Tales Of A Dirt Digger [Vol 1]

IMG Credit: Barber Shop Window

Writing wrestling news is a pretty neat thing. You fish out information. Whether it’s from trusted Twitter personalities or a larger news source or you go off some other information. Then you add your own spin to it. For those that love writing, it’s a very nice learning pad. Reviewing shows is also neat. I hear it’s great for a living. Some guy on this page does great with it. Tommy whathisface, I don’t know.

But what’s it like digging deep down, to dip down and touch on that magical “source” guys like Dave Meltzer and Mike Johnson talk about often? It’s a curious thing, really. I may not do it with a WWE or an Impact. But I do it with the major companies of Puerto Rico. Which is like dealing with CMLL and AAA in Mexico. Or NJPW and AJPW in Japan. Well, not exactly. However as far as being known as “X is reporting that…..” well, I have some experience being that X on the teeny tiny island of Puerto Rico. I talk to “sources”, finding out what brews behind the curtain. It’s made me respect the work of the Dave Meltzers and the Sean Ross Sapps of this industry. But not Ryan Satin. That dude has that TMZ musk all over and it ain’t rubbing off any time soon. So I thought I would share a bit of “how” that all goes. Not necessarily reveal intimate secrets and lose everyone’s trust. But rather how a rapport is built.

My First Wrestling Observer

No, I’m not talking about Dave’s Newsletter. I’m talking about the wrestler who first approached me. I say his name because nowadays he’s working at Afa of the Wild Samoans’ company WXWc4. But how I met him, he was a wrestling commentator and editor for WWL (which uploads to YouTube here) and how I first came into contact with him was peculiar to say the least. Similar to KB, I too write reviews. But in Spanish. Much like KB, I have a few quirks when writing reviews. A pet peeve of mine was referring to someone who used to work elsewhere as say an “ex-WWE” or an “ex-ECW”. I aired my grievance everytime he said “this guy is an ex-WWC”. Then one day during broadcast he says it. “He’s an ex-WWC. Oh wait, I hear that’s wrong. I mean he previously worked for WWC.” I was stumped as I was typing. So as I note that I’m being referenced, I write “if you’re reading now, contact me”. And sure enough, hours after my review was published, said wrestler contacted me. And we hit it off. He was my first contact into the backstage. Since then, guys would just approach me without referncing me on TV though. Less of an ego boost I suppose.

Booking Is Far More Of A Mess Than You’d Think

Every time I hear the line “Plans change”, I can’t help but give a nod. Some people say it’s Dave’s cop-out when things he says will happen, don’t. But the truth is, when you’re careless with your storytelling, no one will truly know what’s going on. This one started publicly. In December 2016, wrestler Mr. 450 (now known as Mecha Wolf) faced Mustafa Ali on 205 Live and his knee gave out. As that was happening, in WWC he was #1 Contender to the vacant WWC Universal title. However, with him out, WWC opted to keep the title vacant until he came back as he was without a doubt the top draw of the company. However, WWC does not really operate under the rules of common sense more often than not. For 4 months the title was vacant. And I constantly discussed a cavalcade of ideas with various people. Some told me an international tournament was planned but scrapped because bringing too many US names was expensive. Another was that they wanted to build several young stars. Problem was they picked the wrong one to focus on (the booker’s kid) and it rubbed everyone in the locker room the wrong way.

After 4 months of plans falling, a tournament was announced with 4 names and 2 announced matches. I never saw a more blatant case of “plan’s change” in my life. I was told a lot of things. But the week after said announcement, which had 2 semi-finals announced, an angle played on WWC TV where everyone was asking “so who’s my opponent”? I thought that was weird. Then later in the night, the same 4 guys are announced in 2 totally different matches. “What the heck was that?” I remember asking someone about it. I was answered “plans change, but they forgot they already announced the matches”. And this is a grassroots company with about 10 on booking staff. Imagine how things get lost in WWE with hundreds answering to a crazed old man who still thinks fart jokes are funny. Hearing “plans change” does not shock me. Like I said, I just nod in defeated agreement. Because when you book without an endgame (see what I did there), you have no clue where you’re going.

Wrestlers Like Feedback

This is one several of “the boys” have commented to me about. The usual sign of establishing confidence with someone is usually the line of “I don’t always agree with what you say, but I understand it”. More so than someone praising nonstop. This lets you know the person recognizes there are things to improve upon and also tells you that “you’re not some delutional mark ranting blindly about wrestling”.

I’ve been told that my writing helps realize small mistakes. Whether it’s in a match or a promo. So opinions to count for something. If people can review TV episodes and movies, wrestling shouldn’t be any different. It makes for a great jumping on-point as far as discussions go. Sure, the ol’ “That’s not a 5 Star match” argument can always come about. It’s one man’s opinion after all. You can probably find some of KB’s match grade’s that you would disagree with. Is Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels and A+ match? That’s not the point. The point is KB thought it was one of the best matches he’s seen and is telling his followers it’s a “must-watch”. Wrestlers, at least some of them, like being how good their body of work is. They can reflect on the wrong. Sure Dave or KB aren’t gonna have the solution. That’s not the point. The point is to spur discussion. That’s the whole point of all this, after all. To reflect on wrestling.

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I’ll probably have more of these in the future. These are just tales and thoughts gathered from this dirt digging business. Things can get far deeper and nastier. Especially when discussing incidents and such. Which will be a topic for the future. Such as wrestlers making statements that are very much false but people will believe them. Among others.

But for now, you can follow me at my personal Blog (Click Here)

See You Next Article!

IMG Credit: WWE

by AB Morales

Growing up I was a big fan of anime and western animation. Batman and the rest of the DCAU, X-Men, Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon and so on. There’s a lot of guys like me running around these days I dare to believe. Those were all big shows in the late 90’s. They reflected the edgy culture of the time just like Jerry Springer, Cops and others did on TV and movies were these big edgy action flicks for the most part. Except for Titanic. And Space Jam. I always knew all that was fake (yes, even Jerry Springer, I was constantly reminded) but I always had a sense of wonder. Most of these shows managed to really tug at my imagination. It’s why in my 20’s I’d rather sit and watch anime than something involving real life actors. My imagination just gets explored more like that. When it comes to pro wrestling, it’s kind of the opposite for me. It presents very fictional stories as real life. In a previous article here I compared the Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa feud to the plot of Naruto.

In wrestling, after an age of caricatures in the 80’s that eventually collapsed as realism bled more and more into WWF (not necessarily wrestling in general) we saw a mainstream renaissance via ECW’s influence which domino’ed into WCW’s grungier approach via the NWO and finally WWF’s Attitude Era. In that entire time we witnessed some of the most insane things ever in wrestling. But we realized it was “fake” by then. By this point, wrestling tried to present their stars as real as possible to keep things as grounded as possible because the kayfabe wall had collapsed. It was no longer about larger than life personalities, it was about blending realism with fiction. From there, the stars became larger than life. After we developed a real-life connection. The Rock didn’t start out as a move-star/jock. He developed into one. Stone Cold didn’t just show up one day taking over. He was given a reason to. No, Vince didn’t really create a very elaborate deception with a satanic cult to take Stone Cold Steve Austin’s title. But we invested into the happenings between Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon because of how relatable the story of the blue collar worker vs the power-hungry boss was. The key to wrestling and any work that involves any sense of fiction is the suspense of disbelief. When we detach ourselves from reality and accept these happenings of fiction as real and are impacted by them. It moves all forms of art. TV, movies, books, comics even music or a painting. They all require you to detach yourself and see things from a fictional point of view.

Which is why I find it so preposterous that Ronda Rousey’s heel character is “this is all fake”. Starting with a vlog several weeks ago, Ronda went on a tirade about how fake wrestling is. It has spurred a hilarious meme. But then that character permeated into Raw and it’s just become cringe-worthy. At least in my opinion. It’s made even more silly given how clearly scripted her promos are. No, shockingly enough “Screw the Woo and Down with The Man” was not this clever play on her opponent’s she just made up.

You hear her make these claims and right off the bat you have to wonder, if this wrestling stuff is all “fake” what the heck was everyone doing before hand? She was fined this past week on Raw for attacking Dana Brooke. But then where was Drew McIntyre’s fine for attacking Roman Reigns later that night? Where was Braun Strowman’s fine for choking a non-wrestler over the course of a commercial break? Ronda Rousey’s character does something that goes against the very core of pro wrestling, entertainment under any form and art as a whole. It kills the suspension of disbelief.

How can you tell a compelling story if your suspension of disbelief is constantly being stomped on? If your constantly told your investment in this constructed narrative is pointless? This isn’t Deadpool breaking the 4^th wall. No, that’s a creative form of comedy. It’s suspension of disbelief comes from the jokes told and how Deadpool plays with the superhero medium. That’s the engagement. But where is the engagement of seeing Becky Lynch struggle and claw her way to the top by any means necessary or Charlotte being gifted her opportunities due to preference if Ronda Rousey comes in to remind us it was all just a part of the script? Her MMA is real. But Dana Brooke’s promo on Raw wasn’t? Or was it? Why is that something I have to think about?

Did they ever need to sell Brock Lesnar as “real”? No. it was always subtext. This man had a very real background and was fitted in this fantastical world perfectly. He just conquered pro wrestling (or sports entertainment, whatever) the same way he conquered amateur wrestling, MMA, the cattle in his farm and the shark from that Summerslam 2003 commercial. Ronda just kills the fiction we’re invested in. But this fiction breaking isn’t even limited to Ronda Rousey. WWE has seemingly had a kick for insisting that “no, this is actually real you guys, like totally” lately. Maybe as a result of Roman Reigns’ very real Leukemia scare. Heck, this week on Raw saw Drew McIntyre address “Joe” based on that. Or maybe its ideas brought in by the refreshed creative team. Or Vince. I mean, his TV character has literally become his real life persona of just changing everything on the fly on a total whim.

Batista’s memetastic “Give Me What I Want” promo was pretty silly. But still believable because he sold you on the fact those are the terms of his retirement. He was willing to do anything for it. One last match against Triple H. But the week before, that same Triple H comes to the ring saying “This isn’t about Triple H and Batista, this is about Paul and Dave”. I may be paraphrasing but yet again, suspension is challenged again as WWE wants to sell you this match as “it’s totally real you guys”. But if that is meant to be real, what’s everything else? You have character’s saying they’re “real”, then you give them fake fines. That’s the point where I start to question if this is worth watching. It doesn’t know what it wants to be. Becky Lynch struggled to reach the top after defying expectations and her former best friend taking advantage of her. Said best friend Charlotte was constantly favored by the company to the point that she was given Becky’s rightfully won opportunity for a second time. Ronda WAS the major obstacle to topple. This amazing cross-over star that drove the level of competition to the peak as well as it’s star-power. “Oh, but it’s all fake. Never mind it all.” At that point the investment feels pointless. Watching these characters becomes pointless. Watching WWE becomes pointless. And that’s the last thing you want to do. Suspension of Disbelief should always remain. Ronda is without a doubt doing a fantastic job as a heel. For the most part. But the immersion has struggled a bit because of that detail. What could be a rebellious, unstoppable force, ends up boiled down to “oh no, she went off script” as a consequence and it’s a line Ronda treads because of that small trait stamped onto her. It was a detail we certainly could’ve done without and Ronda would still be quite impactful as she is today.

CheIf you wanna follow me on social media, Like my Facebook Page Here. See you next article.

IMG Credit: WWE

We’re on the Road To Wrestlemania as you know. Heck, you could say we’re on the fast lane there. Get it? But bad jokes aside, we all know WWE’s absolute love for “creating history”. “The first Women’s Royal Rumble”. The “first match ever between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe in the WWE”. We had John Cena vs Randy Orton labelled as “historic” 2 years ago because it was the first time they faced each other on Smackdown for heaven’s sake. WWE loves to brand themselves as these prophets of wrestling history. But this Wrestlemania, we might get some very genuine historic moments taking place. So why not take a look at them and hope they all happen?

1- The First Time Wrestlemania Is Headlined By Women

Sure, a Women’s title match semi-main evented the first Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania 2000 and Wrestlemania X8 did have Stephanie in some capacity (and Linda for 2000). But NEVER have the women been the undisputed star attraction of WWE. The company has been pushing since 2015 to better their presentation of the women to the point that them main eventing became a strong suggestion the past 2 years. For this year, the stars seemed aligned with Ronda Rousey signing. But destiny shined even brighter over them with the advent of “The Man” Becky Lynch. Which of course was something born from their careless storytelling. But here we are. 2019. With a story that involves women genuinely feeling as the true star attraction for Wrestlemania. Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Ronda Rousey feels like the most heated Wrestlemania main event since Daniel Bryan vs Evolution in 2014. Similarly enough, that one also kinda fell on their lap after clunky storytelling. Maybe Vince is a mad genius after all.

2- The First Ever African WWE Champion

For some odd reason, a black WWE Champion has never happened before. Now one could say The Rock falls on that, but he’s of mixed heritage. Now we have gotten black World Heavyweight Champions such as Mark Henry and Booker T, but holding the WWE Championship specifically? The stars have never really aligned. Not for lack of trying though. Vince McMahon has been shown to go ga-ga over any muscular guy regardless not to mention attempts to push guys to the main event scene have been made. But actual success to capture the WWE neve comes. However, again, by seeming luck, they have a genuine opportunity to do it now. With Kofi Kingston subbing for Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber came an amazing reaction from the crowd willing to support the long-standing midcarder’s out-of-nowhere push. It led to one of the most emotional Pay-Per-View endings in years as the crowd poured pure support for the man and gave him a fantastic standing ovation. Fan reaction was so great, it would’vee been foolish of WWE not to follow up with a one on one match against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. However, in a very rare case of WWE jumping on someone’s buzz quickly rather than letting it die out, WWE seemingly planted the story for Kofi Kingston to have a title shot at Wrestlemania instead by virtue of imitating the same story as with Becky Lynch. As if they wanted to acknowledge how they got this lucky twice. While the question remains if the WWE title match at Wrestlemania will be Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan or a 3 Way with originally planned opponent Kevin Owens, it seems almost certain Kofi will challenge for the title. And if WWE truly wants those “Historic Moments” they love to tout about so much, giving him the title, even if just for a short time would make this Wrestlemania “Historic”. Not only would we get the first ever black WWE Champion, he would be the first WWE Champion born in Africa. It would also validate their constant claims of “listening to the fans” as not only would fan reaction have pushed Kingston from no plans to a World title match at Wrestlemania in the span of a month and a half where he could very well emerge Champion.

3- No Undertaker

The Streak may have ended it’s legend at Wrestlemania XXX but another streak regarding The Undertaker has been standing since Wrestlemaina X-Seven. He hasn’t missed one since. Sixteen Wrestlemania’s straight have featured The Deadman in a match. Think how crazy it is that John Cena’s full time wrestling career started and ended in less time. He’s missed a few in that time. Triple H has too. Shawn Michaels’ career resumed and ended in that time frame. Daniel Bryan’s started, ended and started again in this timeframe. Two generation’s worth of wrestlers have spawned in that time-frame. But as of last month, Undertaker is no longer an official part of the WWE. It is very likely that will not be a part of Wrestlemania this year. 2012 may have seen the “End Of An Era”, but this year may see the end of a dynasty as The Deadman seemingly embarks on the convention scene and brings an end to one of the most impactful careers in wrestling history.

While genuine historic possibilities for Wrestlemania end there (I think), this is also a very notable Wrestlemania for bucking many trends. The most notable being Roman Reigns’ placement in the card. Fate gave the man a scare but he is back at full health and will be a part of the show he has headlined for better or worse a record 4 times straight. That’s where that streak ends as the main event this year seems almost fitted perfectly to be Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte vs Becky Lynch. It would also be the first time since Wrestlemania 31 in 2015 where the Royal Rumble winner challenges the Champion in the main event spot of the night. While Triple H did win it in 2016 and headlined that year, he went in as Champion. It’s been 4 years since that tradition was undermined in favor of, well…… Roman. It also might be the first Wrestlemania since Wrestlemania XXX that doesn’t end with intense negativity. Hopefully. I’m certainly pumped for Wrestlemania. You could say the match card isn’t very impressive, yet. But there’s a sense of new things being presented. Heck, I just listed them. This year presents a Wrestlemania not booked by stubbornness. But by what fans want. Both Royal Rumble winners this year were people the fans wanted in those spots. Kofi Kingston has ended up here because of massive fan support and despite it happening very late into “The Road To Wrestlemania”, WWE seems like they will simply adjust course to fit him in by response to the crowd. It’s been years since we’ve felt that so strongly. They tried it a bit last year, but it did not quite pan out. But this year, its a strong feeling of it all being different and it makes this year’s Wrestlemania stand out.

Follow my Facebook page here to see all my work and follow me on Twitter here. Until next time!

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

I was struggling for a topic this week. Then I realized the perfect topic was staring at my face almost literally every time I watched a show that wasn’t WWE. Pentagon Jr holds quite the unique privilege. He along with his brother Fenix appear in more televised wrestling promotions than any other wrestler. And by quite the insane margin too. This week alone Pentagon was featured in MLW Fusion, AAA Worldwide, CMLL Viernes Espectacular, Lucha Underground & Impact! Wrestling. That’s FIVE shows! The only reason Fenix isn’t in the same amount of shows is because he was “killed” last week on Lucha Underground. But he was there for the other four. Hijo del Fantasma/King Cuerno, Drago, Aerostar & Killer Kross get to appear for 3 of those 5 with CMLL & MLW being the excepcions. Think about that for a second. Outside of that group of people, the most other people can do is work 2 shows with ROH & NJPW. And I’m not even counting Video On Demand shows like PWG & AAW (guess who are there?).

After being bashed over the head with Pentagon, I figured I should talk about him as I had the privilege of watching him and Fenix from their debuts in 2012 for AAA. Like a total hipster. Except I’m very glad of how these two have exploded in popularity. But Pentagon stands above, especially after this week’s Lucha Underground and Impact! Wrestling. Impact had him and Fenix in the main event but in Lucha Underground, he shocked the crowd by being seated with them and attacking Cage. Afterwards cutting a very confident promo. Pentagon felt like a Megastar. But where did it begin?

Pentagon first appeared in AAA as ‘Dark Dragon’. He almost looked like Super Dragon from PWG and was nothing more than a filler wrestler for its insane amount of ‘Trios’ and ‘Atomicos’ tag team matches. He did nothing of note until ‘Guerra De Titanes 2012’. The year-end show for AAA where heel group ‘La Sociedad’ promised to exterminate two legends, Octagon and La Parka II. The legends duo recruited help from a wrestler who debuted earlier, Samuray Del Sol. And under Octagon’s tutelage, he was re-branded ‘Octagon Jr.’. Today you might know that wrestler as Kalisto. But who were their opponents? La Sociedad ordered Silver King to team up with two new recruits. The first one being La Parka Negra and the other was none other than Pentagon Jr. Rebranded after his stint as Dark Dragon.

AAA has a tradition of creating “dark” counterparts for crowd favorite wrestlers. Very much like NJPW has done with Tiger Mask/Black Tiger and Jushin Liger/Super Liger. This would be the fourth incarnation of a ‘Pentagon’, the opposite to Octagon and the first for La Parka with Parka Negra. Pentagon Jr got his “Jr” because of the debuting Octagon Jr. Pentagon and Fenix are not second generation wrestlers.

At first, Pentagon was nowhere near as captivating as he would become by his Lucha Underground debut. Being an evil counterpart to Octagon and Octagon Jr, he dressed similarly. Using very baggy ‘kung-fu’ inspired gi. He didn’t have facepaint, just a villanous looking version of Octagon’s mask with a few highlights. He looked dull. In contrast, Parka Negra (who was then played by ex-AAA Megachampion El Zorro) had an incredible look. A pure black style of La Parka’s look with red eyes and silver highlights as well as what looked like a satanic looking staff. Parka Negra breathed cool and his attitude was impressive. Every single match he was in, he would do his entrance before just charging to the ring and attacking his opponents at ringside. You could say he was Pentagon Jr before Pentagon Jr himself. It wasn’t until mid-2013 that he just started to find his look. And the look became a big thing for him as he became far more attractive to the crowds. The mix of facepaint and mask gave him his signature skeleton look and changing his gi for a far more modern look only aided that. He slowly started to find his confidence. Then Lucha Underground happened.

KB and guys in the WrestleZone Forums can attest. When Pentagon first appeared on the second episode of Lucha Underground and lost to Chavo Guerrero, I told everyone “watch that guy”. Most guys weren’t immediately impressed but others could see it just from his look. Weeks later he said he had a “Master” and started breaking people’s arms. So it started. Pentagon’s popularity sky-rocketed as the mystery grew. This amazing looking wrestler with such an intimidating character. It peaked with his amazing, bloody match against Vampiro at Ultima Lucha. Once the TV show started being more lenient with the US dates for its roster, many took advantage right away. PWG, AAW, Pentagon started to spread through the US. But it wasn’t all rainbows for the skeleton faced guy.

See, AAA is a curious company. If people think WWE’s creative seems to be in a weird bubble, shielded by their ego, AAA is ten times worse and without any of the success WWE has. Despite Pentagon’s popularity, AAA NEVER showed the interest in pushing him higher than being a midcarder or a guy to headline in Trios matches. Headlining Triplemania seemed out of Pentagon’s reach given AAA’s obsession with veterans and Psycho Clown (you could say he’s Mexican Roman Reigns, except not as talented in the ring). 2016 came and Pentagon’s contract was coming up. So to entice him to stay by 2017, he was given a feud with Psycho Clown and won Clown’s Latinamerican title. Except Psycho Clown headlined Triplemania. Pentagon defended the title in the midcard against Johnny Mundo. And lost. As the months went on, AAA positioned Pentagon and his group Los Perros Del Mal (inherited from the late Hijo del Perro Aguaya) became the top rudos of the show. He and Joe Lider won the Tag Team titles but was still not in the plans for headlining Triplemania. That was already locked to be Psycho Clown vs Dr Wagner Jr. So Pentagon left.

The parallels to Roman Reigns and CM Punk are somewhat scary.

Leaving AAA just seemed to open more doors for him as he started to be on high demand now in Mexico too. But he wouldn’t take the next step until the present. When Lucha Underground and Impact! Wrestling reached a working agreement. It was that and Alberto El Patron’s constant personal issues that opened the door for an unexpected occurrence when Pentagon won the Impact World title. Impact has put massive power on top of Pentagon, routinely headlining TV shows and even naming a pre-taped PPV after him. On top of that he and Sami Callihan are now the semi-main event of their upcoming Slammiversary show. In the revived MLW, Pentagon was the first challenger to it’s World title and then with Fenix became their first Tag Team Champions. In Lucha Underground, he’s World Champion and has been pushed stronger than any other character on the show. He’s been AAW Champion and it’s where said rivalry with Sami Callihan first started. In PWG he’s been Tag Team Champion with Fenix too. His popularity is such that both AAA and CMLL agreed to hire him while allowing him to work for the other company. And more over, he’s finally slated to headline Triplemania by being a part of it’s rather contrived ‘Poker of Aces’ match with he, LA Park, Hijo Del Fantasma and [that dang] Psycho Clown will face each other gambling their masks.

As such, Pentagon’s career comes full circle. His growth has been amazing. He is the biggest star not in WWE or NJPW/ROH today. From finding his way out of AAA’s constant booking turmoil to becoming a sensation through a new project in Lucha Underground, to breaking through and almost literally being in every wrestling promotion you can think of. What will the future hold for the man with Zero Fear? We will see, but it feels he can only get bigger from here.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.
Twitch | Where I stream videogames and do occasional art streams.
Twitter | Where I do….., well it’s Twitter.
Impacto Estelar | My own little Spanish Dirt Sheet site.

IMG Credit: WWE

Last time I talked about Omega vs Okada and how great Japan can be telling the story of a young man coming into his own. Whether it’s anime, movies, TV or wrestling, it’s a staple storytelling element of the country. In contrast, the US has one that when done well, goes beyond expectation. The ol’ “Barbershop Split”. Take a successful tag team of many years and title reigns. Then split them up with one believing he has become too big to be carrying his partner with a heinous betrayal. The most famous being the original. Shawn Michaels throwing partner Marty Jannetty through a glass window during Brutus Beefcake’s “Barbershop” segment.

With that out of the way, we may just be seeing the best incarnation of this feud today in the form of Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano. Why is that? The sense of realism that NXT has played since before the rivalry. So many times, we’ve seen these teams. Whether it’s Edge and Christian, James Storm and Bobby Roode, Matt and Jeff Hardy among others. We know how close they are. We see them on television. But that’s all we see out of them (the Hardy’s break that trend in 2015). Their relationships are as deep as Raw, Impact, etc will show. Social media granted us with bigger insight into the lives of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. We as fans years ago learned that Ciampa and Gargano started living together in Florida. We learn of Gargano’s wedding with Candice LeRae and know Tommaso was there. We know he did in fact live with the newlyweds. Through social media we also see how close they were as friends with the #GloriousBomb videos when Bobby Roode came in. You look at things on NXT and CWC, we would see Johnny Gargano injuring himself for the success of the team and Ciampa always stopping to hug him sitting down. All that together mixed and came ahead when Ciampa finally betrayed Gargano.

A second major twist came unexpectedly when Ciampa was injured right after the betrayal. That opened up the door for a new concept. Gargano losing his focus. Despite Tommaso Ciampa not being there, just a shirt reminding him of the man was enough to have Gargano seemingly suffer PTSD and shut down. Later on Gargano would simply lose his focus any time he had a big match. We saw the effects this betrayal had on the mind of the man.

When Tommaso Ciampa returned  we as fans were so emotionally invested in Johnny Gargano who had managed to recover from said betrayal to challenge for the World title. Ciampa’s return attacking Gargano after his incredible match with Andrade Cien Almas made such a big impact. Gargano had finally gotten his life back on track. But the man that ruined Gargano’s life was back again. This time there were no injuries to stop a match from happening. The fight was on and it happened at New Orleans. The two gave us an emotional battle. None of the finesse that you saw with Omega vs Okada. This was not a battle to be the best in the world. It’s a war between two best friends who came apart. The match was built with many callbacks to their time. Together and separated. We saw them throw each other against the LED boards in the entrance. The same thing Ciampa did when he turned on Gargano. They threw themselves off the stage, similar to Ciampa’s attack on Gargano at NXT TV. Gargano hit their signature tag team maneuver. Crutches were the weapon of choice. What Ciampa used in his return to attack Gargano as well as what he used to cost Gargano the NXT title and his job in NXT. Gargano even threatening to stab Ciampa with a broken crutch but opting not to because he’s better than that and would not stoop to Ciampa’s level. Their match concluded with Gargano using Ciampa’s knee brace to submit him. The knee brace of course being from Ciampa’s injury, delaying the match. When the match finally took place, it was the instrument of his defeat.

Now, you could say that was the perfect ending. It was. Had that been the ending of the feud, a perfect story was told. But NXT decided, for many reasons, to double down. Ciampa continued to torment Gargano. This time, Gargano’s wife Candice LeRae tried to stop them. But she became a casualty. Now why would NXT insist in continuing this feud? The most notable part is where it might’ve just ended: Chicago. Where a year earlier, Tommaso Ciampa ended his team with Johnny Gargano, by slamming him against the LED board and driving him through a table. This would make the feud finish where it started.

The rematch saw the same raw emotion as the first one but this time Gargano felt far more violent. Something emphasized by his wife Candice giving him the broken crutch he almost stabbed Ciampa with in New Orleans and screaming “Kick! His! A**!” Gargano would also be the one taking the risks. He drives Ciampa through a table at the entrance. He was the first to use weapons. Gargano showed this time he was tired of Ciampa and was willing to do anything to end this. But Ciampa also changed tactics. Rather than brutalizing Gargano physically, he went with a more psychological approach. Best shown when he took Gargano’s wedding band and threw it away. In his rage, Gargano failed to notice that happened. But when Gargano seemed to had finally gotten his revenge and drove him through the table, he sat atop the carnage he created. he calmed down and saw his hand. Realizing he was missing the wedding band. Despite already having his victory, official pinfall aside, Gargano exploded and went back on the attack. Now Gargano was the one giving into anger and the very second he did that, he lost. Despite Ciampa being helpless, tied by handcuffs, when Gargano finally stooped to Ciampa’s level, he fell in defeat.

While the ending is not as perfect as the one in New Orleans, it tells a more realistic ending. Not of a hero triumphing over his hateful rival. But how jealousy doesn’t just affect the jealous. Anger doesn’t just affect the angry. And the second we let those affected by these traits get to us, we also become corrupted. Like the bible verse says, “Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth”. One is affected, but both pay the price when the second retaliates and we’re starting to expand on that with this week’s episode of NXT as it shows Johnny Gargano has been consumed by vengeance. The slightest reminder of Ciampa sends him into an unstoppable rage now.

One of the more peculiar details about this entire story is just what exactly set Tommaso Ciampa off to begin with. It was never a case of “I’m better than you”. It still hasn’t been. Prior to NXT Takeover Chicago, rumors of Ciampa being injured surfaced. WWE confirmed them and fed into it by adding the possibility that Gargano would need a substitute for their ladder match against the Authors Of Pain. To add to it, that very same week, it was announced that a solo theme song was recorded for Johnny Gargano. The writing was seemingly on the wall for Ciampa. If they were to split, Gargano would be the one pushed and he would fall behind. As such, he took Gargano out and has made his life impossible all in a bid to guarantee he would get ahead of him as a singles wrestler. It’s a more realistic take as we would see how Gargano was always the favored one of the team. To Gargano, it was tag team success that mattered. He was happy where he was, wrestling with his best friend. But Ciampa saw ahead and felt paranoid by what was there. Since the betrayal, the man has become completely jacked to the point that he’s just some white paint away from looking like Kratos (heck, he’s been saying “Boy” every single promo since his return) but more poignant than anything else, he has no theme song. Which reflects on one of the details that caused all this. Johnny Gargano getting his own solo theme.

In my eyes, Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano has been one of the best feuds I’ve seen in pro wrestling. It takes full advantage of a wide range of emotions to expand both characters but more than that, after each passing match, despite the seeming diminishing returns, we see both men undergo a major development in their personality. Ciampa has become less obsessive as he’s now secured a top spot as a singles star in NXT. Johnny Gargano has become much more assertive and is no longer the wrestler who always depended on the support of his best friend and fans. He’s now fighter capable of standing on his own. But there is still one final step. Both have become main event stars. But who will be the one to reach the NXT Championship first? We might just find out sooner than later.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.
Twitch | Where I stream videogames and do occasional art streams.
Twitter | Where I do….., well it’s Twitter.
Impacto Estelar | My own little Spanish Dirt Sheet site.

IMG Credit: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kenny Omega won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. I take it you’ve heard already. The match is one of the most impressive spectacles ever in the same year where we’ve had Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Almas, Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa, Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito and others already grasp that “oh that’s one the greatest matches of all time” credit. If you’re a fan of wrestling, you’re blessed with great matches nowadays. But Kenny Omega winning the IWGP title was a bit more than that. It was a story. A lesson of growing up.

See, when Kenny Omega won the G-1 Climax in 2016, lots of fans were surprised. Omega was just a midcarder that had moved up from the Jr. Heavyweights earlier that year. Now he was headlining the Tokyo Dome. He lost to Okada in said main event and all of the sudden, fans started wondering why didn’t he get the title. Omega never got to use his One Winged Angel. And that stuck out to fans. He didn’t hit his big move. Right there is where you can see the differences of NJPW and main roster WWE. As I just said, Kenny was just a midcarder months before. Having matches with aerosol in the middle of NJPW’s big shows. His only mayor program was against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The promotion’s “Ace”. But that was also the program where Kenny and The Young Bucks were dealing with a Yoshitatsu who was impersonating Triple H using said aerosol. “Ready for the main event” wasn’t exactly what you’d say about Omega in terms of how he was presented in NJPW. But there was no doubting he could go in the ring.

Omega had a rematch against Okada for July’s Dominion event later in the year. While their first match went 47 minutes, this one went “Broadway”. A full hour. Omega was finally able to hit his big move. But fate was against him yet again as he wasn’t able to secure a cover before time expired. At first he lost. Now he tied with the near-unstoppable World Champion. Omega now carried the label that he can be a main eventer and repeated his performance. While he didn’t win again, you can see the growth. He now had the experience of headlining for the biggest show of the year and had more time to grow as a top star and as a result, he was much closer to that elusive title win.

Despite the lack of a resolution, Omega failed twice to win the IWGP title and had to back out of contention. In the meantime he won a tournament to crown the first ever United States Champion. Then the G-1 Climax came calling. This would prove to be another example of NJPW planning well in advance. See as Omega/Okada was going on both in the Tokyo Dome and Dominion, there was another mayor rivalry just under in the form of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito. Unlike Omega, the two traded wins over the two events. A third match in both rivalries was set up as the finals of the G-1’s A and B blocks. Naito won his, giving him two wins over Tanahashi. Omega took on Kazuchika Okada again. This time a 30 minute time limit put a lot of pressure, especially on Kenny. He had to win to then get a crack at the title. Okada didn’t have to win. Just stall. And given the fact that both previous matches went well over 30 minutes, Kenny  did not have it easy. But this time, the third time in, Kenny did it. He hit the One Winged Angel and secured the win over Okada. Finally besting him. But he lost in the finals to Tetsuya Naito who during the same time period had managed to win his Tokyo Dome match and have a successful run as Intercontinental Champion. Even if he did treat the title like dirt. He had the momentum Kenny lacked (hey, there’s another term WWE loves but NJPW uses far better). Naito had firm success while Kenny struggled to keep up with his rival.

Despite not winning the title, Kenny Omega had closure in the fact that he can defeat Kazuchika Okada. As such, the rivals drifted apart as Okada continued to defeat foe after foe. Reaching an unprecedented two year reign. While Kenny was able to firmly establish himself as a main eventers, his struggles stopped being physical ones and instead we started to see mental and personal ones. Despite being the leader of the Bullet Club, NJPW’s big ‘gaijin’ stable, Kenny was very disassociated with the group. Especially once his rivalry with Okada started. When 2018 came, fellow member Cody Rhodes started a feud with Kota Ibushi. Kenny Omega’s best friend. Kenny at first ignored it as he had a major feud going with Chris Jericho. But at The New Beginning, Omega was finally bested by the young Jay White. Who Omega failed to recruit to the group. As such, Cody saw a moment of weakness and tried to grab power, attacking Omega. But that just reunited him with Kota Ibushi. It did create turmoil with fellow Bullet Club members, The Young Bucks. But after one match, that passed.  They all sided with Omega. Now  with no more turmoil to stop him, he received a challenge.

Kazuchika Okada had defeated every opponent possible. Some he defeated several times. But it was Kenny Omega who gave him his toughest challenge. And Okada challenged him yet again for Dominion. But Kenny had a hard road to get here and decided to up the ante. It wasn’t just a World title match with a 60 minute time limit. No. He wanted the definitive match. To show once and for all he was superior. So he asked for the match to be 2/3 Falls and with no time limit. In the weeks leading up to the match, Omega prepared with intense training while Okada relaxed fishing. Who would’ve thunk that even that would play into the match. As the match took place, it echoed the very story they started at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Okada had the advantage from the start. Omega struggled to keep up and was pinned in the first fall. But he came back. Stronger and secured the second. At this point, both men had very little left to give. It got to the point where Okada’s infamous Rainmaker literally bounced off Omega’s chest. Okada was out. He became complaisant in his dominance. While Omega matured. The young man who spent his time spraying aerosol to win matches had matured into a hard working individual who adapted over and over until he was able to best Okada. Then we saw him do it. He hit the One Winged Angel and Kenny Omega finally did it. Not only did he beat Okada, he did it twice in a row and finally won the title he was after.

That is what makes Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega one of the best rivalries in pro wrestling. Sure, maybe in 10 years something else will come along to dethrone it. And their match in Dominion may not even win Best Match Of The Year. But for me, who saw Kenny Omega go from Jr to Intercontinental Champion in the blink of an eye and then find himself facing the most well protected World Champion since Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior all the way defeating him firmly, it was a journey. It’s that kind of storytelling that makes wrestling feel like such a special art. Yeah, you know it’s “fake”. That doesn’t stop them from crafting such creative and unbelievable stories. And they’re constantly around US. In Japan with stories such as Mr. Gannosuke betraying Hayabusa or in the US with such simple things as Mr. Anderson’s disrespectful attitude insulting a fallen soldier who gave Kurt Angle a special medal. Or Shawn Michaels being willing to put his career on the line to try and end The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak. Pro Wrestling is an art and this match managed to touch me by showcasing their craft.

The story of a young man coming into his own. It’s almost fitting that it came from Japan given how much they love that story and tell it better than anyone under any medium. It’s simple and relateable for any young wrestling fan and while it took a year and a half to tell, it was told in a mere few parts. Very much like a movie series.

But don’t think the US is something I neglect. They also showcase great art. But that’s a case for next time.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.
Twitch | Where I stream videogames and do occasional art streams.
Twitter | Where I do….., well it’s Twitter.
Impacto Estelar | My own little Spanish Dirt Sheet site.

IMG Credit: WWE

By AB Morales

It feels like it was a long time ago, but just less than 4 years ago, women on Raw and Smackdown were not exactly treated the way they are today. Nowaways, they are a normal part of the program. Treated like a full division of talent. Better handled than the tag team & Cruiserweight divisions. But problems do arise. While the Women since the start of the fabled “Women’s Revolution” have grown to the point of headlining Pay-Per-Views and having special matches for them (Money In The Bank, Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber) but we are starting to run into a bit of a pickle lately.

The Women are no longer just a division on each brand. Let me explain. In wrestling, you have your regular roster of people. You have your tag team division, your Jr. Heavyweights or Cruiserweights and then Women and others. But the women on Raw and Smackdown have grown a bit too much. You now have layers to that one division. It becomes very evident when WWE doesn Money In The Bank or Elimination Chamber for women. They aren’t all exactly on a steady level. You’ll have clear top starts like Asuka, Charlotte & Becky Lynch, but then to fill out the ranks you get clearly out of place women like Lana, Dana Brooke or Peyton Royce. To draw a parallel, you now have main event women, midcards and lowercarders but because of the brand split, WWE still has to mix them together.

The women have been established to the point that it gets pretty ridiculous when the likes of Nia Jax & Carmella win the titles and there’s a vast assortment of women that are far more fit for the role. It feels like they take a step back with these as Champions rather than a step forward.

Rumors of Tag Team titles have been circulating for months but then you run into another problem. While the women’s divisions are bigger than ever, they are still pretty short in number and one set of tag team titles requires another in these brand split days. If the rosters were not split a secondary Women’s title would help greatly as it would help ease the gap between the female midcard and main event field. We see glimpses of that nowadays with the Raw & SDL Women’s titles but because of the roster divide, both titles need to be treated as equal rather than one above the other and that results in things like trying to sell us on Asuka vs Carmella as a viable main program for a PPV.

At the rate the women continue to grow in WWE, in a matter of two years, the rosters would probably be very big and you could theoretically solve the issue of needing women to fill spots like in the Royal Rumble, but that still does not fix the widening gap between the top and bottom of the female talent food chain. The division has grown too much to have another Naomi vs Lana scenario like last year did this time around and Asuka vs Carmella is quite close to it.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.
Twitch | Where I stream videogames and do occasional art streams.
Twitter | Where I do….., well it’s Twitter.
Impacto Estelar | My own little Spanish Dirt Sheet site.

Originally, I was going to write this article for Friday, solely based on this tiny storyline going on in NXT. Then I read Cordova’s Commentary on the “Not So” Greatest Royal Rumble. Great read on the women. Then I saw Impact. Then I saw Backlash. It seemed like I was getting more and more fodder for this. You know the drill with main roster WWE. Their love of buzzwords, twisting perception, etc. But one buzzword that actually seems to resonate with many in a positive manner is “Women’s Revolution”. In short, Women’s wrestling in North-American TV no longer sucks. It’s no longer about their looks. Not that those are bad things, but {most} wrestling fans have grown to be sophisticated and long for quality in the ring. You can’t blind them with just being tall on in the case of females, by having a large rack. WWE has in fact developed a complete generation of women and are already working on the second one. Just look at NXT the past few weeks.

Since Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title, we’ve gotten a completely clean slate on the division. There is no more Ember Moon who could be seen as the last of the first generation of women in NXT. She carried what Asuka left. Her streak, her dominance and before her was Bayley with the rest of the 4 Horsewomen. NXT is now starting clean, introducing us to the likes of Lacey Evans, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair and one that has struck a cord with me lately: Dakota Kai.

See, Dakota has something I consider odd. When you binge Raw, Smackdown, 205, NXT and whatever other show WWE musters, you notice trends. And Dakota is breaking one by showing something a lot (and I mean A LOT) of people refuse to show in wrestling. Fear. She fears Shayna Baszler who broke her arm twice. Now to the “muy macho” world of WWE and pro wrestling at large, fear can be seen as synonymous with weakness. A big no-no for them. It shatters their image of manliness. Or wo-manliness here. Provided Saudi Arabia doesn’t make a generous donation. But fear is not a sign of weakness. No, it is a very powerful storytelling device that can show many things. Perseverance. Courage. Self-Improvement. That all starts with fear and can give a very dynamic story. Something you can see in say Jessica Jones where she fears Killgrave (The Purple Man for us real nerds) for the horrible things he did to her. That’s just one of many examples. But it gives Dakota Kai a point of interest and something very different to the norm. And if I do say so, a very positive story about how to deal with bullying if it does end up with Dakota eventually beating Baszler. It’ll certainly be better than Nia Jax dominating Alexa Bliss and then giving a pre-written Be A Star ad, that’s for sure.

But hey, that’s not the only dynamic story involving women on TV. Nope. Our pals on Impact Wrestling are also having their own “out of nowhere” renaissance of women’s wrestling. With Allie, Rosemary, Taya Valkyrie and Su Yung on top, Tessa Blanchard coming in, Kiera Hogan being an out of nowhere surprised. Last week Impact gave us something different when they headlined with Rosemary vs Su Yung. No, it wasn’t different because women closed the show. No, beforehand we saw what felt like a genuine friendship. Allie begging to help her best friend Rosemary who in turn, refused. Worried for her friend’s safely. The match takes place and Su Yung summons a casket. Planning to throw Rosemary in there, but Allie appears against the wishes of her friend to help. But just as Rosemary predicted, Allie falls in danger. But Su Yung ends up attacking Rosemary, driving her through a table as her best friend is forced to watch in horror. Now what? Allie disobeyed. Rosemary is hurt. Su Yung is still getting the upper hand. Is Allie heartbroken thinking this is all her fault? That is a gripping story right there. There’s emotions for you to grasp.

What’s Raw offering? Well, while people can relate to Nia Jax being bullied for her weight, that goes straight to the dumpster when you see her dominate a person a third of her size. As Backlash showed, fan’s did not buy it or her phony Be A Star promo afterwards. And what’s Smackdown offering? Not Asuka’s streak. Not a strong Charlotte reign. Nope. WWE decided to trade all that in favor of Carmella. Who in her second singles match of 2018 (besides the cash in) had a terrible match with Charlotte. That is what was selected to follow one of the best women’s matches in WWE history. It certainly was the best in Wrestlemania.

What’s my point? Well, it’s simple. The true appreciation for the “Women’s Revolution” doesn’t come from Raw and Smackdown who are yet to shake all the cobwebs of their “Divas” days. No, it still comes from the alternatives. Time will tell how WOH will shape up in ROH. But for now, if you want your women to be as dynamic if not more given the two examples above, than the men, you’re better off searching for it in NXT and Impact. It’s great that women now get to have big time matches and have prominent spots on your rosters but, we as fans also crave good storytelling to go with it and WWE’s main roster is just not delivering right now while it’s developmental field continues to show them up and now the same company that let themselves go for 5 years and fell on hard times is actually picking itself up to offer something WWE doesn’t yet again with it’s own new crop of women.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.

Twitch | Where I stream videogames and do occasional art streams.

Twitter | Where I do….., well it’s Twitter.

Impacto Estelar | My own little Spanish Dirt Sheet site.