Who said wrestling is a modern art?

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/139-1407/trenches/2178-oxyrhynchus-papyrus-wrestling-contract

What you’re looking at is a contract from the year 267 AD, saying that two teenagers would be having a wrestling match and one of them would take a dive in exchange for money.  So yes, wrestling with fixed results goes back nearly 2000 years.  Check the link for the full text, which even goes into the amounts paid for the loss.

So for the first time in four years, I won’t be going to the show itself.  Therefore, I’m more than available for a ridiculous amount of indy shows, which is what I’m going to be doing.  In this case, I’ve looked at the schedule for shows that are available online in one platform or another and put together a list.  I’ve come up with twenty shows (not counting WWE/NXT) that I’m going to be trying to squeeze in.  I also have four shows that look good and if I can squeeze them/find them I’ll do them as well.  I make no secret of the fact that these will not be done by the end of Wrestlemania but I’m going to be reviewing more and more than I did since the old days when I would do three (or more) pay per views in a day (the day I did five Saturday Night’s Main Events still haunts me).  I’ve only vaguely heard of of some of these promotions/wrestlers but that’s what something like this is for.

For the sake of some surprise/me not going insane and not doing them/not being able to find them, I’m going to leave these under my hat (which is hanging on a shelf so it’s hard to keep them there) so stick around and see what I’ve got planned.

Yes, in MARCH, though I still have a few thoughts.  It’s the middle of March and the Wrestling Observer Awards have FINALLY been released for 2018 (after I got yelled at for taking until the Royal Rumble last year). These awards are often rather questionable, but there’s a rather predictable pro-Japan bias in them, which is perfectly understandable and something that I’d do with WWE as well. Here they are, with a few comments (some more than others, as a few of these just don’t require an explanation). Let’s get to it.

Wrestler Of The Year – Kenny Omega

You knew that was coming. I’d have gone with Gargano/Ciampa for the crazy amount of great matches and incredible story but that’s probably a bit too WWE.

Mixed Martial Artist Of The Year – Conor McGregor

Didn’t actually win a fight in 2018, but as usual: IT’S NOT THE MMA OBSERVER NEWSLETTER!

Most Outstanding Wrestling – Kenny Omega

Heaven forbid they just call it Worker of the Year to make things a little clearer you see. Again, this feels like a “we’re sorry we didn’t give you this earlier.”

Most Outstanding Fighter Of The Year – Daniel Cormier

At least he won something in 2018.

Tag Team Of The Year – The Young Bucks

Fifth year running and no you shouldn’t be surprised.

Best On Interviews – Daniel Bryan

One of the last people you would expect to win this but yep. Bryan was on another level with his mic work, especially after the heel turn. This is well deserved as he’s actually better as a heel than as a face, which I didn’t think possible.

Promotion Of The Year – New Japan

I didn’t even look at the results. Seventh year in a row.

Best Weekly TV Show – NXT

At least they got this one right. It’s not like there was anything else in serious contention.

Match Of The Year – Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada – Dominion

Another obvious one, though a seven star match still doesn’t exist. I’d have gone with Ciampa vs. Gargano I, but there was no way Omega finally winning the IWGP World Title wasn’t winning this. It’s the moment a lot of fans have been waiting for and that’s a fair point. Also it’s not like the match was bad.

MMA Match Of The Year – Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poinier

Sure.

USA/Canada MVP – AJ Styles

This is a new one and sounds rather patronizing but at least WWE had a chance for once.

Japan MVP – Kenny Omega

Now some might say this is a bogus way to get Omega/New Japan another award. I would be one of those people saying that, but I’m sure I just don’t like New Japan or something.

Mexico MVP – LA Park

While I don’t watch lucha libre, really? The guy whose gut is bigger than my head?

Europe MVP – Walter

Eh fair enough. He’s had a rocket attached to his back over the last year.

Non-Heavyweight MVP – Will Ospreay

I feel like I need a chart to keep track of all these qualifications.

Women’s Wrestling MVP – Becky Lynch

Not for most of the year, but it was either her or Ronda Rousey.

Women’s MMA MVP – Amanda Nunes

This would be like me making a Best KB Award.

Best Box Office Draw – Conor McGregor

We can have an MMA MVP but this is still on the same footing as wrestling. Time for my annual headache.

Feud Of The Year – Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I saw this one. This is reaching all time status and nothing came close all year.

Most Improved – Adam Page

I can go with this as I’ve said something similar all year. Back in 2014, Page was the young boy for the Decade in ROH and now he’s as steady of a mid/upper midcard performer as you’ll get in ROH. Well until a few months ago at least.

Most Charismatic – Tetsuya Naito

Works for me as that grin is hard to ignore.

Best Technical Wrestler – Zack Sabre Jr.

At what point is it the Bryan Danielson/Zack Sabre Jr. Award? Five years in a row here and given that I can’t even describe some of the things he does, it’s one of the easiest layups of the year.

Best Brawler – Tomohiro Ishii

I’m too scared of him to argue so we’ll move on.

Best Flying Wrestler – Will Ospreay

I’m not sure about best but he’s on the short list. Bandido did things that blew my mind this year so I would have considered him, but Ospreay had far more success and is hardly a bad pick.

Most Overrated – Baron Corbin

I still think this should be Most Overpushed because who sees Corbin as someone with a high rating in the first place? But yeah, either him or Nia Jax and Jax actually has something unique about her.

Most Underrated – Finn Balor

In other words, most underpushed. Balor has started to get some more attention this year (again, because it’s MARCH and we’re just getting these) but a lot of fans have been begging to get more of him this year so it’s a good choice.

Rookie Of The Year – Ronda Rousey

I was wrong. THIS is the biggest layup of the year and no one was in her universe.

Best Non-Wrestler – Paul Heyman

This feels like a default winner as Heyman is the go to person if no one else springs to mind. I do it too and while Heyman is still great, his material is tired because he has nothing new to work with.

Best Television Announcer – Kevin Kelly

I….you know what, I can live with this. I’d have gone with Nigel McGuinness, but Kelly has been as steady and consistent of an announcer as you’ll get.

Worst Television Announcer – Jonathan Coachman

I must have blocked this out, though almost anyone on Raw should be an option here given how atrocious that stuff has gotten. I’m not as critical of the Raw commentary as some but it’s gotten terrible in recent years.

Best Major Wrestling Show – Dominion

Takeover New Orleans had two five star matches. Moving on.

Worst Major Wrestling Show – WWE Crown Jewel

There were no other real options.

Best Wrestling Maneuver – One Winged Angel

Another one for the pile. At least it’s not the Rainmaker again, which is still just a clothesline.

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic – Business Ties With Saudi Arabia

Yep again as it was making headlines for WWE being pretty much the only company still willing to work with them after everything that was happening. Wrestlers were bailing on the show and there was nothing that could be argued against them.

Worst Wrestling Television Show – Raw

Given how bad the last third of the year was, this should have won two awards instead of just one.

Worst Match Of The Year – Triple H/Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker/Kane

I can understand this, but there were too many factors weighing against it. Like “what did you expect” and HHH’s injury. That and it didn’t have the fans playing with beach balls during the main event of Wrestlemania.

Worst Feud Of The Year – Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

SERIOUSLY? In a world where Baron Corbin exists, this wins? By the way, the last time WWE didn’t win this award: 2000.

Worst Promotion Of The Year – WWE

That ends an eleven year run by Impact, which did get a lot better this year. I’m fine with saying Raw was bad, but NXT, 205 Live and Smackdown were more than good if not excellent. Saying it was WWE overall isn’t fair and suggests that a lot of people only watch the main show.

Best Booker – Gedo

New Japan gets another one and I’m running out of ways to say “well duh”.

Promoter Of The Year – Takaaki Kidani

That would be New Japan again and at least it’s not another MMA winner in the wrestling awards.

Best Gimmick – Velveteen Dream

I wasn’t sure about this one but when I saw the winner, my reaction was “well yeah, of course”. I’m still not sure how exactly to define Dream, and I think that’s what makes it work.

Worst Gimmick – Constable Corbin

If this was ANYTHING but Corbin, I would have needed to take a break. Corbin was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in WWE and yet he’s still in a prominent role. It’s almost like WWE doesn’t learn from its mistake.

Best Pro Wrestling Book – Eggshells: Pro Wrestling In The Tokyo Dome

Another one on my list.

Best Pro Wrestling DVD/Streaming Documentary – Andre the Giant

It was certainly the most prominent and I liked it so I can’t complain much.

So yeah, another year of NEW JAPAN IS AMAZING before AEW gets to take over next year. I don’t agree with a lot of the picks here but it wouldn’t be normal if I did. There’s certainly a heavy Meltzer influence here and that makes perfect sense. The awards are voted on by people who pay to read his opinions. That would be the case with any awards and while it may make your eyes roll at times, it’s completely expected and not a bad thing.

And somehow it took me a week to write this down.  This was a big one for me as it was so strange to see the trailers airing on regular TV with all the wrestling included. The good thing is that the movie was very solid, though of course there are some issues.

First and foremost, it needs to be noted that this movie is not for the hardcore wrestling fans (real fans will see at least two anachronisms in the opening scene alone). This is designed for the masses as a way to show them a side of wrestling that they don’t know. On that front, it works well enough as the actress who plays Paige is charming enough to make you want to cheer for her. The rest of the cast is mostly positive as well, with Nick Frost and Lena Headley as her parents being very good. Her brother is a big part of the story and the actor who plays him is fine, though unmemorable, which is how his character is supposed to be.

Overall, the story is a very condensed and cleaned up version of Paige’s wrestling life story, starting with her childhood and wrapping up the night she debuted on Raw and won the Divas Title. It’s a story you’ve seen before: the athlete/whatever else who is talented for their small world but gets a bit of a surprise when they move up to the big stage. She’s not sure if she can make it but winds up pulling it off through heart and help from her loved ones.

That’s fair enough, and I can live with the changes they made. Paige’s reign as NXT Women’s Champion is omitted and it’s made to seem that she just got called up one day and won the title with little faith that she was ready to make the move. That’s not exactly how things went, but as mentioned, it’s a bit better story than saying she was a near prodigy and at worst the second best female wrestler on the roster the day she debuted.

There are some cameos in the movie with Big Show and Sheamus appearing backstage, plus three women who are stand-ins for Summer Rae, Alexa Bliss and (maybe) Sasha Banks. They’re presented as something close to the Four Horsewomen and again, it’s not the worst change in the world as the masses aren’t going to care about a stable in a developmental territory.

The big draw is of course the Rock, who manages to feel wedged into a movie about his world. The timing is a bit off again, but it’s the kind of thing that works well enough. He’s funny in parts and is there as a combination of himself and our guide to the wrestling world. You could have cut him out and not changed the story, but this movie would have bombed hard without him. It’s doing ok enough with him, though it’s far from a smash hit.

Overall the movie is entertaining to see as a wrestling fan and isn’t going to offend non-fans. The message is that it’s ok to be yourself even if people don’t think what you’re doing is cool or worthwhile and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s certainly worth seeing, though you would be fine watching it on Netflix or something like that. Catch it in the theater if you can’t but it’s not exactly required. Very good, though it’s not exactly a masterpiece.

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/03/wwe-legend-king-kong-bundy-passes-away-651625/

That one came out of nowhere.  Bundy was someone who went a lot further than he probably should have, as he was little more than a giant with a splash as a finisher.  Somehow that got him all the way to the main event of a Wrestlemania and a career revival in the 1990s.  He’s the definition of someone who went a long way on one match and that’s a lesson that a lot of people can learn from on the independent circuit.

Two of my favorite subjects:

I’m currently shopping around and seeing which are the best wrestling books out there. So, which books are good to read? One from a wrestling personnel (i.e. wrestler, manager, announcer, producer, etc) and one from a non wrestling personnel (i.e. you of course) would be good.

Also, which is the worst book out there and clearly should be avoided by all means necessary?

For non-wrestling personnel, anything by Tim Hornbaker. He’s one of the best wrestling historians I’ve ever seen and has written three books: one on the NWA, one on the Capitol Wrestling Corporation and one on the Death of the Territories. Outstanding stuff with some of the most detailed looks at any promotions I’ve ever seen. If you want history that is entertaining but not the most unbiased (to put it mildly), the Death of WCW (though there are some factual errors). For a specific promotion, Heath McCoy’s Pain and Passion is an outstanding one on Stampede Wrestling.

For wrestling personnel, Foley’s first book (Have A Nice Day) is pretty much the gold standard. Bret Hart’s book is great, as are Chris Jericho’s. I was fascinated by AJ Lee’s book, though it gets very rough when she’s talking about her mental health issues and it’s written in a very quirky style. Finally, if you can sit through it, William Regal’s is incredible but he goes into the most details I’ve ever seen about drug abuse and it’s honestly hard to take.

The worst ones for me are Goldust (I read it in a few hours and got very little out of it) and Jimmy Snuka’s (Which is just….I’m not sure how to put it. It’s short and a chunk of it is a glossary of his own lingo.). Roddy Piper’s is the definition of full of himself and I was rolling my eyes more every page. Brock Lesnar’s isn’t worth your time either.

What’s on your list?

So these are a little late but they’re worth listening to.  We have a double shot this week with the first special episode called Talkover, which is an NXT centered show featuring NorCal talking with a pair of guys from the UK.

https://mightynorcal.podbean.com/e/wwp-51-special-edition-our-very-first-talkover-new-hosts-and-nxt-based-show-get-ready-for-pheonix/

As a bonus, the guys stick around and talk about the upcoming Royal Rumble (yeah I’m a bit late posting these):

https://mightynorcal.podbean.com/e/wwp-52-royal-rumble-preview/

These guys are hilarious and well worth your time to listen.  Check them out.

IMG Credit: WWE

There’s no reason for this one to be the final entry of the year but it’s kind of appropriate as newcomers are all about the future, which is where you go when you get done with the past. There were a lot of fresh faces who sowed up last year and a lot of them had a great deal of potential, meaning the future is rather bright.

Note that in this context, newcomers include people who came to a new promotion and not just people who have only stared wrestling recently.

Brian Pillman Jr.

I know I’m one of the few MLW fans but Pillman is becoming more and more like his dad every day. He’s good in the ring, a solid little talker and is getting more and more offbeat every single week, which makes you think of his dad in a very good thing. The fact that he was very nice to me and we had a chat at WrestleCon in New Orleans didn’t hurt things either. He has a long way to go but what we’ve gotten so far shows potential.

Killer Kross

There aren’t many instances of Impact Wrestling having a story that intrigues me but the X Attacker got my interest. Someone was laying out members of the roster for weeks and it was time to find out who it was. It wound up being Killer Kross, a very intimidating monster who seemed to be impervious to pain and had some great promos. Kross’ in-ring work might not be top level, but it’s more than good enough to back up the incredible character.

Matt Riddle

I don’t think it’s any secret that Riddle is going to be a very big deal in NXT in the near future. What we’ve seen of him already though is more than enough to make me want to see him again though and that’s what matters. He’s young but experienced and has the kind of offbeat style that gets him noticed. The fans love him too, and that’s going to take him very far. He needs more time in WWE, but it’s looking great so far.

Keith Lee

What Frankenstein’s laboratory did they make this guy in? Lee is a huge guy who moves like someone about 150lbs lighter and makes it look easy. He’s got a few losses on his record but having him win a few matches by squashing people is going to be more than enough to fix that. Lee is the kind of athletic freak that you just don’t see very often and WWE knows it. That cool finisher alone should keep him around.

Brian Cage

Speaking of people who look like they were created in a lab, you have this guy in the craziest shape around and can do 619s and moonsaults. Cage is a different kind of freak and while WWE wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot steroid test, it’s certainly fun to watch him be a monster on Impact. That might be as high as he can go, but sweet goodness he’s making it work.

Bandido

He might not be as well known but I haven’t seen a high flier like this in a long time. Bandido does some of the craziest stuff in a ring that I’ve ever seen and makes it look easy. If you can find his match from the WrestleCon Supershow, go out of your way and enjoy one of the best spectacles you’ll see in a long time. Those flips and dives shouldn’t be human and yet he does them all the time. Incredible talent and worth your time.

Ronda Rousey

What else can I say about her? She has the mainstream appeal, she came in like a star and has gone through even further through the roof every single time she’s out there on the big stage. There’s a real chance that we’re coming up on her main eventing Wrestlemania, which isn’t too bad for someone whose in-ring debut came at the show last year. Rousey is a near natural and that’s not something you get to say very often.

And yet, there’s one more ahead of her.

Ricochet

This one dawned on me as I was writing this up and the more I thought about it, the more right it felt. Ricochet is someone with some experience outside of WWE but it didn’t feel like there was even the slightest bit of a transition. He came into NXT in a match of the year candidate and stole the show with one of the spots of the year. Then he had more classic matches and won the North American Title, plus had a quick showdown that teased a shot at the NXT Title. Ricochet is way more than a high flier and could be the top star in NXT in the near future. You don’t see that happen in a place with that kind of talent, but he’s doing it with ease.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

I’m not going to waste your time on this one as there are only three viable options. 2018 was a good year for pay per view as there weren’t a lot of horrible shows. It’s interesting that wrestling companies can get the big stuff so well but have so many problems with the weekly shows. We’ve covered that enough though and now it’s time to get to the big ones.

Backlash

This would be the BEAT THE TRAFFIC show that went nearly an hour longer than it needed to and had one bad match after another with the only two good ones being matches that had been done better before. This was the wrong show in front of the wrong crowd at the wrong time. That Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe main event was the expired icing on the spoiled cake and made this one even worse than I thought was possible.

Greatest Royal Rumble

Oh you knew we were getting to Saudi Arabia. Tell me: other than Strowman winning and Titus’ funny fall, what else happened on this show? Well we had Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar ruining a cage match, and a far too long main event. This show set the WWE Saudi Arabia relationship off on a bad foot and it was only going to get worse.

That worse would be the worst of the year.

Crown Jewel

Like it was going to be anything else. I didn’t get to watch this show live as I had to take care of some stuff outside of town. My wife read me the results as we came home and we were having trouble keeping the car straight from laughing at how stupid the whole thing was. There was a tournament won by Shane McMahon (who wasn’t involved in the first place), Brock Lesnar becoming Universal Champion again, and a disaster of a main event that is going to be on the list of all time awful ones. This was a different kind of bad and nothing really came close all year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWEGen

This is a weird one as it takes us both in and out of the ring. It’s more along the lines of the biggest headline, which could be either good or bad. Some of these are a lot more widespread than others but they’re all important in one way or another. That makes this rather interesting in a way, as some stories have more ramifications than they would originally seem to.

Shawn Michaels Returns To The Ring

This is one of those things where you almost never believed it could happen. Michaels had the perfect retirement back in the day and had been teased to return to the ring almost ever since. Now though he actually got back in the ring….and it didn’t matter whatsoever for the most part. It was a one off (for now) appearance and while Shawn looked decent, it came on such a nothing show that it was more of a disappointment than anything else.

Ronda Rousey Is Awesome

I said this one in Surprise Of The Year but who in the world expected her to be this good? Rousey coming over to WWE made some headlines in mainstream sports but I don’t think anyone imagined she would be so awesome so fast. Rousey hasn’t had a bad match yet and has run through everyone in front of her like they’re nothing. I don’t know how much better she can get, but it’s going to be fun to watch.

WWE TV Ratings Plummet

I didn’t really consider this one a strong contender because it happens every year. At the same time though, it never gets this bad. You can’t be surprised that the ratings got this bad because the shows were just so bad. There was nothing good about them more often than not and WWE didn’t exactly go out of their way to make things better. At the end of the day you can’t get around bad wrestling TV and that’s what WWE found out in a hard way this time. It’s getting a little better, but without things really changing it’s not going to fix things.

Roman Reigns Vacates The Universal Title

Now we’re getting somewhere as this is the kind of thing that changes wrestling companies. Reigns is gone for the time being and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. WWE has spent years centering the company around Reigns and now that he’s gone, WWE is really starting to feel the burn. Reigns’ health is what really matters here though, as there’s nothing good about having any wrestler, especially one in the prime of his career, taken out like this. I hope Reigns gets better so it can be an even bigger headline soon.

Daniel Bryan Returns To The Ring

This is a bigger one than Shawn for me as I never would have believed it could happen. While it’s certainly a surprise, it also offers something bigger. Bryan was injured for so long and it seemed hopeless yet he came back (and got awesome again under a new character). It gives hope for others whose careers seem to be over, which could make things a lot more interesting in the future.

WWE FOX Deal

WWE has a history with being on network TV but the idea of a weekly show is unheard of for them. It’s a huge step forward and a huge financial boom for the company. With the money coming in there are also loftier expectations, which could mean we get a better Smackdown going forward. I want to see where this goes, but it’s already gone pretty far to start.

All In Sells Out Almost Instantly

Earlier in the year, All In was announced and sounded like something with potential but nothing that big. Then it sold out in something like half an hour (I was thinking about going to the show and then saw how fast it was gone, much to my own shock) and it was clear that they had something special. The show being really good was just a bonus, because the show being such a success was what really mattered.

That’s all wrestling stuff though. Now we need to get to what really matters.

Controversy Over Crown Jewel

This is the kind of thing that went beyond wrestling as it made mainstream headlines. It made WWE look like a money hungry company (it’s not like other companies aren’t the same) who was willing to ignore everything else going on involving a man’s death for the sake of a huge check. This was a disaster on every point, with the show being a nightmare making it even worse. WWE is going to keep going to Saudi Arabia and it’s going to look bad every single time. But at least the stock went up or something right?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6