AJ Styles vs. Edge is the latest match added to WrestleMania 38 on April 2 and April 3 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Edge blindsided Styles with a kick below the belt at the end of Monday Night Raw and gave him two conchairtos. Six matches are official, with several more rumored.
Continue reading “Updated WrestleMania 38 Card”
Another year in professional wrestling has come and gone. As we look forward to the squared circle magic we will see in the New Year, 2017 had a lot of stellar matches.
New Japan Pro Wrestling delivered the goods in spades while WWE churned out some fun moments. ROH and the Independent scene are on fire like never before as a new era of wrestling is coming around.
All lists of this nature are subjective. My rankings don’t mean any more or less than anyone else’s rankings. These are my picks for the top wrestling matches of 2017
Continue reading “Wrestling Match of the Year: 2017”
Sorry for the lack of wrestling blogs as of late. I’ve been so busy with my Clark Kent job that finding time to write has been next to impossible.
I never thought that I would say this about a Money in the Bank event, but the 2017 incarnation, for the most part, was a failed deposit. Every match had an anti-climactic finish, except for the WWE title showdown between Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton…And that’s not an endorsement.
Continue reading “Late to the Party: Thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank”
Backlash was the first SmackDown Live PPV since last month’s “Superstar Shake Up.” The Allstate Arena in Chicago hosted the nine match card. The two main pieces of business were Jinder Mahal vying for the WWE Championship and the WWE in-ring debut of Shinsuke Nakamura. Despite the slower pacing of the matches, was the blue brand able to deliver?
Continue reading “WWE Backlash 2017 Review”
I apologize for being late to the party with one, but I watched a really, really good wrestling match last week. It won’t go down as an instant classic or awarded five stars among journalists, however, the wrestlers took their time telling a fun and engaging story.
Whatever do I mean? Well…
Wrestling is an art form like any other creative and entertaining means of expression. Sometimes, in a particular space, certain nuances fall by the wayside, looking to be picked up again. In wrestling matches, it’s the little things that can make all the difference.
Over the last few years in WWE, punches, kicks, submission holds, and selling has been devoid of any real intensity and effort. Also, the action in the ring is too fast and does not leave enough time for anything to properly marinate with the audience.
Instead, back-and-forth matches, where the wrestlers take turns delivering big moves, appear to be a substitute for an arbitrary application of the smaller moves that support the assembly of a match.
Now, I know I sound like that older guy that emphatically claims it was better in my day, but stay with me. Continue reading “Styles vs. Orton: A Wrestling Lesson”
WWE Television this week saw five more matches made official for WrestleMania 33 line-up for a total of eleven matches. Three of the matches were leaked online a few months ago, one was heavily implied last week and the last match wasn’t too surprising.
Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns: Will Taker slay another victim or is Reigns going to put down the Deadman? If Reigns goes over, will WWE try to keep him as a babyface or will they flip the script and go full on heel with the Roman Empire? This will end up being one of the most anticipated matches on the card because we have no idea who is going to win.
Wrestling is always better that way! Continue reading “Updates Card for WrestleMania 33: Styles vs. McMahon and More”
Raw and SmackDown this week began to bring about some clarity to WrestleMania 33, which emanates from Orlando, Florida on Sunday, April 2nd. While several of the key matches, including the main event, were officially announced, there were no shocking revelations considering that the card was leaked online a month ago.
Vince McMahon deserves credit for sticking to his guns this time around where in years past he would change booking plans if he got the slightest whiff of a leak. So far, the storylines leading up to the matches have been good, thus making the journey as important as the destination. Continue reading “WrestleMania Officially takes Shape”
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the brackets for this year’s New Japan Cup tournament. This will mark the 13th annual Cup where the winner of this single elimination tournament will earn a title shot at any singles championship they wish to challenge for at Sakura Genesis (formerly Invasion Attack) on April 9th at Sumo Hall.
The first round matches will begin on March 11th (The right side of the brackets) and March 12th (The left side of brackets) the quarterfinal matches will occur on March 13th and March 17. Semifinal action will take place on March 19 and the finals on March 20th. The Wrestling Observer has confirmed that the last two days will air live on New Japan World while the rest of the shows will air on a delay.
These matchups make for some interesting possibilities. I’d expect Hiroshi Tanahashi to at least make it to the finals of his bracket. Besides Toru Yano, who he’ll face in the finals is anyone’s guess.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki in the first round is just all sorts of awesome. Booking their match in this position is the right call because placing them anywhere else in the same bracket makes the outcome too predictable.
O Kenny! My Kenny! What do we do with Kenny Omega? “The Cleaner’s” white-hot popularity makes him the easy pick to win the whole enchilada, however, does New Japan plan on having the Okada/Omega II on April 9th?
If not, how do you beat Omega? Continue reading “Brackets Revealed for the New Japan Cup”
Atlee Greene and Adam Kohn give their preview and predictions for 2017 WWE Elimination Chamber, which emanates from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Pheonix, AZ.
The main event features a chamber match where John Cena will defend his WWE Championship against AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, and The Miz.
American Alpha will also defend the SmackDown Tag Team Champion against five different teams in a tag team turmoil match and Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton will take on Luke Harper.
WWE only had two weeks to promote and build this SmackDown Live branded pay-per-view. With WrestleMania on the horizon, will that be enough time to deliver a stellar event?
Now that the Royal Rumble is in the rear view mirror, everyone wants to know what’s going to happen on April 2 when WrestleMania 33 WrestleMania emanates from the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL.
The rumored card, and I stress rumored, card has made its way online with several web sites and various sources confirming what WWE creative (i.e. Vince McMahon) has planned for this year’s showcase of the immortals.
As of right now, only one half of a match is officially confirmed. Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton will face the WWE Champion. John Cena is the current title holder, but another wrestler is heavily rumored to hold the gold by the time WrestleMania rolls around.
Continue reading “Thought’s on Rumored WrestleMania Plans”
Ringside Logic 