Welp, September 1st is here and Summer has come and gone like faster than Eric Escobar. But hey, there was some great stuff from this Summer (unlike Eric Escobar). While I know I probably missed some smaller things/things I haven't seen yet (PWG: Seven, for example), here are my top ten favourite moments from the past three months:
NUMBER TEN
CODY RHODES BECOMES DASHING
You too can be... Dashing
Incredible what one little word can do for a guy. Well, one word, a digital mirror, a mirrored jacket, a handful of hilarious vignettes, the world's catchiest Eddie Money/Def Leppard/any other 80's rock ripoff theme, and the ability to cut an amazing promo helps too. This is my favourite WWE gimmick shake-up in a long time. Cody Rhodes kills it in every aspect and he should be on the fast track to the Intercontinental Title, and not being dragged down by Drew McIntyre's stupid boring self.
NUMBER NINE
KINGS OF WRESTLING VS. WORLD'S GREATEST TAG TEAM ANNOUNCED
ROH Glory By Honor IX: Sept. 11th, 2010 - New York, NY
Just the sheer announcement of this match has perked up the ears of those who haven't been following ROH since the glory days of 05/06. How awesome is that? I've been hoping for Team Angle in ROH since Charlie Haas planted that seed in my brain, and now it's a reality. With the Kings of Wrestling continuously claiming to be wrestling's greatest tag team, and Haas and Benjamin going by that very moniker, there is a TON of hype around this match that writes itself. And I believe it will deliver (shocking!).
NUMBER EIGHT
MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS VS. BEER MONEY
The Whole F'n Show: Match 5 of the Best of 5 TNA World Tag Team Championship Series - Orlando, FL
I don't mention TNA very often on here. Because I value my mental health and don't watch TNA. But, I was intrigued by the Whole F'n Show concept, considering that the ads for the show said everything they could say without outright saying "no Orlando Jordan cumshots this time! we promise! plz watch." This match seemed to only have one gear, and that gear is called "the running as fast as you can hitting insane double team moves without fucking up gear." Fantastic match. I can only hope TNA continues to showcase they're "homegrown" stars like these two teams in order to present a true alternative to WWE on cable TV.
NUMBER SEVEN
THE RISE OF THE MIZ
... has been AWESOME!
And you know it, and everybody KNOWS IT (sorry I just love that clip). US Title. Money In The Bank. He is NOT the Jannetty. The Miz can't be stopped on the mic. Nobody can touch him. Maybe CM Punk can, but he's been proving that for yeeeeaaars. It's been a thing of beauty to see the Miz prove he can ride without the training wheels of a tag team partner. He is doing nothing but improving with every single match, promo, appearance, whatever. And I want to throw this out there - a lot of people are expecting him to a) cash-in and fail or b) cash-in and win as a heel. Do you think it's possible that the Miz holds onto this briefcase until next summer when he's full-blown face... and then cashes in? He's getting some hot reactions and people are starting to realize his potential. It can't be long until we see the Miz in a Chris Jericho make-fun-of-the-heels babyface role.
NUMBER SIX
THE INDIES INVADE THE WWE
Vanilla midgets are everywhere, you guys!
Low Ki wins NXT. Bryan Danielson main events SummerSlam. Matt Sydal teams with John Cena. ROH World Champion Tyler Black signed to a contract. CM Punk is a three time WWE World Champion. And now Alex Koslov has been signed, BxB Hulk, CIMA and Naruki Doi have been given tryouts, and William Regal is praising Chris Hero and the Kings of Wrestling on Twitter. Never before have the Indies had such high profile attention - especially when you consider all of the Indy dates Danielson did in the period of his firing from the WWE. Would anyone have thought all of this would happen so quickly just a few short years ago? We are entering the era of the vanilla midget, and I use that term with the fondest of affection. Let the days of the smaller wrestler BEGIN!
NUMBER FIVE
CHRIS JERICHO VS. EVAN BOURNE
WWE Fatal 4-Way - Uniondale, NY
I don't know if it was because this match was not advertised or what, but I popped HUGE for this entire thing. This match stole the entire PPV and sold it on the streets. Nearly fifteen minutes of fantastic professional wrestling (and maybe the first bridging German suplex since WWE went PG) with Bourne going over Jericho clean? Yes please! The only thing holding this match back was the WWE smarks (there is such a thing - I will address this in my future Mark-Scale post, potentially based on the Kinsey Scale) were so behind Jericho that it made Bourne's win a little less awesome.
NUMBER FOUR
SSPRKO
Randy Orton & Evan Bourne on RAW
NUMBER THREE
NXT INVADES THE WWE
And begins the feud of the Summer...
This angle was accidentally spoiled for me by my girlfriend, although it's not her fault - the angle was just that damn good. I was away, and had to watch the show downloaded the next day. The day after RAW, before I watched the show, my girlfriend texted me asking if John Cena getting stretched out was real or fake. I was of course like "WTF SPOILERS SHIT GODDAMNIT" and she then just explained what happened because of her real concern. I was still taken back when I watched the angle unfold, even though I knew what was going to happen, because it was one of the best executed things the WWE have pulled off in YEARS. It was so good that they fired Bryan Danielson for it in the heat of the moment (I fully believe that when the guys got to the back, Vince McMahon was so fired up that he was just like "OH HELL YEAH THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN BOUT YOU'RE FIRRRRRED WHOOO!!" because it's his catchphrase and everyone just believed him).
NUMBER TWO
TYLER BLACK VS. DAVEY RICHARDS
ROH World Championship - Death Before Dishonor VIII, Toronto, ON
No other one-on-one match this Summer has had this kind of heat behind it. The Toronto crowd were 99.9% behind Davey and violently against Tyler. Not only that, but the match itself was simply brilliant. I had no idea who was going to win this match, and after it was done, it really didn't matter. Two of wrestling's best athletes, best performers and best wrestlers put it all out there in front of a roaring hot crowd and tore the house down (this is starting to sound like a Tyler Black promo). It was my favourite match of the Summer, and maybe even the year. But why doesn't it get number one?
NUMBER ONE
DANIEL BRYAN RETURNS
And completes the greatest story of the Summer...
When Danielson was fired, I, like every other ROH fanboy/IWC smark, was more livid than 100 Triple H's morphed together, to form about three hundred H's, I s'pose. I thought that maybe one day he'd be back, but I wasn't even sure I wanted him to come back, considering the way he'd gone. Steve damn near boycotted the WWE for three months. It was devastating. It put the sourest of sour tastes in your mouth. I didn't want to believe it. And then, come the main event of SummerSlam, they turned it all around. Everyone was expecting Triple H. Some thought maybe it'd just be the Miz. But no. The "American Dragon" was the seventh and final member to Team WWE, and it all made sense. Sure, it wasn't a work from the beginning, but that isn't the point. The point is they gave Bryan Danielson the shot he deserved after being thrown out as a scapegoat on a flimsy-ass bullshit policy. And they kept it all a secret at the same time too.
So that was pro-wrestling for me, this past Summer. What did I miss? Anyone agree/disagree? Let your voice be heard. But last, and certainly not least - my honourable mention:
HONOURABLE MENTION
MICHAEL COLE PICTURED OUTDOORS
