NXT

Top 10 Best Pro Wrestling Matches of 2018

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

This year, we have had a chance to witness great professional wrestling matches that were highly praised by pro wrestling journalists Dave Meltzer and Wade Keller and fans alike. The match quality of these ten matches were very rare ten years ago or even further and in today’s age of pro wrestling, it is common to get a great match at least once or twice per month. There are many that I have seen that were from various promotions such as WWE, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro Wrestling and I will rank them all in my personal top 10 matches of 2018.

10. Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler (Summerslam)

I was in the crowd for this match at Summerslam and It was a great opener for this long Pay Per View. Rollins and Ziggler has had many matches throughout the year, but this match is their best match of every match they have had this year. There was a mix of everything in this match from the drama, to the athleticism between these two, and the energy of the crowd. There was a few points during this match where I was convinced that the match was over and that Ziggler would retain the Intercontenential Championship but Seth regained the championship in this awesome match.

9. Undisputed Era vs. Ricochet, Pete Dunn, and War Raiders “WarGames” Match (NXT Takeover: WarGames)

Last year, the WarGames match has finally made its way to WWE after many years where the fans would wonder when it would happen and it has finally arrived on WWE’s developmental brand NXT. Last year, it was three teams in this match but that changed this year when the rules reverted to the classic two teams of four. The feud between these two teams has been building up since the summer and the payoff was this excellent match as it was nonstop action from the start of the match to the finish. The War Raiders also showed off how fast these two can move despite being larger than all of the other men in the ring. There was also a camera shot during the match where the two teams are on opposite sides facing each other in the style of Captain America: Civil War. There were also weapons used during this match such as tables, trash cans, chairs, and kendo sticks and the most memorable spot of the match was when Ricochet did a reverse 450° senton from the top of the cage to everyone in the ring. Ricochet’s team got the victory after he pinned Adam Cole of the Undisputed Era to end this fantastic War Games match which is far better than last year’s version of the match.

8. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy “Hell in a Cell” Match (Hell in a Cell)

It has been a long while since I can say that I liked a Randy Orton match and this is one of them. I have been a fan of both Orton and Hardy for a long time, but they both did not have a good match at all this year before this match. This is Jeff Hardy’s first match inside the Cell and it did not disappoint at all. There were a few moments during the match where it turned into a psychological horror movie such as when Orton proceeded to place a screwdriver right through his open earlobe and twisted it. That was very gruesome to watch as it took me a few minutes to resonate what I have just witnessed. The match ended as Jeff climbed to the top of the inner part of the cell with a ladder, used his hands to go to the middle of the cell like it is a monkey bar, and proceeded to do a body splash to Orton while he is laid on the table but as Jeff fell, Orton moved out of the way and Jeff’s head came crashing through the table as Orton then got the pin fall for the victory.

7. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT Takeover: Philadelphia)

This match is the first WWE five star rated match by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter since John Cena vs CM Punk back in Money in the Bank 2011 and this match delivered in every aspect. Not only that it convinced me that Gargano can headline a WWE event one day, but it also proved the critics wrong about Almas at the time since his run as NXT Champion has gotten mixed opinions. Johnny did everything that he could to win this match and the crowd was behind him as well. In fact, there were many times during this match that there was a standing ovation to both of them due to their performances and they were very deserved. Almas got the win, but before the show ended, Tommaso Ciampa returned from his knee injury to attack Johnny thus resuming their feud which was delayed due to Tommaso needing knee surgery.

6. Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Dominion)

This match has been building up ever since their WrestleKingdom match from last year and the slow build has been worth it. These two has had matches on that show along with the G1 Climax as well and every match they have had, outperformed their previous one. It is the modern day Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat with these two as they tore the house down at Dominion this year. This match was a two out of three falls with no time limit and these two went all out during the one hour and four minutes of this classic. During this match, Omega has attempted to use his signature move “one winged angel” many times as Okada has found a way to counter it each time. The only time the move went through is during the final fall of the match as Kenny Omega not only won the match, but also became the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion as well. This match is as brutal as it comes and you will not find a hard hitting match like this anywhere else other than New Japan Pro Wrestling.

5. Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali (205 Live 7/03/2018)

205 Live from the beginning until the summer of 2018 has been a long afterthought as well as it’s division. Enzo Amore was the best superstar of the division for a while as well until his release and since then, 205 Live has been rebuilding itself and the first match to do that was this one. Mustafa Ali and Buddy Murphy had a no-disqualification match and it was awesome. From the high flying spots, to the innovative ways to preform high flying moves off of the table and even steel steps, and much more spots that has kept my attention to the screen as I was watching it and the fans in that arena as well loved it too and this was the beginning of the relaunch of the Crusierweight division from this point on.

4. Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon (WrestleMania 34)

This match is my favorite WrestleMania match this year and many peope whether if it is inside the wrestling bubble or outside of it (You know, the casual fans and the MMA fans) was curious to see how Ronda Rousey would do in her first ever match in WWE and she delivered in this awesome tag team match in which she teamed with Kurt Angle to go against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match. Kurt and Triple H had control for most of the match as this was also Kurt’s first WrestleMania match in 12 years and once Ronda got tagged in, she did not hesitate to charge right at Stephanie and also Triple H with a fury of strikes and judo throws. The match finished once Ronda made Stephanie tap out to the arm lock as both Ronda and Kurt celebrated after the match finished.

3. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch “Last Woman Standing” Match (Evolution)

What WWE had done with the women for the last few years has been incredible. Starting way back in NXT when the women’s matches started to be taken more seriously, to WrestleMania 32 when the Divas Championship has been retired for a new Women’s Championship. Now we are at the stage that women are now on the main event of Raw, Smackdown, and even select Pay Per Views and this all lead to the first WWE all women’s Pay Per View, Evolution. Charlotte and Becky Lynch has been feuding since the summer when Becky turned heel at Summerslam. They both had a last woman standing match on this show and it was spectacular to see these two go to war in this match and not hold anything back. My favorite spot during the match is when Charlotte applied the Figure-8 leg lock on Becky as the ladder was also in between both of them. These two gave it their all and I believe this is the best women’s match I have seen this year.

2. Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW WrestleKingdom 12)

The idea of this match came from Jericho as he wanted to make pro wrestling’s version of Mayweather vs. McGreggor and once it was announced that Kenny Omega accepted the challenge, the anticipation has blew up very high. Jericho and Omega is a dream match that we did not know that we wanted and it delivered. It was also great to see Jericho wrestle a completely different style since he is used to the WWE style for the last 19 years and this was also his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling. Everything with this match from the brutal table spots, to Jericho picking up a camera and started flipping the crowd and the referee with the finger, to Omega’s brutal V-Trigger knee strikes, and with Omega’s high flying arsenal. These two had the match of the night that night as the drama and the story of the match has not slowed down at all from the start to the finish. It also gave Jericho his first ever five star rated match by Dave Meltzer.

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa “Unsanctioned” Match (NXT Takeover: NOLA)

The match in the year in my opinion and one of the best matches in WWE in the last five years. This match felt like an old school NWA “Lights Out” match from 1980 as the vibe of those matches from that time were transferred to this match. Just like those matches in the past, The referee is only there to make the three count and the other rules are out the window as the referee is not allowed to stop it. Johnny and Ciampa’s feud started way back in Chicago in 2017 and their first match was very crazy. The ring mat was also exposed during this match for the wood to be shown and other than that, there were more dangerous visuals that happened during the match inside and outside the ring and these two put their bodies through war during the match. Johnny did not want to give up at all or hurt Ciampa at all and even his wife did a run in and tried to convince Johnny to end the match. This is also the longest match in NXT history clocking in at 37 minutes. Johnny won this match by submission, but that was only the beginning of their great rivalry.

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My thoughts: today’s product of WWE since after Wrestlemania 32

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

While Wrestlemania 32 gave us some fantastic moments, I think most would agree the ending left us feeling underwhelmed and disappointed, a sour note in an otherwise very solid show. I for one had went to sleep that night feeling very deflated, and quite frankly pissed off that they would so blatantly ignore the fans wishes, just to get the title on the good looking, muscular, Samoan dude. Everything was going to remain the same, Raw was going to kick off with a 20 minute Authority promo, and conclude with Reigns beating every member of the League Of Nations while Cole screams, “Roman Reigns has overcome all the odds tonight!” It felt like WWE had no plans on changing the product, being content with their current stagnant state, despite the outcry of smarks and casuals alike, for change.

Until… Well, the next night.. 

The Raw after Wrestlemania felt fresh, the focus on young stars was a welcome change of pace, and something just felt different, it didn’t feel like an average Raw, it started with Shane being put in charge and ended with AJ Styles becoming the Number 1 Contender in an incredible Fatal Four Way, with 4 of the best workers in the business. However, I still wasn’t convinced, Shane’s tenure in charge seemed like a one-week thing, and this focus on the younger and more ‘IWC friendly’ guys may just have been to please the crowd the night after Mania, who they knew, if they gave them the same old stuff, would crap all over it, their fear of which was apparent through the commentators’ “boo the people they normally cheer” shtick. My skepticism seemed warranted given what we’d seen in the past. 

Boy was I wrong! 

The weeks that followed have kept with this theme of intriguing storyline development, new stars being built in the likes of Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Enzo and Cass etc, and overall simply a better product. The card for Payback looks amazing, I’m looking forward to pretty much every match, the build has been fantastic, every match has been given meaning, purpose, and most importantly air time to build organically, little to none of it seems shoe-horned in, and there are two major plots which could give us a massive indication on the companies direction for the foreseeable future . The introduction of Anderson and Gallows has made for some compelling television, and an aura of mystic surrounds their inevitable eligance. Though it seems set up for Balor to join forces with Gallows and Anderson to turn on AJ, they could just as easily throw us a curve-ball, which hasn’t been felt in a very long time. Vince’s decision on Sunday, will shape the company for the next while at least, I can’t see it being as cut and dry as him picking one or the other, the possibilities are endless, which is very exciting.

Ratings…DO NOT PANIC! 

Yes, the ratings have been fairly poor, but that should be expected, the new talent needs to be given time to settle in and get over with the casual audience. These guys are mostly unknown to casual fans, so when the guys they’ve known to be the stars aren’t on the show, they won’t tune in for a while, which is exactly why this opportunity needs to be taken, while a lot of your money and ratings draws are out, to enhance the new guys, and give them time to establish themselves with a new audience. Don’t go rushing back to the old guys in a panic because the ratings have dropped, it would completely derail all the good things that have been done since Wrestlemania. 

Potential For Change: 

I refer back to the title, the sense of change is looming, the opportunity to usher in a new era in WWE is very much in the companies hands, this Sunday, is a huge night for the WWE and professional wrestling in general, you can give back to us fans, and make us once again proud to call ourselves wrestling fans, the feeling of unpredictability once so synonymous with professional wrestling, feels like it’s slowly creeping it’s way back. The potential for two, company altering swerves, is here, my skepticism though not fully gone, is fading, don’t disappoint WWE. 

Julian’s Thoughts: Where are the tag teams?

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

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Remember when the Dudleys were tag team champions in the WWE and were putting their opponents through tables each week?
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Remember when the Hardys were jumping off of turnbuckles, ladders, stages, cages and probably other things to keep their tag titles? Remember when Edge and Christian were mocking their opponents and somehow found a way to keep the tag belts around their waists? Remember the Hart Foundation? The Outlaws? DX? Rock ‘N’ Sock Connection? (Many other great tag teams?) Don’t you miss when tag team matches/feuds used to be meaningful and entertaining? The tag team division has been in shambles for a while. There have been some decent teams lately but it seems like they don’t last. 

I bring this up because it seems like they are setting up for a fatal four way tag match for the titles at Summerslam. They always seem to do this at Summerslam and Wrestlemania now. They do this so everyone can be on the show. Some of those teams definitely shouldn’t be on the show though. Los Matadores haven’t been relevant in a while. The Lucha Dragons are promising but they haven’t been used that much in stories or on PPV’s. The Prime Time Players are champs and are decent. I like Titus. They haven’t been overly impressive since taking the belts, but they haven’t been bad either. The New Day is hot. They have made a major turnaround since their debut as a team. Really though, the match at Summerslam should be the Prime Time Players vs. New Day. Less is more sometimes. Let those two teams finish this feud. Adding more teams doesn’t make it more exciting at all, especially since two of the teams haven’t been pushed in a while. If the Usos were in the match instead of the Matadores, then that would be better…but who knows when they will be back… 

Wrestlemania 29 was the last time the tag belts weren’t defended in a fatal four way tag match at either Summerslam or Wrestlemania. (Or not defended at all) Now really, that’s only four PPV’s, but still that’s four PPV’s where WWE is just adding teams to try and make it more meaningful or to let people be on the show. If the crowd doesn’t react to them on a Monday Night Raw then why would they react to them at Summerslam or Wrestlemania? I didn’t really care about any of those matches. The teams in them are not teams that anyone cares about.

There have been decent teams since WM 29, but it seems like they never quite get a chance. Plus, once a team loses the titles it seems like they just get tossed aside. Team Hell No successfully defended their titles at Wrestlemania 29. They held the belts for 245 days. The Usos first reign was 202 days. Since the Usos had the belts, Goldust & Stardust had the titles for 63 days, Miz and Mizdow for 36 days, the Usos again, Kidd and Cesaro for 63 days, New Day for 49 days, and now the PTP. There’s no stability or dominant team at the moment. The Usos when healthy are the top team they have in the company. New Day is #2. PTP are currently third. As much as I like those three teams, it’s kind of sad that these are the top teams. They don’t stack up to top teams of the past and the depth of tag teams definitely doesn’t stack up to teams from previous years. 

When I watch old segments on the network, sometimes a tag team faces top guys in the company. The Hardys had segments with Triple H and Stone Cold (Who were also a team for a while). Sure, New Day beat Orton and Reigns a few months ago but that was a one night thing. The Hardys/ HHH & Stone Cold thing lasted more than a week. Sure, the tag titles used to change hands frequently in the past. (Specifically the Attitude Era) But look at the teams from that era who won them. The Outlaws, Hardys, APA, Under taker had the titles with different partners, so did Kane, The Rock and Mankind, Edge & Christian, The Dudleys…that’s only part of them. Some of these teams won multiple times too, the teams now seem to be one and done. 

So I guess it’s not official that there will be a fatal four way tag match at Summerslam, and hopefully there won’t be one. There’s not enough depth in the division to have one….plus…it has been done a lot lately. Don’t put teams on the show just because. If someone doesn’t get a reaction, then they probably shouldn’t be on the 2nd biggest show of the year. Tag team wrestling used to be a big deal but now it’s an afterthought. I almost wish WWE would bring back the Dudleys. It would be cool to see them again. It’s an upgrade from many teams that we’ve seen lately. New Day is the best on the show at the moment. The PTP are the champs so they should be at Summerslam, but those are the only two teams that should be on the card at Summerslam.

follow me on twitter @julianexcalibur

Why the casual fans stopped watching wrestling

Julian Cannon 1 Comment

I think it’s safe to say that when you look at the history of professional wrestling, there are two periods that stand-out when it comes to mass success within the industry–the early WrestleMania Era (I-III) and, of course, The Attitude Era. Although The New Generation Era (1992-1997) and the Ruthless Aggression Era (2002-2008) were my favorite periods of watching, Those are the only quite defined moments in history when the entire world was watching the WWE. Yes, you can argue that there were some other spikes over that period of time, but none nearly as significant as those two occasions when EVERYBODY was talking about wrestling around the water cooler.

When the wrestling business is down, it’s clearly attributed to the mass audience, or casual viewers of professional wrestling, no longer watching the product. For a number of reasons they have tuned into something else. The audience that you see watching RAW today, is the “core” wrestling audience, or the “wrestling fan base”. They are die-hard fans who eat, sleep and breathe professional wrestling, and will watch it for three hours every Monday night regardless of how good . . . or, bad it is. I always say this when it comes to the “hardcore” wrestling fans—if the word WRESTLING is somewhere in the title of the show—they’re watching it—PERIOD.

In my case, I am NO DOUBT a casual wrestling fan. Throughout my lifetime I have watched wrestling when I am throughly entertained by it—and shut it off when I’m not. If not for my responsibilities to this website . . . I WOULD NOT be watching wrestling today (12/8/2014) but I will this Friday.

So, as a casual wrestling fan, the type of fan that the industry NEEDS in order to one day thrive again, what exactly is it that turns us off to the product? Well, the truth is . . . there are a number of things and I will explain the main issue.

So here’s the first disconnect:

WRESTLERS NEED TO LOOK LIKE WRESTLERS

When a casual wrestling fan turns on a wrestling show, they expect to see actual WRESTLERS. And, to the masses, the definition of a WRESTLER is much different from that of the “die-hard” fan, or “core” wrestling audience. You see, to a casual fan, the draw of a wrestler has little to actually do with the way he “wrestles”. To us, a wrestling match is a wrestling match. Yes, some are better than others, and some are worse, but—we’re not tuning in for the “match” per say. If that were the case then we’d be tuning in every week because we would indeed be “wrestling” fans.

When it comes to casual wrestling fans, we like the wrestlers who are “larger than life”. The guys with the big frames, or impressive physiques that we all wish we had, but don’t, so we live vicariously through them. Now there are exceptions to that rule, for instance take a Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, but those guys have very distinctive characters which made up for their “lack of” physical presence. Casual wrestling fans are drawn to the wrestlers that we grew up watching, maybe the business was a bit more selective back then who knows, but whatever the case—all those guys just LOOKED like wrestlers. They didn’t look like you and me, regular guys, they looked “different”, “special”, they just stood out in the crowd. There was no one like a “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, or a King Kong Bundy, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, the “Rock” or, of course “Stone Cold”. No one looked like someone you would run into on the street. And, if they did, then they would be road kill much like your Barry Horowitz’s. In the mind of a casual fan, when you tune into a wrestling show—WRESTLERS need to look like WRESTLERS.

For whatever reason, I know of a few, that has changed over the years. For starters, the majority of the wrestlers of today are not as “jacked-up” as years passed, largely due to the decrease in steroids over the years. You read how in the past even though a wrestler was never “directly” told to go on the juice, it was implied that if they did . . . they would find themselves higher up on the card. And, let’s face it, many did it on their own accord because it was a “business decision” as they thought it would help their stock in the long run–regardless of what the consequences may be later on in life.

Today, with drug testing in place, the importance of being a physical specimen, has been replaced with the idea of being a “great worker”. One that can actually “wrestle”. Now, where that is a must to the “core” wrestling fan, it’s not as important to the “casual” fan. Again, remember, we don’t watch every week because we’re NOT necessarily fans of the wrestling. I’ve always said this when it comes to casual wrestling fans, when there is a guy on a wrestling show on TV that —regardles of his acrobatic performance in the ring—you actually BELIEVE YOU CAN TAKE—then you have a problem on your hands.

Look at current history. The guys that the “core” wrestling fans see as over are guys like; CM Punk, Daniel Bryan , Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Now again, even though the audiences who pay to see them are reacting to them, that doesn’t mean that the world is, or even the “casual” wrestling fan. All great wrestlers, and tremendous talents in their own right, but to casual wrestling fans these guys just look like “regular guys” when you stand them up next to a Brock Lesnar, or a John Cena, or a Roman Reigns even. Now granted, the WWE brain trust haven’t exactly stepped up to the plate in supplying these guys with defined characters that could help make up for some of their lack off physical prowess, but still, at the end of the day if I ran into any one of them on the street—they wouldn’t scare me. There is nothing “different”, or “unique” about them—they just look like ordinary guys (with the exception of Daniel Bryan, of course). That’s why the WWE never really pushed CM Punk, and were hesitant to push Bryan Daniel, not because of their wrestling ability, but because these guys may not necessarily appeal to the MASSES. And, that’s just fact, not opinion. Go back and look at your numbers when these guys were on top. No question that both Rollins and Ambrose are the two best “workers” on the WWE roster right now, NO DOUBT, but, when it comes to business . . . where are they getting the WWE? Look at the numbers . . . the casual fans are not watching.

The majority of the people reading this post are going to kill me with their comments, and you know why? The Internet Wrestling Community is made up of DIE-HARD wrestling fans! Casual wrestling fans don’t go to sites to find out about the insiders of the business. they don’t even know that they exist. To them, its real simple—WRESTLERS NEED TO LOOK LIKE WRESTLERS! They need to look different, stand-out, be unique and posses a LARGER THEN LIFE presence. That’s what we grew up on, that’s what we want! It’s just part of the wrestling business, and always has been. Without even knowing the card, go look at the WrestleMania I roster. Just look at what those guys looked like PHYSICALLY! Hogan, Piper, Bundy, Orndorf, JYD, Big John Studd, Andre the Giant (OK, an exception to the rule), Jimmy Snuka, Iron Shiek, Nikolai Volkoff, ALL THESE GUYS LOOKED LIKE WRESTLERS!!! Can you say the same about today’s crop? Now, face it, much of that also has to do with lack of character development, and I’ll get into that tomorrow, but out of all those guys listed—do you think you could actually take one of them? They all just had a “presence”, and the physical aspect played a huge part. Casual fans want super heroes—we always have . . . we always will.

But, at some point, the wrestling business actually started listening to the internet fans. Somewhere along the line “work rate” became more important than “physical presence”. And, again, when the vast majority of the casual fans could give two HURRICANRANAS about how good a wrestling match is, or a wrestling match at all—you’ve lost them. And, the WWE continues to go down that road. Just watching NXT last week I saw first hand how they are getting further and further away from what the MASSES want. Yeah, I saw some UNBELIVABLE wrestlers on that show, BUT—are they going to appeal to the masses—or, do they just look like regular guys?

I guess all that is a part of STAR POWER, and unfortunately, physical appearance has something to do with that in the majority of the cases.

Hey man, don’t hate the player . . . hate the game.

Follow me @julianexcalibur

SENYCC: WWE Superstar Batista Interview

Julian Cannon 1 Comment

WWE Superstar “The Animal” Batista was at the Special Edition of New York Comic Con last weekend and I with a few others had the opportunity to interview him. He is also co-starring in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” as he plays as Drax the Destroyer. The film will be released on August 1, 2014

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SO BATISTA, YOU HAVE RETURNED TO THE WWE AFTER AN 4 YEAR ABSCNECE, WHAT IS THE LOCKER ROOM LIKE NOW COMPARED TO 4 YEARS AGO?

“Well not much has changed really except for the new hungry kids from NXT I have seen for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Guys like Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, The Ascension and many more young guys who want to come up to the main roster, NXT is the future of this business and just like guys like me, John Cena, Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar, we went through the system in OVW. But to end the question, the locker room has been great to me.”

NOW YOU HAVE HAD MANY MATCHES AT WRESTLEMANIA, IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE TWO OF THOSE MATCHES AS YOU’RE FAVORITES,  WHAT WOULD THOSE MATCHES BE?

“(Laughs) well the first one would be against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 23 because we stole the show on that night. When his music hits and he made his entrance, I was a bit nervous. But I was happy that we tore the house down and he trusted me. Undertaker is a good friend of mines and we have that chemistry that some others have in the ring. I would also say that my feud with him that year was one of my personal favorites as well. My second favorite is the match against Triple H at WrestleMania 21. He was the teacher and I was the student. I felt the buildup was great and the match was great. We both beat each other up in that classic match. People can say what they want about Triple H but he is the true ring general and he wants to see the younger talent go up to the level that he was.”

THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR BATISTA. NOW YOU WERE PART OF EVOLUTION FOR A FEW YEARS, FROM YOU’RE VIEW, WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT IT?

“Evolution to me was great. I can tell you that it was also an learning experience too. You have Ric Flair who is one of the greatest champions of all time and Triple H who is (at that point) becoming the greatest of all time and beginning to submit his legacy, and me and Randy Orton being groomed to becoming the next faces of the WWE. Most factions like DX or NWO Didn’t have the younger stars setting out to be ready for the main event scene with the exception of Triple H. This is what is missing with factions these days. But look at The Shield. Those 3 guys ( Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns) can work their butts off and I love working with the 3 of them. Those 3 will have a great future.”

YOU ARE STARRING IN MARVEL’S “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY” AS “Drax the Destroyer”, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PLAYING THIS COMIC CHARACTER WHEN MARVEL SIGNED YOU?

“I have been a fan of Marvel Comics and playing Drax has been a great experience. Originally it was going to be either Isaiah Mustafa, Patrick Wade or Jason Momoa but I was selected. The movie has ties to The Avengers and will connect to other Marvel movies in the future. Drax is a human resurrected as a green warrior for the sole purpose of killing Thanos (the villain in the final-scene tease of Avengers). His powers include flight, super-strength and energy blasts and when the movie premiers in the United States, everyone will see how I will pull the character off. but it was very fun and Chris Pratt was a great guy to work with as well. The makeup took very long to put on though. I believe it was about 4 hours and after we were finished shooting, and then it took nearly 90 minutes to take it all off of me.”

WHAT ARE YOU’RE THOUGHTS ON THE WWE NETWORK?

“The WWE Network is great, I have waited a long time for it to finally launch. For Fans who have never seen what the days of the WWE or WCW was like in the 1980’s or early 1990’s, you need to check the stuff out. It is not only great stuff and matches, but it also educates the fans of the superstars of yesterday who were big such as Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Paul Orndorff, The British Bulldogs, Andre’ The Giant and many more. There is a lot of variety for the fans to watch and the Network can change the way we all watch TV very soon. Even a lot of my matches are on the WWE Network right now as we speak.”

IF YOU WOULD BOOK RAW FOR ONE NIGHT, HOW WOULD YOU BOOK IT?

“That is a great question. Well I would not get into the whole details but I would have more in ring wrestling, less segments and little comedy. I think the fans would want that too so that way it can balance everything in a good flow. I left a few years ago due to me not agreeing with the direction with the company that it was going too. But now I am happy to be back.”

YOU HAVE RECIEVED MUCH HEAT FROM THE FANS SINCE THE ROYAL RUMBLE, DO YOU LET THAT BOTHER YOU WHILE YOU ARE IN MATCHES AT ALL?

“When I came back earlier this year, it was one of the best moments of my career. I went into the Rumble match and won it and I got booed out the arena. The names such as “Bluetista” or “Bootista” does not bother me. If the fans were in my shoes getting that kind of reception, they would either take it as it is or let that distract them. Whether the fans cheer or boo, I do not care at all as long as I am getting an reaction. It is better than no reaction at all because if you were in the ring with dead silence from the crowd, then that is a problem. Some fans take the sport too seriously with them attacking other fans and wrestlers on twitter and I can say that it has gotten out of hand, but the fans can say whatever they want.”

TO END THE INTERVIEW, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO GET INTO WRESTLING? “Yes I do. if this is for you, go for it. What we do in that ring, we do it for about 300 days a year. You have to have the passion to succeed and to be happy wrestling. Don’t let anybody tell you that you cannot do it because if you believe that you can do it, you will make it. When I was training in the WCW Power Plant, some of the trainers thought I would not make it. but I proved them wrong once I got trained more in WWE. There are other promotions out there but the WWE is the MLB of wrestling. Every night feels like the World Series and WrestleMania is the one major show you would want to make it too. Dreams come true if you stick to what you are planning and what you want to get out of it.”

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