The Silver Report: September 2018

To be honest, I do quite a bit of rambling this report, so I am going to keep this intro short and (too) sweet.

As I will go into more detail briefly, September was a huge month for independent and alternative wrestling. We now live in a world where companies that aren't named WWE can sell out a 10,000+ seat arena, where wrestlers are more concerned with satisfying the fans than lining their pockets, where men and women are quite literally changing the world of wrestling as we speak. In short, we live in a post All In wrestling industry and that is gosh darn exciting.

Going "All In" on Independent Wrestling

Love it or hate it, you have to admit it that All In was special.

Like mentioned above, it quite literally changed the wrestling industry. While independent wrestling may not be on the same level as the WWE (and probably never will be), All In and its success made the mainstream take notice. It introduced the talents and styles of many different wrestling organizations to a larger audience than ever before via streaming services, pay-per-view, and WGN America. Hopefully, this exposure will lead to new and lapsed wrestling fans tuning into their alternative of choice over or in addition to WWE. Believe me, All In's impact will be felt for years to come.

Although All In will definitely be remembered for its impact on the industry, that's not all it will be remembered for. From Zero Hour to the main event — which finished only seconds before the broadcast was cut — it was a celebration of wrestling's past, present, and future. You had Stephen Amell throw himself through a table, an old-school NWA championship match with boxing-style entrances, Hangman Page carried out of the arena by penis druids, Chris Jericho attacked Kenny Omega while dressed as Pentagon Jr., a 30-minute match condensed into a non-stop 12 minutes, just to name a few great moments.

Looking at the show critically, All In was a great show. Some may even say it was one of the best shows of the year. Personally, I say All In is on the lower half of that list due to its rather slow start and some of the angles and gags being a little too hard for those who haven't caught up on Being the Elite to understand. Despite my qualms with the show, things kick into high gear once you hit the Chicago Street Fight and the show doesn't let up for a second.

In summation, huge thumbs up to Cody and the Young Bucks for putting this show together, the talent that put their bodies on the line for our entertainment, and the staff that made the broadcast possible. Without everybody's hard work, this incredible show would never have happened.

Source: Sports Illustrated

Bad Form in the Cell

I went into Hell in a Cell with low expectations. Like most main roster PPVs, the matches looked good on paper, but considering WWE's track record, there's always the chance that they'll find a way to screw it up.

Going into the main event, Hell in a Cell was doing better than the average main roster show these days. There were a couple stinkers in the Raw Women's Title Match and the Mixed Tag Team bout, but there was enough okay to great matches to counteract the bad. And the main event was Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in a Hell in a Cell match. What could possibly go wrong?

Other than Mick Foley botching a two count, everything was all good until Roman speared Braun through a table. After the proceeding kickout, Roman and Braun would lay in the ring as all hell broke loose around them.

First, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre ran down to bully their way into the cell, only for Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to stop them. The two teams would fight outside and on top of the cell for a good eight to 10 minutes before Rollins and Ziggler put each other through the announce tables at ringside. Then a returning Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman stormed the cell. Lesnar kicked down the door while Heyman maced Foley's eyes. Brock would then go on to F5 Roman onto Braun. After Lesnar made his quote-on-quote statement, he and Heyman left as a substitute referee called off the match right before the show cut to black.

It's hard to summarize how angry this debacle of a match made me. WWE quite literally flushed away all the work they did to try to rebuild the Universal Championship and Raw's main event scene. And just to bring back Brock Lesnar of all people! Seriously, WWE needs to move on because this over-reliance on Lesnar is doing serious damage to their product. Not only did Brock Lesnar's return at Hell in a Cell ruin a perfectly good main event, it made a mockery of the Money in the Bank contract (not that they've already done that multiple times in the past month) and made the top face and heel on Raw look like total chumps.

While these shenanigans may make a memorable moment, they'll also get people to take their money elsewhere. Especially in this post All In wrestling industry.

Source: India Today

Chaos in Kobe

Ever since Jay White returned from excursion late last year, the Switchblade has stirred up a whole lot of drama in New Japan, especially for Chaos.

Originally White was brought into the faction following WrestleKingdom by Kazuchika Okada as a challenger for midcard heavyweight titles like the IWGP Intercontinental and U.S. championships. Lately, the silver-tongued fiend has made an effort to challenge Okada's leadership at every turn. From his mind games with Yoshi-Hashi to trying to instill a killer edge in younger members Sho and Yoh, White's anarchist antics went unpunished as the faction concerned itself with the G1 then Okada's opportunity to win Hiroshi Tanahashi's place in the main event of WrestleKingdom.

With Chaos' attention diverted away from the problem child, nobody clued into what would happen next. Following Okada's loss to Tanahashi in the main event of Destruction in Kobe, White made his intentions clear — he won't be apart of a Chaos led by Okada.

White would take care of Tanahashi with a swift Blade Runner before turning his attention to the defeated Okada. As White's attack began, Yoshi-Hashi ran down for the save only to be dispatched by White almost immediately. Following Yoshi-Hashi's run-in was longtime Chaos member and Okada's former manger Gedo. Considering their former partnership, Okada turned his back to a chair-wielding Gedo as he readied to gang up on the mutinous White. Unfortunately for Okada, Gedo would blast the Rainmaker with a chair shot and align himself with the Switchblade to bring an end to Destruction in Kobe.

Although I haven't been a big fan of White's in-ring style since his return from excursion, I have to say that he has tremendous potential as New Japan's trickster, a character that uses his greater intellect to trick others for their own amusement. This manipulative nature has come across perfectly in White's antagonistic tenure in Chaos and his incredible promo work. Add Gedo into the mix and there's a lot of ways the Switchblade can make his ascent to the main event of New Japan.

So, will you breathe with the Switchblade?

Source: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Must-See Matches of September

9/1/2018

All In

Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela - Chicago Street Fight

Kenny Omega vs. Penta El Zero M

Golden Elite vs. Bandido, Fenix & Rey Mysterio

9/5/2018
NXT
Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream

9/7/2018

Road to Destruction Night 2

Golden Lovers vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay

9/15/2018
Destruction in Hiroshima
Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

9/16/2018
Hell in a Cell
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose

9/19/2018
NXT
Pete Dunne vs. Ricochet

9/23/2018
Destruction in Kobe
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

9/30/2018
Fighting Spirit Unleashed
Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll
Golden Lovers vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii

The Silver Report: August 2018

Every so often, usually at the end of a main roster WWE PPV, I wonder to myself: "Why do I still watch this?" As I grow older and mature as a wrestling fan, that question becomes harder to answer.

It may be nostalgia, but I can't think of a time where I've been so disengaged by Raw and SmackDown. I don't even watch them live anymore. To be honest, my time isn't worth wasting five hours on a subpar to bad episode. If there is something worth watching, I have the episodes saved on my PVR to check out at a later date — if I even get to them.

Getting back to my conundrum, I'd say I keep watching out of loyalty. I got into professional wrestling because of WWE and originally, I felt an obligation to support them due to that. Over time I came to realize how little WWE as a company cared about their fans — despite what their executives may say — and my loyalty shifted. Nowadays, it's a loyalty to the great men and women, like AJ Styles, Asuka, Bayley, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura, that put their bodies on the line for our entertainment.

So in conclusion, as long as WWE employs wrestlers that I like, then I will still watch and cheer on, no matter how much I want to tear my hair out sometimes. Guess the frustration has become part of the fun.

You Can't Beat God

After 90 grueling matches, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi were the two left standing as block winners of the 28th G1 Climax. Tanahashi held Okada to a 30-minute draw in order to win A Block, while Ibushi won B Block, thanks to having wins over the three men (Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito, and Zack Sabre Jr.) he ended up in a four way tie with. 

Despite their taxing journeys to the G1 finals, only one of them would get the chance to main event WrestleKingdom 13. The question is: will Ibushi overcome the man he considers God or will Tanahashi move one step closer to regaining his position at the top of New Japan?

With Omega in Ibushi's corner and Katsuyori Shibata in Tanahashi's, both men waged war for 35 minutes. As they hit each other with hellacious strikes and devastating moves, Ibushi seemed to be on his way to conquering the biggest obstacle in his wrestling career. Unfortunately for the Golden Star and his fans, the Ace was far too resilient. Tanahashi took everything Ibushi dished out, even some incredibly violent strikes later in the match, and hit three High Fly Flows in a row for the victory. Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, Ibushi tried to reach God, only to come crashing back down to Earth. The disgrace of this defeat was too much for Ibushi as he would run to the back covering his face. 

While some may be confused why New Japan management wouldn't go with the huge money match of Omega vs. Ibushi to main event WrestleKingdom, especially since it seems to be building in the background for a while now, New Japan does long-term storytelling better than any wrestling company today. They book their major storylines around grand character arcs. Much like Omega needed to fall to his lowest point (the Bullet Club civil war) before finally winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Okada, this major setback will be the catalyst for any even greater triumph in Ibushi's future.

Source: Sports Illustrated

The Reign of Terror Is Over, Let the New One Begin

FINALLY, Brock Lesnar's year and a half reign as Universal Champion is over! So, why am I not happy?

This should be one of the best moments of the year. No more BS to explain why Raw has no heavyweight champion, no more five minute or less championship squashes whenever Brock decides to grace us with his presence, no more protecting a lazy champion because he's a supposed draw — I can go on. Unfortunately, WWE mucked things up with a smoke and mirrors show in order to protect their image.

First, Braun Strowman came down before the main event to declare he would cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase against the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. Stowman's explanation was that he didn't want a to be as cheap as those opportunistic cash-ins. While Strowman's logic was faulty at best, everybody let it slide since we all thought it was only moments away from Strowman hoisting the Universal Title. Well, it turned out to be a bait and switch as Strowman never got the chance to cash-in.

Leading into the finish, Lesnar incapacitated the Monster Among Men with one F5 on the floor and a few chair shots before he hurled the briefcase up the ramp. Distracted by his attack on Strowman, Lesnar walked into a spear by Reigns for the win. Immediately following Reigns' win, Summerslam would go dark before the crowds' negative reaction to Reigns and the main event as a whole was caught on-camera.

While I wasn't too keen on another Reigns coronation, what made this one sting was how WWE sacrificed Strowman in order to keep the crowd from turning on the main event. Stowman, one of the biggest stars in the company, was made to look like a complete idiot for not cashing in at the beginning of the match. While Strowman may not have won the ensuing triple threat match that would've followed the cash-in, at least, he could've been protected if Lesnar took the pin.

Now, we're left with the next chapter in Reigns' never-ending push and my emotions are mixed. While I am sick of Reigns being shoved down our throats, I can tolerate this title reign as long as we get good Universal Title matches. The defense against Finn Balor the night after Summerslam is a good start. Now WWE needs to keep the ball rolling and re-establish the Universal Title. If not, we could be in for another terrible reign.

Source: Independent

Must-See Matches of August

8/4/2018
G1 Climax Night 14
Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

8/10/2018
G1 Climax Night 17
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

8/11/2018

G1 Climax Night 18

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi

8/12/2018

G1 Climax Final

Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

8/18/2018

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4

Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa - Last Man Standing Match

8/20/2018

Raw

Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns

8/27/2018

Raw

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

8/29/2018

NXT

Undisputed Era vs. Pete Dunne & Ricochet

The Silver Report: February 2018

With past Silver Reports, these introductions can get a little long-winded when summarizing a week or month of wrestling into a paragraph or two.

From the New Japan debut of Rey Mysterio to the launch of ROH's HonorClub streaming service to end of Johnny Gargano's NXT career, February was packed with huge developments in the world of pro wrestling. While I can't get to everything, I got three big stories to talk about in this month's edition of the Silver Report.

Tournament Breathes New Life into 205 Live

From its inception, it was an uphill battle for 205 Live. No matter the talent of its roster or the amount of quality matches it laid witness to, it was the home of a division that was poorly booked from the moment it debuted on Raw. Eventually, all that talent and quality match-ups gave way to redundant feuds of the cartoonish variety and silly theatrics.

Well that all ended this past January, when former Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore was fired due to sexual allegations he kept from WWE upper management. As January became February, 205 Live got its very first general manager in Drake Maverick (the former Rockstar Spud of Impact Wrestling fame), a new show runner in Triple H, and a tournament to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion.

For the first time since the Cruiserweight Classic, WWE's Cruiserweight division is must-watch television and it's all thanks to this tournament. From crazy spot fests to technical showcases to hard-hitting affairs, every match has been a delight to watch. Even the matches on the lower end of the spectrum are better than your average Raw/Smackdown match.

With new faces running the show and serious, more wrestling-oriented direction, 205 Live has finally found its footing after a year and a half on air. Now, fingers crossed that Triple H and company can keep this show on the right course. If so, 205 Live may be able to compete with NXT as WWE's best weekly program.

Monday Night Rollins, Sunday Night Strowman

One week. Two superstars. Two unbelievable performances.

It all started on the February 19th edition of Raw. WWE announced a Gauntlet Match featuring all seven men in the Elimination Chamber, but nobody expected the nearly two hour match we got.

Although Braun Strowman stood tall at the very end, it was Seth Rollins' iron man performance that left a huge impression. Lasting a total of one hour and five minutes, Rollins dispatched both Roman Reigns and John Cena in two hard fought matches (a feat comparable to Chris Jericho beating the Rock and Steve Austin in the same night back in 2001) before falling to a fresh Elias. Despite the loss, Rollins came out more over as a babyface than he has ever been.

The next incredible performance came from the very winner of that Gauntlet Match, Braun Strowman. While Strowman was the second last competitor to enter the Men's Elimination Chamber, he left the biggest impact. Adding to his long list of amazing feats, Strowman would go onto eliminate five men before losing the bout to Reigns. Which came after kicking out of a quadruple powerbomb, Attitude Adjustment, Curb Stomp, Coup d'Grace, and Frog Splash off the top of a pod! For lack of a better term, it was bonkers. Even with the formulaic Super Roman ending, Strowman looked like the true face of the company at the end of this match.

Bullet Club isn't Fine

After all the turmoil that January brought to the Bullet Club, things only got worse in February as Kenny and Cody's feud ravaged the faction.

The month started with the announcement of Kenny Omega vs. Cody for the leadership of the Bullet Club for ROH's Supercard of Honor show on WrestleMania weekend. From there, Cody planted seeds of dissension among the Young Bucks and Marty Scurll (the three members that were conflicted by Cody's power plays). By the end of the month, the conniving Rhodes convinced Scurll to break off and form the Villain Club. Plus, he slowly worked the Young Bucks into moving up to the heavyweight tag division and in the process, turning on Omega.

On the other side of this conflict, Omega made strides in renewing his relationship with Kota Ibushi. The two were featured in a mini-documentary on New Japan World, which gave fans an inside look at their first practice back as a team and built excitement for their first matches back as the Golden Lovers.

All this turmoil came to a head at NJPW and ROH's joint Honor Rising shows at the end of the month. The Golden Lovers faced the likes of Cody and Marty Scurll in the main event of both nights (first in a six-man tag with Chase Owens and in a regular tag match the next). Despite ending the weekend with a 1-1 record, the Golden Lovers showed the world that they haven't lost a step with their unbelievable tag team offence and high energy. Plus, the fans in Korakuen Hall showed their appreciation tenfold as their cheers were deafening.

Although the Golden Lovers were successful, they didn't leave Honor Rising unscathed. Cody continued his mind games with Omega by planting a kiss on Ibushi in the middle of their tag match. Plus, the Young Bucks cutoff the Lovers' celebration to officially announce their aspirations in New Japan's heavyweight tag division and challenged to the Golden Lovers to a match, which New Japan later booked for March's Strong Style Evolved show in Long Beach.

In summation, February was an insane month for this ongoing Bullet Club saga and March should be even crazier as tensions build to Strong Style Evolved and Supercard of Honor respectively. So if you want to follow the best storyline of 2018 so far, best to keep up with the latest and greatest episode of Being the Elite.

Must-See Matches of February 

2/6/2018
205 Live
Roderick Strong vs. Hideo Itami

2/7/2018
NXT
Sanity vs. Undisputed Era - Six Man Tornado Tag Team Match

2/10/2018
New Beginning in Osaka
Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada vs. Sanada

2/19/2018
Raw
Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. John Cena vs. Elias vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Braun Strowman - Gauntlet Match

2/21/2018 
NXT
Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano - Title vs. Career

2/24/2018
Honor Rising Night 2
Hangman Page & The Young Bucks vs. Jay White, Chuckie T & Yoshi-Hashi
Golden Lovers vs. "The American Nightmare" Cody & Marty Scurll

2/25/2018
Elimination Chamber
Women's Elimination Chamber
Men's Elimination Chamber

2/27/2018
Smackdown
AJ Styles vs. John Cena

205 Live
Roderick Strong vs. Kalisto