The Wrestling Round Up: BAH GAWD

@RantsWrestle presents it's monthly newsletter/blog for the month ending in January 2015 and this month we have a packed month so lets get to it. This month we take a look at the build for the wwe royal rumble including taking a look at protential winners Daniel Bryan and Roman Regins. We also take a look at Brock Lesnar and what's next for him and John Cena now were officially on the road to wrestlemania. Over in TNA were taking a look at the promotions relaunch on destination America, as well as Roode vs lashley 3 on free tv and what's in store for TNA lockdown show. Then it's over to ROH where we are talking ROH massive 13th Year Anniversary ppv and Sinclair investment in Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio) and what this could mean for the promotion, the tag wars final and the rumours ROH and new japan will be running more joint ppv ventures together in 2015. Also covered is Global Force Wrestling and what is next for Jeff Jarrett's promotion and we also have a full new japan/GFW wrestling Kingdom 9 review and quick results of czw cage of death 16 ippv, a new feature called best and worst of the month and last but not least we take a look at chikara's up and coming season 15 and the announcement the group is bound for Britain in April.  

WWE 

So to end the month of December and to begin January 2015 wwe decided to bring back the Authority and Daniel Bryan, pleasing and pissing off there fan base in one show but my own personal view was that the companies end of year raw was a vast improvement of months of poor tv which at times has even forced me to reconsidering watching a product I grow up on. On the show fans rejoiced as incredibly popular wrestler Daniel Bryan returned after nearly 7 months on the sidelines with an neck injury. Bryan announced on his return he would be back for the royal rumble match after wwe and Bryan did a tremendous job of teasing that Bryan could retire but he didn't and fans rejoiced. Bryan announced he would be in this years rumble match and he is needed after it looked as if Roman Regins was the only protential winner of this years match. Now with Bryan's return we have two legit talents who can win this years rumble and headline mania, I'd say that was a good thing for the company. Then on this same show wwe had super heel Seth Rollins threaten to break john Cenas friend former wwe superstar and multi time world champion edge's neck in a very good angle. Cena who in the storyline was the one man who could bring the authority back had no choice but to bring the unpopular duo back. So the authority is back leading many on twitter to complain of the return of Steph and Hunter. I for one didn't have a problem with it but what I did have a problem with was the way the authority (who remember had been banished from wwe after survivor series) just walked out on this show to gloat over there return. So basically wwe flushed away an entire few weeks worth of tv which could have been held off for another week but I guess this is how they do business now by hotshotting everything. To make matters worse after the show ended then for the live crowd (it wasn't televised) the authority had a brawl with Cena and co who ended up being saved by randy Orton. Yes randys big baby face turn which happened throughout late October early November and return to wwe was wasted for the live crowd only. With some proper build this return of Orton could have 'oh I don't know popped a rating or even added a few extra network subscribers if wwe had just held off and saved this angle for a show down the road. It's clear wwe is panicking and when wrestling promotions panic hotshotting normally follows (as an old wcw fan, I know this all to well). Seth Rollins was added to the John Cena v Brock Lesnar match for the royal rumble making it a triple threat wwe title match in the process. I have three lines of thinking regrading this decesion. One. Brock can avoided being beaten by Cena Which in turn would render the streak  meaningless (if you remember Brock ended takers famous streak to set him up for his title run this summer). Two. Seth can beat Cena and become wwe champion and then roll into a match with either Cena or Regins come mania. Thirdly Cena could beat Brock or Seth then go on and headline mania against Roman Regins and if wwe do this then Regins start as wwe champion could be rejoiced by the fans rather than sore them after months of bad reactions towards Regins (because let's face it wwe fans will more likely boo Cena and cheer Regins in scanerio three where Regins beats Brock the wwe audience is far more likely to cheer Brock and boo Regins). So what's next for the current WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar with more rumours saying he's going back to UFC as it's emerged he has signed a deal with UFC many years back blocking him from competing for a rival MMA company (like Bellator) so if Brock is going back into the world of fighting then it looks as if UFC is his only opition. As of writing Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and Erik Rowen where all fired by the authority but will likely return in time for the rumble, yet more hot shotting by wwe. Sting must surely be back in my opinion for the rumble to continue his feud with triple h with the two still likely to have a match at wwe wrestlemania 31. Bray Wyatt seems to be being built up for a big match at wrestlemania with him likely going one in one with the undertaker. Meanwhile Dean Ambrose has fallen so far after months of losing top level feuds to Seth Rollins and bray Wyatt that he may have even a hard time making it onto the mania card itself at this point. Hopefully wwe have something lined up something for Ambrose but at this point what is left for him to do with mania looming. Rusev  also seems to be left out in the cold for mania after wwe had booked him so well all year long. Again maybe I'm giving wwe too much credit here but I fully expect them to have something big lined up for the Bulgian brute come mania. 

TNA 

On January 8th TNA finally relaunched on destination America in the states and is back up and running again. Which is great news for pro wrestlers who were employed by the fledging company but once back it proved to be much of the same for TNA. It seems no one has learned from there previous mistakes like hot shotting a number of things like Kurt angles first match in almost 6 to 8 months right onto free to air tv rather than save it show at a later date which would have popped a rating for TNA if built up properly. The show opened up with a well put together video package which saw teams of wrestlers arrive in limos to the manhattan centre and once outside all of the wrestlers had a brawl to open up the new era of TNA on destination America (this was just plain stupid as later on james storm had a sit down interview with mike tenay which had a recorded earlier graphic on it but according to the booking of the show all the wrestlers had only showed up to the building at the start of the show). Kurt Angle interrupted the brawl and had a good exchange of words with MVP which then lead to two of TNAs biggest stars having a match which angle won (this bothered me a lot as I'm asking the question do TNA not want to get better and make some money god damn it). The cutbacks of TNA production was obvious with the lights turned down (reports say the building was only half full) and it got worst when taz and josh Matthews where shown sitting in a very poorly dim lighted booth. Also on the show Cowboy James Storm and Abyss pinned The Wovles Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards to retain the TNA world tag team titles in a good match. Austin Aries beat Low-Ki to win his seventh X Division Title In another good match, Taryn Terrel retained her TNA Knockouts Championship in a battle royal last eliminating Havok. Before the match Robbie E said he was dumping Brooke even though the two had no association with one another on TNA tv and it was never once mentioned on the Amazing Race they where a couple (again it made no sense). The champ was not over whatsoever during her introduction, her entrance was meet with silence. Afterwards Awesome Kong returned and had a stare down with Havok, hopefully TNA book this feud correctly between these two monsterous women and get that title off of Taryn as soon as possiable and give it to Havok or Kong. Thoughout the show Kenny King, MVP and Lashley argued which was all leading to TNA favourite booking tatic the swerve. One of the best things on TNA this last year has been EC3, it's something TNA haven't dropped the ball on and here yet again EC3 stole the show. As he grabbed TNA company man and ring announcer Jeremy Borash and gave him a hair cut. As spud (another high point for TNA last year) looked on being held down by Taurus, this was a very good angle indeed. Finally Lashley defeated Bobby Roode to win his second TNA world heavyweight title. Towards the end MVP, Kenny king and two masked men hit the ring the two masked men unmasked and it was Samoa Joe and Low-Ki. Then Eric Young hit the ring with a chair in his hand and you could see the swerve coming from miles away as young turned on Roode to cost him the match and the title (yep three heels in the space of minutes, that's called overkill folks). To make matters worst Spoilers for TNA over the next few weeks do not read well with TNA throwing away another Kurt angle match and rushing two matches between Roode and young who probably shouldn't have touched at least for another month or two but that's not how TNA does business. Mark Andrews the winner of TNA British Bootcamp 2 made his debut at the impact tappings following the live destination America debut. It's clear reading spoilers lashley is going babyface after months of being an effective heel, yet again TNA have rushed something that should have been a big deal for the company with lashley face turn in my opinion. Finally to end this TNA section TNA have done away with pay per view with the announcement TNA Lockdown 2015 would be shown on tv for free along with TNA Bound for Glory. If there not making any money on ppv then maybe TNA should be looking at improving it's product and give fans the matches they want and it's proved with ROH fans will still buy wrestling ppv if there is matches they are interested in seeing. 

ROH 

Ring of honor started off the new year with a bang as that there tv tapping on January 3rd Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio) made his debut for the group in what was reported as being a very good match against veteran ring warrior the Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels. This was some good news for people like myself who fill ROH do not take advantage of the situation TNA sees itself in and try to step up and take that spot as North Americas official number two wrestling promotion. Now it seems officials are Looking at the wrestling business a bit differently by opening up the wallets and bringing in the artist formly known as Alberto del rio which means the group must be serious in Going forward as a promotion and taking over as the number two wrestling promotion. ROH announced it's return to ppv on March (add date) for the 14th year anniversary show, so far El Patron, AJ Styles, The Young Bucks and the regular ROH crew have all been announced as being on the show. reDRagon Bobby Fish&Kyle O'Riely Beat Matt Sydal&ACH, The Briscoes Mark&Jay and The Addiction Fallen Angel Christipher Daniels&Frankie Kazarain in a very good tag wars final which consumed ROH tv a few weeks back I would highly recommend you guys and gals go out and watch it if you haven't seen it yet. ROH and New Japan will be doing two joint shows like last year in Canada and New York again this year with at least one of the shows being broadcast on ppv in the states (well that is how it is being reported as of writing). We end this short ROH section with news that ROH have pulled Adam Cole, Kyle O'Riely, Bobby Fish and Michael Elgin from PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerilla) after signing exclusive contracts with ring of honor. 

Elsewhere 

So the month started off with another tremendous Wrestling Kingdom, this was the ninth instalment of New Japan's (which was co promoted in the US of A by Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling promotion) version of wrestlemania and as mentioned above this was a tremendous show which featured three five star matches which has a lot of people sitting up and taking notice of new japan for the first time in there lives. As a fan of puro for over ten years it's nice to see people who buried the product to me before now admitting how good the show was due to the Wrestling Kingdom 9 being live, on ppv and also shown on tape delay in America. Also Jim Ross and Matt Striker called the action which helped appeal to the fan who won't watch japanese puro because they don't like the Japanese commentary. Word is there was some people who experienced some problems with ordering the ppv via the flipps app (like I had to do here in the uk and I didn't experience any of these problems). To open the show was a new japan rumble (which aired on the new japan world service only and you tube) which was won by veteran new japan star Yugi Nagata. To open the show proper reDRagon Bobby Fish&Kyle O'Riely beat Forever Hooligans Rocky Romero&Alex Koslov, The Young Bucks Matt&Nick Jackson and The Time Splitters KUSHIDA&Alex Shelley in an incredible opener to retain the IWGP Jnr Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan put away The Bullet Club Yuijiro Takahashi/with Mao, Jeff Jarrett/with Karen Jarrett&Scott De'More and Bad Luck Fale in a six man tag. Toru Yano, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls and GHC Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufji toppled Suzukigun Takashi Izuka, Shelton X Benjamin and Killer Elite Squad Davey Boy Smith Jnr&Lance Archer in a eight man tag. The incredible Minuro Suzuki beat Kazushi Sakuraba in a UWFI rules match (worked shoot), Suzuki (a former AJPW Triple Crown Champion) and Sakuraba rolled back the hands of time to have a very convincing looking worked shoot (the arm sell by Suzuki stood out for me). Togi Makabe rolled over Tomohiro Iishi to win the Never championship in a very strong style match indeed (again I loved it). Kenny Omega rather predictable beat Ryusuke Taguchi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in another very good match where omega picked up the win with the impressive looking reverse electric chair. Meiya Tag Shibata&Hiroki Goto downed Bullet Club Doc Gallows&Karl Andersson/with the Bullet Babe (Amber O'Niel/Gallows) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles in another quality contest. AJ Styles defeated Tetsuya Naito in another very good match, the two had a better outing at the G-1 last summer. That aside the match was built around styles deadly styles clash and the finish was a perfect fit as AJ drove Tetsuya from the middle rope with the styles clash for styles to pick up the much needed win. Shinsuke Nakamaru beat Kota Ibushi in another cracker (and my match of the night/month and probably year) to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Title. This was rated 5 stars by Dave Meltzer and rightfully so both men brought there a game for this encounter. Ibushi was made to look like a star by Nakamaru but those convincing comebacks and facial expressions by Ibushi proved his fighting spirit. Finally Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Kazuchika Okada to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a match which was just as incredible as Nakamaru and Ibushi. Meltzer rated it five stars but admitted later on in the week that it was more like 6 stars and the marker is 5 stars out of 5 not a 10 out of 10 scale for anyone who doesn't know. Tanahashi repeatable out wrestled Okada at almost every turn by hitting the high flow low from almost every position (at one point Tanahashi hit the move from the ring into the second row where Okada was standing). Okada comeback hit his picture perfect drop kick and a rainmaker but Tanahashi kicked out at two (no wonder some long time puro fans rather jokingly refer to this guy as the Japanese John Cena). Finally Tanahashi hit his last high flow low by turning his body in mid air to hit the move to Okada to get the three. Overall this show was a tremendous success in ring wise but what will the ppv buy rate be. I know a lot of people who didn't buy the show because of the flipps app crash but I was one of the lucky ones who had no problem with it but they were so able to watch the show via online sources who had the show up for free to view. So was it a success financially and will it lead to more new japan shows on ppv and promoted by GFW. I currently hope so and hope enough people went out and viewed the show by buying it because if this is a success the wrestling landscape could very well change in 2015 and for the better. Also this month (Well technically last month but it fell before my last publication date) I have the quick review of CZW Cage of Death 16 ippv event. Up first was an appearance by Santa himself after an awkward back and fourth with the ring announcer which brought out czw owner DJ Hyde who is a heel because longtime czw fans dislike the way Hyde has taken away the death matches and death match stars like Nick Gage (who's actually still in jail). Anyway the silliness aside Hyde predictable beat up Santa which brought out Chris Dickinson and the first match was underway. Chris Dickinson bested DJ Hyde in a average opener, Papadon&Pepper Parks/with Cherry Bomb toppled Lucky 13&Devon Moore in a dire match which had a cheap finish as bomb distracted Lucky to help her team pick up the win. The Beaver Boys Alex Reynolds&Tim Slyvia put away Team Tremendous (investigations) Bill Carr&Dan Barry/with Dick Justice in an ok match (it wasn't good but it wasn't bad either). Joe Gacy dropped Shane Strickland to win the CZW Wired Championship in what was a very good match (and my match of the night), Gacy left quiet an impression on me and reminds me of Samoa Joe from 2000/01. Greg Excellent&The Returning Sexxxy Eddie (you may remember him from czw tournament of death 2004 as the guy who seriously cut open a vein in his arm and blood shout out everywhere) downed Matt Tremont&Buxx Belmer in a rather average comedy match but it was good to see Eddie back. Johnathan Gresham rolled over David Starr, Alex Colon, Mike Bailey, AR Fox and Caleb Konley in a six way match as Starr was pinned he is not egiable for this years Best of the Best Tournament, this was a fun match which brought my attention levels back up after the previous dull tag team match. Alexander James beat Rich Swann in a non title match as James unsanctioned czw junior heavyweight title (which he brought back himself from the dead after winning a fantasy tournament, sound familiar), which was another fun match. 014K Jake&John Crist (formely known as Irish Airborne) pinned The American Wovles Eddie Edwards&Davey Richards to retain the CZW Tag Team Titles in another good match but when do the Wovles not have good matches. Finally BLK Jeez defeated Sozio (Champion), Biff Busick and Drew Gulak in a Cage of Death Match to win the CZW Heavyweight Championship in what wasn't the best ever COD match but wasn't exactly bad either as all four men killed themsevles with some sick bumps into and off of the cage. BLK Jeez won when he jumped from the cage and double stomped the champion in the back of the head to pick up the win and title. I actually enjoyed this show well the second half anyway, yeah it's not the czw I followed in 2002-07 and isn't as violent as it was once before but dj Hyde doesn't want to do that over the top balls to the wall style anymore. I have to applued Hyde for taking his company in a new direction for the last 3 years and showing the detractors czw is a lot more than blood and guts as it offers up some pretty good solid wrestling as well. So if your reading this and you used to be a czw fan of old I would recommend you go out of your way and hunt this show down there plenty of other shows which sucked far worst this month than this one. Finally for the elsewhere section  Chikara season 15 begins on January 26th back at the old ECW arena in Philadelphia, that's the same day as the royal rumble. The group has also announced that it will be visiting these shores of blightly in April for four shows, two in wovlehampton, one in Cardiff and another in London. I've already brought my ticket for the London show and I'm genuinely looking forward to attending my first chikara show live and in person and I can add that to the shows I've already attended in this country including 3 ROH cards, a TNA house show, wwe raw and Smackdown tv tappings, WWF summerslam, pwg in Portsmouth and some super shows which none of you will remember more than likely. 

Round Up Honours 

Last but not least we end this newsletter with a new feature dedicated to the match of the month, wrestler of the month and the much sort after worst match of the month and worst wrestler of the month for January. 

Match of the Month: Shinsuke Nakamaru-This was a tough one as I didn't know weather to pick this match from wrestling kingdom 9 or the main event but in the end I went with Ibushi vs Nakamura because it made me mark out so hard for the story theses two pros told in the ring and how both men made themsevles look like stars coming out of it. 

Wrestler of the Month: Shinsuke Nakamura- I've been a fan of Shinsuke for over the last two years and last year he was by far along with AJ Styles and Adam Cole my wrestler of the year. He wins the January honor for his incredible match with Ibushi and for his super heated showdown with Yugi Nagata the next night on NJPW New Years dash show which sets up a rather tasty affair between Nakamaru and Nagata for February and March. So yes next month I'll probably he praising that match yet again #NakamaruMark. 

Worst Match of the Month: Roman Regins Vs The Big Show-Another tough choice as wwe, czw and TNA all had a chance of winning this award but it had to go to show v Regins. Wwe haven't exactly been getting it right in the way they've booked Regins the so called future of wwe recently. Word is it's McMahon who's been personally behind the creative direction of Regins as late and it's not doing Regins any favours (dean Ambrose also falls into this bracket as well and vince is booking him even more poorly recently). The match in question was built as a big deal but couldn't have come off any worse than it did on this addition of Smackdown and wwe used it's favourite finish of late by ending it in a DQ. I think your agree it's not the best way to book your new chosen one and It has had many within pro wrestling question weather vince is the right guy in guiding Regins and Ambrose career. 

Worst Wrestler of the Month: Roman Regins-Again this award goes to poor ole roman, I really like roman and hope he can became a bona fide main eventer some day but with the way he's been booked this month has just been awful, it's a new low for wwe head vince McMahon. Roman has plodded along in a dire feud with big show and cut some horrid promos of late one where he channeled slyvester the cat from a popular cartoon from the 50's, referring to himself as superman and telling a story about jack and the beanstalk. I'm sure your agree it's not been a good month for roman. The only thing that can save him now is a heel turn and for someone expect McMahon booking Regins. 

So that's it for another month in the world of pro wrestling as told by @RantsWrestle if you've enjoyed what you read or haven't then your more than welcome to tell me via twitter. Until next month then as bill apter would say I'll see you at the matches. 

Billy 

@billy222me 

The Wrestling Round Up: ITS STING

With December almost over that means @RantsWrestle is back with another round up of all things wrestling including news on sting debut with the wwe and his potential wrestlemania match with triple h, CM Punks podcast with good buddy and former ROH second city saint tag team partner colt cabana and signing with UFC. Vince McMahon on the stone cold steve austin podcast, wwe tlc-s results and the rise and fall of Dolph Ziggler in a few short weeks. More NXT notes as well as a quick review of this months NXT network special, Kevin Owens and more Sami Zayn praise. We also look ahead to new Japan's joint ppv show with Jeff Jarrett's group GFW wrestling kingdom 9. The fall out from ROH Final Battle 2014 and a look ahead for 2015 in ROH. We also look at Dixie carter seriously considering bringing back vince Russo, lucha underground news, a review of chikara tomorrow never dies ippv and my top ten predictions for 2015 

WWE 

Well I suppose I should start with CM punk considering he generated lots of press for his appearance on colt cabanas podcast the art of wrestling. In part one of the interview punk spoke openly about his departure from wwe (being fired on your wedding day was a little vindictive on wwe part), the medical teams lack of knowledge over concussions and staph infections and claimed ryback was to stiff in the ring and was using steroids. Punk pulled no punches in the interview regrading his final year and half in the  wwe. Punk even out right buried head of talent relations triple h and claimed hunter had buried him in 2011 when punk was still pipping hot from his Pipebomb and going rogue with the wwe title storyline in the summer of 2011. Punk also touched on how his love for the business was all but dead thanks to his time at Titan. Punk the following week in part two of the interview punk answered some fans letters and emails regrading part one of the interview but only touched on how some troll fans had been trolling him and only real fans would understand why he quit. That weekend punk shocked (well not everyone) most insiders when he appeared on UFC and announced he had inked a deal with the fight organisation and would now beiving into training to become a full time mixed martial artist. Punk now is done with wrestling according to his media interviews but somewhere down the road I wouldn't rule out a move back into wrestling. Because realistically punk did point out the amount of concussions he had suffered while in his final year with wwe (if you were keeping count during the AOW podcast he had reportable suffered over 13 concussions) and was banged up from years of being on the road. So for a man to complain of all this damage his body has taken and is now taking a career in MMA which is ten times more gruelling on the body than wwe but the limited road schedule most have been appalling to him. Now question is can CM punk after all damage his body has taken honestly hang or even realistically fight for the UFC. His training camp should answer those questions and his first (if it ever happens) fight of course. Personally I hope punk makes a success of his new career but the more you think about it the more it is highly unlikely he will achieve any success in the world of fighting. Sting finally made his long awaited debut for the wwe and return to pro wrestling at wwe survivor series ppv. It was quiet a sight for a longterm fan like myself I thought I would never see this happen but now has. On the show he walked out and cost the authority there match against team Cena by allowing Dolph Ziggler the chance to pin Seth Rollins after putting Dolph on top of him. Also on the show sting came face to face with hunter had a stare down and sting ended up giving hunter a scorpion death drop to hopefully set up a match between the two for wretlemania 31 next year. The angle was historic (because sting was finally in wwe) but a little confusing we still don't know what stings motivation was in costing the authority the match but only time will tell on this one and should play out as wwe kick it into high gear for the wrestlemania season. Vince McMahon stepped out of his comfort zone and appeared on the stone cold steve austin podcast in a televised addition of the podcast which aired on the wwe network following another ordinary raw in Tulsa Oklahoma. Stone cold was as stiff as ever with vince asking vince questions about TNA, wwe stop/start booking, wwe creative team, the handeling of Jim ross, cm punk AOW comments and macho man randy savage hall of fame induction among other things. Early on vince looked a little uncomfortable with Austin's questions but eventually loosened up and by the top of the hour was telling his team and austin let's go another 15 (personally by this point there wasn't a lot else the two had to talk about). The punk situation was brushed down the carpet by vince with the chairman giving a very cooperate answer for that question. Stone cold also mentioned the jr situation to which vince response was to blame good ole jr for the panel he hosted during the summer slam 2013 ppv (where flair hijacked it in his usual manner), again it felt like vince was dodging the question and he quickly moved on to another question not really wanting to talk at lenght about jr mistreatment by vince. The only excuse the chairman seemed to have was that jr wanted to move away from wwe home base in cunnicati back to his home in Oklahoma. Cesero and the rest of the millennials (as vince called them) must have been gutted to hear vince McMahon essentially bury them for his creative teams misfortunes. Overall vince stuck up for his creative team and placed the blame for talents stop/start pushes on them which was very quzzling indeed. Also vince was asked by austin about macho man randy savage and posed the question longtime fans like myself have been asking for years and that was would macho man randy savage ever get that long due hall of fame induction to which vince said yes, it might not happen next year but by 2016 surely vince has to induct the macho man into his much panned hall of fame. Dolph Ziggler seems to be getting another wwe push after he recently stole show at the survivor series ppv. Ziggler has suffered like so many others in this company over the years from a stop/start push but now it looks like wwe have finally decided to go all out and push Ziggler. However that was how it seemed in the fall out from survivor series as by December he was back to losing meaningless matches on raw and was scheduled to face Luke Harper at the wwe TLC&Stairs ppv in a rematch for the IC title, so that so called push seems to have come to an end already. NXT continues to be the only reason to have a wwe network subscription these days and there was proof of that with NXT R:Evolution which delivered and made wrestling fans everywhere rave about hunters side project. The main event saw Sami Zayn defeat longterm rival Adrain Neville to finally win the big one and NXT title, the main event blew away anything wwe has promoted this year. Kevin (Steen) Owens made his long awaited debut by beating CJ Parker in what was essentially a squash match and then later that night turned on longtime rival/best friend Sami Zayn to set up a main event programme with him going forward. ROH fans everywhere have been rejoicing at the fact the two will now be feuding on wwe tv (well NXT) and so am I in fact. Also on the NXT network special Finn Balor and Hideo Itami beat The Ascension Konnor and Victor in a good outing and Finn nearly stole the show with his enterance. Charlotte pinned Sasha Banks to retain the NXT women's title in another fine outing. Agains sasha impressed me here with another fine heel performance and I'm hoping that in 2015 she can finally win the title she deserves after a stand out year in NXT. The lucha Dragons Kalisto&Sin Cara rolled over the Vaudevillians Aiden English&Simon Gotch in a average match to retain the NXT tag team titles and Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillenger in a nothing match afterward Corbain had a stare down with rival Bull Dempsey. The brain geniuses at wwe decided to rename wwe tlc ppv to TLC&Stairs as they would be promoting a stairs match between Erik Rowen and The Big Show. Finally here are the quick results from the wwe TLC&Stairs ppv which aired on the wwe network on December 14th. Dolph Ziggler beat Luke Harper in a ladder match to win the wwe intercontinental title in a good match but both men took some unessecary bumps and ladder hits in my opinion. The Uso Jimmy&Jey won by DQ over wwe tag team champions The Miz&Miz-Dow in a worthless match. Big Show rolled over Erik Rowen (so much for big reds push) in a lousy stairs match which went 10 minutes to long with bout only going 12 minutes. John Cena toppled Seth Rollins rather predictably in a tables match which seemed to go on forever. Nikki Bella bested AJ Lee in a rather dull match to retain the wwe divas title. In another stinker Ryback defeated Kane in a chairs match, by this point the crowd was dead and finally Bray Wyatt beat a Dean Ambrose in a tables ladders and chairs match which had a dreadful finish. 

TNA 

A rather quiet month for TNA as they gear up for there January 7th 2015 relaunch after signing a television deal with destination America. Rumours are running throughout the industry that TNA boss Dixie carter is seriously considering bringing back vince Russo as head of creative (boy does she ever learn). Russo in my opinion has been a failure as TNA head of creative. In late 2006 through to 2011 Russo didn't have any effective on TNA product expect in a bad way. Take for instance that TNA averaged 30,000 ppv buys a month during it's peak in 2005 as well as never really being able to effect the tv rating it gained on spike tv each week during this period (TNA rating stayed within the 1.3 to 1.5 range throughout his years as head of creative). Also TNA had gotten better (during the NYC tv tappings for sure) with Russo gone and I can't see why Dixie is yet again turning back to Russo. Jim ross reportable spoke to TNA last month about TNA ex lead announcer mike tenay possibly coming in for the joint new japan GFW ppv wrestling kingdom 9. Ross also offered TNA a free spot of advertising on the ppv for tenay's services but TNA turned that offer down. Talking of tenay he has reportable been replaced by ex wwe announcer josh Matthews as TNA new lead announcer. Shame because again it seems if TNA has learned nothing and during it's relaunch be viewed as nothing more than wwe lite after employing another former wwe announcer. TNA has announced that they will be returning to New York for it's impact tappings in January and the group will record 6 episodes which will all air on TNA new home destination America. Bobby Roode and Lashleys third match has been announced by TNA to be taking place on a special live impact on January 7th, so far these two have clicked and worked well together in the ring and I can't wait for the third match together. Finally TNA will be making a new programme to air on destination America it will be called TNA unlocked and will debut on January 17th 2015. 

ROH 

Ring of Honor ended the year on a high (unlike wwe) with ROH final battle 2014 ppv being wildly regarded as ppv of month (until NXT R:Evolution aired). ROH pulled a reported 1,400 paying fans to the venue terminal 5 in New York City. The ppv buy rate hasn't been released yet but I'm expecting a solid 15,000 buys for ROH. Here are the quick results from ROH final battle for those who missed it, Hanson toppled Caprice Coleman, Jimmy Jacobs and Mark Briscoe in a four corners survival match which was a very good opener. Roderick Strong hammered Adam Page in a descent outing, Michael Elgin beat Tomasso Ciampra in another good outing. The Young Bucks Matt&Nick Jackson and ACH bested Cedric Alexander and The Addiction Christopher Daniels&Kazarain in a very good spot fest which was a six man tag. In the worst match of the night Moose rolled over RD Evans after Veda Scott swerve turned on rd to cost rd the match. Jay Lethal beat Matt Sydal in another very good match to retain the ROH television title. reDRagon Kyle O'Riely&Bobby Fish pinned Time Splitters KUDHIDA&Alex Shelley in what was my match of the night to retain the ROH tag team titles and finally Jay Briscoe defeated Adam Cole in a fight without honor (no DQ) to retain the ROH world title in another very good match. My full review of the show is now up on the JWR Podcast blogspot page which is that jwrpodcast.blogspot.com , so go check it out. ROH tag wars begins on ROH tv this week with six team entered only three can progress to the final which will be a four way elimination tag match also involving ROH tag team champions reDRagon and also Kyle and bobby will put there titles on the line in this final match. Alberto Del Rio/El Patron has been confirmed to be making his ROH debut at the January 3rd show in TNA old stomping guards at the Nashville fairgrounds. Finally for the ROH section I take a look ahead and see what might be in store for ROH in 2015. Surely Adam cole is getting 'his' ROH title back at some point but maybe that is to obvious and that was why cole got beat by Jay Briscoe at the recent ROH final battle ppv but ROH must surely know like it's fans cole is the most deserving of the strap in 2015. reDRagon have been my tag team of the year and hopefully in 2015 they can continue to regin surpreme in the ROH tag team scene. Jay Lethal seems to be ROH second most dependable heel at the moment behind Adam cole and 2015 maybe a face turn and break away from truth martini and feud with cole could be possible. Michael Elgin is now a heel thanks to ROH fans but maybe after a feud with Ciampra he'll be accepted back as a face by the ROH faithful, if not then I can't see what's next for Elgin in 2015. Hanson is surely in for a big push in 2015 after a number of impressive showings in 2014 maybe he's the guy to end Jay lethal run as ROH television champion. I fully expect the decade to split into two in 2015 with Roderick strong and jimmy Jacobs feuding with Adam page and BJ Whitmer. 

Elsewhere 

New japan and GFW joint ppv, wrestling kingdom 9 is still set for January 4th and features a stacked card top to bottom. Jim Ross will be lead announcer for the show which I'm sure you all know but the second announcer is yet to be confirmed as of writing. In the main event IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defends against Kazuchika Okada in what could very well be a math of the year candidate. IWGP intercontinental champion shinsuke Nakamura defends his belt against Kota Ibushi and again this has protential to be a match of the year candidate. IWGP Jnr Heavyweight Tag Team Champions reDRagon Kyle O'Riely&Bobby Fish will defend there belts against Time Splitters Alex Shelly&KUSHIDA, Forever Hooligans Rocky Romero&Alex Koslov and The Young Bucks Matt&Nick Jackson. Also a New Japan Rumble (some sort of battle royal more than likely) has been added to the card. As well as Minuro Suzuki facing MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba in a UWFI rules match (basically a worked shoot match), Tomohiro Ishii defends the Never Title against fellow bruiser Togi Makabe. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Rysuke Taguchi defends against Kenny Omega, IWGP Tag Team Champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson of the Bullet Club defend against the team of Shibata and Hirooki Goto. In a six man tag Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett and Yuijiro Takahashi face off with Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma. Toru Yono will have three to be determined partners to do battle with Davey Boy Smith Jr, Lance Archer, Shelton Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka in an eight man tag and last but currently not least is AJ Styles facing Tetsuya Naito on what will be a stacked 4 hour spurt show held in the world famous Tokyo Dome. Chikara presented it's season 14 finale Tomorrow Never Dies in it's old stomping grounds at the old ECW arena on December 6th. Here are some quick results from what was a another very good show by the group but had a hard time topping chikara you only live twice and king of trios 2014 shows earlier this year. Heidi Lovelace rolled over Missile Assualt Ant to win the annual chikara Young Lions Cup, Ashley Remmington beat super heel Juan Francisco de Coronado in a German suplex match. Eddie Kingston bested Jimmy Jacobs in a very good match to end eddies on/off heel turn and assiotatiion with the flood. The Devistation Corpration Blaster McMassive&Max Smashmaster defeated The Throwbacks Dasher Hatfield&Mr Touchdown in a best 2 out of three falls match to win the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas (chikara version of the tag team titles) in another very good match which was my match of the night. Ultra Mantis Black downed Delirious (ROH booker/creative team member Hunter Johnson) In a loser leaves town match to end there near 3 year feud. The Flood flex Rumblecrunch, Jakob Hammermeier, Jaka, Nokken,Oleg Usurper, Sir Oliver Grimsly, Solider Ant&Volgar dropped Team Chikara Amasis, Fire Ant, Jervis Cottenbelly, Kodama, Obariyon, Opihidan, Silver Ant&Worker Ant in a Tomeo Cibernetico (Chikara version of an elimination tag match), with Soilder Ant last eliminating Fire Ant in another very good match. Finally Icarus pinned Decucalion in a steel cage match (only the second ever cage match in chikara's history) to retain the Grand Championship (chikara version of the world title). Lucha Underground continues to present must watch tv on the El Ray network each and every week and in the new year it has already been announced that the group will be recording it's second season and word is Alberto del rio will be involved, which is obviously very good news for the group. But there was also bad news this month for lucha underground with reports El Ray havent been that impressed with television ratings due to how advertising is sold for the show (basically ad revenue has been low due to low ratings with the show averaging 20,000 to 35,000 viewers so far this season). Lucha underground fans should remember this El Ray had been behind a show they were heavily pushing called El Matador but the show was recently canned by the network due to low ratings. 

And Now Something Completey Different 

Finally here are my top ten predictions for 2015. 10. Regins beats Lesnar- a pretty obvious one but it looks like wwe will force roman (who is a solid worker but not good enough on the microphone yet) down your throats and make him the top guy in the wwe come wretlemania. 9. Wyatt vs Taker for WM:31- another obvious match which wwe will book for it's super show in April but how can Wyatt be considered a genuine contender to beat taker on the grandest stage, I suppose that all depends on how the creative book this feud and build Wyatt properly come showtime. 8. Rollins cashes in on Regins at Mania- not so obvious this one but to me it would make sense to have Rollins successfully cash in on roman following what will be likely and that is Regins winning the wwe title at mania. Wwe fans have rejected more from wwe creative an ever before and with Regins clearly being the chosen one maybe after a hard fought win over Lesnar he gets blindsided by Rollins and Rollins successfully cashes in and walks out of mania the wwe undisputed champion. 7. TNA finds a New/old Direction- over the years TNA has been panned by critics and fans alike as being to wwe lite. The product was by far more exciting and fresh feeling in 2005/06 peak and my hoping is that they get back to doing what they do best and that is booking to it's strengths and that is by promoting pro wrestling not sports entertainment. 6. Sinclair Invest More Money Into ROH- with TNA now on destination America and Lucha underground failing to find a large audience maybe it's time for ROH owners Sinclair to do what so many want to see the league do and that is invest heavily in the production side of things and have a real go at legitimately   becoming pro wrestling number 2. It's an achievable goal for 2015 but will Sinclair go all out and invest the right amount of money for ROH to grab that spot. 5. Daniel Bryan returns but doesn't get buried- there's a strange side to vince McMahon and that is he's an old school guy who appreciates a performer tapping up his injuries and just gets on with it. In Bryan's case this wasn't his fault he had some bad medical advice and I hope vince doesn't hold that against him and decide he's nothing more than a b+ plus player. There is curently evidence to back up this claim with many 80's and 90's performers reminding us on shoot DVDs and podcast that this is the way vince operates, don't me well go check out Essa Rioas story. 4. Sami Zayn Stays in NXT for now- last month if you read the round up you should know I was praising Zayn for his work and proposed a idea for him to come up to the main roster (don't know what it is go back and check it out) but now that idea looks like it clearly won't happen. So rather than move him up to the main roster why don't they just let him stay where he is for now. Because in all seriousness at this point I can't see vince taking this tremendous talent seriously at all and I do like Bryan worry for Zayn with McMahon booking his career. 3. Raw Is Bore- wwe main show has been a dud almost all year long the stop/start booking is really driving me away and stopping me from caring about anything or anyone on the main shows. As for 2015 I can't see it getting any better and raw and Smackdown will continue to fail in creating any new stars or interesting feuds. 2. The Indie Scene Continues to Grow- independent wrestling hasn't been this good since 2004 with so many talented performers out there working smaller shows. It can only continue to grow and I'm looking forward to another year of growth for PWG and Chikara just to name a few. 1. Brock goes back to MMA- seriously I think the wwe Brock Lesnar relationship will end following mania. Brock is hot property still in the world of MMA and once his wwe deal expires I wouldn't be surprised if the current wwe champion rejoined UFC or joined upstart group Bellator. One thing is for sure with wwe network failing the way it has this year the question we must ask is can wwe really afford to have Brock on it's books. My answer is no and I fill Brock will leave wwe for one last big pay day back in the world of fighting. 

Well that was the month of December in the world of pro wrestling, if you've read this then thank you and hopefully it brings you back for next months round up. Finally id like to address the lack of sort of live tweets over the last two months, well I've been very busy and hopefully in the new year I will be able to get back to doing my sort of live tweets. Until then as bill apter would say I'll see you at the matches. 

The Wrestling Round Up: Did He Just Say Free

Welcome to another addition of @RantsWrestle wrestling round up covering all of this months wrestling news including vince McMahon's announcement the wwe network would be free for the month of November and wwe big push for the wwe survivor series and trying to create new stars for this years main event. Where is Brock Lesnar and will he resign with the wwe or will he go back to MMA, bray Wyatt, the shocking decline of the unstable one Dean Ambrose and a crazy booking scanerio involving Sami Zayn for mania. We also cover TNA new tv deal with destination America and the changes coming to company as a whole. Also we look at tommy dreamers house of hardcore event and the shocking appearance of Alberto del rio on that show. ROH build for it's second ppv this years ROH final battle and also discuss Michael Elgins return and weather or not his leaving ROH for a few weeks back was a work or shoot. Finally we take a look at El reys new venture lucha underground and discuss Jim ross being confirmed as the lead announcer for the joint Global Force Wrestling/New Japan wrestling kingdom ppv on January 4th. 

WWE

The month started out with the company announcing the month of November on the wwe network was completely free. Vince McMahon broke the news shortly after 3rd quarter financial records were announced during the investors call. Wwe announced that since wrestlemania with all the hard selling on tv (the 9.99 jingle springs to mind) of there network that they had only 770,000 subscribers and had lost over 700,000 subscribers as well since mania 30 in April. The figures did not reflect very well on wwe and reports are some investors where extremely unhappy that this had happened. So vince is giving away the network free for the month of November and one of the big four ppv survivor series is included in that free month. Wwe hope this will attract insterest from the casual viewer to subscribe to it's failing network and at this point many are saying wwe need to do something big to keep those people who have signed up for the free month around for December but at this point I can't see what that big angle will be but I'm sure they have something planned. Talking of the network wwe really dropped the ball for uk fans when 20 minutes before launch they pulled the network launch in England and Ireland respectively. Fans were outraged and voiced there disapproval online through either twitter or Facebook. I'm a uk resident but this news didn't shock me it just surprised me as I already have access and a wwe network account thanks to my trusty VPN but I can understand there angrier as it was pulled 20 minutes before the launch.  Word is wwe uk tv partner sky was displeased with wwe giving away survivor series for free as it would seriously undercut sky who would be charging 15.99 for show on there sky box office service. Others have reported wwe and sky were trying to reach an agreement to get the network launched on the sky service (similar to what thy have in Canada) but whatever or whoever it was wwe dropped the ball on this one and now have egg on there face and it couldn't have happened at a worst time as wwe was due to tour the uk that week and once over here most shows had fans chanting where's are network. As for the survivor series card which is free of course wwe have been pushing a traditional survivor series 5 on 5 elimination as the main event as team authority would face team Cena and if team authority lose then they would lose there power and control of wwe and if team Cena lost everyone expect Cena (strange stipulation to add but team Cena needed to have something at stake as well) would be fired. As of writing this match is yet to take place and I for one believe team authority will lose but something screwy will go down on raw the following night and I'm sure the authority will remain in power somehow. Wwe so far have done a good job of building popular star Dolph Ziggler into the main event scene and it looks likely him and hunter may be headed for a showdown at mania or the rumble. Ryback returned and the crowd immediately embraced him back as a star for future after last years botched heel turn and team with Curtis axel and Paul Heyman (which I fill was criminally underrated). Ryback is now the one to watch for that match and I hope wwe plan on keeping him up there in the main event and continue to make him look strong and protect him when he is eliminated from the main event. Rusev has also benefited from an association with the authority and has received a hefty wwe push for this main event. The more I see Rusev the more I know I was dead wrong about how I viewed him on his debut as a Vladimir Kolsov rip off. He's become more than that in his short (so far) run on wwe tv by mania I think wwe will have something big lined up him for mania. Overall the build for survivor series was about one match and one big match and it's a added bonus that it is free. Bray Wyatt returned at hell in the cell after two month absences from tv he at first appeared as a hologram in mid ring then attacked the unstable one himself dean Ambrose who was in the midst of a fine cell match with Seth Rollins to cost Ambrose the match and start a feud between the two. Bray who is getting the stop/start booking treatment in wwe at the moment needs a strong feud after two dire feuds with John Cena and Chris Jericho if he is like many predict to be the future of this company. As for Ambrose it's shocking how far he has fallen over the last month. Remember Ambrose was main eventing a ppv last month and his feud was the vocal point of most raws leading up to hell in the cell. Ambrose over the last 3 weeks has fallen from the top of the card into a mid card feud with bray Wyatt and I'm sure both men want this to succeed but it is shocking to me how far Ambrose has fallen over this short period of time now. I can't even imagine him anywhere near the wretlemania card let alone main eventing it. Finally this wwe section comes to an end with my crazy mania booking idea. It involves NXT star Sami Zayn probably the most sympathetic character in wrestling today. You see Zayn is involved in a hot feud with Adrain Neville at the moment and has been on his road to redemption to the NXT title. What I'm proposing (and hear me out) is that Zayn lose his match with Neville at takeover 3 next month and disappear from NXT saying he had tried but failed to win the big one in NXT. Over the next few weeks he ends up on wwe tv (how you decide) and wins a match against a mid level heel (like the miz or Cesero) to gain entry in the royal rumble and that the rumble Zayn finally wins the big one and books a place against Brock Lesnar the all conquering (and rarely seen) wwe champion. Zayn as mentioned above is the most sympathetic baby face in wwe today (go ahead name another that isn't Daniel Bryan) and a match with Brock at mania could see fan interest rise. Could you really imagine Zayn beating Brock at the showcase of the Immortals, I bet you can't but wait what if zayn actually did beat Lesnar at mania. Now that would be quiet a finish to zayns road of redemption. I'm currently not going to say this is what wwe will do but I think Zayn is more ready than Regins at this point and if Brock is off for that big money pay day back in MMA (with either baltor or UFC) wwe need to have a big future headliner lined up to beat him in my opinion and there is no one better at the moment than Zayn. 

TNA 

TNA finally announced a new television at the eleventh hour with destination America which has been described as a discovery channel 2 (it's flagship shows included a BBQ pit challenge and something about big foot) type of station which is clearly a step down for the number two wrestling organisation in the world but thankfully the group found a new home. Just imagine a world without TNA it wouldn't be pretty and I would worry about those people who are currently employed by the league. So at least for once the group had some good news after months of bad news and online commentators writing them off altogether (and I was one of them). The company can now look forward to the new year and try to start over again but with this step comes an increased chance TNA will be on a much tighter budget come 2015 (due to tv licensing deals which will be nowhere as much as spike paid TNA in the 9 years TNA was on spike) and some fat will have to be trimmed from the organisation. TNA will need to keep hold of bobby lashley, bobby Roode, Kurt angle (I got a bit ahead of myself in last months round up claiming angle could jump to new japan and was probably dreaming a little to much about angle in action against the likes of shibata, tanahashi, nakamura and others), MVP, EC3 and rock star Spud. I can't see TNA having problems with attracting some interest in there product on destination America but it is a little worrying people online are already asking how to get this channel as well as saying they can't get it altogether and I can only see TNA hardcore audience having the patience to stick around to find it's new home on destination America. Also a little worrying Is the announcement the channel is only available in 50 million us homes meaning the the group will lose almost half it's audience because of it but whatever the bad at least there was good news and it meant those men and women employed by TNA still get to have a job and be involved in the wrestling business a business they all love so much because they wouldn't be in it other wise. 

ROH 

ROH final battle is less than 3 weeks away now and it will be the companies second traditional Sunday night ppv this year and will be in New York City. The card for the show is already building nicely as jay Briscoe will defend the ROH title against Adam cole in a fight without honor. One of my favourite tag teams reDRagon will defend there ROH tag team titles against new japan duo of KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley collectively known as the time splitters. ROH television champion Jay Lethal defends against Matt Sydal the artist formerly known as Evan Bourne in what could be a show stealing match of the night. Decade leader Roderick Strong battles former decade young boy Adam Page and even though the streak is dead RD Evans (Archiebald Pecks lawyer) faces former team mate and undefeated himself newcomer (well not so much a newcomer anymore) Moose. The card is already shaping up quiet nicely for the December 7th show and a wrestling ppv I'm actually looking forward to watching. Michael Elgin is back with ROH after quitting on twitter two months back he even went as far as to do a highspots DVD where Elgin vented his angrier at ROH management. It's lead many fans to question weather it was a shoot or a work in my opinion Elgin did quit ROH over his angrier towards management for a number of things including work visas among other things but ROH reached out to Elgin and resolved the issue fairly quickly and now Elgin is back so it Is a shoot and a work, confused yet because I know I am. 

Elsewhere 

Jim Ross has agreed to a deal with Global Force Wrestling to be the lead announcer for the joint GFW/New Japan pay per view on January 4th called wrestling kingdom 9 which will be held in the world famous tokyo dome. Ross will be ringside calling the action for the IWGP heavyweight title bout between champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs challenger Kazuchika Okada. Also lined up for this ppv is IWGP Intercontinental champion shinsuke nakamura defending against Kota Ibushi, newcomer Kenny Omega challenges IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Ryusuke Taguchi. IWGP Never Champion Tomohiro Ishii defends against Togi Makabe in what should be a strong style classic, IWGP junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions reDRagon Kyle O'Riely and Bobby Fish defend against Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Kolsov), The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and The Time Splitters KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley and also in what will be a UWFI Rules (a worked shoot/MMA match but the rules vary) MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba fights Minoru Suzuki. Season 2 of El Reys Lucha Unserground begins filming in the new year and Alberto del rio will be involved. Talking of lucha underground the first 4 episodes have been a breath of fresh air so far on El Rey the backstage vignettes have been so different to wwe same old vignettes these vignettes have the production values of a big budget movie and shot in such a way which makes the leagues tv product look different to wwe same old segments which air week in week out. So far prince puma (Ricochet) his manger konnon, super heel Chavo Guerrero and Johnny mundo (John Morrison/Johnny Nitro) have all impressed me and unlike raw or impact I actually look forward to watching there show and am left wanting more each and every week, if you haven't checked out this show yet you owe it to yourself as a wrestling fan to go out and check it out trust me you won't be dissappionted. House of Hardcore 7 aired on rf video ippv stream this past week. Yet again tommy dreamer stacked his show with stars and the show itself actually wasn't bad  and had a little bit of everything for everyone who went out of there way to watch it. Quick Results: House of Hardcore 7 held in the arena in Philadelphia. Stevie Richards pinned Danny Doring in a rather dull opener, Christian York bested Brain Myers/Curt Hawkins in a decent effort . Afterwards Myers refused to leave the ring because he was a big star and would only wrestle a big star completely forgetting his lose to York. Myers was interrupted by Richardo Rodiguez who came out and introduced his charge Alberto Del Rio who came out and cut an impassioned promo. Del rio touched on his wwe release claiming he was so happy that he didn't have to wait an entire year because wwe wanted him to sign a 1 year no compete in America Claus once they released him. The crowd chanted fuck vince McMahon and called vince a pussy which del rio agreed with then Myers tried to attack del rio but del rio slapped Myers in the arm bar to end the segment which was met with cheers by the crowd in Philly in ECW old home the arena. Guido Maritato (little Guido/Nunizo) and Team Tremendous rolled over Vic Daliahus/with the Durprees, Ben The Beast and Anthony Green in a comedy six man tag. Eddie Edwards toppled Eddie Kingston in the best match of the night in my opinion, both men had what looked like a tribute match to misawa and Kobashi. The Dudley's/Team 3D Bubba Ray and Devon beat The Killer Elite Squad Davey Boy Smith Jnr/Harry Smith and Lance Archer/Hoyt in a fun ECW style brawl tag team match. Austin Aries dropped Drew Galloway/Mcintrye in another very good match which was well over 20 minutes long and proved wwe really missed an opprurunity with Drew. In another good match Bobby Roode downed Tommy Dreamer to retain the TNA world title in an old school extreme rules match and finally The Young Bucks Matt and Nick Jackson defeated The Hardys Matt and Jeff in an internet dream match which really did deliver. Afterwards the Hardys tried to swerve turn on the bucks but Matt and nick Were wise to this and superkicked both Matt and Jeff to the outside. The Dudleys then showed up and attacked the bucks (bubba really stiffed one of the bucks) and said they were the greatest tag team in wrestling history. Then to close out the show (like they did on almost every ECW show weather it was in the back or in front of the fans) the entire lockeroom had a beer bash. A Very good nostalgic trip down memory lane felt like an ECW arena show and was essentially just that but I didn't fill like I had wasted my time (it was just under 4 hours long) watching it, Final score for house of hardcore 7 is a solid 7 out of 10. 

Wrap Up 

So that was the month of November 2014 in wrestling history, next month is my year end awards round up. Featuring my match of the year, wrestler of the year and moment of the year, the worst match and wrestler of the year, promotion of the year and commentator of the year as well as my top ten predictions for 2015. So until next month peeps keep an eye out for some great sort of live tweets on my @RantsWrestle twitter account including WWF survivor series 97, WWF wrestlemania 14 and WWF king of the ring 98 this month and my blog reviews of them shows for the JWR Podcast blogspot account. 

The 1st Ever Episode of WCW Nitro Review

Yet another week so that means yet another review of a wrestling event this time it was wcw Monday night nitro's first ever episode which I sort of live tweeted on my @RantsWrestle account but first lets go back and take a little look that the brief history of WCW and what inspired them to go to war with WWF back in September 1995. As the death of wcw book opening paragraph said wcw wasn't supposed to die, according to insiders following the death of the promotion in March 2001. Many within the company believed that Owner Ted Turner would never allow his promotion to die regardless of how much money it lost in 12 years he had owned the promotion. Well why you ask well for that you would have to back to 1976 when ted turners then fledgling tv station (TBS/Superstation) needed programming and pro wrestling was a cheap alternative to producing live sporting events and big budget tv sitcoms. Ted gave Jim Barnett (a successful promoter in Australia and later booker in the WWF and wcw) then Georgia championship wrestling promotion. The promotion got a Saturday evening that 6.05 and on Sunday evening (where GCW run a best of programme) timeslot on Turners TBS superstation (which at this time was called UHF). Serveal years later turner had a small request and that was to change the name of the promotion and Barnett agreed and renamed his promotion to WCW which was the name of his old promotion in Australia. In 1985 during the WWF national expansion vince McMahon purchased barnetts promotion for 750,000 as apart of the deal McMahon purchased the then extremely lucrative Saturday evening 6.05 timeslot on TBS. The switchover from WCW to WWF programming was dubbed by many fans as black Saturday on July 14th 1985. The two shows were vastly different as on WWF shows the emphasis was on short mathes which were normally one sided and short promos while Georgia (WCW) was more based on long athletic matches and amazing promos both were normally delivered by ric flair. Over a 1,000 angry fans flooded the tbs phone lines with angry calls demanding to know where there version of pro wrestling had gone and what was this circus that had replaced it. Ted in fact listened to these angry callers and commissioned a show booked by Ole Andersson to air on a Sunday morning (reports vary some say 7am others claim 10am) under the name championship wrestling from Georgia which appeased fans for now. Over a year later turner turned to bill watts mid south wrestling and handed them the Sunday evening timeslot (were the best of Georgia championship wrestling shows used to air) and told Bill he would back him and mid south financially so he could compete on a national level with vince. Vince was irrate at this as he felt when he purchased the timeslot he had exclusive rights to be the only wrestling brand on tbs to which ted disagreed. In fact ted told vince that vince had regened on a stipulation in a deal the two had inked a year earlier. As vince had claimed to turner when requiring the timeslot he would run a separate weekly wrestling show from Georgia with Georgia's biggest stars and not use the timeslot as a dumping ground for his brand of wrestling. Obviously turner was unhappy with vince reneged on there deal and as vince wouldn't do the Georgia shows then ole or watts would. Vince meanwhile was obviously furious and so was ted and this began the near 15 year rivalry between the two businessmen. In 86 ted was so angry he threated to throw Vince's WWF shows off the air until Jim Barnett stepped in as he neogtiated a deal between McMahon and Jim Crockett (JCP) which would see Crockett purchase the timeslot for 1 million from vince, Turner was reportable ecstatic to get rid of vince. Eventually watts stepped aside and sold Mid South (watts had renamed the promotion to UWF universal wrestling federation by this point) to Crockett while all the other territory's all but died, the AWA was still there just hanging on as Crockett and vince went to war over the next few years. In 1988 crocketts promotion was in a financial mess as well and turned to ted for help (ted had always had a soft spot for wrestling in his heart and was a mark just like the rest of us) and turner brought JCP for 9 million. Then ted made the famous phone call to vince saying hey vince I'm in the wresslin business. Over the next few years WCW would be a horribly mismanaged promotion under the leadership (head booker) of ole Anderson, dusty Rhodes or bill watts and this mismanagement had many within turner to plead with ted to just put wcw out of business once and for all but ted never listened as mentioned above he was a mark at heart for pro wrestling. So in 1993 after 5 years of mismanagement the company turned to eric Bischoff an announcer at the time for wcw 3rd string shows and he was given the role as executive Vice President of wcw. Gone were the grumpy ring warriors that had proceeded Bischoff like ole and watts. Take for intense ole he was not well liked within the turner organisation and bill watts well Jim ross puts it best he weren't ever going to be a corporate guy while Bischoff was someone within the CNN towers turnerbemployees could approach without having there head bitten off. Bischoff took wcw out of the dingy lit arenas and transferred wcw tv tappings into the much more nicer looking and family friendly Disney studios in Orlando Florida and It saved wcw a boatload of cash in doing so. Bischoff also decided to save wcw more money he needed to do what vince had done earlier in the WWF expansion and Tape weeks worth of shows like WCW Saturday night and sometimes even months at a time but this horribly backfired for wcw. As tv tappings had indicated Sid vicious would dethrone Vadar at wcw starrcade 93 for the wcw title but this match never happened. As during a tour of England in late 93 Sid began to talk shit to Arn Andersson he has been reported as saying that Arn and flair were to old to draw and he was the future of wcw. The exchange between the two become more heated and escalated as a fight broke out between the two which ended with Sid taking a pair of scissors and stabbing Arn serveal times. Police and an ambulance were obviously called by staff of the hotel in Blackburn were this incident had taken place and it even made the national newspapers. Sid was fired and the starrcade 93 main event was no more. By this point ted turner had approached Bischoff asking him what would it take to compete with the WWF to which Bischoff replied he would need to sign hulk hogan. In June of 1994 hogan finally signed to wcw (on screen anyway but I believe wcw had secured hogans services before June as the promotion had been hinting since February of 94 that hogan was on his way to wcw), hogan was a short term success for sure as his matches with flair at wcw bash at the beach and wcw Halloween havoc bumped wcw ppv business by 40%. Hogans next feud with good buddy old pal ed lesile was a shambles and had no right headlining that years starrcade ppv. Hogan then buried Vadar in there feud which resulted in hogan no selling vadars  powerbomb which had crippled jobbers years earlier and it made Vadar look like just another guy and his killer aura was gone to never return in the USA at least. Hogan then entered into a dreadful feud with the dungeon of doom but it was so bad it was actually good but during this time hogans appeal was beginning to wear off with the hulkster now regularly being booed in arenas up and down the country. As for Bischoff he was again pulled into turners office and asked point blank by ted what do we have to do to compete with vince. Bischoff was put on the spot and blurted out the only answer he could at the time saying we need prime time. Bischoff says on the Monday night war DVD giving his best ted impression give eric prime time on Mondays head to head with Vince's WWF Monday night RAW show. Many within the industry felt this was an awful move by wcw and it wouldn't just result in there death but wrestling as a whole, yes seriously insiders thought that at the time. Obviously time would tell on that over the top comment and this review isn't about the death of wcw because I will touch on that next week when I sort of live tweet the final episode of wcw nitro. 

WCW Monday Night Nitro 1st ever episode on TNT 05/09/95 

The opening shot of this brand new wrestling show shows the skyline of Minneapolis minnasota and were live says Bischoff as we shoot to inside the mall of the America ( I here you ask why a mall well it was because wcw could cross co promopt hulk hogans resturant pasta mania) the site of the first ever wcw Monday night nitro live on TNT. Eric Bischoff welcomes us to the show and welcomes steve mongo mcmichael to the announce desk here on wcw nitro. In walks bobby the brain Hennan who had been on the build up to this show saying how much of a chicken mcmichael was among other things. Hennan tries to shake mcmichaels hand but he's having none of it as Bischoff throws us to the ring for opening bout of the evening. Brian Pillman vs Jusin Thunder Liger- liger goes for Pillmans arm at the bell and slaps on a side headlock onto flyin Brian, liger Irish whips Pillman to the corner and follows it up with a cart wheel kick to Pillmans shoulder. Liger serves the first plate of chops of the evening to Pillmans chest. liger goes to Irish whip Pillman again but Pillman counters it and sends liger into the corner but before liger ends up back first in the corner liger jumps up top and moonsualts into the awaiting arms of Pillman. During this sequences Bischoff utters his iconic tag line for nitro for years to come that this is where the big boys play. Liger covers Pillman for a two count and then slaps on a sleeper to Pillman to give the two a much needed rest. Liger whips Pillman into the far corner and then drives his knees into Pillmans head. Liger goes to whip Pillman again and follow him in but Pillman catches liger with a head scissors and it drives liger head first into the top turnbuckle. Pillman backs liger up into another corner and proceeds to chop liger serveal times with a knife edge chops. Pillman goes to Irish whip liger but liger counters it and Pillman ends up in the corner then liger charges Pillman but Pillman puts his boot up and liger runs face first into Pillmans boot. Pillman goes for a botched huancaina and covers liger for another two count, snapmere by Pillman to liger. Abdormal stretch by Pillman to liger while the two are in a seated position (sorry I don't recall the spots actual name) then Pillman rolls through on liger and has ligers shoulders pinned to the mat but only gets a two count. Pillman goes for another Irish whip but again liger counters it and sends Pillman into the corner as Pillman stumbles out he is taken down by liger with a scoop slam and liger applies the rarely seen in 1995 the Mexican surf board. The announcers meanwhile talk about how you won't see action like this anywhere else (verbal joust number 2 by wcw to WWF). Liger breaks the surfboard at 4 and reverts to a chinlock on Pillman then he breaks that and whips Pillman into the ropes which again Pillman counters with a headscissors. Liger is dazed by the ropes so Pillman runs at liger but liger sends Pillman up and over onto the floor on the outside. Liger on the ring apron now then runs and cannonballs from the apron into Pillman. Liger rolls into the ring and the referee counts but only reaches 6 as Pillman rolls back into the ring to break the count. Pillman rolls back onto the ring apron to get a breather but liger grabs him and tries to bring Pillman back into the ring the hard way via a suplex but Pillman counters the suplex and sends liger out onto the floor below. Pillman ascends the ropes and goes up top and dives out onto liger who is just recovering after being suplex from the ring to the outside a few moments ago. Pillman rolls liger into the ring and goes up top again but now liger is up as he drop kicks Pillmans feet out from underneath him and Pillman falls crotching himself on the top rope in the process. Liger then climbs up top and suplexes Pillman from the top to the mat below and liger covers Pillman but only gets a two count. Liger goes up top now and flys off into Pillman but Pillman is waiting for liger and dropkicks liger in the gut. Pillman covers liger and only gets a two count again, both men are up now and Pillman chops liger. Pillman whips liger into the ropes but liger counters and sends Pillman into the ropes. Pillman rebounds into liger who cuts him off with a right hand and then liger gives Pillman a powerbomb and covers him for the 1,2 no as Pillman just kicks out. Liger is frustrated and then puts Pillman up top and goes and follows Brian up top. Pillman pushes liger back down and gives liger a right hand and a swinging DDT but only gets a two count. Waist lock by Pillman but liger counters it and teases giving Pillman a German suplex but Pillman counters it with a standing switch rolls up liger and gets the 1,2 and 3 and your Winner is Brian Pillman to open up nitro proper with this excellent contest. Liger shakes Pillmans hand afterwards as Bischoff throws us to a pre tapped sting promo were sting shares with us there is no one better to scorpion death lock than the nature boy ric flair. After commerical easy e is in the pasta mania store with wcw champion hulk hogan and jimmy hart. Hulk seems more interested in plugging his resturant than his main event title defence against big bubba (the big bossman/Ray Traylor). Up next is Us champion sting facing the nature boy Ric Flair in a Non Title Match. The nature boy is out first and gets a big pop from the crowd and he's followed by the stinger who gets an even louder reception from the crowd. Mongo is then in the middle of saying something when Bischoff interrupts him with well what in the hell is he doing here and take the camera off of him as lex luger a recognisable WWF superstar and former wcw champion himself has arrived on nitro and live on TNT. The crowd that first is in some sort of a stunned silence then the reaction gets louder and louder. Security head Doug Dillinger and his security team escort luger away into the back as flair and sting even look on stunned by what they had just witness. Flair and Sting lock up and flair backs sting into the corner and they release the lock up as the crowd chant lets go stinger. Sting let's out a wooo that the nature boy so ric goes in for another lock up and flair sends sting into the ropes. A shoulder block by sting to flair who pops right back up and rebounds into the ropes while the stinger goes the other way and a kris cross by both men. Sting leapfrogs clean over Naitch not once but twice then sting catches flair and gives him a military press and hoists flair up into the air and flair goes and hits the mat stomach first. Flair begs off as sting stands over him but sting is having none of it and grabs flair by the hair and picks him up and does the same spot again to get a massive ovation from the crowd. Sting then gives flair a hip toss and then drops flair with a dropkick. Flair rolls to the outside as the crowd are at a fever pitch chanting sting. Flair gets back in the ring and the two lock up again this time flair proves why he is the dirtest player in the game and takes a short cut by poking his thumb into stings eye. Flair backs sting up into the corner and begins to chop at the stingers chest but it has little or no effect on the stinger as flair begins to back up begging off again from sting. Sting then whips flair into the ropes and does his 3rd military press slam to flair. Sting picks up Naitch and tries to whip flair into the ropes but flair counters it and kicks sting in the gut. Then flair whips sting into the ropes but Sting rebounds back into flairs path who goes for a chop but sting ducks it hits the ropes and flys back out at flair with a cross body block but flair ducks and sting hits the top rope and falls to the outside. Meanwhile Bischoff on the announce desk reminds us once again this is live and were the big boys play. Flair follows sting to the outside and begins to chop stings chest again and again it has no effect on sting. Flair begs off again then runs at sting but sting catches him and lifts him up into the military press slam again rather than dumping flair on the floor he tosses the flair back through the middle rope and into the ring. Sting gets back in the ring as flair begs off on his knees this time again sting Irish whips flair into the corner and goes for his stinger splash but flair moves and sting misses his intended target. Flair is dazed and can't recover in time while sting comes back to life and gives flair a bulldog. Sting picks up flair and whips him into the corner yet again and runs that Naitch but this time flair gets an elbow up and stings into it jaw goes flairs elbow. Then we go to commerical once back flair is in control of the contest. Flair then goes up top but sting recovers and catches flair who took a long time getting up there and sting flings nature boy from the top to the mat below. Yet another military press slam by sting to flair who then covers flair for a two count only. Then out walks Arn Anderson (at the time flair and Anderson were feuding and no longer buddies) to get a better view of the action. Back in the ring sting tries to splash flair but misses up pops flair who gives sting a suplex but sting pops right back up and clothes line flair not once but twice. Sting then whips flair into the corner and flair goes up and over landing on the ring apron but sting flairs long time rival knows this and chops flair off the ring apron and flair lands on the floor. Flair rolls back in the ring and flair and sting lock up, stings backs flair into corner and mounts him in the corner and gives flair the 90's baby face spot of ten punches in the corner which the crowd happily counts along too. Sting then gives flair a hip toss all the way from one side of the ring to the other side. Sting puts flair on the top rope, sting goes up top and the two exchange left and rights. Sting falls onto his feet to the mat and flair follows, flair then Irish whips sting into the ropes. Flair goes for a hip toss but sting counters it and sting goes for a hip toss of his own but flair cuts him off with a punch to the gut. Flair takes sting down with a side headlock, sting gets back and the two both tease the backslide which sting wins and has flair pinned for a two count only. Sting then puts flair on the top rope and follows flair up top and gives flair a big suplex from the top rope. Sting goes to cover flair but is distracted by Arn Anderson on the outside and flair has time to recover. Flair gets up and gives sting a chop block and applies the figure four as Arn Anderson jumps into the ring forcing the DQ. Winner By DQ the nature boy ric flair announces Dave penzer as double a removes his shirt and goes right after flair attacking him and the two battle to the back. Back in the ring stings music plays as he celebrates his lose(um ok), great match shame about the DQ finish. Moments later Arn comes back out and confronts sting but the two are cut off by Scott Norton who is on the outside shouting at mongo. The macho man randy savage comes out to the ring as well as sting and Arn leave. Savage then picks up a microphone while in the ring and says I want to fight you tonight Scott Norton. Bischoff then tells norton if he steps foot in that ring he will never work here in wcw and out comes Doug dillenger and his security team who lead norton away to the back. A video package airs on Sabu, yes the homicidal genecidal maniac Sabu on his impending arrival in wcw. When we return mean gene okerlund is in the ring and he announces the winner of the Harley Davidson sweep stakes challenge (pointless segment). Another video package airs this time on another newcomer V.K. Wall Street (get it) who basically buries WWF new generation and mentions his former character IRS. Up next is WCW World TItle Match as champion Hulk Hogan defends his title against Big Bubba. Before the bell can ring Bischoff announces that next week it's been signed and made official as Scott Norton goes one on one with the macho man randy savage. Both start the match with a lock up but the two quickly break it and both men pose (stalling tactics) to the crowd. Again they lock up and bubba slaps on a side lock to hogan which hogan counters by pushing bubba off an into the ropes and hogan shoulder blocks Bubba sending him down to the mat. Hogan poses while bubba recovers and both men lock up again and into a test of strength spot. Bubba takes the low road by kicking hogan in the gut while locked up and pushes hogan back into the corner. Bubba then begins to trash talk the hulkster and it fires hogan up who bursts out of the corner decking bubba with left and rights. Bubba goes low to cut hogan off again with a knee to the gut and powerslams hogan. Bubba backs hogan up into the corner and fires left and right hands at hogans mid section. Bubba then goes to splash hogan but hulk gets his boot up and bubba runs into the boot. Hogan fires more left and rights at bubba until referee randy Anderson can take no more and tries to pull hogan off of bubba. This gives bubba time to recover who gets up and decks hogan up side the head with a right hand and hogan bends over the middle rope and bubba sits on hogans neck. Bubba then goes out after jimmy hart but hulk comes out and saves harts bacon as bubba removes Jimmys jacket. Back in the ring hogan chokes bubba with the jacket (blatant DQ) and then Pummels bubba in the face with a right hand which sends bubba reeling back into the corner. Hogan then gives bubba a clothesline while bubba is in the corner, hogan beats on bubba some more in the corner. Referee randy Anderson has to step in to pull hogan off of bubba and hulk threatens to deck poor official randy Anderson for doing his job (this would be the start of quick tease by hogan that he might go heel). Hogan scoop slams bubba and drops an elbow into bubbas chest. Bubba gets the upper hand with an uppercut to hogans throat while mongo says on commentary you won't see wrestling like this anywhere else (yes mongo this match vince would have never booked during the new generation era because he knew how much it sucked). Hogan hits the ropes and rebounds into bubba who catches hogan and gives him the side walk slam, bubba covers hogan but only gets a two count. Bubba then punches hogan but by now hulk is hulking up and the crowd pop big time for this. Hulk whips bubba into the ropes and gives bubba the big boot leg drop combo and gets the 1,2 and 3. Your Winner and still wcw world champion hulk hogan. As hogan celebrates with jimmy hart the dungeon of doom (the taskmaster Kevin Sullivan, zodiac aka ed lesile or Brutus the barber beefcake, kamala and shark aka earthquake john tenta) who attack hogan. This leads to lex Luger coming out and luger and hogan take out the dungeon sending them packing. Then the two turn and see another and are ready to fight one another when out comes sting and savage who hold both hogan and lugar back respectively as Bischoff says did you hear that hulk hogan just said to luger, to go back from where he came from. We then go to commerical when we return mean gene okerlund is in mid ring he says to hulk I don't know what the hell is going on here. Hulk interrupts mean gene and says what In the hell are you Doing here. Lex then rambles on for a bit and hits his points by saying he was sick to death of playing with kids and wanted to play we're the big boys did. Luger then added the biggest boy of them all is hulk hogan and I want to fight you for that wcw world title weather that be next week, next month or next year. Hogan then tells luger he knows who Luger is and that they've traveled the same path so luger doesn't need to wait because next week with the title on the line, me (hogan) and you (lex) one on one. Mean gene then pops as hogan and luger square up to one another yet again and savage and sting have to step in to pull the two apart and we fade to black. 

Round Up 

Nitro started a trend not seen during this period as they wheeled out three big matches which were all of ppv quality something rarely seen during the mid nineties and this couldn't have been a better week to debut the show as WWF raw was pre-emptied for the westminster dog show so wcw had monoplay that evening and made a hell of a lot of noise as well. Fans who may have not have been aware of raw not being on that week may have flipped the channels and found there wrestling fix that night and wcw would have currently made an impression on those fans. It was so different to WWF raw during that period as raw consisted of one big star match sandwiched in between a bunch of one sided squash matches. In compassion wcw was fresh, hip and innovative. Now the question was would vince change with the times and try to catch up with the times and for once do something different. This is all sounding rather familiar isn't it. Anyway next week I will move onto the final episode of wcw nitro and take a look back at the vince Russo effect, creative control and the fall of wcw in 99 and try to answer went wrong with wcw and how this once innovative show meet it's timely demise.