C.S.

Very fun show. I found the Zayn/Neville match a bit slow and lacking as I watched it, but after thinking about it for a few minutes and seeing the big picture, I realize it told a damn good story. And that's not even counting the fantastic Owens turn, which I called mere seconds before it happened, just because I wondered why Owens came out to hug Zayn again. I thought, either this guy is a major spotlight hog or he's turning. Still an awesome and unexpected moment though, because I didn't think we'd get this feud so quickly. Can't wait! Speaking of turns, I was actually rooting for one from Finn Balor or Hideo Itami during their match, because a rivalry between them is a lot more interesting to me than anything they can do as a team. I bet we'll get that split eventually, and some awesome matches after that. The Ascension doesn't do much for me, and the Lucha Dragons feel like a WCW Thunder jobber team. Balor clearly had the best entrance of the night (almost ruined by the announcers idiotically praising Balor's "creativity" until someone presumably yelled into their earpieces and told them to emphasize the mind game aspect instead), but The Vaudevillians were a close second with a really cool and creative (there's that word again) entrance that made me pop. I was hoping they'd beat the Thunder Lizards. I couldn't tell who was supposed to be face and heel between Charlotte and Sasha Banks, but I was rooting for Sasha. None of the matches were five-star classics, but this was a fast, fun show that actually felt important - something that can be rare at times for the WWE - because there were several major developments, new stars established, a feel-good title change, and an awesome ending. I walked away feeling very satisfied, and what more can you ask for?

What a ridiculous statement... I was never a Luger fan, and even I was cheering for him during all of this. One of the most memorable moments of the Monday Night Wars by a mile. A shame his reign lasted only six days, but his victory and post-match speech on Nitro were both beyond glorious.

Same here.

No way Henry becomes NWA Champion in the '80s. Everyone in wrestling was still very behind-the-times and racist back then. Yes, Watts pushed JYD, but that was only one territory and let's not forget his infamous Torch Talk interview. Plus, Teddy Long has gone on record about the racism he experienced in wrestling (you can see what he said on the WWE Network for only $9.99). And didn't Meltzer recently report that the n-word was a business term for black wrestlers well into the '90s? With all of that working against Henry, I can't see it happening for him in the '80s, no matter what an impressive physical specimen he would've been at the time.

I'd take that more seriously if it came from anyone other than Michael Hayes, who - by his own admittance - has smoked a mind-altering substance or two in his day. This. At least in my case. I don't hate Roman - I like him well enough - but he's nowhere near ready to main event WrestleMania or even be in the main event scene at all.

The Slammys are rigged, right? Because how else would Roman Reigns win Superstar of the Year? He's not that over.

Big Show seems like the obvious one. Would've been a HUGE star (no pun intended) in any other era.

I have to disagree about the WCW Watts era. I thought Williams and Gordy were incredible during that time. Yes, they got the super-push, which probably helped make them look even better in my then-teenage mind, but I remember their moves being awesome, powerful, and impactful. Everything looked "real" for lack of a better word.

Heavenly Bodies were one of my favorite teams as a kid, and no one brought the sleaze better than "The Gigolo." The SMW Tag Team Titles being defended at the Survivor Series - Rock 'n Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies - was really groundbreaking in an era where no other territory ever acknowledged. The Bodies' SummerSlam match a few months earlier vs. The Steiners was also great (except for the result). WCW wasted him as Jimmy Graffiti, but what else is new? I remember thinking the outfit was really cool though.

On that note, Scott Steiner winning the TV Title and turning heel against Ricky Steamboat was a similar situation and upset. Unfortunately, Steiner left WCW right after, and the TV Title was dropped. But that could have been great if he had stayed.

Bob Holly is the latest guest. I wonder how that is. Holly's book was far and away the best wrestling book in many years.

PJ Walker (the future Aldo Montoya/Justin Credible) beating IRS is definitely up there. What was the point of this angle? They never followed it up with any kind of push for PJ Walker. Aldo did get pushed later on, but they never connected that character back to PJ.

Every episode of Total Divas is now on Hulu Plus (which wasn't the case as of a few weeks ago), but the Network still only has Season 1. While I realize no one here cares about Total Divas, the fact that a "competing service" has WWE content that the WWE's own service does not is just flat out ridiculous. I understand why Raw and Smackdown are delayed on the Network (contracts, etc.), but that's crappy too because Hulu Plus gets them 24 hours later. As someone else here suggested, the Network really should be a "one stop shop" for WWE fans.

Didn't he get a low money offer to go to OVW (or whatever the WWE's developmental territory was at the time) and refuse to take it because he'd have to relocate and jeopardize his wife's high paying job in the process? I swear I remember hearing something along those lines a while back.

This smacks of revisionist history. MMA didn't mean nearly as much 15 years ago as it does now. Boxing, while on the decline, was still a way bigger deal back then. Whatever charisma and mic skills Shamrock had never really translated to the WWE environment. The thought that he ever would've been a bigger deal than Michaels in that match is just flat out absurd, and that's even if you think HBK was wildly overrated like some people here do.

Yep, the Rhino win was a genuine surprise, and then they went right back to Jarrett. I never stuck with TNA for long because bullshit like that made them a complete joke.

I never loved him, but I did like him. I remember his TNA World Title win over Jeff Jarrett at Bound For Glory (2005) - as meaningless as it ultimately was - being a pretty decent match and a nice surprise. Edit: According to Wiki, the Jarrett match was only 5 minutes and change, but Rhino was in another huge match right before that, which was under 15 minutes, so I'm probably remembering both matches as one memorable event in my head.

Well, this isn't good... Wrestling Inc. - Arrest Warrant Issued For Heath Slater, WWE Lawyer Responds I remember hearing something about this at the time, but I thought it had long been settled. I guess not.

That was me. Umaga was awesome, but he lost to Cena and then he was back down the card once the feud was over...like an old school Hogan monster opponent.

There is no way the majority of the fanbase is going to buy Daniel Bryan beating Undertaker. He would suffer a major backlash. There might have been a backlash, just because the Streak was broken, but that would've applied to anyone breaking it. This nonsense about it "being unrealistic" for Bryan (or any smaller wrestler) to beat a bigger wrestler has always struck me as a dishonest talking point. It's wrestling. David vs. Goliath is one of the most basic storylines (wrestling or otherwise), and it always works when done correctly. It's not that ridiculous. Other than Bruno Sammartino, how many guys who weren't native English speakers have been really strong promos? Cesaro is perfectly understandable though. His accent is not thick or marble-mouthed by any means. Regal and Barrett both have thicker accents, and they've gotten over as great talkers. (Granted, they're probably better on the mic than Cesaro, but it isn't because of Cesaro's accent.) Even Davey Boy Smith got main event opportunities from time to time - and he was hardly a great talker, with an accent as thick as molasses. Edit: I just realized you asked about people who were not native English speakers. Different situation than Regal, etc. obviously, LOL. But how do we know Cesaro isn't a native English speaker? It's possible, like many kids from other countries these days, that he learned how to speak both languages fairly early on. According to Wikipedia, Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. While English isn't listed, it's plausible that he could have learned it...unless there are stories of him coming to this country and not knowing the language?

Wow... https://twitter.com/MelissaJoanHart/status/539645617702985728

Yeah but I thought Vince made it clear Undertaker was done and he had to work off what was best for 2014 given what they had. It did seem like he was stretching that someone like Brock needed this rub and that now he could always make this claim. That would be applicable for any wrestler. That's possible, since Bryan wasn't on the table this year because they needed him for the HHH match and the main event, but Vince wasn't very clear in his wording.

That was incredible and worth $9.99 all by itself. I can't agree with whoever said that Austin was throwing Vince softballs. Austin asked Vince just about every question anyone would have wanted to ask him. I can nitpick and wish he had gone more in-depth about Savage or challenged the nonsense about Brock being the only one who could end the streak because there was no one else left (what about Bryan a year or two down the road?). Vince was off his rocker when he said Cesaro doesn't have charisma, mic skills ("maybe because he's Swiss" is as groan-inducing as that infamous Vince Russo interview about Mexican and Japanese wrestlers not being able to get over in America) or the "it factor." Just mind-boggling. All in all, this was an amazing piece of television with a long list of newsworthy items and quotes. Edited to add: Yeah, bad booking after WrestleMania completely fucked Cesaro. I do wish Austin had harped on that point more.

That's a great point. If Reigns is indeed chosen to end Rusev's streak, my dream scenario would be for Rusev to beat Cena and then fall to Reigns.

Which is why it will be great when Reigns beats him at Fast Lane as his "final test" before Lesnar at 31. You're probably right, but at least it won't be Cena. I'd argue that Reigns is an even worse choice. As bad as a loss to Cena would be, he at least has credibility.