DMJ

Haven't finished it yet, but am nearing the end. I went ahead and left a 5-star review on Amazon. Thank you for writing a wrestling book that is intelligent and well-researched. I posted my review under my wife's name (it was her Amazon account I ordered it on) and I'm hoping it helps spread the word on how good this book is.

Definitely shocked by the tag title switch. I did not see the whole show, but gotta say it was another swing-and-a-miss in the Womens' Division angle I saw. For those that missed it, we'll start with Enzo and Nia under the mistletoe. Now, I've got issues with this just because I think its turning Enzo (and Nia) face cuz its a really cutesy story, but whatever, not a huge deal. Anyway, Alexa Bliss interrupts before they can kiss, pulling Nia away because she needs her help. Later, Alexa cut a promo about how she broke the glass ceiling and all the other women on the roster should be thanking her for being the catalyst for the Womens' Rumble (and they re-aired a clip from Steph's announcement which, even in truncated form, was as bad as everyone warned me it was). Not a great promo, but not terrible. Still, no real complaints. Asuka shows up, gets a good pop, and says she's entering the Rumble. Here's where things fall off the rails. Asuka stares down Alexa for what felt like a good long 60-90 seconds. During this long, awkward pause, it seemed like Nia was supposed to do a run-in (that could explain why Alexa pulled her away earlier, to enlist her as back-up "just in case"). Or Alexa could take a powder and retreat like a coward, which would've been fine. Or Bliss could've attempted to strike first and then Asuka would duck and knock her on her ass. Whatever. Instead, it was just an awkward staredown until Asuka booted her in the head. (There was a mild "Asuka" chant during this, but even that felt like it took 30-40 seconds for fans to pick up on) Now, someone could defend this and say, "No, you got it wrong. The idea was that Nia didn't make the save because she wants Alexa's title too. You just wait, DMJ, Alexa will confront Nia next week about not having her back and this will all make sense." And, yes, that would make sense and be fine build for the Rumble...if a producer had instructed Alexa to, instead of just quivering in fear of Asuka, maybe act like she expected Nia to be coming any second. A simple look over her shoulder, as if to say "Where's my back-up?" would've saved the entire segment. Or better yet, have Alexa not back down and actually continue to talk shit, over-confidently assured that Nia had her back only for, ruh-roh, Nia to not have her back. I think the angle bothered me so much because I was watching with non-fans, including my non-fan father-in-law, and he enjoyed the first part of the segment only to be like "That's it?" when it ended. Just lazy, anti-climactic writing.

Having watched the whole show, I think its the best match of the tournament - but that's faint praise considering that no other match in the tournament was given the time or designed to be very competitive (Mexico/UK is interesting because of the people involved, but its still a notch below good). After some good action with Saito and Muta shining particularly, I really hated the finish. "Overconfident heel turns back on action to gloat and ends up losing match" is classic wrestling, but, to me, it really works best when the heels have totally dominated and then maybe hit the faces with an international object to really cement that it is over. Here, the match doesn't really seem "sewn up" enough for Muta to play to the crowd and completely abandon the match. With a better finishing stretch, I would go ***, maybe even *** 1/2, but as it is, its just average on my scale.

Just posted my 3rd annual Top 10 Network Matches column. As I'm a WWE-centric fan and barely watch the TV, my list takes that format, but I still think everything I ranked was highly enjoyable viewing: http://kwangtheblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-favorite-network-matches-of-2017.html As I wrote the column, I not only checked out my own at-the-time reviews, but also the threads from here, which were really helpful in getting some additional critical insight. Happy reading and a merry Xmas to all.

On the talk of WWE Films, I think they're generally profitable and they did have somewhat of a hit on their hands with "The Call" in 2013. The budget was the usual $10 million or so (wiki says $13) and it ended up doing $68 in box office alone (I'm guessing DVD sales pushed it even higher). I'm not sure but at one point they also had a hand in one or two of The Rock's movies ("Walking Tall" and "The Rundown," I believe) and maybe they're doing the same with Cena now? As for the XFL, yeah, if they attempt to re-launch, it is going to fail faster than the original. Part of me thinks that Vince was able to put on a smile and laugh off the fact that it was a disaster in the ESPN documentary, but under the skin it bugged the hell out of him and he wants to prove history wrong. Sadly for him, I can't see NBC or any other Network wanting to go 50-50 with him for something that is actually worse than "unproven" - it was a proven flop.

Whoops. Double post. sorry.

I don't think I understand that twitter person's point. Benjamin is really not that comparable to Jinder in moveset or gimmick or size or anything. A more apt comparison, to me at least, would be Rusev and I think if you put Rusev in that same match and build it around AJ's damaged ribs and the threat of the Accolade and you have a Match of the Year candidate.

Oddly enough they re-ran an interview he did for a Cleveland radio show this morning that I caught on my ride to work. It was when he was with TNA, post divorce from Linda, and it wasn't too great. It was Hogan being humble and ultra-positive and "spiritual." At one point he said he'd be open to a relationship with Linda for the sake of their children if "she was able to find a good place spiritually" where that'd be possible. I kind of hate attitudes like that because its pretty "judgy" - like saying "I'm open to speaking to that person as long as they reach the level of joy and tranquility and peace that I have achieved." Better just to say to leave it as, "I'm open to it for our kids." Aside from that, as a human, I hope the Hulkster does find happiness and peace and all that good stuff but dredging up his past seems almost like a surefire way for that not to happen almost? Also, gotta plug the first 3rd of that Netflix doc about his suit against Gawker. Really interesting take on how things played out and makes Hogan sympathetic as a total pawn in moneyed interests attack against a free press.

I'm definitely not criticizing the WWE because they made the right call, but one has to wonder how this would've played out had it been John Cena or Seth Rollins or a member of New Day, etc. Swann was expendable before the arrest. I couldn't figure out the timeline of Austin's domestic dispute and his quitting/firing from WWE in June 2002 - Did he quit before the incident? After? - but I'd imagine that if the Debra incident had happened when Austin was still happy with the company, the WWE would've kept him under contract despite the negative publicity. 2002 was a different time than 2017 and Steve Austin was obviously a much bigger star than Swann, but then again, without WCW around, its not like Austin was going to go be the star of some rival promotion, so, who knows, maybe they would've cut him lose.

Clash of champions, roadblock? We had those last year and I don't think they have happened yet this year FastLane in March, I believe. Elimination Chamber in February? I didn't check, though, so I could be off on that one.

On nearly every wrestler podcast I've heard, from Austin to Edge & Christian to Jericho to whoever, a recurring talking point is that you can't get into "ring shape" without being in the ring. I think, with Brock, its not even so much being "gassed" as the fact that he wrestles what? 7-10 times a year when you include house shows? I also gotta say I love the Brock supporters coming out hard in this thread. I was kinda embarrassed how high I went with him in my (very WCW/WWE-centric) GWE list, so its nice to hear that others agree that Lesnar, at his best, is a helluva performer.

The idea of Wyatt going back to NXT sounds like a great idea that kills a couple birds with a few stones. First, Wyatt would benefit from time away from TV - but I can see why they'd want to keep him on the RAW house show circuit. So, keep him on house shows, let him appear at an NXT taping and I'm guessing it'll work out. Second, that last NXT: Takeover was a really solid show, but I do think there is still a bit of a dearth of star power. You throw Wyatt in there and have him feud with Aleister Black? That's money and, when Black defeats him, you've elevated Black more than giving him a win over anyone else, including Almas. Third, while you could just have Wyatt show up with no new family members, you do have the option of having him recruit family members at NXT or show up at NXT with new back-up. Its obviously not a recipe for longterm success (see the Bludgeon Brothers), but if the Wyatt character is ever going to work as it is now, you kind of need this cult leader to actually lead a cult.

Just reviewed the full show on my blog. I've reviewed every WCW PPV and Clash from, I think, 93' on and this was, by a wide margin, the lowest scored show I've ever seen (edging out Road Wild 98') for that distinction. I want to believe that there is no worse show, but part of me feels like as I continue on, things could somehow get worse. As for this main event, it is really bad, but I would like to note how hard Sting works - not only in this match, but even at the previous month's Great American Bash, where, before the dogs get involved, he is single-handedly making a Rick Steiner match watchable. It almost feels like maybe Sting in 99' is underrated just because if you look at the main event scene during that calendar year - Nash, Sid, Savage, Hogan, Flair, Piper, Bret, Hall, etc. - Sting is the only guy who seems to have any clue how or desire to put effort into what he's doing. Does anybody else even leave their feet in this match?

Yeah, Titus definitely had potential. Great and unique look, very good hot tag, loads of charisma, won Celebrity Dad of the Year in 2015. They've pushed guys with less talent further and, lo and behold, some of them eventually put the pieces together and became pretty good. Titus was definitely a lost opportunity for the company over something really stupid.

Some WCW matches/angles/crap that earned 0-0.5s on my blog (all available on the Network): - Kevin Sullivan beating up an Elvis Impersonator (Clash #32) - The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan (Cage Match) (SuperBrawl VI) - Sgt. Kreuger & Col. DeKlerk vs. Kalua and the Botswana Beast (Clash #13) - Big Sky vs. Charlie Norris (Fall Brawl 93') - The Equalizer vs. "Jungle" Jim Steele (SuperBrawl 4) - Kevin Sullivan vs. Mr. T (Starrcade 94') BUT if I had to name one of the under-appreciated WrestleCrap matches I've ever seen, look no further than Craig Pittman vs. Cobra from Fall Brawl 95'. It is TREMENDOUS and strongly recommended for a good laugh.

Really enjoying the book so far - just started it last night! The research you must have undertaken for this is really incredible.

It obviously doesn't mean too much because 2017 isn't 1999, but according to a PWInsider page I found, the highest ECW attendance was in 99' for the Anarchy Rulz PPV in Chicago (or nearby Villa Park). They packed in 6000. Did RoH do same, better, or less in October with Omega on the card? I hope the Bullet Club succeeds and I think its within the realm of possibility in Chicago on the right night with the right card and right promotion. To me, Punk and/or Bryan are kind of "must gets" though. Can they get 7000 in the greater Chicago area without them? I think its possible - but to get that extra 3000 people to travel, you better have a star attraction that I can't and won't see anywhere else in 2018 or 2019 or 2020 for that matter. The die-hards are going to be there no matter what, but to get 10k, you have to have some more mainstream names.

Needs more dog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtqbk9pgPXw

Wanted to add that earlier in the night, Buff Bagwell struggled considerably to beat Disco Inferno. Like, at times, Inferno was dominating him so badly that I thought it was leading to a "Bagwell was playing possum" finish that would've been ridiculous, but at least could've establish that Buff is smarter and tougher than we know. But no - he barely squeaks out a victory against an unfocused nWo jobber and then, because he's the biggest dolt on the planet, costs his horse the race for no apparent reason (I feel like wrestling logic would dictate that if you pull Double A away from providing leverage to Flair, Flair either releases the hold by being distracted or Piper now has the energy to reverse the move).

Not that I've seen anyone forget on this particular forum, but just to say, this was a documentary made for a mainstream sports audience so it needed to hit the big points in a digestible way. That likely included steering the editing away from what is probably a much more complicated relationship he has with individuals in his family and in his professional life. I mean, we all agree that Hulk Hogan isn't really an authority on Ric Flair's impact and legacy, right? Its really no different than the 30 for 30 doc they did about Tim Richmond, the NASCAR driver, though. I don't know anything about NASCAR - I mean, really, I only kind of understand how a driver in the back of the pack can accelerate fast enough to drive faster than the guy who starts in the front of the pack who is also able to accelerate when everyone's car tops out at around 200 mph. That sport is just not in my understanding at all. Watching the documentary, though, I learned about Richmond for the first time. He was a crazy character who had tremendous career highs and lows. I'm sure a diehard NASCAR fan thought it was a "good not great" retrospective while I thought it was incredible. I imagine there are sport fans out there who watched the Flair doc and were amazed by what they heard even if, to us, there was nothing new added to the story.

No way Ferdinand is a smash against Star Wars, but I looked up Blue Sky Animation and 10-out-of-11 of their films have done good business (the Ice Age franchise being the one I recognized most) so this isn't some rinky-dink indie company unaware of how to slice its own piece of the market pie. I couldn't dig up budget #s either, but not buoying themselves with an expensive A-list cast (Bobby Cannavale, Kate McKinnon, and the dude from Broadchurch probably aren't demanding boatloads of cash upfront) could also make a difference between minor and moderate success (ditto for the IP, which probably wasn't too costly compared to, say, a comic book hero or more recent children's literature/teen novel). Much more interesting (to me at least) and much less relevant to this conversation is how Jumanji will do. The movie opens a week earlier and stars The Rock, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart - but from what I've seen in the trailer, doesn't seem to feature any kids...which was kind of the whole premise of the book and the original film. I'm not saying its not a kids movie, but with a PG-13 rating, its kind of not a kids movie. It has star power and if it gets good reviews that could help too, but part of me is wondering if this isn't the same recipe that made Land of the Lost (a surprisingly dirtier film than it was advertised to be) a flop in 2009. Then again, i expected Daddy's Home 2 to bomb hard and was way off on that.

I don't watch the weekly shows, is the plan to build towards a HHH/Angle match? And if so, will WrestleMania then be 7 hours instead of 6?

Full review on my blog, but wanted to chime in on the awfulness of that main event. It feels to me like the strategy they're employing with Cena is to use him to drum up the live gate/viewership, but then, once the tickets are sold and the show has begun, they only want him in cameo roles. His misuse was maybe the most glaring error in a match rife with questionable booking decisions. Speaking of Cena, that sequence he had with Kurt Angle should've raised some red flags backstage. They have history, the fans know the history, and the reactions for their minutes were lesser than for the Nak/Balor sequence, the Nak/HHH sequence, the Cena & Orton/Strowman sequence, the Joe/Cena sequence, and I could go on. The way it was laid out, it seemed apparent that they were expecting the Cena/Angle square-off to get a warm nostalgia buzz from the crowd, but you could hear a mouse fart during those minutes (it didn't help that Cena was working at half-speed to accommodate for Angle). Triple H's facial expressions and Braun Strowman being the sole survivor were great moments...but there are also great moments in Showgirls and Striptease where one can see boobs. Still, I would never re-watch/recommend someone watch the main event to see Triple H showing ass or Braun Strowman kicking it just like I would never re-watch/recommend someone watch Showgirls or Striptease to see boobs. There are just better places to see any of those things if thats what you're into.

Full review up on my blog, but overall, I thought it was a good-not-great show. The NXT formula is so dependably strong that its only fair to really rate these shows against each other because, compared to the bloated main roster shows, they are just so much more digestible and consistent. That being said, if you paid WrestleMania money to see last night's show, I think you'd be overpaying because of the lack of star power and spectacle. - Dream/Black was the match of the night and the first time I've really been impressed by Black. Best match of his NXT run from what I've seen (and I've only seen his NXT run). - Main event was a fun spotfest but nothing more, which it didn't really need to be. Some sort of stakes might've helped make it seem "bigger," but whatever. Move-for-move, spot-for-spot, it was fun, but I don't see the argument for this being more significant or "must see" than the SummerSlam main event just because, at SummerSlam, you had legit main event *stars* busting out the craziness and here you had a mix of indie journeymen and interchangeable hosses (and I say this as a fan of most of these guys). Not taking anything away from the effort or execution, but the biggest pop of the match was for an inanimate object getting pulled out from under the ring. - Shame that McIntyre got injured, but I'm glad he lost the title. I'd love to see them build Gargano to win the title the night before WrestleMania and then have Ciampa (who is slated to return around then I think) be his first feud. McIntyre/Almas was a fine match, but the live audience didn't seem solidly behind or against either guy and I can see why when you look at the somewhat paint-by-numbers characters involved. Almas is much better as a heel, to be sure, and Vegas has added a ton to his character, but there's still a ways to go before I'm going to call him a Top 10 heel in the WWE.

Excerpt from my blog, posted within a week or so the of the match.... I'll be the first to admit that I headed into this match without the highest of expectations. I'm not a big Reigns fan and I'm even less of a Sheamus fan (in fact, some of the internet love for the guy in 2012-2013 irked me a bit because, to me, as good as he may have been in his SmackDown workhorse days, the character wasn't interesting). On this night, though, these two made a believer out of me. The match began with near-deafening chants of "We Want Cena," but Sheamus and Reigns stuck to their game plan and hit each other with stiff shot after stiff shot (many with chairs in hands). The first big spot came when Reigns back body dropped Sheamus over the barricade and Sheamus, an absolute pro, took it without hesitation or any attempt at protecting himself. Despite continuing chants of "Seth Rollins," "Daniel Bryan," and "NXT," Reigns and Sheamus stubbornly stuck to a slow, methodical pace, allowing each big change in momentum time to breathe. As the match wore on, the fans' ire weakened, especially after they witnessed Reigns toss Sheamus through a huge display of ladders and chairs, the Celtic Warrior hit a "Holy Shit!"-inducing White Noise through a table, and Reigns returned the favor minutes later with a nasty-looking Samoan Drop through a ladder. While none of these spots were as jaw-dropping as Kalisto's spotlight maneuver in the opener, they mattered more because the characters mattered more. When Reigns hit Sheamus with a Superman Punch at the top of the ladder (causing Sheamus to fall through a nearby table), the crowd was fully behind him for the first time in...well...ever. The run-in by the League of Nations (as well as Sheamus' Brogue Kick in the closing minute) got great heel heat, further proving that these fans weren't just begrudgingly accepting Reigns, they were pissed off at watching him get screwed after what he had been put through (and what he had impressively put Sheamus through). This match proves that if you hit hard, don't cut any corners, and sacrifice, fans will respond to it. Sheamus and Reigns worked their asses off and it was almost heartwarming to see them flip a crowd from indifferent to 100% engaged. While I wouldn't call this a Match of the Year candidate, I wouldn't be surprised to see it land on a few people's shortlists. (4/5) I'd have to double-check where it landed, but I did end up having it in my Top 10 WWE matches of 2015. Since seeing this match and writing what I wrote, my appreciation for Reigns (and Sheamus to a lesser degree) has gone up, but I might point at this specific match as the one that really won me over officially into liking Reigns' in-ring work moreso than the Lesnar match, which I (probably) wrongly accredited to other factors that minimized Reigns role.