Ramblings of an Englishman

When you look at wrestling you will be able to see the top three companies globally are World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). When it comes to titles, booking and roster these companies all have different ideas and philosophies. However, what has become clear recently is these companies have something that resembles a subsidiary programe acting as a smaller brand or developmental for the main show. For WWE it is NXT, for AEW it is Tony Khan's recent acquisition of Ring of Honor (ROH) and for NJPW it is the American brand NJPW Strong.  Each of these brands have a (somewhat) unique roster, a unique set of titles and will have branding which is different to the main main product. These shows can be used to see if talents can be invested in or if something isn't clicking on the main product to send them there to rebrand and rebuild themselves. NXT had Dolph Ziggler as champion, Brian Cage went to ROH and Aussie Open star...

Feels that whenever I talk about wrestling I end up starting with the statement of how AEW changed the wrestling business. While this is normally in a positive light one promotion which it had a negative impact would be NXT. From AEW's inception they were placed as WWE main line of attack a simple goal was established in take as many viewers from AEW and drive them off TV. Almost 3 years later and one company was driven off of Wednesday's and it wasn't AEW. With the hammering week in week out NXT first moved to Tuesday and as talent left/got released and ended up with AEW a change happened and as such NXT was in a sense rebooted into NXT 2.0. Done was the black and gold and the skulls and in their place was as many colours as possible which ended up giving me a headache when I tried to watch it. But I'm not here to discuss the overall product but the idea of changing it.  NXT in its original format as a developmental didn't make sense. They were signing the best tal...

AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash 2021 22nd December it was during the match between Orange Cassidy and Adam Cole that the anticipated debut of Kyle O'Reilly reuniting with Bobby Fish & Adam Cole just in a different brand that uses black and gold colours. When AEW made their debut on TNT it was met with competition from WWE and their third brand, the black and gold of NXT. The USA Networks newest wrestling show very much revolved around their top stable the Undisputed Era who at one point held all the gold. The North American Champion Roderick Strong, The NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly and the main main in the middle of his 403 day reign as NXT Champion in Adam Cole. You'd think that seeing three of these men who were some of the centre points of WWE's retaliation to the new wrestling show on the block on the show they were sent out to undermine would be impossible. But I think it speaks to something bigger. NXT 1.0 for ease of saying was a great deve...

If you have been reading a lot of what I put on here regarding wrestling its mostly glowing praise of AEW and whenever I mention WWE its mostly complaints. In the spirit of a recent trademark filed by WWE I guess 'complaining is not conversation' so let's have that conversation. I stopped watching WWE regularly years ago and if it wasn't for AEW I most likely wouldn't be watching wrestling at least on a constant basis seeing just parts of New Japan would be it. I wanted to break down why I don't watch anymore. Ignoring the fact I don't have BT Sport so couldn't watch in the UK whenever I have tried to watch PPVs I borrow someone's Network account so I am disconnected from the product as you can be I'd have to go out of my way to watch the show and I just don't want to. Why should I care for a wrestling show where it doesn't matter for large part who wins. I've always been a wins and losses matter how am I suppose to care if a man has ...

When everything is said and done September 1st 2018 and All In will go down as a pivotal date in American wrestling. For me it is up there with July 7th 1996 (Hogan is the third man), November 9th 1997 (the Montreal Screwjob) & March 26th 2001 (WWE purchases WCW) as some of the key dates which had a long standing effect and change the landscape of American wrestling. Without All In we do not get AEW and the kick that has given wrestling. We have seen only recently with the return of CM Punk after 7 years as well as WWE changing NXT and its whole outlook for hiring talents shift completely and I imagine this is only the beginning due to certain rumblings in the wrestling world.    Rumours have circulated about a new third 'major' wrestling promotion coming to America. Between Jeff Jarrett dropping vague hints about a new promotion on his podcast and reports of this promotion being interested in signing up recently released talents in the wake of WWE's recent 'budget ...

It had been 2766 days since CM Punk has been in a wrestling ring but who said anyone was counting. In the only company it could really happen in CM Punk return to what could only be described as a ground shaking pop.  The past week have seen a lot of conversation from a company and its die hard fanbase that CM Punk was not a needle mover. He was not 'a draw'. While all the copium in the world might not be enough the tickets moved for his return the AEW shop website not working with everyone wanting his shirt oh and #AEWRampage trending higher than Smackdown as well it's all good.  But above that CM Punk was the guy for fans of my generation and someone who reignited a lot of peoples interest. You can measure a legacy in wrestling by what people still attribute to what they did. How many promos get called 'Pipebombs' because of CM Punk and him coining the phrase a lot of people hung on Punk's every word as his run as the guy and when he left a lot of people'...

Raw for 19th July 2021 was an interesting one. The first Raw back in front of an audience and not a host of TV screens and John Cena's return but as well as this the undefeated NXT champion Karrion Kross made his debut on Raw and lost to Jeff Hardy. Now not to disrespect Jeff Hardy who is one of my favourites of all time but on the 5th July 2021 on Main Event he lost to Veer who is one of Jinder Mahal's bodyguards. Jeff Hardy is not positioned as a threat let alone the person to end an undefeated streak of a champion. It got me thinking, does this match represent more than just a strange booking decision and instead showcase a larger issue when it comes to the synchronisation of NXT and the Main Roster of WWE when it comes to booking philosophy and talents that can be booked and turned into stars. First it's important to look at Karrion Kross. I haven't been a fan of his NXT run as I don't think he fits in overly well with the show. His entrance is overproduced and ...

Over the course of 4 days between Friday 18th June to Monday 21st June WWE held 4 Hell in a Cell matches so on average one a day in line with the annual Hell in a Cell PPV. A structure when initially created was described as one that shortens career saw Bobby Lashley win 2 in 2 days with minimal fuss. I remember the storyline of how in 2000 Vince McMahon himself tried to stop he 6 man cell match at Armageddon from happening due to the irreversible damage a match like this does to people. The match stipulation seems to have lost meaning and care and isn’t the only one. Over the past decade or so WWE has used its gimmick matches as the names of Pay Per Views from Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, TLC, Money in the Bank to the forgotten one time only PPV Fatal 4 Way in what I can only imagine is a hope of a boost in PPV buys from non regular viewers who like these match types/stipulations. However, to me it feels like this contributes to these match types losing their appeal and how sp...

I should preface this by saying I do enjoy some of The Fiend's work I think it's an interesting gimmick. The idea of this is to look at what is happening and why fans seem to be turning off the character as a whole. When Bray Wyatt came back as The Fiend WWE audiences were intrigued by the new character and what it would mean for Bray Wyatt who career is stagnated. After battering Finn Balor at SummerSlam 2019 the only logical step was to have him challenge for the Universal title held at the time by Seth Rollins. Well, one mismanaged Hell in a Cell match later and it felt like a sucker punch for the character. While he has had his ups and downs with 2 world title wins since the debut of the character it is safe to say that audience reaction has changed. Using the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) award you can see The Fiend went from Best Gimmick in 2019 to Worst Gimmick in 2020. Now, I am not saying the WON awards are gospel but they can be seen as an indicator of fan senti...