Welcome to the Love-In, have MEEERRCCCYYY!!!! Who doesn’t miss Dude Love strutting to the ring and hitting the Sweet Shin Music? All while selling his message of peace, love, and being groovy. Okay, maybe not so much the peace, but the love is what matters. Like his Dudeness, we’re here to spread that message of love. There are so many reasons so love wrestling. As Alex ‘The Gold Standard’ Gold said:
It combines a movie, a rock concert, athletics, a freak show, and a soap opera all in one.
Again, we look back at the week in review and declare five reasons to love wrestling.
5. RUSEV DAAAAAAAY!!!
Though Rusev’s push may not be what we want it to be at the moment, just keep buying your Rusev shirts and chanting and hopefully, it’ll change. Rusev gave us more reasons to love him and Lana with a series of short videos the ‘Ravishing Russian’ posted to her Twitter. The videos see Rusev and Lana impersonating some of the other Mixed Match Challenge teams.
Listen very carefully to @ShinsukeN and @NatByNature's plea for why @RusevBUL and @LanaWWE should get a second chance in @WWE Mixed Match Challenge…
Vote on the #WWEMMC Facebook page using #RusevLana! pic.twitter.com/iWRpdheM4G
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2018
There are also videos making fun of Big E & Carmella and Naomi & Jimmy Uso. Seeing Rusev do Big E’s wiggle had me in fits. As Lana and Rusev show off their sense of humor, we can’t help but love them all the more for it.
On top of this, Gangrel recently conducted an interview where he talked about training Rusev. The Brood leader said Rusev moved to the US and worked three jobs and slept in his car while training to be a wrestler. Rusev truly embodies the American dream. Happy Rusev Day.
4. A Long Time Coming
If you’re a fan of the indy wrestling scene and technical wrestling then you’ve probably been following the career of Zack Sabre Jr. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Best Technical Wrestler of the last four years has recently made a big splash in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Having joined the promotion almost a year ago, Sabre recently fought in the New Japan Cup tournament. During the tournament, Sabre beat top-level stars such as Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi, all by submission, to win a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship currently held by Kazuchika Okada. With these victories, NJPW was able to skyrocket Sabre to stardom and make him a viable threat to their top title.
Not only is this a victory for a Zack, a man who deserves all the success coming to him through years of hard work and stellar performances, but it was also a victory for booking. I love Road Dogg, but he’s dead wrong about wins and losses mattering. It’s why we never bought Jinder Mahal as champion; he was a jobber weeks before. This shows how key victories can elevate a superstar and put him in a position we all believe and care about. Check out Brian Joyce’s article covering Zack’s rise in more detail here.
3. A Week of Recovery
So we got a lot of good news this week in the form of injury recovery with Big Cass, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy all in the final stages of getting cleared and prepped for in-ring returns. Joe is already slated to be in a program with Roman, most likely over the WWE Universal Championship, and Jeff has already made an appearance in the Ultimate Deletion. As to Cass, I’d love to hear your ideas. A program against Baron Corbin might be fun because of their similar sizes. Cass could return as a babyface because, in retrospect, he was the face all along. I don’t think he’s ready for a title run, but paring him with Carmella and keeping them heel could make for a new Edge and Lita if done right. I mean the deviousness they displayed, not the awkward live sex acts.
In any case, the return of many top talents is a great reason to get excited as we gear up for WrestleMania 34. Also, with these guys cleared and no return dates set in stone, it could lead to some surprises at the ‘Show of Shows’. The excitement and anticipation is why we love this time of year and returning stars only gives us more to love.
While we’re on the subject of recovery… IT’S TIME! IT’S TIME! IT’S VADER TIME! Big Van Vader underwent heart surgery Monday morning in Dallas, Texas. While he hasn’t given a specific update, Vader has been active on Twitter since the surgery and seems to be recovering. The big man isn’t out of the woods yet, however, and while this may not be something to love, Vader is fighting and this is the time to send all your love and support to him: @itsvadertime.
2. The Ultimate Fan Service
So I’ve covered the Ultimate Deletion, Bray, and Matt so much that my editors have banned me from speaking about them any more. If they hadn’t threatened me with bodily harm, this may have been ‘5 Reasons To Love The Ultimate Deletion’. However, it was awesome, we all loved it, and it’s getting it’s rightful spot on this list. It would be number one, but well we’ll get there.
The WWE gave the RAW main event to something they obviously didn’t completely understand. This was totally for the fans and it was so good. True, this could have been so much more. A whole Wyatt Family vs. Matt and Jeff, with a proper build, may have been more epic. T This did, however, breathe new life and interest into two flailing characters. They needed this, we needed this, and it was WOOOOONNNDDDEEEERRRFFFUUULLLL!!!
Matt kept the story going with a follow-up video and a few tweets responding to Hulk Hogan and Mick Foley. He even told Hogan a dip in the Lake of Reincarnation could do wonders for a “DELETED VESSEL”. Though, I’m not sure even that could help Hogan. Hell, getting a starring role in Black Panther 2: Jesse Jackson Forgives Hulk Hogan probably couldn’t help the man.
Regardless of the Hulksters chance of rebirth, the Ultimate Deletion was amazing. The whole thing was a wonderful send off to Bray and a brilliant rejuvenation for Woken Matt. The possibilities are endless now. What will Bray become, and where will Matt go from here? The opportunities, the insanity of it all… what more could you want?
1. D-Bry’s Return
I did an article on whether or not we should even want Daniel Bryan back because it may be selfish to risk his health. This piece posted hours before Bryan made his triumphant return. I couldn’t have been happier to have my work rendered OBSOLETE! Sorry, it’s hard to get out of Woken mode. This is by far the most miraculous and spectacular thing in wrestling at the moment.
Daniel Bryan beat the odds, beat a forced retirement, and returns to the squared circle after two years. When he came out on Smackdown Live it was momentous. I wept harder than a teen dumped at prom. I bawled like a toddler being spanked at Wal-Mart. I cried like Tammy Faye Bakker looking for donations.
How could you not weep tears of joy when Daniel Bryan performed in the ring for the first time in what felt like an eternity? When he hit those dropkicks in the corner on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens we all stood up and screamed YES! YES! YES!
If seeing someone we love trying so hard and give so much to come back isn’t a cause to celebrate, I don’t know what is. Daniel did something amazing and he did it out of love. Love for wrestling, love for his family, and love for us. I’ll leave you with the words of the person who we should thank the most for supporting our man D-Bry: Brie Bella. Mrs. Daniel Bryan posted this on her Instagram:
From the moment they told him No, he was on a mission to turn that no into a ‘YES’. I can’t wait for you all to hear his journey to this moment…his dedication, his mission and his passion. My daughter is lucky to have a Daddy who never gives up and who’s truly an amazing role model. I love you @bryanldanielson so happy that you’re back at the place you love, your home away from home…the squared circle. #YesYesYes #WWE #Wrestling #AmericanDragon
I’ll see you all next week, and remember: I love you more than Shane loves falling off tall crap for his father’s affection.
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