Is Final Deletion TNA's finest creation?

It resulted in TNA's highest ratings in a year and Final Deletion certainly proved that wrestling can remain fresh and memorable if a company is willing to take a risk and execute it properly. The Broken Matt Hardy character was fantastic in the lead up to Final Deletion (leagues ahead of his run as a heel in Ring of Honor, kudos to Matt for developing so many subtle nuances to the delusional personality and staying in character on Twitter) and just keeps getting better week in and week out on Impact Wrestling. Jeff who usually plays the starring role in any Hardy story line, has had to instead play second fiddle (no pun intended!) but his gradual descent into insanity has been well scripted. Who would have thought that the Hardy's would eventually reform after Final Deletion? 


As for Final Deletion itself, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The background music, the drone Vanguard 1, the gardener Senor Benjamin, the Swanton off the tree, the ridiculous fireworks spot, Willow appearing from the lake and Jeff finally falling off the Hardy sign that went up in flames (symbolic to say the least) all contributed to make this fascinating. I can see why people would have disliked it but you have to give credit where credit is due. TNA boldly went where no wrestling company had gone before and created something that had the wrestling world buzzing and most importantly, brought in viewers. 

Speaking of Vanguard 1 and Senor Benjamin .... 
(Source : Twitter)

This is what highly respected wrestling legend Mick Foley had to say on it - "THE LAST DELETION
Have you seen it? Love it or hate it, it has people talking - and this meme, from #WrestlingLoL had me popping!vYou HAVE to admire Matt Hardy's level of commitment to his character and TNA's for that matter. No dipping their toe in the shallow end here; they dove right in! I'm still not quite sure what it is I saw, but I do know that I will never forget it. #TheFinalDeletion had me laughing in some places, cringing in others, worrying about the state of Jim Cornette's heart in a couple specific instances - and just staring open-eyed in astonishment at others. I truly enjoyed this unique viewing experience, but, despite the probability that I will quote from it, wear T-shirts from it, borrow memes from it, and pronounce the word "over" with an "ah"....OVAH... for years to come - hope nothing like it is ever attempted again.

Let me know what you think."

(Source: Facebook) 

At the end of the day, TNA took a highly risky idea, ran with it and the execution from Jeremy Borash and the TNA team was top notch. It isnt often that TNA comfortably out does WWE but compare this to the New Day visit to the Wyatt's compound and it's easy to tell which one fell flat on it's face. 


Who would have guessed that in 2016, the best wrestling story line on Indian televisions would come from TNA and that the most compelling wrestling character would be the other Hardy? Broken Matt Hardy. 

Top 5 UFC Knockouts

Back in 2013, the UFC had put together it's list of top 20 knockouts in the Octagon which is quite the entertaining watch. While there certainly have been some monumental knockouts in the last 3 years (Connor McGregor vs Jose Aldo, Holly Holm vs Rhonda Rousey to name a few notables), most of the entries on the video will continue to find a place in an updated list. Here are our top 5 UFC Knockouts of all time.

5. Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve 

How do you pick just one KO finish from the man who invented the walk away KO? The spectacle of Stefan 'Skyscraper' Struve taking on Mark Hunt was certainly quite something and on paper, the height and reach advantage that Struve enjoyed should have made a KO victory for Hunt near impossible. Try telling that to the Super Samoan.

4. Gabriel Gonzaga vs Mirko Cro Cop  

Its one of the most iconic tag lines in MMA - "Right kick hospital, left kick cemetery". Unfortunately for Mirko, the tables were turned as Gonzaga knocked him out in a KO of delicious irony. Number 3 on UFC's list.

3. Dan Henderson vs Michael Bisping

Though he is now a popular UFC champion, back at UFC 100, Michael 'The Count' Bisping was the equivalent of today's Miz. Cocky trash talker and equally good fighter, you just wanted to see him get beaten up. In his big fight against the ever popular Dan Henderson, Bisping made the cardinal error of continuously circling away from Henderson, into the range of the right handed H Bomb. Hendo plodded forward, waited for the perfect moment and knocked him out in a moment that fans will rarely forget. Number 4 on UFC's list.

2. Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia 

Nate 'The Great' Marquardt's one punch KO of jujitsu specialist is a thing of beauty. Marquadrt's punch perfectly connected with the face of Maia just as was unleashing a kick of his own before getting turned inside out in spectacular fashion. Unforgettable. 

1. Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort 

In his prime, Anderson Silva was arguably the best in the world. Often disliked for his disrespectful antics, there is no denying his ability and skill inside the Octagon. What makes this special is that it was probably the first time that a straight kick to the face was used to KO an opponent (at least to my knowledge) and it has since gone on to become much more popular. Just ask Lyoto Machida and Travis Browne who used the same move and made it to the UFC list at number 11 and 14 respectively. If you watch this carefully, you will see that Anderson is looking down at Belfort's feet before suddenly kicking him in the face. Simply beautiful.

Flashback : EVOLVE - Drew Galloway vs. Roderick Strong

I have very limited experience with watching EVOLVE matches though I have occasionally read up on their story lines. This time Flashback focuses on a match from EVOLVE 35 between the 'Messiah of the Backbreaker' Roderick Strong and the then fresh off the WWE Drew Galloway (known to most Indian fans as Drew McIntyre). Roddy has consistently been one of my top 5 non WWE wrestlers for the last several years and Galloway has had a career resurgence ever since he left the WWE. The match is quite entertaining and hard hitting with Roddy getting in most of his signature moves including a very painful looking back breaker on the apron and the double Gibson Driver. It even features a few references to Irish WWE superstar Sheamus including the commentator mentioning "He's a fine fella". 

It isnt easy to come up with a new move these days but this was the first time that I have seen a cradle tombstone piledriver in 24 years of following pro wrestling. That looked dangerous! Overall a really great way for new fans to start their journey with Evolve Wrestling.  

Flashback : RoH - Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuiness (Title Unification)

As a prelude of sorts to my upcoming review of the Bryan Lloyd Danielson autobiography "Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania", here is one of the most hard hitting Ring of Honor title matches that I have ever seen. This brutal match between Nigel McGuiness and Bryan Danielson was fought under Pure Title rules which added a whole new dimension to the match psychology. It is very unfortunate that Nigel didnt get to showcase his talents in WWE because he had the looks, charisma and move set to become a major superstar that Indian fans would have loved or hated in equal measure.  

Promopalooza - Chris Jericho : Man of 1004 holds from WCW Nitro

In 1998, the Man of a 1000 Holds Dean Malenko and the highly charismatic Chris Jericho were locked in a bitter feud for the WCW Cruiserweight Title. Dean was the calm and composed second generation wrestler and mat technician who won many entertaining matches with his Texas Cloverleaf finisher. Chris Jericho was the brash up and coming star who talked a mighty talk but backed it up by winning match after match with his Lion Tamer submission (which would get modified to the Walls of Jericho once he came to the WWE). Jericho’s work on the mic though added a whole different element to the rivalry and he used to put down Dean and his father week after week. 


One of the best promos ever delivered by Jericho was from WCW Nitro on the 30th of March 1998 when he confidently claimed that he was the man of 1004 holds (4 more than what Dean supposedly knew) before he proceeded to rattle them off one by one. What made the promo even better was that WCW then cut away from the ring with the announcers talking about the main event and when they returned Jericho surprisingly was still in the ring and announcing move number 712. Finally he was chased out of the Prince Iaukea who was also trained by Boris Malenko and couldn’t stand the disrespect shown by the champion. Hearing an exasperated Jericho say “Give me my holds” and “I still got 200 more” never fail to crack me up.


What Makes This Great: Jericho’s delivery was absolutely on the money and his cocky arrogance made you believe that he fully believed in what he was saying. Some of the moves were made up and awesome to say the least, “Super Blizzard” being the best of them. That and Jericho stating that he counted how many moves Malenko knew and it was only 60. Definitely one of the most unorthodox promos done up until that point of time and it is by far one of the all time greats. 


Promopalooza Rating : 1004 stars.  

Where Can You Watch It : Right here .