One of these things is not like the other.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-tale-two-titles/

I still don’t know if it makes sense.

I’ll spare you a long rant about how little this story makes sense, or at least how horrible of a job WWE has done at explaining Balor’s use of the Demon. Or how little sense it made to have Balor win the title for a few weeks and drop it back almost immediately. This is the Demon’s debut at Wrestlemania and I’m not sure what to expect from it. I don’t think the match’s result is really in doubt, but the question is how we get to that ending.

Balor will get the title back once and for all, but I’m not sure if it’s in a squash or a competitive match. It’s one thing to have the Demon destroy Corbin at Summerslam but having him do it to Lashley here doesn’t make sense. You don’t squash a monster like that and that leaves a dilemma for Balor. I’m sure he’ll win, but if it’s too competitive then it doesn’t make that much sense.

It’s kind of an important piece of hardware.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-september-19-2018-workers-title/

And I wrote a book about it.

https://www.amazon.com/History-Intercontinental-Title-Thomas-Hall-ebook/dp/B01D4D3EGQ/

As was once said, the marquee says wrestling. While that’s always true, some wrestlers are more about the in-ring product than the others. For those wrestlers and fans of that style, the Intercontinental Title is one of the greatest gifts anyone could have ever asked for. It’s long been called the workers title as it has traditionally been more about the in-ring quality than the drama that follows the World Title. The championship has been around nearly forty years now and many of the best performers over that time have held the title.

Back in March 2016, I released the History of the Intercontinental Title e-book, but a lot of time and title changes have happened since then. Therefore, I’ve updated the book with seventeen new matches (two from the old days due to some updates on the WWE Network), polished things up and updated everything through the end of August 2017. The updated book is now available in paperback and still as an e-book.

The book contains over 420 Intercontinental Title matches dating from October 1979 thru August 2017 with every filmed title change and of course several title defenses ranging from pay per views to television to house shows to fan cam recordings you’ve probably never seen before. Each match is broken down with context, play by play and analysis.

It’s available from Amazon in full paperback form, runs 439 pages and is priced at $10.99. The book is available worldwide (only in English) from any country’s Amazon page. Here are the links for the US and UK versions:

US Version

UK Version

Or just search “KB Intercontinental Title” on Amazon.

All of my e-books and paperbacks (26 titles combined) are available here:

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

I hope you like it and please send me any questions you may have.

KB

It started last year.

I could see this one being added to the pre-show as they need three matches on there to loosen up some time on the main show. This is the feud built around Ambrose eliminating Corbin from the Elimination Chamber, causing Corbin to CRUSH HIM WITH A FORKLIFT, which meant an Intercontinental Title match at Wrestlemania instead of, you know, death or a lawsuit or something.

I see no reason whatsoever for Ambrose to keep the title here so we’ll go with Corbin winning. He won the battle royal last year and has hit the ground running on the main roster. It’s high time he won something other than the battle royal though and the Intercontinental Title sounds like a great place to start. Ambrose certainly doesn’t need the thing so let’s give it to Corbin and see what he can do out of it (which likely means a bunch of losses but trying is better than nothing).

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

I can’t stand this match.

If anyone has been following my stuff recently, you know I can’t stand this story. I have yet to see any reason for this match to take place but we’re getting this disaster of a mess because it’s Wrestlemania and therefore we’re getting a seven man ladder match. We have seven guys in this thing and most of them have almost no reason to be in there.

This should be all about Zayn vs. Owens (and preferably without ladders) so I’m not even going to bother talking about the other five guys (Stardust, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Sin Cara and Zack Ryder in case you’re reading this in thirty years). They’re not going to win and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.

So yeah it’s all about those two but the question is who wins. I think they’re going with Owens, likely to set up something with Zayn one on one in a month. Owens winning doesn’t make sense in a regular match but him surviving in a big mess is straight out of AJ Lee surviving everyone at Wrestlemania XXX. It’s stupid but just go with it.

I’m sure there will be enough high spots for everyone and we’ll get people laying around for ten minutes after a bump they would get up from in five seconds otherwise but IT’S A BIG LADDER MATCH!!! That means it’s cool right? Or at least Stephanie thinks so because she gave it to us and knows everything that’s best for business. It’s not like there’s another match where you could throw people into the ring to get them on the card and have them do nothing. No instead let’s have a ladder match where no one gets to shine in a title match. Just get it over with already and move on from this illogical nonsense.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of the Intercontinental Title at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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

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

Think of a great wrestler over the last forty years and odds are they’ve been the Intercontinental Champion. Since 1979, the Title has brought us a long list of great matches, stories and champions, many of whom have risen to the top of the wrestling world on the strength of their time as Intercontinental Champion. It’s been called the workrate title and is often associated with the best wrestling that you can find anywhere in the world. Whether it’s a mat classic or a bloody fight, more great matches have been fought over the Intercontinental Title than almost any championship in the history of wrestling. Any way you look at it, there’s a reason why this title is thought of so highly among wrestling fans.

In this new book, I’ll be taking a look over 400 Intercontinental Title matches from pay per views, television and house shows with every title change (at least all of them filmed) included, along with a long list of successful title defenses. I’ll be including play by play and analysis of each match and taking a look at how much the title has changed as well as stayed the same over the years.

The books is my longest ever at over 500 pages on a Kindle and only costs $3.99, or the equivalent in other currencies. If you don’t have a Kindle or e-book reader, there are several FREE apps you can use to read it on pretty much any electronic device. You can find those from Amazon here.

You can pick up the book from Amazon here.

From the UK Amazon here.

From the Canadian Amazon here.

Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB Intercontinental Title” and my book will be the first thing that pop up.

Also you can still get any of my previous books on the WWE Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1997, 1998 and 2001, Monday Nitro from 1995-1998, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views, Royal Rumble, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the WWF and WCW pay per views from 1998, Wrestlemania and Clash of the Champions at my author’s page here.

I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.

KB

http://wrestlingrumors.net/king-barrett-is-leaving-wwe-this-summer/

And…..I’m not sure why people would care.  Barrett has been floating around the midcard for years now, picking up the Intercontinental Title here and there before dropping it for another injury.  Ever since he didn’t win the World Title back in 2010.  After that he was just a guy who didn’t win the big one and was another face in the crowd after that.  I like the guy but he’s really not someone who is going to be a huge loss.

Well that’s certainly different.  I can’t wait for them to use the obvious six people for the Intercontinental Title match though, making sure we’re never getting any elevation and with the title winding up on Ziggler or Barrett.  Again.

The Tag Team Title match could be fun though.

Reach for the sky.

I’m not a fan of these matches. They take away the entire idea of having a wrestling match and throw everything together into one big mess for the title. Yeah it’s going to be a lot of fun and has the potential to steal the show, but I really would have preferred a straight match or even a multiman match to this big mess.

Second complaint: I know I’ve ranted on this already, but I really didn’t like having the title being passed around. What was that supposed to accomplish? It’s better than having the champion lose every week, but why am I supposed to care that someone keeps taking the belt itself away? As Barrett kept saying, that’s his title and he shouldn’t have to keep taking it back from people. It’s like when Hogan thought he had won the Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania IX when Jimmy Hart counted the pin: he REALLY should know better than that.

Just like in the Tag Team Title match, let’s take an individual look at each guy before I get to my pick.

Stardust – Why is he in this? He lost last month and now he’s in a big time title match because the belt is his precious? This is a name you could have easily left out of things and no one would have noticed a difference. If nothing else just cut his spot and let the match have fewer people in it so things can breathe a bit more.

R-Truth – He’s here for the comedy and nothing more. No one buys him as having a chance at winning the belt and I can’t really see why he needed to be in here. He’s the guy you throw out there to give the champion a fluke loss (which happens WAY too often) and not someone you put in a title match at Wrestlemania.

Luke Harper – Former champion, had a great ladder match with Dolph Ziggler and deserves a push where he DOESN’T LOSE EVERY MATCH AS CHAMPION. I don’t see him as having much of a chance, but you always need someone in there as a power guy to throw the small guys around and make them look good.

Dean Ambrose – He’s finally finding a niche for himself in the midcard and is the one that started this whole thing in the first place. I really liked what he said when he talked about wanting to be the Intercontinental Champion because it meant something back in the day. Then he started walking off with the belt like it was a ball on the playground because that’s how you make a title legitimate right? I’d love to see Dean win and become the midcard star, but given his track record, he probably gets lost coming to ringside and winds up fighting Torito or something.

Daniel Bryan – Boy what a difference a year makes doesn’t it? It really is amazing what a simple broken neck (or whatever it was) can do to mess up your career. Bryan would be the most logical pick to win here but for some reason I don’t see him doing it. For one thing, he’s a bit too popular to give a win in back to back years because the WWE knows who we should be cheering for. Side note about Bryan: this is the fifth different title he’s fought for in five Wrestlemanias.

Wrestlemania XXVII: US Title

Wrestlemania XXVIII: World Heavyweight Title

Wrestlemania XXIX: Tag Team Titles

Wrestlemania XXX: WWE World Heavyweight Title

Wrestlemania XXXI: Intercontinental Title

He might be the only guy to ever do that.

Dolph Ziggler – You have to have a guy like Ziggler in a match like this and there’s nothing wrong with being that guy. He’ll have some big spots, get close to winning the title, get the second biggest reaction of the match and come up just a bit short, because WWE is totally cool with having him get nowhere after making him the star of the Survivor Series main event.

Bad News Barrett – My goodness what is their problem with this guy? It seems like every time he gets the title he goes on the biggest losing streak ever but gets to hold his head high and win the big match at the end, meaning we’re supposed to forget about all those losses. That would be fine in theory if Cole wasn’t reminding us of the losses every 18 seconds, but that’s too much logic for them to follow.

Overall though, I don’t think Barrett gets the big win this time. It’s probably what we’re getting from the whole thing, but I’m going on a limb and picking Ambrose. He’s over with the fans, could be made into a main event guy one day and started this whole thing. WWE owes him a big win anyway after all the stupid endings with the Rollins and Wyatt matches. They’ll probably go with Barrett to make me want to drive my head through a wall, but I want to see Ambrose take it.

Oh and Sheamus could be added as the eighth guy. If he does, I’ll go with him again.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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