2017 review in professional wrestling

2017 is now in the past. Alot of ups and alot of downs in the world of professional wrestling. 

Overall, this year has been a really good year for a pro wrestling fan. The world seems to be getting smaller with the internet. Before there were matches in the "indy" scene or in different countries you couldn't see. But that is no longer the case. With stars like Kenny Omega, The Young Bucs, Adam Cole, Kazuchika Okada and Cody Rhodes. The scene of professional wrestling has changed. 

Think about this. The biggest match and possibly what will be the best match in 2018. Will take place in Japan. That has probably happened before, but with the internet and social media. EVERYONE knows about it and all who want to see it, will see it. Plus on top of that; WWE has little to nothing to do with it. 

2017 solidified what we found out in 2016. You don't need WWE to make a HUGE impact.

Speaking of WWE. The biggest up for me was the return of the Hardy Boyz at WM. The biggest down was Alexia Bliss This is Your Life! I personally can't stand "This is Your Life" segments. None of them have been good. NONE!   

Switching gears to NXT; Still a very strong brand with great talent. It was better last year, but that doesn't mean that NXT in 2017 was bad. With stars like Ember Moon, Alister Black, Velveteen Dream, Sanity, and Undisputed Era. 2017 was a strong year for NXT. 

TNA, Impact Wrestling, Global Force Wrestling....? How many name changes can you go through in one year? Not only that, how many people came back to that company and turned around and left again? Besides the early part of 2017, when the Broken Hardys were there. I can't say there was something ground breaking or awe inspiring that happened in the six sided ring in 2017.

Sadly I have not watched much Lucha Underground or ROH this year. I hear great things that are happening in those companies and 2017 has been a good year for both.

So long 2017. Hello 2018. *Cheers*

WWE Survivor Series 2017 Predictions

Just going to give predictions for the main show as the pre-show is going on at the time of this post.
It's going to be interesting if a certain female superstar shows up...if you can believe the internet.
Time will tell.
Anyway on with the predictions:

Shield def. New Day
SD women's team def RAW women's team
Baron Corbin def. Miz
SD men team def RAW men's team
Brock Lesnar def AJ Styles
USOs def. Sheamus/Cesaro
Charlotte def. Alexa

No Mercy Predictions 2017

Time...once again for PPV predictions!

Elias def Crews
Roman def. Cena
Bliss def. Shasha et. al
Rollins/Ambrose def. Cesaro/Sheameus
Miz def. JJ
Braun Storman def. Brock Lesnar

SummerSlam 2017 predictions & NXT Takeover review

NXT Takeover has done it again...well for the most part. It was a solid PPV, I just wasn't all that excited about the main event. It was just okay. Spoiler Alert: Adam Cole made his debut in NXT. 

If I followed ROH like I did in the past. I would know more about him...Sadly I do not...yet. But I am looking forward to what NXT does next. Great PPV and just an okay main event. I give it a B+.

On to the predictions for SummerSlam! 

Neville def. Tozawa

Hardys/Jason Jordan def. The Miz/Miztourage.

The New Day def Usos

Finn Baylor def. Bray Wyatt. 

Big Cass def. Big Show

Randy Orton def. Rusev

Natayla def Naomi....Carmella def. Natayla

Sasha Banks def. Alexa Bliss

Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins def. Sheamus/Cesaro

Kevin Owens def. AJ Style

Baron Corbin def. John Cena

Shinsuke def. Jinder

Braun Strowman def et. al

How WWE can/should fix Bayley

Starting off, I want to say that I really like Bayley. Both as a character and wrestler. So this is not an "attack" on her or her ability to wrestle.
Now that I got that out of the way. Let's start with where the character was getting stale.
Did they give her the belt too soon? Personally, I don't think so...Did she do much with the belt when she had it? Not really, and that's were the problem started...in my opinion. She didn't present as a confident champion. She didn't hold the belt long enough to increase that confidence and make her the person to beat.
Then there was the feud with Alexa Bliss, who just tore into Bayley on the mic and backed it up in the ring. Again making Bayley look weak both on the mic and in the ring. And of course their match at Extreme Rules made both women look bad, but especially Bayley.  She didn't get extreme because she's too nice? She wouldn't do whatever it took to win? She just looked so weak and incompetent.
Bayley has gone from a strong women's champion in NXT to a little insecure girl who can win, but does so because of luck and not skill.
Do you see the problem? Her character hasn't evolved. And now her momentum has been halted due to injury.
So, how to fix this? It's pretty simple, toughen up Bayley and make her more confident. She doesn't have to tell us she was a fan when she was a kid. That's not necessary; the people are behind her the connection already exists. She doesn't have to turn her heel, please don't!!
When she comes back from injury. Have her feud with Alexa again. Let Alexa cut a promo on Bayley. And Bayley doesn't have to say anything...She just has to punch Alexa in the face. Then in a backstage segment. Have Bayley say she is sick of being treated like a child, having her kindness mistaken for weakness by Alexa and then challenge Alexa to a No Holds Barred match. Make
the match long enough and make Bayley  aggressive through that match, and have her WIN IT!
That's all WWE has to do. How hard is that?

Predictions WWE Great Balls of Fire PPV

I'm not really digging the name "Great Balls of Fire." Not sure why they went with that title and I'm not sure if they are going to keep that name. But I didn't get a vote, so "Great Balls of Fire" it is.
Anyway let's get on to the predictions:

Bray Wyatt def. Seth Rollins
Sheamus/Cesaro def. Hardy Boyz.
Cass def. Enzo via DQ
Neville def. Tozawa.
Braun def. Roman
Miz def. Dean Ambrose
Brock Lesnar def. Samoa Joe.
Alexa Bliss def. Sasha Banks.

WWE MITB review....i.e. Really?!?

I don't know where to begin with this one. This is usually one of my favorite PPVs of the year. But this year...? This year...? My God, what was that? The ending of the very first female WWE ladder match ended like that? Really? Why? WTF?
Let me calm down here and talk about the positives. First, there were some matches that were pretty good and entertaining. The tag team championship match was pretty good. So was the main event MITB match....and that's really all the positives I can think of.
The Jinder/Orton match was exactly the same match they had last PPV.  The only difference was the incorporation of Cowboy Bob Orton. But other than that, it was the exact same finish....WTH.
The women's championship match was ok. I expected more from Lana. She did ok, but I was not overly impressed with her.
Also, is the Ascension ever gonna get a push? And, no titles changed hands...ugh. And did I mention the ending of the female MITB match...?  I did? Well it bares repeating!!! That ending was just awful for so many reasons. The main reason(I think) is because it was really a good match up until the end. The women used the ladders effectively. Most of them had good spots to show off their athleticism. It was headed toward history making in a good way. But the ending tarnished ALL of that in less than a minute! It was sad, just sad. And it was lazy creatively, not by the wrestlers who put in the work. But the writers/bookers who thought this was a good idea. Unless their idea was to make people upset and angry. If so, mission accomplished.

WWE MITB 2017

It's still odd to me that this PPV is not a cross brand PPV. But maybe they'll do that next year.
I am worried about the women's MITB. Because I wonder if they'll let them utilize the ladders like the men do. I don't expect sick bumps, but a few would make it just as good if not better than the men's MITB.  On to the predictions:

Tamina def. Charlotte et. al
Naomi def. Lana
New Day def. Usos
Jindhar def. Randy Orton
Sammy Zahn def AJ Styles et. al

WWE Extreme Rules Predictions

I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure Roman Reigns is going to win tonight, but should he?
Shouldn't Finn Balor win....? Yes. But Finn vs. Brock? Yikes!  Brock would toss him around like a child. But anyway let's move on to the predictions.

Alexa Bliss def. Bailey
Hardys def. Sheameus/Cesaro
Dean Ambrose def. Miz
Finn Balor to win fatal 5 way.
Kalisto def. Apollo
Austin Ares def. Neville
Swann/Banks def. Dar/Fox

WWE Payback predictions

I can't say that I'm looking forward to this PPV it seems like a little bit of a throw away PPV. But...but
it does have potential. So we will see what happens. Now on to the predictions:

Roman def. Braun via DQ
Samoa Joe def. Seth Rollins
Randy Orton def. Bray Wyatt
Kevin Owens def. Chris Jericho
Hardys def. Cesaro/Sheamus
Alexa Bliss def. Bayley
Austin Ares def. Neville
Enzo/Cass def. Gallows/Anderson

Wrestlemania 33 predictions and NXT reaction

I usually tweet my predictions, but this is WM. And also because WM is going to be around 6 hours long, including the pre show. This seemed easier.

First, NXT. While it was a really good PPV. And it did have new belts revealed before the title matches started. I gotta say overall. It was a little disappointing. Not the matches themselves, but the out comes. Not one title changed hands. NOT ONE! I expected at least one, but by the time the main event came around. You kind of figured that title wouldn't change hands either. I give the PPV  a grade of B.

Now on to my predictions for WM 33.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Mojo Rawley
Smackdown Women's Championship: Naomi
Raw's Women's Championship: Charlotte
Rollins def. Triple H
Undertaker def. Roman Reigns
AJ Styles def. Shane McMahon
John Cena/Nikki def. Miz/Maryse
Austin Ares def. Neville
Raw Tag Team Championship: Enzo and Cass
Kevin Owens def. Chris Jericho
Baron Corbin def. Dean Ambrose
Bray Wyatt def. Randy Orton
Goldberg def. Brock Lesnar

WWE Royal Rumble and NXT Takeover 2017

It's a good start to the new year when both PPVs are good. NXT was better, but that's not to say that the RR was bad. It was long and surprising there wasn't any filler, that I can remember. I did forget about the cruiserweight match, before it started, but that match was good as well.
The only thing that I can't understand is, why Seth wasn't on the rumble...at all. So he was band from the building. Like that's stopped people before. Apparently it did last night. No Rollins sightings anywhere. He was on Takeover, but that's it. Very odd decision/booking.  Also Randy Orton winning the RR. Didn't see that coming. And no big returns or surprises in the RR, save Tye Dillinger. I was hoping for Samoa Joe, but that didn't happen. Oh well.
Overall I grade NXT takeover an A- and the Royal Rumble a B.

Pro Wrestling in 2016

Now that we are well in to the new year. Let's take a quick look at 2016. I say quick cause a lot happened in 2016. We saw the birth of Broken Matt Hardy and brother Nero. There was the curserweight classic. All of the NXT takeover PPVs. Lucha Underground season 3. Ricochet vs. Ospreay. The brand split (again). And of course women's wrestling particularly WWE.
2016 was a great year to be a wrestling fan. Of course there were some low points. There always is, especially in wrestling. But overall, it feels like it's been a really good year. When I have trouble deciding what the match of the year was. That's a good thing.
We'll see what 2017 has in store; let's hope that goes up from here.