UFC 196 – McGregor vs Diaz & Holm vs Tate

So tomorrow we see “The Notorious” Connor McGregor vs Nate Diaz as well as a title fight between newly crowned Woman’s Bantamweight champion Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm vs Misha “Cupcake” Tate.

The co-main event will be Holm vs Tate. Holm won the UFC title from Ronda Rousey with a viscous head kick that rocked the UFC world. Before this Rousey looked unstoppable putting away opponents for fun. Tate has been chasing the belt ever since the women’s division was entered into the UFC and has fought Rousey for the title at UFC 168 but lost in the 3^rd round by tapping out of an arm bar. This is going to be a very interesting fight as it will be the first Bantamweight title without Rousey being involved and could (finally) be the time that Tate takes home the title.

The main fight of the evening comes down to McGregor vs Diaz. This is set to be another interesting fight, as McGregor has had to move up to Welterweight in order for the fight to happen. The fight was originally meant to be for the Lightweight title against Rafael Dos Anjos, however, he had to pull out due to injury. McGregor and Diaz are both looking forward to this fight. how the 2 main events unfold next week, but for now, you can view a short highlight reel of the open workouts at the following link http://www.ufc.com/media/ufc-196-mcgregor-vs-diaz-open-workout-highlights

Stick with Deadpool_1984 for all your ground and pound action.

The NXT Review – 3rd March 2016

Whats up Wrestling Peeps! We are firmly on our way to WrestleMania but with so much time between now and then (and a WWE Network Special known as “RoadBlock” in place), everything is up-in-the-air in NXT.

With that in mind, the superstars of the yellow brand step up their game in a bid to get notice, with the Tag Team division proving no exception. Talking of the division, is it just me or did that security footage of Dash & Dawson attacking Team SAWFT look a tad old skool 8-Bit video gamey to you? The artificial slow-down to the footage just made the guys look jumpy in a classic Super Mario Bros. dealio.

Damn it! Every-time Enzo goes high risk now i’ll have the Boooop sound in my head. Have to say, not hating it. Amusing.

Given the rotation of wrestlers, as NXT wants to do, it means that we get the cold hearted Aussie Emma back on our screens this week (yay). With the jacked-up Barbie Doll with a screeching feature (Batteries not included) Danna Brooke in tow (boo!).

Having the opportunity to see Emma’s ringwork against Auska at TakeOver London, its criminal how underutilized the mat technician is within NXT. I mean it is probably smart to pair Emma with a the fairly-green Santana Garrett, wrestle safe and all that. But why on Earth is she not in title picture? Of course I wouldn’t want to bump anyone out of the scene, meh perhaps Eva Marie maybe. But to have Auska move up without Emma is leaving Dollars-at-the-door. Wheres the follow-up to TakeOver London? A blow-off match. I’d take a good ol’fashion grudge match without the title involved even (remember those WWE) rather then nothing. Okay granted they may have put a pin in it but then don’t taunt me with Corey Graves and Tom Phillips mentioning the feud between the two because thats … thats just … mean.

So after spoilers on the internet because you know, internet-gonna-internet. Austin Aries finally arrives in NXT. Now of course I know who Aries is because Google has eliminated the need to ask people things and make yourself look like a pop-culture-recluse. But I haven’t seen him wrestle ‘cus I don’t watch TNA and haven’t got round to YouTube-ing his ass at this point because, you know, life.

But Aries inside a WWE ring seems like a big deal so I will cheer or boo appropriately with relation to his Face-Heel O-Meter. But for now, I remain neutral and underwhelmed. Not even under because thats harsh, just Whelmed.

A Young Justice reference for the kids there.

On to the Main Event and I feel the need to bemoan the use of Neville on NXT. Its sacrilege because the name is crap. It just sounds nerdy to me. More-over I’m probably sensitive that they didn’t go ahead with the dual persona idea I mentioned last week but you know. Whatever.

Moving on. Its good to see Neville back on the brand that established him as the legit badass Gravity-defiying Motha-F’er he is. He is after all the longest reigning NXT Champion (So far), with this match celebrating that fact because I have no doubt that Finn Balor is being positioned to supersede that in the future.

That aside, this match lived up to hype. Both men being well-matched in a reversal heavy performance apropos of their skill-set and the fast story telling that the reality era has become accustomed too. That begin said (and it may be just me), but hasn’t Balor been wrestling Heel-style for some time now or what? And its not even flagged by Graves or Phillips, so in the world of WWE my opinion is non-canon, but I get the slight whiff or arrogance of late.

Its feasible that Balor is simply growing in confidence, which kudos to him because his matches are some of the more exciting on the roster. His skill set and repertoire also befitting an aggressive style could be throwing me off. But speaking as an Edge fan, everyone loves a Heel Champion. So it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. Just don’t bring back Vicki Guerrero anytime soon because ain’t nobody got time for that.

His gracious win at the end puts a kibosh on that idea for now of course.

But a guy can dream, right?

For all your NXT-News & Reviews, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

Bisping Vs Silva UFC London Fight Review

So the main event of the evening was Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping VS Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva scheduled for five 5 minute rounds.

Round 1

Bisping came out looking like the hungrier fighter with an attempted head kick followed by a leg kick. Both missed but he quickly followed up with two punches that landed and another leg and head kick, which again, did not hit the target. A flurry of punches were then thrown by both fighters. Silva caught Bisping with a shot that wobbled him but he quickly replied with a shot of his own which rocked Silva. The bell sounds and Silva tries to embrace Bisping for a good first round however Bisping did not like this and pushed Silva away from him.

Round 2

The second round begins and Bisping starts the round off by pushing Silva back to the cage. Silva is just stood against the cage trying to lure Bisping in to doing something stupid so he can take advantage of a rash move. Eventually, Silva lands a right hook on Bisping and he replies with a left and then right kick on Silva. Silva goes to swing a punch but Bisping gets there first and connects with a right left combination which drops Silva to the mat. Bisping takes full advantage of this and unleashes some ground and pound on Silva who is then saved by the bell.

Round 3

Silva comes out for round three and takes more control of the octagon this time. Bisping throws a few punches all of which are slipped by Silva, who in turn, lands a leg kick on Bisping. Bisping attempts a front kick that is caught by Silva who follows up with a head kick which connects. Bisping replies with a good jab and after a brief exchange loses his mouthpiece. Referee Herb Dean picks this up from the floor and lets the fight continue as the round is almost over. Bisping is distracted by this and asks Herb Dean for his mouth piece back and Silva takes full advantage landing a flying knee perfectly. This floors Bisping and cuts him open just as the buzzer goes to end the round. Silva, somewhat prematurely, runs off celebrating like he has won the fight ending up on top of the cage, but Herb Dean soon reminds him that the fight is not over and the corners franticly get there fighters ready for round 4.

Round 4

Bisping still looks dazed at the start of the round but manages to charge forward during an exchange of punches. He is caught with a low blow so the fight is stopped to allow him time to recover. Once resumed, Bisping forces Silva back up against the cage and throws an array of punches. Silva stands there trying to taunt Bisping and only seems interested in looking for the big finish. Both fighters throw punches and Silva is accidently caught in the eye with an outstretched finger for which Herb Dean calls a time out to allow Silva time to recover and for the doctor to check him over. The fight resumes and Bisping predictably pushes Silva back up to the cage again and lands a left and right jab. Silva replies with a right hook, left straight and uppercut combination.

Round 5

The final round gets under way and Silva attempts a high kick, which is partially blocked by Bisping, and quickly follows up with another head kick that definitely has Bisping rocked, but Silva can’t apply the finish. Herb Dean calls time to have Bisping’s cut assessed by the doctor. Bisping signals that he wants to continue and the fight gets back under way. Silva throws a viscous front kick that wobbles Bisping and is followed by two knees but this still doesn’t finish the fight. Bisping attempts a take down but is denied by Silva who catches him with a knee. After a few more exchanges and the fight comes to an end and we go to the judges score cards.

Bisping wins the fight by unanimous decision 48-47 by all three judges.

An Interview With Former Wrestler ‘The Patriot’ Del Wilkes

It’s time for another interview on http://www.skatronixxx.com ! This one really excited me, this is someone who I grew up watching on tv, when I was younger, so when I offered him the chance of an interview and he said yes, I literally fell off my sofa.

As you know I started a Wrestling & UFC section on the site and reached out to various wrestlers, who I remembered seeing on tv when I was younger. As I thought an interview with someone who’s graced the squared circle would be an awesome launch pad for the section. Plus it would give todays younger fans a chance to learn more about the legends of the golden era of wrestling aka the 1990’s.

Del agreed to an interview and I’ve gotten to know him, and would say he is an awesome guy, who shoots straight from the hip and is not afraid to mince his words. He actually reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.

But that’s enough spoilers from me, let’s find out about the man behind the mask!

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1) How did you get into wrestling?

After college football and two attempts in the NFL,  I decided to give pro-wrestling a shot. A buddy of mine that had graduated from The Citadel went with me to a wrestling school in my hometown of Columbia, S.C. We paid our $1,500 and embarked on our career’s as wrestlers.

2) You are more widely known to wrestling fans as ‘The Patriot’ how did this idea come about?

The Patriot idea came from Joe Pedicino and Bill Edie. They were booking talent for the GWF, which was an upstart company that was on ESPN Monday-Friday at 4p.m. The U.S. Military had gone to war with Iraq, and they thought a patriotic character in wrestling could really get over with the fans, thus the birth of The Patriot.

3) Is it true you were trained by wrestling legends Verne Gagne and Fabulous Moolah? If so what was it like training under such stars and do you have any interesting stories?

Moolah’s school was where I was trained. The school was really geared for women wrestlers, but at least I was able to learn the basics of wrestling. Didn’t actually train under Verne Gagne, but he gave me my first big break in the business by bringing me to the AWA and putting me on ESPN as The Trooper.

4) I remember you watching you on TV when I was young as part of the tag team ‘Stars and Stripes’ in WCW, what was it like being in a tag team with Buff ‘The Stuff’ Bagwell?

I had known Bagwell since our GWF days when he worked as The Handsome Stranger. Marcus is a great guy,and our time in WCW together as Stars and Stripes was very rewarding. On two occasions we were WCW tag team champions. After the arrival of Hulk Hogan in WCW,the focus of the company was now all about Hogan and his buddies. I felt like Marcus and I were just not in the plans, so I left the company and went back to All Japan Pro Wrestling Co.

5) Later in your career you wrestled in the WWF (now WWE) where when you debuted you were immediately put into a feud with Bret Hart. What was it like being inserted into such a high profile feud upon your arrival?

My entering the WWF couldn’t have been better timing. Bret Hart was now the top heel in the company and was on this anti American campaign, and along comes The Patriot. It fit like a glove. Really enjoyed working with Bret, he is a legend and a true pro in every sense of the word. Great angle between the two of us with some awesome matches that the fans really got behind.

6) You retired from wrestling when you suffered a broken collarbone, how did you find it transitioning from life on the road to a more 9 to 5 lifestyle.

My career actually ended because of a very serious tricep and knee injury. As a result of these devastating injuries, I was unable to continue to wrestle. It was very tough to have my career come to a sudden halt.

7) Do you watch any wrestling shows these days, if so what ones and which wrestler impresses you the most?

I watch some of the current product, but do not like what I see. I very much respect the men and women that are performing today, but not what they are asked to do. They cant even do a heart felt promo. It is all scripted for them and that’s a shame.

8) What can we expect to see from you in the 2016?

The year 2016 is off to a great start. My daughter just gave birth to my first grandchild. A beautiful baby girl born on Feb. 20th. Her name is Abigail, and I am so proud to be her granddaddy. I have a wonderful wife, Cathy, that helps with my bookings and website, which by the way is www.DelThePatriotWilkes.com. Fans can purchase my documentary there along with pictures, mask,shirts and cards. They can also track my appearances at the website.

9) Tell our readers one fun fact about yourself that they may not already know?

Fun fact about me is that I love following politics, history, current events and I am scared to death of roaches, lizards and rodents.

10) Finally what advice would you have for an upcoming wrestler?

My advice for upcoming wrestlers is to take care of and protect your body, it is your money maker!! Treat it well. Also take your career seriously, it is not about the party. Being a pro-wrestler is an honor therefore honor the business.

The Patriot, Del Wilkes.

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There we are readers, Del Wilkes aka The Patriot. Don’t be shy, go say hi and tell him ‘Skatronixxx sent me’. He’s on twitter as http://www.twitter.com/delwilkes .

Rafael Dos Anjos Pulls Out Of UFC 196 (Update)

So the next UFC event I was due to cover after Fight Night 84 this weekend, was UFC 196 on March 5^th, Connor McGregor VS Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title. News broke earlier today that Anjos has now had to pull out due to breaking his foot. This is a massive shame because if McGregor had beaten Anjos, he would have been the first fighter in UFC history to hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time.

Anjos’ manager has advised that the break will take between 6-8 weeks to heal so there is no chance of him fighting in this event. There does however seem to be a pattern forming here as, two weeks before McGregor was due to fight for the featherweight title against Jose Aldo, Aldo pulled out with a rib injury. The fight was eventually rearranged and McGregor went on to knock Aldo out with a spectacular left hook to the chin.

The UFC are currently looking to replace Anjos with another fighter as they want to keep McGregor on the bill for the Las Vegas pay per view event. There has been talk around Donald Cerrone stepping in to replace Anjos despite only fighting as recently as the 21^st of February. There is also talk around Nate Diaz taking the fight, but judging by his Twitter comment stating “He’s going to have to get on his knees and beg”, this may take some doing. McGregor is in no way the kind of guy who will beg someone to fight him.

Since writing this article last night it has now been agreed that Connor McGregor will face Nate Diaz at the event as the main fight of the evening but this will no longer be a title match and will also be fought at Welterweight (170lbs) as Diaz does not have enough time to cut weight down to Lightweight (155lbs). This will be an awesome fight as both fighters are not fans of each other and McGregor has been hoping to fight Diaz eventually anyway and both fighters are known for not mixing there words so I’m expecting a war.

WWE and its ‘Global Cruiserweight Series’

Ok it’s 3:30am. I can’t sleep, my throat hurts and I’ve done all the site maintenance that needs doing for the day, that can only mean one thing COMEBACK BLOG!!! Wooo!!! But what to write about hmm. I could do another piece on the ‘One Series Wonders’, I was working on but that would be too intensive for my brain at this time in the morning. I know what I’ll write about.

So I saw online that WWE wants to bring back the ‘Cruiserweight division’ to quote great WWE legend FINALLY THE CRUISERWEIGHTS HAVE COME BACK TO WWE.  Oh wait a minute it’s NOT a cruiserweight divsion it’s a ‘Global Cruiserweight Series’. But what does that mean?

Sorry couldn’t resist 😛

As a fan this is big news, the cruiserweights are what drawn me to the WWE in the first place. I mean as a kid seeing these grown adults in crazy costumes fly around the ring was pretty cool. I mean I know wrestling is fake (sorry) but I’ve always admired the talent of these small sparky guys who are able to hurl themselves around a ring for my entertainment.

All was good when I watched wrestling the in the mid 90’s and even into the mid 00’s. During the mid to late 90’s we had WCW (R.I.P) leading the way bringing in talent from across the globe from places such as Canada, Mexico, Japan and Germany. For me seeing all these new and foreign wrestlers was exciting as I felt they often held more appeal that seeing Goldberg demolish any and everyone and DX well fanny around. I admired the skill of these smaller guys and the art of thier craft. I mean as a 11 year old watching some guy do a flip in mid air or 360 degree frog splash is pretty cool.

Then into the mid 00’s you had TNA leading the way with it’s ‘not about weight limits it’s about no limits’ X-Division. Say what you want but the TNA X-Division was amazing back in the day, bringing us such quality moments as NOW WWE star AJ Styles vs NXT star Samoa Joe and ROH star Christopher Daniels or how about Elix Skippers’ walk along the cage into a headscissors?

To quote Ron ‘Farooq’ Simmons DAMN!!!

But sadly all good things came to an end. The WCW lost to WWE in the Monday Night Wars and rather than the WWE build on the strong work the WCW had done with the cruiserweights, it wasted it. Why did they waste it? Well in my eyes they quite simple didn’t know what to do with it. All the foreign stars had gone back to their native countries, the ones based in the US either joined WWE and moved up to bigger things (Chris Jericho) or saw how some of the stars were mis-used in WWE (Dean Malenko) and went elsewhere. Finally in 2008 the WWE decided with Hornswoggle (yes you read that right) as the final champion to retire the belt.

Since then people have repeatedly protested for WWE to bring back the crusierweights, I swear every week I hear about someone wanting it to come back or rumours it may. So that’s why when I saw this announcement yesterday, like many old school fans, I was excited for all of about a second.

Triple H recently spoke to PWInsider.com about the newly-announced Global Cruiserweight Series on WWE Network. HHH mentions about how excited he is for the show as a fan himself, what types of wrestlers will be featured on the show, if the show means anything for a future cruiserweight division return to WWE TV (please, please, PLEASE):-

Triple H talks about who will feature in the Global Cruiserweight Series:

“I would say the vast majority [of talents on the series] will be non-contracted or long-term contracted WWE talents. We haven’t finalized the selection process, watching tapes and seeing who we want to work with and all of that. It’s going to be a discovery process. Look, I want to have the best in the world. I don’t want to negate anyone from that process because they are under contract to us. At the same time, I’m looking for the best in the world and the brightest around to give them a platform that they’ve never had. I’m certainly looking at the vast majority from being from the outside [of WWE.] When I say Global, I mean Global. We are recruiting from everywhere. UK, Japan, China, to find the best talent. That doesn’t mean we are going to find someone everywhere, but we are really trying to turn things over and really find someone from every part of the globe to be part of this and show the world who they are and what they can do.”

So what is he saying here, well he’s basically stating the obvious and saying look everyone who’s going to take part will either be a free-agent here on a one time deal or long term contracted WWE employees. The last bit excites me because of THIS GUY.

This guy is 110% pure awesome sauce, give him a chance and he’ll be the next Daniel Bryan

I enjoyed Sami Zayn pre-WWE like I did Punk, Bryan Danielson (that’s Daniel Bryan), Joe and many more. If the WWE is smart they would build the series around Sami Zayn give him a platform to shine. I know that you may be thinking WWE employees GROAN, but think about it, NXT is basically a cruiserweight show, that is if you get rid of @mitch_rated favourite (NOT) wrestlers Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin. most of them are under the required weight limit and are known for this style in other promotions. But would the WWE be willing to release the shackles and let them use their rarely used movesets? I mean they’ve only let Seth Rollins use his spiral tap move once to my knowledge, for shame WWE, FOR SHAME!

Triple H goes to to say why the cruiserweights being given their own show after not being featured more prominently in the WWE?

“At the end of the day, I was just having this conversation with my wife. I kind of approach this as I’m just a huge fan. I started out that way and I will be that way my whole life. I kind of do what I think I’m going to dig and that I’m going to like and that’s the way I approach it. There’s this talent that I like and I’d like to go and see what they can do. So, I push for going to see what I can do with that.  I think it’s important for everything to always grow and become bigger. I’ve looked for a long time at that population of talent in that under 205 lb. category, the Cruiserweight category and thought, ‘Man, there’s a lot of really talented performers’ and I don’t mean guys that can just do flips. Really talented performers that have characters and can speak are really good. They are underutilized to me and they don’t have the platform to show what they can do. I feel like that’s a miss. Not intentionally a miss, but just something that we’ve left sitting on the table, and I don’t want to leave stuff sitting there on the table.”

Reading between the lines, the key point I picked up was Trips spoke to his wife, she overuled him BUT gave him a chance. The chance to do a feature on the WWE network. Triple H rather than sulking in the corner thought yeah why not I’ll do this and who knows hopefully it’ll lead onto bigger and better things. Steph have you not watched NXT??? Your husband knows his stuff, sadly Vince and his lumbering dinosaurs or cavemen in speedos hitting each other will continue for now.

Triple H goes on to answer if there are long-term plans for a cruiserweight division return in WWE?

“I think it is slightly the cart before the horse. I think..I want this to be something that is repetitive.  I would like this tournament to be a recurring thing where we take the best talent from around the world and let them do their thing.  Does that morph directly into a Cruiserweight division right away?  I don’t know about right away…and it might…but we’re clearly looking at all the guys in this tournament and saying, ‘who do we want to work with long-term?  Maybe we give this guy a year and we’ll work with him long-term next year’ and who are all these talents.  I think where it lands is sort of a work in progress.  If you look at this tournament, it’s going to be a platform where somebody and it could be more than one person, is going to be seen as one of the best Cruiserweights in the world or the best Cruiserweight in the world.  It’s a hell of a platform and it’s going to get bigger and better but just not sure 100% what that is.”

So what he’s saying here is NO! Sorry to be blunt but it is, if you read my previous statement about Steph all but saying no to a cruiserweight division this makes sense. So what are we seeing here? What’s the point? Well the WWE are using this ‘series’ as a platform and scouting chance for international talent. A chance for the best to sign with NXT. Although NXT is good, it’s not where I’d want to be as a cruiserweight I’d rather go to NJPW or Lucha Underground or even AAA where I could show my skills to a more loyal fanbase. Sorry Trips but unless you can guarantee the cruiserweights a shot in the big leagues, they are either gunna turn you down or sign with you, get wasted in WWE and regret it (Sami Callihan).

Alas poor Sami you could have been great like Sean O’Haire but alas you ended wasted like him too

Ok so it’s a one off show on the WWE network, that only those with access can see. This is either a sneaky ploy to get us to get the WWE network or a sign of WWE’s non commitmal by squirreling it away on the network to appease Trips and the cruiseweight fans. So what’s the point of it?

What the show could mean for WWE and those involved: 

“Hopefully, this expands to be more within the WWE.  I’m certainly looking at it as an opportunity to see the best and brightest Cruiserweights from around the world and hopefully give them an opportunity with WWE in a bigger way, but if nothing else, just being a part of this, those 32 talents that are selected to be in this from around the world, you are opening yourself up to a platform that most of these guys have never only dreamed of doing.  I’m excited about that opportunity for them and WWE, but mostly for our fans.”

My first thoughts are 32? So I’m guessing it’s going to be a tournament rather than a series? If so I’m guessing the WWE already know who they want to win, but if they do go with a series format rather than a tournament, didn’t the WWE slag off TNA for doing this last year? Hmmm.

Who will feature? Who will win? Will it bring back the cruiserweight championship to WWE? So many questions and so few answers only time will tell.

UFC Fight Night 84 – Preview

So for my first piece on UFC I will be covering the upcoming UFC ‘Fight Night 84’ event which is due to take place on the 27^th of February. This will feature a main card event of Michael “The Count” Bisping vs Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

Now Bisping is known for having a knack for trying to wind up his opponents before a fight and this fight is no exception as we found out from a press meet and greet that took place on Friday the 12^th of February. A video of the conversation that took place can be found on You tube if you search for UFC fight night 84 Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva exchange words.

It starts off with The Count walking up to say hello to Silva a few pleasant words are exchanged up until the point where Bisping says the words “No Viagra” to Silva. (This came about after Silva had been suspended from the UFC for failing two drug tests after his UFC 183 fight against Nick Diaz for a banned substance Drostanolone which is a form of anabolic steroid. Silva’s lawyer put this down to a tainted sexual enhancement supplement.) To which Silva replies “No just my fist to your face” some laughing from the press then Bisping replies with “My shin to your chin”

A few more comments from the pair and it ends with Bisping saying “See you later sweetheart” and Silva saying “Ok love you”.

This will be Silva’s first fight back after his 1 year suspension from the sport and Bisping has stated that the failed test do no bother him and is looking forward to one of the biggest tests of his life and possibly his career but he is looking forward to the challenge.

Also appearing on this card is a local fighter from my neck of the woods by the name of Bradley Scott who will face off against Krzysztof Jotko. CM Punk was also due to be making his UFC debut at this event but has now pulled out through injury so the wait to see if he has got what it takes in the UFC continues.

A detailed review of the fights will be written up after the event so keep your eyes peeled for this.

For all your UFC news, check out @deadpool_1984 only on Skatronixxx

The NXT Review – Feb 10

 

Whats up Wrestling-Peeps, welcome back to The NXT Review and DAMN what a week for WWE. Not really much else to talk about on the main roster front besides Daniel Bryan’s (lets face it) inevitable retirement announcement after being on the bench for a majority of 2015. But still, its sad-sad news. I’m holding back the obvious reaction to the announcement (arms at the ready) but we’ll see how far I get.

Bryan really dominated the main roster but NXT still brought it this week, and on the road no less. Did they mention this because I love live event tapings out of Full Sail, which of late has felt kinda small given how popular NXT is fast becoming. I would never say that the Full Sailers are getting lazy, I mean the regular faces are there week-in week-out so mad props. But the capacity that the studio sits doesn’t seem conducive to a lively crowd.

But Orlando laid it out. So much so that a boring Baron Corbin match was less-so than normal, so above average which is good for Corbin. Nah I’m just funning ya, Corbin (although controversial to admit) I actually like. Not to rehash but its probably true that the passion isn’t there. But Breaking Ground highlights this mans attitude to the biz, being that he is bigger than NXT. And I have to agree.

This is a hot-take that could blow up in my face but Corbin needs to move up. The skills, he has them. He is a big-guy who punches people and power bombs them until the cows come home, nothing else. And thats okay. He isn’t going to be that indie darling that his opponent Johnny Gargano is. He isn’t a high-flying or even a techincally sound wrestler but he can be that turd-of-a-heel that crowds love to boo and will fight for that top spot on RAW harder than most. In his own mind, NXT just isn’t big enough for him.

Now does he deserve that shot just yet, maybe not but I aint gonna tell him that, are you?

Finally Alexa Bliss back in singles competition, yes it was against Cameron (seriously Girl, take your own advice and wave Bye) who okay has improved but meh still pretty choppy in the ring. Any who, the match was solid if not a tad slow but that would be Cameron’s choppy-ness as mentioned but Bliss shines as a Heel and you can tell she loves taking the heat and running with it. Please no-more of these two but YES! to more single matches with Bliss. I held it in as long as I could.

Onto the main event and what has become norm for NXT, the women stole the show.

In a surprisingly competitive match Carmella showed that what Bayley can serve she is just as capable of dishing out. Got to be honest, found the ending kinda sloppy but Bayley resorting to a reverse roll-up to get Carmella’s shoulders to stay on the match. Gives credence to Carmella as serious competitor.

And that stare down at the end between Bayley and Auska. Every NXT fans wet dream right there.

The more confusing aspect, because Bayley Vs Auska just makes all the sense in the world … it just does. Is how Nia Jax and the ever-popular Eva Marie fit into the equation? After the beat down they gave Bayley and Carmella it would make all the more sense to have a few Tag Team feuds for awhile but how about we throw caution out the window and have a one-on-one feud with Carmella and Eva?

All Red Everything needs to stand on her own two-feet sooner or later and Carmella showed tonight that she can take the lead in the ring. Something that Eva has show little sign of doing just yet.

I’m just saying with Eva out the way it leaves Nia Jax to enter a Triple Threat feud with and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley. I think I just fan-fict’d something special there, make it happen WWE!

I’m sure my check is in the post.

For all your NXT-News, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

‘Daniel Bryan’ Announces His Retirement From WWE

The YES! Nation mourns as professional wrestler and the Peoples Champion (second to The Rock of course) Daniel Bryan announced his retirement from WWE today.

In a statement via Twitter, Bryan posted: “Due to medical reasons, effective immediately, I am announcing my retirement. Tonight on Raw, I’ll have a chance to elaborate. #gratitude”

Bryan’s career within the WWE has been celebrated but also plauged by injury. After complex nerve damage in his right arm forced the then WWE World Heavyweight Champion to take an extended leave of absence in 2014. He did see a successful return to ring, winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31, becoming one of only six wrestlers to hold every active WWE Championship titles.

His return was short lived however when the then IC Champ suffer a severe concussion back in April last year, forcing him once again relinquish a major WWE Title.

In an interview with IGN in October, Bryan mentioned that “The WWE’s medical doctor is skeptical, because of my history with concussions and that sort of thing,” even though he seemed confident that he could return to in-ring action after doctors outside the company had cleared him to wrestle.

We will have to wait and see what Bryan will do next but reports have indicated that WWE have frozen his contract meaning that he will be unable to wrestle under different promotions. It should also be mentioned that the company have offered Daniel a number of non-wrestling positions in the past, including announcing alongside Michael Cole and JBL. All of which he has turned down, believing that he would rather wrestle even if it means leaving the WWE to do so.

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The NXT Review With @mitch_rated

Whats up Wrestle-peeps, this is The NXT Review and lets break-it-down and Hype-Up as we walk into tonights show that was all about progression. Because essentially thats what we got tonight, we got NXT positioning their next big stars or just those superstars that the biz sees the most potential in. Either way it allowed us to see more Carmella, which is no bad thing and a stellar match up with a returning Finn Balor and Apollo Crews. But more on that later.

Speaking of Carmella, she got her time to shine tonight both on-and-off the mic. In a chitty-chat with Tom Phillips, the Princess of Staton Island finally layeth what many on dirt sheets already knew, that she came from wrestling royalty. Okay, maybe royalty is a stretch but if WWE can stretch bloodlines thin then so can I. Anywho, we saw some stock footage of her father, Paul Vandale, who Carmella states has MMA background. Colour me curious because I did-not-know-that! Will we see a Brock Lesnar like entrance from Carmella next? He is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S as well don’t you think?

Positioning Carmella against Emma is an interesting match. I never want to see Emma lose, since her return to NXT coupled with her shedding her Emma-Lution schtick has seen the Aussie native shine as a Heel. But the superior skills that she posses is nessercy when dealing with a relatively still green Carmella. Not hating but she is still kinda clunky on her feet. Not levels of Kelly Kelly clunky (oh Boy, deep cut) but still not on-the-level. Which will come with facing off against more experience women, so her Title match against Bayley next week will do wonders for her I’m sure. Not so sure how great that match will be though.

Did someone say ‘Progression’? NXT dropped a bloody big teased with a big-glossy promo on American Alpha followed by Enzo & Cass making their way to the ring. I’m not ashamed to admit I peed my pants in anticipation of these two tag teams facing off but nay, my urination was in vain. Sure we got Team SAWFT in action but it really was a squash match to progress these guys (see what I did there) building the so-so feud with Dash & Dawson. A feud that I’m so not invested in which speaks more to Dash & Dawson than it does Enzo & Cass. Just give the damn titles to American Alpha already will you.

After the weak ending to the Triple-Threat (Triple-Confusing) Match last week, GM William Regal finally gave his verdict after much deliberation that lasted all week. What was he doing? Drawing diagrams, playing rematches on WWE2k16 for peeps-sake. However the head-huncho did come to a decision which was a rematch between Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe, much to the chagrin of Baron Corbin.

Dude, Corbin is going to kill someone or get himself murdered. Watching Breaking Ground just highlights how heinous this guy is. Yeah its reality TV but seriously, would you intentionally make yourself look like a D-bag? Meh, then again it is Baron Corbin.

Onto the main event and woo-boy, Finn Balor is back. Too long. It has been too long since TakeOver London and if the dirt sheets at to be believed that WWE is protecting Balor because of his age, then it has been intentional. Explain? Well he isn’t in his 20’s which means in wrestling years the dude isn’t a young stud and prone to injury. Whether you can attribute that to Balor I dunno. But the establishment seems to think so and with the injury wind facing troubling within in the WWE at the moment. You can’t blame them.

So if they want to give him a lighter load for as long they have him off the road in NXT. Go for it because I want Finn on the main roster sooner or later … but don’t rush just yet because we get matches like these.

If you have followed my Review your’ll know of my meh response to Apollo Crews. Like the wind, it changes on a dime. Was that a mix metaphor? My stance however remains the same, I’m excited to see what this guy can deliver I just don’t see it yet … until tonight.

Okay, I saw it, I did. And you can sell me on this feud going forward but I think Crews would benefit from a Heel turn or just a dirtier image. We know this dude is a nice guy, so wipe that clean or dirty it up because I wanna see this monster unleash his anger tenfold.

Overall great main event that seemed to put a full stop to these pairs facing off … but not for ever I hope.

For all your NXT-Ramblings, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx