By Nick Whitworth@pwpitstopNick
WE DID IT. 30 Rants and still not bored of me. I know, I know, how can you be bored of someone with such raw animal magnetism, with such stunningly good looks and with a body that looks like it is chiseled out of stone…. You just can’t. We are creeping on Halloween and slowly creeping on my favorite time of the year…… Christmas. The leaves are turning, it is dark by 7:30 pm and I even had to scrape the frost off of the car a few times already. Anyways it is time to announce the topics for the 30th Rant. Today’s topics are:
– The Maritime wrestling scene
– Cesaro makes an appearance at NXT Live Event (Kassius Ohno)
– The Bullet Club WWE bound? Then what?
1: Some people might not even have a clue as to what The Maritime’s is. Well if that is you then you are missing out. Even though we are in the forgotten land of Canada, we have the most beautiful scenery you will ever see. Absolutely breathtaking. The wrestling scene here is one of the top scenes in all of Canada.
It all started in the early 1960’s when Emile Dupree started running shows under the brand Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling. AGPW become a staple point in the Canadian Wrestling history, becoming so popular in the Maritime’s they were filling arenas everywhere.
Their roster was stacked to the gills with everyone from The Cuban Assassin, Leo Burke and Stephen Petitpas to big names like Lanny Poffo, Macho Man Randy Savage, Edge, Christian and even Andre The Giant. Nobody could top this roster and their shows were so successful. To this day, AGPW plays a pivotal role in wrestling all together.
Halifax, Nova Scotia’s own Ultimate Championship Wrestling started putting on shows 11 years ago but couldn’t gain the same success as Atlantic Grand Prix. UCW became known for bringing in WWE Legends who were well past their prime and hoping their names would draw a crowd. The Demolition, Marty Jannetty, The Nasty Boys and Bushwacker Luke just to name a few. The product was good, just not great.
The scene was fizzling out quick until 2013 when a promotion called Wrestlecentre opened their doors which ignited the fire us fans were dying for. Their debut show was headlined by local star JP Simms putting his IFWA Heavyweight Championship on the line against The Phenomenal AJ Styles. I waited 20 years to see Styles live and this unknown company brings him in for their very first show…. I am there.
I left that show with my autograph AJ Styles 8×10, no voice and a huge fan of JP Simms. The aftermath of the show was nothing but excitement from the fans and the buzz created made this company an instant hit. Wrestlecentre started running monthly shows using solid story lines to build match ups and to build upcoming shows.
Suddenly we were getting guys like Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode. We were getting everyone from big name stars like Colt Cabana, John Morrison, Matt Sydal. We were even getting WWE Hall Of Famers Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Mick Foley to indie darlings like “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Heck, they even brought in Cody Rhodes who had just begun his shot to mega stardom.As a wrestling fan this was a dream come true.
The company was using big name talent to draw in the crowds while the locals worked their butts off becoming the bigger stars. Wrestlecentre gave a lot of local talent the platform they needed to boost their stock.
Wrestlecentre was airing their weekly show Voltage on the Fight Network and on local Bell TV and were thriving like no other. Suddenly their monthly shows turned into every few months, then once a year and now they haven’t put on a show in 2 years. It is none of my business as to why this happened nor should I be privy to this but as a fan of their product it was just a shame to watch this unfold like this. Their large crowds diminished as they put on less and less shows. Their roster depleted which caused the big dogs to bring in unknown names. Their last show’s atmosphere felt like it was their last chance to regain any previous momentum. The excitement was completely gone and the buzz around town was certainly not the same buzz they were use to receiving.
While Wrestlecentre was sinking, UCW scooped up the talent that were leaving and all the fans crying for more wrestling. The attendance went from 50 to about 300 fans within a few shows. UCW became the talk of the town with Wrestlecentre in the rear view.
UCW added big local names, they added freshly trained female star Maddison Miles who created a massive fan following for being a fan of the local scene now pursuing her dreams. Her very first professional match drew in over 300 people which all came to cheer her on. Maddy became another name in the growing talent pool here who can draw a big crowd.
UCW now puts on shows on the regular, promoting the local talent while bringing in big name indie names without having them make the locals look weak. They strategically pick and choose the right outside talent to draw in new fans to their product. They now have the best roster not only in the Maritime’s but I would clearly say within all of Canada.
They know how to please their fan base and continue to grow. Their last tour drew insanely well with crowds of around 500 in tiny little towns. Their 10th anniversary show in 2017 drew 1200 fans. Yes they brought in names like Ryback, Abyss, Kelly Klein and Bushwacker Luke, but all the excitement was about the main event featuring Markus Burke taking on JP Simms. When you have current ROH, Impact and former WWE stars on the card yet the excitement was over the homegrown talent then you know you have something special.
Ultimate Championship Wrestling has expanded outside of Nova Scotia and also has a television deal with Rogers Cable. They work with companies in Quebec (NSPW) and Ontario (Smash Wrestling) which is giving the locals a nice platform to show more of the world their talents. A small population of wrestlers is creating an awful lot of noise.
Just to show you how much noise the scene here is causing, this years Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s annual PWI 500 has 5 wrestlers listed in this years list. Markus Burke (272), Titus (318), Marko Estrada (320), Brody Steele (448) and Mike Hughes (474) have been listed as being part of the best 500 wrestlers in the world. While only having 5 in that list, the Maritime population is only 1.8 million and with only a fraction of that being wrestlers, well this goes to show you just how great the talent is here.
The wrestling has been top notch with up and coming talent making names for themselves like Cody Blayde and Dynamite Dylan Davis leading the pack. Blayde left the scene for a bit to train and wrestle out west while Davis came over from Newfoundland where he was one of their very best only to have to start from the bottom as he was relatively unknown here. Dylan went from being on the V.I.P. portion of the shows to be main eventing and being featured on the UCW posters. Both men’s hard work is paying off big time.
David Nyquest who I am lucky enough to call a great friend (even though these darn kids keep me busy from our bromance) but I am more then lucky enough to witness his talent. He is honestly, and I truly mean this, one of the best ring announcers I ever seen. His unique look with his big beard suites his role perfectly but his raspy voice is what makes him stand out. David’s voice is in a league of his own. Every big name star who comes to town take notice. He is so good that these big names make it a point to tell him how good he is. To Nyquest’s credit he also seeks them out for advice which shows how serious and dedicated he really is.
While some might say because Nyquest and myself are bestie’s I might be being a little biased but truthfully if he wasn’t as good as I am telling you I wouldn’t be making it my point to put him over. If you don’t believe me just ask Abyss, Jack Swagger and Pete Dunne. Heck even Victoria even told him to use her as a reference. That is absolutely huge.
The main strike against us here in the Maritime’s is the overall population to our location. We rarely get any big concerts and any type of entertainment due to being so far from the next big town. The closest city to us that gets the big shows is Montreal which is like an 18 hour drive so for any companies thinking of adding concerts and whatnot to the Maritime’s it is a big gamble as our overall population is less then the next closest major city. Sad but truth. Although it is a gamble it can be rewarding as we had Kevin Hart do 3 shows in 2 nights which had 10,000 people each show. He was forced to do more shows has his first sold out just in pre sale. He added another and the same thing happened so he was forced to do a 3rd. U2 performed in Moncton with about 100,000 people a few years back. So while risky we still put asses in seats. We just have zero eyes on us ,unless you were Sidney Crosby, which makes everyone here having to go that extra mile just for a little recognition.
So as you can tell here us Maritimer’s love our wrestling and wrestling love us Maritimer’s. Hopefully more homegrown hero’s can get that chance to prove to the world that the Maritime talent mean business.
2: Over the last year WWE main roster talent have been popping up on some NXT live event cards. Luke Harper, Tyler Breeze and Tye Dillinger have shocked the audience with their surprised appearances. A few weeks back another name was added to that list, this time being Cesaro.
While Cesaro’s appearance wasn’t a full on match, it was his appearance that made the wrestling drool. Why? Well, let me tell you…. Kassius Ohno was having a match that night with Adam Cole when Cesaro charged the ring and him and Ohno double teamed Cole causing the world to go bananas.
Any big wrestling fan knows Cesaro and Ohno have a teeny tiny bit of history together. They were a tag team called “The Kings Of Wrestling”, known as Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) and Chris Hero (Kassius Ohno) and dominated the tag divisions in and around the indies. Since both signed with WWE we have all been dreaming of the day they would be reunited on the grandest stage of them all. As we know that hasn’t happened.
Cesaro has been a tag team machine so far in his WWE run while Ohno is on his second NXT run with no direction in site. I think Kassius is just being groomed for a Performance Center gig. With Cesaro’s partner Sheamus rumored to have a serious neck injury, what better way to add Ohno to the main roster then by having his make the save on Cesaro and reform The Kings Of Wrestling one last time.
This is a dream tag team that needs to be given the proper spotlight it deserves. The tag division in WWE seems lost and by putting a team like this in the mix will surely had the much needed spark it most certainly needs. The company only has a few solid teams and the direction of the division comes across as stop and go. One minute the division is being heavily featured on television and the next it comes across as fillers.
Using teams like The Usos, Gallows & Anderson and The New Day wastefully causes so much damage to the division that when they decide to go the tag route the fans aren’t all that interested in it. Then the wrestlers have to work extra hard to make up for the lack of creative direction. Talented tag teams are sitting on the sidelines when there is plenty of opportunity to shine.
I am 99.999 % sure this pairing was a one off but one can seriously hope that the buzz it generated was enough to at least peak some interest in the higher ups. It just would be nice to see not only The Kings Of Wrestling on the big stage but it would be nice to see Ohno have a main roster run before he hangs up the boots. I guess only time will tell if it was a one off so until then we just have to sit pretty and hope for the best.
3: Recently I wrote a topic about the red hot rumors regarding The Bullet Club being WWE bound in 2019. The rumors continue to flow heavily as Seth Rollins was asked at a recent Comic Con Q&A which non WWE star he would like to face and he responded with of course Kenny Omega. Current NXT Champ Tommaso Ciampa also chimed in on his twitter page stating he wants to face the winner. Also The Bullet Club members have all tweeted out messages regarding their latest Pro Wrestling Tees shirts stating it will their last Bullet Club style shirt.
While the meaning behind this is unknown it just adds more fuel to the fire that the group is WWE bound. Adam Page even revealed he turned down a WWE offer and would only join as a group. Again, these guys are fantastic at working the fans but you just never really know.
Until these guys show up in WWE we all will continue to talk about it as the dream matches for each star is endless. So lets say they sign with WWE…. Then what? Which brand do they go to? Do they work full time schedules? Will the still do their ALL IN 2 event? These are all questions us fans have and I have an opinion on what to do with them. So here we go.
For starters WWE should not announce any signing or have anyone believe this is actually happening. The fans need that surprise factor that worked beautifully for current WWE Champion AJ Styles. Not knowing will have millions and millions of fans screaming like little children on Christmas morning.
The group will need to have complete control over their use as Vince could potentially do more harm then good but I think the move will be done strictly through Triple H so I can see this happening. They all got over with the fans all across the globe without WWE for a reason so they need to do what they were doing as the formula they were using caused this massive indie wrestling boom.
The Bullet Club shouldn’t be restricted to one said brand. They should show up when they want and how they want. They should also be allowed to work some outside shows as well, which Evolve and Ring Of Honor to keep the fans guessing as to what in the heck is going on. This will also keep them from over saturation which tends to hurt so many WWE stars to begin with. You can still promote the group the right way without having them on the card.
Also let them choose who they want to challenge as the potential dream matches for each member is enough to sell out any Wrestlemania. Omega vs Bryan, Cody vs Styles, Bucks vs The Usos. The list is endless. There is no need to have the same guys facing each other time and time again like WWE loves to do. This will make each match a must see, can’t miss match up which will in turn draw a huge audience.
Lastly, let Cody and the Young Bucks continue their ALL IN events as them being WWE stars will only help WWE and not hurt them in any way. Having their own talent put on their own shows with zero input from Vince will show Mr. McMahon that his talent know how to put together top notch matches. It could easily take pressure off of Vince by letting his talent be more hands on with the direction of their characters and the directions of their feuds. It is a win-win situation for everybody.
There is no way in H-E-Double L that WWE can lure all these guys away with just money. There has to be more to it then we know and I am sure some of what I said will be in their contract. You can call me crazy for saying what I said but by restricting these guys will hurt the business as a whole as these are the guys who played a major role in the independent boom we all talk about so much. Plus it just shows the world just how good I am really.
Well, Rant # 30 is in the books. Time to get back to figuring out this issue that has had me more confused then ever. If your child has a nap time at say 12:30pm and you are out running an errand and it is about 12:15 and you are about 5 minutes from being home and your child falls asleep right quick, it ruins the childs nap. That 5 minutes once woken up cause he or she to be unable to fall back to sleep for their daily 2 hour nap. While my math skills aren’t the greatest, but this math just doesn’t add up. If anyone can explain this please feel free to give me a shout as I have been scratching my head overt this for a very long time and I need answers now. Until then I will see you next Rant.
