The Natural

Beat me to it. I'm going to miss the Revival. Really wanted to see them live at the WWE shows I went to but it wasn't to be. Best tag team WWE had, you knew the Revival was going to leave but not so much an immediate release. Say yeah, yeah! You'll be missed.

Nearly finished my Jason Aaron Thor run: The War of the Realms #4. Jason Aaron’s the writer and drawn by Russell Dauterman. The Black Bifrost is held by Lady Freyja allowing for allies around the Realms to go to Midgard and battle Malekith/his forces. A decent issue for this, feels like a tide turn. Not keen on how the Punisher is rendered by Russell Dauterman, he’s too muscular. The War of the Realms #5. Jason Aaron’s the writer and drawn by Russell Dauterman. The battle across Midgard continues, Asgardians/Heroes of Midgard vs. Malekith the Accursed/his forces. I enjoyed this issue as Thor sacrifices himself for reasons, the narration commentary over what happening and how countries are name checked feeling like a worldwide event. I particularly enjoyed London with Captain America and Captain Britain teaming. Nice seeing Volstagg in action for the first time since The Death of the Might Thor in The Mighty Thor (2015) #701-706. The War of the Realms #6 written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Russell Dauterman. Thor willingly impales himself on the World Tree to find the answer to win the War of the Realms. There’s callbacks to Aaron’s Thor run dating back to the start of with 2012’s Thor: God of Thunder. We see the main Thor’s from it in current day Thor, brash Viking Thor, the old All-Father King Thor and Jane Foster Thor. I was in two minds about Foster Thor’s return because her end in the Death of the Mighty Thor was well done/fitting but she’s an integral part of Aaron’s time on the book. I’ve felt there were times Aaron missed the landing. I can’t say that in this case. An impressive event more so considering how long the buildup was to the War of the Realms. I await the King Thor title reuniting Jason Aaron with Esad Ribic for their last ride on Thor.

Three quickies: 1. This was probably the best WrestleMania since WrestleMania XXXI. 2. It was easier getting through WrestleMania split into two nights at three hours/three hours over than recent one night WrestleMania's and lasting too long. I'm thinking back to WrestleMania XXXII, XXXIV and XXXV. 3. I hope WWE sparingly uses the cinematic styles popularized by Broken Matt Hardy/the Final Deletion match as seen in the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches. I expect otherwise from them. Less is more.

This and Dave Meltzer not wanting to give star ratings, he's a big Edge supporter.

I'm guessing this means no November tour, a tradition dating back to 2015 at the very least.

Still like that show and that's coming from someone who has always liked magic since a young'un.

I've watched them without doing. Might change that.

Becky Lynch knows. If I was booking, Cesaro would have held the world title a couple of times. Cesaro Section represent!

Welcome to the MMA club!

Followed with a verbiage of fucks ;). Glad UFC 249 is off as it should be.

Oh man, condolences go out to Rose Namajunas at this difficult of times xxx.

EVERYBODY DIES!!!

Best comeback in MMA history.

15 years ago today. I still have it as my #1 fight in UFC history.

History. A shame William Regal never held the WWE Championship.

Thank you for reminding me.

Thanks for the quick and lengthy reply, @Greggulator. Out of the John Cena vs. Cesaro matches, I felt the one held on RAW (17th February 2014) was the best of them. That's the match which debuted the forward roll into the Attitude Adjustment. It only just missed the cut. Might well make it back in when I do the version which includes the Gauntlet match I stupidly didn't include. You're right to bring up that false finish between Seth Rollins vs. Neville on RAW in 2015 when Seth was WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I also rate Shield vs. Wyatt Family, Elimination Chamber 2014 as one of the best matches in the history of the company. The RAW match you brought up as did, @Six String Orchestra. The one when Shield win but you didn't know on what show was the premiere episode of Main Event. Bray Wyatt's best singles match by far was the one against Daniel Bryan which opened the 2014 Royal Rumble match, that suicide dive counter into the Sister Abigail onto the barricade was such a cool spot. The build to it produced one of the loudest crowd reactions/pops I've ever seen when Daniel Bryan leaves the Wyatt Family inside the steel cage. The Bray/Cena match you refer to was Last Man Standing at Payback 2014.

Well played.

Thank you for posting this, @Greggulator. I replied earlier in the week but it didn't go through. Two of your top five matches are in my top five, two place inside my top ten and the last sits just outside of mine. Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper/Erick Rowan vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns, Elimination Chamber 2014. My WWE 2014 MOTY. The fans chanted “This is awesome” before it started. I don't remember that ever happening in WWE before or since. The whole match is terrific especially the closing ten minutes as Ambrose is taken out in the crowd by Wyatt and Wyatt orders Harper/Rowan to put Rollins through a table. I thought the match was over before it ended with Reigns alone after getting rushed by Rowan in the corner, a big boot by Harper only for Reigns to power out of Sister Abigail. Reigns makes a great comeback decking Rowan and Wyatt with Superman punches. Reigns was waiting to hit Wyatt with a Spear but Harper takes a Spear for the team which allows Wyatt to nail Reigns with a running back elbow and following it up with the match winning Sister Abigail. John Cena vs. CM Punk, Money in the Bank 2011. CM Punk vs. John Cena was excellent from beginning to end. The opening feeling out process and the respective targeting on body parts with Cena on Punk’s torso/Punk on Cena’s neck. The counters of each other’s main moves such as an attempted Go 2 Sleep, Cena catches the leg putting Punk in the STF which Punk then went on to counter into an Anaconda Vice and the near falls with Punk kicking out of two Attitude Adjustments. The perfect finish as Cena had Punk in the STF in the middle of the ring, Vince McMahon told the timekeeper to ring the bell which he didn’t so he sent John Laurnatius out to do it but was stopped by Cena who nailed him with a punch. Cena went back into the ring and walked into the match ending Go 2 Sleep. All this played before a hot crowd. Such a shame the Summer of Punk was fucked up. My worldwide MOTY that year, Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT TakeOver: Respect 2015 and Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015. I've always preferred the 30 minute Iron Woman match to the Brooklyn one for the stipulation as it's one of my favourites, the callbacks to the Brooklyn bout two months earlier and Sasha Banks heeling not only to her opponent but making Izzy cry too. Both are the two most important women's matches in WWE history. The Revival vs. #DIY. NXT TakeOver: Toronto 2016. My 2006 WWE Match of the Year using one of my favourite stipulations matches when done well as this was, 2 Out of 3 Falls. Revival pick up the early fall, tied up by #DIY with a great finish as both Dawson/Wilder tap out to the respective submission finishers of Gargano and Ciampa. Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn. NXT TakeOver: REvolution 2014. This match felt so different to WWE ones, a blend of the independents and WWE style. I really liked how Sami was conflicted whether to take advantage when the referees down and that almost costs him his NXT career. You'd be hard pressed to find such a joyous reaction to a finish this decade as fans are fucking jumping and hugging one another as Zayn finally wins the big one, the NXT Championship. In my original post, I said this was the final version of my 2010-2019 WWE Matches of the Decade. I'll have to go back on that for you reminding me about the Kofi Kingston Gauntlet match featuring all six participants in the Elimination Chamber match: Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy on Smackdown Live, 12th February 2019. I fucked up as that was meant to be there. FYI: Randy Orton won and that wasn't the Gauntlet match with the Usos forfeit. That was a tag team Gauntlet Match between Big E/Xavier Woods, Bryan/Rowan, Cesaro/Sheamus, Nakamura/Rusev, the Usos and Anderson/Gallows on the 26th March 2019 Smackdown Live.

Don't break them up.

Haven't watched Gargano/Ciampa yet mainly for what I said in the NXT TakeOver: Portland 2020 thread...