Opinion
The 2018 WWE Slammy Awards (If They Existed)
The WWE Slammys…aren’t happening! But you don’t have to go hungry as Steve Cook has you covered! See what he’s awarding for 2018.
Remember the Slammys?
Of course you do! The Slammy Awards were WWE’s answer to the Oscars, Emmys & all the other award shows I don’t watch. They seem to come & go in spurts. The first two took place in 1986 & 1987. After seven years away, the Slammys came back for 1994, 1996 & 1997. Eleven years passed, and starting in 2008 the Slammys had their longest run of success, taking place once a year through 2015.
Then they stopped. We’re not sure why, other than Vince McMahon seems to lose interest with the idea every so often. Some of the Slammys shows were better than others. I enjoyed the 96 & 97 editions that took place the night before WrestleMania, before WrestleMania Weekend was a thing. I remember the Dennis Miller-hosted edition not going so well, proving once and for all that Todd Pettengill was a superior performer. The later editions were fun for the most part though.
I feel that one thing missing from WWE these days is fun. Bringing back the Slammys would be a good way to liven things up on the Red Brand. If there were Slammys this year, here are some of the categories & winners I think we would have…
WWE Network Show of the Year: Something Else To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard
I’m still kind of amazed that WWE agreed to this. One of the most popular wrestling podcasts for quite some time has been the one that Conrad Thompson hosts with former WWE creative team member/talent relations employee/talk show host/whatever the hell else he did there back in the day Bruce Prichard. Whether or not Bruce tells the truth 100% of the time, the stories he tells have been interesting enough to keep people coming back. WWE decided to bring Bruce & Conrad in-house for a show on the Network similar to the podcast. By “similar” I mean three hours shorter and with less curse words.
If you’re like me, your interest in podcasts depends on the topic. There were episodes of this I was very interested to watch. There were episodes I didn’t bother with because I didn’t care about the topic. I’m just amazed that this existed, and I have no idea if they’re coming back for a second season, but if they are I’ll click on the episodes of stuff that interests me.
Which is a step up from most WWE Network shows.
Surprise Return of the Year: Shawn Michaels returns to the ring at Crown Jewel
The controversy surrounding this event almost made us forget that this actually happened. For years, Michaels swore up & down that he would never come back. He did in 2018. Most of us assume it was the sweet Saudi blood money that did it, but he claims it was the interesting opportunity to work with HHH, Undertaker & Kane again. People claim a lot of things.
OMG Moment of the Year: Daniel Bryan kicks AJ Styles in the groin
You could really do a group pick for this and include all of the times AJ got hit in the groin in 2018. Or you could have a separate Slammy Award for Best Strike to AJ Styles’ Groin. I think Daniel’s takes precedence over the others, as it actually led to Styles losing the WWE Championship. It also led to Daniel saying he hoped his daughter would kick a hundred men in the groin, which was pretty hilarious.
Double-Cross of the Year: Dean Ambrose turns against Seth Rollins
Out of all the face/heel turns this year, the one that took place the same night that their mutual friend announced that his leukemia had come back has to take center stage. The turn was pushed ahead to that night to get the biggest response. Yet, I feel like it also had the effect of getting people to turn off the show, which makes sense to some degree. As depressing as Roman Reigns taking time off to deal with a disease was, his fans surely would have stuck around to see his friends. Once one turned on the other, why care? I think WWE made that one episode of Raw so depressing that people didn’t want to come back.
It didn’t help that future episodes were dominated by the presence of Baron Corbin. I mean, seriously, what the hell? If this was all Vince’s idea I support the existence of the XFL to keep him busy.
“Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That” Insult of the Year: “I don’t respect Brock Lesnar, and I damn sure don’t fear that b*tch.” – Roman Reigns
The Big Dog was on fire this night.
“This is Awesome!” Moment of the Year: WWE Evolution
We would need a moment on the Slammys for WWE to pat itself on the back for the Women’s Evolution, and what better way than to give the first all-women’s PPV the Moment of the Year award? Makes sense to me, and there were a fair share of “This is Awesome” chants that night.
Hashtag of the Year: #TheMan
Has anybody in WWE owned Twitter like Becky Lynch has this year? Absolutely not. She has been Straight Fire on that platform throughout 2018, and eventually it translated to the ring. When I first saw her trying to get “The Man” over as a nickname I rolled my eyes, but I’ll be goddamned if everybody else didn’t go along with it, and eventually I did too.
Rivalry of the Year: Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
Early on, these two promised not to be like Sasha Banks & Bayley, who will probably get votes for Worst Feud of the Year wherever people do these things. At the time, it was insinuated that Charlotte & Becky’s friendship was stronger, but I think most of us knew that it wasn’t. Sasha & Bayley’s temporary struggles were more awkward because their friendship was real. No matter what happened, they couldn’t quit each other. We’ve all had friendships like that. Maybe something happens that should make it end, but we keep hanging on due to our love for the other person.
Becky was quicker to quit Charlotte, even if Charlotte still seems to think there’s something there. I think that helps the feud, honestly. Sometimes mutal hate isn’t as strong as unrequited hate, especially if the matches go along with the story.
Match of the Year: Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
This match had a lot of things going for it. It was Ronda’s first match. It was a rare wrestling appearance from Kurt, Triple H & Stephanie. There was definitely car wreck potential, but it was an entertaining piece of business. NXT has had tons of five-star matches this year, and I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’m not listing one of them. I think this one would get the votes from the WWE Universe, and the people backstage.
NXT Superstar of the Year: Velveteen Dream
Dream seems like the cool kid with the NXT fans these days, so I assume he’d get the vote.
Breakout Star of the Year: Braun Strowman
I feel like at some point this would have been the actual answer, now it’s kind of default because I can’t think of anything better. Maybe Drew McIntyre?
Tag Team of the Year: Sasha Banks & Bayley
Another one I have no idea about. Most of the options on the men’s side have had mixed success this year. The Usos & New Day have been kinda there. The Bar’s had some good stretches. Most of the good teams on Raw have broken up. It seemed like Sasha & Bayley were going to break up for months, but they stuck together. If I’m giving Charlotte & Becky rivalry of the year, giving Sasha & Bayley tag team of the year makes sense.
Right? Sure.
Woman of the Year: Ronda Rousey
A lot of women have had good years. One would expect the Raw women’s champion with the most mainstream appeal to get the vote though. It’d also give her rivals another reason to hate her, which is always good.
Man of the Year: Roman Reigns
There are a couple of legitimate candidates here. AJ Styles held the WWE Championship for most of the year. Seth Rollins has been burning it down throughout 2018. At the end of the day, I think Reigns gets the votes. I assume they don’t bring him back for this, so Ambrose can accept on his best friend’s behalf and do something heelish to continue that story.
Now doesn’t this sound like a better way to spend three hours than most recent episodes of Raw have been?
Let us know what you think on social media @theCHAIRSHOTcom and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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Opinion
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS: WWE Bash In Berlin Immediate Reactions
Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM
Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM
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@TheMindlessPod @PCTunney @ChairshotMedia
prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – TONS of Great designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY – Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY – The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY – The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
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Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts… Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
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About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Opinion
AJ’s Top 3 Favorite SummerSlams
AJ is back with his annual opinion article, and this time the SummerSlam buzz got him wondering about his personal Top 3.
It’s been a while since I have done any form of writing and SummerSlam is this Saturday. Of all the SummerSlams I’ve seen over the years; which ones are my favorites? While it’s not a revolutionary idea, I figured everyone loves to debate favorites of well, anything. Don’t worry though because this isn’t just going to be pure recency bias. I’ve watched the majority of them so with the ones I put on the list, it hit me more in some way shape or form whether it was story, a really good match or it just felt like a solid event.
At least this proves WWE is trending in a good direction for me, when it gets the ol’ brain juices flowing just because a show is around the corner!
#3: 2022 (Ol’ Brock Lesnar Has A Farm)
Starting off the show, we get Bianca looking for a rematch against Becky from last years SummerSlam and it was better than the 21 second affair that everyone claims was a squash. This time Bianca holds her own and beats the Man in a fairly decent match, good way to get the event started. Next up is the heat seeking missile, Logan Paul against the former heat seeking missile because, well he wasn’t cut out for it and wasn’t a guy in everyone’s eyes, The Miz. After they had their blow off at Mania with Logan coming out on top which… isn’t awful, I just don’t like Logan Paul because he has that dude bro aura and swagger to make him more hateable than any other person on the card. Which I suppose is his gimmick…so…kudos?
First Championship match is for the US Championship and it’s as expected that in Theory, he should never beat someone to the caliber of Bobby Lashley which is no surprise. Dominik and Rey still back when Dom wanted the good fight against the Judgement Day before joining them later. The former Colts players, which they hammered it dahn in this match up showed that the canal swimming, trash talkin’, podcastin’, current RAW Color Commentatin’ goofball we all love, Pat McAfee came out on top again Bum Ass Corbin.
Usos putting the Street Profits on lockdown in the penitentiary since I believe this was peak Bloodline with the belt collecting and running all of WWE. Liv beat Ronda Rousey which isn’t astonishing but it’s not something people had on their bingo cards for anything with WWE so it was a nice little shock factor. The most memorable part of the night is obviously the Main Event, Lesnar brings the tractor, Roman catching the Microphone and Brock stands on top of the vehicle. Damn good match that showed off what they do in the ring since Roman caught his stride as the main bad guy and Brock… liked people after all of this? That is still a weird statement in my head. Brock being a good guy people person. If Liv wasn’t on bingo cards for wrestling, that is not on bingo cards in any aspect of life really.
That is more of the event that had solid matches and story going for it. No weird double count out, multiple people involved, 5 tag matches on the card. Things made sense and weren’t convoluted, had shocking moments that were great to see like Liv actually getting a title defense and there were the results we all expected at the time like Theory losing in 4 minutes to Bobby Lashley.
#2: 2009 (Are You Ready for The Return?)
This event wasn’t that strong. It was strong with the star power involved in 2009 with guys like Rey Mysterio as Intercontinental Champion, Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship as it was becoming as stale as month old chips and CM Punk was facing Jeff Hardy before he ultimately returned to TNA at the beginning of 2010 after this PPV. For me, it’s not so much of the show itself, it was more of the memories because the Balai as our friends Chris Platt and Rey Cash like to call my brother and I, we were just coming back into wrestling and we were TNA Fans. We didn’t watch WWE that much really, it was just what came on after another channel had old ROH shows before they moved to three hours and swallowed the 8pm Eastern Slot. No, the reason why this has so many memories for me is three main reasons. First, Orton and Cena. They have had their rivalry since the beginning it seems, being each others foils like Hogan and Piper before them and there had to be a stipulation where if Randy was Counted Out or DQ’d, he’d lose the championship regardless. This was prime Viper Randy and the obvious joke we had of Super Cena where he very rarely lost, unless it was SummerSlam surprisingly enough.
Number two reason was CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Hardys known for the Ladder and TLC matches in the past and this being the penultimate match for this feud and it was a banger of a match. If you didn’t know Punk before, it was a great introduction to his wrestling. I used to like Punk a lot because of this match because he could talk, wrestle… and not insanely personal with things in wrestling. In all seriousness, this was a great match. Ultimate risks, high reward for Punk grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship and he was given his next feud because of the final boss of SmackDown at that time. Thanks, Teddy Long.
The main and final reason though why this match gave me the memories flowing back is more of the fact that one of my closest and longest termed friends of 23 years, also loves wrestling. Back when we were younger, he’d do MoCap videos on YouTube with his figures. We’d have friends come over for parties at his house and we’d do the one thing WWE always told us not to do and that was try it at home. He was always stronger than me, I was always more charismatic. He had the power aspect and did things with brute force, I could talk my way out of trouble with parents if we did something wrong. There was always one thing that our respective mother’s always called us though… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh right, ‘Degenerates’.
As soon as we were called that, we kind of parodied the DX line. I was limber enough to do the HBK pose and do a Superkick before it became the new DDT and he would just Spinebuster people and knew how to do the water spit. So what do you think was the main reason we even ordered this PPV for his 13th Birthday? I think the two guys we were pretending to be were set to return on a tank and toss out some glow sticks. The return of DX, Shawn Michaels coming back after Mania with Triple H to deal with the Legacy problem was an amazing return for them and made everything so much fun.
So we have the solid card and this one has a personal story… what’s my number one SummerSlam? Is it personal? Well yes but not going into that. Is it a good card? To me, it was a phenomenal card! Is it memorable? Seeing how wrestling fans still mention at least three matches to this day.
#1: 2005 (Octopus in the Washer, Lover’s Quarrel and Where the F%#$ is Vickie?)
Quite possibly some of the best matches I’ve seen and one that was just the most hilarious moments of overselling in wrestling history, I know why I love this SummerSlam but it’s also a really good card at the same time. Redacted beats Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds for the US Title and they made jokes about it like, he can make a coffee faster than he beat Orlando and stuff like that, it’s pretty funny. Angle getting sick of Eugene’s antics for his Gold Medal was also a great bit they had play up, the Year long feud of Randy Orton and Undertaker was still going on where Orton comes out on top this time around to get the win back from Mania, Jericho returning for the match with Cena in a whole promotional thing for each other’s groups, Fozzy for Jericho and the Chain Gang doing Bad, Bad Man for Cena leading up to a match for the WWE Championship. JBL won a 20 man battle royal on SmackDown to win the Championship…… Opportunity to face the newest member of SmackDown, Batista but the three main matches that a lot of people talk about to this day; Edge vs Matt Hardy, Rey vs Eddie for Dominik and Hogan vs HBK in the Main Event.
I have reasons to enjoy the Hardy/Edge match but it looked like a real fight, it really made us believe that Matt Hardy was going to kill Edge because real names were dropped during this tirade from Hardy. It wasn’t Edge and Lita, it was Adam and Amy. Matt was so dead set on beating the hell out of Edge that they made a situation into gold and it was a great moment for this match to happen, I believe it was also an Unsanctioned Match too which added the intensity until matt got concussed and knocked senseless that it looked like he couldn’t fight for anything but the build up was what made it seem like a marque match. It made it feel real, it made it feel awesome and it made it feel personal.
Eddie kept tormenting Rey Mysterio about Dominik not being Rey’s but Eddie’s for the summer. That’s all you heard from Eddie being the weasel he was is hanging out with Dominik, making the world believe it’s his son and what not (Let’s not do a fast forward to today where he has the mullet, mustache and everything like Eddie) but they settle this in a Ladder Match where the top of it is a document for the custody of Dominik and my god, this match is better than it should have been. I expect nothing else from Eddie because the man hated having a bad match, Dom got involved and stopped Eddie, Vickie was late and stopped Eddie. The whole match was good it was just very weird with the premise but was a great match. I wonder if Rey regrets his decision to win the match now…
Octopus in a Washing Machine… those five words have resonated with Shawn Michaels’ performance in this match, forever. It was supposed to be an amazing match up between Hogan and Michaels, Icon vs Icon it said and suddenly Hogan’s back gives out, can’t do a trilogy of matches so we can only do the one and then pull out of everything after. This match was set up to be a classic and instead turned into the most unbelievable sell fest ever. A Hogan big boot caused Shawn to tumble 3 or 4 times, getting crotched on the ropes had HBK bouncing higher than he should have, being tossed out of the ring made it look like Shawn never broke his back in 1998 from how much he flopped and flipped around like crazy. It’s bad… or maybe even good that a lot of current wrestlers watched this match that went, “I can sell like that, I want to be a wrestler” and did. So good or bad, I don’t know but for some reason this PPV has always had a place in my heart for how memorable it was.
Those are my top three SummerSlams so far but who knows, 2024 has potential to maybe bump something or at least get me to consider a shift. Should be fun to see how the show plays out! What are some of your favorite SummerSlams?
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!