By The Mark, Columnist
Welcome to the next decade of wrestling! Here’s the month of January wrestling summed up in the eyes of a Mark. Each month, TGP Wrestling will break down the best and worst of wrestling in a few short paragraph’s without further delay? Here we go.
On the Ups…
- Just when wrestling fans were doing a eulogy for Ring of Honor, Marty Scurll signs a new deal and gets a head booker title.
He also shows up in NWA and now we have two promotions working hand and hand. This is a great thing for wrestling because it shows promotions still have crossover appeal within the United States, sort of like the old territories like when talent used to be lent out and traded. - AEW continues to beat NXT head to head.
Moxley’s stock continues to rise as his impending championship match with Chris Jericho has the potential to tear the house down. Also Omega finally got off the snide and won a belt with Hangman Page as the new Tag Team champions. - The NXT women have been shining brightly
Without a shadow of a doubt the best female’s division in any wrestling realm. Ripley, Kay Lee Ray, Belair, Storm, Baszler, Shirai, Niven, Kai, Nox, Yim, LeRae, Green, the list goes on and on and on. It’s only a matter of time that Triple H and Stephanie talk Vince into an all-out female show. - Speaking of NXT…
The NXT UK Brand had it’s second PPV with NXT Takerover Blackpool II. Jordan Devlin and Tyler Bate stole the damn show. It’s early in the year, but this can easily be considered for an early match of the year candidate. WALTER also continues to impress with another victory this time over Joe Coffey. And the Tag Team ladder match was insane. Keep an eye on James Drake and Zach Gibson. Between their in-ring work and Gibson mic skills these guys are rolling in the right direction. - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom
In One Word = Outstanding!
Heading down…
- Impact Wrestling.
What should have been a great moment for women in wrestling turned into a sideshow no one expected or wanted to see. Tessa Blanchard sent out one post and it was greeted with harsh criticism, allegations, finger points, timing questions, racism, and lot of eye opening. Let’s get something straight, love her or hate her something happened in Japan. The timing in question is never a good time to talk about racist remarks and bullying, but the lack of a sincere apologize when this many women come forth shows a lack of character from a person with an attitude problem and a lot of people claiming the same thing. - Lana, Lashley, Rusev, and Liv.
Yes, another WWE wedding, another joke of a show, big ratings, but also big castrations. This whole angle needs to end, but the WWE higher ups think this is what’s best for business or “Good Shit”. It’s a train wreck. Lana has no damn right being in a main event wrestling. Lashley has no charisma. Rusev seems like he has one foot out the door. Liv after a build came up shorter than Enzo’s stay in ROH. Just pure crap. - AEW women’s division.
Where to begin? It’s awful and directionless. This division could take the bottom 8 ladies in NXT and be much stronger overnight. Unfortunately, they can’t do that and this portion of AEW is insufferable to watch. Women’s wrestling is ascending, AEW’s women’s wrestling is descending by the minute with no end in sight. - Dog Food?
If Fox is happy with Dog Food on a pole matches, this is where Vince is taking Reigns and Corbin fellow wrestling fans. This never-ending feud will continue past the Royal Rumble and the payoff might not be that grand. Reigns is being wasted on Corbin and his go-home heat. Even with the Uso’s back in the mix, this feud went bad, to worse to brutal at warp speed. Just end it and give Roman something better to do. Corbin can go back to washing jock straps for all I care.
The good outweighs the bad right now, but barely. Hopefully February will bring more joy to Watchville for wrestling fans and less drama. With the XFL starting maybe Vince will sit back and let someone who cares run the shows. Maybe we will get a true apology from Blanchard, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Maybe AEW will sign Rosemary and get the women’s division heading in the right direction.
Until next month, be kind and rewind… Mark out!
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