Greggulator

Watching the Punk/Shield segment right now. You hear the crowd getting behind Roman Reigns in that segment? The dude has been the powerhouse of The Shield and the one they want to make a star. Those seeds got planted a long time ago. Remember when he speared like six dudes in a row in the 11-on-3 match? Or won the Survivor Series match? That's long-term booking right there.

But this is part of The Authority angle. Bryan joined them because he's convinced he can't beat The Authority (Machine) alone.

There's also the possibility for some long-term continuity where Citizen Kane is an inside man put in place by Wyatt.

Bryan + Wyatts vs. Randy + Shield is now a thing on the table. So is Bryan + Wyatts vs. Usos + Rhodes Boys.

Also, Daniel Bryan just got the entire final hour of Raw for his matches/angle. That's the exact opposite of mid-card.

I'm pretty sure Daniel Bryan joining a religious cult is a a payoff.

Man, the end to that segment is going to tear the Internet apart w/ Bryan marks. But when was the last time there was an ending to Raw that captivating? Also, Brock/Henry was epic. I didn't see anything else yet.

I don't hate ECW at all, though I wish some folks would just let it die already. I loved it at the time and much of it still holds up. Oh yeah, all of the reunion shows are the worst. But it's not really any different from guys like Tatanka still getting booked on the indies. It's just they collectively represent a brand that still carries a decent bit of value. Whoever is promoting these is smart to capitalize on that while he still can. I've never been bothered by fans chanting anything other than Husky Harris. Who cares that's who the dude was for five weeks three years earlier in the dying days of the Nexus angle. Thankfully, his work is strong enough that's been long forgotten.

You all hate ECW now but it's what you would love the most if you were smark-ish in the mid-90s. ECW first got its major smark attention in '94 once it started getting on TV regionally and things like Prodigy and AOL and RSPW had the first online gatherings for diehard rasslin' fans. The big two were essentially worthless. December '94 was around the time ECW had Shane Douglass trashing the NWA Title and doing an entire episode based on one of his promos, Sabu and the Public Enemy tearing the house down, Sandman duping Tommy Dreamer with a cane, Terry Funk hiding in a box, Ian and Axl beating each other with glass, etc. WCW's pay per view in December '94 was Starrcade that had Hogan/Butcher as the main event, Sting/Avalanche (ending in a DQ), Mr. T (!) vs. Kevin Sullivan, the 800th Nasty Boys vs. Harlem heat match, the dreadful Johnny B. Badd beating Arn and Vader vs. Jim Duggan. The Survivor Series PPV in '94 had a main event of Undertaker vs. Yokozuna in a casket match. I know people retroactively like it but ugh. The only stuff worth watching in the WWF at the time was Bret vs. Backlund, which led to Diesel winning the belt, and he was super uninteresting and dumb. Context is important. I like what we have on free TV a lot now but I can't really compare it to what was going on in ECW in 1994. It's a completely different landscape.

The matches happened in 2013, not sure how they would be a best of 2014 candidate. Do you go by taping date or air date? Either way, thanks for ending the year and/or starting the year off with some great stuff.

Ultramantic Black's hardcore band!

Ah, Smackdown. Chances are there are at least two BEST OF THE YEAR candidates for 2014 right from the first show. Also, uhm, Big. E vs. Brock as the first part to a Mark vs. Brock feud? YES PLEASE!

Stay classy, ESPN.com editors.

I mean, it's way too early to say if a guy can return not. The Ware injury didn't have the close-up replay that Silva and Sid Vicious have. But it has enough to know it's messed up. But makes it horrifying are the reactions of everyone on the court. Like his teammates on the bench freaking out is absolutely nightmarish.

I don't watch MMA at all but I saw the kick. Man, that is terrifying. My first thought is that it's the second most disturbing bone fracture in sports in memory, behind Kevin Ware in the NCAA Tournament last year.

Sami likes dorky pop-punk. No hipsters like Op Ivy or The Bouncing Souls. I know my indie sub-cultures. Sami's no hipster.

I love living in an era when a match that solid is a complete afterthought in a week that has given us Rhodes/Bryan vs. The Usos, Superfriends/Shield, Cesaro/Regal and now apparently Cena/Rollins which I haven't gotten to yet but can't wait.

Watching and reviewing in piecemeal. Man, that Usos/Wyatt match was a great friggin' sprint. It wasn't as good as Raven/Kaz in the "All Time Best Under Five Minute Match" pantheon but this told a great story. The Usos came in with a gameplan and tried to execute it -- do whatever they can to end this match as early as possible. Jey (or maybe Jimmy) attacks Rowan right from the start to send him to the floor. Harper to the floor and Jey makes his crazy ass dive to the floor to take out Rowan. This essentially makes it Jimmy versus Luke. Jimmy tries to use his super stiff kicks and a few roll-up attempts to get a quick win. He also busts out a crazy 360 flip thing that almost gets the win, too. Rowan ends up back on the apron. Jimmy runs into a forearm from Rowan and turns into Harper's lariat of death. Great little story here -- The Usos came so close to beating the dominating, methodical Wyatts in a well-thought out sprint but couldn't execute. The Wyatt Family's tear still continues. Good, tight match.

His final goodbye promo in NXT is the template for it. He's still crazed, but he has made it safe for us to now follow our dreams because he will defeat the machine. Also, he quotes a lot of revolutionary types like Che Guevara and Martin Luther King, Jr. It's super easy to make him a revolutionary against The Authority or some such. Also, I think The Wyatt's just have to do exactly what they're doing but against heels with a slight change in the tone in promos. The entrance and their style in the ring is ripe for people to want to like them. And Bray probably already knows how to do a face promo in the character.

They'd have my money if that's the case. I would absolutely love a few months of The Wyatt Family tormenting Cena. Cena and Bray would have an epic match. So would Cena and Harper in the Raw before Wrestlemania. I'd prefer Bray vs. Undertaker just for all of the crazy angles that would provide. Bray's still a kid in wrestling years. He's 26. The guy has the potential for a 15-year run at and/or near the top of the card. I don't think that's hyperbole at all. Even with his propensity for injuries, his cult leader gimmick and the rocking chair lets him still be a prominent figure if his ankle is in a boot.

Or something without verbs, like MGMT. FGR4 might work.

A lot of new Brooklyn-type bands have just one word names like "Waaves" or have stuff in just lower case letters. I'd imagine something like "facebuster" or "german. suplex." would work.

so the Hipster gimmick would try to finish opponents with the Spinning Toe Hold? Yeah, something ironic like that or an IRON CLAW, to tie it back in. Or if he's also politically active, he could call it The Daily Kos or something like that.

so the Hipster gimmick would try to finish opponents with the Spinning Toe Hold? Yeah, something ironic like that or an IRON CLAW, to tie it back in. Or if he's also politically active, he could call it The Daily Kos or something like that.

An Indy hipster gimmick? That could be just about anyone with a long beard. They would just need a hat. He could make fun of people for not drinking artisan coffee and craft beer and eating $10 cupcakes out of food trucks. He could come to the ring with "Ho Hey" as his entrance music. He could come to the ring in a food truck.