British Superstar Coming Home?

By Kieran Moran

It hasn't exactly been a secret, that in recent days WWE Superstar and former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Neville has allegedly asked for his release from the company. Well-respected long time reporter Dave Meltzer has said that the Geordie lad is "100% gone" and that Vince McMahon is said to be furious about the request (which isn't surprising at all).

Does he stay or does he go now? (Nah he's gone)

It has been raised that a reason for Neville's walkout on the "biggest wrestling company in the world" comes down to his WrestleMania 33 match with Austin Aries. The match was a pre-show match and was therefore left off the DVD of the show. Superstars make money from each sale of a WWE DVD if they have a match on the show. With the WrestleMania DVD usually being the biggest seller of the year, it is understandable why Neville would be upset about his match being left off. This is also one of the reasons that saw Austin Aries walk out of the company not long after WrestleMania earlier this year. You can listen to our review of that match and of the whole WrestleMania 33 weekend, right here!

The Men that Vince forgot. Aries and Neville on the WrestleMania 33 Kick-off show

Could a further reason be because of the lack of competition and 'segregation' (for lack of a better word) of the Cruiserweight division. Now don't get me wrong I loved Neville's run as the 'King of the Cruiserweight's' and his feud with Aries was brilliant stuff. However, it was so blindingly obvious that both Neville and Aries were both too good to be kept within the confines of a Cruiserweight division and needed to be competing against other main roster talent in the mid-card and main event scene's. During his time in TNA, Aries ended up becoming the World Heavyweight Champion and was facing guys of all shapes and sizes, and I think this got underneath the skin of both of these top performers. Rey Mysterio was proving the little guys could hang with the boy boys back in 2006. so why, over 10 years later, are we back to the WCW routine of old? But that's a question for another time I feel.

Neville is very likely to leave the WWE very soon, and assuming he'll have to go through the same 6 month no-compete clause that Aries had to go through, we could be in for an exciting time a head. Speculations have suggested that Neville will go to Ring Of Honour or even New Japan, both of which would be a great fit for "The man that gravity forgot". But call me biased, and I don't think I'm the only one who would want this either, but does anyone else want to see Neville face Travis Banks for the Progress World Title?! A return to the hottest scene in Pro wrestling (that's the UK, by the way), and a return to his homeland, is surely not too far off the cards.

Here's looking at you, UK Promoters.

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Why Stephanie McMahon is making Raw unbearable

Since The Authority rose to prominence in 2013, it's been hard to escape the influence of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. After dominating WWE television for the better part of three years, The Authority finally seemed to be vanquished by the sizeable hound himself, Roman Reigns. Many of us- myself included- assumed (perhaps naively) that this would be the last we'd see of The Authority.

How wrong we were.

When the brand split was announced last year, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Finally, an end to more of the same week in, week out. The announcement that Smackdown would have Shane McMahon at the helm and Raw would be controlled by Stephanie didn't come as a surprise, but it did make me wonder just how different Raw would be following the split. The answer? Not very much.

This leads us to the title of this entry; why is Stephanie McMahon making Raw unbearable? And how can this be resolved?

To answer this, it helps to look at the competition. Smackdown is, at its heart, a wrestling show; the talent is of paramount importance, and watching Smackdown, I never feel as though Shane and Bryan are out of line in using their power.

In contrast, Raw often feels like the Stephanie McMahon Show. I think many would agree when I say the constant 20 minutes+ segments that largely consist of Stephanie figuratively lasering off the manhood of every male superstar on the roster are getting more than a little bit stale- and that's not even factoring in the occasions when she humiliates female talent, too. Just like when The Authority reigned supreme, talent on Raw is taking a backseat to Stephanie's ego. All this results in is me resenting Stephanie every time she appears on screen.

Some may say this is fine, and that she's doing her job as a heel authority figure. The thing is, this only works if the audience wants to see her get her comeuppance.

As it stands, all it's doing is making me stop watching. 

It's no good having a heel everybody hates if the audience refuses to stick around to see how it all pans out.

So, what's the solution? For me, the answer is twofold- the pairing, and the booking. Once again, we should look to the way Smackdown runs their show. Shane and Bryan have chemistry together- it's not exactly electric, but it's better than the interactions between Stephanie and Foley by a country mile. Now that Foley will be off television, having lost his on-screen General Manager role, it'll be interesting to see who'll fill the gap. If Stephanie can be paired with somebody that can tap into her character, and above all else support her in the areas she's lacking, it'll make Raw a lot more bearable than it is now. My ideal pick would be Kurt Angle- as much as I hope he'll be in action in the ring, his charisma would be a superb check and balance to Stephanie's ego-maniacal tyrant mentality. Plus, the two have their history- I can picture plenty of tongue in cheek segments involving Triple H that could certainly make for entertaining viewing.

Kurt Angle- the ideal partner for Stephanie?

This brings us to the booking. The key difference between Stephanie today and Stephanie during The Authority's tenure is that there were always on-screen ramifications for The Authority's actions. There were reasons behind their choices to berate talent like Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, there was always a storyline and tension brewing with every altercation. This by no means excuses the verbal essays they'd spout at the beginning, middle and end of every episode of Raw, but it at least justified the bullying on display by Stephanie and HHH.

Now, the bullying from Stephanie continues, but this time without a solid storyline. Stephanie constantly puts down superstar after superstar, seemingly regardless of their face/heel alignment, but without the backing of The Authority she just comes across as the spoilt child who got the keys to her daddy's business. You may argue that that's exactly who she is, but there's so much potential here; we've seen a glimmer of hope, with Sami Zayn getting in her face recently and being shot down by Stephanie and forced to work for his place in the company. If WWE are keen to stick with the (admittedly stale) Authority trope, at least go the distance with it and make it into a compelling storyline, without emasculating half the roster in the process.

To sum up what I now realise is a rather lengthy first contribution to the blog: I really can't stand to watch Raw with Stephanie as she is now. She needs a new on-screen partner to compliment her personality in ways Foley couldn't, and should be legitimately challenged by members of the roster more often than she is currently. Better yet, Raw should simply take a leaf out of Smackdown's book and focus more on the talent than on the authority figures.

Time will tell how Stephanie is received when her new General Manager settles in; we can only hope things change for the better.

Thanks for taking the time to read my first submission! I'll be posting a biography of sorts in the next few days explaining how I got into wrestling and so on, but really wanted to get this out before Raw's post-Mania show.

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Career Retrospective - "Superstar" Billy Graham

Image © WWE

When people talk about Superstar Billy Graham, one phrase is always uttered - 'Ahead of his time'. It's easy to see that when you look at him too - the blonde hair, the tan, the muscles, the charisma - Superstar Billy Graham had everything it took to be a star in professional wrestling the level of Hulk Hogan or 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, and he should have been. But why is it then, that whenever you look at the career of the Superstar, there is but one highlight - he beat Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Championship in 1977. And that's really all there is to it.

But please, don't get me wrong. Superstar Billy Graham is one of my ALL TIME favourite wrestlers. (I'm often seen wearing my Superstar Billy Graham T-shirt with pride) Which really, is the whole purpose of this retrospective - sure, the Superstar's career on paper hasn't got many bragging rights, but what rights he has got sure are better than anyone else's!

Billy Graham with his manager The Grand Wizard

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WWF Showdown at Shea 1980

Part 1

A brief history of Showdown at Shea

Before the 'Show of Shows' Wrestlemania that we know of today, Showdown at Shea was the WWWF's original Stadium show, featuring a super card of wrestlers in front of up to 36,000 fans. Originally held every 4 years, the 1980 edition was to be the last showdown held at the stadium. The first, held in 1972, drew over 22,000 fans to see Pedro Morales defend his WWWF Heavyweight Championship against the Living Legend, Bruno Sammartino in a battle that lasted over 1 hour, ending in a curfew draw. (God I would LOVE to see this match please WWE!)

The 1976 edition of the show was put on to promote the infamous boxer-vs-wrestler match between Muhammed Ali and Antonio Anoki, which was shown on a big screen in the stadium. Also on the card was another boxer-vs-wrestler match, where Chuck Wepner took on André the Giant, who defeated him in round 3 after a countout. Also on the card was Bruno Sammartino, who successfully defended his WWWF Heavyweight Championship against Stan Hansen.

The final show 1980 was undoubtedly the largest show the now-WWF had put on the show, with 36,000 fans in attendance to witness a staggering 13 bouts - so this is going to be a long post which'll probably be spread into 4 parts.

An interesting fact about the 1980 show also, is that the ring announcer was none other than THE Vince McMahon, who was filling in for Howard Finkel as he was doing another show for Jim Crockett Promotions (Which would later become WCW). The version I'm watching also has Michael Cole & Mick Foley doing commentary for a 2008 release to commemorate the closing of Shea Stadium.

Vince McMahon leads the proceedings

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Ricky Steamboat vs Lord Steven Regal - 1st August 1993

"The Dragon" Ricky Steamboat -vs- Lord Steven Regal w/ Sir William

WCW Main Event

1st August 1993

Author's Note:

This is more of a test post with a random match I found online to make sure that text, images, and formatting all work okay, as well as to test my ability to watch a match and take notes at the same time. Either way, I hope you enjoy this first post!

Match Stipulations: 1 Fall with a 10 minute time limit.

The match starts with both competitors in the ring as Ricky Steamboat extends a hand to Steven Regal, who responds by barely shaking the pinky and thumb of Steamboat, leaving him with a confused look on his face. Both competitors then begin to circle each other, before locking up into a collar-and-elbow hold to start the match.

The action starts very slowly and methodically with a lot of mat-based action, as Regal gets a wrist lock onto Steamboat which is soon reversed. Regal then rolls through and manages to get a hip toss onto Steamboat, bringing him down to the canvas, before stepping away and waving off his opponent. 

This slow start to the match continues, with both men trading holds until a snapmare by William Regal gets the first pinfall attempt of the contest. However this only results in a 2-count, with Steamboat bridging out of the pin and into a nip-up, leading both men to begin taunting one another with Steamboat brushing off his body, while Regal starts wagging his finger in Ricky's face. 

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