The year was 1995, and WWE was in trouble. With Hulk Hogan not only gone but starring for a rising WCW, not to mention the experiments of pushing Lex Luger and Diesel on top flopping, the company went for an experiment. Yes, WrestleMania 11 included a Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels world championship bout that was […]
The rivalry between CM Punk and Seth Rollins has been one of WWE’s hottest issues in recent months. Things took a turn coming out of Elimination Chamber. Punk eliminated \'The Visionary\' from the Chamber match, only for Rollins’s post-elimination attack to sabotage Punk’s chances at winning. The \'Straight Edge Superstar\' cut a scathing promo two […]
Pro wrestling is full of iconic gimmick matches from annual ones like the Royal Rumble to ones that materialize when the circumstances demand it like Ladder Matches, Strap Matches, Street Fights, and so on. For many old school gimmick matches, it’s nearly impossible to credibly trace their origins, but for newer ones or ones that […]
While this year’s Survivor Series War Games match was, on its surface, a battle between two different versions of The Bloodline, the last minute addition of CM Punk to the team captained by Roman Reigns reframed the narrative. The story largely came down to Punk and Reigns as uneasy partners, bound by being two of […]
In 2005, WWE introduced the concept of Money in the Bank, and in 2017 the company introduced a women’s version of the very same concept. While its history is shorter, the women’s briefcase actually has a stronger track record for success than the men’s, as every single cash-in has yielded a new champion. By contrast, […]
As unlikely as it may seem in the late stages of 2024, New Day is suddenly one of the most buzzworthy acts in wrestling once again. Indeed, a decade in, the team far surpassed what anyone could have expected when Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E first assembled under an ill-defined gospel gimmick Vince […]
MVP has made his presence felt in AEW in recent weeks. An impressive in-ring debut for Shelton Benjamin only further reinforced their collective potential as individual talents and, all the more so, as a unit. All too often, though, fans have seen acts start out hot in AEW, only to get lost in the shuffle. […]
At Bad Blood, Triple H unveiled the Crown Jewel Championship belt, and in so doing announced that the November Crown Jewel PLE from Saudi Arabia would feature head-to-head matches between both the men’s and women’s world champions of each main roster brand. While the belt itself looks impressive, the response from fans has been underwhelming. […]
At All In 2024, Bryan Danielson defeat Swerve Strickland to, for the first time, capture the AEW World Championship. The victory was sensible enough both from the perspective of being one of the best all-around professional wrestlers in the world and, as many pundits framed it, as a lifetime achievement award. Indeed, Danielson has lost […]
One of the wildest stories from the WWE over the last three years has been the rise of Logan Paul. Wrestling fans were quick to dismiss him as a B-list celebrity WWE was wasting its time with early on. However, his in-ring performances escalated, from a startlingly good tag team debut at WrestleMania 38, to […]
In 2012, WWE transitioned to airing Raw for three hours every week. The move was a clear business decision. As streaming services started finding their footing and television viewer became less reliant on cable, there was drive to fill a lot of hours with live TV that ran year round and had a loyal following. […]
Call him Sid Vicious, Sid Justice, Sycho Sid, or just plain Sid. Wrestling fans of the 1990s couldn’t avoid one of the most eye-catching and prolific attractions of the era. Sid Eudy had an incomparable look for a wrestling star and went on to play a major role in WWE and WCW alike, with stopovers […]
Judgment Day has had its ups and downs, but it’s telling that this faction’s show-long angle wound up threading its way through SummerSlam, one of the biggest events on the WWE calendar. Indeed, in the men’s and women’s divisions alike on Monday Night Raw, Judgment Day has been a huge force, holding its own with […]
On August 9, the world lost Kevin Sullivan. While casual fans may not remember him as well for never having a WWE run and not being as featured on screen in WCW by the time the Monday Night War heated up, he was nonetheless a deceptively important figure. His influence as a performer and his […]
WWE recently announced the return of the Bad Blood brand for a PLE to occur this October from Atlanta. The first one—formally titled In Your House: Badd Blood—occurred in 1997, featuring the first ever Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, culminating in the debut of Kane. The show returned in […]
John Cena made a surprise appearance at last month\'s Money in the Bank 2024 to announce his retirement. Cena is not an ordinary character and his retirement plan is fittingly unusual. The 16-time World Champion is going out in a big way and has announced the John Cena WWE retirement tour spanning January-December 2025. He\'s […]
Major stars in professional wrestling all have certain matches that define their legacies. Sometimes they\'re title matches or main events. Sometimes it comes down to match quality and two or more performers putting on a show that keeps fans talking for years to come. In a lot of cases, fans can’t see these kinds of […]
This weekend, all indications are that Montreal will be positively electric for WWE Elimination Chamber. The Road to WrestleMania and the staging of two eponymous Chamber matches are, in and of themselves cause for excitement. What really elevates this event, though, is the main event confrontation scheduled between Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns. This match […]
One of the more interesting elements of the creative process in professional wrestling is just how collaborative it can be. There’s typically either one person in charge of the creative direction of a promotion, or else a booking committee that works together. From there, though, fans can sway the direction of a character or storyline […]
When wrestling fans look back on the biggest icons from WWE’s Golden Era, there are a few usual suspects whose names tend to come up the most. People think of names like Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Ted Dibiase, and Roddy Piper. Another name on the short list is that of The Macho Man Randy […]
