Every now and then, my weekly schedule gets really hectic, and it becomes difficult for me to find steady time to sit and work on a column.
This past week was one of those instances.
When that happens, it’s nice to have an “easy” topic to write about. Shout out to Chris Van Vliet for giving me just that this week.
He posted a picture about the “Seven Wrestlers Theory” on his social media, listing seven specific topics for his followers to answer. Each topic asked folks to choose a wrestler as an answer, and right away, I knew it was going to be what my column was about.
Let’s have some fun, shall we?
The One That Made You Fall In Love With Wrestling: If this were about the first wrestler I remember seeing, the answer would be Ric Flair. That’s who made me a wrestling fan in the first place, but if you’re talking about who made me fall in love with wrestling, the answer is Hulk Hogan. I know it isn’t “cool” to say anything positive about Hulk in 2025, but I’m not going to lie here. I’m of a certain age when damn near everyone fell in love with wrestling because of Hulk. When they say that Hulkamania was running wild, that’s completely factual. I will never be afraid to say that Hulk Hogan made me fall in love with the sport, and it’s a love I still have, all these years later.
Your Newest Favorite Wrestler: If I’m going with the “newest” part of that, I think my selection would be Queen Aminata. I am becoming a huge fan of her and her work. From the moment she appears on my screen, she is able to capture my attention, and I don’t just mean in a “oh, she’s hot” kind of way. Don’t get me wrong… she’s a beautiful woman. When I mention her capturing my attention, though, I mean that she carries herself like a superstar. I FEEL that through the television. Honestly, there aren’t many women in wrestling who I can say that about. There are plenty of pretty women in the business, but the list of who carries themselves like larger-than-life stars is short. Combine that with her in-ring skills, and you have someone who has an incredibly bright future.
The One That Always Makes You Smile: There’s probably a handful of names I could list here, but I’ll go with someone who most recently made me smile, and that’s Iyo Sky. First of all, that woman comes across as one of the purest, most innocent souls around. She’s one of the best women to ever step foot inside of a wrestling ring, and if you wanted to say she was one of the best people, period, to do so, I wouldn’t fight you. The woman is absolutely gorgeous. There’s a lot to like about her as an overall package in the world of professional wrestling, and I always find myself enjoying whatever she’s doing. I’d say that counts here. Oh, and when she does her emote in the ring, I’m ready to run through a wall.
Your Comfort Wrestler: I have a few, actually. If I’m in the mood for some carnage, I’ll throw on some Sid Vicious/Sid Justice/Sycho Sid matches, and I’ll immediately feel at ease. When I want a smooth operator that was guaranteed to have something fantastic on a technical level, I rock with Bret “The Hitman” Hart. If I’m looking to feel alive and reminisce on wrestling making me feel an incredibly deep emotional connection, I’ll watch Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan. It all depends on my mood, really.
The One You Miss The Most: This is an easy, easy choice. Eddie Guerrero. It blows me away that we’re six months away from the 20th anniversary of his tragic passing. I still find myself getting emotional sometimes when I watch some of Eddie’s old matches or promos, and it makes me very sad that there are now multiple generations of wrestlers we never got to see him face in the ring.
The One You’d Protect With Your Whole Life: This is the weirdest topic here, by a country mile. If we’re talking in a literal sense, then the answer is nobody. My wife and my daughter are the only people I’m truly going to protect with my whole life, and the last time I checked, neither of them is a pro wrestler. In a figurative sense, though, I’m going to go with Diamond Dallas Page. I don’t know if he’s a Catholic, but I’d be perfectly fine with him being chosen as the next Pope. The work he continues to do for people in and out of wrestling is amazing. If I could do something to ensure that DDP can keep helping people turn their lives around, I’d do it.
The One You’re Rooting For The Most: This is another easy choice for me. It’s Apollo Crews, for sure. He’s a man I consider a friend, and I’ve called him that for years, going back to his days before he signed a WWE contract. He is such a nice, humble guy, and that makes me want to root for him in every aspect of his life. I’m glad he signed with WWE (I jokingly said it was due to the column I wrote about him when he was in Dragon Gate), glad he found love, glad he became a father, and glad he has been able to make a bunch of money to help support them. I will always root for him, and I hope WWE is able to find something for him to do when he returns from injury.
Your turn. You see the seven topics… let me see who you’re choosing. As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s get 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
“Hangman” Adam Page vs Kyle Fletcher: The winners of the Owen Hart Cup receive a World Title shot at All In, which has become AEW’s biggest show of the year. These two were competing for a berth in the Finals of the OHC at Double Or Nothing, and it showed. As I’ve said a million times, it really is amazing what happens to the quality of a match when there are legitimate stakes on the line. Hangman and Fletcher had themselves a pay-per-view main event quality banger.
Kenny Omega, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Mark Briscoe & Kevin Knight vs Kazuchika Okada, Ricochet & The Young Bucks: Spots, spots, spots, spots, spots… everybody… spots, spots, spots, spots, spots. Sometimes, that’s all a match needs to be entertaining. This was one of those times.
Iyo Sky & Jordynne Grace vs Roxanne Perez & Giulia: She has always been popular with WWE crowds, but Iyo Sky has really been winning fans over in the last few months. Her momentum continued during her trip to NXT, and we got a real crowd-pleasing match here. I continue to be confused with Roxanne Perez being involved on the main roster, as well as on NXT, but that’s a different conversation for a different day.
Rhea Ripley vs Roxanne Perez: Big week for Roxanne. She continues to put in good performance after good performance, no matter what show she’s on and no matter who her opponent is. It’s crazy to think that she’s only 23 years old. For that matter, it’s crazy to think that Rhea Ripley is only 28 years old.
Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly vs FTR: I’m not exactly sure this match was deserving of a Two-Out-Of-Three Falls stipulation, but there’s nothing I can do about it, I suppose. The quality of the action was really good, and that’s what matters.
Sami Zayn vs Bron Breakker: On the list of the best and most sympathetic sellers in the business, Sami Zayn is right in the mix for the top spot. Now, on the list of the best ass kickers who aren’t going to give you a chance to “sell” because they’re really killing you, Bron Breakker is right in the mix for the top spot. Those two worlds collided here, and it was fun to watch.
Logan Paul: I already know what many people are going to say, but I like that Logan is the first challenger for Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Title. Against many other World Champions, Logan wouldn’t seem like a credible threat. However, against Jey, who just went through several weeks of online fans viewing him as “lesser than” where he should be for a spot like this, Logan looks like someone who could actually win. I know this to be true, because I saw a ton of “holy shit, WWE might actually put the World Title on Logan Paul” tweets and social media posts in the immediate aftermath of Raw. Isn’t that what you want? A World Title challenger that you can actually picture winning, whether you want them to or not? Jey is “vulnerable,” which isn’t something you can say about many of the company’s top wrestlers over the last five years.
Brody King vs Josh Alexander: I’m a fan of Josh Alexander, but I’m going to keep saying this until it happens… push Brody King. Give him a singles title. He is more than deserving of it.
“Timeless” Toni Storm vs Miyu Yamashita: As you’ve already seen in this week’s rankings, and will see some more before this column is over, this was a strong week for the women of WWE, NXT, and AEW. So many of them seem to be hitting on all cylinders right now. I love it.
Stephanie Vaquer vs Ivy Nile: I’m not sure that Ivy Nile has ever been listed in my weekly rankings before, but here she is. She was never bad or anything, but she just didn’t have a ton of opportunities to showcase what she can truly do. Even in a loss, she looked really good against Vaquer, one of the top women in the business today. Maybe that will bring about more chances for Ivy moving forward.
Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura: Awkward and unorthodox going up against awkward and unorthodox, and I mean that in the best possible way. This was fun. Not as long as I would’ve liked it to be, but fun nonetheless.
Harley Cameron vs Megan Bayne: The fun underdog babyface going up against the monster heel. It’s a formula that has worked time and time and time and time and time again in wrestling history. This was another instance of just that. AEW crowds are really getting behind Harley, and she continues giving them reasons to love her.
The War Raiders vs Finn Balor & JD McDonagh: Even though Erik and Ivar have been successful for years, winning Tag Titles on multiple continents for several total companies, I don’t think they quite get the credit and respect they deserve for their work. They’re great. Just great.
Zelina Vega vs Piper Niven: Both of these women have been flying under the radar with their in-ring work, and it all boils down to the way they look. People look at them and make a bunch of assumptions. It’s unfair, and it’s a shame, but it happens. They’ll be fine, though, and will undoubtedly continue busting their asses in the ring on a regular basis.
Real American Freestyle Wrestling: The nWo-style trailer was really stupid, and the reveal of the “third man” was a terrible disappointment, but you know what? I’m intrigued by the idea of a “pro amateur” wrestling promotion, and I’ll give it a chance. I can guarantee that it will devolve into something dumb, simply based on the involvement of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, probably with them having a ton of screen time, but we’ll see how long that takes to happen.
This Week’s Playlist: “Hallelujah” by Key Glock… “Glockaveli” by Key Glock… “Blue Devil” by Key Glock… “No Sweat” by Key Glock… “The Grinch” by Key Glock… “I’m Getting It” by Key Glock… “Aww Shit” by Bone Thugs N Harmony… “For The Love” by Xzibit, Ice Cube & Lorine Chia… “Thanks For Nothing” by Dead Eyes… “Paint It, Black” by The Rolling Stones… “Creep” by Radiohead… “Zombie” by The Cranberries… “Everlong” by Foo Fighters… “Enter Sandman” by Metallica… “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” by The Hollies… “Purple Rain” by Prince… “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin… “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads… “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath… “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra
