Darren Young – The South Beach Party Boy has been amusing if anything. He’s impressively built and has decent skills in the ring, though you can definitely tell he is pretty green between the ropes. I’m loving the chemistry with his pro, CM Punk, who seems like he wants nothing to do with the kid. Will Young end up changing his ways and joining the Straight Edge Society or will he continue to do his own thing and rebel against his mentor?

Michael Tarver – Of all the rookies, Tarver has been the least impressive to me. He just hasn’t done a whole lot and that likely explains his low ranking on the show. Tarver does remind me a bit of Bad News Brown and I do see some potential in him. Carlito as his pro really isn’t doing him much good either. If he doesn’t start to make an impact sooner than later, he’ll likely fade away into obscurity.

Skip Sheffield – I like the Cornfed Meathead. He is the biggest guy on the show in terms of physique and he has decent mic skills. His relationship with William Regal is probably the funniest pairing next to Young/Punk. The dirty looks that Regal gives him whenever he messes up are pricess and I’d love to see that disdain boil over sometime during the course of the show. I doubt Sheffield will win the competition, but he’s slowly but surely winning me over.

David Otunga - The “it factor” of Mr. Jennifer Hudson is no doubt his strongest asset. His in-ring skills could use some work and that spinebuster he uses just doesn’t look very good at all. But Otunga is a natural on the mic and he has loads of charisma for a rookie, it also doesn’t hurt that he looks impressive despite his ridiculous haircuts. Expect the “A-List” to make to to the very end of the NXT competition.

Heath Slater - Perhaps the biggest suprise of the show thus far, I’ll be the first to admit I was not very impressed with the “One Man Rock Band” at first. After watching him do his thing in the ring, he has grown on me. No other rookie reminds me as much of their pro as much as Slater reminds me of a young Christian. He is a bit goofy but he clearly has wrestling talent and he has plenty of time to continue to build up his character.

Justin Gabriel – Matt Hardy’s rookie has won over tons of fans in the opening weeks of NXT and with good reason. I’ve seen him compared to the likes to AJ Styles and while that may be a bit of a stretch, this kid does have a lot of potential. His mic skills need work but he can fly around the ring with the best of them and his 450 splash is pretty solid. Of all the rookies, I’m probably the most interested in how Gabriel develops throughout the remainder of the season.

Wade Barrett – Who doesn’t like a big, snarky tough Brit? Wade is a lock for the final four of NXT and having the ever awesome Chris Jericho as his mentor will only make him a better performer both in the ring and on the mic. He reminds me a bit of an uglier Clive Owen. I don’t really get the rose thing, or why he doesn’t wear his jacket the right way, but I like what I’ve seen from him during his matches and I’m looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer the WWE.

Daniel Bryan – If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know I’m one of those internet geeks that Michael Cole is always bitching about. I’m a big fan of the American Dragon and NXT has been all about him. Pairing him with the Miz, pitting Michael Cole against him as the anti-Bryan announcer and having him lose constantly yet still be ranked #1 in the pros poll are all unusual moves but it seems to be working. Bryan is getting over with the WWE fans and you know it’s only a matter of time before he starts picking up victories. There are those that don’t like Bryan and my best guess is that they are just ignorant about his technical wrestling ability. Either that or they are drinking some of Cole’s kool-aid. Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with him and anxiously awaiting the first time he makes someone tap out.

The May 11th Smackdown taping marks the first NXT elimination. My guess is Tarver will be the first to go, but who knows at this point. It is still over a month away and a whole lot can happen between now and then. So far, the show has held my interest week-in and week-out and it should be fun to see how everything shakes out.

It was one of the most emotional Wrestlemania moments of all time, ranking right up there next to Ric Flair’s final, or at least we thought at the time, match against the very same Heartbreak Kid. As The Undertaker looked down at a helpless Michaels and told him to stay down, you could sense what was coming next. The final blow, a devastating jumping Tombstone piledriver, to end a brilliant career. In many ways, Taker’s final show of mercy felt a lot like Michaels looking across the ring at Flair and mouthing the words, “I’m sorry. I love you,” before superkicking him into retirement. It was a great way to end yet another Wrestlemania classic between Michaels and The Undertaker, arguably the two biggest and best performers of this generation.

The following night on Raw, HBK addressed the WWE fans and delivered a wonderfully heartfelt speech that brought tears to the eyes of many. He thanked the fans for their support, the production crew for making him look good all of these years, his in-ring peers including Bret Hart and of course his boss, Vince McMahon for putting up with the rollercoaster ride that has been Michaels’ career. Several times the chants of the fans forced the Icon to stop and simply soak it all in. He deserves all of the adulation he received that night and every bit of praise that has been written about him over the past week by people like myself.

Shawn Michaels may have never been my favorite wrestler of all-time but I have absolutely nothing but the utmost respect for what he did over the course of his 25 year career. Some of the most exciting matches in the history of the WWE have featured him, including the first ever Hell in a Cell match and his Ironman epic against The Hitman at Wrestlemania 12. There are few better on the mic and even fewer better between those ropes. His contributions will no doubt lead him into the WWE Hall of Fame sooner than later.

He was something special and he will be missed. Thank you, and good luck, Shawn Michaels.

Sure, that is one huge cliche that gets tossed around every year around this time, but for once it just may be the truth. Shawn Michaels puts his career on the line for one more chance to end the legendary Wrestlemania undefeated streak of the Undertaker. In just a few short days, we will find out of HBK is hanging up his boots or if the Deadman will finally taste defeat on the grandest stage of them all.

Last year at the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania, they stole the show. It was the highlight of an otherwise lackluster event. Many have gone as far as calling it the best match in the history of Wrestlemania. It was truly a great match but it was far from perfect. For starters, The Undertaker nearly killed himself performing the over-the-top dive to the outside. He came inches from landing squarely on his head and possibly breaking his neck. It was a near miss that could have been devastating. At one point in the match Michaels countered a chokeslam into a floatover DDT which looked pretty bad. Instead of hitting the mat, Undertaker’s head basically was tucked into HBK’s stomach. The announcers sold it as a wonderful counter but it was basically a botched move.

Despite these mistakes, the match still is held in the highest regard by most everyone in the wrestling community. It may not have been completely perfect but the energy and excitement of the crowd undoubtably added an element to the bout that puts it alongside the greatest Wrestlemania performances ever. Watching and hearing the fans react to all of the near falls and close calls is enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. A certain electricity was running through the arena in Houston during that match which was disappointingly absent from the other matches that night. Fans were on the edge of their seat from start to finish and that is a testament to how high the stakes were and how two icons in the industry did everything they could to deliver a classic.

This Sunday, they are poised to do it again. Last year was great, but not perfect. It has been a long year for Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Both men are past their prime inside those ropes and this could very well be the last chance for both of them to thrill fans worldwide at the biggest spectacle in pro wrestling. It very well could be the last time we get to see the Heartbreak Kid in action. The stakes have never been higher which means that very same electricity should be running through the fans in Glendale, Arizona.

It is, without a doubt, the most anticipated match on this years card. Expect an emotional rollercoaster of a fight and expect to be amazed. The two greatest performers in the history of Wrestlemania, going at it one last time. It will be something special. Enjoy it.

At the time, my local PPV provider wouldn’t even carry the event and I can fondly remember constantly checking the wrestling sites that night for the latest updates. I finally got a chance to sit down and watch this classic show, which the WWE packaged as a bonus with their 2006 ECW “One Night Stand” DVD. 

The show kicks off with the voice of ECW, Joey Styles, welcoming everyone to the ECW Arena for their first ever historic PPV. It was a a huge deal that another wrestling promotion was throwing their hat into the PPV game and eventually the success off Barely Legal led to numerous ECW PPV events. This really was the peak of wrestling for me, as almost every month we got to see a PPV 3 out of 4 Sunday nights. Anyways, The Dudleys hit the ring, interrupt Styles and talk a whole bunch of smack to the audience. The amount of heat they had in the ECW Arena that night was awesome. Few teams could rile up the crowd more than Bubba Ray and D-Von could.

Saturn and Kronus, The Eliminators, hit the ring and apparently our first match is underway. The World Tag Team titles are on the line as the Eliminators challenge The Dudleys in a very sloppy and chaotic match. In the end, Saturn and Kronus hit Total Elimination on just about everyone and claimed the belts for their third reign. The match was way short and not all that great, certainly not what I was expecting from two teams that usually brought their best and had some great battles against eachother in the past. Oh well, chalk it up to PPV jitters I suppose.

Chris Candido was scheduled to take on Lance Storm but had to withdraw due to injury. He came out and gave a rambling speech before Storm took on Candido’s substite, Rob Van Dam. This was a classic between two of my personal all-time favorites. Despite a few botched spots and Lance Storm’s ridiculous blonde rat-tail, it is still a great match that really began the huge push for RVD. He cuts a promo after the match complaining about not being on the card and having to fill-in for an injured wrestler. It’s funny to go back to a time when Van Dam wasn’t insanely popular with the ECW fans. In fact there are several sellout chants during the match thanks to RVD appearing on WWE programming to help promote the ECW PPV, which I always thought was an incredibly cool thing for Vince McMahon to do. Anyways, Van Dam wins the match with the VanDaminator after Storm kicked out of the five-star frog splash, which at the time was simply just a frog splash.

Up next is the International Six-Man Tag featuring The Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada and Masato Yakushiji taking on the Japanese contingent of the bWo which included Dick Togo, Terry Boy and Taka Michinoku. If you like crazy high flying Japanese wrestling then this match will most definitely please. It was cool of ECW to use their pay-per-view time to showcase some international talent and we got to see Taka Michinoku do his thing before moving on to the WWE. Gran Hamada’s team picks up the win after a ton of high flying, fast-paced action.

“The Franchise” Shane Douglas may have been the best heel of his time period in all of pro wrestling. His fued with the Pitbulls was great, especially when he broke the neck of Pitbull #1 Gary Wolfe and then later attacked him while he wore a surgically implanted halo. The rivalry culminated in a match for the ECW Television Title between Pitbull #2 and Douglas at “Barely Legal.” The match probably won’t be remembered as much as the post-match which saw Douglas’ then Triple Threat member Brian Lee turn on him and join up with “Ravishing” Rick Rude who had been taunting Douglas for weeks behind a mask. The big reveal was entertaining, even though everyone knew that Rude was the masked man all along. Lee came out with the mask and Rude’s classic robe and Rude was actually hiding out as one of the “SWAT” officers at ringside to protect Douglas. Good stuff.

The main selling point of Barely Legal for a lot of fans was the “grudge match of the century” between Taz and Sabu. After what seemed like years of build up, the former tag partners were finally set to square off in the ring. It definitely lived up the hype. This was one of the stiffest wrestling matches I’ve ever seen and Sabu really took a beating from the Human Suplex Machine for the majority of the fight. Taz won but afterwards was attacked by Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Bill Alphonso, who had been managing Taz, turned and joined up with RVD and Sabu. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship which saw Alphonso manage RVD to huge success in ECW.

The finale of “Barely Legal” was a three-way pitting The Sandman, Stevie Richards and Terry Funk against eachother with the winner recieving a ECW World Title match against Raven immediately afterwards. This was the highlight of the night and in my opinion is what makes this show a classic. It may not have been the greatest match of all time, but Terry Funk at age 53 does things in that ring that he simply shouldn’t be doing and with a little help from Tommy Dreamer he wins the ECW Title to close out the show. The image of a battered and bloody Funk clinging onto that championship belt while surrounded by hundreds of screaming ECW fans gives me goosebumps. He would hold onto the belt for 4 months before losing it to Sabu in a brutal barbed-wire match. Oh Terry Funk, you crazy son-of-a-bitch.

“Barely Legal” wasn’t a perfect show by any means, but it’s importance in the legacy of ECW is unquestioned and that alone makes it one of the most historic pay-per-view events of the last fifteen years. The fact that it comes packaged with the ’06 “One Night Stand” DVD is a great deal that makes it well worth checking out. If you followed ECW during the late ’90s  then there is no reason for you to not own this. If you’re just discovering the original after seeing the WWECW brand, I’d recommend checking out “Barely Legal” to get a taste of that Extreme Championship Wrestling was all about. It was the beginning of a great time in pro wrestling.

We are two weeks into the new Monday Night War and let’s be honest here folks, so far it is pretty one-sided. WWE hasn’t done much different than what they have been doing, but they are destroying TNA in the ratings and putting on a much better product. Sure, TNA is still finding it’s footing but these first few weeks of Monday Impact haven’t been very good. I was glad to see Rob Van Dam, and even Jeff Hardy, show up but I’m disappointed with the results thusfar. I guess my biggest issue with TNA right now is everything seems to rushed and thrown together randomly, where the WWE is doing a beautiful job of putting stories together leading into Wrestlemania 26.

Just watch that video package for the HBK/Undertaker match with the Johnny Cash song. It gives me goosebumps, it is so perfect and sets the tone for their Wrestlemania rematch. The Streak vs. The Career is what WM26 is all about, that is the match everyone will be talking about and the WWE has done a wonderful job of putting it together. It has everything, all the pomp and circumstance and incredibly huge stakes. The one thing I fear it may not have it two performers at their best because it has been difficult at times to watch both Michaels and the Undertaker lately. Regardless, here is hoping they have one more great one left in them.

Over in TNA, things feel all over the place to me. Ric Flair is a sick bastard for doing what he does to himself. He may be one of the best bleeders in the biz, but I’m not so sure I need to see him gushing all over himself anymore. If I really want to see a bloodied up Nature Boy I’ll go back and watch his matches against Dusty Rhodes in the NWA. Anyways, I like the Anderson/Angle feud a lot and that’s another bloody one. I’m waiting to see Mr. Anderson get busted open. I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for some juice, but I’m not so sure if TNA isn’t overdoing it a bit much lately. My girlfriend even commented that it seems to be the only thing they have right now. Everyone bleeds, or so it seems.

Tonight’s NXT was good. I feel bad for Daniel Bryan having to wrestle the Great Khali, but putting him up against the huge monster and having him get defeated after a valiant effort is only going to get the fans behind him more. Of all the NXT rookies, Bryan seems like the star of the show after 4 weeks. Darren Young and CM Punk’s relationship continues to amuse and their tag match against Hardy and Gabriel was actually quite good. It was loaded with lots of tag team psychology and the heel team looked impressive together. Of course Gallows wrecks Young after the match, much to Punk’s delight. I’m entertained by wherever that storyline is going.

I’ve gone on enough for tonight. I’m planning to update again tomorrow at some point with my thoughts on those ROH shows I’ve watched and some thoughts on the new Shawn Michaels DVD, “My Journey.” Until then, thanks for reading.

Here’s a pretty nifty highlight package that is up on YouTube that really nails the essence of what Bryan is all about. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

My first exposure to ROH was the Dragon Gate Invasion show which was held near my hometown of Buffalo, NY. It was 2005 and I hadn’t actively followed pro wrestling for a few years so I had no idea what Ring of Honor even was or who most of the wrestlers were. A buddy of mine from work asked me if I was interested in going and I figured why not check it out? I was glad I did and ended up going to their next event in Buffalo, which also turned out to be their last. An incident between Samoa Joe and an unruly fan basically signaled the end of ROH coming to the Buffalo area which basically derailed any interest I had in the company at the time.

I did enjoy both shows though. They were the only pro wrestling shows I’d attended in years and I got to see a bunch of up-and-coming talent who are now top names in the industry. AJ Styles wrestled CIMA at the Dragon Gate show. I saw Curryman, who as most know was Christopher Daniels’ ridiculous alter ego. I got to see Samoa Joe take on Nigel McGuiness (Desmond Wolfe in TNA) for the Pure Championship at both shows. Homicide was there, Jay Lethal was there, so was Alex Shelley of Motor City Machine Gun fame. In all honesty, seeing a lot of those guys in TNA was a big reason why I began tuning into Impact each week.

 I’d love to be able to keep up with Ring Of Honor more than I do, but I don’t get HDNet and I just can’t get down with sitting in front of my computer to watch wrestling shows in their entirety. I’ll just keep checking out old DVDs when I get the time and/or money to do so. I recently ordered a few DVDs off the Ring Of Honor web site and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I’ve been interested in checking out more and more ROH stuff since my last DVD purchase a few months back. Expect some type of write up about the shows I ordered, even if they are from a few years ago. I’d still like to get my thoughts out there about the wrestling I’m watching and I’m sure I’ll have lots to say about seeing Bryan Danielson take on AJ Styles for the ROH Championship.

Anyways, on to the biggest news of the week in my opinion. Rob Van Dam is going to TNA and is likely to debut on Monday night. I’m excited. I’ve made it no secret that I’m a huge RVD fan and I’m glad to see he’s getting back into active competition again. I do worry that he may have lost a step or two, but I guess we’ll find out. Regardless, TNA with RVD is way more interesting than TNA without RVD in my opinion.

Bret vs. Vince is official for Wrestlemania. Ugh. Oh well, it’ll at least be entertaining. And it’s hard to complain too much when the rest of the card looks to be stacked so far. I plan on picking up the new Shawn Michaels DVD soon and rewatching his match with The Undertaker from last year, that should really raise my excitement level for WM26. The Streak vs. Career match is currently what I am looking forward to the most. Then again, I’m still giddy over finally seeing Edge vs. Jericho. I have a gut feeling those two will put on a classic.

How funny was Mr. Anderson’s Kurt Angle impression on Impact this week? Loved it.

Finally, I am really enjoying NXT so far. It seems to revolve an awful lot around Daniel Bryan who made his name in a little promotion I rambled on about earlier in this post. I couldn’t be happier with how they are handling him. Putting him with the Miz is going to do wonders in terms of getting him over with the WWE Universe and it seems to be the start of big things to come for the American Dragon. The rest of the cast hasn’t impressed me too much yet but it’s still way early. I do enjoy some of the pairings they’ve come up with. CM Punk’s facial expressions alone make it well worth watching Darren Young’s matches. It’s nice to look forward to a wrestling show on Tuesday nights. I have not been able to say that in a while.

Big things coming up, I’ll do my best to keep up with this thing during the madness that is sure to be the next few weeks in the world of wrestling.

Let’s get to NXT first, considering I just finished watching it. I’m very pleased with how they are going about the show, making it just like an other wrestling program with the added rookie concept. Having tag team matches with pros and rookies together could lead to some fun matches. I’m stoked with the way they are handling Bryan Danielson, now known as Daniel Bryan. Maybe I’m just one of those internet guys they’re talking about, but I’m very glad they are acknowledging his past success in ROH and other indies and letting the WWE universe in on the fact he’s a well respected wrestler without ever setting foot in a WWE ring. Putting him up against Jericho in the main event was brilliant and though the match could have been better, it was everything I was hoping for from NXT. Plus Bryan took an insanely sick bump into the announce table.

I hope that the rivalry with The Miz continues and the WWE allows Bryan to build on his newfound persona. I like the whole underdog with a chip on his shoulder thing they are going with. It will certainly make Bryan more sympathetic in the eyes of the fans and who knows, maybe taking on The Miz will help him get over, so to speak. Either way, the whole thing has a lot of potential in my eyes.

Too bad the Otunga/Young match wasn’t very good and that spinebuster was awful. I did get a huge kick out of CM Punk, as always. Having him mentor the party boy is another great move.

Wrestlemania 26 is already shaping up to be really good. I’m excited for Jericho vs. Edge. That feud should build nicely over the next month or so and they will more than likely put on a classic. Putting the WWE title on Batista and pitting him against Cena is great. I’m loving heel Batista and his spotlight and frequently changing facial expressions. I feel bad for Sheamus, but at least his brief reign helped establish him as a top name in the company. Besides, rumor is he’ll be up against HHH at Mania. That ain’t a bad spot to be in for a rookie.

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels again. This time it’s the streak vs. HBK’s career. I’m so compelled by this storyline. They may not be able to live up to the hype from last year’s epic encounter, but you know those two are going to put everything on the line and give it their all this time around. I’m not quite sure if I think this is the end for HBK or not, but I wouldn’t be suprised at all. The man has had a heck of a career and his body obviously isn’t what it used to be, what better time than now to call it a career? I can see it going down that way a lot more than I can see the streak coming to an end. At this point, I’m not so sure if it ever should come to an end.

I’ll stop marking out now. Thanks for reading.

The PPV tonight isn’t exactly loaded. There have only been 4 matches announced so far but I wouldn’t be shocked if one was added during the show, much like The Miz having an impromptu match against MVP at the Royal Rumble. I’m sure the Chamber matches themselves will take up a good hour or so of the show anyways.

Maryse vs. Gail Kim in the finals of the longest 4 match tournament ever for the vacant Divas championship. I expect Maryse to come away with the win using some kind of dirty tactic because for the life of me I can’t figure out why the WWE wanted Gail Kim back if they didn’t plan on doing anything with her. Seriously, she has done more or less nothing since her return. I wonder if a part of her wishes she would have just stuck around with TNA.

The Intercontinental title is on the line as Drew McIntyre defends against the Big Red Machine, Kane. I’m not seeing a title change mainly because McIntyre is in the midst of a huge push and it wouldn’t make any sense to put the IC strap on Kane, who is on the downside of his career. A win will put Drew over and make him seem just that much more unstoppable.

The two Elimination Chamber matches are interesting. I honestly wouldn’t be suprised to see both titles change hands heading into Wrestlemania. I’ll take a look at the Raw match first, where Sheamus puts the belt on the line against Randy Orton, John Cena, Triple H, Ted Dibiase and Kofi Kingston.

I highly doubt we’ll see Kingston or Dibiase come out victorious, especially when looking at the star power they are up against. Cena, HHH and Orton are 3 of the biggest stars in the WWE and I’d put my money on one of those 3 to walk out with the spinner belt. Not that I’d be suprised if Sheamus somehow retains, but I could just as easily see Cena winning and setting up his match at WM26 against Batista for the WWE Championship. Then again, if that match happens it will be huge without a championship on the line because it will also likely involve Vince McMahon and Bret Hart in some capacity. Bottom line, I’m picking HHH to win yet another Elimination Chamber which will set him up to take on Sheamus at Wrestlemania.

The Smackdown Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Title may not have the star power that the Raw match has but I’m quite looking forward to seeing how it shakes out. The John Morrison injury angle could mean he doesn’t wind up participating in the match, which could lead to a replacement being named. Hmmm, Shawn Michaels perhaps? That is one of the big rumors I’ve heard. HBK could wind up costing Taker the Championship which would leave the Deadman with no choice but to wrestle Mr. Wrestlemania himself once again. I’d personally love to see that, but who knows.

R-Truth will not will the World Heavyweight Championship, that’s a fact. I enjoy the guy, but there is no way he is main eventing Wrestlemania. CM Punk and Rey Mysterio will somehow take eachother out and continue the build up to their rumored WM26 encounter. That leaves us with Chris Jericho, who I predict to win the big gold belt. It will set up his match with Edge and that is a Wrestlemania main event I’d absoultely love to see happen. My fingers are crossed.

So it looks to be a big big night in the WWE as the Road to Wreslemania begins to wind down. Enjoy the show everyone!

The next day TNA made the big announcement we’ve all been waiting for, their move to Monday night starting March 8th. It is very ballsy of them to go head-to-head with Raw instead of starting at 8 p.m. There are already reports of an AJ Styles/Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan/Abyss tag team main event for the first Monday show. If anything, it will be fun to see what happens when two wrestling promotions go head-to-head again.

ECW is finally dead and Big Zeke was the final man to hold the title. Oh man.

I’m looking forward to NXT. The pros and rookies concept is interesting, though I do wonder how “reality” based the show is really going to be. Having wrestlers like Bryan Danielson (now Daniel Bryan) being mentored by The Miz is kind of ridiculous. Danielson is a legitimate top notch wrestler who has been around the business for some time in Ring Of Honor and various other independent promotions. If anything, I bet he could teach the Miz a thing or two. Then again, it’ll be interesting to see how they interact. Chris Jericho’s protege, Wade Barrett, looks impressive. Jennifer Hudson’s fiance, David Otunga, is also finally getting his shot. I hope CM Punk tries to shave his protege’s ridiculous haircut off. I’m looking forward to the premiere, mainly to get an idea as to what the format for NXT is going to be.

It’s a pretty exciting time to be a wresting fan.