WWE Clash in Paris Preview & Predictions

It's the end of an era once again in WWE, as this Saturday marks the final PPV to air on Peacock.  Yes, the ESPN+ deal is kicking off four months early due to ESPN reeeeellly wanting something big to offer during their launch.  And what better way to ring down the curtain on the Peacock-WWE era than a half-assed five-match show where their top champion is absent?

Saturday is WWE Clash in Paris, and once again the company has assembled a largely skippable show featuring mostly 40-plussers.  I'm not sure there's been a PPV field as old as this one since the men's Royal Rumble 2021 where the median age was 39 and a 47-year-old won the whole thing.  There are twelve wrestlers featured on this card and only four of them are under forty.  And aside from thirty-year-old Logan Paul, the remaining three are 37, 38 and 39.  Keep in mind the massive main event they have planned for Wrestlepalooza next month (Why are they recycling an ECW name of all things?) to go head to head with AEW's All Out features two 48-year-olds.  Man does WWE hate elevating young people again.  

There was supposed to be a Naomi-Stephanie Vaquer match for the women's title but Naomi had to vacate the belt after discovering she was pregnant, and the match was scrapped.  Given that they cut the match entirely rather than pit Stephanie against someone else for the vacant title I seriously doubt she was slated to beat Naomi. 

Update: Up until today's Smackdown episode there were zero black wrestlers on this show, but they just announced The Wyatt Sicks vs. Street Profits for the WWE Tag belts.  Is this Ford and Dawkins' first PPV match in 2025?  Remember when Ford was being primed for a big singles push?  Good times.

Side note: The poster for this PARIS-based show is a reference to The Starry Night by DUTCH painter Vincent Van Gogh, and the subject of said painting is the view from his St. Remy-de-Provence asylum window in the SOUTH of France (over seven hours away from the capital city), thus it has nothing to do with Paris.  Cultural illiteracy in action.

Side note 2: With WWE moving to a $30 a month service starting in September it's highly unlikely I'll be watching any more of their PPVs for the foreseeable future.  So unfortunately my reviewing their shows will largely be a thing of the past.  I already had a Peacock subscription prior to the existing deal, so I wasn't giving WWE any additional money.  But I sure as shit ain't shelling out thirty bucks a month to watch a subpar wrestling show from a company that openly embraces fascism, accepts blood money, or covers up human trafficking scandals.  WWE and everyone in charge of it can get fucked.

Alright, let's look at this thing....

WWE Tag Team Championship: Wyatt Sicks vs. Street Profits

As I said, this match just got added today.  Nothing like waiting till the absolute last minute.  Wyatt Sicks just won the belts a month and a half ago from the Street Profits, so I think they probably hold onto them here.

Pick: Wyatt Sicks retain

Women's Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Nikki Bella

Really, we're going with Nikki Bella as a challenger?  When was she last relevant, 2015?  Nikki was pretty good by 2013-14 women's roster standards but was rendered pretty obsolete when the Four Horsewomen were called up and the Divas Title went away.  Why are we pushing nostalgia acts from one of the company's lamest periods?  Is Adam Rose coming back too?

Pick: Becky retains

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 Preview & Predictions

It's crossover time once again, and for us sickos that means the fourth annual AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door!

This year FD is a couple months later than usual, and it's also in London instead of All In.  So instead of a hard-to-fill Wembley Stadium, the show will emanate from an absolutely packed O2 Arena.  Since AEW is still struggling with US ticket sales for their weekly shows it's always a treat to see a show take place in a full large-scale venue to give the PPV that extra atmosphere.  It's also neat that this FD has outsold the previous three.

The Forbidden Door concept is definitely losing its novelty due to NJPW not at all being a hot promotion right now, coupled with my not wanting to see AEW's storylines interrupted for special one-off stuff.  But this year feels much more like an AEW show that happens to feature a handful of NJPW talents.  Most of the matches do involve ongoing AEW content, so it should fit right into their continuity.  The card is quite loaded up, albeit with a few caveats, and on paper looks like the strongest Forbidden Door lineup to date.  Let's take a look....

AEW Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate vs. FTR vs. Brodido

Well the long-running tournament to determine new #1 contenders ended in a time limit draw, which feels a bit like a copout, but on the bright side the addition of Brody King and Bandido to this match will undoubtedly improve it.  It will also be held under elimination rules, so THS is either retaining the titles or actually losing to another team.  Conventional wisdom would favor FTR to win the titles and then defend them in Toronto against Cope and Christian, although I don't see why that match needs the belts involved.  I'd actually love to see Brodido win here but I think that's kind of a longshot.  If THS retains I dunno who else they have to defend against.  I guess I'll go with FTR.

Pick: FTR

WWE SummerSlam 2025 Preview & Predictions

It's SummerSlam time again, as WWE brings us the 38th annual event, this time spread over two nights so we get even more commercials and video packages!  Hoorah!

This year's lineup looks.....okay I guess?  There are a handful of promising matches and a handful of not promising matches.  I'm betting as usual SummerSlam falls in the 7 out of 10 range, but we'll see.

True to WWE PR form the big media story this week is "AEW bad."  Yes, Cody Rhodes, WWE's babyface, who pulls down probably a good $5 million a year in that role, went on The Ringer podcast and pissed and moaned that AEW "disrespected" him and he "wasn't going to stand for it anymore."  Keep in mind this was close to four years ago these alleged events took place, they directly led to his returning to WWE as a conquering hero and becoming literally the face of the company, and yet here he is blathering on like a jilted ex-lover, the same way Punk did last year.  This shit is just embarrassing; WWE can't ever focus on hyping their own product, they always have to throw shade at their distant number-two competition and pretend to be the underdogs.  Fuck's sake, you insufferable sociopaths, your company is literally too big to fail at this point, grow your stupid asses up.  Hey Cody, no one who watches AEW in 2025 misses you.  Both companies are better off now.

Alright, rant over, let's pick some winners.  Side note: SummerSlam has four black wrestlers across 12 matches, for those keeping score.  That's above average for them I guess?  There are also four women's matches though, so that's progress.

Night 1

Women's Tag Team Championship: Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss

The company's least meaningful titles are up for grabs here and I'm kinda surprised Charlotte is relegated to this position on the card.  This will be.....a match.

Pick: Charlotte and Alexa capture the straps

NJPW G1 Climax 35 Preview & Predictions

Well this snuck up on me fast.  It's already that time again - the most grueling four weeks in pro wrestling, the NJPW G1 Climax tournament!  The company is still scrambling to find the next It Guy to build the company around, and while there are numerous promising contenders to the throne, the new Ace has yet to fully emerge....

It's been a very challenging time in NJPW.  With a host of really strong talent JUST BELOW the very top, there hasn't been an obvious choice yet to truly succeed the retiring Hiroshi Tanahashi or the departed Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito.  Nor have Zack Sabre Jr., David Finlay or Gabe Kidd quite filled the void left by their gaijin predecessors Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay and Jay White.  The G1 can help the cream rise to the top, but the fans need to connect with and plunk down their money for the Ace before he can be considered as such.  This tournament has a ton of young talent but is missing the usual star power, with Naito gone and Tanahashi nowhere near his peak.  Even perennial G1 MVP Tomohiro Ishii is absent this year.

Still there is plenty of in-ring ability on display in these two blocks, and hopefully our next top star will cement himself in this tournament.

Let's look at the blocks below:

Block A: Boltin Oleg, Evil, David Finlay, Callum Newman, Ryohei Oiwa, Sanada, Taichi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura

Block B: El Phantasmo, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, Ren Narita, Great-O-Khan, Zack Sabre Jr., Shingo Takagi, Konosuke Takeshita, Shota Umino, Yoshi-Hashi

 

As always I'll only go through the individual names who have a snowball's chance in hell of winning this thing (or at least their respective blocks), rather than the entire field.  

Block A: Evil, David Finlay, Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura

Block B: Gabe Kidd, Zack Sabre Jr., Shingo Takagi, Konosuke Takeshita, Shota Umino

AEW All In Texas Preview & Predictions

It's finally here, the biggest AEW show of 2025, All In Texas!  

At a time when AEW finally feels like it has real momentum and is becoming the hot wrestling promotion again (partly thanks to an incredibly dull, I mean more than usual, WWE product), what this company needs is another defining PPV event, like they had four years ago at All Out.  And this All In lineup fits that bill nicely.  The product has felt very focused in 2025 and the build for this show has been among the best for any PPV in company history.  The 25,000 or so in attendance this Saturday will no doubt be a very enthusiastic mob, comprising AEW's biggest North American crowd to date.  This is an historic show already, as the largest non-WWE wrestling gate ever on this continent.  And if the results are booked as expected there will be plenty of history to go around.

Men's Casino Gauntlet

This show will have not one but two Casino Gauntlet matches, which I'm not crazy about, but both should be entertaining and they've done a good job of building stories to be contained within them, as opposed to just throwing a bunch of people in the ring.  We know for sure Mark Briscoe and MJF will kick things off, and the build for just their exchanges has been pretty sharply drawn.  Mistico will also appear as well as Ricochet, Bandido, and Brody King.  Lotta good star power and athleticism already.  I assume we'll see Takeshita, Samoa Joe, Claudio, Hobbs, Gabe Kidd and Wheeler as well (unless they add a Trios Title match to the card, which I wouldn't be sad about).  Anyway the story seems to be building toward MJF getting another crack at the AEW Title at long last, so I'm picking him to win this.

Pick: MJF

NJPW Dominion 2025 Preview & Predictions

This Sunday is Father's Day but it's also NJPW Dominion 2025, New Japan's second-biggest show of the year behind WrestleKingdom.  I guess technically third-biggest now that Forbidden Door exists, but that's a co-promoted show.  Anyway, this lineup looks quite solid, so let's get to it!

Bullet Club War Dogs vs. House of Torture

This is the BCWD B-team vs. three of Evil's lieutenants plus a TBA.  No idea who that'll be.  But since the War Dogs won the big match to determine who gets the Bullet Club name, I'll go with HoT to get some payback.

Pick: House of Torture

Shota Umino & El Phantasmo vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa

Very odd that Shota and ZSJ are this low on the card in some rando tag match.  Should be a good one though if it gets time.

Pick: My gut says Team Zack

WWE Money in the Bank 2025 Preview & Predictions

Time for another half-assed "premium live event" from WWE.  Ya know, I used to think PLEs and PPVs were the same thing, but WWE keeps proving that theory wrong, don't they?  AEW's Double or Nothing was an absolute banger, one of the best shows they've ever produced, easily the best show of 2025 thus far, but hold up, here comes a near-throwaway PLE from the bastion of mediocrity!

Four matches, two of them Money in the Bank ladder matches, and if you've read my stuff at all over the past several years I've been saying for a long time it's time to retire this concept.  It's a lazy, undisciplined way to elevate new stars and usually doesn't do much to elevate anyone long-term (not to mention the multi-person ladder match is so beyond played out at this point).  Surely the "Booker of the Year" can figure out an effective way to get someone over without resorting to a cheap cash-in after the champion's already wrestled.

Anyway, let's look at the lineup (For the record, only one black wrestler on the card, Naomi.  Never Beating Those Allegations.  N.B.T.A.).....

Women's Intercontinental Championship: Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch

I expect this to steal the show like it did at Backlash, and it's Becky's "last chance" so I imagine she'll win the title here.  I guess Becky/WWE wanted to give Lyra a big win before taking the belt off her.  It does however follow WWE's tired pattern of "Babyface champion beats heel challenger clean but gives heel challenger another shot anyway."  

Pick: Becky

AEW Double or Nothing 2025 Preview & Predictions

This weekend marks the sevenths (SEVENTH) annual AEW Double or Nothing PPV, and also the sixth anniversary of the company's first show, DON 2019.  Man, what a game-changing time it's been these last six years of All Elite Wrestling.  Here's to many, many more...

Well it took them until the final 7-10 days to actually put this whole lineup together, but Double or Nothing 2025 is looking like a helluva show on paper.  Two huge tournament finals, one of which will fittingly headline the show, the annual Anarchy in the Arena match, a women's title bout, and two undercard matches that should deliver big.  Plus the PPV return of Nigel McGuinness!

AEW Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Sons of Texas

The one match that likely won't be above TV quality is this one, pitting the dominant tag champs against the unlikely challenger tandem of Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara (whose last PPV main card match was at Worlds End 2023!).  Obviously there's no chance of Dustin and Sammy winning this, it'll just be a means to further the MJF storyline.  Will he get involved, and will Bobby and Shelton appreciate it?  And when the MJF thing inevitably goes south for Bobby and Shelton, who will he team up with against them?  Wardlow?

Pick: Hurt Syndicate retain

Paragon vs. Don Callis Family

This one was just added on Collision and is a helluva trios lineup.  Glad to see Takeshita and Fletcher weren't forgotten on this show.  I have a feeling this will be used to set up one or more TNT Title challengers for Adam Cole.  Should be fun.

Pick: Don Callis Family

FTR vs. Nigel McGuinness & Daniel Garcia

This one should be fun.  I love that Nigel gets to wrestle once in a while; in his prime he was one of the best in the world and he deserved a better career end than he got in 2010.  The story here is Nigel doubting he and Danny have a snowball's chance in hell of beating FTR.  But undoubtedly they'll put up a gallant fight.  I think FTR wins in the end, and they should, but it'll be a fun watch.

Pick: FTR

WWE Backlash 2025 Preview & Predictions

WWE's already got another PPV this weekend, only three weeks after the abnormally late WrestleMania.  And boy does this show look skippable.  This five-match B-show thing is quite lame considering how much time they waste with video packages and entrances.  Mania could've easily fit 1-2 more matches per night without extending the overall running time, and so can these B-shows.

Also, not one black wrestler on this card, not one.  Never. Beating. The allegations.  Sorry.

Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta

This is one of three potentially good matches on the show.  Dominik is always either a heat magnet, or in the case of 'Mania, one of the most popular guys on the card.  Penta is always fun to watch.  I don't see any title change happening this soon though.

Pick: Dominik retains

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Preview & Predictions

This weekend is NJPW's annual Wrestling Dontaku two-nighter and while a lot of these matches are the usual filler tag fare, there are some significant bouts on tap, as well as Tetsuya Naito's final match with the company (for the time being anyway), albeit a filler tag match.

I'm only doing picks for six matches but let's take a look....

NJPW TV Championship: El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Oooo, this is interesting.  The current NEVER champ going after a second title.  I for one hope he becomes Two-Belts Takeshita, because he fucking rules.  Match should steal the show in spite of the fifteen-minute time limit.

Pick: Takeshita

WWE WrestleMania 41 Preview & Predictions

This weekend is WWE WrestleMania 41, their annual "buy one, get one extravaganza," as someone put it a few years ago.  More on that later.  Whatever you think of WWE's booking during this hot period, and I've personally been less than impressed with much of it, the general consensus for this year's build seems to be that Uncle Paul is running thin on ideas.  Even social media accounts that praise everything the guy does are expressing dissatisfaction with this slate of matches and stories.  I'll get into more detail as we go along, but there's a lot of wonkiness and general flatness to this WrestleMania lineup, and ticket sales are reflecting that (This will be the lowest per-night attendance for a non-COVID 'Mania show since 2006).  "In the mud," amirite?

Night 1

WWE Tag Team Championship: War Raiders vs. New Day

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are the only two black male wrestlers on either night.  AEW Dynasty had six on the main Dynasty card, including one in the main event.  Just putting that out there.  By way of a past WrestleMania for-instance, WrestleMania 13's seven matches featured three black male wrestlers - Rocky Maivia, Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq - plus the pre-show match included Flash Funk.  Between shit like this and WWE inviting Trump's favorite racist comedian on RAW and the WrestleMania roast event, Paul's never beating those allegations.  Ever.  Anyway this match should be solid.  War Raiders have had the titles since December so I could see New Day winning them here. 

Pick: New Day

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2025 Preview & Predictions

I totally forgot there was also a NJPW show this weekend, Sakura Genesis!

Haven't kept up that well with New Japan since January/February, but this lineup looks pretty decent.  Most of the new guard are represented on this card, although I can't for the life of me figure out why Gabe Kidd is stuck going after the Trios titles instead of being featured in a major singles match.

Anyway let's look at the lineup....

Yuya Uemura vs. Sanada

Like several of the singles matches, this one has a future vs. present/past kinda vibe.  Uemura is on the cusp of being one of the company's new Big Four or Five and a win over the compromised Sanada would help.  The match should be ok, but Sanada really needs to get surgery for that arm.

Pick: Uemura

AEW Dynasty 2025 Preview & Predictions

Well it's not the stacked-to-the-gills show that was AEW Revolution 2025, and this lineup feels decidedly B-PPV in comparison, but AEW Dynasty is this weekend and should still be a very fun show (with almost certainly a better main event than last month).

Sooo yeah, it's the beginning of a new cycle of storylines, whereas Revolution was the climax of several of the previous ones.  You're not going to follow up the greatest women's feud ever for example with something that tops it, only four weeks later.  Will Ospreay is probably not overshadowing the greatest cage match in history with a first-round Owen Cup match against a last-minute substitution.  But Dynasty will have some pretty great matches and hopefully, mercifully, if things go the way they should, we'll have a brand new AEW Champion who will finally get to continue the reign that never should have ended the way it did.  

Let's take a look at the nine-match main show card.....

Women's Owen Cup: Mercedes Moné vs. Julia Hart

The brackets of both Owen tourneys have been announced, and Mercedes is gunning for a fifth strap to add to her collection (I guess sixth if you include the Owen belt and the AEW Women's Title she's aiming for at All In).  Looking at this field she's obviously a favorite to win the whole thing, especially since Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Moné is the biggest possible women's match they could do in Arlington.  But it's possible they have Athena beat her in the semifinals to set up a TBS Title match between them.  What's not in doubt is that Mercedes is beating Julia here.  The match should be very good; Julia can deliver with the right opponent, and Mercedes is one of the best in the game.

Pick: Mercedes

AEW Revolution 2025 Preview & Predictions

Ho-lee shit, look at the lineup for this Sunday's AEW Revolution PPV.  In terms of match quality this might be the most on-paper stacked show this company has ever put together.  Look past the main event which is, granted, not the most exciting thing story-wise but should still deliver big in-ring, and there's a murderer's row of ****+ matchups.  AEW is definitely trying to keep the Revolution streak alive.  The build for this entire show has been excellent and AEW has had more momentum over the last couple months than they've had in a long time.

I'm just gonna get right into it....

Zero Hour: Big Boom AJ/Orange Cassidy/Mark Briscoe vs. Johnny TV/MxM

Yeah they're still capitalizing on Big Boom and his YouTube followers, but whatever, it's on the pre-show and doesn't matter.  If it entices some extra PPV buys, cool.  The babyfaces obviously win.

Pick: Big Orange Briscoe

AEW Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Outrunners

Alright, down to business.  The Outrunners are finally getting a real tag title shot, and while they sorta banana-peeled into it, the crowd should be pretty hot for this.  Magnum and Turbo are super popular and Lashley and Benjamin are over like crazy.  I predict a lot of dueling chants.  There's no way THS is losing the belts already but hopefully The Outrunners will look good in a loss the same way Harley Cameron just did.

Pick: Hurt Syndicate retains

WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 Preview & Predictions

It's February, er, March and that means it's time once again for WWE Elimination Chamber, the annual event where the world championship NOT being defended against the Royal Rumble winner gets a top contender for WrestleMania.  

Like Hell in a Cell, the Chamber was once one of WWE's most brutal gimmick matches, and like the Cell it was rather defanged during the PG era.  It almost seems redundant to have this match on the same PPV calendar as WarGames given how influenced by the latter was its inception, but whatever.  There have been some great Chamber matches over the years and some not-so-great ones (2002 I'm looking in your general direction), but it's usually a moderately enjoyable 35 minutes.  Having two on one show is taxing though, just like WarGames and the Rumble.

This year's lineup is only four bouts and on paper it's a decent enough slate.  Let's take a look.

Tiffany Stratton & Trish Stratus vs. Nia Jax & Candice LaRae

Okay I'm not sure why this is on here as it smacks of "free TV match," but here we are.  I'll keep saying it every time she's featured on a PPV, but if Triple H's decisions around who gets included on PPVs is all about talent regardless of ethnicity, then what in the blue fuck is Nia Jax doing on this show?  She stinks, period.  I don't imagine they brought Trish back to team with Tiffany just for them to lose, so they're my pick.

Pick: Trishany Strattonus

WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Preview & Predictions

It's January and that means it's time for the annual WWE Royal Rum-- wait, it's not in January this year?  What the hell??  Yes, for the first time ever WWE's equivalent of the All-Star Game is in February for some reason.  Fortunately the lineup this year actually looks pretty good, with the men's Rumble boasting several credible combatants with a chance of winning, plus the two undercard bouts look great on paper.  The women's Rumble not quite so much.  Then again only 1/3 of the field has been announced for that one.

But let's take a look....

Women's Royal Rumble

Yeah, not much star power going on here.  You have Bayley, Iyo, Liv, Bianca and a returning Charlotte Flair, plus five other names, Nia Jax, Naomi, Raquel Rodriguez, Lyra Valkyria and Ivy Nile.  I assume the newly signed Jordynn Grace will join the fun, maybe Jade Cargill will return from injury, and rumors abound that Becky Lynch will be back after a several-month hiatus.  But this match looks on paper to be yet another sequence of entrances without much in the way of story advancement, until someone wins.  And aside from the 2023 men's Rumble that approach has plagued these events for the last several years.  I think either Charlotte or Becky wins this to set up either Tiffany vs. Charlotte (so Flair can squash yet another up-and-comer's push at 'Mania), or maybe a Becky vs. Rhea rematch from last year.  I'll go with Charlotte though.

Pick: Charlotte Flair, so she can pad her World Title wins

NJPW/AEW/CMLL/ROH/Stardom Wrestle Dynasty Preview & Predictions

WrestleKingdom 19 isn't the only big event taking place at the Tokyo Dome this weekend.  On January 5th there's a huge cross-promotional PPV with stars from NJPW, AEW, CMLL, ROH and Stardom, and it looks on paper like a doozy of a lineup.  Among the numerous first-time bouts is the in-ring return of Kenny Omega, after 14 months on the shelf.  This show looks just as exciting as WK19, even if there isn't a big story to most of the matches.

Let's dive in.  Note: There's an 8-man gauntlet match where the participants won't be announced until the match is happening, so obviously I can't predict that one.

Pre-Show Women's International Cup: Willow Nightingale vs. Athena vs. Persephone vs. Momo Watanabe

I'm a little disappointed this isn't on the main card since AEW spent a fair amount of time setting up their portion of it.  The winner gets a title shot in a promotion of their choosing.  Since Willow is beloved everywhere she goes, I'll pick her to win here.

Pick: Willow

Pre-Show ROH Tag Team Championship: Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes vs. Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

House of Torture is involved here so get ready for a clusterfuck.  I suppose HoT could win to set up a title defense in the US but I'd be a little surprised if the ROH Tag belts get that kind of treatment at this point.  I think the champs keep them.

Pick: Sammy & Dustin retain

NJPW WrestleKingdom 19 Preview & Predictions

Ten years ago I sat down to watch a pro wrestling PPV event from a company that was entirely new to me.  I had heard great things about this company from sources like Wrestling Observer and noticed that a few familiar faces were plying their trade over there, and I was excited to check out something new and fresh.  After 28 years as a wrestling fan I was long overdue for a product that actually excited me, something WWE had been failing to do since 2002 and Ring of Honor had stopped doing around 2010.  I figured I'd give this other thing a try, and subscribed to NJPW World to watch their flagship event, WrestleKingdom 9.  And I was treated to one of the greatest wrestling shows I'd ever seen.  From there NJPW became my new favorite wrestling product (till about 2021) and their stellar matches ate up my annual Top 10 ranking.  Hard to believe that was already a decade ago.  New Japan changed the business in a big way around the time of that event, exposing WWE-weary fans to a whole new philosophy and style of what a wrestling show could look like.  Over the next few years they gained so much ground in North America and inspired so many fans like me who needed an alternative, that a whole new company was spawned.  NJPW has seen tumultuous times since their 2012-2019 golden age, but January 4th at the Tokyo Dome will always feel special.

With that in mind let's look at this year's WrestleKingdom 19 show.  This lineup finally feels like a fresh start, from a company that desperately needs one.  Most of the top stars from the aforementioned golden age are either nearing retirement or have moved on to other companies, and it's way past time for New Japan's next generation to show us what they've got.  This show feels like that moment has finally arrived.  

**Side note**: Every year the preshow consists of a Rumble (or Ranbo as they call it), where everyone not on the main card gets a few minutes of fun.  This year though, the winner of the Ranbo gets a World Title shot, so for the first time there's actually something at stake.  No idea who's in this thing but maybe someone will either return from excursion or they'll bring in an outside guest from AEW to set up a PPV match.

AEW Worlds End 2024 Preview & Predictions

The final AEW PPV of 2024 is upon us, capping off an absolutely stellar run of events, arguably the best single calendar year of wrestling PPVs to date.  If anyone's got a better example, comment below.  But AEW's weakest PPV this year was probably Double or Nothing, which I still gave 9 out of 10.  That's remarkable.

Anyway on to Worlds End 2024.  Once again this show is partly about crowning the Continental Champion, and unlike last year we have the semis and finals all on one card, plus a host of other strong bouts (and likely one or two more to be added last-minute).  

SPOILER ALERT: The final CC bouts haven't aired on TV yet, so some of you may not already know who's in the semis.

International Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

This one stems from the fact that Don Callis allowed Hobbs' contract with the Callis Family to run out while Hobbs was on the shelf.  Since returning Hobbs has gotten right in the faces of the Family, and thus we have this title match.  Should be a pretty great, hard-hitting match.  Problem is I don't really want to see either of these guys lose here.  I think Takeshita probably has more time with the belt, but Hobbs also needs to get the big push because he's a potential breakout star.

Pick: I think Takeshita retains through nefarious means

WWE Survivor Series 2024 Preview & Predictions

Saturday marks the 38th annual Survivor Series event, and once again the branding need not apply because Hunter's still all-in on Watered-Down WarGames.  That should be the new name of this event in fact.  

Substitute chairs, trash cans and kendo sticks for the brutality that once was WarGames (and still is AEW's Blood and Guts), and you have WWE's November PPV.  Anyway, it's once again built around the goddamn Bloodline, but now we have random special guests added!  The women's WarGames match is even thinner, as it's just Rhea vs. Liv essentially, with a buncha partners, which once again would work much better as a Survivor Series match, that's what those used to be about.  WarGames was supposed to be 4 or 5 people on each team that had a team blood feud.  The men's match is at least sorta built like that.  On the bright side, the undercard is much stronger this year than last.  But why the hell isn't Cody on this show?  Instead they have him fighting Kevin Owens again, on Saturday Night's Main Event.  Cody's title run has to be one of the most boring babyface runs ever that started out super-hot.  Once again this show is devoid of any black male wrestlers, by the way.  Hunter's never beating those allegations....

Anyway let's look at this thing....

US Championship: LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Christ, the way WWE has ruined one of the greatest Japanese wrestlers of all time needs to be studied.  As someone who considered the 2015 Nakamura the best wrestler in the world at that time, I don't even recognize what he's become.  Dull, ineffectual, powderpuff offense where there used to be unmatched intensity and charisma.  Fucking shameful.  Can he get the fuck outta this place and go to AEW or back to NJPW while he still has a few good years left?  Anyway, either guy could win this I suppose.  Seems early to take the belt off Knight but it would be the only title change on this show.  At the same time, Nakamura's beaten roughly nobody in the last five years or so.  Eh, I'll throw the guy a bone since no one else will.

Pick: Nakamura