Tag Archives: wwe 2k23

Wrestling

Defending the Stun Gun Ending

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Wrestling fans and wrestlers alike seem to agree that Goldberg losing to Kevin Nash after getting tazed was a bad idea; however, I loved the ending and thought it made the most sense. At that time, Goldberg was 173-0 in his WCW career, and it would take a lot more than interference to make him lose at that time.

I didn’t hate the ending, but I hated what happened afterward. Kevin Nash lost to Hulk Hogan with the Finger Poke of Doom, and we didn’t see Goldberg get his title back. I would’ve ended Goldberg’s streak with the taser ending and then have him beat down worse than anyone ever has in WCW. Thrown through a table, every member of the nWo hitting their finishers on Goldberg and him being off TV for a very long time.

Then, have him return with a vengeance and reclaim his title, but that didn’t happen. Goldberg lost to Kevin Nash on December 27, 1998, and didn’t miss any time afterward. Not even a week, and Goldberg was back on TV.

As a wrestling fan, I’ve seen many matches end because of outside interference, but usually, they lead to something bigger and have a more satisfying ending. Moves like these ultimately led to the downfall of the WCW.

World War Joe

Wrestling

WWE Releases

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The WWE releases have started, and the only surprising names so far for me are Dolph Ziggler and Shelton Benjamin. Sadly, I always felt like both men were underappreciated talents, but the rosters are too stacked at the moment for either man to make a significant impact. The rest of the releases aren’t surprising to me. Elias, Rick Boogs, Shanky, and others haven’t made a dent on any show.

Mansoor and Mace were a dead-on-arrival idea, Dana Brooks hasn’t done anything in years, Dabba-Kato was the product of bad creative, and Quency Elliott….come on. Did they really think that gimmick was gonna work? Riddick Moss was a surprise but not unexpected. He hasn’t had a meaningful feud in a year.

I do wonder what major stars are on the chopping block. I find it hard to believe that the WWE has 5 shows (Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Main Event, and Level Up) and still can’t make many of these diamond-in-the-rough stars into something bigger. Ultimately, this comes down to money, and the WWE doesn’t see a need to pay for a wrestler who isn’t making a significant impact or selling merchandise.

World War Joe

Wrestling

Which squash match was worse?

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Kofi’s loss led to nothing. No rematch, no other feuds. Just an embarrassing 7-second loss. At least Kevin Owens had a feud with Chris Jericho after his loss to Goldberg.

Wrestling

2023 Men’s Money in the Bank

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Obviously, the winner will not challenge Roman Reigns, so whoever wins will be cashing in on Seth Rollins.

 Shinsuke Nakamura had a great match against Rollins at Survivor Series in 2018, but I don’t see Nakamura getting another title chance after his underwhelming matches against AJ Styles.

Ricochet is cannon fodder, and that’s it. A massive waste of a roster spot at this point. He was rushed to the main roster and, since then, has done very little to jot down.

BUTCH is in Limbo at this point. Teaming with the Brawling Brutes looks good on paper, but he was much better as the Bruiserweight. I see a fun feud coming out of this against Santos Escobar and his team, but nothing groundbreaking.

Santos Escobar’s time will come, but not now. He’s too deep in his faction and isn’t getting enough screen time to warrant being the face of the company. I’d like to see a Heel Escobar holding the title one day, hopefully turning on Rey Mysterio to start that Heel turn.

LA Knight is the obvious choice. I’m thrilled to see his career not flushed down the toilet by bad creative. By that, I mean his lack lustered NXT run and his squash match with Bray Wyatt. Knight has everything you want in a champion, but I don’t see it happening now.

Damian Priest has been reportedly impressing a lot of higher-ups. I’m glad Priest has made many strides since his run as Punishment Martinez. I see Priest winning but not capturing the title. A Priest and Finn Balor have been teased for the past few weeks. Judgment Day is a fun faction to watch, and I don’t want it to end so soon, but this will put Priest on his own and capture singles titles.

What do you think?

World War Joe

Wrestling

Gresham Wants Out

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If I was Gresham I would want to leave too. There is 0 direction with ROH. No tv deal, no weekly schedule, just random PPVs with very little story or interest. Why wouldn’t he want to leave? Obviously, his main destination would be the WWE.

I would give Gresham a royal treatment, a title shot against the NXT champion after a few months and have him hold the title for about a year and move him to the main roster. There’s a lot of great opponents for Gresham. Dolph Ziggler, Tommaso Ciampa, Finn Balor, there’s a lot for Gresham to do in the main roster.

The WWE should jump at the chance to grab a unique veteran like Gresham who is looking for a spotlight and not to be featured once every other month. I hope the release happens soon and we can get those dream matches.

Wrestling

Buddy Matthews Wins Gold…Kinda

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Congratulations to Buddy Matthews for winning the AEW…..TNT…..FTW…..ROH…..the MCW World Heavyweight Championship. Yes, you read that right folks. Buddy Matthews, one of the most talented wrestlers on the planet, just won the MCW Championship…. yikes.

I remember a time, not too long ago, when Matthews was in the WWE destroying everyone in the Cruiserweight Division and then went to the main roster, teamed with Seth Rollins and was released. THEN, showed up in AEW and teamed with Malakai Black and Brody King to do essentially nothing. Am I crazy for thinking Matthews is a superstar talent? Is it possible that these big named companies are just dropping the ball on him?

I’d like to read a quote from Matthews after winning the championship when he was asked when he will be returning.

“It’s all about the travel – it’s how many times I want to jump on a plane and travel 30 hours. To see my family is everything, and my WWE schedule was very hectic. Not that this one isn’t, but AEW – I’m very fortunate to work for a company that allows me to go and see my family. Pop over, and help these guys. It’s really cool to come and do that”

Translation:

Thank you AEW for giving me a contract where I have to wrestle 17 times a year and get to go to the indies and across the world to put together an audition tape for the WWE, Impact Wrestling and NJPW. If Tony Khan can’t find a way to make Buddy Matthews a relevant star in AEW, then he doesn’t deserve to have him.

Where do you think Buddy Matthews should go?

Picture from Dream by Wombo AI

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Reigns vs Zayn: Not Over Yet?

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I said many times that I have a Love/Hate relationship with Brock Lesnar. I’ve seen many fantastic matches where he fought Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, Triple H and others, but there have been a lot of terrible matches with Lesnar as well. the bad matchres consist of German Suplexes followed by an F5 and sprints to the finish of the match. A lot of high spots that get a quick reaction, but nothing long lasting.

This match was a bad Lesnar match in reverse. Slow, painfully slow. To the point where I questioned if Sami Zayn is even a good wrestler anymore. Zayn’s last couple of years in the WWE have been more theatrical than focusing on in ring ability. Yes, he was great in NXT, but I would say the most impressive thing he did on the main roster was his feud with Braun Strowman in 2016, which was 7 years ago. Since then, he has been bottom tier on the roster, lackluster feuds and essentially struggling to hold any type of spotlight. This could very well be the first time watching a wrestler be elevated to potential WrestleMania Championship match based on emotional storytelling and not in ring ability.

All this match did was show that Roman Reigns can command an arena doing very little wrestling. Roman yelled at the crowd, yelled at Zayn’s wife, mouthed off to Zayn’s father, yelled at the crowd again. Every now and then Zayn caught Reigns monologuing and took advantage, but not for long. It felt like watching a retirment match where Zayn’s career was on the line and we saw glimpses of great moments from his past.

Of course the referee went down, bringing in Jimmy Uso to Superkick Zayn until the ref woke up. The Jey Uso hesitation with the chair was interesting, but makes me wonder if this is leading to Jey and Zayn winning the tag titles, which wouldn’t surprise me, but would be an immense letdown of storytelling. Zayn winning the title from Reigns is the only outcome that makes sense. Anything else is a massive letdown.

So what did this match accomplish? That Zayn isn’t at the level that Reigns is? That the fans will chant for you more if your parents had unprotected sex in that city? This feud is over to me. Obviously, we have WrestleMania and an unfinished Jey Uso moment of truth, but this is now Cody Rhode’s time.

Did they bring back Rhodes to win the Royal Rumble and not be the focal point. That we are getting a Triple Threat Match for the titles that again reiterates the fact that Zayn can’t win the big one? So now, they’re sacrificing Rhode’s potential WrestleMania moment for Zayn, when his moment should’ve been in Canada. What a waste.

Art work from Dream by Wombo AI Art

Simptastic Joe