AJ Styles ALIVE!: AJ Styles US Indies 2014

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Last night, count them, not one, BUT TWO girls walked up to me and told me "I love you!". A dude told me I was an inspiration. Just another night for Superstar Sleeze (@superstarsleeze), the hottest attraction in the Greater Boston Area, BABY!

I LOVE ME TOO! We have something in common!

My inspiration  as a dance commander comes from my years of the watching the greatest art form that mankind has ever produced, professional wrestling. Arguably, the most outstanding wrestler of the past year in the world was my main man, AJ Styles! AJ Styles is my personal favorite wrestler of the past 15 years and has been very exciting that other people have jumped on the AJ bandwagon after he left TNA for New Japan Pro Wrestling and the US Indy Scene. Even thought, I have been beating the drum for AJ as a great wrestler (I will post those reviews over the course of time) while he was in TNA. He was often lumped in with the general "TNA sucks" talking point. It does bother me that a lot of the praise for AJ's phenomenal often comes with the remark "Look how much better AJ is now that he is not in TNA." It bothers me if people think there was some sort of epiphany AJ had last year and now he is outstanding and somehow sucked before. If the point is more along the lines AJ is so much better offer because TNA is a shitty promotion. Now that I can get behind as I agree TNA's promotional and booking strategies definitely hamstring every wrestler they have ever had. Make no mistake about it, AJ was a badass wrestler throughout the majority of his career.

I was worried though that now AJ was out of TNA. If he was still not well-received, he really would have no excuse. While I would go to like what I like, it always more fun when other people really enjoy what you like. So to have numerous people discussing AJ as a Most Outstanding Wrestler in the World candidate, really brings a smile to face. My smile was only further widen when I found out the Phenomenal One would be coming to my neck of the woods, Rhode Island, January 17th, XWA. Now due to other wrestling watching priorities, I missed out AJ Styles's awesome 2014 save for the ROH show in NYC, which was disappointing. AJ seemed game, but Okada was disinterested and Elgin was all over the place. Now it is time to rectify that.

BEST IN THE WORLD!

I decided to started with the lesser known portion of AJ's 2014 campaign: his US Indies Tour of 2014 because I will be viewing him in that setting. The most famous match of this tour and rightfully so that is against Chris Hero. Hero, much like AJ, departed from a major pro wrestling company, WWE, to strike it out on the road of the Indies and Japan (NOAH). As both were still in the nascent stages of their return to being true independent contractors, they met in one helluva slobberknocker. AJ Styles has this reputation for being a high-flyer and a generally pretty wrestler. Much like Brian Pillman, just because he can fly does NOT mean that is all he does. AJ can take to the mat (amateur wrestling background) and he knows how to get nasty with his strikes. In Dayton, OH, Chris Hero's hometown, Hero returned to take on AJ Styles in a dream match, but also one with high stakes as both men could be potential ROH World Champions in the future (once AJ signed with New Japan that seems unlikely as that is too much of a time commitment.) Hero's was using his knockout head shots like antiaircraft artillery. The story of the match became could Hero knock AJ's head off first or would AJ survive long enough to hit his own big bomb. Even more amazing than the great match was how it was presented as a real Clash of the Titans with a big fight feel. I cited Cena vs. Lesnar as pretty much the only match that could generate that feel for me, but damn did Styles and Hero do that for me and using ROH production values. In the US, I have this only behind the Wyatts vs Shield in my match of the year rankings.

The other marquee ROH match was against one half of the ROH World Tag Champions, the up and coming Kyle O'Reilly. I had seen reDragon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) against the Young Bucks at the ROH show in NYC I attended and it was a spectacular, mindless spotfest (the most entertaining match on the show from a firework perspective). O'Reilly is a little bland and it seems Fish adds the character portion of their team. Still, O'Reilly's violent attack on Styles weak arm from the G-1 Climax was badass. It was the perfect match for O'Reilly to excel and a real meat and potatoes match. Styles worked his ass off here. Just selling the arm like a million bucks. He took a 50/50 crowd to start to being totally pr-AJ in anticipation of his comeback. The Styles Clash teases throughout the match led to a real satisfying finish.

I am little worried about the AJ Styles I'll see because while he has ripped it up in ROH. His two Indy matches outside of ROH I watched were either disappointing or average. The first was not his fault as Kevin Steen just wanted to do a comedy the match. The Ricochet match until the finish was pretty by the numbers spotfest. I would be happy seeing a match like the Ricochet match just because seeing AJ would be a treat, but to see something along the lines of those ROH performances would be mind blowing. It is too bad he paired with Jason Blade and not Buff Busick.

Finally. if anybody has a copy of the AJ Styles vs Drew Gulak from the CZW 15th Anniversary, hook a brother up! Overall, AJ Styles has been really been able to showcase his talents on the Indy scene. He builds to the Styles Clash so well and is just an incredible seller. I always thought he had the best strikes of any X-Division wrestler, but his elbows seem to have a bit extra behind him and I love the addition of that strike combination. I look forward to watching AJ's matches from New Japan and especially this weekend for XWA in Rhode Island!

Match Listing:

AJ Styles vs Chris Hero - ROH 3/22/14

Slobberknocker. Hero's head shots against AJ's survival tactics. Match of the Year Candidate

AJ Styles vs  Kyle O' Reilly - ROH 8/22/14

O'Reilly tries to bring AJ's arm home with him. AJ builds to Styles Clash perfectly. GREAT finish!

AJ Styles vs Kevin Steen - House of Hardcore V August 2014

A Steen comedy match. Avoid.

HOG Heavyweight Champion Ricochet vs AJ Styles - HOG 12/19/14

A little all over the place, but really good home stretch until bullshit finish.

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AJ Styles vs Chris Hero - ROH 3/22/14

Hero try as he might just could not kick AJ's head off his shoulders in this indy dream match, which has never happened in ROH during the Indy Golden years. AJ was not yet IWGP Heavyweight champion. They were touting the reason both men were back in ROH to win the one championship that has eluded them, the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Hero is the hometown hero in Dayton and I really liked the "Chris Is Awesome" chant. Unlike any other Indy match, this really had a big fight feel. When only a handful of WWE matches could even say they generated that same feeling that a feather in the cap of their reputations and on how they worked this match. It really felt like a Clash of the Titans with Hero trying to take AJ's head off and AJ trying to survive long enough to hit one big bomb to escape the jaws of defeat.

Coming out the nice chaining sequence, Hero gets his first big boot as he swats AJ out of the sky on a leapfrog attempt. AJ says two can play at the disturbing the typical running the rope sequences and gets up a bit early on his dropdown, which fucks Hero enough to hit a dropkick to send him out. They do a great job teasing dives on each other with Hero paying tribute Misawa's head and shoulder fake. AJ  wins with a springboard forearm to the outside. Hero cuts AJ off with another big boot as he comes out of the air. Chris Hero is anti-aircraft artillery. AJ runs into the mother of all big boots to his head and does a great death drop sell. It is at this point, Hero knows exactly what his strategy is. Knock AJ the fuck out with knees, elbows and straight front kicks to the head. It was brutal, gnarly and violent. AJ is sick and tired of these kicks and tries to take out the knee with a dragon leg screw so Hero obliterates him with an elbow.  But as Hero pours it on, AJ slowly starts to fade. First, he can get a bit of offense here and there and goes for Styles Clash, but then offensive spells get fewer and further between.  AJ was just spot on checking to see if his teeth were there, glassy eyed selling, acting concussed. He starts running wholesale into big boots because he doesn't know what else to do. In a last ditch effort, AJ gets a suplex into the turnbuckles and he unloads his new strike combination, which Hero does well countering the Pele. Now it is Hero that is on jelly legs. Styles may have hit the head shot to get him back in it. Styles wastes no time and goes for the Styles Clash. Hero blocks and hits a wicked Akiyama-like elbow to the back of the head. ROARING BIG BOOT~! HOLY SHIT~! That was a great nearfall for Hero. Hero may have punched himself out and AJ has just enough in the tank to come flying back with lariats at Hero. Then he rolls through for the Calf Killer and Hero has nothing left to do but tap out. AJ survives.

It was Hero's anti-aircraft strategy of kicks, elbows and knees to the head against Styles's survival tactics. This felt like an absolute major clash of forces. It was important match for AJ on the indy scene and going forward in New Japan that he could take a licking and keep on ticking. I know he could I watched TNA stuff very closely, but for a lot of people I think they looked at AJ and saw X-Division wrestler, which means pretty flips and choreographed, floor gymnastics bullshit. AJ can take a whupping and deliver one. I don't know how many people thought AJ had this in him before watching this match. I know I did because his matches with Abyss, Bully Ray, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels only showcase this side of AJ Styles. Hero was really good in this and he had a MOTYC last year against Regal. For some reason, I have never sought out more Hero. I enjoy Hero, but he lacks that spark that really gets me interested. Damn, he still impresses. It is not just offense, the key to the match is the pele kick because that is the move that levels the playing field. If he does not sell that well then Styles' victory would ring hollow and he would like a chump for basically choke. Thus it was in his best interest to sell in doing so he got himself, AJ and the match over. This was a standup, knockdown slobberknocker. Definitely in my Top 5 American Matches of the Year so far. ****1/2

Badass!

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs 

ROH World Tag Team Champion Kyle O' Reilly w/Bobby Fish - ROH 8/22/14

Everybody talks about the Hero ROH match from earlier in the year, but damn this is not that far behind it. AJ has been on point in ROH in terms of his selling and his timing his timing. Whether it was acting concussed or glassy eye for Hero's headshots or selling his arm so well for O'Reilly that ROH crowd was clamoring for the AJ comeback. I would say the biggest difference between this AJ and the AJ I knew was that he is definitely laying his strikes in a lot harder. I always thought Styles had one of the better working punches in TNA and is generally underrated in his striking. But here against O'Reilly, during the finish stretch, I was surprised how nasty his clolthesline and elbows looked. O'Reilly has a pretty bland look, but is a fun wrestler. When I went to ROH last year, reDragon (Fish & O'Reilly) had a really fun spotfest with the Young Bucks. O'Reilly wrestled this match much more straightfoward highlighting some "MMA" influences (read: he used kicks and a cross-armbreaker). I really liked O'Reilly focus on the arm and thought he came up with some innovative, but logical spots to attack the arm (hammerlock into a legsweep).

The announcers let us know before the match begins that AJ is coming in with a weak left arm from the G-1 Climax tournament. O'Reilly read the scouting report and goes after the arm early so AJ dumps him to the outside with a bodyslam. It was a great response by AJ to immediately get O'Reilly off him. Fish becomes a distraction and O'Reilly becomes a pitbull on that arm. The way he was wrenching it, you thought he was going to take it home with him. AJ is so great at slowly escalating his selling. AJ gets a quick counter and wants to get this match over with quick and goes for the Styles Clash, but his arm is messed up. He bursts out of the corner with a double fist to maintain control. Styles is able to continue hit other moves like the Skywalker Knee while his arm heals. Then on the outside, Fish distracts him again and O'Reilly whips him down on the bad arm. That's twice now Fish has been able to set up O'Reilly. Now AJ is really starting to milk his arm for sympathy as O'Reilly unloads on it with kicks and wrenches it with holds. Styles is scrappy, but O'Reilly always goes back to the arm. I love that when O'Reilly goes for any overly complicated suplex, AJ reverses it and suplexes him into the corner. AJ is so great on fighting through the pain on this comeback and displaying how he can't capitalize due to his injured arm. He keeps going for his big bomb, the Styles Clash, but this leaves him open for counters like cross-armbreakers and triangle chokes. The teased Styles Clashes really build to a cool climax. When Styles looks like he is done for in a triangle choke and AJ basically hits a one-armed Styles Clash in a desperation move. It was such a badass spot and they really milk with the ref counting both men down and the fans chanting "AJ Styles". Damn, well done.  They go into a strike exchange, which as far as strike exchanges go was not that bad and liked the finish being the Pele kick. Crowd was really behind AJ and the crowd interaction made this more tolerable than most strike exchanges. Styles strikes especially the discus clothesline looked great. O'Reilly with great struggle on Styles Clash so what does Styles do he just drops him on his head GANSO BOMB~! That was sick. It should have been the finish, but  Styles drives it home with the Style Clash.

It is the Styles Clash against the submissions of O'Reilly. O'Reilly has made it so the Styles Clash is damn near impossible to hit and set himself up for a submission victory. I love AJ's responses. He is injured and needs to get this match over with quickly. At every opportunity, he is going for his big bomb, arm be damned. With each tease of the Styles Clash, the tension mounts. O'Reilly looks like he is prime position when out of desperation hits the Styles Clash out of a triangle choke. O'Reilly was great at struggling through everything and really making AJ earn his comeback. It would have been easy for him to let the veteran, AJ overwhelm, but even after the match started to tip in AJ's favor he was still struggling up until the AJ's ganso bomb. I thought AJ's experience really came through here in how he sold and built his comeback. It went from a split crowd to a crowd that was 100% AJ by the end. Great, great work by AJ. ****1/4

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AJ Styles vs Kevin Steen - House of Hardcore V August 2014

What a colossal disappointment! If I paid to see this match, I would have been ripshit. The crowd seemed to have fun with it, which is good on them. I was watching this on Bulgarian Youtube so I did find certain things humorous, but fuck I actually would have been kinda pumped to see this as a wrestling match. This is second time within in a year that Steen's sarcastic wrestling style has actively ruined a match. I thought he really killed the Nakamura match at the ROH show I went to. Some of his stuff was pretty funny like patting down the ref and yelling "Leave me alone" in the middle of the match. However, threatening to stay in a chinlock the entire match and jawing with a Cena fan was eyeball-roll inducing. Though AJ was actually pretty funny in his chinlocks with "I am either going to spoon him all night long or pop his head like a pimple".  The best part of the match by far the commentators (Matt Striker was one) played this match super straight.  So after the battle of allegedly comedic chinlocks they called this "a chess match" and I actually burst out laughing. They went into a finishing stretch where they hit a bunch of moves on each other with Steen aping the Stunner and the F-5. AJ wins with the Styles Clash. Fuck Steen Fuck! Total waste of AJ and if I was a paying customer, I would have felt ripped off.

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HOG Heavyweight Champion Ricochet vs AJ Styles - HOG 12/19/14

Wow, an actually pretty decent indy commentary team! I thought they did a fabulous job putting over Ricochet while still mentioning his weaknesses. They stressed how important the championship is and that the goal of the match is to win, not to entertain. Really I think that is basic stuff, but so many commentators totally whiff on that. What really impressed me was their discussion of the Styles Clash. This was after Styles broke Yoshi Tatsu's neck. The commentators explained how critical the Styles Clash has been to his career and agreed he should use it, but were worried about the danger. It really increased the drama around the match and the Styles Clash.

Ricochet had quite the 2014 and seems like he is poised to breakout this year in a big way. He won NJPW Best of the Super Juniors and Battle of Los Angeles tournaments. He was the inaugural Lucha Underground champion, a key mainstay in Dragon Gate (decorated titleholder), and of course House of Glory champion. I was excited to take a look at Ricochet. I came away thinking he felt really Dragon Gate-y. He is good at incorporating extra flips into his offense and likes modified slams. He is not very good at strikes and is sort of all over the place as a wrestler. AJ did not seem to intent on reigning him in until the end of the match. This was a pretty tame spotfest. The first portion of the match was the best with some good mat wrestling  until the finish. Ricochet would gain the advantage do some gloating and AJ would retreat to the corner. Ricochet is established as a grandstanding hot dog that may let his attitude get in his way of winning. AJ shows his veteran experience. Ricochet calls his shot, a People's Moonsault and AJ rearranges his face with a kick. The next five minutes were pretty spotty. AJ's offense looked crisp at least. There was an AJ legsweep and Ricochet started to sell the knee. I was hoping they could salvage something then Ricochet did two backflips and a Pele kick. But wait! Ricichet's knee is really starting to bother him and he struggles to hit a Shooting Star Press. and crashes and burns. Styles drags him over and figure-4 around the post. AJ looks to hit the Styles Clash, but Ricochet flips out. AJ wraps up the leg and CALF-KILLER! Ricochet makes the ropes. AJ is tenacious with a spinning toehold into a wicked STF. Bell rings, but it due to the time limit expires. He agree to five more minutes, but then the Bruiser Brody Midget attacked the both of them.
The beginning and the ending were pretty entertaining, but the body of the match was them just throwing shit out. AJ's offense especially elbows looked great. I really how he is into Styles Clash teases. They could have salvaged a good match with an appropriate ending to the knee work. It must be tough to book AJ because he is not going to job, but you want your top star to look good. It is kind of like the old NWA travelling champion philosophy. I think tag team main events that set up singles matches would be better. It is fine, but nothing that great.

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Next time, we will look at the part of AJ Styles' 2014 that really cemented his status as a candidate for the most outstanding wrestler for the year: his run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, more specifically, the G-1 Climax!

Do You Believe In Life After Shield: Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns (WWE, 2014)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

How can you not love a world where wonders never cease? Nickelback wrote a really good rock populist anthem! What do we want? We want want change! How are we going to get there? REVOLUTION!!!

Now that's a Shining Star a wise man should follow

WWE fans have been clamoring for change for the past couple years and reached a fever pitch at the last Royal Rumble 2013. The fans in attendance "hijacked" the show shitting all over the Cena/Orton match and actively booing the Rumble itself when Boo-tista won and Daniel Bryan was not even a participant. WWE channeled this into a angle known as #OccupyRAW where Daniel Bryan was granted the right to face HHH at Wrestlemania and if he won fight for WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania. We all know how that went. At the beginning of 2014, fans thought they were standing on the edge of revolution with likes of The Shield, Wyatt Family and Cesaro taking the mantle of WWE main eventers only to be bitterly disappointed and in my opinion there was no bigger disappointment than The Shield.

Beginning of the Year: Shield Reigns Supreme

It is no secret that I loved the Shield and thought they were redefining tag team wrestling in the WWE especially the six-man tag match. Their all-out, full court press, Havoc offense was so fresh and exciting. It was gritty, organic and heated. If a one member was in deep shit, you best believe the other two members were not just going to stand on the apron. They were going to fuck you up. Once they had the advantage, they were going to suffocate you. Believe the Hype and Believe In The Shield:

http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/believe-hype-shield-wwe-2012-2013.html

http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-shield-part-two.html

At start of 2015, rumors abounded that Shield break up was imminent with a triple threat scheduled for Wrestlemania (see the Shield/Wyatts RAW recap for the seeds they were sowing). I was disappointed that the best act would be ripped asunder when there was still so much potential left in the group. Before they were to be broken up, they passed the torch to the new three-man wrecking crew, the Wyatt Family. Elimination Chamber 2014 was the last PPV before the launch of the Network, which makes it the last PPV I did not see live. I heard all the hype about this great Shield/Wyatts match that tore down the house and was a match of the year contender. Come year's end, there are still people touting it as the best match of the year. That is not just the WWE they mean in the world including New Japan Pro Wrestling and CMLL. Thus there was no match I was more excited to watch than this masterpiece. It was an awesome, heated fight between the six hottest young wrestlers on WWE roster. The Wyatts defeated The Shield at their own game: divide & conquer and taking advantage of chaos. The torch was not passed. It was seized.

How do you follow up the front runner for WWE match of the year? You have the best RAW match of the year of course. Take that gritty PPV match and now add a ton of urgency. They were on pace to even top themselves, but I felt the match was a tad bit too short and the discord angle detracted from it  a bit. It was incredible on how chippy and heated it felt. It was a badass match.


Much like Daniel Bryan, the plans changed and The Shield remained intact through Wrestlemania. CALLOOH! CALLAY! After all, there was a natural big match for The Shield. I mean Batista was back and Randy Orton & HHH had been paired for the past year. It was only natural that The Shield face the Evolution. Who was the baddest gang in town? Whose turf was this?  The match was great, but a bit of letdown from the awesome violence of The Shield versus Wyatt Family. It felt like best possible standard WWE tag team match where they tacked on a big finish that was able to get it enough juice to be called great.

We all thought we were safe. The Shield would finish the feud with Evolution intact, on top, and hungry for more with possibilities being boundless. Then it happened. Seth Rollins took a chair to the back of his Shield brethren. He had sold out to The Authority for greater singles riches.

He did not sell out! He bought in!

Limbo

I remained optimistic as did many while others decried that the hottest act was just destroyed for no reason. I hate to admit it, but the demise of WWE has had a great adverse effect on the quality of the show. You could not count on a great Shield match a RAW.

Roman Reigns clearly has potential to be the next major WWE main event star maybe even at a level of John Cena, but has been exposed in his new singles role as the new two babyface in the company. This destructive force that ruled the hot tag like before him is having a hard time generating the same exciting all by his lonesome. The electricity is still generated when he is clearing the ring of the bad guys and delivering that sweet, sweet Superman Punch, but over the course of 15-20 minutes, it is not sustained. I never wish ill on anyone, but it may have been for the best that he was injured when he was to avoid his heat totally evaporating. On the other hand, he lost valuable time in the ring where he could develop his skills.

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins have been in a weird booking limbo where they simultaneously look good and like shit. Seth Rollins has effectively been the number one heel in the WWE since September. That should be great. It just so happens to coincide with three most miserable months of the company. He is being forced to carry 20 minute RAW promos that are just monotonous and downright HHH-ish. I mean HHH from 2003 bad. Between him and Bray Wyatt, the WWE promo landscape is as boring as your Dentist's office with the same Supertramp soft rock on loop. In the ring, the Authority's poster boy has not been doing that much better for himself. The Cena feud has delivered some good matches, but nothing memorable and quite honestly nothing has even reached the level of their excellent 2013 Smackdown match. Much like Reigns, Rollins was best utilized keeping opponents off their feet with speed and be acceleration between The Shield's full court press. Unlike Reigns, I had liked some of Rollins' singles stuff as a member of the Shield, but he has not clicked as a singles heel yet. It has to due with the gimmick change. He is not suffocating opponents with speed and he is still trying to find his way as a chickenshit. I am sure he will find his way especially he seems generally well-liked by the Powers That Be Be. Dean Ambrose has received the worst booking of the three, but it is not as bad as some make it out to be.

Ambrose has main evented the last two out of three PPVs Meatloaf says that ain't bad. He was the number two babyface and is vying with Reigns for that title currently. With Bryan back, both should be taking a back seat. He got main event Hell in a Cell slot over John Cena against ex-partner, Seth Rollins. He has feuded with the resurgent Bray Wyatt the past two months in the second biggest program. It is amazing how hot that feud would have been in March, but fuck did I not give one single shit about it these past couple months. So his card positioning has been fine, but his character has been turned into a moody, sulky spaz that I just detest. His feud with Rollins, which should have been a slam dunk feud of the year was torture with all the start and stop bullshit. Even though they were able to overcome it and have the one great match any Shield member has had since the break up, their RAW Falls Count Anywhere match post-Summerslam. They ratcheted up the violence, but it never felt gratuitous or like a stunt show. Dean Ambrose hated Seth Rollins and was looking to exact revenge. Rollins was trying to survive and rid his life of his lunatic. It made for one helluva brawl. Once Kane got involved, it lost its luster as a heat brawl, but I thought the post-match angle was a great one to really build towards the proper blowoff. Then we got holograms and Bray Wyatt. Fuck WWE!

I don't want to end on a down note because Shield/Wyatts is one of the best damn matches of the year. It is violent, intense and weaves a great story. It is why I watch wrestling and definitely check out both matches!

A Pair of Positive Notes

Match Listing:

The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 ****3/4
Front-runner for MOTY. Wyatts exploit chaos and numbers to fight with fire

The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14 ****1/4

Urgency and hatred. Feels like a nasty All-Japan six-man from the 90s

The Shield vs Evolution - WWE Extreme Rules 2014 ****

Ambrose Swarms, Rollins Dives, and Superman Punches

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins - WWE RAW 8/18/14 Falls Count Anywhere ****1/4

Disappointing feud delivers one great, heated brawl between WWE's top young talent

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The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE Elimination Chamber 2014

Even, I'll admit "This Is Awesome!"

I watched this match and RAW rematch back to back and came away so thrilled about the rematch's chaos that it actually overshadowed this match initially. I went back and rewatched this one and just absolutely loved it even more when paying attention to all the little details. To me, this is the match to beat for WWE match of the year.

It is crazy to think that if they pulled the trigger on a Dean Ambrose/Bray Wyatt feud at this point, I would have lapped it up. By November, I was actively rejecting it as one of the worst things on TV. It tells you how cold the product has gotten and cooled off these two molten characters are now. Ambrose was just rocking it as the firebrand that was the trigger for the chaos. I loved when everyone was turning to go to their respective corners, Ambrose just jumped the Wyatts. The tag wrestling in this was better than in the rematch. I loved how strongly they emphasized getting their opponent into their corner. That's the Shield to exploit the numbers game, but they may have met their match in the Wyatts that will throw that strategy right in their face. Rollins opening with speed to get Rowan into the Shield corner was perfect with Rowan bowling him over to escape. It put over how much strategy mattered in this match.

Roman Reigns versus Bray Wyatt felt huge during their showdown and I loved how Reigns fought through everything. Nothing was given, he had to go through the Wyatts. The beatdwon of Harper in the corner was just classic Shield. That's tag team wrestling baby! They do a great transition where Ambrose's temper gets the best of him as he takes a swipe at Bray on the apron and eats a Harper dropkick. What follows is just badass. Ambrose bites Rowan, Harper steps on Ambrose head and claws at his face. I love it, Michael! The swinging neckbreaker transition is super weak though. Rollins was a great house of fire with great speed moves and climaxing on an excellent suicide dive that got the crowd rocking. He gets the drive by knee, but whiffs on the Curb Stomp and eats a swinging powerslam. The Bray Wyatt senton on the outside looked nasty. My favorite spot of the match was Harper had Rollins by the hair just playing with his food and Rollins slaps him in defiance and Harper slaps the taste out of his mouth. That was powerful shit.

People talk up Ambrose's fighting from underneath prowess, but Rollins should not be underestimated as he fights in the corner with great urgency only for nasty Bray headbutts to keep him at bay. This match utilized Bray better as the game changer for his team. I like the idea of him letting his heavies do the dirty work, but if ever gets out of hand, he is there to keep in check. Ambrose makes the save for Rollins and eats a hellacious big boot from Harper. Rollins hits an enziguiri to get Reigns in the match (I am not digging these transitions). Reigns is so great in these hot tag situations and not just the typical Reigns offense, there is a nasty back elbow to Rowan that keeps you on your feet. In an electric moment, Reigns is thrown outside and just runs around the ring to kick Rowan's head in. AMBROSE SWARM!!! KATIE BAR THE DOOR! There is a pier-six brawl a brewin'! Harper suicide dive and Rollins says two can play at that game. Ambrose and Wyatt tumble into the crowd and Rollins gets double chokeslammed through the table. Hey, come the monitors did not explode when they were ripper out of the announce table. After more than a year of The Shield picking their opponents off one by one, The Wyatts gave them a taste of their own medicine. Now Reigns was left alone surrounded by the Wyatts just as he surrounded so many others. Luke Harper serves a beaten Reigns to his master.  I loved how Reigns blocked Sister Abigail and turned it into a test of strength. SUPERMAN PUNCH! Reigns goes for the spear on Bray, but Harper takes the bullet for his leader. In the chaos, Bray hits his wicked cross body and Sister Abigail to win.

I loved the finish. The Shield's strategy was predicated on two tenets: create chaos and divide and conquer. The Wyatts took out two members of the Shield leaving Reigns alone and then in the chaos that ensued Bray Wyatt took advantage to win the match. The match weaknesses: the transitions were lame & uncreative and  I would have liked more chippiness. They were too willing to just let one guy have his segment and that be that. The rematch thrives on that chaos and full court press by both teams. I think if you could combine the best parts of this match and the rematch, you would have all-time classic that really could rewrite how North American tag team wrestling is executed and presented. Still if anything can top this I will shocked. Cena/Lesnar had the big match atmosphere and the Bryan Wrestlemania matches will have emotion, but I don't think they can top the chaotic and violent feel of this. As is, it is still an incredible match from both an action and storytelling standpoint as the Shield essentially get beaten at their own game and the torch was seized by new three-man wrecking crew. ****3/4

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The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14

CHAOS

It was around the Harper double stomp to break up an Ambrose bridging Figure-4 that I thought to myself if the WWE produced a better spot in 2014, I must have a really foggy memory. The sense of struggle and urgency in this match from all six combatants was unparalleled in the WWE this past year and was downright All Japan-ish in nature. Harper was the God King Prick of the match. With the chippy big boot to Reigns' face when he was on the apron, clawing Rollins' face and stepping all over Ambrose's face, Harper did everything he could to get under their skin and hurt his opponents. It was not about entertaining the fans, it was about inflicting pain and proving the Wyatts were the top faction in this turf war. His counterpart was the crazy, violent Dean Ambrose. It is amazing that in nine months, I find Ambrose to be this lame, moody, and sulky spaz.  This Dean Ambrose in this match. He is the fucking man. The Ambrose Swarm is the greatest thing ever. He is just bowling people over with his boundless rage. Even the little shove he gave Bray had me and my brother marking out on initial watch because it is so atypical in the neat, orderly WWE matches. I want it rough around the edges, I want it  RAW, goddamnit. Ambrose gave that performance. From the craziness that was Ambrose, there was the high flying excitement of Seth Rollins. I watched a lot of 2013 Shield matches at the beginning of 2014 and remembering being impressed by Rollins' ring awareness and movements in the tag settings. In this match as a babyface, he was finally set free and opened the match up with gangbusters, but unfortunately a skirmish between Ambrose and Bray caused him to lose his balance on the top rope. Ambrose losing his cool and Reigns being belted cost Rollins the ability to make a tag, but is finally able to tag Ambrose. Ambrose is just a burst of energy onto Rowan and does some quick, but effective leg work on Rowan to set up a figure-4, where he bridges on his head for more pressure!!! HARPER DOUBLE STOMPS AMBROSE!!! I LOVE THIS MATCH!

Let's talk Rowan, dude was a beast dismantling Ambrose and keeping him contained. Harper is the firebrand like an Ambrose he is going to get shit started and be a jerk. Rowan is there as a heavy hitter that is going to pummel you. Crowd chants for CM Punk, fuck them! If you want pro wrestling, watch what is going on in front of you, numbskulls. Ambrose hits a JBL-Orgasm-Inducing clothesline, but Harper hangs on to tag in Bray Wyatt. Ambrose with a DDT.  Wyatt comes in and wipes Reigns out. Ambrose hits a DDT on Wyatt. Rollins is all pissy and leaves Ambrose hanging because of what happened earlier. Fine be a bitch, I am going to go destroy everything. Roman Reigns is an amazing ring clearing presence. The Superman Punch is just fucking cool. He just goes to town on the Wyatts. Ambrose holding Harper down for the Reigns dropkick was awesome. The Spear onto Rowan was badass and Harper wipes Reigns out with a suicide dive then sends Reigns flying. Somewhere in there, Ambrose was just swarming muthafuckas with punches. Wyatt picks his spot and hits his wicked cross body block on Ambrose and hits Sister Abigail as Rollins watches.

Finally, lets talk about Wyatt, who carefully waited in all the chaos with all the bodies piling up to attack Ambrose and swing the match in their favor. At Elimination Chamber, the Wyatts were able to out-Shield the Shield by taking out one at a time. Here, the Shield collapsed on itself and the Wyatts took advantage of the chaos to win the match. Rollins and Reigns were used perfectly to get the crowd hot as hell at the beginning and end. Ambrose anchored the middle and showed why he is an incredible face in peril. He can sell, but he is always fighting. It is always chippy. That's what made this match special was the constant struggle and urgency everyone displayed. This sounds shocking, but I thought this was a bit too short. I think they could have added more to the beginning and more to why Rollins was pissed to really drive home the point. As a fan of chaotic, urgent matches, there are none better this year.  ****1/4

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The Shield vs Evolution - WWE Extreme Rules 2014

Beginning of the End

I really do miss The Shield. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns were just so much better as a package deal. All three members of the Shield came out looking like a million bucks in this. Rollins used to have such a great working punch, what the hell happened. I loved the use of a Rollins dive early to perk up the crowd. Ambrose has just been on fire in these matches. He wrestles with such a great urgency that it is irresistible. I know others have talked up his face in peril work, but really shined here. You can feel the anguish, but he was always fighting through it, always looking for that opening. Reigns is just perfect in those short hot tag bursts. Evolution were perfectly capable in their roles and each took turns showing a vicious side, but none of them could sustain high level of urgency like the Wyatts. The match overall resembled more closely a standard WWE tag match than a normal Shield match. It was a little too neat at time. Bless Dean Ambrose, he did his best to keep people on their toes, but overall it felt more normal. It was the best possible normal WWE tag match, but we did not get to see that typical havoc offense that Shield usually employs.

The high point before the big finish run was without a doubt the Dean Ambrose segment. From the get go, he burst into the ring and swarmed Orton. He was hitting anything that moves and was going to apply a figure-4. Reigns tried to take advantage of the chaos, but speared the ringsteps. A good example of how this was standard WWE was that Ambrose was forced to sell a weak submission breakup  for a considerable length of time so not to upstage Reigns. Typically, Ambrose would keep it moving and wait for the big move to start selling, but because of a misstep in the layout he was forced into WWE box rather than doing the organic thing. Ambrose rocked the face in peril segment. I loved HHH's punch combinations in the corner and how Ambrose was throwing wild swings like Terry Funk. Ambrose staggering into a spinebuster was awesome. Back drop on the Pedigree and a DDT afford Ambrose to tag out. Again, transitions like that just lack creativity and I think Shield is better than that frankly. 

The finish stretch is very exciting. Reigns rocks the hot tag as he usually does. Once the chaos kicks in, The Shield is really in the element. I am talking Rollins flying into TV screen from out of nowhere only to crash and burn or Ambrose jumping across two announce tables to swarm HHH and Orton. They actually cover pretty well for Batista and Reigns needing to sell for considerable amount of time while they arena brawled. Reigns took an RKO and Pedigree while Batista took the Triple Powerbomb. I am not thrilled about guys lying around and then popping up magically once Rollins hits his big dive. They at least tried to cover for it. Reigns and Batista work a short, fun sequence with a great Superman Punch and then Reigns channels the Ultimate Warrior's Gods to hit his spear. The Spear and Superman Punch should be his big transition moves. The powerbomb should be his finisher.

Straight up, I thought Evolution slowed Shield down a touch and limited them. I am not calling for a street fight or anything. Rather a return to that full court press and making everybody earn their offense. Also, I did not sense an overarching story. The transitions to the two face in peril segments did not really weave a story. One started by a HHH clothesline on Rollins and the other because someone broke up an Ambrose figure-4. The Shield really did not make any mistakes. Evolution did not really cheat. It is not like Evolution really leveraged their experience advantage. The Shield won because once the match broke down that where they are dangerous, but that was just the last quarter. Ambrose and Reigns gave stellar performances and Rollins was able to shine in his big spots. I would say Evolution's performance was too safe to take this to the next level. I would say this is the best possible version of WWE's sterile style, but they need to either add more hate or a story to take it to the next level. ****

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Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins - WWE RAW 8/18/14 Falls Count Anywhere

CINDER BLOCKS~!

From my recollection, this was the best of the disappointing Ambrose vs Rollins feud. It should have been a slam dunk feud, but the WWE got in their own way and cooled this way down before the anticlimatic blowoff. I wanted to include something from the feud, but this is not a sympathy pick. Upon rewatch, I definitely think this holds up as one of the more better and more entertaining matches of 2014. It was not just a match filled with weapons and gimmicks. There was malice behind those shots from Rollins and hatred poured from Ambrose. Rollins turned his back on the Shield and screwed him out of the Money In The Bank contract and he was going to have to exact a modicum of revenge the only way it was afforded to him by beating the holy hell out of Rollins.

Rollins' working punch was on fire early and I loved that sense of struggle to begin the match. The Rollins throat thrust to take over was killer. Rollins gets a little too cocky and Ambrose blows him away with a dropkick. Ambrose tags him back with a throat thrust. I love the tit for tat. Ambrose bodyslams Rollins and the chair together and chairdrop from the top rope. Ambrose is kicking ass, but in desperation Rollins sends Ambrose into the chair. We come back from commercial to see Rollins crossfacing Ambrose with a kendo stick, I love it. Rollins playfully taps Ambrose face with the kendo stick and that pelts him with shots. There is a tenedency in these matches to focus on the spots and forget to be a heel. Rollins did not give an all-star heel performance, but there were glimmers. it helps Ambrose was giving a great babyface performance fighting through pain and whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his out of control antics.

The kendo stick catch and Ambrose hulk up only for Rollins to duck the lariat and hit a jumping high kick was perfect wrestling. They brought the crowd up and then cut them off. Really good shit. Maybe I have not been paying attention recently, but Rollins ought to bring back the roundhouse kick back. It is a great cutoff and he executes it so well. The double cross body block is killer and they really went all out on that collision. That's how you get a match over. I loved Rollins whacking Ambrose with a kendo stick to no avail to try to avoid being catapulted. They really kick it into high gear with Rollins powerbombing Ambrose through a pile of chairs and Ambrose superplexing Rollins through a table. Ambrose hits a wicked clothesline and Dirty Deeds (I am glad they changed that to a double arm DDT), but Kane interferes. Ambrose hits out of control suicide dive onto Kane and Rollins. He has Vegas rocking, BABY! Ambrose runs across the announce tables to SWARM Rollins and Kane. He is outgunned. Rollins hits a nasty curb stomp on the announce table and then one through the cinder blocks to send Ambrose to Hollywood. 

I thought the Curb Stomp on the table actually looked better than the gimmicked the cinder blocks. They overthink these things. The big negative is no doubt the selling. Being powerbombed on a pile of chairs and then superplexing someone through a table is a bit much. Ambrose did a relatively good job to fighting through pain unlike Rollins, whose selling was lacking. Also, I would have liked to see Rollins be more heelish. There were times when it was apparent, but that it became more about trading spots. What carries this is that you want to see Ambrose kick Rollins ass, but if Rollins is not reminding us he is a backstabbing chump then it takes a bit of wind out of the sails. The good definitely outweighs the bad. It was never a mindless brawl with you hit a move then I hit a move. Each move had weight and there was a great sense of urgency from both men in their movements. You definitely felt like both men hated each other and there was a reason for why they were inflicting so much pain. Rollins was trying to put Ambrose out so he can cash in Money in the Bank and Ambrose wanted to hurt Rollins for all he did. Both succeeded in beating the hell out of each other, but with a little help from his friend, Rollins got the upperhand. Definitely one of the better brawls of 2014. ****1/4

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While The Shield may have ended the year sour, our next spotlighted star did not. It is "The Showoff" Dolph Ziggler who after years floundering in midcard limbo scored a huge upset victory at Survivor Series to vanquish The Authority for one month and then followed it up with one of the most violent and brutal matches to ever take place in a WWE ring with Luke Harper in a Ladder Match of the Intercontinental Championship.

I'm taller than him :)

Do You See What I See: John Cena's 2014

Hey Yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,

So what is everybody's New Year's resolution? Mine is to stand more perfectly erect. Perfect posture is how you get them to come back for more.

New Year's Inspiration

One man who never slouches is of course the undisputed Kingpin of the WWE scene for the past nine years, from the mean streets of West Newbury, Mass, John Cena! In this "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" world we live in where we demand the latest and greatest yesterday that Cena has been the Face of the WWE since 2005. Put this perspective, back in the 80s when title reigns and feud were longer, Hogan lasted nine years on top with a run from 1984-1992. Bret Hart, Steve Austin, and The Rock were positively flash in the pans compared to the stability that John Cena fostered. As Cena entered his historic tenth year on top the WWE machine, what was left for the Man you can not see, but is yet ubiquitous.

Thus we begin the six part look back on the year that was inside the WWE ring with John Cena. I scoured the internet for top ten, top 25 WWE matches of the year list. From this, I  culled the common ones and the ones that piqued my interest and claim up with a list of 25 matches I needed to either watch or re-watch (thanks to the Network it is now usually re-watch) and we begin with John Cena's four matches that seemed to be the most must see.

The year 2014 unlike past years for Cena was one of health and dare I say some goodwill as it seemed with greater frequency than since 2003, crowds were more positively receptive of Cena. A past RAW, actually saw a Minneapolis crowd clamor for Cena to make a save. Personally ever since the amazing CM Punk feud of 2011, I have been a fan of Cena inside the squared circle. It is a personal epiphany, not that Cena all of sudden became a maestro in the ring. The CM Punk feud allowed to me to see John Cena clearly for the first time. From the odd Cena match I have rewatched, I realized the problem was with me and not Cena's working ability. I was drinking from a poisoned well and now have to recognize the greatness of John Cena.

 A Most Benevolent Benefactor:

John Cena's selflessness does not just extend to his fans where he had granted over 400 wishes for the Make A Wish foundation, it has been exhibited inside that 20 x 20 ring. Against hungry, up and comer, Cesaro, Cena showcased Cesaro's amazing feats of strength. Cena never let this become an exhibition. He made Cesaro work hard and together they looked all the better for it. Cena's generosity at the time made Cesaro look like a million bucks that was knocking the door, but was not quite there yet.

The most selfless act of any main event babyface in history was the historic ass-whupping he took at the hands of Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. Just when every wrestling fan said they had seen it all before, Brock Lesnar and John Cena blow out minds with an unexpected blowout reminiscent of the Broncos-Seahawks Super Bowl. Never before had a top level babyface (Hogan, Austin, Sammartino etc...) ever been so decisively demolished and had to come back to work within a week. Personally and I think most agree, how they handled the aftermath pissed away an interesting opportunity to have Cena grow as a character as he doubts his abilities after such an ass-kicking. The Night of Champions that followed is an incredible match with both men playing their roles fantastically. The problem was that should have been at Survivor Series or the Royal Rumble. With the final third chapter coming at Wrestlemania where all is rectified with Cena overcoming his greatest challenge, the Beast, Brock. While I may be miffed at the booking, there is no doubt, there was no bigger "Big Fight" feel this year than when Cena and Lesnar locked up for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I will never complain about more Cena and Lesnar.

A Tepid Year?

The rest of Cena's year felt pretty ho-hum relative to previous years. Bray Wyatt attempted to subvert in his innate good nature, but the storyline was inconsistent at best and lacked interesting plot developments. The matches often felt overly cinematic and bloated. The Last Man Standing match was a fun action move blockbuster ending, but left Bray Wyatt with little to do and he has only recently recovered. After the Brock rematch, Cena was ripshit at Rollins for his interference that assuredly cost him the title. There was one problem, Dean Ambrose was hot at Rollins too. In a numbskull booking decision, Ambrose beat Cena to win the right to fight Rollins and what does John Cena, the loser, receive a Number One Contender's match against Randy Orton. But, but he lost. Nobody was clamoring for more Cena/Orton that if for sure. They continued the Cena/Authority feud that seems so ham-fisted and artificial. No one knows why the Authority dislikes Cena. Cena was an afterthought in the thrillride, Team Cena vs Team Authority and then had a fun tables match with Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar's departure left Cena in a holding pattern and now that they are building to the Rumble, Cena has direction and we are building to the exciting third chapter in the best and most marquee feud WWE has.

Overall, I would say John Cena had a good year in 2014. He was World Champion once again. He had the two biggest fights of the year against Lesnar with both being considered Match of the Year Contenders. His match with Cesaro is one of the best matches of the year on RAW. However, the year feels shallow for Cena in terms of quality and interesting feuds. If Cena felt directionless the past three months, I thinks that tells you all you need to know about the booking the past three months. Going forward, that will be the most telling of this series is how the majority of these matches comes from the first third of the year.

Match Listing:

John Cena vs Cesaro w/Real Americans - RAW 2/17/14 ****1/4 
Cesaro strength showcase, but Cena fights from underneath to give this a sense of struggle.

John Cena vs Bray Wyatt - WWE Payback 2014 Last Man Standing ***1/2

Fun summer blockbuster, but not enough hate and transitions too capricious, forgettable 

WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Brock Lesnar - WWE Summerslam 2014 ****1/2

Lopsided destruction. Amazing Brock heel performance, Cena's selling off the charts good

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar vs John Cena  

WWE Night of Champions 2014 ****1/2

Cena avoids early F-5 & just keeps coming. His unbreakable will carries him. Brock's reactions are perfect.

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Cena rides the Merry Go-Round

John Cena vs Cesaro w/Real Americans - RAW 2/17/14

Much like the Bryan/Cesaro RAW match from 2013, I thought this match was overhyped initially by the commentary I was reading. The difference here was that upon rewatch, Cena and Cesaro lived up to the hype of being one of the best matches on free TV for the year of 2014. It is true testament to both competitors that even though the match was a showcase for Cesaro's strength spots, it never descended into an exhibition. On the surface level, many would attribute that Cesaro's creativity in setting up his own strength spots such as:

1. Using a Cena leapfrog (very typical Cena spot) to hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Almost never see Cena's leapfrog countered and an excellent transition to Cesaro controlling the match.

2. Catching a Cena cross body block into an incredible fallaway slam.

3. Reversing the STF into a deadlift gutwrench

4. Using an uppercut to block Cena's top rope legdrop to setup his middle rope suplex from the apron.

Cesaro really does come off as the Swiss Superman in this match and this is not against Rey Misterio, but against John Cena. It is not just Cena's presence that makes it all that more incredible, but how Cena sets Cesaro up to look amazing. Cena is purposefully wrestling smaller to make Cesaro look larger than life. He tried to match strength and power with Cesaro early, but two mistakes (leapfrog and crashing & burning over the top rope) put him in a bad position as Cesaro is content to lean on him with chinlocks. Cena tries to pull unexpected tricks like the hurricanrana and the cross body block in doing so he magnifies Cesaro's strength. Of course, Cena's most important role in this is to maintain that this is a sporting contest not an exhibition for Cesaro, which could have very easily devolved into with a more mindless performance. Cena was always on Cesaro fighting from underneath and making Cesaro earn every inch. I enjoyed the Giant Swing teases because it gets a rise out of the crowd, but also I see the move as the ultimate grandstanding, hot dog move. He could win with the Neutralizer, but the Giant Swing shows off Cesaro's strength and humiliates Cena. You see that Cesaro's hubris almost costs him twice: STF and a DDT. He finally takes Cena on the Merry Go-Round, but that does not get it done and now it is time for the Neutralizer. This is of course the perfect position for the FU, wait, Cesaro lands on his feet. Wicked Cesaro big boot and WHATTA CLOTHESLINE, MICHAEL, BY CENA! Cena fireman's roll through into a FU for the victory.

Great ending because at the end of the day, Cena can beat Cesaro at his own game because he is still John Cena and power is his game. Cesaro pushed Cena hard, but came up short because he became obsessed with the Giant Swing and not just winning but proving he is The Man. I really liked the champion veteran against hungry up and comer dynamic throughout the match and how Cena was so selfless throughout the match. Selflessness is something I like to see in my heel because it is his job to shine up the heel. Cena walked the perfect tight rope to make Cesaro look like a million bucks, but he himself never lost his luster. Say what you will about Cena the promo or Cena the character (and I have my issues), but inside those ropes, he knows what he is doing. My slight qualms with this match. This match could have benefitted from body part psychology because Cesaro would go for chinlocks, which is fine, but the match could have used a little more spice. Even thought, I liked the ending, Cena did to readily get into the FU position from the Neutralizer. If you look at his selling and body language during his standard comeback (shoulderblocks), you see a man fighting through pain and exhaustion to win. The Cena at the end was a little too fresh. Regardless of these qualms, on the surface, the match showcases Cesaro as a Swiss Superman on the cusp of main event stardom, but if you look closely you see why John Cena is The Man and has been The Man for all these years. ****1/4

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John Cena vs Bray Wyatt - WWE Payback 2014 Last Man Standing

He Holds The CeNation in his Hands

I would say my favorite trend of 2014 was each PPV having an overbooked, entertaining clusterfuck on the show. It spices the show up and allows more intersection between different characters and ties the matches, angles and character motivations together better due to the booking to be very limited. Unlike the Attitude Era, these matches do not feel as overexposed and the wrestling surrounding the hijinx is better than in that era. That being said while I find these matches entertaining they fall more in the Summer Blockbuster category than Oscar-winning performances. A perfect example of this which is Cena vs Wyatt Last Man Standing, which has made multiple Top WWE Matches of 2014 list.

To me this match begins and ends with Cena hurling those steel steps right into Wyatt's face. I mean he fucking nailed him. First time, I watched it, I was convinced that was the finish and when it was not, I knew they never could top it and the match would feel anticlimatic. Instead, Wyatt just hits Sister Abigail in the next spot. It is fun, but the spots and transitions are arbitrary and capricious. It is violent, but you do not feel the visceral hatred. The beginning of the match is a rushed version of their typical match. Cena feeds Wyatt a ton of great cutoff spots to show off his explosive transitions. They trade finishers and the Wyatts and Usos brawl for a bit. It all feels very perfunctory. This when that hatred would come in handy to really build interest instead they are resting on Cena's presence, which always ignites a thunderous reaction rather the story they are telling in the ring. Cena uses the chair and writes it off as it is legal so now Cena is not in a moral quandary. I was never buying all that anyways. This when the counters were flying and just hitting spots. The Usos and Wyatts have a really fun little street fight on the outside which ends up with everyone going through tables. They have one last holy shit bump which is Wyatt's cross body through the barricade, which was pretty cool. Cena then just walks over to the pyro area and FUs Wyatt's ass through a box and then tips over a heavy box to win. The steel steps should have been the finish.

It is a fun Summer Blockbuster that I will forget tomorrow save for the steel steps. There was no real substance it was just instant gratification. I have no problem with that, but this is definitely overhyped in my opinion. On top of that, there was so much action movie violence rather than that gritty violence you would see in street fights of yore that really made this feel very much like exhibition. The best stuff to come out of a shitty feud, but not real worth going out of your way to see. ***1/2

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WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Brock Lesnar - WWE Summerslam 2014

One of Sixteen

Brock Lesnar gave a heel performance for the ages in the biggest match of the year. It was the little touches like stepping on Cena's hand, the trash talk, and the desire to make Cena give up. He could have pinned him at pretty much any moment after about two minutes into the match, but he wanted to dominate and humiliate Cena. He wanted to force Cena to tell the referee he could not continue because Brock Lesnar beat him so senseless. Like any good villain, Lesnar's hubris almost cost him on two different occasions. The elbows into the FU was electric and the STFU brought people to their feet. Jerry Lawler was the perfect voice for all the children that did not want to believe their hero was going to be vanquished at the hands of the meanest schoolyard bully there ever was. Good conquers evil, right? Not when evil is Brock Fucking Lesnar. When he did the Zombie Sit-Up complete with a crazed look and maniacal laugh, it was the perfect horror movie image that the monster was not going to stay down. Sufficiently rattle though by STFU, Brock quit playing with his food and hit the F-5 to win the match in a similar vein to the Seahawks' complete annihilation of the Broncos in the 2014 Super Bowl.

I am a Brock mark. As soon as he gets into the ring, I hang on every single explosive and impactful move. Immediately every match becomes bigger when Lesnar is involved and becomes a fight for survival. So many matches from this decade are struggle between being a choreographed exhibition against a predetermined sporting contest. When Lesnar walks down the aisle, all that is effaced from my mind. I know I am going to watch a fight.  The opening 30 seconds of this match maybe my favorite opening 30 seconds from any match (with only Tenryu vs Mutoh from 2001 coming close). The amount of struggle in that opening moment. Cena meeting the Beast head on and trying to fight fire with fire. For Lesnar to snap off an F-5 so early was just an incredible climax. The only thing ballsier than the match they gave us would have been to end the match right there. Part of me thinks they should have. The beatdown was a merciless onslaught of unmitigated violence. Cena's glassy-eyed and foggy selling was so spot on. I talked about Cena's selflessness in the Cesaro match, but on no stage was it more apparent. How many top babyfaces would have been so secure to allow them to essentially be squashed by the top heel on the second biggest PPV of the year? None come to mind. The only two matches that come close to how this one was booked were Vader vs Sting from Great American Bash '92 and Brock Lesnar versus The Rock at Summerslam '02. The difference was the Sting match was a little more competitive and Vader is always willing to bump for his opponent and in the Rock match he was leaving WWE for months. Cena got two flurries of offense and would be expected to show up within coming weeks and continue to compete.

The match is carried by strong heel and babyface performances and unique circumstances, but because of its lopsided nature it is not something I consider a slam dunk Match of the Year Contender. It feels like a great first act in a play that hooks you immediately. I believe wrestling matches should be viewed in context, but ultimately need to be able to stand alone. i do not think this match can standalone and it is too tethered to its aftermath. That aftermath is very disappointing. Just when everyone says they have seen everything ever in wrestling WWE pulls off something that I am struggling to find a comparison point to. I would say this is something never been done before. Yet, they treat it like just another John Cena loss where he comes back with no injuries, dominates the entire Wyatt Family and is hungry as ever. He essentially no sold the match. Just like the spots in a match, which should have consequence on the next spot in a match, the match itself should have consequences in the storyline. If the WWE does not respect their own booking, then how can I? For that reason, it is why I am knocking this match down a peg, because its influence was not as strong as it should have been. ****1/2

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WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar vs John Cena  

WWE Night of Champions 2014

Never Give Up. Never Ever Give Up

I have not seen this match on one single match of the year list yet, but currently this is my favorite to be my selection for WWE Match of the Year 2014. I imagine a lot of it has to do with the bad taste people have in their mouth in regards to the finish. I will try to defend the finish, but I understand why it is not for everyone. My initial slight quibble with the match is that John Cena did not discover something new  to defeat Brock Lesnar. Then I realized how unwonted that would be. Cena defeats opponents not because of his MOVEZ~!, but because he has an unbreakable will. Even when it is stupid and dangerous, he is still going to march into the fire and not blink once.

In this match, Cena did learn a couple things from the previous dreadful encounter. First, he could not afford to dig such a deep hole for himself early and just survive the onslaught. He needed to avoid being dropped on his head and he held onto the ropes with all his might. In mirror moment, he scored an early FU, but unlike the the early F5 at Summerslam this had little effect on Lesnar. I loved Lesnar's game plan early of using the Kimura to sap Cena's strength and control Cena. It was a perfect defense against Cena's fastbreak offense. Without the early F5, Lesnar never had the same dominant advantage. Instead, he used the Kimura to cut Cena off and keep Cena at bay. In doing so, he set Cena up for his big throw-based offense. We saw a variety of suplexes from Lesanr and a variety from which he could hit them from including as cutoffs to Cena. Like I said without the early F5, Cena was able to score some more headshots that rattled the Beast. I loved Cena's game plan, which was a mixture of survival, rope a dope and bomb throwing. That was the second thing Cena learned, once he survived, he needed headshots and kill blows. This was not the time for shoulderblocks and bullshit. He was going for hard uncharacteristic Cena elbows. That back elbow was fucking some Misawa-level shit. He just needed to survive long enough for them to take their toll.  I loved Lesnar's reactions to Cena's spells of offense. He is content to play with his food, but he is scared, he does not fuck around. Cena rattles him with a wicked back elbow and goes for the FU, time to drop him on his head. Cena hits the FU and Lesnar right on it going for an F5, but Cena applies the STF. You can feel the desperation from the big bad bully and he goes back to the Kimura. Now control feels fleeting and the tension really is building. It is all because of how all Lesnar's reactions feel desperate and as a heel he is reacting to the babyface. That is perfect heel psychology. He is being forced to play catch up ball because Cena has finally rocked him. Even though Lesnar seems to regain control with the Kimura, it feels much more tenuous. The strength spot from Cena picking Brock up and ramming him in the turnbuckles is babyface wrestling at its finest. Cena will not be denied tonight. Cena quickly hits an FU, but has enough sense to know that is not enough so he locks in the STF to sap Brock's strength and energy. I love how before Brock gets to the ropes he is pulling him back and one time rips Brock from the ropes. It feels like a real struggle and fight. Cena also knows that STF like the Kimura is a setup to something bigger, the knockout blow: a fourth and fatal FU. Then Seth Rollins hits him with the Money In The Bank Briefcase.

So before I defend the finish, let's wrap up the match proper. I thought this was really well-executed, high drama pro wrestling. It demonstrates how important that early F5 was. Cena was able to avoid thus Brock had to go into contain and attack mode. He was never able to hit the F5. He had his chances but he was caught playing with his food, he would go back to the contain (Kimura) and attack (suplexes). At the end of the day, he let Cena hang around too long and Cena made him pay with that wicked back elbow. After that back elbow, he had to play catch up ball. You give Cena an inch and he is going to take the mile. With renewed confidence, Cena was not going to denied on that and you can sense the desperation and fear in Lesnar. It was beautiful pro wrestling. if they ended it with the Cena victory, I would rate the match highly even if, I thought the booking was very myopic and stupid. In fact this is probably the layout I would have selected for the upcoming Royal Rumble match. What I envisioned does not discount the greatness of Cena's and Lesnar's performances in this match.

Defending the finish, from Rollins's perspective if Cena wins outright, Cena will have gone through hell, but he will still be standing and will not be ripe for the pickings. Lesnar by all counts was down and out. So if Rollins could successfully knock Cena out with the briefcase then Rollins should be able to pin Lesnar easily to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champios. The two arguments I have heard why this was stupid was that Lesnar would just BROCK Rollins or Cena would attack Rollins (as happened). To the first, Lesnar was clearly portrayed as being out from the Fourth FU and the added curb stomp and how he was selling there was no way he would just steamroll Rollins. To the second point, well Rollins should have done a better job making sure Cena was knocked out. The plan was foolproof if he executed it properly, but in haste he did not finish the job on Cena so Cena was able to prevent him from cashing in out of anger (YOU FOOL!). I hold that booking was sound on the finish from a psychological point of view even if it was not what I would have chosen. The match never reached the transcendent levels of Brock/Cena Extreme Rules 2011 and with the overbooked finish, it has a tenuous claim to the match of the year at a ****1/2 rating.

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We close John Cena's 2014 with some great matches that will go down in the history books. The story is not finished as Cena versus Lesnar will lock one final time at Royal Rumble with myself and my brother in attendance. The rematch at Night of Champions has a tenuous claim to Match of the Year and the Summerslam match is the most memorable match of the year. 

Next up we take a stroll down memory lane when the futures of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns collectively looked so bright when they were known as the most powerful three man unit in recent memory: The Shield.

Believe The Hype and Believe In The Shield

    

Wolfpac In Da House: WCW April-June 1998

Hey yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,

WOLFPAC IN DA HOUSE!!!

Rappers nowadays should bring back the background track of random crowd noise

The only thing that the Wolfpac ever gave us of value was that theme song. Fun fact: the only wrestling shirt I owned as a child was a Black & Red NWO Wolfpac shirt.


There Can Be No Good Without Evil

Pro wrestling, especially North American pro wrestling, is built on the fundamental dichotomy within human nature: good and evil. While in the real world there are shades of grey & mitigating circumstances, pro wrestling magnifies the difference, like only it can, through outrageous angles and larger than life characters. Pro wrestling is not just limited to this black and white distinction of good versus. In fact, some of the best wrestling angles those that accentuate the more realistic elements of actual moral quandaries, but sometimes they can be the most confusing. Like anything in this world it is all about execution. At the end of the day like Big Sexy once so eloquently put it, "Who is going to make the comeback? That's your babyface". The beauty of wrestling is that anybody can be a babyfaces and heels depending on how they're presented. A monstrous man that mows down all his competition, always moves forward and is a supreme asskicker. Is that Vader or Goldberg? One was a wildly popular babyface and the other a villanous heel and it all depends on the presentation. I have seen a flamboyant British cross dresser get over as a babyface in 80s Alabama. Pro wrestling is what we all make it, but I am of the firm opinion you need good and you need evil. What drives the business is rooting for someone to get their ass kicked and to see someone kick ass. As my idol, "Diamond" David Lee Roth once perfectly captured the essence of pro wrestling "It is wish fulfillment". It all stems from good versus evil.

Truer Word Have Never Been Spoken

In the spring of 1998, WCW had the most loaded main event roster since 1980s WWF and the argument could be made it was even more densely packed. It featured Hollywood Hogan, Sting, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, The Giant, Lex Luger, Roddy Piper, and Bret Hart. By July, you could add Goldberg and DDP to the main event mix. Even with the departure of Flair, WCW had a eleven bonafide main eventers. On paper this sounds magnificent for the year of 1998. Now recall how pro wrestling is driven, it is driven by babyfaces versus heels. At the end of Spring Stampede, WCW had a grand total of one main event heel (Hollywood Hogan). They had 8 main event babyfaces, 2 upper midcard babyface acts about to break out. The number two heel act is a toss up between Raven and Chris Jericho. What looked like an impressive main event infrastructure now looks horrible. I would lay the blame for WCW's underwhelming 1998 on its inability to cope with fundamentally poor babyface to heel ratio.

How can you have an impending Civil War in the NWO and keep all the WCW babyfaces occupied? Hollywood Hogan is only one man and that means one match per card. Between Februrary and October, Hollywood Hogan wrestled on 8 PPVs and only missed one. The previous year between Februrary and October, he wrestled on 5 PPVs and missed 4 PPVs. How was that possible? The heel infrastructure included Savage, Nash and Hall. The Hogan saturation effect will be investigated in the next quarter. Here he is involved in only a paltry three feuds: Savage, Piper and Nash. Here we will focused on how keeping a healthy ratio of babyfaces to heels caused the demise of WCW.

Bret Hart: Babyface or Heel?

A lot of critics of WCW in this time period specifically target the mismanagement of Bret Hart in 1998. After the Flair feud, it became apparent WCW did not have anything for the former WWF top main event act and probably the best US worker of the 90s. People were clamoring for the Hart vs. Hogan match, but Hogan had issues with Sting, Savage, and Piper and looked like an oncoming collision with Nash & NWO Civil War that superseded Hart's match. WCW took a new direction with Bret Hart and turned him heel joining NWO Hollywood as the promotion's number two heel. Given the state of the company and who they had, I actually think their hand was forced in a lot of ways. If you take Hogan staying heel, Nash turning babyface, and Savage out for the year after mid-June, there is really no sensible number two heel on the roster. There are some fantasy booking scenarios I would like better, but Bret Hart was definitely the best number two heel they had at their disposal. Now that they had selected a direction for Bret Hart, things did start to look up with a good PPV match against Savage and teaming with Hogan. The NWO Civil War would likely afford him opportunities to wrestle Nash, Luger and Sting in marquee, but as we will see in the next quarter WCW would become indecisive on how they wanted to utilize Bret and that would ultimately be his doom.

NWO Wolfpac: Wrestling's Motley Crue

Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, Konnan, Lex Luger and Sting. Has there ever been a stranger, more disparate collection of wrestlers? Once again, looking at how the main event roster is structured, their hand is forced. Nash and Savage would need reinforcements to wrestle the Black & White and they needed to establish they were the babyface group. Sting was directionless since failing as the Champion and Luger was also directionless since the Savage feud. By bringing in Sting and Luger, you immediately bolster the Wolfpac with top babyfaces, establish them as a top babyface act and have cache with the fans. The only problem is what ties them together. Nash wanted Konnan because Konnan makes the group seem cool and hip. Sting and Luger are buds, but Sting and Luger should hate Nash. Now it is not really a Civil War, but just a hodgepodge of wrestlers thrown together wearing the same shirt. That was the problem with the NWO Civil War. Due to the poor babyface:heel ratio and weak management, the wrestlers were not given proper motivations for joining these groups. So it just became about what t-shirt you were wearing.

Thankfully, DDP, the best working main eventer on the roster, never joined the Wolfpac. He would have made way more sense than Luger/Sting as he is old Nash friend and he speaks and acts more like Nash. Wolfpac was where careers went to die. Backstage politics killed the Wolfpac, but that is for next blog. In kayfabe, DDP is a self-made man who does not need anyone's help. Backstage, he saw the Hogan versus Nash war and he saw the opportunity to be a main eventer by being Hogan's opponent in turn he main evented 5 straight PPVs including the WCW 1998 main event of the year against Goldberg at Halloween Havoc.

NWO Hollywood: Warm Bodies

What would eventually become the NWO B-Team, NWO Hollywood was supposed to be the supporting heel infrastructure to absorb the babyface-laden roster and through June it looked like a strong opposing force. The Giant turning on NWO Hollywood may have not been explained properly, but on paper was the most sensible of the Spring Shuffling. He hated Nash and had fought Nash on 4 of the 5 first PPVs of the year and had neck broken by him. It only made sense for him to join the faction that was going to war with Nash. In June, he main evented the Great American Bash against Sting in one of the better Sting matches of the year. Joining the Giant was Scott Hall after shockingly turning on Nash. You can argue whether or not a proper Nash vs Hall match is something people wanted to see, but at the end of the day WCW needed heels. Turning Luger would have made even less sense and the Hall turn had the hook of a Nash vs Hall feud. However, Hall's personal demons derailed the feud and one of the the two primary drivers (the other being Hogan not wanting anything to do with them) that derailed the Wolfpac.

Wolfpac Is DOA: Civil War Is Over Before It Began

In the following blog, named Hogan Doen't Need Your Civil War, we will discuss why the NWO Civil War went nowhere from  a backstage perspective. However, even looking at the buildup, you can see that it was really no motivation. The crux of the issue should stem from the fact that fissures in the NWO have opened up because Hollywood lost his stranglehold on the title. This opens his once unquestioned leadership to the two strongest possible claimants, the Macho Man and Big Sexy. However, inside of the NWO imploding from within, Sting and Luger are shoehorned to the Wolfpac to fill out its ranks. While Bret Hart, The Giant and Scott Hall fill out NWO Hollywood. Since there is no common bond between these men, there is no motivation to feud and thus no heat. The future booking does it no favors, but the setup was piss poor and was hasty solution to rectify the the heavy babyface roster.

My Recommendations & Solution

 There was one fundamental booking tenet WCW needed to be followed better was the use of logical and well-motivated turns. In the Spring of 1998, it feels like they reshuffled because they were compelled to rather than thinking it out and this results in a piss poor summer. The other recommendation is one that is unique to WCW and that is to maximize the potential of their large roster size by cycling people in and out.. In reality, there are so many top spots (in my opinion, 6-8 spots, at any given time) so give people some rest and write people out using injuries and firings to develop other characters and further existing storylines. If you realize, well fuck I really don't have anything for Lex Luger why don't I have Bischoff go on a firing spree or maybe Scott Steiner could take his ass out. Now you are putting heat on someone existing and building sympathy for Luger's return instead of Luger just randomly wrestling people in a different color shirt. While I tend not to try to bore people with my fantasy booking, I think in this scenario it is appropriate for me to offer a solution.


Now, there are some caveats, if the Hogan vs Nash backstage heat was as bad as it seems then there is really nothing that can be done to remedy a NWO Civil War. So if you take the egos out and allow me to start booking after Starrcade 1997. I say you build to Hogan vs Nash at Bash At The Beach 1998 as it is the two year anniversary. The crux of the feud is the MegaPowers vs The Outsiders, but it is presented as the NWO is in flux. All four wrestlers are still NWO, but the Outsiders are the babyfaces challenging the established system.  The underlings don't really know who to commit to in the war and their allegiance sways as the war goes on. I think the most crucial difference is that WCW guys are happy about in-fighting, but still need to interact with the NWO because of championship matches and personal feuds. My special twist is that I would have Goldberg turn heel and join the NWO as Hogan 's mercenary. This is especially useful once Savage has his injury. Goldberg turns on Hogan at Bash at the Beach and Nash, Hall and Goldberg make up the core of the new NWO. The mission of the NWO is destroy WCW and now they will use of their homemade wrestlers as the weapon to finally kill it.  The next blog will look at why I think Goldberg would have better utilized early in his career as a heel as opposed to a heel.

It is clear in April of 1998, WCW had a babyface to heel imbalance and the steps they took to rectify caused for a very bad summer on top of the company. Had they taken well thought out steps using the wrestler's history and motivations they could have taken these months as shuffling months, but rebuilt to something better. Furthermore, cycling main eventers in and out would have prevented overexposure and cooling off main eventers from lack of direction.

Recommended Matches:

Randy Savage vs Bret Hart - Slamboree 1998
Sting vs. The Giant - WCW Great American Bash 1998
Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Chris Benoit - Nitro 6/22/98

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Randy Savage - WCW Spring Stampede 1998

Fun fact: This is the first PPV I ever begged my parents to order because my favorite wrestler, Randy Savage was challenging for the World Title. Oddly, I had no recollection of this match until the end when all the memories came flooding back. It is weird because I still vividly remember the Hogan vs Savage match on Nitro the next night that royally pissed me off as a child. Crazy what sticks with you.

I don't know if it is the face paint, but Sting is just so frigging lame. The complaint seemed to be that Hogan took most of the SuperBrawl match and that is why it sucked, but as I expected Savage would be more giving, but still Sting did not look he gave two fucks. He was just going through the motions and his selling was just dogshit. Savage looked like a car wreck with the huge knee brace and the taped arm. Sting really needs to ditch the trench coat that's the second time sometime has attacked him before he could get it off. I loved Savage selling the punch and then punch through it. That's not someone no selling that is selling how fucking nutzo he is. Savage does his best to wrestle for one between taking bumps over the top rope, selling the arm and then taking back over on offense with good heel offense. Tony gets in one of his more infamous lines about the bales of hay being abrasive and the particulates getting into respiratory tract. He has a point, but man did it sound fucking lame. Sting just randomly stops selling, but not in the way that elicits a crowd reaction because he is hulking up. He will literally just stand up and stand there. It happened at least twice, It is honestly like he forgot how to wrestle. Liz gets in the ring and gives him a chair shot and then all the memories come rushing back. I know something big is going to happen BOOM! Liz takes a Stinger Splash. WOW! Savage is like kthxbai and looks to use the distraction to elbow Sting on the chair, but Hogan interferes. Sting hits the Slop Drop, but here comes Big Sexy to hit the Jacknife and pulls Savage to win.

The booking fucked up Sting, yes, but he did not do himself any favors. He was shitting the bed in the ring. Resetting to Hollywood to transition to Goldberg was actually a pretty gutsy and intelligent thing to do. I am going to give WCW kudos for that. Savage tried as he might, but was too banged up to salvage this match. This is neck and neck with the SuperBrawl VIII for shittiest main event match of '98, but I think this one takes it because there was more Sting offense and Hogan's effort in SuperBrawl VIII is to be praised.

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Hollywood Hogan - WCW Nitro 4/20/98

The match I hated the most as a child, fresh off seeing my hero win the World Championship at Spring Stampede he faces Hogan in what is basically an extended squash.When you add together that Savage prefers taking heat when he is a face, that he was injured and Hogan loves working on top it really was not to be unexpected. At first, Hogan looked a little bit more plodding than he had in the other matches I had seen from this year. The badmouth was still there, but the same energy was not there. Savage was on top of his game acting like wounded animal that would occasionally lash out, but the pain would overwhelm. Not often you get to see Hogan work over a body part and it is admirable. Savage is great at peppering in heated hope spots that get the crowd to pop like using the belt and the Big Elbow, but he lands on the injured knee! Hogan goes back to the knee, spinning toe hold and a figure-4. This has been a great story in terms of Savage being too banged up and defending his title the next night and Hogan is just licking his chops. Savage going crazy and choking Hogan draws a big pop. The finish goes into overdrive with The Disciple attacking the ref. Beefcake has one of those faces that just can never recognize him when he changed gimmicks. Nash coming in powerbombing Hogan got a massive, massive pop. This makes the Goldberg title victory all the more intriguing because I am surprised they did not put the belt on Nash. Hart nails Nash and puts Hogan on top. It is not going to blow you away, but on WCW main event sliding scale this was pretty good. The novelty of Hogan working a body part was cool. Savage doing his crazed wounded animal selling keeps the match entertaining throughout. I have seen better Hogan performances on the year though.

Resetting to Hogan makes complete sense now that I have seen the Sting title reign. He was in no shape to carry the belt. Savage as a one day champion is a fine transitional champion because he will be on the shelf soon and it sort of puts to bed the Hogan/Savage issue shifts to Hogan/Nash and Savage/Hart, which is not a bad one-two punch, but Nash is so interested in hanging out with his buddy, Hall in that miss their window to pop a big buyrate with Hogan/Nash on top. Bash at the Beach 1998, the two year anniversary of the NWO, Nash vs. Hogan on top would have been huge. Alas. I understand the reset to Hogan and I think they went with gutsier move to put it on Goldberg. I would have probably played it safe and put it on Nash. WCW just when you think you have them figured out they keep you guessing even all these years later.


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Randy Savage vs Bret Hart - Slamboree 1998

Man, this show was in Worcester, c'mon Dad, why didn't we go? Can't bitch too much he did take me to Boston Brawl in January that year and that was one helluva show. On paper, this show does not seem like much, but hell this was pretty entertaining. It was not as good as their SNME 1987 match, but compared to pretty much all the other main eventer vs main eventer matches this was a MOTY. Savage's knee is clearly messed up as he has a giant brace and his usual mobility is gone, which means that chaos is lost in a match that really needed that to take it over the top. I liked the both of them using heel tactics early and was glad that Savage did not do his usual babyface match where he takes heat immediately. The brawling was not the best ever, but it is good stuff. What worked so well was that Hart's formula meshes so well with Savage's babyface formula. Hart works on top in such a compelling fashion and Savage is so great at selling the knee. Hart looked so crisp with his strikes and that piledriver. I loved Savage's comeback with the one legged suplex. Then hitting the elbow drop, but injuring the knee. That was a great nearfall. I was surprised that the Northeast was not more into Hart. Things went into overbooking hell with Elizabeth (WTF) and Hogan (well at least that makes sense). Piper sucks. Hart wins by submission or maybe DQ, who knows, but finishes aren't that important in 98 WCW. The match was pretty good thanks to both's just natural charisma. ***1/2


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Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart vs Randy Savage & Roddy Piper  

WCW Great American Bash 1998

WCW has lost any sort of direction as Hogan is fighting his two least interesting opponents of the six different matches/feuds he has on his plate. Hogan has the Nash/Wolfpac, Savage, Piper, Hart (frenemy), DDP and Goldberg all gunning for him in one form or another within a month of this PPV. I don't mind running everything through Hogan, but they need to use him to spin matches off of him and creating a buzz for that. Instead we have Nash & Wolfpac spinning their wheels until Hogan finally leaves in October, Bret Hart as Brutus Beefcake's more proficient twin, and Goldberg wrestling squashes as champion. I will say DDP was minted as a main eventer thanks to Hogan so I don't begrudge him that. Still, c'mon Hogan/Piper and Hogan/Savage is so played out at this point. Savage being the catalyst for causing the NWO Civil War is fine, but they needed to transfer the heat to Nash now for the fresh match, but egos got in the way. Piper just needs to go away.

The match is surprisingly fun, but it has a throwaway Nitro main event feel. Hogan was great in the babyface shine stooging for Piper and Savage. It is painful seeing Savage basically wrestle on one leg. You could see how much more he wanted to give. Piper was just awful and seemed blown up like two minutes into the match. Hogan did the best he could with two lame opponents (one literally and one figuratively). Brother Bruti hits Piper with the title belt as he is running the ropes. Hart is great in heat segment and Hogan is also great at cheating. I love them riling up Savage on the apron. It was definitely the most exciting part of the match.  Savage sliding the chair onto Piper's abdomen when Hart goes down for his trademark headbutt was genius.Savage gets the tag and Hogan cowers and the crowd goes wild. Savage just can't move like he needs to capitalize on the heat. Savage goes up top for the elbow, but Piper is whipped into the ropes and Savage falls and wrenches his knee. The announcer blow this call so bad. Hart applies the Sharpshooter to give NWO Hollywood the victory.

Hart is sure working towards the match with Hogan, eye-roll. If they replaced Piper with someone worth a damn, this would have been decent. Hogan is actually a pretty good worker in 1998, he is just working with shit usually see Apathetic Sting, Injured Savage and Shitty Piper. I'd love to see him against DDP or Luger this year. Instead we have shitty celebrity matches and the fucking Ultimate Warrior to finish his year.Maybe the Goldberg match will be good.

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Randy Savage vs Roddy Piper - WCW Great American Bash 1998

The last match should have been main event of a Nitro and this singles match should have stemmed from all the confusion at Slamboree 1998. Hogan & Hart vs Wolfpac (Nash & Luger) would have made a lot more sense or even Hogan vs DDP World Title match would have been incredible. If only I could have booked WCW 1998 and people listened to me, it would have been a field day. First order of business, fire Roddy Piper, a shitty promo and even shittier wrestler. Piper does not want to fight Savage after his knee has been destroyed. Savage hits the world's worst clothesline and hits the elbow and fucks up his knee. We at least get one last random act of violence towards a ref as Lil Naitch takes a great bump off a bump. I'd love a wrestler crib Savage's random act of violence against refs character. Piper applies the figure-4 and Savage never comes back. Team Madness never happened...Team Madness never happened...Team Madness Never Happened. Piper needs to go the fuck away too!


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Sting vs. The Giant - WCW Great American Bash 1998

Surprisingly, The Giant was one of the better booked wrestlers of 1998 for WCW. He had his issue with Nash, had his neck broken, came back and then proceeded to try new ways to exact revenge. At first, it was teaming with Piper against Hogan & Nash and then finding a tag partner to rob Nash of the tag titles. It did not feel super heated from the promos I watched because nothing was super focused, but hey match-to-match it was pretty good. Giant joining NWO Hollywood makes sense from a babyface:heel ratio perspective more than anything else, but hey he hates Nash so that makes sense! Sting joining the Wolfpac is just the lamest thing ever. Sting is just not cool.

Best Sting match of the year as he actually wrestled like a normal wrestler you know trying to execute exciting offense and selling well. Giant is just an athletic freak of nature. Watching him yesterday move around at Survivor Series last night and then watching him rock it 16 years earlier was incredible. He started by rushing into the corner and laying out on the corner for Sting to kick him around. Stinger Splash eats a big boot. Giant's heat segment is actually pretty good. Sting's finish stretch was actually exciting and fun. He dropkicks the knee, but cant get the Scorpion Deathlock because Giant is just too big. Three Scorpion DeathDrops with teases of Giant chokeslam and had my house rocking on Thanksgiving with my Dad and Mom getting into it. Just a touch better than DDP match as they keep it short and sweet. ***

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Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Chris Benoit - Nitro 6/22/98

In 1998, Bret Hart is the opposite of Sting in terms of his effort and his opportunities. Sting was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion and consistently in the main events of PPVs even after the fact. From what I have seen from Sting at SuperBrawl and Spring Stampede, he looked out of shape, bored and just generally disinterested. Whereas since the Hart/Flair feud, Hart pretty much disappeared from the company until his direction became Hogan's lackey when he by and away the most versatile main event wrestler they had. He has shown already this year that he can work convincingly as a babyface or heel and against fellow main event talent or against the new breed of talent like a Benoit.

The famous match is the Owen Hart tribute match the following year, but this was a really fun TV match nonetheless. Benoit is just a pugnacious pitbull the entire match and Hart is just so amazing as the cocky heel cutting him off at very corner with dubious tactics. They work the typical opening of Benoit outwrestling with Hart because of his quickness and sheer effort. Benoit's work was just dripping with determination, which is so refreshing. I am actually going to go back and watch the DDP/Benoit/Raven feud and Benot/Booker/Finlay later. I am especially intrigued by DDP/Benoit because they seem to be two wrestlers trying the hardest in the promotion. Hart takes back in the corner and starts unloading. What I really love about this match is how much Benoit is trying to hit through this. It is not that he is not no selling. It is that he is just not backing down and he is fighting Hart every step of the way, but Hart is always one step ahead. Finally, it is Hart hotshotting Benoit that stymies Benoit. I love that it is not an abrupt transition to the heat segment. It is a work in progress to get Hart fully in control. Like I have said before, Hart is so good from his body language and facially expression how he thinks Benoit is below him, but then also Hart sells Benoit's hope spots with a slight bit of shock. The finish run is a fun bomb throwing fest by Benoit who is just relentless. Yes, the selling like after the missed Diving Headbutt should have sold bigger by Benoit, but instead he was focusing on just keeping everything going and the crowd popping with big spot after big spot. It was fun watching him challenge Hart with suplexes including the Dragon Suplex and a wicked almost snap superplex. Benoit traps Hart in the Cripple Crossface, but Stevie Ray distracts him and Hart blasts him with a foreign object in the back of the head. Hart actually bothers to sell it to the ref by putting Benoit on top of him then "kicking out" and putting him into the Sharpshooter.

It was fun for Hart to be really be tested for the first time since Souled Out. Benoit was making the most of his opportunity against Hart. I am sure was excited to wrestle Bret Hart. I just loved his character as this relentless force that only knew forward and no reverse. Hart was the perfect heel foil. There were some selling issues, but the layout put over Benoit huge and the finish run was very fun. ***3/4