Thanksgiving is right around the corner in the United States, and if you’ve been reading my work for a while, you know exactly what that means…
It’s time for me to talk about what I’m thankful for right now in the wild, wonderful, wacky world of pro wrestling. Maybe it’s a storyline going on at the moment. Perhaps it’s the work of a particular character. Maybe it’s a match that I really enjoyed recently. Whatever it is, it’s something that is making me glad to be a wrestling fan.
This is where we leave our negativity and cynicism at the door, even for a brief period of time.
Are you ready to do this?
Let’s give thanks, in no particular order.
The Rise Of Jey Uso As A Singles Star: As one-half of, arguably, the greatest tag team in WWE history, Jey has been an important part of the company for a long time now. His work in the multi-year Bloodline story has taken him to an entirely new level, though. It started with him feuding against Roman Reigns, where he showed that he could have some entertaining singles matches, but his love-hate relationship with Roman also proved he could be a great character and cut terrific promos.
Until recently, though, his potential was taken for granted, as it was assumed he would just end up being back with his brother to reform The Usos on a full-time basis. Then, he got a silly-but-memorable catchphrase, a unique entrance that looked incredible on television by including everyone in the arena, and the rest appears to be history. Jey has become one of the most popular acts in all of wrestling right now, to the point that nobody would question it if he became a World Champion.
It has been a wild ride, but a fascinating one to witness every step of the way.
Oba Femi: He signed a NIL contract with WWE when he was 23 years old, coming to the sport with zero wrestling experience of any kind. Less than a year after signing his contract, he made his in-ring debut. Five months later, he made his television debut, and I, like many others, immediately saw something special in him from that debut. Eight months later, he won the NXT North American Title.
Now, here we are, less than 11 months later, and there’s a swell of buzz that he could be one of the next up for either a shot at the NXT Championship or even an expedited move to Raw or Smackdown. It absolutely blows my mind that he has picked things up so quickly. Like I said, not only did he not come to WWE from the independent wrestling scene, but he didn’t even have a history of amateur wrestling. He has the look, the mic skills, the “it” factor, the understanding of who he is and what he should (and shouldn’t) be doing in the ring, and all of that adds up to create perhaps the brightest future of anybody in the sport today.
He looked like a potential World Champion in his television debut, and he looks like a potential Hall Of Famer now. When he has a match on a show that I’m watching, I’m treating it like it’s a pay-per-view main event and putting extra focus on it. I have loved watching his career from the ground floor.
Being A Witness To Bryan Danielson’s Career: I really don’t need to say much here.
Bryan Danielson is the greatest professional wrestler of all-time. I’ve said that before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again. I am thankful, this year and every year, to have been able to watch his career for nearly two full decades.
At this point, we don’t know what the future holds for him, outside of his claim that his “full-time” wrestling career is over. However, with all of his injuries, and with the severity of those injuries, there always remains the chance that we’ll never see him wrestle again. If that’s the case… and even if it isn’t the case… I will always give that man the flowers he deserves.
Mina Shirakawa: Have you seen her? You know why she’s listed here.
A Star Is Born In Swerve Strickland: You can call it incompetence on the parts of several people employed by WWE. If you want, you can call it a situation where there were just too many people fighting for pieces of the pie, which means some people are going to go hungry, no matter what.
Either way, those who were aware of what Swerve brought to the table knew all he needed was a chance. A shot. An opportunity. He has gotten that in AEW, and my goodness, he has made it worth the while. Swerve is now on the short list of the most well-rounded performers in wrestling today, capable of doing anything in the ring and also of delivering greatness on the microphone.
If you’re a wrestler buried on the WWE depth chart right now… or the AEW one, for that matter… Swerve is the perfect person to look at and show that they should just keep busting their ass. If the talent is there, it will be seen, even if it’s not in the initial situation you may have expected.
Rhea Ripley: She isn’t your cookie-cutter women’s wrestler, from the way she looks to the way she works in the ring, and that is exactly what has helped her to become one of the biggest stars in the industry today.
About her looks… she seems to change things up just a little bit whenever she shows up on our televisions, even if it’s a slightly different hairstyle. I appreciate that. It’s the little attempts to keep things fresh that go a long way with me.
I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, too. Do you hear the crowd reactions she gets when “THIS IS MY BRUTALITY!!!!!” is heard in arenas throughout the world? Even when she was a heel surrounded by other heels, she was getting some loud face reactions. The WWE Universe has always wanted to cheer for her, and now that she’s on a mission to destroy Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio, they have even more reason to do so.
I just can’t help but love that woman.
Hi, Rhea.
Bye, Rhea.
Will Ospreay: I’ve said this in my columns before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wrestler have as long of a hot streak as Ospreay is having right now. Not Bryan Danielson, not Ric Flair, not Kurt Angle, not Eddie Guerrero, not Chris Benoit, not Shawn Michaels, not Kazuchika Okada, not Mitsuharu Misawa, not Rey Mysterio, not Terry Funk, not Bret Hart, not AJ Styles, not Seth Rollins… nobody.
Using my own personal star ratings and enjoyment scale, I haven’t seen an Ospreay match below 4 Stars since January of this year, and that was a ten-man tag. To find the last Ospreay singles match that I rated below the 4 Star mark, you’d have to go back to last August. In that time frame, he had SEVERAL Match Of The Year candidates for 2023, and has had SEVERAL more so far in 2024.
Do you realize how difficult that is? To have a superb match, night in and night out, no matter who you’re across the ring from, no matter what is on the line, and no matter how “big” the show is? It’s definitely worthy of my thanks and praise.
Jacob Fatu Is Ready To Take Over The World: If you ever watched Jacob Fatu perform before he signed with WWE, there was never a doubt whether or not he was talented enough to be a player on the biggest stage in the industry.
Instead, there were questions about his personality and outside-the-ring issues that, fairly or unfairly, were being brought up.
After what seemed like ages, WWE finally pulled the trigger on bringing him in, and he has done nothing but make the company look great ever since. From the moment he debuted, he has looked like a megastar, and someone that could be in the mix for WrestleMania main events for years to come. He was only supposed to be presented as “muscle” for Solo Sikoa’s new version of The Bloodline, but he has already seemed to overshadow Solo in almost every way possible.
With all of the moving pieces in the Bloodline story these days, Jacob Fatu is the one worth watching the most, as he really feels ready to break out at any time.
Chelsea Green’s Character Work: After all this time, it amazes me when I see people speak negatively about Chelsea Green. Yes, pro wrestling is subjective and everyone will like, and dislike, different things. That’s fine.
I’m talking more about the reasons why people speak negatively about Chelsea Green. The same goes for just about anyone that is considered a “comedy character” in wrestling. You’ll see people speak about how those people “can’t wrestle” or that they “always lose” or that they aren’t a “serious enough” character to be a “threat” or “contender” for something.
That’s the whole point, bozos.
R-Truth, Chelsea Green, Danhausen, Santino Marella, Colt Cabana, Kikutaro, Toru Yano, Crash Holly… the list goes on and on of wrestlers who were focused on the comedy aspect of things. It wasn’t their job to wrestle like prime Bryan Danielson and Lou Thesz. It wasn’t their job to win World Titles. All they were asked to do was to entertain fans, whether it was the ones in the arena or the ones watching at home.
Chelsea is fantastic at her job. She plays the silly role very well, and on numerous occasions has proven that she is willing to go the extra mile to make herself look dumb in front of millions.
The comedy world in WWE has been dominated by R-Truth for so long, so it’s really cool to see someone else stepping up to the plate and succeeding along the way. Just wait until she ends up being the very first Women’s United States Champion!
You: If you’ve read my Thanksgiving columns in the past, you already knew this was coming. Every year, I close the Thanksgiving column out by telling all of you that I’m thankful for you and your support.
If you’ve ever clicked a link to read anything I’ve created…
If you’ve ever sent me a message to discuss wrestling or to send me a column request…
If you’ve ever followed me on any social media platform, going all the way back to the MySpace days…
If you’ve ever interacted with me in any way, shape, or form from day one until today…
I want you to know that I love and appreciate you more than you could ever know. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
You’re up. With everything going on in the wrestling world, what are YOU thankful for these days? 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 keep things moving with my Weekly Power Rankings, before we close things out with the playlist of music I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher: If Fletcher didn’t already have a star-making performance in AEW, he had one here. Fantastic match. I do need to address something, though. I’ve seen a ton of complaints that the match didn’t end after Fletcher delivered a jumping Tombstone Piledriver from the ring apron onto the ring steps. Did the match continue after the spot? Yes. But it’s not like Ospreay kicked out at one and then wrestled balls-to-the-wall for another 20 minutes. That was the turning point of the match, and after the spot, Fletcher was like a shark swimming around a pool of blood in the ocean, basically turning Ospreay into an out-on-his-feet zombie before finishing him off for good. It was well done, although I do think the spot itself was unnecessary, and could’ve been really bad for both men.
Mercedes Moné vs Kris Statlander: Great stuff from both women, and an argument can be made that it was the best match from either of them in AEW. They were given a ton of time to work with, and they filled up every second with plenty of great back-and-forth action, counters, reversals, and unique offense.
Paul Heyman: Man, I missed seeing and hearing this guy on WWE programming. Everything is immediately better when he’s around. I hope he enjoyed his five-month “vacation” from things, though.
CM Punk over Seth Rollins: Not only did Heyman return, but he brought CM Punk with him. Punk was revealed to be the fifth man for the OG Bloodline’s team at Survivor Series, and all I can say is… I’m very happy to see common sense win out. As I mentioned last week, I would’ve been really upset if Rollins was the fifth man.
Will Ospreay, Ricochet, Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer & Brian Cage: An AEW match involving eight people? Check. A ton of in-ring talent? Check. There was never any doubt this was going to be a lot of fun.
Andre Chase vs Ridge Holland: Chase U was one of those storylines that should’ve lasted a few weeks before disappearing completely. It should’ve been too corny to continue. However, Andre Chase found a way to make everything work, from his in-ring work to his promos to all of the backstage segments. Now that Chase U is no more, I’m interested to see what’s next for him. This was a blast to watch, with Ridge Holland really figuring things out for himself, too.
Jon Moxley vs Orange Cassidy: While not quite up to par with the average AEW pay-per-view main event, this was still a very well put together match that featured a lot of drama. Orange Cassidy is great at playing the underdog, and Moxley is even better as the sadistic bastard who just wants to hurt the person he’s in the ring with. They played their roles well here.
Bron Breakker vs Sheamus: While the ending sucked, keeping this from being rated higher, the rest of the match featured a lot to enjoy. Will Sheamus ever become the Intercontinental Champion? They’ve played up that hole in his trophy case too much for me to think it won’t happen before he retires. It’s fun to watch him chase the title, though.
Rhea Ripley: Although it wasn’t anywhere near as long as her previous injury absence, I’m glad to see Rhea make her return. From the sound of it, the WWE Universe was really glad to see her return, too.
“Switchblade” Jay White vs “Hangman” Adam Page: Just a really solid pro wrestling match. It didn’t need to be anything super flashy or fancy. Sometimes, that’s a good thing.
Darby Allin vs Claudio Castagnoli: Heel Claudio can be a bit of an asshole in the ring, using his superhuman strength to his advantage in an attempt to hurt opponents. Darby is willing to take an ass kicking like nobody we’ve ever seen before. Combine those things, and you have good entertainment.
Seth Rollins vs Bronson Reed: It wasn’t as good as their previous encounter, but that’s not saying this one was bad. That’s just saying how much I enjoyed the other match. These two have a lot of in-ring chemistry together.
Roderick Strong vs MJF: The outcome was never in question, and sometimes, that can hurt my overall enjoyment of a match. Not always, but sometimes. This was one of those times. It could’ve been better, but I still can’t complain too much.
Jack Perry vs Daniel Garcia: I still don’t buy Jack Perry as a heel at all, but the match was good, and most importantly, it was a vehicle to help take Garcia to the next level. He deserves it.
Stephanie Vaquer vs Jaida Parker: We know how talented Stephanie Vaquer is, but man, Jaida Parker has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. Her future appears to be super bright.
This Week’s Playlist: “wacced out murals” by Kendrick Lamar… “squabble up” by Kendrick Lamar… “luther” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA… “tv off” by Kendrick Lamar & Lefty Gunplay… “dodger blue” by Kendrick Lamar, Roddy Ricch, Wallie The Sensei & Siete7x… “heart pt. 6” by Kendrick Lamar… “gnx” by Kendrick Lamar, Hitta J3, Peysoh & YoungThreat… “gloria” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA… “Hello Miss Johnson” by Jack Harlow… “Whiplash” by Architects… “Forever Aligned” by Killswitch Engage… “Shapeshifter” by Memphis May Fire… “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That” by BLACKGOLD & FEVER 333… “Insane In The Brain” by BLACKGOLD & Benji Webbe… “I Seen A Man Die” by Scarface… “Hand Of The Dead Body” by Scarface, Ice Cube & Devin The Dude… “Homies & Thugs” by Scarface, Master P & 2Pac… “21 Guns” by Green Day… “Holiday” by Green Day… “Party Hard” by Andrew WK… “Heavydirtysoul” by Twenty One Pilots… “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” by Busta Rhymes… “She’s Music To Me” by Ekolu… “Brothers and Sisters” by SOJA… “Take Me Away” by Laga Savea
