It’s that time of year again, as we are getting ready for the biggest show of the year. That also means it’s time to look back at the show’s history, which will include one review a day starting on February 24. As usual, I’ll be redoing last year’s edition, but you get to pick the other two I’ll be redoing. I’d like to have one older one and one modern one, so pick whichever two your would like and I’ll take another look at them. Any edition is eligible, save for the following, which I’ve either done recently or far too often:

Wrestlemania XVII

Wrestlemania XXIII

Wrestlemania XXX

Wrestlemania XXXI

Wrestlemania XXXVI

Vote in the comments below.

KB

As in the Royal Rumble, and I’ll be in the stadium for the show.  As a result, the review will probably be up tomorrow, as we have a 250 mile trip home tomorrow so I’ll probably be getting some rest when we get back to the hotel.  I’ll pop in with some live thoughts/reactions though.

If you’re at the show and see a guy in a University of Kentucky hoodie/Superman shirt with glasses who needs to lose some weight with a rather pretty brunette, please say hi.

KB

First and foremost, Merry Christmas.  Enjoy some time with your friends/family, eat something good, and remember that it’s a celebration of Jesus’ birth.  I know it might not be the most popular thing and I won’t go into it very often, but he can change your life for the better (He certainly has in mine).  It’s certainly worth your time.

Other than that, thank you all so much for everything, including just coming here to read what I have to say.  It’s the greatest gift I could have asked for and somehow this is what I get to do for a living.  In something you probably don’t know, the wife and I are expecting our first child in June and the fact that I can do support a family from watching wrestling makes my head spin every day.  Thank you all so much and I’ll be trying to get better (as well as caught up) in the next few days and weeks.

It’s that time again. Starting on Sunday December 26, I’ll be posting a Royal Rumble review every day until the 2022 edition (which I’ll be attending in person). On the way there, I’ll be redoing two Royal Rumbles, including this year’s edition. The other is up to you, as you can vote for the pick in the comments. Any Royal Rumble is eligible, save for the following, which I’ve done either recently or too many times in the first place:

2007

2008

2011

2020

2021

Vote in the comments below and pick something fun.

KB

I’ve been under the weather for about two weeks with side effects of the Covid booster and now a nasty ear infection.  The idea of wanting to do anything other than the major shows has left me very tired so some of them are a bit delayed.  I’ll be caught up soon though as I’m already on some medicine.  Again, I’m sorry for being slow but when walking to the kitchen required a 20 minute rest, the energy isn’t quite there for all of the reviews.

KB

Wrestling is at its best when you don’t know who is going to win. And while we are talking about scripted entertainment, which allows fans to consider who should logically win, the ability to keep the fans guessing right up to the end is part of the art of the business. But shocks aren’t always a good thing. Sometimes they leave the audience dissatisfied, not generating the heat that was intended.

Below we are going to look back on five shock results from WrestleManias of the past. The stress here is on the result. To be clear, we are going to swerve some of the more obvious shocks, including the ending of The Streak at WrestleMania 30. In addition, we are discounting some, like Sheamus beating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, as it was the means and not the result that was shocking. Anyhow, for us, these five results stand out as examples of WWE/WWF really pulling the rug from underneath the fans at the time:

Fandango Beats Chris Jericho – WrestleMania 29

If you have some spare time, have a look on YouTube for Chris Jericho’s musings on the lead up to and the booking of this match – funny stuff. Y2J has lost nine matches down the years at WrestleMania, so it’s not as if this was completely unprecedented. But to lose to Fandango was certainly a shock. It seems short-sighted, given what happened to Fandango’s career, but it was effective for a cheap laugh at Jericho’s expense at the time.

Brock Lesnar Beats Roman Reigns – WrestleMania 34

It’s common for bookmakers to release odds for WWE events these days, particularly the Big 4 PPVs. And it seemed that the most solid bet for WrestleMania 34 was that Reigns would finally topple Lesnar. This was logical given the consensus was that The Beast Incarnate was set to return to UFC. The crowd looked disinterested – apart from booing Reigns and chanting “CM Punk” – but came alive when Lesnar earned the 3-count. Nobody wanted the match, but few expected the result.

Owen Hart Beats Bret Hart – WrestleMania X

The first two matches on this list are hardly classics, but the battle of the brothers in March 1994 has claims on being one of the best of all time. You know the story by now, with Bret pulling double duty by facing Yokozuna for the WWF title later on. But the crowd was stunned to see Owen get the win by rolling up Bret in the first (non-dark) match of the night. That added fuel to one of the best wrestling rivalries of the mid-90s, with the brothers feuding all throughout 1994.

Rick Rude Beats The Ultimate Warrior – WrestleMania V

It’s not as if heel victories were uncommon in the early days of WrestleMania, but there was always an assumption that the likes of Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior would prevail on the Grandest Stage of Them All. This, in fact, was the Warrior’s first televised defeat since joining the WWF. The crowd was probably more angry (Bobby Heenan’s interference led to Rude’s victory) than shocked, but they were left happy when Heenan got his comeuppance after the match.

IMG Credit: WWE

Triple H Beats Sting WrestleMania 31

Triple H gets a lot of flak for being the guy who goes over at the wrong time. But in truth, he’s been beaten more than any other wrestler on the Grandest Stage of Them All – 13 times, in fact. But everyone and their uncle thought that Sting would get the win here, providing a good-feel moment for fans of the WCW legend. But Triple H got the win with some help from a sledgehammer and Degeneration X. You could see what they wanted to do here – suggest that the WCW vs WWE ‘feud’ was over with the latter victorious. But Stinger should have got the win.

I’m a week behind with it already and I cannot bring myself to care to watch the same 6-10 minute matches with the same rotating cast.  It has never been something people read anyway so I might as well drop it and free up some of my schedule.

You might have noticed the site being down for a bit on Tuesday night.  I’ve been talking to my hosting company and they’re working on it, but there is a chance that things might go down again.  Also, they’ve had to de-activate my plug-ins for a bit, so some features might not be working.  Everything is still there and I can turn them back on when things settle down.  I’m sorry for any issues but things look to be getting a bit better.

KB

So the review will be up later than usual but it should be tonight.

KB

Defining UFC and WWE.

The UFC and WWE are two organizations that compete in the US sports entertainment industry. There are often a lot of questions about which is better and how they differ. Just like any sport though, you can gamble on these sports, you can make WWE bets or UFC bets. Yet, understanding how these sports differ is key in knowing which you prefer and which is better for you to wager money on.

The UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest martial arts promotion company in the world. Whereas the WWE or World Wrestling Entertaining is the biggest and definitely most popular professional wrestling promotion to exist.

The absolute most defining factor between these two is in the reality of the fights. UFC fighters will actually choke their opponents, while WWE wrestlers will theatrically mimic these same chokes.

While they are very similar, they are also very different. Mixed martial arts is fully competitive and engages in full-contact, whereas pro wrestling only mimics this, the reality is why many will prefer UFC over WWE, however the theatrics of WWE have many prefer that also.

Let’s see what these key differences are that set them apart.

Difference no.1- characters.

While the UFC can have some colorful characters every now and again, most of their top stars do appear somewhat interchangeable, and it can be hard to tell them apart sometimes. WWE does not have this issue, thanks to its theatrics. The roster is packed with some of the most colorful folks around, from the biggest makes, to the women, and even the smaller-rung guys stand out from the crowd.

It’s pretty obvious that you can get attention when you are wearing masks and costumes, but WWE competitors spark so much more, and it’s more comfortable for fans to recognize and get behind than in comparison to the blander types found in the UFC.

Difference no.2- Reality.

The most obvious difference between these two sports is reality. The UFC is an actual sport, and does not have any pre-determined results, this means that a seemingly unbeatable mega-star such as Ronda Rousey can be knocked out cold by someone like Holly Holm, and it will truly be shocking.

It is where highly hugged up bouts can end quickly, while seemingly tiny matches become classic battles. UFC competitors can pour all they have into their work and take their lumps. The realism and truth of the UFC is something the WWE can never get its hands on.

Difference no.3- TV time.

WWE does face one complaint nowadays, and it is that there is way too much TV. ‘Raw’ is 3 hours long, for example, then there is ‘Smackdown’, and ‘NXT’ which are both two hours long. There is just so much airtime and WWE bloats to fill it.

UFC on the other hand likes the ‘less is more’ style of things, they can get long built-up shows for PPV’s on ESPN, but they work better with recap shows. The UFC doesn’t need to rely on so many weekly hours to keep their fans hooked.

Difference no.4- Event size.

In contrast to the above difference. UFC does have some major PPV fights, however most of their events are standard fare, and it is often difficult to tell the difference from some UFC shows to another. In comparison to WWE, whose PPV events are a huge deal! Take ‘WrestleMania’ for example, it is the cornerstone of the entire company and the biggest show to get attention.

But as we already know, WWE is much more dramatic than UFC.

Difference no.5 – Old vs New.

While WWE is often popular for its older stars, some do wish they’d bring in new talent. It’s annoying seeing part-timers treated with big pushes when there are so many promising stars ignored.

UFC doesn’t have this issue, they are making new stars and have a better cycle on how new stars can take over the show.

WWE does seem to rely on ‘old reliable’ rather than opening the doors to newbies, but UFC has the opposite point of view, and these two differ in the use of the new vs old.