Exposer

I'm pretty sure Styles-Jericho will be a singles match. Owens-Zayn-Miz-Neville (maybe not anymore) seem to be in the multi-man IC title match plans.

Just saw on Twitter that last 3 matches announced are Jericho-Stardust (Jericho in a squash for me), R-Truth-Viktor (Truth will win from Goldust helping him), & Zayn-Swagger (I pick Zayn in a good match)

My predictions for Roadblock: HHH vs Dean Ambrose (WWE Title) - Got to think Trips retains here. My guess is some interference from Brock costing Ambrose the title. Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt - Competitive squash. This will go 8 or 9 minutes. Brock will toss around Wyatts. Braun is advertised for Atlantic City card so we might just get Harper & Rowan taking wild bumps off suplexes. New Day vs Sheamus & King Barrett (WWE Tag Title) - This won't last too long & will basically be a set-up for the Mania match. New Day retain on a DQ. Revival vs Enzo & Cass (NXT Tag Title) - I'm going Revival here. I think they'll get a lot of time to showcase an NXT match. Charlotte vs Natalya (Diva's Title) - This could be good. They have good chemistry. Charlotte retains. Jericho & Zayn are both scheduled. A Highlight Reel has been advertised but I don't know how that will work out. I'm predicting Sami Zayn works Miz based off Miz TV on Smackdown. Zayn will go over. It's possible they squeeze in one more match. It's a 3 hour show. I think the main event, NXT match, Diva's match, & Zayn match will all get a lot of time though.

Kevin Nash via Yearbook threads. He won't sniff my list but he's a shocking omission. If a few people unfamiliar with the board they might vote Nash.

I've been meaning to nominate Arkangel de la Muerte for the last day. I can't find any of his match reviews either through a quick Google search or by sifting through the WKO forum. Trust me, they exist. So I'm nominating Arkangel de la Muerte based off reviews from WKO forum: http://z11.invisionfree.com/wrestling_ko/index.php?

I've seen Trauma II nominated. I might like II better too, but Trauma I has been consistently great for more than five years now. So, Trauma I: Mike Segura/Trauma I/Trauma II v. Black Lancer/Carta Brava Jr./Dr. Cerebro 1/1/11 As a rule I seem to like these IWRG sprints more than almost anyone else so it doesn't surprise me that I liked this more than almost anyone else. Thought everyone looked really good but I actually thought the standout was Suicida. He just seems to excel in these short matches as he gets good height on his big bumps and always hits his big spots in a super explosive fashion. He's my favorite big spot guy in wrestling aside from Freelance in large part because of that. Traumas hit their double stomp of doom, Cerebro was a beast on the mat, Trauma I took a sick face plant bump on the apron off of a teased dive, Suicida's dive at the end rules and I actually thought the Trauma II sub at the end looked fucking awesome. Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs Trauma I/Trauma II, UWE 8/27/11 I need to watch this again but right now I'd say this is a match of the year candidate. I was expecting Navarro and TI to have a couple of friendly mat exchanges, so was completely blown away when TI almost KO'd his father with a slap. Navarro then attempting to rip TI's arm off was just amazing to watch. Navarro's one scary dude when he's pissed off. Black Terry/TII stuff was also really great. Their matwork didn't have a lot of counters but was still intense and their later exchange was fairly complex yet didn't look planned. Navarro's back in the top 5!! Black Terry/El Hijo Del Pirata Morgan/Skyde v. Negro Navarro/Trauma 1/Trauma 2 Arena Neza 1/1 We start off 2012 with a corker of maestro lucha match. I always enjoy when Black Terry hits the mat like this and he and T2 have a couple of really fun exchanges. Some really cool leglock exchanges by both guys. The highlight of the first fall was watching Navarro and Skyde totally rip the new year apart. Navarro looked like he had an entire batch of cool shit he had never used with Solar before and Skyde had his a bunch of stuff he wanted to try out too. Awesome stuff and I would love if Skyde was added to the touring maestro mix. He was also really great when he moved into the rana and armdrag section of the match. Second and third falls were a bit perfunctory, and El Hijo Del Pirata is a little out of his league, which kept this from truly legendary status, but a great way to begin the new year.

I want to pop in say that I don't think WWE is all that incompetent. I think they know exactly what they're doing most of the time. They made a lot of money in 2015. I think a lot of people don't want to believe the political hit theory because "LOL WRESTLING CONSPIRACY THEORIES" but it's more than that. I've never thought this theory was far fetched at all. Plus, one could also say the same for the incompetence stuff with "LOL DAY DONT KNOW WHAT DARE DOING. DARE INCOMPETENT." People in wrestling are smarter than we think.

Ace is interesting. I remember when he was younger than I am working as Twiggy in 2002. So I've seen a lot of him live. This is a pun, but he is a great Indie promotion ace. He's especially strong as a lead face. He's very old school in a lot ways in how he works as a babyface. He doesn't do a lot of flashy stuff. He can, but he'd rather sell his ass off, bump big, and build sympathy. He's been a part of some of the best brawls I've ever seen. The Naturals vs Tempers/Rockwell is one of the best live matches I've ever seen as they brawl and bleed everywhere. It's basically Rose/Somers vs Rockers 20 years later in a National Guard Armory. He's got the Matt Fortune match from Long Cold Winter 2014 in Empire which is probably the greatest Empire match of all time. He's got a great series with former partner Shaun Tempers that has spanned over a decade with great matches in multiple promotions. I thought he was great in the Gunner match at SCI last year bringing aggression and intensity that was much needed. I think there's something missing from Ace though whether it be footage issues or maybe some inconsistency (I have seen some pretty disappointing Ace matches over the years on an average night). He's certainly worth thinking about when it comes to Southern Indie guys.

Tank has this special aura about him that no other wrestler in Southern Indies has ever been able to duplicate. Every time he comes out for a match there's an immediate buzz in the building. I've been seeing him live for fifteen years now and his presence has never once changed. He's not a guy who's going to be able to hang in there on the mat or work long epic matches but he's pretty varied for what he can do. He's most notable for brawls and death matches which he's great at. However, he's also good at working big man vs little man matches, sprints whether they're big man brawls, violent brawls, or versus smaller opponents, he's a good tag worker especially as a hot tag, and can work one brawl that's completely different from the next. He also does crazy shit like double stomping a barbed wire board that's splayed across a guy who happens to be laying on thumbtacks, taking fans plastic forks to stab heads with, and crushing dudes with chairs at benefit shows. I'm hesitant to consider him because he's still limited, but I will be thinking about him.

I want to put Jimmy on my ballot. I need to watch his 2000s stuff before I make a final decision. I loved the Styles Finisher match. With that said, he's been incredible in the last few years. He was probably the best wrestler in the world in 2015. He had a MOTYC with Anthony Henry at SCI, the SCI Final, & the AJ match from Piedmont, AL. He also had a great match I saw live against KT Hamill that has never been put up. He's already had two or three great matches this year. He's a brilliant worker who knows how to work with each wrestler he's in the ring with. He finds new ways to put his matches together depending on his opponent and has developed a hard hitting style which is a nice cherry on top.

Matthews is great. I'd like to find a spot for him, but I'm not sure I can. He's not showing up as often for personal reasons I think which is a shame because he had a MOTYC with Rush at Empire's Crazy from the Heat last year. I've never seen a bad Matthews match. And I've been to probably 15-20 live shows where he's worked including another 10-15 or so on tape. He can have a good match from the bottom of the card to the top of the card. He has a great formula that he mixes up in his matches, particularly as a babyface (similar to Christian in a lot of ways), that makes for some interesting results. He's good on the mat, is great at selling, does counter sequences as good as anybody, and can work a crowd better than almost anyone on the Southern Indie circuit. He's got great matches with Shaun Tempers, KT Hamill, Tommy Penirelli, Jimmy Rave, Rush, and other random Indie guys. I'd like to check out some of his early stuff that might be hanging around online. He's got one or two MOTYCs under his belt so maybe I can find a spot for him. It will be very tough. I will consider him though.

Yep. It's a really great match. And you're probably right about Meltz too.

Imagine Hunter attempting corkscrew moonsaults against Ricochet or working the mat against Zack Sabre Jr.

Sheamus is in. He won't finish high or anywhere close to it on my list, but he's got seven years of high quality work. That's plenty to get him in. I think the Daniel Bryan 2/3 Falls match at Extreme Rules 2012 and the Hell in a Cell 2012 match with Big Show are two of greatest WWE matches of all time. He's had good to great matches with everyone. This includes Orton, Bryan, Big Show, Mark Henry, Cesaro, Ambrose, Reigns, Goldust, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, Titus, Tensai, Ziggler, Barrett, Christian, Harper, Bray, Cena, Del Rio, HHH, Batista, Miz, Jericho, and Rusev. This doesn't include all of the great tags and six mans he's been a part of over the years. He has WWE MOTYCs with Morrison in 2010, Bryan & Show in 2012, Cesaro & EC Shield six man in 2013, and Ambrose in 2014. The Bryan 2/3 Falls is a MOTDC in my opinion. He has great offense, is exceptional at selling, can switch his spots around based on his opponents, is a great tag worker, can work stiff heavyweight fights, brawls, and lengthy matches focusing on body part work and selling. He's both a great heel and face in ring. His biggest negatives are he works in modern WWE which everyone hates and has a shitty gimmick. He's great and will definitely find a spot towards the end of my ballot.

Getting suspended for "unprofessional conduct" in professional wrestling outside of shooting on someone in a match or promo is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. I think the suspension is excessive. A reprimand backstage is enough for a minor incident like that.

1) WWE - Everything including Main Event, Superstars, and house show matches I can find. I include NXT in this as well. I'm doing a blog this year ranking the best WWE matches and wrestlers of each which explains why I seek everything out. The C-shows are really easy to get through. 2) Indies - I'm probably going to a show this weekend. I'm going to a show next weekend. I went to a show last weekend. I'm trying to go to as many Southern Indie shows as I can this year. I also keep up with AWE, EWE, DSCW, and other southern promotions. I usually get the scoop on what matches are good and seek them out. 3) Everything else - I'm planning on buying a couple of the more interesting looking Evolve shows this year. Otherwise, I just wait and see what's being pimped then watch it.

He's someone I'm considering for my very bottom spots. He's been in some great matches I've seen live. He's also been in one of the best matches I've ever seen period live in a bloodbath with Ace Rockwell against the Naturals. He's a great heel who does an excellent job of getting heat with his mannerisms and body language. He's one of the best brawlers I've seen in southern independent wrestling as well as one of the best champion title style workers in the south. He understands how to put a match together, can bump, bleed like a motherfucker, and have a hot stretch run. He's got great matches with Ace Rockwell, Tank, Kyle Matthews, and Slim J in recent years. It's hard to find Pomp & Circumstance matches (his tag team with Ace Rockwell), but that was a great team with numerous good to great matches I saw live.

Shaun Tempers Ace Rockwell v. Shaun Tempers NWA Anarchy 6-25-11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYZuGuwU0HI...mbedded#at=1805 My brother posted this on my fb yesterday as Rockwell is a local guy he has followed for years in TN and always regarded highly. You could definitely find flaws with this, but over all I thought this was a really well built title match in front of what essentially amounted to a studio audience with announcers that were selling the shit out of the back history between the two, their big moves, and the importance of the belt they were wrestling for. I really liked Rockwell's selling in this, thought he hit some wicked punches and just generally liked the way the match was built. Tempers was really good too. Rockwell was in peril most of the match, but it never got boring at all, and some of the cutoff spots and transitions were really great. I particularly liked the triangle choke spot, the punch to the face of the charging Rockwell, and the spot with Tempers lunatic bump to the floor, followed by him cutting off Rockwell on the ropes before he could hit a dive. Well worth going out of your way to see and these are both guys who I want to see more of. Shaun Tempers v. Lance Erickson - NWA Mountain State I'm tired and too lazy to look up a date now, but this was one of those slow evolving matches that starts off decent, gets solid and by the end feels like a really good match. Tempers is challenging Erickson for the local belt and the crowd is really into it which helps. The front end of this is slow moving, but when they come up for the big spots it's some good stuff, including an Erickson crossbody that sort of caught me off guard. I really liked Tempers big bump off the slingshot and the finishing run of this had some really cool stuff, including a great Tempers near fall off of a diving knee to the back of Erickson's head and Erickson fighting off Tempers neckbreaker finish with a backslide finish. Not upper tier, but very enjoyable stuff. Shaun Tempers v. Cedric Alexander - Rampage Pro 6/24 You can watch this match on the Rampage website. I was really impressed as they worked a sort of modern day Scorpio/Windham match with the champ working as a dominant vet, to the speed/flash of the younger up and comer. I am a big mark for well done cut off spots and there were three or four in this match that I thought were well timed and unique. In fact this match had a lot of basic stuff that was dolled up just enough to feel and look fresh. Tempers targetted the neck when he was on offense in a bunch of simple, but nasty looking ways. Alexander rattled off a comeback toward the end, including a really great looking hilo over the top. Finish was really cool as Alexander went for a suplex variation and Tempers stomped on his foot to break the hold and then hit his neckbreaker out of nowhere for the clean fall. Good stuff. Gonna need to go back and watch more Rampage

Strowman's problem is that he's bumped for Tommy Dreamer like anyone else who might bump for Tommy Dreamer, has been neutralized multiple times during Wyatt matches including being put through a table like an annoying pest by Taker/Kane, and spent months in Adam Rose' posse dancing with the Exotic Express.

I used to write terribly long reviews and it actually became a chore. Now I put in a paragraph analysis. The negative of not doing in-depth reviews is forgetting important pieces of matches, but I can live with that. I also want to mention that I never take notes or do anything else while watching matches. I've seen Dylan do that shit multiple times and I never understand how he even catches a single moment of a match. I have to put my full attention into a match. Although I did take notes in college because every exam was straight from the damn notes.

The Naturals are an underrated tag team and were a part of possibly the best southern indie match I've ever seen live against Shaun Tempers & Ace Rockwell roughly ten years ago. To really evaluate Chase I'd have to go back and watch a lot of stuff, but I don't think he has a chance. My exposure to him is that of a good tag worker which doesn't really present a big enough case for him. If there's any singles stuff I should know about point me out to it.

I was there live and when Rock addressed those guys it ended up reverting the attention back to the show. During Kane-Bray and the start of Rock's promo the fans were chanting "Randy Savage" the entire time. The fans in question got moved to the opposite side of the hard cam which caused an uproar at first because people thought they were being ejected. Rock going off script to address them ended that spell and there was only one very minor, maybe three seconds long, "Randy Savage" chant the rest of the show. The Rock knew that bringing those guys into the segment would eventually end their involvement in the show. That's because he knows what he's doing unlike the rest of the roster when similar situations occur.

Definites: Satanico, Casas, Dandy, Hijo Del Santo, Panther Good chance: Sangre Chicana, Virus, La Fiera Not a Fan, but Still a Shot: Super Astro, Atlantis Undecided: Everyone Else

To add to my previous post, we have to remember guys like Taker (who I think will almost certainly be in now), Kane, and the Miz haven't even been announced. That's three spots that will likely take the place of Owens, Ambrose, and at least one Uso. I wouldn't be surprised to see a guy like Jack Swagger get in to fill up space either. Then there's Mark Henry who's definitely in because he's worked multiple matches this week and he even has an interview on WWE.com talking about it being his last Rumble. I'm probably being a little hopeful in my bias against Rumble double duty but there are several people being looked over as possible entrants. Plus, I'll be there live. I don't want to see two guys who likely worked a grueling LMS match for another title come into the match.

A lot of those presumed entrants mentioned earlier already have a match on the show. Ambrose-Owens are in a Last Man Standing match for a title. I gotta believe there's not a high chance either one is in the match. I could see both Usos not getting in. I doubt Barrett's in. I bet Del Rio, Kalisto, and the New Day will all do double duty though. People doing double duty is a pet peeve of my in the Rumble. I hate it.