NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Previews & Predictions

What's happening kiddies!  Welcome back to the latest opinions from me about the current goings-on in professional wrestling.  Next week I'll have something to say concerning the whole TNA Impact-GFW situation and how this could be either a win-win or a lose-lose situation.  More on that next week.  For now, this week is reserved for what appears to be a pretty good weekend for the WWE.  I've covered Summerslam already and my predictions.  Now it's on to NXT's newest Takeover special entitled "Brooklyn".  As with most NXT specials in the past, this has the potential to be a damn good show.  While Summerslam has the possibility of actually matching up with the entertainment and competitiveness of NXT for a change, this new NXT special could hold up quite well with some of their other specials.  While I don't see it as classic like NXT Takeover or NXT Takeover: R Evolution, this will still do very well.  Let's start shall we?

NXT Title/Ladder Match
Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens

To no surprise, this will and should be the main event.  After their excellent match in Japan at Beast In The East when Balor won the title, one could only imagine how the rematch was going to work.  I couldn't have thought of a better type of match for these two.  Owens' history with Ladder matches has been known with his fantastic, yet brutal, match in ROH with Sami Zayn, when he was El Generico.  Along with the high flying capabilities of the man formerly known as Prince Devitt, this has classic written all over it.  The last time there was a Ladder Match was when Adrien Neville defeated Bo Dallas to become NXT Champion at NXT Arrival.  Expect Finn Balor to get over in this match, thus Owens can really be a full-timer on the main roster.  This could either be a bad weekend for Owens or an okay weekend for him, depending upon if he defeats Cesaro tomorrow at Summerslam.  Regardless, expect "The Demon King" to emerge victorious.  Now about those "Paul Heyman guy" rumors...???

Winner & still champion: Finn Balor

NXT Women's Title
Bayley vs. "The Bo$$" Sasha Banks (c)

I know, I know.  these two have fought before.  Yes they have.  However, this will be the first time they've fought with Banks as the champion.  Yes I'm also aware that this isn't the first time we've seen Bayley have good momentum going into a big match or a championship match and somehow doesn't pull it off.  Call me nuts, but I think this will be different.  Not to mention, Sasha is really turning heads since she has been part of the main roster in the Divas revolution being part of Team B.A.D. (Beautiful And Dangerous).  Chances are this will be her NXT swan song, and Bayley will finally grab the brass ring.

Winner & new NXT Women's Champion: Bayley

NXT Tag Team Championship
The Vaudevillains vs. Blake & Murphy (c) w/ Alexa Bliss

Let's face it, Blake & Murphy were already a pretty good team with chemistry that resembled The Midnight Express.  However, since they managed to get Alexa Bliss on their side, they've been damn good.  At the last NXT special, NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, they defeated huge favorites Enzo Amore & Big Cass.  Now they face the very impressive Vaudevillains.  This past Wednesday, we watched as The Vaudevillains tried to let the challengers what would be in store for them, but every time they tried, they would get slapped in the face by Bliss, so as to not even utter a word.  This humiliation could be all they need to defeat the champs.  Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.  I see Blake & Murphy continuing their forward momentum as champs and staying on top of the division.

Winners & still champions: Blake & Murphy

Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin

This has physical written all over it.  The world-renowned "Samoan Submission Machine" has had a hell of a run with NXT, but now he'll be facing another impressive NXT talent in Baron Corbin.  While some of Corbin's steam has cooled since his debut last year, it damn sure hasn't stopped him from kicking people's asses and defeating them in quick, resounding fashion.  I do expect for the former TNA and ROH Champion to defeat Corbin, but nowhere near in easy fashion.

Winner: Samoa Joe

Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. Tyler Breeze

What a historic moment for the WWE and NXT, as Japanese icon Jushin "Thunder" Liger is wrestling against the mega-talented Tyler Breeze.  Liger is far from a stranger here in the States, as his series of matches with the late Brian Pillman in the early to mid nineties have been placed among some of the greatest in the history of WCW.  He also has competed in TNA and ROH, as he faced the likes of Daniel Bryan and Austin Aries.  Seen as one of the revolutionaries of the high flying style so very emulated today, the fifty year old has shown he can still go with the young guys.  No disrespect to Breeze, who's a superb talent in his own right, but the legend who has won thirty-eight championships and multiple tournaments is in a class all by himself and I expect him to get the 'W' in this encounter.

Winner: Jushin "Thunder" Liger

Also, NXT Takeover: Brooklyn will mark the in-ring debut of Apollo Crews, the indie superstar formerly known as Uhaa Nation.  If you've never seen this man compete, you're in for something special, as this man has been compared to the likes of Bobby Lashley and Booker T in terms of athleticism, and then some.  For a guy his size, he can moves like staining shooting star presses and over the top cross bodies like there nothing to do.  In 2009, he suffered a near career ending knee injury that put him on the shelf for over a year, but emerged better than ever.  He'll be facing NXT vet The Dillinger in what I expect to be an impressive mainstream showing for the "One Man Nation".

As you can see, this will be quite the exciting card and one that will serve as one hell of a precursor for the next night's Summerslam.  This will be bittersweet, as this will be the first NXT special without close friend, mentor, and teacher "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, but you know he'll be smiling with that signature smile of his and will be thrilled to see his NXT kids on the biggest stage they've been on yet.  This will be a great night and an even better weekend.  Report back to me next week for the review and reaction of both Summerslam and NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.  Until next week folks, be safe, live life, and enjoy some wrestling!

Summerslam 2015 Previews & Predictions

What's happening peeps!  For once, my post isn't about any deaths or anything morbid.  Instead, it's an exciting time because it's time for the biggest event of the summer, Summerslam.  This year's event will originate from Brooklyn, NY's Barclays Arena for the first time ever.  For the past few years, Summerslam has been contested in California so moving to NY is a change, albeit not foreign.  One of the best Summerslams ever was in MSG for Summerslam '91.  This year's event has been marketed to be more like a summer version of Wrestlemania than ever before, and truthfully this is a card that somewhat reflects this concept and could actually be a fairly entertaining show.  Here is the lineup and my predictions for each match.

Winner Takes All Match
WWE World Heavyweight Title vs. U.S. Heavyweight Title
John Cena (U.S. Champ) vs. Seth Rollins (World Champ)

This has the makings to be one hell of a match, but this match is currently up in the air.  A couple of weeks ago, Rollins violently broke the nose of Cena on RAW, which resulted in emergency surgery for the former fifteen time World Champion.  The grotesque injury has resulted in him being off television since the injury.  As of this time, the match is still unknown due to no clearence from the doctor yet.  IF the match occurs, I expect Cena to come away as a sixteen time World Champion and vacate the U.S. Title.  However, stay tuned to see if the match still takes place.

Winner & new World Champ: John Cena

Return Grudge Match
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

Since Wrestlemania XXX (30 that is), Taker has been hearing, like we all have, the constant barrage of Lesnar being "the one behind 21 and 1) from Paul Heyman, and now Taker has rightfully had enough.  Since that awesome pull-apart brawl on RAW a couple of weeks ago, Taker and Lesnar haven't been in the same building, but that may change next Monday on RAW. This is billed as the main event, but here's to hoping this match will be better than the match they had at Wrestlemania.  Taker looks as good as he's looked in years, and he's gonna have to be dealing with a red hot Lesnar.  Taker may take a trip to "Suplex City", but I expect Lesnar to get taken to the "Tombstone" and come away with his first ever win over "The Beast Incarnate".

Winner: Undertaker

WWE Inter-Continental Title
Triple Threat Match

Ryback vs. The Miz vs. Big Show

This match was just announced, as Ryback was recently cleared to compete after a severe staff infection in his right knee.  The match was originally set for last month's Battleground event, but was cancelled at the last minute due to the injury.  Now this rivalry for the belt can finally happen, and although Ryback has gained good momentum as champion, I fully expect The Miz to come away with his third title, and continue to be the insanely egotistical star he is.

Winner & new champion: The Miz

Triple Threat Divas Elimination Match
Team Bella (Brie & Nikki Bella and Alicia Fox) vs. Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch) vs. Team B.A.D. (Naomi, Tamina Snuka, and Sasha Banks)

There is a Diva revolution folks, and they're definitely taking the bull by the horns.  Kudos to Stephanie McMahon for finally getting it, and realizing the potential the Divas division has.  While Divas like Natalya have been off television being ambassadors for the company, the on camera talent has stepped their game up in spades.  Steph brought up NXT women badasses Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and even the NXT Women Champion Sasha Banks to elevate the division.  Since then, we've had fairly fantastic matches from them.  Now it's time to see who's the best crew of the three.  I'm personally a fan of Team PCB, but I see Team B.A.D. as the new, female version of The Shield, but somehow I see Team Bella going out of this with the 'W', thus continuing their momentum.

Winners: Team Bella

WWE Tag Team Championship
Fatal Four Way Match
Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores vs. The New Day vs. Prime Time Players

Not really looking forward to this match truthfully because the tag division is back to suffering from sub-par talent.  Actually, I should say sub-par booking.  The Dragons are a great, lucha team with lots of exciting talent.  Los Matadores (the gimmick) is a tired concept and needs to die.  Primo & Epico were good enough without a gimmick, but these Puerto Rican bullfighters need to let it go.  The New Day has grown to be very annoying heels and it's really getting over with the fans and they enjoy booing these guys.  The PTPs have never enjoyed this kind of success, especially the dominance of Titus O' Neill.  I peronally wouldn't be surprised if The New Day beciomes champions again and in fact that's what I'm predicting.  Overall, it'll likely be a joke of a match.

Winners & new champions: The New Day

Family vs. Family
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. The Wyatt Family

This will be a hell of a tag team match with four superb competitors.  Reigns faced Bray Wyatt at Battleground but due to interference from Luke Harper, Wyatt picked up the win.  It was revealed shortly afterwards that Harper had reunited with his "brother" and that spelled tons of trouble (damn, if only Erick Rowan hadn't injured his tricept, we would have a full-fledged reunion of the entire family).  However, Reigns and Ambrose are Shield brothers and this rivalry between these four has been hard hitting.  I predict The Wyatts to win this one, but definitely not in easy fashion whatsoever.

Winners: The Wyatt Family

Grudge Match
Neville & Steven Amell vs. Stardust & King Barrett

At last, Arrow actor Steven Amell is finally going forward with his feud with Stardust.  Only now, they have backup in terms of Neville and Barrett.  I'm not expecting a classic by any means, and might walk the lines of meaningless, but at least we see how physical this actor can be in the ring with Stardust and Barrett.  I expect he and Neville to get the win.

Winners: Amell & Neville (billed as The Green Arrow and The Red Arrow)

If the Cena vs. Rollins match doesn't occur, there's word that it could be a triple threat match of Rollins, Orton, and Shaemus would be the replacement.Also, there are rumors of Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens, but Owens will also be a part of the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special facing Finn Balor in a Ladder Match for the NXT Title.  Stay tuned next week for the finalized card but these are the matches advertised thus far.

After the unfortunate debacle that was AAA Triplemania this past Sunday, wrestling needs a great follow-up show.  I expect something very good from NXT but also from Summerslam.  This year's Summerslam, overall, looks like an intriguing show, and I'm expecting good things from this show.  I don't root for them very often compared to ROH events or even the NXT events, but I think this could be a pretty good one.  Am I expecting something as epic as Lucha Underground's Ultima Lucha event, absolutely not.  However, am I expecting something as all over the place as Triplemania XXIII? Not at all.  This event will be right in the middle, and for a change, I hope it's a hit.  Come back in two weeks for my review of the event.  Until then, have a great two weeks!

The Tears Continue

What's happening everybody!  Unfortunately, more sad news to report from the world of professional wrestling and entertainment in general.  We now mourn the passing of WWE Hall Of Famer and  beloved wrestling icon, Rowdy Roddy Piper.  Best known for his feud with Hulk Hogan and with actor Mr. T in the early eighties, Piper would end up main eventing the first Wrestlemania, as Hogan and Mr. T, with another Hall Of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka in their corner, faced Piper and partner "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, with Hall Of Famer Cowboy Bob Orton Jr (Randy Orton's dad) in their corner.  This match marked the period known as "Rock N Wrestling", in which WWE was crossing over into the mainstream and with MTV.  As part of his superb heel act, he would often feud with globally known Pop act Cyndi Lauper over her music.  Aside from other rivalries that he would later have with the likes of Ric Flair, Adrien Adonis, and even had an incredible match with Bret "Hitman" Hart for the I-C Title at Wrestlemania VIII, he dabbled in acting.  He starred in the horror cult classic, They Live, as "Nada", a drifter who had the ability to see people for who (or what) they really were through his sunglasses.  He also starred in Hell Comes To Frogtown, and had guest appearance spots on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Cold Case, and even on reality shows like Celebrity Wife Swap and Celebrity Ghost Stories.

Longtime fans remember him in the Mid-Atlantic territories and Georgia Championship Wrestling (later called WCW).  He had big time feuds with the aforementioned Flair, Don Muraco, and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.  His rivalry with Valentine skyrocketed into a "Dog Collar Match" at the first Starrcade in 1983 in Greensboro, NC.  This match was seen as the show stealer of the evening, which wasn't bad at all considering the rest of the card and the main event being Flair vs. Harley Race for the NWA title. Although very brutal for its day (not to mention Piper suffered a busted eardrum and ended up losing fifty percent of his hearing), it showed the world Piper was a bonafide star in big match environments.

Highly seen and regarded as one of the best four talkers ever on a microphone (Piper, Rhodes, Flair, and The Rock), he was able to mix intensity with over the top and sarcastic humor with his promos.  Although he's not necessarily known for any one particular promo like Dusty's "Hard Times" promo, anytime he got on the mic you were in for a treat, although there were times he would be a loose cannon and you really didn't know what would come out of his mouth.  Piper had a gift much like Dusty and Flair, in which he didn't need a script of any kind to do a promo.  All he needed was his imagination and his passion.  He likewise is known as one of the best heels of all-time.  His obnoxious, rude, over the top ways were that of legend.  Who can forget when he smashed the coconut over the face of Snuka during the now infamous segment of his trailblazing WWE talk show segment, "Piper's Pit"?  In fact, "Piper's Pit" was such a huge hit, he actually sent it on the road.  Interview segments to later come along like "The Brother Love Show", "Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor", "Edge's Cutting Edge", and "Christian's Peep Show" all came from the groundbreaking concept of "Piper's Pit".

He still continued in wrestling occasionally after his run in WCW in the late nineties.  He was seen in TNA and even had off and on spots with WWE.  One of his last matches in the ring was at Wrestlemania XXV, when he, Snuka, and fellow HOFer Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat faced Chris Jericho in a three-on-one handicapped match.  We last saw him on a regular basis as part of the Legends House cast, along with Hillbilly Jim, Jimmy Hart, Howard Finkel, Gene Okerlund, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Tony Atlas.

I'm personally in such an immense state of shock, awe, and grief.  It was just last month we suffered the loss of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, and now this heartbreak that follows it.  I still truly can't believe Dream is gone.  It doesn't sound right nor feel right.  No matter how many tribute videos and on-stage memorials there are, I can't grasp the thought of the sport with Dream.  I'm in the exact same state of mind with Piper.  There was never really a time you never saw him smiling, even as a heel.  He was totally known for his often cheesy grins that would result in potent ass beatings.  There will no doubt be a touching tribute to Hot Rod, as he impacted so many lives in and out of the business.  A multimedia star, a wrestling icon, and an impactful human being, Roderick Toombs will never, ever be forgotten.  Hot Rod, we will always love and cherish you.  Thank you the memories, the non-stop entertainment and influence.  To quote the now late, great folk hero, "Just when they think they have the answers, I change the questions".  May the bagpipes play on!  Rest In Eternal Power Hot Rod!  The Heavenly Battle Royal now has a new entrant!

Money In The Bank Results & Review

Welcome folks!  Great to have you back with me this week.  I definitely appreciate you guys and gals hanging with me once again.  We are fresh off the heels of a very emotional past few days with the passing of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, but we are also off the heels of this year's Money In The Bank pay per view, which truthfully was a pretty good overall event.  Let's dissect the event from top to bottom.

From the onset, there was a melancholy vibe to the event, as the Kickoff panel gave recollections of the late icon himself.  From there, it was a throwaway match between King Barrett, whose run as "king" has been nothing less than a joke, and R-Truth (speaking of jokes).  Truth got the win in a shocker, but really, who cares?  Then, the panel introduced a moving and fitting tribute video dedicated to The Dream, that by the end of the video even had Renee Young audibly in tears and her voice noticeably cracking with emotion.  Very real moment.

The start of the event itself, after the kickoff, had all the stars from the company up on the stage, along with Hunter, Steph, and Vince himself, to give a ten second moment of silence with ten bell tolls.  With stars like Paige, Steph, Ryback, and even Vince with tears in their eyes, it was a heartfelt yet classy moment.  What was just as cool was the fans in complete and total pindrop silence as the bell was being rung out of respect, much like they've done with deaths of Warrior, Savage, Owen, and Eddie Guerrero.  Afterwards, Rhodes' old music played with his epitaph on the video wall.  Emotional moment and one that would reflect the rest of the evening. 

Then it was off to the races as the MITB Ladder Match was first.  I wasn't honestly looking too much forward to this simply because the match had mostly people we had seen in this match before, or people who have already been World Champions such as Shaemus, Orton, and Kane.  The only first timer in the match was Adrien Neville, and what a great job he did.  The match was primarily a spot fest, but was only an average match.  It wasn't the most thrilling or captivating one ever, but it was also wasn't a bore of course.  The end of the match came when Roman Reigns was on his way up when the Bray Wyatt montage came up on the screen and when the lights were back on, he was in the ring and tilted the latter over.  Reigns fell off and in the hands of Sister Abigail.  This made Shaemus and Neville fight on the ladder, and ultimately Shaemus got the better of the exchange and won his first MITB match, thus making him the only guy to win the World title, win the Rumble match, win the King Of The Ring, win the I-C Title, win the U.S. Title, and headline Wrestlemania.  The only guys who have ever come close to that greatness have been Edge, Cena, and Orton.  Pretty big stuff.

Next up was the Divas Title match between Nikki Bella and Paige.  Not a very bad match, but honestly you won't get one out of Paige.  Regardless, the match was pretty back and forth but Brie did a switch-er-roo with Nikki to pretend to be Nikki and tried to pin Paige but it backfired as Paige pinned Brie.  Of course the ref was fooled as Brie quickly disputed the pinfall as showed herself taking tissue out of her cleavage area to state Paige pinned the wrong Bella.  With the ref and Paige's back turned, Nikkie delivered a hard forearm to the face and Paige ultimately succumbed to Nikkie's "Rack Attack" finisher.  It definitely appears that they really wanna troll all over AJ Lee's legacy as longest reigning Divas Champion by consistently stating how long Nikkie has been champion.  She's still a little over a month away from being the longest reigning champion.

Next was the Inter-Continental Title match between Ryback and Big Show.  This was Ryback's first match defending as champion, but this was nothing spectacular, and I wasn't going to expect much from it.  Miz was at ringside commentating and not long afterwards got involved, costing Big Show the title.  Ryback lost the match but retained the title.  Blah!

However, next up was the huge rematch between John Cena and NXT Champion Kevin Owens.  Although no title was on the line, this was every bit as awesome as their first encounter, if not better.  This match had the same intensity and passion as their fantastic first meeting a couple of weeks ago at Elimination Chamber.  A key point in the match was when Owens mimicked all five moves of doom from Cena, including the Attitude Adjustment.  Cena, later, botched a hunancunrata which was a tad scary considering he landed on his neck and shoulder.  After over thirty minutes, Cena emerged victorious in this epic rematch.  Afterwards, Cena respectfully tried to shake the hand of Owens, to which Owens attacked him and canvas powerbombed him, which lead to Cena getting helped to the back by referees and officials.  In any event, an exceptional match and definite Match Of The Year candidate for the company.

The next battle was for the Tag Team Titles, as The New Day, represented by Xavier and Big E (Kofi was injured during the MITB match) faced off against the Prime Time Players.  It was very hard following the instant classic Cena and Owens put on so to no surprise the people were a little quiet for the match.  However, Titus delivered his Clash Of The Titus set out powerbomb move on Xavier Woods for the three count, and we have NEW WWE World Tag Team Champions!  After five years of being together, Darren and Titus realized their dream and hit the big time winning the gold, thus officially making them "millions of dollars".

Now we're at the main event with Seth Rollins defending the WWE Title against Dean Ambrose in a Ladder Match.  This has been one of the more excellent rivalries the company has had concerning two of its brightest young stars.  Although this has been signaled as the close out of the rivalry, this was a great way to end it.  The big fight feel was in the air similar to Cena vs. Owens, and the from the word go, it was intense.  Ambrose had his knee worked on in the match thus making it very hard to climb up the rungs of the ladder.  Also, we saw Seth have a pronounced mean streak in this match.  The end came when both men were on the ladder and had their hands on the belt, but when the belt was yanked off by both, the belt was in the clutches of Rollins when they both landed, thus making him the winner and still champion.  After the grueling match, Ambrose made a speech that was eerily similar (likely on purpose) to the "Hard Times" promo Dusty Rhodes was so very known and revered for.  Excellent moment for Ambrose and for any Dusty fan.

I must say, this was a better pay per view than I thought it would be.  Of course I had high hopes for the MITB match, Cena/Owens II, and Ambrose/Rollins and they delivered.  An amazing effort from most of the competitors in the event, and in the midst of somber and grief with the loss of a true wrestling folk hero, Big Dust would be absolutely proud, especially of his former NXT kids Owens, Woods, Neville, Ambrose, Reigns, and Rollins (whose hand Rhodes raised win Rollins won his first NXT Title).  I give this event 4/5 and was a great way to introduce us into the summer season of pay per views for WWE.

Now the stage is set for Cena vs. Owens III: Street Fight Rules, as well as Seth vs. the returning Brock Lesnar for the title and Roman vs. Wyatt.  We may have another pretty good event on our hands.  Until next time folks, have a great week and another huge Rest In Peace to "The Common Man".  We'll always love The Dream!

Requiem Of A Dream

What's up friends!  Wish I was in a better mood as a wrestling fan folks, but I'm not.  Earlier today, WWE sent out a heartbreaking press release, stating that the only and only, the legendary "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes had passed away at the age of 69.  There are stories emerging that he suffered a fall in his house just before 6:00 AM, and that he suffered complications while unconscious and ultimately expired.  While none of the stories or reports have been confirmed officially, regardless, the world, as Edge so sadly put it on Twitter, is a lot less brighter.  Dusty wasn't a man with a Greek god-esque physique or even for that matter mat abilities like say Dean Malenko or Kurt Angle, but what he did have, and have in abundance, was charisma.  It can disputed and argued that Rhodes, real name Virgil Runnels, was the most charismatic guy to ever step foot in a ring, not to mention one of the best talkers of all-time.  His promos were often times emotional, fiery, and definitely passionate.  However, they were also relate-able.  He presented himself as your next door neighbor who was a blue collar, everyday worker who just so happened to be tough, major league tough.  Take this promo for example, which is considered the best promo of his career and one of the best ever seen, when he talk about "hard times"





As you can see, promos greatly helped his on camera persona, as nowadays young wrestlers, give or take a Bray Wyatt or John Cena, sound like things are written for them for them to memorize.  Every promo he gave was genuine, from the heart, and soulful.  Yeah, many criticized him for having, what was considered, a Black style about him for a White Texan.  As well, he was criticized for his lack of physique and a rather plus-sized heavyweight.  Once one saw him wrestle, however, opinions changed and their outlook of him was rearranged as well.  He was a hell of a worker, and his rivalry with Flair and the Horsemen is one of legend and one of the single most revered feuds ever in wrestling history.  He was a three-time World Heavyweight Champion, with the majority of success coming under the Grahams in Florida.  Here's a look at him winning one of his World titles, when he defeated Harley Race in 1979.




 Dusty had a stint in WWE in the early 80s as well, with his biggest rivalry being with another legend and Hall Of Famer, Superstar Billy Graham.  Those two lost lots of blood but provided many a memory to those who would be fortunate to attend Madison Square Garden.  He ended up going back eventually to Georgia and WCW, where we proved to also be a big behind the scenes person, being behind such innovative concepts such as War Games, and he was also responsible for breaking down barriers and, as head booker, was responsible for making Ron Simmons the first Black WCW World Heavyweight Champion.   As creator of War Games, he was involved in most of the first few, and they were all involving The Horsemen and J.J. Dillon.

Perhaps his most questionable period was when he went back to WWE, this time he was booked as "The Common Man", but was wrestling in polka dots and dancing.  It was a polarizing time for Rhodes, but nonetheless he weathered the storm, and even introduced a sweet grandmother to the world who just so happened to be a huge Rhodes fan, in Sweet Sapphire.  His feuds with Ted Dibiase and the late Randy Savage were intense, and ast times personal.  During this time, he also introduced the world to his eldest son Dustin to WWE at the age of 21. Years later, Dustin would return to the WWE after having success in WCW.  He would return as the ever controversial Goldust, in which time Dusty had issues with the character, but problems between them concerning Dustin's then wife, Terri Runnels, made them estranged for a number of years.  They eventually reunited, and then  we got introduced to his youngest son, Cody, in WWE.  Cody, now known as the bizarre StarDust, would achieve great success, notably his tag championships and Inter-Continental Title run.

His role as NXT head producer was a big deal, but he was very much looked upon as a father figure to many of the developmental talents including Paige, Emma, Fandango, and Bray Wyatt, whom was like family due to his dad being Mike Rotunda, his uncle being Barry Windham, and his grandfather being Blackjack Mulligan.  He taught them the art of the promo and the microphone.  Perhaps his biggest moment came when he was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2007 by both of his sons.  Indeed, this moment was way overdue for The Dream.

This is a very sad and melancholy moment for fans all over the world, and has broken the hearts of many longtime fans of his such as myself.  He was the definition of blue-eyed soul in the sport, and was truly what one would call, a "sports entertainer".  Wise, witty, hilarious, and always humble, Virgil Runnels Jr was, and is, one in a million, and there will never in the lifetime be another Dusty Rhodes.  He was the original "People's Champion" before The Rock, and would always get "funky like a monkey" during every match he had.  To his wife, as well as Cody, Dustin, and the rest of his family, friends, and loved ones, I extend my deepest condolences and know that by myself, and every other fan, we will always love and miss Dusty, and we thank him vehemently for his powerful and dedicated impact upon the sport.  Here's a touching tribute to the late, great, American Dream.  We love you Dust!!!

Wrestling Wednesdays: The Resurgance of Mainstream Wrestling...besides WWE

What's happening folks!  Welcome back for another post of the crazy world that is professional wrestling.  For a change, this post isn't about WWE, at least not the majority of it.  This about what could be the most awesome news in many years for us professional wrestling addicts.  Last week, Destination America announced that it was bringing the legendary Ring Of Honor to its network during its 8:00 time slot.  This comes after the same network announced that it was cancelling TNA from its programming come September.  One might be saying, "How is this good news?"  For TNA fans, it's not, in fact it may be the death blow to TNA.  More on my opinions about this later in this post.  However, what this means is, for the first time in seemingly ages, is we have not one, not two, not three, but an astounding FOUR wrestling promotions in one evening starting tomorrow June 3 in the form of ROH, TNA, Lucha Underground, and NXT, all within a three hour time span.

This is something hardcore and devoted fans have been waiting for years to be able to experience.  We had Monday night wars between WCW and WWE but when was the last time we had something as monumental as four different promotions airing on one night?  I've heard of three before, but FOUR???  These aren't just any rinky dink companies.  These are the best promotions not named WWE in North America today, although one is the developmental brand of WWE.  Let's also keep in mind that Global Force is still in search of a national television home, New Japan has their weekly shows on AXS-TV every Friday, and Paragon Pro is starting up on Pop TV very very soon.  Can you imagine if one of those were to air on Wednesdays as well??  Let's break each promotion down.

Ring Of Honor has long been known to produce some of the very best indie wrestlers of all-time.  It has produced the likes of Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn (as El Generico), Austin Aries, and CM Punk.  Now these legendary wrestlers are worldwide mainstream stars.  They're still bringing out breakout young stars like The Kingdom, Moose, Adam Cole, The Briscoes, and Michael Elgin.  Not to mention, their pay per views are excellent for the most part and their following is as devout as any hardcore audience in the industry.  Plus their tight relationship with NJPW, which is the best promotion arguably on the planet, results in exceptional events when they collaborate.

TNA is not a terrible promotion, in fact sometimes it can be damn good, but unfortunately I think their best days are far behind them.  Up until about 2009, TNA was hot, I mean red hot.  When Jeff Jarrett was in charge, you couldn't find a more fresh promotion.  They even starting attracting stars such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Kevin Nash, and Rob Van Dam, and they added to the young talent and ROH-graduated talent to put on compelling television and they were by far the most fan friendly promotion.  Once Jeff and Dixie fell out over the direction of the company, it went completely downhill.  While I'm rooting for TNA, this makes the second network to cancel them so I'm not sure what's left of this promotion, but until then, I'll still be rooting for TNA.

A few weeks ago, I did a piece talking about how amazing of a product Lucha Underground was, and how it could definitely be the future of the business.  I still stand by that one hundred percent.  Every week they put on rather intriguing television.  Yeah, they can be a tad over the top with the soap opera-esque aspect of their scenes in between matches, but that's part of its charm as well.  This is what sports entertainment could really become: a male soap opera with Lucha as its main premise in story form.  Awesome competitors such as Angelico, Mil Muertes, Fenix, Johnny Mundo, Alberto El Patron, and the Lucha Champion Prince Puma all set a new standard in athleticism and in-ring storytelling each and every time, with Matt Striker and Vampiro quickly becoming one of the sports best commentary teams.  Only thing they need is a special or pay per view, and word is their special has already been taped so I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Last but not least, the quickly popular NXT.  Listen, this is billed as "developmental" for WWE's main roster.  I've been very vocal about the fact that NXT is superior in talent, enthusiasm, and by far overall special events.  Anytime the women's division can main event an all-male promotion and receive standing ovations, there's something special about the promotion as a whole.  Vince made one smart move: he left his son-in-law in charge, and Hunter has had no problem saying he misses the athleticism in wrestling and has hopes to bring back fluidity to it.  They have sold out house shows and they've delivered each and every time on their special events.  Their flagship show may not be quite the entertainment value RAW is, but if it was two hour show, you never know.  In any event, NXT has graduated talent like Bray Wyatt & The Wyatt Family, The Shield, Adam Rose, Adrien Neville, Bo Dallas, Paige, and Big E.  They've been hits and misses, but overall they have excelled on the main roster, and with word of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Finn Balor joining soon, NXT can say they're on a roll.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again.  It's a very exciting time to be a wrestling fan.  Even if you don't have cable, if you have Roku, look up and find World Wrestling Network.  It's a Roku exclusive channel that has on demand content from some of the finest indie companies out such as Dragon Gate USA, Chikara, Evolve, Shine, Shimmer, CZW, and a few others.  Only thing missing is PWG, which is highly considered the most entertaining indie company there is.  Hopefully that changes too soon.  This is such a great time and an exciting time in general.  It's almost like there's a wrestling renaissance of sorts.  However, the mistake that people like Eric Bischoff made back in the late nineties was that he was trying to compete with Vince McMahon.  One knows by now, don't compete with him.  Instead, just let the environment be conductive for alternatives.  There's enough room in this game for a lot of people.  Yeah we know VKM is a greedy bastard when it comes to competition and he has single handedly bastardized the integrity of the business once he took it away from his father Vincent James McMahon in the early eighties.  Still, we have enough room to have fun with other promotions.  It's healthy for the fan.  Everyone doesn't want PG, we want grown folks wrestling and action.  On Wednesdays, we will start having it continuously.  Even when TNA leaves in September, think about it, there will still be ROH, NXT, and Lucha.  I'm still very pleased. 

Well before I go, I'll give one last shout to my people that follow me and keep up with me on a weekly basis.  I'll be giving a preview and predictions for WWE's next pay per view, Money In The Bank.  Until then, have tons of fun this and every Wednesday, because after all, it's now Wrestling Wednesdays!!  See you guys and gals next week.

Elimination Chamber Results & Review

What's going on kiddies?!  Glad you could make it back with me for my posts on the latest happenings within professional wrestling.  This post concerns last night's Elimination Chamber pay per view "exclusively" on the WWE Network.  This event came as a complete and total shock a couple of weeks ago, as it was announced as breaking news during the Payback pay per view that this would be a "special WWE Network exclusive".  This was an obvious PR move to bring in more viewers and subscribers, thus making the month of May free for new subscribers.  The push and build for this event was rushed and accelerated to the point where most didn't have enough time to fully absorb some of these story lines (apparently that's the new direction creative is going in is planning two week builds instead of monthly builds, which is completely idiotic but I digress).  The question is, was the two week build worth it?  This actually wasn't a bad show.  Let's get into it.

The first match was the WWE Tag Team Championship EC match.  The New Day was defending against Cesaro/Tyson Kidd, Prime Time Players, Los Matadores, The Ascension, and Lucha Dragons.  All three members of The New Day were allowed in this match so odds were automatically against all competitors (yeah, the matadors had their bull mascot but does he really count in this environment??).  This wasn't a terrible match, as The Ascension did a good job eliminating two teams, as did the PTPs.  There were high spots in this affair from the likes of The Dragons and El Torito, but in the end, the numbers game was too much as The New Day retained the belts.

Next up was the Divas Title match, as Nikki Bella defended against former champion Paige and Naomi in a Triple Threat Match.  While this wasn't a train wreck, as the effort was appreciated, this was no NXT Women's Championship match either, as this was just short of a botchfest, with Nikki subsequently kicking air at one point, and Naomi doing a botched reversed huracanrana on Paige and thus resulting in a terrible bump that could've hurt Paige.  Nikki won with her "Rack Attack" finisher to retain her title.

Next was personally the most anticipated match of the night for me, as it was billed "Champion vs. Champion", with U.S. Champion John Cena against the ultra hot NXT Champion Kevin Owens.  This match was every bit worth the hype, as we saw an outstanding performance from Owens.  For those of us that have been familiar with his in-ring work, this is no shocker, as he's been one of the sports hardest workers for years, especially since he lost over forty pounds.  The build for this match has been actually pretty good, and the actual match was excellently executed (sorry, Bret).  Easily the match of the night, there were quite a few near falls and, whether or not you like Cena, he showed up as always for the big fight.  We saw Steen, er I mean Owens, attempt swantons, single leap moonsaults, and a great reversal to a superplex, but Cena hung right with him.  In the end, Owens delivered a second "Lights Out" pop-up power bomb (Cena kicked out the first one), and it was enough to hold down Cena for the huge win.  The dominant Canadian has beaten a TON of big stars over the years such as Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Joey Mercury, AJ Styles, and of course Sami Zayn (mostly when Zayn was El Generico), but none as big as Cena.  There were shots of a stunned crowd, which was quite entertaining.  Afterwards, he got on the mic and proclaimed "The champ is here!"

While that was a hard match to follow, next was Neville vs. Bo Dallas.  These two aren't strangers, as Dallas lost the NXT Title to Neville at the first NXT Takeover special called NXT: Arrival.  This was clearly a filler match, so even though Neville won with his spectacular "Red Arrow" finisher, this was a bathroom break match.

It was time for the second EC match, only this was for the vacant Inter-Continental Title.  Former champ Daniel Bryan was at ringside to present the belt to the winner.  Bryan had quite the entertaining appearance on MizTV with The Miz during the pre-show, that had The Meta-Powers appear and attack Miz.  It was announced that Rusev was out of the match due to a fractured foot, which is apparently legit.  There was speculation as to who his replacement was going to be, as rumors of Bray Wyatt to Big Show surfaced.  While we knew Ziggler, Ryback, Shaemus, Barrett, and Truth were already in, who would the replacement be?  Turned out to be a slightly slimmer Mark Henry, who came out to a fairly decent reception in his home state of Texas.  A better EC match then the Tag Title EC match, we saw impressive showings by everyone involved.  What was surprising to me was the Barrett, favorite in this match, was the first one eliminated.  It finally came down to the odds on favorite to win, Shaemus, and Ryback.  In a surprising twist, Ryback pinned Shaemus with his "Shell Shock" finisher to win his first major championship, much less it being the I-C Title.  Bryan graciously handed the belt to a jubilant, yet humbled, new champion.

It was finally time for the main event.  The WWE Title was on the line as Seth Rollins defended against former Shield-mate Dean Ambrose.  These guys have been fighting since last year but only now it's for the title.  Obviously you can expect great overall chemistry between these two, but this was honestly the worst match between the two that I've seen, though that doesn't mean it was a sloppy snoozer whatsoever.  These two put on a pretty good performance overall.  The finish came when Rollins pulled the ref in the way of a flying Ambrose and got nailed by him.  Not long afterwards, Ambrose hit Rollins with his "Dirty Deeds" finisher, but the legal ref was knocked out of the ring.  In comes another ref to count down Rollins for the pin so we had a new WWE World Champion, much to the huge delight of the Corpus Christi crowd (say that five times fast).  Wait, there's more.  The original ref awoke to tell the sub ref that he's overturning the pinfall to disqualify Rollins, therefore although Ambrose won, he's not the champion.  An irate Ambrose went after Rollins, Kane, and J&J, only to be saved by best friend Roman Reigns, in which Ambrose and Reigns pulled a CM Punk, and left the arena with the title.

While this pay per view wasn't a game changer (as most WWE pay per views aren't), this was at least a little better than Payback.  This could be a set up for the MITB pay per view in two weeks.  The participants for the match were announced as Reigns, Neville, Kofi (???), Ziggler, Shaemus, and Orton (like we don't see who will obviously win this one).  Clearly, Cena and Owens stole the show like I predicted that they would during my prediction & preview post, and they didn't disappoint whatsoever.  The rest of the night, well...again it was better than Payback, but not by much.  However, I'm very much looking forward to Wrestling Wednesdays starting this Wednesday, with TNA, Lucha, NXT, and now ROH.  I'll be posting about this tomorrow and how big of an impact this really is.  I give Elimination Chamber maybe a 3/5, which is half a point higher than Payback.  Again, I'm not looking for anything higher than that before Summerslam.  What can you say?  Until tomorrow folks, take it easy!