Stiva

I have listened to 35 seconds of Christopher's album and can confirm it is as every bit as good as any seminal work of music you can think of.

My subscription runs out in 4 days or so and I've decided against renewing, especially after seeing what may become of this in the UK with the apparent Sky wrangling.

PWO 2.0 goes ELO.

I think I'm still in the afterglow of Bryan's run last year to truly evaluate it but I absolutely loved it. I completely understand the criticisms of his formulaic hot-tag but I look at things like the Cena match, the Extreme Rules match with Orton, the Raw gauntlet as a way that he still managed to show his diversity whilst operating under the WWE style. I'd have to go back and re-watch his matches with guys like DiBiase Jr. and The Miz in his early WWE career but for me, his ROH stuff as champ elevates him highly for me as him going out there with a bunch of guys I found completely uninteresting and his performances really getting me into it suggest he has a lot about him. I think he had a tendency to drift into matches that were too long for his own good and the Kamala match is a good example of him working matches that he shouldn't have. I also think that the Homicide cage match ending with that ridiculous airplane spin was a bad idea for a supposed blood feud. Nevertheless, he's a guy that I've seen work real blood feud type matches with the likes of Morishima and I've been completely amazed by his performances in matches like that. I'd agree with whoever said they'd like to see his FIP performances because I've seen none of them and 2005/06 Bryan working in front of a crowd of kids is something that I think could well put him over on a ton of lists.

Taker is a guy that I love. I love the crazy production-heavy entrances, I love the sit-up, I love the chokeslam, the tombstone, I have a soft spot for the first HBK/Taker match because I watched it live and completely lost my mind at it but man, what does Taker actually have match wise to warrant a place on this list? I think 98 WWF is one of his strongest years due to his matches with Foley and Austin but I have no idea how they stand up and I'm assuming not very well. For me, his place on this falls on things like the Batista matches and the latter day Mania matches and I don't think they're good enough to warrant a spot.

I am not factoring TNA into my voting. Staying consistent. His Indy run would put him at about 750. I haven't seen anywhere near enough TNA to vote for the guys who were in there but if AJ's stuff in there is on the level of the Bully Ray Last Man Standing match, then he'd have had a great run there. Somehow.

so, this ballot is due in 2016, right? I actually think that, in that time, Cesaro could be a lock for this list if, and it's a big if, he manages to transcend WWE's god-awful booking. Two years can be a long time in wrestling, especially in a company as impulsive as WWE and I think he has the ability to find himself back over enough to have a good main event run. This isn't the place for speculation so we'll take his career as a whole; my experience with him started with 05/06 ROH and him looking kind of bad in Pure title matches. The ROH/CZW feud allowed him to look better than that but it's a case of me being kind of unfamiliar with his most pimped indy work. Like, he was a guy who was signed, right when I had fell out of love with wrestling and when I tuned back into WWE, he was on the main roster, looking great. So, he's a guy that could definitely be helped by the next couple of years which could see him at the top of WWE's cards and having PPVs main events and also give me the time to check out his indy stuff from 09-11 and man, he might just make it.

Lesnar is a guy I'd really love to place because since his return to WWE, he's been consistently the only guy that makes me perk up and pay attention because the way he builds his matches since his return, HHH aside, have been so interesting and fascinating to watch that he excites me and frustrates me in equal measure. On one hand, those matches with Cena/Taker/Punk are such a spectacle because of the aura he's built up of himself through UFC and it's frustrating because he just GETS pro wrestling on such a level that it would have been amazing had he been around for the last decade. But, then maybe the mystique would be gone? Either way, he doesn't make my list but his past couple of years are absolutely fascinating and he's really the only guy in WWE that has had a must-see feel about him in years.

I haven't jumped in on this yet but I'm going to start with Luger as a guy who I have always enjoyed, even past what people would consider his peak years. Having rewatched those early Nitro episodes recently thanks to the Network, I was instantly struck with Luger as a guy who stands out on those shows. His matches with Savage, the whole program with Sting and everything surrounding that has some really strong performances from him, I think. Moving on from that, I like his NWA/WCW stuff before he jumped to the WWF; that portion of his career I can give or take and I'd really be judging on his time with NWA/WCW and I mean, I have a fuckload of wrestling to watch before submitting a ballot (joshi and 2000s Japan mainly with smatterings of Lucha) but I can actually see Luger sneaking on as a personal preference pick.

PAUL PAUL I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS Who the hell was supposed to be responsible for that? Or was it just a way to get rid of that segment in the craziest way possible? 2008 WWE was fucking weird, man.

I think the guest host stuff was a definite nadir but at least you had ECW and Smackdown that had interesting things going on and good matches every week. Now, you don't even get many good matches pop up on Raw anymore and the whole feel of the shows has never been more "scripted", for a lack of a better word. And that's saying something for WWE. I also don't watch it live though; I gave up with that a couple of weeks after Mania but the amount of things that I actually watch is shrinking week after week.

Yeah, that's really annoyed me too. Even just getting the Raws up until the end of 95 would have been fine to give people the opportunity to see them both in the early stages.

I'm watching the first MNW episode and is there a less sincere guy than The Miz on these things? He comes off as a parody of a talking head.

I feel like Reigns should start using the Stinger Splash or something close to it. The guy has a great leap on him.

JBL is particularly unlistenable tonight.

I, kind of don't know what to think about that. I mean, it was entertaining as hell but completely surreal to see Cena mauled like that again. Also, how the hell do they build someone to beat Lesnar for the belt? It seems like absolutely nobody will be ready for Mania. I guess the only way out is Plan Cena...

Putting 4 German announcers at ringside to call a match built around German Suplexes is amazing.

Cena turning heel and holding up that little slogan would be hilarious.

The mathc had no heat early on because he killed the crowd with his lame offense. There was no shine!!! No reason for the crowd to care about Reigns early on. He looked like a bitch. I thought they did the table spot way too late

Reigns vs. Orton Probably the weakest match of the night with a dead crowd. Orton got them into it with his flash powerslam and RKO but man, Reigns' performances in long singles matches just aren't strong yet.

HHH being Steph's stooge is great.

I'm glad you said it, dude.

she's a McMahon so that's that.

Wyatt has lots of nice little touches like that. I love him using the ring against Jericho. Both guys are trying here but the crowd just isn't feeling it.

Ambrose vs. Rollins That rocked. Ambrose is going to get over by laying out these chaotic matches that are barely held together before completely spilling out into bedlam. I kind of hope that they have a rematch on Raw that ends with Ambrose throwing Rollins into a river somewhere.