WWE Territory System

   After the second United Kingdom Championship tournament and two-night special, we have learned that WWE will be branching out even more and launching the NXT UK brand.  As cool as this is, I almost wish they simply called it something else without the NXT name attached to it so it could be it's own thing.  It's going to be NXT's sister brand based in the UK.  Since the inaugural tournament, wrestlers like Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, and Wolfgang, among others, have made names for themselves beyond the UK.  I'd maybe even call it United Kingdom Wrestling, or UKW for short.  They could even get fans to chant UKW, UKW!  However, it is in fact its own brand, something that has been discussed since the first tournament.  They're also introducing a Women's Championship and a Tag Team Championship for the brand, so it's the real deal.  They have shows set up sporadically through the rest of the year.  With the success of NXT, perhaps the UK brand will one day be a weekly program on the WWE Network.  Speaking of the Network, I truly hope NXT stays on and does not go to cable.  I feel it might ruin the flow and structure of the show, which I quite enjoy.  

   I don't want to come off as a hypocrite because I've stated on several blogs that I don't particularly care for the brand split, at least as far as multiple Championships that are supposed to be on the same level.  However, there is one exception for me, which I will soon get to.  The first brand split occurred in 2002, not long after both WCW and ECW closed their doors.  It was called the brand extension and the rosters were split between Raw and Smackdown with General Managers eventually running each one, after the Vince McMahon/Ric Flair co-owner story came to a close.  The problem is, however, that Vince McMahon and many fans will always see Raw as the top brand and even though there were a few years that Smackdown was the better show, Raw will always be seen as superior.  If the rosters are not even, why bother?  Although, the attempt to make the shows seem even explain why there have been two sets of each Championship, which I despise wholeheartedly.  

   Another reason I dislike the brand split is that one brand competing with the other while still ultimately under the WWE umbrella, just doesn't work or make sense.  Humor me, please!  At least give us the illusion that one brand is not affiliated with WWE.  That's how I wanted WCW to work after it was purchased by McMahon.  They did eventually bring ECW back as a brand but they strayed away from the concept far too early and it ultimately failed.  That's not to say it was a complete disaster!  It turned into another brand that had good wrestling and entertaining television sometimes.  The ECW name did wear out it's welcome, though!  After the ECW brand ended in early 2010, WWE began NXT, which originally started as a game show of sorts.  Eventually, NXT broke off and became a developmental brand.  However, once it started appearing on the WWE Network in 2014, it grew to become the phenomenon it is today.  With that said, NXT has not only become it's own brand, it's completely different from Raw and Smackdown.  Even though NXT is under the WWE umbrella, it's different enough to be looked at as its own entity.  

   TNA has essentially become simply known as Impact, with various name changes and owners over the years.  Somehow, it has not died!  I don't watch Impact anymore and haven't for quite some time.  Let me get one thing perfectly clear, though!  It was never about the talent, but more about the way it was handled or mishandled by management.  There were some very good years.  From it's initial launch in 2002 through around 2005, it was fantastic!  The wrestling was always top notch, especially once the likes of Samoa Joe came on board.  In 2006, wrestlers like Christian, the Dudley Boys, and Kurt Angle came over and helped make TNA something special.  Jeff Jarrett was at the helm but talent like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, tag teams like America's Most Wanted and LAX, and many others, helped shape it.  It wasn't until Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came on board that it started to fall apart slightly.  To be clear, I'm not blaming these men at all.  When AJ Styles left, that was a big moment that I feel TNA never recovered fully from.  It got good again with things like the Main Event Mafia and such, but losing a talent like AJ really hurt them.  TNA gave Matt Hardy a platform for his "Broken Universe" to succeed and it was one of the few shining stars the company had left.  After the Hardys left, I stopped watching completely!  Every once in a while, I'll come across it and not recognize nearly anyone in the company.  Partnering with Global Force and having joint specials with Lucha Underground has helped a little, though.  For instance, Pentagon Jr. had recently been given mainstream notice.   

   If you really pay attention, you'll notice WWE now employs many former TNA talents.  AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, and  Eric Young are some of the TNA originals.  Other names of former stars of the company are such notables as Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and EC3.  There's also Drew McIntyre, British superstar Mark Andrews, Rhino, R-Truth, Bobby Lashley, Mike Kanellis, TJP, and Xavier Woods.  In fact, WWE brought in the former Rockstar Spud, who now presides as the GM of 205 Live under the name Drake Maverick.  I just listed 16 former TNA wrestlers!  Of course, after Jeff Jarrett's recent Hall of Fame induction, as well as the Dudley Boys, you never know when they may show up for a segment.  

   Over the years, there have been rumors of negotiations for WWE to purchase the TNA library.  I'm still not sure the exact logistics of the situation!  It is not longer affiliated with Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Jarrett, Dixie Carter, Panda Energy, or even Billy Corgan.  Impact lives on but lately, a lot of mention of TNA has been made on WWE television and the Network.  Jarrett mentioned it several times during his Hall of Fame induction, you'll hear wrestlers talk about it on shows like Table for 3, and even Bruce Prichard's podcast had an episode dedicated to it.  Here's what I'm ultimately getting at!  Baring any legal problems, could anyone see TNA become it's own brand in the WWE?  Smackdown could remain but it could be TNA Smackdown, disassociating itself, at least in a kayfabe perspective, from WWE.  Raw will be WWE's flagship show but WWE could be operated like the once glorious NWA did long ago.  Get rid of the Universal Title and once again make the WWE Title the premier Championship.  Raw will also merge the Tag Team Titles with Smackdown's, as well as the Women's Titles, maybe even making room for a possible Women's Tag Team Championship.  The US Title could be kept on Smackdown under the guise of TNA with the Intercontinental Title reigning as WWE's mid-card Championship.  WWE will oversee everything but in kayfabe, TNA, NXT, and the UK could be seen as separately affiliated brands.  WWE would be like the NWA once was, with regional territories around.  Each main Title of the brands not named Raw could be called Heavyweight Titles, but looked at slightly less meaningful than the ultimate prize, the WWE Title, such as the NWA World' Heavyweight Title was once looked at as.

   WWE owns many tape libraries, names and likenesses, and could resurrect almost any former Territory, but I chose TNA due to it not being as old and having many of it's former superstars residing in WWE currently.  Using WWE as the new Territory system in wrestling could be good and a way I'd be able to support split brands.  WWE is expanding rapidly and will only continue to grow.  Another idea I had was to possibly get rid of 205 Live as a brand and the Cruiserweight Title in general.  In a way, it pigeonholes wrestlers.  Though it could be Hideo Itami's saving grace, I look at it as a demotion.  You simply can't compare today's Cruiserweights with WCW's glory days with superstars like Rey Misterio, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, Ultimo Dragon, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko.  For instance, while it seems ideal for someone like Lio Rush, I hope we don't see Ricochet join in.  He's just too great of a talent to relegate to the Cruiserweight division.  I also feel Cedric Alexander is too good for it, as are people like Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, and Johnny Gargano.  In fact, I'd even go so far as to say it was a mistake to put Austin Aries there.  Aries was well known and in my opinion, better than the Cruiserweight division.  Another idea is to rechristen it as TNA's next X-Division, although that might be difficult with the original X-Division Title still active in Impact's current form.  

   Who knows where WWE will go in the future?  As great as this kind of thing can be for the company, at some point it might be overkill so they have to tread lightly.  For instance, I'm still an advocate for Raw to go back to two hours.  Three is simply too much, especially if the company would like fans to tune in to the other shows and brands.  With the UK brand starting, that's a big reason to get rid of 205 Live.  I don't want an all women's show, as I think they should be spread out, celebrated, and treated correctly everywhere.  I can see someone like Drew McIntyre fitting into any brand.  To me, he's good enough to headline on Raw and one day become WWE Champion.  However, with ties to both NXT and TNA, he could travel to either.  He's also Scottish, so he could make his way to the UK brand as well.  If Neville is still around, he could join the UK brand, as well as wrestlers like Finn Balor, Becky Lynch, Killian Dane.  The Territory System was good for attractions like Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes, Abdullah the Butcher, and Bruiser Brody.  A change of pace every so often was a good thing.  Back in the day, the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, mostly Ric Flair, would travel to a different Territory and defend his Championship.  Today, it would be a nice shot in the arm once in a while for the WWE Champion to have a Title defense in one of the other brands.  The WWE Champion defending the Title against an NXT performer would be amazing.

   While I don't necessarily think competing head to head with New Japan is something WWE would want to do, I wouldn't rule out a Territory and brand in Japan.  I know Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka, for instance, could make it a big deal.  Mexico is another area I could potentially see a WWE brand, as well as Canada.  Speaking of Canada, Stampede Wrestling could be brought back and run by Bret Hart.  Several current WWE superstars are Canadian and I'm sure would enjoy making an appearance and having a short stay there, including; Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Tye Dillinger, and Tyler Breeze.  Natalya could potentially show up and win a Women's Championship there as well.  NXT would be considered the Florida Territory and should they use TNA, it could be located somewhere specific as well.  These Territories don't necessarily need to be specifically geographic regions either.  Minnesota could be used as a place for a new AWA Territory, whereas Mid-South could potentially be used.  The options are almost limitless.  Those could be to come but that will probably be a long time from now.  It's important to take one thing at a time.  I'm curious to see what people think about this topic so please let me know.

 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

Authority Figures in Wrestling: Has The Concept Run Its Course?

   For as long as I can remember, there have always been authority figures in wrestling.  Eric Bischoff can be credited with being the innovator of the heel wrestling authority figure when it was revealed he was backing the nWo in WCW.  As we all know, Vince McMahon perfected the concept and ever since, there has almost always been either an extreme heel wrestling authority figure or an extreme babyface wrestling authority figure, with pretty much no middle ground.  As we enter the Summer of 2018, is it time to reevaluate the nature of authority figures in wrestling?

   I don't think the concept itself has necessarily run its course, but I do think having one sided authority figures in wrestling has.  I'll use the history of WWE as an example, starting from when Vince McMahon started playing the evil boss role that we've all come to know.  Just before McMahon was finally officially revealed as the man who ran WWE, even though everyone by 1997 knew this, Sgt. Slaughter played the role of the WWE Commissioner.  At first, he was a babyface character, getting angered at the antics of Degeneration X.  When McMahon came to the forefront, Slaughter turned heel as the Commissioner, ultimately under the orders of Vince McMahon.  In November of 1998, Shawn Michaels became the new heel Commissioner.  He turned babyface in the midst of his role.  

   In June of 2000, after the first of several retirements from wrestling, Mick Foley became the new clear cut babyface Commissioner.  Of course, McMahon himself was still the ultimate authority figure and he flip flopped his bias several times as well.  Foley brought in Debra as his Lieutenant Commissioner and later William Regal took over the role in heel form.  After the Alliance ended at the 2001 Survivor Series, Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon apparently sold their stock in WWE to Ric Flair, who became co-owner of WWE with Vince McMahon.  After many arguments and a brutal match between the two, it was decided that WWE would start the Brand Extension, or roster split, in layman's terms.  Flair would run Raw and Vince would run Smackdown.  Ultimately, McMahon won his company back completely.  From there, he decided to appoint General Managers for each brand.  Stephanie became the GM of Smackdown while the role of Raw GM went to none other than Eric Bischoff.

   Raw and Smackdown saw many different GM's over the years.  We've seen the Coach, William Regal, Mike Adamle, the McMahons, and Vickie Guerrero in the role on Raw.  Heck, even our current President was once briefly the owner of WWE for a week.  On Smackdown after Stephanie McMahon, the role went to people such as Paul Heyman, Kurt Angle, and Teddy Long.  When ECW was a brand in the company after Paul Heyman left, it was run by people like Armando Estrada and Tiffany.  The authority figure role in the company is still here today.  Triple H, John Laurenitas, Bret Hart, Hornswoggle, AJ Lee, Brad Maddox, Kane, and various guest hosts and interim General Managers have all had authority roles in the company.

  In 2016, the second Brand Extension took place.  This time, Commissions were appointed to Raw and Smackdown with General Managers working under them.  On Raw, the Commissioner was Stephanie McMahon and she's had both Mick Foley and Kurt Angle as her GM.  On the Smackdown side of things, Shane McMahon became Commissioner, with Daniel Bryan and now Paige being his GM.  There are many others I could name in the list of authority figures just in WWE.  I didn't even talk about WCW, ECW, Impact, New Japan, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground or any of the Independent leagues.  Based on these examples, it might be safe to say that there's been an abundance of authority figures in wrestling, maybe even too many over the years.

   In 1995, Gorilla Monsoon became the President of WWE and while he tried to be impartial as much as he could, there were often times where he sided with the babyface wrestlers, especially when vicious heels like Vader would attack him.  That's kind of where I'm going with this!  I think if we're going to continue having authority figures in wrestling, they need to bring back the impartial authority figure.  The best example of this would be Jack Tunney.  From 1984 to 1995, he was the WWE President and only showed up during the most pressing of manners.  Many times, matches were simply just made and signings would only take place when it was a big time match, such as Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III.

   Tunney was impartial as it gets and the fans neither liked him nor hated him.  They just knew something serious was about to go down when Tunney showed up.  Not to mention, he was very stoic and lacking emotion most of the time, which actually helped show his impartial nature.  After Andre the Giant defeated Hogan for the WWE Title, he tried to sell it to the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.  Tunney came out and said that the Title could not be sold.  He acknowledged Andre's reign but ultimately declared the Championship vacant.  This led to a tournament deciding a new Champion at WrestleMania IV, which was won by "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

   Any time there was any controversy in the company, Tunney was there to make an announcement.  He was also present to declare the Title vacant after the exchanges between Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker.  He held a press conference stating that the new Champion would be decided by the winner of the 1992 Royal Rumble.  After Ric Flair won the Rumble and Championship, Tunney held another press conference to determine who would challenge Flair for the Title at WrestleMania that year.  The fans would sometimes boo his decision and would sometimes cheer his decisions but he was as impartial as it gets.  I would love to see this kind of authority figure again, someone who is impartial and is not a heel or a babyface character.  Currently, I feel having Commissioners with GM's working for them, with the occasional ultimate ruling by Vince McMahon, is overkill and a little redundant.  

   I feel that unless it's completely necessary for an authority figure to intervene, matches can go back to being made by simple challenges and feuds.  In my opinion, we don't need to see all of these authority figures in wrestling.  It's just too much!  At the very least, I believe having biased authority figures and/or too many of them, is an idea that has run its course.  If we have to see an authority figure, I feel it should be someone completely impartial and emotionless like Jack Tunney.  However, beyond the occasional appearance after something major, we simply don't need to have authority figures that much in wrestling, if at all anymore.

 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

Money In the Bank 2018 Review

   Raw is about to start pretty soon so I wanted to get this done quickly.  Money In the Bank 2018 is now in the books.  Overall, I think it was a decent show.  Not terrible by any means, but definitely not the best.  That's just my opinion, though!  

Kick-Off Match - Smackdown Tag Team Titles - Bludgeon Brothers vs. Gallows & Anderson

   Before the show officially started, fans were treated to the Kick-Off Show, which featured this match.  The match was fine for what it was.  It was unlikely the Bludgeon Brothers were going to drop the Titles this soon after WrestleMania so it's no surprise they won.  There was a great spot at the end when it looked like the Good Brothers were about to take the victory.  They were about to end things with the Magic Killer on Rowan, only for it to be broken up at the last minute by Harper.  Not too shabby!

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

   Going into this match, my expectations were low, mostly because I have given up caring whatsoever about Big Cass.  I will say this.  It was better than their match at Backlash.  In an interview before the match, Daniel Bryan responded to Big Cass' comment about a good big man always beating a good little man.  Bryan clapped back with: "That would actually require you to be good!"  I thought for sure Big Cass would take the win this time around.  To my surprise, Bryan made him tap out yet again.  I'm fine with Bryan not being around the Title picture just yet but now it makes you wonder what's next for Cass.

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn

   The award for "Match That Should Have Been On the Kick-Off" goes to this match.  The story and build for this match was been abysmal!  It was really unwatchable crap that both men were given to work with, definitely not their fault.  The chemistry also just isn't there and I went in not caring about the match.  It was fine but nothing to write home about.  As expected, Lashley defeated Zayn.  I'm not sure what awaits either man in the aftermath.

Intercontinental Title - Seth Rollins vs. Elias

   Now we're talking!  I was certainly not disappointed with this match.  It was back and forth with lots of action.  Rollins suffered a leg injury throughout the match and his selling was great.  Elias really looked like a contender in there.  He's come a long way since his NXT days.  In fact, often times people that got called up from NXT flopped on the main roster.  Elias is the opposite, as his character in NXT was not doing well, but since he's shown up on Raw, he's thrived.  There was a great pin attempt sequence at the end that reminded me of the European Title finals between the British Bulldog and Owen Hart.  Rollins actually won by holding onto the pants of Elias.  I'm okay with this slight cheating, as it adds legs to the feud and now Elias has a legitimate claim to get another shot.  Someday, Elias will be the Intercontinental Champion.  No one walked with Elias last night but he and Rollins certainly burned it down.

Women's Money In the Bank Ladder Match - Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs, Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Lana vs. Ember Moon

   This match was ten times better than the Money In the Bank match the women had last year.  There was great athleticism and some tremendously scary spots, especially that bump Sasha took on the ladder.  It was anyone's game and there were several theories about a possible winner.  For the most part, I would have been happy with any of them winning.  Little Miss Bliss took the briefcase in the end.  I felt that she didn't really need it.  It would have been more refreshing to see someone else take it, considering Alexa has been in the Title program for a long time now.  That being said, it's really nothing that's going to ruin my day.  I might have chosen someone else but I'm not losing sleep over it.

Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal

   This is a tough one!  I think I would have enjoyed the match on mute because the fans certainly ripped it apart.  Here's the thing!  Where is the line between fans voicing opinions and fans being jerks?  They were chanting all sorts of things that had nothing to do with the match.  It boils down to many not caring about either performer.  Of course, the CM Punk chants were expected since they were in Chicago.  To me, the fans got disrespectful when they started doing the wave.  I don't enjoy Jinder and Reigns has just been cursed by the wrong kind of booking, but neither deserved that.  I wasn't particularly excited about the match either, but there were some good spots.  Reigns won and many are wondering if he will earn himself another shot at Brock Lesnar's Universal Title.

Smackdown Women's Title - Carmella vs. Asuka

   Carmella is a lot better than people give her credit for.  Asuka is a hell of a performer and it brought out a new side to Carmella.  The match was going pretty well and then things got weird when someone dressed as Asuka showed up.  Asuka was distracted and really took her eye off the ball when it was revealed to be James Ellsworth.  Carmella landed a super kick and actually defeated the Empress of Tomorrow, celebrating with Ellsworth afterwards.  I think I would have liked the finish more if it was someone other than Asuka taking the pin.  I still stand firmly that she should have beaten Charlotte for the Women's Title at WrestleMania.  Also, it might have made more sense for Becky Lynch to have been in this match to take the pin, especially the history she has with Carmella and Ellsworth.  It's starting to feel that Asuka's intrigue is being taken away slightly.  I know she didn't lose clean, but I personally think it should have went down another way.  However, the match itself was good with a questionable ending.

WWE Title Last Man Standing Match - AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

   This match makes up for the other three these men have had.  I still say that the double low blow kick from Backlash was the worst match finish I've ever seen.  In this match, both men took it to the limit and it looked like anyone's game.  I had predicted Shinsuke to finally defeat AJ and become the WWE Champion.  However, the Phenomenal One retained the gold.  I'm totally fine with this as AJ Styles is awesome.  I am curious as to where Nakamura goes from here.  Perhaps a program chasing Jeff Hardy's US Title!  At this point, I think the only way he's going to win the big one is if he wins next year's Money In the Bank match.  AJ now has a plethora of hungry challengers, including The Miz, Samoa Joe, and Daniel Bryan, for example.  

Raw Women's Title - Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey

   When it was first announced that this match was taking place, I was a little heated.  I felt it was too soon to put Ronda in this situation, especially with someone not as experienced in the ring like Nia, compared to others.  They started a story between Ronda and Mickie James, which many expected to include Natalya turning on her friend Ronda.  Leading up to this match, they teased a heel turn from Nia.  I have to say, the match itself more than exceeded my expectations.  For the first half, Nia was dominating with her sheer power and I think it was one of the best matches Nia has had.  Ronda once again killed it in her performance.  Fresh off winning Money In the Bank earlier appeared Alexa Bliss, who blasted Ronda with the briefcase, causing a disqualification.  Alexa repeatedly attacked both Ronda and Nia.  She then proceeded to successfully cash in and become the new Raw Women's Champion to a tremendous response from the crowd.  The execution was excellent.  Even though I normally hate PPV matches ending in disqualification, this was brilliant.  It was a great way for Ronda not to get the Title just yet, without suffering a loss.  I'm slightly disappointed that the cash in was successful, as I thought Nia deserved a much longer reign.  However, I'm optimistic and it was certainly a memorable moment.

Men's Money In the Bank Ladder Match - Braun Strowman vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Roode vs. Rusev vs. Kevin Owens vs. Kofi Kingston

   As I said in my prediction blog of this show, I was set to be happy for any one of the eight to not only win Money In the Bank, but eventually cash in successfully to become Champion.  Everyone ganged up on Braun to get him out of the match early.  They proceeded to bury him under many ladders on the stage and then tried their hardest to climb the ladder.  There were some great spots as always.  I was kind of hoping for Kofi to win with help from the other members of The New Day so they could use the Freebird Rule owning the briefcase and being the WWE Champion.  As the men went back to the outside, Balor grabbed a ladder on the stage.  Unfortunately for him, Braun was stirring and grabbed the ladder, soon after obliterating Balor.  Two men were there to greet him at the bottom of the ramp with a ladder but Braun ran straight through the ladder, breaking it in two.

   

   The other participants tried to subdue the big man again, setting up a really large ladder above a table in which Braun lied upon.  Owens climbed up the ladder with the intent of hitting a frog splash on Braun.  Unfortunately for Owens, Braun escaped and chased Owens up the ladder.  He launched Owens off from an incredibly high place and through the table, not to be seen again for the rest of the match.  In the end, Braun won the match and took home the briefcase.  Word is he will be making a challenge towards Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title.  With the kind of character Braun is, it seems more likely that he'll make his cash in known ahead of time, as he's frankly too intimidating to need to cash in on a weakened opponent.  Looks like it was a night for Team Little Big!

 

 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

NXT Takeover: Chicago II Review

  Well, another Takeover has come and gone and they absolutely killed it once again!  Even with matches and wrestlers that I may not enjoy, Takeover has not once disappointed me.  That's not to say that it was better than Money In the Bank.  It's a completely unfair comparison that I refuse to make. That's why I'm doing these reviews separately.  For now, my focus is on Takeover: Chicago II.

Tag Team Titles - Undisputed Era vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan

   What a great way to start the show!  Though Oney Lorcan is someone I just can't seem to understand the appeal of, he and Burch worked their asses off Saturday night.  Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly did as well.  It was an incredible match with great story telling.  There were so many times I thought the Titles were about to change hands.  The performances from all four men were great.  I'm actually surprised Adam Cole did not get involved until the very end.  If I were to guess, I'd say they will hold on to the Titles and eventually drop them to the War Raiders.  Those three members of the Undisputed Era will be taking on Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, & Trent Seven (British Strong Style) at the next UK tournament event soon and I'd expect those men to challenge for both the Tag Team Titles and Cole's North American Title at Takeover: Brooklyn.  

Ricochet vs. The Velveteen Dream

   If you want to talk about two guys who will become big stars when they reach Raw and Smackdown, look no further!  For those that were already aware of how amazing Ricochet is in the ring, they should understand it takes two to tango.  While he did an incredible job, credit must also be given to The Velveteen Dream.  He took me from someone not liking his gimmick at all to being a fan in a very short time.  In the three singles matches he's had at Takeover events thus far, the build has been fantastic and the matches were awesome.  As we've seen with others, not every NXT star becomes a sensation on the main roster.  The audience is a little different and they might not connect.  However, often times I see people brought up without a plan or something for them to do.  That's why I feel both men should stay in NXT for a longer time than I expect them to.  Dream came out in basically Hulk Hogan inspired garb and it was fantastic.  I don't look at it as a shot to Hogan, I look at it as a tribute and maybe a sign that he will one day return to WWE.  The match itself between Dream and Ricochet was great and even though my prediction was wrong, I still feel like a winner.  If you're a fan, you won by simply watching this match.

Women's Title - Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross

   They finally found someone that is not afraid of Shayna Baszler.  I think we're seeing why Nikki Cross was not brought up with the rest of Sanity.  The women's division in NXT still needs her.  People need to give Shayna a lot more credit than she's getting.  She's the dominant force in the women's division right now, playing her character perfectly.  While I predicted a win by the Queen of Spades, I did not see this ending coming.  I know some were not fans of the ending but I think it was the perfect way to do it. Cross was not going to submit so having her pass out due to her refusal to tap out was the best option.  Shayna still looks like a beast and Cross didn't lose any credibility.  Based on the ending, I'm thinking the feud continues through the Summer.  Good job by both women!  

NXT Title - Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan

   Considering Black just won the Title in New Orleans not long ago, I was worried that he might lose it already.  Back when Andrade "Cien" Almas challenged for the NXT Title, I did not expect him to win, and when he did, I was shocked.  Although, I still think his win and subsequent Title reign only occurred because Drew McIntyre got injured.  Due to that, it made me think twice about dismissing Lars Sullivan. After all, Sullivan is a monster and should be taken as a threat to any Championship in NXT.  There were many times where I thought Black was going to lose.  This match made both men look great, despite me not caring the slightest about Sullivan.  They needed someone credible and threatening for Black's first Title defense.  Sullivan was shown as a monster heel and Black had to really reach deep down to defeat him.  Aleister hit Sullivan with a Black Mass that just grazed the back of Sullivan's head and didn't take him down.  Later on, he hit another Black Mass and it still didn't put him down.  It took one more to finally defeat the big man.  Black retained the Title and Sullivan retained his credibility.

Chicago Street Fight - Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa

   As Mean Gene would say; holy balls!  I almost can't even describe this match!  It was all over the place, but in a good way.  Although I did predict Ciampa to get the win this time around, I thought it would be due to EC3 getting involved.  However, maybe I looked into Gargano interrupting EC3's match too much. Back to this encounter, these guys killed each other for well over 30 minutes.  It could have gone either way!  I thought it was about to go down when both made their way to the top of production grate where two tables stood below.  Gargano became a man possessed when Ciampa removed Johnny's wedding ring, spat on it, and threw it away.  Gargano then performed an Air Raid Crash to Ciampa through the tables.  

   Ciampa then began to be stretchered out.  Johnny Wrestling was not done yet, though, as he dragged his former best friend back to the ring while Ciampa was in a neck brace.  From there, Gargano proceeded to handcuff Ciampa and beat him down some more, even though it looked as if the match was over due to the injury.  Gargano was so enraged that he attacked the medical personnel and officials and repeatedly super kicked Ciampa.  In a twist no one saw coming, Ciampa was able to somehow land an elevated DDT to Gargano on the exposed wood from the ring that he set up long before.  Ciampa got the win!  Honestly, these men could fight forever for all I care.  They put themselves through so much just to entertain the fans.  This is far from over and I'm excited about it! In order to extend the feud, it might be a good idea to separate them again for a while.  Perhaps give Ciampa a match with someone to become number one contender to the NXT Title.  Maybe even have him win the Title and drop it to Gargano next year during WrestleMania weekend for the rubber match.

   Another great Takeover with little to no complaints!  I can't wait until Brooklyn!  The Women's Title match and the NXT Title match were good, and the Tag Team Title match was great.  As for the Ricochet/Dream match and especially the Gargano/Ciampa match, they were simply unbelievable.  Not to mention, we also got a glimpse of Independent stand out Keith Lee in the audience.  I was not aware of him to be honest but after doing a little research about what this man can do, I'm intrigued by this potential signing for the NXT brand.  Stay tuned for my review of Money In the Bank!

 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

Money In the Bank 2018 Predictions

   After a stellar Takeover event last night, it's time for the 2018 edition of Money In the Bank.  Maybe it's just me but there seems to be a lot of matches on this year's card.  It may have to do with the additional hour that has now been added to all of the PPV events WWE has.  Hopefully it won't seem like a dreadfully long night.  Some of the under card doesn't exactly scream must-see tonight but I am looking forward to both Money In the Bank Ladder matches.  Much like my blog about last night's Takeover, I'm here to give my predictions for tonight's festivities.

Kick-Off Match

Smackdown Tag Team Titles - Bludgeon Brothers vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

   Since the Bludgeon Brothers won the Titles, the consensus seems to be that they will dominate the Smackdown tag team division for a while.  I should point out that Smackdown's tag team division looks a lot more legit than Raw's. For instance, Raw's Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt, aren't even booked tonight.  The Bludgeon Brothers moved on from the Usos and The New Day are busy preparing to secure a briefcase, possibly to put their pancakes in, as we've seen in recent weeks. The challengers tonight are the resident Good Brothers in Gallows and Anderson.  Should they win, they could help out AJ Styles and reform a certain "Club."  Unfortunately for Gallows and Anderson, I believe Harper and Rowan will retain tonight.  On the bright side, at least Anderson has a hot Asian wife!

Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal

   If it were up to me, Reigns would have been Universal Champion by now and this match would be for the Title.  That's more of me saying that I don't want to see anymore Reigns/Brock Lesnar matches.  Jinder cost Reigns a qualifying match for Money In the Bank, which started this feud.  It's not very interesting, in that Jinder Mahal is simply awful and I frankly couldn't care less about this match.  People like to point out that Reigns is getting this big push, but he wasn't won a match in a long time and hasn't held a World Title in over two years.  I think Reigns will get the win tonight in a match I'm sure not many people care about.

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn

   Speaking of matches I don't care about, this one is up there as well.  The match itself I'm sure will be fine but the story has been so awful that I don't care what happens.  The segments have been flat out terrible and I hope they neither man interacts with one another ever again.  Something is just not clicking and it's neither man's fault.  Here's hoping Lashley decimates Zayn so we can all move on.  That's the way I think it'll go down!

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

   If I was a betting man, I'd say Big Cass is going to walk away with the win here, due to the fact that he lost their first encounter.  Even though Bryan made the big man tap out, Cass still got the last laugh.  I'm sorry to say this but I don't care one way or the other about Big Cass anymore.  A big mistake WWE made in my opinion was splitting up Enzo and Cass.  Neither of them were as good without the other.  I used to enjoy their shtick but Enzo doing it by himself got old quickly for some reason.  Even if they were going into singles, they should have stuck together.  This is yet another "who cares?" for me but my prediction is Big Cass with the win.  

Intercontinental Title - Seth Rollins vs. Elias 

   This is going to be a shining moment for sure!  Out of all the non-Ladder matches on this card, this is the one I'm looking forward to the most.  Since winning the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania, Rollins has been on fire.  On the other side, Elias has really come into his own since his NXT days.  Now he's drifted into a Title match!  People use to tell him to drift away but now they all wan tto "Walk with Elias!"  Though I can see Elias walking away as Champion, my gut tells me Rollins is going to retain.  However, should Elias win, I'd love to see him with an Intercontinental Title reign like the Honky Tonk Man had, perhaps even passing his record.  Either way, it's going to be a great match and like Rollins' music says, both men will "burn it down" tonight!

Raw Women's Title - Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey

   I already discussed in another blog about my disdain for this match.  Let's get something clear, though!  I'm not against Ronda winning the Title, but just not this soon.  They started a story with her and Mickie James and that's exactly the type of opponent Ronda needs right now.  Ronda proved critics wrong at WrestleMania and she is a bona fide superstar.  However, Nia is still too new to the ring to be in a match with an inexperienced wrestler like Ronda.  Most of us can see a program with Natalya coming for Ronda as well.  There's no build up anymore!  Everything is rushed!  If Nia retains, it will not be clean whatsoever.  In fact, many predict Ronda will get screwed by the woman whose arm she almost tore off, Stephanie McMahon.  I think they should have given Ronda some ring generals like Mickie and Nattie first and then eventually had her win the Title, and at some point taking on women like Charlotte Flair and Asuka.  However, I did think of a scenario where this match taking place now could have been the right choice.  While most are expecting Ronda to get screwed, what if it's the other way around?  What if Stephanie screws Nia and Ronda becomes the new Corporate Champion?  That's something I could get into!  However, I'm going with the consensus here with Nia getting the win, or at least retaining her Championship somehow.

Smackdown Women's Title - Carmella vs. Asuka

   This is another match I felt shouldn't be taking place yet.  It seems pretty likely that Asuka is going to decimate Carmella tonight.  However, I feel like it kind of screws Carmella a little bit and almost makes it not even worth it that she cashed in her "Money In the Bank" in the first place.  Carmella worked hard to get where she is and you know what they say; "Mella is money!"  If they're going to take the Title away this quickly, they should have had her cash in a long time ago or somehow fail her cash in attempt.  Also, if this is the route they're going, then Asuka should have just beaten Charlotte outright in the first place.  That's not because of Asuka's streak but more so Asuka winning the Title.  Asuka is my pick tonight.

WWE Title Last Man Standing Match - AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    I never thought I'd say this, but, I don't think I want to see this match take place anymore.  Their first encounter at WrestleMania was decent, but not the caliber expected.  Then again, the night was so long that by the time it took place, the fans at home and especially at the Superdome, were tired.  The outcome of AJ retaining was unexpected and it led to a great heel turn by Nakamura.  Their rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble was good until the ending.  My opinion is that a match on a big show should never end in a double count out.  The match was good but the ending killed it.  Then again, it was a glorified house show after all!  To make matters even worse, their match at Backlash ended with a double low blow kick, incapacitating both men for the ten count in the ring.  That has got to be the dumbest ending of a match I've ever seen!  They overdid the low blow by this point and why AJ has yet to wear a cup is beyond me.  My pick for tonight is Nakamura finally winning the Title.  Unfortunately, that means yet another match between the two is in the cards.  I'm amazed that they ruined this feud.

Women's Money In the Bank Ladder Match - Sasha Banks vs. Ember Moon vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya vs. Charlotte  Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana vs. Naomi

   I feel like I've been pretty negative so far but it all changes with the two ladder matches.  I'd be happy with most of these women winning the briefcase and eventually cashing in successfully to win their brand's Championship.  With Charlotte about to deal with a minor surgery, I think she's out of the running.  Besides, it's more likely for her to win next year's Royal Rumble.  Holding the briefcase seems perfect for a heel Sasha or Alexa.  It would be nice for Becky to be back in the running as well.  Many predict a win by Natalya, who will in tern, cash in on Ronda and start a feud.  Ember may be a dark horse pick but it would be cool, as it would be for Naomi as well.  I'd even accept Lana winning as long as Rusev wins the men's, becoming the first Mr. and Mrs. Money In the Bank.  I think this match will be vast improvement from last year's, especially because an actual woman will claim the briefcase this time.

Men's Money In the Bank Ladder Match - Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Owens vs. Rusev vs. The Miz vs. Samoa Joe vs. a member of The New Day

   Never have I been this exciting for a Money In the Bank Ladder match.  Every single outcome is a home run in my view.  There is not one bad scenario in the aftermath of this match at all!  Not only would I be happy with any one of the eight men winning, I'd be doubly happy if they successfully cashed in for a Championship.  I'll run down the list before I get to my pick.  Braun seems to be the one that needs it the least, considering his presence alone can grant him a Title shot whenever he wants.  That's not to say I'd be unhappy if he won!  Should Braun win, my guess is he's going to give notice for his cash in.  He's too large and over as a babyface to cash in on a vulnerable opponent.  Finn Balor winning and cashing in would be a great story because then everything comes full circle for him.  He could regain the Title he never lost.  I'd love Bobby Roode to win but I think his cash in should be in the form of a heel turn to really make it stand out.  Either way, Roode winning would be absolutely...glorious!  Of course, you can never go wrong with Kevin Owens.  Winning the briefcase and cashing in seems to be in Owens' wheelhouse for sure!  Although this might be the least impactful of the eight outcomes, I'd still be more than okay with it.  Like I said, there is not one bad outcome in the bunch.  That takes care of the Raw side of things.

   Onto the Smackdown participants, we've got Rusev.  With how over Rusev is these days, it would be a magic moment for him to win.  It would be a Happy Rusev Day for all!  Up until two years ago, I was drinking lots of "Hateorade" when it came to The Miz.  Even if I liked him back in 2010, I still would have felt that he wasn't quite ready to cash in and become WWE Champion.  If you ask me now, I would be so down for The Miz to do so.  In fact, a great way to do it would be for him to cash in moments after Daniel Bryan regains the WWE Title.  The heat would be nuclear and a great feud would ensue.  The seeds were certainly planted on Talking Smack two years ago.  Samoa Joe would be another great pick.  He's credible enough to be Champion, but just cunning enough to cash in on a weakened opponent.  That leaves a member of The New Day.  I love the fact that we don't know which member will take part in this match.  My prediction is that a member of The New Day wins tonight.  Not only that, I would love to see them use the Freebird rule for both carrying the briefcase and having the WWE Championship.

   Those are my thoughts and predictions for tonight's show.  Please comment if you have any feelings of your own on Money In the Bank and for all the dads out there, Happy Father's Day!




 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

NXT Takeover: Chicago II Predictions

   Before we had the chance to catch up from the last event, another Pay-Per-View weekend is upon us!  Since it is clear Money In the Bank has joined the top PPV's in WWE, a Takeover event has been attached to it.  Even if the care has not gone into Survivor Series in a long time, it's still an important show in WWE's calendar year.  However, now it's the "Big 5!"  Money In the Bank is tomorrow but it's time to focus on tonight.  It's time for NXT Takeover: Chicago II.  It's very rare that Takeover events don't deliver, even with matches that on paper not as many people are looking forward to.  I'm going to break down what I think will happen tonight and how it will impact NXT going forward.

Women's Title - Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross

   Most would say that since Baszler defeated Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Title, we would be in for a dominant run by the Queen of Spades.  This is her first Title defense and I can't quite see her losing just yet.  Many people wondered why Nikki Cross was not yet called up with the rest of Sanity.  I think it's because the Women's Division took a loss when Ember Moon and the Iconics went up to Raw and Smackdown, respectively.  The women's division in NXT still needs credible challengers for Shayna and Nikki is certainly one of them.  She may not win tonight but she's someone people can take serious as a threat to Shayna's Title.  Cross has been playing mind games with the Champion as of late and that could be a factor.  I think eventually Kairi Sane will be the one to dethrone Shayna but in the mean time, we've got Nikki Cross and I'm sure the scrappy underdog Dakota Kai will get another shot one day.  In the end, I predict Shayna will retain tonight.

Ricochet vs. The Velveteen Dream

   If there's a match that could potentially steal the show, this is it! For several years on the Independents, we've seen the amazing things Ricochet can do.  His work as Prince Puma in Lucha Underground is also quite amazing.  Then there's the Velveteen Dream.  At first, I was not a fan of his character and didn't give him the time of day.  That is, until the build-up and match he had with Aleister Black last year.  The Velveteen Dream is the real deal!

   The Dream can play mind games with the best of them but Ricochet proved he can do the same.  The Gif to the left certainly shows that I and just had to put this in because it's one of the cooledt things I've ever seen.  These guys will go balls to the wall tonight and put everything on the line. It's going to be fast paced and exciting.  When the two first battled, the match was interrupted by Lars Sullivan, who beat the crap out of them both.  A week later, they battled him in a handi-cap match but a misunderstanding drew the Velveteen Dream to end his short-lived alliance.  I'm definitely excited about this match!  It could go either way but I expect the Dream get the win here, continuing their feud hopefully for at least another match.  If I'm wrong, certainly won't be unhappy.  I'll just say: All hail King Ricochet!

Tag Team Titles - Undisputed Era vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan

   This match should be good as well.  This is third version of the Undisputed Era in tag team form.  When Bobby Fish went down with an injury, Adam Cole was forced to pull double duty at Takeover: New Orleans by first winning the North American Championship and then helping Kyle O'Reilly retain the Tag Team Titles.  In an unprecedented turn of events, perennial favorite Roderick Strong turned on tag team partner Pete Dunne and joined the Undisputed Era, ultimately becoming O'Reilly's Championship partner.  The team of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan helped out Pete Dunne and since then have made an enemy of the Undisputed Era.  For some reason, I cannot get into Oney Lorcan at all.  I don't know what it is.  I do like Burch, as his matches in NXT and his participation in the UK Championship tournament made me a fan.  Either way, it should be great match tonight.  I'm not seeing a Title change tonight as you know Adam Cole and Bobby Fish could be nearby.  I think the winners tonight will certainly be Undisputed. 

Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa

   It's incredible that one year ago in the city of Chicago, a turn that can be compared to the breakup of the Rockers occurred, as Tomasso Ciamp turned on longtime friend Johnny Gargano.  Here we are a year later!  Gargano bested Ciampa in New Orleans in early April in a brutal match that deserved to main event the show.  I don't see this feud ending quite yet so I expect Ciampa to get the win, with a rubber match happening at some point down the road. However, I believe other factors will play into this.  There's the potential for Gargano's wife Candice LaRea to get involved but she's seemingly wiped her hands of the situation and wants no part of it.  As I said, I see Ciampa winning but it will be due to none other than NXT's resident top one-percenter, EC3.  During one of EC3's matches, Gargano interrupted to make a challenge towards Ciampa.  Though EC3 still won his match, there was a look in his eye that the situation didn't sit quite right with him.  In my opinion, a match between Johnny Wrestling and EC3 will take place in Brooklyn during SummerSlam weekend, possibly with it being a # 1 contender match for the NXT Championship.  At Takeover in November this year, I could see EC3 taking the NXT Title, while Gargano finishes Ciampa once and for all.  I'd love to see a mini-Royal Rumble for Takeover in January where Gargano wins and then finally defeats EC3 and wins the NXT Title during WrestleMania weekend.  I might be thinking a little ahead of myself but my final prediction for tonight is Tomasso Ciampa getting the win.

NXT Title - Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan

   Not since Andrade "Cien" Almas challenged for the NXT Championship have I been this disinterested in the challenger, though in time Almas proved me wrong.  Lars Sullivan is a large, intimidating presence but he does not do anything for me.  He's there to give Aleister Black a legit challenge.  The odds may be in Sullivan's favor, as he's been able to beat down his opponent, as well as block Black Mass, a move that Black has used to put down almost every other opponent he's had.  I definitely see EC3 as the next biggest threat to Black's Title reign in the near future.  Regardless of Sullivan's dominance, it would be unwise to call it a day for the Dutch Destroyer.  I believe Aleister will retain and Sullivan's Championship dreams will fade to black!

 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

Why the Survivor Series Is Not An Outdated Concept

   For many years, WWE established what became known as 'The Big 4" Pay-Per-Views. Chronologically, those are the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. From 1993 to 2002, it can be argued that King of the Ring joined the four and it became "The Big 5." In the last few years, with the increasing importance of the Money In the Bank show, many fans believe it has surpassed the Survivor Series and replaced it in "The Big 4."  As much as I love the Survivor Series, I can agree with Money In the Bank becoming more important.  However, I don't think the Survivor Series getting bumped is because it's an outdated concept.  For one, I think it's more about how important Money In the Bank has become since leaving the WrestleMania card to become its own PPV.  In this blog, I am going to get into why I believe Survivor Series has gotten lost in the shuffle.

    The Survivor Series was invented in 1987 for two reasons. The first was because Vince McMahon wanted the WWF to be the leading force in wrestling Pay-Per-Views and actually threatened cable companies airing the NWA's biggest show, Starrcade. That Thanksgiving night, which was the original Survivor Series tradition, the Survivor Series would go head to head with Starrcade.  McMahon stated that if companies aired Starrcade, those companies would not be allowed to air WrestleMania IV a few months later.  Incidentally, WrestleMania IV also competed against the NWA that night against the NWA's Clash of the Champions.  As epic as the tournament for the vacant WWE Title would likely be, the Clash gave it stiff competition, featuring Arn Anderson and Tulley Blanchard against Lex Lugar and Barry Windham for the NWA Tag Team Titles, as well as Sting challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  Back to Survivor Series, another major reason for the inclusion of Survivor Series was to extend the feud between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant.  That night, Andre bested Hogan and became the sole survivor of his team in the main event, but not without a valiant losing effort by one of Hogan's partners, Bam Bam Bigelow.

   As the Survivor Series rolled on in the coming years, it did become WWE's second flagship show next to WrestleMania.  In January of 1988, the first Royal Rumble took place but it didn't become an official Pay-Per-View until 1989.  Meanwhile, in August of 1988, WWE presented the newest Pay-Per-View, SummerSlam, which would soon overtake the Survivor Series in the number two spot. However, in 1993, the Royal Rumble then overtook both in the number two spot by adding the stipulation of the winner challenging for the World Heavyweight Title in the main event of WrestleMania.  Even so, the Survivor Series was still an important show for WWE.

    Along with it being a Thanksgiving tradition, the Survivor Series was a fun show that added new elements.  There were team captains, team names, and the different feuds intertwined and made sense, with the partners and opponents alike.  For instance, in 1989, Hulk Hogan captained a team called the Hulkamaniacs, along with Jake "The Snake" Roberts and the Tag Team Champions at the time, Demolition.  Their opponents were the Million Dollar Team, led by the Million Dollar Man himself, Ted DiBiase. Together, he joined forces with Zeus and the Powers of Pain.  Due to the storyline coming from Hogan's movie No Holds Barred, starring alongside Zeus, that was a major feud.  Of course, Hogan had feuded with DiBiase the previous year.  By this point, DiBiase was in a bitter feud with Roberts.  Of course, Demolition and the Powers of Pain were coming to the end of their feud which intensified at the previous year's Survivor Series, with the infamous double turn.  

   The 1991 edition introduced a non-elimination style match for the first time, featuring "The Gravest Challenge" with Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Title against the Undertaker.  In fact, many singles matches became pretty big parts of the Survivor Series in later years.  1994 saw Bret Hart lose the WWF Title to Bob Backlund, 1995 saw Hart regain the Title from Diesel, and of course, 1997 featured Hart against Shawn Michaels in the "Montreal Screwjob."  1992 featured only one elimination match with other matches on the card.  With the exception of 1992, however, the Survivor Series still revolved around the elimination match concept for the most part.  In the later years, WWE started to get away from the concept and would only feature one or two elimination matches.  In fact, 1998 revolved around a tournament for the vacant WWF Title and was the first time that the event had no elimination matches whatsoever.

    For me, the main reason the Survivor Series fell out of prominence is that WWE strayed too far away from the original concept.  It became a regular run of the mill PPV.  No care was given anymore to the Survivor Series.  I don't believe the concept itself is outdated at all.  I can understand eventually breaking away from doing the show on Thanksgiving night.  However, it used to be a big deal.  I can remember all of the names of the teams in the early years of the event, the team captains, and all of the feuds in between.  In the 1990 edition, the Warriors was a featured team, captained by the Ultimate Warrior.  With him were the Legion of Doom, also known as the Road Warriors, and the "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, who once wrestled under the moniker of "Modern Day Warrior."  Their opponents were the Perfect Team, consisting of team captain Mr. Perfect and all three members of Demoltion.  While I'm on the 1990 Survivor Series, this show was known for three main things.  One was that the main event consisted of Survivors from each earlier match in one ultimate elimination match.  Another highlight was of course, the debut of the Undertaker.  On the opposite end, there was the disappointment known as the Gobbledy Gooker.

   In the later years, the teams were just thrown together haphazardly.  During the first Brand Extension and the current one, there were at least Survivor style matches with a purpose in brand vs. brand warfare.  Unfortunately, to me that is lazy booking without much thought put into it.  It just isn't enough!  When all of the partners and opponents intertwined and made sense, it was great.  The elimination style matches continued feuds, started feuds, and brought about many other entertaining things.  Two years in a row, Bad News Brown walked out on his team.  The end of the 1988 show continued to plant seeds for the eventual downfall of the Mega Powers.  There have been times where an entire team has survived, as well as only one man left, becoming the sole survivor.  That leads me to a quick tangent about a pet peeve of mine.  The term is "sole" survivor, meaning one.  You can't have more than one person referred to as sole survivors.  It annoys me when both the fans and WWE themselves do that.

   Another big part of the Survivor Series, along with the elimination matches, was a big debut for a superstar every once in a while.  I already mentioned the Undertaker's debut in 1990.  We also witnessed the debut of The Rock in 1996 and the debut of Kurt Angle in 1999.  Who could forget the debut of The Shield in 2012?  Other than the Undertaker, the biggest debut that occurred at the Survivor Series was when Sting showed up in 2014, something no one thought they would ever see.  Somewhere along the line, WWE forgot about what made Survivor Series important.  See, it's not an outdated concept at all!  It's just that the attention to and care of the show hasn't been the focus in a long time. There's no reason why the Survivor Series can't still be considered one of "The Big 4."  To play off a certain WWE Hall of Famer, let's make Survivor Series great again!




 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/

Ridiculous Theories - Brock Surpasses Punk's Record Out of Spite?

   As of a few days ago, CM Punk's record 434 day WWE Title reign was surpassed by Brock Lesnar's Universal Title run.  There's a theory going around that WWE did this out of spite, to make sure Punk's record was broken.  Punk's record was referred to as the longest World Title run in WWE in the last 30 years.  Not since Hulk Hogan's first Title reign had a Champion held it for that long a time period.  Obviously, we are way past the age of wrestlers like Bruno Sammartino holding the Title for years at a time.  However, sometimes it's nice to see long reigns, especially when they are full of substance.  People compare Brock rarely showing up to defend his Title to the days of Sammartino when the Champion would appear rarely.  First of all, that's an unfair and unrealistic comparison.  Secondly, I did a little research and found that in just six months of Bruno's first reign, he defended the Title twice as many times as Brock did in a year.  That was just Title defenses! Bruno participated in other matches as well.  People fail to realize that in the days of the NWA's prominence, for instance, Ric Flair was wrestling over 300 days a year.

   Alright, back to the topic at hand!  Did WWE purposely have Brock break Punk's record?  I still call it a theory!  I have three other examples of theories like this.  One is that Nikki Bella broke AJ Lee's record holding the Diva's Championship due to Lee's relationship with CM Punk.  Even if that were so, it's only the Diva's Title, which frankly, was a joke of a Championship.  It looked like a damn butterfly for crying out loud!  Not only that, the Title itself had only been around for five years.  The only record that mattered was the Fabulous Moolah's near 28 year WWE Women's Title reign anyway!  The second example is fairly recent, in The New Day surpassing the Tag Team Championship record set by Demolition in the late 80's.  I know this had nothing to do with spite but it was apparently simply about wanting The New Day to have this record.  However, The New Day held a completely different set of Tag Team Championships, which makes the entire thing irrelevant. The third also involves Lesnar.  For a time, Lesnar had been known for being the youngest WWE Champion in history.  After Lesnar left in 2004, the record was broken when Randy Orton won the "World Heavyweight Title."  Again, due to that being a completely different Title, it's irrelevant!  

   This brings me to this current theory.  Could Vince McMahon be that petty?  Perhaps!  After all, Punk and WWE didn't exactly go their separate ways on good terms!  This, like the others, are just theories and none have been proven because those of us that speculate are not in the business and have no idea what actually went on.  Even those in the business may not all know the exact facts either!  Regardless of whether this theory is true or not, is once again irrelevant!  Brock didn't break any records because  the Universal Title is not the WWE Title!  Hell, as most of you know by now, I don't consider the Universal Title a World Title, as I never got behind the idea of more than one World Championship in the same company.  Even if I did consider it a World Title, it's still a different Title altogether, with a different lineage, that hasn't even been around for two years yet!  It's comparing apples to oranges here!  

   With the introduction of so many Championships in WWE's history, it got convoluted and confusing.  For instance, as I mentioned before, The New Day's reign was a different set of Titles than that of Demolition.  The Titles that Demolition held became exclusively for Raw around the time of the first brand extension.  Not long after, the Smackdown Tag Team Titles were created, which were the Titles The New Day held during their "record breaking" reign.  Even when those Titles were unified, WWE only continued to recognize the Smackdown Titles' lineage for some reason.  In 2016, when the second brand extension took place, yet another set of Tag Team Titles were created specifically for the Smackdown brand and are currently held by the Bludgeon Brothers.

   At WrestleMania XXXII, just before the match between Divas's Champion Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch, the WWE Women's Championship was brought back because the God awful era of Divas was finally over.  Charlotte won the match and became the Women's Champion. However, what strikes me as odd is that the lineage of the original Women's Title did not continue. They started a new one with Charlotte.  Later that year, after the brand extension, another Women's Championship was created for the Smackdown brand, won by Becky Lynch and today held by Carmella.  The same thing was done when the Cruiserweight Title was brought back.  It's lineage started anew, with TJP as the inaugural Champion.  However, it seems apropos, since the original's last Champion was Hornswoggle, and that's something many fans would like to forget!

   All of these different Championships brought about these tangents I went on, beyond the original theory about spitefulness!  All of these theories, even if true, have no value because the comparisons were usually about two different sets of Championships.  So, even if these theories are true, or if you believe them to be true, they don't really matter at the end of the day.  The WWE Title and the Universal Title are not the same thing!  Besides, as far as I'm concerned, the WWE Title is the Title! The number one guy right now, regardless of Brock Lesnar's star power, is AJ Styles!  Even Jinder Mahal, who I consider the worst WWE Champion of all time, still held the only "World" Title that mattered!  I'm curious to know your thoughts, both concerning which way you feel about the subject's theory, as well as whether you agree with me or not concerning different Title lineages.  

  If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/