NXT is the Future

By True (@TrueGodImmortal)

WWE is an interesting company. 

For every decision they make that's wrong with their main roster, their "developmental" brand, NXT, seems to pick up the slack. I've admittedly not watched a lot of RAW and Smackdown in the last 8 months, as I've been virtually disinterested with the product as a whole--aside from a few small bright spots. NXT, however, has knocked  it out of the park week after week on the WWE Network. Backed by a slew of talented up and comers, a large amount of whom were indie wrestling stars, NXT gives you the feel of professional wrestling that fans fell in love with. While Vincent Kennedy brands his company as simply "Sports-Entertainment," your core audience all enjoy watching WRESTLING. NXT provides that to the highest form.

With guys like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville(who just got called up to the main roster as Neville), Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, Tyler Breeze, and the reported signings of Samoa Joe (possibly), Uhaa Nation and top prospect Manny Garcia from CWF Mid Atlantic, NXT is sure to be on fire for months to come. Their 2 hour specials seem to get better every time and the focus on the females in NXT is top notch. Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley and various other female wrestlers showcase their talent and put on great matches regularly. NXT has staked its claim in the business as the indie fan's dream promotion on a mainstream scale. Let's look at the matches we've seen so far:

• Sami Zayn vs Cesaro in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
• Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn
• Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor
• Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
• Kevin Owens vs Adrian Neville

The list goes on and on. The classics are endless, the energy is right, the action is exciting... NXT holds the key for WWE and the future. With John Cena taking a backseat, Randy Orton now a 13-year veteran, HHH wrestling only once or twice a year, and Daniel Bryan's potentially-soon-to-be-career-ending-injury/injuries, NXT stars are the next wave. Imagine, Wrestlemania 33 or 34, with the WWE Title on the line, Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn in the main event, with Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose in the Number One contenders match. Adrian Neville winning MITB, Hideo Itami vs Dolph Ziggler for the IC Title, Finn Balor as US Champ, etc. Doesn't that sound amazing? At this point, WWE is in a transitional period. With all the legendary names slowing moving out, they need a new batch of big names. In NXT, they have nothing but stars waiting to be brought up and shine.

Years ago, WWE had OVW, which spawned the biggest stars of the Ruthless Aggression era and the following era in Cena, Brock, Batista, and Orton. All four of those guys were great in their own right, but each lacked something special. In NXT, these guys have it all. Amazing in ring performances, talent on the mic, exciting personas, the natural it factor, etc. We've been waiting for that next era to start. With the success of Bray Wyatt, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, and a few others, we've begun that path. All those names got a good headstart in NXT, and once the Balors, Owens, and Zayns get called up, that era will be solidified. To the future of WWE, to the future of professional wrestling, to the next era in WWE, NXT is the key.

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Eyes on the Ring 9:53 AM  No comment

WIRTB Review: The Souled Out Series Volume Two (1998)

Greetings, my ringaz, it's the man who took on Greed and won, the guy who watched Mayhem 1999 and 2000 and didn't have his eyes bleed, SOTB!!!, back with another WIRTB Review. Now, you're probably wondering where in the high fuck have I been these past couple weeks. Well, I've been dealing with some personal issues. My mother passed. But, instead of boo-hoo over that, I'm going to honor her in a way she'd be proud of: making people laugh (hopefully) through reviews of PPVs. Now, 1997's edition was atrocious. Let's see if 1998's has lost its way of shit or continues down the path of craptastic crappiness.

The first match is a eight-man tag team Lucha Libre rules match between the teams of La Parka, Silver King, Psychosis and El Dandy (?) versus Lizmark Jr., Juventud Guerrerra, Super Calo , and...Chavo Guerrero. Ok, first things first? Chavo sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of an all-night titty fuckfest in this match. Even David Penzer's enthusiasm trails off when annoucing him. Now, don't get me wrong--I love Chavo's WCW work and I think he's overly underrated. But, he's always been light when it comes to Lucha Libre to me.

The match starts off pretty telegraphed, even though the spots are balls-out amazing. We get ample time between each pairing, with La Parka even busting out some dance moves in the middle of his segment. That is, until Juvie knocks him out. And of course, now we get the schmozz. But, after the schmozz and your typical "hey guys stand outside the ring to catch me" spot, Chavo scores the win. The match was pretty balls-out, even if telegraphed. However, one thing that got to me was the fact that the commentators usually referred to the talent as "they" or "them."

Next up, we get a promo for the first iPPV in Boston Brawl. WCW had some good ideas in their dying days--wait a minute. Let me check out the Brawl card. Ok, after further review, good idea, shit execution. It's like This Tuesday in Texas times ten, because at least TTiT (ha..."TiT") had some semblance of a title change and something actually happen.

Our next match is Raven versus Benoit in a Stone Cold vest.

I completely forgot that Chris Benoit also had sparkly pants and shit at one point. Also, for the newbies reading along, can we stop the Raven/Wyatt comparisons? Yes, they're atypical. Yes, they lead "cults." Yes, their promos are their strongest suit. But, there are still so many reasons why Bray Wyatt and Raven are nothing alike. For instance, Bray Wyatt, PG Era or otherwise, hasn't utilized any weaponry really other than his voice. Raven is a crazy motherfucker who'll use anything and everything in his way to make a point. Bray wants you to follow him, potentially to mask his own insecurities. Raven wants to break you down completely and rebuild you in his image...or the image he sees fit.

Anywho, this match is insanity in a hand bag. Chair shots, technical wrestling, psychology, BULLDOGS ONTO CHAIRS! This match probably has everything you could ask for in a match. Benoit gets the win on a crossface (obviously), which leads to everyone coming out, but Benoit and Dean Malenko cleaning house. Two matches in and the way of crap in Souled Out seems to be lost.

Rey versus Jericho is next. This match looks like something out of 2013, 2014. Jericho eats up the crowd booing him. Rey tries to be all flippy-do and hurts his knee. Jericho wins and beats Rey post-match to a somewhat still mixed reaction from a couple people in the crowd. But, it still wasn't a completely horrible match. Just eh.

Bookah T and Rick Martel square off for the TV Title. It's hard to believe, but, at this point, Martel is still in his early-40s. I mean, this is a guy I've seen on WWF since around the time I was born and he's still not even, in 2015, over 60. He's close. Oh, he's damn close. But, he's not 60 just yet. Canadian genes or something. Anyhow, Martel and Bookah are up next for the TV title. The match kind of plays out like something out the indies. Lots of focus on one body part, a slow build, a fast-paced (kind of) middle, and several "I'm on the edge of my seat" near-falls. Bookah ends up getting the win in a fun match which was, sadly, one of Martel's last. Oddly, Martel's career-ending injuries came while in the ring with Bookah for the title.

Next? Scott Hall versus Larry Zybysko. And just like that, the way of crap has been found. Let the bloodletting begin.

What can I say? I'm an anime nerd and a wrestling fan. Don't like it? Kick rocks and suck dick.

The point of this clusterfuck was so Dusty Rwhodes, tha Amurrrican Dream (baby), could end up joining the nWo. At this point, the nWo was reaching critical mass. Everyone and their mom was part of the group and no one really agreed with what should be done within it. So, we ended up getting everyone, their mom, and their gay uncle's partner's cousin's second niece joining and forming splinter groups. Seriously. Look up the member list of the nWo. You're bound to find that someone you liked growing up is/was an nWo member.

We then get, for our troubles, Vicious and Delicious and Konnan versus The Steiners and Ray Traylor. Fuck this. Best part of the match is Scott yelling at the ref. Konnan takes the loss after a screwdriver from Scott and then Scott and Buff verbally jack off each other over their physiques. Fuck that noise.

Next? Kevin Nash versus Giant. Now, the promo for this PPV made mention of, y'know, something along the lines of "if Nash jackknifes someone, he'll be banned from WCW." Not only did he do it, he damn near killed Giant in the process. Yeah, it looks a lot worse than it was...but it was still pretty gotdamn bad (go to about 1:20 into the video).

The next match, our second-to-last of the evening, is almost a classic. Bret Hart versus Ric Flair. Hell, anytime you have Flair going vertical, you've got a classic. Hart gets the win from the Sharpshooter, and the way of shit has been lost once again. I think this may be the first pay-per-view in the WIRTB timeline to get a "no."

And then...we get to the main event. Because, for whatever reason, this classic match couldn't be the closer. Nooooo. We get Michael Buffer coming out to introduce Lex Luger and Randy Savage. Now, Randy is a legend and will always be. But, I can't bring myself to give any sort of fuck about this match. Fuck this match. I think Randy wins, but we all lose.

So, at the end of the day, even with that main event, was it really that bad?

Surprisingly, no. We got matches without a load of outside interference, feud finales, and a slew of things that make wrestling fun and great to watch. I question placing Luger versus Savage as the main event, but other than that? No, it wasn't really that bad. In fact, you take that match, the Dusty heel turn, and the Jackknife Special out, and you've got a legit PPV. So, check it out.

Our next WIRTB will either be Souled Out 1999 or another bonus review. So, until next time, Ringers. Keep your eyes on the ring.

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Eyes on the Ring 9:54 AM  No comment

ROH TV Review 4/4/15

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 4/4/15

By Nathan Neumann (Twitter @Headliner5)

Hello Eyes On The Ring faithful, Nathan here once again with another weekly dose of Ring Of Honor Wrestling in form of my weekly ROH TV review.  This show featured a handful of matches and some steady storyline progression towards ROH Best In The World, which is the next PPV.

The show opens with a recap of last week when Colby Corino was announced as the Decade's new young boy.

This entire thing will most likely lead to a match between BJ Whitmer and Steve Corino, and the best thing about this entire thing is that I can't tell whether or not they legit hate each other or if it's all part of the storyline. That is great wrestling right there. From there, we head inside of the arena where Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are at the announcers desk to welcome us to the show.  They rundown what we will be seeing in the hour before sending us to the ring for our first match of the night.

Match 1: Will Ferrara vs. Michael Elgin

Thoughts: The match starts and the two feel each other out for the first few minutes.  Elgin gains the first advantage after he delivers a pump kick to the face of Ferrara as Ferrara is coming towards Elgin off of the ropes.  From there, Elgin covers Ferrara for a 2 count as Ferrara kicks out and recovers long enough to deliver a code red, which gives Ferrara a near fall of his own.  Elgin, who is dazed but not confused recovers and goes back on offense and hits a flurry of offense before delivering a buckle bomb followed by an Elgin bomb in the center of the ring to pick up the win via pinfall.

Result:  Michael Elgin defeats Will Ferrara via pinfall after an Elgin Bomb.

Match Rating: *1/2

After the match Elgin decides to add more punishment to the already fallen Ferrara by delivering another powerbomb.

This match could have been way better and I wish I could have written a bit more about it, but the crowd was dead and the match itself wasn't very good.  I don't know what it is with Elgin's character, but ever since the company has decided to take his character in this direction, his matches have suffered as a result.  Not to mention that the character is annoying and not in a good way at all. From here, we go into our next match of the night.

Match 2: War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) vs. Jobbers

Thoughts: The match starts and Hanson almost immediately hits his patented Cartwheel closeline and tags in Rowe afterwards.  Rowe, who is in his first match back since his motorcycle accident, makes his way into the ring.  From there, Rowe picks up one of the jobbers in a back suplex position as Hanson comes off of the top rope with a leg drop and Rowe falls to the mat at the same time Hanson hits the leg drop.  Rowe makes the pin and they pick up their first win as a tag team since Rowe made his return.

Result: War Machine defeats jobbers via backdrop Leg drop combination

Match Rating: N/A (Match was too short to rate and I'm not going to give it the 1 star treatment. Good showing from War Machine, this match did exactly what it needed to do which is reminded us that War Machine is a force to be reckoned with within the tag team ranks of ROH.

From here, Michael Elgin makes his way back out to the ring and grabs a microphone.  He says that he is here to punish ROH and this leads to an impromptu handicap match as Michael Elgin takes on War Machine.

Match 3: Michael Elgin vs. War Machine

Thoughts: The match starts and Rowe who is in the ring, dropkicks Elgin, which sends Elgin flying into the corner.  Hanson comes into the ring and runs at Elgin and does a single broncobuster landing on Elgin's chest.  Elgin rolls out to the ring and grabs a chair, Hanson follows Elgin out and Elgin hits Hanson in the back with the chair, which causes a disqualification.

Match Result: War Machine defeats Michael Elgin via DQ via chair shot to the back of Hanson by Elgin.

Match Rating: N/A (Again this match was too short so I'm not even going to bother with a rating.)

From here we go into our fourth match of the night.

Match 4: ACH vs. QT Marshall

Thoughts: The match starts and the two spend the first few minutes getting a feel for each other. ACH gets the advantage but QT rolls to the outside of the ring in order to stop ACH's wave of momentum.  ACH, who is growing frustrated by QT's antics, makes his way out onto the ring apron and dives on to QT. 

QT catches ACH in midair and delivers a powerslam on the outside of the ring. QT rolls ACH back into the ring and delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, which gets a near fall. While ACH is trying to recover, QT climbs to the top rope and goes for a 450 Splash. QT misses the 450-splash attempt and hits the mat hard. While QT is trying to recover, ACH makes his way to the top rope and delivers a 450 splash of his own to score the pinfall victory over QT Marshall.

Match Result: ACH defeats QT Marshall via pinfall after a 450 splash.

Match Rating: **1/2

From here, the Decade makes their way out to the ring, BJ Whitmer grabs a microphone and begins talking to ACH.  This distracts ACH long enough for the Decade to attack.  The entire thing ends when Adam Page hits ACH with his Belly to back piledriver.

From here, we go to the main event of the evening, which is also the fifth match in the hour.

Main Event - Match 5

AJ Styles vs. Mark Briscoe

Thoughts: The match starts and there is a lot of groundwork early on from both men.  The two exchange their best holds while trying to gain the upper hand and get the best of each other in the process.  The two make it to their feet, but AJ sends it right back to the ground as he delivers an armdrag to Briscoe and holds onto it by turning it into an armbar. Mark rolls out of the ring in order to shake off the damage and recover but Styles follows him out onto the floor. 

The action continues when Mark hits a dropkick to the outside. Mark then picks up the fallen AJ and brings him over to the barricade, but AJ recovers and picks Mark up and slams him back first on the top of the guardrail.  Back in the ring and AJ locks in the calf killer, but Mark makes his way to the ropes in order to force the referee to break the hold. The two men reset and Mark takes Styles' head off with a lariat.  Briscoe picks up Styles and hits a fisherman buster for a near fall.  AJ recovers and gets the upper hand once again by hitting a flipping DDT to pick up a near fall of his own. 

The two both make it to their feet and run at each other as fast as they can and both deliver a clothesline, which causes both men to be laid out on the mat.  AJ rolls out of the ring onto the apron and Mark, who by this point in the match has made it back up to his feet, dropkicks Styles off of the apron onto the floor.  Mark makes his way onto the apron and dives out of the ring onto a fallen Styles with an elbow drop.  Back in the ring, after both men reset, AJ gets the upper hand and hits the Bloody Sunday, then he follows it up with a Styles clash to score the victory via pinfall.

Match Result: AJ Styles defeats Mark Briscoe via pinfall after a Styles Clash

Match Rating: **3/4

From there, both AJ Styles and Mark Briscoe make it to their feet.  They shake hands as the show draws to a close for the week.
I don't know what it was about this show, it was good, but the matches tended to suffer because they squeezed in a total of five matches within the hour.

It seemed to me throughout the hour that they were trying to cram two hours of content into a one hour show all trying to lead up to Best In The World in June.  However I don't see the need to do this because we just entered April and June is two months away. Still, this show wasn't bad, I just prefer less matches that are given more time to develop.  Instead, we got five matches with only the main event getting adequate time and the rest of the time was used for storyline progression. We will see where things go within the coming weeks, but I hope this trend doesn't continue. 

Overall Thoughts: This show wasn't bad, but it wasn't one of my favorites.  If you only watch one match from this show, make sure to watch the main event but in all honesty you can probably skip the rest. That however, will do it for me and another one of my weekly ROH TV reviews for EyesOnTheRing.com. I hope you enjoy these reviews that have become a staple of Eyes On The Ring ever since it was launched back in July of 2014. 

If you have any feedback don't hesitate to let me know. In closing, be sure to follow me on Twitter @Headliner5 and be sure to follow the official Eyes On The Ring account @EyesOnTheRing.  Also make sure to check out EyesOnTheRing.com for more reviews like this one from myself, as well as the other great content that the entire EOTR team provides you. Last but not least be sure to check out Eyes On The Ring radio as we return to our normal time of 11:00PM EST as we bring you the entire week in wrestling from RAW and Smackdown to everything else that there was to talk about. 

Finally, don't forget to like us on facebook at Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing. For now, I am Nathan saying so long and until next time ringers, keep your Eyes On The Ring.

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Eyes on the Ring 5:48 PM  No comment

ROH TV Review: 3/28/15

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 3/28/15
By Nathan Neumann
Twitter @Headliner5

Hello Eyes On The Ring readers, Nathan here once again with another weekly dose of Honor and your weekly ROH TV review. Supercard Of Honor IX took place live last weekend, but sadly we wont get to see any matches from it for another two weeks, so until then we got a few matches from ROH’s recent Conquest tour.

The show started out with a Samoa Joe hype video focusing on the fact that the match he has tonight with Kyle O’Reilly is his first match in ROH in seven years.  From this video, we go to the intro to the TV show and then head straight into the arena where we are greeted by commentators Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino, who are at ringside to call all of the action. Kelly and Corino welcome us to the show and send it down for the first match.

Match 1
Moose vs. Caprice Coleman

Thoughts: The match starts with the two men getting a feel for one another. Moose attempts the first bit of offense in the match when he goes for a dropkick which misses Caprice.  Caprice goes for a dropkick of his own, which connects on the big man but doesn’t take him down. Moose staggers over to the ropes and Caprice runs and latches his legs on to the shoulders of Moose hitting a hurricanrana, which sends Moose to the outside of the ring. Caprice attempts a dive to the outside of the ring on to Moose, but Moose catches him in his arms and throws him into the ring post.  From there, Moose grabs Caprice by the legs and giant swings him into the barricade.  From here, Moose rolls Caprice into the ring and covers him for a 2 count.  Later on in the match Caprice recovers and hits a cutter for a near fall. Moose recovers and runs full steam at Caprice, cutting him in half with a flipping spear to score the win via pinfall.

Result: Moose defeats Caprice Coleman via Pinfall with a flipping spear.
Match Rating: *1/2

This match should have been better than it was. I’ve stated before that Moose has potential, but he’s taking a while to progress the way I feel he should be.  I’m patient so I’m willing to give it some time, but for now he’s not really doing much of anything for me. Caprice Coleman on the other hand has really suffered ever since he broke off from Cedric Alexander and ROH hasn’t really done anything with him as of late to get me invested in him.  The crowd in this match wasn’t really a factor sadly because they were quite during most of the match, and if the crowd isn’t into it, it’s hard for me to get into it as well.

From here we move to the second match of the night.

Match 2
BJ Whitmer and Adam Page vs. Leon St. Giovani and Shaheem Ali

Thoughts: There was really nothing to this match to be honest.  I’ve seen Ali before but Giovani was new.  These two guys were obviously brought in to enhance both Whitmer and Page, who went on to win the match in about two minutes after hitting the All Seeing Eye on Shaheem Ali to pick up the pinfall victory.

Result: BJ Whitmer and Adam Page defeat Leon St. Giovani and Shaheem Ali via Pinfall with the All Seeing Eye.
Match Rating: N/A

Note: This match was too short to rate and rather than give it the one star treatment, I’m just going to not bother to rate it.

After the match, BJ Whitmer introduces everyone to the Decades new “Young Boy”, which turns out to be Steve Corino’s son Colby Corino.  This brings Steve Corino off of commentary, who is so upset he leaves his position at the announcers’ table and heads up the ramp and through the curtain.

From there we get a recap of what happened one week ago between Jay Lethal and Dalton Castle which resulted in Donovan Dijak joining the House Of Truth.
From here, we head to the third match of the night.  Before the match, Truth Martini made his way out to the ring and took Steve Corino’s seat on commentary.

Match 3
Donovan Dijak and J Diesel vs. Bob Evans and Cheeseburger

Thoughts: Cheeseburger starts the match and immediately goes after the much bigger Dijak.  Cheeseburger runs at Dijak who catches him by the throat and hits a chokeslam backbreaker that gets a near fall.  Dijak picks Cheeseburger up in a suplex position and hurls him halfway across the ring.  Cheeseburger gets a flurry of offense in and hits desperation DDT to Dijak while the big man is on one knee.  From here Cheeseburger tags in Brutal Bob Evans, but Evans doesn’t do much and has to tag in Cheeseburger.  The match breaks down with all four guys in the ring and once and in the middle of all of the commotion, Dijak hits Cheeseburger with Feast Your Eyes to score the pinfall victory for himself and J. Diesel.

Result: Donovan Dijak and J Diesel defeat Brutal Burgers via pinfall after Dijak hits Cheeseburger with the Feast Your Eyes.
Match Rating: **

After the match, Bob Evans gets in the ring as the House Of Truth members leave to the back.  Evans goes to check on Cheeseburger,  helps him up to his feet, but then knocks him back down with a shoulder block which officially brings Brutal Burgers to an end.  It was kind of anticlimactic in a way, but it is what it is.

From there, Truth Martini leaves the announcers booth to go celebrate the win with his guys, which brings Steve Corino back to the broadcast booth right before the main event.

Main Event – Match 4
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Samoa Joe

Thoughts: The bell rings and the match starts out very slow and technical, the two men trade holds and strikes and each exchange with their own respective flurries of offense.  Samoa Joe takes control and attempts a rear naked choke on O’Reilly, but O’Reilly is able to slip out of it and grab Joe’s ankle to lock on an Ankle Lock, which Joe counters into the first pinning predicament and near fall of the match. Both men make it back up to their feet and Joe works O’Reilly over in the corner with punches.  Joe whips O’Reilly into the opposite corner and follows him in with a back splash.

From here, Joe gets O’Reilly down in the corner, runs to the opposite end of the ring and runs full steam at O’Reilly kicking him in the face with the face wash.  O’Reilly recovers and grabs Joe’s arm that he was working on earlier in the match and drives him down to the mat.  Joe manages to break free and make his way back up to his feet. Next, Joe whips O’Reilly into the ropes and catches him as O’Reilly is coming towards him with a snap power slam to pick up a near fall.  From here, O’Reilly attempts a hurricanrana, but gets powerbombed by Joe who turns it into a pinning attempt, but instead of letting O’Reilly kick out Joe turns the pinning attempt into a submission attempt.  The two recover and Joe gets O’Reilly in the corner to set him up on the top rope to attempt a muscle buster.  However, O’Reilly turns the move into a guillotine for the submission attempt.  Joe rolls to the outside of the ring and O’Reilly follows him out hitting a dropkick to Joe’s already injured arm.  Back in the ring and the two exchange strikes in the ring for about a minute, until Joe gets the upper hand and is able to hit the Muscle Buster on Kyle O’Reilly to pick up the win via pinfall.

Result: Samoa Joe defeats Kyle O’Reilly via pinfall after a Muscle Buster.
Match Rating: ***

After the match, the two men shake hands in the middle of the ring as the show goes off of the air for the week.  If you can seek this match out, I would highly recommend doing so because it may just in fact be the only televised Samoa Joe match that we see from him in Ring Of Honor.

That as always will do it for me and another one of my weekly Ring Of Honor Wrestling TV Reviews for EyesOnTheRing.com.  This show was pretty solid all around, the main event more than delivered and the Tag match that lasted longer than a minute was pretty good.

Be sure to follow me on twitter @Headliner5 as well as the official Eyes On The Ring account @EyesOnTheRing.  Also be sure to check out the site for more ROH reviews as well as other great content from the entire EOTR team.

Finally don’t forget to like us on facebook at Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing.  For now,  I am Nathan saying so long and I will see you right here next week for another Ring Of Honor TV Review.  Same Eyes On The Ring time, same Eyes On The Ring website.

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Eyes on the Ring 6:30 PM  No comment

Living in the Attitude Era: Intro

The WWE landscape has changed a lot since its heyday. If you're of a certain age, you'll remember a time when watching WWF/E was can't miss and must-see, instead of might watch. Of course, we're talking about the Attitude Era.

Fans like me get a lot of shit because we keep talking about the Attitude Era like it was the greatest thing ever. Here's the thing though - it wasn't...but it felt like it was.

We're talking about a time from the mid-to-late 1990's where two big wrestling companies went toe-to-toe in a ratings battle the like of which we'll never see again. WWF and WCW went at it every Monday with both companies trying to outdo the other. Both companies needed to be at the top of their game and were driven to shake things up because of one thing - competition.

In the 1990s, there wasn't TIVO or DVR's. If you wanted to watch a show, you either had to tune in to the broadcast, or tape it on VHS to watch it later. Yup. VHS. THAT'S how long ago we're talking!

It was also a time when the internet was in its infancy, and there wasn't anywhere near the coverage that wrestling has today. Fans today are spoiled with the number of websites who report on the sport that we love, or loved in my case.

I've been around a bit and written for a lot of sites, but you won't have read a lot from me lately. It's because of one thing - the current WWE (RAW/SmackDown) product.

I can't stand to watch something that's presented as caviar, when the reality is that most of it is horseshit. Of course, there's nuggets of brilliance in there - Daniel Bryan, Paul Heyman, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar etc, but there's only so many times we can watch HHH being a prick heel or Kane and Big Show turning heel/face every five weeks before it gets stale and repetitive.

That's why the Attitude Era was brilliant. It was unpredictable. You never knew what could happen. Both companies took ACTUAL risks by blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

True's asked me to turn this into a series of articles because he knows it's the only way to get anything positive out of me!

Before we get into the series, which will start properly next week, I just wanted to talk about the things that are sorely missing from Raw and SmackDown these days.

The biggest difference between today's WWE and the Attitude Era for me comes down to one thing, and one thing alone - the lack of depth across the card.

These days, you'd struggle to name 10 top-class acts on WWE TV. But back in the Attitude Era (at one time or another) all of these men - Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, HHH, Kane, Undertaker, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley - could easily have main-evented a PPV.

You could also include Angle and Jericho in the mid-upper card too, along with others like Guerrero, Venis, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Rikishi, X-Pac.

The tag-team division was the best it's ever been too - Edge & Christian, The Hardys, The Dudleys, APA, The New Age Outlaws, Too Cool were all teams who could interchange and either work the title match, or duke it out to see who got a title shot. There are probably others that I've missed, but you get the point.

Vince McMahon had an embarrassment of riches in his hands back then, whereas now...

All of those guys I've just mentioned were also over. Like crazy. People weren't indifferent to them, like they are with some guys now. Wins and losses meant something and their characters were well defined. Being the champion meant you were the best performer, not just the flavour of the month like it is now. These days you'll get a month, maybe two tops before Vince gets distracted by his new shiny toy - see Fandango, Ryback, Cesaro, Los Matadores, Big E etc.

It's frustrating as hell right now because no matter who you get behind - Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are just three examples off the top of my head - if WWE don't want you to get there, you won't.

Back in the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley and The Rock got over with the fans and Vince went with them because he knew he could make money with them. We WANTED those guys to be champion, or at the top of the card at least. 

Others got there over the years too, like Jericho, Angle, Lesnar, Jeff Hardy and Guerrero. But it didn't really feel like Vince wanted them to be the guy. He never really got behind them the way he did with Austin, Rock and obviously, with his daughter's main squeeze, The Game-Ah.

In today's world, Vince McMahon has become lazy and even more stubborn than he's been in the past. He doesn't have anything to push him - like he did in the Attitude Era.

Vince can kid himself by thinking that WWE can compete with "entertainment" brands. WWE isn't an entertainment brand. It's a wrestling brand. His company is called World WRESTLING Entertainment. It should be a wrestling show that's on TV, not a TV show about wrestling.

At times, it seems like the wrestling actually gets in the way of whatever ridiculous guest host or "musician" (and I use that term VERY loosely) is on shilling their latest project. And because the wrestling is almost presented as an afterthought, that's why people don't really care what happens one way or the other. When they do, WWE decides to fuck us off and patronise us by punishing the guys we like just because they get over without the machine. It's a fucking farce and it's no surprise interest in the product has waned ever since WCW went out of business.

And why did WCW go out of business? Because Vince McMahon took risks. He took chances. Now, he just plays it safe. Those grapefruits he went on about oh-so-much in the Attitude Era have properly shrivelled up haven't they? They're more like orange pips now.

Back to the task at hand then. The Attitude Era will be fondly remembered by wrestling fans of a certain age because it reminds us of a time when we LOVED watching Raw. At that time, WWE only really had 2 hours of network TV to fill and it had to be good because WCW were around, and could take advantage at any given moment (except towards the end). It forced WWE to be good and make sure they did EVERYTHING to force fans to watch their show.

I'm not ashamed to say that I loved the Attitude Era, but I'm not fucking delusional either. 

Some of it was awful. Just awful. I mean Mae Young giving birth to a hand? Seriously. Who in their right fucking mind thought that was funny/entertaining. Oh...

Next time, we'll discuss the events that really kicked off the Attitude Era, including DX, Stone Cold and the creation of the Mr McMahon character, borne out of circumstance but who can arguably be considered amongst the greatest pro-wrestling antagonists of all-time.

Keep your eyes here and support True and the team.

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Eyes on the Ring 11:46 AM  No comment

The Significance Of The Beast

Brock Lesnar has resigned to the WWE for a multi-year deal. This is the second time in a row that Brock has signed a multi-year deal with the company, and who could blame him? Vince drops millions of dollars in his bank account, Brock works 25-30 days a year, wrestles 4 times a year, and gets to be home with his family 90% of the year. Who wouldn't take that deal? To be fair, having Brock back in WWE hasn't seemed to provide the huge ratings or merch sales boost that WWE expected, but I think Vince sees Brock as a worthy investment regardless. Brock has never been a big media guy, and that doesn't seem likely to change, but his announcement on ESPN that he has closed the door on a MMA return, and would be staying with WWE for multiple years rocked all social media and delighted wrestling fans all over.

The question remains, what does this mean for WWE going forward? Who are some potential opponents for Brock? How many years is included in this particular multi year deal? With regards to the amount of years in Brock's resigned contract, I'm going to guess 2-3 years, with 2 years being the logical option as WrestleMania 33 is rumored to be in Minneapolis, Brock's hometown.

"Brock re-signs with @WWE." #CongratsToUs pic.twitter.com/nltmx4UCsp

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) March 24, 2015

As far as what's next? And potential opponents? Here's my view:

There is no reason for Brock to lose to Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31. The most bland main event in WWE history, in terms of excitement for the match and build, should end with Brock victorious. Last year, Brock ended the Undertaker's streak and I cannot imagine throwing that away just to put Reigns in a title picture that he obviously isn't ready for. However, knowing WWE, Reigns will win, Rollins will cash in, and we get Rollins vs Reigns for the title afterwards as Brock takes his normal three-month vacation with great pay. This does nothing for the company in essence, if Brock is going to stay in WWE for another two years. I would like to see Brock vs Daniel Bryan at Summerslam for the WWE Title, and Brock even said himself that he looks forward to working with Bryan in the future, getting us closer to the reality of seeing the match we all really wanted at WrestleMania 31.

Now, we don't know if Brock's contract calls for a few more dates than before, but if I'm WWE, I'm making sure that this investment is 100% worth it, and using him as much as we can within the 2 years. Unlike The Rock, Brock's part time schedule isn't because he's busy doing 45 other things, its because he just doesn't want to work that much. Now, at 25 dates a year, that's no way to really build a huge feud, so if I'm WWE, I'm asking for 35-40 dates along with 5-6 matches per year.

Vince is backing up the money truck, the least Brock can do is add 5-10 more dates to the contract and 1-2 extra matches. I would say that its more than necessary at this moment. Brock returning initially made him a special attraction, but now that effect has wore off some. He is still a huge attraction, but the wrestle once, disappear for months, wrestle once, repeat disappearance shit has gotten old after three years.

Brock has committed to WWE for multiple years and canceled out MMA, so I believe that he should give the WWE a bit more as far as appearances go. Brock wrestling at Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Extreme Rules (or Money In The Bank), Summerslam, Night of Champions (or Hell In A Cell), and Survivor Series is what's best for business. It gives the fans more Brock Lesnar, which they want, while not over saturating his appearances/matches. A strategy that if utilized correctly, will be perfect. Now, the final question, and most important question would have to be, who can Brock face over the course of these next few years?

Daniel Bryan

This is the match that everyone wants. Bryan vs Brock. David vs Goliath. This is the money match. Bryan vs Brock could end up as an all time classic and if anyone should hand Brock his first loss since WrestleMania 29, it should be Bryan.

Randy Orton

In all seriousness, this match needs to happen. It should have happened at the Royal Rumble instead of Cena getting a shot at the title. But, WWE and their usual bullshit comes to mind. However, I fully expect a Brock vs RKO match, and I can't wait to see it. It will be extreme and intense.

Rusev

In the future, after say the Orton and Bryan matches (Ed. Note: and potentially barring Rusev losing to Cena at WrestleMania), a big match between a face Brock and mega heel Rusev could provide a great showdown.

The Rock

This match needs to happen as well. A lot of people are saying "this isn't 2002," and you're right. It isn't. Brock Lesnar is a mainstream household name, The Rock is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and both are considered legends in this business. Yes, we saw Brock vs Rock in 2002. We also saw Undertaker vs Brock in 2002 and 2003. We saw Brock vs Cena in 2003 as well. The Rock was the one who helped get Brock over the top by losing cleanly to him, some 13 years ago at Summerslam 2002. Their careers since have both taken an interesting turn, and with all those years passed, I think it'd be perfect for one last match between the two in front of 100,000 plus at WrestleMania 32.

Dean Ambrose

Dean is one of the most over guys in the company period and he's positioned as a lunatic character wise. He's also selling merch considerably well, and has the vocal chops to spar with Brock's advocate Paul Heyman. The match between the two would be physical, brutal and I would love to see these two go at it.

Bray Wyatt

This might be the most exciting potential feud here. Heyman vs Wyatt on the mic? The New Face of Fear versus The Beast? This is MONEY. I'M SOLD!

Seth Rollins

I rather enjoyed the interactions with Brock and Seth Rollins leading up to the Rumble and would love to see him go one on one with Brock. That match would be great.

Cesaro

The ship hasn't sailed on this. With proper booking, decent build up, and more, I think Brock vs Cesaro could be a classic.

Closing thoughts:I'd keep Brock away from Cena, HHH, Taker, Sting, Ryback, Big Show, Kane, Mark Henry, and even Sheamus, to be honest. Let him work with the majority of the new blood, the quicker guys, the more sound wrestlers, with one huge attraction match against The Rock and call it a career. Brock is best with booked with great in ring performers, as this was evident in 2002-2003. Brock excelled against the Benoits, Edges, Rocks, Takers, Guerreros, and of course Angles of that era, but bored against the bigger men or older wrestlers. It is vital to keep Brock with fresher talent and let the magic happen.

Where does Brock go from here? Only he and the WWE know, but the whole world is intrigued. And that is special in its own right. Long Live The Beast.

@TrueGodImmortal

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Eyes on the Ring 2:40 PM  No comment