Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Last weekend was ROH’s 13th anniversary show and as I do every few months, I took it as an opportunity to leap back into the crazy world of independent wrestling and check out how they are getting on. Now, obviously this does mean I am only a casual viewer, I tend to be aware of what is going on in ROH, but I’m not a die-hard and therefore my ability to comment on storylines is limited.
Who is WWE’s biggest heel at this moment? Brock Lesnar? Maybe. But the truth is Lesnar’s not really a heel. Paul Heyman is, but Lesnar has never once cheated or done anything remotely heelish. He’s just awesome at kicking ass. Behind Lesnar you have The Authority, a group most people are jaded with, but who have the brilliant Seth Rollins. He was the guy no one expected to be the heel coming out of The Shield, but has done a brilliant job with it. Behind him, is Rusev. Who isn’t just one of the biggest heels in the company, but also the most credible one.
Once again WWE has entered Wrestlemania season with a big thorn in their foot. One, Mr. Daniel Bryan. Now, as thorns go, he is a pretty good one to have. One of the best technical wrestlers in the world, who also happens to be one of the most over with the fans, really not too shabby. However, due to a series of booking mistakes, Bryan once again finds himself in a bit of ‘Mania purgatory. One second he is set to face Sheamus, the next it’s Dolph Ziggler and at the moment some people are suggesting he might end up in the main event. All this shifting of plans isn’t helping anyone, least of all the man himself.
Continue reading “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Daniel Bryan?”
I feel like I have covered how awesome NXT is. It’s the only televised wrestling I actually watch on a weekly basis and I genuinely think it’s the best thing WWE has done for a long time. Therefore, you probably don’t need to hear me say that NXT Takeover: Rivals was another fantastic show, topped off with three absolutely brilliant main events. If you like wrestling and haven’t watched it, then do so now. If you don’t like wrestling, give it a chance anyway, it might surprise you. However, that’s not what I’ve decided to discuss. Instead, lets look at women’s wrestling in the WWE.
With just a two month turnover between live specials, the latest NXT Takeover: Rivals, has had roughly eight hours of Network time to promote itself into a strong show. To put that into perspective, the main roster do six hours a week with Raw, Smackdown and Main Event. Therefore, it is a bit of a disgrace that this again feels like one of the best built WWE shows in recent times.
Last year the WWE had Batista win the Royal Rumble and we saw a crowd turn on the WWE. A year on and nearly everyone, myself included, thought WWE could not make the same mistake again. Sometimes, the most obvious story is the best one and last night the most obvious, and best, storyline, was to have Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble. Yet, once again, WWE went with their idea of the perfect superstar and a crowd turned on the product.
The Royal Rumble is most wrestling fans favourite PPV of the year. Screw ‘Mania, although we tend to love that too, the Rumble is where it is at. While we have had disappointing Rumbles over the years, it is fair to say it very rarely fails to deliver at least couple of fun moments and it also sets us on the ‘Road to Wrestlemania’. We get to know who will be competing for the big one on the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’. I can’t think of anymore WWE buzzwords to throw in now, so lets just get onto some of my predictions.
Last night the WWE took a step towards giving their Hall of Fame some credence in the eyes of fans, by announcing that at this years Wrestlemania Randy Savage will finally be inducted. Ignoring the fact it took his death for this to finally come about, it is a relief to fans who have known that Savage was a man who was truly worthy of such a spot. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the Hall of Fame still has some major issues, most of which stem from who is included.
Just days after putting on one of the best wrestling’s shows of the year, WWE followed up with TLC, one of the many gimmick PPVs in their calender. It was another card which looked strong on paper, even if it did include a ‘Stairs Match’, which is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.
Slowly but surely, NXT has become one of the best wrestling programs on TV. Led by Triple H and featuring some of the best young, up and coming wrestlers in the world, it is the future of the WWE. Or at least it will be, if they don’t fuck it up. Last night they had their latest Takeover event, Revolution. These NXT versions of a PPV are some of the best shows WWE has put on this year and last night was no exception.
Ramblings About Wrestling 