WIRTB: Tammy "Sunny" Sytch

Warning: This post may get NSFW. But, then again, it's a WIRTB Review we're talking about. They're almost always NSFW. So, if you've got bosses who look over your shoulder or have children around, viewer discretion is advised. Otherwise, enjoy the clusterfuck that's about to go down.

Greetings, I'm Speed on the Beat and this is another WIRTB Review, the EOTR column where I take a look at something wrestling-related and attempt to answer the question "was it really that bad (or good, in some cases)." Today, on the heels of my look at the career of John Cena, I figured that I have another person who I wish to evaluate. She's been credited as being the Original Diva. She also, apparently, has Kendra Lust wanting to maybe double-end dildo her, Requiem for a Dream-style (that was, seriously, one of the most fucked up scenes I've seen...and I saw it at like 13). So, without further ado, let's check out some Sunny Days. As a forewarning, we're going to try and look at her wrestling impact and see if she's really deserving of the title of "The Original Diva."

::looks at Sunny's true impact on the business::

Disclaimer: May not be to scale

Ok, looks like we're going to have to talk the sex stuff. Why? Here's the thing. I feel that Sunny's in-ring contributions are overrated. Here's a woman who pretty much got to being held in such a high regard because she was a hot blonde chick with a pseudo-black chick build. Miss Elizabeth, arguably one of the greatest valets, is still not in the HoF, but Sunny is. Sunny's contributions to wrestling are mostly based on how hot she is. So, when you're hot, and you flaunt said hotness...what am I supposed to do?

Now, we've all heard the rumors of how Sunny fucked him, or tried to blow him, or tried to blow him while on blow. That's bad, but it's still not that bad. The 1980s and 1990s were different in terms of backstage behavior. Shit happened when steroids and coke were mixed. Besides, women and men should embrace their ho phase and do freaky shit...as long as they're not killing someone or themselves. But, that phase doesn't shouldn't last forever. By the time 2001 or so rolled around, however, Sunny engaged in something that has gone down in the an(n)als of wrestling history. So, let's talk Sunny's ill-fated Wrestling Vixxxens shoot.

Oh, dear God, that idea was horrible. If you haven't seen it, it's as depressing as it sounds. Missy Hyatt, in some (probably) drugged-fueled stupor, decided to dig up some female wrestling names, stick them together, (probably) supply them with Scarface-sized coke mountains, and have them Showtime-porno fuck each other and/or themselves with...things and stuff. And no, Chyna wasn't involved. I'm pretty sure that even Chyna wouldn't have stooped this low and she fucked X-Pac and got analized in an Avengers spoof. In these shoots, we have Sunny covered in oil, which is, y'know, the standard in porn. Cover a chick from head to asshole in baby oil and have her pose suggestively. This "oil," however, looked like Sunny and Missy spent their money on coke so they had to use Crisco.

Are we fucking or are we flambeing? Either way, it's not a good look.

And then come the eggs. Yep, you heard me right. Eggs. Because, y'know, sunny. Eggs. Sunny side up. Porn puns. Shoot me. NOW. Sunny gets covered head to asshole in egg yokes and frolics around in them, writhing like she's enjoying the feel/smell of uncooked egg on her body. These hoo-ers are making breakfast and I guess Sunny's vag is supposed to be the main course, as it may've been for many, many, many wrestlers. Again, I'm all for letting your freak flag fly. But, for fuck's sake...eggs?! Why not shove a hot dog up there too to match the fungus and make a goddamned Late Night from Stuggy's (hello, Baltimore).

Fuck it. Sunny, just off this alone, is that bad. You don't even need to get into the fact she got arrested six times in a month, or her wishing cancer on people (kind of). We don't even need to discuss the Skyping.

Although...it's kind of funny to do so. Still looks better than some
other cam girls I've seen, sadly enough.

And don't, for the love of Christ, don't watch the video of her and Missy Hyatt together. It's as fucktardedly insane as you'd think it'd be.

And now, I'll count the minutes until Sunny blocks me and the EOTR account.

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Eyes on the Ring 9:58 AM  No comment

WIRTB Review: John Cena

I know what you're thinking. "First, Speed says the Attitude Era wasn't that amazeballs and now this?! Clearly, Speed's trolling for EOTR page views." To that, I'd say:

1. If I were trolling for click bait, I'd post nothing but AJ Lee ass and Seleziya Sparx twerk GIFs in my posts.
2. If I were truly trolling, I'd offer an opinion and not actually go into detail about why I feel that way. 

So, no. I'm not trolling. I just have different opinions. Sue me. Anyway, now that we got that bullshit out the way, I'm Speed on the Beat and this is WIRTB Review.

Today, we're going to take a look at one of the most polarizing figures in WWE today, Jaaaaaaaaahn Ceeeeeeena, and really figure out if (or at least, give another opinion to whether) he's really as bad as many in the Internet Wrestling Community have made him out to be. For this, we will look at his character/gimmick, promo ability, and his match quality. We won't trot out cancer-stricken kids, because, even if Cena was a dick IRL as advertised, his charity work is pretty amazing.

Cena's Character:
From that main roster debut against Kurt Angle, we were given the outline of who Cena was supposed to be.

He was supposed to be a plucky, in-your-face asshole (with, at times, a heart of gold) who wanted to prove he was the best--against any and everyone who came across him. This was, of course, even after he'd beaten everyone he needed to beat--sometimes, twice, thrice, or twenty-five times over. He used his skills to pay the bills and trotted out some increasingly dated slang every now and again to make sure people knew he was "down." That's cool, to a degree. That's who Cena is. And, if that's who he is in real life, as corny as it may be? I'm cool with it.

But, the thing is this: in the thirteen years since Cena debuted against Angle, the only thing that's changed about him, character-wise, is his ring attire. Oh, and his theme song. He still has that angry (but somehow still emotionless), constipated face when he's about to kick some ass or rise above hate. He still uses those dated hip-hop tropes, which are now even more embarrasing than ever. And he still uses that "hustle, loyalty, respect" tagline, which has surpassed even "say your prayers and eat your vitamins" in terms of its hokey-ness.

He has not evolved very much over the years, unless you want to consider the idea that because Cena hasn't changed, his character is supposed to now be the old man who doesn't want to let go of his glory and tells these damn kids to get off his lawn. In sports and "sports entertainment," most greats evolve their character/persona to adapt to the changing times. Hell, even Hulk got rid of the vitamins at one point. We see hints of a more aggressive Cena. We even saw Juan Cena. But any hope of Cena changing is quickly quashed with his promos.

Cena's Promos:
Speaking of promos, Cena isn't bad per se at delivering promos. He's competent, for the most part. The key word, of course, being "competent." He isn't Heyman, but he doesn't make us suffer through succotash. However, when he fails, however, he fails hard. And we get promos such as this gem from 2013 (a promo so bad, even WWE brass apparently shat bricks over it)...

Or this one...

Or...you know what? You get the point. Cena promos, they usually suck in terms of relevancy or actually being good. But, they're still not that bad. Except promos like these, the "I do Make-a-Wish, so I'm better than you" ones, and those "SHADDUP [insert name here]" angry Cena promos. Those are the drizzling shits. Additionally, many of his "face" promos come off quite heelish, such as his assassination of Michael Cole's character and manhood circa 2012.

So, lemme get this straight. You have a man, who is the face of your company and teaches people to rise above hate, embarrassing a man who's smaller than him. Yes, Cole egged him on and Cole kind of deserved to get a smack or two. But, Cena, the face in the promo, the guy who kids are supposed to look up to, not only beats Michael Cole. John Cena, the guy who Kevin Owens' kid looks up to (kayfabe?), strips Cole and proceeds to pour condiments onto him while he's trying to crawl away from Cena. It's like a PG gay-for-pay version of Sunny's Wrestling Vixxxens photoshoot (that'll be the only Sunny joke you get out of me...I think). And we, the fans, were all supposed to cheer. For what? The big guy bullying the smaller guy just because the smaller guy said some mean things? Come the fuck on, WWE! For a company that has touted B A Star (especially in 2012), you're sure as shit letting that star burn out.

Yeesh...it's not looking good for John Felix Anthony Cena.

Cena's Matches:

I've talked with True and other wrestling fans about this on and off. The consensus is this. Cena can have great matches. Cena/Punk at MITB 2011 was a GOAT match. Cena/Edge usually never disappointed. Cena/Bryan at SummerSlam 2013 was pretty up there as well. And we can't forget his hour-long match with HBK, as it was damn near legendary. I'd even go as far to say that Owens/Cena at Elimination Chamber is a contender for (WWE) MOTY.

However, it feels, more often than not, that Cena phones in performances. He's very inconsistent when it comes to match quality. We can go from him being in a four-star match to a stinker within the course of a pay-per-view, even sometimes with the same person. See Cena/Orton, Cena/Miz at Over the Limit 2011, the time he faced Mark Henry after the fake retirement, and others for examples. Now, some of these matches, they end up being shit because they're booked for Cena to have that "LOLCENAWINS" moment. Others, he seems to either lack to chemistry or an ample amount of fucks to give. A wrestler with as many accolades as he's been given/scripted/what-the-hell ever should be able to consistently pull off, at the least, DECENT matches.

On top of that, Cena is one of the most awkward wrestlers I've seen. Look no further than his weak-ass STFspringboard stunner. It looks like he's some random fuck doing backyard wrestling with no experience trying to be badass. And most the time, it ends up looking like this.

Now, thankfully, he's not exactly a dangerous worker. Surprising, I know. But, he's awkward to the point that he's like a less agile, less awesome Sabu at times. At least Sabu's "botches" added some realism to his matches. Cena's botches, LOUD AS FUCK spot calls, etc., they take you out of the match unless you lower your expectations and accept that your face of the company has the ability, at times, of your run-of-the-mill bland babyface midcarder who gets fed to the monster heel.

Conclusion:

So...is John Cena really that bad? Yes and no. He's that bad to be the guy WWE runs to in a pinch to put something/someone/some ratings over. But, in his current role as a fading star upper-midcarder? He's pretty decent. Just cut that fucker's mic on some CM Punk shit every once in a while. Please? That's all I legit ask. Just don't give him a gotdamn mic every time he enters. And tell that sumbitch to tighten up that STF.

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Eyes on the Ring 7:56 AM  No comment

WIRTB Review: The Attitude Era

Well, looks like I'm about to piss most of our readership off with this one.

I'm Speed on the Beat and welcome to another edition of WIRTB Review, the EyesontheRing.com column where I go through something wrestling-related, parse out the details, and render a verdict on whether it was really that bad, or that good. Today, I'm going to talk about one of the sacred cows among wrestling (because fuck "sports entertainment") fans. So, sit back, crack open some Steveweisers and ramble along with the Raw is War theme song, because we're going to determine if the Attitude Era was really as good as advertised or if we're just looking at it like the Final Fantasy 7 of professional wrestling (in other words, we hold it in such a high, potentially overrated, regard for what it represented, not how well it holds up today). I will not bore you with a history lesson, because let's face it, if you need one, you probably shouldn't be reading this post to begin with.

For starters, let's look at some of the storylines that came out of the AE. We had Austin versus McMahon, one of the greatest rivalries in wrestling.

However, the feud overstayed its welcome and ended up devolving into ten different offshoots, encompassing everyone, and led to countless heel turns, face turns, "SONUVABITCH!" calls from JR, and so on. The feud lasted somewhere, depending on who you ask, between 1996/1998 and 2001. Three to five years on one feud, on and off, is way too damn much. "But Speed," you're probably asking. "Austin versus McMahon made stars out of Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind, Triple H, and countless other legends. Either that or it helped solidify their status, such as with Taker." That's true. But, look at the train wrecks we had to go through to get to that point. And that's even before we get to the quality of the matches (more on that later).

In the Attitude Era, we had pregnancies (hi Mark Henry's handbaby), miscarriages (hi Terri), sexual assault (hi Val Venis and your "choppied pee pee"), blatant racism and sexism (hi Sable, Trish barking like a dog, and Lita being powerbombed through tables--well, that's just kind of equal opportunity clusterfuckiness), and everyone seemed more "real." That was great. The era of saying your prayers and eating your vitamins was dead, kind of. This realism, however, also led to uncomfortable line-blurring, such as the time that Big Boss Man desecrated Big Show's father's coffin.

Anyone who thought that this storyline (or the final match that came from it) was a good thing should consider checking themselves into an outpatient facility. This isn't "Eddie's in hell," because at least the "Eddie's in hell" promo, while pretty tasteless in its own right, had some semblance of a point behind it. Batista hated Rey, Batista thought Rey was abusing Eddie's memory for his own gain, Batista heeled it up to over 9000. The end. Big Boss Man versus Big Show was coonery. Because, for real, were we supposed to feel sympathy for either character? Even as a kid, I couldn't bring myself to side with Show. Maybe that's the result of shit acting, or maybe I'm just a psychopath. Either way, fuck that storyline.

Hey, remember the time that Undertaker was going around sacrificing people? Pepperidge Farms remembers.

All in all, many storylines from the AE were cringeworthy (Al Snow "eating" his own dog, anyone?). It wasn't necessarily because of the "raucousness" of them, either. Some just didn't make sense. For instance, Hawk's alcoholism/attempted suicide/Puke's replacing me angle. Let's...nah. Aside from the storylines, the in-ring product was not that good. Do you remember how Rock sold the Stunner?

 

How about the fact that outside of the names I mentioned earlier and, of course, HBK (even if he didn't wrestle much, he was still a part of the Attitude Era through the early days--and the creation of DX), Taker, etc., many Attitude Era talents had/have "for-life midcarder" scrawled over them like a Billy Ripken "fuck face" bat. No, screw your "D'Lo Brown was underrated" chants. He was mediocre at best and dangerous at worst (and I'm not even talking Droz/Puke). Because of the Attitude Era, people still consider X-Pac to be a great heel. Hell, because of the Attitude Era, "X-Pac Heat" is considered a good thing in some circles.

The "hardcore" matches were more "hey, Vince. Let's see what ECW did in 1996, water it down, take out New Jack, and have people fighting in ball pits at fucking amusement parks" than Hardyz versus E&C versus The Dudleys. People seem to forget that about the "hardcore" aspect of the Attitude Era. It was more of a comedy segment than something people took seriously. Why the fuck else do you think that the Hardcore Championship changed hands more than...[resisted urge to make a Sunny joke here, even though I technically just did]. Yeah, we got Al Snow versus Big Boss Man (hot "dog" be damned, it was some decent wrestling). But, we also got Crash Holly, may he rest in peace, holding the Hardcore Championship 22 times before it was retired (mainly due to the 24/7 rule). 22 times in about four years. If that doesn't scream diluted trainwreck, I don't know what the fuck does.

How could you have people such as Dean Malenko, Jericho, and Benoit on the roster (not to mention people such as Jerry Briscoe working backstage) and still have so many matches revolve around spots and just "holy shit" moments which were mostly only holy shit moments because WWF fans weren't used to ECW, Japanese wrestling, Lucha Libre, etc. Again, notice I said "mostly." Mankind being put through the HIAC is, by far, "holy shit"-worthy. But, let's think about some other WWF spots on this nature. Yeah, Shane O'Mac imitating Jeff Hardy on a regular basis was great. But, it wasn't all "holy shit"-worthy. Most of the schmozzes which went down in 1999 were not "holy shit"-worthy (in fact, most were unneeded. Thanks Vince Russo!). New Jack and Vic Grimes surviving the Danbury Fall with little to no padding, fucking around, and doing a similar spot years later? That's "holy shit"-worthy. Muta versus Hase? That's "holy shit"-worthy. Seeing announcing tables implode for the 9000th time? After seeing it happen the first 8,999 times, it loses a bit of its luster--especially if it's happening numerous times per event.

However, through all its wackiness and aged-horribly feel, the Attitude Era delivered a notice to the world from the WWF. "We're not dead yet." And with those first salvos from Montreal or the first "SUCK IT!" or wherever you place the beginning of the AE, we were off. Authority figures, for better or worse, started getting their hands dirtier. The Monday Night Wars got grittier and more insane. We all saw a bit of ourselves in a Stone Cold, whether it be with parents, teachers, coworkers, or whomever. Wrestling was a cultural phenomenon. Does that outweigh the fact that the aforementioned wackiness, in-ring ineptitude, and the fact that the Attitude Era has aged horribly?

Eh...not exactly. But, was it really that bad? I think that many of us, we place a great emphasis on the Attitude Era being the pinnacle of pro wrestling because many of us grew up with it. Therefore, there shall always be a bias towards it. But, we can't let our biases and our memories cloud the fact that the Attitude Era was not the greatest era in pro wrestling. Was it good? For moments, yes. For memorable characters, regardless of their abilities in-ring. But overall, is the Attitude Era overhyped? Is the Attitude Era overrated? Is the Attitude Era, in some ways, really that bad?

As always, these are just my (fact-based) opinions. I'm always open to discussion about them, so feel free to converse with me about them at @SpeedontheBeat. Be forewarned, though. If your conversation starts off with anything along the lines of "you stupid nig, you don't know shit. Stick to basketball," we won't be having a conversation and you shall be ignored/blocked/banished.

Next up? A WIRTB Review of John Cena.

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Eyes on the Ring 10:20 AM  No comment

ROH Review 6/6/15

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 6/6/15
By Nathan Neumann Twitter @Headliner5

Hello once again Eyes On The Ring readers. I am Nathan back with more from the ROH/NJPW shows. This week, we had four matches from those shows so lets get down to business.

The show starts off with pre-taped promo from the Addiction, which hyped tonight’s “Main Event” between them and reDRagon in a rematch for the ROH World Tag Team Championships.  They said that tonight they would do whatever it takes to keep the straps.

Back in the arena, out comes the Addiction. At this time, Kevin Kelly mentions that Bobby Fish was attacked in the parking lot (apparently, because we don’t see it). Christopher Daniels grabs the stick and says that if reDRagon doesn’t take their tag team title rematch tonight, they will have to forfeit their opportunity at a rematch. This brings out Kyle O’Reilly who says that he doesn’t care if he is alone, let’s do this now. So much for this being the advertised main event--it’s happening now.

Match 1
Kyle O’Reilly vs. The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian)

Thoughts: The match starts and the Addiction wastes no time by getting both members of the team in the ring. They attempt a double team maneuver on O’Reilly but he outsmarts them which causes Kazarian to inadvertently hit his partner Daniels with a clothesline. The action spills to the outside of the ring and O’Reilly throws both Daniels and Kazarian into the barricades. O’Reilly hops onto the apron, runs off of it and delivers a dropkick to both Addiction members who were both seated on a steal folding chair.  The match goes back into the ring and O’Reilly grabs Kazarian into a leg submission but before Kazarian has the chance to submit Daniels grabs one of the title belts and hits O’Reilly with it to cause the disqualification.

Match Result: Kyle O’Reilly defeats The Addiction via DQ after Daniels hits O’Reilly in the head with one of the ROH World Tag Team Title belts.

Match Rating: *

After the match, The Addiction hit Celebrity Rehab to O’Reilly onto the title belts, they then pose with the belts before ACH and Matt Sydal run out to save O’Reilly from getting beat down further.

This match should have been better but I have a feeling that we will get this match again (this time with Bobby Fish) at Best In The World in 13 nights where the titles will be on the line.  I don’t know for sure but it’s just a theory I have.  So if that happens then this makes perfect sense and if they don’t do this then I don’t know what to tell ya.

From there we go to a pretaped promo from Mark Briscoe, he says that at Best In The World, Donovan Dijak is going down.

From here we go to the next match of the night, which brings out Dalton Castle.

Match 2
Dalton Castle vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger

Thoughts: The match starts and the two takes some time to feel each other out, Liger gets the first real advantage of the match when he locks Castle in a surfboard stretch.  Liger rolls to the outside to catch his breath and Castle hits a 619 into a hurricranna on the outside of the ring.  Liger recovers and downs Castle, he hops onto the apron and runs off of it hitting Castle with a Cannonball to the outside, Liger then rolls into the ring and stands up and calls Dalton Castle’s entourage into the ring to strike a pose with them. 

This infuriates Castle who takes control and hits three body presses on a downed Liger for a near fall. Both men reset and hit a double clothesline on each other, the two men recover and Liger backs Castle into the corner and delivers a palm strike and then follows it up with a top rope hurricanranna for a near fall.  Liger hits Castle with a Liger bomb but Castle kicks out. Liger presses his advantage and scores with a brainbuster, which Castle doesn’t kick out of, which allowed Liger to pick up the win via pinfall.

Match Result: Jushin Liger defeats Dalton Castle via pinfall after a Brainbuster.

Match Rating: ***

Super fun match between both Liger and Castle, this is a match you’ll definitely want to seek out.

After the match, Cheeseburger has a weird interaction with Jushin Thunder Liger, which leads us into the next match.

Match 3
Cheeseburger vs. Brutal Bob Evans

Thoughts: The match starts and Cheeseburger goes to work on Evans with a series of kicks.  Bob tries to mount a comeback by hitting a shoulder tackle to the outside of the ring but Cheeseburger sees it coming which causes Evans to crash and burn into the barricade.  From there Cheeseburger jumps to the top of the guardrail and hits a splash.  Back in the ring and Bob has taken control once again, he hits another shoulder block and covers the fallen Cheeseburger and while he could have easily gotten the win here he decided to pull Cheeseburger up to add more insult to injury.  Meanwhile still on the outside Cheeseburger recovers and while Bob is on the outside Cheeseburger runs off of the apron to the outside but gets caught in mid air by Evans who slams Cheeseburger through a table at ringside to cause the disqualification.

Match Result: Cheeseburger defeats Brutal Bob Evans via DQ after Evans slams Burger through a table at ringside.

Match Rating: **

Again, I don’t mind a finish like this as long as it’s going to go somewhere. So we will have to see where things go from here if anywhere. If it goes nowhere, this whole thing’s useless.

Back from commercial we find out that next week we will see a contract signing between TV Champion Jay Lethal and World Champion Jay Briscoe for their title unification match at Best In The World.  I don’t know what this means for the future of the TV title because whoever wins this match will obviously be the World Champion and either they keep the TV title as well or the winner vacates it and it’s held up in a tournament or something but we will have to see what happens there.

From here we head back to Milwaukee on March 13th of this year to see how the match between Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal originally came to be.  We cut to a pre taped interview with Jay Briscoe where he says that if Jay Lethal tries anything next week then he will whip his ass for free on TV next week and that there will be no need for the unification match on June 19th.

During this we also find out that reDRagon will be getting their rematch against the Addiction at Best In The World so it confirms my thoughts from earlier on the subject.

From here we head back inside of the arena for the main event of the night.

Main Event – Match 4
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Matt Taven and Michael Bennett

Thoughts: The match starts and Karl Anderson who is obsessed with Maria Kanellis begins chasing her around the ring while Gallows catches Taven inside the ring and slams him to the canvas. Gallows rolls to the outside of the ring and Taven takes out Gallows with a dive over the top rope to the outside, he then Too Sweets Michael Bennett when he makes it back up to his feet on the floor. 

Taven then jumps off of the top rope but eats an Ace Crusher by Anderson on the outside of the ring. Taven recovers and makes his way to the top rope and hits a Frog Splash on Doc Gallows, I didn’t even see where he came from so it looked like he feel out of the sky.  Taven hits a superkick and Bennett hits a spear to Anderson to pick up a near fall. Both Taven and Bennett push down Red Shoes, Gallows grabs a chair and whacks Taven with it, which causes the blatant DQ.

Match Result: Matt Taven and Michael Bennett defeat Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson via DQ after a blatant chair shot from Gallows to Taven.

Match Rating: **½

After the match Doc and Karl put Taven through two folded out steel chairs as both Bullet Club members stand tall as the show goes off of the air for the week.

This show was a good hour of television, it was very well paced and flew by, my only complaint would be that out of the four matches that happened on this show three of them ended with a DQ which doesn’t really fit the style of ROH.  The one match I was really looking forward to was Castle vs. Liger and that more than delivered.  If you are pressed for time this week and only can watch one match watch Liger vs. Castle because you wont be disappointed.  Normally I would complain about having four matches on one show that takes up an hour but this week it worked a lot better than it has in the past.  So if they continue to have four matches per week they should structure those shows the same way this one was structured.

That will bring an end to another one of my Ring Of Honor TV reviews for EyesOnTheRing.com. Remember that, in addition to seeing this show on Sinclair stations, you can now see the show (albeit on a four day delay) on Destination America if you get Destination America. That means that Ring Of Honor is in more homes (which is great for wrestling as a whole).

Be sure and follow me on Twitter at @Headliner5 and make sure to follow Eyes On The Ring @EyesOnTheRing.  Also check out EyesOnTheRing.com as I bring you more of these reviews and the rest of the team brings you everything they can as we all make a conscious effort to keep you updated on the news of the professional wrestling industry.

Last but most certainly not least make sure to check out Eyes On The Ring radio as we are presented to you live each and every Sunday night as part of the Elite Podcast Network over at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ElitePodcastNetwork.  We will bring you the entire week that was pro wrestling as we saw it through our own Eyes.  Finally make sure to check out (and like) the facebook page located at Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing.

For now I am Nathan saying so long, also just a note I will not be providing an ROH review next week as I have a prior commitment and will not be able to watch the show live so I will see you right back here in two weeks with another one of my ROH reviews so until then keep your Eyes On The Ring. Catch ya later Ringers!

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Eyes on the Ring 9:31 AM  No comment

The Underrated: Dean Malenko

By True (@TrueGodImmortal)

When speaking of technical wrestlers, there is always talk of your Chris Benoits, Bret Hart, Kurt Angles, and various others, but one name that tends to get overlooked is the Ice Man Dean Malenko. The man of 1,000 holds. When Dean began wrestling throughout the Florida scene, he seemed to capture the fans attention and be on the path for something great. When he arrived to ECW in 1994, he was very different from the usual ECW stuff: not much of a gimmick, not really into the hardcore stuff that ECW was building upon, but rather just an amazing wrestler with great skill. This helped Dean to stick out and get over with the fans of ECW, leading him to an ECW TV Title run, as well as an ECW Tag Title run with Benoit. Malenko was involved in the trio Triple Threat with Benoit and Shane Douglas, and it was this stretch of work, along with some great matches with Eddie Guerrero that led WCW to sign him eventually.

When Dean arrived in WCW around late 1995, he seemed a bit out of place for a main event scene that was all Sting, Hogan, Flair, Savage, and Vader, but he did find his footing on the roster. In May of 96, he won the Cruiserweight Title and went on to have a very entertaining feud with Rey Mysterio. He feuded with Rey before losing to Syxx, then rekindling his ECW feud with Eddie for the US Title and winning his first US Title before dropping it to Jeff Jarrett. Dean was a member of the Four Horsemen, and eventually moved to WWE with the Radicals where his career closed out. However, he did win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship and engaged in a feud with Essa Rios, which eventually led to the Matt Hardy/Lita storyline.

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Eyes on the Ring 12:42 PM  No comment

Kevin Owens KO's Elimination Chamber

By Peagle (@Peagle05)

Feels like I've been gone as long as The Rock was, article-wise, but I'm back...and holy shit Elimination Chamber was mostly dumpster juice. The Tag Team chamber match was cool. Crappy finish, but cool. IC chamber match was so bad, I started watching Bar Rescue re-runs while it was going on. Neville/Bo was forgettable, the Divas match? I won't talk about it because it’ll just cause me to take another bathroom break mid-sentence. And the main event was pretty good, even with the Dusty Finish that gave us all a little false hope that Dean would be champ that night.

*Stephen A Smith voice* HOWEVAH!!!

In the match of the night, and the match of the year in WWE to this point, Kevin Owens and John Cena put on a classic bout that saw KO beat Cena clean in the middle of the ring with the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Owens pulled out everything he had for this match and it seemed like a greatest hits of his previous matches on the indies. This is a man that's easily 260 pounds and he's popping from rope to rope to attempt a Moonsault with ease.

WWE has something special with Owens and they damn sure better know it after last night. And credit to Cena for what he's done this year, he's hanging with the younger wrestlers and putting them over even in losses. This isn't the Cena/Wyatt version of John Cena where it's just blatant that he's going over and it doesn't help his opponent. John has put a new effort into giving his opponent the rub they need even in a defeat. But this match here? Cena made Owens look strong. He even let Owens hit the AA on him. KO looked like he belonged in WWE. 

You know what the best part of this match was? 

We all waited for it...we just KNEW Cena would hit his comeback, do his victory assuring “Rushed AA” (You know the one I'm talking about) and we would marvel at the match but lament KO's loss. Instead, Cena hits that AA but Owens kicks out, we get Cena later attempting a second of 2 clotheslines, missing and catching a Pop-Up Powerbomb for his troubles. 1-2-3...Owens wins. I can only hope WWE doesn't mess this up. Owens came to the biggest moment of his career to this point and knocked it out. Congrats to Kevin Owens on a successful main roster debut. Here's hoping to more greatness from him, I'm gonna go watch that match again.

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Eyes on the Ring 11:08 AM  1 comment