@RoxBlackburn
Just when I thought I couldn’t hate Ronda Rousey any more than I did, she goes and releases that video. Have you seen it? The one where she’s effin and jeffin, sounding more ridiculously amateur than ever. It’s not effective heel work Ronda, it makes you sound like a dick.
Meanwhile, we have the NXTUK guys putting in instant classics. For those who haven’t seen this week’s installment, check it out. Jordan Devlin and Travis Banks’ last man standing match was incredible and showcases the best of the UK brand. The gap between NXT UK and the likes of Raw and Smackdown sometimes feels vast but whilst you have the likes of Rousey embarrassing herself, I say the NXT and NXT UK guys need to just keep doing what they’re doing, because people are starting to see through the shallowness of the supposed ‘top stars’.
Speculation has surfaced this week about Gallows and Anderson as their contract apparently isn’t far away from being up and the rumour is, they’ll jump ship. Where to? Who knows?
Am I excited for Fastlane? Not massively. Having a PPV at this time seems so forced, especially when they have SO much to do to build credible storylines in the next few weeks.
@twf87
Four words: Momo Watanabe. Jungle Kyona. My favourite match of the year took place in Nagoya on March 3rd, as Jungle Kyona challenged the Wonder of Stardom champion Momo Watanabe in her hometown of Nagoya. Kyona was Momo’s first opponent on her record setting title run, so this match had nine months of buildup between the two challenges. More than that, Momo was Kyona’s first ever opponent in Stardom when she debuted in 2015, and the two were a tag team together until Momo turned on Kyona to join Io Shirai’s new unit Queen’s Quest. Add in the fact that Kyona had lost every singles title match she had participated in, and you had the perfect storm of a match. The match itself was an absolute war, and Kyona threw everything she had at Momo, including a brand new muscle buster. Ultimately though, it wasn’t enough to overcome Watanabe, who pinned her after a Peach Sunrise to set a new defence record for the Wonder of Stardom title (breaking Io Shirai’s previous record of 10 defences in one reign.) It’s worth getting a Stardom World subscription for one month just to watch this match, that’s how good it was.
I also saw some live wrestling this week in the form of Pro Wrestling Revolution in San Francisco. This show featured the US debut of Jun Akiyama, who teamed with Ultimo Dragon in the main event. The crowd loved Akiyama, and the veteran All Japan wrestler looked like he was enjoying performing in the US. The show also had a Tajiri vs. Super Crazy rematch from ECW, and both men can still go at a good level. Overall, a really fun, lucha libre inspired show that was well worth the $20 ticket price.
@Iwanmack
Well after a quiet week last week with no live graps to go to. I took in two live wrestling shows with Saturday evening’s Southside ‘Allie Alone: Lost in London’ and Sunday Afternoon’s TIDAL ‘Johnny 5 is Alive: Your Momma was a Snowblower’. Two shows that I have fully reviewed on this very website, two shows that I had very different opinions on as well. What was nice was seeing talents on both shows that I have never seen or don’t see that often like Brady Phillips, Rickey Knight Jr, Will Kroos etc.
As far as online, I’ve watched the latest PROGRESS show which has a decent first half but is really saved by the excellent second half featuring a great match with The Swords of Essex against Aussie Open. It made me happy with my purchase of a ticket for the next Electric Ballroom PROGRESS Show.
@WynterStorm24
My week in wrestling was a little emotional. The Shield officially reunited on Monday Night Raw, Roman’s second week back after beating cancer. Lots of people are over the Shield reunions, but not me. It means a lot to me, beyond just the actual wrestling. I even wrote an emotional piece about those feelings, which was…cathartic in a way. I talk a lot about mental health but that was one of the first times I’ve really acknowledged my own struggles in depth.
WWE officially announced that WrestleMania 36 will be in Tampa Bay, Florida. I’ve committed myself to going as well as to going to Royal Rumble 2020. Time to get the coins up! I’m also trying to go to Extreme Rules this year and take my friend to her first pay-per-view. She’s hoping to beat cancer quickly just like Roman. Things are going well for her, minus a little bit of nausea here and there.
Tommaso Ciampa has a neck injury and now he’s out for a fairly long period of time. I definitely wish him the speediest of recoveries, but now Gargano’s basically fallen off my radar since Ciampa was 85% of the reason I even cared about him. I just got done watching the yard for Roman and now I have to protect Goldie while Tommaso’s away.
I’m sure everyone saw that video of Ronda Rousey calling wrestling fake and saying “Eff the WWE Universe.” And admittedly, it’s fairly effective heel work as it’s making everyone talk about and hate her. But at the same time to me, she just seems like she can’t handle the heat. Just like she lost twice and gave up UFC, she’s gotten booed for a few weeks and now she’s over wrestling. She’s wasting her time, our time, and the company’s time.
It was always going to come sooner rather than later, but Jushin Liger officially announced his retirement will happen after the Tokyo Dome show in 2020. He isn’t getting any younger and has wrestled for an outrageous number of years, yet it will still be sad knowing that Liger won’t lace up the boots in less than a year. Having grown up watching New Japan via Eurosport, Liger was one of the first wrestlers I absolutely fell in love with when I was younger and he has remained my favourite wrestler ever since. Luckily for me, I managed to see him live at a Revolution Pro show around half a decade ago, which included me getting a photo with him. Just an absolute legend and someone who will be sorely missed.
As I sit here on Sunday, I eagerly await the next few days of wXw watching. Due to some judicious muting of hashtags and accounts, I’ve managed to avoid too many spoilers, though I haven’t been completely spoiler-free. Inner Circle should drop tonight, whilst I should know who is the wXw Unified World Heavyweight Champion and the winner of 16 Carat by the tail end of next week.
I feel that – having enjoyed how many events I caught last year – I will put down some money on the Fite Collection on Fite.tv when it comes to the shows at this year’s Wrestlemania Weekend. With my Brighton marathon run the weekend after, a relaxing week watching wrestling with my feet up sounds like it is definitely in order!
