Welcome, my people, again to another Love In! It’s been a long week that saw The Rock welcome a new daughter and WWE go to Saudi Arabia to put on the worlds most expensive house show. That’s right, this week’s news has run the gamut from life-affirming to downright offensive.
However, even in a week dominated by discussions on the moral ambiguity of dealing with a country with a less than stellar civil rights record, there are things to love about wrestling. Even the trip to Saudi Arabia is not without its good points as well.
The Daivari brothers got to share a WWE ring together for the first time, those new Saudi superstars who beat them up will get to work with strong women and broaden their horizons. There are positives everywhere if you know how to look right.
With that let’s get into the 5 Reasons to Love Wrestling this week.
5. #TitusWorldSlide
I’m just gonna start this one with a few tweets.
— The Usos (@WWEUsos) April 28, 2018
— Wrestling Memes (@Wrestling_Memes) April 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/Basselona_Barca/status/989979763782512641
I couldn’t stop laughing at this. Poor Titus, but he’s no Jerry Lawler; hiding under the ring is his shtick. He stole the show and it probably wasn’t in the way he was hoping. This moment doesn’t need much explaining, but it’s nice to be able to laugh at it all every now and then.
We take wrestling seriously sometimes. We know it’s a scripted show but we still pour over the news and argue over booking; we care. Sometimes too much. So it’s sometimes nice to just see a botch this hilarious (where no one gets hurt) and we can all laugh as we peek behind the badass personas wrestlers try so hard to cultivate.
This also leads me to something new to love about WresleTalk.com! Now the famous Botchamania YouTube series has become part of the WrestleTalk family. Check out the first article here!
4. World of Sport Reborn
Despite being of Scottish ancestry, sadly, I’m not from the UK. I went once in 2008 and they won’t let me back. They said they had plenty of Scots already without their Texan descendants trying to come back, thank you. Thus, tragically, I never got to witness the original World of Sport, but that doesn’t diminish the impact of its return for me.
The World of Sport aired in the UK on ITV for 20 years from 1965 to 1985. The program featured a bevy of sports from football/soccer to the more obscure like kart-racing and women’s hockey. One of the key programs for WOS‘s entire run was wrestling, which produced some of the legends of the UK scene like Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.
Now, after more than 30 years, WOS Wrestling is making a triumphant return. ITV has scheduled the series for a 10-episode run and filming should begin soon though we don’t yet know what talent will be participating.
The UK wrestling scene has been blowing up, and the UK fans are among the most die-hard and loyal in the world. When I worked a few events during the Dallas WrestleMania, all the fans at the special shows were from the UK. They were willing to endure Texas for the love of the WWE. Texas! A state with enough sun to make any British person instantly burst into flames and they still came.
WOS returning will be another outlet for the booming UK wrestling talent and fans alike. The growth of the indie scene is always something to celebrate, especially in a scene that will fully love and appreciate it.
3. Big Men Bring the House Down
Since Ep. 5 was late, we decided not to present you with a sub-par new episode so quickly after the last one. I can never give you guys anything but the best. So, since I missed last week, I’m gonna kinda cheat and go back and cover a few awesome matches we missed that deserve a spot on here.
If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and read the brilliant Josh Howey’s amazing “Top 3 in WWE” where he checks out all the matches from WWE‘s four main shows and picks the best of the best for you lovely people.
Top 3 in WWE Ep. 2 really stole the third spot this week by highlighting some of the big men that make this sport great. I’m talking the 10-Man Tag match on Raw that saw Braun Strowman put the Miz’s Raw run to bed and the match between Killian Dain and bridge troll cosplayer Lars Sullivan.
First, the 10-Man Tag Match. This was the Miz’s Raw swan song and Braun played him out in style. I could watch Braun deliver T-Rex dropkicks all day.
On top of a brutal ending, courtesy of a Powerslam, the betrayal of the Miztourage was damn near heartbreaking. It may be the last meaningful thing Bo and Axel do for a while but it drew us in and made us care. And anytime WWE can elicit that response from us jaded fans, to quote Martha Stuart, it’s a good thing.
Then there was Killian Dain vs. Shrek, I mean Lars Sullivan. Seriously, that’s a mug that could give the French Angel a run for his money.
The brutality these two men displayed in there no DQ match was horrifyingly majestic. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t Mick Foley levels of extreme, but the sheer size of the men involved multiplied the impact every slam and every chair shot
Watching a bloodied Killian Dain deliver The Divide to Sullivan through a table was a bigger car wreck than Mr. Magoo on the Autobahn. Just look at Sullivan’s head bust through the table. I surprised the impact didn’t cause a global extinction.
2. Daniel-San Waxes Off a WWE Record
Daniel Bryan is back. Yeah I know that’s old news, but he’s REALLY back! Not just with a light workload or doing no bump matches i.e. Bret Hart vs. Vince. Not only is he back but he put on a clinic in Saudi Arabia lasting longer than any performer in a Royal Rumble ever.
Bryan beat the record of another participant in the Greatest Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio Jr. In 2006, Mysterio went yard and won the event in the late Eddie Guerrero’s honor. Mysterio lasted 1:02 in the Rumble, finally eliminating Randy Orton to secure the victory.
Bryan beat that record last Friday by 14 minutes going an impressive 1:16. Though he had 20 more men to get through, Bryan’s feat is no less impressive. The endurance he displayed for a man who’s spent so much time away from the ring is uncanny.
Bryan is displaying almost no ring rust and it’s a pleasure to watch him each week tear it up. I love Daniel Bryan and the Herculean effort he put in for us at GRR.
1. #PayItForwardDay
Proudly supporting @TitusONeilWWE and Millions around the world for #Payitforwardday On April 28 we'll unite to create the worlds largest ripple of good&make the world a better place
Do an act of kindness,Share a photo with a❤️on your✋and tell the world you
#StandForKindness pic.twitter.com/DQ5jIzsGn1— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) April 28, 2018
Pay It Forward Day was a global initiative that took place on April 28 in 85 countries. The point of the movement was to cause a ripple effect of kindness by performing a good deed for another and paying the kindness forward.
Several WWE superstars took part in the event and posted it on Twitter.
Proudly supporting @TitusONeilWWE & millions around the 🌎 for #PayItForwardDay on April 28th. We will unite 2 create the worlds largest ripple of good & make the 🌎 a better place! Do an act of kindness, share a photo with a ❤️on your✋and tell the 🌎 you
#StandForKindness pic.twitter.com/xXmaV8Cy60— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) April 29, 2018
Join me and millions around the world for #PayItForwardDay On April 28th we'll unite to create the worlds largest ripple of good & make the world a better place
Do an act of kindness, Share a photo with a ❤️ on your ✋ and tell the world you #StandForKindness #payitforwardday pic.twitter.com/qPRxDnYXkP— Titus O'Neil (@TitusONeilWWE) April 27, 2018
Guys, this is more than a one-day thing. This is something we should do every day. Examine our lives and who we are. Let’s decide to be less selfish and give to those around us.
Donate to your local food banks and shelters. Donate clothes and time to those who need it. Give up a visit to McDonald’s and give that $10 to the ASPCA or whatever your cause.
This can be a cruel world, but it doesn’t have to be if we all make an effort to love each other without an expectation of anything in return. We will never change minds by angrily shouting people down like virtue signalers and SWJ’s, but with love, compassion, and understanding we can move mountains.
That’s it for this week edition of 5RtLW. Find me on Twitter @VladStValentine and tell me all the things you loved about wrestling this week. Also, be sure to comment on the Wrestletalk Twitter here.
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