Saturday 19 August 2017

Adam Cole is finally in NXT!

It's the Summerslam weekend and with both the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn and Summerslam cards boasting of strong match lineups, it was tough to say what would be the biggest talking point coming out of the weekend. Would Asuka and Ember Moon steal the show? Will Ambrose and Rollins win the titles to help build the eventual Shield reunion? Will Baron Corbin's failed MITB cash in lead to a new aggressive streak as he takes on Super Cena? 


We are just one show down but WWE will really have to pull out all the stops for Summerslam if they have to create more buzz than they did with the arrival of Adam  Cole (Bay Bay!) and his partnership with former Ring of Honor alumni Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. Things down at NXT have never been more exciting!

Tuesday 18 July 2017

Flashback: WCW Fall Brawl 1997 - Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Jericho

Despite WWE's attempts at resuscitating the cruiser weight division with their 205 Live show, fans are yet to embrace most of the wrestlers from the division, except the champion Neville. Why, you ask? Just take a look at this show opening instant classic from Fall Brawl 1997 between Eddie and Jericho. That's right, this is Chris Jericho from 20 years ago. 


Eddie's movements in the ring are just so slick and Jericho is the perfect plucky baby face champion and together, they show why they would go on to become world champions in time to come. When was the last time you saw a surfboard dragon sleeper and a reverse gory special? Not only does Eddie do a masterful job of selling but the commentators are absolutely on point and pick up these little nuances as well. The finish is masterfully done with Eddie reversing a superplex into a crossbody and then hitting the best Frog Splash in the business for the win. A far cry from what fans are treated to in 205 Live!



Friday 14 July 2017

Flashback: ROH/NJPW - Kevin Steen vs Shinsuke Nakamura

The wonderful part about cross promotional events like War of the Worlds is that you get the best talent from New Japan Pro Wrestling taking on the best from what Ring of Honor has to offer in veritable dream matches. Today, Kevin Owens (earlier known as Kevin Steen on the Independent circuit) and Shinsuke Nakamura are two of the hottest talents on WWE's top show Smackdown. But back in 2014, they were arguably the most popular wrestlers in their respective companies and this first ever match between them at the iconic Hammerstein Ballroom was a match that a lot of fans were looking forward to. No wonder the crowd broke into a "This is awesome" chant even before the match begins. 



If you notice carefully, Steen does the smart thing by involving the fans with his body language and mannerisms including stopping the match early to ask Nakamura what was wrong with him. Yes, they do pull out a couple of big moves including the Apron bomb but dont go all out to with super risky spots. They have a smart match with just one super hot kick out at the end (so much better than the 20+ finisher kick outs that super long Indie matches are known for) and keep the rabid fans happy. Now if only WWE can build a feud with these amazing talents in 2018. 




Tuesday 30 May 2017

Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania

Behind the curtains: It's tough to put down in words how much of a fan I am of both the Daniel Bryan and Bryan Danielson characters, both played by a performer whose career I have closely followed for years before he was introduced to the WWE Universe. By now you must be scratching your head and wondering "Wait, what? Aren't they the same person?" Allow me to explain.


My earliest Bryan Danielson memory involved trying to figure out what in the world his Cattle Mutilation hold was all about. It certainly wasn’t something I had encountered in close to, then, 15 years of watching WWF and WCW and for the life of me I wasn’t able to visualize the move. Bear in mind, this was probably a decade ago, when dial up internet speeds in India were painstakingly slow, YouTube didn’t exist and hardcore fans like me scoured the internet reading up on everything wrestling related even though it never made it to Indian television sets. A few names from Ring of Honor (RoH) caught my attention way back then - Nigel McGuineses, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson were wrestlers that I regularly read up on little knowing how impressed I would be by all of them in the years to come. Over the years I have managed to watch several of Bryan Danielson's amazing RoH matches including extraordinary battles with Nigel McGuiness, Takeshi Morishima and many other RoH superstars. I loved his fluidity in the ring, the ease with which he hurt his opponents and the fact that he came out to the Final Countdown. After having established himself as one of the all-time greatest wrestlers on the independent scene, surely the American Dragon had everything to be destined for eventual superstardom in the WWE, right? Little did we all know of the journey that Daniel Bryan (his newly christened WWE character) would eventually take us on, which brings me to this book review.


Overview: The book contains several fascinating stories of Daniel’s early years including ones on how he got hooked onto wrestling, eventually signing up for Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy where he would meet and befriend Brian Kendrick (yes, THE Brian Kendrick), his first tour of Japan with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) and his introduction to the mat genius William Regal who I believe is one of the most underrated wrestlers of his generation. Daniel’s intensity, willingness to learn, hard work and eventual success took him around the world to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) including the iconic Tokyo Dome, wrestling shows across England and the United States and to the top of RoH where he became the champion. After years of wrestling and being a trainer on the indies, Daniel signed up with WWE and became part of NXT which is where a lot of Indian fans first got introduced to him. The second half of the book covers his WWE career including his very short stint as part of the Nexus (thanks to the Justin Roberts tie incident and him spitting on Cena, in character), his silly storyline with the Bellas vying for his attention (ironically it’s what brought him and Brie together), the MITB victory and cashing in on the Big Show. The over the top Yes-sing on the way to the ring after becoming champ and the agonizing 18 second Wrestlemania loss to Sheamus are given due importance as well. It’s wonderful to read about the dynamic between him and Glenn Jacobs (Kane to us fans) as they became one of the WWEs most popular tag teams of all time and more importantly helped keep Bryan in the spotlight until he was again pushed to the title match with Cena at SummerSlam. The rest of the Daniel Bryan story is very well known to Indian fans as the Yes Movement became too loud for the WWE to ignore and Bryan ascended to the top of the ladder in one of wrestling’s greatest feel good moments.


The Tone: Each of the 27 chapters in the book stick to a unique formula with co-author Craig Tello providing a brief outsider’s perspective of Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella’s world over the week preceding Wrestlemania XXX which is followed by Daniel’s narration of the events that unfolded in his life in chronological order. This isn’t an intense book, nor is it anywhere close to being as detailed as many of the other best-selling autobiographies by wrestling legends. Even though it clocks in at just over 300 pages in length, the large font does ensure that it isn’t a lengthy read.


What I liked: The book stays true to the character of Daniel Bryan that we all know and love. He doesn’t have an inflated ego and except for one story doesn’t really bad mouth any wrestler. He talks about how his relationship with Bri evolved including one hilarious story that involves Sheamus and Ted DiBiase Jr. He is brutally honest about when he wasn’t a good draw despite being at the top of PPVs, matches that he got wrong and how he worked through injuries without taking care of his own health. The epilogue was a great way to end the book.  


What is missing: While Bryan takes us behind the scenes, I only wish the book had more masala and offered more insights into so many of the colourful characters that make up the wrestling world. Unlike other wrestling books, this doesn’t have a bunch of pages in the middle with photos but instead the images are spread out across the book.


Overall: This isn’t the best wrestling book that I have read but it was entertaining nonetheless. It is rare that we encounter such wonderful real life stories and while the book isn’t as hard hitting as his famous kicks, it will leave you satisfied for sure.  


Rating: 4 Flying Knees out of 5.