This summer’s Global Cruiserweight Series marks the first time in almost twenty years that WWE has held a tournament focussing on the high flyers. In the midst of a ratings war with WCW, WWE attempted to do a copy-and-paste job from WCW’s successful cruiserweight group, but with the expected results from a company that was long considered to be the “Land of the Giants”.
It was the division that brought eyes to WCW, even during the company’s dying days. It was the division that WWE never really attempted to recreate, and a division that TNA managed to turn from a potential diamond, into dust. Now, WWE’s looking once again to the smaller guys.
Since debuting in NXT in May 2013, Baron Corbin has had a rather tumultuous run in developmental. After around a year stuck in a spot as enhancement talent, Corbin was rebooted in May 2014, and has been a focus of developmental, to the point where a main roster call-up is on the horizon.
This past weekend, New Japan wrapped up its New Beginning series of shows with events in Osaka and Niigata, ultimately crowning a new IWGP Intercontinental champion. The New Beginning series started at the end of January, with the company’s Road to New Beginning shows, stretching out over seven nights before they arrived in Osaka on Thursday.
In the week since Bryan Danielson announced his retirement, I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions, as have quite a few wrestling fans. From the initial shock of the announcement, came the denial – the internet rumour mill had been saying for weeks that the only thing holding back his return was the WWE’s own doctors. Even without an official statement from Danielson, WWE or anyone connected to either party, the rumour was so prevalent that fans were taking it as the gospel truth.
Following the retirement of Bryan Danielson, we continue to reflect on his career, looking at a selection of matches from throughout his time in the ring. This week, we take a closer look at some of Danielson’s work from the Philadelphia-based group CHIKARA, primarily his appearances in the 2009 King of Trios tournament, featuring some very familiar faces!
Following the announcement on Monday that Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan has been forced to retire, it’s time to reflect on the career of the former American Dragon. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be going through the career of the future Hall of Famer and recapping several matches that made Bryan Danielson at his peak one of, if not the, top wrestler in the world. In this first part, I’ll be taking a look at Danielson’s first matches on WWE TV, a good 13 years before his eventual retirement, plus his only televised match in WWE developmental, and…
On Monday, February 8, 2016, almost nine months after his last match, Bryan Danielson announced his retirement. With twenty-one words, including a hashtag, the much speculated future of the former WWE champion was revealed: it’s all over.