WWE announced a few weeks ago that it will soon crown their first United Kingdom Champion. Triple H made the announcement at a press conference in London and confirmed that a two-day tournament will be held to decide the inaugural champion.
The tournament will air live on the WWE Network and be held at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England on January 14th and 15th. It was also announced that Nigel McGuiness, who recently left Ring of Honor, will join the broadcast team for the event.
WWE has been aggressively signing British talent and Triple H stated that WWE’s UK expansion is the next step in developing talent. The UK’s wrestling scene has exploded in the last few years while featuring some of the best wrestlers in the world. Continue reading “WWE to Crown Inaugural United Kingdom Champion”→
Happy New Year! 2017 is here at last, and the first post of the year is an unboxing video of WWE’s second Slam Crate, powered by Loot Crate. Unlike the last video, I remembered to show the poster, which pretty sweet.
DREAM BIG is the theme of this month’s box, which celebrates the WWE superstars that inspire us to, well, DREAM BIG. This second installment stands head and shoulders above October’s inaugural offering.
Items from wrestling’s past do not apply here as WWE’s contemporary product takes center stage with these mystery boxes. Don’t take my word for it. Check out the video and you be the judge.
WWE: Then. Now. Forever. #1 | Writers: Dennis Hopeless, Ross Thibodeaux, Rob Schamberger, Derek Fridolfs | Artists: Dan Mora, Rob Schamberger, Rob Guillory, Daniel Bayliss, Derek Fridolfs |Publisher: BOOM! Studios | Release Date: November 9, 2016
Two years ago, when Seth Rollins’ shocking heel turn put an end to one of most prevailing factions in wrestling history, The Shield, fans were treated to the typical answer when such things occur in the world of WWE. It all added up to Rollins being tired of splitting the glory three ways and wanted it all for himself. Continue reading “WWE Books the Impossible with New Comic Book”→
The 29th annual WWE Royal Rumble emanated from the Amway Center in Orlando, FL, with a jam-packed card full of great matches, good storytelling, and some major surprises. Traditionally, the 30 man over the top rope Royal Rumble match grants the winner a world title main event at WrestleMania. This year, however, things were quite different.
Roman Reigns spent the majority of 2015 being screwed out of becoming WWE World Heavyweight champion in front of the camera while behind the scenes, WWE has been working tirelessly to have him supplant John Cena as the face of the company.
On December 14th, due to a plethora of injuries that has plagued the roster, the decision was made to expedite Roman Reigns’ coronation as the top guy, and booking him to win the championship.
In front of the camera, The Authority comprised of Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon made the unprecedented move to force Roman Reigns to defend his title in the Royal Rumble match against 29 other wrestlers, while making Reigns the first entrant into the contest, essentially making it a one vs. all affair.
Royal Rumble Rules: The match starts with entrants one and two, and every two minutes after, another wrestler enters the Rumble, according to the number they drew.
Roman Reigns made short work of Bulgarian brute, Rusev, who drew #2. The next entrant was the surprise of the night as AJ MOTHER&^%$#@ STYLES made his way to the ring.
If you’re a wrestling fan whose only experience with the genre is what occurs on WWE television, the name AJ Styles might be foreign to you. The Gainesville, Georgia native, at 38 years old, is arguably the best wrestler on the planet today. He is an 18-year veteran who has been tearing it up in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling for the past two years.
Much to WWE’s credit, they didn’t change a thing about his character. They went out of their way to promote him as a big deal based on his illustrious past, and even made reference to the Internet rumors of his pending arrival. This is something WWE rarely does today.
Styles made a great showing for himself, lasting 28 minutes until he was thrown out by French Canadian braggart Kevin Owens, which was booed more than any other elimination.
Roman Reigns looked to have things well in hand until he was blindsided by the League of Nations with Vince McMahon watching on in approval. Reigns was escorted by medical personnel to the locker room, and it appeared that his night was over.
The Wyatt Family made their backwoods cult like presence felt as stable monster Braun Strowman eliminated wrestler after wrestler, making him the Rumble’s biggest obstacle.
Then Brock Lesnar arrived, and dished out his violence fused onslaught christened Suplex City. Lesnar eliminated Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, and Brawn Storwman, thus ruining plans to ensure victory for their leader, Bray Wyatt, who hadn’t entered the match until after the fact.
Later on, the eliminated Wyatt Family members interfered and threw out Lesnar, which appears to set the stage for a Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt showdown at WrestleMania.
NXT standout Sami Zayn was another surprise entrant in the Rumble. He made a b-line for Kevin Owens and eliminated him, hopefully rekindling their feud from last year.
Roman Reigns returned to the match, delivering Superman punches to everyone in sight. Triple H was the 30th entrant into the Rumble, which many predicted, and fell in line with Vince McMahon’s promise that Reigns will never see Triple H coming.
Triple H eliminated Roman Reigns, leaving him and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose as the final two wrestlers. The Amway Center was electric as the prospect of Ambrose becoming champion excited the sold out crowd. In the end, Triple H eliminated the Lunatic Fringe, winning his second Royal Rumble while capturing his 14th WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Earlier action saw Dean Ambrose beat Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match to retain the IC belt. The comedic trio of The New Day bested the Usos to retain the tag team titles. Kalisto beat Alberto Del Rio to earn a second, and hopefully more fruitful run as United States champion.
Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch in a great match to hold on to the Divas title. Post-match activity saw the return of Sasha Banks, the most popular female wrestler on the roster. She applied her Bank Statement submission hold onto Charlotte, sending a message to the champ that she is next in line.
This was one of the best booked Royal Rumble events in quite some time. Even though Triple H’s involvement and his title win could be seen coming from a mile away, it made sense with the plight of Roman Reigns story that WWE is telling.
man Reigns vs. Triple H appears to be the featured attraction for WrestleMania on April 3. Some question whether this match will draw a record crowd to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
With John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, and Cesaro being legitimately injured and missing the big event, Reigns/Hunter is probably the safest option since the hero’s chase of the title is always more compelling story.
I’m back after taking a long and overdue vacation where my wife and I put our phones on airplane mode and were unplugged from the real world. Now that I’ve caught up on all of the wrestling news, it seems that Cesaro is getting a lot of praise for his stellar matches with John Cena on Monday Night Raw.
Cesaro is truly one of the most talented wrestlers on the planet today.
He can have a good match with anyone and often has a great match with most. Due to Cesaro’s performance over the last three weeks, die-hard fans are waiting with bated breath and both fingers crossed, hoping this will be the time that WWE finally pushes the ‘Swiss Superman’ as the main event player he deserves to be.
WWE Superstars #9 | Writer: Mick Foley, Shane Riches | Artist: Parris Cullins | Colorist: Laurie E. Smith | Publisher: Super Genius | Price: $3.99 | Release Date October 15, 2014 | From my column atForces of Geek.com
There is a rumor going around that at next year’s WrestleMania, John Cena, age 37, will square off with a 61-year-old Hulk Hogan. The predetermined nature of professional wrestling allows for certain dream matches to occur that otherwise wouldn’t happen in Boxing or Mixed Martial Arts.
However, what if this match and others could happen when both men were in their prime? Mick Foley and Shane Riches give us a look, through a bizarre prism, of what that would look like. Wrestlers from different eras are being pulled into combat across a myriad of battle fields from the roman coliseum to the pirate ships of the seven seas. Continue reading “WWE Superstars #9 Review: Legend vs. Legend”→
WrestleMania 30 was a celebration of wrestling’s past and present that has plotted the course to an exciting and prosperous future. With new blood rising, the fall of a legend, and a hero’s conquest, this years “showcase of the immortals” is something we won’t soon forget.
The show kicked off with the familiar sound of Rick Derringer’s “Real American” as Hulk Hogan, this year’s host, welcomed everyone to the Silverdome and was quickly corrected by over 75,000 fans inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Hulkster took it in stride and talked about some of his greatest moments until he was cut off by the ominous breaking of glass and Stone Cold Steve Austin making his way to the ring. Austin and Hogan stare each other down in a surreal moment. This will always be considered the wrestling dream match that got away. Plus, their personal problems with each other are well documented. It was nice to see them be able to work together in such a capacity.
Austin pumped up the crowd with his verbal “Hell Yeah” hijinks until The Rock made his way to the ring. This was a true WrestleMania moment unfolding before our eyes as the three biggest names in the history of the business were in the same ring at the same time. Rock hugged both of them and gave them props for their contributions to the industry. He also put over John Cena, which unleashed some boo birds from the crowd, and quickly mentioned Daniel Bryan, which turned the jeers to cheers. Hogan closed it out with “Whatcha gonna do when Hogan, Austin, Rock, and the Super Dome run wild on you?” Hogan’s music hits, and the three icons share a beer in the ringContinue reading “WrestleMania 30: “The Greatest WrestleMania of All Time””→
Full disclosure. I’m a sucker for crossover events that involve my favorite childhood pastimes. So it should come as no surprise that I marked out ridiculously when the trailer for Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery hit the web. Think about this: as popular as wrestling was in the ’80s, Hulk Hogan never teamed up with our Scooby snacking canine. Now, our current crop of WWE Superstars joins the historic lineup of such luminaries as The Three Stooges, The Harlem Globetrotters, and Batman and Robin for some mystery-solving shenanigans.
The Elimination Chamber was the last major stop on the road to WrestleMania and it left a mixed bag of results with the good heavily outweighing the mediocre. This also marks the end of the traditional PPV era as future shows will air on the WWE Network. I think it’s fitting that it went out with a good main event and great hope for the future. Continue reading “WWE Elimination Chamber 2014: Shield/Wyatts Steal the Show”→
In the Summer of 1996, Professional Wrestling’s Monday Night Wars were heating up. The nWo became an instant ratings bonanza for World Championship Wrestling while the World Wrestling Federation was struggling for their piece of the pie. In August of that year, Jim Ross announced that Diesel and Razor Ramon were heading back to WWF. This created a tidal wave of controversy as the men who performed as Razor and Diesel, were under contract to WCW.
RingsideLogic.com 