DMJ

Man, I'm not sure if I just had rose-colored glasses when I saw it or it was because I wasn't super familiar with the context, but I really liked the Brock/Test from King of the Ring 2002. Here's what I wrote about it in my blog way back in 2015... The tournament continues with our next match - Brock Lesnar vs. Test. This might be one of the best "hidden classics" I've seen in months, an absolute stiff-as-a-board battle that proves Lesnar not only had plenty of "It," but had enough "It" to elevate Test into the best match of his entire career (or at least the only one I've seen that I'd strongly, strongly recommend to others)....Lesnar (even pre-UFC world beater Lesnar) was enough of a monster to make his clean wins the opposite of embarrassing for the loser. In fact, Test overselling Heyman's interference takes away from the fact that he went toe-to-toe with the Beast and got some solid licks in. Fans of flawless execution and picture-perfect sequences will no doubt spot specific moments where these two seem to lose the plot, but because of how snugly this one is worked, these brief moments of confusion come across as literally two guys just trying to shake the cobwebs out of their believably zonked craniums. Absolutely great match that, with a more definitive finish, I'd have no problem giving 4 stars to. (3.5/5)

I really liked this week's episode. - Danielson/Page delivered again. Man, Danielson has become beyond hyperbole for me in terms of how much praise can be put onto one guy. It obviously takes two to tango and Adam Page is definitely holding his own, but I think Daniel Bryan could carry me to a 3-star match even though I'm not athletic, have never wrestled before, and would probably get gassed after 6 minutes. - I thought the MJF/Punk segment was great. I like that this feud feels different than the Punk/Kingston one and the Punk/Darby one. I feel like that's been lost a bit as we nitpick whether MJF should be focusing so much on bringing up Punk's WWE past. To me, it works in this context because MJF has portrayed himself as something of an avatar for the "WWE Style" that turns its nose to to the "hardcore fans" and the "indie darlings." I thought the lines about Mania were great. They popped the live crowd too. Its fine to say you don't like something and there are plenty of things that pop a crowd that I think are absolutely awful (i.e "The Worm" that Otis was doing), but its important to keep in mind that AEW is inherently going to be hit-and-miss because there is more freedom given to the wrestlers. I appreciate that more than what the WWE does, which is often dreadfully boring because they don't take risks. - Which brings me to the Jericho/2.0 segment. Again, I kinda thought it was fine. Was it great? No...but 2.0 got some mic time and Jericho got to appear on the TBS debut (which was why he was there) and hopefully this is leading somewhere interesting. As I wrote above, when you let wrestlers go out and do their thing, it may not always be a homerun, but at least it can be an interesting trainwreck. I would not be surprised at all if Kingston/Jericho is in the pipeline as Jericho has a tendency to latch himself onto more interesting, more relevant characters. He also has a tendency to somehow make these things work (no matter how much I'd hate to admit it). Kingston needs a W and beating Jericho still means something so I'm game for it. - No issue with Jade Cargill getting the TBS Championship. I agree with the general sentiment that Ruby seemed like a creative dead-end for that title while Cargill, who may not be the smoothest worker, is a nice fit for a "TV Title"/lower midcard level championship (which a second Women's Championship is, as misogynistic as that may sound). - Great tag match to close out the show. Lots of solid teams to challenge JE though I don't think their run is going to be very long as I'm guessing Fish & O'Reilly may end up with the titles sooner than later. I'm not super hot on that idea, but will admit that at least they have fresh opponents in AEW while, in NXT, their rivalries dried up the longer the UE run went. - Finally, in terms of who can challenge Page? Jeez. This feels like another non-problem to me. Miro, Black, Adam Cole, maybe someone really out-of-the-box like Andrade or PAC. They have plenty of time till March. It may not be super popular but maybe some sort of multi-man?

I haven't seen it reported, but does the WWE do signing bonuses? That, to me, would be a smart move for any big name - like Owens or even Sami - to have their agent/lawyer ask for. Considering how lopsided the merchandise deal is, that would be a demand that'd be totally warranted. I mean, I'm not sure how much of a cut ProWrestling Tees gets from CM Punk or Sting or whatever, but I can't imagine its the 80%-90% that the WWE takes. So, if you're Kevin Owens and you're basically guaranteed to sell thousands upon thousands of tee-shirts and going to get the lion's share of those profits, that has to play into your negotiations at this point. I mean, Hook just overtook CM Punk as the top merch mover of the week. One has to believe a new Kevin Steen or El Generico shirt would've earned them a pretty penny.

They absolutely are. I think it was the last couple pay-per-views where it was really noticeable to me that despite how loud the "crowd" was, if you actually looked at the audience, there wasn't anyone clapping, cheering, shouting, etc, just a bunch of long faces and closed mouths. Its become hard for me to unsee at this point whenever I do catch part of SD or RAW and the segment is clearly very flat but the crowd is somehow super excited by the Viking Raiders or whoever.

The match against Adam Page might have just sealed it for me. If he's not the GOAT, he's the best of the past 20 years that I've seen (as an admittedly US-centric watcher). The match against Omega was great and an instant classic, but this was, from beginning to end, just an absolutely flawless performance out of him. Every facial expression. Every strike. Every sell. The pacing. The variety of submissions and throws. The fact that there wasn't a single "rest hold" in any of the 60 minutes because he works every hold. As someone else said in the thread about Dynamite, I think its also no small feat that by the end of the match, Adam Page came out looking better than he did going in. I've been trying fairly hard to turn my older brother - not a regular wrestling viewer for any time over the past 25 years - to try AEW and this is the type of match that I think he would've loved and much of that goes to Bryan. If I was explaining it to my brother, who grew up watching Clash of the Champions shows in the late 80s and early 90s, it might be reductionist and incorrect even but I'd say that his match this week was him updating and improving on what Ric Flair once did. Page might be the champion, but Bryan is "the measuring stick," and represents something that even Kenny Omega doesn't - a guy that won "the big one" on the biggest wrestling show in America for the biggest company in America. Which is part of why Adam Page came out of this better; he didn't necessarily need to win, he did enough just by hanging in there. (Plus, isn't that kinda Adam Page's "thing"? That he's not a Superman? That every new big challenge he faces comes with a "learning curve" he has to triump over?) Anyway, like the 30-minute Omega match months ago, Daniel Bryan did something I don't think many or any US wrestler could really do and kept me interested and engaged for 60 minutes (obviously the commercial breaks were annoying, but then again, it did give me a chance to pause the match and use the bathroom). It was just a total masterclass by him and, while it certainly wasn't a carry job, I''m going to go ahead and say that this wouldn't have worked with any other wrestler in Bryan's role, or at least no other wrestler that I've seen.

I really doubt the offer would be/was all that strong and "strong" is relative too. I'm sure the WWE thought they were giving Adam Cole a strong offer...but it involved him getting a haircut and being a manager in a company that has maybe had what? Maybe 3-4 legit non-wrestling managers on its roster in the past decade? I'm not the biggest Cole fan, but he was a smart guy to realize that the only contract he'd really be signing was a short-term extension because there's no way they would have kept him hanging around for very long as a manager and once he was in that role on TV there was no way he'd ever get pushed as a wrestler again anyway. I'm guessing Gargano got a similar offer and maybe even the chance to launch his stable on a main brand...but that stable would've likely including 1-2 big dudes that Vince actually wanted to push and Gargano would've been the chickenshit mouthpiece "leader" who is really more like a manager. Maybe that could've last 8 months but after that? He'd be back on the market only now he'd be a colder free agent.

Hey, that didn't stop Mike Rotunda from having a 20 year career.

I so want this not to be a relapse, but there's also the issue that its unclear how clean Jeff really has been all along. My brother is a recovering "hard drug" (opiates mostly, but he also did plenty of coke) user and has been clean for the past 8 years, but prior to that, he'd go 6 months here, 3 months there, etc. At some point he realized that he couldn't have a couple beers watching a football game or even a single beer with dinner, couldn't take a hit of marijuana, etc. because these things would lead him back to harder drugs. Jeff Hardy was arrested twice in 2019 for alcohol (public intox and DUI) and speaking as someone who had a DUI himself, its not 100% clear that he didn't have other drugs in his system at those times either (when I got my shameful DUI, I was very lucky that I didn't have any weed in the car, but I'd definitely smoked pot that night too). An arrest for a DUI does not mean an automatic blood or piss test (I took a road test that I failed miserably and then a breathalyzer that I also failed miserably).

accidental double post

Imagine having WALTER on your roster and agreeing to move to the US and you put him in your developmental league that nobody watches or gives the least amount of shit about. If WALTER comes over and they don't immediately put him on RAW or SD, this company really has developed an allergy to money and fan interest.

If Drew/Reigns is where this is heading, I just feel bad for both guys. I was a Drew hater 2 years ago but then I warmed up to him once his title reign started and it seemed like they were going to book him as a dominant babyface champion...until he lost the title to Orton for no apparent reason, then lost to Reigns, and then lost to Lashley at least two times (?). By that point, the notion that he was the babyface mirror to Reigns' dominant heel act was completely gone. Him being the guy to end Reigns'..err..reign will feel as empty as his Rumble win did to me. At the same time, him losing to Reigns will be the same kind of deflating loss that he suffered at last year's Mania and which he never really recovered from. Is it a known thing that Vince was courting/hoping for The Rock to work Mania and still thinks its possible or has that just been fan conjecture? I'm curious to know if at one point Vince thought it was a sure thing but is now coming to the realization that The Rock has literally nothing left to gain from doing any sort of business with the WWE? Like, the Survivor Series was basically thrown like a birthday for him that he couldn't be bothered to even tweet about, let alone do a pre-tape or appear live at. If Vince still hoping to pull that rabbit out of the hat? If so, what a bad position to be in after having now exhausted Brock/Reigns (this will be what? their 6th PPV match now?) and Cena/Reigns at SummerSlam.

Whoops. I guess its not a point in her favor that I mistook her for Lita. In all honesty, I didn't watch all of either tournaments and I was always a sporadic NXT viewer so I can't say I watched every match Beth ever commentated on. That being said, from what I did watch, I didn't find her to be particularly great at it. And while I'm playing this dangerous game of criticizing someone, I'll come out and say that, even when she was an active performer, I found her strong suit to be as a somewhat silent straight man who could be juxtaposed against quirkier characters like Santino or "superfan" Rosa Mendes. If the WWE wanted Phoenix in a weekly role on NXT, having Regal hire her as the commissioner of the women's division might've worked out for that very reason as, looking back, interactions with super positive babyface Bayley, Boss-era Banks, and later Asuka and Baszler and Nia Jax could've been kinda cool.

Just read that Beth Phoenix is leaving NXT. Personally, I never really dug her on commentary. I didn't necessarily hate her or anything, but in the pantheon of commentators, she was maybe average at best. Its a whole other conversation and I'd readily admit to coming off a bit sexist here, but I would've loved to see her maybe have a spotlight role in commentating women's matches as part of a 2-person team or in position not dissimilar to the way Mike Tenay was originally used on Nitro because that is her area of expertise and (I'm guessing) a passion of hers. Then, maybe once we'd gotten a sense of her commentary personality/style, it would've worked for her to be on more and more of the show. As it was, I just can't think of a single time that I ever thought Beth offered much insight, though I also can't recall a time when it even felt like she had the opportunity to share real insight or her experience. If she'd commentated the Mae Young Classics, for example, that would've probably come across much easier. Instead, she was just a voice to me.

I'm not as down on Nia as others. Really liked the Jax/Rousey matches from Money in the Bank 2018 and TLC 2018, enjoyed her tag work with Baszler, and liked her match against Bayley at Takeover: London. There are some other matches of hers in my database that are in the slightly above-average range too. Granted, they often featured women who I think are/were among the best working in the US, but hey, that just shows that when you put a limited worker in a setting that maximizes her skills and hides her flaws, she can bring value and variety to a match. That being said, I don't think she'd fit in well in AEW or is a great investment. I'm not saying AEW's women's division doesn't need more star power and credible performers, but at the same time, they turned Britt Baker into a huge star, Ruby Soho still feels more important than she ever did in WWE (even after a relative "cooling"), Thunder Rosa is still a fresh and exciting character, and while I know she's not everyone's cup of tea, that Abadon hardcore match was unique and cool at a time when I don't think there's been a truly unique WWE women's match in years. AEW's track record of creating stars might be strong enough to make Nia a real waste of money when maybe they have somebody already in their pipeline who can get over beyond whatever level Jax's ceiling would be.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree about the "That's so 1989" thinking. The younger audience is digesting content - like TikTok - with runtimes of less than a minute. I think there's plenty of fans, especially younger fans, who would get behind an "all killer - no filler" match where someone awesome, like a Keith Lee but also a Ricochet, just bulldozed some loser. Its also an "everything old is new again" scenario. I'm not saying that the whole show needs to be built around squash matches, but jeez, for newcomers like Karrion Kross, going 10+ minutes with Jeff Hardy did absolutely nothing that a vignette + a squash match couldn't have done. I know, for me, the Xia Li comic book vignette had me much more curious about this new character than I would've been if she just debuted and a had a 50/50 match with Natalya. The idea that its a TV show and not designed with a "house show" mindset would also seem, to me, to be a reason why they should be upping the variety and increasing the number of segments per show. For example, I know that 20+ minute promo segments aren't always good (for example, any time Seth Rollins and the Authority opened RAW), but that CM Punk/MJF segment had me much more engaged than the subsequent Punk/Marshall match on AEW. In WWE, there are guys and gals that can do a 10 minute promo and make it feel special. There are guys and gals that would be better served with squash matches. There are guys and gals that are better served in competitive multi-segment matches. I think we're splitting hairs a little when ultimately we all agree that the WWE booking/production is just outright awful, but to dismiss squash matches as being passe seems silly to me when, Goldberg chants aside, there was a time not too long ago when Ryback was actually kinda super over as a babyface.

At this point, I think actually seeing someone - whether its a Sheamus, Ricochet, or even a *puke in my mouth* Austin Theory - go in and destroy some unlucky schmuck would be more entertaining than the usual fare. (And, I hate to say it, this would be especially useful for a guy like Theory as I see absolutely nothing in him. Maybe if he was allowed to showcase all his offense and be in full control of a match, not doing back-and-forth but just dazzling me with cool moves and character shtick, I'd see him as more than a CAW with a lame gimmick that was done better by Tyler Breeze.) I mean, the ratings are what they are and they've clearly stopped trying to even shoot for the ceiling. They might as well find out the floor. My guess is that a show that was 50% jobber squashes would maybe go down a negligible amount of viewers if at all. And, in the long term, it would allow them to create stars that people actually want to see. I mean, at this point, Belair has been on the main roster for what? 2 years? Save for a match with Asuka, I think we're officially out of big matches that I want to see her in and I'm as big a Belair fan as anyone. In 2 years, we've seen her face all the Horsewomen and because Ripley and Baszler were bigger deals in NXT anyway, its not like rematches with them would feel any bigger than they did there. Countless wrestlers have talked about it over the years but it remains true today. The old school method of building Wrestler A through squash matches and Wrestler B through squash matches and setting them on a collision course has just been completely forgotten for no reason at all.

The fact that Vince doesn't know/see/care about performers like Keith Lee, Ruby Riott, and even Adam Cole (who I'm not a big fan of but clearly he has a fanbase) but believes Ridge Holland and Austin Theory could be future stars is as much proof as anything that he has lost touch with the wrestling audience. I know AEW isn't flawless but it is night-and-day when compared to WWE's ability to create stars. Does the WWE even have any babyfaces that are as beloved by its audience as much as the AEW audience loves Jungle Boy? Aside from Jeff Hardy and New Day, none of whom could be considered fresh new talent, I can't think of anyone. If you named the top 10 babyfaces in American pro-wrestling right now, I'm not sure the WWE would have anyone in the top 5 and that's kinda baffling.

I'll check this out in chunks while I jog on the treadmill as I usually do... - I'm of the belief that the Becky/Charlotte "shoot" thing is mostly a work. Based on interviews from months ago, when Charlotte is relatively out of character (like she was when she did Renee Young's podcast), she admits that her and Becky aren't super close anymore but they're both obviously in serious relationships and not in the same place they were 2 years ago, let alone 5. I give them credit for trying to build this up as something you have to see because they might go "off script" because there are definitely people buying into it. I think the element missing, though, as compared to Survivor Series 97' and even Money in the Bank 2011 (Punk/Cena) is actual stakes/threat of leaving. It might have been overdone, but Lynch saying something like "Win or lose, I'm gonna beat your ass and then I'm going home to be a mom again" or Flair saying "I've done it all here and it seems like I'm no longer appreciated so, after Survivor Series, I'm going to go find some new competition" would've added even more intrigue. - Big E/Reigns and Nakamura/Priest are matches that, on paper, are things that I should be psyched about...but, again, the lack of real stakes don't have me very buzzed. I really feel like Big E could've been built up as the guy to topple Reigns at WrestleMania but that would've meant a lengthy storyline with twists and turns and character growth like that other company do. WWE is too lazy for that so they just gave Big E the title win on TV and called it a day. Now, I'm not really invested in his climb anymore because he's reached the top. Nakamura/Priest is to me a match that would be/should be good - like Sheamus/Priest was a month ago - though Nakamura is much less consistent than Sheamus these days. Still, again, on paper, it feels like a match that could be hard-hitting and physical and fun but probably will underwhelm, which is sadly almost a full encapsulation of Nakamura's WWE run. - There's a 25 person interbrand battle royal on this show? Why? To me it reads that this company is so out of ideas, they can't even make it till the Royal Rumble to basically have a Royal Rumble match on their show. And maybe I missed it, but what does the winner even get? A personalized tweet from The Rock?

Last week, on Veteran's Day, Hit Row were heavily featured in segments on RAW Talk about not only honoring people's military services but hiring veterans. And they paraded Hit Row out there because two of them served in the military. And a week later they fired them. Now I'm not saying every veteran deserves a job for life, especially if they're bad at that job. But Hit Row seemed like they were fun enough and getting over. its just such a dick move to use them as the WWE's "Look, We Support Veterans!" poster boys and then drop them like this. Just the most hollow public relations ploy imaginable. I hope the WWE gets roasted on social media when Tribute to the Troops airs.

I wrote it elsewhere/awhile ago, but I'll say it again, there's definitely an alternate timeline where AEW didn't end up with such a stacked roster and Eddie Kingston challenged and beat Omega at Grand Slam/Arthur Ashe Stadium to a mega babyface pop (only to then drop the title back at some other special episode of Rampage). Its not surprising that the guy gets his fair share of cheers against any and everybody they put him up against. His piece in the Player's Tribune this past week was incredible. His interviews on various podcasts are incredible. He's a brutally honest dude who admits to many, many shortcomings and its just impossible to really root against a guy like that. And even if you don't know his back story (like I didn't when he first debuted on AEW), he's easily the best promo guy I've seen in maybe 20 years. He's Austin/Funk level with the believability of who he is and what he stands for. Eddie Kingston is not a guy who is just really good at playing a character - like MJF - he is the real deal to me.

I read somewhere that only a small number of the people released were unvaccinated. For example, a cursory google search for "Mia Yim Vaccinated" reveals she was fully vaccinated in April as she posted a pic with the caption "Fully Vaccinated" on Twitter. Is the vaccination issue more about Vince fearing that certain talent won't be allowed to perform in every state/country? Like, if specific arenas or cities require vaccination, that the WWE would have to book around them? I'm just wondering because nothing we know about the McMahon's political/social views or practices would make it actually be about preventing the spread of a dangerous virus. Surely, it has more to do with the WWE wanting to save themselves future headaches, right? Wasn't there even a rumor that they'd be doing a UK PPV at some point again? I really think it more comes down to Nick Khan and maybe to a lesser extent Bruce Prichard realizing/convincing Vince that the WWE is a TV show like any other, first and foremost, and you don't have 30 leads on a TV show. So, even if you need to fill 5 hours of TV a week, you can get by on maybe 40-50 wrestlers total (like they did for much of the 90s). I mean, they clearly don't mind running lots of rematches or turning a singles match into a tag match to make a 10 minute segment into a 25 minute segment or filling up their shows with recaps, ads, and bad comedy skits. And every year they get more money for doing less new matches, less new wrestlers, less new storylines. I saw someone in another thread mention they were excited to see another Usos/New Day feud and I'm just like, holy fuck, were the other 1000 matches they had not enough for you? I'm not even saying the Usos and New Day don't put on good matches, but this is the exact line of thought that makes the WWE wonder why you would even have more than 4 tag teams at any given time, 2 on each brand, and just re-shuffle them every year via a draft. Which is basically what we have now only there's maybe six tag teams instead.

Well, if he ever gets sick of being a wrestler, John Silver just found his back-up plan.

From my blog review of Survivor Series 95' (Kwang The Blog): Main event time - Diesel vs. Bret Hart for Diesel's WWE World Championship in a No DQ/No Countout Match. Considering that the mid-90s WWE is known for outrageous gimmicks and all sorts of goofy storylines, this match has a remarkable "big fight" feel, a much more serious and competitive tone than most of the main events of the time. Part of that comes from this being a rare babyface/babyface contest and the commentators having no choice but to essentially call it down the middle, giving each guy credit for their abilities. Diesel controls early, dropping Hart neck-first on the guardrail and then continuing to punish him on the arena floor. Hart's hope spots are all cut off by Diesel's power, leading to the Hitman getting sent into the steel steps and then ran back-first into the post. Diesel grabs a chair and smashes it over Bret's back, which seems overly heelish, but he still has some fans cheering for him when he calls for the Jackknife. Diesel attempts it twice, but Bret is able to fight (and bite!) his way out! Bret applies a "sleeper" that is more like an eye rake and then goes after Diesel's legs, the Hitman finally able to get to work on his gameplan. Bret applies a figure four, which gets a huge reaction, and, as pointed out on the commentary, is a callback to their second match. Speaking of the commentary, its worth noting just how many times JR makes reference to their previous matches - its the kind of thing we don't get enough of and the attention to detail is just another reason the presentation of this match feels different and more legitimate than anything else on the show. Bret attempts a Sharpshooter but Diesel shoves him away and then kicks him off, sending the Hitman into an uncovered turnbuckle. Bret manages to slide out of the ring, though, pulling Diesel's legs with him and sending them into the post. Bret then grabs an electric cord and ties Diesel's left ankle to the corner. Tied to the corner, Diesel can not escape a double axehandle and the Hitman grabs a chair to try to capitalize even more. As Bret approaches, Diesel is able to fight him away at first, but the Hitman then delivers a series of strikes into Diesel's back and leg. The crowd turns on Bret a little bit there, shocked to see him go to such extremes. Bret manages to him with a backbreaker, Diesel still tethered to the corner. Bret makes his way to the top rope with the chair, but Diesel crotches him. Diesel then sends him to the center of the ring with an awesome press slam and then unties himself. Diesel sells the damage to his knee very well but still has the strength to hit Bret with a sidewalk slam and then an irish whip back into the exposed turnbuckle - a trademark Bret bump. Diesel delivers some of his own trademark offense, but its all labored and broken up by lengthy gaps of time because of his exhaustion. The pacing is just beautiful, the match really feeling like a struggle, not the "you're turn/my turn" bullshit we get too often today. Bret takes over again, but ends up crashing to the arena floor when he attempts his over-the-top rope splash and Diesel dodges it. Bret tries to make his way back into the ring, but Diesel meets him at the apron and shoves him from the apron through a table! That is one of the all-time great table bumps and the crowd's reaction is unreal. Diesel calls for a Jackknife, but Bret is just dead weight. Diesel lets him fall and then attempts it again - only to get rolled up for a 3 count! Diesel shoves Hebner down to the mat and then powerbombs Bret before taking a number of other officials. While most fans boo him, there are still some audible cheers for the post-match attack. An absolute classic match that absolutely deserves consideration as being one of the Top 10 WWE matches of the 90s. I was shocked to see that this match was 25 minutes because it was so good and spirited and suspenseful from beginning to end. (5/5)

I think the thinking was that Funk (and Mike Awesome and Shane Douglas and The Sandman...) were ECW's top stars so WCW thought they were good hires and might help WCW regain some credibility/cool factor at a time. And, at least in the case of Bam Bam Bigelow, it definitely worked at first. A few years ago, I was rewatching some of WCW around this era and the Bigelow/Goldberg segments were excellent.

I actually love Reigns in interviews and how effortlessly he works the fans. His title defenses are also usually the only reason I watch WWE PPVs these days. I don't think he's a lapdog or a baby at all. My comment was really just to jokingly pile on about how poor the WWE's booking has been for years and years and that while we've had multiple threads now discussing how Reigns should've beat Lesnar way back at WM31, we tend to forget that the WWE also used the real-life drama of Roman Reigns beating the most deadly disease in the world to *checks wikipedia* propel him into midcard feuds with Drew McIntyre and Elias. Ironically, AEW has kinda done the same thing with CM Punk after the Darby Allin match, which I think is equally fair to criticize even if, in both cases, Reigns and Punk were the ones who wanted to work off the ring rust in low stakes matches or hand-picked their first matches back.