2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

Owen Hart.

Grew up a Hulk a maniac in the 80s. Owen was the first heel I liked and cheered for. Of course I went through phases where I loved Austin, Angle, Jericho, the nwo, Mick, the kliq......the guys everybody loved. The thing about Owen is he's big and amazing enough to be a Maj choice but not so big as to be like saying Austin or Hulk.

As a kid I just thought he was funny and I thought he was right, Bret was being selfish. When I got older and learned how incredible he was as a worker , he held up. One of those guys that's amazing no matter what your approach is to the business.

Something about Canadian guys and accents just always gets me as a fan. Happened with Tyson Kidd. Edge. I can feel it happening with KO.

 

For me, it's probably HBK.

At his peak, it was the Rock but I have soured so much on him the past few years and I really think his run from WM30-now has hurt his legacy.

HBK, meanwhile, was incredible from the time he was in the Rockers to the post Jannety years and up to WM14 ... and then he somehow got EVEN BETTER and became the most incredible WrestleMania performer I've ever seen.

I'd also throw CM Punk up there as I just connected with him like I haven't connected with anyone in years but the way he left the WWE has left a really terrible taste in my mouth so I guess that one is going to be determined by how the story ultimately finishes (I think he'll be back by WM36.)

More recently, I'd say my favorites are Kevin Owens and Sasha Banks. I just know I'm going to lose it when they both win the respective big titles.

 

All-time, I'm a Jericho mark. I saw and loved his debut, after liking some of his WCW stuff, even though he was pretty much always a heel during his run over there. When I was a kid, I of course liked Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. But beyond them, my favorite guys were (in order) face Mr. Perfect, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Big Boss Man.

 

Ricky Steamboat for me. When I started watching wrestling in the '80s, I liked Hogan, but gravitated toward Steamboat and his style, if nothing else because I didn't want to be just a Hogan mark like everyone else. I got to be a fan of the Dragon's not even knowing his earlier history and reputation as a worker, but he validated my fandom with the Wrestlemania III match with Savage and the 1989 trilogy with Ric Flair.

HBK and Jericho are 2 and 3, respectively. I followed HBK since the Midnight Rockers days in AWA and he never failed to impress me (despite all the backstage crap in his earlier WWF days). I got to like Jericho's in-ring work, but I think with him it's also the out-of-ring stuff he's done that's allowed me to know more about him that has made me a fan.

 

Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. JR was right when he said Flair was the greatest, and HBK was 1A.

I loved Superfly Snuka when I was a kid. And I have a soft spot for Sabu, mainly because of what he's put himself through for the sake of entertainment.

 

Possible spoiler from Raw:

Spoiler

Take it for what it's worth but notorious Reddit user FalconArrow has taken his act to Twitter yesterday. He claims that Finn Balor will make his main roster this week on RAW in a segment with AJ Styles. He can be bluffing but let's keep in mind that a) he has a history of correctly predicting stuff like this and b) Finn Balor wasn't working any NXT shows during the weekend, so he could very well be attending the TV tapings in London this week.

 

Which presumably means:

Spoiler

Bullet/Balor Club shenanigans are afoot. Presumably with Balor as the heel, since why would you push AJ the way WWE has and had Chris Jericho turn to get him over? Though for maximum trolling, the best time for a Bullet Club beatdown would be at the end of AJ's title match with Roman Reigns. Alternatively, you have Styles and Balor and Gallows/Anderson form the best Bullet Club, screw Roman out of the title, then beat him down in subsequent weeks until he realizes that the best way to defend yourself from a bullet ... is a shield.

 

I like you're theories and would like to subscribe to your newsletter/podcast.

 

Flair is my all-time fave, was a huge Macho Man fan - and met him once - truly a great moment for me. More recent vintage: Punk

 

That would be a great plan, except for that Gallows/Anderson beat up the Usos last week and they've played up the Usos' family connection with Reigns.

 

Since Raw is in London, which means double-decker busses on the stage and a tape-delayed broadcast: WWE Raw spoilers (April 18, 2016): Tag tournament finals set in London, more!

Thus far, following up on the

Spoiler

AJ Styles had a friendly interaction with Gallows and Anderson. Later, AJ interrupted Roman Reigns' fifth rendition of "I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a good guy, I'm the guy" promo. After AJ left, Gallows and Anderson attacked Reigns. AJ claimed to have nothing to do with it to Reigns in a backstage segment, but Reigns wasn't buying. TREACHERY AFOOT AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO YOU KNOW WHO

 

Spoiler: Spoiler

Sam Roberts suggested Gallows and Anderson could join Reigns as a Shield 2.0 kind of thing if they decide to go full heel on Roman. Makes a lot of sense. AJ doesn't need the help and smarks will never boo him so why bother. Finn would be an amazing heel and starting hinting at it in the fall on NXT but they never pulled the double-turn with Joe so who knows?