Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. For the third year in a row, both Raw and Smackdown have followed the post-Mania bliss with a “Superstar Shake-Up.” The alliterative title for the time of year when wrestlers move between brands to provide fresh match-ups and new feuds before they inevitably get run into the ground. This year’s Shake-Up is particularly interesting because in just a few short months Smackdown will be moving to the Fox network. The program will suddenly have the potential to be viewed by a slew of new eyes … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: All Shook Up

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. Wrestlemania Weekend is finally over. The biggest weekend in wrestling saw a slew of events, with WWE themselves putting out close to 20 hours of content in the span of 5 days, reaching a fever pitch at the, near 8 hours long, Wrestlemania 35. Thankfully, the length did not take away from the crowd’s heat for the main event. While not the best match on the card, Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair delivered for the most part. This felt like the type … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Putting the “Man” in Wrestlemania

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. Wrestlemania weekend is finally here! After what felt like an eternity of buildup we have yet again made it to the biggest weekend in wrestling. As always, there are tons of shows going on this weekend, but there are three major ones and I’ll talk about them at length later on. First though, lets see how WWE handled the “go-home” show. Traditionally, the “go-home” episode is the last one prior to a Pay-Per-View or event, meant to entice the viewer into watching the show that … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Predictions-Mania

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. This past Monday, prior to Raw, WWE officially announced which match would be the main event of Wrestlemania 35 and, to the surprise of few, it was the women’s triple threat. Truthfully, there was never much doubt about it. Regardless of your thoughts on the booking of the feud (which we’ll get to in a moment), Becky Lynch is still the most over superstar in the company currently and a women’s main event is long overdue. For all the jokes about WWE constantly shilling how … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: A #Historic Main Event

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. WWE’s Fastlane seemed on paper like one of the more pointless events on the calendar but, outside of a few odd story decisions, it was a mostly good affair, delivering some fun match-ups (The tag team triple threat and Bryan/Owens/Ali), while also moving us towards Wrestlemania. The main event of the show was billed as the final time we would see the members of The Shield together as they battled the random trio of Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley. Now, having watched my … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: One Final Ride

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. I’ve discussed Becky Lynch and her quest to face Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania a lot in this column. I’ve focused on Becky and how the company has hitched their wagon to her rise in stardom. I’ve discussed Charlotte and how her addition to the match adds to it in ways that have only recently become more apparent, but in all of that I haven’t really discussed the Raw Women’s Champion, Ronda Rousey. Now, part of that is because I personally view Ronda as a means … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Damn Your Fantasies

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. It had been a little over four months when we last saw Roman Reigns in a WWE ring, during which he announced the return of his leukemia and his plans to battle it. So, when WWE announced that Reigns would be back on Raw this week fans were a little hopeful. Regardless of your feelings for Reigns as a character, we all felt for the person, Joe Anoa’i. Sadly, cancer has affected all of us in some way or another and so, we could all … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: The Big Dog is Back!

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. This has been something of a week for controversial decisions in wrestling thanks to both WWE and New Japan. Which means that I’m mostly going to be defending these choices as I happen to enjoy them for the most part. Let’s start with the more complicated one, Charlotte being added to the Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey match. I’ve stated before that Charlotte’s addition to the match is a natural conclusion to her and Becky’s feud, not to mention an extension of her unfinished business … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: #ShoehornCharlotte

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. Perhaps inspired by the lackadaisical Superbowl the previous night, Raw delivered an episode bereft of much in the way of excitement. Until Thursday night, I was convinced I was going to have to somehow find some thoughts on Kurt Angle possibly retiring with a match against Baron Corbin. More on what saved me from that fate below, but the most interesting thing on both Raw and Smackdown this week, naturally, was Becky Lynch. WWE seems to have realized it too as they did what they … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: The Man Without Fear

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. The 2019 Royal Rumble was a painfully long but surprisingly enjoyable experience. The first WWE event I’ve watched live since Wrestlemaina 34 and there was one big reason for it, The Man, Becky Lynch. It makes sense then that the first half of the show, which featured both Asuka/Becky and the women’s Royal Rumble, was the more engaging portion. The show opened with Lynch attempting to regain the Smackdown Women’s championship against the formidable Asuka. To say the two tore the house down would be … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: The Night of The Man

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. Last week, Finn Balor defied the odds and defeated some of the top wrestlers (and Baron Corbin), in WWE to earn a shot at Brock Lesnar’s Universal title. The match itself has a perfect story built in. The underdog, Balor, trying to upset the dominant champion, Lesnar. Naturally, the company felt the need to add an extra element to this story to really spice it up, enter Vince McMahon. Vince continued to showcase his dislike for Balor this week, complete with a retelling of the … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: Balor vs Goliath

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. Last week, I listed #10 through #6 on my list of the best matches of the previous year. Before we enter the top five, here is a quick recap (wrecap, if you’re nasty), of the other picks. 10. WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Tables, Ladders, & Chairs Match: Becky Lynch [c] vs Asuka vs Charlotte Flair – WWE TLC 9. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 8. Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi – NJPW G1 Climax 28 7. Hiroshi … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: Top 10 Matches of 2018 Part 2

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. It’s a new year and already a lot has happened in the world of pro wrestling, but before we discuss the events of 2019 so far, let us take a moment and reflect back on 2018. Specifically, the best matches from that year. While, outside of the women’s division, main roster WWE didn’t set the world on fire this year, NXT, New Japan and others more than delivered and made this one of my favorite years as a wrestling fan. We’re gonna be unveiling my … Continue reading Wrestle Wrecap: Top 10 Matches of 2018 Part 1

It’s the holidays, a time for reflection and, coincidentally, a pretty slow week for pro wrestling. With that in mind, I figured I’d take some time this week to run down my list of the five best wrestlers this year. As a note, this list comes not just from who put on the best matches this year, but also who provided the most overall entertainment throughout. Consistency in both of those areas is key to making it on the list.  Still, there were a ton of great wrestlers this year so, here are the ones who just missed the cut. … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Top 5 Wrestlers of 2018

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. This past Sunday’s TLC show ended up being one of the best main roster WWE events of the year. This was thanks, almost solely, to the Smackdown brand which consistently delivered fun matches, including two classics with Styles/Bryan and the main event, a triple threat match for the Smackdown Women’s Title. The women have continually been the most exciting part of WWE for the last half of this year and that all finally paid off in this main event. Charlotte, Asuka and Becky Lynch are … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: The Empress of Tomorrow…Today!

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. “Monday Night Raw has sucked,” Seth Rollins said this past Monday, to knowing cheers from a crowd happy to share in a rare moment of acknowledgement. I’ve talked, at length, over the past few weeks about the dire situation of Raw. So, seeing Rollins come out and address the same issues I rag on in this weekly column was fun, but none of those things actually changed this week. Raw was not the dumpster fire it has been lately, but it was still a slog … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Burn Raw Down

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. Every week there is a new addition to Dean Ambrose’s heel turn that leaves me feeling more and more ambivalent than the last. It’s been almost two months since Ambrose turned on his “brother,” Seth Rollins, and there has yet to be a moment as exciting as that initial incident. So much raw emotion and acting was on display as Ambrose wore his conflicted feelings on his sleeve and continued to brutally attack Rollins long past the point of reason. That moment springs to my … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Raw is Inoculation

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. This past Monday’s Raw was a slog. Let me rephrase, because the honest truth is that most episodes of Raw, especially since the show moved to three hours in 2012, are a slog. Three hours is too long for a wrestling TV show. This isn’t a new stance, in fact, if you’ve been a fan of WWE for the past six years you’ve probably found yourself thinking that same thought during an episode of Raw. As a show that airs on “free TV,” Raw’s main … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: I Can Feel It Corbin in the Air Tonight

Welcome to Wrestling Wrecap, a column focused on discussing and dissecting the week in pro wrestling. The heel turn is one of the finest pieces of storytelling that wrestling has. At its basest level, the heel turn is the moment that a, normally good, wrestler finally gives in to their darkest instincts. This usually means cheating or screwing over a friend, but the point remains, the heel turn symbolizes a march towards the dark side. When done right, a heel turn can rekindle the fire a wrestler was losing as a face (Hogan joining the NWO), or can catapult a wrestler … Continue reading Wrestling Wrecap: Heel Turns for Everyone