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Kazuchika Okada (champion) vs. Tetsuya Naito — IWGP Heavyweight Championship, WRESTLE KINGDOM 12 (1.4.2018)

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As long as you’re happy, do not worry about me.

Me (via razor-andblades)

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KENNY SAVED KOTA

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There’s some sort of irony in the fact I got hurt in the ring with Seth and six months later we’re both in the same place rehabbing separate injuries trying to get healthy for the same show.

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WWE Superstars react to Finn’s return

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The first draft is the most creative, the most like real writing because it’s just you and the story.

Richard Price (Paris Review interview)

So true, the original idea 🙌🏻

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To say he changed my life, he saved my life…I can’t thank him enough.

Becky Lynch talks about Finn Balor’s influence on her career.

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Wrestlemania 17 - Austin vs The Rock

Wrestlemania 17 is known throughout the online wrestling community as one of the most iconic, with some fantastic match ups having taken place. For me though, there is one match I automatically think of from that show and it is The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin,fighting for, then, the WWF Championship. The year was 2001. I was a fresh faced ten-year-old, living with my mum and my sisters, ignoring school and real life; firmly committed to sitting in front of the box with some good old fashioned wrestling. My Grandad taped it for me on a blank VHS (just to give you all some historical perspective) and I watched it buzzing with youthful anticipation, with a pile of penny sweets in my lap. And also, the phenomenal video package shown before it. To look at this match we need to go back weeks before this extraordinary showcase of immortals and start at the Royal Rumble. During this match there was such an iconic moment between Rock and Austin;even the thought of it still gives me goosebumps to this day. The tease of all teases, Rock down in one corner during the match and Austin down in the other, Austin bust open and bloody but still intensely staring his opponent down as only he could. The two finally collectively and in unison rise up from the mat and the higher they rise, the more you can hear the fans roars amplify to a deafening crescendo as those lucky enough to be there in the room; home at their tv’s, and ten year old me in my bedroom in the FK postcode; realised and collectively thought as one: “THIS IS HAPPENING”. Remember; Austin and Rock are the two biggest names in WWE history in this 2001 time capsule of which we reside; and whenever they faced off, the feeling was electric. Who could forget the end of the show when Austin stood tall,resplendent,triumphant; the first 3 time winner of the Royal Rumble match, and his ticket booked for Wrestlemania. In stark contrast to such startling achievement,The Rock would have to bide his time before his chance would come again. Do you all remember? I do. Four weeks would go by and finally The Rock would have his chance to book his own ticket to Houston. Rock would defeat Kurt Angle in the main event of No Way Out, overcoming the Olympic gold medalist and also the interfering giant Big Show, and regain the WWF title for his 6th reign. Now the match was set, Wrestlemania 17’s main event would be one of the biggest in wrestling history as two of its most revered stars would clash once more. The tag line for this Wrestlemania was ‘Houston… We have a problem’ but I don’t think any of us had a problem whatsoever with this icon vs icon match up. WWE have a tremendous record of creating fantastic video packages to show before matches, to rile the fans and amplify their excitement for the upcoming bout, and this particular one in my opinion is the best ever. Limp Bizkit supplied the soundtrack for this video with their track ’ My Way’ and the lyrics were so fitting, so perfect, for this particular rivalry. Those teasing, whispery opening lyrics: “You think you’re special, you do; I can see it in your eyes”; ripple over the image of Stone Cold and Rock face to face in an intense stare down…and there’s those goosebumps, and I’m ten again. By the time the chorus kicks in, I already feel buzzing about the match and seeing images of the two battling back and forth is so exciting to watch. Throw in some ‘good ole JR’ Jim Ross and Michael Cole, (before he sucked) and it was like a recipe for magic, pure electricity, exhilarating entertainment. Images of The Rock hitting Austin with his own finishing move, which we had never seen before this point,added another dimension of sheer urgency and deep-seated resentment to the rivalry and illuminated the sense of one ups man-ship. When we come to the conclusion of the video, the commentary and sound bites fade and die; while lyrics from My Way echo over the images; flashes of scenes between the two shows with them toasting one another violently, blows my ten year old mind, in the ultimate display of manhood and testosterone, while the tension builds and builds to a crescendo of an all out brawl before they hit the main event. By far my favourite wrestling video package and it stands the test of time even when I watch it now in 2017. Now if you watched WWF back in 2001, you will know that it was never a surprise the pop that Austin would get from the crowd, especially with his universally known glass crash at the start of his theme, but Mania 17 was on another level. The decibel level must have been through the roof as when the glass crashes the crowd go insane and lose their minds, for me it’s the biggest pop ever in wrestling history. The start of the match was exactly what all the fans wanted, the two went straight at it throwing hands from the get go and got the crowd on their feet early. The crowd are so emotionally invested in this rivalry and show their appreciation through sheer lung power and make this match even more of a classic with their committed participation. The match itself is so physical from start to finish with both men ending the match bust wide open and both inflicting so much pain on one another; and we wait, bleeding with them; feeling their pain, frustration and physical exhaustion in the way only the most committed wrestling fans know how. No need for me to scribe a play by play detailed analysis of the match because if you haven’t seen it then I implore you to do so, if you have then you know why I don’t need to explain it all. The final result of the match though. I feel like it left a lot of us feeling robbed of a classic finish. The finish showed exactly what Austin meant when he uttered the lines to his nemesis: “I need to beat you Rock. I need it more than anything you can imagine”. This hinted at desperation from Austin but we didn’t know how far that would take him. It is something Austin has since said was probably his only regret from his career, but hey; it’s not bad at all when you can say that this is your only regret. I just feel the need to emphasise how high I regard this whole segment, from video package to end of the match. Two of my, and many others, favourite wrestlers of all time, at the height of their popularity;in front of sixty thousand wild wrestling fans and raising hell. For my money, it’s one of the best main events Wrestlemania has ever had and will hold a place in my memory for a long time to come. For me and the fans alongside me that watch it with a heightened sense of nostalgia; for those minutes, we are all eleven-year-olds.