If you’ve been a longtime reader of mine, this is something you’ve seen me say a bunch of times in the past…
The other day, I was browsing YouTube for some videos to watch to pass some time as I sat down and had lunch.
I couldn’t even tell you how many column ideas I’ve had because of that very scenario playing out, and this was no different.
Going through my algorithm and subscribed channels, I ended up on the official WCW channel. They uploaded a full show from a few decades back, and I hadn’t seen the event in a long time, so I figured I’d check it out again. Right off the top of my head, I remembered the show’s main event and maybe two or three other matches on the card, but I watched from the beginning.
About one-third of the way through the show, the match that would air was something that I had completely forgotten about for whatever reason. It’s a match that I’ve seen called the best straight up (no TLC, Ladder, Cage, etc) tag team match in the history of pro wrestling, and all sorts of other accolades and “awards” from fans all over the world. I’ve seen it a bunch of times, but I was excited to watch it again, and betcha by golly, wow, the match was still tremendous.
I started thinking about the match more, and I realized just how underrated it is. Yes, the people “in the know” praise it to no end, and if you’ve seen it, you probably enjoyed it, but it still doesn’t get a lot of buzz. Perhaps it’s because the match is nearly 40 years old, and maybe it’s because it was a tag match instead of a main event World Title bout, but it just doesn’t get the love and respect as an all-time classic that perhaps it deserves.
That got me to thinking about other matches… and even wrestlers, storylines, etc… that probably don’t get the recognition they should. Next thing you know, I had an entire list typed out, and a column was born.
Simple enough.
I’m going to start things off with the match that birthed this column in the first place, but other than that, everything will be listed in no particular order.
The Midnight Express vs The Southern Boys (WCW Great American Bash 1990): You probably know all about “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton (more on him later) and “Sweet” Stan Lane… or “Loverboy” Dennis Condrey if you’re a little bit older… or Randy Rose and Norvell Austin if you’re even older… as The Midnight Express.
How much do you know about The Southern Boys, Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong, though? Steve is another member of the legendary Armstrong wrestling family… the son of “Bullet” Bob, brother of Brad, brother of Brian aka Road Dogg, and brother of referee Scott. Tracy made a big name for himself as a star in seemingly every southern territory there was in the 80s. They weren’t together for a super long time, being full-time tag partners for less time than AEW has been in existence, but they really shined for WCW during this time.
This was two old school southern-style tag teams, in a promotion that loved that old school southern style (even though this show was in Baltimore), performing in front of a super hot crowd for nearly 20 minutes. Everything built and built to the final stretch, putting the crowd in a frenzy.
Dave Meltzer gave it 4.75 stars. Scott Keith gave it 5 stars. It is a fantastic match, but again, it’s a tag match in the middle of a pay-per-view card, coming from an era where the business wasn’t on fire. Sprinkle in the fact that the match is a one week (from the day I post this column) away from being 36 years old, and you have something that has almost been forgotten in time.
Tito Santana: When you think of the best in-ring performers from the mid-80s (and on) WWF scene, who comes to your mind? Randy Savage? Curt Hennig? Ted DiBiase? Ricky Steamboat? Greg Valentine? Dynamite Kid?
These are some of the best options from that era, but Tito Santana doesn’t often get brought up, even by people who were watching regularly at the time.
I don’t know why that is, because I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a bad Tito Santana match. Even when he was in the El Matador character that was largely used as an enhancement talent, he was someone that could be counted on to make his opponents look good. Need someone to help put Shawn Michaels over in his first WrestleMania match after his big heel turn? Call on Tito. That kind of thing.
As a singles guy, Tito was someone who really shined, not just for the WWF, but also in ECW (in the Eastern Championship Wrestling days), where he was the ECW Heavyweight Champion, as well as the AWA. When it comes to being a tag guy, you’re talking about someone who was a two-time WWF Tag Team Champion (once with Ivan Putski and once with Rick Martel), and even won the NWA Western States Tag Team Titles with Ted DiBiase for the Western States Sports territory in Amarillo, Texas.
He was even able to make a really fun appearance for CHIKARA in 2012, at the age of 59, wrestling in the company’s King Of Trios tournament, having one of the better hot tags you’re ever going to see.
He’s a real man’s man, and a real wrestler’s wrestler. If you hear his name come up in shoot interviews, podcasts, and so on, you’re going to hear nothing but glowing words about the human being as well as the wrestler. I wish that type of love extended to how wrestling fans view him.
Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair (WCW Halloween Havoc 1994): Thinking about this match makes me upset that we didn’t get Hogan vs Flair at WrestleMania 8. There was never going to be a bigger and better time than to have Hulk Fucking Hogan face Ric Fucking Flair, but… you know… Vince McMahon is Vince McMahon.
This was actually the third Hogan vs Flair match in three months for WCW. Hogan’s debut match at Bash At The Beach 1994 was against Flair, and they faced off at Clash Of The Champions 28 a month later before this one completed the “trilogy.” While I enjoyed the BATB match, that was mostly about the hot crowd and the amazement that Hogan was in WCW to begin with.
All the pieces of the puzzle came together for this one. You still had two of the sport’s biggest stars, but then you had Hogan putting the WCW World Title on the line while Flair put his career (lololololol) on the line. Then you have the fact that this was a Steel Cage Match. You also have Sherri Martel at ringside, and she took more bumps during this match than half the wrestlers on the card that night. On commentary, you have Bobby “The Brain” Heenan with another one of his classic calls, going through every possible emotion as Flair’s career (lololololololololololol) was on the line. The red hot crowd in Detroit was just the icing on the cake.
I think this one tends to be forgotten mainly because this was before the nWo. The two years that Hogan spent in WCW before joining the nWo isn’t anywhere near as memorable as the three years he spent in WCW with the nWo. For good reason, mind you, but the point remains.
Sting vs Cactus Jack (WCW Beach Blast 1992): Like many wrestling executives at the time, there’s no way you could look at Mick Foley and the Cactus Jack character back in 1992 and predict that he would go on to become one of the biggest stars in the business by the end of the decade.
It was around this time, though, that there seemed to be a shift in what people were expecting from his character in promos and during matches. He stood out and was unique, but in this, his second run with WCW, the Cactus Jack persona began to morph into what people know it as today. More in-your-face, more mannerisms, more opportunities to cut promos, and the ability to become more of an overall menace.
His feud with Sting really launched him, as Sting was the top guy in the company at the time. Their feud was already entertaining, but this Beach Blast match was a Falls Count Anywhere match that really helped to elevate both men, which is what a great match should do.
Cactus was more than willing to bump his ass off for Sting… surprise, surprise… but this isn’t like the Hell In A Cell between Mankind and The Undertaker where all the brutality was one-sided. No, Sting took some serious punishment here, as well. For Sting… the WCW World Champion at the time, even though this was a non-title match because Cactus cared more about punishing Sting than being a champion… to be placed in a position like this was rare. Him being able to overcome the deranged Cactus Jack gave him an added layer of toughness in the eyes of WCW fans. Cactus, on the other hand, showed that he could hang with main event players, and that helped to build the love and deep connection he carried with wrestling fans for the rest of his career.
This wasn’t a very long match… a little over 11 minutes in length… but what a fun brawl, with both men putting in work to add to the entire overall package.
Goldberg vs Scott Steiner (WCW Fall Brawl 2000): When you think about Goldberg at any stage of his career, even if you’re someone who considers himself a fan of his, you probably don’t think of many matches that would be considered particularly good. The same can be said about Scott Steiner at this phase of his career, and at this phase of his physique.
At the previous WCW pay-per-view, New Blood Rising, Goldberg and Steiner were involved in a Triple Threat Match with Kevin Nash that featured a storyline based on what was a SHOOT, BRO, and what was a WORK, BRO. Vince Russo’s mental diarrhea was on full display here, with wrestlers talking about how they weren’t going to lose, no matter what the script said, and during the match itself, wrestlers are walking out because they aren’t happy with the script, with commentary talking about scripts and wondering if wrestlers were going to improvise a new plan in the ring, and blah blah blah. The match itself was terrible, even outside of Vince Russo’s atrocities, so I’m not sure anyone had high hopes for Fall Brawl the following month.
The match had Fall Brawl ended up being nearly 15 minutes of two super muscular guys approaching the 300-pound mark each beating the hell out of each other. They were throwing each other all over the ring, and it was super entertaining, but even then, Vince Russo’s stench entered the room. Russo himself interfered in the match on multiple occasions, and so did Midajah, who was Steiner’s valet at the time.
Two guys who weren’t known for classics at that point, wrestling in an era of WCW where almost everything was crippled by one of the worst minds in the history of the business, and they decided they were just going to go out there and beat each other up for a while. Simple. Effective. It ended up being the best match Steiner was involved in since at least 1995, when he and his brother were doing spots in ECW and New Japan, and many feel it’s the best match Goldberg has been involved in, period.
The Rockers vs The Orient Express (WWF Royal Rumble 1991): When it comes to the best “great out of nowhere” matches in wrestling history, this one has to be right up there. That’s not a knock on Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty, Paul Diamond or Pat Tanaka in any way, shape, or form. What I mean is that nobody… not even the four men in the match itself… could’ve predicted that these teams would open up a pay-per-view with a 20-minute balls-to-the-wall banger of a match in front of a red hot, appreciative Miami crowd.
That’s exactly what this ended up being.
This was the first WWF pay-per-view match for the Orient Express, and the first WWF pay-per-view match, period, for Paul Diamond. The average WWF fan at the time probably had no idea what to expect out of them.
Even though The Rockers were already super popular at the time, this match really helped to show the wrestling world that both Shawn and Marty had something special that could help to make them big stars in the future. Obviously, we know how that worked out for both men, but my point remains. In this match, you might’ve thought that Marty was going to go on to have the better career. Shawn bumped his ass off, sure, but it was Marty that really had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, building and building to a hot tag that saw him take over.
The Express did such a good job here that they went on to have a huge push, going on to dominate the WWF tag division for the next several years.
I’m just kidding.
They wouldn’t receive another match on pay-per-view until the following year’s Royal Rumble event, where they would lose yet another match before Pat Tanaka left the company in February 1992.
Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Spring Stampede 1994): When it comes to pro wrestling match trilogies, many people bring up the three matches between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat in 1989 that were available for everyone to watch (they also had a fourth match at a house show).
On February 20th, Steamboat defeated Flair to become the NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Chi-Town Rumble. Dave Meltzer gave the match 5 Stars. On April 2nd, Steamboat successfully defended the title against Flair at Clash Of The Champions 6. Dave Meltzer gave the match 5 Stars. On May 7th, Flair defeated Steamboat to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title back at WrestleWar 1989. Dave Meltzer gave the match 5 Stars.
Three all-time classics between the same set of opponents over the span of 76 days. Both Flair and Steamboat, as well as others who were there, have famously stated that those matches from 1989 don’t even compare to the barnburners they were having at house shows dating all the way back to the late-70s, which is crazy to think about.
The trilogy gets so much praise and love that I think people forget about this match at Spring Stampede five years later. Both men were in their 40s by the time Spring Stampede rolled around, but they worked this like they were dying to show the world that they still had that incredible in-ring chemistry together. Flair was the WCW World Champion at the time, but he was also the Booker in WCW, having recently taken the gig from Dusty Rhodes. That certainly helped him put on performances like this.
The finish for this one allowed for them to have another rematch at an upcoming episode of WCW Saturday Night that, honestly, could’ve been included on this list, too. I have the Spring Stampede match rated just a bit higher than the Saturday Night match, so Spring Stampede gets included here.
Were the 1994 matches all-time classics? No. Is that a bad thing? No. They were still some of the best wrestling that North American fans were getting to witness in 1994, though, even if the matches may be forgotten a bit all these years later.
Bobby Eaton: When you look at the list of the best tag team wrestlers of all-time, Bobby Eaton is a name that needs to be at the top of that list. His work with both Dennis Condrey and Stan Lane as The Midnight Express is legendary, but it doesn’t stop there. He also had a really good run with Arn Anderson, and a very entertaining run with Lord Steven Regal (aka William Regal). I’m even a fan of the work he did with Sweet Brown Sugar (aka Koko B Ware) for the Continental Wrestling Association in the early 80s.
He spent most of his career as a “tag guy,” but he was also very impressive when called upon for singles work. WCW put their Television Title on him in 1991, but my favorite singles match of his was when he challenged Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title on an episode of NWA Main Event in 1989, where he bumped like a pinball and made Flair look great (like he needed the help) for nearly 20 minutes.
So why is he listed here?
If you ask anyone in the business that knew Bobby, you’d never hear a negative thing said about him, both as a worker and as a human being. However, he’s also someone that looks like someone you’d see working at your local hardware store or picking you up in an Uber after a night at the bar. He was very unassuming, and he also wasn’t someone that was going to blow you away with his promos. That’s why he was perfect for the role he played for almost his entire career. Put him in a tag team, and put a mouthpiece like Jim Cornette or Paul E. Dangerously at his side, and he was money.
He was never going to be a threat to become a World Champion for a major promotion, but if you were looking for someone to study tape of so that you could perfect your craft as a pro wrestler, he’d be recommended time and time again. Everything he did was so crisp, so flawless, and still so dangerous looking. An all-time great that really should receive more recognition from the modern day pro wrestling fan.
Jeff Jarrett vs Shawn Michaels (WWF In Your House 2): Shawn was already on the way to becoming THE guy in the WWF by this point. It’s about eight months away from him facing Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12, but it’s also four months after he challenged Diesel for the WWF Title at WrestleMania 11.
I love the old school vibes that this match had. It makes sense. The match took place in Nashville, Tennessee, which is Jeff Jarrett’s stomping grounds. It came across as a tribute to the old “Memphis” territory, Continental Wrestling Association, run by Jeff’s dad, Jerry Jarrett, in the late-70s and throughout the 80s. You have to assume that many of the fans in attendance at In Your House that night were also in the buildings for many of those CWA shows that Jeff was featured on early in his career.
One of my favorite things about this match was the pacing of it. We were used to Shawn Michaels matches being fast-paced affairs, but Jarrett slowed it down a lot here. He was aggressive and physical, and Shawn was more than willing to bump around for him.
The crowd was extra special, too. This wasn’t exactly the WWF’s strongest and most profitable era, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell by watching how the crowd was reacting to everything these two were doing.
The match doesn’t get the pre-World Champion love that Shawn’s Ladder Matches with Razor Ramon get, but I’d put this match right up there with those matches with no hesitation.
Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog vs Terry Funk & Hoss Funk (WWF WrestleMania 2): I’ve already praised Tito Santana for his in-ring abilities and what he was capable of doing between the ropes, but this might be one of my favorite Tito matches.
WrestleMania 2 is a show that is overflowing with awful wrestling. Paul Orndorff and Don Muraco had a pointless match to start the show. George “The Animal” Steele was one of the rare opponents that Randy Savage wasn’t able to drag to anything worth a damn. Jake Roberts and George Wells had a squash match that didn’t belong anywhere near a WrestleMania card. Mr. T and Roddy Piper set the worlds of pro wrestling and boxing back at least a decade or two. The Fabulous Moolah and Velvet McIntyre wrestled for just under 90 seconds, and they were followed by Corporal Kirchner and Nikolai Volkoff wrestling for two minutes. An assortment of wrestlers and pro football players had a Battle Royal that was about as slow and boring as a Battle Royal can possibly be. Hercules Hernandez played the role of George Steele for Ricky Steamboat’s Randy Savage, with an all-time great performer being dragged down to a poor match on a huge stage. Uncle Elmer and Adrian Adonis wrestled for three minutes that felt like 33 minutes.
After almost nothing but garbage wrestling from start to finish, the next-to-last match of the show… the 11th match overall… took place, and the crowd was ready for it. These four veterans went out and had themselves an old school tag match that was full of heat. They all played their roles perfectly here. I don’t remember who said it, but I once read a review of this match that summed it all up, basically saying that you know you’re seeing something special when 1986 Tito Santana is the third best wrestler in a tag team match.
Strangely enough, in a previous draft of this column, this match didn’t even make the cut. Initially, I had another match from WrestleMania 2 in this spot… Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine defending the WWF Tag Team Titles against Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. I love that match, too, but ultimately, I made the switch to this one for two reasons. One, the Tito Santana connection was something I didn’t want to ignore. More importantly, though, I think this match is more of a “hidden gem” than the other match. That one had the Tag Titles on the line, and it also had music superstar Ozzy Osbourne involved, as he came to the ring with the Bulldogs. If you see video packages of WrestleMania 2, you’re going to see Beefcake, Valentine, Davey, and Dynamite represented well, but you won’t see much of Tito, JYD, Terry Funk, and Dory Funk Jr.
That’s a shame.
Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs The Nasty Boys (WCW Spring Stampede 1994): When Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags come to mind, what are the specific things you think about? The paint splatter designs of their gear and shirts? Sure. Rubbing people’s faces in their armpits? Of course. Being managed by Jimmy Hart in the WWF and Missy Hyatt in WCW? Yeah.
Matches of a high quality? Probably not.
While neither of the Nasties were going to be confused with the technical wizards in the sport’s history, they were brawlers to their very core. They loved a good fight, and when they were given the right opportunity to have a good fight, they were able to deliver. Their second run in WCW was full of those types of matches. The start of 1994 saw Knobbs and Sags feud with Cactus Jack, who isn’t exactly afraid of a good brawl himself, and this was smack dab in the middle of that feud.
If you’re looking for a wild brawl… if you’re looking for stiff work… if you’re short on time… this is something that would interest you. The match didn’t even reach the nine-minute mark, but there was chaos from bell-to-bell, and it looked like a tornado went through the Rosemont Horizon when all was said and done. More on the Nasties and Cactus Jack in a bit.
Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Survivor Series 1992): With Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, their Spring Stampede 1994 match is underrated at least partially because it doesn’t quite have the same level of in-ring quality as their previous matches.
With this match from the 1992 Survivor Series, I think it’s the Bret vs Shawn singles match that features the highest in-ring quality of any they had together. However, because it wasn’t on the sport’s grandest stage like their WrestleMania 12 Ironman Match, or it wasn’t the instance of one of the sport’s greatest scandals like the Montreal Screwjob at the 1997 Survivor Series, this one gets lost in the mix. It also didn’t help that the wrestling business itself was in a much different place in late-1992 than it would be four and five years later, when the Attitude Era and the Monday Night War were taking pro wrestling to new heights.
This took place less than a year after Shawn’s big heel turn on Marty Jannetty, and it was six weeks after Bret defeated Ric Flair at a house show in Canada to become the WWF Champion for the first time. Both of them were already great in-ring performers by November 1992, but neither of them was the undeniable megastar that they would go on to become at this point. They could probably stand to be in the same room with each other here, too.
The match was one of those slow builds, where they were basically feeling each other out for a few minutes, but once it picked up, it got really good in a hurry. Bret seemed to really enjoy wrestling opponents like Shawn, who were smaller and faster than he was, because it allowed him to work a more aggressive style. Pair that with Shawn’s bumping ability, which was already top notch at the time, and this ended up being a clinic.
I think this is a better match than anything Shawn and Bret did together, but I rarely see it get discussed when their epic rivalry comes up.
Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn (NXT Takeover R-Evolution): Sami’s recent Undisputed WWE Title victory had me feeling nostalgic, so I went back and watched a handful of matches from different parts of his career.
When I chose this one, the first thing that I realized was how forgotten, as a whole, this era of NXT was. Well, “forgotten” might not be the right word, but it definitely hasn’t gotten the same levels of attention that other NXT eras have seen.
For one, this was before NXT was on television. At the time of Takeover R-Evolution, NXT’s weekly show was airing on the WWE Network, which was fresh off of a three-and-a-half year run where the show aired on WWE.com and then Hulu.
This was also before NXT Takeover events became NXT TAKEOVER events. R-Evolution was the third show under the “Takeover” name, and while the first two shows were entertaining, they were a far cry from the Takeover events that would feature seemingly endless Match Of The Year candidates every single time.
Man, the crowd at Full Sail was red hot for Sami that night. They had been dying to see Sami win the NXT Championship, and he had come close on so many occasions, falling short each time. The added stipulation here was that Sami would leave NXT if he failed to win the title.
During Sami’s journey to this point, he had failed to become the NXT Champion on multiple occasions because he was too nice. His character was questioned about whether or not he had what it takes to dig down deep and choose success over his own morality. It would’ve been easy to write him as deciding that he is willing to bend or break the rules if it meant winning the title, but that’s not what happened here. Sami had occasions where he contemplated taking shortcuts to win, but in the end, his pride won out, and he stood his ground.
The match was great, but the story was even better. It was one of the first real instances that showed the wrestling world how different NXT would be, and how much it would stand out in comparison to what everyone was seeing on Raw or Smackdown every week.
The Nasty Boys vs Kevin Sullivan & Cactus Jack (WCW Slamboree 1994): This match was originally supposed to be the Nasty Boys defending their WCW Tag Team Titles against the team of Kevin Sullivan and his “brother,” Evad Sullivan. Unfortunately, Evad suffered a knee injury and needed to be replaced, so Kevin went with someone who was very familiar with the Nasties… their old rival, Cactus Jack.
If you read my entry for the Nasty Boys vs Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne match from Spring Stampede 1994, take everything I said and multiply it for this match at the very next WCW pay-per-view. No offense to Maxx Payne, but he wasn’t anywhere near the worker that Kevin Sullivan was, nor was he as sadistic as Kevin Sullivan was.
This was another insane brawl that didn’t overstay its welcome, wrapping up in less than ten minutes, but it was complete anarchy in a city (Philadelphia) that lived for that type of thing. The right wrestlers working the right type of matches in the right cities in front of the right crowds. It’s a simple thing to do, and yet, it’s not something you see often enough in wrestling.
Lex Luger vs Brian Pillman (WCW Clash Of Champions 9): Honestly, this could be one of several different Lex Luger matches. I chose this one because I watched it in my research for this column, but it could’ve been Lex vs Ric Flair at StarrCade 1988, vs Barry Windham at Chi-Town Rumble 1989, vs Ricky Steamboat at Great American Bash 1989, vs Tommy Rich at Clash Of The Champions 8, vs Ric Flair at StarrCade 1989, vs Ric Flair at WrestleWar 1990, vs Dan Spivey at WrestleWar 1991, vs Ron Simmons at Halloween Havoc 1991, and so on.
Yes, there are some all-time great workers on that list that Lex got to work with, so it shouldn’t be some huge surprise when those names have really entertaining matches. However, this is Lex Luger we’re talking about here. From the start of his career, all the way until the here and now, he often gets pegged as one of those dime-a-dozen “all muscle, no brain” workers that couldn’t wrestle to save their lives. When Lex was announced as being a member of the WWE Hall Of Fame’s Class Of 2025, there were A LOT of “but he sucked” comments everywhere you looked.
Admittedly, Lex had a really weird career. He made his pro wrestling debut at the age of 27, and was 29 when he became a national name by signing with Jim Crockett Promotions. Then, his time with JCP and WCW saw the best matches of his career by a wide margin, and just when it looked like his career was on the rise, those in-ring performances fell apart. In his relatively brief stint with the WWF, I don’t think he had one match that I would consider “really good,” let alone “great.” Then, he goes back to WCW and the cold streak not only continued, but his matches seemed to get worse.
Different people will take different things away from looking at that career arc, but my point is that I think he was always overlooked based on the early years of his career because of how he looked in the other years of his career when pro wrestling’s popularity took off.
This particular match followed as simple, and as tried-and-true, a layout as you can get. Lex was the cocky heel that was carved out of granite, while Pillman was the undersized, scrappy face who won’t back down from a fight. Sure enough, Lex was a cocky heel that wanted to be an asshole at every turn, and Pillman fought back and fought back and fought back again and fought back some more. Pay no mind to the “smart mark” crowd in New York that were cheering for Luger that night.
Because there are still so many wrestling fans who feel Lex Luger was always some sort of talentless meathead, I’d say a lot of his early matches qualify as “hidden gems,” this one included.
Based on your own definition of the term, which can vary wildly from person to person, what are some of your favorite “hidden gems” in pro wrestling history? Matches, wrestlers, moments, promos… whatever you want to go with. As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s switch it over to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
MJF vs Mark Briscoe: Overall, it was a down week for in-ring work on television, but this would’ve been high in my Power Rankings, no matter what week it was. I don’t think anyone really thought there was a possibility of a title change here, but it’s still Mark Briscoe, so you’re going to get high quality, and you’re going to get crowd investment.
Seth Rollins: He cut a really good promo on Roman Reigns to set up a match between the two at SummerSlam. Nobody on the planet is able to get under the skin of Roman Reigns like Seth can, and he did it again here. They’re really building it like it could be the last time we get Reigns vs Rollins in the ring, and frankly, that’s a distinct possibility. As Seth said in the promo, both men are much closer to the end of their careers than they are to the beginning of their careers. That adds an extra layer of intrigue to the SummerSlam match.
Oba Femi & Brock Lesnar: First and foremost, the way WWE put things together with Oba winning a World Title match at SummerSlam by becoming King Of The Ring, only to give up the shot because he wants to face Brock Lesnar instead, was REALLY stupid. However, this makes my Power Rankings because we’re still getting Oba and Brock inside Hell In A Cell, which is going to be incredible. Seriously, though… what was the point of Oba winning King Of The Ring in the first place? If you weren’t going to give him a World Title match at SummerSlam, someone else should’ve won the tournament. At the very least, you could’ve had Brock goad Oba into putting his title shot on the line in their match. Something. Anything. To make it all worse, nothing was explained in the slightest. Does Oba go to the back of the line for a title shot now? Will he receive his World Title shot immediately after SummerSlam? Does this become a Money In The Bank type of situation where Oba has a World Title shot that he can use whenever he wants? It’s the laziest writing you could possibly conjure up.
Kendal Grey: If you’ve watched her wrestle, you know how good she is, and how ahead of the curve she is, with a future as potentially bright as anyone on the WWE roster right now, if not the entire business entirely. The promo she cut on NXT last week, though, took her to a new level with me. She comes across as such an incredibly likable person, and that was on full display here. I appreciated her honesty, telling the fans that she knows promos aren’t her strong suit and how nervous she feels when she has to speak in front of people, and that she isn’t like some of the other girls on the roster, who like to wear a bunch of makeup and and fancy dresses. This one promo made her so relatable, and gave her such a “girl next door” quality. She was still able to put herself over, and talk about how she is going to give her all to her matches, wrestle like a champion, and take the entire division to another level. Really good stuff all around here.
Chad Gable vs JD McDonagh: The Chad Gable Redemption Tour continues on, and he’s back to putting on entertaining matches on a weekly basis. At some point, we’ll need to take things to the next level with him, but I have a feeling that it’s coming much sooner than later, especially with SummerSlam taking place in Chad’s hometown of Minneapolis.
Sami Zayn: Whether he remains the Undisputed WWE Champion for two weeks, two months, or two years, I’m enjoying Sami’s social media work since he won the title. The pictures and the videos of him traveling all over creation with the title belt are all funny.
Mason Rook vs Jackson Drake: I’m still not 100% sure what Mason Rook’s trajectory is going to be in NXT, but this was his best match since joining the brand. Based in pure in-ring ability, he’s someone that could easily be the NXT Champion at one point in the future, but how much of the online discourse about the way he looks hold him back? Does it hold him back at all? Time will tell.
Tatum Paxley vs Kelani Jordan: Ms. Paxley said her off-camera goodbyes to the NXT fans a month ago, and not only is she still in NXT, but she looks like she’s about to be feuding with the newly-debuted-but-not-yet-named Nikki Blackheart, who attacked her after this match. What was the point of her saying goodbye?
Hikaru Shida: The match where she won it didn’t quite make the cut here, but congratulations to the brand new AEW TBS Champion, who won the title in a Survival Of The Fittest elimination match to win the title. It is her first reign with that title, added to her three reigns as the AEW Women’s Champion, making her one of the most decorated women in AEW history.
This Week’s Playlist: “BRUCKSWEAT” by Shenseea… “Organic Motion” by Larry June… “Secret Indictment” by Enphamus & Project Pat… “Paint It Red” by Bad Wolves… “Let Me Love U Better” by Ezra… “Hate My Guts” by Will Swinton… “Always You & I” by Against The Current… “Pest Control” by Torrential Rain… “Paradise” by I Prevail & Amira Elfeky… “Dehumanized” by Bring Me The Horizon… “Cell Therapy” by Goodie Mob… “They Don’t Dance No Mo” by Goodie Mob & Lil Will… “Gotta Get You Home Tonight” by Eugene Wilde… “Get Me Home” by Foxy Brown & Blackstreet… “Hot Spot” by Foxy Brown… “Fa All Y’all” by Da Brat… “Funkdafied” by Da Brat & Jermaine Dupri… “Give It 2 You” by Da Brat… “Da B Side” by Da Brat & Notorious BIG… “Careless Whisper” by Seether… “Beat It” by Fall Out Boy & John Mayer… “Maniac” by Firewind… “Losing My Religion” by Lacuna Coil… “Give In To Me” by Michael Jackson… “Lose Yourself To Dance” by Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams… “Doin It Right” by Daft Punk & Panda Bear… “Up Jumps Da Boogie” by Timbaland, Magoo, Missy Elliott & Aaliyah… “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen… “Movin Out (Anthony’s Song)” by Billy Joel… “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac
