who can dare forget that vicious bloodbather of an I Quit match at Judgement Day 2005 against JBL? ) and if you think Cena, or as JBL calls him "Big Match John" will take an L here, you can't see me either!

Winner: John Cena

WWE Tag Team Titles/2-3 Falls
Cesaro/Tyson Kidd w/ Natalya vs. The New Day (c)

The New Day, represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston, shocked the world when they defeated Cesaro and Kidd last month at Extreme Rules.  Now fitting in to their roles as obnoxious heels quite comfortably, I look for them to nudge another win to further push their heel run as champs.  Hopefully this will be a pretty good match, if not better than their Extreme Rules encounter.

Winner: The New Day

Ryback vs. Bray Wyatt

In a match where both guys are going nowhere fast, it's been much speculated that The Wyatt Family will be reuniting and now that we've seen Luke and Erick back on the same page, what a better time for them to get back up with their "brother" Bray and cost Ryback the match.  I, for one, gladly welcome them back.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

Dolph Ziggler vs. Shaemus

This comes off the heels of their "Kiss Me Arse" match (shame at the name).  The new (and not improved) Shaemus will have a regular, one on one match with "The Showoff", only this time, I expect Shaemus to pick up the W.

Winner: Shaemus

Neville vs. King Barrett

How exciting is it to see Adrien Neville on the main roster?  The former NXT Tag and NXT Champion has been turning heads since his main roster debut the day after Wrestlemania.  He faces the new King Of The Ring in a rematch from the KOTR finals.  While normally I'm very skeptical about acts from NXT going to the main roster, I think if they let Neville be his incredible high-flying self, he'll be a main eventer in the next couple of years.  In the meantime, I'll give the nod to Barrett simply because he's rumored and favored to have a big time push this year and, if that's the case, his momentum will continue to build.

Winner: King Barrett

Axelmania/Macho Mandow vs. The Ascencion

I really don't care at all about this match, as I'm quite sure you don't either.

Winner: Axelmania/Macho Mandow...but again who cares???

The Bella Twins vs. Naomi/Tamina Snuka

I'm still very curious, when the hell did The Bellas become baby faces??  This is the second time creative has written them to be on the same side, whether as faces or heels, without any build or explanation.  In any event, Naomi has become the talk of the Divas locker room since turning heel (complete with her new theme song that she actually performs herself).  Plus add to the mix the return of Tamina Snuka after months of recovering from a torn ACL, there's very little chance we'll see Naomi and Tamina wind up losing.  Don't be surprised to see a Paige return though.

Winners: Naomi/Tamina Snuka

I'm not really looking incredibly forward to this event and I'm going to wait for Summerslam to be impressed with WWE's product.  What the hell, I'm eagerly awaiting the next NXT Takeover special a lot more than this.  Will be back Monday with my reviews.  Later guys and gals.