My Breaking Point

If you read this blog over this past year and a half, you have probably noticed how conflicted I've been about WWE's main roster. Despite having the most talented roster in company history, the product is the worst it has ever been in my opinion — and I watched through John Cena's entire reign of terror. 

Although I knew the product was at its worst, I still hung on. There are still a bunch of talented wrestlers in the company. There were a couple storylines that I actually enjoyed. There was still hope — or so I thought.

I can confirm that after almost 16 years of watching, WWE has finally broken my resolve. I no longer have the will to watch a product that so vehemently despises its audience. It's not worth wasting my time, money, and brainpower on a wrestling show booked by an out-of-touch lunatic that has no desire to change with the times.

So what got me to this point? What made this rabid wrestling fan turn on the company that got him into pro wrestling in the first place?

Well, it was the main event of Hell in a Cell 2019. Seth Rollins was set to defend his Universal Championship against "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in the titular structure. 

Leading up to this match, Wyatt's Fiend persona was built up to be a movie monster. This meant he was both physically unstoppable and psychologically terrifying. In fact, The Fiend's mask looked to be inspired by horror movie classics and he carried a lantern made of his former self's severed head. The aesthetic was there, his debut match blew everybody away, and he was used sparingly to build the mystique. There was no way in hell WWE could have screwed this up.

Long story short, they did. And in glorious fashion too.

Objectively, Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend was a good match. Hell, it was an excellent match. 

Built around making The Fiend look absolutely indestructible, the match did its job to perfection. Rollins literally hit The Fiend with everything but the kitchen sink — and The Fiend kept kicking out. Fifteen plus curb stomps, kendo stick shots to the ribs, multiple weapon shots to the head, nothing could put The Fiend down for the count. 

Then the ending happened. 

With The Fiend's head buried under a ladder, steel chair, and metal toolbox, Rollins decided to take a sledgehammer to his opponent's cranium. Before swinging the sledgehammer, the referee stepped in to tell Rollins that "This is not who you are". After a minute of inner turmoil, Rollins used the sledgehammer to strike The Fiend's head. As Rollins made contact with the pile of weapons, the ref called for the DQ — in a fucking Hell in a Cell match where there are no rules!

While the ending was horrid, the post-match was even worse. As chants of "AEW", "Restart the match", and "Refund" rang through the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, The Fiend would resurrect to attack Rollins. This attack ended with The Fiend applying the Mandible Claw as fake blood poured out of Rollins like a fountain. 

At that very moment, the entire mystique, terror, and wonder surrounding The Fiend dissipated as I began to laugh. Not the reaction you want for your horror movie monster. 

The Fiend officially jumped the shark. And with that, I officially jumped ship.

I've been angry at WWE booking before. Hell, I lived through the 2014 and 2015 Royal Rumbles, Brock Lesnar's stranglehold of the Universal Championship, and the insufferable Roman Reigns push. In fact, you can look back into the archives of this very blog to find most of them. 

What makes this one different is WWE isn't the only game in town anymore. Look at NXT, AEW, New Japan, Stardom, Impact, PWG, or many others around the globe. There is a promotion to satisfy any fan of professional wrestling. 

So, I'm done clogging up my time to keep up with supposed "big leagues" when it doesn't satisfy me anymore.

The Last Report?

Over the past month, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this blog.

Like I mentioned before, I restarted The Silver Report as an outlet for my writing. I wasn't getting much of a chance to write in my job, so I thought it'd be best to do some on my own. While my intentions were more for self-improvement, I enjoy writing, especially writing about topics that I have a passion for, such as professional wrestling.

But ever since WrestleMania (maybe even slightly before it), I've found that The Silver Report was feeling more and more like a job instead of a creative outlet. And I didn't want that to happen. I wanted it to be a place for me to experiment with my writing and to have fun — not feel like I'm still on the clock.

Add in the fact that my list of wrestling to watch is growing at a rapid rate, one man just doesn't have enough time to watch all that wrestling along with work, a social life, and other hobbies. It was hard enough to watch all of the New Japan tournaments in 2018, but they seem to be getting longer each year. For example, this year's Best of the Super Juniors tournament had a good 30 matches more than last year.

Plus, the horrid post-WrestleMania output from WWE's main roster has me completely rethinking how I follow the main roster while keeping my sanity. I think only watching the PPVs and catching the highlights fo Raw and Smackdown from podcasts and YouTube clips might be the best.

So, what does this all mean?

Well, I'm going to take a hiatus from writing here on The Silverdome. I don't know how long it will be. In the meantime, I'm thinking of ideas to retool the writing style of this blog to provide as much content without working me to the bone.

With that said, I would like to thank everybody who has read The Silver Report, clicked on my social media posts about it, and shared in this passion with me. I hope it brought you some enjoyment and helped broaden your view of professional wrestling.

Must-See Matches of May

Before I end this, I wasn't going to skip out on a Must-See Matches for May. Considering I'm about halfway through the Super Juniors, I'll update the article with any other must-see matches from the tournament.

5/4/2019
Wrestling Dontaku Night 2
Evil vs. Tomohiro Ishii

5/8/2019
NXT
Adam Cole vs. Matt Riddle

5/13/2019
Best of the Super Jr. 26 Night 1
Shingo Takagi vs. Sho

5/15/2019
Best of the Super Jr. Night 3
Dragon Lee vs. Sho

5/16/2019
Best of the Super Jr. Night 4
Will Ospreay vs. Rocky Romero

5/19/2019
Money in the Bank
AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins

5/23/2019
Best of the Super Jr. Night 8
Will Ospreay vs. Bandido
Dragon Lee vs. Shingo Takagi

5/25/2019
Double or Nothing
Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks
Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho

The Silver Report: April 2019

WrestleMania 35 has come and gone. To be quite honest, I enjoyed this year's show for a good four out of seven hours. The wrestling was solid and despite some silliness, I was thoroughly entertained. Especially when Shane McMahon bounced off the top of that golf cart.

After the show hit its peak with Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Title (more on that in a bit), it just lost all momentum. Other than the main event, which exceeded my low expectations, it was such a drag to watch the last few hours.

While I can dissect this show even further or debate how WWE should shorten WrestleMania until the cows come home, we got a report to dive into.

The Underdog Story

Considering how big WrestleMania Weekend has become over this past decade, it always plays host to an insane amount of feel-good moments. Be it show-stealing matches, awe-inspiring spots, unbelievable surprises, or star-making performances, there is a lot to enjoy about the biggest weekend in wrestling.

Despite all our harping on them, the company that made this weekend a destination in the first place can still create some of the most emotional moments in the business. This year, WWE put on two matches that had many in tears — yours truly included.

The first match came to us on the Friday of WrestleMania Weekend at NXT TakeOver: New York. Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano clashed in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the vacant NXT Championship.

Looking at this match with a critical eye, Cole and Gargano had a very standard WWE multi-fall match, where the first two falls are little more than window dressing for the final fall. What made this match special — and completely overshadowed this big negative — was the crowd and their relationship with Gargano.

At the beginning of the match, the New York crowd completely turned on Gargano because they all decided that Cole deserved to win. Despite the initial boos, Gargano persevered and slowly won the crowd over with every kick out, rope break, and finisher reversal. By the end of the match, the entire Barclays Center was behind the man they vehemently booed earlier. The crowd's slow but organic turn amplified the emotion of the final fall to the point I had to fight back the tears as Gargano locked in the Gargano Escape for the victory.

Despite the obvious flaw of the first two falls doing nothing to build the final fall, you can't help but smile ear-to-ear when watching the final 15 minutes and seeing Gargano finally hoist the NXT Championship. Plus, Ciampa's surprise embrace at the top of the match made it all the sweeter.

The second match was on the big show itself, WrestleMania 35. Halfway through the nearly eight-hour show, Kofi Kingston faced off with Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship.

After 11 years with the company, Kingston finally got his shot at the top prize. Considering the emotional underdog story, nobody was going to accept anything but Kingston walking away with the gold.

As such, everybody in the sea of 82,000+ people in the crowd and the millions watching around the world sat on the edge of their seats for every move, every swing of momentum, and every near fall. Although Kingston and Bryan didn't have the smoothest of matches, the heightened tension made you look past the blemishes and get even more invested in the bout. This tense 23-minute match culminated with Kingston hitting the Trouble in Paradise to a thunderous pop from the crowd.

The cherry on top was the post-match celebration. As the crowd erupted in joy, Big E and Xavier Woods rushed Kingston for a loving embrace. You could even see the tears flowing as Woods lifted Kingston onto his shoulder. To make the moment more magical, Kingston brought his two sons into the ring to celebrate with the New Day.

These were easily two of the best matches WWE put on this past WrestleMania Weekend. From action to drama to emotion, they had everything you need for great pro wrestling. Most importantly, both had excellent stories that the audience could get behind. That's why people couldn't fight back the tears when watching these underdogs win the big one for their respective brands.

Source: Bleacher Report

A Tale of Two Promotions

After All In's sellout proved there's an audience large enough for promotions other than WWE to run 10,000+ seat venues, ROH and New Japan took a big leap by announcing their intention to run a show from Madison Square Garden. Despite some interference by WWE, tickets went on sale for the ROH and New Japan's G1 Supercard in early August 2018 and sold out in record time. With that, WWE's 58-year stranglehold over MSG ended, allowing any wrestling promotion to run "The World's Most Famous Arena."

Although the G1 Supercard made history months before it even began, ROH and New Japan still had the monumental task of putting on a show worthy of its historic moniker. Could they deliver? The answer to that is a little more complicated than you would think.

On the New Japan side of the show, they absolutely delivered. From the strength versus speed matchup of Ospreay and Cobb to the nine-minute joyous spot fest that was the Junior Heavyweight Championship 3-Way to the high drama of Ibushi and Naito, every match that had Gedo's guiding hand was wonderful. Even though I'm disappointed that Jay White's IWGP title reign couldn't make it through one title defense, the quality of the match, the resulting pop from Okada's win, and my confidence in New Japan's booking have me optimistic.

Unfortunately, the ROH portion of the G1 Supercard dropped the ball hard. While there wasn't anything egregiously bad, all of the segments and matches produced entirely by ROH were incredibly underwhelming, especially when compared to New Japan's output.

On top of it all being underwhelming, it all felt uncharacteristic of ROH. The company has always been known for its high-quality wrestling, but you wouldn't know it from this show. More effort was placed on poorly emulating ECW's hardcore matches and WWE-like angles rather than what made ROH in the first place — superb professional wrestling.

Looking at the show as a whole, G1 Supercard was a success. Much like All In did before it, it proved that wrestling fans are willing to support good wrestling on a grand stage. So, hopefully, this isn't the last time we'll see New Japan and ROH (as long as they get their act together) on such a big stage.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Must-See Matches of April

4/5/2019
NXT TakeOver: New York
Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. War Raiders
Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano - 2 out of 3 Falls Match

4/6/2019
G1 Supercard
Jeff Cobb vs. Will Ospreay
Taiji Ishimori vs. Dragon Lee vs. Bandido
Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

4/7/2019
WrestleMania 35
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey

4/17/2019
NXT
Buddy Murphy vs. Velveteen Dream

4/20/2019
Sengoku Lord
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

4/24/2019
NXT 
Johnny Gargano vs. Roderick Strong

4/26/2019
Road to Wrestling Dontaku Night 9
Roppongi 3K vs. Bushi & Shingo Takagi

The Silver Report: February 2019

Considering we are already at the end of March when this Silver Report goes live, there's not much for me to recap that you readers haven't already seen and possibly analyzed yourself. So, I'm dedicating this Silver Report to the huge developments coming out of New Japan's New Beginning tour. So, let's jump right in.

Let the Cutthroat Era Begin

Coming out of Wrestle Kingdom, one question bounced around wrestling circles: could New Japan keep up their high standards with the loss of big names like the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Kushida? Although New Year's Dash served as the start of this transition, all eyes turned to the first big tour of the year, the New Beginning tour, for New Japan's answer to said question.

For the most part, the New Beginning shows were similar to New Year's Dash — solid wrestling, but something missing in the story department. Despite the rather straightforward nature of this tour, Gedo saved the major developments until the final show in Osaka.

First, Kota Ibushi made his first appearance since suffering a concussion in his match with Will Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom. Ibushi's surprise appearance came with the announcement that the Golden Star had committed to wrestle exclusively with New Japan for the foreseeable future. For a wrestler that has notoriously avoided being tied down to one promotion, this is a major win for New Japan as they secure a big main event talent in this current wrestling bidding war spurred on by the introduction of AEW.

The final major development came in the main event of the Osaka show. After conquering Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom, wear and tear cost Hiroshi Tanahashi his eighth title reign. After a competitive 30 minutes, Jay White turned Tanahashi's High Fly Flow into a Blade Runner for the shock victory. As Red Shoes Umino's hand smacked the mat for the three, the air was sucked out of the Edion Arena and around the world. Although many speculated that we may see a result similar to when Okada first captured the IWGP Championship from Tanahashi seven years ago— the infamous Rainmaker Shock of 2012 — nobody fathomed that history would repeat itself with Jay White.

Well, we were all wrong and personally, I'm happier for it. While White might be a polarizing figure as people either love him for his untapped potential or hate him for being pushed to the top so fast, White's quick ascent to the main event of New Japan has filled the void that has been desperately missing in the company — a top heel. Ever since Naito and Omega transitioned from outright heels to lovable anti-heroes in early 2018, New Japan has been missing an antagonist force to unify the babyfaces. Although White's surprise IWGP title win catapults him right into the main event scene, it has also placed the Bullet Club on top of the food chain once again as the de facto heel faction. And to be honest, a dominant Bullet Club is a great thing.

On the topic of whether or not Jay White is deserving of his current position, I personally think he has grown into the role over the last year. That can easily be seen in White's character work and mic skills, which are among New Japan's elite. In my opinion, the missing piece is in the ring. Although White has consistently put on solid matches as the Switchblade, I can't think of one that has really clicked with me. Even his title match with Tanahashi —  while good — never got out of second gear. To prove the naysayers wrong, White will need to step up and consistently put on main event caliber matches throughout his reign.

Much like the Rainmaker Shock from seven years ago, Jay White's shocking IWGP Heavyweight Championship win signifies a new era in New Japan. What exactly that era will be is anybody's guess, but we do have a name: the Cutthroat Era.

Source: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Must-See Matches of February

2/3/2019

The New Beginning in Sapporo Night 2

Bushi & Shingo Takagi vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Evil & Sanada vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.

Halftime Heat

Aleister Black, Ricochet & Velveteen Dream vs. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

2/12/2019
Smackdown
Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Gauntlet Match

2/17/2019
Elimination Chamber
Boss 'n' Hug Connection vs. Fire & Desire vs. Riott Squad vs. IIconics vs. Naomi & Carmella vs. Nia Jax & Tamina - Elimination Chamber
Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton - Elimination Chamber

2/20/2019
NXT
Aleister Black vs. Roderick Strong
Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream

2/22/2019
Honor Rising Night 1
Will Ospreay vs. Dalton Castle

2/27/2019
NXT
Keith Lee vs. Dominic Dijakovic

The Silver Report: January 2019

As has become tradition, January starts the new year with high drama and excitement. Great matches, interesting storylines, and big news all seem to happen within January's 31 days. This January, in particular, has felt even more exciting. Thanks to the introduction of All Elite Wrestling (which I will get to in just a moment), wrestling fans are clamouring for information as rumours fly about wrestlers looking to branch out from WWE and news of major signings become a daily occurrence.

To summarize, it's a great time to be a wrestling fan as promotions jockey for your time and money by putting on the best product they possibly can. It's an even better time to be a fan of the inner workings of this industry as companies fight tooth-and-nail to secure talent and solidify their place in this new wrestling landscape.


No matter what side of pro wrestling you enjoy, we're in an exciting time as the industry stands on the precipice of another boom period.

Going All Elite

In late 2018, rumours surfaced that the Young Bucks and Cody were looking to start a new wrestling promotion off the heels of All In's success. With the financial backing of Tony Khan, co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and long-time wrestling fan, this new promotion would be called All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and had trademarks set for a number of potential shows.

While these rumours were swirling, an interesting storyline was playing out on Being the Elite. One by one the cast found a mysterious timer on their phone; a timer that looked to run out on New Year's Day. Originally believed to be WWE courting the cast members, that possibility was thrown out when the Bucks denied the offer with a superkick to Triple H lookalike.

So when the clock struck midnight on New Year's, a special episode of Being the Elite was uploaded to YouTube. The episode saw the Bucks, Cody, and Hangman Page meet in front of the Tokyo Dome as the timer ran out. Once time expired, the logo for AEW appeared on the Bucks' and Cody's phones while Page revealed a logo for an event called Double or Nothing, which was rumoured to be the follow-up to All In.

Despite the sparse reveal, wrestling fans only had to wait eight days for more information as the company held a press conference in front of TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. At the conference, Cody, Brandi, and the Bucks gave some insight into their vision for AEW including equal pay for all employees no matter gender and wins/losses having weight. Plus, the likes of Britt Baker, So Cal Uncensored, Joey Janela, PAC, and Chris Jericho were revealed as AEW's first signings.

While there are still a lot of unknowns at this very moment, the introduction of AEW into the current wrestling landscape is incredibly exciting. With the financial backing of the Khan family — who is worth more than the McMahons — AEW looks to be more than willing to spend top money on their talent, production, and marketing. Add in the fact that key parts of the company, such as the booking and talent relations, are being handled by wrestlers that know the business, it truly feels like something special is brewing in All Elite.

Source: WhatCulture

Trouble for New Japan?

When it comes to Wrestle Kingdom, New Japan knows how to deliver an incredible show. From unpredictable results to awe-inspiring matches, this year's offering was four-plus hours of wrestling bliss, bookended by two early match of the year candidates. Every title changed hands, the Elite was completely shut-out — most likely indicating the end of their working relationship with New Japan — four foreign stars got big wins, and Hiroshi Tanahashi completed his comeback by becoming the first G1 winner to successfully cash-in their title shot for heavyweight championship gold.

Despite an incredibly newsworthy Wrestle Kingdom, New Year's Dash was a rather tame show. Unlike previous years, there were no big angles or major shake-ups to the status quo. The only real surprise to speak of was Yoshi-Hashi's return from injury. Although new feuds were set in motion for February's New Beginning tour, everything felt like an extension of what was happening at the end of 2018. In all honesty, that isn't a bad thing as New Japan's booking builds over the months and years — it just felt weird.

Instead of building on the big upswing of momentum that was Wrestle Kingdom 13, New Japan feels like they're in the middle of a transition. With the Elite on their way to AEW, Kota Ibushi currently out with a concussion, Kushida leaving for WWE, and Chris Jericho's future with the company up the air, New Japan's roster has taken a considerable hit. While New Japan might be hurting at the moment, they are building for the future, especially with their foreign talent. Gedo has four men selected to be New Japan's big foreign stars in Jay White, Juice Robinson, Will Ospreay, and Zack Sabre Jr. Considering each of them had huge wins at Wrestle Kingdom and are all set to be permanent fixtures in the upper mid-card and main event scenes for the foreseeable future, they will eventually fill the current void. It will just take time.

Source: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Must-See Matches of January

1/4/2019
Wrestle Kingdom 13
Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay
Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito - No DQ Match
Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

1/5/2019
New Year's Dash
Will Ospreay, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb, Kushida & Yuji Nagata

1/12/2019
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool
Mustache Mountain vs. Zack Gibson & James Drake

1/15/2019
Smackdown
Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio

1/23/2019
NXT
Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner

1/26/2019
NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black

1/27/2019
Royal Rumble
Women's Royal Rumble Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor
Men's Royal Rumble Match

Best Matches of 2018

Source: WWE

It's that time of year again. Time to look back at the past year and determine which matches were the best of the best.

Personally, I'm finding it harder and harder to whittle down the list since there is so much high-quality wrestling readily available. I only regularly follow WWE and New Japan, which is just a small piece of this enormous pie that is professional wrestling. There are great matches happening everywhere — and some aren't even televised!

What I'm trying to say is don't take this or any other "Best of 2018" as the be-all end-all. It's all subjective since we all like and dislike different things. Use these lists to get a feel for matches you may have missed or gain a new appreciation for the matches you already love.

So without further ado, here are my favourite matches from 2018 in chronological order. If you are looking to check any of these bouts for yourself, I highly recommend subscribing to the WWE Network, NJPW World, and/or the Global Wrestling Network.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito 

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12

While Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho gets all the attention from fans and critics, it's the main of Wrestle Kingdom 12 that does it for yours truly.

Going into this match, both men wanted a chance to redeem their underwhelming IWGP Heavyweight Championship match from four years prior. Suffice to say, they did just that and more. In fact, Okada and Naito put on one of the slickest matches of the year as they kept the fast and dramatic pace you see in the closing minutes of most New Japan matches going for nearly 30 minutes.

Despite falling short of fulfilling his destiny of winning the Heavyweight Title in the Tokyo Dome, Naito proved to the critics and the world that he can deliver when the lights are the brightest.

Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano 

NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia

With how many phenomenal NXT TakeOver matches that happened in 2018, it can be easy to forget that arguably the best year in NXT history all started with this bout.

As the first match by WWE to receive five stars from Dave Meltzer in over six years, Almas vs. Gargano was nothing short of special. Looking at this match technically, it's a master class in wrestling. Both men weaved together moves and counters in a way that was much more than a combat sport — it was pure artistry.

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

Nothing last year could touch the feud between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. From their beloved partnership as #DIY to Ciampa's heartbreaking betrayal, the NXT faithful watched this feud bubble in the background for two years before it was brought front and center for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.

Unlike Gargano's wrestling clinic with Almas, this Unsanctioned match was all about storytelling. The match slowly built over the course of its 40-minute runtime by making some ingenious callbacks to their match at the Cruiserweight Classic, Gargano's sacrifice in the ladder match against the Authors of Pain, and Ciampa's attacks with the crutch. After an emotionally draining 40 minutes, this slow burn hit its climax as Gargano used Ciampa's own knee brace — from the knee injury that led to Ciampa's betrayal — for the submission victory.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Night 2

To newer fans of New Japan brought in by the likes of Okada, Omega, Naito, and Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi felt like a relic of a bygone era. Although the Ace was key in leading New Japan to its current success, many — myself included — believed his position at the top of the company had been passed to the new crop of main event talent.

Well, we were all wrong as Tanahashi used 2018 to prove to his critics that he is still one of the best wrestlers on the planet. And this meeting with Okada at Wrestling Dontaku was the match that made everyone take notice.

Despite falling short of stopping Okada's record-breaking title reign, Tanahashi put on an unbelievable performance that saw the Ace hit Okada with everything from his signature Slingblade and High Fly Flow to Okada's own Tombstone Piledriver and Rainmaker lariat.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori 

NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 25 Finals

Rather than being a spectacle of high flying and fast-paced action that the Junior Heavyweights are known for, the finals between Hiromu Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori blended the disparate styles showcased throughout the Best of the Super Jr. tourney into one epic match-up.

The match was mostly a technical affair where both men worked over different body parts. Fast-paced action segments and huge spots were used as brief flourishes, heavy hitting strong style strike exchanges emphasized the physical toll of the match, and quick move-countermove sequences conveyed their intense desperation to win.

All-in-all, this is the absolute best of New Japan's Junior division putting on a 34-minute wrestling clinic. Enough said.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega 

NJPW Dominion 2018

Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. The fourth meeting between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada — their third for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship — was easily the tensest match of 2018.

This match was so tense that every move felt monumental. The swings in momentum made your heart skip a beat, especially if you were cheering for Omega. Each fall in this two out of three fall affair built to an incredible crescendo as Omega hit the One-Winged Angel for the final three count to the soundtrack of Don Callis repeatedly screaming "Hook the leg!"

As the culmination of Kenny Omega's two-year journey to the top of New Japan, this match is as perfect as you can get in this sport. I know that I couldn't hold back the tears when the final fall was recorded — and a match that can move one to tears is indeed special.

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

NXT TakeOver: Chicago II

Did you think this feud was over with the Unsanctioned match at TakeOver: New Orleans? Well, think again.

The deep-seated hatred between Gargano and Ciampa boiled over into a Street Fight reminiscent of the old-school hardcore matches from the late 90s and early 2000s. As such, both men tried to maim each other with anything they could get their hands on — even ripping up the ring to reveal the wooden boarding underneath! Every strike, grapple, and weapon shot escalated the tension of the match until it was all released through the incredible and highly emotional climax.

While I've gone into detail on it before, the final five to 10 minutes of this Street Fight skyrocketed it to legendary status. Seeing Ciampa pull Gargano down to his level by making Johnny Wrestling snap felt like watching the fall of a once great superhero. It unleashed demons within Gargano that have gone onto mold him into something darker and arguably better.

Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed Era 

NXT 7/11/2018

Considering the consistently excellent quality of NXT TakeOvers, people have forgotten how good matches on NXT TV can be.

During 2018, NXT TV played host to a whole bunch of matches that could've easily stolen the show at a TakeOver. Although I don't have enough room to highlight them all here — that's what the Silver Report's Must-See Matches section is for — there's one match that deserves to be showcased on this list. That match is Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed Era from the July 11 edition of NXT.

Looking at this match on a base level, it's a textbook tag team match. The heels (Undisputed Era) isolate a member of the face team (Moustache Mountain) and work over a body part until the faces get the hot tag. What makes this match special is how it slightly subverts this formula to elicit a passionate response from those watching.

Most of the Undisputed Era's offense is spent dissecting Trent Seven's leg in order to set up the impassioned finish. After Tyler Bate accidentally falls into Seven for a tag, the injured Seven puts up a valiant fight only to be caught into a devastating heel hook from Kyle O'Reilly. Blocked from breaking up the submission by the referee, Bate struggles with the decision of whether to throw in the towel or not. As Seven screams worsen, Bate caves, thus ending Moustache Mountains' NXT Tag Title reign but saving his partner and mentor for further injury.

Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan

Impact Slammiversary XVI

2018 was a major year for Impact Wrestling. After years of rampant mismanagement, laughable storylines, and horrendous wrestling, nobody thought the former Total Nonstop Action would ever turn things around. To the surprise of everyone, Impact, with the help of Don Callis and Scott D'Amore, did just that and Slammiversary XVI was the event that solidified their new place in the industry.

The one match on the card that — quite literally — hammered home Impact's bold new lease on life was Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan, Mask vs. Hair. While both men showcased some great technical wrestling throughout, it was the sheer brutality and gruesome violence that etched this match into the minds of wrestling fans.

I will admit I may be a little bit biased since I saw this match live. But in all honesty, being there live to hear the ting of metal as both men hammered each other with railroad spikes and experience the crowd lose it when Callihan kicked out of a Penta Driver through two chairs was the best birthday present this wrestling fanatic could ever ask for.

Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano

NXT TakeOver: WarGames II

Johnny Gargano's slow descent into villainy was easily the best storyline of 2018. What made this storyline even better was that Gargano still believed he was the hero — that he was only doing what was absolutely necessary to get rid of evil incarnate, Tomasso Ciampa. Unfortunately, one of Gargano's "heroic" actions made an enemy of Aleister Black.

Much like Gargano's other matches on this list, the ensuing bout was nothing short of phenomenal. In a match that stole the show at TakeOver: WarGames II, Black and Gargano held nothing back. Black brought the stiff strikes and cracking kicks while Gargano brought the smooth chain wrestling and high-flying offense.

Although the wrestling was top notch, the story of Gargano trying to play both sides of the face/heel coin as Black cut through the shenanigans in order to get his revenge made this match feel incredibly significant to development both wrestlers. Plus, Black absolving Gargano of his sins before hitting the final Black Mass for the win was the cherry on top of this delicious match.

The Silver Report: December 2018

Let's begin this edition of the Silver Report by winding the clock back a year. I'd been at my current job as a copy editor for a year at the time and I felt that my writing was getting out of practice. While I had chances to write on the job, they were few and far between since writing wasn't one of my main responsibilities and because I'm a rather slow writer. So, I thought to start writing on here as a way to keep myself in practice and voice my opinions on a sport that I love, no matter how big or small my audience is.

At the time, I thought it'd be great to keep this up for at least a year just to see if I could do it. Now, here we are at the last Silver Report of 2018. Time flies when you're overthinking professional wrestling storylines and politics.

In all seriousness, writing on here has been very therapeutic as it's given me a chance to write down my feelings and show a vulnerable side of myself through the lens of wrestling. As such, I'd like to thank everybody who has been along this journey with me from liking my social media posts to reading these articles all the way through. I'm just glad this blog exists and it might help somebody somewhere broaden their views on pro wrestling or reignite their passion for this sport.

Considering how everything is wrapping up for the new year, December isn't the most newsworthy or exciting month of the year. While there was still good wrestling happening, just not as much as previous months.

A New Leaf for the American Dragon

With one swift kick to AJ Style's groin, Daniel Bryan's fortune changed for the better.

Before this moment, Bryan was the plucky babyface that fought for his dreams. Unfortunately, those dreams led to lackluster feuds with Big Cass and the Miz and slowly dulling cheers. In summation, WWE dropped the ball with Bryan's return to wrestling. Well until this heel turn.

With a kick to the groin and a running knee, Daniel Bryan captured his fourth WWE Championship while simultaneously throwing away the love and affection of the fans. Exclamations of "Yes!" were replaced by disapproving shouts of "Fickle". Inspiring speeches about fighting for one's dreams were replaced by self-righteous sermons on protecting the environment. You might say it was a "new" Daniel Bryan.

To be honest, my emotions were all over the place when Bryan captured the WWE Championship using nefarious means. I was happy that he finally won the WWE Title while healthy. I was stunned and confused that he would use heel tactics to win. Ultimately, I was worried that this heel turn was ill-conceived; just done as a moment to spike ratings rather than a fully realized development in Bryan's character.

How wrong I was.

From the cutting promos to more vicious demeanor, the ensuing weeks showed just how great this "new" Daniel Bryan is. Much like CM Punk's heel run as the straight-edge saviour, Bryan's eco-preacher persona took an aspect of his life — in this case, his vegan eating habits and belief in environmentalism — and turned it up to eleven. As such, these crazed antics have effectively turned Bryan into one of the best heels in the company, only behind Tomasso Ciampa.

Considering this heel turn is only a month and a half old, the best is yet to for the "new" Daniel Bryan and his hopefully lengthy WWE Championship reign.

Source: Figure Four Online

Must-See Matches of December

12/4/2018
Smackdown
Cesaro vs. Jey Uso vs. Xavier Woods

12/12/2018

NXT

Ricochet vs. Tyler Breeze

12/15/2018

Road to the Tokyo Dome Night 2

Golden Lovers vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay

12/16/2018

TLC

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

Asuka vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair - TLC Match

12/19/2018
NXT
Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano - Steel Cage Match

The Silver Report: November 2018

Looking at things objectively, November was a great month for yours truly. I got to reconnect with some friends I haven't seen in a while, went to ROH's Global Wars: Toronto with my amazing crew of wrestling fans, met Juice Robinson and Kushida (who put the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship over my shoulder), and got to watch an unbelievable NXT TakeOver: WarGames with those same wrestling friends. Despite all the great things that happened in November, I've been a complete mess mentally.

While I have spoken about this ailment in other forums, I've never talked about it here. I live with anxiety and depression. Although it has never progressed into anything severe — and hopefully never will — it is a constant struggle. Lately, I'm just finding it a little harder to cope, especially when I start thinking about my dating situation or rather lack thereof.

But what does this have to do with wrestling?

As one of my greatest passions, professional wrestling has helped me through the toughest of times. From watching a match to fantasy booking a current storyline to pouring over the latest news, fixating on professional wrestling and its many aspects, both in the ring and behind the scenes, helps get my mind off of the negativity that permeates my thoughts from time to time. While this next statement might sound like hyperbole, I can't think of how my life would've turned out without professional wrestling. For all the frustration it can cause, it has brought me just as much or even more joy and more importantly, relief from the anxiety and depression.

Crown Dud

While WWE's 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia was controversial from the very beginning — due to the country's restrictions on women — recent events have put this business relationship at the forefront of public discourse.

On October 2, Washington Post journalist and critic of the Saudi government Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia's consulate in Turkey. Khashoggi would never leave the consulate as he was assassinated within. The assassination caused an international incident that saw many countries and corporations cut ties with Saudi Arabia. That is everybody but WWE.

Unfortunately for WWE, this incident and the resulting investigation happened right in the middle of the build for their second show in Saudi Arabia, Crown Jewel. Despite being vilified by the media and most of the roster being against doing the show, WWE decided to put their head down and push forward. They put their head down so far, in fact, that they lost all common sense. To be honest, that's the only way you could explain the rather distasteful "respect is out the window" storyline used to build the Brothers of Destruction vs. D-Generation X.

As horrible as everything proceeding Crown Jewel was, it couldn't get any worse ... right? Right?!

Although the live crowd reactions may say otherwise, Crown Jewel was quite easily the worst pay-per-view of 2018. Confirmed racist Hulk Hogan was paraded out to "host" the show. The supposed WWE World Cup to determine the best in the world was filled with mediocre matches and won by Shane McMahon — who wasn't even in the tournament. Brock Lesnar squashed Braun Strowman to win the Universal Championship yet again, a result I should be frustrated over but I've stopped caring about the Universal Championship at this point. And as the awful cherry on top, the Brothers of Destruction vs. D-Generation was an absolute disaster as Triple H tore his pectoral muscle in the opening minutes, Shawn Michaels almost spiked himself doing a moonsault, Kane's mask slipped off at one point, and Undertaker forgot how to perform a simple Irish whip.

In summation, what goes around comes around. So hopefully, WWE's recent loss to karma will cause them to rethink the future of their business relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Source: SportingNews

When The Man Comes Around

WWE's handling of their women's division on the main roster has been laughable at best, but I'll give them credit for stumbling on gold in Becky Lynch's new badass attitude. Although this attitude started as a misguided heel turn as WWE creative tried their best to frame Becky as the villain despite overwhelming cheers, WWE finally gave up pushing Becky as a heel and started pushing her as a badass babyface, nicknamed "The Man", after Evolution. Positioned to face Ronda Rousey in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series, it looked like Becky's rising star in the women's division and WWE as a whole would be fed to the company's new golden girl.

Well, that wasn't how things would go down.

On the final Raw before Survivor Series, Becky Lynch would lead the women of SmackDown in an all-out assault on Ronda Rousey and Raw's roster of women. In the chaos, Becky would have a chance encounter with Nia Jax. Becky accidentally hit Nia a little hard, which caused Nia to retaliate with a wild fist to the face. The resulting blow gave Becky a concussion and a broken nose. Unfortunately for the women of Raw, that punch only fired up The Man as she laid waste to their entire roster before leaving through the crowd with blood smeared all over her face like war paint.

As a result of the concussion that Nia's punch caused, Becky was pulled from her much-anticipated match with Rousey at Survivor Series. Despite that disappointment, Becky's popularity has skyrocketed to heights unseen. You could say she has even surpassed Rousey as the most popular wrestler in the company.

Now fingers crossed that WWE can capitalize on their accidental superstar.

Source: WhatCulture

Must-See Matches of November

11/3/2018

Power Struggle
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki

11/11/2018
Global Wars: Toronto
SoCal Uncensored vs. Super Smash Bros.
Juice Robinson vs. Baretta

11/13/2018
Smackdown
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

11/14/2018
NXT
Hanson vs. Kyle O'Reilly

11/17/2018
TakeOver: WarGames
Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream
Undisputed Era vs. Pete Dunne, Ricochet & War Raiders - WarGames

11/18/2018
Survivor Series
Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

11/28/2018
NXT UK
Pete Dunne vs. Jordan Devlin

The Silver Report: October 2018

Good God Almighty, October was one wild month. A whole lot happened in the wacky world of professional wrestling. Some absolutely amazing, some very sombre, and some downright distasteful. Considering how much went on and how some stories bleed over into November — mainly everything involving Crown Jewel — I'll focus on two of the biggest developments from October.

Before you glance down and see there isn't a section on WWE Evolution, I wanted to write up a section, but noticed that there wasn't a lot of enough content for an entire section. I'd be covering the same points that I discussed when WWE announced the show. So, I though it would be best to give my opinion in the introduction.

With that said, I know my opinion on this show lies in the minority, but I found Evolution to be just fine. While it wasn't anywhere close to the dumpster fire that my friends and I thought it'd be considering the non-existent build, the show was plagued by WWE's generic match planning, their inconsistent rules (see the Last Woman Standing match), and an over-reliance on nostalgia acts and models. I give props to the women wrestling and all those managing everything behind-the-scenes for giving their all to make this show feel special. Unfortunately, everything rings hollow about Evolution when the women's division just goes back to its little representation and poor booking on the shows following it.

Roman Relinquishes the Universal Championship Due to Leukemia

Nobody could've predicted the topic of Roman Reigns' announcement to kick off Monday Night Raw on October 22.

The show started off rather normal as Reigns walked down to the ring to a chorus of boos from the live audience. The only thing off was his clothes as Reigns was dressed in a casual black top and jeans, instead of his regular black vest and pants. While the change in clothes might be easy to overlook, the kayfabe-breaking promo that followed was not.

Speaking as Joe Anoa'i, Reigns first apologized to the fans for not being the fighting champion that he promised before revealing he has been living with leukemia for 11 years and it has come back. As such, Reigns had to relinquish the Universal Championship. The boos suddenly stopped as the crowd just sat in utter disbelief, but that silence slowly turned to cheers and chants of "Thank you, Roman" as Reigns' promo continued.

While it might seem odd to those outside watching from the outside to comprehend this shift — to them, wrestling fans have booed face Roman Reigns consistently for the better part of three years to suddenly cheer him — nobody is heartless. The boos were originally out of protest of WWE pushing the Roman Reigns character to the detriment of the entire product; nobody in their right mind would wish the man behind the character to suffer. Plus, leukemia is a serious disease. Reigns may never wrestle again or he might — god forbid — lose his life to the disease.

In closing, I want to say get well soon Roman. We will all be hoping, praying, and cheering for you to conquer leukemia and return to the ring one day.

Source: India Today

The Fall of Gargano

Leading up to NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, Aleister Black tore his groin at a NXT house show. To write Black out of his scheduled NXT Championship match against Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, Black was found knocked out in the parking lot of Full Sail by William Regal. While this incident immediately to a stellar Last Man Standing match between Gargano and Ciampa at Brooklyn 4, it would eventually lead to something much more pivotal.

The episodes of NXT following Brooklyn 4 had numerous segments dedicated to Regal trying to determine Black's attacker before the Dutch Destroyer made his return to Full Sail. Despite finding a lead in Nikki Cross, Regal's efforts were in vain as Black got the information from Cross when he interrupted the main event of the October 17th edition of NXT. The following week, Black would again interrupt the final segment of NXT while on a rampage to find his assailant. Black's rampage ended by screaming at Regal, "Where is he?!" only to turn around to a superkick from Gargano and the reply of "I'm right here."

In one moment, this month and a half long mystery solidified itself as one of the best angles in NXT history and easily the best payoff to a mystery in WWE history. Although it was easy to predict that Gargano would turn out to be the assailant since he had the most to gain, sometimes going with the predictable is the best choice. Plus, this Johnny Gargano heel turn has been building subtly for months now, so to finally see it come to fruition was incredibly satisfying.

Although many may decry turning a natural babyface Johnny Gargano heel on the basis that it betrays his character, don't forget that even the greatest heroes can be corrupted by the darkness. The key to the fall of a hero is what they eventually learn from it. So don't worry, Gargano's redemption will come. For the time being, let's just enjoy this dark and twisted ride.

Source: Figure Four Online

Must-See Matches of October

10/8/2018

King of Pro Wrestling

Kushida vs. Marty Scurll

Cody vs. Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi

Raw
Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler

10/10/2018

NXT

Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne vs. Ricochet

10/24/2018

Mae Young Classic

Toni Storm vs. Meiko Satomura 

10/28/2018

Evolution

Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm

10/30/2018

Smackdown

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

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 2018

All throughout the month of June, there was one statement I heard repeated by the media and friends alike. It was that we are in the middle of new golden age for professional wrestling. And it's a statement that I have to agree with wholeheartedly.

Other than the poor state of WWE's main roster product (although SmackDown has drastically improved recently despite some stumbles), there is so much great wrestling being churned out on a weekly, maybe even daily, basis. You just have to be willing to step out of the casual wrestling bubble that is WWE. Or if you aren't willing to take the plunge yet, take a little deeper dive into the WWE Network and give NXT, 205 Live, and the yearly tournaments a try. They can serve as the gateway to New Japan, Stardom, Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, RevPro, and the hundreds of other promotions out there.

Although I can't watch everything, I hope what I highlight in these reports from the major storyline developments to the must-see matches helps you broaden your view of professional wrestling and entice you to try give these promotions not named WWE a chance. You never know, you might love what you find.

Omega Wins the Big One!

How long have we all waited for Kenny Omega to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship? Was it from the moment he won the G1? Or was it from the match that broke Dave Meltzer's five-star scale? Or was it from the 60-minute draw in Osaka a year ago?

No matter how long it took, the payoff to Omega's nearly two year journey to the top of New Japan was absolutely incredible. I know I couldn't hold back my tears when Red Shoes' arm came down to record the final fall. While it was part pride for a fellow countryman, the tears came from a deep emotional connection that Omega established with the New Japan faithful, myself included, through incredible matches, unbelievable selling, and next level storytelling.

While the result may have been the biggest takeaway, the 2 out of 3 Falls match that led to it was nothing short of spectacular. Running for a grand total of one hour and four minutes, Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada put on a match that lived up to their incredibly high standard and in some cases, surpassed what came before.

If you're not watching New Japan already, there is no better time than the present to give the best wrestling promotion today a chance.

Did Gargano Go Too Far?

A week after New Japan wowed wrestling fans with Dominion, NXT told them to hold their beer with the wonderful TakeOver: Chicago II. Undisputed Era's Strong and O'Reilly beat Burch and Lorcan in one of the finest tag team matches this year. Velveteen Dream continued his streak of strong performances in a losing effort against Ricochet. Even, Aleister Black got a great heavyweight brawl out of Lars Sullivan.

But all of those great moments couldn't compare to WWE's crown jewel of storytelling — Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa.

Although many fans dismissed the Street Fight beforehand for being a similar stipulation to their Unsanctioned match in New Orleans, this match was completely different. Instead of being a visceral wrestling match with little weapon use, this match was the closest thing to an old-school hardcore match we'll ever see in the WWE nowadays. From chairs to kendo sticks to steel stairs to the ring boarding, Gargano and Ciampa used every weapon at their disposal to maim one another. You felt the personal escalation of this feud with every punch and weapon shot.

The match built to a callback to the very beginning of this feud, which poetically began at the very first TakeOver: Chicago. Ciampa took Gargano over to the entrance way to reenact the assault from a year earlier. Unfortunately as Ciampa was setting up Gargano for an Air Raid Crash through a table, he spat on Gargano's wedding ring before throwing it away. Ciampa's final act of defiance caused Gargano to snap as he put Ciampa through the table with the Air Raid Crash instead. But that wasn't enough for the crazed Johnny Wrestling as he pulled Ciampa away from being stretchered out of the building for more punishment. In the ring, Gargano handcuffed Ciampa's arms behind his back before laying in with thrust kicks to the face and a vicious Garga-No-Escape submission. Since Ciampa was defenseless, security ran into pull Gargano away, but in the commotion, Ciampa would catch Gargano middle-rope DDT on the exposed ring boarding for the win.

While some may not have enjoyed this match compared to the TakeOver: New Orleans main event, I loved this from bell-to-bell. It was another phenomenal entry in this feud, which has catapulted both wrestlers in new directions. Ciampa looks poised to solidify himself as the number one heel on NXT by challenging Aleister Black for the NXT Title, while Gargano's obsession with Ciampa could have this beloved babyface deal with some inner demons before finally ousting his outer ones.

Must-See Matches of June

6/3/2018
Best of the Super Jr. 25 Night 13
Flip Gordon vs. Will Ospreay
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kushida

6/4/2018

Best of the Super Jr. 25 Finals

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori

6/9/2018

Dominion

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega - 2 out of 3 Falls Match

6/13/2018

NXT

Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O'Reilly

6/16/2018

NXT TakeOver: Chicago II

Undisputed Era vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch

Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream

Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa - Chicago Street Fight

6/19/2018
Smackdown
Big E vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe vs. The Miz vs. Rusev - Gauntlet Match

6/25/2018
United Kingdom Championship Tournament
British Strong Style vs. Undisputed Era

6/26/2018
NXT UK Championship
Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson

6/27/2018
NXT
Mustache Mountain & Ricochet vs. Undisputed Era 

The Silver Report: April 2018

You can't talk about April without talking about the biggest weekend of the year for pro wrestling, WrestleMania Weekend. Thousands of wrestling fans descended upon New Orleans for a weekend full of wrestling, not only from WWE, but promotions across the world. There was so much wrestling going on that no normal person could watch everything available. Personally, I only got a chance to watch the main WWE shows and some of the ROH and RevPro matches highlighted on NJPW World.

But with so much variety, there was something for every type of wrestling fan.

Forever Fighting

With an insane ladder match for the new North American Championship, Roderick Strong turning on Pete Dunne to finally join the Undisputed Era, and Aleistar Black claiming the NXT Title in a great bout, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans was well on its way to becoming the best show of WrestleMania Weekend. Then the main event took the show to a whole new level.

The third five star match for WWE in 2018 (the second being the aforementioned ladder match) and the second for Johnny Gargano, this unsanctioned fight between Gargano and Ciampa was nothing short of perfection. Building off of the last two years of their WWE careers, Gargano and Ciampa clashed in an emotionally draining main event that referenced everything from their match at the Cruiserweight Classic to Gargano's sacrifice in their ladder match with the Authors of Pain to Ciampa's recent crutch attacks. Unlike the last five star TakeOver main event which was a fast-paced wrestling clinic, this match built slowly to its intensely emotional climax as Gargano locked in a crossface with Ciampa's knee brace for the win.

When all was said and done, Gargano and Ciampa delivered a match that lived up to immense hype and proved yet again why NXT is so special. In all honesty, we would never have gotten a feud this visceral and thoroughly planned out on the main roster with its short-term booking and ever-changing politics. Although this match felt like the blow off for this feud, Ciampa attacked and subsequently injured Gargano before his NXT Championship match against Black, meaning this personal war is far from over.

The End of the Elite?

Unfortunately, the Bullet Club Civil War couldn't compete with the emotionally draining NXT main event, which happened 30 minutes before. Although Cody and Kenny put on a very good bout that weaved in plenty of stories from Being the Elite, it just didn't live up to the hype in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the story during and following the match was top-tier. Sadly, the in-ring action just didn't have the same emotional weight and fluidity as past bouts in this feud.

Despite my feelings on the match, Cody vs. Kenny served its purpose of moving the Bullet Club Civil War storyline forward. The most significant story beat happened at the end of the match when the Young Bucks went to superkick Cody only to accidentally hit Kenny. Immediately following the Bucks' interference, Cody would hit the Cross Rhodes for the win. Emotionally distraught by the Bucks being the ones to cost him the match, Kenny later told the Jacksons that there was no more Elite and that they're no longer friends.

This devastating break-up and Cody standing victorious with no Elite to stand with him to celebrate were the two somber moments that ended the landmark 100th episode of Being the Elite. As for when this story should continue, the Bullet Club Civil War was the focus of the first night of Wrestling Dontaku. Plus, April ended with the tease of Being the Elite coming back, but does this signify the reformation of the group or are things too far broken to fix?

Time for the Roman Reigns Experiment to Die

If you've followed WWE for the past few years, you know the story surrounding Roman Reigns. He's been pushed as the new face of the WWE since 2015, only to be rejected by the audience again and again. While Reigns has improved drastically since first being chosen by management, he's still seen as tainted goods by the audience despite WWE's best efforts to change said reaction. Long story short, it's been a trying few years following WWE's main event scene, which has been exasperated by everything that happened this past month.

Leading up to WrestleMania 34, WWE spent a full year building up Brock Lesnar as an unbeatable champion and the F5 as a one-hit KO in order for Roman Reigns to be the only person to kick out of the F5 and take the Universal Title from the self-proclaimed Beast. Well, one of those feats came true as Reigns kicked out of five F5s in the main event of WrestleMania 34. Surprisingly, Reigns fell to the sixth F5 in one of the most baffling decisions in wrestling history. In a mere three seconds, WWE wasted a year of build just to swerve their fans. How's that good storytelling? Plus, how does WWE expect us to get behind a top babyface that can never win the big one?

As bad as Roman's WrestleMania loss was, that wasn't the end of this lunacy. Three weeks later, Reigns got one more chance at Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship in a Steel Cage match at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Although leaps and bounds better than their WrestleMania encounter, the match ended in one of the dumbest finishes in a long time. In the final moments of the match, Reigns speared Lesnar through the steel cage with Lesnar landed on the cage panel while Reigns rolled onto the floor. Instead of naming Roman (the rightful winner of the match) the new Universal Champion since his feet touched the floor, the ref called Lesnar the winner.

This controversial ending may have worked as the first or second match in a series, but not as the third and hopefully last match between these two. Just like the WrestleMania match, this finish did no favours for Roman. Although it has given WWE a new "uncrowned" champion angle to take Roman's character in, it didn't endear him to the audience as Roman's pleas come off as unjustified whining and complaining.

It may have taken three years, but WWE might have finally booked Roman Reigns into oblivion.

Must-See Matches of April

4/1/2018
Sakura Genesis
Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll
Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

4/2/2018
Raw
Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins

4/6/2018
RPW Live @ WrestleCon 
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

4/7/2018
NXT Takeover: New Orleans
Adam Cole vs. EC3 vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream - Ladder Match
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa - Unsanctioned Match

Supercard of Honor XII
Adam Page vs. Kota Ibushi

4/8/2018
WrestleMania 34
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair

4/23/2018
Road to Wrestling Dontaku
Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

4/24/2018
205 Live
Mustafa Ali vs. TJP vs. Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese vs. Kalisto - Gauntlet Match

4/27/2018
Greatest Royal Rumble
50-Man Royal Rumble Match

4/30/2018
Raw
Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins