RingoPlaysDrums

I'd argue 2012 is when things really started to pick up. 2011 was stronger than 2010, no doubt, but in 2012 you had a number of high end matches that were better than almost anything from the previous two years imo. Brock's return and Bryan's push into a more prominent position probably had a lot to do with that. And then at the end of the year the Shield debuted and the rest is history. 2013-2016 especially were really strong in-ring years for WWE for me.

Been preoccupied with other things lately and obviously the status of an annual wrestling show pails in comparison to all the other shit going on around the world but as this draws closer I find myself tempted to get into the Wrestlemania spirit by watching some old shows and so on. As for this one, I think everything's been said already and it's crazy that it is still going ahead in one form or another. Good on Roman for pulling out. No idea whether to expect much at all in the way of entertainment from it but I'll watch out of curiosity and because I'll have plenty of free time on my hands. It'll be something, that's for sure.

Like who? I'm not contesting that there were by the way, I'm generally just struggling to think of who you're referring to. Anyway, I'm not a fan of the way they did Brock/Ricochet or Goldberg/Fiend. At all. I don't have as big a problem with the winners, it's just the way they did it. I'm a big fan of both Lesnar and Goldberg and always have been, and I'm probably more into Goldberg/Reigns and Fiend/Cena than Reigns/Fiend and Cena/Elias is that's what has been changed as suggested. I've been a bit on the fence regarding the Fiend but I do think Bray Wyatt is a real talent (and perhaps most importantly, someone different from the rest of the roster) so I do think casting him aside like this after he reinvented himself and ended up back on top after most people were saying he was dead in the water is a misstep. I guess Reigns will go over him at Mania. Is that much better or worse for him than going over the Fiend at Mania? Not sure really. But it's surely not as good for the rest when Goldberg disappears and Wyatt doesn't have as much value....?

I thought the men's Rumble was terrific. Had everything. I like Drew quite a bit. Not as much as some others but they put him over huge here and I'm glad they've decided to pull the trigger with him in a big way. The last few years has seen them fail to capitalise on a number of hot acts time and time again so this was a welcome change. I especially liked how he kept going back to stare at Brock after eliminating him. Most people were probably half expecting Brock to get back up and take out Drew when he had his back turned so why shouldn't he be aware of that too? Logic. Edge's return was incredible. I've never been his biggest fan but it was quite something to see the look on his face as he emerged from the smoke. What a moment. MVP was always a personal favourite of mine too so I enjoyed his cameo. Big Keith Lee came out look pretty good. Riddle less so. I can see Vince thinking the guy's a bit of a dork and enjoy making him out to be such. The women's rumble was enjoyable enough but didn't have half the drama and feeling of importance that the men's did (unlike last year which was probably the other way around). I was fine with the Santina appearance. Having him eliminate himself seemed to show a self awareness, acknowledging that the women's division has moved on from those days. I like Baszler a lot and wanted her to win but I thought most of her eliminations came across as a bit casual. Charlotte winning is a boring choice which I didn't particularly care for, but it does continue to amuse me just how much some people seem to hate her.

The Nightmare Collective feels so out of place. Reminds me a bit of the Dungeon of Doom. Particularly when they were still around after the nWo formed.

This one was a nice change of pace after the first two epics. A different dynamic here as it's a G1 block decider rather than a championship match. It's simple. Omega has to win. Something he hasn't been able to do in over 100 minutes of wrestling against Okada. Okada only has to last half an hour to advance. Something he'd done in the first two matches with relative ease. But here Okada doesn't have that champion's advantage and he's really banged up from the tournament. The pace is quick from the get go as you'd expect and doesn't really let up for 25 minutes. Okada really sells his neck injury well and at no point does he completely shrug it off. Falling into the turnbuckle after the second rainmaker was a good moment. This match is definitely the tightest of the three matches so far although I don't think the peaks are as high or memorable as the first two. There's still some great moments though. The dragon suplex on the apron was devastating. As Okada was champion, it seemed very unlikely he'd actually make the final. And with Okada in such a bad way physically, this was clearly Omega's best chance yet at beating him. They did a good job of making you think that Omega could miss this opportunity and get caught out though. And I really liked that the match ended inside 25 minutes rather than going another 5 and having Kenny squeeze by at after 29 minutes which they could quite easily have done. It may have been tempting to do that in order to manufacture more drama but it wasn't necessary. Current rankings: 8/12/17 1/4/17 6/11/17 Less between the top two than I recalled though.

This is the match from the series I was looking forward to re-watching the least. My fears seemed justified as it took demonstrably longer than the first match to really get going. Eventually it does when Omega begins to focus on Okada's left knee. This is a good segment but after a while it becomes clear that this is going to be almost entirely forgotten about which is a shame. After the limb segment Okada fights back and appears to be struggling on the leg and Kelly and Callis note that he's "taking careful steps". I'm not sure he really is, but at that point I'm willing to buy it. As someone noted in here, it's not so much that Okada seems to forget that he's really hurt his knee. It's that Omega seems to forget as well. The match feels less coherent than the first. As if they're chucking stuff in there purely to try and pad out the time (which would be understandable given they have to go exactly one hour). It's not flowing as smoothly as the dome match. That said, the first 40 minutes goes by fairly quickly and it is littered with some memorable spots. Omega almost crashing and burning as he loses his balance on the top rope, before regaining his balance spectacularly and hitting a picture perfect asai moonsault. The DVD on the apron, etc. There's a number of callbacks to the first match such as Okada anticipating Omega's Rise of the Terminator attempt rather than eating it as in the first match and Omega going for the top rope dragon suplex that almost had Okada beaten in their first match. There's a number of other instances of one guy countering a move that had been successful in the first match or vice versa, which is cool. I think it's around the 40 minute mark when they start suggesting that Omega can't continue. Bullet Club appears on the ramp as they tease Cody throwing the towel in. I get that this was the story they were telling. It was one that I was pretty into. But this doesn't age well and comes off as a bit hokey. As someone else said, it's not as if Omega looked any more done than he was at this point in the dome match so having just watched the dome match beforehand it seemed all the more silly. I did enjoy watching the reactions of the various bullet club members around the ring for the rest of the match though. Lots of good stuff in the last 15 minutes. Omega finally hits the OWA and Okada survives by getting his foot on the rope. This was good but after reading soup's post on Misawa's roll out of the ring it's hard to get that idea out of my head and how much better it would have been. Omega dodging the rainmaker attempt when he collapses is a classic moment and given how many times I've seen it mentioned since, surely the match's most memorable spot. Omega on his knees pathetically hitting Okada before realising he's given him his wrist was great. Okada desperately crawling towards Omega and screaming at him in the dying minutes is also a terrific moment and one that I had forgotten. As many others have said, this is a long match that featured a whole lot of great moments. Is it a great match though? I don't think it flows as well as their first match and there's definitely more fluff here as well as more stuff to genuinely irritate (the forgotten knee, Cody and the towel). But the peaks are really high. I've just spent an hour and 45 minutes watching these two wrestle and if I was forced to pick one of the first two matches to immediately watch again in full it'd be the first. But I'd probably pick some of the top moments in this match above the equivalent in the first. Current ranking: 1/4/17 6/11/17

Thought I'd rewatch some of the big critically acclaimed modern New Japan rivalries. Beginning with this series. My thoughts on this one were much the same as the first time I saw it, if not a little more positive. It goes 46 minutes and I only found myself thinking "okay, that's enough now" at around the 40 minute mark. It starts slow with a feeling out period that makes sense given it's their first meeting and I felt it builds well. Better structured than the hour draw a few months later for sure. Okada's in control early on as you'd expect. He's the dominant champion and when he's calm and in control it's hard to knock him off his game. Omega's eventually able to turn the tables and really goes for it. He shows off with some big tokyo dome-sized spots. The golden triangle moonsault all the way over the guardrail, the double foot stomp off the apron onto the table, that back body drop through the table. All pretty nuts. I remember thinking the match went on too long after that top rope dragon suplex the first time I saw this. I still think that, but perhaps not as strongly. The last 5 minutes are a bit much though. As Beast said, Omega popping up again and again after like three rainmakers doesn't do a lot for me. I'm generally more accepting of that kind of thing if it's at the dome or Wrestlemania but here it did feel like it devalued that had come before. That said, they still had the tokyo dome in the palms of their hands. Anyway, great match. But I still don't think it's an all timer. Onto Dominion.

I loved this, for the most part. I watched it live and then just went back and re-watched the last 20 minutes, from around the part where Okada catches Naito with a dropkick as he's sitting on the turnbuckle. There's a part just before that where Naito seems a little unsure what to do next, even turning his back to Okada and eating a dropkick to the back of the head. It's a minute or so but I'm going to choose to believe that it was Naito intentionally showing how spent he was after the previous night's match, or perhaps re-thinking his strategy given he's fallen to Okada in the dome before. Anyway, after that bump to the outside it really kicks on. The count out tease is brilliantly done, great camera work showing how far Naito has to go and Naito does a great job of selling the idea that his knee is completely fucked. Then as soon as he gets back in the ring Okada jumps up to the turnbuckle ready for the next attack and you get the feeling that Okada might just be too high a mountain for to climb. Naito keeps up the knee selling for a while but then there's an exchange with him bouncing off the ropes where he seems to forget about it. The last few minutes is outstanding. Naito spitting in Okada's face and Okada again slamming his knee into the mat in retaliation to a serious heat was great. That poison rana was brutal. You really worried for Okada there. The callbacks to their previous matches (not to mention the Ibushi match from the previous night) were delightful with the Stardust Press probably being the peak. Great moment. I should re-watch the first 15 minutes. If it's any less dull then I recall then I may have this over the Ibushi match.

Just saw this. Hell of a war. Fatu is great as the monster champ. Park is great as the old babyface vet stumbling about and bleeding all over the place. I haven't seen much of him in the last few years so I'm not sure if he does it in every match but that twisting springboard senton was impressive as hell coming from a 54 year old.

WWE Vintage/Vintage Collection replaced Heat in 2008 in the UK and was on for years, presented by Mean Gene. Finished in 2014 apparently, with Renee Young taking over from Okerlund at the end of the run.

Rhea's such a star. I loved every bit of that main event. Great show elsewhere, also. NXT has definitely overtaken Dynamite for me as the first of the Wednesday shows I'll seek out. And whilst Mauro's constant forced references are annoying, I prefer his passion, knowledge and play-by-play to JR's apathy, mistakes and repetitive stock phrases at the moment. Either way, I enjoy both Nigel and Schiavone so the commentary on both shows is still more listenable than main roster WWE.

Yeah I loved this. Didn't feel like a 42 minute match at all and I don't think it particularly overstayed its welcome. WALTER was great in his role and Bate great in his. WALTER actually looked more and more terrifying and dominant as the match went on. Those brutal suplexes. Christ.

Sorry, wasn't really for me. I thought this really dragged and felt longer than it's 25 minute run time. I applaud Jericho's efforts at 48 years old but I didn't find this nearly as compelling as the Naito or Jericho matches.

I actually rather enjoyed this, although I did feel it fizzled out a bit at the end and Ospreay's absurd ability to bounce back up after insane bumps continues to frustrate. That dive over the guardrail was nuts. As was the sequence which ended with Ospreay landing on his feet on the outside. Not on the level of the Shingo match but a nice follow up. Ospreay is quite incredible to watch. If only he could try making the big spots in his matches count for a bit more, I might be really on board with him.

I got that impression when Roman Reigns was asked about Ambrose's departure on a couple of occasions in the months leading up to it and Reigns replied something along the lines of "don't worry, I'll see to that". I genuinely think they thought he'd re-sign.

Honestly I absolutely loved this. Not the kind of match I usually like with it going so long and there being so many near falls but here I just thought it worked. Maybe the rest of the show being so great led to me being in such a good mood that I was ready to really enjoy this and ignore some of the flaws of this match (because it was probably the match I had the least interest in going in) but that doesn't really matter. My experience watching it was one of genuine excitement and investment in the result. The last 15 minutes was incredible. Epic contest, superb feel good ending. They did a hell of a job of turning the crowd around in getting behind Gargano. Great spots, athleticism, molten crowd, masterfully told story.

I think Show was pretty fantastic when he gave a shit and was on form. Both in the ring and outside of it. Favourite matches: vs. HHH, New Year's Revolution 2006 vs. Mayweather, Wrestlemania 24 the Sheamus series the ADR series the 2008 Undertaker series the 2002/2003 Brock series

This was an incredibly good sub-10 minute match. Balor came out looking great and I think it would've been quite something if he'd have entered the Rumble as the Demon and won after this. Genuinely star making, but alas. This is another reminder that when Brock can be arsed there is no one quite like him. Although I'm not sure you should really need that reminder when the Bryan, AJ, Goldberg and Joe matches (as well as that great Summerslam Fatal 4-Way) have all taken place inside the last two years. This thing started on fire (like most Brock matches) and didn't let up until the finish, which I really liked. Possibly my WWE MOTY so far.

I loved this. My MOTN. I wasn't that into War Raiders beforehand and since I don't expect TUE to get the call up to the main roster any time soon I figured they might retain here. But I wasn't too bothered either way. However, this match got me really into the Raiders and I became convinced that this was their time and they NEEDED to win the belts here over the course of the match. TUE will live to fight another day and likely get them back at some point over the next few months. Hanson was the star of the show here. That hand spring elbow was ridiculous.

Cena's still in the Rumble, no? EDIT: Oh, I see. I thought the reported idea was for Lars to eliminate Cena, not take him out before the PPV. Fair enough.

Not sure why they felt they need to go 34 minutes here. That said, they probably had a better 34 minute match than I could have expected them to have. The last 10 minutes or so was very watchable and the match had quite a unique feel, even if the work wasn't always on point. More importantly, the aftermath with WALTER's debut was fantastic and I can;t wait to see WALTER/Dunne. Joe Coffey's probably best off teaming with his brother in the tag division for now.

This was alright but I enjoyed the backstage segment they put up on the YouTube channel with Burch & Lorcan challenging Barthel & Aichner more so. That's a match I really want to see and I'm all for Barthel and Aichner (and hopefully WALTER) forming a new Ringkampf. I liked Barthel & Aichner's controlled German responses. KEIN PROBLEM.

Enjoyed what they gave us of that 8-man Stampede tag. I've seen very little Stampede and most of the guys in the match were knew to me. Particularly enjoyed Keith Hart going mental on the outside repeatedly walloping JR Foley. Ed Whalen is also adorable. And that referee Hathaway's ineptitude was hilarious.

I think there's possibly a tiny difference between WWE taking millions from the dictatorial, murderous Saudi regime and AEW being backed by a family whose patriarch donated a sizeable amount to a democratically elected US President. However, a quick Google suggests Shahid Khan is no longer a Trump supporter anyway. He referred to him as "The Great Divider" and apparently stood arm in arm with his players after Trump said he wanted to see an NFL owner chuck players off the field if they disrespected the national anthem. So I'm not sure this is relevant now regardless.