16-bit wrestling music

Sometimes unique and awesome things just pop up on Youtube. Sometimes they've been around for years and I just never noticed them. Of particular note today is 16-Bit Themes. The page uses the same music generators regularly used on Super Nintendo and re-creates the theme songs of professional wrestlers. Though the page has sadly not updated in several months, it already features 30 of the best wrestling themes you can find today.

Check out a couple personal favorites below.



And be sure to check out the 16-Bit Themes page for the complete list of songs.

WWE's loss is any other wrestling company's gain

Image credit: WWE.com.

Eight days ago, Cody Rhodes left WWE. He expressed his desire to leave a few days before, venting his frustration at a disinterested writing staff with no desire to book him into any kind of storyline event. It was clear that after ten years with the company, he was no longer able to toe the line WWE forces him on.

It was also clear that in the wake of his father's death, he wasn't interested in continuing as Stardust anymore. Stardust was a character with tons of potential, but just like Cody's previous gimmicks, never quite seemed to get any traction with WWE's writing team. He could have success on the midcard with the Intercontinental or tag titles, but no one expressed any interest in having him in the main event.

That always seemed odd to me. Certain second generation stars don't possess an inkling of their famous parent's talent. Curtis Axel, Ted DiBiase Jr and Bo Dallas are nowhere near as talented as Curt Hennig, The Million Dollar Man or IRS. But while Cody's natural charm wasn't quite like his father's, he clearly possessed every tool necessary to be a star. His natural charisma coupled with amazing in ring skills made him one of the best in the business, especially for someone that came up with no independent training at all.

Wrestlemania 32 can only be looked at with disappointment

I had high hopes going into Wrestlemania 32. Last year's show had a lackluster card on paper, but it delivered quality wrestling match after match. This year the show started with a big surprise and ended with a resounding thud.

More than a few fans felt like Stardust after 7 hours of mostly mediocre action.
Image credit: WWE.com.

The seven way Intercontinental title match opened the show as it did last year. Ladder strikes and crazy stunts ensued and fans quickly were reminded why ladder matches are always fun. Sin Cara's plunge outside onto Stardust is the stuff of highlight reels. And Zack Ryder's win, even if he would lose the title only a day later, definitely goes down as a shocking Wrestlemania moment. Unfortunately, it was the last one for quite some time.

Chris Jericho and AJ Styles put on another barnburner of a one on one match, with AJ's entrance being one of the first to really make the special stage look awesome. They went longer than the IC match and used every minute of it well, but ultimately it ended with Styles taking the loss in a strange booking decision. He and Jericho are now 2 and 2 in their series, so I expect a rubber match sometime in the near future, maybe even before Styles gets his title shot at Payback.

ESO-PRO presents the Wrestling Weekday Top 10 Wrestlers of 2015: Honorable Mentions Part 2

As the list gets ready to debut #8 later today, it is time to take a look at some of the other talent that didn't quite make it into the top ten. Today we will cover the wrestlers that came in between thirty-first and thirty-fifth place.

Image credit: WWE.com.

35. (2 way tie) Paige: While 2015 wasn't quite as solid as 2014 for Paige, she continued to be a dominant force in the Divas division, even though she spent most of the year chasing Nikki Bella for the title. She sparked the Diva Revolution in many ways thanks to her non-traditional style in the ring.

After Seth Rollins: The Good & The Bad

After suffering a knee injury last week, Seth Rollins had to vacate the title. Luckily for the WWE, they have some time before Survivor Series to put together a plot that will see a new champion crowned. This has created some great moments, but there is also one big stupid mistake they made that's bothered me all week, which I will get to at the end of the post.

The tournament for the title is a great idea, although the people chosen for the event was somewhat strange. No Sheamus, no Big Show, no Brock Lesnar, none of the Wyatt family, no one in New Day, and there are a whole bunch of guys at the bottom who could have used the exposure, guys like Bo Dallas who haven't been on top in a while. However, we are going to get a great match between Roman Reigns and Cesaro next week, which I think will be the highlight match of the night.

Ryback, who last month was IC champion, lost his match to Kalisto. My guess is they see Kalisto as the next Rey Mysterio, but he's a strange wrestler to push through the tournament. What a far way to fall for Ryback in such a short time though.

Now here is the ugly part of the tournament: Alberto Del Rio VS Stardust. Here was a perfect opportunity to put Stardust over with the crowd. For one, he should have been given some mic time at the beginning of the match. It would have been great if he had come out after Coulter's rant and said "I may be nuts, but that guy is crazy!"

See, here is what could have happened: Goldust beats Del Rio and goes on to face Kalisto. After a hard fought battle, Stardust cheats to beat the young Luchador. This could have set up a match between Dean Ambrose and Stardust, with both men doing their best to outdo the other in a completely insane brawl between two mentally unstable wrestlers.

Instead, you know what is going to happen?

Alberto Del Rio is going to offer Kalisto a spot in his stupid MexiAmerica, which he will refuse. Then Kalisto will lose and Del Rio will get beat by Ambrose. Ultimately, Del Rio's matches in the tournament aren't going to mean much. Had they put Stardust over, you could have him and Del Rio rematch for the US title. If Stardust had won, the match would have meant something. Now its just a platform for the writers to showcase the horrible, crappy, idea that is MexiAmerica. I am glad Del Rio is back, but this heel promo they are putting him through is ridiculous.

Now everyone is pretty certain that its going to come down to Ambrose VS Reigns, but I have a feeling that Reigns is going to see that title slip away and he's going to turn heel and take out Ambrose. This might lead to some interesting matches, especially if the Rock returns to Wrestlemania.

I tell you what, WWE, you give me a Reigns/Rock Wrestlemania match and I'll forgive you for the bad booking, okay?

Flashback: The Muppets take Raw

One of the best new weekly episodic television series of 2015 is easily The Muppets, the "behind the scenes" take on the characters as they work on a new variety show starring Miss Piggy. The first episode debuted to monster ratings, but it equally gave just a great story with some real laughs for Muppet fans of all ages.

But as a Muppet fan and a wrestling fan, it makes me only think back to the day when The Muppets guest starred on the longest running weekly episodic television show, Monday Night Raw. It was the Halloween episode back in 2011 and WWE made the most of having some great comedic bits with the characters. Santino mispronounces some names, Sheamus chats with his previously unknown cousin, Gonzo gets bullied by Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler, Animal shows off his time keeping skills, Statler & Waldorf share their thoughts on WWE's talents, and more with the likes of Cody Rhodes and John Morrison.

Introducing the WWE Top 10!

I like Top 10 lists because I am someone that enjoys being on the internet regularly. The internet may in fact be about half list at this point, but as this blog has developed, I felt it was important to have a way to express who I feel are the important players in WWE and the other corners of wrestling for any given month. Because of this, I have conceived a regular Top 10 list for every Wednesday, starting today. WWE will receive a list the week after every major pay-per-view, while NXT, TNA, ROH, Japan, the indies and Lucha Underground will all see lists filling the spaces in between. So stay tuned for a look for the countdown every week starting right now, with your WWE Top 10.

The Cosmic Wasteland has elevated Stardust's game. Image credit: WWE.com.

With great talents and great matches, Night of Champions proved to be a solid transitional PPV

Surprisingly, response to Night of Champions online seems lukewarm at best. I personally enjoyed the card, which I think featured solid matches from top to bottom, even from the feuds I find less than interesting.

I'm already a huge fan of this unit. Image credit: WWE.com.

I especially enjoyed the opening kickoff match as the team of Stardust and The Ascension, a.k.a. The Cosmic Wasteland, may be the best thing WWE has done in quite some time. While I think they are probably an after-thought for WWE's writing staff, the unit works so well on so many levels that I hope they have a long life as a faction, and one that comes with the much-needed push Stardust deserves. I personally would love to see his new unit lead him to a feud with John Cena for the United States title.

Ryback out of Battleground, but where are the Divas?

Word came down yesterday that Ryback won't make an appearance at Sunday's Battleground due to a staph infection in his knee. Generally a minor injury, the infection will keep him out of regular competition for at least a couple of weeks. While WWE seems intent on keeping the Intercontinental title on the Big Guy, he will not have a defense Sunday against Big Show and The Miz. No replacement match has been announced for the Intercontinental triple threat which leaves the card sitting at only five matches:

• Brock Lesnar challenges Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight championship.
• Sheamus versus Randy Orton.
• Kevin Owens challenges John Cena for the United States championship.
• Two members of The New Day challenge the Prime Time Players for the Tag Team titles. 
• Roman Reigns versus Bray Wyatt

10 Wrestling Returns That Would Improve The WWE

I read this list of ten wrestlers and thought it was a pretty poor list. So I came up with a better one. Personally I think the WWE product is the best its ever been, I think the creative is just limited by their old-school wrestling ideas. They aren't thinking of sports entertainment, and they certainly aren't storytellers like this guy right here. So here is my top ten list of wrestlers who could come back and improve the WWE.


10: Shelton Benjamin

This guy was on the other dudes list and I had to agree with this one, Benjamin should be back every time Brock is back, these guys should be an unofficial team, you know they are friends and you never know when the one is going to show up and help the other. You think Brock is an unstoppable beast now, imagine what happens when you put a mean, lean, athletic wrestler like Shelton X Benjamin at his right hand?

It would also allow a multitude of spin-off matches, like Benjamin VS Kane or J&J security. Brock can't work every show, but his presence can be felt through his alliance with Shelton.

It's time for Stardust

Dusty Rhodes' loss was a shocking blow to wrestling fans around the world last week. Few personalities are as engrained in the history of the sport as he was. Over four decades, he main evented, scripted, trained and held pretty much every backstage job imaginable in the squared circle.

He also gave the world two more great wrestlers in the forms of his sons Dustin and Cody. Dustin spent decades in the business working both as Dustin Rhodes and Goldust. He cemented a legacy of his own right with his great in-ring presence and unique style beneath his gold paint. But he also is an aging figure in a young man's business. At forty-six, he probably wrestled his last match back in February against his own brother at Fastlane. Now he's following in his father's footsteps as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center, a position that will do him well over the next several years or even decades.

That leaves only one man to carry on the legacy of Dusty Rhodes in WWE and it is a man that has been long deserving of a stronger place on the main roster.

With his new cape, he should also go after the DNA of any future X-Men film franchise guest star.

Cody Rhodes came into WWE as a young brash upstart and almost immediately became a tag team specialist alongside folks like Hardcore Holly, Ted DiBiase, Drew McIntyre and his brother. But Cody has also bounced up and down the card endlessly in that time. He flirted with the main event a few times in his career, but every push to the top always seemed to derail before he could main event a pay-per-view.

Back in mid-2014, he debuted his current look, that of Stardust. A more cosmically weird version of Goldust, Stardust quickly took the tag team division by storm alongside his brother, but over the months under the makeup, he grew more and more strange. Eventually he turned on his brother and his father with a newer crazier attitude, all the time hating the name Cody Rhodes.

Since Goldust left the company, he has mostly floundered on the undercard with little or no direction. Now it seems the perfect time to end that.

The advantage of a character as weird as Stardust is he needs very little motivation to enter a feud. His own craziness can turn the smallest slight into a major war in his mind. He could easily enter battles with anyone on the roster at a drop of a hat.

But I think the best way for him to come back is to acknowledge his father's passing. Let him embrace his family legacy alongside his own perceptions of reality. In doing so, he could free himself to truly live up to the Stardust personality. He could take his own odd streak somewhere Goldust never quite achieved: into a main event match.

We all know that Cody has all the talent in the world. He's show his fire with The Legacy, as the mustachioed Dashing One and now as Stardust. It's time for WWE to give him a chance to do it on a bigger stage than ever before.

Dust to Dust. . .

My morning started with the death of Christopher Lee, and it ended with the death of the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.

I never was a fan of Dusty Rhodes, for mainly the same reasons the WWF never used him; he looked old, tired and out of shape. His Southern drawl, especially to a Canadian, was weird and annoying. In fact for many years, I used to get him confused with Adrian Adonis. But I learned as the years went by how much he contributed to wrestling, how many young stars he helped put over, how much knowledge he had about The Game. Dusty was a legendary wrestler, even if he wasn't "my type" of guy, or Vince McMahon's.

What I DO know is that Dusty's two sons, who wrestle under the names Golddust and Stardust, would not exist if not for the American Dream. Their gimmicks are certainly inspired by their father and I am sure he gave them a ton of direction over the years. In fact it was that match that got me interested in wrestling again; Fastlane 2015 was all new wrestlers and the Rhodes family were the only ones I recognized and I am glad that we got to see that battle between the Rhodes brothers with old Dusty on screen, one last time.

Now, watching his victory over the Honky Tonk Man at Meadowlands Arena back at Summerslam 1989, jiggling and dancing with a big smile on his face, I can see what a huge influence he was on that generation. Much like Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens, Dusty inspired people who might not ever think they weren't good looking enough or had the right physique to be a wrestler. Dusty had fun and he loved wrestling more than just about anyone. For that, I will salute and respect him and I wish I'd been a little more open-minded when I was child because I know now that men like Dusty Rhodes are far more inspirational than men like Hulk Hogan.

You can see Dusty in his polka dots face the Honky Tonk Man at the link below.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dz68r_wwf-summerslam-1989-dusty-rhodes-vs-the-honky-tonk-man_sport

In tribute to Dusty, I am posting a couple of my favorite Goldust matches. Hopefully one day his youngest son, Cody Rhodes, AKA Stardust, will reach the same level of fame and success his father enjoyed.

Cheers to you, Dusty, and thank you.

A classic: 

Interesting side note: The term "Dusty Finish", which is mentioned in my blog partners post below, was just used to set up the current battle between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
The Dusty Finish is the nickname for a match ending where one man was named the winner, only to have the victory overturned on some small technicality (such as a second referee entering the match).

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.

A few thoughts on Payback

Let’s be honest: going in, Payback felt like something of a filler show with only one big feud ender wedged between a lot of one-offs and storyline builders. In action, that is what it really was as it became a solid show designed to extend feuds. 

The pre-show was lackluster at best with R-Truth going over the perennially misbooked Stardust in a bonus match. Stardust is perennially misbooked and has been since his days under his former “dead” name. He should be a solid upper-midcarder but instead seems stuck in a jobbing role to people like Truth, who has no momentum behind him at all.

The other pre-show match was built around the comedy of the Mega-Powers going in, but the real story is the rebuilding of The Ascension as a threat in the tag team division. I’m not sure we will see them in an Elimination Chamber, but it’s good to see WWE hasn’t given up on them yet.

The main show kicked off with another Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler match. While good overall, the result was wholly predictable with Ziggler getting some comeuppance but taking the loss. WWE plans to keep this storyline moving forward, probably into the Intercontinental match at Elimination Chamber.

The tag team two out of three falls match was a great contest between two teams of great big men teaming with great smaller guys. Much like the Usos vs the Wyatt Family of last year, the teams of Kidd & Cesaro and The New Day are built to wrestle as many times as WWE wants and give a great performance every time. With a little more TV focus, they could also establish a strong role for the tag titles, something WWE desperately needs.

Ryback vs Bray Wyatt continues the Wyatt push towards nothing, with another pointless clean win over a face that serves to help neither man. For someone built around his mental manipulation, Wyatt seems to do little of it in his matches, but can win clean way too often for an evil villain. This was meant to continue a feud, but Ryback’s potential injury might end it sooner than planned.

Ow. (Image from WWE.com.)

The I Quit match between John Cena and Rusev, ostensibly for the United States title, was the clear focal point of the booking and the strongest match on the card. The two men channeled the best extreme matches of the Attitude Era to compete in an amazing brawl that reached ECW levels of insanity as they made their way around the entire arena. The ending being built around the fact that Cena couldn’t quit if the Accolade caused him to pass out, but shenanigans with whether or not Rusev said I Quit or not will keep him a focal point on television even as he moves past Cena. The smart booking should keep Rusev strong even in the aftermath of his great Cena feud.

The Bellas battle with Naomi and Tamina as well as Neville versus King Barrett were built around clearly designed as feud extenders. Neither really blew me away, but if the Neville and King Barrett feud sets up a Neville Intercontinental title reign, I’m all for it. As to the women, my personal hope is they will receive a third Elimination Chamber match at the pay-per-view. I don’t think anything could show WWE cares more about the Divas than giving them a marquee match at the show.

The main event was wrestled well but was a disappointment booking wise. Outside of one momentary Shield reuniting for a triple powerbomb on Randy Orton, the Kane storyline failed to move forward, Ambrose and Reigns were given little momentum and the Orton/Rollins storyline seems ready to stretch out for another month. Of course, Rollins also debuted his third finisher of the last two months, as he has now adopted the Pedigree.

Turns out Ambrose & Reigns don't need Rollins for the powerbomb. Image from WWE.com.

As far as WWE’s B-pay-per-views go, Payback was honestly pretty solid. But with two more shows in the next four weeks, one has to wonder how long it will take for most of these storylines to come to an end.