ALL IN: the most significant wrestling event in the last 15 years

A lot of words have already been written about ALL IN, the Young Bucks and Cody-produced mega-show. It sold an unprecedented 10,000+ tickets, unheard of for an indie show up until this point in history. It continues Nick, Matt and Cody's slow change of how wrestling storytelling works. And its card has been named incredibly underwhelming by a ton of critics.

I'm not going to break down the card too much, because I am not sure I will even be watching the show live on the 1st as I have a bunch of other Labor Day weekend plans. But all the critics that have ran down the card have missed the point. ALL IN sold out its entire ticket base without a single match announced. Just the roster of talent managed to do that. Being the Elite, the weekly show the Young Bucks produce every week, scores over 200,000 views every week from a subcriber list of approximately the same size. All it took was one twentieth of that base to make this event a rousing success.

Of course, those same people might decry that the same feat can't be repeated if ALL IN doesn't produce the biggest card possible. This of course ignores the fact that ROH and NJPW have just repeated the over 10,000 number for yet another show without a single announced talent. That show will come Wrestlemania weekend and will be at a venue that served as a WWE stronghold for four decades, Madison Square Garden. Times are changing, folks.

I question how many of these critics actually pay that much attention to the work the Young Bucks have put into the build on their weekly show. It always seemed likely the card would be built around matches for every member of the show's cast. Hence Cody fighting Nick Aldis for the NWA title, Hangman Page fighting Joey Janela, Marty Scurll getting a match against former IWGP Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada, the Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi teaming to take on a lucha trio consisting of Bandido, Rey Mysterio and Rey Fenix, and of course the once in a life time bout between Penta El Zero Miedo and Kenny Omega. They even built a storyline to give Stephen Amell his first singles match ever against a true ring general, Christopher Daniels. Jay Lethal has become a Being the Elite regular of late as well, so his ROH title defense doesn't come as a surprise, nor does the pre-show appearance of ROH stalwarts, the Briscoe Brothers. They built the show around people they know having battles with people fans want to see. And that's just what they're delivering, which is why all the talk of a lackluster card makes little sense.

My pick for match of the night on September 1st.

The measure of success for ALL IN was accomplished way back in July when they sold the show out. By any stretch of the imagination, it has become an important point in the history of the business. It drew interest from Chicago area cable station WGN America, and now has a network broadcast preshow, something no other wrestling company has been able to boast since Heat left Spike TV in 2005. It already looks capable of shattering independent wrestling pay-per-view records as well and ROH has already talked about an uptick in new subscribers for their own streaming channel, which will also air the event.

The show is a success by any metric before a single wrestler steps into the ring at the Sears Centre. Cody and the Young Bucks took a huge gamble, one that looks to pay off in major dividends come September 1st. And they have likely created the possibility of an independent super show for years ahead.

Independent wrestling has never been stronger in the United States. One way or the other, every fan that travels to a bingo hall or community center or armory to see their favorite stars needs to realize what this means for the industry they love enough to support on the smallest level. The sport of kings has a future even without WWE. And we should all be proud of that.

NXT Advent Calendar Day 1: Finn Balor vs. Daniel Bryan... in 2007

Throughout the month of December, we will ring in the Christmas season with a special advent calendar made up by the stars of NXT, from before, during and after their runs in the company. 

What better way to kickoff the NXT Advent Calendar than with NXT champion Finn Balor? And how many matches can you think of that are bigger than Balor versus Daniel Bryan. Well, the two men that have wrestled in front of tens of thousands have met exactly once as far as I can tell. They fought in 2007 in front of maybe 200 people at an NWA event during their Reclaiming the Glory tournament to crown the first post-TNA era NWA World Heavyweight champion.

Check out the full match below!

Randomly found #DanielBryan vs #FinnBalor from the indies don't know what year but ENJOY!

Posted by THE SpOtLight on Sunday, August 30, 2015

The top 10 wrestlers of 1985

Normally today's feature would cover the top stars of one of the great modern day promotions in the field, but today is a very special day where a time traveler from 1985 came to 2015 and helped the Cubs win the World Series. (Or something like that.) So while I'm waiting for Max Headroom-like representations of Reagan and Gorbachev to appear, it seemed apt to travel back to his time and look at the top wrestlers of the era where Rock N Wrestling first brought wrestling to a national level.

Their ending might have been tragic, but they were an amazing
team for many years.

1. The British Bulldogs: While not yet the WWE tag champs, the Bulldogs were a hugely over act due to their amazing in-ring prowess. they would be embroiled ina long term feud with the Dream Team for the next year.
2. Junkyard Dog: While not a title holder often, JYD almost always held strong positions on the card, often serving as the man to beat to get a shot at the WWF title. He was at the peak of his career in 1985, a bonafide star sadly held back from his full potential due to the racist attitudes still prevalent at that time in wrestling.
3. Tito Santana: Tito is the most accomplished wrestler there is very little to say about. He held the Intercontinental title for much of the year, but continued to mostly be a buy the numbers champion.
4. “Macho Man” Randy Savage: New to the WWF, Randy was already clearly a future star. He immediately took key positions on the card and his star power dwarfed the likes of Santana.
5. Magnum T.A.: His career wouldn't last much longer, but Magnum was easily the second biggest star in the NWA by 1985. A consistent contender for the US title, it would have only been a matter of time before he made a run at the championship, but tragedy ended his career early.
6. The Rock N Roll Express: What else can be said about the Rock N Roll Express other than they're arguably the most innovative tag team of the 1980s. They were hugely over and while their famous battles with the Midnight Express were on hold in 85, they were still wildly successful in the NWA. 
7. Ric Flair: I'm sure some Southern wrestling fans will argue that Flair should be higher on this list. But in 1985, the NWA didn't have the penetration into pop culture WWF. While Flair was a huge star in every way, it would be a few years still before his home turf would start to compete.
8. Wendi Richter: She's almost a footnote to wrestling today, but her alliance with Cyndi Lauper in 1985 was arguably more important than even Hogan's rise in making WWF culturally significant. Her alliance started the Rock N Wrestling era, even if she wouldn't stick around long after her amazing year as Women's Champion.
9. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper: He was the baddest man in WWF. While he could never hit #1 on this list, in 1985, Roddy was responsible for making stars. He main evented Wrestlemania earlier in the year and would move on to feud with the champion for nearly a year, even taking the enmity to children's television the next year.
10. Hulk Hogan: 1985 was the year that Hulk Hogan became HULK HOGAN. He teamed with international star Mr. T at Wrestlemania and instantly became a media darling. His charisma drew in fans and his shirt ripping became vogue among even non-wrestling fans. Feuds with Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper turned Hogan into a superstar, even if he was never able to get a clean pinfall on Piper in '85 or ever again. 

Piper and Hogan were a perfect match as enemies.

There you have it, the Top 10 wrestlers of 1985. Am I right? Wrong? Downright crazy? Let me know in the comments section or on social media!

The death of a Dream

I started the day lamenting the death of Christopher Lee at the age of 93. An amazing acting talent that stayed relevant to the very end, Lee improved both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Star Wars prequels with his presence. But despite the sadness of his loss, he was a man in his nineties. He lived a good long life and did many amazing things.

Then this popped into my feed.

Saddened to hear the passing of Dusty Rhodes. Legend, teacher, mentor, friend...Love you Dream #BookinAintEasyKid pic.twitter.com/ZxlGSgKB8J

— Triple H (@TripleH) June 11, 2015

Just a few months short of his seventieth birthday “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes is gone.

I didn't grow up with Dusty the way a lot of fans my age did. I was a northern guy in the 80s, entrenched in the celebrity superstars of WWF. NWA/WCW were the other guys, a pale comparison without the awesome production values and larger than life characters of WWF. But I was also missing a creative renaissance brought on by the mastermind of the promotion through much of that period, Dusty.

Dusty didn’t really fit the 80s WWF mold at all. He was overweight, dressed like a cowboy and spoke with a lisp. His talent in the ring or on the mike were never enough to make him ready for their cult of personality. But they made him perfect for the higher workrate, more grounded storytelling of the Southern brand. While I was watching Hogan perform four moves a match, Rhodes put on amazing matches against Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Harley Race and hundreds of others. Meanwhile, he booked the late 80s Jim Crockett Promotions with an eye for great storytelling (albeit sometimes marred by his favorite non-finishes that were used so often as to become called Dusty finishes).

Perhaps his finest moment as a booker came in the wake of the tragedy that cost Magnum T.A. his career. With months of stories thrown out the window by the injury, Dusty took Magnum’s arch nemesis, the evil Russian Nikita Koloff, and turned him face. With the softening Russian-US relations, fans accepted Koloff instantly and his team with Dusty against the Four Horsemen would be big bank for the NWA.

Of course much can be written about Dusty’s pathetic early 90s run in WWF or his less than stellar WCW commentary years later, but Dusty did so many great things, those things are barely worth mentioning. Instead, we can remember him for all his great work, personified no better than in his most famous promo.


While Dusty did have his share of “Hard Times” in professional wrestling, he also did so much to innovate and evolve it. His legacy will be felt for decades to come. And while he is gone, the Rhodes name will live on for many more years through the careers of Goldust and Stardust.

Dusty, you will be missed.