Wrestling House Shows: Always A Great Night Out!

  I can remember, every saturday growing up was the greatest day. You had saturday morning cartoons and then afterwards I had atleast two different types of wrestling on TV to watch. Then every saturday night there was wrestling at the Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, TN. The promotion from memphis traveled there each week and we seen stars such as Jerry "The King" Lawler, "Superstar" Bill Dundee, "Dirty" Dutch Mantell, The Fabulous Ones, The Rock n Roll Express and so many more year after year. Wrestling at the fairgrounds was some of the greatest fun you could have as a kid growing up as a wrestling fan.

  Now fast forward 30-35 years into the future for me and WWE is still putting out quality house shows. The wrestling  that I grew up in has long been gone which is a story for another day, but WWE still maintains a huge fan base and weekly house shows bring the most fun of all the WWE's products. It has a more fun feeling atmosphere to it and the wrestlers don't seem so nervous as they can be on Raw or Smackdown tv tapings. Now it has been a while for me since I live in an area now where WWE doen not make stops and appearances, but there are quite a few people out there each week going to the shows and enjoying them completely. 

  Enter Twitter follower Hannah on my BTC Twitter account. She recently attended the RAW house show in Spokane,Washington. She got to see superstars such as Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Ricochet, Sammy Zayn & a great tag match featuring my favorite WWE tag team of The Revival, The Uso's, The Good Brother's and Hawkins/Ryder.  I'd like to include a few pictures she sent me and a rundown of the show from her perspective so please take a moment and check out her experience.

                                 




I went to a RAW house show in Spokane Washington we had second row seats right by the stairs. The arena was pretty full.

First match Ricochet vs Samoa Joe for the United States championship.



The crowd loved ricochet. He was FANTASTIC in person! He did some amazing moves. I love how good of chemistry him and Joe have! Joe won Second match was MoJo vs Heath slater.


No one stood up for mojo. He didn't really get any reaction from the fans until the end. He was really good with working the crowd but people weren't into it. Heath did a great promo about his kids. Pretty boring match. Nothing really happened. Heath won.



Third match The usos vs Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder vs The good brother's vs The revival for the tag team championship. This was the best match of the night for me. Everyone did so well. It was so funny at times. Even the ref was involved. The crowd loved the usos. I honestly didn't want this match to end. The revival won.



Sami Zayn came out the crowd was booing so loud except for me! . Talking about how much Spokane sucks and how they are only a couple hours away from the greatest country Canada. Braun came out to attack Sami but Cesaro came out to help Sami




Fourth match Braun vs Cesaro with Sami ringside. This was a good match. Lots of back and fourth. Sami was a great heel. Braun pinned Cesaro and ended up doing a finisher on Sami.



Fifth match . No way Jose , Naomi and Dana Brook vs EC3, Sarah Logan and Tamina. Very boring match. Not really any crowd reaction. Dana was definitely the best part. The crowd did get behind ec3. Naomi pinned Sarah



Sixth match Lacy Evans vs Becky Lynch for the woman's championship. This was an ok match. Lacy did better than I expected. Was pretty short. Becky won. She did touch my hand!!! She went around the ring and signed autograph and took pictures.



Seventh match Seth vs Baron for the universal championship. I couldn't hear after Seth came out. The crowd was so loud! This was a good match Baron did very good! I ended up cheering for him at the end! He was very funny and he is a very good heel. Seth won.


This was one of the best events I've ever been to!

Now with the arrival of AEW, MLW staring to make a little name for itself and we still have impact & Ring of Honor, having great quality house shows to enjoy are in abundance. Thank you Hannah for sharing your night with us and I am so glad that you had a fun night! Like & subscribe to us and follow us on social media at:



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BTC Presents: Part 2 of Chris Benoit For HoF- Argument To Keep Him Out

BTC Presents: Recap of Fastlane PPV

BTC Presents: Wrestling Spotlight - Magnum TA

BTC Presents: Two Part Series Chris Benoit - Argument For Benoit To Be I...

It was brought up in our last podcast since it is Hall of Fame time and since we really didn't tackle it last year, we decided to this year. This video is one half ofthe 2 part series we are doing on the subject. Myself, and special co-host, Douglas O'Shea are goingto be presenting you  the listeners with an argument in favor of Chris Benoit being in the Hall of Fame. The 2nd part will be done and released very soon by Mike Currence and Chuck Meyers and  they will argue against Benoit making the Hall of Fame. We encourage comments, you can agree & disagree but keep it civil.  

BTC Presents: Week in Review & Legends Lost

I Have Finally Figured Out The Internet Wrestling Community!

   I have news above all other news tonight ladies & gentlemen. I was sitting around a few minutes ago & it hit me. What hit me you ask? Well, let me tell you, I figured out the Internet Wrestling Community!!! The IWC as they are so lovingly referred to by many out there. Now for those of you who are really true wrestling fans, you may ask yourself, WHO is this IWC that he speaks of??? 

   Well, the IWC are basically a bunch of "wrestling fans" that think they know everything and they insist that they can do the job 100 times better than the current group of writers & owners. Notice my use of quotation marks around the words wrestling fans when I refer to the IWC because when it becomes so serious to you that you claim to be the aficionado of all things wrestling and that ratings would be 10 times better if you were in charge and that YOU and YOU only know what the best direction a wrestler's gimmick should go, then you officially are no longer a fan.

   A fan takes in the business for what it is which is entertainment these days. Now is the time when some ask me, "Chris, are YOU not a card carrying member of the IWC since you have a podcast based on your opinion of all things wrestling?". The answer is simply......no. We will point out how things are going and give our opinions but I will not tell you that I can run an entire organization better than someone who is experienced in all areas. 

   But back to the subject at hand, I have figured it out. The IWC are democrats!!! Snowflakes!!! Hear me out now..... Tell me if this sounds familiar. "Roman Reigns is getting an undeserved push I don't like him im not watching the network anymore!!" 

Sounds kind of like "I hate Donald Trump, he got an undeserved push to president so I'm not watching Presidential speeches anymore!"  Hmmmm....... The IWC has become a blizzard of snowflakes yelling "It isn't fair!!!"    "I'm not happy!!"   "He's not MY choice!!" . Am I wrong?? Can you see the same trends here that I'm talking about? Why is Roman treated so badly anyways? He has served his time now. He spent a short time in FCW which is now NXT and came up as the muscle for The Shield. Not everybody has great mic skills and charisma. I hear Big Cass & Big E Langston getting mad cheers from the crown but they aren't that great on the microphone. Roman is just as great in the ring athletically as they are. Lex Lugar was not a great talker either really but he was from a different era where the baby face got cheered anyways.Here is another wrestler for you that they hate with a passion:

  

   You can't see him! No wait, there he is! John Cena probably brings that company more money in then any other wrestler on the roster. The kids love him as do the women and the guys love to boo him. But why boo the hero once again? It's the Villains that you boo but when Brock Lesner comes out he gets a huge pop from the fans.

   He comes in, wreaks havoc and leaves. Not even on a full time basis, just shows up when he wants part time and suplexes people 100 times a match! Yet you cheer for him like he is the second coming of Hulkamania from the 80's! I wonder if Baron Corbin showed up part time and kicked a few butts when he felt like it would get as many cheers?

  

   No never mind, he has been complained about as well for his lack of charisma but let me tell you this....Corbin has all  the makings of a solid wrestler for years to come. He may not reach World Heavyweight Title contention but if this guy doesn't get a solid and I mean solid Intercontinental Title or US Title run then they are possibly missing the boat on him! Careful......I almost sounded like one of those snowflakes.

Our Instagram Account: BodySlam The Competition

Podcast On YouTube: BTC Presents!

   

BTC Presents: An Interview With Grand Master Sexxay Brian Christopher

BTC Week in Review, HoF Talk

WWE Hall of Fame in for a Rude Awakening, should be a BANG!

   So, it was evident late in 2016 when we all heard that Diamond Dallas Page had a DVD coming out right around the same time that the WWE Hall of Fame was taking place that DDP himself was going to be placed in the Hall of Fame in 2017. There are a lot of deserving people that are waiting to get in and Dallas surely belongs in the mix. Not starting wrestling in ring till age 35 and making main events and holding the World Heavyweight Title were huge accomplishments and he was the hero to WCW when all else were running to NWO.

   Today, DDP has a very successful business that he is running called "DDP Yoga". Countless people have benefit from the program and often give credit to it for salvaging and prolonging their careers. If you are looking to buy DDP yoga, and I personally recommend it, you can click the link provided here to go & purchase the software:

     

DDP Yoga

1.    Along with DDP this year we are finally getting Ravishing Rick Rude into the Hall of Fame. It is a shame that he has been dead for quite a few years and can't be here to see it but his legacy in the ring will always be remembered. He traveled through multiple territories in his younger days before being noticed by the WWE having some success in the memphis area & the WCCW made famous by the Von Erichs. He spent some time in Crockett Promotions and tag teamed with Manny Fernandez being managed by Paul Jones enjoying success as a tag team. Rude had great feuds in the WWE with the likes of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & The Ultimate Warrior. Rude would eventually move back to the WCW and have a great run there in the Dangerous Alliance managed by Paul Heyman winning the United States Title as well.

   Rude would eventually retire and cash in on an insurance policy and stay out for a while but eventually return as a bodyguard type role for Degeneration X in the WWF often referred to as an "insurance policy". Rude was not long in his stay though as he was very unhappy with the Montreal Screwjob that Vince pulled on Brett Hart. He reportedly called Eric Bischoff telling him it was a real deal not scripted and negotiated a contract with WCW as he was only on a pay for appearance type contract with the WWF at the time. Rude came back and joined the NWO but would not remain long as injuries crept back up on him  Rick Rude would pass away on April 20th, 1999 of heart failure. He was one of the great heels in the business and influenced many. A welcome addition to the WWE Hall of Fame!

TLC 2016 Recap & Interview With M E Howerton

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Survivor Series 2016 & NXT Takeover Toronto Reaction Show

Roman Reigns: Legit Superstar or "Shield"'ed by the Company?

So, what is the big deal about Roman Reigns?

   Roman Reigns, the man that suddenly seems to be the new direction of the WWE. A lot of fans are not happy with this move and are questioning what the company is really thinking. What happened to the Dolph Ziggler push we started seeing at The Survivor Series this past year? What happened with Daniel Bryan's comeback and return to the top? It appears that they have been placed on the back burner for now, I mean after all, they portrayed John Cena as a smaller weaker man against the likes of Brock Lesnar so why would Bryan or Ziggler have a chance against him right? 

Profile Series: Jerry "The King" Lawler

  There have been a lot of champions over the years that have been highly decorated. Bruno Sammartino, Harley Race, Ric Flair to name a few. Ric Flair is talked about a lot today for his great feat of being 16 time world heavyweight champion between NWA/WCW/WWE. Harley Race was as rough & tough as they came. No non sense, nothing flashy or pretty about him. He just came to the ring and fought. Great wrestler and could brawl as well. Bruno Sammartino was very well publicized like Race for being the man's man of wrestling. He had the muscles to take on all and backed down from nobody and Vince McMahon Sr carried him to the top & back. All three of the above mentioned guys had a well documented career thanks to cable tv but most people only know Jerry Lawler as the announcer on RAW that showed up in the 90's as a self proclaimed king of wrestling. They don't know of his credentials as a champion in the mid-south Memphis wrestling territory that was owned by Jerry Jarrett. Well, let's help change some of that by talking about one of the all time greats that never had the exposure as the others did.

  Jerry Lawler was the most highly decorated champion in memphis history. In wrestling in general, all territories included, he has held more total titles than anyone in professional wrestling. He fought all newcomers in the area including the people that Jimmy Hart would specifically bring in to take him down. His most notable feuds were with other locals such as Jackie Fargo when Lawler was new to the sport, Superstar Bill Dundee off & on throughout his career in Memphis, The Universal Hearth Throb Austin Idol & Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert. The feuds with Eddie Gilbert were legendary there as they pulled out all  the stops.

  That is some of the great stuff we used to get to see on tv. Studio brawls and wrestling matches, not just 75% of a three hour program talking on a mic. There was action every single week and Jerry Lawler was dishing it out with the best of them. Like I said, Jimmy Hart tried bringing in a lot of people to take out the king and he just kept on coming. Some of the names include Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Kamala the Ugandan Giant, The Undertaker wrestling as the Master of Pain, Sid Vicious wrestling as Lord Humongous, Terry Funk, Austin Idol and more. He has beaten Ric Flair & Harley Race. He feuded with Nick Bockwinkle who was the AWA Heavyweight champion and traded wins with him. He beat Curt Henning for that Same title years later and beat Kerry Von Erich for the WCWA heavyweight belt. He was the first wrestler to hold two heavyweight titles at one time and the first wrestler to be a Unified World Heavyweight Champion by combining the AWA & WCWA title he won from Kerry Von Erich. I am sure I am a little biased on my favoritism towards Jerry Lawler since I grew up watching him but right is right & he deserves the recognition. He has won over 140 championships over his career including tag team gold. As a tag team with numerous partners he has faced and beat the Road Warrios, Moondogs, The SHeepherders, The Bladerunners (Sting & Ultimate Warrior), The Fabulous Ones, The Four Horsemen Ole, Arn & Tully while teaming with Dusty Rhodes & Magnum TA.


  So when you hear someone say "Introducing the 16 time World Heavyweight Champion", you just laugh ahd say "So what!! The King had over 140 title reigns!". Leave your comments & likes or dislikes & share with your friends for their opinion as well.

Royal Rumble 2015

  Annnnnnnnnd here we go again! Royal Rumble time 2015!!! Historically this has been a great match keeping you on edge with near eliminations and I am sure tonight will be no different. I've seen a number of different predictions on who will win but I am wondering who may show up as a surprise participant??

                      Match #1 New Day vs Cesaro,Tyson Kidd


 It's hard to believe they have busted Cesaro down to the point he is an opning match for a PPV thats not really an official on the card match. It's the freebie for the wwe universe before the actual PPV begins.  I'm not really a Big E fan but Kofi Kingston is providing to nice high flying moves for the crowd to enjoy. The match went about 10 minutes with Cesaro & Kidd getting the win from a combination Cesaro uppercut in tyson Kidd's finisher which  was pretty nice. Winners- Cesaro & Kidd


                 Match #2  The Ascension vs The New Age Outlaws


 The match hasnt started as I am writing this but I suspect the outlaws are just hear to put over Ascension. They get their payback from Raw I suppose but you know I'm pulling for the Road D-O double G & Baddass Billy Gunn to win. Outlaws had several good spots there ...road dogg showing his usual self doing some shuckin & jiving but as I expected it was a squash match. I would have had enough respect for the outlaws to have last longer than that but this is what WWE does. I think Ascension should be under a different gimmick though. Face paint & shoulderpads do not make you an awesome team like JBL said. Winners - Ascension


                           Match #3 The Usos vs The Miz & Mizdow

  Here is a prime example of what I mentioned in previous blog. The Uso's can be exciting but their matches are all the same. You can call the move before it happens and we are force fed them every week vs the same opponent. I'm begging fo the day they give Damien Sandow a push away from Miz. Decent match even though we have seen it a thousand times, both sides went back and forth with mizdow wven hitting the miz's finisher but the Uso's pulled it out with usual super kick into a splash from top. Winner - Uso's.


                        Match #4 The Bella Twins vs Paige & Natalya


 Welcome to what I like to refer to as filler time. The Bella twins have come together recently to be a team and have pretty much controlled the womens division. I also have to say I am a little impressed with the Bella's teamwork. They have had some nice tag double team moves. I thought Natalya would give more of a fight and  Paige hardly had any time in match. The Bellas won though with a forearm smash from Brie Bella.  Winners- Bella Twins


                              Match #5 Cena vs Lesnar vs Rollins


   This should be a great match. I'm curious to see if any of the three will align together to take one down and then move to each other. There doesn't seem to be any love loss at all between the three in any way and I picture this one going for a good while. Lesnar & Cena immediatly start on each other while Rollins cowers outside and the theory of any two aligning is shot because they are taking shots all around. Lesnar has done his one offensive suplex about a dozen times in 2 minutes (just kidding) and it is anyones match at this point. No real dominance shown yet except for Lesnar doing the german suplex about 8 times (not kidding this time).Lesnar going for that chicken wing submission early on Cena but Rollins flies from top rope onto both of them. Match has progressed on with some signature moves by Cena such as the shouldert tackles into the side slam/5 knuckle shuffle and we have our first real key moment with brock receiving 3 FU's from Cena and a curb stomp from rollins. Rollins made a very impressive leap from top rope splashing Brock on the announce table and while Brock is out Cena and Rollins are putting on a good show. This is what I do not understand. I didnt hear that is was no DQ match so why are Rollin's goons outside allowed to come in and beat ppl down right in front of the referee???? Complete Bull and no Rollins has the suitcase as a weapon. Cena ducks it & throws him over top rope then beats down J&J security with a double FU. Rollins builds up some good momentum on cena and almost gets pin but lesnar makes his way back in and stops the pin. The 2 fight back and forth and Rollins uses the suitcase on lesnar twice and goes for a curb stomp on the suitcase but Lesnar jumps up & catches him into the F5 one last time & gets the pin. Winner & still champ- Brock Lesnar


                                Match #6  The Royal Rumble Match


  Miz & R-Truth start us out with not to much to like till the 3rd number comes out & low & behold who do we have??? Bubba Ray Dudley!!! A few double teams on Miz and he is first to be eliminated. R truth tries to take out Bubba Ray but fails and goes out as Luke Harper comes in. Harper & Dudley go at it till next number appears and its Bray Wyatt. Harper & Wyatt eliminate Dudley & next was Curtis Axel I think but Eric Rowan takes him out & takes his place. Wyatt & Harper team up on Rowan as well but while Harper was beating on Rowan Wyatt eliminated both. Now the WWE is just throwing names out there for fun I guess...The Boogeyman is next out of the gate and lasts maybe 30 seconds followed by Sin Cara and Wyatt got rid of him too. Zach Ryder makes his appearance as the next one and gets about 10 seconds of offense in before Wyatt eliminated him. Wyatt takes his breathers while talking smack between each one and finally a name comes out in Danial Bryan. Now we shuld start getting some action here.The next participant is Fandango. Fandango & Bryan go back & forth while Wyatt is laid out in corner and trade blows till the countdown starts and Tyson Kidd comes out. They try double teaming Bryan but arent having a lot of luck as Bryan gets the best of them.  Next at 13 is Stardust and momentas after he gets in Tyson Kidd gets eliminated by Bryan. Number 14 is none other than freaking DDP! At this point Im begging for it to be DDP but we know it wont be. At the moment Danial Bryan and Wyatt are left outside ring where they went through middle rope. Wyatt makes his way back in and attacks DDP and DDP has layed the Diamond Cutter on every one but Daniel Bryan so far. Rusev has now wntered the ring as the next competitor and he stalks to the ring after DDP. He almost gets diamond cutter on him but Rusev eliminates ddp and fandango one after another. Now Rusev and Wyatt face off and out of nowhere Danial Bryan flies in and takes both down. Daniel Bryan is now eliminated by Bryan and thats Wyatt's 6th person he has eliminated. Now Golddust enters at 16 and takes on both Wyatt and Rusev. Cody Rhodes finally up &tried to eliminate gold dust!!! Now they are fighting! Still shocking to see Danial Bryan to go out this early. Next person in at 17 is Kofe Kingston. Kingston almost goes out twice but saves himself just like last year. The action has really picked up here as the ring fills up and you can hardly keep up who is going where. At 18 now Adam Rose comes in with his rosebuds. Please throw him right out ... I hate the character image. Kofe Kingston gets thrown out again but lands on Rosebuds and saves himself but thankfully Rose is eliminated right after he gets in. Right after that Kingston goes out and this time is gone leaving the dusts in there fighting wyatt & rusev. Now at 19 we see Roman Reigns ... business is picking up. Roman makes his way down the Aisles into the ring and both star & gold dust take him on but reigns is taking everyone on.Golddust eliminated ...stardust eliminated. At 20 we get Big E coming in. Reigns is still going at it with Reigns as Big E and Rusev go. The action in ring continues as number 21 comes in and we have Mizdow. The crowd pops huge but Miz comes down and doesnt let him in and takes his place till he gets knocked back down and mizdow runs in anyways After a couple of impressive moves he gets thrown out and falls back to imitating miz ...humorous but they misuse him so badley. At 22 we have Jack Swagger come in...what do we say??? WE THE PEOPLE!!!! Immediatly takes on Rusev and is trying to dump him over till Bray Wyatt stops it. Reigns and Big E are in the corner fighting with Big E trying to throw him over. Entering at 23 we have the hungriest guy in the company ...FEED HIM MORE!!! Ryback goes straight for Rusev too. Ryback has laid everyone out including Roman Reigns. As it has gone so far, Bray Wyatt has come to Rusevs aide. They seem to have a partnership of sorts working here & Wyatt has been in for 30 minutes already. Number 24 comes in as Corporate Kane. He goes after Ryback trying to eliminate him  and almost does it but Ryback makes it back in.  Swagger is almost out by Big E but hanging on. Number 25 is Ambrose the lunatic Fringe.He is going nuts on Kane,Wyatt & Rusev.Several good spots in this minute till t he next comes in. Ryback almost got thrown out but saved himself again. Number 26 comes in as Titus Oneal. No major threat there as he goes out in 3 seconds. Now back to the fights again. No immediate threats of being gone just ppl trading blows. Wyatt is still in at 38 minute mark. Number 27 is Bad News Barrett makes his way in to deliver some bad news and he is making NO friends as he goes after Ambrose and Kane both just as it should be.Who will we see at 28??? Cesaro at 28. I would say that you can't underestimate him but they have him buried so far he most likely won't last too long.We have about 10 men in the ring now so someone has to be going soon and as I type that Big E is gone. Number 29 is the Big Show. Everyone stops as he makes his way in and EVERYONE jumps on him at once. Ryback is now out followed by Swagger. Kane & Big show are choke slamming everyone. Kane has just reached 39 career eliminations in the rumble. Finally at 30 Dolph Ziggler come in. He has eliminated Barrett and took on both big show & kane & set them down. Cesaro ALMOST eliminates Ziggler but he hangs on and drags cesaro over the top and fights on the ring apron till he eliminates Cesaro. Ziggler flys back in frome top rope but takes a knockout punch from big show and gets tossed over with ease. Wyatt is now out leaving Big Show, Kane against Reigns and Ambrose. Just like Shield vs Authority again for now. Ambrose choke slammed by Big Show and he is eliminated leaving Big show & Kane vs Roman Reigns. The final three left and the crowd is not happy with the current results as they chant the favorite BS chant. Reigns in the mean time is taking a good beating by the 2 and they have almost eliminated him until big show trys to turn on kane and eliminate him which does not make Kane happy so he turns his attn to him and they fight but as they turn their backs fighting Roman Reigns eliminates them both.  Match is over but they come back in and double team him with a double choke slam. BAM!! The Rocks music hits & the rock comes in!!!Lays out big show, drops the elbow on Kane. Big show comes back in and tried to choke slam Rock but he takes a kick to groin into the Superman Punch then into a Rock Bottom....Rock goes back outside ring but wait .... Rusev was never eliminated. He sneaks back in and tries to take Roman out but Reigns sends him flying out for the OFFICIAL win. Now HHH ^ Steph comes out staring the rock down not being too happy with what he did.Nothing was said but as they back their way out Reigns points to t he Wrestlemania sign to let them know he is on his way. I think I have seen better Rumble matches but this one was not bad. 


                                        Final Thoughts


  Overall this was a pretty good PPV. As I said I think I have seen better Rumble matches but it was pretty good. Reigns continues to get his push I expected a longer match from the World Title 3 way match but there was some big spots in it that highlighted the match. I know I am hard on the divas division but the Bellas did look better as a tag team with some well timed moves. The WWE is STARVING for a good tag team division and we may never get it.  One more note, in the aftermath of the PPV they were interviewing Cena where he actually gave Lesnar & Rollins their props but as the interviewer asked what was next for Cena we might have been given t he answer because Rusev stormed in and stole the mic and shoved Cena out of the way and they go nose to nose. Everyone comes in and separated them as the camera was going off of them. It was great to see Bubba Ray Dudley make an appearance and AWESOME to see quite a few people feel the BANG! from DDP. All in all pretty good.


  Hope everybody enjoyed the report and as always leave comments and please share with all your friends!


   


                                                                      

Where Did Tag Team Wrestling Go???

   I guess I am going to show my age here because I have to dig deep to find enough quality tag teams to talk about. Seriously everybody, where did great tag team wrestling go??? As a fan of the territories that used to exist, I can tell you that I was PRIVILEGED to grow up watching the greatest tag teams in wrestling history.  Yes there was still wrestlers that were considered singles wrestlers that made good tag teams but your great ones were pure tag team specialists.  

  I recently watched the documentary Rock n Roll Express Never Dies and it is a must have for any fan of theirs or just a fan of territories period. They were probably the greatest tag team in wrestling history yet WWE has not recognized them into the HOF as of yet which is truly a shame. Their feuds with the Midnight Express were epic and have never really been duplicated. The Midnight Express were great heels, they drew major heat wherever they went. The 2 teams fought all across the US selling out $80,000 & $100,000 gates which was almost unheard of in their day. The Fantastics were brought about a few years after the other two teams and just like them had a great chemistry about them, and that is one thing we dont see a lot of today. Yes, we have The USO's in WWE & The Wolves in TNA but what other tag teams do we really have that are entertaining and have that "it" factor that qualifies them as a tru tag team???

  The Fabulous Ones were a favorite of mine growing up. They had the look that drove the women wild in the stands yet the guys still liked them because they were tough and had memorable feuds with The Moondogs & The Sheepherders. They had great team work and were very charismatic. I've had some people tell me they weren't great on the mic but back in that time you didn't have the great talkers like The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin. You know why???? Because we were treated to wrestling matches for the bulk of the show and not 75% talk & 25% wrestling matches. They like everyone else in their time held their own on the mic and kicked tail in the ring.

  What else do we have today? The Ascension???? Really??? A less than stellar mockery of The Road Warriors. The L.O.D. were not technical wrestlers by any means but they brought in a unique look at the time and gave you that indestructible feel. Once again, not great on the mic but decent and they had Precious Paul Ellering for a mouthpiece. I think that WCW & WWE both made a great attempt a while back to revive the dead tag team industry with teams like The Steiners, Doom, Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson in the WCW & WWE brought us The Dudley Boys, Hardy Boys & Edge & Christian. The Midnight Express, Fantastics & RnR Express were being faded out of existence in the major companies and they tried to bring in young talent. WWE had some great matches with their three teams I listed but this was during the attitude era with hardcore matches like Tables,Ladders & Chair matches.I would say that the WWE had better overall tag teams in that era then WCW did because you have to throw in The APA and The New Age Outlaws into the mix as well. WCW had better singles matches and singles put together as tag teams like Lex Lugar & Sting but even that died out.


  One last thing to leave you with, there used to be a real flow to a tag team match.The same also goes to singles matches as well really.The hero would always start out well and take control but the heel would always do something  dirty to make the fans mad to take control and give the hero a beating for a while. Now if the teams were great as most of them were they would sell that beating to the crowd and get them riled up against the heel and then that second or third wind would come up & the hero would make the hot tag and his partner would clean house until they built up to the finishing move being executed and you didn't see a kick out at two. Once the finisher (whether it was a simple double dropkick or clotheline or move off top rope) was executed it was done & the crowd was on their feet counting with the ref and the pop would be huge. Show me one match today where we get a build up, singles or tag team. You can't really! There are some matches that hold your attn no doubt but the suspense is not really there. We as fans can practically call a matches end ourselves.


  A lot of today's young stars don't seem to have the same appreciation for the fans either. There are some exceptions like John Cena who makes a lot of make a wish foundation requests come true. When you went to an event back in territory days you could go meet the stars at a table & have your pictures or programs signed. You do not get that now. They wanna sell merchandise and that is it. Disappointing to say the least but it is what we have now.


  In closing, I just wanna say that I hope the WWE finally gets off their high horse and takes off their blinders and recognizes the great tag teams of the past. We as fans want to see The Rock n Roll Express, Midnight Express, The Fabs, The British Bulldogs, The Freebirds and so on and so on in the HOF. They DESERVE their spots there as does Ivan Koloff. Please, please PLEASE hear what we are asking for & make it happen!

  I hope you enjoyed today's article and will pass it on & share with friends. Please like & comment as well as I love hearing other's points of views on my topics especially with the territorial days.

Bodyslam The Competition Vlog Episode 1

   In his first episode of the vlog I go over a few different things includng the Authority, Bad Newss Barrett making his return & the legend Ricky Morton with a few of his views. Video of Ricky was not done by me, there s a mention at end referencng the souce so please check him out as well!

 I hope you enjoyed the first edition vlog, there is more to come. Please share, like & comment!! Hope to hear from you soon.

WWE 2014 Survivor Series

Is this the PPV that you always used to wait for? It had a great feel to it and it was unique in it's fashion in being an elimination tag match, 5 on 5, 3 on 3 hell sometimes 4 on 1!  But the survivor series has evolved into just another PPV and it hasn't been the same in a while. 

The show starts off with a 4 way tag elimination match featuring the Usos, Los Matadores, The Miz & Mizdow & the tag champs Star & Gold dust. The match was alright, it had a lot of fast pace action, high flying moves as you would expect from the Usos & Matadores. The miz was mimicked by mizdow as expected and well, the Dust's were whatever you describe them as. A part of me wanted the belts to stay where they were but it's nice to see change. Just as it looked like the Miz was gonna get the win by tagging himself in The Mizdow mimicked that as well and tagged himself in instead and got the winning pin to win the belts. The miz looked mad at first but thought hey, we're champs!!! 

The next match was a diva elimination match and you guys know what I think about the majority of the divas matches. It's just there to fill time and so I got up & made a sandwich. Came back and it was almost over so I was happy.  Paige's team lost.

One of the highlights of the night was Bray Wyatt vs Dean Ambrose. PLEASE, tell me who is the bigger lunatic here? They both absorb pain like a sponge and wring it back out on the other. Lot of hard hitting moves in this bout, viscous clothelines, signature moves. But as I kinda expected, Ambrose was not out for a win, he was out for blood.....and he took it. This is not John Cena playing good guy not stooping to Wyatt's level. This is Dean freakin Ambrose the lunitic fringe. He took the chair to wyatt & then dirty deeds on the chair. He brought out a table and set him on it & drove the elbow from the top rope through the chest of Wyatt taking him through the table. These are 2 of the big future stars that we have in the WWE and they are a bright future along with a few more if the company plays its cards right.

And here we go with yet anther filler match with the bunny rabbit & the dancing queen Adam Rose teaming against Slater & the other guy who's name I can't remember. Anyways, 4 minutes and it was over bunny rabbit gets the win.

Finally, the match of the night has come and people let me tell you. I absolutely loved this match. It had the humor of Henry going out in seconds with one Big Show punch. BAM! 5 vs 4 now. Team Cena dominate for the first while with  Rybeck tearing each one a new one for a few minutes till every man was in the ring which had the ref turned away trying to restore order. Seth Rollins out of nowhere with a big flying knee to rybeck and then Rybeck being eliminated. Back to 4 vs 4. The fight continues on for a few minutes of good offense. Eric Rowan looked impressive as well did Team Authority's Luke Harper. Eric Rowan went on a nice offensive spree but yet again (and right in front of the referee) Ambrose stops that and they eliminate Rowan. Now the Authority has the advantage 4 vs 3. Cena is down hurt, Ziggler on the floor outside hurt & Big Show steps back up facing down the Authority. Cena not giving up makes his way back up to the shock of everyone with the Big Show knocking him back out & turning his back on Team Cena!!! Big Show walks over and shakes HHH's hand and walks out. It looked like he didnt want to do it from the look on his face but I dunno. C ena is now eliminated and Big Show eliminates himself by leaving.  We are now 4 vs 1 in favor o the Authority. I'm not gonna lie, at this point I was disgusted. Yet another WWE screwjob and I'm tired of them. You pretty much figure that Ziggler will eliminate atleast one member and he does so by eliminating Kane first. Harper comes in and works him over for a while but out of nowhere comes a quick roll up by Ziggler and now Harper is gone!! I forgot to say that Rusev was counted out earlier fighting with Ziggler outside and hurt himself trying a high risk move that sent him through a table. Ziggler just beat the count in but Rusev did not. Ok, back to the present time in match. It has come down now to just Ziggler & Rollins and this was where it got awesome. We seen big move after big move exchanged with Ziggler getting several near pins and rollins as well and just when Ziggler looked to have it won.....HHH pulls ref out & knocks him out. Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!? Come on!!!  The body guards for Ambrose get in to work Ziggler over and he takes them out and nailed his finisher on Rollins yet a second time and once more HHH comes in. This time he takes it upon himself to whip Ziggler down and plant the pedigree on him. BAM end of story, rolls Rollins over on top of him and motions for his ref to come down. The ref starts to count and the lights go down....strobes start going...the Titantron is playing some new intro and music hits and you hear it for the first time ... the sound of a crow!!! Out walks no less than STING himself. The 10 yr old kid in me started marking out inside just like I did everytime I seen my old faves run out as a kid kicking butts and taking names later. Sting walks to the r ing and HHH stares in shock and the staredown begins. They circle each other till HHH finally mans up and takes a swing. One quick duck, a kick & A death drop later and sting has eliminated HHH from the picture. He rolls Ziggler back on top and walks out & the ref from outside rolls in and sees the pin and counts it 1...2....3!!!! Very Awesome end to the match that is setting up one helluva Raw on Monday night. Now the only person that can ever bring the Authority back into Power is John Cena.

I would personally like to give MY thanks to the WWE for one, not letting the Authority to continue getting their way and two, not letting it be Cena that finished them off. That was HUGE for Ziggler and it shows that he is not the only thing we have to cheer for on this show. Now, if we could just get a decent tag team division again. But that's another store for another day. 

Thanks for reading and if you liked what I layed down then like it & share it please. If you have any thoughts, please post them, I'd love to hear your angle, your view or anythng you would like to input.

SummerSlam 2014 Results, Hogan News, Foley's Thoughts & Brock Lesnar

SummerSlam 2014 Results, Hogan News, Foley's Thoughts & Brock Lesnar

                                      

   Well, another SummerSlam has come & gone, so what did you think?? Well you know me, I'm letting you know what I think of it! My only hopes are that the WWE & Mick Foley both can read this somehow & see what a lot of us are thinking about the state of wrestling today & how they are helping drive it down. While t here were some entertaining matches last night there were also some disappointments. Your diva division is practically a joke today yet you made a good match with Stephanie McMahon & Brie Bella. I don't think many people seen it coming that her sister Nikki would turn on her yet you played it out well, kudos on that. The Jericho vs Wyatt match was great and you allowed Wyatt to regain his spot by taking Jericho out this time. Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns was a great match with great spots in it. Most of us probably figured Reigns would win but you almost had us think Randy would pull it out a couple of times. 

   Now, that being said, you ruined the Lumberjack match the way you handled it, the diva match was a filler match at best although I think Paige could be used better. Perhaps look for some better talent to face her and bring them in and drop some of the pretty faces. While it's nice Ziggler is getting a push finally you gave them a short match. Maybe you could have extended that a bit & cut out the diva's match??? I dunno, just saying. I can not understand for the life of me why you are burying Jack Swagger like you are. He has more talent falling out of his butt then Rusev does overall yet you continue to push Rusev. Has Cesaro really fallen down that bad that he has to be pre show material and still lose??? I like RVD but Cesaro is some of that new talent just not being used properly. Tell you what, call Jarrett up & ask him if he wants Cesaro & Swagger and maybe he will take them off your hands. 

   And finally the main event......I am 41 years old and have been watching wrestling since 1979. I can not ever remember watching a champion that was supposed to be so big to the company get manhandled with no chance like you did John Cena. He got destroyed, decimated, mauled, manhandled, bullied & just plan humiliated by Lesnar. How do you plan on bringing that man back and be a credible wrestler contending for the title again??? We aren't buying it. Not even if you bring him back heel .....so what? He got creamed by Lesnar. CM Punk and the Rock & the Undertaker didn't yet Cena has beaten the Rock and Punk for sure. Where is your thinking?? I hope you are reading this cause I challenge you to show us how you make up for this. That's just my first challenge.

   My second challenge goes to Mick Foley. Mick Foley states that Brock Lesnar winning the belt in the fashion he did was best for business. I'm hoping that's a part of his comedy act cause if not I challenge you as well to show us WHY that is best for business. I know people threatening not to watch it anymore cause you have an overgrown muscled up bully that has no real love for wrestling now carrying the belt. He rarely shows up and doesn't wrestle on TV it seems just shows up & F5's a person and prances around like he's a prize fighter ready to box.

   Take a good long look at that picture because that is why we are going downhill today. "Best for Business" means "I'm HHH and I do what I want not what the fans think would be good" If you guys weren't running the show yet just a part of it then it wouldn't be so bad. Stephanie draws real heat on her right now with that snotty attitude she is portraying and I'm not even sure what HHH is supposed to be. Look, this has been done before ... it was called The Corporation and it was OK at first then fizzled out. Can't you be original???? 

   Enough of them, I'm tired of giving them more publicity. Hulk Hogan has been reported saying that he wants one more match before he leaves and apparently the bit where he told Hulk Hogan That "the party's over grandpa" wasn't scripted and Hogan didn't appreciate it. He recently cut a promo stating he wanted Lesanr in a match. Good luck selling that one. I've rambled on enough for now. Comment with your thoughts on how you feel things are going or leave comments on anything discussed here. If you like please share with your friends and follow me weekly.

Summer Slam 2014

Summer Slam 2014

   Well, the time for Summer Slam is upon us yet again and the BIG match that most are awaiting is John Cena vs. Brock Lesner. Both men had their final words for Raw this past Monday night with Paul Heyman attempting a little rap of his own and John Cena returning his shot at how he might unleash the "bad guy" the fans seem to want him to be when they boo him every night.

   There are other great matches on the card as well and I will be doing a match by match call on the blog for those who cant watch and wanna know whats going on.

   In the meantime, tell me about your favorite Summer Slam match or moment that has happened and let's get the excitement rolling for the summer party of wrestling!

   In the mean time, here is a Summer Slam moment from 2011 to hold you over.