When this column is posted, Halloween will be a mere five days away. What better time to look at the scariest moments that pro wrestling has had to offer than SPOOKY SZN?!?
Because this is my column, I’m obviously going to focus on my own personal choices for some of the scariest moments in wrestling history. They might match up with the moments on your list, but they might not. I’m also going to be going with a combination of moments that are in and out of kayfabe, just to keep things a bit fresher. One rule I’ll be using is that I won’t include wrestler deaths, whether they be in the ring or otherwise. There will be some entries where people damn near died, though. Finally, things are going to be listed in no particular order. Let’s get this holiday-themed edition of CKTH underway.
Big Boss Man Hanged On Live Pay-Per-View: Oh, man, remember the earlier days of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak, when he was usually involved in stinker after stinker? This was the year that Taker pushed his WrestleMania record to 8-0, but in those matches, how many moments do you remember? Even this moment, still remembered almost 24 years later, happened after the match was over. As Taker stood tall over Boss Man’s body, The Brood rappelled from the ceiling of the arena, landing atop the Cell. They passed a noose to Taker, who wrapped it around Boss Man’s neck, as the rope was tied to the roof of the Cell. Paul Bearer took control of the button used to raise and drop the Cell from the ceiling, and he pushed the button, sending the Cell up… with Boss Man still in the noose. As Boss Man was lifted further into the air, he stopped fighting the hanging, and his body went limp. The lights went out, and that was that, but do you realize how insane it is to watch something like that? That isn’t even mentioning just how stupid it was to do something like that, even if it was gimmicked and Boss Man’s life wasn’t actually on the line there (he had a body harness hidden underneath his ring gear). You pulled a stunt like that for The Undertaker… versus Big Boss Man? A heel vs heel match that was asstastic and the live crowd gave zero fucks about? Huh?
Jesse Sorensen Has His Neck Broken: There have been a lot of tragic injuries that took place during matches through the years, but this one really stuck in my mind. I remember being on a Skype call with the rest of the Lords Of Podcast Roundtable as we watched TNA’s Against All Odds 2012 pay-per-view. In the opening match, Sorensen faced Zema Ion (now known as Joaquin Wilde of Legado Del Fantasma) to crown a new #1 contender for the X-Division Title. Less than five minutes into the match, Ion attempted a moonsault from the middle rope to Sorensen, who was standing at ringside. Ion’s knee would crash down right on top of Sorensen’s head, and Sorensen immediately fell limp to the floor. You knew something was wrong right away, but at first glance, it just looked like Sorensen was knocked unconscious or something along those lines. The Referee threw up the dreaded “x” to end the match, and as the minutes went by, you could tell that it was a lot more serious than just being knocked out. Even after several minutes, Sorensen hadn’t moved whatsoever below the waist. He would eventually get stretchered out of the arena, but we all had to wonder if we had just seen the end of a 22-year-old’s career before our very eyes. Luckily, he recovered enough that he was able to return to the ring a year-and-a-half later. He was able to find some work as an enhancement talent in NXT in 2015 and 2016, and would also go on to fill a similar role for a few matches on AEW Dark in 2020, but his career was never the same after this injury.
“Macho Man” Randy Savage Is Bitten By A Snake: It happened 31 years ago, but it remains one of the most famous visuals in WWF/WWE history, if not all of pro wrestling history. Randy Savage, tied up in the ropes. Jake “The Snake” Roberts, taunting Savage with a cobra. Then… it happened. That cobra bit Savage, digging his fangs into Macho’s arm as shrieks and screams filled the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. The snake was a venomoid, meaning that it had been de-venomized, but of course, none of us knew that as we watched in horror. Years later, all of the behind-the-scenes stories from this moment would become famous. It was Savage’s idea in the first place, but even so, his famous paranoia kicked in. As he pitched the idea to Jake, he wondered if Jake would like to take the opportunity to “take the Macho Man out” like many people in the WWF locker room would. After trying to convince Savage that the snake had been de-venomized, Jake had to allow the snake to bite his leg first. The cobra bites Jake, then Savage tells Jake to sit in the locker room for 30 minutes before Randy finally returns to make sure that Jake hasn’t died. Less than two weeks after the snake bit Savage, it would pass away, leading to a fantastic quote from the Macho Man. “He was de-venomized, but maybe I wasn’t!”
Mick Foley’s “Cane Dewey” Promo: Almost all of my favorite promos in wrestling history have had at least a smidge of real emotion tossed in. This is a wonderful example of that. In a pre-taped promo for ECW, Mick Foley, as Cactus Jack, was talking about Tommy Dreamer, and then he veered off into talking about the ECW fans not being worth what Dreamer wants from them. Foley told a story about being sliced open by a broken bottle that was wielded by Terry Funk, and while he was in a world of pain from the bottle, he looked and saw a “Cane Dewey” sign in the crowd. Dewey, for those unaware, is Mick’s son, and was only three-years-old at the time. Mick said that the physical pain he was enduring became a distant memory, and it was replaced by an entirely different level of pain that was then stuck in his head. He then unleashed an emotional tirade, ranting about how the ECW fans broke his heart, and he then masterfully began to weave his real pain into the storyline. Mick talked about how he hated seeing someone like Dreamer put his faith in those same fans, and that he (Foley) had to look his family in the eyes and tell them that he threw away guaranteed money from WCW to come work for ECW. It was creepy. Dark. Fascinating. It took us deep into the mind of one of the most terrifying minds in the history of the business, taking things from 0 to 100 in light speed.
The Ultimate Warrior Is Locked In A Casket: As a youngster, watching Paul Bearer’s Funeral Parlor talk show segment was a bit unnerving to begin with. This moment took things to an entirely different level. Watching The Undertaker attack Warrior from behind and eventually dump him into a casket was frightening to watch as a kid. The added sound effect of the airtight seal being activated. Several WWF officials frantically trying to pry the casket lid open before finally succeeding, allowing us to see an “unconscious” Warrior that had tried clawing his way out of the casket before passing out. Warrior receiving mouth-to-mouth and CPR as he remained unconscious in the casket. That’s some heavy shit for a child. As an adult, I can laugh as I watch it, as the WWF officials were like the Keystone Cops as they tried to rescue Warrior, using tools that clearly weren’t going to help, hitting every part of the casket except for the parts that you would need to cause damage to so that you can break the airtight seal, and so on.
The Age Of The Fall Debuts: Leading up to Ring Of Honor’s Man Up pay-per-view in 2007, the company saw a bunch of viral posts, both on a blog site and the company’s own message board, about a stable that was code named Project 161. At Man Up, Jay and Mark Briscoe successfully defended the RoH Tag Team Titles in a Ladder Match against Kevin Steen (aka Kevin Owens) and El Generico (aka Sami Zayn). After the match, Project 161 would reveal themselves to be Jimmy Jacobs, The Necro Butcher, and Tyler Black (aka Seth Rollins). The group would violently attack the Briscoes before attaching Jay Briscoe by his feet to the rigging that was used to hold the Tag Team Title belts during the Ladder Match. As Jay was lifted high above the ring, hanging upside down, he was literally pouring blood all over Jimmy Jacobs, who was standing beneath him and cutting a promo. Jacobs was wearing an all-white suit, and it was stained red instantly. Jay’s blood had soaked Jacobs’ suit, hair, and face. It even dripped into Jacobs’ mouth at multiple points. Just a gruesome way to make your presence known during your stable debut. By the way, while we’re on the subject, don’t think I didn’t notice that Gabe Sapolsky was partially behind the AotF debut, and was also brought back to WWE in time for all of this viral marketing campaign that we’ve seen for Bray Wyatt’s return.
Marty Garner’s Pedigree From Hunter Hearst Helmsley: During what was, until then, a fairly nondescript match between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Marty Garner at a WWF Superstars taping, we were treated to one of the gnarliest looking botches that any of us had ever seen. As Helmsley went to hit Garner with a Pedigree, Garner would jump and rotate in the air, thinking that the move was a powerbomb or piledriver of some sort. The result was Garner being spiked directly on top of his head. He crashed to the mat like a missile. Garner was very lucky to not be paralyzed, or at least to have his neck completely broken. As Matt Hardy (who, along with his brother, trained Garner) pointed out, Garner may have actually been saved by Helmsley, who helps guides his opponents down in the Pedigree, and that it could’ve been a lot worse had Garner just fallen uncontrolled.
Nick Gage Nearly Makes The Term “Deathmatch” Literal: This is the first entry on the list so far that I didn’t see live on television, or at least as it first took place. Back in 2009, at GCW’s Tournament Of Death 8, Nick Gage was wrestling Thumbtack Jack in a “200 Light Tubes & Panes Of Glass Death Match” in the finals of the titular Tournament Of Death. It was the third match of the day for both of them. At one point in the match, Jack would send Gage through some light tubes, but in doing so, Gage was stabbed in the armpit area, and he began bleeding… and bleeding… and bleeding. It turns out that he had sliced two major arteries and the amount of blood he was losing was too much to continue with the match. He needed to be airlifted away from the show in a helicopter and taken to a nearby hospital. The thing is… he passed away in the helicopter. He lost so much blood that he flatlined and was legally dead for several minutes before being brought back to life. I know this type of wrestling isn’t for everyone. To be honest, it isn’t for me, hence why I didn’t know anything about it back in 2009 when it happened. However, if you’re able to stomach this type of thing and you watch the match, you can tell something is wrong with Gage immediately, and it is legitimately terrifying to watch someone lose that much blood that quickly. It looked like a murder scene, and it damn near ended up being one. To see that, and then to think that Nick Gage is still working these violent types of matches 13 years later, blows the mind.
Diesel Sees Himself In A Casket: One of the most anticipated matches leading up to WrestleMania 12 was The Undertaker taking on Diesel in another “big man vs big man” match that the WWF loved having for Taker at WrestleMania back then. During the build, there was a time when Diesel destroyed The Undertaker’s casket. Oooh, dastardly! As revenge, we would later see Paul Bearer wheeling a new casket to the ring after a match between Diesel and Barry Horowitz. Obviously, The Undertaker is in the casket, and he’s going to pop out of it so we can get a good ol’ brawl going to further build the WrestleMania match. Diesel creeps up to the casket, ready to ambush Taker, and he opens the lid to reveal… himself. It was some sort of professionally done wax figure or something, but we would also find out, years later, that Nash himself posed for the close-up shots in the casket. Ah, the power of taped shows and being able to edit things before airing them on television. Even still, it was such a weird thing to witness. Kudos to Kevin Nash for selling it properly, too. He reacted as most people would, and perhaps should, if they were to open a casket and see themselves inside of it.
Stan Hansen Sends Japanese Fans Running For Their Lives: This isn’t one specific incident, but actually, it’s pretty much every time Stan “The Lariat” Hansen wrestled in Japan. He was crazy and unpredictable, and he would stomp his way to the ring, coming through the crowd, while wildly swinging a cowbell around. Unlike a lot of North American wrestling that most fans are used to, where wrestlers might get in the face of fans in the front row, but it doesn’t get any closer than that, Hansen did not give one single iota of a fuck. He was swinging and charging, and if you got in his way… wrestler, fan, child, dog, cat, referee… you were getting taken out. Those Japanese fans understood this, and they weren’t taking any chances. I have this listed here because I always try to picture myself in the crowd as this 6’4″, 320-pound ornery, legally blind (!!!) cowboy comes charging at me, and just how I would react to it. I’d be doing the same thing as those fans were doing… running for my life.
Brock Lesnar’s Failed Shooting Star Press: Earlier, I mentioned the Jesse Sorensen injury and how you could tell, right away, that something was wrong. Well, at WrestleMania 19, not only did I think something was wrong right away, I wondered, in that split second, if I had just watched a man die on live pay-per-view. You’ve seen the clip a billion times by now, I’m sure. Lesnar goes to the top rope in his match against Kurt Angle, but he hesitates before jumping, and it causes him to mess up the timing of his Shooting Star Press. There aren’t too many people on the planet who could’ve messed that up and escaped without at least suffering career-altering injuries, let alone dying. If Lesnar wasn’t so jacked, with muscles in places that most people don’t have places, things might have ended differently.
Jerry Lawler’s On-Air Heart Attack: Going from one instance of thinking I had seen someone die on live programming to another. I didn’t even know what to think as I watched Monday Night Raw that night. Because I’m a wrestling fan, my mind immediately went to wondering if the entire thing was a work. What would be the purpose of Jerry Lawler having some sort of fake heart attack on television? I have no idea. As the night continued on, and as we kept getting medical updates from Michael Cole, I started to realize that it wasn’t a work at all. In the years since, all of the behind-the-scenes stuff from that night only added to the scare factor. The footage of Lawler, unconscious on a stretcher, being given CPR backstage, and then similar video of paramedics doing the same to him in the ambulance, was gut-wrenching to see. We also heard from Cole, who mentioned that WWE officials were in his headset that night, telling him to “prepare for the worst” and be ready to possibly announce Lawler’s passing to the millions of viewers watching at home. To me, another interesting thing that came out of this situation was strictly in the world of kayfabe. Michael Cole was in the middle of a run as a heel play-by-play guy, doing everything possible to be as obnoxious and as annoying as possible, essentially ruining WWE programming for many fans who were forced to watch the shows with their televisions muted. Because of how he handled Lawler’s heart attack, rising to the occasion in an impossible situation to be in, Cole became a face overnight. Literally. His on-screen character completely changed, and he went back to being a “regular” commentator again.
The Undertaker Debuts: 1990 was, pretty obviously, a different time in the business than 2022. Could you imagine a character named The Undertaker debuting at this year’s Survivor Series, complete with that ring gear, that look, and that eye makeup? It would be laughed at, non-stop, until WWE had no choice but to scrap the character. In 1990, though, that character debuted and SCARED people. Watch the debut itself, as well as every time he was on WWF programming for months to come, and what do you see? Children and adults alike with looks of fear on their faces as he made his entrance. Numerous WWF personalities from the time have told similar stories about people coming up to them after shows, at airports, and so on, asking if The Undertaker was really dead. Think about that for a moment. Yes, it was pre-internet, but we’re still talking about the 1990’s here, not the 60’s or the 70’s, when wrestling fans pretty much believed everything and treated everything as being real. That says a lot about Mark Calaway and his dedication to the character, making it come to life, for lack of a better term in this instance.
The Mass Transit Incident: Here’s another one that I, like almost every wrestling fan alive, didn’t see as it happened. What a mess this one ended up being. A literal and figurative mess. Erich Kulas, a 17-year-old “aspiring wrestler” was scheduled to wrestle against a tag team of dwarf wrestlers at an ECW house show in 1996. When Axl Rotten couldn’t make it to the show due to a family emergency, this left D-Von Dudley without a tag partner to take on New Jack and Mustafa Saed, better known as The Gangstas. This led to Kulas going to Paul Heyman and asking to be Rotten’s replacement in the match. Kulas said that he was 21 years old, and that he had worked for Killer Kowalski, who ran a wrestling school ten minutes away from the venue that ECW was running that night. Somehow, Heyman agreed to place Kulas in the match, even though he had ZERO IDEA who he was, nor did he have any sort of verification or identification to back up the claims he was making. During the match, Kulas asked New Jack to cut him because he had never bladed before, and Jack agreed. Unfortunately, Jack cut a little too deep with a surgical scalpel, and Kulas had two arteries severed in his head, causing major blood loss. Kulas would eventually pass out from the loss of blood, and medics would need to rush to the ring to help him. Oh, and while Kulas was fading away in a pool of his own blood, what was happening at ringside? His father, who was in on the entire lie, was screaming for the match to be over because his son was only 17. The entire incident would leave a black eye on ECW for a long time, and would lead to the temporary cancellation of the company’s very first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, as well as a criminal trial and a civil suit against New Jack. Jack was acquitted of assault and battery and found not liable in the civil suit, but the damage had been done. However, this was one incident that New Jack was involved in where he was the most innocent person involved in the situation. Kulas and his father purposely lied about his age and training (not only had he not trained and worked with Killer Kowalski, he hadn’t trained anywhere at all) in an attempt to wrestle for ECW, and Paul Heyman mindlessly allowed this high schooler to compete on one of his shows with no proof of anything. Yes, New Jack cut Kulas a little too deep, but if you’ve watched enough wrestling, you’ve seen that happen in a lot of different matches. You’ll see someone get bladed, or blade themselves, too deep and it leads to absolute gushers of blood. This was such a stupid incident that was completely preventable, but spiraled out of control in an instant.
Mankind Takes Too Many Chair Shots At The Royal Rumble: While we’re on the topic of stupid incidents that were completely preventable but spiraled out of control, we have the 1999 Royal Rumble and an “I Quit” Match between the WWF Champion, Mankind, and his challenger, The Rock. The finish of the match saw Mankind, with his hands handcuffed behind his back, take a whopping 11 unprotected (obviously) steel chair shots to the face and head. Even before the world began to truly understand things like concussions and CTE, that was brutal to watch. The famous documentary, Beyond The Mat, made it even tougher to watch, as you got to witness Mick Foley’s wife and two young children openly weeping as they watched him take all of that damage from the front row. To make everything even worse, we would later find out that The Rock went a bit overboard, hitting Mick with more chair shots than they previously agreed to when going over things before the show. Of course, this isn’t the only crazy thing Mick Foley has done in his career (more on that in a bit), but it’s something you can’t help but think about when you listen to him on his podcast and, every so often, he’ll lose his train of thought in the middle of a sentence and need to ask his co-host, Conrad Thompson, to help him get back on track.
The Fiend Debuts: Well, his live debut, anyway, and not any sort of appearance in a Firefly Funhouse skit. When he showed up on the July 15th, 2019 episode of Raw, The Fiend looked, and felt, like something straight out of a horror movie. Appearing from the darkness, with the eerie string sounds of his “music” playing and that mask he was wearing… oh, my goodness, that mask… as he showed up and attacked Finn Balor, it was, as I said, something you would see in a horror movie. Even the way the spotlights kicked on and swirled around, only showing parts of his face at first, was great. It was the perfect way to introduce him. The chants of “holy shit” from the WWE Universe in Uniondale, New York were well deserved that night.
Sid Vicious Snaps His Leg: I didn’t want to see it then, and I don’t want to see it now. This was one of those injuries that you witness once and it sticks in your brain forever. Legs are not supposed to bend in that fashion. If, for some strange reason, you’ve never seen this before, even after all these years… I wouldn’t recommend you watching it now, but hey, I can’t tell you what to do. It’s all over the place, and it isn’t a difficult to find on YouTube or whatever other site you decide to use. Just be warned that it’s… uh… it’s something else.
New Jack Tries To Kill Vic Grimes: There’s a bit of a backstory for this entry that needs to be mentioned first. At ECW’s Living Dangerously pay-per-view on March 12th, 2000, New Jack took on Vic Grimes, but the match didn’t last long. They had a spot where they were fighting atop some scaffolding, with two tables set up below. According to Jack, Grimes would tell him that he didn’t want to go through with their agreed to spot because they were “up too high” on the scaffolding. Jack would try to convince Grimes by telling them that it was too late and that they were on live pay-per-view, so he proceeded with the spot, anyway, as Grimes tried to physically resist jumping from the scaffolding. The result was Jack crashing through the table and the 300+ pound Grimes landing back-first on Jack, crushing his skull on the concrete. Jack suffered a fractured skull, brain damage, and permanent nerve damage and blindness in his right eye due to the fall. Fast forward two years, and we have Jack facing Grimes in a Scaffold Match for Rob Black’s XPW promotion. This time, the scaffolding is approximately 40 feet above the ring. As they fight atop the scaffolding, we see Jack use a taser on Grimes several times, and then toss Grimes over the side. There were 12 tables stacked up in the ring. Grimes hit one of them, barely grazed another, and nearly missed the ring altogether. Jack would later admit that he was trying to launch Grimes hard enough that he would hit the turnbuckles and die, as he was seeking revenge for what happened in ECW two years later. Grimes was incredibly lucky on that night in XPW. Both bumps were scary to watch, but the second one having such dark intentions behind it really makes it stand out.
Kurt Angle Tries & Tries To Send Shane McMahon Through Glass: Say whatever you want about Shane McMahon… and Lord knows that just about everything that there is to say has been said by now… but when he wrestles, the matches end up being entertaining far more often than not. At the 2001 King Of The Ring pay-per-view, Shane took on Kurt Angle in a Street Fight. I remember not really knowing what to expect back then. Shane had wrestled a bunch of matches before that night, but he was heavily protected in most of those matches. They were against “lesser” competition, or he had tag partners to carry the heavy load, or the matches were kept very short, and so on and so on. The match ended up being… wait for it… entertaining, but that’s certainly not why I’m mentioning it here. No, glass is why this match gets the mention. Kurt and Shane brawl at the stage set, back when every WWF pay-per-view had its very own unique set, decorations, rigs, etc. There are several door-sized glass panels lined up next to each other, and Kurt goes to hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, which would send Shane crashing through the glass. The problem is… the glass didn’t break, and Shane fell to the concrete, head-first, with a sickening thud. What to do next? Well, if at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again, and that’s exactly what Angle did. This time, a second suplex sent Shane smashing through the glass with violent speed. Problem solved? No, not problem solved, because they had intentions of going through the glass in the other direction, too, so they moved to another panel. Another suplex… and Shane bounces off and falls on his head again. Let’s do it again. ANOTHER suplex… and Shane bounces off and falls on his head again. At this point, you have to wonder if Shane is going to be able to walk away from this match when it’s said and done. Finally, Kurt decides to shake things up a bit and just throws Shane through the glass like you’d see someone do in a saloon in an old western movie. By then, both Kurt and Shane are bleeding profusely, sliced and diced by the glass that sure as hell didn’t look like it was gimmicked. There’s a reason for that. Later on, we would find out that the glass was originally gimmicked “sugar glass” that has been used a million times in wrestling, but also in movies and television shows. Then, earlier in the day, during the walkthroughs and test runs for the show, they tested out the pyro that would be used, and the pyro ended up breaking the sugar glass. Needing to do something, they settled on what was CLEARLY the only logical thing to do in this situation… use real fucking glass and put everyone in danger. It was u-g-l-y, and it ain’t got no alibi, ugly. The sound of Shane’s head smacking the concrete on that first suplex is something that I will never forget.
The Undertaker & Mankind In & On The Cell: In all honesty, what really needs to be said here? It is one of the most famous and talked-about matches in pro wrestling history for a reason. The match is so famous that you can hear bits and pieces of audio and know exactly what’s going on. You’ll always remember the sound of Mankind crashing through the announce table after being thrown from the roof of the Cell. Likewise for the sound of the Cell roof breaking, sending Mankind falling to the ring below in a heap. That isn’t even mentioning the legendary calls that Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were making on commentary, delivering some lines that have become as legendary as the match itself. The match happened over 24 years ago, and the memories I have of watching it live are forever emblazoned in my mind.
You know the deal by now. It’s your turn, ReaderLand. Following the same criteria I used for my own list, what are some of the scariest moments in wrestling history for you? As always, hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind. For everyone that is going to partake in Halloween one way or another, have a good one and stay safe.
Weekly Power Rankings
Bron Breakker vs JD McDonagh vs Ilja Dragunov: A very physical encounter that featured the added bonus of everyone involved being viewed as a legitimate threat to win the match. Yes, Bron wins a lot, but he’s also someone that is running out of challengers in NXT, so a main roster call-up much sooner than later is something that wouldn’t surprise anyone. Even in a loss, Dragunov and McDonagh got to look great, which will help them as they apparently stick around as, at least, “temporary permanent” members of the NXT roster.
Wes Lee vs Oro Mensah vs Nathan Frazer vs Carmelo Hayes vs Von Wagner: The four smaller guys got to fly around and hit a bunch of high spots, while the bigger guy got to be a bully and use his size and power to his advantage. Everyone played their role well here. The right man won, too. Wes Lee has done such a great job after being dealt a shitty hand with the release of his tag team partner, and he deserved the win.
Julius Creed vs Damon Kemp: If you didn’t know any better, you would think these two guys hate each other in and out of character. That’s how physical this match ended up being. Great work from both men. As I said in my Halloween Havoc review, it really amazes me to see how far Damon Kemp has come in such a short amount of time. Is he going to end up being the bigger star out of him and his brother? It wasn’t long ago that rumors were that Damon wasn’t really advancing much in his training. Meanwhile, people were speculating that Gable Steveson was going to be a WWE Champion before he had even signed a contract. Craziness.
Kevin Nash: I don’t even know where to rank him, to be honest. I just wanted to say that I give him all the credit in the world for doing an episode of his Kliq This podcast mere days after his son, Tristen, passed away. It was such a difficult episode to sit and listen to, but that obviously pales in comparison to the difficulties he had in recording it. He deserves all the praise, well-wishes, kind words, prayers, and whatever else you want to send his way right now after dealing with an unimaginable tragedy, making an already sad year for him even worse.
Bianca Belair vs Bayley: This was literally one of the longest women’s singles matches in WWE main roster history. That all by itself is worthy of praise. The fact that it was a really good match only adds to that. As soon as it was announced that it would be a non-title match, you just knew Bayley was going to win to set up her rematch, but I do like how we got to that point. More on the finish to the match in a bit, though.
Pretty Deadly vs Edris Enofe & Malik Blade: I don’t know why so many people were surprised at the result of this match. Enofe and Blade, as good as they are together, are like a lot of acts that you see in AEW when it comes to their win/loss record and the way they’re booked. They win a lot on LVL UP, NXT’s Peacock & WWE Network exclusive show that usually features the younger and/or unused talent on the NXT roster. However, when they wrestle on the weekly NXT television show, their record isn’t very great. In fact, before they won a match to earn this shot at the NXT Tag Team Titles, the last time they won a match on television was on January 18th. I figured they would put up a great showing (they did), only to come out on the losing end (they did). What this showed me, though, is that they are more than deserving of a bigger push on television. Both Enofe and Blade are still really new to the business, so they’re only going to get better and better with time and experience.
Sheamus vs Solo Sikoa: Everyone had to figure Solo Sikoa would get called up to work with The Bloodline at some point, but I don’t think many people expected him to look as strong as he has right off the bat. Not only does he looks like he belongs on the main roster, but he looks like it’s only a matter of time before he is a champion on the main roster. This was another in a long line of really good performances for him, and of course, it was another in an even longer line of really good performances from Sheamus.
Ilja Dragunov vs JD McDonagh: I liked this a lot, and for multiple reasons. One, it helped to bring McDonagh back up a bit after a couple big losses in a row, and it really helped to put his sadistic new character over. Two, it does a lot to get Dragunov over as a badass who keeps fighting and keeps fighting, not that he needed the help in that regard. Finally, it was just a really good match. Lots to like in not a ton of time.
Karl Anderson vs Finn Balor: I don’t even remember the last time I liked a Karl Anderson match this match. While he has mainly been a tag/stable guy in his time with WWE, it is worth noting that, at over 17 minutes, this was the longest singles match he’s had with the company. Triple H must really be a fan of the guy.
Rey Mysterio vs Ludwig Kaiser: This was a pretty simple formula. Continue building Rey Mysterio up as a solid challenger as he prepares for his upcoming Intercontinental Title shot, but require him to go through the Intercontinental Champion’s cronies to do so. Professional wrestling has been giving us stories along those lines for as long as any of us can remember. Why? Because it makes sense, and because it works. Can Rey “shock the world” once again and topple the seemingly unstoppable Gunther? We shall soon find out.
Orange Cassidy vs Rush vs 10: I’m still not a fan of the All-Atlantic Title, but that doesn’t mean the title can’t give us fun matches like this one, even if everyone knew what the outcome would be, and which person would be taking the pin. On a not-quite-related, but semi-related note, Tony Khan needs to get his shit together and work on making Rampage worth watching every week. He puts so much time and effort into making sure people have reasons to watch Dynamite every week, but then, when it’s time for Rampage, it’s like he takes the entire AEW roster, removes all of the main event talent, and then draws names from a hat to randomly face each other. The main event matches on Rampage are almost always matches that would be in the middle of the second hour on Dynamite, or even worse, not even featured on Dynamite at all. It is so much worse than what WWE used to do with Raw and Smackdown, when they would stack one roster with huge names and the other roster with workhorses. There would be a huge gap, but at least you knew you were getting something special with their “B-show” every week, even if it just meant Match Of The Week contenders. You can’t even count on Rampage for that on a regular basis.
Nikki Cross: The A.S.H. gimmick was cute at first, but it became obvious right away that live crowds weren’t going to accept it and embrace it to the point that Vince McMahon thought or hoped they would. Nikki made her return on Raw, without the superhero costume, and with commentary referring to her as “Nikki Cross” again. Right away, she seems to have been inserted into the Raw Women’s Title picture, attacking both Bianca Belair and Bayley to close out the show. For the first time in what seems like forever, I can say that I am truly intrigued to see what happens next with her.
Mustafa Ali vs Austin Theory: I’ll be damned. Triple H doesn’t hate Austin Theory, after all. That was the running gag because it seemed like Theory did nothing but lose since Triple H took over for Vince McMahon when it comes to WWE creative, but here Theory is, winning a match on television. Yes, it was against Mustafa Ali, who rarely wins on television, and yes, it was thanks to a distraction by Seth Rollins, but it’s still a win nonetheless. I guess they need to make Theory relatively (lol, get it) strong for when he cashes his Money In The Bank shot in to become the next NXT Champion.
“Hangman” Adam Page: Seeing him get injured in his match with Jon Moxley was scary, but he got about as good a bit of news as could be expected in that situation when it was revealed that he “only” suffered a concussion. Not paralysis, not a broken neck, not a broken anything. He’s definitely not out of the woods yet. We’ve seen concussions that were severe enough to end careers, and we’ve also seen concussions that were severe enough to keep people out of action for a long period of time. Now, we sit back and wait to see how long it will be until he’s able to wrestle again.
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark: I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It ended up being a lot better than I was expecting it to be, as all four women really “brought it” here. I also didn’t mind the “Dusty Finish” that took place. Actually, let me adjust that. I didn’t mind the idea of the “Dusty Finish” that took place. The execution of it was abysmal, though. For decades, we have been told that the Referee’s decision in a wrestling match is final. If they miss interference, or someone’s foot on the bottom rope, or nuclear holocaust… oh well. Suck it up, loser, and try to get a rematch somehow. Every now and then, though, you’ll get a Referee making a decision, only for a second Ref to come out and point out their mistake, causing the first Ref to change their decision EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN’T ACTUALLY WITNESS ANYTHING HAPPENING. It’s dumb. AEW makes all of their Referees have being a complete moron as their only personality trait on-screen, and over in WWE, the writing of their Refs is as inconsistent as you can possibly get. Cut it out.
Bray Wyatt: He cut another good promo, and now, it looks like the slower build is going to take place. Is he going to have a stable by his side? Will the stable be against him instead? Is he going to end up facing himself at some point? What about Bo Dallas? It might be a while until we find out any answers to those, and other, questions. My concern, of course, is him simply going back to that “cut good promos but nothing else happens for him” stage, week in and week out, forever and ever.
Dominik Dijakovic: I missed his vignette at Halloween Havoc when I stepped away between matches to use the restroom, but it looks like we could be seeing the return of Dominik Dijakovic (or… or… or maybe even Dominik Dijak) in NXT. The farther he gets away from the Retribution stable, the better. Triple H has been a huge fan of his for years, so one can only assume that Shawn Michaels is a fan, too. He’s such a good “big man” wrestler, and that is sorely needed on the NXT roster right now. Now that Vince McMahon is gone, maybe he’ll actually get to keep “Dominik” as part of his name. You know how Vince was… on numerous occasions, a new wrestler would need a name change because someone else in the company had the same, or even a similar, name. Can’t have someone named Austin Theory around while “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is returning for WrestleMania! What if some wrestling fans get them confused and can’t tell which one is which?!?
Mandy Rose: On the day this column is posted, she will have officially reached the one-year mark as the NXT Women’s Champion. That’s worth celebrating, no matter what. I will repeat what I said in my Halloween Havoc review, though. It might be time to move on to someone else as champion. While she has improved a lot since she was on the main roster, she still hasn’t proven herself to be someone who can go out and consistently have good-to-great matches that are of a main event quality. Whenever it seems like she’s absolutely, positively going to drop the title to a “better” wrestler, though, she emerges victorious. A lot of people seem to think Roxanne Perez is going to be the woman that dethrones her, and while that might be true, the former Rok-C is already 0-2 against Mandy in NXT singles competition, including one match for the title back in July.
Willow Nightingale: I like her, and it seems as though AEW crowds do, too. I’m still a little worried about her future now that she has officially signed with AEW, though. We’ve seen “bigger” and “better” woman sign with AEW and have a bunch of momentum behind them, only to get lost in the shuffle within weeks. I’m not sure that bodes well for Willow, but I would like to be wrong here.
Ava Raine: Every single thing that Joe Gacy has touched in NXT has turned to complete dog shit. He is doing himself no favors, and he’s not doing favors for the former Grizzled Young Veterans. I have zero faith that he’s going to do any favors for Ava Raine, but hey, at least people are talking about her debut. As the first FOURTH generation wrestler in WWE history, she is going to get attention for everything she does now. It’s good that she has been placed in a group with veterans who she can learn from on a daily basis. I just wish those veterans weren’t shackled by such a change-the-channel bad gimmick and story.
This Week’s Playlist: “Not Today” by Snow Tha Product & Juicy J… “Jealous” by Maoli… “I Ain’t Gone Hold Ya” by Jeezy… “Devil” by Black Veil Brides… “Star” by Gothminister… “Felt Like Home” by As Everything Unfolds… “Salvia” by Johari… “Wade In Your Water” by Common Kings… “Lost In Paradise” by Common Kings… “Lets Do It Again” by J Boog… “Love I” by The Green… “Alive” by The Green… “You Baby” by Nesian NINE… “Show Me” by Nesian NINE… “Drop Baby Drop” by The Mana’o Company… “Tease Me” by Chaka Demus & Pliers… “Come On Pretty Baby” by Cityside… “Did You Know?” by Fiji… “Brothers and Sisters” by SOJA… “Take This Raft” by iNoA’ole… “John Crow” by Jimmy Cliff… “Heartache” by One Groove… “I Want You To Know” by Kekai Boyz… “Masese” by Kapena… “Utu Bang Bang” by Ka’ikena Scanlan… “Homies & Thugs” by Scarface, 2Pac & Master P… “Same Song” by Digital Underground & 2Pac… “I Can’t Make It Home” by Devin The Dude & LC… “Down 4 My N’s” by Snoop Dogg, C-Murder & Magic… “Bitch Please” by Snoop Dogg & Xzibit
