The other day, I was browsing the world of wrestling news, and I came across a story about Ric Flair wanting his daughter to break his record for most World Title reigns.
At face value, it makes complete sense. For one, that’s the man’s daughter, so of course he’s going to support her. If you ask Ric… and I really wish people would stop doing that… she is not only the greatest pro wrestler to have ever lived, but she’s also the greatest human being to have ever lived, as well as the greatest daughter, saxophonist, sister, aunt, violinist, plumber, insurance agent, and computer programmer.
For the sake of this discussion, our thoughts and opinions on whether or not the women’s World Titles of the modern era should be treated the same as the men’s World Titles of eras gone by are irrelevant. The whole thing made me think about Flair’s record possibly being broken one day. More specifically, it made me think about how that record seemed completely untouchable for years. Flair’s last title reign began on May 29th, 2000 when he won (well, was given) the WCW World Title. At the time, the mere idea of someone coming along and winning 17 or more (recognized) World Title reigns was absurd. Surely, Flair would hold that record forever, right?
Here we are, nearly 23 years later, and while Flair still holds the record, it is in no way, shape, or form absurd now to think that someone could break it. Triple H retired with 14 World Title reigns. John Cena and Randy Orton, although their in-ring futures are unknown for multiple reasons, both stand with Triple H at 14. Even people like Brock Lesnar and Edge, who are much closer to the ends of their careers than the beginning, are sitting at 11 and nobody would be surprised in the slightest if they were given another reign in 2023.
Then… there’s Charlotte Flair. She is currently in the middle of her 14th officially recognized reign. The most ridiculous part of that statistic is that her first title reign took place on September 20th, 2015 and her most recent reign began on December 30th, 2022. That’s barely over seven years! For the sake of comparison, Ric won his 14th World Title on March 14th, 1999. That was over 27 years after he debuted in the business. Even if you wanted to play the “debut” game, Charlotte’s 14th reign began a little more than ten years after she had her debut match. That’s insane. Charlotte’s reigns have combined to equal 930 days (as of the day this column is posted). For the sake of reference, Roman Reigns is now (again, as of the day this column is posted) in his 890th consecutive day as the Universal Champion.
Despite what it looks like so far, this isn’t a column about Charlotte Flair.
I got even more motivation for a column after seeing the NBA’s LeBron James be mere days away from breaking the league’s all-time scoring record, currently held by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame member Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. When Kareem broke the record, previously held by fellow Hall Of Fame member Wilt Chamberlain, in 1984, it was already a record that nobody thought would fall. Kareem adding nearly 7,000 more points to his lead made the record seem completely out of reach. As the years would go by, people got close, but there was never any legit threat. Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and Dirk Nowitzki would all surpass Chamberlain’s number, but Malone would retire at #2, nearly 1,500 points behind Abdul-Jabbar. Malone’s final season was the rookie season for an 18-year-old kid that came into the NBA with more hype than anyone in league history. That kid? LeBron James. Kareem sits at 38,387 points. As of the moment I type these words, LeBron is at 38,352 points. On the season, LeBron is averaging 30.1 points per game, meaning he could/should break the record at some point this week, barring injury or resting. There are still 28 games left in the Los Angeles Lakers season. Let’s say LeBron plays all 28 games and keeps his scoring average the same, which is a wildly generous thing to assume, but we’re doing it just for fun here. That would mean he ends the season at 39,198 points. LeBron has repeatedly made his intentions clear that he wants to play in the NBA when his son, Bronny, makes it to the league. That won’t be next season, but the season after that. Due to injuries, “load management” rest periods, and a shortened season due to COVID, LeBron has averaged 1,506 points per season over the last four seasons. Being wildly generous again, let’s say he hits that average next season. He would finish the 2023-24 season with 40,704 points, and the 2024-25 season with 42,210 points. He has said he wants to play that one year with Bronny before retiring, so let’s close his career out with those 42,210 points. That’s going to take an almost unheard of career to even come remotely close to beating. Someone like Kevin Durant is one of the best scorers in the NBA right now, and even though he’s four years younger than LeBron, he’s also nearly 12,000 points behind him on the all-time scale. The most points Durant has ever scored in a single season was 2,593 during the 2013-14 season, when he was 25 years old. That was also the last year he came remotely close to playing every game during a season.
Despite what it looks like now, this isn’t a column about LeBron James.
Thinking about the World Title record and looking at statistics made me think about other wrestling records and look at other statistics.
Back in October, I did a column where I looked at my picks for Mr. Monday Night Raw, Mr. Smackdown, Mr. WWE Pay-Per-View, and many other titles. In that column, I mentioned that I do a ton of research for my columns, and that always involves coming across numbers and statistics to back my claims up. Sometimes, those stats are for a particular column, and other times, those stats create a column of their own. This is the latter.
Like what Charlotte Flair could end up doing, and like what LeBron James is about to do, some records are just so far out of reach that it will take nothing short of a superhuman effort to break them. That’s the case in every sport, and pro wrestling is no different. In my research, I found some of those records that I think are going to stand for a while. If not forever, at least for longer than many of us can see into the future. Let’s take a look at them together, shall we? As I tend to do, these are listed in no particular order.
Wrestling Show With Highest Claimed Attendance (WCW/NJPW Collision In Korea, Day 2 – 190,000): The second of two shows (the first night had a claimed attendance of 150,000 fans) held in North Korea at Rungrado May Day Stadium. You can question the validity of the number, but by all accounts, there were more people in the crowd than just about anyone wrestling on the show had ever seen in one place at one time before. Think about how crazy the number 190,000 is here. That’s taking the claimed attendance of WrestleMania 3 (93,173) and doubling it… and still adding 3,654 people. Only one other show in wrestling history (WrestleMania 32 with 101,763) has an attendance of over 100,000. When you look at a list of the biggest venues in the world, you’re going to see a lot of places that are never going to host a wrestling event, let alone a WrestleMania type of show to get that many people in the building. Let’s go ahead and eliminate the idea of WrestleMania taking place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and places in auto racing that have capacities listed at, or over, the 200,000 mark. The Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee is a NASCAR stadium that has held (American, of course) football games at the venue, including the Tennessee Volunteers college football team defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies on September 10th, 2016 in front of 156,990 fans. That’s cool and all, but raise your hand if you think, attendance stats be damned, that WWE is looking to hold a show like WrestleMania or SummerSlam in Bristol Fucking Tennessee. Holding SummerSlam in Nashville, Tennessee is one thing, as Nashville has a rich history in the wrestling business, but Bristol? Come on now.
If you look at non-racing venues with large capacities, there’s places like Narendra Modi Stadium (132,000 capacity in Ahmedabad, India), the aforementioned Rungrado May Day Stadium, Michigan Stadium (107,601 capacity in Ann Arbor, Michigan), Beaver Stadium (106,572 capacity in State College, Pennsylvania), Ohio Stadium (104,944 capacity in Columbus, Ohio), Kyle Field (102,733 capacity in College Station, Texas), Neyland Stadium (102,455 capacity in Knoxville, Tennessee), Tiger Stadium (102,321 capacity in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Bryant-Denny Stadium (101,821 capacity in Tuscaloosa, Alabama), Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium (100,119 capacity in Austin, Texas), Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,018 capacity in Melbourne, Australia), Azadi Stadium (100,000 capacity in Tehran, Iran), and Camp Nou (99,354 capacity in Barcelona, Spain). The places I just mentioned that are in America are all college football stadiums, and almost all of them are in college towns that aren’t going to have anywhere near enough for people to do that are flying into town for a whole week because of everything that WrestleMania brings with it. As for the other ones… just try to picture WWE announcing that WrestleMania 41 is going to be held in Ahmedabad, India or Pyongyang, North Korea or Melbourne, Australia or Tehran, Iran or Barcelona, Spain. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Then again, if one of those places has a government that is willing to fork over $100 million per year to host shows, WWE has proven to be more than willing to get on their knees and do whatever is asked of them, so who knows?
Even if those venues can add to their numbers for wrestling shows because of fans sitting on the field (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas generally sees around 80,000-85,000 fans for games before their WrestleMania 32 mark), I just don’t see it happening. The only way anything will ever come close to that number is if an NFL team that currently plays at an old stadium gets a new one with a comically large capacity. WWE loves the Superdome in New Orleans, but that building is 48 years old this year. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami has hosted WrestleMania 28, but that building is 36 years old. M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore is 25 years old. Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (the host of WrestleMania 37) is also 25 years old. TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville is 28 years old, but… you know… probably isn’t going to be in the running to host a WWE show any time soon. Unless one of the teams that plays in those NFL stadiums can work with their cities and formulate the idea of a stadium that is twice as big as their current residence, it’s a safe bet that Collision In Korea will remain in the record books.
Wrestler With Most Matches On Pay-Per-View (AJ Styles – 297): First things first… yes, AJ’s number is skewed a bit because of TNA’s old weekly pay-per-view model. From their debut show in June 2002 until September 2004, the company had 110 pay-per-views. For comparison, WWE had 28 pay-per-views in that exact same time period. The wrestler in second place on this list, James Storm, is also someone who was with TNA from their first show, so his numbers are also pumped up.
However, AJ is currently 65 shows ahead of Storm on this list. While AJ is currently injured and out of action, that’s still more than five years worth of pay-per-views that Storm would have to wrestle to even catch up to AJ’s number. If you look beyond Storm, you have someone like Chris Jericho, who is still an integral part of AEW, but at 193 pay-per-view appearances, he’s 104 behind AJ, and with AEW only holding four pay-per-views a year (five if something like Forbidden Door is going to become permanent), that means Jericho would have to see AJ retire and then wrestle for AEW until 2049, when he would be a spry 79 years old.
Browsing the list for “young” names, you have to go all the way down to someone like The Miz, who is currently at 141 pay-per-view appearances. Kofi Kingston is at 134. Seth Rollins is at 127. Dolph Ziggler is at 121. The careers of those men would have to be ridiculously long, and completely free of injuries or poor booking, to even get anywhere near AJ’s number.
If you’re going to play it a little more fair and remove the weekly TNA pay-per-views from the equation, AJ still tops the list at 200. That’s where you see the possibilities of someone passing him. Right now, Bully Ray/Bubba Ray Dudley is second on that list with 195, and he’s still a big part of what Impact Wrestling is doing. Then there’s Jericho and his 193 appearances. Depending on how long AJ is out of action with his broken ankle, there’s a chance Bully Ray passes him this year. He wrestled on pay-per-view four times in 2022, so it’s not a great chance, but a chance nonetheless. Nobody’s breaking Styles’ mark of 297 overall pay-per-views, though, unless a wrestling promotion decides to adopt TNA’s weekly pay-per-view model, and really… why would they ever do that?
Wrestler With Most World Title Matches On Pay-Per-View (John Cena – 85): That’s just over seven years worth of pay-per-view events. Clearly, Cena has had quite the legendary run with WWE, but how safe is this record? Well, Triple H is in second place with 74, but he’s retired. Randy Orton is next with 73, but nobody knows when, or if, he’ll wrestle again. AJ Styles is up next with 69, but his future is difficult to read. He remains one of the best in-ring workers on the WWE roster, but he had one World Title match on pay-per-view in 2022 (Elimination Chamber), one in 2021 (also Elimination Chamber), and one in 2020 (TLC), so he’s not exactly gaining ground on Cena’s number at a rapid pace.
The name that is going to come to a lot of minds automatically is Roman Reigns. He’s someone who has been at the top of the mountain for such a long time, and even when he finally does lose, it’s not like he’ll be pushed down the card and competing in dark matches against the likes of R-Truth, you know? However, there’s one problem… Roman is currently sitting at 40. Yes, 40. That is considerably lower than Cena’s number, and it’s going to take a ton of time for Roman to even get close. Sure, he’s about to hit 41 at this year’s Elimination Chamber, and presumably 42 at WrestleMania, but he’s still nowhere near Cena. Will Roman hit 50? I’m pretty sure he will. 60? Longshot, but certainly possible. That’s about all I expect, though.
Wrestler With Matches In The Most Years (Masanobu Fuchi – 50 years): The 69-year-old Fuchi was a participant in a Battle Royal on All Japan Pro Wrestling’s New Year Giant Series event on January 2nd of this year, making it the 50th year he has wrestled in a match. Obviously, he isn’t on a full-time schedule, wrestling five matches in 2022 and another five in 2021, but come on… 50 years? Being active also means he could wrestle again in 2024 and beyond, adding even more to this number. Seriously, though… 50 years. When someone is still wrestling at the age of 50, they’re generally viewed as well beyond their physical prime, although that is changing these days with more and more wrestlers working well into their 40’s and 50’s with good success.
Next on the list is former NWA World Champion and 2015 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee, Tatsumi Fujinami, whose appearance on New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 show last month gave him a match in 46 years. Like Fuchi, he isn’t exactly a full-time wrestler anymore, and he’s two weeks older than Fuchi, so that probably isn’t going to be changing.
Obviously, all of the names anywhere near the top of this list are all in their 60’s or even older. There are a bunch of current names in WWE or AEW that are at, or near, the 30-year mark. Jeff Jarrett (35), Dustin Rhodes (33), Rey Mysterio (30), Matt Hardy (30), Sting (30), Billy Gunn (29), Jeff Hardy (29), Bully Ray (29), Chris Jericho (29) are at the top there, but those names are either staring retirement in the face or have already outright talked about retirement coming up soon. Reaching the 50-year mark isn’t going to be in the cards for any of them.
Wrestler With Most Matches At WrestleMania (The Undertaker – 27): A bit of a fitting topic with the Road To WrestleMania in full effect right now. This one really helps to shape the picture of just how long The Undertaker was in prime real estate on the WWF/WWE roster. It’s one thing to have a 30-year career in wrestling. That’s quite the achievement. It’s another thing to have a 30-year career in the biggest wrestling promotion on the planet. That makes the achievement even better. It’s another thing altogether to have participated at WrestleMania in 27 of those 30 years. One, you need to be healthy enough to be around that often, but two, you need to be at a certain point to even make the card. Obviously, not everyone on the roster wrestles at WrestleMania in any given year. There are countless names that miss the show, year in and year out.
The only years Taker missed were WrestleMania 10 (he was out of action with a back injury), WrestleMania 16 (on the shelf with a torn pectoral), and WrestleMania 35 (still dealing with the shame of that shitty DX vs Brothers Of Destruction tag match at Crown Jewel 2018). That’s a lot of durability. It’s also a lot of toughness. By now, everyone has heard the countless stories of Taker dealing with nagging injuries and pains, but fighting through them and not missing any action, when the “average” wrestler would’ve been on the shelf for a lengthy period.
27 WrestleMania matches is what you’d get if you combined the careers of Hulk Hogan and John Cena. It’s what you’d get if you combined the careers of Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle. Bret Hart and Edge. Brock Lesnar, The Rock, and The Ultimate Warrior. You get the point.
If Randy Orton makes it back to the ring before WrestleMania 39, it will mark his 19th match at the event, which would put him one match behind Kane for third on the overall list. As we’ve already discussed here, Orton’s career is up in the air right now, but even if he does come back, he’s still eight away from tying The Undertaker. Do you picture Randy Orton still wrestling eight more years after this one? I don’t. John Cena has been rumored to have a match at Mania this year, and that would give him 16, which is one behind Shawn Michaels and Big Show for fifth on the all-time list, but who is really expecting Cena to go another 11 years after this? Kofi Kingston would have his 15th match if he’s on the card this year. Edge, The Miz, and Rey Mysterio would hit the 14-match mark if they’re wrestling this year. Sheamus would hit 13. Brock Lesnar, Jimmy Uso, and Seth Rollins would reach 12. Dolph Ziggler, Natalya, Kurt Angle, and JBL would reach 11. Jey Uso, Roman Reigns, R-Truth, and Shelton Benjamin would get to ten. Nothing even close to The Undertaker’s number.
Forget reaching Taker… I’m not even sure anyone will reach Kane’s mark of 20, sitting him behind only Taker and Triple H (23) on the list. At this point, I’m thinking Orton misses the show, keeping him at 18, and we have no idea what he’ll be doing in the future. If Kofi gets to 15, it’s not crazy to think he could wrestle at five more WrestleManias, but that would also mean he’d be pushing 47 years old, and that’s if he competes at the next five Manias without missing any. Could The Miz perform at seven more WrestleManias, counting this one? I suppose so, but that would mean he’d be coming up on his 49th birthday if he wrestles every year. Sheamus would have to wrestle until he’s at least 52 to reach Kane’s mark. Brock Lesnar would have to wrestle until he’s at least 53 to reach Kane. Jimmy Uso? At least 45 years old. Seth Rollins? 44. Dolph Ziggler? 51. Roman Reigns? 47. Cody Rhodes? 48. Drew McIntyre? 48. AJ Styles? 57. Kevin Owens? 50. This is just to reach KANE, where they would then have another SEVEN YEARS to go before reaching The Undertaker.
If you want to look WAY down the road, what about someone like Austin Theory? If he wrestles at WrestleMania 39, that will be his third match at WWE’s biggest event, and he’s only 25 years old. The Undertaker had just celebrated his 28th birthday when he wrestled his third match at WrestleMania, so Theory would have the jump on him, but still… Theory would have to possess the same level of toughness as The Undertaker, as well as his level of pure luck, which you need to stay away from too many serious injuries doing something like professional wrestling for three full decades. Who knows? Maybe we’ll revisit this topic in 2048, right around the time of WrestleMania 64 on Planet Zartoc, when a 50-year-old Austin Theory is facing Kofi Kingston’s son, Orion, for the Intergalactic Championship in what would be his 28th WrestleMania match. Until then, though… Taker seems to have this on lock.
Obviously, there are other records out there, but I don’t want to take up too much of your time here. What do you think about the records I listed? Do you think there’s a chance any of them are broken? Are there other all-time records in pro wrestling that you feel are unbreakable? As always, hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Weekly Power Rankings
Wes Lee vs Dijak: This match would’ve fit in perfectly on the “black & gold” era NXT shows, as well as the Ring Of Honor shows from, say, 2005 to about 2013 or so. So much back-and-forth action, insane near falls, and a frenetic pace from bell-to-bell. It not only elevated the NXT North American Title, but also elevated Wes Lee’s current reign as champion. Great way to open the show at Vengeance Day.
Jon Moxley vs “Hangman” Adam Page: It’s weird to hear AEW crowds so anti-Hangman, but that’s what happens when Dynamite takes place in Dayton, Ohio, which is less than an hour’s drive away from where Jon Moxley was born and raised. That brought an interesting, added dynamic to the match. An intense, physical battle that featured Mox seemingly kicking out of everything Adam Page knows how to do inside of a wrestling ring. There was a “big fight” feel to this from the beginning, featuring two of the top stars in the promotion.
Apollo Crews vs Carmelo Hayes: While I was surprised to see Melo sweep the match, two falls to zero, I was certainly not disappointed in the quality of the match itself. Apollo continues to wrestle with a huge chip on his shoulder since returning to NXT, ready to show people that he’s capable of so much more than he was usually allowed to show on the main roster. Melo is, of course, Melo. He is the most main roster ready performer in NXT as an overall package, and he probably doesn’t have too much longer before he gets called up.
New Day vs Gallus vs Pretty Deadly vs Chase U: Non-stop action from bell-to-bell. All four teams looked great here, with each squad looking like they would come out victorious on at least one occasion. Gallus really needed this win, as they have looked great since showing up from NXT: UK, but that quality hasn’t been matched by their win/loss record. Kudos to the person/people responsible for the decision to have Xavier Woods pinned here. Neither Woods nor Kofi are going to be “hurt” by taking the pin, but someone who pins them can damn sure get helped by doing so. It means a lot more for Gallus to win the titles by pinning Woods than it would’ve by them pinning, say, Kit Wilson.
Bryan Danielson vs Timothy Thatcher: I totally get why Timothy Thatcher matches aren’t for everyone, but I really like his work. This was a technical and submission wrestling “dream match” featuring two masters of their craft that have never faced each other before. It didn’t disappoint. There wasn’t a lot of mystery surrounding who would win, but these opponents being lined up for Danielson are, in kayfabe, basically there to soften him up and weaken him for his upcoming Ironman Match with MJF. I would like to see more of Thatcher in AEW, but at the same time, there are already way too many people on the roster that aren’t being used, or at least used properly, so he would only get lost in the shuffle.
Darby Allin vs Samoa Joe: These two have a lot of chemistry together. Darby continues to give zero fucks about his own safety, and Joe is more than happy to oblige Darby on his quest to be in a wheelchair before the age of 40. On a personal note, this might be the tenth time that I have “jinxed” a champion in AEW by praising them and their title reign in a column, only for them to immediately turn around and drop the title. It usually happens mere hours after I post my column when Dynamite airs, but it will always happen at some point during the week before I post my next column. Basically, what I’m saying is that, for the right price, I will praise any AEW champion that you dislike, and their reign will come to a swift end soon thereafter.
Bron Breakker vs Grayson Waller: Grayson Waller will have his chance to shine as the top guy in NXT. I really do believe that. It just isn’t his time. Bron Breakker is building something special as the NXT Champion. He is currently in the middle of the second-longest NXT Title reign in the history of the belt, with his 308 days (as of the day this column is posted) behind only Adam Cole’s 403-day reign. The date of NXT Stand & Deliver will be his 362nd day as champion, and he will have passed Cole by that point for the second-most overall days with the title, behind only Finn Balor’s 504 days (that will be Bron’s 425th overall day). That really shows you how much the likes of Triple H and Shawn Michaels enjoy Bron’s work and how bright they envision his future to be.
Konosuke Takeshita vs Brian Cage: This match probably would’ve placed higher on the list, but Brian Cage needed to be Brian Cage, no-selling entirely too much for no real reason whatsoever. He needs to get his shit in, of course. The big news here is that Takeshita won a televised match in AEW. This was his first televised victory for the company since he teamed with Jun Akiyama to defeat Eddie Kingston and Ortiz on the November 18th episode of Rampage. It was his first televised singles victory since he beat Ryan Nemeth on the August 5th episode of Rampage. That was six months ago! His next televised match is against the AEW World Champion, MJF, so I’m not exactly counting on him to build up a winning streak, but it’s a baby step, I guess.
NXT Finally Giving Us Bron Breakker vs Carmelo Hayes: Months ago, I pitched the idea that NXT would/should wait until Stand & Deliver to give us the long-awaited match between Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes. One, it was the biggest match the brand had to offer, so it made sense to wait for the brand’s biggest show of the year to do it. Two, there was the cutesy connection of LeBron (Bron) James and Carmelo Anthony playing teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers NBA squad. The Lakers just so happen to play their home games in the Staples Center (I will never outright call it the Crypto.com Arena)… where Stand & Deliver takes place this year. Prepare to potentially hear about that connection on NXT programming at least 826 times between now and April 1st. Either way, I’m just happy we’re finally going to see those two face each other in what could be the final NXT match for the loser.
The Elite vs Ethan Page, Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy: Not even the mothers of Page, Hardy, and Kassidy would say their sons should’ve won this match, so the outcome was never in question. That’s fine in some instances, and this was one of them. It was a nice change of pace for The Elite, who were coming off of facing Death Triangle every week for the last nine months, or however long their series was, but still featured plenty of spots and excitement. I don’t even remember the last time Matt Hardy made my Power Rankings for anything.
Jade Cargill: She is now 50-0 in AEW, and is approaching the 400-day mark as the TBS Champion. Her reign continues to make her look like an absolute superstar. I continue to think that she’s going to keep the title until Kris Statlander is healthy and ready to return to the ring after her latest knee surgery. In early-September, Statlander provided a timetable of six-to-eight months of recovery, which would put her on pace to possibly return very soon. Early-March would be six months after her surgery. AEW’s next pay-per-view, Revolution, happens on March 5th. While that might still be early, I’m holding out hope that Statlander will be back as soon as possible. The AEW fans are more than ready for her to reach the top.
NXT Hitting The Road: It was great to see NXT putting on a show somewhere other than the sterile, lifeless Capitol Wrestling Center. While the Charlotte, North Carolina crowd wasn’t quite on the level of a lot of the Takeover-era NXT crowds, it was still much better than what we’ve been getting.
Kiana James & Fallon Henley: They surprised the hell out of just about everyone by winning the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles. I’m a little disappointed that Katana Chance and Kayden Carter lost, as they have come an incredibly long way over the last several months, but we’ll see what their future holds. The new champions are still pretty green, and it’s arguable whether or not they’re “ready” for this type of spotlight right now, but the story being told with them and the team of Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen is advancing, and this adds another layer to it, so I’m more than willing to give it a chance.
Christopher Daniels vs Rush: Nice of Tony Khan to bring Christopher Daniels out for his once-a-year match on television. In all seriousness, Daniels can still “go” in the ring, even as he’s about to celebrate his 53rd birthday. Do you know what was happening in wrestling during the month that Daniels had his debut match? Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart at WrestleMania 9 to win the WWF Title, only to drop the title to Hulk Hogan minutes later. That’s a long, long time ago, and he’s still going strong, landing on this list in 2023.
Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci: I was a little disappointed here. Not just that the match didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but that Kaiser and Vinci lost. I get that it would be better to put a team of faces in the match against The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles… if we even get a match with The Usos with all of the drama going on in that storyline… but damn, Usos vs Imperium would be something epic to witness. Well, disappointed or not, the match was still good enough to make the list this week, so credit to all four men involved for putting in work.
This Week’s Playlist: “Trying” by Ella Mai… “Break My Heart” by Ella Mai… “Leave You Alone” by Ella Mai… “Bone Church” by Slipknot… “under the weather” by CORPSE… “X SI VOLVEMOS” by KAROL G & Romeo Santos… “Watch The World Burn” by Falling In Reverse… “Nightmare” by From Ashes To New… “Remember Me” by Currents… “Parasite” by Dope… “Immolation of Night” by Invent Animate… “Drag Me Under” by Rising Insane… “At Break of Dawn” by Saint Deamon… “Death Magick” by Enterprise Earth… “Dissection” by Splutter… “Choose U” by Project Pat… “Bring The Pain” by Method Man… “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By” by Method Man & Mary J. Blige… “Break Ups 2 Make Ups” by Method Man & D’Angelo… “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang Clan… “Reunited” by Wu-Tang Clan… “Visionz” by Wu-Tang Clan… “Older Gods” by Wu-Tang Clan… “It’s Yourz” by Wu-Tang Clan… “Triumph” by Wu-Tang Clan… “Gravel Pit” by Wu-Tang Clan… “All That I Got Is You” by Ghostface Killah & Mary J. Blige… “I Can’t Wait” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard… “Rollin’ Wit You” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard… “Shadowboxin” by GZA & Method Man