RingoPlaysDrums

I wondered that the other day. Probably the closest they've got in a very long time anyway.

Mixed feelings on the show. I did actually make it through an entire main roster WWE show for the first time in the pandemic era so that's something I suppose. The lack of a crowd is shit in itself but the worst thing is all the video screens and ultra bright lights and the way they film it. It's all so over the top I find it plain unwatchable most of the time. - Drew/Goldberg was... actually class? Everything that Goldberg's appearances should be. Action packed, right man won, nice moment after. To be honest I was half expecting Goldberg to win given his previous record over people like Owens and the Fiend so I was quite invested for the couple of minutes it lasted. - Good match from Sasha and Carmella. Reginald seems a fun act. - Bad Bunny has to be the most on trend, of the moment musical act WWE has had since... ever? Booker T just standing there in the military gear, kind of amazing. - Women's rumble, mixed bag. Ring was too full early on, lots of waiting around. Commentary was dreadful. I've got very little interest in seeing the likes of Jillian Hall and Torrie Wilson at this point, they don't fit. Victoria's a good one but without her classic theme song it's not the same. I must be the only person who consistently enjoys Tamina's cameos though. She's hilarious. - Ending was great, one of the best final two exchanges in a long time. I thought before the match that Belair/Ripley being the last two and facing off Cena/Batista style would be the way to go and that's exactly what they did. They're so clearly the next two big stars of women's wrestling. Could have seen either winning. I wonder if Ripley gets the other title match, also echoing Cena/Batista? Belair/Banks is going to be huge. Not sure they needed to have Belair give a teary post-match interview but ok. - LMS was a solid WWE-style LMS imo. Up until the awkwardness of the finish anyway. Owens is nuts. That table spot looked like a Foley bump. Surprised Jey Uso didn't get involved and I see he was advertised for the rumble match but never appeared in the end. Why do they do that? - Men's rumble. Also a mixed bag but it did feel pretty action packed? Cole, Graves and Joe aren't the best but they're so much stronger than the other three it's not really fair. I went a bit mad for Christian. Seeing Carlito was fun. Priest and Riddle got notable runs and both looked really strong. Felt like they shared the eliminations around more with a few people getting a bit of shine but I'm not certain. Don't really care for old fat Kane. Hurricane was a surprise entrant like two years ago. Maybe they forgot. I'm sure there was someone else back there they could've used. Omos just looks incredible. They're booking him well. It's going to be such a shame when he's really over and goes solo only for everyone to quickly realise he can move about as well than the Great Khali in the ring (I'm not sure about this but I'm going to assume). - Everyone knew Orton was coming back and I thought he was going to do it at the end there so when Edge reversed it and won I was relieved because that would've been terrible. Then I realised I'm not that much fonder of Edge winning. Fine but they really didn't need to have him do it from number one. I assume they're doing Edge/Reigns rather than Edge/McIntyre which I guess isn't a bad Wrestlemania match. Could be a lot worse. - Those new fancy cameras they've got are unbelievable.

Definitely the least hyped in years I've been for WK. Haven't been paying too much attention to the product for almost a year and generally haven't been into current wrestling much lately. That said, not much to do at the moment and knowing there'd be a sizeable crowd I was somewhat looking forward to watching. Day 1 was solid top to bottom, top two matches delivered but there was a little something missing for me. To be expected given the lack of crowd noise perhaps. I had a few issues with EVIL/Sanada and the jr. heavy title match on day 2 - both overly long and I did tune out a bit towards the end. Sanada and especially EVIL still just aren't interesting enough to justify 25 minutes and I tend to find that both guys go too long regularly. Hiromu is a superstar and I just think he's incredible but that one got a bit excessive for me. Plenty of great moments though. But after all that I really did not expect Ibushi/White to be my favourite match of the whole lot. Even as they were making their entrances I was trying to resist the temptation to fast forward as I knew it was going to go long. I'm certainly glad I didn't though. Really drew me in after the first 10 minutes or so and I was along for the ride. Incredible effort from Ibushi over the two nights. Brilliant performance from Jay White. Such a blast.

What a great, emotional tribute show. Lots of touching moments with the end being almost overwhelming. Great job from everyone involved, honestly. RIP Brodie Lee.

First Raw in months that I managed to stick with for more than about five minutes and I enjoyed it a fair bit more than I thought I would. Riddle/Sheamus and Lashley/Lee were rather good. I didn't find the production (excessive lighting, wall of virtual fans, camera work, shite commentary) to be as distracting as usual and the show overall felt reasonably coherent. The Lana push seems awful though.

It's been reported that the 2020 class will be inducted together with the 2021 class before the next Wrestlemania. Agree on the fans too. One of the few wrestling related things that'd be better without them. There have been so many moments over the years where I've watched and cringed at the chants and heckles from the audience, with that Maria Menounos one particularly sticking out.

https://twitter.com/P1AllElite/status/1329738580416225281/photo/1 The guy sounds really unstable. Needs help. Good on DDP for trying.

Wrong thread.

She could have their names saved in her contacts as literally anything.

Really enjoyed the show. Good pacing, lots of variety, a couple of excellent matches and no outright bathroom breaks. I only really found my interest waning in the Elite Deletion match which dragged on too long but even that had a few fun moments. I was fairly excited for AEW from the start and I wanted it to succeed but I had quite a few issues with the product towards the beginning. Many of those have been rectified now and that makes me all the more optimistic for the future. Much of the "long term booking" that had been speculated has played out just as I'd hoped so I'm probably more likely to trust certain booking decisions at this point. Shout out to heel manager Taz who I think is great in this role. Together with Cage and Starks I'm enjoying Team FTW. Just a trio of complete dicks and the post-match beatdown on Darby was great. Particularly liked big Willie Hobbs coming to the rescue with a chair. Felt a bit like an old WCW angle to me.

I think it's been built terrifically overall. One of the best built PPVs top to bottom in years. Really haven't been as invested in so many matches on one show in a long time (which admittedly isn't saying much, but still, these last few months of AEW have reignited my love of pro-wrestling when it was at it's all time lowest). Mox/Eddie, Cody/Darby, Omega/Page... I'm even on board with Jericho/MJF. Looking forward to the show.

I knew very little about Herb Abrams and thought the episode was a blast.

Chad Gable's used it for a few years (I assume he still does - I don't think I've seen him doing anything for a while).

Cesaro cut a passionate promo before the match accusing Kofi of taking his title, his dignity and his identity. He’s pretty fired up. Cole even referenced the fact that he didn’t yodel on his way to the ring because tonight is all about business. Kofi’s initial strategy was a little curious. Rather than try to avoid Cesaro’s grip and hit him quick with his high speed offense, he chose to try and match the stronger man and wear him down from behind. Eventually it actually looks to pay off as Kofi scores a nice armdrag and focuses on Cesaro’s arm. Fast forward a little and Kofi is happily running the ropes but Cesaro catches him in mid air and throws him down like a rag doll. Cesaro is so great in this match. He’s really aggressive but intelligent too. A heel that combines power and intelligence is a daunting prospect. Kofi does his usual stuff but the crowd is even more into it than usual because Cesaro is doing such a good job at beating Kofi down in a convincing way and so his comebacks feel like a bigger deal. At one point Kofi hits the boom drop and is about to go for Trouble In Paradise but Cesaro rolls under the ropes, hooks Kofi’s leg over the middle rope and pulls his throat down over the top rope. He also manages to lift Kofi all the way off the apron whilst standing on the turnbuckle to deliver a superplex. He catches Kofi 3 times over the course of a few minutes (off the ropes, to the outside, off the top) showing that he’s got quick reactions to go with his brute strength and power but Kofi has a counter for everything. Cesaro hits Kofi with a brutal uppercut before simply JUMPING TWO FOOTED ONTO HIS RIGHT LEG and then follows it up with a boston crab. Ruthless. Kofi escapes but rather than move onto something else Cesaro is committed to making him submit, focusing on catching the leg and returning to the crab with the help of an airplane spin. Kofi reaches the ropes but Cesaro shows his awareness here too by attempting to grab Kofi’s arm. All of these little touches serve a purpose of course – they show that Cesaro is a legitimate threat to Kofi’s title. Finish comes when Kofi reverses a Neutralizer attempt, Cesaro just runs right at him, Kofi ducks and hits a TIP to the back of Cesaro’s head. As JBL said, “Kofi just had one shot and he hit it”. Crowd was really into it, Cesaro got over how much the title meant to him, the little touches made him look like an invincible foe and even Cole & JBL were excited here. After the match, Cesaro attacks Kofi backstage, squashes him under a big trunk and rips off one of his dreadlocks! Likely Kofi's best singles match up until last year's Wrestlemania.

Two of the hottest acts of the last few years in WWE facing off. I remembered this being a really entertaining sprint and it is pretty good. The focus of the match is Woods and Wyatt, Woods becoming completely entranced every time Bray makes eye contact with him. Bray's been involved in a lot of silly supernatural stuff that really didn't work but it does here and it's a pretty great moment when Woods snaps out of it and attacks him with flailing fists. Also notable that it's Rowan and Strowman with Bray here - no Harper, who for most of the earlier Wyatt Family 6-man tags would be the worker of the group. Early days for Strowman who still looks a bit green at a couple of points but he has an energy and athleticism here that he unfortunately seems to have lost over the years with the injuries and general wear and tear that his body has endured.

After Zayn cost Owens the IC title at Mania, they had a match at Payback and then this here is the last time they wrestle for a while. They had just had the draft for the second brand split that week and I remember people being surprised that they'd both been drafted to Raw. Zayn picks up the win here but their careers would soon take quite different paths on Raw. KO would be Universal Champion within a couple of months where as Zayn seemed to be forgotten about a bit as I recall. This match is really popular. It's the 3rd highest rated WWE match of 2016 on cagematch, 13th overall. At the time I think I ended up watching it twice because it really didn't click with me the first time and while I thought it was good I didn't really love it to the same extent as others. These guys know each other so well and are meant to hate each other but it takes a while to really get going for me. It's Zayn's botched springboard moonsault that ends up leading to the best aspect of the match - Zayn's selling of his shoulder. I've seen it suggested that the "botch" was intentional but I'm not sure about that. It's terrifying when he bounces up vertically and you realise he's going to come down on his head. It could've been a lot worse. The final third of the match is really good stuff but I wasn't completely wowed like some. The double exploder suplex spot was very well received by the live crowd and perhaps it didn't do as much for me because I've seen that kind of thing in Japanese matches a lot, idk. A real good match that I still don't see as a genuinely great one. Still, it was great to see Owens and Zayn take their friendship/rivalry all the way to the WWE and get to put on a show stealing match on PPV. This was the pinnacle of their feud in terms of spotlight.

They didn't call it that last night, thankfully.

Haven't bothered with NXT for a while but I thought I'd give this one a go because it looked so stacked with the debuts, other new talent and Balor/Dream main. Shame we didn't get Balor/Dream in the end but the show was solid otherwise. Matches were enjoyable. The decision to push Maverick's story is really strange but I assume there is something else going on here. EHDF almost getting abducted was intriguing. No one else seems to like him but I rather enjoy Damien Priest and his deep voice and his sunglasses.

He faced PAC at Revolution in February but hadn't had a singles match on Dynamite until last night. Show was pretty good. Worth watching for Jericho and Tony on commentary alone tbh. Sammy/Darby was a blast once again. I liked the call back to their Revolution match. That splash onto the ladder was absolutely disgusting. Kenny's match was far too competitive for me but I guess that's Omega's whole thing now. The OC/Havoc match was a little odd with Havoc having so much offence. Havoc biting Cassidy's hands and putting them into his pockets was great though. Wardlow looked impressive and Jericho did a good job selling it. The backstory for Preston Vance (favourite for the Heisman Trophy, aspiring model, career ended through injury) is a good one. Brodie Lee's squash was solid with that brutal finish but I'm not really a fan of his ring gear. Brodie/Stunt could be a lot of fun though. Loved the Bubbly Bunch with Jericho getting pissed off and throwing the hand sanitiser at the phone. Main was good with the right man winning.

These multi-person Ladder matches in WWE usually deliver but with there being so many of them now I find I often forget which is which - and many of them lack that one thing that really makes them stand out. An example of one that DOES stand out to me is the first Money in the Bank ladder match from 2013 that Sandow won by betraying Cody. People usually like them when they happen but they don't tend to get talked about for very long. Which is a bit of a shame considering what these guys often put their bodies through in these and the reactions they get from people at the time. I think back to what ladder matches of the past did for the legacies of say, Jeff Hardy or Shelton Benjamin. Anyway this is one that actually does stand out for a couple of reasons. First, it felt fresh. As far as I know it's the only WWE ladder match appearance for any of the guys in the match and for Burch & Lorcan and the Forgotten Sons particularly, remains their highest profile match to date. But the biggest stand out here? "Oh yeah, this is the one where Kyle O'Reilly dies over and over again".

I'm familiar with Funaki as the co-founder of Pancrase alongside MInoru Suzuki, I remember his feud with Yuji Nagata in New Japan and he had quite substantial runs with All Japan and Wrestle-1 in recent years too. But I don't think I've seen too many of his matches. I knew nothing of Tatsuo Nakano when I watched this. Here he is the established UWF veteran, having competed for the original UWF in the mid-80s, and he's treated like the hometown boy by the crowd. They absolutely love him. That said, he's surely the clear underdog here against Funaki. They beat the piss out of each other early on and the crowd is molten. The aggression is off the charts. Slaps, fists, kicks, stomps. But it's Nakano who comes off worse from the opening exchanges and he may have a broken nose as blood pours down his face. They tease ending things early but the doctor gives the all clear and Nakano lifts his fist to a huge roar from the crowd. He makes a comeback with, amongst other things, some sick looking roundhouse kicks. Funaki tries to get back to his feet at one point but his legs buckle and he falls down again. It's top class selling. Or at least I assume he's selling. Funaki does a sort of flipping Alabama Slam on Nakano towards the end which looks strange but cool. Nakano comes close to pulling off the win but can't quite manage it and Funaki wins with a Boston Crab. This all clocks in at under 10 minutes. Crazy little war and I fancy seeing more Tatsuo Nakano matches.

This thing was fucking wild. I can't recall having ever seen Kurisu or Dragon Master/Sakurada before so I wasn't sure if they were even the guys in this match at the start. They come down to the ring in street clothes and Onita just flies out of the ring and takes them both out with a crazy tope and I didn't know what was going on. Dragon Master just starts absolutely walloping Onita with chairs, some of the hardest chairshots I've ever seen, as Onita climbs over rows of seats (and members of the public) to try and get away. It doesn't seem as though Dragon Master cares if he takes out an audience member or two as he swings the chair. Goto starts getting pelted as well. Just sick thud after sick thug. All four guys are bleeding after about 5 minutes and that's when the Texas Death match rules start to come into play with the pin for a 3 count followed by a 10 count. They play at tagging in and out like a normal tag match for a bit but that's never on the cards and it's not long before it breaks down again. Kurisu takes off his cowboy boot and starts leathering Onita. Onita takes off his belt and starts leathering everyone. There's a handful of wrestling moves alongside the brawling. A couple of DDTs. A couple of brutal powerbombs. After about 10 minutes Onita hits another powerbomb on Kurisu and he can't get to his feet before the 10 count and it's all over. This whole thing felt like four guys had got into a fight in the bar and decided to settle it in the ring. Crazy Southern US-esque brawl.

Throwing your opponent over the top rope is legal here. If Race is disqualified he loses the belt. Harley Race looks like such a boss as he makes his entrance. Kevin has some early success and the crowd goes wild. I love the energy Kevin von Erich puts into everything he does. Race sells a lot for Kevin. The champion manages to turn the tables when he throws Kevin through the ropes. Kevin bounces off a table and hits the floor, injuring his arm. When he gets back in the ring he does his best to make a comeback but he keeps going back to the injured arm and Race begins to target it. Kevin decides to put the hand of his injured left arm down his tights in a kind of make-shift sling which looks a bit strange. One armed Kevin sells great here and makes a series of fiery comebacks but Race keeps cutting him off. As Race comes off the turnbuckle Kevin catches him in the Iron Claw with his good arm but Race is able to escape, throwing Kevin through the ropes onto his bad arm once again. Then David von Erich comes out and tries to get his brother to call it quits and live to fight another day but he's not having any of it. Harley kicks David in the head and David fights back, causing the DQ. David shouts "you couldn't even beat Kevin with one arm!" and says he's next, promising to quit wrestling if he can't beat Harley. Really hot match with a great performance from Kevin.

This is from a big outdoor show at the Dallas Cotton Bowl. The crowd looks absolutely vast even with large empty sections but apparently it was only around 26,000. There must have been no one on the side of the hard camera. This is a huge stadium. The screams for the von Erichs are deafening as you'd expect. There's lumberjacks around the ring and the ring announcer says there's not enough time to announce all of them but he does give special mention to Fritz's "nephew" Lance, who shakes hands with the two real von Erichs in the ring. This was amusing given I'd just seen the von Erichs episode of Dark Side of the Ring where they touch on the misstep that was the Lance von Erich push. David Manning is the special referee which the heels aren't happy about but everyone else seems to think it'll be just fine. Bill Mercer points out that the lumberjacks are there to stop the losers from getting away rather than to throw the wrestlers back in the ring. This match is definitely aided by the great crowd and the lumberjacks shouting and beating on the mat. It lasts about 10 minutes and the work is frenetic and chaotic. It gets across the idea that both teams desperately want to get the win here as soon as possible. Kevin particularly looks determined as he jumps around trying to get to Hernandez and Adams. The von Erichs get the win as Kevin dodges some powder and partner hits partner with Kerry rolling up Adams for the win. Adams gets his haircut first but Gino is the bigger deal and the lumberjacks carry him into the ring. He managed to break free and almost escapes but young Chris von Erich tackles him to much fanfare. Hernandez gets his head shaved and everyone's loving it. As he runs off there's a commotion at ring side and I spotted a man in a cowboy hat, who may or may not have been a wrestler, giving a fan a right old whack. Good fun.

Firefly Fun House. My God. It obviously was not a wrestling match but it was absolutely brilliant. An "acid trip" style production was exactly what I had envisioned but this was better than anything I could have hoped for. One of the best things WWE has produced in years. Ruthless Aggression. Doctor of Thuganomics. The SNME and Nitro bits. Macho Mercy. The Johnny Largemeat/Hulk Hogan reference with the 80s aesthetic, and then later on the references to Cena finally turning heel Hollywood Hogan-style. Bray singing the Bella's theme. Actually Wyatt had quite a few good lines in this - a few with double meanings. I liked Bray shrugging off Cena's first rhyming put down, then acknowledging the Husky Harris line but still not really being affected and then taking the bait when Cena brought up chances and not taking them. That little flashback sequence to all Cena's big moments (including the CM Punk kiss!) Wyatt giving Cena the chance to "put right" what he didn't do 6 years previous... which he does. And the Fiend prevails. Whether or not Cena will actually be heel moving forward I don't know but it definitely feels like the ballsiest character development he's undergone in years. There was so much here to unpack, I'll have to watch it again and see what I've missed. I really didn't think WWE were capable of storytelling this creative. I'm keen to find out who was involved in putting this together. Miles more entertaining than an actual Cena/Wyatt in-ring match would have ever been.