BWOTYear: 2016, A Year in Review + The BWOTW Awards

Hello there readers, and welcome to this retrospective of the fucking strange year that was 2016. 

Now, this blog celebrates the best matches that grace our various screens of all sizes. But not only will we be looking at the best wrestling matches of 2016, for we shall also give recognition to those who excelled in other aspects of pro wrestling. Also, although the weekly format picks out the one best, in this special year review, we'll take a look at the best ten, as there have a been a load of awesome matches, and because it is very hard to decide.

And so, here it is....

The Best Matches of the Year

AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura - WrestleKingdom 10

Dailymotion - Vimeo

A match here that took place a couple months before the start of this blog, but that doesn't really matter because this was class. Taking place at New Japan's biggest show of 2016, WrestleKingdom 10, AJ Styles challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. 

At the time, AJ was dealing with a niggling back injury, but you could watch this and not even be able to tell anything was wrong with him. Everything was crisp, good as ever and he held nothing back. Plus, when you're going in there with Nakamura, at WrestleKingdom in the Tokyo Dome, you've gotta bring your all. These guys kicked the shit out of each other, painful looking spots, and it was all sewn together into an instant classic. 

The next night at New Year's Dash, AJ Styles would say farewell to New Japan, ready to venture to the new shores of WWE, and Nakamura was soon to follow. Speaking of which...

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn - TakeOver: Dallas

Dailymotion - Vimeo - WWE Network

Oh my fuck, what a match. I love it.

We're at WrestleMania weekend here, and this was the best damn match Texas witnessed. Nakamura's debut could not have gone better; a hell of a reaction, a hot crowd, and an amazing match with Sami Zayn.

This is probably the match with the best crowd division ever. 'Na-ka-mu-ra/Sa-mi-Zayn!' rung out for a good long time, followed later by the 'Fight Forever!' chant synonymous with this match. 

What boggles my mind to this day about this is that it is said these two hardly, if at all, discussed anything about this match. They never encountered each other beforehand... HOW!? This match looked like something done between two guys who have wrestled each other for years, or at least talked about thoroughly. The sequences in this one were so complex, so insane, it was like watching poetry. 

We had Nakamura's awesome entrance kicking us off, and then the match ended with an NXT farewell to Sami Zayn who then rocked in the ladder match the next night at WrestleMania 32. Both beautiful moments.

Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens - Battleground

Dailymotion - WWE Network

Hands down my favourite match between these two in WWE, possibly ever, we have Sami Zayn popping up on this list once more, taking on Kevin Owens.

This match was brutal, with some wrestling that looked nasty as shit. That brainbuster on the apron is probably the most horrific spot this whole goddamn year. Zayn fucked up a moonsault to the outside which proved more beneficial awry than it would have if it was successful, which is a testament to the knowledge these two have about storytelling in wrestling. 

This felt like a match fuelled by piss and vinegar, proper blood feud. Owens and Zayn are masters at conveying emotion in wrestling, Zayn was still awesome even under the Generico mask. It was so compelling. Perhaps at the time this feud didn't get the build it deserved, but I am hopeful somewhere down the line these guys will be the main event story.

Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa - Cruiserweight Classic Episode 4

Dailymotion - WWE Network

The final first round match of the Cruiserweight Classic saw the tag team partners of Tommaso 'Have-To-Check-The-Spelling-Of-That-Every-Goddamn-Time' Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. 

This match told probably the best story this year. All you needed to know was these guys are tag partners, the promo package beforehand and everything was self contained. You didn't need weeks of RAWs or the like to build this match up to tell a massive story. Just a brief video, the match and the aftermath gave us a lovely story. 'I hit to hurt, not to injure' from Ciampa was a great line and was acted out greatly in the ring.

This was stiff. They did not go lightly on each other, which only went towards making the entire tournament appear even more important. And this was the first round remember, up until now the majority of the bracket had been 'more well known guy vs lesser known guy' and it was kinda obvious would win. This one however, it was up in the air. Kept me guessing and firmly positioned on the edge of my seat.

Kota Ibushi vs Cedric Alexander - Cruiserweight Classic Episode 5

Dailymotion - WWE Network

Just one episode later in the Cruiserweight Classic and we got this barn burner. The match that arguably got Cedric Alexander signed to the WWE, his face off with Kota Ibushi was a fucking classic.

Alexander's balls to the wall approach to this match was a sight to behold in his challenging of the world-class talent that is Ibushi. The emotion was dripping off of him, and the reactions of the crowd fuelled the flames. It was also so valiant, and the shift from determination to desperation could be seen all over Cedric's face. Even in defeat, you had to admire the man, him and Ibushi put on a clinic, and those "Please-sign-Ced-ric" chants were well warranted.

The Revival vs #DIY - TakeOver Brooklyn II

Dailymotion - WWE Network

We're in August now and at TakeOver: Brooklyn II, and the NXT Tag Team Championships are the focus of this bad boy. Just under a month removed from their clash in the Cruiserweight Classic, Ciampa and Gargano challenge The Revival in this amazing match up.

Lots of support for #DIY, a lot of us were more than half expecting them to win with the push they received in the lead up to this. It was this sort of desire that boosted the emotional power of this match, with the glimmers of hope when it looked to be swinging in their favour, and the ruination of it by Dash and Dawson made those emotions take a dip into despair. 

Simply put, it was another instance of The Revival having a tag team wrestling version of King Midas's touch; another match turned to gold here.

AJ Styles vs John Cena - SummerSlam

Dailymotion - WWE Network

The night after the previous entry, it's SummerSlam. Amidst the various okay-ish matches that peppered the show, this insta-classic shone like a torch through pitch as it's saving grace.

The conclusion to the brewing fantasy feud, AJ Styles and John Cena go toe-to-toe, Brooklyn was blessed that day. This was a big 'holy shit!' match, with amazing sequences, massive spots, and lots of sphincter tightening tension. As a guy cheering AJ on at fuck-knows o'clock in the morning, I was hugely invested in this match, watching with a constantly shifting mix of elated grins and gritted teeth. 

It is another instance of Cena showing that he can fucking wrestle. If a balls out match is needed, a balls out match you will get. Their match at Money in the Bank was a much more story driven match, with The Club being a big question mark lingering, but this was the definitive bout. AJ Styles versus John Cena. No gimmicks. No shit. Pure wrestling.

The Young Bucks vs The Addiction vs The Motor City Machine Guns - All-Star Extravaganza VIII

Ring of Honour takes centre stage now and sweet shit they went above and beyond and back again. The tag team division is one of ROH's strongest assets, and throwing these three great teams together and some good stuff was bound to happen. Throw them together with ladders, some tables and a few chairs and it jumped to the next level.

Christopher Daniels died for our sins in this match. The blood was intense, verging on unsettling at the end of it. Despite the loss of copious amounts of life force, he didn't take any breaks, took the brunt of even more big moves and made sure everything went swimmingly. 

One of the coolest things ever this year was seen in this match, a Meltzer Driver off the ladder through a table, the setup seen in the picture above. Say what you will about The Young Bucks, but they know how to make a match 12 times more awesome than it currently is.

The Young Bucks vs Pentagon Jr. & Fenix - Battle of Los Angeles, Stage Three

The Young Bucks are back again, this time in Reseda, California, for the third night of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. This time their against another brother duo in the shape of Fenix and Pentagon Jr. 

Hahaholy fuck this match had some incredible action in it (evidence above). I pray I get to see Fenix and Pentagon team a lot more in the future, because they are insane together. On their own they're amazing, then having them in the same match, and having The Young Bucks there to work with, money making formula. 

This was my personal highlight of the BOLA tournament, and just thinking about it gets me raring to go for another PWG event. They had one sometime earlier in December, but God knows when we'll see that released, let alone a preview video. Regardless, PWG know how to deliver, and deliver they did.

The Revival vs #DIY - TakeOver: Toronto


Dailymotion (Starts a couple minutes in) - WWE Network (It hasn't got its match links up, so its a link to the whole show, sorry)

They're back again! The Revival + #DIY = Am-A-Zing

It's 2 out of 3 Falls this time around and my God it added so much to the match. Each fall felt more important than the last, as the match progressed, so did the drama of it all. When you compare this to their prior clash at Brooklyn, you can see how far #DIY have come as a team, and their is a clear evolution of their approach to facing The Revival. Rematches are always at their best when you can see callbacks to the previous encounter; where Ciampa may have been blindsided before, he countered this time and so on. 

Somehow, Dash and Dawson managed to be even more dastardly, but this time, there was a more distinct feel of desperation on their part. This undying endurance from #DIY and clawing lust for life from The Revival meshed into a concoction of gods fighting for Earth itself. 

The finish was the most amped I had been in a long time, the side-by-side submission holds were a sight to behold and made for one last utterance of tension and strife. What a class match.

There you have it readers, my 'Top 10 Matches of 2016', if I had to pick one to coronate one as the best, I'd ask for more time. Some were better than others, but distinguishing between them is a nigh impossible task all things considered. 

And now, for a look at those who stood out amongst the pack these past 12 months, it's time for...

The 2016 BWOTW Awards

Male Competitor of the Year: AJ Styles

What can I say? From the Tokyo Dome then debuting at the Rumble in January, to being WWE World Champion in December, AJ Styles has had a phenomenal year, no two ways about it. You'd struggle to find a bad match of his from this year, though his booking may have been a bit shaky in the Jericho feud, he made sure those matches ruled. Lets look at all the programmes he's had this year; Jericho, Reigns, Cena, Ambrose, they've all been great to watch. Styles has become, in my opinion, the top heel in the WWE, on par with Kevin Owens. He's been able to embrace the cocky dick side of his character, reminiscent of his Bullet Club days, and has become a regular highlight in the wrestling week.

Female Competitor of the Year: Charlotte

As with AJ, though her booking may not have been the greatest, she has consistently been able to make some matches a joy to watch. History was made when she became the first holder of the reinstated WWE Women's Championship (now RAW Women's Championship), stealing the show at WrestleMania alongside her Horsewomen companions, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. In maintaining her flawless Pay-Per-View record, her matches at these have always stood out in some way. There's no denying the effort Charlotte puts in to making her matches memorable, whether it be through throwing caution to the wind by taking to the air, or by embracing more hardcore/extreme action. 

Tag Team of the Year: The Revival

SAY YEAH! 

Dash and Dawson, The Revival, stood out in 2016. Despite being crowned NXT Tag Team Champions in November of 2016, they were a relatively un-established team, not even going by their 'Revival' moniker. However, they made people take notice, delivering classic after classic after classic in their feuds with American Alpha and #DIY. It's gotten to the point that when you see these two walk to the ring, you can expect a tag team wrestling clinic to be on show. These guys certainly do go hard, all day and night.

Title Reign of the Year: The Miz - Intercontinental Champion

Whatever I may feel towards The Miz, I have to admit that his reign as Intercontinental Champion was great. He immediately pissed me off by taking the title from Zack Ryder, and from then on he continued to be a prick. As well as all his heel antics, he also managed to put on some really good matches too; the Fatal-4-Way at Extreme Rules, plus his surprisingly good series with Ziggler. We can't not discuss his ongoing feud with Daniel Bryan. His promos on Talking Smack and all their segments together have been a joy to watch, and fundamental in The Miz becoming as good a champion as he is.

Brand/Promotion of the Year: NXT

Yes, NXT wins it. From putting on awesome TakeOvers to having a myriad of debuts, NXT has stood out amongst the rest. Dallas, The End, Brooklyn II, Toronto, plus their great shows at Osaka and Melbourne, NXT have been knocking out of the park. You just have to scroll up to see the incredible matches the brand has seen this year, plus many more. NXT has changed drastically since last year, with big name additions making up a lot of the roster; Nakamura, Roode, Almas, Aries, Strong, TM61, Young, Moon, plus more yet to debut. NXT is set to make a big impact in the coming year too.

Feud of the Year: AJ Styles vs John Cena

The feud that many thought would never occur, Mr. TNA vs Mr. WWE, the leader of The Bullet Club vs the leader of the Cenation, AJ Styles vs John Cena. Right from the off this feud was hot, with the initial pleasantries and then the Styles attack, it was all exciting stuff. We had standout promos, with Styles notching up the intensity and passion - 'People like you bury people like me'. Their match at Money in the Bank was great, then SummerSlam took all we knew and flipped it upside down. With Styles taking the name of 'The Face that Runs the Place', the effects and battle scars have lingered, and with Cena's recent return and challenge, we'll be getting Styles/Cena one more time at the Royal Rumble. Who knows what's next in store?

Innovation of the Year: Cruiserweight Classic 

From it's announcement early in the year to its debut on the WWE Network, I was seriously hyped for the Crusierweight Classic, and then that was accentuated when the lineup was announced. Guys who I had wanted to see in WWE (e.g Sabre Jr, Cedric, Ibushi, Gulak) and those returning stars (Kendrick and Tajiri) plus the usage of NXT wrestlers Ciampa, Gargano and the then yet to debut Swann. Week after week we got incredible matches, the bar being raised night after night. And now, we have a dedicated division and a network show, along with the new Cruiserweight Championship. Added to this the fact this appears to be an annual event, WWE have staked their claim in expanding their horizons, especially now with the rumoured women's tournament, and the upcoming United Kingdom Championship Tournament.

Pay-Per-View/Special Event of the Year: TakeOver Dallas

Just look at the card; Aries/Corbin, Bayley/Asuka, American Alpha/The Revival, Joe/Balor and Nakamura/Zayn. Whilst Aries and Corbin was the weakest link, it was still a real good match. Plus with the standout tag match accompanied by the downfall of Bayley and the crowning of Asuka, the event was made even better. Then you add to this my favourite of the Joe/Balor series, with the blood of Joe ramping things up. Finally, you put the jewel in the crown that is Nakamura/Zayn - a bonafide classic. What a great show, a fucking great show at that. 

Shock of the Year: Goldberg vs Lesnar - Survivor Series

Who saw this coming? Nobody. 

Goldberg at his finest, destroying fuckers. My God I was so worried this was gonna be a shitshow, with Lesnar winning and souring my week. Nope. Monday morning, break time at school, watched this on my friends phone and reacted like a madman. Incredible stuff. Also in the running was AJ's debut, however there was a lot of signs and indications in the lead up to it, as was Shane's return. But, this takes the cake as I felt it went from expecting one extreme to delivering the other. He was right, he did have (at least) one last ass-kicking left in him.
 
Spot of the Year: Shane McMahon and his WrestleMania Moment

C'mon now, how can you dispute this one? Shane O'Mac risking life and limb, diving from the top of the Cell in a bid to try and put The Deadman down and claim Monday Night RAW as his own. No matter how many times you watch it, it is exhilarating to watch. I remember being sat in my living room, on edge as he stood on the top looking down, and then being in awe during and after it. 

The Closing Thought

2016, as bad as it was overall around the world, it was a fucking great year in wrestling. WWE has shaken things up drastically, with the big name additions on both the main roster and NXT, the brand split, the Cruiserweights, added to this all the awesome matches they had to offer, 2016 was the best year in WWE for quite some time. After the debacle that was 'The Divas Revolution' the year before, the women's roster became more serious and key part of the shows. Tag team wrestling has gained a brighter spotlight all over the world, with some truly great teams getting recognition. It livened up, it gave us more reasons to watch, and was the spawning point for why I started this blog in the first place. I felt that wrestling was becoming so much better, and I needed an outlet to express my thoughts on it. I figured I could help those jaded and lapsed fans see the good stuff that there is in the wrestling world, and show it off to those newer fans. 2016, you've done me a great service, and you've set 2017 up to be a killer year. 

Thanks for checking this one out guys, hope you liked it, hope you thought I did a good job of summarising these past 12 months, and I hope next year will be great for you in whatever paths you choose to take. Have a good one!

BWOTW Special: The United Kingdom Championship

Hey there readers, and welcome to this 'BWOTW Special', in which we will be taking an in-depth look at the recently announcement made by the WWE of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament.

Well fist me and call me Jerry this came out of nowhere! We heard that WWE had been sending out some kind of contracts to UK talent to ward off World of Sport and WCPW signing everyone, but Christ O'Riley I did not see this coming. So what exactly is this? Well....

Fuckin' gorgeous! It's like a pound coin but awesome. 

That, my friends, is the WWE United Kingdom Championship. Whose is it? January 14th and 15th, we have a two day tournament in Blackpool, England to decide who will be the first UK Champion. 16 wrestlers from across the British Isles will converge to compete in this bad boy, including PROGRESS Champion, Pete Dunne. Tickets have already sold out, sorry guys.

Not only that, we have learnt that there is a new member of the WWE announce team, Nigel McGuinness. Side note, I fucking love Nigel McGuinness. For those who don't know who this man is, Nigel is, in my opinion, one of the best British wrestlers ever. He's a former Ring of Honour Champion, having a classic rivalry with Daniel Bryan (then Bryan Danielson) and was just awesome. 

As a flavour, here's him vs KENTA (Hideo Itami)

He very nearly joined D-Bry in WWE, but due to prior injuries, the contract was withdrawn. Crying shame. He did go on to sign with TNA, but his run there was cut short due to health issues. McGuinness retired from in-ring competition in 2011, and has since had various other on-screen roles for TNA & ROH, including commentary. So glad to see him finally arrive in WWE, though he may not be in-ring, it's still lovely.

Added to all this goodness, it was said that these Brits would also be getting a weekly show on top of this. Perhaps the most interesting point however, is that it is of my understanding that they are free to wrestle on the indies. Very, very interesting. We've not seen anything like this, the closest being allowing signed wrestlers to finish up dates, but this is ongoing.

Also, its got a fucking sick theme.

Now, as with anything ever, there are some positives, and perhaps one or two negatives, giving me hopes and also some fears. So, let's get to the discussion.

Let's start with saying that this massively important to the British wrestling scene, no doubt about it. We're getting the beginnings of a turf war, with the main sides seemingly being WWE, WCPW and World of Sport, not to say that they're the only big players on the British scene. We have the likes of PROGRESS, RevPro, ICW, OTT and many more, the three mentioned are the only ones looking for contracts to keep them from the others.

While some may seem this as a negative, dividing an ecosystem that has been living in relative harmony, contractual agreements give these wrestlers job security, something that is very handy in independent wrestling, especially for your less well known guys who are receiving these opportunities. Money may not make the world go round but it fucking helps.

It's also worth noting that these factions mean one thing; competition. And competition creates excellence. Clearly, WWE are the big dogs here. I dunno how big a fish World of Sport is gonna be, I'm not massively optimistic judging from the reports of the tapings, but maybe this will fuel the flames and show them they can make some waves. WCPW have quickly risen the ranks of the British scene, expanding their reach across the country, having iPPVs and getting talents such as Cody Rhodes, #BROKEN Matt Hardy and Kurt Angle. It'll be interesting to see what steps they take to further themselves.

Another aspect that I'm a tad cautious about is the concept of a new weekly show. In the conference, Triple H went out of his way to give dates and times for the tournament, so I imagine the tournament will be broadcast over said weekend, rather than how the Cruiserweight Classic was shown over the summer. That means I'd imagine the weekly show to get underway pretty soon-ish. 

Now, I'll be honest, I'm already struggling a bit to fit everything in; RAW, SmackDown!, 205 Live, NXT, Pay-Per-Views, and that's just WWE. I'd hate to have to start economising my wrestling time even more, but this may become a reality, hopefully not. I know I like to watch as much as possible, and this really has me excited, so I'm definitely gonna try my hardest to fit it in, something else may have to go. 

Also, I think it's fair to say that 205 Live hasn't gotten off to a great start, and I'm a tad worried similar may happen to the Brits. Though it can be said the Cruiserweights suffered most from their less than spectacular introduction on Monday Night RAW, general neglect is what I think did it. With this being quite separated from the main roster, I should think it will be managed like NXT, with Triple H/Papa Hunter taking the reigns, which sounds great.

With the weekly show, that means there is potential for another touring brand. As a guy living in Britain, I would love and jump at the chance to see these guys. It is one of my goals next year and forward to try and go to more shows, so this would be ideal. I can understand them staying in Blackpool, sort of like a version of Full Sail, but with that being on the other side of the fucking country to me, that wouldn't be great for me. Just hit up some other big cities near me and I'll be a happy boy. 

Possibly the biggest thing for me, as a British guy, is that it makes me feel a lot closer to WWE, and more cared for, if that makes sense. 

Us Brits on out little island can sometimes feel a little isolated when it comes to our international entertainment outlets. As for WWE, yeah we get shows, and a lot more than other countries who have more of a right to complain at that, but we don't get a whole lot of major stuff. We got TakeOver: London last year, but that was the first thing like that in a long time. With this, I feel like WWE is seeing us as a more important and significant audience/market. It makes me feel like they appreciate us here on the British Isles, and that's lovely. 

Something that hits home with me though is something a tad more personal. It is a dream of mine to work for WWE in any capacity, be it on or off screen, however unimportant. This expansion to my homeland could mean I may have some minuscule chance, like my boy Nigel McGuinness, to actually realise it. 



That's all from me, hope you guys enjoyed, but most of all, what do you think about this whole thing? Potential masterpiece or ticking timebomb? Lemme know somehow, whether it be over this fine interwebs or shouting in my face, either way. I will catch your ass down the road, and I will leave you with Nigel's awesome theme..

Wrestlintroduction: The Appeal of Pro Wrestling & Why I Love It So

Professional wrestling; it's not fake, its just not real. That's how I like to put it anyway. 

Wrestling is a funny thing, there really is nothing like it in this world. It's a mix of theatre, comicbooks, mythology, stunts and drama. Each of these elements form together to make a weird, unique form of entertainment.

At its crux, pro wrestling is a story telling platform. These stories can be self contained in one night, even one match, or some last for months, even years. Though a lot may not be very memorable or that good, there are a certain elite that glimmer like golden pages in the pro wrestling storybook. Pro wrestling storylines can be as layered and deep as any a novel or epic, it just needs the right cast and the right plot. 

Wrestling, most of the time, doesn't have the benefit of being able to be redrafted and tweaked over years before anyone has chance to see it. Wrestling is operated in real-time, with stories being told in regular intervals, piece by piece added with the potential of things out of the writers' control occurring, like injuries and other real-life circumstances. However, though this can be seen as a negative, it also allows for those steering the ship to change things judged on reception and feedback. 

One of my favourite stories is that of Daniel Bryan and his road to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I loved this so much because it tapped into real life attitudes of the fans, and it took the audience's opinion on something to make a truly heart-warming moment. Though the actual build to his championship win could be seen as taking place in a matter of weeks or months, the whole thing was a matter of years of prior work.

As a brief run down, Daniel Bryan had quite a large following was considered quite a big deal before coming to the WWE, though a lot of the higher ups in WWE didn't see it that way. For the first few years of his run in WWE, it could be said that he was not used to his true potential, yet he managed to make a lot of great things work that probably shouldn't have. Fans were elated when he finally won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but this was short live, losing it within minutes. Once it became clear that the WWE didn't have any real plans for Bryan to stay near the top and around the title scene, fans began to voice their distaste. This prompted the 'Yes Movement', that transitioned into being a full-on story on WWE television, culminating at WrestleMania 30.

Bryan defeated Triple H in a hard-fought battle which meant he was added to the main event, making it a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between him, Randy Orton and Batista. Here's how it played out:

That thunderous cheer is something no other form of story-telling can muster from it's audience. Whilst it is already pretty rapturous in that first clip, I feel like you can get a much better feel of it when you see live fan reactions;

Although it wasn't quite as loud, that is pretty similar to my reaction in my living room watching it live at 4AM. It's the weird blend of reality and fiction that conjures such an intense emotion, something incapable to be made from a book, TV series or film. 

In terms of why I relate it to comicbooks and mythology, its really quite simple. Wrestling shows are made up with a cast of characters, all with their own unique backstories, allies, enemies, traits and personalities. 

For example, let's look at the current (as of 17/10/16) WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens. He is a self-proclaimed 'prize-fighter', working to provide a better life for him and his family. Yet, his brutality and under-handed tactics counteract this noble cause, even betraying his long-time best friend in his pursuit for championships. So, just like that you have this complex character where he has an admirable goal, yet do the ends justify the means? As well as that, he has this certain coldness to his approach, but he also has his streaks of rage and emotional outbursts, adding another layer of this man's complicated personality. Added to this he has his egotistical streak and sarcastic tone to everyone, you now have this unique character.

On a very different plane to Owens, you have The New Day. Now, when these guys formed together, they were portrayed pretty much as a black preacher stereotype. However, through their actions and promos, they evolved this character into a more cocky, cheat-to-win group. Then from there they kept evolving into adding more comedy and zaniness into their antics. Soon they became 'faces' (good guys), mainly because people, myself included, just loved all the stuff they did week-in, week-out. The following is an interview from February when technically they were 'heels' (bad guys), but people loved them anyway.

And just like in comicbooks and mythology, we have these characters being shaped and changing from all the trials and tribulations they endure over their career. The examples I chose were to display the type of thing currently on television, but its worth noting that characters develop over years, sometimes decades, like The Undertaker, who at one point was no longer a mystical magician and was, instead, a badass biker who entered to Limp Bizkit (I shit you not). 

The other things I listed as the appeals of pro wrestling was 'stunts and sport'. I feel like the matches themselves are stuck under the perception that they're all like Hulk Hogan matches of the 80s with a lot of shit-looking punches and maybe a slam or two. However, even back then with guys like 'Mr. Perfect' Curt Hennig and Owen and Bret Hart, you have guys putting on great matches that have a whole host of amazing looking manoeuvres and excellent story-telling. It can be seen that wrestling matches have generally become more action packed as the years have gone on. You don't have to look far to find incredible stuff going on;

In regards to story-telling, it can sound a bit weird to say that a fight between two or more people can tell a story, but that's just another way in which wrestling is a bit strange anyway. The wrestlers themselves don't even have to speak to tell these stories, leaving it mostly to their actions, reactions and body language.

Recently, I think that one of the best matches to depict this is that of Johnny Gargano versus his tag team partner, Tommaso Ciampa, in this past summer's epic 'Cruiserweight Classic' tournament. Gargano is often touted as having a ton of toughness and endurance, whilst Ciampa is mainly regarded as being a heavy-hitter who knows how to inflict pain. Before the match in an interview with Ciampa, he gave the great line 'I hit with intent to hurt, not to injure', which I thought really resonated in the match itself. Ciampa was hitting Johnny with everything he had, yet he couldn't put him away, resulting in sequences like this;

Matches don't even have to be that complex to tell a story, it could just be 'Wrestler A has a damaged leg and is fighting through it' or 'Wrestler B is fucking angry at Wrestler B for 'x''.

Without going on forever, those are, in my opinion, the pillars of the appeal of pro wrestling; a unique way of telling stories in both in and out of the ring, the web of lore and mythos that coincides with the deep characters and just incredible spectacles of athleticism and toughness within the matches. All of these combined together form a great platform of entertainment, enthralling me near daily for as long as I can remember, and for the foreseeable future.


I hope you guys enjoyed this! This is a series I'm going to hopefully expand on, dunno how often though. If there are any aspects of pro wrestling or queries you have about this strange pseudo-sport I love that you would like explaining or your understanding developed upon, or even just let me know and I'll add it to the list.

Have a good one guys!

BWOTW: 12/9/16 - 17/9/16

Ahoy to you, dear reader, and welcome to this latest instalment, addition and edition to this little thing called 'Noah's Best Wrestling of the Week' AKA 'Am I Dreaming Right Now?' AKA 'Noah's Birthday Bonanza'

Best birthday present ever

It's been a BIG week in wrestling, so let's turn our heads a little to the left and then down a smidge to look at this week's stories from the wrestling world;

1. Titles galore! Becky Lynch is your inaugural SmackDown! Women's Champion, Heath Slater and Rhyno are the inaugural SmackDown! Tag Team Champions, and Jesus Henry Christ, AJ STYLES IS WWE WORLD CHAMPION (more on that later)
2. TJ Perkins is your winner for the first Cruiserweight Classic and the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Fuck me, what a tournament, all 10 weeks were astounding. When/If Triple H does take over from Vince one day, after this, there is no doubt in my mind that he'll do a great job.
3. Welp, CM Punk lost his debut UFC fight. But, despite what happened in that octagon, my respect for him rose tenfold even before he even stepped inside. Just seeing Punk enter with 'Cult of Personality', which was unedited making it even better, made me happy. Fair fucks to you, CM Punk, I look forward to what's next.
4. It's now confirmed! Roderick Strong has signed with WWE. NXT is getting stacked, they need to call some guys up soon.
5. New Japan Pro Wrestling's revenue for this fiscal year is $32 Million, up by $5 Million from last year. They're in the ass-kicking business, and business is good

And now for the syrup'n'sauce on this wrestling blog stack of pancakes, it's the matches!

WWE Backlash

Best Match on Backlash: AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Honourable Mention: This whole show

Sweet lord above, what is going on? Is this real? Jimminy jillikers, Radioactive Man.

Right, let's do the match first and then I can gush all over the place so much it'll be easier to just move house than clean it up. 

First off, fucking Backlash is back guys, never thought I'd cover one of these on the blog, and we've got No Mercy coming up! SmackDown!, if you give me Vengeance or Armageddon, I'll be happy. 

As soon as we that bell rung, dueling chants of 'LET'S-GO-AM-BROSE/A-J-STY-LES' of seemingly equal support. Now, Dean is arguably one of, if not the, most cheered wrestler WWE has on the roster, and for AJ to have the same level support, and even getting Dean boo'd is a testament to how popular Styles is, even with the non-hardcore fans.

We start things off much like AJ has done lately, out-wrestling and mouthing of to Ambrose, which is such a great little detail that makes his character really come to life. The early goings also saw Dean pull off some more traditional wrestling, with the intent to be to throw Styles off his game. Soon after, it became a pretty back and forth for the next few minutes, and then we got AJ taking control following a super cool leg-breaker-drop thing, the proceeding to continue the beatdown on the leg, weakening it for his Calf-Killer submission. He kicked the shit out of it, and the application of the aforementioned submission hold then heightened the drama.

 Ambrose soon got back on his feet and began his string of offence, which was mostly his typical, frantic attacks. One highlight of this was a clattering slingshot into the post;

We had some brawling on the outside after this, going round to the commentary tables and then stumbling into the crowd. The latter minutes saw it go back to the more equal advantage from the start, trading blows and big moves, until we came to a close. The ref accidentally gets knocked down and then it all finally played out;

THE UNBEATABLE POWER OF THE DICK KICK

Fucking hell, mate. To think, this time last year, AJ was in New Japan and most fans just kinda accepted that he'd never be in WWE, with the idea that whoever in the higher-ups didn't see anything in him. Now here we are, AJ has been in WWE for 8 months and he's won the most prestigious prize they have. Holy balls, I'm sat here writing this and I finished watching this match nearly two hours ago and the ecstatic feeling of seeing him win is still with me.

Add to this that on RAW we have Kevin Owens as the Universal Champion, it just doesn't seem quite real. Two guys who many never thought would reach these heights, and they've done it within a fortnight of each other. Sheer bliss.

As for the honourable mention, this whole show was great top-to-bottom. The Women's title match was action packed, really enjoyable; Usos/Hype Bros had some cool moments; Miz/Ziggler was way better than I thought it'd be; the impromptu Kane/Wyatt was decent; the tag title match was really fun and exciting; and then we got this sweet-ass main event.

Coming off of SummerSlam from last month, this was a breath of fresh air. All the matches were at least 10 minutes, the match order made sense, nothing felt like a slog to watch and it all flowed nicely. Just goes to show that quantity sure-as-shit doesn't mean quality.

Monday Night RAW

Best Match on RAW (12/9/16): Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns

We're still in the infancy of Big Kev's title reign, and we have him this week facing off against Roman Reigns.

Kevin and Reigns had a pretty standard match in the first half or so. Lots of mouthing off from Kev as usual which will never fail to give me a laugh. Another giggle came from Cole's reaction to Kevin faking out on a kick, slapping on a chin-lock instead, which I can only describe as a high-pitched 'Hooh!'

Things started to really ramp up after Seth Rollins interfered, leading to the match being restarted, kicking it off with Owens just lobbing Roman directly into the steel steps. Owens imitating Reigns's 'OOAAHH!' was also a great touch. We had both of these guys pulling off some high impact moves on each other in the latter half, and with both kicking out real close to the 3 count.

Rusev made an appearance to cost Roman the match, with Owens taking advantage and landing a Pop-Up Powerbomb. Good match here, sure it would've been better without the two run-ins, but, it was a good way to further the two stories of Rollins/Owens and Rusev/Reigns. 

SmackDown! LIVE

Best Match on SD! (13/9/16): Naomi vs Natalya vs Nikki Bella vs Alexa Bliss vs Carmella - No.1 Contender's Match for the SmackDown! Women's Championship.

We've crowned Becky as the Women's Champion for SmackDown! so now we've gotta find out who gets the first crack at her. So, we've got all the others from Backlash up against each other.

We had the benefits of multi-person matches here, with a focus on fast action and making sure the lulls are pretty much non-existent. Natalya was especially wrecking shit, suplexing people, beating the shite out of others and being the closest thing to a hoss this division has. Had a focus on the brewing rivalry between Carmella and Nikki, with them breaking up each others pins, and then we had that cool diving clothesline from the steps by Nikki.

Whilst that was pretty sweet, the best moment of the match was Alexa's sunset flip powerbomb being interrupted by a kick to the face;

We got a quick series of moves that could have won the match, until we had Bliss steal the win from Carmella which I was so stoked about. Bliss, now with her new Harley Quinn-esque look, is probably the most overlooked woman on the SmackDown! roster. She was killing it in NXT since turning heel, and has some of the coolest moves in the division. Lynch vs Bliss at No Mercy, sounds awesome.

NXT

Best Match on NXT (14/9/16): Drew Gulak vs Hideo Itami

It's time to look to the yellow brand, it's NXT! The best match this week was that of Cruiserweight Classic participant (and God I hope soon-to-be member of the RAW Cruiserweight Division), Drew Gulak taking on the recently returned Hideo Itami.  
  
Just real quick, how fucking cool is Gulak's theme? CFO$ really out-did themselves with making 32 songs for the CWC, and this hands down my favourite, and a lot better than most in the WWE.

Now, focusing on the match, this got off to a hard-hitting start withing mere seconds. Gulak just steps up and leathers Hideo's cheek with a massive open-hand slap, and there was plenty more in the later minutes. Hideo wouldn't be outdone though, coming right back at the Philadelphian with hard hits in the forms of kicks, chops and slaps of all sizes. 

To demonstrate how hard these shots were, here's the referee's reaction to them;

I was glad to see Gulak having quite a fair chunk of offence to dish out to Itami, seeing as since returning Hideo's matches have essentially been just 'kill fuckers'. He locked on a couple cool submissions and like I said, beat some tar out of Hideo.

In the end, we got to see the GTS for the first time on NXT television and Hideo pick up the victory. Please WWE, sign Drew Gulak and make him the nasty bastard of the RAW Cruiserweights.

Cruiserweight Classic

Best Match on CWC (Finale): Gran Metalik vs TJ Perkins - Grand Final - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

Backlash made me lose my shit, this made me find it again and then proceed lose it once more like an amnesiac with a colostomy bag.

The whole special was breathtaking, the semi-finals were superb, the tag match was great and then it all came down to the grand final which blew it all out of the water. Metalik and TJ threw caution to the wind and emptied their entire arsenals in their ultimate efforts to win the tournament and the revealed new WWE Cruiserweight Championship, which looks gorgeous if I do say so myself.

If you were to plot this match on a graph, (which is pretty weird, the fuck you doing mate?) it would show that action/drama/goodness had exponential growth over time. Started fairly slowly, feeling each other out, exchanging holds, the usual. Then in came the big bastard chops and strikes as well, the slams, the dives and the multiple submission attempts. 

Metalik took some skin off with his chops I tell ya, sounded like someone hit a raw steak with another raw steak with some gall behind it. Not to mention his superkicks which were incredible, must've thrown like 4 of 'em in all. 

TJ worked Metalik's knee relentlessly, wearing it down with stretches and twists, and landing a barrage of kicks on it. The multiple attempts at the knee bar made for some great dramatic build up and tension, especially with increasing attempts, I was sure Metalik was gonna tap much sooner than he did.

This match also had its fair share of awesome high spots, Metalik flew with a suicide dive and then crashed with a wincing proper thud on a later tope con hilo, right on his back, looked bloody sore. 

Another example of the stupendous shit we saw included TJ diving onto Metalik and pulling off a frankensteiner that sent them both tumbling to the outside. I thought that was fucking cool, but then Metalik went and did this;



Cleared the top rope like it was nothing. Ballsy stuff right there. 

The ending was great, an attempted Metalik Driver from the second rope countered into a knee-bar that was contested and struggled, so much tension, back-and-forth, 'will they?/won't they?' until Metalik finally succumbed to the pain and tapped out.

What an incredible match to end an incredible tournament. I was fucking hyped for this whole thing, and that only built from it's announcement to it's premiere, and it was better than I could have imagined. The presentation alone was awesome, like a legit contest with the introductions, the mat logos, the pre-match stats, and I love the colour scheme too, why don't more things use purple? 

The best part of it all? That this is only the first one.

Congratulations TJ Perkins.

Ring of Honour

Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 260): Bobby Fish vs Katsuyori Shibata - ROH World Television Championship Match

Main-eventing this week's episode of ROH TV was the bout of Shibata challenging Bobby Fish for his World Television Championship. 

Now, a lot of this match could be summed up as 'kicking the fuck out of each other'. They were swinging like their lives depended on it, and landed some stiff looking shots. To the chest, to the head, to the legs, all over, and the effort and pain being taken only goes towards making the title put over as even more prestigious.

We had some cool spots with continuously shifting the pressure on a leg-lock, and later on seeing both competitors having each other in a heel hook/Achilles lock at the same time, the latter being the cooler of the two, looked like they were getting some proper torque on those joints.

The end saw Bobby pick up the win by countering a rear naked choke into a pinning predicament, managing to fold up New Japan star and get his shoulders to the mat to retain his gold.

Pretty good match here, and if you did want to watch, as always, ROH TV can be found for FREE on the Fite TV app, or at their website www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current.

Lucha Underground

Best Match on LU (S3E2): Killshot vs Marty 'The Moth' Martinez - WMD Match

Right, this one got announced on last week's show and I figured a WMD match would just be the usual sort of no-disqualification match. Fuck me was I wrong.

We had weapon crates, missiles, boxes of grenades and a fucking machine gun nest set up. I can now safely say that LU is fucking crazy. 

This went fucking everywhere and involved everything. Started off going around the crowd, Martinez got busted open fairly quickly and good lord the crimson tide slowly spread down his body, it looks like they might have wiped him down a couple times because that shit was ridiculous. There were time when Marty put his blood-covered fingers into Killshot's mouth and I felt wrong just watching it.

Chairs got thrown, as did ladders, as did a person. Some real gnarly shots with all the weapons from both these guys, but I feel whilst Martinez lost the blood, Killshot took some insane bumps, like when he got chucked over the ropes and exploded into some tables, and both of them landed on ladders and crates at some point in the match.

The match finally came to a close when Killshot did a big double stomp off of a ladder and through a table which was fucking sweet I tell ya, sweet! 

Some intense action here that made for one hell of a match, but, what is it that takes the mantle of Best Match of the Week?

The Verdict

Best Match of the Week: Gran Metalik vs TJ Perkins - Cruiserweight Classic Grand Final - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

I mean, c'mon guys, this was fucking legit. It built and built and built, giving me stuff I had never seen before (see: that gif from before). I know a lot of people wanted the final to be Sabre Jr vs Ibushi, but c'mon guys, they ain't signing and if it did happen, I gotta say that'd be kinda boring. The match those two could have had would've been great I'm sure, but them losing made it much more unpredictable and exciting. Metalik vs Perkins wasn't a match that had popped into my head of wanting until it was set up, and it was in-fucking-credible.

And with that hectic week under our belt, the scoreboard now looks like this.

That's all from me folks, hope you've had a good week with lots of smiles and laughs and I hope that those in your future will do too. 

Seeya next time!