Opinion
Cook’s Top 5: 2015 Wrestling Memories
Steve Cook’s walk down memory lane, and has reached 2015! A busy year for pro wrestling, Cook’s highlights include Kevin Owens’ debut, Sting, and more!
Steve Cook’s walk down memory lane reaches 2015! A busy year for pro wrestling, Cook’s highlights include Kevin Owens’ debut, Lucha Underground, Sting, and more!
2015 was a pretty busy year, one which didn’t give me much time to write about the pro wrestling. I wrote a grand total of one article, the 2015 411 Wrestling Hot 100. Once I did that, I thought that my wrestling writing experience was over. Even if I was still keeping track of things, I didn’t have the time or the interest to do anything other than tweet about the wrestling.
Plus, I had kind of promised myself back when I started that I would be doing very important things by the time I was 30 and would be out of the game barring unforeseen circumstances. So, I was.
Pro wrestling didn’t stop! Here are my top 5 memories from 2015.
5. Kevin Owens’ main roster debut
How do you make somebody seem like a big deal immediately? Pair them with your top star and let them look good. Owens had started appearing on NXT in December 2014 and wasted no time winning that championship and becoming the brand’s top star. May 18 saw Owens make his first appearance on Monday Night Raw, answering John Cena’s US Championship Open Challenge. Owens’ attack on Cena set up a non-title match at Elimination Chamber. Owens won a clean victory over Cena in his very first main roster match, something that not too many people can say. Are there others?
Cena wound up winning the feud because he was John Cena, but it was still a heck of a start for Kevin Owens’ WWE main roster career. As somebody who had seen him wrestling at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds back in the day, it was a cool thing to see.
4. Lucha Underground
For my money, Lucha Underground was the best televised wrestling show during this time period. Some will tell you it was NXT, but I got a lot more fun out of Lucha Underground than anything else going on in 2015. It featured all kinds of talent that are still doing things here in 2020, with the freedom to do some pretty crazy stuff. The storylines were a bit out there, and there was a lot of that cinematic stuff we’ve been seeing more of since the pandemic started.
Lucha Underground’s run peaked with the first season. Not that seasons 2 or 3 weren’t good, they just weren’t quite on the level of the first one. By the time the fourth season finally rolled around, I’d lost interest. It had a good run though, and gave a lot of talented people a start.
3. NXT TakeOver leaves Orlando
Lucha Underground had the best weekly wrestling show. NXT had the best intermittent series of shows going with TakeOver. Every single one delivered with amazing matches that blew away everything else going on WWE television/PPV at the time. Things kicked up another notch when they started taking the show out of Orlando. The first TakeOver event in Brooklyn featured a number of memorable moments:
-Jushin “Thunder” Liger’s first appearance in a WWE ring
-Finn Balor defending the NXT Championship against Kevin Owens in a ladder match
-Bayley & Sasha Banks stealing the show in a match WWE still produces specials about today
People wondered if NXT would be able to draw on the level of Raw or SmackDown. SummerSlam weekend in Brooklyn proved that NXT could sell the arena out too.
2. Sting’s Big WWE Run
Fans had wanted it for decades. The only top wrestling star of the 1990s to never work for Vince McMahon & WWE was Sting. People always wondered what Sting would be able to accomplish under that umbrella. Would he have become an even bigger star? For whatever reason, it never happened. Sting was happy working for WCW, then he became associated with TNA/Impact Wrestling for years.
By the time 2015 rolled around, Sting was ready to go to WWE. Sure, it was at least twenty years after people wanted him to go, but there was still hope that it could be fun. As we’ve seen in recent years, WWE tends to book their older part-timers very well. Sting…not so much. He made his big in-ring debut against Triple H in a match that a lot of people enjoyed because of the nostalgia factor. I hated it because the real New World Order never would have come down to back up Sting. Sting lost because LOL WCW.
Sting’s final match was a WWE Championship match against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions. Sting lost, and also suffered a neck injury on a Rollins turnbuckle powerbomb. All in all, Sting’s WWE run could hardly have gone worse from an in-ring perspective. They didn’t even get to do that Sting vs. Undertaker match that people had asked for for years.
1. Bumps in the road for Roman Reigns
Over the years, many of you have wondered why The Big Dog has never quite become the tippy top guy of WWE on the same level that John Cena, Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan were, even though WWE tells us that he is. For me, it comes back to two key moments in 2015 that didn’t go as well as they could have.
WrestleMania 31. A main event championship match with Brock Lesnar that most people agreed was a really good piece of business. It looked to serve as Roman’s coronation (something that would happen with Roman & Brock time again in the future), instead it served as Seth Rollins’ ultimate moment. Rollins cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase was an exciting moment in the eyes of most fans, but what did it do to make Roman Reigns a star? Reigns even took the pin because they didn’t want Lesnar to do it.
Reigns got another chance at the Survivor Series, where he wound up in a tournament final for the WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose. The Big Dog got the win, balloons & confetti started falling down and a star was made! At least for a moment, until Sheamus came down, cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and ended Reigns’ first WWE Championship reign within five minutes. Not the best way for your first title reign to go. Had it been something special, Reigns would have had a much easier time the last several years.
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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