Monday Night Wars from a fans perspective - ECW week of 5/27/1996

Hardcore TV:

The show opens with a Brian Pillman video package and the announcement by Joey Styles that Pillman will be returning to the ring this Saturday, at the ECW Arena, after his horrible car accident. Also the update that Sabu vs RVD has been signed for June 26th. We then cut to a video package of what we didn't see last week between RVD and Sabu. RVD goes to ringside to tell Bill Alfonso how much he respects him and Tazz comes out while Paul Heyman is holding up an injured Sabu in the ring. 2 Stars

A promo by Paul Heyman discussing how Sabu came back to the ring to shake RVD's hand. Heyman puts Sabu over huge and runs down RVD. 3 Stars

Back to Joey Styles who talks about a match between 2 Cold Scorpio and Shane Douglas this Saturday. Then we cut to a video package of a match between Chris Jericho and 2 Cold Scorpio. Scorpio wins the match that was filmed on a single camera "fan cam" shoot. After the match Scorpio is praising how good Jericho is. 2.5 stars

Back to Joey Styles for an update on The Sandman's Knee. We see Shane Douglas further injuring the knee of Sandman and the announcement by Styles that Sandman will compete this weekend and has issued an open contract which brings out Stevie Richards. After he discusses his sexual harassment Suit against Missy Hyatt he then accepts the Sandman's open contract and proceeds to annoy Joey Styles as they go to break. Fun but weird little segment 2.5 stars

Styles then cuts to a replay of an interview with Raven who is doing Raven things but tells Stevie Richards to go out and find him the worst woman he can. Back to Styles with more weirdness by Stevie Richards and we cut to a clip of the Dudley Boys vs Kane and Storm 2 stars

The only real highlight of the segment was Devon getting a chair and hitting everyone with it including his brother Bubba and the referee. Bubba and Devon get into a discussion in the ring which brought out the other Dudleys  to break it up. Back to Joey styles that talks about how Bubba called Big Dick Dudley to sort it out. More weirdness from Stevie Richards where he announces he loves Big Dick. 2 stars

Finally the first match of the show is the Eliminators (Saturn and Kronus) and Primetime Brian Lee to take on Tommy Dreamer and the Gangsta's (New Jack and Mustafa Saed) This match turned into a mess right from the start with garbage cans and all 6 men in the ring. The Gangstas music is still playing while the fight is happening and the referee used a hockey stick to sweep out the garbage from the ring. Tommy and Kronus are left in the ring and Dreamer hits Kronos with a carton of eggs. Eventually all 6 men are brawling outside the ring while the Gangstas music still plays. Finally their music stops and they start tearing apart the guardrail to hit each other with. Saturn goes for a pinfall on Saed in the middle of the ring for a two count. Saed powerslams Saturn then gets a 2 count. Saturn and Saed are in the ring while their partners battle all over the arena. They finally leave the ring and Lee and Dreamer spend some time trading pinfall attempts. After chair shots and broken tables and stage dives Tommy sets up Brian Lee for a pile driver on a chair until Stevie Richards comes out and stevie kicks Dreamer in the back of the head. This brings out Bellulah and Kimona to drag Stevie to the back by his...ummm....shorts. Dreamer delivers a top rope DDT through a table on Saturn and the referee covers his eyes to not see anymore. New Jack pins Saturn after a top rope splash with a chair. This was highly entertaining but also a cluster %$#&. I'll give it 3 stars for creativity but there was zero ring psychology.

The show ends with Joey Styles pumping up this Saturday Nights show. All in all this was a hot mess but very entertaining I'll give the whole show 2.5 stars.

So if you are keeping score this weeks winner is WCW with 3.75 stars while WWE gave us a 3.5 star performance. ECW while entertaining felt more like a recap show than an actual program so I had a harder time with it.

For more great wrestling content, join me and my partner Shane Sebunia every Monday night at 6:30 pm CST on Lords of Pain radio and check out our archived shows here.

Monday Night Wars from a fans perspective - WCW week of 5/27/1996

NITRO:  We open up with a major announcement that Nitro is going to be a 2 hour live broadcast. Tony Shiavone and Larry Zybysko are going to host hour one.

American Males vs The Four Horsemen. (Arn Anderson and Rick Flair) Shiavone spends the majority of the match talking about the horsemen vs Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene coming up at Bash at the Beach. This was a very fun match and we even got to see Flairs VIP section and repeated pit stops for champagne throughout the match. Couple of very fun spots where Flair gets into a shoving match with referee Randy Anderson and Bagwell rolls Flair up with a small package. The referee is distracted so Anderson reverses it only to have Scotty Riggs reverse it again. Flair gets the pinfall after Anderson delivers a beautiful DDT on Bagwell. They did a great job of mixing comedy and match psychology complete with inside and outside the ring action 3.75 stars

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews the horsemen post match, Arn states he has never met a football player he couldn't walk over to get to a better fight. Flair calls Elizabeth the horsemen's sugar mama. 3.5 stars

Come back to a promo of Greene and McMichael working out .5 star

Steve Doll vs the Mauler with Col. Parker is next up. This was unwatchable, I,m still confused why the Mauler would dive over the top rope holding Doll in the powerslam position. Thankfully we go to commercial break soon after. When we come back Razor Ramon makes his way through the crowd grabs a mic and delivers a message to Billionaire Ted, Ken doll wanna be Eric Bishoff, and the Nacho Man. Interesting promo from a guy we just saw on WWE TV a few weeks ago. The bright spot of this interview is that it put an end to easily the worst match I have seen in a long long time. the match gets a .25 star simply because they made it to TV which is better than I could ever do. The interruption by Razor was done brilliantly and I can't wait to see what's next 3.5 stars.

Next up is Craig Pittman with Teddy Long vs Diamond Dallas Page. DDP starts off the match by mocking Pittman's military background. A lot of talk about DDP winning the battle bowl ring and his mystery benefactor. a diamond cutter makes quick work of Pittman and Page wins the match. He sells the arm injury throughout the entire post match celebration and on his way to the back 2.5 stars

Randy Savage is nuts video package explaining why Savage has been banned from all WCW events for the foreseeable future. Then we get a horrible senseless interview from The Shark. This leads to a video package chronicling Hulk Hogans celebrity friends. All three segments got a combined 1 star

We start hour number 2 of Nitro with Eric Bishoff and Bobby Heenan taking over announcing duties for the remainder of the night. Bishoff states he isn't even going to dignify the interruption from Razor Ramon. If he has something to say to Bishoff he can come back out and say it.

Next up is Shark vs The Giant for the world Heavy weight title. The Giant effortlessly picked up 500+ Shark and body slammed him with ease. Choke slam by the giant for the pin. Surprisingly good match from two super heavyweights. Big Bubba comes down to the ring to shave half of Sharks head. 3 stars

Bishoff continues ranting about Razor telling him to bring what ever they have and we go to the ring for a TV title match Maxx vs Lex Lugar. Lugar has always looked stiff to me in the ring, Watching Lugar wrestle has always seemed awkward and kinda weird. Bishoff gets distracted by someone at the announce booth and says he can come out at the end of the hour. Maxx looks impressive and is beating the hell out of Lugar. Couple of near falls by Maxx and a very competitive match that ends when Lex puts Maxx in the Torture Rack for the submission victory. 2.5 stars

Mean Gene is in the ring to talk to Lugar about how he backed into this number one contender position taking it from Diamond Dallas Page. Highlights of the Giant choke slamming Lugar through a table. A lot of yelling by Lex that didn't make much sense. 1 star

Hardwork Bobby Walker vs Brad Armstrong in a cruiserweight match. Bishoff reminds us of the interruption earlier in the night and won't mention the guys name cause he doesn't want any legal backlash. Walker gets the pinfall after a almost botched a top rope blockbuster. 2 stars.

Lord Steven Regal with Jeeves vs Alex Wright. Heenan talking about Dennis Rodman stating that the reason he stays out partying all night is because he's not allowed out in the day light. Wright has some pretty impressive offense and we take a commercial break. Wright and Regal have some really good chemistry together. Heenan says that Kevin Green needs to put a telephone book in the back of his trunks so when Flair starts spanking him it won't hurt so bad. An impressive back and forth with a great blend of high flying, fast paced offense and slow mat wrestling. So far this has been my favorite match of the night 4 stars.

Mean Gene is in the ring for an interview with Lord Steven Regal. Regal starts the interview by calling Gene a miserable little toad. He says that Gene telling him how to act his life is like Quasimodo telling someone how to walk straight. He calls Alex Wright a junior Adolf and the Giant an escapee from Barnum and Bailey's. Gene mentions he saw a fan giving Regal a half a peace sign. He issued a challenge to Sting calling him a painted faced bloody clown, Regal is such a good interview and in ring talent that this was easily my favorite part of the entire night. 4 stars

Sting vs Scott Steiner is next and Sting stops to take a snack from Flairs VIP table. Really a hard hitting main event with Scott Steiner hitting suplexes all over the place. Sting rolls to the outside and Steiner goes from the top rope to the floor hitting Sting with a double ax handle. Lugar comes to ringside followed by Rick Steiner to support their tag team partners. Lugar and Rick get involved and the match ends in a double disqualification. 3 stars

Razor Ramon comes back out to confront Ken doll Eric Bishoff. He issues a challenge for Billionaire Ted to get three of WCW's very best. He tells Bishoff that he is bringing the war down here. He says he doesn't want the fight on the mic's or in the newspaper or dirt sheets, he wants it in the ring where it matters. 5 stars because this is the kind of moment that build intrigue for the future, mystery in what's going on and makes me want to tune in to see what happens next week. Great end to a very strong show by WCW

Bischoff did a great job of putting over the in ring talent while analyzing what is happening in the ring and telling wrestlers back stories and continuing discussion on some of the other story lines that have taken place to build towards the next pay per view. Heenan was great as usual and made me laugh a dozen times during the hour. A good match to start the show and a great match by Regal and Wright plus the interview after that match. This was a very entertaining show that unfortunately had a couple of really bad matches bringing it down. The Razor Ramon invasion angle is one that history has shown was brilliant but even at the time, it was intriguing and had people guessing what is next.

if you are keeping track at home WWE got a combined 3.5 stars for their effort on the week and WCW slightly edges them out with a 3.75..... next post we will see what ECW can bring to the table and find out who from this fans perspective who wins the week.

For more great wrestling content, join me and my partner Shane Sebunia every Monday night at 6:30 pm CST on Lords of Pain radio and check out our archived shows here.

Monday Night Wars from a fans perspective - WWE week of 5/27/1996

This is my continued look into the most profitable era in wrestling history for an extensive breakdown of what I am doing click here.

RAW: We open up with Goldust in the ring as we get ready for a first round match in the King of the Ring tournament. The Ultimate Warrior enters to a huge pop from the crowd and we are treated to a really fun back and forth match until Goldust decides he has had enough and tries to leave. His exit is thwarted by Ahmed Johnson who throws Goldust over his shoulder and carries him back to the ring. Shortly after Warrior begins to “Hulk up” and Goldust calls it quits while being chased to the back by Warrior. Both men are counted out and neither man advances in the tournament. Jerry Lawler inexplicably leaves his announce position and grabs Marlena’s directors chair that was broken earlier on during the match and gets chased to the back by Warrior. 3 stars

We come back for an interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Ted Dibiase. The pay per view the night before was disrupted by a storm that cut the power so three matches will take place on Tuesday night in a special broadcast. One of those matches is a Caribbean strap match. Dibiase is so confident that Austin will beat Savio Vega that he puts his career on the line and vows to leave the WWF if Vega wins. Dibase continues to be polarizing and an incredible promo man. The look on Austins face through the second half of this promo is priceless. 4 stars

Smoking Gunns accompanied by Sunny vs the Body Donnas is next up. Hillbilly Jim joins the commentary and we are treated to a phenomenal match until Phineas Godwinn comes to ringside to talk to Sunny. Henry Godwin and Hillbilly Jim confront Phineas and bring him to the back while the gunns get an impressive victory when Bart Gunn reverses a top rope cross body for the win. The match itself was really good, but the lack of focus by the announce team and outside shenanigans really brought this down. the match 4 stars overall 2.5 stars.

We get a recap of last nights title match between Davey Boy Smith and Shawn Michaels and due to a controversial ending we will get the rematch at the King Of The Ring.

Cut to the final match of the night and we are treated to Ahmed Johnson vs Vader in a King Of the Ring first round match with Owen Hart doing guest commentary. Ahmed opens the contest really taking the fight to Vader until Jim Cornette hits Ahmed with the tennis racket. Ahmed chases Cornette to the back and we go to commercial. We come back with Vader in control and setting up for a Vader Bomb. Vader climbs up to the top rope and delivers a very impressive 400+ pound moonsault that misses. More shenanigans by Jim Cornette result in a pinfall victory by Vader after Own Hart knocks out Johnson with a hit from his cast. 3.5 stars

When we come back from commercial break we see Johnson getting wheeled out on a stretcher only to be stopped by Goldust who administers mouth to mouth resuscitation. Magically the lifeless Johnson is brought back to life and after he realizes what had happened he starts throwing furniture. He then remembers he is hurt with a concussion and staggers down the stairs until he meets Bob Holly. After choking Holly he confronts Mark Mero then trucks a security guard and takes out a cameraman. 2 stars

The in ring product was good if you could get around all the other nonsense. Jerry Lawler delivered a great heel performance and Billy Gunn looked like a superstar on the rise. Goldust had amazing character development and all in all the show was good. The commercial break and the cluster $@%! 0f characters in and out of every match hurt the finished product but all in all I was entertained. 3 stars

Beware of Dog 2: Since a storm knocked out the power during Sunday nights Pay per View we are treated to a special encore presentation of the three blacked out matches. Jim Ross and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig are announcing.

Caribbean Strap Match - Savio Vega vs Stone Cold Steve Austin with Ted Dibiase's stipulation that if Austin loses Dibiase leaves the WWF.  Austin rolls outside and Vega uses the rope to pull Austin into the ring apron. Back and forth with very little wrestling moves. Savio spent the majority of the match wearing out Austin with the straps both inside and outside the ring. The best part of the match took place after Austin dumps Savio over the top rope and goes to the corner. He gets pulled of the top turnbuckle and into the guardrail. A weird spot at the end where the uninterrupted touching of the turnbuckles goes out the door All in all Austin took a hell of a beating and Savio ended up winning this match. Austin walks out on his manager and leaves Dibiase in the middle of the ring for Savio Vega to taunt 2.5 stars only because Austin made an interesting decision to just walk out on his manager and not stick around for the goodbye to Dibiase.

Vader vs Yokozuna is next in the special broadcast. Over 1100 pounds of massive humanity in this one with some great heel work by Vader to begin the match. He spent the opening avoiding Yoko and teasing the crowd by faking a massive sumo style crash in the middle of the ring. As usual Jim Cornette gets involved and Vader eventually saves him from a banzai drop. After some work on the leg Vader hits the Vader Bomb for the win. 2.5 stars

Goldust vs The Undertaker in a casket match for the intercontinental title was next up to close the show. They gave us a punch and kick fest with a couple of moves thrown in for good measure. Two incredibly athletic big man and I was hoping for a little bit more out of them. Goldust put the Undertaker to sleep and rolled him to the casket only to have taker stop him from closing the casket. The casket lid gets torn off the top in the melee and the two go back to the fight. A couple minutes later and Goldust is hit with the tombstone. Taker goes to open the casket lid to find Mankind inside. Mandible claw knocks out taker and Mankind closes the lid. Goldust wins the match and retains his title. 2.5 stars

After the match smoke starts pouring out of the casket as mankind locks the lid. He leaves and they finally get the casket open to reveal that the Undertaker is gone. 4 stars

WWE had a good week with two shows to start off this journey the TV presentation and entertainment factor was through the roof even though they took away from a couple of very good matches with hi-jinks galore. A few things felt like there was just too much going on and was hard to follow but all in all I will give the WWE a solid 3.5 stars for the week.

Make sure you check out our show, Kingdom of Honor, for the latest in wrestling talk every Monday night on Lords of Pain Radio and find our archived shows with a lot of never before heard content on our Patreon page here. Also please leave a comment with your thoughts below or send your feedback to us directly at Kingdomofhonor123@gmail.com

Monday Night Wars from a fans perspective.

2019 is bringing us one of the greatest times to be a wrestling fan. For the majority of my life there has been the WWE and their monopoly on the industry by hoarding talent. (I promise this won’t be a series of pages bashing the WWE but facts are facts). Throughout the last 35 years there has been a king at the top and all the peasants down below. However, over the last few years the peasants have risen to challenge the mighty king and we as fans are the ones reaping the rewards.

Growing up, one of the greatest parts of being a child was rushing home from school to watch Verne Gagne’s All Star wrestling on ESPN. The AWA sucked me in with the Midnight Rockers, Midnight Express, Curt Hennig, Bob Orton, Hulk Hogan and the list goes on. From 1981 to about 1985 that is were you would find me on weekday afternoons, but then something magical happened. While flipping through the channels sometime in 1985 I came across this crazy person who was captivating and kept me glued to my TV. Ric Flair made me an instant fan of WCW and from that moment I was hooked on two promotions they both had a similar product and the NWA brought me added enjoyment from the Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Taylor and Rick Rude. In Early 87 my mom, who knew I was a big wrestling fan, surprised me with a pay per view, Wrestlemania 3.

While I had never watch the WWF I was immediately captivated by the pageantry and bigger than life personalities. Plus I started seeing some familiar names that left my original love, the AWA. This started a three year run of what I have always considered the first wrestling boom.

Fast forward 30 years and we are now entering another wrestling boom with the rise over the last few years of NJPW, Impact and ROH plus the NWA returning to prominence. Big news this January with a new promotion, AEW, getting it’s start and so many independent and international promotions available through streaming services.  This got me thinking of the time I rediscovered wrestling and what it has meant to me over the years.

I'm going to re-experience one of the most pivotal moments in the history of wrestling. The Monday night wars and the promotions available through that time, These moments have been discussed beyond all recognition of the wrestling promotions that we all grew to love. It has been discussed from the creative side, the wrestlers side, the financial side, the tv rating side, the experts side and so many other ways. However, I have never seen it discussed from the fans side. WWF, ECW, and WCW were three main players that revolutionized the wrestling business and gave us one of the greatest couple of years to be fans.

I am going to watch each of the big three promotions week by weeks and give you a fans perspective on what I see. This is not going to be another insider adaptation with interviews and hidden information. This is just going to be through the eyes of a fan and how I saw this beautiful disaster unfolding. I haven't decided how far I am going to watch, especially since I considered the end of WCW and ECW when Tazz and the Radicals all jumped to WWE. I am going to cover all the shows from Scott Hall’s first appearance on Nitro through the first appearance of the Radicalz on Raw. Every Nitro, Raw, Thunder, Smackdown, ECW weekly show and pay per view match through that time will be covered. And for those of you that remember the time, I will be doing my breakdown of these shows in the old internet match results style.

I plan on putting a star rating next to each match, interview, segment and the full show review. I also want to keep a running total of the winners of the week so we can see from a fans perspective who was the true winner of the Monday night wars. Since these rating are going to be done by a fan and not any type of insider, it is very important to understand the star ratings. These ratings are mainly subjective to the viewer. My personal ratings are based on match quality, in ring story, entertainment factor, backstory, and after match shenanigans. Taking all those factors into consideration is how I determine whether what I just watched is an instant classic or would have been better left on the creative table and will never be discussed again. That being said here are the rankings

5 Star – Instant classic, will go down as one of the best matches of all time and will be remembered and talked about for years.

4.5 Star – Match or moment of the year candidate

4 Star – An amazing match or moment that will definitely leave a lasting impression

3.5 Star – a great match or moment

3 Star – A good match or moment

2.5 Star – An average match or moment

2 Star – A below average match or moment

1.5 Star – A decent match or moment

1 Star – A borderline bad match or moment, may have a high spot or two but all in all terrible

.5 Star – a terrible waste of time

0 Star – unwatchable match or moment that I advise never to look at or talk about again.

Please follow this blog and check back often. My goal is to watch all three promotions and all their main shows and pay per views while breaking down my feelings on what I just saw. I plain on posting something once a week about what I have watched, that being said.. I watch a lot of wrestling, I am a father and I have a full time job. I will do as much as I can but please keep in mind,  this is from the eyes of a fan. 

Make sure you check out our show, Kingdom of Honor, for the latest in wrestling talk every Monday night on Lords of Pain Radio and find our archived shows with a lot of never before heard content on our Patreon page here. Also please leave a comment with your thoughts below or send your feedback to us directly at Kingdomofhonor123@gmail.com

G1 Supercard of Honor 2019 - Madison Square Garden

Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling pulled out all the stops to deliver a memorable and definitely a weekend stealing show. One night after nXt light up the big apple at the Barclays Center, ROH/NJPW came to Madison Square Garden and tore it down. Title changes, surprise returns, surprise debuts and surprise appearances mixed with over the top entrances (yes I'm looking at you PCO) and match of the year candidates, the G1 Supercard of Honor did something WWE hasn't done in years....... put on a 5 star show Wrestlemania weekend.

The Jushin Thunder Liger retirement tour made it's way to New York so wrestling faithful could say their goodbye's to one of the legends. The Great Muta made his debut in the worlds most famous arena and G.o.D. debuted a new entrance video. Jeff Cobb and G.o.D come out of the event as dual champions while Kelly Klein wins back the ROH women of honor championship and then gets beat down by the debuting faction Allure. Ishimori, Dragon Lee, and Bandito put on an instant classic and both companies crown new world champions. 

Bully Ray's open challenge allows for the return of Flip Gordon and all hell broke loose with a 6-man tag team New York Street fight. Ibushi versus Naito was an incredibly fun display of two of the most underrated talents in NJPW. A couple of creative missteps in the NJPW camp were completely counter balanced by one great decision by ROH and Kenny King wins the battle royal to become the new #1 contender for the ROH world championship.

In my opinion the NEVER Openweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship should never have changed hands. Will Ospreay was the right guy to hold the belt and give it some legitimacy with a long reign. Same with the Heavyweight belt. Taking it off Jay White at this point in time was a bad call especially when it was just done to send the crowd home happy. A long run by the Switchblade would have given him the kind of heat and momentum to make him a top notch star for the rest of his life. Instead he takes a major step back in his creative development for really no reason at all.

However, ROH was able to counteract these horrible decisions by finally giving the devil his due when Matt Taven won the ROH World Championship.The hottest heel in the company finally took home the championship and can now truly call himself the REAL WORLDS CHAMPION. Personally I was hopping for a Marty Scurll win but I really can't argue with this brilliant decision.

All in all though this show was one of the best of the year and a couple of matches (including the IWGP main event) are must watch matches.

nXt Takeover New York - Johnny Champion

I decided instead of a match by match recap of the show I would save all of that until the show this Monday. In fact going forward I will probably do less and less show reviews here since it is something we cover every Monday at 6:30 pm CST on Lords of Pain radio.

Takeover was what Takeover always is, it was a phenomenal show with no less than a 4 star match anywhere on it. From the War Raiders entrance to the surprise final shot, this show hit all the right notes and left me satisfied in a way that I haven't been by a wrestling show in a long time. The opening tag team match was easily 5 stars without the intro and the great show of sportsmanship by the Raiders letting Ricochet and Aleister Black say there good bye's to the nXt crowd. Matt Riddle and Velveteen Dream tore the house down while Pete Dunn and Walter put on a great showing with Dunne looking extremely strong in defeat. The woman's four way told a great story but the highlight for me was the 2 out of 3 falls match between Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano.

Johnny Wrestling, Johnny 5 Star, Johnny Takeover, Johnny Badass, Johnny Champion, what ever name you choose to call him, well he fits all those and so many more. For the last two years Johnny Gargano has been the heart and soul of the black and gold brand. He has put on mat classic after mat classic while making stars out of every opponent he is in the ring with. Last year Tommaso Ciampa was my nXt wrestler of the year and that never would have happened with out the feud of the year he had with Gargano. Throughout the last two years whether it was Ciampa, Aleister Black, Ricochet, Velveteen Dream, or Andrade Cian Almas, their best matches came when they were in the ring with Johnny and because of the fact that every match he is in tends to be an instant classic, From this day forward I think I will be referring to him simply as Johnny Classic.

Johnny came to play in his 2 out of 3 falls match with Adam Cole. Through out the match both competitors showed us why they are on top of the mountain and the story told couldn't have been a better one. The interference by the Undisputed Era and the finisher kick outs, that would have normally turned me off on a match, fit so perfectly with Johnny's character that I couldn't help to be entirely invested in what I was watching. 

Then when I thought my emotional strings couldn't have been tugged anymore Ciampa comes out in a neck brace to celebrate his best friends win. Watching those 2 embrace after the bitter feud they had, after all the recent history. Then factor in that this was supposed to be Ciampa vs Gargano in a continuation of what could honestly be considered the best feud in the history of wrestling. No one could have done what Johnny did. The journey that Gargano has been on since the Cruiser Weight Classic was such an incredible story and is one that should be and will be remembered for decades. 

While I think certain chants, especially in nXt, are over done. None are more over done then the "you deserve it chant" However, if there ever was a time to chant it this was it. Johnny you have been through hell and back, you started at the bottom and scratched and clawed your way to the pinnacle and I for one am standing on my feat, applauding and chanting at the top of my lungs.

Johnny Classic..................... You Deserve It!!!!

2016 Ultimate Wrestling Pay Per View

After a brief hiatus to clear my noggin and get settled into my new work life, I figure now is a great time to dust of my old blog and get back to doing something I enjoy. So that being said, I would love to take credit for this brilliant idea. However, that credit goes to my fellow fan of wrestling, superheroes and damn good sci-fi TV Shane AKA Xan-Man. You can find his posts at www.lordsofpain.tv and hopefully he can be talked into doing our pod cast again at some point. Anyway I digress, lets get on to the fun.

The concept is simple..... Take every PPV or special event from all wrestling promotions that took place in 2016 and derive the Ultimate Pay-Per-View from that. Rules?? Well yes, unfortunately, as with any good dream card rules have been drawn up.
1. No more than 2 tag team title matches.
2. No individual title defended more than once.
3. No individual wrestlers on the card more than once.
4. No more than two world title matches on the card.
5. No more than 2 midcard title matches on the card (which is seriously the hardest stipulation)
6. No more than one woman's match on the card.
7. No more than one match from each individual 2016 event.
So sit back, strap in and enjoy this trip down memory lane. If you are like me then hopefully you will agree that this PPV would leave you worn out, exhausted and satisfied beyond belief.

Match 1

NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag Team Title Match - Kushida ACH, and Matt Sydal vs Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks - ROH 14th Anniversary.

The goal of every pay per view is to hook the audience with a breathtaking display that gets them jacked up for the remainder of the show. Usually a tag team or triple treat match is placed in this opening spot because the athletic and frenetic fast pasted action can get people to stand on their feet but not wear them out. This match hit everything you would want in an opener from comedy to nostalgia to high spots galore. The ending of this match had so much going on that I was thankful for tivo so I could rewind it and see what else I missed. Fantastic story that built up throughout the bout leading to a perfectly timed super kick party.  You honestly could not have asked for anything better.

Match 2

Frankie The Mobster vs Mike Rollins - Smash Wrestling - Any Given Sunday 4

Now before you say who the? why the? what the? let me explain. I was more entertained by this match then anything I saw anywhere on the most recent crap spit out by the WWE. That sorry excuse for a PPV,  Fastlane, just shows that the WWE is still clueless on what the fans want. This match, on the other hand, was not a technical masterpiece or even a high quality match that alone would make it as a best of the year candidate. This match, however, was one of the most entertaining bits of comedy and plain enjoyment I have seen in quite some time. The sheer entertainment value the three men involved in this match displayed was definitely worthy of it's spot on this card. Yes I said three, even the referee was involved in the hi-jinx and made it that much more enjoyable.

Match 3

Shinsuke Nakumura vs Sami Zayn - NXT Takeover Dallas

The positioning of this match may be a little unfair considering that this would normally be the spot for a cool down match. The story, the anticipation and the match itself between the Godfather of NXT and The King of Strongstyle was anything but a cool down. Sadly when looking at the rest of the card I have assembled, there really was no other option for match number three. These two put on a wrestling clinic and a believable story that even the bloody nose pause by the ref just played up to the realism. 

Match 4

NXT Tag Team Title Match - American Alpha vs The Revival - NXT Takeover: The End

One thing I am thankful for is that The Revival is still in NXT. They are a great tag team and if history has shown us anything it is that the main roster does not know how to handle tag teams. NXT however gets it right every single time. The Revival may be the most complete wrestling team I have seen since the Road Warriors in the AWA days. Every match they just bring it and continue to bring it to a new level with each new opponent. Jason Jordan's drop kicks are a thing of beauty and American Alpha showed that energy and showmanship, throughout the match, that made so many people fall in love with them. The momentum transitions with all four men in the ring were fun, fast paced, and honestly kept me guessing what was going to happen next. The ending sequence was one of the best things I have ever seen. This was as close to a perfect tag team match as you can get.

Match 3

NXT Women's Championship - Mickie James vs Asuka - Takeover: Toronto

The Empress of Tomorrow taking on the returning fan favorite that became one of the best in the world while honing her craft in TNA and GFW. Asuka had been positioned as an unstoppable force and Mickie not backing down or appearing afraid seemed believable and well played. The back and forth mind games between the two were done to perfection and. My only complaint about this match is the ending seemed rushed. But a great woman's match is one that makes you forget you are watching women. The type of match that sucks you into it and all you see is the story being told. This match had that ability and deserves it's spot on this list. 

Match 6

Ricochet Vs Will Ospreay - Evolve 59

These two put on a match in NJPW that became an internet sensation. They had the same match a month earlier in the finals of the Europe vs America series in Evolve. The reason I would recommend this match ahead of theirs from NJPW is quite simply because it was better. The choreography was much tighter and they seemed to enjoy the fans and had more fun with each other. Right from the entrances through the ending silliness the King of Flight and the Arial Assassin put on a show for the ages. I'm not a huge fan of flips and flying unless it's done right and these two did everything perfectly to deliver a very fun and memorable match.

Match 7

ROH World Heavyweight Championship - Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole - Death before Dishonor

When watching Jay Lethal the only thing I can think of is what the hell was TNA thinking? How can you possibly take a guy with this much charisma, athleticism and pure wrestling talent and make him into a parody of 80's wrestling? I could have put about 8 Jay Lethal matches in this spot but what he was able to drag out of Adam Cole made this far and away the best of the bunch. The match was clunky in spots but played well into the fury and rage that Lethal had in his quest for revenge. The ending sequence was one of the top 5 I've ever seen and this is a must watch for any fan that wants to know how great ROH wrestling can be.

Match 8 

IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Kazuchika Okada vs Naomichi Marufuji - King of Pro Wrestling

The best of Pro Wrestling NOAH vs The Rainmaker is what dream matches are made of. Hard hitting and entertaining this was an instant classic. There were moments that I stared at my screen wondering if either man was going to get up or if a stretcher was coming out. Okada is easily one of the top 5 wrestlers in the world and he showed a rare side of himself in this match. Watching Okada as the resilient champion who took a tremendous beating only to come back time after time was a thing of beauty.

Match 9 

T.J. Perkins vs Kota Ibushi - CWC Semi Final Round

The Cruiser Weight Classic was nothing to write home about. In fact at times it was hard to watch but a couple of gems came out of it. Jack Gallagher is a must watch anytime you get a chance. Johnny Gargano is as vanilla as they come and doesn't play his underdog in peril role very well but his match with Tommaso Ciampa was one for the ages. Still the best Cruiserweight match I saw in 2016 was between Perkins and Ibushi. It was a perfect blend of Japanese Strong Style and technical mat wrestling without getting caught up on high flying move after move like so many of these matches do. TJP needs his character to develop a lot more on WWE TV (as do all the Cruiserweights) however he proved here that he can put on a great match with one of the best in the world.

Match 10

Aztec Warefare 2

Honestly I struggled with the placement of this or even if it belonged. Partly because of Ricochet, but if Mick Foley can appear three times on a PPV as multiple characters then Prince Puma deserves a shot. And when it came right down to it, there were very few matches in 2016 that were better. If the Royal Rumble ever wants to be anything that satisfies the fans they should look long and hard at this match. Lucha Underground has done a great job of making everyone on their roster matter and there was no better display of that then in this 60 minute battle royal. Every rivalry had there time in the sun and every wrestler had a chance to shine. The end was a surprise to even the most faithful of Lucha fans and the match itself was so good I watched it multiple times. My only problem was that because I placed this match on this card I had to exclude three other matches that were equally as good because all of those characters where in this (and I may have already cheated once). Even still if you have ever wondered if Lucha Underground is worth it I implore you to watch this match and you will instantly be a fan.

Match 11

Intercontinental Championship Match - Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens - Last Man Standing Match - Royal Rumble

What do you get when you take a prize fighter who felt he was wronged and a lunatic who thinks he is right. You get one of the most brutal last man standing matches I have seen since The Rock hit Mankind with chair shots galore. These two put on a show that brought everyone to their feet and over shadowed everything else on the card. Dean Ambrose was in the middle of a ridiculous string of 5 star matches and Kevin Owens was in the middle of one of the best heel story lines of all times. Sadly neither of these guys are anywhere near these heights today but that can be attributed to the stories more than the men, The best thing I can recommend is to sit back, watch and enjoy a match that quickly went to the tops of my all time favorites.

 Match 12

 AJ Styles vs John Cena - SummerSlam

I could have filled this entire card with AJ Styles matches, Well AJ Styles and a man that is yet to come matches. AJ Styles may be the best story teller and wrestler in the world, and even better when he is a heel. John Cena, well it's hard for me to say this of a guy who is a 16 time world champion, however, he maybe the most underrated wrestler in the world since most people overlook his talent because they are sick of his gimmick. This was an instant classic and as much as I hate the constant finisher kick out that has become so common in this day and age, it was done to perfection in this match. If you add in one of the best stories of all time that was jam packed full of real life. This may be one of my all time favorite matches and rivalries. It also would have been my Main Event except for two small issues. this isn't even the best match that these two have had together (Royal Rumble 2017) and it's not a title match, so I give way to my top match on this card and match of the year in 2016.......

Match 13

NEVER Openweight Championship - Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata - Wrestle Kingdom 10

Matt Striker said it best "People keep asking me why this match is happening...... Because!!! That's why!!!" This is the type of match that will leave you breathless, exhausted and physically in pain. I have never been a fan of no-selling in a match but for some reason these guys do it to perfection. Perfect timing, amazing chemistry, and a guy who is quickly becoming on of my favorite wrestlers in the world. This was a hard hitting and brutal match. Even with it's lack of story line build up, but who needs build up, when strong style is allowed to shine. It is easily my favorite match of 2016 and may be one of my top five of all time. This is the type of match that every promoter wants to end every pay per view on because after you watch this it is impossible to watch more.

That's all for now, until next time love, health, happiness and all that other gushy stuff.