WWE Fast Lane 2015 Predictions

Since this is being posted last minute, I'm not going to go into much detail, I'm just going to give my predictions with shorter thoughts than normal. As you can probably tell, I'm not extremely excited about the Fast Lane PPV. It seems like WWE goes from hype to mediocrity every month and now certainly isn't the right time for that to happen heading towards WrestleMania.

I'll give them one thing, they did a phenomenal job of hyping Bryan/Reigns on Raw however I still can't say I'm pumped for it. There's honestly not anything thing on the card that intrigues me past that match and the Tag Team Title Match. Although I will say that it's a promising card and I think it will be an entertaining evening of action regardless of how I feel heading into it.

1) Dean Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett - WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

This is a match that I feel could be a sleeper on the card simply because of how good both guys are, but then again, there isn't much hype around it as neither guy has been featured prominently on TV in recent weeks aside from their segment on Raw this Monday. I honestly think Ambrose will pick up the win here because he's on a serious PPV losing streak and I don't see them putting BNB over him.

Who I think will win - Dean Ambrose

2) The Usos (w/ Naomi) vs. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (w/ Natalya) - WWE Tag Team Championship Match

ROH TV Review - February 22nd, 2015

ROH TV Review - February 22nd, 2015

1) ACH vs. Alberto El Patron
I remember being really pumped when this match was announced so I was delighted that they decided to air it as the opening contest of this week's episode. ACH is mainly known as a highflyer, but he has a history of outstanding performances against technicians similar to Alberto, specifically his bouts with Kyle O'Reilly. This match definitely lived up to the expectations I had as we saw the styles of both men mesh together very well which created some cool exchanges & counters such as ACH countering out of a cross arm breaker attempt and catching El Patron with a bridging german suplex for a near fall. Good match that made me want to see these two face off again.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Michael Elgin vs. Mark Briscoe

Lucha Underground Review - February 11th, 2015

Lucha Underground Review - February 11th, 2015

A few weeks ago I found out that Dish Network had acquired the El Rey Network and that I would be able to watch Lucha Underground. I was ecstatic because of the wide variety of talent they have. Whether it be the Mexican talent like Fenix & Pentagon Jr or the Southern California talent like Brian Cage, B-Boy, & Famous B or well known names like Johnny Mundo/Morrison, Prince Puma (Ricochet) & Chavo Guerero, it's a loaded roster with quite a variety.

This week, I finally got around to checking out the show and I managed to catch last week's episode as well so I'd like to give some thoughts on that to start things off. The first match I saw was between Angelico and Son Of Havoc. I had no clue who either guy was, but they put on one hell of a match that really impressed me. Definitely the match of the night. Not by much though because Johnny Mundo and Cage put on a very good main event, interference aside.


That leads us to this week's show which begins with Alberto El Patron asking for some mic time. After his great debut promo in ROH earlier this year, that's something I'm looking forward to!

1) Argenis vs. Fenix

Chronicling the History of Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens: The NXT Chapter of A Rivalry That Has Spanned A Decade Unfolds Tonight

Chronicling the History of Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens: The NXT Chapter of A Rivalry That Has Spanned A Decade Unfolds Tonight

I did my best to incorporate the name of tonight's NXT live event into the title of this article however it still rings true. The next chapter of the Steen/Generico story that began in 2003 unfolds tonight on the WWE Network. This chapter began at NXT's last Takeover event in December and prior to that event, I pinned an article on how epic it would be if it DID happen. Well, it ended up going down as you probably already know and we saw the Owens/Zayn chapter of this story begin. Tonight that chapter reaches it's first boiling point as the two collide over the WWE NXT Championship.

Before that happens though, I'd like to take the time to discuss what led us to the match that will take place tonight. I'd like to take you from the humble beginnings of Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens during their time as Kevin Steen & El Generico all the way up to their current NXT personas. From their debuts on the Canadian Independent scene to their partnership & debut in America to the ultimate betrayal that led to a rivalry that revolutioned independent wrestling and crossed over into the two biggest promotions in the US. So let's begin with the first chapter which showcases how they broke into the business.

Chapter 1: IWS & Breaking into the American Independent Scene

Owens & Zayn broke into the business around the same time in the same area where they both made a name for themselves in the Canadian promotion, IWS around 2002-2003. In 2004, Kevin Steen & El Generico got their first big break in America by debuting for Combat Zone Wrestling at their High Stakes event. CZW gave the 4 top talents from IWS a chance to show what they could do in the form of a four way match. This bout featured Steen, Generico, Excess, & Sexy Eddy. The four men wow'd the crowd, particularly Steen & Generico, which led to them being brought back. This match has a big historical significance because not only did it lead to Steen & Generico being brought back to CZW, one of the hottest indie promotions in America, it also led to them heading to Southern California to debut for a company that they would take to the top of the independent scene, PWG.

In a shoot interview with Kevin Steen & PWG founder Excalibur, I learned of this story and now is the perfect time to share it. On that same CZW show in which the IWS talent were given a four-way match to show their stuff, four talents from Southern California were also given that opportunity. Those four men were Super Dragon, Excalibur, B-Boy, & Bobby Quance. All of which were mainstays in PWG at the time. Steen, Generico, & their fellow IWS stalwarts went on first and blew the roof off which ended up rubbing the PWG squad the wrong way. However, the two groups eventually became friends after talking which led to a now iconic encounter in October of 2004.

At PWG's "Free Admission, Just Kidding" event, Kevin Steen and El Generico made their debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. They were originally scheduled to compete in a tag team match, but it ended up being turned into a singles encounter at the last minute. Needless to say, the two men put in the same stellar performance that they did at CZW, and as a result, won the fans in So Cal over big time. The two guys put forth the best effort and soon became a permanent part of the PWG roster. Little did the fans in attendance know that the two rookies from Canada that just stole the show would end up making PWG a must-see promotion in the coming years. That's what makes the match so great to look back on. It's not a classic as they were placed on the middle of the card and basically just went out & hit all their stuff, but when you take into consideration what it was the start of, it's one of the most historically significant matches in Independent Wrestling history along with the four-way from CZW's High Stakes event.

After their impressive performances at CZW & PWG, Steen & Generico eventually became two of the hottest young prospects on the scene. This led to the top promotion at the time, Ring of Honor, giving them a chance. Both men made several tryout appearances for the promotion in 2005, most notably against each other at "The Homecoming" event. Once again, Steen & Generico stood out respectively and it led to them being brought back in the coming years.

Chapter 2: Best Tag Team in the World

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - February 2nd, 2015

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - February 2nd, 2015

The Announcement
As annoying as The Authority opening nearly every show of the past year may be sometimes, it's almost always great television as we get good promos from HHH and typically whoever he's in the ring with. There was alot of suspense going into this segment and they did a remarkable job of continuing to build that as the segment went along by having Rollins join the fray with Bryan & Reigns then cutting to commercial. The announcement of Bryan facing Rollins later in the night with the winner facing Reigns at Fast Lane got me hyped and gave me a reason to continue watching the show. Good opening segment.

1) Roman Reigns vs. The Big Show
The match these two had on Smackdown really surprised me. Reigns busted out some cool new moves including a crossbody off the ring apron and they actually clicked pretty well. However it wasn't enough to make me want see this again especially since it happened several times in January. Thankfully they wrapped this one up fairly quickly with a screwy finish that saw Rollins hit Reigns in the back allowing Show to win.

Match rating - **

2) The Ascension vs. Stardust & Goldust