The Silver Report: July 2018

Ever since I started the Silver Report back up, I've had one problem: I can't watch all the wrestling that I want to in a month.

With the accessibility of the Internet, it has made watching wrestling easier than ever before. Where you would be stuck with what was available on TV or at your local DVD store back in the day, you now have so much wrestling at your finger tips. With a constant source of wrestling nowadays, you run into my problem more often than not, especially when you report about the industry professionally or for fun.

Personally, I am so behind on a lot of wrestling. I have a months' worth of Raw and SmackDowns saved on the DVR and 40 matches of the G1 to still work my way through. That's not counting my huge backlog of wrestling DVDs and getting around to finally watch Stardom for the first time.

While this may seem like a little concern for many, I worry about it because I want to try to encapsulate the world of wrestling in a month through the stories I feature and the matches I label as "must-see." Despite my backlog of wrestling continuing to grow, I will always try to watch as much wrestling as my eyes can take in order to provide you all with the best Silver Report each and every month.

Making an Impact in the T-Dot

It has been a turbulent few years for the company formerly known as TNA. Plagued by years of horrible management and horrendous wrestling, everybody wrote them off. Everybody, myself included, thought that there was no way Impact Wrestling could come back from all the setbacks.

Well, Impact Wrestling has been proving everybody wrong for the past four months and it was hammered home with the excellent Slammiversary XVI. From the opening match to the closing moments, no match on Slammiversary felt the same — even with three hardcore matches on the card. From the all-out spotfest of the opener to the gruesome brutality of the Mask vs. Hair match, each bout told a unique story. While a couple matches, mainly Eddie Edwards vs. Tommy Dreamer and Madison Rayne vs. Su Yung, fell flat, they were much better than anything WWE's main roster is doing.

Considering Slammiversary took place in Toronto, yours truly made the trip to watch the show live. Despite a few criticisms I have over the mishandling of general admission seating in the balcony, the show well overshadowed any misgivings I had. The smaller venue made the show feel much more intimate than any wrestling show I've been to and the balcony view gave my friends and I a perfect angle to see the ring and ramp area. 

I cannot stress how good this show was. It quite literally made me forget that I stood for four hours straight. So, if you are a lapsed fan of Impact or are curious considering all the positive buzz surrounding the promotion, I highly recommend making time to watch Slammiversary XVI. You'll be happy you did.

Source: Uproxx.com

Women's Evolution? I Think Not

The weekend before the July 23 edition of Raw, WWE started teasing a special announcement by Stephanie McMahon to open said show. Considering how the company has done everything to make Stephanie seem like the patron saint of women's wrestling, it was easy for many to deduce that the announcement would have to do with the women's division. What exactly the announcement was to be was a toss up between a women's tag division and an all-women PPV. Come time for the announcement, it turned out to be the latter. 

Along with some speeches talking up the journey to this "historic" announcement, Stephanie and Triple H shared a few details about the show. First of all, the PPV, WWE Evolution, will take place at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island on October 28. It will include over 50 women from WWE's past, present, and future. Plus, all women's titles (Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK) will be defended on the show, along with the finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic.

While you can't discredit how huge this announcement is for the women of WWE, let's remember the truth of how we got to this moment. The reason for this so-called "Women's Revolution/Evolution" is because of a problem that the WWE created. They were the ones that emphasized looks over wrestling ability, thus holding down their division, and quite possibly women's wrestling in North America, for decades. 

Yes, they're making efforts to fix the problem now, but it rings hollow when WWE puts themselves on a pedestal for doing it. And in the case of #GiveDivasAChance, they're literally rewriting history in order to not give credit to former employee — and advocate for this change — AJ Lee. Plus, there have been plenty of all-women wrestling shows from the likes of Shimmer, Eve, and Stardom. Even, TNA ran all-women PPVs from 2013 to 2016.

While I can go on about the problems and fallacies of WWE's portrayal of their women's division, you don't have all day. So in summation, I find it hard to trust WWE's promise of an all-women wrestling show when the most visible part of its women's division — the main roster — is so poorly handled and they seem more concerned with hiding that fact rather than fixing it. How am I supposed to believe that WWE Evolution will be a step in the right direction, instead of more baseless "Women's Evolution" propaganda?

Source: CBS Sports

B is for Best

Well it's time to talk about the G1 Climax, New Japan's huge 91-match round-robin tournament which takes place from mid-July to mid-August. Much like the Best of the Super Jr. tournament, the G1 is known for its match quality. In fact, some of the top Match of the Year contenders usually come from this tournament. And if you have been following along with this year's tournament — correction: this year's B Block — you'd understand why.

Not to devalue the match quality or effort of those involved in A Block, but B Block is stacked this year. Just look at the Must-See Matches I listed from the G1, all of them are from B Block. Other than Tama Tonga, who seems more concerned with making a statement through interference and DQ losses than putting on quality matches, the guys in B Block brought their A game. Even Yano has been putting on good to great matches!

But if I have to single out two wrestlers that are the stars of this year's B Block and the G1 as a whole, I'd say Tomohiro Ishii and Zack Sabre Jr. While these two might not be the biggest stars of the company, they are certainly the workhorses — and a long tournament like the G1 allows them to flourish.

Individually, each one has their own unique style that can easily adapt to any situation. In the past year, Sabre Jr. has learned how to perfectly adapt his unbelievable grappling and submission skills to the New Japan style. What were once slow plodding affairs during last year's G1 are now expertly paced wrestling clinics with an added pinch of body horror. On the other hand, Ishii is the epitome of strong style. The man deals out the stiffest and strongest strikes you'll ever see and he can take an exceptional amount of pain. Ishii's best matches, such as this year's showdowns with Goto and Ibushi, are literal wars of attrition.

Despite my problems with A Block's over-dependence on stretching the rules and the BC OGz constant interference in Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga matches, this year's G1 has been loads of fun. Now to watch the last 41 matches before the end of August.

Source: ProWrestling.com

Must-See Matches of July

7/7/2018
G1 Special in San Francisco
Young Bucks vs. Evil & Sanada
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee

7/11/2018
NXT
Mustache Mountain vs. Undisputed Era

7/15/18
G1 Climax 28 Night 2
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito

7/18/2018
NXT
Candice LeRae vs. Kairi Sane vs. Nikki Cross

7/21/2018
G1 Climax 28 Night 6
Sanada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

7/22/2018
Slammiversary XVI
Fenix vs. Johnny Impact vs. Petey Willaims vs. Taiji Ishimori
Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan - Mask vs. Hair Match
Austin Aries vs. Moose

7/26/2018
G1 Climax 28 Night 8
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

7/28/2018
G1 Climax 28 Night 10
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi

The Silver Report: June 16-22

Whenever the WWE goes to Chicago, the results are glorious.  Payback last Sunday was full of big developments that got the ball rolling on hopefully a great summer.  The return of CM Punk (in a match that has been raved as a classic), a surprising double turn between Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio and a set of new champions crowned are some of the reasons Payback may be one of the best PPVs of 2013 so far.  As great as Payback was, the following Raw was even better.  Setting a lot of compelling storylines in motion for Money in the Bank and Summerslam and the raucous crowd made it one of the better Raws of this year.  It also gave me tons to talk about for this week’s Silver Report.  As a side note, my hopes for the summer article has been canned due to how busy things have been combined with the fact that the developments of this past week killed quite a few of those hopes I would have elaborated on in the article.

Brock Lesnar, The Head of the WWE’s Welcoming Committee

What a great way to be welcomed back to the WWE with open arms and a F5.  24 hours after returning Sunday at Payback, CM Punk tasted the force of Paul Heyman’s Beast.  One F5 has kicked off a feud that will easily main event this year’s Summerslam and captivate many this summer.  Personally, this writer would love to see a rematch between Undertaker and CM Punk set for Summerslam yet this clash between these two Paul Heyman guys is just as enticing.  There is some great material for WWE to work off of due Punk and Lesnar’s association with Mr. Heyman.  The verbal sparring matches that we could possibly see between CM Punk and Paul Heyman, considering all signs point to him turning on Punk in the near future, will be nothing short of legendary.  This feud has only just begun so there are going to be bigger developments to come very soon.  This feud can be one to make or break this summer.

World’s Strongest WWE Champion?

News hit last Monday that Mark Henry would be retiring from the squared-circle.  Henry’s recent hiatus from the ring to rest from injuries was sign enough that the World’s Strongest Man would hang up his boots.  Speaking of boots, Henry even placed his boots at the top of the stage on Monday and came out in a bright pink blazer to give his retirement speech.  Henry’s speech induced tears, smiles and even chants as he had the audience wrapped around his finger.  John Cena, who Henry interrupted, came in to give Mark some time with the WWE Champions, a title that Henry has never held according to JBL’s commentary.  It would have been a sweet end for Mark Henry’s career, but the World’s Strongest Man goes out with a whimper, the World’s Strongest Man goes out with a bang.  Mark Henry drew John Cena in for one last handshake and hit the World’s Strongest Slam instead.  Once Cena plummeted to the mat, the realization hit that Mark Henry was not retiring.  It was all a ploy to lure in the WWE Champion and what a great ploy it was.  In one fell swoop, WWE Creative built a credible threat to John Cena’s WWE Championship and made Mark Henry a devious heel that will sink to the lowest of lows to get his way.  As much as it is a given that John Cena will walk out of Money in the Bank with the WWE Championship, Cena vs. Henry should be an interesting bout nonetheless.

The Return of the Whole Dam Show

The biggest news to come out of Payback last Sunday was not CM Punk’s return or the double turn, it was the announcement of Rob Van Dam’s return at Money in the Bank.  It was an incredible surprise as there were no rumours floating around the Internet about RVD returning that this writer saw.  It has been four years since RVD has been in a WWE ring so it will be nice to see what the Whole Dam Show has to offer.  Personally, I am a huge fan of RVD and I felt his run in TNA was disappointing due to how poorly TNA used him.  Hopefully WWE Creative can think of some interesting feuds to put RVD in especially considering how many up-and-coming stars he can work with in the WWE.  Since Money in the Bank will be in Philadelphia (the former home of the original ECW), RVD should get one outstanding pop from the crowd.  This writer personally hopes RVD is put in one of the Money in the Bank Ladder matches because it would be the best match for this veteran to show off all his exciting high-flying offence.

The Silver Report: May 13-19

Due to the fact that I am running late on a lot of things, I am going to merge my Over the Limit preview with this week’s edition of the Silver Report and postpone my review of WrestleMania 28 until next weekend.  Also with all the humongous news that was announced earlier this week, there was no way that I would not do a Silver Report to give my two cents about these big news stories in the pro wrestling industry.  Before I get to the huge news, let us run down my predictions for WWE Over the Limit that is live right now.

Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Prediction:  Kofi Kingston & R-Truth retain

Layla (c) vs. Beth Phoenix for the Diva’s Championship

Prediction:  Layla retains

Sheamus (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton in a Fatal 4 Way Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Prediction:  Sheamus retains

John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis

Prediction:  John Laurinaitis wins

CM Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship

Prediction:  CM Punk retains in what should easily be Match of the Night

TNA Impact Goes Live This Summer

It has been a long time since I have talked about anything TNA related on this blog due to the fact I stopped watching back last November when I got fed up with the product.  I still follow PPV reports and such so I do have a rough idea what goes on in TNA, but not enough to really talk about anything.  Well I got something to talk about today.  To celebrate this coming summer, TNA is making some more changes to Impact.  Starting May 31^st, TNA Impact is moving to an 8 o’clock start time and going live every single week.  That might sound pretty cool, but there is one catch Impact will be live from the Impact each and every week and also all further PPVs including Bound for Glory will be held in the Impact Zone.  For longtime TNA fans or off-and-on fans such as yours truly, limiting TNA to just the Impact Zone is a horrible decision.  The fans in the Impact Zone are so long past burnt out of TNA’s product that they do not offer the best and most honest crowd response.  If TNA decided to drop some PPVs and go live and in a different location each and every week, I believe that would draw the crowds that would produce an excellent atmosphere for the show.  Remember when TNA got out of the Impact Zone last year to do tapings for TNA Impact?  That was awesome as it felt like a breath of fresh air.  Going live might be the next step for TNA, but they also need to get out of the Impact Zone just as bad.  If they don’t, it will most likely become evident very quick that the fans there are not into TNA’s product, so why should we tune in to watch?

Raw Goes Three Hours Come July 23^rd

We got even bigger news this week as WWE announced Monday Night Raw’s 1000^th show this July 23^rd (one day after my birthday).  It was obvious that for this huge celebration that this Raw would be three hours long, but no one saw the next announcement coming as John Cena tweeted that Raw will be three hours long permanently starting July 23^rd.  For any wrestling fan, Raw going three hours is huge news and is extremely polarizing.  Some are saying it will be a great addition to the show and give more exposure to underutilized wrestlers and more time for matches while others are saying it will cause the complete destruction of professional wrestling.  I can see why people fall into the latter seeing WCW Nitro did that over a decade ago and it was one of the reasons WCW is no longer around today, but I can see why some are hopeful.  I personally fall on the side that thinks that making Raw three hours long is a bad idea.  When Raw is bad or mediocre, the show does drag on even at the regular two hours.  Also the recent three hour Raws have been nothing short of atrocious for the past year.  None of them have delivered since the three hour Raw WWE had back in November 2010 for King of the Ring.  What makes people think WWE can book a three hour show every single week if they cannot do it every once and a while?  We can speculate all we want right now, but we will all have to wait until the three hour Raw takes its’ course to see if it is a success or utter failure.

Nothing Has Changed: Quick Preview of TNA Turning Point 2011

Back in late 2005, I discovered an alternative to WWE.  It was distinctly different as it used a six-sided ring and it had a much faster, fresh style.  One of the first PPVs I got on DVD from this wrestling company was Turning Point 2004.  The main event was America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X in Six Sides of Steel Match.  Still to this day, I consider that match one of the all-time greatest Steel Cage Matches in professional wrestling.  Fast forward seven years later and this alternative has become a shell of its former self in its relentless pursuit to be the WWE instead of just being itself.  If you have not come to this conclusion yet, this alternative was and is Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

After Bound for Glory, it was suppose to be a clean slate.  All the horrendously convoluted storylines were suppose to be wrapped up and personally I thought TNA would start improving their product.  The first Impact after Bound for Glory had only seven minutes of actual wrestling on two hour show and my hopes for change much like back in the summer were crushed.  What we left were with are storylines that get almost zero attention, another Jersey Shore star wasting our time, a feud between a referee and a former authority figure and the potential feud between Roode and Storm, which could have been their saving grace, getting completely screwed up.  I came back to TNA for this blog back in February, so I will give it the full year it deserves and will reevaluate if I should continue covering.  Right now things look bleak and I honestly do not know if they will get any better.  If you are a TNA fan, this card will look great to you.  If you are not the X Division & World Championship matches along with Daniels vs. RVD should be great unless TNA finds a way to screw them up.  Do not put it past TNA, it is always a possibility.

Mexican America (c) & Sarita vs. Ink Inc. & Toxin in a 6-Person Tag Team Match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship

Prediction:  Ink Inc. & Toxin win the TNA Tag Team Championship

Eric Young (c) vs. Robbie E for the TNA Television Championship

Prediction:  Eric Young retains

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Prediction:  Crimson wins

Bully Ray & Scott Steiner vs. Abyss & Mr. Anderson

Prediction:  Abyss & Mr. Anderson win

Austin Aries (c) vs. Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen in a 3 Way Match for the X Division Championship

Prediction:  Austin Aries retains

Christopher Daniels vs. Rob Van Dam in a No DQ Match

Prediction:  Christopher Daniels wins

Velvet Sky (c) vs. Gail Kim for the TNA Knockout’s Championship

Prediction:  Velvet Sky retains

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy

Prediction:  Jeff Hardy wins

Bobby Roode (c) vs. AJ Styles for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Prediction:  Bobby Roode retains

Turning Point 2011 is like every other TNA PPV that you have watched this year.  There will be some good hidden under all the insultingly dumb finishes and horrible booking, but it will not be worth the time you invest in watching.  From 2005 to 2008, TNA had something great going for it, but now that magic seems lost.  If you can, I highly recommend going back and watch past Turning Point events such as Turning Point 2004, 2005 and/or 2009 than watch Turning Point 2011 this Sunday.

Glory Bound: Quick Preview of TNA Bound for Glory 2011

In all honesty, this writer has missed a good chunk of the hype for TNA’s biggest PPV, Bound for Glory.  So much of my opinions for this show were made from the three episodes of Impact Wrestling that I watched and what I read online.  The overall impression is just more of the same from Total Nonsensical Action.  At least Sunday means the culmination of TNA’s biggest storylines from the past year meaning the possible disbanding of both Immortal and Fortune.  Seriously TNA needs to move on from these stale and meaningless factions.  With the start of new and completely fresh storylines and feuds, this writer is more excited to see what will happen this coming Thursday on Impact Wrestling than watch the end of a rather abysmal year from TNA.

Bound for Glory is TNA’s equivalent to WWE’s WrestleMania.  It is Total Nonstop Action’s biggest and most hyped show of the wrestling year.  Considering that most TNA PPVs get little to no hype, most hyped is not saying much.  Being the biggest PPV of the year, guess that means gimmicks galore for TNA.  Gimmick matches are great once or twice on a card or PPVs like Extreme Rules and Hardcore Justice, but a good half of the Bound for Glory card consists of gimmick matches.  There are only two plain singles matches on the card and TNA moved what was going to be the only tag match to the pre-show.  Shows how important the Tag Team Titles are to TNA, but I digress.  Much like WrestleMania is for the WWE, TNA is under an incredible amount of pressure to deliver with Bound for Glory.  If TNA does not deliver at least a good PPV, it could mean another nail in the coffin for this struggling company.

Austin Aries (c) vs. Brian Kendrick for the X Division Championship

Prediction:  Austin Aries retains

Samoa Joe vs. Crimson vs. Matt Morgan in a 3-Way Match

Prediction:  Crimson wins

Winter (c) vs. Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James vs. Velvet Sky in a 4-Way Match for the TNA Knockouts Championship

Prediction:  Velvet Sky wins the TNA Knockouts Championship

Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Prediction:  Mr. Anderson wins

Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn in a Full Metal Mayhem Match

Prediction:  Rob Van Dam wins

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniel in an “I Quit” Match

Prediction:  Christopher Daniels wins

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting in a No DQ Match for Control of TNA

Prediction:  Sting wins & Dixie Carter regains control of TNA

Kurt Angle (c) vs. Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Prediction:  Bobby Roode wins the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Bound for Glory is not your normal PPV.  It is TNA’s wrestling extravaganza.  Like every year before it, Total Nonstop Action has spared no expense, but there is one question lingering in the minds of most wrestling fans.  Can TNA really pull it off?  We will just have to see come this Sunday night when TNA Bound for Glory originates from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.