BIGGIE'S PLACE

Surprise! I’m a professional wrestling fan!

My blog has existed for 13 years now, and this post may be the first time I’ve ever talked about wrasslin’. Why now? Well, first and foremost, my interest in pro wrestling is not new. I grew up as a big wrestling fan in the late 80’s and 90’s. After movies and video games it was probably my biggest interest as a kid. I was a WWF loyalist. Then again, it was the only company I knew. I experienced the glory days of Hulk Hogan (I watched him bodyslam Andre the Giant live on TV as a wee lad). I witnessed the frightening dominance of Yokozuna. My favorite wrestler, from the moment he debuted, was The Undertaker. I went to WrestleMania XIV in Boston. I watched WWF on TV every week and saw nearly every pay-per-view thanks to my best friend being able to cajole his parents into getting them.

As I got into my teens and needed something with a little more edge, I discovered ECW and became a diehard fan of theirs in the late 90’s, eschewing the WWF because it seemed corny by comparison. Long story short, around the turn of the century, when Vince McMahon ended up buying WCW and ECW and essentially turned the business into a monopoly, I lost interest and stopped watching. I can’t pinpoint exactly when, but I’m gonna say it was sometime in 2000 or 2001. It happened fast, too. It felt like one week I cared about it, and the next week I didn’t. For the next 20 years I hardly ever thought about it and watched literally none of it. I missed the second half of the vaunted Attitude Era and all of the so-called Ruthless Aggression Era. I missed basically the entire careers of people like John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Kurt Angle. The Rock was just entering the prime of his wrestling popularity when I left. I missed the Divas and all the misogynistic shit McMahon was allowed to perpetrate on those women for so long, although because of their crossover appeal, I did know who Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler were.

Some of that stuff I now wish I had seen, but a lot of it I don’t feel too bad about missing. When I saw from afar that my beloved Undertaker had changed gimmicks to being a biker, I was happy I didn’t have to see that live. Having never been a big Triple H fan, I’m not sad that I missed the years when he utterly dominated the company.

Oddly enough, it was a video game that brought me back under the tent. I randomly purchased WWE 2K22 a couple years ago because I’d often heard good things about the franchise. I was like, one of these years I’m gonna buy that game for shits and giggles. That year was 2022. But while learning the game and having fun with it, I realized I didn’t know who almost any of the modern wrestlers were, so I started watching RAW or Smackdown every now and then to see what the product was like all this time later. And goddammit, I found myself getting hooked. I went from watching occasionally to watching every week as I started following the storylines. I’ve since learned about and started watching AEW as well, started listening to some podcasts (I’m a proud member of the Cult of Cornette and supporter of Jim Cornette‘s philosophies) and as of this writing am pretty tuned in to what’s going on in the world of pro wrestling. I actually surprised myself with how fast that part of my brain was reactivated.

I’ve been a reborn wrestling fan for nearly two full years now, and I have favorites again! Needless to say, the things I like to see in wrestling have changed dramatically in 20+ years. I thought it’d be fun to recognize the people who keep me watching these days, and at the end of the post, I’ll of course mention some of the people I’ve come to strongly dislike as well.

Aside from the top two, the list is in no particular order.

1. GUNTHER (WWE) – He’s that rarest of things in wrestling history: a heel who’s allowed to win clean. He’s so good he doesn’t have to cheat like all the other bad guys do. I instantly loved the concept of his group, Imperium, being smug protectors of the integrity of the sport. “The mat is sacred” as their motto went. A group of stuck up European a-holes who backed up their bravado, in particular their leader, Gunther aka “The Ring General.” He held the Intercontinental Championship for a devilish 666 days (the longest reign ever for that title), won this year’s King of the Ring, and recently won the World Heavyweight Championship for what I hope will be an equally strong run.

Note: for each of the top 10, I’ll rate their in-ring ability, skills on the mic, and their overall look, like so:

In-Ring: 10 – There’s no one better right now at wrestling as their character. Top notch in-ring psychology, and he’s a technically skilled powerhouse who can finish you with a simple sleeper, a classic Boston Crab, or his powerbomb. His trademark chops are loud and leave his opponents visibly bruised, which is fantastic. He works really stiff, but safe. His clotheslines are awesome. His big boot strikes are awesome. He’ll occasionally do a top rope splash. There’s no one he can’t have a good match with, and he’s never made to look silly. Whether it’s against someone who’s just as big as he is or a smaller opponent, you know it’s going to be a proper fight. His matches against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus are a thing of brutal beauty. I was also a big fan of his match on RAW earlier this year where he tossed Dominik Mysterio around the ring for 10 minutes.

Mic Skill: 8 – I love when he talks shit and insults his opponents. He sounds natural even if his promos are scripted, which is hard to pull off. His verbal abuse sounds even better in his Austrian accent.

Overall Look: 9 – He dropped what must’ve been 75 pounds from his days in NXT and looks great now as a tall, slimmer powerhouse. He wears that big, regal military-style coat to the ring, but his gear is suitably minimal befitting someone claiming to be a wrestling purist. He also looks fantastic in a suit or his other business casual outfits he wears for promos.

I have not bought any official WWE merchandise since becoming a fan again, but if I did, it would probably be a Gunther t-shirt. And no, I’m not buying a replica belt, as cool a concept as that is. In fact I’m kinda pissed those didn’t exist when I was younger. I digress…

2. RHEA RIPLEY (WWE) – The total package. The best female wrestler in the business by a long shot, and perhaps the most talented of all-time. I love her attitude, I love her look, I love her entrance theme. She has genius-level instincts for in-ring psychology. Is her character the hottest goth chick ever? I’m not gonna say she isn’t. She quickly became my favorite female wrestler to use in the video game, and it didn’t take long for that to translate to real life.

A lot of people think she’s the next big crossover wrestling talent into movies and TV. I think the potential is there, but if that was going to happen, wouldn’t it have started by now? She’s 27. She’s appeared in zero movies or TV shows outside of the WWE product. If not now, then when? They don’t design new action hero characters around actors anymore. You have to play a pre-existing character for anything big to get made. So who would she play?

In-Ring: 9.5 – She knows how to look powerful and dominant in the ring, but it’s her ability to sell that’s perhaps even more impressive. She can make any opponent look good against her, no matter their size. Nobody, male or female, takes a DDT like she does. She loves that shit, and I find it hilarious.

Mic Skill: 8 – Her delivery is excellent, but all of her promos feel 100% scripted, which takes away some of the impact. It’s the same “I’m gonna get you! You’re gonna pay for that!” dialogue you hear from literally everyone. But she does sound cooler than most doing it in her native Australian accent, I’ll give her that.

Overall Look: 10 – I mean, she’s the most talented and the hottest woman in wrestling. She’s done dozens of hairstyles and makeup looks and always looks incredible. She looks incredible with no makeup. She also thirst traps on social media like no other, despite now being married in real life to another wrestler.

3. RANDY ORTON (WWE) – Bear in mind, I can only talk about modern Randy Orton. Missing his best moments from his younger days is something I regret, but I’ve slowly caught up on some of his most famous matches. I love his persona. I love the Legend Killer gimmick. He’s also got a timeless theme song.

In-Ring: 8.5 – He doesn’t strain himself much anymore now that he’s in his 40’s, but he can still work, and the RKO is still the best-looking move in wrestling.

Mic Skill: 8 – He says all the right things and is convincing doing it. That’s such a rare thing today that it’s a huge compliment, even if you’re never blown away by his promos.

Overall Look: 10 – I mean, dude is 44 and looks like that. It’s nuts.

4. ILJA DRAGUNOV (WWE) – I love this guy. He’s bonkers. He comes out pretending to be an orchestra conductor. He wears a big robe and just his skivvies underneath with no elbow or knee pads. Then he gives whoever he’s up against the match of their life. You have to respect that. He’s probably the most intense wrestler working today.

In-Ring: 9 – He works stiff, which I love, and he’s able to bring other people up to his intensity level, which is a rare skill. He looks like he’s getting hurt, and he looks like he’s hurting people. No doubt he really is doing both.

Mic Skill: 7 – As with most people on this list, he’s almost always working off a tight generic script, which frequently results in some corny dialogue. But when he wants to turn red and make a serious point, you believe him.

Overall Look: 8.5 – A lot of people say he’d be more successful if he were taller, but I like that he’s a nuclear weapon in a C4-sized package.

5. MJF (AEW) – The biggest star in AEW, and boy was he missed while he was out with an injury the first half of 2024. He’s much better as a heel, as enjoyable it was to see him having fun in his babyface run last year with Adam Cole. I want to see him move to greener pastures in WWE, but I’m also afraid he wouldn’t be as good working under their tamer rules. Nor do I want him restricted by heavily scripted promos. He understands the business better at 28 than a lot of guys 10 years his senior, and better than anyone else in Tony Khan‘s company. He also probably has the most potential of anyone on this list to experience success in other entertainment venues outside of wrestling. But he has to go to WWE first to get the mainstream exposure he’d need to do that.

In-Ring: 9.5 – He’s an excellent wrestler, he knows how to sell his ass off, and he’s a master of ring psychology and working the crowd, something the vast majority of modern wrestlers cannot do.

Mic Skill: 9.5 – He gets a little long-winded at times, but you don’t mind it when he’s one of the few people in AEW worth listening to. As a trash talker, he’s got no equal in all of wrestling.

Overall Look: 9 – Bulking up in recent years has done him good. The scarf, the attire, his logos, the curly Jew hair. It all works.

6. BRON BREAKKER (WWE) – With his genes (he’s the son of Rick Steiner), it’s no surprise how fast he’s taken to the business. It’s clear they’ve decided he’s the next main-eventer for the company, and so far he’s carrying that pressure extremely well. To think that just 4 or 5 years ago, you could use him in Madden when he was trying to be an NFL running back. Must be nice to have a second industry where you can find fame and fortune to fall back on. He’s yet to find his first great rival on the WWE main roster, but his initial feud with Ilja Dragunov (following their battles in NXT) was fun to watch. He’s got the talent to be exactly what they want him to be, so if you’re a wrestling fan, get used to seeing him on top, because once he gets there, he ain’t comin down for a decade.

In-Ring: 8.5 – He needs a bigger moveset, but his physicality in the ring and combination of speed & power is almost unmatched. I think the spear is grossly overused as a finisher in modern wrestling, but as a former football player, I can’t really hold it against him. Still, I wouldn’t mind if they came up with something fresh for him.

Mic Skill: 7 – His intensity is good, but his voice doesn’t always fit his appearance. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s got a high-pitched yet gravely voice. I’ve not heard anything quite like it before. When he gets really fired up, it sometimes sounds more like he’s whining than getting hyped up.

Overall Look: 9 – He keeps it simple with the sweet singlets, which you have to respect. No doubt they’re a tribute to his dad and his uncle, Scott Steiner.

7. JACOB FATU (WWE) – I’d heard a lot of great things about The Samoan Werewolf, but didn’t get a real look at him until he finally debuted for WWE this summer. As the new Bloodline enforcer, he is what they tried to present Solo Sikoa as for more than a year. He lost a bunch of weight between his indie days and his big league debut, but he’s been worth the wait so far. He’s one of the few people in modern wrestling who comes across as legitimately dangerous, and I can’t wait to see where they go with him in the coming months. By the time WrestleMania rolls around again in April, he should be one of the company’s top 5 attractions.

In-Ring: 9 – He’s only had a couple matches in WWE, but I’ve seen a lot of the highlight reels, and what he’s able to do at his size is unrivaled. I just hope WWE turns him loose and he isn’t hampered working in their specific style.

Mic Skill: N/A – I didn’t really follow his pre-WWE work, so I don’t know what he’s capable of on the mic. Since he’s been in WWE, he hasn’t really been asked to do anything but look menacing, which he does effortlessly.

Overall Look: 9 – Did I mention he looks menacing effortlessly? His facial expressions make him look like they just unchained him after being broken out of an insane asylum.

8. WILL OSPREAY (AEW) – He’s awesome, bruv. Even though his nickname is “The Aerial Assassin”, he can do it all when called upon. He can fly, he can do all the technical moves, and he’s strong enough to throw people around. You can make the case that along with MJF, he’s one of only two true “stars” AEW has. It’s infectious seeing how excited the crowds at AEW’s pay-per-views are for his matches. There’s nobody in WWE who gets fans in the room as jacked up just anticipating the moves they’re gonna see him or her do.

In-Ring: 9.5 – I’m not always a fan of AEW’s penchant for emphasizing moves-for-moves’ sake over using story and drama to enhance a match, and I don’t like a lot of the no-sells he does on big moves because he’s too concerned with going straight into his own next big move, but when he works with people who are better than he is at ring psychology, he’s usually able to come up to their level. Think of his recent work with Bryan Danielson and MJF.

Mic Skill: 8 – A lot of what he says is kinda silly and over-the-top, but damn if he doesn’t say it with conviction.

Overall Look: 9 – Let’s just say if there were a professional wrestler character in a Guy Ritchie movie, he’d look like this. In fact, Guy Ritchie needs to put him in a gangster movie.

9. JAMIE HAYTER (AEW) – My favorite lady in AEW and second-favorite female wrestler overall. Unfortunately, she’s been out of action for more than a year with an injury, which fucking sucks. It’s made worse by the fact we haven’t seen or heard from her AT ALL in that time. It’s like she was sent to prison. I wish Tony Khan weren’t such a shit booker, but here’s another AEW talent I want to see in WWE if only because they’d use her better and she deserves the bigger spotlight. She also has the best theme music of any AEW female.

In-Ring: 8.5 – As Jim Cornette says about the best female wrestlers, “she fights like a guy.” She’s intense, hits hard, and has excellent matches when her opponent has the skill to keep up, which few of the AEW girls do.

Mic Skill: 8 – She’s not known for being a big talker, but her promos are good enough and she backs it up in the ring.

Overall Look: 9 – Her attire is cool (I dig the big fur coat), she has an awesome presence, and she’s both adorable and hot at the same time. Most imporantly, she looks like a wrestler, not like a model who took up wrestling to get on TV. It doesn’t hurt that I have a thing for cute British chicks.

10. AUSTIN THEORY (WWE) – If only they could book this kid properly. They’ve really dropped the ball on him. Ever since losing the U.S. title last year, this pairing with Grayson Waller (one of my least favorite wrestlers in the entire industry) has been a near death knell to his career. Theory has all the tools to be a main-eventer, and he was on his way there until they decided on putting him in a lame-o tag team with Waller. Quite a downward trend after beating John Cena at WrestleMania in LA. For comparison, just imagine that after Bron Breakker loses the Intercontinental Championship (which he holds at the time of this writing), the next thing they did with him was pair him with Baron Corbin in a tag team. Oh wait, they’ve already done that. Anyway, it’s time to put Theory in the world title picture.

In-Ring: 8.5 – He’ll do something every now and then that truly blows my mind. I’m a really big fan of his springboard rolling dropkick. I dunno what it is, but somebody behind the scenes doesn’t believe in this guy, and that person is wrong.

Mic Skill: 7 – His arrogant heel act is a little too generic for me. I’d like to see what he can do without his promos being scripted to the letter. He gets the job done, but this is not his strong suit. I fear the “bumbling heel people laugh at” thing he’s had to do recently has not helped.

Overall Look: 9 – He looks like a fucking star, which makes it all the more depressing he’s been treated like dog doo for the past year-plus. If I looked that good at his age, my life would’ve gone very differently.

Wild Card: JULIUS CREED (WWE) – When I watch Creed Brothers tag matches, all I can think of is how good Julius is. I know this is unlikely to happen anytime soon, but if they split him off from his brother he could have a hell of a singles career. His raw physical ability is off the charts. People who have strength and speed/agility are special. He’d just need to be given the space to develop his personality and I think he could be a huge star. Do I have faith this will ever happen? No, I do not.

Honorable Mentions: Andrade El Idolo, AZM (the young star of Japan’s Stardom joshis dazzles on a regular basis), Dragon Lee (not much personality because of the language barrier, but he’s spectacular to watch, one of the few luchadores I’m into), Chad Gable (brilliant when he’s allowed to be serious), Oba Femi (who appears to be the “monster” talent they thought Omos would be), Roxanne Perez (so good in the ring already at age 22, and if she were 5 inches taller, she could be the biggest female star in the business in a few years), Iyo Sky (if only she’d get rid of that clumsy drunk-walk she does to the ring), Bryan Danielson (incredible talent, but time to retire for your future health, bud), Konosuke Takeshita (so smooth, an incredible natural talent), Claudio Castagnoli (when he’s not involved with Jon Moxley‘s deathmatch nonsense), Bandido, Toni Storm (one of the few people to have done remarkably better in AEW after leaving WWE), Kris Statlander, Giulia (the Italian-Japanese import will be one of WWE’s biggest female stars if she learns enough English), Swerve Strickland (who’s doing an admirable job filling the void of major black talents in wrestling)

Where’s Cody Rhodes?! Where’s Roman Reigns?! Where’s CM Punk?! Easy, there. Easy.

-I like Cody, but don’t love him. He’s doing a fine job as the face of the company, but I’ve never been a huge fan of goody two-shoes, pure-of-heart babyfaces. Cody has some edge to him, but it only comes out if he’s been beaten down in various sneak attacks by his rival and all their friends. I’m not sure I can take another episode of TV where Cody Rhodes is left for dead after a 10-minute beatdown.

-I thought his reign at the top of WWE lasted way too long. I hate Roman’s matches because of how much they rely on shenanigans at the finish. And he barely wrestles anymore. You get like 5 minutes into one of his matches before he starts going exclusively for his finishing moves. Then you have the entire audience not caring about the match because we’re all waiting for the 15-minute theatrical presentation that will unfold at the end. That’s not what I want from wrestling, either. That said, he’s a brilliant wrestling actor who could’ve been Jason Momoa if he were this good 10 years ago.

-Granting that I missed the prime of CM Punk’s career, I still do not understand the obsession with him. Like people worship this dude. With my natural inclination to oppose things that are trendy, I’ve been skeptical of what people are seeing in him that I don’t. Yes, he’s great on the mic and funny and compelling to watch, but I’m not crazy about his modern matches, and I swear he needs a new finisher because for whatever reason he cannot make the GTS look good anymore. He clearly needs a finisher that doesn’t require him to lift his opponent.

Finally, it’s time to vent:

5 Wrestlers I Loathe

1. JON MOXLEY (AEW) – A garbage wrestler doing garbage matches non-stop in front of garbage mark fans who can’t get enough of it. The people who like him are as dumb as he is. A guy who thinks bleeding every match actually enhances his appeal. He bleeds if you look at him the wrong way. It’s a meme within the wresting community at this point. His offense looks fake. He’s a fake badass. He sounds like an imbecile. He makes his opponents look phony by not selling anything. He’s a disgrace, perhaps the worst mainstream wrestler alive. But because he was once a big deal in WWE they treat him like a main-eventer in AEW, to everyone’s detriment.

2. CHRIS JERICHO (AEW) – Shit gimmick after shit gimmick. He looks like shit. His matches are shit. He pulls other talented people into his shit and makes them look like shit. He’s not funny. Worst of all, it’s clear he thinks all his ideas are good. The shining example of why you don’t give wrestlers too much creative control. He needs to go the fuck away, but his ego is so huge that I think he hears a constant “you still got it!” chant in his head anytime he steps in front of a camera. Sir, you do not still have it.

3. AVA (WWE/NXT’s “General Manager”) – Nepotism at its absolute worst. She’s good at literally nothing, and only has a job because her father is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. She was bad enough when she was pretending to be a wrestler. Now they’ve forced her into this GM role where she has to talk a lot, and she can’t do that either. She can’t act or emote convincingly. Then all these wrestlers, both young and veteran, have to pretend they respect her decisions, and the TV announcers are forced to pretend a 23-year old is doing a spectacular job running a wrestling company. It’s unbearable. To be fair, she’s so young and inexperienced I can’t blame her for it. I blame the people behind the scenes who allowed it to happen. I fear that because daddy’s so rich and she doesn’t ever need to do actual work, she may actually believe she’s meant to do this, which will result in her continuing to be forced upon us so as not to upset The Almighty Rock.

4. THE WYATT SICKS (WWE) – Or “Spooky Time” as I like to call it. No matter the name, I can’t stand this crap. I can’t stand watching the ring crew run up and put fog machines on the ring apron when their music hits. I fucking hated their introduction on RAW with everyone backstage appearing to be dead. I hate the overly edited video packages. I hate the VHS tape bullshit. May he rest in peace, but I always thought if Bray Wyatt wanted to make horror movies, that’s what he should’ve done. Now his brother, Bo Dallas, is being allowed to replicate all of Bray’s worst ideas. This isn’t a good thing. And for what? To sell more merch I guess. Because there’s no logical reason for these people to exist in this fictional wrestling universe. I want to turn off the TV anytime they appear. I’m not 13 anymore. This shit isn’t scary. It’s not cool. It’s embarrassing that Chad Gable has to pretend to be afraid of Zombie Nikki Cross. It’s embarrassing the commentators have to go along and pretend they’re scared. Fuck off.

That’s what I dislike most: what their presence does to the other wrestlers, who supposedly live in the real world. Anyone they encounter looks worse because they have to play along. And if you break through the kayfabe even a tiny bit it’s even sillier. If we’re pretending this is real and they have supernatural powers, why, oh why, would people like this choose professional wrestling as their outlet to make their mark on the world? Just please answer me that question. Eventually all this spooky bullshit has to result in wrestling matches. That’s stupid.

5. NXT’s Battalion of Interchangeable Blonde Athletes (WWE) – I don’t know if this is a subconscious obsession for Shawn Michaels, but it’s reached the point of parody how many pretty blonde athletes are featured every week on NXT. It literally is impossible to tell them apart at this point. Even worse, most of them have been given these atrocious Gen-Z stage names, like Brinley Reece, Carlee Bright, Izzi Dame, Kendal Grey, Lainey Reed, Jazmyn Nix, or Wren Sinclair. (I swear I made none of those up) I mean what the fuck? How am I supposed to take these people seriously? In general, WWE’s preference to hire athletes over people with personality is frustrating because when everyone can do the flippy flips and daredevil dives, nobody stands out. I say you’d be be much better off training athletic people with personalities how to wrestle over trying to install a personality into an elite college athlete, all of whom have been trained rigorously to wrestle in the exact same style.

2 HONORABLE MENTIONS:

PAT MCAFEE (WWE commentator/personality) – The more I hear from Pat McAfee, the more I despise him. It’s clear that he’s one of these people who loves the smell of their own farts. The personality trait I despise most in famous people (or anyone, really) is ego, and for some reason, this guy continues to rise the ranks of sports commentators by being an insufferable turd. I can’t stand his screaming. I can’t stand that he thinks he’s so cool he gets to curse on the air. I can’t stand that he frequently has no clue what he’s talking about. Is he funny on commentary with Michael Cole? Yeah, sometimes. But those moments are few and far between his yelling and being completely obnoxious. For some reason, he’s one of a handful of middling celebrities WWE is absolutely in love with.

Speaking of WWE starfucking…

LOGAN PAUL (WWE) – Or more specifically, WWE’s willingness to align itself with Paul’s business interests. I agree with most everyone else that Logan Paul has been spectacular in the ring and as a heel personality. He gets it. Fine. Cool. But I wish that were all he were doing. Instead, as part of his involvement he’s allowed to promote his shitty beverage incessantly (a product that’s been scientifically proven to not do what it claims to). They keep that stupid “hydration station” next to the commentators, they allowed his to be the first company to put a sponsorship logo in the middle of the ring, and in general they continue to blow smoke up his ass whenever possible. I’m wondering how much of this is in his contract. I suspect a good deal of it has to be. In general, Logan Paul is a bad person, which can be verified by anyone doing 5 minutes of research on him. Unfortunately, WWE is infatuated with celebrity collaborations and what those collaborations can do for them on social media. The company’s utter obsession with social media statistics is one of the things I hate most about the modern product.