TWC Report #1 – 03/20/16

Hello everybody, its The Wrestling Classic here. Today, Ill be writing my first Wrestling Classic Report. In these blog pieces you’ll find me writing few paragraphs on various topics, stating my personal opinion, ideas or just sharing my random thoughts. It will usually be on current events, random thoughts or things I feel are worth touching base on. A lot of these topics, may one day be expanded on in full length blogs focusing on the specific topic.

“The only thing for sure about Sting, is nothing’s for sure.” – Sting

Sting is undoubtably one of the greatest wrestlers to ever grace the squared circle. He would put on classic matches with many legends throughout the years. If you weren’t a fan of his wrestling ability, it was his high energy and mystique as a character that left people wanting more of the Stinger. Sting has given 30 years on and off to the wrestling business, leaving generations of children asking “Who is Sting?’. Sting for years was the heart of Jim Crockett promotions, the franchise of World Championship Wrestling and the icon of TNA Wrestling. The Stinger went nearly his whole career without stepping foot in WWE ring or appearing on WWE television. He had various meetings with the WWE officials after WCW folded about appearing in WWE, but the deal was never closed. It was not until 2014, when he signed a deal with the company to be featured in a WWE2K video game and have a merchandise deal with the company that we began to have hope that Sting was going to step foot in a WWE ring.
Sting spent the Summer of 2014 appearing at events and promoting the upcoming WWE2k video game. He left the idea of wrestling for the WWE open, therefore reminding us about the quote bolded above. It wasn’t until the shocking main event of Survivor Series 2014, when Sting appeared to help get rid of the Authority and confront Triple H that we saw the Icon step in a WWE ring. In resemblance of his 1997 WCW silent crow run, Sting lurked the WWE thereafter appearing at anytime he felt seemed fitting to fight off the evil Authority and injustice without saying a word. He even appeared at FastLane as well after accepting Triple H’s invitation to confront him in the ring. It was at FastLane where Sting challenged Triple H to a match at Wrestlemania 31.  It was not until Triple H accepted his challenge for a match at Wrestlemania and weeks before the event on the March 23rd edition of Raw that we heard the Stinger speak for the first time on WWE televison. He continued leaving an impact on the road to Wrestlemania, where even in one case aiding Randy Orton from a attack by the Authority.
Sting wrestled at Wrestlemania in a losing effort to Triple H, in a match that involved Dgeneration X and the NWO interfering, thus playing off the nostalgia of “The Monday Night Wars”. Although, Sting lost his first ever match and his only Wrestlemania match thus far; which many fans were upset about, but I remained happy and contempt with it. Personally, I was okay with it, because Sting finally got his Wrestlemania moment. He would know longer have to look back at his wrestling career and regret never wrestling at a Wrestlemania. In my mind, when he was walking down the ramp soaking in the sights and sounds of the arena, the crowd and the reaction he was getting, I couldn’t have been happier for one of the legends I grew up idolizing, Sting. That walk down the ramp at the show of shows is the Wrestlemania moment I will always remember for Sting and his WWE run.
Sting didn’t appear again until he made surprise return to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions. Sting appeared on Raw for many weeks after that initial surprise return building towards the match. During this time, Sting was back to his more high energy and TNA Joker gimmick like antics. It was a almost surreal seeing Sting on Raw regularly, side by side the likes of John Cena and working with young talent such as Rollins.
At Night of Champions, Sting suffered a serious neck injury during his match with Rollins for the WWE Championship which he did not come out of victorious. In the weeks following, the severity of the neck injury was becoming more and more of a concern. It wasn’t soon after, that the rumours that this neck injury was bad enough that doctors were ordering Sting to not wrestle again in his best interests for his health and well being, began to spread all over the internet. However, at that point nothing had officially been confirmed.
Now, on the road to Wrestlemania 32 and Sting being the first ballot candidate for the 2016 Hall of Fame Class, the rumours had began spreading again, This time around though, it was said to be confirmed and that he was going to announce it during his Hall of Fame speech. Along with many other fans, I was not going to believe it until it officially happened or Sting confirmed it. I live by the idea, that in professional wrestling, I don’t believe anything until I see it because anything can happen. Earlier today though, TMZ Sports caught up with Sting, outside an event he was appearing at, and Sting left the wrestling world in confusion. The link for the video is below.

TMZ Sports – Stings response to retirement rumours.

After watching that clip, it leaves you wondering, what’s next for Stinger? Does this mean he is not retiring and it is just rumours? Does it mean its not official until he announces it at the Hall of Fame? Is Sting just being Sting, and playing us with clever word play?
I guess only time can tell and people can only speculate for now. One thing remains true still, the only thing for sure about Sting, is nothing’s for sure.

Image via WWE

Cesaro is currently one of the best and most skilled technical wrestlers on the current WWE roster. Quite frankly, many of Cesaro’s beloved fans, such as myself would say possibly one of the best from all around the world today. Cesaro is often praised by those fans who proudly sit in the Cesaro section, the IWC and wrestling purist, however is also considered misused and under-appreciated.
Its as if the WWE decision makers know all about The King of Swing’s talent, skills and popularity among the fans but don’t give him the opportunity or push to live up to that potential. He can speak multiple languages, has a great look and size, and can wrestle as good as or better than a lot of the current roster. There has been various time’s where its been a match Cesaro was involved in that stole the show. Vince McMahon, who has been impressed with him, still states that Cesaro’s major issue is connecting with the people. A comment which many wrestling fans found as an excuse for the decision makers lack of motivation to push Cesaro. Yet, Cesaro continued to to do what he does best and that is wrestle.
Regardless in the position Cesaro was placed in on the roster, in the past couple of years, Cesaro over achieved. Whether it was coming off of failed union with Paul Heyman, in a successful tag team with Tyson Kidd or staying relevant by putting on match of year canidates with various wrestlers after Tyson got injured, Cesaro made the best of every situation.
In recent months, Cesaro has been sidelined with a torn rotator cuff. The Swiss Superman has been recovering from surgery since November. Putting Cesaro on the long list of superstars and divas that have fallen to injury including names such as Cena, Orton, Nikki Bella, Kidd, Neville and Rollins. Its even been a year where some injuries were so severe it lead to superstars in the likes of the American Dragon Daniel Bryan and the legendary Sting having to announce their retirements. Its really allowed fans to realize the extent these superstars and divas put their bodies on the line and at risk anytime they step inside that ring. Therefore, nobody would hope any of these injured stars would return earlier than recommended, where they could injure themselves again or be forced to retire.
On the topic of returning, it has recently been reported by the official WWE Nederland Twitter account, that Cesaro is set to return, which means that he’s probably going to return to official action there. The date for his comeback is set for April 15 for a live event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the Ziggo Dome. Of course, one would imagine that WWE will have him back make his comeback at WWE RAW after WrestleMania 32.
Personally, I couldn’t be more excited about his return and with the list of top name superstars on the shelf with injuries, this could truly be Cesaro’s opportunity to shine and establish himself as a main event contender. Possibly solidifying a spot at the top before top stars such as Cena, Orton and Rollins gear up for their returns. How would you book Cesaro’s return?

Image via WWE

Yesterday, March 19th, 2015 was AJ Lee’s birthday. I know I’m a day late and even though I did help edit the AJ Lee retrospective on this website, I wanted to personally wish AJ Lee a belated Happy Birthday.
AJ Lee’s impact on the business and the divas division in such a short period of time can’t be denied. AJ not only got to live her childhood dream, but did it leaving a legacy behind that impacted the Divas division and bringing women’s wrestling in the WWE back to prominence. AJ changed the landscape of the Division and made it clear, that it was okay to be “different”, or “weird”, or not your typical “girly-girl” but still achieve great heights in the WWE and still being able to achieve your dreams. Although, I credit a lot of me getting invested back into the Women’s Division to AJ. It was not AJ alone that peaked my intrigue to wanting the Divas to suceed.
I have always supported women wrestling and wanted it to be equal to the mens division. I wanted women wrestling to be taken seriously. In the past 20 years, women’s wrestling has evolved a lot in the WWE. The women went from just being sex symbols mainly (excluding the likes of Lita, Trish, Chyna, Molly Holly and those who could wrestle) in the Attitude Era, to slowly becoming more and more impressive as in ring wrestlers over the years. In the years between 2005-2012, the divas division really grew to focus on the in ring product.
However, I can admit those years were all a huge blur to me. I had a lack on interest in the division. I still can’t even exactly tell you when the Divas Championship was introduced and when it officially merged with the Women’s Title. I am able to tell you every woman to hold the Divas title before 2012, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you in what order or who they beat to win it. The division was stacked with great talent such as Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Michelle McCool, Layla, Melina, Maryse and many others. I remember a handful of matches during that period that stood out to me and I truly enjoyed, but I was just not invested into the division.  I would have to do some studying and research before I ever officially ever wrote anything about that specific period for the division . I can openly say, that if it wasn’t for the combination of AJ’s popularity and the premier of E!’s hit reality show “Total Divas”, I most likely wouldn’t be as invested as I am in the division today.
“Total Divas” gave us an inside look into the Divas real life, exposing the struggle and hard work these women put in to be positive role models to little girls as well as balancing their work and home life. Therefore, it made you feel more connected to them as fans, and wanting to root for them. For example, I’ll be the first to say, before Nikki’s implants and Total Divas, I wasn’t able to tell the Bella’s apart. Whereas after the show premiered, it allowed us to see how different the two are in personalities and allowed them to to be more than just those “Bella Twins”. They became Nikki and Brie, two totally separate people who were not just “twins”, but individuals, who just happened to be twin sisters. It allowed us to appreciate the women of the WWE more, and want to see them more on Raw, Smackdown and so on. It might have exposed the business, but what hasn’t been exposed thus far? I know letting us into all of their lives, made me more invested in the Divas Division, that along with AJ Lee.
AJ Lee got me more invested in the division because for about a year before winning the Divas Title, AJ Lee was involved in major main event storylines not connected to the division. Whether she was working with Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Kane, John Cena or Dolph Ziggler, she played an important role. At one point she was even the Raw General Manager. Therefore when she pursued the Divas Championship, she was already a popular figure to those who might have been skipping the Divas matches regularly because they had no interest. Also, when AJ won the Divas title, something about her carrying it made it seem important…AJ Lee made the Divas Title seem important. It might have been because she was involved in main event storylines beforehand, or the fact that we knew her backstory, about how badly she wanted to be wrestler since she was a child and a fan of professional wrestling. That idea that a little girl who was just a fan, who wasn’t shaped like a model, built like a bodybuilder, or came from a wrestling family had achieved her dreams, that lead to us all rooting for her. AJ didn’t just defend the Divas Title; she elevated it. Her Gollum-like obsession with her precious gave the championship new worth. By the time she was no longer champion, you knew it was a prize worth fighting for. It made anyone who won the title after her seem just as important as she was when she was champion.
It may have been AJ Lee & Total Diva that got me invested into the Divas Division but then you enter the spectacular women wrestling that was happening on NXT and you got a whole new level of interest. Ill leave the impact of the NXT Women’s division for another report or spotlighted blog focusing just on that. However, I just wanted to wish AJ Lee a Happy Birthday and share my personal experience with the growth of a now very healthy Divas Division. Lets face it, whether you like them or dislike them, everyone at least now has an opinion on the Division and can tell who’s been Champion since AJ Lee’s first reign, right?

Since nearly the beginning TNA Wrestling and all through their most popular times, Bobby Roode and Eric Young have been major players in the company. I recall being a huge fan of both since their days in “Team Canada” in the early days of the company. Both have gone to achieve tremendous success in the company, including both being former World Champions. Bobby Roode always had the It Factor and Eric Young continued to adapt throughout his career in TNA to whatever character and role the company needed him to play. These two Canadian superstars stayed loyal and spent years perfecting their craft in TNA Wrestling, even when the company began losing the steam it once had.
Throughout Roode’s career, I became more and more of a fan during both his solo acts and in teams with the likes on James Storm or Austin Aries. I would even go to the extent of saying, Beer Money would even land on my top twenty favourite tag teams of the past ten years. I always was a fan of Bobby Roode’s look and in ring work.I always saw a resemblance to a young and hungry Triple H from late 90s and early 00’s in Roode. I also believe he is at his best when a heel. If you haven’t ever seen a Bobby Roode match or anything he’s done, I can guarantee you would be impressed.
Eric Young, on the other hand is another great in ring performer, whose TNA career has been filled with ups and downs. Regardless, the role or character they wanted Eric Young to play, he would overachieve and play it perfectly. Eric Young has won every title in TNA a male wrestler could win, even including a reign as one half of the Knockouts Tag Champions with ODB and achieving the unbelievable for someone in his posistion in the company, in the ultimate underdog story when Young won the World Title.
In recent news, both Roode and Young won’t be resigning their contracts with TNA, after staying loyal to the company for 12 years. This being huge news for the wrestling business as they are now free agents and huge loss for TNA, losing yet another two of their biggest stars. This leaves you wondering where they might end up by the end of this year. In the past year, we’ve seen many loyal and ex TNA stars debut or appear in the WWE or NXT including Sting, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, James Storm and Austin Aries. Therefore, leaving speculation if the next step is WWE or NXT for either one of these star. Although, there are different routes this wrestlers could go, such as NJPW, ROH or working the independent circuit. However, something in my gut, feels like there is a high chance we might see them in the WWE, and I wouldn’t be disappointed at all.
What are your thoughts on the future of Bobby Roode & Eric Young?

I hope you guys enjoyed this first edition of the random TWC Report. Leave your feedback and comments below continuing the discussion. Dig It?