Tag Archives: wwe smackdown

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

Mark Briscoe: What’s Next?

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Mark Briscoe is dealing with real life issues that are more important than wrestling. In no way am I trying to be disrespectful to him and his wrestling ability.

With the tragic passing of his brother Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe is on the verge of fading into irrelevancy and unemployment. The Briscoe Brothers were one of the best tag teams in pro wrestling. And the only reason they aren’t a household name is because they had the misfortune to be employed by Ring of Honor.

For those of you that don’t know, mainly because ROH isn’t on any tv channel and the company is terrible at trying to grow the company, The Briscoe Brothers have held the ROH Tag Team Championship for 12 times. Jay has held the ROH World Championship 2 times in his career while Mark has held 0 individual titles.

Jay had IT, Mark does not. Jay can be the top of a company, he could deliver promo, he looked the part, could sell a move, great finisher, there was nothing Jay couldn’t do in the world of wrestling. Mark is good, but not great. Teaming with Jay took a lot of pressure off Mark, which is why they were such a successful tag team.

Mark acts like a wild animal in the ring. He doesn’t wrestle, he fights. Which obviously is his character, but it doesn’t look good in long matches or against top talent. Jay has been at the top of the company. Put on great matches against Adam Cole, Samoa Joe, Jay White, Bandido and a ton of other opponents I watched in preparation for this article.

What happens to Mark now? Where does he fit in on AEW? As I said before, a successful singles career is not in his future. Are you going to team him up with someone? Who? Now the WWE has given us some interesting tag pairings that looked strange at first, but were successful. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, Team Hell No, Ricochet and Aleister Black, The Bar were all fun to watch.

Who does Mark team with? I’ve looked through the AEW roster, I don’t see any pairings that work. The only thing that would work is some big faction, maybe Lance Archer, Mike Bennett, but the more I write this the more ridiculous it sounds.

Mark was his own unique character. Teaming with Jay fit the theme they were trying to portray. There is nobody in wrestling that I think fits with Mark. And now that Jays gone, Mark is lost in the shuffle. Looking at the current AEW roster I found 60 wrestlers more equipped the be the head of the company in some capacity over Mark and none of them seem to mesh with Mark in a tag or faction capacity.

Tony Khan is doing a terrible job at managing his 5 shows. Dynamite, Rampage, Dark, Elevation and ROH are all clumped into one roster and you might go weeks before a feud or one of your favorite wrestler is on tv. For Mark to survive in the company, he needs to be placed at the top of a show and be on a roster of wrestlers that aren’t head and shoulders above him.

Where do you think Mark Briscoe is going in AEW and how would you book him going forward?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Apollo Crews: The Future Isn’t Bright

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I remember seeing Apollo Crews for the first time and thinking “this guy is a mid-carder at best” and since I made that prediction, the WWE hasn’t done anything to elevate or make Crews even remotely relevant. Crew’s more notable feud on the main roster was teaming with Kalisto and the going against Dolph Ziggler in a handicapped match. Nothing else comes to mind when I think of Crews. Then came his gimmick change where he became African and teamed with Commander Azeez, which was one of the worst character changes to both men’s careers.

Now Crews is on NXT. He is putting together a string of good matches. His last feud with Carmelo Hayes was good, but it didn’t elevate Crews at all. After the match was over, Azeez attacked Crews to start a new feud, which will end……..I don’t care. Both men aren’t doing anything of value now. This feud won’t propel them to title shots or faces of the company. They are B or C- wrestlers, not by their own ability, but by the creative decisions around their characters. Maybe a fresh start in a new company might be the best thing. Zack Ryder took full advantage of his WWE release to become Matt Cardona and now looks ready for the big stage.

What do you think about Apollo Crews and how would you book him going forwards?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Cody Invasion

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Imagine this. WrestleMania. Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar in a title vs title match. The ref is knocked out. The Usos charge the ring. Brock takes them both out with double clothesline. He starts beating them down. Heyman comes in with a chair and hits Lesnar across the back. Lesnar grabs Heyman by the throat and yells in his face. Reigns gets up and goes for the Spear, but his Heyman instead. Lesnar hits Reigns with the F5. 1. 2. 3. Lesnar celebrates, holds up both belts and makes his way up the ramp. He takes one last look at a defeated Reigns who finally made it to his feet. Then it happens. Cody Rhodes jumps the barrier, slides in the ring and hits Reigns with the Cross Rhodes. Then he takes a look at Lesnar and we cut to black.

How good would that be?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Shelton Benjamin : Snubbed

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Shelton Benjamin is probably the most talented wrestler in WWE history that was never given a fair shot at a heavyweight championship. Mid card and tag titles he’s won, but Benjamin should’ve won a World Champion by now. Now sadly its too late for him, but I wonder if it would be best for him to end his career somewhere else. Impact Wrestling would be the safest move. AEW is too heavy in the world title run and NJPW doesn’t really have the impact like it did a few years ago.

I thought Benjamin would’ve been good at leading a faction of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan calling themselves the Gold Standard. It would’ve been nice to see Benjamin getting more screentime as something more than a match filler. Being a part of the Hurt Business was probably the most interesting thing they did with him in years, but sadly that ended too fast and now Benjamin is just cannon fodder to make Bobby Lashley look better.

Where do you see Benjamins, future going in the WWE and if you had a dream match for him who would it be against?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

No Way Jose : Dead From The Start

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Terrible name. Boring moves. Horrendous finisher. No Way Jose was poised to fail from his first moments in NXT. Having a dancing gimmick hasn’t worked out since the days of 2 Cool, and those guys were never really found themselves in the main event picture. I don’t really remember Jose having any main roster moments of value.

Is there a way to save Jose? Not without a total overhaul. He does have some good size and athleticism. A change in finisher is the first thing. Something simple like The Freak Accident or a reverse Samoan Drop is what I would choose for him.

Character wise I would’ve put him in a multi man ladder match on NXT or pair him off with someone like Kona Reeves, another wrestler devoid of purpose. Have them make a run in the Dusty Rhodes tag Team Classic and see if they catch on with the fans. Some matches against Sanity and AOP would really boost their credibility. Maybe move them up to the main roster together. I still think Reeves is on NXT somehow after all these years without a meaningful feud yet.

That’s how I would’ve fixed Jose. I don’t think he would’ve been a main star in the WWE or NXT, but he would be someone that fans would want to tune in to see. Someone who would be in Royal Rumbles, fill out Money in the Bank matches and maybe, with alittle push, be able to jump into a successful singles career.

Simptastic Joe