Boss Rock

Same.

I thought he was a great heel in that I desperately wanted to see him get his shit kicked in. Another guy who I actively wanted to see get beat up on a regular basis. Mission accomplished.

The Big Boss Man-Big Show feud from '99. So ridiculous and over-the-top in making Boss Man look like the most evil human being in wrestling history. I just love watching those segments and Show just destroying him at Armageddon. I also still have a soft spot for Ahmed Johnson for being my first "favorite" as a kid. Old Undertaker gimmick matches/feuds as well. I also love me some Glacier.

Other than Bryan's off-screen "regret" following the Nexus angle I can't think of one. I know Matt Morgan departing Fortune in TNA was due to a genuine change of heart, but it's not like he really went anywhere or did anything of much note.

Rollins and Ambrose matches definitely, the Usos match at Survivor Series was also very good.

I was expecting this match to be good, but they honestly surprised me here. Dragon looked maybe just a tad slower than normal (he's coming off an injury), but there were still some awesome offensive exchanges by both men. The aforementioned arm work was great as well and both Dragon and SHO did a good job selling. Multiple times in the match things broke down into a pissing contest where both men were adamant on getting the better of the other in striking exchanges, almost leading to a double count-out. The aggression in these exchanges really took things to another level and it became a matter of how much the more seasoned Dragon Lee was going to have to do to put the upstart SHO away. ****1/4.

What a crazy last two months Will Ospreay has had. Since Sakura Genesis, the guy has legitimately looked like a best in the world-level talent. He still has a tendency to overdo it on the screams, but he's gotten so much better at weaving long-term physical selling with his beautiful aerial moves. Loved how he tried to jump Taiji from the get-go and seemingly had an answer for most of his comeback attempts. However, Taiji eventually took advantage of Will's neck injury and began to turn the tide. Will's selling was perfectly weaved into his comebacks (loved the little touches like how bouncing off the ropes caused him pain) but then it was Taiji's turn to provide an answer for Will's moves. I like the Bloody Cross move but feel like Taiji could afford to get a little more elevation or impact on it. Great return match for Taiji and another standout for Will. ****

Have not heard many good things about Flip, but he acquitted himself very well. ACH did a great job being more aggressive than usual and just chopped the shit out of Flip. This allowed Flip to rally back and shine with some very impressive aerial maneuvers. Great and really fun match that allowed both guys to play to their strengths. ****

Great match and probably the best of the tournament so far (even if it's only been three days). Marty continues to prove that he's an effective heel when he drops the arm flapping and other shenanigans instead focusing on trying break Hiromu's neck like he did Will at Sakura Genesis. Hiromu's comebacks are explosive and really makes you feel like he's going for broke. Lots of drama in the finishing stretch and the finish itself felt like a true last ditch effort by Hiromu. ****1/4.

"The only time of the year when Raw and Smackdown Live go head-to-head in direct competition" and "#undersiege".

I bought it at first just because Cena really seems like the type who doesn't want to get married or have kids, but it's looking more and more like a work every day.

The buzzwords and taglines are the absolute worst for me. I hate them with a passion. I remember last year every time someone said Wrestlemania they had to add "The Ultimate Thrill Ride". It got to a point where Triple H, during a promo about how he was going to destroy Seth and end his career, still needed to say "At Wrestlemania, the Ultimate Thrill Ride..." That just kills me.

Tremendous.

I actually absolutely believe that heels should win cleanly (at least sometimes). It drives me absolutely crazy when someone turns and all the sudden they can't win matches cleanly, like overnight. It also gives the faces a challenge to overcome other than cheating, which alleviates some of the intuition to start putting gimmicks around the match that should "even" the odds. I also draw a distinction between bending the rules a bit throughout the match to get an advantage or maybe even going past the line of sportsmanship and cheating to get the actual decision. The former is something that should be built into a heels DNA, the latter should be used fairly strategically. Heels shouldn't win clean ALL the time, but I find the pattern of heels only (or even the vast majority of the time) cheating to win super irritating. Spot on about the nature of Alexa's promos and who has come out stronger (or more accurately not) from her feuds, but I really attribute that to them not sticking with much long term for her (aside from Nia). To me, the Sasha feud left a lot on the table. Sasha and maybe even Bayley came out worse for feuding with her because it felt - at least to me - like things moved forward unresolved ultimately. I also think both of those two at least have been the product of waffling booking for a long time now so I am hard pressed to pinpoint a single thing that caused their decline in standing. Both were overdetermined in my mind. Bayley did get buried in those promos though, but that was at least part on her for not being ready for that. Couldn't agree more. Heels should be credible enough that they can beat 98-99% of the roster clean. If they need loads of cheating to beat even mid-carders (see Seth Rollins circa 2015), then the audience loses interest. I also like the idea of bending the rules/taking a few shortcuts throughout the course of the match even if the finish is clean to ensure the heel doesn't look like TOO much of a coward and the face doesn't look like they were 100% inferior. And I also agree that the Sasha/Bayley feuds suffered because the heel went over while leaving so much unresolved. The heel was basically proven right and that was that.

One of the best TV matches of the year, NXT or otherwise. Pete Dunne played a surprisingly good face in peril the first half of the match and as soon as the hot tag was made to Lorcan, all hell broke loose. It was the best kind of controlled chaos where everyone is nailing big moves but nothing feels lost or distracting. Perpetual underdog Danny Burch getting a win was also very nice. ****1/4.

I do agree that wrestlers usually lost more in losing to Alexa than to Charlotte, but I think that had more to do with Alexa being a bully and her taunts being proven true by beating them cleanly. Charlotte was more "I'm the best" as opposed to "You're a loser who won't amount to anything".

My issue with Charlotte is that she's a good asskicker and heel, but a terrible babyface and promo. Alexa isn't a great wrestler, but is loads more charismatic and a better talker. I personally would have given the rocket to Sasha as she's always seemed to be the most popular and can play face and heel well.

It's been my running theory that she gets booked the way she does because someone in creative wants to have sex with her. It's the only thing that makes any sense to me as they just continually sacrifice better talent at her feet. Bayley, Sasha, Becky and Nia have all taken serious hits because of programs with her. I try not to think like that if I can help it. I do think she is a Hunter or Vince project. More likely Hunter, because Vince can't keep his projects over. I'd say Vince considering she never even got a Takeover singles match. The Horsewomen were always Trips' favorites. Although Trips always seemed to favor Bayley and Sasha over Charlotte, who seems like another Vince favorite.

I'd have her beat Nia in just a few minutes, but every single babyface working underneath for minutes at a time seems to be their MO.

Married for almost 3 years, one kid.

WWE CAN NOT book babyface well at all. Daniel Bryan broke them. We'll see how things go with Ronda.

Hard-hitting, fast-paced, back-and-forth action all tied up in a neat, 20 minute package. Very worthy successor of their 2015 classic and already one of the best matches of the year. Not much more I can say other than "Watch this match." ****3/4

Lariato! on Twitter has an amazing match rec list going all the way back to the 70's: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsZCBTpKjHzdbCpKZ1No1KAdpmOd2OcgSMfC1-oa7pI/edit#gid=0 As for more footage being added, I'm not sure. I think the biggest issue is that TV Asahi owns a lot of it.

Interestingly enough he mentioned in an interview months ago how much he wanted to punch like Lawler, ha.

Barr is a great call. And as broken-down as Tenryu was, I thought he and Okada put together a pretty solid match.