Batson's Blog

Sports-entertainment's biggest day arrived. At this point, with NXT TakeOver and the Hall of Fame, it really is pro wrestling's biggest weekend of festivities. How did it measure up? The WWE Hall of Fame was okay, but felt a little lackluster. I enjoyed some of the previous speeches more than the ones delivered this year. NXT TakeOver: Orlando was great, however! It was a great show from start to finish. Now, onto Wrestlemania 33. Considering it was supposed to be a 4 hour show, it ended up being closer to 5 hours -- and that's not including the pre-show and kick-off. I didn't end up seeing Neville vs. Austin Aries, the Andre the Giant battle royal or the Intercontinental Title match. I read, however, that Neville retained (good choice), that Mojo Rawley won the battle royal (awful choice! poor Braun sure is slipping down the ladder, isn't he?), and that Dean Ambrose retained (again, wrong choice). As for the main part of the show, it kicked off ...

Updated @ 11:02 pm Match 7: Elimination Chamber Match - continued Wyatt is going vicious with the ground-and-pound on Styles. Styles hits a sliding dropkick to Wyatt's left knee.  Forearm and a cover, but no luck. Wyatt back bridges up though.  Sister Abigail attempt, but AJ counters. Phenomenal Blitz by Styles, but he's clotheslined by Wyatt. 450 by Styles on Wyatt, but that doesn't do it. Styles removes his elbow pad.  Jumps up but Sister Abigail. 1, 2, 3 -- Bray Wyatt wins! Winner: Bray Wyatt (new WWE World Heavyweight Champion) I'm surprised, but I'll take it.  Hopefully he does good things in his reign --- Updated @ 10:57 pm M atch 7: Elimination Chamber Match - continued All three men are down on the mat right now.  Sister Abigail on John Cena.  Wyatt eliminates Cena!! --- Updated @ 10:56 pm M atch 7: Elimination Chamber Match - continued AJ Styles and Wyatt team up (or appear to) for ...

It's been widely speculated for months now that Jeff Jarrett's big announcement (coming in about 48 hours according to his Twitter account ) is that he is partnering with Toby Keith to start a new wrestling promotion. Anytime there's the mention of the slightest bit of competition for WWE I immediately get visions of a new era of the Monday Night Wars. I became a wrestling fan in the middle of that era -- in 1997, when Monday Night Raw was losing the ratings war to Monday Night Nitro . To Dixie Carter's credit, she hasn't killed off TNA . It's a company that's over 10 years old now. It's not a threat to WWE's global empire though. IF Jeff Jarrett is starting a new promotion and IF that's his big announcement, I'll have to remind myself that it's going to take a while before (or, more appropriately "if") it's going to be competition to WWE. Success won't come overnight. I'm optimistic, however, because ...

One of the best pay-per-views WWE still produces is the Royal Rumble, largely due to the Royal Rumble match. Pat Patterson did well when he came up with that idea. One of the great things about the Royal Rumble match has always been the surprise entrants. As the Royal Rumble approaches, there are still a few slots left that haven't been announced. Who's going to walk through the curtain in Pittsburgh? Will Christian or Evan Bourne finally make their returns? Your guess is as good as mine. Here are some people I'd like to see show up on Sunday though. DDP and Rikishi were originally on the list, but they just showed up at Old School Raw a couple of weeks ago. I'd rather be surprised by the inclusion of some other superstars. 10. RVD It's been a while since Rob Van Dam has appeared in a WWE ring. The Rumble would be a great chance to bring him back for a nice run through Wrestlemania season. Personally I'd like to see RVD and Antonio Cesaro ha...