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AJ Styles’ first year in the WWE has been outstanding by any measure. He injected much-needed energy and world-class credibility at a time when the promotion’s main roster had fallen below its own minor league, NXT, in both departments. He stood toe to toe and flew move for move...
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Most fans would agree: Mainstream professional wrestling is pretty messed up at the dawn of 2017. Characters are undefined, matches are unsatisfying, and a genre built on high-gear excitement is struggling to get out of neutral. It seems like every Tom, Doink, and Harry has an opinion on the...
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On Wednesday, WWE dropped the most devastating possible news to the ever-shrinking pool of folks who make their programming appointment viewing: a new hour of original wrestling programming is coming to the WWE Network. For the completionist fan (which most members of niche audiences are by nature), this means...
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Shinsuke Nakamura closed last week’s episode of NXT with incredible flair. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he demonstrated his physical dominance and asserted his verbal acumen in anticipation of his championship return/grudge match with Samoa Joe in Toronto. Nakamura’s swagger and ability to...
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WWE No Mercy was positioned to establish precedents. As just the second Smackdown-specific show of the new era, Sunday evening should have been a night of barn burning action and wild emotional swings. No Mercy should have typified the “anything can happen in the WWE” mantra and set a standard for...
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We need to talk about Daniel Bryan. When Bryan was made general manager of SmackDown under the supposed supervision of Shane McMahon, it created a true “babyface territory” within the WWE for the first time since the Monday Night War against WCW began. That is to say, SmackDown was...
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Tuesday’s edition of Talking Smack scored a huge victory for WWE Network by finally proving that something of substance can occur on one of their talking heads shows. When the Miz and his on-air supervisor Daniel Bryan got into a heated argument that turned host Renee Young into a...
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With the second round of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic half complete, one name already destined for Round Three stands out: Brian Kendrick. After Tajiri’s loss to Gran Metalik, it felt like the gold watches had been handed out and it was time for the honorees to get off the...
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WWE is careening towards its (nominally) second biggest show of the year, and much like WrestleMania, this year’s SummerSlam is built around three top matches. There’s Finn Balor taking on Seth Rollins for the new WWE Universal Championship, Dean Ambrose defending the traditional WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dolph...
AJ Styles’ first year in the WWE has been outstanding by any measure. He injected much-needed energy and world-class credibility at a time when the promotion’s main roster had fallen below its own minor league, NXT, in both departments. He stood toe to toe and flew move for move...
Most fans would agree: Mainstream professional wrestling is pretty messed up at the dawn of 2017. Characters are undefined, matches are unsatisfying, and a genre built on high-gear excitement is struggling to get out of neutral. It seems like every Tom, Doink, and Harry has an opinion on the...
On Wednesday, WWE dropped the most devastating possible news to the ever-shrinking pool of folks who make their programming appointment viewing: a new hour of original wrestling programming is coming to the WWE Network. For the completionist fan (which most members of niche audiences are by nature), this means...
Shinsuke Nakamura closed last week’s episode of NXT with incredible flair. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he demonstrated his physical dominance and asserted his verbal acumen in anticipation of his championship return/grudge match with Samoa Joe in Toronto. Nakamura’s swagger and ability to...
WWE No Mercy was positioned to establish precedents. As just the second Smackdown-specific show of the new era, Sunday evening should have been a night of barn burning action and wild emotional swings. No Mercy should have typified the “anything can happen in the WWE” mantra and set a standard for...
We need to talk about Daniel Bryan. When Bryan was made general manager of SmackDown under the supposed supervision of Shane McMahon, it created a true “babyface territory” within the WWE for the first time since the Monday Night War against WCW began. That is to say, SmackDown was...
Tuesday’s edition of Talking Smack scored a huge victory for WWE Network by finally proving that something of substance can occur on one of their talking heads shows. When the Miz and his on-air supervisor Daniel Bryan got into a heated argument that turned host Renee Young into a...
With the second round of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic half complete, one name already destined for Round Three stands out: Brian Kendrick. After Tajiri’s loss to Gran Metalik, it felt like the gold watches had been handed out and it was time for the honorees to get off the...
WWE is careening towards its (nominally) second biggest show of the year, and much like WrestleMania, this year’s SummerSlam is built around three top matches. There’s Finn Balor taking on Seth Rollins for the new WWE Universal Championship, Dean Ambrose defending the traditional WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dolph...
