EOTR Fantasy Matches: The Road Warriors vs Dudley Boyz

By @SteveSignore 

The Road Warriors are, arguably, the most intimidating tag team in the history of the wrestling business. The Dudley Boyz are one of the most decorated tag teams in the history of the business. And while both teams' careers overlapped, there was never a meeting while both teams were at the top of their game. Michael Hegstrand, aka Road Warrior Hawk, passed away in 2003, effectively ending any opportunity for the two teams to meet. That being said, as the case with any dream match, the ideal meet up would have been mid-80s Warriors versus early 2000s Dudleys, while both teams were in their prime.

The Legion of Doom was a faction created by Paul Ellering in 1983. The Road Warriors were the centerpiece surrounded by eventual wrestling legends, including Jake Roberts, Arn Anderson and the Iron Sheik amongst others. Hawk and Animal took the tag team scene by storm, winning their first title within six months of their debut. The team's unique look (post-biker gimmick), with Animal's regular mohawk and Hawk's reverse mohawk, along with facepaint and massive builds, made them stick out like a sore thumb in Georgia Championship Wrestling. While there were initally questions if the Road Warriors style would survive in the business, Hawk and Animal perservered and reached legendary status in just a few years. The one thing that's always stuck in my head about the Road Warriors was the fact that they looked like a WWE act performing in areas where "wrestling" was at a premium. Nikita Koloff also fits that mold, in my opinion.

The Dudley Boyz were key players in the growth and success of Paul Heyman's ECW. While their run with the company spanned only three years, it feels like they were there for decades (yes, I know ECW didn't exist for decades). The Dudleys will always been synomous with the since defunct wrestling company. Twenty years since their debut, the Dudleys continue to make their mark on the business, without losing much as far as workrate in the ring. Bubba Ray (or Bully Ray) also showed his ability to tweak his character as a solo monster heel during his run with TNA. Although the team did return to the WWE this past year, the run lacked the success their previous run did. It was more of a nostalgia act, which I feel wasn't necessary. They could have had another run, helping younger teams along the way, but they basically just became a punching bag instead.Still, the Dudleys have been regarded as the greatest tag team in the history of the WWE, technically winning the title 10 times, if you want to count the WCW title victory under the WWE umbrella.

If I had to choose a team that would win a confrontation between the two teams I'd pick the Road Warriors. I'm basing that strictly on power and the outside interference of Paul Ellering. Ellering was the perfect compliment to the Road Warriors, cutting intelligent promos for a team that was known for it's unbridled aggression. The chemistry was perfect. Bubby Ray and Ellering in a promo war would have been fun to watch.

Technically, that could still happen, since Ellering is currently in NXT and Dudley is still active on the wrestling scene, but obviously wouldn't have the same effect.
The Doomsday Device versus the 3D, both devastating finishers. Again, I'd give the edge to the Road Warriors based solely on power. But if you add the table to the 3D, there's no question the Dudleys have the edge.

While the idea of the scaffold match was far greater than the actual match, it could have been something to see the dream match happen in such a match. But we continue to dream!

-Steve

Read More

Eyes on the Ring 12:48 AM  No comment

WIRTB Review: A Look Back at AJ Lee in WWE

By @SpeedontheBeat

The woman formerly known as AJ Lee helped spark what's currently known as the Women's Revolution in WWE.

Were it not for AJ getting as over as she did with the crowds and viewers, we might not have The Four Horsewomen getting as much screen time as they do, along with the rest of the Women's Division. Slight hyperbole aside, AJ Lee was important to shaping what we now see in WWE's Women's Division. But, should we give her unadulterated praise for everything she's had a hand in...or should we be smarky and marky and whatever other "IWC" buzzwords you want to throw around and be pissed that she's married to CM Punk or whatever (like some'd argue WWE has done)?

In this WIRTB Review, I'll try to take a more objective approach to the subject of AJ Lee's WWE tenure to determine if she:

a. deserves all the praise she's gotten over the years and
b. deserves the hate she's garnered from fans since her rise in popularity and her subsequent retirement

And, yes, like my proto-EOTR posts on SpeedontheBeat.com (shameless plug), this will be GIF-heavy.

To understand Lee's impact on WWE, you've got to look at what the Women's Division was before her. In a few words, you had a couple of decent women's wrestlers and a lot of former models who wanted to go on into TV. The Divas Division was seen, almost uniformly, as a piss break segment. As sexist as that may be, it was partly true. The Divas had a niche fanbase for a niche activity within a niche itself, pro wrestling. It didn't help that many of the Divas couldn't tell convincing stories, throw convincing punches, and were pretty much there to be objectified between hard-hitting men's matches (or be arm candy for their male counterparts).

And AJ Lee, when she began her climb in WWE, was kind of the same thing. She was a victim of the times.

But, the evolution of Lee's character is what helped put women's wrestling over. She started out as a nerdy tag teamer with The Chickbusters, eventually became Hornswoggle's girlfriend (because, it seemed, every women's wrestler had to fawn over Hornswoggle at some point), and ended up with Daniel Bryan during the beginning of his rise.

Without the pairing of Lee and Bryan, the wrestling world could've been a lot different; we all know about the seven-second kiss match at WrestleMania. But, Bryan, through being paired with AJ, was able to show that he could promo with the best of them, heel out with the best of them, and still be a sympathetic character (while being abusive, to a degree). And fans ate it up. They wanted Bryan to get his just desserts and wanted the now-meek Lee to break free of his demand and be her own woman.

And eventually, she did, through putting Daniel Bryan and CM Punk through a table.

Yes, we can argue that AJ's love triangle presence "ruined" a classic match between Punk and Bryan at 2012's Money in the Bank, but I personally think that's kind of BS. The interactions between the three added a sense of reality to the situation that wasn't just about "oh, let's wrestle because you have the championship I want." We all want classic matches, but I personally want classic matches with emotion and story along with my psychology and whatnot. And having AJ Lee there as ref helped add that (albeit somewhat over-the-top) emotion and story. Would she choose to help her old boyfriend, her new flame, or would she just say screw it and walk out?

As time went on, and we got Demon AJ (because why not throw Kane into the mix), AJ became RAW's GM. Do we really need to rehash their whole Becky Lynch parody? No. It was bad. So, let's just focus on Vickie Guerrero tapping out on AJ's bum during one of their matches (you knew it was coming)

But, AJ Lee wasn't just eye candy and booty pats. She was a talent that could actually wrestle. Originally trained by Jay Lethal, Lee gained an edge over many of her women's counterparts. She could wrestle without just being about the sexual side of things (even though she embraced that perfectly with the above Black Widow submission). She also was allowed to be crazy. 

Without "Crazy AJ Lee," I feel that, while a great wrestler, AJ Lee would've been ignored. She gave us something we were missing in WWE at the time, a "crazy chick" that felt real, felt emotionally invested in what she was doing, and was damn good at doing it. Not since Mickie James' run with Torrie had we seen anything this over-the-top and still amazing. 

AJ was maniacal as a heel, and just as uneven as a face. For me, it was great to see her play her former ally Kaitlyn for her first Diva's Championship. It was crazy fun to see her skip her way away after knocking someone the eff out. She wasn't the greatest manager of all-time (that's Miss Elizabeth through and through), but you could see that, when she was a manager for folks like Ziggler, she gave a crap about it. It wasn't stilted. Everything about Lee's performance felt real and she deserves to be talked about when you say "great women talent in WWE" and "great talent in WWE" period, regardless of gender.

So, was AJ Lee, in WWE, without her faults?

Nah. She wasn't the greatest on the mic and her promos sometimes ended up devolving into her screaming and pouting. I get that that's her character, but even still, I wanted something more than "RAWR! I'M A CRAZY CHICK!" at times. Additionally, some of her best mic moments became slightly underdeveloped as time went on. When she dropped her "Pipe Bombshell," she was allowed to destroy the entire Divas division in one promo. But, WWE had no follow-up and AJ just went back to being a crazy chick essentially. 

During AJ's feud with Paige, it was less wrestling and more lesbian pollen wackiness. Like I said, AJ played up the sexy factor and ran with it. That's great. But, her character's methods became less mind games and more "maybe I want to bump uglies with you, Paige. So, I'm going to Mickie James your ass."

The sexual tension was cool. However, that's all we usually got from the original feuds between Paige and AJ. Sexual tension and "meh" wrestling. It should've been more of a wrestling story and less of a "oh, they're sexy. Let's fulfill peoples' fan fiction fantasies a bit" story. But, again, AJ and other competent women's wrestlers were victims of the Diva mindset.

Eventually, though, we got to my intro to this piece. AJ saying "screw this. Let's make women's wrestling more than piss breaks and sex to these boys." And, after AJ left, the Divas Revolution began. So, again, had it not been for AJ speaking up, things may've continued down similar paths. We wouldn't see Bayley versus Sasha Banks in a MOTY-caliber match in WWE. I know that I'm giving AJ a ton of credit where she may not completely deserve it, but without AJ, the Women's Division would've been a mess (before and after she left).

So, was the career of AJ Lee really that bad for the WWE and its fanbase? No. Sure, there were some WTF moments, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. So, the next time you're watching a Women's match in WWE (because "Divas" is dead, outside of Total Divas), and you see some ish you thought you'd never see in a Women's WWE match, thank AJ Lee for helping to get the ball rolling. 

Read More

Eyes on the Ring 10:19 AM  No comment

Top 10: John Cena Matches

By @TrueGodImmortal

No. You're not seeing things. Yes, one of the biggest Cena haters of all time is giving him his credit with a top 10 list of matches. Some of his matches showcase him going toe to toe with pound for pound better wrestlers and holding his own. Today, we talk Cena, his top 10 matches, and why 2015 is really the best year of his career based on this list.

10. John Cena vs Shawn Michaels 
Wrestlemania 23 

-The best Cena main event in his Mania career came from the best wrestler of all time. HBK and Cena went at it with glimpses of that old Shawn showing itself, which was turned up for Mania. Cena walks away with the win, but I'd say HBK stole the show in this match.

9. John Cena vs Cesaro
RAW, June 2015

-2015 was the greatest year of his career. Hands down. This match with Cesaro here is basically one that set the tone for something bigger and to be honest I'm including both this match and the one next week in this, because Kevin Owens interfered in the first one causing a DQ, and the next week, these two went at it, with Cena getting the win in yet another 20 plus minute classic. If you don't remember the match, do some research and go back. It's only been a year or so.

8. Edge vs John Cena 
Unforgiven 2006

-I'm not exactly sure what makes this match so special, but it's a landmark match for that particular era. Cena would go out and take Edge to the limit, as the crowd seemed firmly behind hometown boy Edge, but once again, Cena walked away with the win and the title. Great match, and allowed Cena to show he could go in a TLC stipulation, though he took basically no real bumps. Still a classic.

7. John Cena vs Daniel Bryan 
Summerslam 2013

-This is a pure wrestling match and kudos to Cena for holding his own with Bryan. Still, the match was so special as it represented seeing Cena lose clean to an up and coming star in Bryan, something we rarely saw at the point. It was a great match, and it was great seeing Bryan finally get a big win and the title, even if it only lasted for 3 minutes.

6. John Cena vs CM Punk 
Money In the Bank 2011

-This is honestly the most important match in the last 10 years. It shifted so much, as Punk and his angle and this match represents the seeds planted for the new era of WWE, the evolution of which we are living in currently. Punk and Cena went almost 40 minutes until Punk walked away with the victory. Great match and truly one of the monumental matches in WWE over the last 10 years, and probably the most important match in both wrestlers' careers.

5. John Cena vs Kevin Owens
Elimination Chamber 2015

-Owens was coming on strong and was certainly in line to be the next one up to win big. As we've seen since, this was truly the case, and kudos to Cena for putting him over. Cena got taken to the limit and stepped his game up, showcasing some new moves and giving more of an effort than we had seen in years and he put Owens over clean in a huge classic that stands as one of the best in Cena's career and in Owens' WWE career.

4. John Cena vs Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins 
Royal Rumble 2015

-One of the greatest Triple Threat matches ever, and the brutality of it shocked me some. All three men kicked each other's ass all over the arena and Brock even got taken out at one point before coming back to win the match. I think the star of this match was Seth as he showed and proved that he could be the man in this business just with a show stealing performance in this match. When talking triple threat matches, this is top 5 in its own right so it's only right that it resides in the top 5 of the Cena match list.

3. John Cena vs AJ Styles 
Summerslam 2016

-Recent, but I almost put this at no. 1. This match is a match of the year candidate and could very well win the award because it's a perfect match. Cena hasn't had too many of those, but this was one. Cena and AJ went to a higher level in this match and the one thing that sticks out is AJ winning clean. AJ defeated Cena yet again and got put over in a true to life classic. It's still surreal typing that.

2. John Cena vs CM Punk
RAW, February 2013

-This is yet another perfect match. The only issue here was that Cena won the match, but the match itself? Flawless. Punk and Cena went for about 30 minutes and solidified the fact that Punk is certainly the best opponent and feud that Cena has ever had in many ways. Sure, Owens and AJ gave Cena classics too, but it was a big fight feel and magical anytime Cena and Punk went at it. This match was the pinnacle.

1. John Cena vs Shawn Michaels
RAW, April 2007

-The greatest Cena match. Hands down. Almost an hour long, HBK and Cena furthered what they did at WM23 and went above and beyond. Cena took HBK to the limit, HBK went full force as expected and he walked away with the victory. This is the greatest Cena match. Period.

-True

Read More

Eyes on the Ring 1:56 AM  1 comment

EOTR Reviews: Wrestlemania 27

By __@Doug___

Wrestlemania XXVII. The trainwreck that seemed like it was booked with zero thought or effort. The show was essentially a way to get free publicity for Wrestlemania 28 with that being in The Rock’s hometown. Only one match had enough effort to keep the interest of many, while a mix of guys the crowd didn’t care about, a few mail it in performances, and generally not as many characters, this Wrestlemania was bad. To start, let’s go to the opener, Alberto Del Rio vs Edge.

Here we have Alberto Del Rio vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. Alberto had won the mess known as the 40 man Royal Rumble. This was despite the fact that to this day the man cannot get the crowd to care about him. After months of building Del Rio and his finisher by injuring the likes of Christian, Hardy and Mysterio, the fans didn’t care for the guy. Hell, Ricardo got more of a crowd reaction than he did. Edge on the other hand, had come off of some momentum with a feud with a resurgent Kane and an upstart Dolph Ziggler. This was his face run as a champ, and it was working for Smackdown. The feud between these guys was frankly lackluster. Del Rio wasn’t and still isn’t ready for the main event stage (as evidenced by any of his title runs), and Edge was not at his best condition. Edge rightfully retained his title and eventually got his heroic sendoff soon after. As for Del Rio, they still tried to force him to the world title picture, having him lose to Christian (rightfully), win MITB and cash in (wrongly on a white hot Punk), and have another championship match at WM (not a great decision). Still feels weird at how neither competitor in this championship match of this magnitude are not with the company anymore.

Now we have Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio. Cody was undergoing a transformation from generic random guy that was in Legacy, to egotistical Dashing Cody Rhodes, to a broken Cody Rhodes when his nose broke from a match with Rey. This accident birthed a character, a man who was darker and one who really was hurt on the inside. This resulted in a fun match, where Cody won and rightfully so. Cody was in the midst of one of his better runs in the company, and this legitimized him as a guy who should be doing things in the future, as he did end up winning the Intercontinental Championship a few times. As for Mysterio, he did win the WWE Championship for less than a night a few months later, but this was essentially the high point for him. With various injuries and suspensions, Rey left the company a few years later and it was better for both parties.

The less said about the eight man tag match, the better. So I’ll skip over that for the sake of readers.

Up next is Randy Orton vs CM Punk. This is one of the few times where the company actually went back in history and used it to address a storyline. Back in 2008 before Unforgiven where Punk was to defend his World Heavyweight Championship, Legacy had attacked Punk, which prevented him from defending his title. Fast forward to 2011, Punk attacks Orton during the Rumble to ruin Orton’s chances of winning the WWE Championship from The Miz. Why this didn’t happen in 2008? Reasons are unknown for this time lapse. Back to the current day, Orton did attack everybody in the New Nexus (which shouldn’t have existed), therefore Punk was isolated in their match. This was not before Punk nailing a GTS on Orton a few days before the show. Orton won the match and eventually the feud with solid efforts coming from both. After this, both men went nowhere for a bit before the summer, where Punk had the Summer of Punk angle, where he was the hottest superstar in the company. Orton was an actually entertaining face while holding the World Heavyweight Championship. His feud with Christian was the best feud on the roster that wasn’t Punk/Cena. Overall, it was a good job for both

Now we get into the trainwreck of heel Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler. Why did they make this feud a thing? I do not know. I just know that it was just terrible television that stretched way too long. From the irrational hate of Daniel Bryan, to being the voice of the anonymous Raw GM (another terrible angle), and costing a title match for Jerry Lawler (to this day I do not know why this happened). Cole just kept taking shots at Lawler at months, eventually cumulating into a match. Bringing Lawler’s mother and son into the feud was just odd and just terrible. The match, as expected was terrible, and not the Sharknado/Wayans Bros movie enjoyable terribleness, just straight up garbage. Lawler won, but it was reversed because of Austin being a decent person and helping Lawler win. In a PPV, where historically faces generally go over, they should have followed the trend here. Feud ended up continuing for months, and the hostility did as well until King had a heart attack.

We’ve reached the best part of the biggest show of the year. Undertaker vs Triple H. This feud started when the Undertaker had returned after vignettes airing of him returning on a Monday, but Triple H returned the same night, wanting to face Undertaker at Wrestlemania, which was accepted. Triple H not only had something to prove to himself, as he had lost to Taker during the streak, but also to his friend Shawn Michaels, who had to retire due to The Undertaker. The build here was amazing, especially with the integration of Shawn. The match did not disappoint either, it was easily the best on the card and you could tell that both men did go all out. The same thing happened the following year at Wrestlemania 28, but inside the cell this time. One of the matches in recent memory that did the cell justice, as both men again carried the card. These some of the last great matches from The Undertaker, while HHH was experiencing some sort of renaissance around this era, as he had lost the bulk from earlier in the decade and put on good matches. Overall no complaints.

Team Laycool and Ziggler vs Trish Stratus, Snooki, and John Morrison was a bathroom break match for the show and for this article, so I’ll skip over that match.

And now we have the main event of John Cena vs The Miz for the WWE Championship. This is the event that sets up the next two Wrestlemania’s.  On one hand, we have the champion The Miz. Miz did have a very up and down reign as champion. His initial win and feud with Orton and to an extent Morrison, weren’t bad and were passable for a champion. On the other hand, he was never the focal part of the show, because that part was always focused on John Cena. Miz had to defend his championship in a match with Jerry Lawler instead of a decent opponent. At a B-Level PPV, they could have at least tested out how Miz would fare at headlining a show, and they didn’t do that until later. Then once Cena and eventually Rock came into play, he became the third fiddle, despite being the champion. In a sense, he was the Jericho in the feud between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. In this case, however he did walk out with the title. Miz’s opponent was one John Cena. Fresh off of single handedly killing one of the best things in recent memory in Nexus, Cena needed a new talent to face and Miz was the guy, or so what was thought. The Rock comes back during Wrestlemania season, and mainly focuses on John Cena with his verbal attacks. This would go back and forth, and little fanfare for the main event existed. We come to the actual main event of Wrestlemania, and Rock hits a Rock Bottom on Cena, which eventually allows Miz to pin him. The Rock’s interference did provide a moment in a very lackluster main event, but it was just unnecessary. The next night, the main event of Wrestlemania XXVIII had been made. So all this effort into the PPV just went for naught, as this whole event was just an infomercial for the show next year. After this trainwreck, Cena ended up destroying The Miz and Alex Riley for the next few months, before being a catalyst in the Summer of Punk angle. The Miz, on the other hand, had struggled for a bit after the feud, until starting to find his stride at the end of 2014 with the Ziggler feud, the Mizdow saga, and now the current Intercontinental Championship reign.

This PPV was just a mess from top to bottom and it was easily a top 10 worst Wrestlemania of all time. The lack of effort trying to putt this show together outside of the Undertaker/HHH match was just said. The company did improve the following year, but Wrestlemania 29 reverted back to this formula and the results were as disastrous. My goal tonight was to summarize this disaster, so that you don’t have to suffer and watch it.

-Doug

Read More

Eyes on the Ring 1:43 AM  No comment

EOTR Ringside Reviews: NXT Live 9/18/16

By @Headliner5 

Hello from ringside of the EOTR universe, I am Nathan here to present something a bit different this week. It's been a while since I've written anything because I've been so busy with everything and haven't been able to provide any ROH reviews, so I wanted to do something and I wanted to do something a bit different.

I attended an NXT house show on Sunday afternoon at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium so I wanted to provide some thoughts on it. The last time I was in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium was almost sixteen years ago for ECW Anarchy Rulz 2000 and I haven't been back since, but this was a great way to come back. Without any further hesitation, let's get down to business.

Match #1
Rich Swann vs. Tino Sabbatelli 

Thoughts: 
I'm not sure if this match was intended to be a dark match, but considering that this entire show wasn't on TV, I guess it doesn't matter either way. Rich Swann is fresh off of his great performances in the Cruiserweight Classic and this was my first time seeing Tino Sabbatelli live. This match was pretty good for what it was, Rich Swann was able to pick up the win at the end, but Tino had a great showing during the match even with a loss.

Match Result: Rich Swann defeated Tino Sabbatelli

Match #2
Peyton Royce vs. Daria Barenato 

Thoughts: 
This was the first of two women's matches and this match was very rough and to me was the only downside to a pretty good show. Peyton Royce had to carry the less experienced Daria who looked totally lost during the entire contest. There's a reason why NXT is the developmental league within WWE (it still is) because it's clear that Daria needs a lot of work and it should be a while before she's ever on live TV or even NXT on Wednesday nights. Peyton did what she could, but she couldn't save this match from being a total dud from me.

Match Result: Peyton Royce defeats Daria Barenato via pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex

Match #3
Austin Aries vs. Hideo Itami 

Thoughts: 
Okay, so let me first say this I'm not a fan of Austin Aries as a human being based off of the stories I've heard but the dude is a fantastic wrestler and I respect the hell out of him for that. This was my first time seeing Hideo Itami live and I'm pretty sure it was a lot of folks first time seeing him live unless they traveled to Japan for a Pro Wrestling NOAH show. Austin Aries wrestled a match in Zubas which is totally amazing, and this match was really fun to watch as both guys put in an equal amount of work to put on a really good contest. The match came to a conclusion when Hideo Itami hit Austin Aries with the Go To Sleep.

Match Result: Hideo Itami defeats Austin Aries via pinfall after the Go To Sleep

Match #4
Bobby Roode vs. Tye Dillinger

Thoughts:
This match was probably my favorite match of the night, Bobby Roode is a total pro and I became a fan of Tye Dillinger after seeing him live for the first time tonight (I've seen him on NXT but he's way better live). Tye was insanely over with the "10" chant and Bobby Roode was nothing short of GLORIOUS. They played off of each other very well to make for an exciting match that I really enjoyed.  In the end Bobby Roode got the win via pinfall after hitting Tye with the GLORIOUS DDT. Tye Dillinger lost but he's on his way to becoming a star in my opinion.

Match Result: Bobby Roode defeats Tye Dillinger via pinfall after the GLORIOUS DDT

Match #5
Shane Thorne vs. Dash Wilder

Thoughts: 
So we were supposed to get a tag match here, but it turned into a singles match when we found out that Scott Dawson was "hurt", thanks to a promo that he cut before the match began. This match was okay but the crowd was super dead for it, but that's what happens when you're the fifth match on the show and people are starting to get tired. Not much I can say about this match other than Shane Thorne defeated Dash Wilder. I missed the exact finish because it seemed to come out of nowhere, but Shane got the win here.

Match Result: Shane Thorne defeats Dash Wilder

Match #6
Asuka vs. Ember Moon

Thoughts:
As weird as this may sound, this was the match I was most looking forward on this show. I wont say that I was disappointed because I wasn't, as the match was good but the only problem I had with it that it seemed like it was shorter than it could have been. Again I got to see Asuka live, which is something I never thought I would have been able to do and Ember Moon is absolutely amazing so getting to see this match live was a pleasant surprise. The match came to an end when Asuka defeated Ember Moon via submission via the Asuka Lock.  Solid action from two of the best women in NXT, but it could have been a tad bit longer than it was.

Match Result: Asuka defeats Ember Moon via submission after the Asuka Lock

From here, we went into the main event of the night.

Main Event - Match #7
Samoa Joe and Riddick Moss vs. No Way Jose and Shinsuke Nakamura

Thoughts: So I finally accomplished the goal I've had since I first laid eyes on the man that I consider to be the greatest professional wrestler alive today in Shinsuke Nakamura tonight when I got to see him live and I wasn't disappointed.  Yes I may have had a gripe with Riddick Moss being in this match and not someone else that is a regular on the roster, but I don't care because I got to see Shinsuke Nakamura live. This match was really good and they built to the hot tag really well by having No Way Jose take the heat during the entire match before Shinsuke Nakamura received the tag and the place when absolutely crazy. Riddick Moss was okay in the match but was nothing short of basic as he did some basic heel things, which is fine. The match came to an end when Shinsuke Nakamura hit Riddick Moss with the Kinsasha Knee Strike to pick up the win via pinfall. That's the only reason why Riddick was even there because there's no way that Joe was taking a pin here.

Match Result: Shinsuke Nakamura and No Way Jose defeat Samoa Joe and Riddick Moss via pinfall after Shinsuke Nakamura hits the Kinsasha Knee Strike on Riddick Moss.

This show was really good but I honestly didn't care about the first two matches much, also Shane Thorne vs. Dash Wilder seemed a bit out of place, but it served a purpose. Again NXT is developmental to me still, so I don't want to be too harsh on the product because overall it was a good show and once again I got to see three people live that I never thought I would get the chance to see. Getting to see Asuka, Hideo Itami, and Shinsuke Nakamura live was an  experience I'll never forget and made this show worth it.

-Nathan

Read More

Eyes on the Ring 12:32 AM  No comment

Mastering The Art of the Promo: 5 of the Best

By @Phranchize19

We all know in wrestling (just like life), no matter how talented you are, you have to have other qualities to make it. In wrestling you need a certain look and charisma. In many ways, this is more important that how good you wrestle. Well these guys have mastered the art of talking and having audiences hanging on every word.

*Ric Flair

-This man might be the best promo worker in wrestling history. The best part about Flair is that even though he talked the same stuff about being richer than his opponent or being the best regardless at whatever costs, it never got stale. People (particularly women) are hung up in every word. The Rock will tell you this is who he studied to be who he is on the mic and speaking of Rock...

*The Rock

-The greatest talker in the greatest era of wrestling. Rock was witty brilliant and entertaining on the mic. His opponents all were roody poo candy asses and they all stuck something sideways up their rectum. Even tho they usually ended the same Rock made fun of almost everyone’s compelling differences that came in his path.

 *Rowdy Roddy Piper

-Piper was entertaining in his own way. He could talk a great game despite being loud. Piper was the originator of segments. The Highlight Reel, The Peep Show, and The Funeral Parlor all wouldn't have existed without Piper laying down the foundation. Piper usually insulted his guests but that didn't stop it from being hilarious.

*Chris Jericho

-Jericho came onto the WWE scene and arguably outperformed the greatest talker of the era at that time (see number 2 on this list). Ever since then, Vince just gave Jericho the chance and he kicked it open. Jericho made a living insulting Stephanie McMahon and we all ate it up. As Jericho’s character evolved so did his promo work. The way he insulted Shawn Michaels and the fans still is some of the best promo work of that era. Even today Jericho still is one of the best mic workers in WWE with the gift of Jericho….drink it in man….

*CM Punk

-The best part of this guy's promo work was that he was himself. He never faked the funk and he always spoke his mind and a lot of what was on his mind is what the average fan was thinking. The Voice of the Voiceless was just like us as fans. Despite being one of the top guys, he was a wrestling fan first. Punk was so good you couldn't tell if what he was saying was scripted or was it serious (as we saw in 2011 with Triple H especially). Punk made promos fun to watch in an era where we thought the promo was dying.

-C. Yates

Read More

Eyes on the Ring 1:54 AM  No comment