MOTW2: Will Ospreay vs. Matt Riddle

Will Ospreay has become a standout in New Japan this year as a dominant Junior Heavyweight Champion. As he is now deep in the middle of the Best of the Super Juniors, we look back at another match from this month as he battled American indie superstar Matt Riddle at Dublin's Over the Top Wrestling. Riddle has made a huge impression all over the indies, most significantly in EVOLVE. But perhaps the most amazing thing about Riddle is that he still hasn't signed to any major televised brand. Check both men out in this stellar encounter.

Get ready for the second biggest weekend in wrestling!

WWE has two big shows coming this weekend, which I'll talk about in more detail in the next couple days. But they are far from the only promotion running pay-per-view events. Several independent promotions are also running shows over the weekend, including internet pay-per-views and even a streaming special over an indie service akin to WWE. Here's the details on some of the happenings going down.

Ring of Honor isn't quite an independent, but they are running on Friday night. It's also the odd show out as it is the only one not in the northeast area.

• ROH World Title - Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole: The storyline behind this one is ridiculous. Lethal insisted on a title match because he had his head shaved by the Bullet Club. Why not just demand he get a one on one match with Cole non-title? The whole thing presents Lethal as an idiot, especially since he's likely to drop the title.
• ROH World Television Title - Bobby Fish vs. Mark Briscoe.
• Silas Young vs. Katsuyori Shibata: Shibata makes his United States debut. I look forward to seeing Silas get his face kicked off.
• Toru Yano and Roppongi Vice vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Guerrillas of Destiny: None of these stars make regular appearances for ROH, though Roppongi Vice has made more than the others. It feels strangely inserted, especially with regular Bullet Club members Adam Page and Young Bucks not with a listed match.
• No other matches are listed despite Los Ingobernables De Japon, Michael Elgin, Jay Briscoe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and tag champs The Addiction all in attendance. Strange to see ROH selling their show on so little, especially when compared to their Japanese partners that give away all planned matches ahead of time. 

The more interesting card on Friday though has to be EVOLVE 66. Gabe Sapolsky's promotion has some of the best wrestling in the world every show and this one brings the independent debut of one Cody Rhodes. And Cody's not facing just some scrub.

Image Credit: WWNLive.com.

• Cody Rhodes vs. Zack Sabre Jr.: Most folks might just be learning about Sabre, but this should push Rhodes' wrestling skills to the test in what I hope will be an epic encounter.
• EVOLVE Title - Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle.
• Two battles between Cruiserweight Classic talent: Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese and TJ Perkins vs. Cedric Alexander.
• DUSTIN (a.k.a. Chuck Taylor) vs. Ethan Page
• Catch Point's Tracy Williams and Fred Yehi vs. Jigsaw and Peter Kaasa

Mercury Rising delivered a supershow in a way Wrestlemania didn't

Image credit: MoreThanMania.com.

Every year WWN throws a Supershow to end their nights of wrestling action over Wrestlemania weekend called Mercury Rising. This year it was a tribute to Terry Funk as well as a chance to show off three title matches from three different WWN brands. But honestly the best part of the night was easily the six man main event.

The show opened with another match in an ongoing feud between Zack Sabre Jr. and Chris Hero. Sabre is a world class cruiserweight, The two had an epic battle that used much of both men's love for traditional British wrestling, though Hero focused far more on his elbow and knee strikes against Sabre. Hero has fallen seriously out of shape in the last few months, but he put on a hell of a match at Mercury Rising.

I finally got my first view of internet darling Fred Yehi in the second match as he battled Drew Gulak. The two men put on a stellar technical match in a company already known for stellar technical wrestling. Gulak proved to be slightly better, but Yehi earned another opportunity to join Gulak's stable Catch Point. This time he shook Gulak's hand and accepted the title offer.

The Indy Lowdown: Evolve 57

The influence of independent promotions on the modern wrestling scene cannot be overstated.  The indies are the new developing ground for the hopefuls of tomorrow, and have taken a life of their own for performers to make a mark on the industry outside of the major promotions.  The EVOLVE promotion has emerged as a top destinations for aspiring indy stars, as evidenced by the recent visits from HHH and William Regal to EVOLVE events.

I had the opportunity to check out the most recent EVOLVE show, EVOLVE 57.  The shows are heavily focused on the wrestling action, without the over-the-top characters seen on WWE.  But over the past six years, the EVOLVE brand has developed enough characters to provide some compelling story lines to spice up the in-ring action.   Today's blog will focus on three things I really liked, and one thing I didn't like about EVOLVE 57.

Thumbs up: Ethan Page

Ethan Page: This veteran Canadian performer, known as "All Ego", has ten years in the business although he is only 26 years old.  Page opened the show with a win over Fred Yehi with the Package Piledriver.  Page has been playing the role of the heel trying to change his ways.  As part of his penance, he has been wrestling the opening match for the past several shows.   I watched Page in a couple of live matches last summer in Cleveland, which I greatly enjoyed.  He doesn't have a WWE-style physique, but he is a solid worker and a very engaging personality.

Thumbs up: Matt Riddle

Matt Riddle: Also 26 years old, Riddle is a rookie in the ranks of wrestling.  He is well known for his MMA success on the Ultimate Fighter.  His rise through the ranks of the UFC ended prematurely with a pair of positive drug tests for marijuana, but Riddle has the size, the look, and the athletic credentials to become a star in the wrestling business.  Riddle submitted Chris Hero after a solid match at EVOLVE 57, and has issued a challenge to Evolve champion Timothy Thatcher on April 1 in Dallas.  Initially courted by Drew Gulak for training, Riddle instead chose his own path as an arrogant heel.  His cocky smirk and his reputation as a rebel make the heel role a natural fit.  The sky is the ceiling for this guy.

Thumbs up: Timothy Thatcher

Timothy Thatcher: Another ring veteran, Thatcher is an amazing technical wrestler who holds the EVOLVE championship.  At EVOLVE 57, Thatcher won by submission over Caleb Konley, but the big news is that Thatcher is facing a double whammy on Wrestlemania weekend.  Thatcher will face Matt Riddle on April 1, and Sami Callihan on April 2.  Both these matches should be tremendous!  Thatcher is a bit generic by WWE standards, but his work in the ring is second to none.

Thumbs down: Chris Hero

Chris Hero: How the mighty have fallen!  Hero is one of the best workers on the planet, and has a terrific mind for the business.  Unfortunately, his lack of commitment to physical fitness cost him his shot at a career in WWE.  Since his release, things have gone from bad to worse.  Until he gets control of his weight, Hero is more likely to achieve success as a sumo wrestler than a sports entertainer. 

Image Credits: profightdb.com, prowrestling.wikia.com, wikipedia.org, tumblr.com

The long path of Daniel Bryan: One final independent match

Daniel Bryan left WWE for about two months shortly after joining the company, fired for being "excessive" during a PG television segment. He was mostly used as a scapegoat for the censors, which became clear when he was quickly re-hired and yanked away from the Nexus angle that cost him his job.

But during those two months away, he had a ton of great independent wrestling matches for companies everywhere and he made a ton of money doing it. Dragon Gate USA, the then-sister company of EVOLVE, was one such company. His first match of that summer was an absolutely spectacular encounter between Bryan and Dragon Gate's amazing Japanese superstar Shingo. But his last match was a brutal but beautiful encounter with one Jon Moxley, who only a few months later would regularly do battle with Bryan when he joined The Shield as Dean Ambrose. This was a much edgier time for Ambrose, which hopefully will be made clear quickly from his explicit language and the weird relationship he had with his valet in the company.

Check out the epic mayhem below.

NXT Advent Calendar Day 23: The future is bright for NXT

While NXT is always in flux thanks to the nature of WWE call ups, it is also a promotion that is now frequently bringing in great independent talent to heighten the action. While folks like Finn Balor, Kevin Owens and Apollo Crews have made huge impacts in the last year, the company still has more hires waiting to make their debut.

Rich Swann still doesn't have a WWE ring name, but he's easily the most accomplished of WWE's non-televised talent. A regular in Dragon Gate USA, EVOLVE and CZW, he made a name for himself both for his amazing high flying style but also for his love for fun and a bit of humor. I've got two great matches featuring him below, the first against unsigned NXT talent Johnny Gargano and the other against three other future WWE/NXT talents: Sami Callihan (formerly Solomon Crowe), Luke Harper and Neville.




Athena was one of the top female stars on the indies, wrestling both men and women and finishing them with the incredible to watch O-Face, a top rope diving corkscrew stunner. Here she is in a battle with indie superstar Mia Yim, otherwise known as TNA's Jade. Now signed and working live events under a variation of her real name Adrien Reese, I would expect her to get a new name before she debuts.


Biff Busick was signed with Swann and Athena, and has also made his live event debut under his real name. A regular in both EVOLVE and CZW, his highly technical style brought him the most recognition in PWG. He even made the painful acquaintance of a woman that made her WWE debut at this year's Wrestlemania, one Ronda Rousey.


PWG has fun pretending they don't know their famous fan, but Busick was a guy that could be serious in the ring. Take a look at this technical classic against current EVOLVE champion Timothy Thatcher, from another Busick regular stop, the Beyond Wrestling promotion.


With all three of these stars likely to make their television debut in the next few months, I suspect 2016 will only continue NXT's rise as the best pro wrestling brand in the world today.

The Evolution of Dean Ambrose & Luke Harper

While many current WWE stars cut their teeth in ROH, more and more talent seem to be coming from Gabe Sapolsky's EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA brands. Gabe has an eye for some great young wrestlers, many of which were overlooked by ROH's very specific brand of super-match wrestling.

Brodie Lee, the future Luke Harper, actually did have a run with the company, but was mostly used as a thug with no personality. While he continued to be a monster (and a follower) to this day, ROH didn't really let him shine. And while his run in EVOLVE was brief, his brutal style certainly changed the game in a promotion built around pure wrestling without rule breaking.

Jon Moxley wasn't a stranger to weapons in his days before Dean Ambrose. He was known for getting bloody on the regular, even if he was a far stronger wrestling talent than most of his CZW brethren. When the two men met well before their WWE runs, the action was explosive.