“Come on, Universe, I need y’all to help me out with this. I need y’all to talk to Goldust. Goldust has a spot in the Mixed Match Challenge. The show is about to come on. Y’all know I’ve been injured, right? Y’all know I’ve had two surgeries on my shoulder, right? Well I’m in rehab, I’m working out, I’m getting ready to come back, and I’m coming back in a big way. I need Goldust to give me that spot. He turned on me. Dog, do the right thing. Give me that spot.”
For his part, Goldust seems to be ignoring him. He’s also been busy trying to recruit Asuka to be his partner, though it doesn’t appear to be working:
It isn’t uncommon to hear about two people getting together while in WWE’s Developmental Territory known as NXT. Many couples have gotten together and started families after meeting in pro wrestling and it looks like another couple recently tied the knot. Former NXT star and Tough Enough winner Sara Lee and NXT star Wesley Blake were married in […]
Beyond Wrestling returns to Powerbomb.tv tonight at 6PM Eastern with Heavy Lies the Crownin Worcester, Massachusetts. So sign up (with a ten-day free trial, twenty days with promo code BEYOND) or log in, have a sit-down, and chat about it with the finest pro wrestling community on the internet while you watch, whether that’s on your computer or through the brand new Roku app that Powerbomb have released for public beta testing.
Best of all, a very special double-sized Powerbomb Pre-Game will be airing free for everyone on Beyond’s YouTube channel!
Here’s a run-down of the card for tonight, and we’ll update with basic results here, too:
Beyond Powerbomb Pre-Game (6PM Eastern)
Damien Smith vs. Kyle the Beast
Brian Milonas vs. Mikey Webb
“Supercop” Dick Justice vs. Orange Cassidy
American Strong (Jay Freddie & Rory Gulak) vs. Chuck O’Neil & Tom Lawlor
Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams (Powerbomb.tv Independent Wrestling Championship)
Brandon Watts vs. Zenshi (Santiago Street Fight)
Heavy Lies the Crown (9PM Eastern)
Amityville Project (Dan Barry, Mike Verna, Rex Lawless, & Ryan Galeone) vs. Pull It Club (Dorian Graves, Joey Ryan, Johnny Cockstrong, & VSK)
Flip Gordon vs. Wheeler YUTA
John Silver vs. Jordynne Grace
Josh Briggs vs. Keith Lee
AR Fox vs. Rickey Shane Page
Matt Riddle vs. ??? (Unfortunately Jimmy Jacobs suffered an injury at the Xcite show last night and Riddle’s replacement match has yet to be named)
Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) (Tables, Ladders, & Chairs Match)
David Starr vs. Joey Janela (Fans Bring the Weapons Match)
Now with 2017 pretty much behind us, the final thing I’d like to do is look forward to 2018. And specifically, as a fan, I’d like to put forward some things, both big and small, I’d like to see with the promotion this upcoming year.
Let’s get right to it:
Stability
One of Impact’s biggest problems last year was constant change. After Anthem purchased the company, there were many different people who ran through management and consulting positions. Because of the continuous flux, they never gave any one vision time to grow, both creatively and as a whole.
The promotion will be starting under new guidance this year. While Ed Nordholm is still the president, Don Callis and Scott D’Amore have been brought on to really run both the business and oversee the creative aspects of Impact. It’s a fresher vision that even got the endorsement of Chris Jericho, who called and gave a recommendation for his fellow Canadians.
Whatever their vision may be, it will need time to germinate. I’d like to see them get a chance at the helm for the entire year. I don’t want to read a press release in 3 months that Impact has parted ways with Callis and D’Amore.
A Clear Identity
Because of all the shift last year, Impact hasn’t gotten a chance to create an identity under their new ownership. When I tune into other promotions, I know what I’m getting. When I watch Ring of Honor, I know I’m going to see very high work rate matches, some where I may have to suspend my disbelief more than usual. When I put on New Japan, I know it’s going to have a big onus on the in ring action where wins and losses are extremely important. Even though it’s more wrestling/telenovela hybrid, Lucha Underground is a great example of carving out a very unique identity.
But when it comes to Impact, I’m not really sure who they are.
That’s going to be up to Callis and D’Amore. Do they want to focus on their international aspect, with their relationships with Pro Wrestling Noah and Triple A? Towards the latter portion of last year, they started airing matches taped at indie promotions. Scott D’Amore owns Border City Wrestling, one of the promotions that had been featured, so that’s a possibility.
Whatever it is, it need to be Impact’s own image. Pro wrestling is such a broad art form that it can take up so many different styles. Impact will need to find their own niche if they want to give people a reason to put them back on their wrestling line-up.
A Consistent Roster
This is somewhat piggybacking off my first point, but I wanted to give it a bit more focus. The Impact roster was ever changing this year as management teams changed. The initial shift was to be expected, but throughout the year, that continued. We really never knew who to think of when thinking of Impact.
When Scott D’Amore and Don Callis were on Talk Is Jericho discussing their vision, one of the things they touched on was how they aren’t going to own characters. Meaning a character like Rosemary can be Rosemary wherever she goes. She owns it. Not Impact. D’Amore spoke about how that will be mutually beneficial, helping the talent develop their characters while getting the promotion exposure when those wrestlers are elsewhere. They also made it sound like they are getting away from exclusive contracts. This idea confused Jericho a bit, who thought there need to be some wrestlers who are Impact wrestlers..
Y2J is right. There have to at least be a handful of wrestlers you think of when you think Impact and where Impact is where you need to go to see them. Right now, it’s really just EC3, Rosemary, and Eli Drake that I think of as characters that I need to watch the promotion to see on TV. Alberto El Patron could become a fixture. Johnny Impact can be as well, though he’s also a Triple A and Lucha Underground wrestler so Impact isn’t the only place you can go for your John Morrison fix.
Some Buzzworthy Angles
Now I’m going to get more into the creative aspect. And the one thing that would be very beneficial to Impact is a big angle. Something that gets people talking on social media that gets people talking about the promotion in a positive way.
Last year, they had nothing that fit that bill. Most news about Impact were negative such as their public feud with the Hardys, Alberto El Patron’s suspension, and rumors of them being out of money. There were never any exciting wrestling storylines that people talked about. The last time Impact had people talking in a positive light was back in 2016 with the Broken Hardys and the Final Deletion.
If they want to get more eyes on their product, they need to get their attention. It shouldn’t be flash for the sake of flash, but they should do something that let’s fans know there’s a reason to check out Impact.
Make a Decision Regarding the Grand Championship
Much of what Billy Corgan did in 2016 with Impact was positive, but the Grand Championship he introduced never found its place.
This is a title that’s defended in a three round bout. Either competitor can win at any time by pin or submission. But if they don’t, it will go down to the judges, who grade each round on a number of factors. The matches themselves do a good enough job altering the psychology to fit the stipulation, but they’ve never found a place for the title in the promotion overall.
There’s no specific division or type of wrestler that competes for this belt. It’s just whoever wants to try. And they never established what type of wrestler or which style can have the advantage in the match. The title could work, but it needs more care. Or they can go in the other direction and scrap it. Right now, it still feels out of place.
A Stronger Tag Division
One positive for Impact last year was replenishing certain rosters, such as their Knockouts division and their X Division. One that didn’t benefit from a division rebuild was their tag division.
In fact, the last 6 months, the tag scene has been a single feud between oVe (Jake and Dave Crist) and LAX. Don’t get me wrong. Both those teams are very talented. But tag wrestling is an important part of a show and they need a deeper division.
These are some things I’m hoping to see from the promotion next year. How about you? Anything you’d like to see? Sound off below.
“This match was very important to me and very interesting because it’s a match that nobody thought could happen. It’s a lot like Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in you take two huge stars from two separate places and put them in a match that nobody thought could happen. So, to me, it’s exciting for me after 27 years of being in the wrestling business, it’s exciting for the fans both in New Japan and worldwide, and I think it gives Kenny a whole new aspect of his career.”
He’s not necessarily wrong that it’s similar in the sense that no one really and truly believed Mayweather vs. McGregor would happen until it did and you could argue the same for Jericho vs. Omega. But that’s just about the only way it’s similar.
On behalf of everyone here at WrestlingNewsSource.com, I want to take this time to wish you all a very Happy New Year! We thank all our readers and listeners (WNS Podcast) for your continued support in our 11th year online.
I also want to thank all of those who follow us
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We wanted to pass along a quick update on Braun Strowman. It was confirmed to us that he has the flu and that is why he was sent home on Thursday. There’s no word on his status for Monday Night Raw. They have a segment planned that involves Strowman, Brock Lesnar and Kane but they […]
This is not a list of the best content produced on Cageside Seats over the past year but rather the most popular.
The Rumor Roundup is far and away our most popular post each day and because of that it dominated the top 10 in traffic (eight of the top 10 stories, although not the top two). So we’ll break this up into the top 10 Rumor Roundups, and the top 10 outside of that.
A guy like Chis Jericho needs to get around a lot and it turns out he has done most of his travelling with one particular airline throughout his illustrious career. He’s performed in just about every place you can think of and travelled the world as both a pro wrestler and rock star for years […]
The son of the late great Brian Pillman, Brian Pillman Jr made his debut last night in Indianapolis, going against on Jonathan Wolf. Pillman Jr. was aged just three when his father passed away on October 5, 1997 due to a heart attack caused a heart condition called arteriosclerotic heart disease.
Pillman Jr. tweeted
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We reported yesterday that Braun Strowman had been sent home from the WWE Holiday tour due to illness. It is now being reported by Wrestling Observer Radio that Strowman was struck down with Flu.
WWE decided to send him home on Thursday. During Friday night’s WWE live event at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, Kane
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The Infamous Vince McMahon "Ear Tug" which featured in the segment in which Ric Flair made his return to WWF in 2001 as Vince McMahon’s business partner has been explained by Bruce Prichard on his ‘Something to Wrestle’ podcast. Reddit user JMPBass summarized what Prichard revealed:
"I was listening to the
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An eBay buyer has actually purchased strands of Sasha Banks hair with a closing bid of $39.99. The auction closed yesterday for two strands which were plucked from a WWE t-shirt!
The description of the auction read:
"This auction includes two stands of purple hair from WWE superstar Sasha Banks.
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WWE started up a series it’s calling “Superstar Superfan,” which is just a deep dive into the how much of a fan of wrestling — and WWE, more specifically — its wrestlers are. Episode one features Bayley, and she tells a few fun stories, like this one about Matt Hardy, whom she met when she was 15:
“Really embarrassing, I had a boyfriend at this time. That I met in like summer school and then this happened and I swear that’s all I could talk about. ‘He did this, and then he did this in his match, and he gave me a hug, look at all these pictures.’ I was posting it all over like MySpace and stuff. I literally think the reason this guy broke up with me is because I couldn’t stop talking about this. I don’t know if he was jealous or if he was just like ‘this chick is weird.’ Maybe a combo of both but Matt Hardy ended my relationship. So, whatever man.”
Luke Gallows recently was interviewed on The Steve Austin Show in which he discussed how he got into WWE, his Impact Wrestling run and working with Hulk Hogan. Below are the highlights:
On getting a job with WWE:
“I called Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Ace every week, like, ‘Hey guys,
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As noted, WWE Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan dropped the puck before this weekend’s Springfield Thunderbirds hockey game, and the above video has been released, featuring Bryan revealing his worst ‘Yes’ chant experience.
The Springfield Thunderbirds hosted former WWE champion Daniel Bryan at the MassMutual Center, where he got a chance to meet fans and show off how to perform his “Yes!” chant just right.
Dean Ambrose at UFC 219
As seen in the Tweet below, injured WWE star Dean Ambrose was in attendance for last night’s UFC 219 event:
Former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout Lisa Marie Varon (a.k.a. Tara in IMPACT Wrestling, Victoria in the WWE) reunites with Mr. PEC-Tacular Jessie Godderz on the current season of TAINTED STREAMS streaming exclusively on Amazon and Amazon Prime.
Varon and Godderz were known in IMPACT Wrestling by the moniker, Hollywood’s Hottest Couple and The Hollywood Power Couple.
Godderz Tweeted the following on Varon’s appearance:
WWE is the destination for many people but it looks like one Impact Wrestling star probably won’t be headed to Vince McMahon and Company anytime soon. There have been some assumptions Chelsea Green aka Laurel Van Ness is headed to WWE. She reportedly asked for her release from Impact Wrestling at the same set of […]
Several readers sent word that former WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett (Stu Bennett) seemed to tease a Royal Rumble appearance on his Instagram account. Bennett joked that his abs would be back in time for the Rumble. I’ll just say that anything is possible but I highly doubt that he would spoil a Rumble surprise […]
Artist Rob Schamberger ends his run of paintings in 2017 the same way he rang in the year, with The Phenom himself!
Randy Orton Trolls Zack Ryder
As noted, WWE star Zack Ryder is in a relationship with Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Laurel Van Ness, aka Chelsea Green, and Ryder Tweeted the following to Van Ness as she apparently did not respond to his text message:
Back in America The land where nobody’s heard of ‘Thank You’ or ‘You’re Welcome’. So good to be back!
The man who returned to WWE telling us all we would soon have to “face the facts” must now face the fact that he did not win a single match in 2017. According to CageMatch.net, he wrestled 123 times.
His losing streak now stands at 0-152.
He lost singles matches, he lost tag team matches, he lost handicap matches, he lost battle royals, he lost pay-per-view matches, he lost television matches, he lost dark matches; hell, he even lost NXT matches.
He lost 20 different singles matches to Kalisto, and a few more involving Kalisto in tags. He didn’t lose to anyone as much as he lost to Kalisto.
ROH star Silas Young recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard, and below are some interview highlights:
On overcoming a heroin addiction:
“There are certain situations in life that are character-building, and I feel like that was one of those moments in my life,” said Young. “Sometimes, the battles with yourself are the hardest battles, and that goes for a lot of people. Our own worst enemies are often ourselves, so it takes a lot of mental checking-in-with-yourself–almost giving yourself a daily mental pep talk–because our biggest opponent is our self.”
On working with Jay Lethal:
“Jay Lethal is the face of the company, and he’s a guy who is very well-respected in the wrestling industry,” said Young. “To be able to have a program and ‘Last Man Standing’ match with him, and to walk away as the winner, that was a huge step for me and my career. It lit a fire under me, and helped propel me along toward the World Television title.”
On being ROH TV Champion:
“I want to take this title and run with it,” said Young. “It’s a hard task to accomplish, but I want to raise the Ring of Honor World Television title and elevate it higher than it’s ever been. I also want to live up to it; what the title means, the standards former champions have set, and surpass it. I’m up for the challenge.”
As seen in the video above, WWE Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan dropped the puck before the Springfield Thunderbirds hockey game:
Former WWE champion Daniel Bryan was the guest of honor Friday night as the Springfield Thunderbirds hosted the Hersey Bears.
Kevin Nash Happy to Say Goodbye to 2017
WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash, who underwent several surgeries this year, is not sad to see 2017 go, as he Tweeted the following:
Happy new year to everyone. I’ll be happy to flush 2017 down the shitter. 4 surgeries and a rough 8 week shoot in Savanah. Not even going to touch political year. May 2018 be the best ever for everyone.
Celeste Bonin (formerly Kaitlyn in WWE) has revealed who her opponent will be when she returns to the ring in February. As we previously noted, she has not wrestled a match in almost 4 years. In a recent Instagram post, she revealed that her opponent will be Rachel Ellering (aka Rachel Evers). Bonin wrote the […]
It starts with Aiden trying to look like an every day American wearing a scarf and opera jacket but quickly turns to mudslinging. Not only does he chide the New Day for gyrating their hips in our faces, but he also implies Booty-O’s causes cancer. That’s dirty, man.
To add to the smear tactics, there’s the case of this questionable Super PAC that’s popped up attacking the New Day further. (A Super PAC that Aiden himself retweeted but denies any association with.)
The only difference between this and real politics is I actually don’t want this to end this Tuesday. In less than a week, Woods and English have been incredibly entertaining building this on social media. It’s a shame it’ll end so soon.
So who’s got your vote? #WoodsUSChamp or #English2018?
John Cena’s new animated movie “Ferdinand” is expected to take in another $15.9 million at the box office, bringing the movie’s total so far to $58 million. Considering the movie’s budget was $111, it still has a long way to go before it recoups its investment.
As of now, the movie aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes has the film scoring a 72% rating with critics, which is good, however the movie is only scoring a 45% rating from audiences. The average fan rating is a 2.8 out of 5.
Sasha Banks On Goals for 2018
As 2017 comes to a close, Sasha Banks Tweeted the following:
Curt Hawkins’ WWE losing streak continues, as he racked up his 150th consecutive loss at the WWE Hartford Live event on December 28th. On the “achievement”, Hawkins and Finn Balor Tweeted the following:
As noted, Woken Matt Hardy used his old “Broken Matt Hardy” TNA entrance theme at the WWE MSG live event this past week, however at the WWE Albany live event which took place this weekend, he was back to using his classic Hardy Boyz entrance theme:
WWE.com has released its list of the top 10 most viewed GIFs of 2017, and below are the top 5. Also making the list were GIFs featuring superstars such as John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Lita and Triple H:
In an odd piece of news, a fan recently won a WWE auction for a ring worn Connor’s Cure shirt, and when the fan received the item he discovered two of Banks’ hairs still on the shirt. The fan actually decided to sell the hair via eBay, and you can check out the listing here.
Former WWE Diva Kaitlyn’s Return Opponent Revealed
As noted, former WWE Diva Kaitlyn will be returning to the ring at Coastal Championship Wrestling’s Breaking the Chains event, and it has been revealed that she will be facing Mae Young Classic competitor Rachael Ellering:
Well here it is. You’ve all been asking me if I’m returning to the ring. I’ve been training with @pablomarquez94at his school, #maineventtrainingcenter, for the past few months and rediscovered my love for pro wrestling. I never really intended on wrestling again. I just starting training again because it’s been extremely therapeutic and has ignited my passion again. I want to thank Pablo for welcoming me to his family. It’s been almost four years since I stepped into the ring. This year has been super pivotal for me. I’ve discovered a lot of things about myself and spent so much time deciding who and what I want to be. I’m a lot of things. I’m an entrepreneur, a pro wrestler, a mess, and an unstoppable freight train. There’s so much i want to accomplish and have so much unfinished business. I’m not going to say that I’ll be doing more shows but this one is just super meaningful for me. It’s a symbolic match for me. How appropriate for it to be called “Breaking Chains”. In a lot of ways, I’ve spent 2017 breaking chains ….from my divorce to the mental limitations that existed in my head. Join me on February 10th for this awesome show. I’ll be the main event and will be wrestling @therachaelellering. Ill be filming the ups and downs while training for this show. Can’t wait to share that with you all. I’ll post more details about how to grab some tickets. For now, visit CoastalChampionshipWrestling.com/ tickets. See you guys there! Thanks for all the love! #prowrestling#coastalchampionshipwrestling#babyface#dontcallitacomeback#butdo#celestialbodiez#breakingchains
It certainly looks like WWE is about to pull the trigger on Tye Dillinger’s heel turn. The feeling on him has been that the main reason he is over is the “10” chants but he has a lot more to offer. A couple of days ago, we noted that Dillinger worked as a heel during […]
Thr following video has been released, featuring The New Day sending pancakes to Carmella in an attempt to woo her into being their partner for the WWE Mixed Match Challenge. After Carmella reminds them that the fans will decide their partner, the New Day demands that the WWE Universe make it happen:
As noted, AJ Styles vs John Cena vs Jinder Mahal headlined last night’s WWE live event in Tampa, which was the final event of 2017, and WWE posted the following photo:
The end of year means end of year look backs. But I’m really going to just use that as an opportunity to vent about something I’ve wanted to vent about for awhile. I’m going to complain online about what I felt was the most disappointing thing in wrestling this year:
Dropping Luke Harper from the WWE title scene at WrestleMania
SmackDown spent months telling a compelling story surrounding Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Luke Harper. It started late in 2016 when Orton joined the Wyatt Family and they eventually became tag team champions. Wyatt was happy but Harper never trusted Orton. And when they lost the titles, Harper and Orton started having issues, issues that Wyatt seemed to take Randy’s side regarding. Then in the Rumble, Luke attacked both of them in the beginning of a face turn. It was awesome.
Things became more intriguing when Bray won the WWE title at Elimination Chamber. A month earlier, Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble and now it put these allies on a collision course. But not right away. The Viper said he wouldn’t fight his leader Bray and relinquished his title opportunity.
The SmackDown authority went to work to decide a new #1 contender for Wyatt at WrestleMania. They booked a battle royal where the winner would go onto earn that opportunity. At the end, AJ Styles and Luke Harper (supposedly) hit the floor at the same time. To rectify that situation, Styles and Harper were set to go one on one. It was looking like they were building to that eventual triple threat match that had been in the works for a number of months.
But then Harper lost clean to Styles.
It was soon predictably revealed that Orton was playing Bray this entire time and he burned down Sister Abigail’s resting place… maybe. I dunno. It was all rather convoluted after that. Orton went to defeat Styles to re-earn the right to face Wyatt at WrestleMania.
Harper was done with the title scene. And it was extremely disappointing. There was legit a story set up between the three of them for months. A triple threat would have made perfect sense. But it didn’t happen.
Instead, Harper was an inconsequential member of the Gronk Battle Royal. This is a man who is very talented in the ring and has a silent charisma. Crowds seemed to be getting behind Harper as an odd babyface. Remember when he saved John Cena from Wyatt and Orton? Weird face Harper was great!
To make matters worse, the one on one match between Orton and Wyatt at Mania straight up sucked. It was by far the worst match of the night. So it’s not as if they removed Harper but then put on a great show. We got lame projections of bugs that were just confusing and a disappointingly predictable Orton win. Adding in Harper would not have made anything worse. It wouldn’t have been possible to make it worse. He could have also taken the pin if they wanted Bray to lose without losing so clean.
Pretty much, WWE stopped telling a great story involving the three men, leaving a very talented wrestler confined to the pre-show battle royal, and then had a terrible WrestleMania championship match (which was followed by a lame gimmick non-title rematch, but we’re not even going to get into House of Horrors).
That is the biggest disappointment of the year for me. What’s yours?
“The Queen” defends her Raw Women’s Championship against Bayley in the first match of the 30th annual Royal Rumble event.
Sami Zayn Talks Facing AJ Styles Next Week
WWE has released the following video, featuring Sami Zayn hyping his match against AJ Styles on Smackdown Live Tuesday night. Zayn says that he will set the tone for 2018 with his non-title bout against Styles, to make up for the lackluster 2017 he had thanks to Shane McMahon:
CWE Pick Your Poison
12/30/2017
Prince Albert, SK
Results Courtesy of PWInsider.com
CWE Canadian Unified Jr Heavyweight Championship Match
1) “Tornado” Tony Kozina def. Chayse Britton to retain
2) “The Crazed Cowboy” Jacob Creed def. The Big Chief
3) Brian Logan def. The Canadian Cougar.
4) Kevin Lee Davidson def. “The Canadian Crusher” AJ Sanchez via DQ after outside interference from Brian Logan and Jacob Creed.
5) Kevin Lee Davidson, The Big Chief, & Chayse Britton def. AJ Sanchez, Brian Logan, & Jacob Creed – Jake “The Snake” Roberts served as a Special Guest Enforcer.
There’s a ton of wrestling content nowadays and unless you’re a hardcore pro-graps fan, you have to decide what to watch when and what to consider leaving out. That’s where we come in to help.
Every week, we are going to run down the big in-ring happenings for the easily accessible US wrestling. This won’t cover your indie needs, but ReverendKain always has you covered in his weekly Sermon on the Mat for that.
Bear in mind, matches could be added after this posts that would definitely change how worth a show is to watch.
Monday
Monday Night Raw (USA Network)
While Raw didn’t really mail it in for Christmas, they are back in the new year ready to really get things going as they head towards the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV).
The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar will return to build his triple threat match against Kane and Braun Strowman at the PPV.
Also, Samoan Joseph will get another Intercontinental title match against Roman Reigns. If Roman gets disqualified he will lose the title. Is that stipulation just for intrigue or will they use it to get the IC title off the Big Dog without having to take a pinfall or submission loss? Either way, their chemistry is awesome so this should be fun.
Cedric Alexander will finally challenge Enzo Amore for the Cruiserweight champion here.
And of course, they have two Royal Rumble matches to build to and plenty of people who need to declare themselves for them.
Verdict: We’re about a month away from the Rumble so things will start to pick up as they head to Mania season.
Tuesday
SmackDown Live (USA Network)
This week, Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable will get their championship match against the Usos. No doubt it’ll be a good one.
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon’s issues are slowly simmering but they’re going to boil over eventually. I don’t expect that to specifically happen this week, but I expect it to happen sooner than later. Shane indirectly costing AJ Styles a match against Kevin Owens last week isn’t going to help matters.
Speaking of, AJ Styles will face Sami Zayn this week in another non-title match. It’ll surely play into the overarching tale.
The US title tournament likely continue, With both Xavier Woods facing Aiden English and Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder. I’m looking forward to both of those first round matches probably more than potential second round matches.
Verdict: It’s the time of year where it’s worth paying attention to WWE more.
205 Live (WWE Network)
This will be fallout from the Cedric Alexander/Enzo Amore title match from Monday.
Verdict: If you like the cruisers or certified g’s or POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS, check it out.
Wednesday
NXT (WWE Network)
This is a 2 hour “Best of 2017” episode.
Verdict: I always look at “Best of” episodes as content I can skip, but there’s plenty of fun stuff to look back on if you’re interested.
Thursday
Wrestle Kingdom 12 (NJPW World)
It’s the biggest show of the year for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Their main event will be Tetsuya Naito challenging Kazuchika Okada for the world title. Just behind that is frickin’ Chris Jericho challenging Kenny Omega for the US title.
But the whole card looks good and you can look all of that over here.
Verdict: If you’re ever going to watch NJPW, this is the time to do it.
Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)
Impact has their last show from the latest set of tapings and it’s a loaded one.
Alberto El Patron will challenge Eli Drake for the Impact world title
EC3 will defend his Grand Championship against Fallah Bahh and Matt Sydal
LAX will challenge oVe for the Impact tag titles, but if they lose, they have to leave Impact
James Storm will face American Top Team’s leader Dan Lambert in a career vs. career match
Chandler Park (aka Ethan Page) will have his first match
Verdict: It’s a loaded show and in that sense it’s worth watching. Though who knows if next week’s newest regime will change things that will make this show obsolete. I don’t tend to think so, though, since much of the creative team is sticking around.
If I could only watch one thing this week, it’d be:
Wrestle Kingdom
This is a no-brainer for me. The Jericho bit is super interesting and just seeing him wrestle outside WWE for the first time in decades will be something. The title match will surely deliver. And the rest of the card looks fun. I’ll be getting up and putting this on immediately, staying off social media until I watch it all. (Luckily, I have the day off.)
There’s a ton of other wrestling out there and we can’t cover it all on here. So if there’s something you’re particularly excited for this week, let your fellow wrestling fans know in the comments.
During the latest Defiant Wrestling show the event ended when Austin Aries, the current Defiant Wrestling Champion brought out the entire IPW roster to attack wrestlers and break the ring.
Matt Riddle Misses His Flight
Matt Riddle posted a video on social media of him at the airport after missing his flight, admitting that making 6 am flights is something he sucks at.
WWE UK star, Joseph Conners has posted a collection of images to his Twitter of his highlights from 2017, including a range of WWE work and independent wrestling.
Just a few moments from 2017 that made it a fantastic year.
Though I will not stop in 2018, if you think 2017 was good. 2018 is going to be bigger & better. Whether you're with me or against me, this journey is going to be an exciting one! http://pic.twitter.com/9ARFg16VaJ
Flying Brian Pillman was a man with athletic prowess unlike many and a unique personality that could be described as charismatic along with many other things. The Loose Cannon sadly passed away long before his true potential in the pro wrestling business could be reached but it turns out that he left a legacy and […]
The final episode of Being The Elite for 2017 has been posted, showcasing lots of behind the scenes footage of the group as well as deleted scenes and bloopers throughout 2017.
Travis Banks Recaps 2017
Current PROGRESS Wrestling Champion, Travis Banks has recapped his 2017 on Twitter, posting images that showcase his major moments.
Thanks 2017 you were the absolute best year of my career. Can’t wait to see what 2018 brings! Have a good one everyone http://pic.twitter.com/7LngJJhadm
James Storm has been confirmed to appear for Southside Wrestling after three years since his last appearance. Storm will be wrestling on Southside’s February 3rd show in Stevenage, England.
Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we look at the rumors from six months ago and see which played out as originally predicted. Let’s get right to it.
There’s some word going around that Daniel Bryan had more testing done on himself within the past couple months and it may have gone well, hence the talk of him wrestling again when his WWE contract expires. It’s not expected he will ever wrestle for WWE again.
We’re getting close and closer to knowing.
Rusev could be in the US title picture shortly after his return to television.
He hasn’t been in the US title really at all since coming back. Not surprisingly, he’s killing it in his newest role as a member of the Rusev Day tag team. (0/1)
On a recent podcast, Ryback claimed Dolph Ziggler has been wanting to work an angle with him through said podcast.
From the sounds of it, they are good friends. But this would never have happened since Dolph is/was in WWE and Ryback is not.
According to PW Insider, Billy Corgan’s purchase of NWA will be going through now that trademark issues previously holding it back have been resolved.
John Cena vs. Roman Reigns is a feud that will be happening sooner rather than later, and WrestleMania 34 at the latest.
It happened after SummerSlam at No Mercy. (1/1)
The Observer has reported WWE was working to bring Mauro Ranallo back as far back as late April, both because he’s great and because they don’t want him talking about anything that has happened.
An interesting rumor. I can believe it on all accords.
SEScoops is saying Alberto El Patron and Paige have broken up. PW Insider is saying the couple are still together.
They both can’t be right. This was before Berto was suspended for their incident at the Orlando airport so they weren’t broken up at this time. They are now though. (1/2)
Mike Kanellis said Kevin Owens was the one who urged him not to sign with Impact Wrestling when he and Maria were close to doing so, leading to the two coming to WWE.
Another interesting one. I wonder if Mike Bennett is feeling good about his decision given he’s not really being used. On his social media, he is very positive towards the company (though of course he is). He was also able to benefit from their rehab program and getting clean is way more important than TV time. Hopefully we’ll see him back on our television’s eventually because I find him entertaining.
Both Alberto El Patron and Paige took to Twitter to shoot down rumors they’ve broken up.
Six months later they no longer are. That may be better for both of them.
Jeff Jarrett is teasing a big name from Orlando for Slammiversary, and it’s expected to be Shaquille O’Neal.
It was not Shaq. The celeb they had at that PPV was D’Angelo Williams, who wrestled in a tag team match alongside Moose. He was quite impressive. (0/1)
Plans call for Great Balls of Fire to be an annual show for WWE, says Jerry Lawler, so get used to the name/come up with new jokes.
Io Shirai’s WWE debut will be delayed for “quite a while” according to Wrestling Observer due to neck injury she suffered in May and tried to treat with rest that was identified by WWE medical during her initial physical exam .
Delayed indefinitely in the sense they found a heart issue as well as the known neck issue and didn’t end up signing her.
Vince McMahon was apparently very unhappy with the Lavar Ball family segment on Raw this week but the company is still going to push the appearance for the exposure it’s getting.
Yeah, that segment went off the rails.
Carmella was always planned to win the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, both the first and second.
It would have been really crummy if she didn’t win it a second time.
Expect Bayley to take on a decreased role on Monday Night Raw for the time being.
She sustained a shoulder injury in August. However, prior to that, she won the right to face Alexa Bliss for the Women’s title, which is not a decreased role. (0/1)
According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Tyson Kidd will be transitioning to a non-wrestling role within WWE, though it’s unclear what that role will be exactly.
I haven’t heard anything about Tyson doing anything currently, though it is certainly possible he’s acting as a trainer in NXT or working as a road agent.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was never scheduled for Monday Night Raw and WWE has no plans to use him anytime soon.
I can’t speak to if he was schedule for a specific Raw, but they certainly haven’t done any business with the Texas Rattlesnake anytime recently. (1/1)
The Ball Family was supposed to remain at ringside and be involved in the six-man tag which followed their Miz TV segment on Monday, according to Wrestling Observer, but that plan was scrapped after LaMelo’s “inappropriate language” into a live microphone.
That segment was just a mess in general.
WWE brought in a child actor to film some scenes as a young Bray Wyatt, says PWInsider. No word yet what they’re for or how they’ll be used.
I can’t speak to whether or not they actually brought in a child actor, but they haven’t had a young Bray Wyatt at all.
Insider also reports more Southpaw Regional Wrestling footage was recently shot, including new characters played by The New Day, Seth Rollins and Rhyno.
This is true, including the new characters. (2/2)
Lisa Marie Varon, aka former WWE Women’s champ Victoria, was also in San Diego for SmackDown and posted on Instagram that she wanted to go backstage to congratulate the Money in the Bank participants but “the office” wouldn’t let her.
Will Ospreay returned to PROGRESS Wrestling yesterday at its Chapter 60: Unboxing show as a surprise opponent for the PROGRESS Championship against current champion, Travis Banks.
Ospreay was defeated in his return match, but he took to Twitter to state how he needed that match and gave some major praise to Banks as a wrestler, claiming he sets the standard in the UK.
2 Era.’s 1 Love. @travis_banks13 is the standard in the UK. Either work to raise the bar he set. Or quit. Simple
English celebrity and model, Jodie Marsh attended the PROGRESS show yesterday, and following the event she took to Twitter to announce she wants to become a wrestler herself.
So I went to my first ever wrestling show today! It was @ThisIs_Progress and I loved it. I’ve decided I want to be a female wrestler but I need to be a red head again and I shall call myself simply “Red” http://pic.twitter.com/hFd3vHhQho
UK independent company, Preston City Wrestling announced the first tag team that will be taking part in its ‘Road To Glory’ show next year, with the UK Hooligans being revealed as competitors in the tournament.
WWE Toronto Live Event Results 12/30/2017 Toronto, Canada Results Courtesy of PWInsider.com
(1) Finn Balor def. Karl Anderson (w/Luke Gallows)
(2) Rhyno, Heath Slater, Goldust Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews def. Curt Hawkins, The Revival, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel
Elias Concert- Elias sang ‘Hotline Blin’ from Drake, he was then interrupted by Kane. The pair sang a song together but the segment ended with Elias being Chokeslammed after he told Kane he was a terrible singer.
RAW Tag Team Championship Match:
(3) Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan def. The Bar to retain
(4) Asuka, Bayley & Sasha Banks def. Dana Brooke, Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax- Mickie James was the Special Referee.
(5) Matt Hardy def. Bray Wyatt
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
(6) Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe—No Contest
The main event was brought to an abrupt close as we reported yesterday due to Joe bleeding heavily.
Here’s your “Daily Open Thread” for Dec. 31, 2017. Come chat about whatever you would like. Come back all day and night for discussion of all things pro wrestling and beyond, some of the former but much more of the latter. Basically, this is the spot to yak about anything related to anything other than pro wrestling.
Don’t forget to check out everything else we have going on here at Cageside today. Keep checking that front page for content throughout the day, but for now, scroll on down to the comments and talk about whatever your heart desires.
The next pay-per-view (PPV) on the WWE schedule is the Royal Rumble event set to take place on Sun., Jan. 28, 2018, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the company’s annual beginning of the year showcase featuring its most popular gimmick match. It will crown the next number one contender to either the Raw (Universal) or SmackDown Live (World) championship. And this year, the women get a Rumble too!
We’re still a month away from the gates opening in the City of Brotherly Love but the card is starting to take shape.
Royal Rumble (Men)
Elias was the first to declare from Monday Night Raw. Over on SmackDown Live, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura quickly threw their names in the hat.
Royal Rumble (Women)
It’s still unclear if there will be 15, 20, or 30 wrestlers in this match but there have been four women to officially declare for it: Naomi, Ruby Riott, Natalya, and Asuka.
Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane (Universal championship)
They booked a Strowman vs. Kane top contender match but when that ended in a double countout and the two started arguing with Lesnar over a title shot, they were both granted one. That’s a strange thing, in its own way, awarding two wrestlers a title shot they couldn’t outright earn with a victory, but whatever.
Everybody who comes to Cageside Seats has an opinion about what’s going on in pro wrestling – The Smark’s Shoot Standings (S3) are where YOU let us know YOURS.
Cast a vote in the comments. Give us the four performers you think entertained or impressed the most in the last week, and feel free to talk about why. And/or vote for your top performer in our poll.
We also have the outcome of last week’s voting, the results of which make up our annual competition for Performer of the Year.
Remember, the Standings are for the previous week’s nationally televised and internet streaming pro wrestling shows – the Dec. 25 episode of Monday Night Raw, Tuesday’s SmackDown and 205 Live, NXT from Wednesday,ROH TV #327 and any other internet streaming wrestling that aired from Dec 24 – 30, 2017.
Make YOUR mark, smarks!
People who want to complain about their Rusev Day celebration being ruined? The man who ruined them is available to listen to your grievances…
…pretty sure it will just get you a punch in the mouth, though.
Boston’s elation at seeing RuRu and the source of his vocal accompaniment almost carried them to a Standings win, but in the end, Lana’s man could only split the lads involved in their latest WWE UK title classic.
Clash of Champions and its fallout delivered a great week for Team Blue, as a disgruntled (now former) US champ, half the #1 contenders for the tag belts and the WWE titleholder all represented for The Land of Opportunity.
A debuting cruiserweight and one of their workrate kings showed up for the red brand, though. Along with…
My new all-time favorite tie for tenth place.
The S3: 2017 – 18, Week 38
1. Pete Dunne 2. Rusev 3. Tyler Bate 4. Dolph Ziggler 5. Aiden English 6. Chad Gable 7. Hideo Itami 8. AJ Styles 9. Cesaro 10. (tie) Brock Lesnar 10. (tie) Drew Gulak
Points in our weekly Standings determine our annual list – full details on rules and scoring HERE.
Ah! It is his Day after all! The Handsome One will be ELATED to learn he’s now in the year-to-date Top Ten. The injured Lunatic Fringe probably won’t be thrilled to see he’s been bumped off with little chance of gaining any more points between now and WrestleMania 34, though.
The S3 Performer of the Year – through the Week Ending Dec. 23
As noted, Absolute Intense Wrestling issued a statement last night noting Sid Vicious, who had been announced to appear at an event in Cleveland, Ohio, no-showed the event and blamed his inability to travel on President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
AIW has since released audio from the phone call featuring Sid offering the excuse, and you can listen to it in full in the player above.
Additionally, as seen below, Impact Wrestling star EC3 actually dressed as Sid during last night’s event and signed autographed copies of Sid photos in Sid’s absence.
@RealJasonJames You see this brother? As much as it pissed Sid off, I actually think EC3 vs Sycho Sid story line would be a great way to bring that FIRE back to Impact Wrestling. And with as fast as social media moves I wouldn’t wait long to capitalize on it if you are. #FistBumphttp://pic.twitter.com/jCYQVJmAsC
Independent wrestling alive and well in Cleveland. Sid backed out of his booking because of “the trump travel ban.” He was replaced by ESid3 (EC3, a cleveland treasure). Took pics and signed headshots of sid for the crowd. A+. Strong Sid games on display. @newgenpodcasthttp://pic.twitter.com/I5AtVAImv6
The main event of tonight’s WWE Toronto live event saw Roman Reigns face Samoa Joe, and at one point in the bout, Joe was legitimately busted open. Despite Joe not wanting the match to end, the referee eventually called for the bell, ending both the match and the event.
Joe and Reigns were brawling on the outside of the ring when Joe was busted open over his eye, and after being checked on by WWE officials, the call was made to end the bout. You can check out photos and video below.
As we noted earlier this week, Samoa Joe will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw Monday night in Miami, and if Reigns is disqualified in the match, he will lose the Title.
The first photo from the upcoming Transformers spin-off BUMBLEBEE has been released, featuring lead actress Hailee Steinfeld with a distinctly ’80s looking Volkswagon Beetle. You can check it out down below. The film, which is tentatively set for release in December 2018, will also star 16-time WWE world champion John Cena in currently unknown role.
BUMBLEBEE will be directed by Travis Knight, a somewhat unique pick given his role as a key member of the Oregon-based Laika studio, which primarily handles stop-motion animation such as PARANORMAN and KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS. Peter Cullen, the iconic voice of Optimus Prime, has also revealed he will play a role in the film.
There has been a lot of speculation about a possible heel turn coming for Smackdown Live star Tye Dillinger. The rumors began picking up steam after he began performing as more of a villain at WWE live events, turning his “Perfect 10” gimmick around and demanding that he was the only real “Perfect 10” in the business.
Dillinger has only been used sparingly since being brought to the main roster, despite coming in with a considerable amount of hype behind him. He was involved in a United States Championship program briefly earlier this year along with AJ Styles and Baron Corbin, and just this past week lost to Jinder Mahal in a tournament to crown a new U.S. champion.
Speculation aside, its not uncommon for WWE to tryout new concepts at live events, whether or not they actually end up on television in the long run. There have also been plenty of instances where characters debuted with new twists at house shows, and the transition wasn’t made to the televised product for several months afterwards.
Fans that attended the live event in Toronto on Saturday night noticed that the main event ended abruptly. You will see that Samoa Joe was bleeding badly a few minutes into the match. The trainer tried to clean him up as best as he could so that the match could continue
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Fans that attended the live event in Toronto on Saturday night probably noticed that the main event ended abruptly. Scroll down to see the video and you will see that Samoa Joe was bleeding badly a few minutes into the match. The trainer tried to clean him up so that the match could continue but […]
If you forgot to buy a Christmas gift for someone on your list then you’re in luck. If you go to eBay right now then you can buy strands of Sasha Banks hair…yes, seriously. You can find all kinds of things on eBay but this might be one of the creepiest wrestling-related things I’ve seen […]
Sid Vicious was all set to appear for Absolute Intense Wrestling for an event on Dec. 29 when, just hours before the show, he had to cancel. His reasoning? President Donald Trump’s travel ban, or something like that. Here’s how the promotion explained it in their announcement (via Facebook):
Sid claimed Donald Trump’s travel ban prevented him from boarding his flight to Cleveland this morning because of an unpaid speeding ticket and he claimed this is new government policy since he didn’t have his passport even though he was traveling within the United States and is a United States Citizen. We recorded his cancelation call just so there is proof of all this and we we will do our best to play the audio tonight or on a future episode of our podcast.
Now, the audio is here and you can listen to it above.
Sid rambles on and on, at one point even getting into the idea that he, too, didn’t want Colin Kaepernick playing in the NFL because he was kneeling during the National Anthem. It’s really an amazing audio, and may do more for AIW’s exposure than Sid actually showing up would have.
Tenille Dashwood, formerly known as WWE Superstar Emma, announced via Twitter this weekend that she is “in the process of creating new entrance music and merch” for her return to wrestling in 2018.
The Australian wrestler was released from her WWE contract back in October, and has already announced several international bookings beginning in February. She will face Deonna Purrazzo at Wrestlefest XXII in the United States on March 2nd, before working the UK promotion IPW on April 29th, and German promotion wXw on May 5th. Tenille will also be headlining a show for WrestlePro on February 3rd against former Impact Wrestling Knockout Angelina Love, which should be her first match back.
In the process of creating new entrance music and merchandise for the new year! February is around the corner and guess what!? It’s still all about me!
What do you guys want? If you have suggestions for music or ideas and designs for merch, make sure to tag me so I can see!
Former Impact Wrestling stars Jesse Godderz and Lisa Marie Varon (aka Victoria/Tara) are reunited on the latest season of Amazon Prime’s “Tainted Dreams”.
The show goes behind the scenes of a fictitious soap opera called “Painted Dreams”, where Godderz joins the crew in season two as a reality TV “bad boy with a troubled past who is given one last chance to try to get his life together”, while the former WWE Women’s Champion plays his parole officer. You can rent or buy seasons one and two now on Amazon.com, and both are completely free to watch for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.
Bayley recently sat down with Peter Rosenberg to talk about her WWE fandom in a YouTube segment called “WWE Superstar Superfan.” The segment focuses on WWE Superstar’s past as superfans. She talked about her “weird” obsession with Lita and The Hardy Boyz when she was growing up. She talked about the posters she had in […]
Sid Vicious blamed President Donald Trump‘s travel ban as the cause of him missing a recent indie booking and the company released audio of his nearly 10-minute explanation.
Absolute Intense Wrestling posted the clip on YouTube which features Sycho Sid’s full reasoning. It’s hard to track everything he’s saying, but it sounds like his license was suspended due to a speeding ticket so he wasn’t allowed to get the airline ticket they had booked for him.
When the promoter begins to ask questions, Vicious says that’s what the person at Delta told him … even though that’s not the airline he was flying on.
At one point Sid begins to gripe about Trump’s battle with the NFL and says he didn’t want Colin Kaepernick playing anymore due to taking a knee during games, but the way the President handled things has made people not want to watch football anymore.
Absolute Intense Wrestling’s John Thorne has posted the phone conversation he had with Sid Vicious. After several attempts to get in touch with Sid, he was finally able to get him to pick up after he called from Swoggle’s phone. As previously noted, he missed out on a booking in Cleveland for their show on […]
PROGRESS Wrestling returned to the Electric Ballroom in Camden this weekend for their annual New Years event, returning to their unique “Unboxing” format for the second year in a row. There were no matches or even wrestlers announced for the show, as the entire card was presented as a complete surprise to the fans in attendance.
PROGRESS Chapter 60: Unboxing Live!
December 30, 2017
Camden, London, England
8-Man Elimination Tag Team Match
– Tyler Bate, Mark Davis, James Drake & Chris Brookes def. Kyle Fletcher, Trent Seven, Zack Gibson & Inflatable Kid Lykos.
– Jack Sexsmith def. Joe Coffey
6-Pack Challenge
– Millie McKenzie def. Candyfloss, Chakara, Charlie Morgan, Charli Evans and Sierra Loxton
12 Days of Christmas Tag Team Match
– Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins def. Clint Margera & Drew Parker
– Rampage Brown def. Flash Morgan Webster
PROGRESS World Championship Match
– Travis Banks (c) def. Will Ospreay to retain
WWE United Kingdom Championship Match
– Pete Dunne (c) def. Gentleman Jack Gallagher
WWE Superstar “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher made a surprise appearance at this weekend’s PROGRESS Chapter 60: Unboxing Live event in London, England. The 205 Live roster member challenged “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne in an unsuccessful attempt to take the WWE United Kingdom Championship.
JR Brings “Slobberknocker” to Philly
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has announced his new VIP meet and greet experience, the “Slobberknocker Sessions” which will kick off on January 28th during Royal Rumble weekend.
Good ole’ JR is no stranger to spoken word tours, although he claims these sessions will be a much more intimate, no holds barred experience for the fans. Tickets are $75 and there will only be 100 made available for the debut event, which will run at 12:00 noon as to not interfere with NXT Takeover: Philadelphia.
You can purchase your tickets now through TicketFly.com to add Jim Ross to your Royal Rumble weekend package. Every ticket comes with a personalized copy of his recent autobiography, “Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling”.
The speculation on John Cena’s WrestleMania match has continued over the last few days on social media. Just to be clear, as first reported in the recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the rumors of a John Cena vs. AJ Styles match at WrestleMania match are incorrect. The only thing that is known is that Cena’s match […]
WWE aired 16 different pay-per-view (PPV) events in 2017. Let’s take a look at all the wrestlers who competed in these main event matches and see which superstars appear with the highest frequency. For the purposes of this article, the “main event” match will be defined as the final match of the night.
Here are the 16 main event matches from 2017:
Royal Rumble: 30-man Royal Rumble match
Elimination Chamber: Cena vs. Styles vs. Ambrose vs. Wyatt vs. Miz vs. Corbin
Fastlane: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg
WrestleMania 33: Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
Payback: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Backlash: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
Extreme Rules: Balor vs. Rollins vs. Reigns vs. Joe vs. Wyatt
Money in the Bank: Ziggler vs. Nakamura vs. Owens vs. Styles vs. Zayn vs. Corbin
Great Balls of Fire: Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe
Battleground: Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton
SummerSlam: Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Joe vs. Strowman
No Mercy: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman
Hell in a Cell: Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens
TLC: Angle, Ambrose, Rollins vs. Kane, Cesaro, Sheamus, Strowman, Miz
Before I tally the names, I am going to exclude Royal Rumble from consideration. The main reason I am interested in this exercise is to see which names dominated WWE’s main event scene in 2017, and giving credit to all 30 men from the Royal Rumble match doesn’t really offer much insight for that purpose. Perhaps I am screwing over some guys like Orton, Wyatt, Undertaker, Goldberg, Lesnar, and Reigns, who were featured stars at the end of that match, but I will leave it to the readers to make any adjustments to this list that fit their personal preference on this matter.
With that said, here is the full tally of which superstars competed in the most PPV main events in 2017, excluding Royal Rumble:
I am especially curious to see which wrestlers competed in the most one-on-one main event matches. The list of main event matches shows that some lesser stars like Ziggler and Roode can occasionally sneak into one of these matches in a group ladder match or team survival match. But the one-on-one main events are usually reserved for the very biggest stars on the roster.
There were 9 one-on-one main event matches in 2017. Here is the tally of which wrestlers appeared in these matches:
3 matches: Jinder Mahal
2 matches: Owens, Lesnar, Orton, Reigns, Strowman
1 match: Joe, Shane, Goldberg, Undertaker, Styles
So there you have it, Cagesiders. These are all the superstars who dominated WWE’s main event landscape in 2017. Some of the big changes from 2016 include the rise of Strowman, Joe, and Mahal. The lack of any female superstars also stands out, as well as Seth Rollins not landing a one-on-one main event match.
How do you expect WWE’s main event landscape to change in 2018?
The following results are from PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 60: Unboxing Live! 2 – Unbox Harder at The Electric Ballroom in Camden, London, England on December 30th, 2017: 8-Man Tag Team Elimination* – Tyler Bate, Chris Brookes, Mark Davis & James Drake defeated Trent Seven, Inflatble Lykos, Kyle Fletcher & Zack Gibson *Elimination Order: James Drake…
We got a new move from Booker T on this week’s “Tell Me Booker Didn’t Just Say That.”
And it’s southpaw right-hand jab.
Samoa Joe had Roman Reigns in the corner and that’s what Booker T decided to describe his punches as. I’m not to sure where it came from, especially as Joe has a “right hand of destruction” T-shirt up on WWE.com right now.
Corey Graves was quick to correct Booker T after he threw off all of our equilibiums.
The following results are from Futureshock Wrestling Underground 24 at The Longfield Suite in Prestwich, Manchester, England on December 28th, 2017: Legacy Tournament Semi-Final – Joey Hayes defeated Abel Stevens by pinfall to advance to the Legacy tournament final. Legacy Tournament Semi-Final – Bubblegum defeated J.J. Webb by pinfall to advance to the Legacy tournament…
3 Count Wrestling have announced a second match for their January 27thth event, Hysteria at the Middlesbrough Events Centre in Middlesbrough, England. It has been confirmed that Amir Jordan will defend the 3CW North East Championship against Ace Matthews in a lumberjack contest on January 27th at The Middlesbrough Event Centre. Photo Credit: 3 Count Wrestling…
We noted earlier this week that the Nationwide Arena is advertising a Fatal 5-Way for the WWE Championship for the Fastlane pay-per-view on March 11. Clearly, that’s the current plan but if they need to swap someone out of the match (ie. the winner of the Royal Rumble) then that is always a possibility. The […]
Insane Championship Wrestling have confirmed a second match for their February 11th event, The 7th Annual Square Go at the O2 ABC in Glasgow, Scotland. It has been announced that the number one contenders, Krobar and Stevie James of The Purge will challenge Polo Promotions’ Jackie Polo and Mark Coffey for the ICW Tag Team Championship…
HOPE Wrestling Leicester have announced three new contests for their January 6th event, Evolution 56: They Cut Me To Ribbons And Taught Me To Drive at the West End Working Mens Club in Leicester, England. The first new match confirmed will see Cara Noir defend the HOPE Championship against Jake McCluskey in Leicester on January 6th.…
Dragon Pro Wrestling have signed a championship match for their February 4th event, Beyond Good Or Evil at The NEON in Newport, Wales. It has been announced that Jimmy Havoc will challenge Danny Jones for the All Wales Championship in Newport on February 4th at Beyond Good Or Evil. Photo Credit: Dragon Pro Wrestling The announced match…
HOPE Wrestling have confirmed a third match for their January 5th event, Freakshow 8: New Year At Shooter McGavins’ Place at The Hairy Dog in Derby, England. It has been announced that Chris Tyler, Ashley Dunn, Kip Sabian and Chief Deputy Dunne will compete in a fatal 4-way match in Derby on January 5th. Photo Credit:…
10. Tye Dillinger at Royal Rumble 9. The Revival on Raw 8. The Riott Squad on SmackDown 7. Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: Orlando 6. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville on Raw 5. Bobby Roode on SmackDown 4. Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown 3. Asuka on Raw 2. Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III 1. Samoa Joe on Raw
Some places do power rankings. Here at Cageside, we do a stock report.
In this weekly series from our video dream team of Cain A. Knight and Stephanie Hatala, we’ve got three Superstars (or teams of Superstars) who are on their way up, and three that are moving in the opposite direction. And after shows which spanned real and kayfabe holidays, featured the return of a 16 time champ and gave us a new tag titleholders… there were a lot of fortunes changed.
Check it out and see if you agree with their picks.
Searching the name Sasha Banks on eBay will bring up tons of merchandise available for purchase … but the weirdest item is a recent upload from someone selling strands of her hair.
The seller’s description reads as follows: “This auction includes two stands of purple hair from WWE superstar Sasha Banks. I found these strands weaved into the connors cure tshirt I purchased on WWE auction. I pulled them out and placed in a bag. These are from the 9/18/17 Raw episode when Sasha comes out to block Alexa Bliss from leaving the match against Nia Jacks.”
It’s also noted that this auction is for “the hair strands only, not the signed ring worn tshirt.”
For those interested, the shirt comes with a letter of authenticity — but ya never know with eBay, so buyers beware (that you’ll look creepy owning this).
Braun Strowman has been sent home from the WWE Holiday tour due to an illness and has been deemed too unwell to wrestle by WWE medics.
The news was first reported by PWInsider who noted he was scheduled to participate in a segment with Kane on Friday where he powerslams him through
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This year’s debate over the “Wrestler of the Year” isn’t much of a debate at all, not really. You can talk all you want about how great Kazuchika Okada was, or how Kenny Omega reached new heights, and all the great matches both of them had, and yadda yadda. None of it compares to what Braun Strowman did.
He emerged from that ambulance bloodied and bruised, but not broken.
Later in the year, at TLC, his own teammates turned on him, with Kane crushing him with chairs before The Miz, Cesaro, and Sheamus all ganged up to throw him in a garbage truck, where he was compacted.
He was gone for a week and then reappeared like this:
That’s still one of the greatest bits WWE has ever aired and I will emerge from a sea of trash to fight you if you disagree.
Also, Strowman was responsible for the “GIF of the Year” too!
PWInsider.com has reported that WWE Raw Superstar, Braun Strowman has not been on board with the Holiday Tour for the Raw brand. Strowman partook in the first two nights of the tour, but has been reportedly sent home due to illness. Strowman was sent home Thursday, but no word on his condition as of yet.
Rusev Day Delivers Rusev Approved Message In Response To Xavier Woods’ Tweet
In response to Xavier Woods’ Tweet, beginning his United States Championship Campaign, Rusev Day has released an exclusive video, approved by Rusev himself.
In the video, Aiden English starts his own campaign, detracting from followers of Xavier Woods. English was recently announced as Xavier Woods’ opponent in the first round of the United States Championship Tournament. English asks if we would want someone like Xavier Woods, or someone sophisticated and classy like himself, who surrounds himself with people like Rusev. He has even started his own campaign hashtag, #English2018
Xavier Woods is the only member of the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history to not have held singles gold (or in this case red, white and blue), we’ll likely need a babyface for the eventual and inevitable showdown with Dolph Ziggler, The New Day freebird-ing a singles title has long been on many a fan’s wish list, with a popular YouTube channel and well-established presence in the gaming world he’s a great pop culture ambassador for the company, and Rusev isn’t in the tournament anyway, so we’re on board with this campaign:
WWE.com announced the following:
WWE Champion AJ Styles and Sami Zayn will square off in a non-title match on SmackDown LIVE this Tuesday night. The battle marks the first time these two Superstars will battle one-on-one on the blue brand, though these two have been no strangers to one another
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ProWrestling.com’s own Doug Enriquez recently caught up with former Mae Young Classic competitor Santana Garrett, who will be in action at an absolutely STACKED MLW: Zero Hour show this January. Santana has wrestled all around the world for numerous promotions including WWE, Impact Wrestling, Shimmer, Shine Wrestling and is a former NWA World Women’s Champion and Wonder of Stardom Champion.
You can check out Doug’s full interview with Santana using the player above, or by connecting with our podcast newtork on iTunes, Google Play, Sticher and aCast.
On the women’s wrestling “boom” current happening:
“When I first started training I was the only girl in my class. It was all guys and then me. In the state of Florida it seemed like I was only wrestling Leva Bates and Christina Von Eerie for the longest time, because there were no other females down here in my area. And now in my all-girl Lady Warriors class we have 10-15 girls, so there’s definitely been a boom in women’s wrestling. Sometimes with there being more females it hurts you. There are more girls gunning for that same spot. But at the same time I’m very happy to see that opportunities that are opening up for these women.”
“It’s amazing to me, because the girls are crushing it. Not just in WWE and not just in wresting; girls all over the world in every different sport, and more than just sports are crushing it. We’re given these opportunities, we’re taking them by the horns, and we’re exceeding the expectations. That’s why we’re going to continue to get more opportunities.”
On having WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross call her match at the Mae Young Classic:
“I was wrestling a little independent show and I met JR the previously year back in Texas. [It was a] really small show, kind of in and out, but he remembered me. So at the Mae Young Classic I said ‘Hi, my name is Santana nice to meet you,’ and he knew exactly who I was. It was so incredible, I really did not think that he would remember me. Actually, for the last MLW event I was on his podcast, which is definitely on my wrestling bucket list so it was very cool.”
Santana will be in action at MLW: Zero Hour on January 11th as a part of a massively stacked card that is only getting bigger. Fans in the Orlando area or looking to travel can get tickets at this link, and the show will be available for online viewing within a few days of taping live.
“It’s such a stacked card. If you are not in the Orlando area – actually, there are fans that fly in for these events because they are that amazing. The atmosphere and amount of talent that is under one roof. We have so many different athletes with different backgrounds; UFC fighters, an almost 500-pound super heavyweight, high-flyers, brawlers, [some of the best]women’s wrestling in my opinion – MLW has it all.”
Below is the most recent match card for MLW: Zero Hour.
Death Match
– Jimmy Havoc vs. Shane Strickland
– MVP vs. Low-Ki (w/ Stokely Hathaway)
– Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb vs. Tom Lawler & Seth Petruzelli
– Rey Fenix vs. Penta El 0M
– Darby Allin vs. Sammy Gueveara
– Brody King vs. MJF
Also signed: Santana Garrett, Jason Cade, Barrington Hughes, Rhett Giddins, Jimmy Yuta, and The Dirty Blondes!
If you have tickets to any of the shows taking place this weekend, you should not expect to see Braun Strowman. As reported by PWInsider, the reason why Strowman disappeared after the first two shows of the Holiday tour is that he is dealing with an illness and he was sent home by the company. […]
This past Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown Live featured Sami Zayn helping Kevin Owens win a non-title match against WWE Champion AJ Styles. Next week’s match could feature the reverse.
That’s because WWE.com has announced Styles will wrestle Zayn on the first episode of 2018:
WWE Champion AJ Styles and Sami Zayn will square off in a non-title match on SmackDown LIVE this Tuesday night. The battle marks the first time these two Superstars will battle one-on-one on the blue brand, though these two have been no strangers to one another in recent weeks.
Shane McMahon is still heavily involved in all this, so he’ll surely be around in some capacity that has very little to do with the his status as Commissioner.
In addition to this match, next week’s episode of SmackDown will Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin challenging The Usos for the SmackDown tag team titles and the continuation of the United States title tournament.
WWE has announced that AJ Styles will take on Sami Zayn on the first episode of Smackdown Live in 2018. This would be the first time they’ve competed against each other on a WWE TV show. The match was made after Styles lost his match to Kevin Owens on last week’s show thanks to Zayn’s […]
WWE has announced a big match to be taking place on the first episode of Smackdown LIVE in 2018.
First announced on their Twitter and an article on WWE.com, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn will be squaring off for the first time ever on Smackdown Live.
These men have come to know each other well in recent weeks, most recently with Sami Zayn interfering in a match where his best friend Kevin Owens went against the WWE Champion, AJ Styles. Thanks to Zayn’s interference, Owens was able to pick up the victory.
Styles looks to get his revenge on Zayn after last week, but it’s likely that Kevin Owens won’t be far behind his best friend to give him a hand as well. Join us live on Tuesday for live coverage of the event, and we will update you with more information about the match and anything else Smackdown Live as we get closer to the show!
Had enough of “Best Of” Lists Yet? WWE hasn’t. In a new article on WWE.com, WWE has listed what they consider to be the 10 most underrated matches of 2017. Each match listing includes what WWE says about the match, and then a quote by a superstar that partook in the matchup. You can see the full article in the source link below, but matches listed (in no particular order it seems) are:
Randy Orton vs. (Luke) Harper – WWE Elimination Chamber
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Neville vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher – WWE Fastlane
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James – WWE TLC
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler – Smackdown LIVE (June 20th)
Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas – NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)
Sami Zayn vs Braun Strowman, Last Man Standing Match – Raw (January 2nd)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Lumberjack Match: Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto – Raw (October 9th)
Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match – Smackdown LIVE (June 27th)
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament: Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews
Mae Young Classic – Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair
Which WWE Veteran Superstar is Most Likely To Win A World Championship In 2018?
In a bit of an odd post, WWE has asked fans in a poll which Superstar is most likely to win a world championship in 2018. The four choices given include WWE COO Triple H, WWE Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, and Goldberg. Currently Kurt Angle leads the way with 34% of the vote, but he’s closely followed behind by Triple H, who has 33% of the vote.
It’s not known if this is foreshadowing by WWE, but Goldberg and The Undertaker seem to have WWE in their rear view mirrors, while Kurt Angle has yet to have a singles match, although heavily rumored to be at WrestleMania.
At New Japan’s Power Struggle show, the announcement that shocked the wrestling world was made. Chris Jericho will face Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, and this match alongside the world title match between Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito meant the show now has a double main event. Not only are two main events better than one, but the double main event is a masterstroke from New Japan for more reasons than one.
There is little argument against the fact that Kenny Omega vs Chris Jericho is the biggest match in professional wrestling today. Not only is it a dream match, but it’s wrestling’s version of Floyd Mayweather v Conor McGregor.
While Jericho v Omega may not be the money match McGregor/Mayweather was, it is still something wrestling fans thought they’d never see due to both men wrestling in different worlds, and the odds of a match like this happening (especially in New Japan) seemed very slim.
Yet here we are, less than a week away from Alpha v Omega. Alongside Alpha v Omega is the world title match featuring the two top Japanese stars, Okada and Naito. Both are the main events, but both offer the fans and the company something very different.
The Global Appeal
Last year, New Japan’s big reveal for Wrestle kingdom came in the form of Cody Rhodes, and while that certainly added a lot of excitement to the big show. It does not compare to the excitement that Chris Jericho has generated.
Jericho’s announcement gave wrestling fans a moment which can be hard to come by nowadays. Not only did Jericho’s appearance shock everybody, but it became a moment where time stood still, and wrestling fans came together to celebrate the news.
With Jericho, Wrestle Kingdom has, for the first time in many years, worldwide appeal. Jericho may be a WWE legend, however, he still remains one of the top superstars in the company. Social media will also have made sure fans of both Jericho and WWE are aware of his impending mega-match with Omega.
New Japan has not only felt the excitement of the fans through social media – they have felt it in their bank account. Wrestle Kingdom 12 has already sold 30, 000 tickets which means it is already a bigger crowd than last year’s event. Not only that, but Jericho posted a photo on his Instagram showing Jericho vs Omega being advertised on the marquee of the Staples Centre in LA. It’s hard to believe Wrestle Kingdom being advertised at such a venue, had it not been for the presence of Chris Jericho.
Home-Grown Main Event
While the Jericho v Omega match has the world’s attention, it’s possible in Japan, Okada v Naito may still hold the number one spot. New Japan has always brought in foreign stars, however, they have never forgotten about their own. The worldwide appeal is important, but the company has, and will always be a Japanese promotion with Japanese stars at the forefront.
Japanese fans are incredibly loyal, and all one has to do is tune it to a match with Okada or Tanahashi to see how much they care for their top stars. Okada and Naito are the two top Japanese stars, and their match not only pits two of the best against one another, but it is also a match that allows New Japan to retain the importance of their home-grown superstars.
Diversity
The Wrestle Kingdom main events are not only different because one features a match between two foreigners (with one being a WWE superstar) and one between two Japanese performers. Both are set to offer two completely different styles of matches at the Tokyo Dome.
A late, yet intelligent move by the company saw Jericho attack Omega at a recent New Japan show. The lights dropped, and Jericho then beat Omega to a bloody pulp. Later, Omega attacked Jericho at the post-show press conference, and the physicality and intensity instantly changed the direction of this match.
The US title bout is now a no-disqualification match, which means we are no longer expecting a pure wrestling match in the clash between Alpha v Omega. The blood and anger of both performers gave us a swerve which we did not expect to see in this rivalry, and it also allowed the match to seperate itself from every other match on the show.
Now fans know that in the match between Jericho and Omega, we can expect a violent and physical affair. Whereas in the world title match, we can expect a classic wrestling match between two of the top stars in the company.
From increasing ticket sales to appeasing the national audience, the Wrestle Kingdom 12 double main event has seemingly ticked every box for New Japan. It’s hard to believe both main events will not deliver the goods on January 4th, and when the show fades to black, it is sure to leave fans all over the world feeling very happy.
No word on whether or not we’ll be getting a 10 most overrated matches of the year (although many would argue that the website’s top 25 list for 2017 includes a number of contests for which WWE didn’t offer a fair evaluation), but there’s plenty to chew on in this one – both in terms of really good matches you may have forgotten in the sea of really good matches we got in 2017, and ones that were probably properly rated and best forgotten.
Give it a look and let us know what you think:
Randy Orton vs. Harper at Elimination Chamber
Neville and Gentleman Jack Gallagher’s Cruiserweight championship match at Fastlane
Alexa Bliss and Mickie James’ Raw Women’s championship match at TLC
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler on the June 20 SmackDown LIVE
Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III
Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman’s Last Man Standing match on the Jan. 2 Raw
Enzo Amore and Kalisto’s Cruiserweight championship Lumberjack Match on the Oct. 9 Raw
The Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match from SmackDown on June 27
Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament semifinals
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair in the second round of the Mae Young Classic
I’ve sung the praises of a coupleof these myself over the last 365, and I know my man Kyle Decker has a post coming which will encourage you to take a deeper dive into the story which surrounded another. There’s definitely a few others I would not encourage folks to seek out again (or that I honestly can not remember), so…
What do you make of these ten choices, Cagesiders?
In a new YouTube Series, WWE Superstar Superfan, Paul Rosenberg sits down with WWE Superstars to talk about their fandom growing up. He sits down to discuss stories, favorite superstars, etc.
In the premiere episode, Rosenberg sits down with WWE’s resident fangirl, Bayley.
Bayley discusses how she got into WWE, including how she was a big Team Xtreme fan, and how she was teased for wearing WWE apparel by other kids and teachers.
One of the funnier moments came from when Bayley noted meeting Matt Hardy and how she couldn’t stop talking about it. It got so bad to where her boyfriend at the time had to break up with her!
CFO$ Counts Down Best of 2017 WWE Themes
CFO$, creator of most of the recent WWE Themes to date, including the themes for superstars such as AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura. The last few days, the duo have been listing their favorite themes to date in 2017, with number one being released tomorrow. They have a top 5, which is listed below and the videos for each is below as well.
We know all too well what it’s like to have to create content on slow news days — something something meta, something something self awareness — so this poll from WWE.com is almost certainly just that: content. But this is the Internet, dammit, and that’s not going to stop us from getting all concerned about it!
There is no world that exists where any one of those four men should be winning a world title in 2018, but this is WWE and you can imagine one of them getting a run with the Universal championship at some point, can’t you?
WWE has shown another reason why you should attend their Live Events. It seems that you’ll always see things that wouldn’t normally happen on Raw or Smackdown.
This time, we see The Big Red Machine, Kane, doing something we’ve never seen him do: sing. In a live event in Albany, NY (full results seen here), Elias came out to insult the crowd, along with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The three started to sing, but were interrupted by Kane, who “walked with Elias” and sang a rendition of “She’ll Be Comin’ Around The Mountain”. Once he was done, he proceeded to choke slam everyone and head to the back.
Full Match: The Hardy Boyz vs. MNM, Royal Rumble 2007
With The Royal Rumble coming up in less than a month, WWE continues to post classic matches to their YouTube page. This time, we see The Hardy Boyz take on the team of MNM (Joey Mercury & Johnny Nitro). While Jeff Hardy currently sits on the sidelines, Matt Hardy has been seen battling Bray Wyatt in his new Woken gimmick. Check out classic Hardyz in the video below.
Over the last couple of days, there’s been a story being reported in some places claiming that Dave Meltzer said that Finn Balor was considered to be Seth Rollins’ tag team partner on Monday Night Raw. The claim is that Jason Jordan was chosen at the last minute and that plans to turn Jordan heel […]
If you don’t follow the backstories of your favorite wrestling bloggers – or even me – you might not know I was raised in Pittsburgh. Most of my family still lives in Western Pennsylvania. There are a few things it’s hard to avoid when you’re from The ‘Burgh, and while I do not use “yinz” as second-person plural pronoun, I am a Steelers fan. To the extent my wife and many of our friends don’t know why I follow the team, because losses and even setbacks within games cause me great emotional distress.
Knowing that, and that I like thinking and discussing pro wrestling so much I made it my job, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I would describe one of the big NFL stories of the past week using wrestling terms and analogies. James Harrison, one of the heroes of Pittsburgh’s last Super Bowl win and as prototypical a Steeler as you’ll find, is now a member of the New England Patriots – the team who beat the Steelers in the AFC championship game last January (and two other times this century).
The defending Super Bowl champs also defeated Pittsburgh in an epic game a couple weeks ago which could be described as having a Dusty Finish… but I don’t want to go overboard on the graps comps.
So the Pats are Stone Cold Steve Austin or Hiroshi Tanahashi, and the Steelers are The Rock or Kazuchika Okada… except WrestleMania 19 or Wrestle Kingdom 10 haven’t happened.
Harrison is 39 years old and barely played for Pittsburgh this year, so their releasing him last week was a big deal in terms of his legacy with the team, but it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal in terms of what would happen on the field for the rest of this season. Until he signed with New England. Then, just like the wrestling feud this is, all hell broke loose.
I immediately thought of it as a heel turn, with “Why, Deebo (Harrison’s Friday-inspired nickname), why?” running through my brain. Turns out I wasn’t alone.
Pittsburgh-based website/meme generator Benstonium made the connection with this photoshopped take on a famous Attitude Era D-X scene starring Harrison as Mike Tyson, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as Shawn Michaels, Triple H as someone who will be familiar to non-football fans, Mojo Rawley’s pal Rob Gronkowski, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin as Vince McMahon:
It makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Although Gronk/Haitch never fails to help me find my smile. Damnit.
Then, Steelers’ defensive end Cameron Heyward, one of the team leaders, was on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football and described the Pats’ new linebacker signing, well…
“It was definitely a heel turn move.
It’s almost like Hulk Hogan when he went to the nWo, nobody’s happy about that. But it’s his decision. It just means he won’t be in the ring with us.”
There’s a lot more, but I want to stick to the more overt similarities and mentions. If you want to really explore this feud, head over to our SBNation sister sites for the teams – Behind The Steel Curtain and Pats Pulpit – for more insults, shade and drama.
Football probably isn’t scripted (I’m kidding about the “probably”… I think). There’s no guarantee the Steelers will play the Patriots in the playoffs, or that Harrison will have any impact on the game if they do.
But I kind of feel like it’s inevitable, and not just because I’m an over-invested Pittsburgh fan who loses sleep worrying we’ll never beat New England. No, I believe Deebo will line up Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a meaningful, game-changing sack in the AFC Championship game on Sunday, Jan. 21 because…
Ric Flair recently posted a video on his YouTube page, in which he answers fan questions. This is the fifth installment of “Fan Questions With The Nature Boy” and it’s great to see the Two-Time WWE Hall of Famer still interacting with the fans after his recent health scare that put him in a coma just a few months ago.
Ric answers questions about how he feels about the Cleveland Cavaliers, his fiancé and their future plans, and more.
Who Had The Most Victories On WWE TV In 2017
2017 had definitely been a memorable year, and we as fans notice when some of our favorites aren’t winning matches that they should, or just continue losing (Bray Wyatt, anyone?).
In another WWE List This!, WWE has chronicled who the most winningest superstars of 2017 are, noting victories that have either been on Raw, Smackdown Live, or Pay Per View. None are a surprise, but special note for Finn Balor, who is listed at #5. Balor was able to do this while spending the first three months on the shelf.
It looks like Chrissy Teigen might be attending WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. Teigen, a former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and current co-host of Spike TV’s “Lip Sync Battle,” told fans on Twitter that she got to attend WrestleMania years ago and she had so much fun before being pried away from her seat. She might […]
If you were wanting to find a doll for a girl that has a very positive influence, then WWE’s collaboration with Mattel’s Barbie franchise probably fits the bill in a few big ways. After all, Barbie has taken on a slew of professions from stewardess to astronaut to Sea World Trainer. But Barbie has never […]
As we wind down towards 2018, WWE Continues posting different lists highlighting some of the biggest moments, superstars, and matches of 2017. PW has also gotten in on the action, and PW’s own Mike Killam even recent ranked the Top 10 WWE Female Superstars of 2017, and it’s worth checking out. The most recent was listed on WWE’s YouTube page, which is listed as WWE’s Most Memorable Debuts of 2017. Superstars include Tye Dillinger’s Royal Rumble Debut last year, Bobby Roode, Adam Cole (BAY BAY), and the incomparable Shinsuke Nakamura. https://youtu.be/0SvNssrSHLg
Xavier Woods Begins His Campaign Run To Become United States Champion.
WWE recently revealed on Smackdown Live that due to Dolph Ziggler voluntarily relinquishing the United States Championship, there would be an 8-man tournament to determine the new United States Champion. Xavier Woods recently noted when he found out about the news, but since then Woods, along with his New Day partners, Big E & Kofi Kingston, have started their campaign to gain the WWE Universe’s “Votes” to become United States Champion. They have even started a new hashtag — #WoodsUSChamp. As usual, there is a video that The New Day members have made, and as usual, it is hilarious. Check it out below.
WWE’s Holiday Tour (Raw Brand) results from Albany, NY:
1. Rhyno, Heath Slater, Goldust, Titus O’Neill and Apollo Crews defeated Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, The Revival and Curt Hawkins when Rhyno pinned Hawkins with a spinebuster.
2. Enzo pinned Kalisto with a roll up in a Cruiserweight title match.
3. Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose when Sonya tapped to the Bank Statement.
4. Matt Hardy pinned Bray Wyatt with a Twist of Fate.
5. Elias came out for a concert and insulted the crowd. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows joined him and sang. Kane interrupted and briefly sang with them before chokeslamming all three.
6. Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan defeated Sheamus and Cesaro in a Raw Tag Team Title match in a steel cage. Rollins and Jordan escaped to win.
7. Asuka and Dana Brooke defeated Raw Women’s champion Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax when Alexa tapped to Asuka. Mickie James was the special guest referee.
8. Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor when Balor tapped to the Cocina Clutch.
9. WWE Intercontinental champion Roman Reigns pinned John Cena with a spear. Incredible heat.
Top Lucha Underground stars Johnny Mundo, Taya Valkyrie and Willie Mack are featured in a sizzle reel for the new promotion Aro Lucha. You can check out the reel above, and below is the official tag line and promotion details.
AroLucha is high energy, Lucha Libre Entertainment for the ENTIRE Family! AroLucha brings authentic stars, characters, and storylines to its fans through action packed, high flying live shows, social media, and video content. AroLucha is a company that fans can be proud to be a part of.
Below is a new video for next week’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 event, hyping the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship match.
WRESTLE KINGDOM 12 in Tokyo Dome! Where will you be January 4th!? Come see the world’s premier pro-wrestling event in person, or Watch live on NJPWWorld!
Cody Rhodes recently spoke with WrestleDope.com, and you can check out the entire interview below:
In this interview recorded sometime ago, Cody Rhodes discusses his spoken word tour, British Wrestlers making it big in the US, Impact Wrestling and his relationship with Billy Corgan backstage, Ring of Honor and much more.
Interview: Darren Moloney & Stephen Purcell Special Thanks : Cody Rhodes & Cyprus Avenue, Cork.
WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page recently spoke with Chuck Carroll of CBS Local Sports, and below are some interview highlights:
The Royal Rumble is right around the corner. What are the odds that we’ll see you make an appearance?
If they call me, I’ll be there. But if I never get in the ring again, I am so happy to have had the run I had.
Justin Credible’s unfortunate video just made rounds on social media. Then he posted a lengthy apology, and said that he’s reached out to you for help. Can you give us an update on how he’s doing?
I didn’t get a phone call from him, I made a phone call to him. Because of helping Jake, and Scott, Vader, and Mick Foley … just by reaching out and helping the guys, when someone is hurting, they’ll contact me. So I know about it pretty much right away. I always loved PJ. He’s a great kid who just made some bad decisions.
I told him if he gets to work doing the [DDP Yoga] program five days a week, we’ll talk every day or a minimum of every other day. I told him, if he gets on track for a month, then I’ll bring you down here, and we’ll work together, and I’ll start to really treat him this time. I’ll actually teach him how to teach what I do.
It appears Vince McMahon is ready to dip his toes back into the football realm and is going to reboot the XFL or something similar. Crazy, or are you on board with the idea?
McMahon has always been a visionary. But, again, they’re a multi-billion-dollar company, and it really comes down to the talent. So I don’t know how you do that. But if he’s got a plan… I’m sure he’s got a plan, because… the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. Some of my biggest victories have come directly after some of my biggest failures… He knows what he did wrong, and probably wants to go back and go, I think I got this this time. I’m sure he’s going to make plenty of mistakes on the way to get there. Who really knows where it’s going to be when it’s all said and done. I love to watch what McMahon does. I love to watch. Vince is a genius.
We previously reported that Sid Vicious had to cancel an indie event because he claimed Donald Trump’s current travel ban wouldn’t allow him to travel from state-to-state within the United States because he had an unpaid speeding ticket. But it turns out that the ribbing on Sid at the AIW was a running theme throughout […]
During the next few weeks, you’ll see tons of retro clips on WWE television and on their social media platforms as they build towards the Raw 25th anniversary show on the USA Network. The show will emanate from two locations – the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center, the original home of Raw when the […]