Destination Philly

Back in May, I had the thrill of hitting the I95 and driving down from New York City to Philadelphia for the second of the two night stand War of the Worlds event put on by Ring of Honor, and featuring members of the New Japan Pro Wrestling roster. Being a huge proponent of NJPW, and having had an absolute blast when the two promotions' top talent locked up at last year's first incarnation of the event at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom, I was going to go to great lengths to check this out. While I would've preferred to see this meeting of wrestling worlds go down in New York City again as opposed to its smaller yet extremely wrestling-centric neighbor to the south, it's always good to have an excuse to jet down to Philadelphia for a cheesesteak...or two...and other fine eats, some record store rummaging, and taking in the vibe of a generally more laid back hostility-free scene.

So, day off from work sorted out, I loaded up the war machine and, as it's never a good idea to venture into the Wasteland alone, made room for Chocko, also known as the 'Underboss' of the Mondoverse, who held things together on a lot of fronts: navigator, photographer, food wrangler, enforcer. The eater of sandwiches and I quickly made our way down to Old City to try the cheesesteaks at Sonny's Famous Steaks, and pick up some entrance theme music options at the charming a.k.a music. From there we made our way toward South Street, then further off the grid for an obligatory recharge and re-caffeination session at vegan cafe Grindhouse, where the thrash and death metal background music also helped get the blood pumping. This has become an unlikely but obligatory pro wrestling pilgrimage stopover spot, originally stumbled upon when an exhibition of photos by Zia Hiltey featuring El Generico and Chikara Pro activity was being held there. Finally it was over to the strip of auto shops and warehouses, which were definitely on the edge of something if not 'town', where the ECW Arena stood in wait.

This was definitely Road Warrior territory. If not Fury Road, perhaps Fury Row, which is a slightly less unsettling part of town than Muffler Row (link to FOTpedia). With the line of warehouse structures on one side, there is a view across the way to a dim industrial expanse. The street that fills the gap in between had become a jagged jamming together of parked cars in an arrangement that ever so slightly tipped its hat at organization by the time we arrived. Standing around and on top of the vehicles were wrestling fans aplenty, many of which were wearing Bullet Club t-shirts, most of whom were White. Essentially the ECW Arena resembled a strip club from the outside, and an emptied out warehouse space inside. Once inside, after 2 or 3 laps around the venue, we determined the narrow sliver of seats that was our section, where indeed nobody was sitting, and got to watching the show.

Wrestling

The unannounced opening match put the masked Latin Lover against recent new prospect turned House of Truth member J Diesel. The heel claimed a moderately hard fought victory for Team Truth.

Next up was the official opener of the show: The Decade's Adam Page taking on NJPW via New Jersey star Watanabe. Adam Page was accompanied by newly christened Decade young boy Colby Corino, which is important to note because the most memorable moments of the match involved him interfering and getting blasted by Watanabe. First, he received a 'Holy Shit' chant inducing German Suplex on the floor. Afterwards, as the victorious Adam Page, who won with his Inverted Backdrop Pile Driver finisher, was leaving the ring, Colby was pulled in by Watanabe for a lariat. Hitting a kid with the build of a scrawny teenager did not do much to put Watanabe over as a baby face, nor would I say it added much value to the ROH brand when Moose would destroy Colby with repeated power bombs outside the ring in their confrontation at Global Wars a few days later.

ROH's Michael Elgin took on NJPW's junior heavyweight KUSHIDA next. It was a dynamic match with KUSHIDA hitting a lot of high spots and Elgin landing some brutal looking throws and slams. KUSHIDA's manner was plenty aggressive, slapping away a handshake as the match started, and charging straight into the fight with the physically overbearing Elgin. Despite some intense back and forth sequences, Elgin defeated the small opponent.

The next match pit legitimate NJPW major player Tetsuya Naito against reDRagon's Kyle O'Reilly. While O'Reilly was in effect representing ROH, it pleased me that this was a match that could have appeared right on the bill of a not-so-typical NJPW show in Japan, since reDRagon have a consistent presence in the promotion's Junior Heavyweight division.  The match incorporated a lot of humorous elements, and the heel/face dynamic seemed to shift during the match, adjusting according to audience reactions. As Naito is much less widely known than a Hiroshi Tanahashi or Shinsuke Nakamura, a lot of those in attendance didn't know what to make of him or what to expect. He and O'Reilly pantomimed powering down and up in reaction to the chants of their own or their opponent's name. Naito seemed to enjoy playing up a goofy villainous persona, exaggerating his shining eye gesture arrogantly, and O'Reilly received a 'Sleazy Kyle' chant as he started strutting around the ring, something I believe he started doing to mock rivals The Addiction. In the end, Naito won the match with his Stardust Press finisher off the top rope. The two shook hands amicably afterwards.

The next match would be the seemingly suddenly placed 4 Corner Survival match between Mark Briscoe, Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Jay Lethal, and Shinsuke Nakamura. I don't think fans expect this one to appear so early on the card. It might've been done strategically to send a few more people to the autograph area during intermission to get a picture with Nakamura, but it also ended up leaving me and perhaps several others a bit exhausted as the second half of the evening approached. Nakamura was by far the most over individual on the card that night. I stress 'individual' because the collective of The Bullet Club, and maybe even the Bullet Cub's not so secret weapon, The Young Bucks, got a reception that rivaled or surpassed the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion's. But the crowd was roaring as Nakamura came out to the ring and as he wrestled.  The match was fun without generating any overly heated interactions between participants. Lethal and Nakamura danced around one another a bit, working taunts. At one point there was collusion between Mark Briscoe and Lethal as the two double teamed Liger in one of the corners, but Lethal, true to form, knocked Briscoe from the turnbuckle to underhandedly take out his peer. In the end Nakamura took the victory with a running bomaye knee to Liger.

At intermission time, the audience was urged to purchase 'Okada bucks' to throw during his ring entrance. As the break drew to a close, the ROH's svelte resident underdog Cheeseburger hyped the crowd with t-shirts being launched into the crowd til he was interrupted by veteran Brutal Bob. He ran down his former tag team partner, took a t-shirt for himself and knocked Cheeseburger out, setting up for a feud that would play out in a match appearing on ROH television not long after.

The first match after the intermission was a hot one, putting ROH regular Rodderick Strong VS NJPW ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. This extremely competitive bout was a definite highlight of the night, and from accounts I've heard, of the entire series of joint shows in both Philadelphia and Toronto. The drama was heightened when Rodderick was cut, his facing quickly covered by a slick layer of blood. The injury seemed unintentional but seeing Strong fight through whatever additional damage must have been incurred was riveting. Both combatants had loud cheers from the crowd going in their favor. Toward the end of the match Tanahashi hit signature moves in his arsenal: a Dragon Screw Leg Whip and a Sling Blade. Strong pulled out his running Drop Kick blast dubbed The End of Heartache and covered Tanahashi for a convincing near fall. Tanahashi would win the match with a High Fly Flow Splash off the top rope.

The Addiction, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, came out next to defend the Ring of Honor Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against CHAOS duo Kazuchika Okada and Gedo. The match was an excellent showcase of  Daniels' and Kazarian's work as a heel tag team. They hit a multitude of impressive double team maneuvers. They also continually trash talked their overseas opponents without missing a beat. Unsurprisingly the match was built around The Addiction double teaming Gedo and keeping him isolated, though the veteran and now behind the scenes maven of NJPW did fire off some impressive offense of his own, until he got the hot tag to Okada who blasted through both Daniels and Kazarian. It would not be enough, though, and the reigning ROH tag team champs would pick up the victory with Gedo being pinned. Afterwards, however, Okada ran back in and took out the celebrating heels, leaving Daniels laid out by a big Rainmaker Lariat.

The penultimate match had ROH Heavyweight Champion Jay Briscoe defending his title against reDRagon's more experienced half, Bobby Fish. The match was fighting an uphill battle in a few respects. It was drawing near to the end of a long show, but not quite the main event; it had a fairly predictable outcome; and just as the early match between Naito and O'Reilly could have been part of a typical NJPW show, this one could have easily been featured along the route of your average ROH tour.  Which has far less exotic implications. There was also some pretty strong anti-Briscoe sentiment in the crowd. I don't know if he's been a polarizing figure throughout his title run or if a particular contingent of jerky smart-mark fans in Philly were intent on creating friction. No matter, the two put on an excellent match. Fish was as credible a challenger to the Heavyweight title as anyone, which I hope NJPW officials took note of. While neither he nor O'Reilly are booked for the upcoming G1 Climax Tournament (they did make a huge mark during the Best of the Super Juniors series), they could easily hold their own in competition against NJPW's heavyweight roster members. There were some deadly looking maneuvers executed on the ring apron. Eventually Briscoe won with the Jay Driller Driver finisher to retain the title. The action was not quite over yet, as Moose made his way to the ring. There was an exchange of words leading to Moose leveling the champ with a spear. Jay would then pick himself up and, not carrying himself with the diplomacy of a John Cena, give the hostile audience a piece of his mind before making his way to the back.

It was now time for the main event: The Bullet Club, represented by IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles and the Young Bucks Matt and Nick Jackson, who currently hold the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles VS The Kingdom: Michael Bennet and Matt Taven, in current possession of the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles and only just returning to action Adam Cole, all of whom were accompanied to the ring by Maria Kanelis. The match would be a hair raising, crazy affair of flying bodies and intricately laid out spots throughout. I was not disappointed by the in ring action in the least. That this match itself was booked, and as the main event, left me a little cold for reasons I'll explain below. In the meantime as far as what I could actually keep track of during the match, there was an ongoing tease of the Young Bucks offering the 'too sweet' salute to Adam Cole, who would contemplate it to the shagrin of his presumably less cool pals in The Kingdom. In an extremely meta move, Taven and Bennet had a Young Buck locked up in the corner with Cole sauntering over, and then taking things further than the Bucks' unceremonious back rake and simply did nothing, dismissing the tangled up foe. An attack on Maria Kanelis was hinted at many times, and after one too many interjections into the match she received a triple Super Kick from the Bucks and Styles. AJ did hit the Styles Clash to come close to finishing the match but Taven and Bennet managed to make the save and clear the ring, with somebody's championship belts in hand, allowing for Cole to get a cheap and dirty roll up pin on Matt for the Kingdom to emerge victorious. Matt Jackson was really the ring general in this match, with AJ just holding his own. It gives credence to Matt's nickname, The Indietaker. But at the same time, for my money I would've liked to see AJ in a singles match, or at least defending his title against 2 or 3 other opponents. He is just too good in my opinion to see somewhere in the mix of a multi-man tag team match.

The reason for my feeling less than enthused about the match has a lot to do with my general warming over on the Bullet Club. No bones about it, ROH did know their audience and booked a finale that would have their core audience in this city eating it up, but I would go so far as to suggest a better program could easily out there and could potentially raise the stakes of the game. Essentially you had the bunch of jerks taking on the bunch of jerks that are cooler. No real faces to get behind, no heroes, just the guys in school you would be more afraid to get a swirly from. So who does that make the better performers? The villains that get received as villains or the ones that everybody wants to get a high five from?

Naturally the fans get behind the cool jerks. I'm not saying there is no place for this sort of program in wrestling at all. It is a great hallmark of this modern period of pro wrestling. It does have its limits, though, and I think the Bullet Club has definitely maxed out its intrigue level. At least to a wrestling audience that one hopes to expand. Beyond a bunch of jerky white guys in cool t-shirts...who look up to a wrestling group made up of a bunch of white guys who started the cool t-shirt. OK, that all sounds very preachy delivered from high atop the soap box and I'm not trying to be entirely like that. I am well aware pro wrestling isn't nor has it ever been a bastion of progressive thinking or social change, nor should it be entirely. But can it show some leanings in that direction? I don't think it is necessarily that unthinkable a notion. For one thing, playing on the fact that this is an international show highlighting international talent from NJPW, I would've liked to see that talent elevated into the highest slot on the card. Perhaps instead of warring heel groups, a situation where unlikely teammates become strange bedfellows to engage in competition with their rivals from within the opposing company.

This leads back to my eventual wish that the show had been held back at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Or somewhere else in New York City. Convenience aside, there is the fact that New York City has a lot more diversity and it stands to reason you would get a more diverse audience attending t the show. Again, I don't mean to come off as spouting a bunch of bleeding heart anti-White guy rhetoric. I am one, after all. But I definitely feel more comfortable in a mixed crowd than one where the vast majority looks and acts the same. Even leaving ethnicity out of the picture, I feel that New York City would bring a greater diversity of fan opinions and break up, even if just a little, that Bullet Club 'Boy's Club' in such full force at the ECW Arena. One thing I know to be a fact is that in New York City there is a huge Japanese population. And, as evidenced by the War Of The Worlds show last year, people in that community will come out to see the New Japan stars perform in person. I understand the Hammerstien has probably become cost prohibitive, but if another venue could be found within the 5 boros, I am confident the Japanese fans would find it and change up the crowd landscape a bit.

But if all this sounds like a whole lot of complaining, I really don't mean it to be. It was a fantastic show, and as our backs edged ever closer to the exit during the heel VS heel main event, we exited a bit ahead of the crowd so we could make a quick stop at Tony Luke's around the corner for a roast pork and provolone sandwich to go. That and the hilarity of The Best Show podcast, hosted by Tom Scharpling served as rocket fuel to get us back to New York City unscathed.

Meanwhile, I am pleased to have just found out NJPW wrestlers Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, and KUSHIDA will return to the east coast in late August for another ROH taping in Philadelphia right before ROH stages their second show at the MCU in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Perhaps some Japanese fans will flock to the distant fringe of the popular boro. Maybe ROH will get it a bit more right and push these guys to very important spots on the shows, and if the Bullet Club is still being presented as a major attraction, then maybe they will have them do something a bit more important. If fans really want a rehash of the NWO takeover era, then maybe they will actually play at taking over instead of hanging out.



'til then.


Several photos provided by Chocko (planetchocko.com)

Me on twitter: @mondocurrymark

Chocko on twitter: @njmisfit

Week in Mondo: March 1 - March 9 Ring Of Honor 13 Overshadows Wrestlemania Build

One week ago was Ring of Honor’s first Pay Per view event of 2015, their 13^th Anniversary special. It was excellent, featuring a range of match situations: face vs face with emphasis on technical prowess, more heated grudge matches, multi-wrestler matches that often broke down into chaos. Throughout there was a strong emphasis on athletic ability and in-ring storytelling. Whether finishes occurred by straightforward means or by way of cheating, there was a decisive victor to every match. No roll ups off of distractions. Ring of Honor is pretty much the only company with high profile that special need to be ordered via Pay Per View. WWE and New Japan both have streaming services that include access to their major events, and TNA and Lucha Underground do not hold special events. Actually TNA does, it seems, but with hardly any promotion and little bearing on storylines, while all of the significant happenings take place on their regularly scheduled Impact tv show, so what’s the point? It’s a bit of a risky gambit, asking for quite a bit more than fans are growing accustomed to having to pay for an event, but the quality of the wrestling made this show worthwhile. I still maintain, to make the PPV a more desirable expenditure for more fans, they should focus on getting more eyeballs on their product, and that means making the weekly tv shows available to people for free on a timely basis, not one week behind schedule for those who don’t have access to their cable outlet (this includes people living in major cities, such as New York).

An MVP of the show that got my attention was Tommaso Ciampa, who competed in the 4-way main event for the ROH Heavyweight championship. He has a hard hitting style, throwing himself at opponents with high impact and seemingly little regard for his physical well being. Following him on the TV show, I’ve come to be a big fan of his entrance music, “They Are Lost” by Last Remaining Pinnacle. It’s a dark, brooding number that could be from a Spaghetti Western soundtrack or Giallo film, suggesting an approaching storm cloud. His entrance at the last special took presentation a step further, perhaps influenced by Prince Devitt/Finn Balor, as he entered donning a metal mask and hood. It had a bit of a comic book feel to it, but brought some intrigue to setting up the match. It even echoed the appearance of mysterious hip hop artist MF DOOM, who never appears in public without his own stylized Doctor Doom inspired headgear. Thus far, the ‘psycho’ part of the ‘Sicilian Psycho’s persona has been emphasized, with Ciampa flying off the handle and attacking referees and wrestlers to the point of disciplinary actions (in story). I’d like to see a more calculating mental game added to his character, to go with the entrance music and occasional grand entrance, to perhaps make him a big player on the promotion’s main event scene.

A major part of the Ring of Honor pay per view feeling special was the presence of the Bullet Club, which has been a dominant faction of growing popularity in NJPW.  This really feels like a move that is mutually beneficial to both companies, giving ROH an edge and a bit of a cool factor by featuring the BC on their shows, while also sending US wrestling fans to check out NJPW, either on their weekly wrestling program on AXS or y subscribing to their streaming service NJPW World. It also gives Ring of Honor a feel of legitimacy to be involved with talent that is known elsewhere. This is also true in the case of working with Alberto El Patron (formerly Del Rio), who is currently active in Triple A, and as a result, Lucha Underground. It creates a nice buzz of cross promotion for these budding companies, while making more traditional organizations like WWE and TNA seem insulated, less exciting in comparison.

My notes from RAW, perhaps owing to having to follow the excellent ROH show the night before, is that nothing of consequence really happened. John Stewart was there and was entertaining, but that really doesn’t do much for building intrigue about programs for Wrestlemania 31, which is drawing ever closer. What I liked about RAW boiled down to Paul Heyman’s promo. Someone talking. And that talking was even more electric than usual. It is the kind of promo that emphasizes competition over silly storylines and, dare I say, is better suited to a company like ROH or New Japan. But RAW has the gift of this very talented performer who understands the power of straightforward hype by saying ‘my guy is going to kick your guy’s ass’ in convincing fashion. They should try to capitalize by getting other performers to follow suit.

On the flip side there is a main event of Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns, which would be a great draw under other circumstances but was just flat here. That is a terrible waste. Circumstances really matter in making a match soar, not just the wrestlers involved, who quite frankly really did not put a very good match on in the ring. If these two were still a part of the Shield, or had kept apart from each other for a while, it might feel special. Instead, it is a transparent part of a build to Wrestlemania, with us knowing that whatever happens in the match, it really won’t affect what’s ahead for either one.

I find myself seething in rage over the stupidity of the intercontinental championship, where all of these wrestlers suddenly want it so badly they are taking it from each other without actually winning it. I can't get over, either, how some fans on social media seem to be buying into it and actually see it as a raise of the profile of the title. Let’s be real. It is nothing more than an excuse to put a bunch of wrestlers without anything going on in one match on the Wrestlemania Card. That might be a very good match afterall, but it’s no excuse for coming up with such a stupid concept: wrestlers running around and taking a belt from each other, which does not make them any more a champion by holding it. It makes all involved look like buffoons at best, or weaklings at worst (I cringe every time I see a once domineering force like Wade Barrett being directed in storyline to plead for his belt back instead of smashing people in the face with the once mighty Bullhammer finisher. Anyone stealing a belt that they did not win should be fined. The story doesn’t make the belt look any higher in profile, it makes it look like a joke.

A good way to lead up to this match would be to have the numerous players involved fight each other one on one and in tag teams, have GOOD matches that make all involved look strong, not like a bunch of goofs as they are doing with R-Truth for cheap comedy.

This seems indicative of a negative trend in WWE programming at large: make heels look more bumbling than threatening. Looking back at very wrestlers who have had very successful heel runs (Edge, Jake “The Snake”, CM Punk to name a few), were they made to look like idiots on the wrong end of a joke? Maybe occasionally, but not so often. Did all of them have an offensive arsenal that seemed powerful? Yes.

Going back to ROH, the Reddragon vs Young Bucks rematch from last years amazing War of the Worlds show is a great example of heels being both conniving and displaying the prowess to be considered legitimate threats. In their match, they cheated, which good heels should do. But they didn’t win with a roll up and then run away leaving everyone dissatisfied with the match finish. They still had plenty of intense wrestling maneuvers that left fans without question of their ability.

WWE should try making their heel wrestlers both dastardly and impressive in the ring, and not just the wrestlers at the top of the card like Lesnar, Rusev, and Seth Rollins.

NXT had a few shining moments this past week, particularly in the women’s title rematch between Charlotte (Flair) and Sasha Banks. The submission maneuvers involved in this match were incredible, looking extremely painful as Sasha contorted Charlotte’s body in seemingly impossible ways. Both of the wrestlers sold the pain of being put through submission holds as well as anyone on the current main WWE roster, if not better. Lucha Underground, take note: If you really want to push female equality, which Vampyro keeps insisting on commentary that you do, try 1) hiring more female wrestlers, 2) put them in matches against each other of this level of quality, showing their championship is just as valid as the men’s.

It was nice to see Adam Rose’s gimmick going over better back on NXT. I for one thought the heel change would’ve gone well had WWE tried to make him look strong, beating up members of his entourage to display a mean streak. But seeing him do that…and continue to lose was just depressing. Far more entertaining to see him in a smaller setting, having his lively entrances get over with the hipper NXT crowd.

All for now. Do comment, disagreements and smack talk are welcome.

Twitter: @MondocurryMark

A Few (Chair) Shots on the Current State of Pro Wrestling

Been tough for me to sustain focus on things, so as we roll into a fairly crucial WWE Special Event, that being Fastlane, I’ll throw out some quick (chair) shot reflections on the state of this and that.

The WWE made a quick save when they came up with the Bryan vs Reigns angle to add some question, let reactions to Reigns’ victory cool a bit, and reformulate the Wrestlemania plans. Unfortunately much of the intrigue seems to be unintentional. I cannot make out which behaviors are supposed to be heelish and which ones noble. They both seem kinda jerky in different respects. If I had to lean one way or other, I’d say it leans more toward Bryan being ‘the man’ and Reigns being the ‘bad man.’ Bryan has behaved rather petulantly in past angles; look back at how he spewed tantrum-like at Cena in their angle leading up to the eventual formation of the Authority, and its feud with Bryan. It kinda fits him, though it doesn’t make him feel like a top star. Meanwhile, when you have a wrestler with Roman Reigns’ size advantage, anything he does to antagonize Bryan is going to make him come off as a bit of a bully. When he plays ‘mind games’ (oh brother), for instance signing autographs during Bryans’ match, it makes him look like a lazy bully, and as a result, arrogant, because with his strength, he should take issues on directly. Still, I cringe as I come to the conclusion WWE’s intent is that we see these guys as rivals on equal footing doing clever things to outwit one another as they deliberate over how to put together a good wrestlemania.

Meanwhile, almost everything else on the program in general just feels boring, predictable, and very inconsequential. Wrestlers that felt special and intriguing to watch like Dean Ambrose, Wade Barret, Cesaro, Ziggler, or anyone associated with the Wyatt family are just kinda taking up time and space. Not for lack of talent, but due to an absence of feuds that give them any sense of being impressive or caring. A BIG overhaul is overdue.

Yet NXT shines. Up and coming talent are given a chance to practice and improve. On specials, like the most recent Arrival, those who are developing are near the beginning of the card, those while extremely suspenseful and amazing technically sound matches are put near the main event. The women wrestling on NXT are impassioned and put on wow-filled matches for their skills, and they have you believe they care about the championship they compete for. Sasha Banks carries her newly won belt as though it were a highly coveted prize. Her move set looks as devastating as that of the male wrestlers. Finn Balor and Adrian Neville had a match that balanced careful pacing and awesome high flying spots. The match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens informed anyone that didn’t already know that these two have an amazing chemistry, and their feud will surely go to incredible places. Their were some obvious shades of the surprising Lesnar vs Cena match at Summerslam, with Owens dominating, but it wasn’t as simple as that. Zayn got in plenty of offense, more than it may have seemed afterwards. That is because of Owens’ expertly played villain routine, hitting one devastating move, the power bomb, over and over again, taking his time between each one, until the referee stopped the match. It was very dramatic and leaves us craving the rematch. But meanwhile, a match between Owens and Balor is another very exciting program to behold.

I really think there should be an NXT match at Wrestlemania. They have earned a big spot like that. It doesn’t have to be their best work or one with any crucial circumstances, but a chance for the champion of the moment, presumably Owens to go out there with another NXT wrestler and showcase their skills on that huge platform is well deserved and would be an exciting moment on the card.

NXT is right up there with New Japan Pro Wrestling, in my opinion, though it lacks the latter company’s history of course. That and New Japan blurs the lines between matches being predetermined and extremely competitive. They are so physically intense, suspense of disbelief is easy. The New Japan World service has been amazing in the opportunity it has created the possibility for immersing oneself in the buildup to the incredible rivalries happening now. I hope to spend more time here detailing this. There is so much incredible in ring work from up and coming talent, not to mention those who have arrived. You can watch Finn Balor go at it with other high flying technicians when he was Prince Devitt in the Bullet Club. You can see Prince Puma of Lucha Underground in matches as is usual persona, Ricochet. I have not left the general 2012-2014 time period left, still eagerly devouring whatever I can of current conflicts between Tanahashi, Shinsuke, Ishii, Shibata, Nagata to name a few.

I wonder if a guy like Kenny Omega, now in the Bullet Club doing a smarmy heel gimmick and currently holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship, would follow in Devitt/Balor’s footsteps and join the ranks of NXT? He would certainly make a good addition, showing rather cartoonish personality and wild levels of agility.

Ring of Honor has been holding a pretty steady course. It was pretty shocking seeing the Bullet Club (AJ Styles and The Young Bucks) as the actual Bullet Club appearing in a six man tag team match, which appears on the tv episode streaming on their website now. This is very smart cross promotion. It will turn heads in the direction of New Japan World and make Bullet Club fans aware of Ring of Honor. My problems keeping up with them is availability and cost. Said tv broadcast is apparently a week old; it originally aired on actual tv, somewhere…not in New York, but…somewhere. Accessing the latest tv episodes for a fee seems unreasonable, when it’s not much in the production department. I’d be more up for the PPV events but to be honest, the value is not in keeping up with the curve with NJPW and WWE’s specials being available as part of their streaming services. If ROH made their tv shows more readily available, including the back catalogues, I and perhaps others would be more willing to shell out for the PPV’s. I think they’d gain in the long run. If they got their own streaming subscription going with PPV events and access to past shows, even better.

Lucha Underground is fun but is in need of specials to make big matches feel like something with a proper build that is set apart from the norm. It’s young though so maybe they are planning to work on this. The more classically lucha libre masked luchadors like King Cuerno, Pentagon Jr., and Mil Muertes are a joy to watch. The overly produced storylines take me out of the moment at times. The insistence on having women wrestling men isn’t having the desired effect on me. NXT has got the right idea: put women against women in highly competitive matches emphasizing their talent. What Lucha Underground has done so far, especially on the latest episode, has been more condescending than anything. It’s more like patting females on the head saying ‘hey, look you really can do anything by putting Sexy Star in a match with odds ridiculously against her and having her win in incredulous fashion. It is good on the other hand to see aspects of Triple A crossing over into Lucha Underground with Alberto El Patron, formerly Del Rio, and Texano taking their feud from the Mexican promotion into this show.

TNA still sucks and Samoa Joe will surely face a brighter future by leaving. It is exciting to think of where he may land, with my money being on ROH where a reunion with some of his peers could go down and there is plenty of opportunity for him to enter the New Japan scene by proxy.

Twitter: @mondocurry