We're counting down the days until 2020 arrives but before we do, I think it'd be interesting to reflect on the decade that was and reminisce about some of the highlights and lowlights of the decade that was.

In general, I've watched far more wrestling than I did the decade prior. The strides streaming services have made has made wrestling incredibly accessible and I find if I'm tired of one promotion, I can easily find another to get interested in. I went from spending an entire decade watching mostly WWE to watching all sorts of promotions around the world and seeing all the different ways Pro Wrestling can be presented. It hasn't always been the most exciting industry to follow, but there's a reliability to Pro Wrestling that makes it so easy to get lost in.

2010

I remember January 4th like it was only yesterday. On one channel you had Hogan, Bischoff and The Outsiders getting into a confrontation while on the other Michaels-Hart were standing face to face. After all these years Pro Wrestling had reverted to 1997. With TNA around this time, I'm reminded of this Arrested Development meme.

It was obvious the show was going to revolve around Hogan-Bischoff and become a show about running a wrestling promotion as opposed to just a wrestling promotion yet there was that initial hype. This was TNA's shot, everything they had been building towards since the Carters bought the company and it went off the rails in a hurry. The signs were bad from the very first episode, but TNA would continue to put together these bizarre angles that put some of WWE's dumb writing to shame. The tipping point was when they finally brought Rob Van Dam in, their biggest acquisition and a potential game changer. Instead of building all these potential big matches for RVD, they had him beat Sting inside of 10 seconds and then get his ass kicked in the ensuing two minutes after the match. It was these extremely mixed signals that turned fans off TNA and as a lot of the fresh face talent fled the company, TNA became less compelling.

In the WWE, ECW was finally put out of it's misery with Big Zeke finishing up as the final ECW Champion. In it's place came NXT, a reality-show based competition that sounded interesting in theory. When the show was first announced I was under the impression that the show would be a lot more grounded than what it was. I thought they would strip down the gimmicks and would just give us these raw characters from different backgrounds mixing it with some of the WWE's finest in an interesting twist on the Pro Wrestling genre. Instead it became this goofy game show and even the interesting elements like having The Miz mentor Bryan Danielson were over-shadowed by the overall presentation. When the show led to the Nexus I thought they had salvaged it, but then they continued on with three more seasons.

The main roster itself was going through something of an overhaul as well. Shawn Michaels retired at Wrestlemania XXVI in a fitting finale, the next month Triple H would become a semi-retired wrestler, Batista would quit for Hollywood, Jericho finished up his best run in the company and became a part-timer for a number of years while The Undertaker finished up his last full-time run in the company. With Edge's retirement on the horizon and Mysterio's wonky knee times were a changing in the company.

Raw was still experimenting with guest stars around this time, a format that could produce the odd nugget of television gold but usually just got in the way of building a connection between the wrestlers and the crowd. After losing Jeff Hardy, SmackDown abandoned it's fresh mission to promote new talent and went back to pushing the Kane, Undertaker, Edge and Mysterio as it's top stars. Every now and then somebody like CM Punk, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes would do something entertaining and start getting over but they'd quickly squash it with little notice.

The biggest angle happened around the summer when the Nexus debuted. I loved the initial invasion and how chaotic it was, but the segment was a real disaster. A lot of the people involved weren't clued in and the most talented member of the roster was let go for choking Justin Roberts with his tie. An amazing visual, but just something that couldn't fly on television. Still, the Nexus angle was hot and gave the show a much needed direction. However in one of the worst booking decisions of the decade, they had the Nexus lose their first major encounter. Even the Invasion storyline was booked better than this. By Survivor Series, Nexus had well and truly run it's course and also gave us one of the worst booked 'firing' angles in history where Cena was let go, only to return a week later because he was friends with security.

The Miz also won the WWE Championship around that time and it was a credit to him that this wasn't the worst thing ever. Of course the WWE never really got behind him like they should have, but The Miz's ascent had been one of the better written angles of the past 18 months or so and it was actually a nice pay-off with one of the GOAT fan reaction shots.

2010 also marked a new beginning in ROH. After joining the company a year prior, Cornette was promoted to head booker and would help broker a deal with Sinclair Broadcasting which would change the course of that company. In a strange twist of fate, Cornette's milestone also happened around the same time Tyler Black signed with the WWE and would become Seth Rollins. When Jim joined the company in 2009, it marked the end of Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson's run in the company. Steen-Generico was the big angle around that time, but the match that I had to check out and see was Richards-Black from Death Before Dishonor. The match was heralded as the MotY and was a pretty good example of the modern style. I don't recall loving it as much as others and before I could really get behind Black's big win, he was whisked away to FCW where it felt like he stayed for ages. It seemed like as soon as he arrived there was some idea to call him up to the main roster. It would be over two years before such an event would take place. Richards remained the most over guy in the company and as a Dynamite Kid clone had a pretty decent case for the title, so instead of putting it on him, they put it on some dweeb called Roderick Strong. That was a huge red flag on ROH and while I planned to give them a proper go in 2011, I was certainly offside from the start.

It does seem absolutely wild that TNA going head to head with Raw was ten years ago. People were still so desperate for a wrestling war so it was a really big deal online but as you say Pete it was clear that it was going to be a disaster from the very beginning. Homicide struggling to get out of the Steel Asylum in the opening match was an instant bad omen, and as soon Hogan and Bischoff and all their buddies showed up contributing nothing whilst taking a dump on all the good talent that were doing some decent stuff beforehand - particularly the KO division for me, it was all a major fail.

I know. You know it's bad when you have the Nasty Boys involved in a big angle in the 2010s.

Jeez, it’s really been 10 years since Dixie filmed herself telling her roster to either get on board the Hogan-Bischoff train or get the fuck out.

What a joke, that it was taped and aired, and an even bigger joke, that the entire locker room looked like they were going to cry.

2011

In year where The Rock finally (FINALLY!) came back on television, the one name that mattered was CM Punk. The pipebomb was such a refreshing promo that touched on a lot of issues fans were having with the WWE and just giant corporations in general. It really should have served as a reminder of what a wrestling promo should be and why the WWE's awkward in house style doesn't work anymore. I was into every CM Punk segment at the time, although in hindsight it's clear they lost their edge once he re-signed with the company. In the end, the WWE maintained the status quo, the only significant change was the introduction of John Lauranaitis as a major character. It's bizarre to think, but Ace's biggest run in America happened in 2011/12 of all those years. Punk was elevated, but the WWE made sure to remind you that Rock/Cena was the most pressing matter.

Otherwise I was into the C-show stuff. I wasn't interested in watching Randy Orton deliver his ASMR promos, I wanted to see what the lesser known talent were capable of. It was on shows like Superstars where I would see Chris Masters and Drew McIntyre work clinics together. It always amazed me how McIntyre wasn't given a shot around this time. After his break-out performance at the Elimination Chamber, I thought he'd make for a great upper mid-carder at least but no dice. The WWE abandoned ship on NXT which was great because it left Bateman, Curtis, Maxine and Kaitlyn etc. to their own devices. While it wasn't award winning television, they put together some fun rasslin angles and really developed their characters on the show, making for a brisk and rewarding weekly television show.

I was also a fan of Tough Enough. It may have had the worst cast of all-time, but Stone Cold Steve Austin was amazing on the show and I wouldn't be surprised if it got the ball rolling on his podcast career. Just hearing Steve spitball made for entertaining TV and his insights were genuinely fascinating.

ROH was brought out by Sinclair mid-way through the year which would change the complexion of the company. The company became more concious of factors such as looks and celebrities to try and appeal more to a mainstream audience. While this push alienated it's core audience, the company fell short on the production end and a lot of shows looked and sounded terribly. Still it did have some of the best up and coming talent in Pro Wrestling and watching guys like Future Shock, Michael Elgin or Tomasso Ciampa make a name for themselves made it a rewarding show to watch. The bloom had come off the rose a bit, but Davey Richards was having some fantastic matches on top and Kevin Steen's run as an outlaw saw his star rise to new heights. With Jay Lethal and the Young Bucks coming on board, the future looked bright in ROH.

With ROH no longer operating as an independant, PWG stepped in as the super indy. PWG was a simple show, they didn't run major angles they just let some of the best talent on the west coast and across the country mix it up and put on the best they were capable of. Free of the constraints of a regular promotion, PWG gave wrestlers a platform to make a name for themselves and really was the birthplace of the All Elite stuff we see today. In TNA, Generation Me were a promising tag team capable of having entertaining tag team matches. In PWG they were the Young Bucks putting together some of the sickest spots in all of wrestling and working with the swagger of a main event level star. While PWG had continuously been growing since it's humble beginnings in 2003, this was the time period where it really took over.

2011 was also when NJPW first came onto my radar. After all the hype of AJPW, NOAH and Dragon Gate from the 1990s - 2000s, there was a lull in Japanese wrestling that made it difficult to get into. For quite a few years NJPW had been taking steps to rectify the problem and in 2011 they started gaining momentum when Minoru Suzuki challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi to the IWGP Championship. This appeared on a lot of MotY lists and it stoked my curiosity. I didn't think I could get into a match with little to no context or English commentary but the attention to detail in this match was extradinary and all the complaints I had with American wrestling were absent here. The strikes looked good and the strikes that didn't weren't sold, the execution was flawless and they actually knew how to execute good looking holds. The constant four hour run-times put me off becoming a regular NJPW watcher, but this was when I made a point to check out their big shows and my appreciation would grow from there.

It really was a mixed year and while the signs weren't great heading into the future, there was enough interesting developments to keep me engaged. If not in the WWE, then at least in ROH, PWG or NJPW.

I question whether WWE will ever be able to put something together at MITB11 levels again, that really was a lightning in a bottle moment. It's a shame that they couldn't keep the momentum going over the next few months, there was so much potential for something really different and fresh with Punk keeping the title hostage but he was barely "gone" for a week and then the Kevin Nash return that absolutely no one wanted or asked for.

Dec 11, 2019 23:01:14 GMT @admin said:

I question whether WWE will ever be able to put something together at MITB11 levels again, that really was a lightning in a bottle moment. It's a shame that they couldn't keep the momentum going over the next few months, there was so much potential for something really different and fresh with Punk keeping the title hostage but he was barely "gone" for a week and then the Kevin Nash return that absolutely no one wanted or asked for.

Even Del Rio's inclusion felt forced. CM Punk drops this major bombshell and before we get to see any of the ramifications, Del Rio swoops in and has a three month title reign that again nobody asked for. This was around the time where the WWE were trying really hard to appeal to the Latino demographic which is why they pushed Del Rio, Mysterio and Sin Cara heavily.

It’s incredible to think, WWE’s summer of Punk was so long ago. I bet at some point Triple H has stood quietly in the NXT ring, empty arena and muttered to himself “ I showed you Punk “

2012

So right off the bat I want to acknowledge another indy darling. CHIKARA in the early 2010s was another promotion a lot of fans flocked to and would often trumpet as the best sports entertainment company in wrestling. Unlike other promotions, Chikara was happy to embrace the cartoony style of wrestling and it's commitment to long term storylines and satisfying pay-offs won a lot of fans over. I would usually tune in for their King of Trios show which had an enjoyable mix of home-grown talent, quality freelance talent, legends, comedy wrestlers and the like. It was usually an enjoyable way to spend a weekend's worth of Pro Wrestling and I believe it went a long way to getting El Generico hired by the WWE when he had a killer match with the 1-2-3 Kid at the 2011 KoT tournament. In the 2012 version, Quackenbush teamed up with Manami Toyota which served as my introduction to the legendary performer. I didn't quite understand why she was held in high reverence at the time, but it stirred my curiosity and got me to look into her career deeply. While I tend to feel uncomfortable with intergender wrestling, I thought Chikara handled it excellently and Sara Del Ray was an absolute pleasure to watch wrestle. It made it difficult to get behind a lot of the women in the WWE or TNA in that matter because Sara was putting in performances that put them to shame. Her transition into a coaching role was one of the better developments of the decade. I don't think it's any coincidence women's wrestling improved under her guidance.

Speaking of WWE, 2012 was the year of Daniel Bryan. As soon as he started doing the Yes chant, he had cemented himself as a performer and while it didn't catch on right away in the WWE, the indies showed just how big the chant was going to become. Even when he suffered that embarrassing loss at Wrestlemania, Bryan just took it in his stride and went onto have some of the best matches in years with Sheamus at Extreme Rules and Punk at Over The Limit. He also played a vital role in getting The Shield over and if he wasn't in the ring directing traffic and helping piece together these masterpieces the WWE would still be wheeling out John Cena and Randy Orton as the top guys. Arguably his most impressive accomplishment was his ability to become the most over act in the company while working with Kane. Bryan did a fantastic job with those WWE skits and really formed a strong chemistry with Kane. I would argue it's the best thing Kane had been apart of since his hardcore match at Wrestlemania X-7 if not his original angle with The Undertaker.

It was also the year Brock Lesnar returned. As somebody who didn't appreciate Brock before, I became enamoured with his return. The WWE did a good job of treating him like a star and there was an air of unpredictability and attention to detail that had been sorely lacking. I didn't like how they had him lose to Cena, but the match was one of the greatest things I'd ever seen in a WWE ring.

Unfortunately there was some trouble in paradise. The WWE's decision to turn Raw into a three hour program spelled the end of it becoming a weekly fixture. Now I'll only tune into the odd episode while reading through PW.com or listening to the Observer radio to figure out what's happening. I feel the odd PPV every month is enough wrestling and the time is better spent watching other promotions.

2012 also spelled the end of Jim Cornette's run in ROH and his time as a full-time promoter. Corny's vision of ROH showed promise in 2011, but as time went on it became clear that his views were antiquated and he just didn't understand the market. Furthermore even when ROH would put together a good card, iPPV would drop the ball and just about every show had some major issue that would cause the stream to crash. It just became too much for a lot of loyal fans who identified with the product and were willing to accept the changes if it meant the company could be successful. Naturally as soon as Jim was shown the door, Delirious came in, scrapped everything that had been set up and brought in Generico who had been earlier let go by Cornette. ROH lost my interest when they booked a Kevin Steen-Rhino PPV program for the title, but the one memory I have is of this match between Cole/O'Reilly where Cole caught a couple of stiff shots, started bleeding from the mouth and just channeled it into his performance. I had been keeping my eye on both performers since last year, but it was that match that set Adam Cole up as a major star for the future.

I thought Impact improved in 2012. Bobby Roode was the best heel in all of Professional Wrestling and Austin Aries working his way up from the X-Division to become the champion was one of the best TNA Championship victories in history. I also liked how TNA were trying new things like that themed show where the wrestlers could call anybody out and have that match right away. It gave me something to look forward to and was something fresh that made the company stand out from the WWE. Unfortunately this promising turn of events didn't last long and seemingly as soon as Jeff Hardy fulfilled his redemption story by winning the TNA World Championship at Bound For Glory, the shows started going off the wall again.

I wouldn't get into NJPW or NXT until the following year but it's worth mentioning that both underwent major changes. Okada becoming a top guy was completely surprising, especially since he was best known as Samoa Joe's sidekick who would frequently wrestle on Xplosion. It's safe to say it all worked out, but there was certainly an adjustment period. Meanwhile NXT became it's own fully fledged promotion shot infront of it's own audience at Full Sail. It was one of those shows where I wanted them to get a few tapings under their belt before I went through each show because it was something I could really sink my teeth in, but the show just kept changing so much I never got around to watching every episode. My main impression is that it was different from the show we'd come to know and love. Instead of it being a super-indie, it was FCW mixed with a lot of the underappreciated talent on the main roster. It would take the show sometime to find it's groove, but I liked how it was presented as this strip down version of the WWE. The fact it was only an hour made it a god send.

I think 2010 to the closing was pinnacle of Chikara. Just so good and never quite recovered when it resurfaced. Now it's like no one cares and not in a bad way like ROH but Impact on that it could be amazing but zero fucks given.

2012 should have been a big year for CM Punk. Yes, he had the longest WWE Championship reign since Hulk Hogan's first reign of 1984-88. And yes, he was being managed by Paul Heyman during that time.

But not since Ron Simmons' reign as WCW Champion, has a World's Champion been placed so low on the card, so often. I mean, look at the 2012 pay per views. On the left will be Punk's WWE title matches, and where on the card it placed. And on the right, is what ended up as the show's main event.

Royal Rumble:
CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler (5th) -
Main Event: Royal Rumble Match (Though that's understandable)

Elimination Chamber:
CM Punk/Dolph Ziggler/Chris Jericho/Kofi Kingston/R-Truth/The Miz WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match (1st) -
Main Event: John Cena vs. Kane Ambulance Match

WrestleMania:
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (7th) -
Main Event: John Cena vs. The Rock (Again, somewhat understandable)

Extreme Rules:
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho Street Fight (6th) -
Main Event: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar Extreme Rules

Over The Limit:
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (7th) -
Main Event: John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis (WTF?!!!)

No Way Out:
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane (7th) -
Main Event: John Cena vs. Big Show Steel Cage

Money in the Bank:
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan with AJ Lee as guest referee (4th) -
Main Event: John Cena/Big Show/Chris Jericho/Kane/The Miz Money in the Bank Ladder Match

SummerSlam:
CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Big Show (6th)
Main Event: Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H

Night of Champions:
CM Punk vs. John Cena (Punk's 1st Main Event in 2012)

Hell In A Cell:
CM Punk vs. Ryback Hell In A Cell (Punk's 2nd Main Event)

Survivor Series:
CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback (Punk's 3rd Main Event)

TLC:
Punk was injured, and was put off the card

Grand Total for the WWE Champion:
12 Shows, only three Main Events. While John Cena got EIGHT, and John Laurinaitis got ONE!

Daniel Bryan's and AJ Lee were the highlight of 2012 for me. They did a really fresh take on a relationship, and their characters were surprisingly nuanced for wrestling - more like something out of a teen drama or sitcom (and the DENNIS system video was perfect evidence).

Dec 12, 2019 16:24:15 GMT Big Pete said:

2012

In the 2012 version, Quackenbush teamed up with Manami Toyota which served as my introduction to the legendary performer. I didn't quite understand why she was held in high reverence at the time, but it stirred my curiosity and got me to look into her career deeply.

It was technically 2011 but getting to see Manami Toyota live and in the flesh at Joshimania is right up there as one of my all time moments as a wrestling fan. Definitely a night I'll never forget.

2013

The year where NJPW came of age. So little by little NJPW had been getting themselves out of a tough situation to the point where in 2011-12 they were able to start putting pieces together that we'd all come to love. After an awkward title win that felt completely undeserved, Okada had proven he could be the star of the promotion and help ease the burden off of Tanahashi who had been the one prevailing light for the company since 2006. While that was great for the domestic market, the big move that NJPW got right was the formation of the Bullet Club. NJPW were signing some of the best international talent available and putting them all in one group and showcasing them beyond just opening matches is what really expanded their business.

Conceptually I liked the idea of putting Devitt, Anderson and the Bucks in a featured role. My only issue with it was that since NJPW had a different psychology to the west, I thought the run-ins were laid out terribly and really took away from the matches. Still, it was nice to see NJPW feature international talent that wasn't some big monster that couldn't cut it in America. It made for better variety beyond having their stars prevail over a generic monster.

The highlight for me was the rise of strong-style. With Shibata, Suzuki and Sakuraba joining the company, you had three guys who could work snug and allow for that suspension of disbelief. Shibata was my favourite, particularly during his G-1 tournament where he helped establish Tomohiro Ishii as a star but it's worth pointing out Sakuraba's match with Nakamura. Nak is another guy who fits into the category and was such a delight to see wrestle. What I like about Nakamura is that when he's left to his own devices, he puts matches together in such a unique way that feels logical. In a rigid company like the WWE, I feel he's been caught going through the motions but on the big shows like this, Nak could always stand out and bring the show to life.

Meanwhile in the WWE, it felt like they were finally done with their Rock-Cena story and were ready to do the evil authority gimmick that was thrown on their laps two years prior by Punk. There were aspects of the angle that I liked namely the Rhodes vs. Shield stuff but it mostly just turned me off the product. This really came to a head when at Suvivor Series they had The Big Show vs. Randy Orton for the championship. It was such a shame because I absolutely adored the Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena match at SummerSlam and thought at the very least Bryan could hold down the fort while the Shield and Wyatt Family gear themselves up for an eventual run at the title.

The year also marked the debut of Total Divas. It's easy to pay out on E Reality TV shows, but I thought the show gave the women more leverage and as a WWE fan it was cool to see some of these performers in a different light appealing to a demo that otherwise wouldn't give wrestling the time of day. I also thought it was a necessary evil for performers I enjoyed like Tyson Kidd. I have no doubt that Divas helped get him more screen time on TV, although this wouldn't really become a big deal until 2014. I also liked that some of the women like AJ weren't on the show so the entire division didn't revolve around this one show - it appealed to both sets of fans. Speaking of AJ, while she was no longer the biggest star in the company like she was for the better part of 2012, I thought she transitioned into the role as women's champion really well. The match that stands out to me was the 2013 Payback match with Kaitlyn. I've always had a soft spot for Kaitlyn as a personality but wasn't a fan of her work until that match. I remember their match and the Ziggler-Del Rio matches both really standing out as far as WWE matches go.

I feel like this is a year where fans enjoy the sum of the parts more than the whole. In the past few years in particular I've seen it listed as one of the last truly great years which may well be the case. In real time, it felt like such a slog that for every good segment, there was some bad booking decision waiting around the corner like a viper looking to cash in a briefcase.

It was absolutely horrible what WWE did to Punk at the start of the year. And all just so they make the Cena/Rock rematch at WrestleMania for a championship. WHICH WAS UNNECESSARY TO BEGIN WITH!!! There was a reason why they called it "Once In A Lifetime."

First half of the 2010's CHIKARA was on fire. The Flood angle was one of the most ambitious wrestling storylines ever done and it absolutely paid off when Duc started to kill wrestlers. Icarus slaying him in the cage was a truly epic moment.


Signings and the failed lost season angle really hurt their momentum. Feel like they are just now recovering with the Crucible stuff.

Dec 12, 2019 17:11:25 GMT @ness said:

I think 2010 to the closing was pinnacle of Chikara. Just so good and never quite recovered when it resurfaced. Now it's like no one cares and not in a bad way like ROH but Impact on that it could be amazing but zero fucks given.

After the Flood angle, like 2/3rds of the roster left and they never recovered.  They also were not really building stars people liked either, so as more signed to WWE, they had no one to replace them.  Even someone like KimberLee returning was huge for them as they REALLY needed stars.

All this talk, and we’re forgetting the debut of The Shield. Say what you want about each individual now, these guys were the absolute workhorses for a long stint when not much else was happening.

Fast forward 18 months, three kids from FCW have destroyed the entire roster, and were on a collision path with Evolution.

2014

In November of 2014, CM Punk sat down with his then best friend and shared some insights into the WWE that disgusted fans. Punk leaving the company felt like it was coming a mile away. After becoming the biggest star in the company, working some of the best WWE Title matches in year and being a good company guy, Punk was burnt out. It seemed like no matter how hard he was pushing himself, he still wasn't going to be booked above a John Cena, Undertaker, Triple H. It was not shocking at all to hear how miserable he was in his final year, his appearance made that clear and the only match that rivalled any of his previous output was the SummerSlam match against Brock Lesnar which ultimately was at his own expense.

Punk's podcast confirmed a few sneaking suspicions about the workplace culture of the WWE and just how seriously they care about the welfare of their stars. It turned a lot of fans off the company and as a byproduct a lot of stars they were pushing. As a result, The Shield didn't get as over as they would have liked.

When The Shield debuted in 2012, they were an immediate hit. It had been eight years since the WWE had a stable as talented as The Shield and their brand of six men matches was fresh for their time. When they broke them up in 2014 it was meant to be this historic moment in the company and help usher in a new era built around developmental talent from NXT. Instead of it being warmly received by the audience who had been desperately calling out for new stars, it was met with derision that only got stronger around Wrestlemania XXXI season.

What happened with Punk even took the thrill out of Wrestlemania XXX. In what was a great moment in theory came at the cost of CM Punk's career and the knowledge that the WWE were happy to abandon their core audience to try and appeal to the Marvel crowd.

Still, it wasn't all bad. NXT came of age that year signing more talented wrestlers and running their own PPVs. The TakeOver brand is by far the most consistent in all of wrestling, but it's fun looking at how quaint some of those old shows were. Now every match is designed to steal the show, whereas back then they had an undercard that would help their main events stick out back then. I really enjoyed NXT's main event scene back then with Neville, Kidd, Zayn and Breeze. I thought they set a fantastic standard and some of their bouts remain some of the best not only in NXT history, but WWE history as well.

I also remember it as the year Lucha Underground premiered. I admired LU for taking a different approach to wrestling, treating it more like a pulp graphic novel than a WWE wannabe. Not only was it interesting to see them experiment with the genre, but the roster was really good as well and it helped introduce fans to a lot of acts like Ricochet, Jeff Cobb, Shane Strickland, Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr. While the show could get really silly in places it also featured some of the best matches of their time, in particular I loved their variation of the Royal Rumble and Casket matches. It's a show I plan on revisiting one of these days.

Finally, 2014 was the year of AJ Styles. After years of being taken for granted, AJ Styles left the company and quickly reminded people just how good he could be by taking over Devitt's spot in the Bullet Club and becoming a respectable world champion. He fit the NJPW main event scene like a glove and was having great match after great match, one in particular against Suzuki stands out as my favourite as this time. I don't think AJ being a good wrestler was a secret, but since he had never been featured as this living legend, fans would often overlook him or question whether he relied too heavily on his athleticism. After '14 it no longer became an issue and Styles quite rightfully found himself being compared to Tanahashi and Danielson as one of the best performers of his generation.

Dec 15, 2019 19:53:13 GMT NATH45 said:

All this talk, and we’re forgetting the debut of The Shield. Say what you want about each individual now, these guys were the absolute workhorses for a long stint when not much else was happening.

Fast forward 18 months, three kids from FCW have destroyed the entire roster, and were on a collision path with Evolution.

I didn't forget, I just saw them as an extension of Daniel Bryan's tremendous 2012. While they were booked strong in 2012-13, I thought ultimately they were used to help prop up other storylines like Bryan's march towards the title and the Rhodes Brothers storyline. 2014 was when they well and truly broke out, but despite how well they had been used, the core audience was so turned off by the product they weren't interested in watching this new generation of talent become the stars of the show.

There were a few points I wanted to make about them in 2012 that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Firstly, I wanted to point out Ryback's run and how he ultimately helped build three stars.

I also wanted to point out how even back then it was known that Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar was the plan moving forward, back when hardly anyone knew who Roman Reigns was. He was essentially 'not Kassius Ohno' who had always been rumoured as the original guy even before Punk confirmed it.

Finally, how the debut made people forget that Rollins and Ambrose had been in developmental for ages and there were some serious concerns about them working on the main roster. When Rollins first signed, there was this expectation he'd be on the main roster by Wrestlemania 27. Well over two years after signing, he finally gets his shot and made the most of it.

2015

Was the year of the woman's revolution. It had been coming for some time, starting with Emma and Paige's rivalry in the early days of NXT but Sasha Banks raised the bar. Her matches with Becky Lynch and Bayley on the TakeOver shows were tremendous matches and Bayley's championship win was genuinely a well done segment. It also marked the year Asuka signed with the company. I remember when 'Kana' signed with the company and fans were besides themselves over the news. She seemed to be as well known as Beyonce and I was so out of the loop when it came to Joshi wrestling I was beyond confused. Then I saw her wrestle and was instantly won over. I didn't think it got much better after Sasha then I saw Asuka ply her trade.

I didn't really like how they handled Charlotte, Becky and Sasha's call-up. I'm glad there was some pomp and circumstance but I felt their personalities were over-shadowed by the machine and you had that incident with the Submission Soroity name. They eventually worked things out, but the whole process felt rushed and I don't think Sasha has ever been as over as she once was.

One of the last WCW holdouts finally made their debut in a WWE ring. It was so surreal to see Sting in the WWE and finally after all these years we were going to get Undertaker-Sting. It was likely going to be terrible, but all I needed was one money segment and that one WWE style pre-match package and I would be golden. Instead we got Triple H and for whatever reason Sting came in after all those years just to put HHH over at Mania in a nonsensical match. Then to put the icing on the cake, Sting broke his neck working HHH Jr. and had to retire. By this point, Sting was well and truly in the twilight of his career but it was still such a bummer.

Over in NJPW, Tetsuya Naito found his groove. Naito had always been this great worker, but his character was so vanilla and wimpy that he wasn't really cool to follow. Then he went to CMLL, became apart of Los Ingobernables and became this rebel that was so exciting to watch. It was reminiscent of Nakamura's transformation that had occurred earlier and gave NJPW a great 1-2 punch for their new generation with Okada as the ace and Naito as his respected rival.

This was also the first year where NJPW had English commentary for a live PPV which would make the show far more accessible for western fans. It was timely as well because that may have been the best WrestleKingdom yet with Tanahashi/Okada, Naito/Styles and Nakamura/Ibushi all delivering. Ibushi-Nakamura especially felt like a star making moment for Ibushi and they had somebody else to fill that main event spot.

I saw the year as something of a UK invasion. Obviously in the majors you had Finn Balor, Sheamus, King Barrett, Adrian Neville, Paige, Becky Lynch etc. from the UK scene being featured prominently but even on the independants there was a lot of hype around guys from PROGRESS and Rev Pro. One stand out for me was Zack Sabre Jr, this extremely skinny wrestler who seemingly knew as many holds as Dean Malenko. Normally I find a lot of holds in wrestling boring. There's only so many hammerlocks and side-headlocks I can sit through before I tune out. His match with AJ Styles from Rev Pro was a highlight and the match that sold me. Also how could I forget about Rockstar Spud in TNA? Easily right up there with Heyman as one of the best managers of the decade.

You could piece together an entire thread on Bullet Club. Arguably the most important stable of the decade.

From elevating Devitt and co, to putting NJPW into mainstream consciousness again, the evolution of AJ Styles, the introduction of Omega. The birth of The Elite, the debut of Cody... pigging backing off BC to produce All In and launch AEW.

2016

The year of the NJPW exodus. In one month NJPW lost AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kota Ibushi, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. Such a loss of talent would ordinarily send shockwaves through a company, but in the case of NJPW they just went from strength to strength. It had turned into a blessing in disguise as talent like Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito and Katsuyori Shibata were more than ready to fill those roles. For years, Omega was known as this big fish in a small pond. Him and Ibushi were by far the biggest names in DDT and anytime he'd work a PWG or NJPW show he'd make a good impression. In 2014 he signed on with NJPW but was their junior heavyweight representative and played this goofy character who confused the mobs idea of a cleaner with general societies. After shedding the visage, Omega quickly eclipsed if not surpassed AJ Styles' reign and became the first ever gaijin to receive an IWGP Championship shot at WrestleKingdom.

After a shakey start, Styles eventually became one of the biggest stars in the WWE. It seemed like the WWE sent him through an initiation period where he'd get humbled at Wrestlemania and then have to put Roman over. It seemed like once the WWE got that out of their system and AJ got over in spite of their booking, they went with him and it seemed like AJ had found his place. It was eerie just how cozily AJ slipped into the company, almost as if that was where he had always belonged.

Shane McMahon surprised everybody and was without a doubt the biggest drawcard heading into the biggest Wrestlemania of all-time. It's so odd that Shane was as accepted as he was. On paper, he was every fan's worst nightmare. The promoter's son who had barely been trained going toe to toe with the biggest stars and monsters in the company. And yet compared to Stephanie, the fans loved Shane and were genuinely happy to see him back. I thought Shane was the worst written character on the show, saying one thing and doing another. He was honestly worse than Hogan as an authority figure and yet it was only when they turned him heel that the majority of the fans woke up and smelt the coffee.

It did eventually lead into the brand split. At first I was really cynical towards the idea. I saw it as a desperate ploy to get more viewers to tune into SmackDown and hated the idea of dividing all the titles again. My concerns were eventually realised when the PPVs became a slog to get through, but for the initial few months, both shows were actually a lot better than they had been. SmackDown in particular was genuinely exciting to watch because creative showed they would get behind acts if they started getting over with the audience - Rhyno/Slater being a good example. They started being more creative and smarter with their booking and I was genuinely into the Styles/Ambrose, Orton/Wyatt, Ziggler/Miz, Bliss/Lynch stuff they were dishing out. Even the commentary had vastly improved with the hiring of Mauro Ranallo. I can see why he has his share of critics, but I can stomach the odd pop culture reference when there's so much passion and knowledge thrown into it.

Despite some setbacks like the long term injury to Balor, Raw wasn't half bad either. Jericho re-invented himself once again with the list and became the most over guy in the company and on the back of his video game appearance (2K for years had all the big scoops) Goldberg made his return to the WWE. Bill Goldberg was the first ever wrestler I got behind and while I usually hated seeing guys come out of retirement for one more run, Bill was the exception. There was almost this morbid curiosity because Bill was a polarising figure at the best of times, how were the fans going to take to all of this? Now on paper his return was difficult to get your head around. But as this self contained story about this once great fighter coming out of retirement, sticking it to the biggest bully on a grand stage, it was one of the best stories they had ever executed. Not only did the WWE redeem themselves with this run, but they understood Goldberg better than WCW ever did. I think they bit off more than they could chew and that was shown at the Saudi Arabia show, but in those moments at Denver and Toronto, the WWE had delivered one of the best legends stories of the decade.

After basically being a punchline for most of the decade, the Hardy Boyz and by proxy TNA redeemed themselves with one of the craziest angles yet. In any other context, the idea would have been too silly to work but all the pieces were right. For whatever reason, Jeff/Matt had never worked, so instead they transformed themselves into Brother Nero/Broken Matt Hardy, two characters straight out of an Adult Swim production and they worked the most bat-shit insane match of all-time. The thing was, it was perfect on a taped show that had been in the can for months. Anyone who was still passionate about TNA knew all the results well ahead of time, but this Matt/Jeff stuff had to be seen to be believed. I paid closer attention to TNA under the guise that it'd be like looking into the future given how much the WWE's recruitment philosophy had changed and I wasn't wrong. There was actually a lot I liked about the show, EC3/Drake had a fun rivalry where the loser couldn't speak for three months and Allie got incredibly over as this awkward assistant.

Finally, and I really should have touched on this in 2013, but podcasts really took off this year. After working on Flair's podcast for awhile, Conrad Thompson became a major force in the industry when he teamed up with Bruce Pritchard of all people. I was never a huge fan, but it became an incredibly popular format and it made an impact on the business as well as Pritchard, Schiavone, Bischoff etc. all got jobs on the back of their podcasts.

Jeff unmasking Willow and revealing Matt Hardy was insane. The package selling the angle was really something else too. People forgot that once upon a time, Matt and Jeff were two of the most creative guys in wrestling.

Disagree totally about the impact of the Bullet Club. Most of the Bullet Club had no impact. The real impact came from the Elite, in particular, Nick and Matt's fed independent storylines.  I mean Bullet Club is still around, just no one talks about about them anymore now the Elite because AEW.

2017

The year that smashed the Meltzer scale. Whether you agreed with Dave's opinions or not, it certainly added to the credibility of NJPW and in particular the Omega/Okada feud. Their six star rating helped promote them around the world as the stand out promotion and it gained industry attention. Chris Jericho's decision to sign with NJPW never would have happened if Omega didn't become one of the biggest stars and it was a sign that even in the face of adversity, NJPW couldn't miss a beat.

It was largely a fantastic year, headlined by Okada's amazing run on top where he would cement himself as the most dominant NJPW champion of all-time. I say mostly because it came at a cost when both Shibata and Honma suffered serious injuries. Tomoaki Honma would eventually return to the ring and while Shibata is teasing a comeback at this stage, the injury he suffered at Sakura Genesis was terrifying. You never want to see a wrestler suffer a serious injury, but in some weird way, Shibata's final match was poetic. After being the outsider for five long years, he had finally become a main event talent and was in a position to push the most dominant champion to his limit. In the end his style is what brought him to the dance, but it was that stiffness that would ultimately end it as that headbutt that nearly ended his life. It felt like a wrestling adaptation of Icarus.

WWE's recent run of good shows heading out of 2016 came to an abrupt end when they became creatively bankrupt. On Raw you had Brock being fed guys so he could ultimately put Roman over in this overly telegraphed angle. On SmackDown they pushed the foreign body builder who would work each match like it was a 3-1 handicap match. Worst of all the WWE started incorporating picture in picture ads which made a lot of the talent look like after thoughts. It was impossible to get invested in the matches because it would be put on the backburner for some ad for Progressive.

The one shining light was AJ. After an underwhelming program with Owens, AJ had one of the best exhibition matches in WWE history with Finn Balor. It was one of those shows where all the wrestlers had elevated enzymes so they had to fly AJ in from another country and he came in and had one of Finn's best matches. I would like to think that match made him the face of SmackDown and he had some really good matches with Jinder.

After largely being forgotten about on the main roster, Neville was having a banner year on 205 Live as this miserable heel. Neville has always been a fantastic heel, but it was his strikes and his actual acting performance (body language, facials etc.) that set him apart and reminded everybody what they had been missing after he left NXT. As far as I know, the real reason never came out about why Neville left the WWE, but if it's true that he hated the direction 205 Live took with Enzo Amore and he wasn't getting rewarded for all his hard work than more power to him.

Arguably tag team wrestling was more relevant in 2016, but I would be remissed if I didn't bring this period up. The New Day and Usos had in my opinion the best feud in the company when they worked an extended program that lasted nearly an entire year. The feud peaked for me at Hell in a Cell where both teams had one of the best cage matches of the decade and cemented themselves as the tag teams of the year. It was incredible for the Usos who started the decade losing their spot on Raw, having to get themselves noticed on NXT before eventually finding themselves with that day-oneish gimmick. Similar story with the New Day who took this awful gimmick, dialled it up to 11 and had so much fun with the gimmick that the fans got into them.

This will be my biggest call of the write-ups, but I would say for better or worse, The New Day epitomise the WWE during this time period. Personally I would say for the better, but all the stuff that other fans dislike about the WWE can be found with this act.

Finally I would say this is when Being The Elite took off. The show debuted in late 2016 and the early episodes seem to be about Matt, Nick and Kenny toying around with the vlog format. It was in 2017 they would find their voice and would start putting together the skits that would help pique the audience's curiosity. It would help them get deals with hot topic and put together angles that ROH simply weren't going to come up with for them. ROH enjoyed one of their best years yet, but it was clear to see who the driving force was and it was clear things would go bad in a hurry if they left.

2018

It was the Royal Rumble and the women pulled off the improbable, following one of the best men's Royal Rumbles in years with arguably the greatest women's match of all time. As they were having their moment, a familiar tune hit and out walked Ronda Rousey. Ordinarily whenever the WWE bows down to a celebrity it's usually some of the worst television written as all these characters we've grown accustomed to start bending over backwards to put somebody who clearly isn't in their element over. With Ronda, from her very first match, she announced herself as one of the best in-ring talents of all-time and was just a natural. That mixed tag match at Wrestlemania is one of the best Wrestlemania matches, period and Ronda quickly became one of the best in-ring performers in the business.

It all culminated in that Evolution show, the best main brand show of the year and a real triumph for the women's division that to this day still gets taken for granted. So often this industry can feel you leaving short-changed, but on that show, they brought their A-game and put together a show that would help set the stage for the historic women's Mania main event. I don't think it happens without Ronda being attatched to it.

On the other side was Becky Lynch. For years, it seemed like Becky was just going to float around and have the odd good segment here or there just to keep the fans on her side. Then she made the most of social media, filling in the gaps that creative had left with her character, gaining a groundswell of support which would allow her to become the man. There's a lot of insecurity in wrestling, but Becky was the rare instance where it was believable when she called herself the best. That confidence became infectious and while there were some happy accidents along the way, her transition into a major character was well handled. I remember fans being upset with Charlotte being the babyface, but it was one of the few examples where it was working for the story they were telling because Becky was going through a growth spurt as a heel.

I feel like this should have been the year of AJ Styles, but something odd happened. After having some killer matches with Roman Reigns and Finn Balor, AJ kept having these drawn out programs with Nakamura and Joe which just didn't live up to the hype. They weren't bad matches, in fact I thought some of them were very good. However having two big programs back to back felt like a slog and the fact they were mid-card matches hurt the significance of the matches.

Speaking of which, the return of Daniel Bryan, which should have been the headline story of the year really did become background noise. The thing was, the WWE didn't present Bryan's return as anything special. He was back working full-time like any wrestler and found himself working a pretty unimaginative mid-card program with Big Cass who was quickly shown the door afterwards. When they eventually got to Miz-Bryan, which should have been huge, they stretched it out again and used it as an impetus to turn Bryan heel, denying the fans the satisfaction of watching Bryan topple The Miz. It did end the year with the highly anticipated Brock-Bryan match as well as Bryan-Styles, but it just wasn't the way the fans wanted to see them.

In October, The Elite won a bet they had with Meltzer when they became the first non-WWE production to draw a 10K+ crowd in the States. It capped off a brilliant year for the Elite, in particular Kenny Omega who became the star of NJPW. His match with Chris Jericho helped introduce more international fans than ever before to the product. His reunion with Kota Ibushi was a great moment for the tag team division and the two worked some of the most celebrated tag team matches of the decade. It then culiminated with the seven star match with Okada at Dominion which blew a lot of people away. It's one of those matches where I've got nit-picks with it, but I can't deny that it was a fitting conclusion that got fans invested in seeing this career mid-carder into becoming a prestigious champion. Compare where Kenny was at WrestleKingdom 2016 to where he was at Dominion 2018 and it's night and day.

That led to this amazing G1 tournament where the B Block in particular put together some of the best matches of the year. The tournament did a really good job of showcasing two future stars in Kota Ibushi and Jay White. With Ibushi, he had just returned after a soujourn around the world so NJPW adopted this softly softly approach. With Ibushi winning fans over, they put him over strong in this tournament to test the waters and the fans bought into it. Jay White was a similar kettle of fish. He was a young boy, who went on a tour around the world to help fine-tune his craft. Where he differed is that, White still needed a lot of seasoning and after struggling in the deep end at Wrestle Kingdom, he learned from his mistakes and little by little built himself into one of the best heels in the industry. I took a strong stance with White just for the sake of having an interesting discussion, but my feel is that he was let down by ROH. White, EVIL and Roppongi 3K never received the booking they should have, especially since all four talents would go onto work so much better in other promotions. White in particular was just working meaningless matches and it really took Alex Shelley taking him under his wing for him to have any direction whatsoever.

Speaking of the indies, despite having it's most successful year financially the wheels were beginning to fall off in ROH. It was clear that Being The Elite was carrying the show and any of the acts outside of that were either not that good or getting lost in the shuffle. For example, Dalton Castle was this well put together home grown talent who got over through his mannerisms and character work. However, he had picked up his share of injuries and was clearly struggling to live up to the high demands of being ROH Champion. Instead of relieving him of the title and going in a new direction, they stayed with him for over six months and ignored Marty Scurll who was one of the most over acts in wrestling.

They just didn't seem to have their finger on the pulse anymore. No matter, GCW was fast growing a reputation. The promotion had been around for awhile but in recent times, they had made a cult hero out of Joey Janela. Janela was a hardcore wrestler known for taking sick bumps. Janela took that strength of bumping, but was able to make better sense of it by bumping his ass off for cult legends like Marty Jannetty, The Great Sasuke etc. Along with characters like Marko Stunt, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander etc. GCW seemingly had this millenial feel to it's promotion which would become apart of the AEW presentation.

2019

In early January, the Elite made a shocking announcement. They would get into business with Tony Khan, the son of a billionaire mogel and together would run their own promotion with Jericho and PAC. There was a pregnant pause regarding Kenny Omega, but the idea of Omega skipping this opportunity felt like such a waste that it seemed like a natural fit for Kenny. Finally afterall these years, there would be another show that would rival the WWE in terms of production and atmosphere. Early on, it just seemed like the shows could do very little wrong. Double Or Nothing drew the best buy-rate for a non-WWE company since WCW and the show was capped off by a bloody Cody-Dustin match.

With Cody-Dustin, it was a 'we're not in Kansas' anymore moments. The WWE for years had strictly forbade blood on televisions and while the odd gash here or there would occur, it would usually hurt the match since the doctor would have to get involved like they did with Joe-Balor on NXT. In this case, they just kept going and it just elevated the emotion of the match. It was like watching a dream realised, a son who for years had been treated like a clown building his own promotion and walking his own path against his very own brother. Infront of one of the best non-WWE crowds, they tore the house down and for many that was the match of the year.

AEW is a promotion that's still trying to find it's feet. It's throwing a lot on television and finding out what works and what doesn't. I'd say the most surprising aspect of it all is how selfless Omega and the Bucks have been. The Elite are the biggest stars on the promotion, but they're backing their own ability as performers to get over, but before they do, they want to keep the fans guessing. If the Bucks and Omega had have gone through everyone, it would have been a feeling of what now? By going down this path, it appears they're having their cake and eating as well. They're still delivering high quality matches, but they're not winning all the time and putting the fans off-side. There's been some bumps in the road, and I expect plenty more ahead, but I think they have the right idea.

WWE weren't going to lie down without putting up a fight and they put easily their best television show against it and made it even better. Once again, competition has made the WWE step up their game and as a result, the fans are winning. NXT on USA has produced some of the best NXT in the history of the show and a lot of characters like Lio Rush, Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor etc. are making tremendous strides and it's been a joy to watch.

In fact the only company to suffer from the fallout was ROH. NJPW had already planned ahead for the loss of Omega and pushed Jay White as their new gaijin star. While White is a different type of wrestler, he's stepped to the mark incredibly well all things considered so NJPW hardly felt the impact of losing those stars. If anything 2019 was a year where they bolstered their roster with Ospreay surging up the ladder, KENTA coming in and having some of his best matches in years as well as the appearance of Moxley who was such a fresh breah of air.

Speaking of Moxley, his appearance on Jericho's podcast was a huge moment. In a lot of ways, it felt like the spitirual successor to the Cabana-Punk podcast. So much of Punk's final few moments in the WWE were spent with The Shield, so for Moxley to share his perspective was interesting because he gave a really good insight to Vince. With Punk, it felt like Punk bent over backwards for Vince to the point where he just couldn't anymore. With Moxley, he trusted Vince's judgement time and time again until he realised just how rotten it was. It got to a point where he just mentally checked out and led to one of the more bizarre releases in WWE history. It seemed like the WWE were going to bury Moxley, but at the last moment realised how overtly petty it would have come across, so instead they found other avenues like short-changing him on pay-offs.

In the end, it was the best move for both companies. The WWE could finally move on from The Shield after seven long years and Moxley could have more creative freedom elsewhere. His best run to date was with NJPW where he was just having a blast, but I think it's only a matter of time before he really unleashes in AEW.

Two moments epitomise Raw and SmackDown for me. The first was when the WWE were desperate for talent, so they called up a bunch of random NXT stars at once. Lars Sullivan, Lacey Evans, Heavy Machinary and EC3. Four acts they had no clue what to do with, so they would just throw them on tv, sometimes with nothing to do but make an entrance or walk out during a segment. It was like the writers presented themselves with a challenge, gave up, started again with a new talent before finally trying to get things right after Mania.

The other was Kofi Kingston's champion win. The WWE laid his run to the title on thick, but with the way it all played out, it made for an effective story and gave us one of the better World Championship victories at Wrestlemania. Kofi seemed like a wrestler who was destined to be a mid-carder, but on the back of one opportunity, he nailed it out of the park and the WWE had the common sense just to give it to him. It's a shame how it all just ended on Fox.

The decade started with the Monday Night War redux and ended with the Wednesday Night Wars. We saw the resurgence of NJPW, an independant wrestling scene renaissance, WWE going from strength to strength from their television and streaming rights as well as podcasts and the impact they've made on the industry. It's been a crazy ride and despite all the speculation, it's one that appears will continue to go on in the foreseeable future. It's been a blast to share the past decade with you both on here and as it was going on and I hope this silly little profession can always give us something to talk about.

Big Pete how can you talk about 2019 and not mention Impact. They took a step forwards with AXS. Their product may not be for everybody, but they have been putting on one of the most well rounded, balanced, and maybe even the best wrestling tv show when you combine in ring performance, interviews, backstage segments and overall story telling.

Rich Swann vs Michael Elgin from May should be in all match of the year conversations.

Plus they had the best backstage segment of the year with Wrestler's Court.





Also a shout out to NWA Powerrr would be nice.

Big Pete how can you talk about 2019 and not mention Impact. They took a step forwards with AXS. Their product may not be for everybody, but they have been putting on one of the most well rounded, balanced, and maybe even the best wrestling tv show when you combine in ring performance, interviews, backstage segments and overall story telling.

Rich Swann vs Michael Elgin from May should be in all match of the year conversations.

Please do go on.

It's merely my perspective on things and my hope is that it'll inspire others to share their own thoughts and feelings on specific moments of time. Truthfully, I barely watched any Impact at all. The only comment I could really say is that 2019 seemed to be the year where various promotions used YouTube and Twitch to broadcast their shows and build an audience. However, I don't watch enough of it to speak to it.

Dec 25, 2019 13:50:03 GMT bodyslam said:

Big Pete how can you talk about 2019 and not mention Impact. They took a step forwards with AXS. Their product may not be for everybody, but they have been putting on one of the most well rounded, balanced, and maybe even the best wrestling tv show when you combine in ring performance, interviews, backstage segments and overall story telling.

Rich Swann vs Michael Elgin from May should be in all match of the year conversations.

Plus they had the best backstage segment of the year with Wrestler's Court.





Also a shout out to NWA Powerrr would be nice.

What's a TNA?

The biggest story the past year in Impact has been focused on Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan which lead to the two main eventing Slammiversary. Ending Tessa coming up short. Alot of backlash because there is no way a woman should be competing at the same level as a man. (Yet its ok and believable for Rey Mysterio to be competing with Kevin Nash or Big Show.) Its all about story telling and presentation. I was sceptical at first but Impact has done a great job telling this story. Tessa's match with Jake Crist was great and presented in a believable way. Much like her Slammiversary match with Sami. Tessa is now set to meet Sami again January at Hard to Kill. This time Sami's Impact World Title. Can She become the first woman to win a man's title? .

2019 also saw the Impact return of RVD. Not just any RVD, but heel RVD. He his back to his ECW Mr Monday Night, Mr PPV level of being a arrogant heel. This time its about everyone trying to be like him and stealing all his moves. He's even called out AEW or All Petite Wrestling as he likes to refer to them for completely ripping him off. Now he's set to go against one of the biggest RVD marks Brian Cage at Hard to Kill.

There's plenty more but its Christmas and I'm out of time. Merry Christmas everyone.