A.J. Styles - Poised To Take ROH To The Number Two Spot In Pro Wrestling!

I have been a wrestling fan for a little over 30 years. I discovered the sport one Sunday morning while on punishment. In 1983 punishment for me meant no going outside to play with my friends. So I sat in front of the black & white TV in our kitchen and began to turn the channel knob. Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland our local TV stations showed pro wrestling from NWA, WWF, AWA and WCCW regularly. I was initially impressed with the National Wrestling Alliance. It felt gritty, dirt-under-your-fingernails raw. That Sunday morning I became engulfed in the drama and athleticism that is pro wrestling.

The NWA had a sense of realness that did not exist in the showbiz driven WWF (WWE) The arenas that WWF ran their shows in were larger and better lit, but in the world of 'fake fight' it felt very phony. I watched all the wrestling I could get my hands on, including WWF. We obviously know that Vince McMahon and company won the wrestling war: with TNA Impact Wrestling in a very distant second place and Ring of Honor (ROH) in an even more distant 3rd place. I wont rant today on TNA but I do want to talk about ROH.

When Sinclair Broadcasting purchased ROH in 2011, I was very excited about the growth potential of the company. I tuned in regularly to their TV product and even caught a few live shows. Visually, ROH has many of the elements that made the 1980's NWA appealing to me as a child. There are some major differences however. On one hand, the intimate-independent nature of the ROH product gives it that hometown, grassroots feel. On the other hand, the lighting and production issues they have faced (things that the NWA dealt with too) have dulled the ROH shine to me.

In my peripheral vision, I payed attention to ROH news, but for the most part I checked out - that is until the re-signing of AJ Styles in late 2013. AJ Styles is an alumni of Ring of Honor, having wrestled there from 2002-2004. He is coming off of a nearly 12 year 'phenomenal' run with TNA Impact Wrestling. Though I was not a fan of the last few story lines he has been involved in - his talent cannot be denied. He is one of the best they had.

 I heard AJ Styles say in a recent interview with PWTorch editor Wade Keller, that his January 4th match with Roderick Strong would be televised February 1st. In the preceding weeks, I started to catch up on ROH story lines and news. Without the signing of AJ, this would not have happened. I saw the match, and aside form the very stiff his 'Styles Clash' finisher; I loved the match. AJ is the type of wrestler that you can build a company around. This is what has always hurt his TNA run. When they did attempt to build with him, he was hampered by bad gimmicks (anyone remember Fortune) It is 2014 and AJ is 36 years old, he may be under 6ft tall - but the 'Phenomenal One' is more than capable of helping Ring of Honor get to the number two spot. Now all we need to do is get ROH some better lighting!


Find out more about Ring of Honor Wrestling
http://www.rohwrestling.com/

Batista's Win Means a Boring feud is Coming - WWE's 2014 Royal Rumble Review

RHODES BROTHERS vs. THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS
The WWE kicked off the 2014 Royal Rumble with a Tag Title match during the free pre-show that featured The Rhodes Brothers vs The New Age Outlaws. I watched the match on my ipad and it was really great to see 3 veterans wrestlers (plus Cody) from the 'Attitude Era' in what turned out to be a solid match. In the end, a blind tag by Road Dogg to Billy Gunn resulted a surprise attack and a pin by Mr Ass. The new Tag Team Champions of the World The New Age Outlaws!


DANIEL BRYAN vs. BRAY WYATT (w/Luke Harper and Erick Rowan)

By far the most popular wrestler in the world; Daniel Bryan should not be in the ppv opener, but he and Wyatt delivered a show stealing 21:30 minute match. Bray Wyatt ultimately won, after delivering 2 of his Sister Abigail finishers. It was a very good opening match. The crowd was hot and chanting "Yes" or "Daniel Bryan" throughout. It is amazing how far Daniel Bryan has come in the last few years. He is being held down but it is only a matter of time before he rises to the WWE Title. This was an elevation for Bray none the less.

BROCK LESNAR (w/Paul Heyman) vs. BIG SHOW

I was not looking forward to the Big Show vs Brock Lesnar ( with Paul Heyman). Something about the way Big Show has been portrayed these last few months has rubbed me the wrong way. Lesnar hit the ring quickly and attacked the Big Show assaulting him with repeated chair shots before the ref finally started the match. After some trash talking, and punches from Show; Lesnar hit a F-5, ending the match. Post match, Lesnar retrieved another chair and wore the Big Show out. The obviously injured Show sold the chair assault well, putting Brock Lesnar over as a dangerous villain.

RANDY ORTON vs. JOHN CENA

Randy Orton's vs John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was a good match with 2 competitors in the prime of their careers. The Wyatt family caused a distraction to Cena, leading to Randy Orton retaining the title. Orton won the match with his signature RKO, then slithered out of the ring. Bray Wyatt led the rest of the Wyatt family in a systematic beat down of Cena, setting up a future feud with the leader of the Cenation.

ROYAL RUMBLE 

We found out on Raw that CM Punk was the number 1 entrant in the Royal Rumble match up. This allowed a bit of retribution against the number 2 entrant, Seth Rollins. As the match progressed, some wrestlers like Koffi Kingston and Dolf Ziggler had standout performances, while others like R Truth and JBL were very forgettable. There were a few surprise entrants like Sheamas, Kevin Nash and El Torrito. Two of the final four; Punk, Sheamus, Roman Reigns and Batista would have been a great winner, but the WWE went with the predictable move. Kane returned to eliminate Punk and then put him through a table at ringside. Next, Sheamus was eliminated. The final two, Roman and Batista had a battle of the spears, with the returning "Animal" getting the win. No real surprise with Batista winning the match (I wish it had been Roman or Punk) The Rumble match itself was a bit disappointing to me. Maybe I would have liked it better if Batista had been a surprise entrant, but after his appearance on Raw, it was clear he was going to win the match. It seems as if he is on a collision course with Randy Orton at Wrestlemania. (Boring)