Loss

Has Bray Wyatt ever lost a TV match? And on that note, is there any full-time wrestler that works less TV matches?

I admit it would have been a big departure from how fans typically behave. I admit that maybe I'm asking too much. I admit that maybe most fans would not have known. But it got a decent amount of coverage, even on the newz stealing sites that most fans check, and it was mentioned in most places that he was the brother of Roman Reigns. There were some especially charming "Why couldn't it have been your brother instead?" tweets that even got traction. I don't know, it probably is asking too much. But it still just didn't feel right. It was just yet another reminder of how we don't see wrestlers as real people -- even a lot of the people who know they are real people. Not a judgment so much as an observation.

Sadly, I think most gimmick matches that were only done once were probably only done once for a reason. Still, I think there have gotta be some that are good, so we need to dig much deeper.

Triple Tower of Doom! (Bash '88) I don't know if Uncensored '96 counts as the same thing or not.

Stay classy, WWE Universe. I realize this would be a relatively new idea for a wrestling fans, but I don't know -- it would be hard for me to boo someone with such abandon if I knew his brother, who was also a wrestler, died earlier in the week. Edited for a correction: Two weeks ago, but the point stands.

Sasuke the Great was Masao Orihara.

Is there much of a difference? Serious question.

It's also better than Money In The Bank. There's no money in that briefcase, nor does the winner receive a new bank account.

I think what I really liked about this was the interaction between Kawada and a young Taiyo Kea, which nicely foreshadowed two of the top talents that would be left behind in post-split All Japan. This was a very good match, and Mossman has really come a long way since the last time I saw him in a match, which was probably in 1996 or 1997. Akiyama also contributed a lot to this match, but that's been his story in every match, so it comes as no surprise. I love that his in-ring approach is becoming to never give an inch in terms of going to extremes to make his point. (Wow, three cliches in one sentence!) ***1/4

The real story of Vince's rise to power, battle with the federal government and Evil Ted Turner and comeback is compelling enough to create an amazing movie full of ridiculous characters. But since when do we get the real story?

I'm assuming no WCW?

I enjoyed this as an overbooked rollercoaster. Sometimes that's fun. I hope this means Hayabusa is returning and H is going away. I know we have an imposter coming soon (Tenryu!), but Hayabusa's work is so much better when he's in full gimmick. It does seem like his return should have had a bigger reaction though, and Tanaka beating him on his return seems weird without knowing the full story. (My hopes of a Hayabusa return were dashed when he unmasked again in the post-match.) ***

Honma is one of my favorite 2000s guys and I thought he was very good here, but a lot of this match felt lethargic, even when the guys were brawling on the outside. It just seemed calm and perfunctory in a way crowd brawling really shouldn't. I do think the match improved quite a bit when they got back in the ring, but they never really hooked the crowd. Gedo and Jado embody the spirit of a lot of what I like about wrestling, but they have yet to give me the match I want to see from them. I do expect it to happen eventually, as it seems like they could have an amazing Southern tag with the right opponents. The Revival strikes me as a better version of Gedo and Jado at this point.

Probably more lackluster than Orton. Some of these guys I really like, but all of them I think had long runs on top where there's not an awful lot to show for it, relatively: - Kane (Not very many memorable or standout matches) - Big Show (Has been great at times, but is a massive underachiever relative to his potential) - Scott Hall (Get him away from his friends and there's almost nothing there) - Paul Orndorff (Love this guy, but the body of work is really lacking) - Jeff Jarrett (Great worker when he's on, which he is most of the time, but so grating as a personality that he never really had a run deserving of his talent) - King Kong Bundy - Big John Studd - Jimmy Garvin

Muto it seems has at least had pockets of being extraordinary. He's ultimately an underachiever, but I also think calling his career lackluster would be overstating it. It's an interesting name to consider though, and I'm not sure I'm right about that.

I don't want to say that's definitely what this is, just putting it out there. It may not be that at all.

Just saying they've done it before, and they did that after suspending a ton of guys too.

Hate to go there, but the first thing I thought of when seeing that Jinder Mahal won was that time they brought Davey Boy Smith Jr. up after he had a wellness violation, pushed him for a few weeks, then suspended him to show that they would apply the suspension to someone they were pushing.

I thought it was interesting that Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt had a match at Wrestlemania, considering they are both overpushed, loved within wrestling at a level I don't get, and don't have much to show for their stardom in terms of a resume. Give Bray Wyatt time and he will probably surpass Orton's lackluster run.

I think it's possible to both think Mauro is an overrated commentator who was probably more than a little tough to work with, and still feel bad that he endured whatever he did from JBL. But I think we've moved past that. Again, the focus of this should be that Vince McMahon puts hits on his employees and independent contractors as a way to make them prove their toughness and/or for his own amusement. Vince Vince Vince.

JBL is yet another person in WWE taking heat for doing what he's told. He deserves blame for his actions ultimately, but Vince McMahon should be the one getting the lion's share of the criticism.

As a standalone segment, I thought this was tremendous. The size difference is definitely there, and if they truly wanted to elevated Kidman, he might have been better off working with someone like Flair where it wouldn't be such a standout thing. I'm not someone who normally comments on it, and hate it when people bring it up. But it just makes me appreciate performers like Rey who are able to look credible against bigger guys even more. That said, I understand why they went the Hogan-Kidman route, as the storyline was built in based on Hogan's comments. If nothing else, based on the crowd reaction, it shows that the path forward for guys like Hogan and Flair was to work with up and coming guys instead of each other. Kidman's bumping makes Hogan look like superman, and the Bischoff angle is fine. Of course, it's Vince Russo, so best laid plans and all of that...

Jericho's pre-match promo is pretty vicious. Another fun match. I'm wondering if this was the match that made Vince decide to give Jericho a shot, because the crowd is into him more than they are anyone in WWE right now. I like the dynamic of Eddy and Chyna together thanks to Eddy making it work, even if it was constructed to make fun of Eddy's height and get Chyna over first and foremost.