Exclusive Interview: Mike Orlando
Mike Orlando is a rising independent wrestler who has competed all over the country and recently agreed to an interview. I hope you enjoy it and learn something new. Read more
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Posts tagged ‘TNA’
Sep 6
Career Retrospective: AJ Styles In 2002
Taking a look at AJ Styles first year or major exposure in the world of professional wrestling. Read more
Jimmy Rave: The Crown Jewel
Recently, I came across some news that Jimmy Rave would be making his debut for Absolute Intense Wrestling on April 8th, 2017. For the last several years, Rave hadn’t been getting a lot of attention working mostly independents in the Carolinas & Georgia area. In 2015, Rave was signed on with Global Force Wrestling, which has yet to really take off. After scrolling through Twitter, I saw several fans praise the decision to bring in Rave to AIW. It showed me that people hadn’t forgotten about him. Read more
Mar 21
Welcome To The Serengeti
Through the years, Impact Wrestling has had several opportunities to develop their own stars and not be dependent on former WWE stars. After a failed run in the early years of TNA, Monty Brown, a former accomplished football player, returned to the company in March 2004. Brown showcased his charisma and was able to connect with fans.
Brown’s character was a man who acted with African predatory animal mannerisms. He had a catchphrase, “Feel the POUNCEEEEE! Period…”, and wasn’t entirely awful in the ring. Monty had a good physique and at one point was the top face in the company as he ran over competition upon his return. Read more
The Fallen Angel Ascends To The Top
The internet has made it extremely easy to learn about new wrestlers and find their work. If you’ve been reading the site lately, you’ll notice my love for wrestling magazines. Dating back to the late 90s to the early 2000s, I relied on magazines to learn about new wrestlers. One of the first wrestlers I remember learning about through the magazines was none other than the “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels. Read more
The Match #7: Bryan Danielson Vs. Samoa Joe Vs. AJ Styles In IWA-MS ’04
Independent wrestling can either be really great or really awful. Regardless, the independent wrestling scene has been vital in producing stars for the biggest wrestling company ever, the WWE. Of course, in 2017 the WWE is trying to be the only show to exist and that could lead to a major problem down the road. Think of a major name in the WWE, and it’s likely that at one point or another, they were a big part of the independent wrestling scene and not a WWE created machine.
The following match that I decided to highlight in this series sheds some light on that. Bryan Danielson, better known to WWE fans as Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles all came up through the independent scene. As you might recall, Daniel Bryan was the hottest act the WWE had in 2014 before a neck injury/concussion cut his career short. Samoa Joe had a successful run in TNA and is now rumored to finally debut on WWE television and, well, AJ Styles runs the damn show on Smackdown after an incredible career that spanned a decade plus in TNA, ROH and NJPW before arriving in the WWE. Read more
Reliving A Feud #31: Christian Cage Vs. Abyss In TNA ’06
A lot of times when a baby face wins the World Championship they usually encounter a monster heel challenger and have to fend them off in some dangerous matches. Off the top of my head, Ric Flair defending against Vader in WCW circa 93-’94, or Steve Austin defending against Kane and/or Undertaker in ’98.
The same can be said for when Christian Cage won the NWA-TNA World Championship at Against All Odds in February 2006 when he pinned Jeff Jarrett. It wouldn’t take long for the monster Abyss to step up and issue a war to the ever popular, Christian Cage. Read more
Sep 16
The Rise & Fall Of Chris Harris
‘Wildcat’ Chris Harris before the fall from grace.
Twelve years ago, Total Non-Stop Action was running weekly shows in Nashville, Tennessee usually getting around 1,200 people to watch their Wednesday night show. The show was aired on pay per view for $9.99 and had plenty of former WWE stars to go along with younger guys that hadn’t been exposed to the national spotlight.
Some guys part of the latter group were James Storm and Chris Harris who formed a tag team known as America’s Most Wanted. In 2002 and 2003 the team was the top tag team in the company and had a memorable feud with Triple X, which consisted of Low Ki, Elix Skipper and Christopher Daniels. By the end of 2003, many people started to think that Chris Harris was going to be a breakout star from the team and have highly successful singles run with the company. Read more
UPDATED! WWE, SMW, TNA, ECW!
The newest update to the blog features RAW & Smackdown reviews from 2002, SMW 1993 TV reviews, ECW super card reviews from 1996, ECW house show form 1996, and a WWE MSG house show from 2008! Read more
Reliving A Title Run #16: Bobby Roode As TNA World Champion ’11 – ’12
Bobby Roode made his debut in Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling way back in May 2004 as part of the heel stable Team Canada. For almost three years, Roode remained one of the top performers for the group winning the tag team championships on several occasions with partner Eric Young. Once Team Canada went their separate ways, Roode ventured off into singles wrestling competing in feuds with the likes of Eric Young, Petey Williams, Samoa and Jeff Jarrett throughout 2007.
By the time 2008 came around Roode was involved in a feud with Booker T involving Booker’s wife Sharmel. While Roode wouldn’t win the feud, he did defeat Booker at Destination X that year and competed in the King of the Mountain match, but was unable to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. His singles career would stall and he formed one of the greatest tag teams not only in TNA history, but in pro wrestling history when he teamed with James Storm to be known as Beer Money Inc. Read more
