I’ve been under the weather for about two weeks with side effects of the Covid booster and now a nasty ear infection. The idea of wanting to do anything other than the major shows has left me very tired so some of them are a bit delayed. I’ll be caught up soon though as I’m already on some medicine. Again, I’m sorry for being slow but when walking to the kitchen required a 20 minute rest, the energy isn’t quite there for all of the reviews.
KB
Wrestling is at its best when you don’t know who is going to win. And while we are talking about scripted entertainment, which allows fans to consider who should logically win, the ability to keep the fans guessing right up to the end is part of the art of the business. But shocks aren’t always a good thing. Sometimes they leave the audience dissatisfied, not generating the heat that was intended.
Below we are going to look back on five shock results from WrestleManias of the past. The stress here is on the result. To be clear, we are going to swerve some of the more obvious shocks, including the ending of The Streak at WrestleMania 30. In addition, we are discounting some, like Sheamus beating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, as it was the means and not the result that was shocking. Anyhow, for us, these five results stand out as examples of WWE/WWF really pulling the rug from underneath the fans at the time:
Fandango Beats Chris Jericho – WrestleMania 29
If you have some spare time, have a look on YouTube for Chris Jericho’s musings on the lead up to and the booking of this match – funny stuff. Y2J has lost nine matches down the years at WrestleMania, so it’s not as if this was completely unprecedented. But to lose to Fandango was certainly a shock. It seems short-sighted, given what happened to Fandango’s career, but it was effective for a cheap laugh at Jericho’s expense at the time.
Brock Lesnar Beats Roman Reigns – WrestleMania 34
It’s common for bookmakers to release odds for WWE events these days, particularly the Big 4 PPVs. And it seemed that the most solid bet for WrestleMania 34 was that Reigns would finally topple Lesnar. This was logical given the consensus was that The Beast Incarnate was set to return to UFC. The crowd looked disinterested – apart from booing Reigns and chanting “CM Punk” – but came alive when Lesnar earned the 3-count. Nobody wanted the match, but few expected the result.
Owen Hart Beats Bret Hart – WrestleMania X
The first two matches on this list are hardly classics, but the battle of the brothers in March 1994 has claims on being one of the best of all time. You know the story by now, with Bret pulling double duty by facing Yokozuna for the WWF title later on. But the crowd was stunned to see Owen get the win by rolling up Bret in the first (non-dark) match of the night. That added fuel to one of the best wrestling rivalries of the mid-90s, with the brothers feuding all throughout 1994.
Rick Rude Beats The Ultimate Warrior – WrestleMania V
It’s not as if heel victories were uncommon in the early days of WrestleMania, but there was always an assumption that the likes of Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior would prevail on the Grandest Stage of Them All. This, in fact, was the Warrior’s first televised defeat since joining the WWF. The crowd was probably more angry (Bobby Heenan’s interference led to Rude’s victory) than shocked, but they were left happy when Heenan got his comeuppance after the match.
IMG Credit: WWE
Triple H Beats Sting WrestleMania 31
Triple H gets a lot of flak for being the guy who goes over at the wrong time. But in truth, he’s been beaten more than any other wrestler on the Grandest Stage of Them All – 13 times, in fact. But everyone and their uncle thought that Sting would get the win here, providing a good-feel moment for fans of the WCW legend. But Triple H got the win with some help from a sledgehammer and Degeneration X. You could see what they wanted to do here – suggest that the WCW vs WWE ‘feud’ was over with the latter victorious. But Stinger should have got the win.
I’m a week behind with it already and I cannot bring myself to care to watch the same 6-10 minute matches with the same rotating cast. It has never been something people read anyway so I might as well drop it and free up some of my schedule.
You might have noticed the site being down for a bit on Tuesday night. I’ve been talking to my hosting company and they’re working on it, but there is a chance that things might go down again. Also, they’ve had to de-activate my plug-ins for a bit, so some features might not be working. Everything is still there and I can turn them back on when things settle down. I’m sorry for any issues but things look to be getting a bit better.
KB
So the review will be up later than usual but it should be tonight.
KB
The UFC and WWE are two organizations that compete in the US sports entertainment industry. There are often a lot of questions about which is better and how they differ. Just like any sport though, you can gamble on these sports, you can make WWE bets or UFC bets. Yet, understanding how these sports differ is key in knowing which you prefer and which is better for you to wager money on.
The UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest martial arts promotion company in the world. Whereas the WWE or World Wrestling Entertaining is the biggest and definitely most popular professional wrestling promotion to exist.
The absolute most defining factor between these two is in the reality of the fights. UFC fighters will actually choke their opponents, while WWE wrestlers will theatrically mimic these same chokes.
While they are very similar, they are also very different. Mixed martial arts is fully competitive and engages in full-contact, whereas pro wrestling only mimics this, the reality is why many will prefer UFC over WWE, however the theatrics of WWE have many prefer that also.
Let’s see what these key differences are that set them apart.
While the UFC can have some colorful characters every now and again, most of their top stars do appear somewhat interchangeable, and it can be hard to tell them apart sometimes. WWE does not have this issue, thanks to its theatrics. The roster is packed with some of the most colorful folks around, from the biggest makes, to the women, and even the smaller-rung guys stand out from the crowd.
It’s pretty obvious that you can get attention when you are wearing masks and costumes, but WWE competitors spark so much more, and it’s more comfortable for fans to recognize and get behind than in comparison to the blander types found in the UFC.
The most obvious difference between these two sports is reality. The UFC is an actual sport, and does not have any pre-determined results, this means that a seemingly unbeatable mega-star such as Ronda Rousey can be knocked out cold by someone like Holly Holm, and it will truly be shocking.
It is where highly hugged up bouts can end quickly, while seemingly tiny matches become classic battles. UFC competitors can pour all they have into their work and take their lumps. The realism and truth of the UFC is something the WWE can never get its hands on.
WWE does face one complaint nowadays, and it is that there is way too much TV. ‘Raw’ is 3 hours long, for example, then there is ‘Smackdown’, and ‘NXT’ which are both two hours long. There is just so much airtime and WWE bloats to fill it.
UFC on the other hand likes the ‘less is more’ style of things, they can get long built-up shows for PPV’s on ESPN, but they work better with recap shows. The UFC doesn’t need to rely on so many weekly hours to keep their fans hooked.
In contrast to the above difference. UFC does have some major PPV fights, however most of their events are standard fare, and it is often difficult to tell the difference from some UFC shows to another. In comparison to WWE, whose PPV events are a huge deal! Take ‘WrestleMania’ for example, it is the cornerstone of the entire company and the biggest show to get attention.
But as we already know, WWE is much more dramatic than UFC.
While WWE is often popular for its older stars, some do wish they’d bring in new talent. It’s annoying seeing part-timers treated with big pushes when there are so many promising stars ignored.
UFC doesn’t have this issue, they are making new stars and have a better cycle on how new stars can take over the show.
WWE does seem to rely on ‘old reliable’ rather than opening the doors to newbies, but UFC has the opposite point of view, and these two differ in the use of the new vs old.
It’s time to start the count-up again. Starting on Monday, I will be posting one review from Summerslam every day until this year’s edition on August 21. As usual, I will be redoing last year’s show, but I will also redo a bonus that you pick. All are eligible except for the following (ones I’ve done recently or several times before):
1992
1998
2005
2006
2019
Vote in the comments and I’ll do the one that comes up the most.
KB
Oh and for a cheap plug: I wrote a book on the History of Summerslam a few weeks ago. Check it out right here on Amazon.
After Petr Yan threw a blatantly illegal knee to end a 135-pound contest at UFC 259, Aljamain Sterling became the worthy bantamweight champion. This controversial outcome may lead to a stirrup to this year’s ranking of pound-for-pound greats, but it still depends on the MMA media whether to share the sentiments of the few or not.
Somewhere along with pound-for-pound rankings, after Jan Blachowicz defeated the middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, he immediately went two spots down to No. 5 while the Polish power-puncher moved up his ranking to No. 7. Take a look at this list of the best five pound-for-pound men MMA fighters and see what the current odds to win the ranking field looks like.
Jon “Bones” Jones
Weight Class: UFC Heavyweight
Win/Loss Record: 26-1, 1NC
Last Fight: Defeated Dominick Reyes
Considering the former light heavyweight champion as MMA’s GOAT is an understatement. But this doesn’t mean that his position on the P4P throne isn’t in grave danger. Jones is about to be caught up in the competition. Hence the move up to heavyweight at age 33 is an exciting decision Jones has made throughout his career.
Whether this means a quick shot for becoming the champion or a top contender has yet to rise to the challenge, fans can only anticipate. You may expect Bones to face the winner of the contest between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou II for the title. But before that is concluded, Jones remains at the top of UFC’s list.
Kamaru “Nigerian Nightmare” Usman
Weight Class: UFC Welterweight
Win/Loss Record: 18-1
Last Fight: Defeated Gilbert Burns
It’s high time for everyone to put respect to this man’s name. Kamaru Usman has proved himself worthy of the position and showcased his constantly evolving striking after defeating Gilbert Burns over a dominant title defense. The Nigerian Nightmare now has a 13 consecutive UFC winning streak, the second-best record in its history.
That win against Burns gave Usman yet another big name in his resume, including former champions Rafael Dos Anjos (lightweight) and Tyron Woodley, former interim champion Colby Covington, Leon Edwards, and Demian Maia.
No one can contest Usman for being the world’s best fighter right now, provided his overall growth and immensely dominant wrestling strength. It might be best to expect that everyone who dares to stand in Usman’s way will eventually meet defeat at the end.
Stipe Miocic
Weight Class: UFC Heavyweight
Win/Loss Record: 20-4
Last Fight: Defeated by Francis Ngannou
At the age of 38, Stipe Miocic is currently set to enter yet the arguably most dangerous challenge throughout his entire career. This rematch contest at UFC 260, against the hard-hitting Francis Ngannou II, will add to Miocic’s pair of heavyweight title wins.
Sadly, Francis Ngannou took out Stipe with a solid left and followed up with a hammerfist to seal the deal. Although Stipe was defeated convincingly by Ngannou, he still ranks high in the pound-for-pound rankings because of his past title defenses.
Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski
Weight Class: UFC Featherweight
Win/Loss Record: 22-1
Last Fight: Defeated Max Holloway
Number 19 has been appearing a lot lately on the UFC featherweight champion’s record from Australia, Alexander Volkanovski. He has an amazingly 19 consecutive wins. And his win against the former champion Max Holloway, with a record of 19 of a possible 30 scored rounds.
Although his match with Holloway was clouded with controversy over a disputed split decision, he is expected to fight against the reinvigorated Brian Ortega at UFC 260. Deviating from the number 19, The Great has a 55% striking accuracy, making him deserving of a position at No. 2 in the UFC featherweight history.
Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya
Weight Class: UFC Middleweight
Win/Loss Record: 20-1
Last Fight: Lost to Jan Blachowicz
Still considered one of the world’s best 185-pound fighters, Israel Adesanya was brought back down to Earth after losing a light heavyweight title to Jan Blachowicz. He may have had notable moments in his entire career; the Last Stylebender was still outmaneuvered by more prominent champions, slimming his chances of moving up classes to fight against Jon Jones.
UFC 260 and Final Thoughts
With UFC 260 leaving us all in awe of Francis Ngannou’s power, it’s safe to say that this heavyweight juggernaut is in the pound-for-pound rankings. As talented and dominating Stipe Miocic is, Ngannou cornered the former champion and landed heavy, unanswered shots.
It was in the early minutes of the 2nd round wherein Francis Ngannou landed a short but powerful left that made Miocic fall to the mat. After landing a final hammerfist to the already unconscious Miocic, Referee Herb Dean ran quickly to prevent any more unnecessary damage.
This is a big win for Ngannou who was looking to avenge his defeat from Miocic earlier. He has fought and won against fighters such as Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blades, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Junior Dos Santos. Shortly after the fight, Jon Jones sent out a tweet about possibly challenging Ngannou for the Heavyweight title.
This is undoubtedly a mighty matchup, with everyone’s eyes on the Legendary Jon “Bones” Jones and the behemoth Francis Ngannou. Nonetheless, what an excellent year for UFC enthusiasts!
From April 7 – April 12: 24 shows, many of which overlap. I’ll be doing them as fast as I can but next week is going to be even more out of whack than usual. This is the busiest time of the year so I ask you to please bear with me. There is going to be a great variety of stuff coming up though, and I might even add a few more.
And, as a bonus, somewhere around there, I should be co-hosting a new weekly (in theory) podcast.
KB
There is now a search bar on the right hand column and all of the sub sections on the All Reviews page will now be in the red bar on the mobile version.
Please let me know if there are any other issues that need to be/you would like to be changed with the layout. I’m not a tech guy by any means but I can see what I can do with them. I can’t promise I’ll change them but if something needs to be done I’ll do what I can.
KB
