Tag: jinder mahal - Page 10

WWE Stockholm, Sweden live results: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles

Posted on May 14, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Christian Wiksten

This was WWE’s first ever show in Stockholm.

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Crowd was really hot for Nakamura, singing along with his music and getting into his routine. Ziggler went for the HBK superkick complete with tuning up the band, missed, but turned it into the Zig-Zag for two. Nakamura went for the Kinshasa but Dolph countered with the superkick for another two. Finish came when Nakamura hit a top rope knee followed by the Kinshasa.

– Breezango & Tye Dillinger defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

Crowd didn’t really care for anyone but English, Breeze, and Dillinger in particular. Pretty loud “Ten” chants at times. English came out singing and putting down the country which resulted in some pretty good heat, especially since the crowd was dead for the Ascension. This was a total comedy match with heels being chased around the ring and Konnor falling over from exhaustion at two separate points because apparently he’s out of shape.

Breeze was worked over for most of the match. Hot tag to Fandango, all the babyfaces got to hit their big moves, and Breeze rolled up Viktor for the win. Faces posed with the Swedish flag after the match.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Crowd popped for Harper flexing, but not much else. This was a pretty clunky big guy match. Both guys traded strikes and some slams. Finish came when Harper hit a superkick followed by the discus clothesline.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair defeated Carmella, Natalya & Tamina Snuka (w/ James Ellsworth)

This was one of the hottest matches of the night. Crowd was really into all the girls except Tamina, and loved Charlotte in particular. Despite Becky starting out, she immediately tagged in Charlotte when the crowd would not stop wooing. Tons of chops from Charlotte followed by a Flair strut to a big pop.

Crowd was really hot for the babyfaces and popped big for Carmella and Natalya’s heel antics. Naomi tapped Carmella out when the ref was distracted by Ellsworth, only to hit the Rear View seconds later and pin her anyway.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

This was a probably the best match of the night, though way too short, done at a high pace even if it was less spectacular than some of their other matches. Crowd popped big for Sami and there were loud “olé” chants during the entire match. Owens did his own introduction, running down the country and calling the people garbage. He then refused to get into the ring and even threatened to cancel the match until Zayn threw him in.

Finish was Owens trying to leave with the belt and Zayn threw him back into the ring, Owens distracted Zayn by throwing him the belt and then hit him with a DDT and pinned him. After the match, Owens cut a promo saying he would make sure the WWE never came back to Sweden. Zayn laid him out with a mafia kick from behind and posed with the flag.

– Baron Corbin defeated Mojo Rawley

This was the coldest match of the show as the crowd didn’t care particularly about either guy. Corbin got a slightly more positive reaction. Mojo’s football shtick fell completely flat. Finish was Corbin hitting the End of Days.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Colons and American Alpha to retain their titles

Crowd liked American Alpha and the Usos got loud “Let’s go Usos/Usos suck” chants at times. The story of the match was that the heels kept working over Gable together until they started breaking up each others’ pins. This led to a comedy spot where the heels would constantly tag each other out about a dozen times, allowing Gable to make the hot tag to Jordan. There was a big brawl between all six men allowing one of the Usos to roll up Jordan from behind for the win.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title

Crowd was extremely hot for Orton and Styles, but did not care for Jinder. Jinder came out with his entourage cutting a promo about how the crowd were just as ignorant as Americans and disliked him because he looked different. Sweden has among the highest immigration rates in the world, so this did not garner that much heat. Loud RKO and AJ Styles chants.

This was a pretty basic main event triple threat where the babyfaces got all their spots in, people got thrown over the railing and teased their finishers. Orton hit Jinder with the draping DDT, followed by a double draping DDT to Jinder’s two cronies. We got a pretty impressive tower of doom spot from Jinder when Orton went for a superplex on Styles. The finish was Orton hitting an RKO on Jinder to retain.

WWE Newcastle, ENG, live results: Orton vs. Mahal vs. Styles

Posted on May 13, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Patrick Davenport

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Nakamura pinned Ziggler after hitting the Kinshasa.

– Breezango & Tye Dillinger defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

Viktor took the pin after Tyler Breeze hit him with the Unprettier.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Harper won with a discus clothesline.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Natalya, Tamina & Carmella

Naomi pinned Carmella following the Rearview.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

A pop-up powerbomb by Owens ended this one. He cut a promo insulting the crowd after until Zayn hit him with a Helluva Kick heading into intermission.

– WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate, Trent Seven & Saxon Huxley defeated Pete Dunne, Joseph Conners & James Drake

Seven finished the match with a Burning Hammer on Conners.

– Baron Corbin defeated Mojo Rawley

This was a quick match. Corbin won with the End of Days.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles

One of the Usos rolled up Chad Gable to retain.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title

Mahal was accompanied to the ring by the Singh Brothers. He cut a heel promo about being booed for being different before the match started. Orton hit an RKO on Mahal to get the win and then celebrated with the crowd to close the show.

WWE Sheffield, ENG, live results: Triple threat title match; Owens vs. Zayn

Posted on May 12, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Scott Goldie

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Nakamura won a rather slow opening contest after Ziggler dominated most of the match.

– Breezango & Tye Dillinger defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

English got a lot of heat as he came out and Breezango were very over with the crowd. The match had a lot of dancing and singing. Tyler Breeze got the pin on English.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

This was a hard-hitting contest that didn’t bring anything new to the table. There was a brief moment of concern after Rowan knocked Harper off of the top rope to the outside and Harper took a nasty looking fall, but he finished the match and there appeared to be no problems.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Natalya, Tamina & Carmella {w/ James Ellsworth)

They continued building animosity between Lynch and Ellsworth. Naomi pinned Carmella to get the win.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

Owens berated the crowd and said the best part of the British Commonwealth was his native Canada. He said the audience should bow down to him. Owens picked up the win and continued to talk trash after, but Zayn got back up to his feet and cleared Owens from the ring.

– WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate, Trent Seven & Sam Gradwell defeated Pete Dunne, Joseph Conners & James Drake

– Baron Corbin defeated Mojo Rawley

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Colons and American Alpha to retain their titles

Jey Uso pinned Primo to retain.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title

If they’re testing the waters to see what reaction Orton and Styles would get against each other, the answer was a resoundingly positive one. Styles got the biggest pop of the night. Orton retained after hitting an RKO on Mahal. Mahal got a lot of heat and “Who are you?” chants.

WWE Bournemouth, England, live results: Triple threat title match

Posted on May 9, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Matt Baker

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Both guys got big pops and dueling chants. Nakamura won with the Kinshasa.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles

They did lots of pantomime stuff in this match. The Usos were very over. They won with a roll-up on Chad Gable.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Harper won with a discus clothesline. The crowd was pretty dead for this.

– Breezango & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

English’s voice is very impressive in person. Breezango were really over. Tyler Breeze got the pin on Viktor with the Unprettier. English issued an open challenge after the match, which was accepted by Mojo Rawley.

– Mojo Rawley defeated Aiden English

Rawley won within seconds.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

Owens refused to fight at first, but Zayn goaded him into doing so. He held the ropes to retain.

– United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate, Trent Seven & Mark Andrews defeated Pete Dunne, James Drake & Joseph Conners

Bate got the pin after hitting the Tyler Driver ’97.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Natalya to retain her title

Naomi, Charlotte, and Lynch were all very over. Naomi hit the Rearview on Carmella to win.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title

Orton pinned Mahal after an RKO. The biggest pops of the night were for Styles and the RKO.

WWE SmackDown TV taping spoilers: Six-man action headlines

Posted on May 9, 2017 by F4W Staff

Here are quick results from today’s SmackDown tapings at the O2 Arena in London:

– Randy Orton opened the show with a promo. A talking segment set up Orton, AJ Styles & Sami Zayn vs. Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin for the main event. Everyone in the match got involved in the segment.

– Natalya defeated Becky Lynch

Natalya won with a roll-up. Naomi, Charlotte Flair, Carmella, James Ellsworth, and Tamina were all at ringside. They set up a six-woman tag team match for Backlash, where it will be The Welcoming Committee (Natalya, Carmella & Tamina) vs. Naomi, Charlotte & Lynch.

– There was another “Fashion Files” segment.

– Erick Rowan defeated Luke Harper

– Dolph Ziggler and Shinsuke Nakamura had a confrontation. Nakamura wanted to face him in a match tonight, but Ziggler backed down and said he’ll wait for Backlash instead.

– Breezango defeated The Ascension

– Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated Randy Orton, AJ Styles & Sami Zayn

Mahal pinned Orton to win the match.

WWE Coruna, Spain, live results: Orton vs. Mahal vs. Styles

Posted on May 8, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Nacho Pena

– Dasha Fuentes talked to the crowd on numerous occasions. She introduced the show and promoted the WWE Network, the official T-shirt for the European tour, and WWE 2K17. Her Spanish is not very good.

– Dolph Ziggler appeared on the screen and said that Shinsuke Nakamura doesn’t play in the small leagues or in Japan anymore. He now wrestles in WWE and he is going to fail.

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Nakamura won with the Kinshasa.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles

One of the Usos pinned Chad Gable with an inside cradle.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Harper won with a discus clothesline. Rowan inflated a balloon during the match and Harper encouraged the crowd to cheer for him. After the second balloon inflated, Harper hit him with a superkick.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

Owens hit a pop-up powerbomb to retain. He refused to fight at the start and told the people to shut up because he is the United States Champion and the Face of America, but Zayn attacked him before he could finish his sentence. This was shorter than everyone expected.

Owens and a fan exchanged words after the match. The fan “answered” the challenge by taking his shirt off and Owens left disgusted. (That fan previously tried to start a “CM Punk” chant but nobody followed him)

– Breezango & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

English came out and tried to silence the crowd in Spanish before the match, but the people screamed at him to make him mad. Sin Cara got the win with a Swanton on Viktor.

English was enraged after (almost crying like on the last SmackDown) and said that Coruna sucks. He said that he wasn’t pinned in the match and didn’t lose. He demanded a new opponent, with Mojo Rawley answering his challenge.

– Mojo Rawley defeated Aiden English

This was a squash match.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Natalya to retain her title

Naomi hit the Rearview on Carmella to get the victory.

– Fuentes announced that WWE will come back to Spain on November 4th and 5th in Barcelona and Madrid.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title.

Mahal cut a promo before the match. Orton continued his feud with him at the start and eventually pinned him after hitting an RKO.

WWE Valencia, Spain, live results: Plaza de Toros

Posted on May 7, 2017 by F4W Staff

Reports submitted by readers Jalid Alfattahi and Alberto Nervios

This show was held at “Plaza de Toros de Valencia” (Valencia Bullring), which is an open-air venue. It was far from sold out. They announced two shows in Spain for later this year, with events on November 4th in Barcelona and November 5th in Madrid.

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Some of the fans were very excited for Nakamura, but some didn’t know him as much and the atmosphere was kind of weird at the start. Ziggler taunted the audience and Nakamura showed off his gigantic charisma before hitting the Kinshasa to get the win.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles

The Usos got a big ovation and Chad Gable did some moves to get the audience going. The Colons received no noticeable applause.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Harper won with his discus clothesline. Harper got a good pop and Rowan played the heel role well.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

Owens cut a promo insulting Valencia and saying that he will never come back here. This was the match of the night.

– Breezango & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

Sin Cara got a huge ovation wearing the local soccer team’s shirt. He got the pin with the Swanton Bomb. This was enjoyable, with Fandango doing goofy dances and the heels playing up to the crowd. English cut a promo after to say that he wanted another opponent. He started singing before being interrupted by Mojo Rawley.

– Mojo Rawley defeated Aiden English

This went less than a minute. Rawley won with his finisher.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Natalya, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair to retain her title

Naomi got the pin on Carmella. This was an entertaining match, and Naomi and Charlotte were the most over of the women.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title

Orton hit an RKO on Mahal to get the win. Mahal didn’t get much of a reaction. Styles got the biggest pop of the night until Orton surpassed him.

WWE Cardiff, Wales, live results: Orton vs. Mahal vs. Styles; UK tag match

Posted on May 6, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Liam Kelly with additional notes added by Shreyha Shah

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

This was a great opener. Nakamura got a big pop for his entrance and Ziggler played heel well.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles

Jimmy Uso rolled up Epico to get the win after American Alpha had hit him with a Steiner bulldog. The crowd got behind American Alpha as the match went along.

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Harper won with a discus clothesline.

– Breezango & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

Fandango rolled up Viktor to get the win. English took the mic afterwards to demand another match.

– Mojo Rawley defeated Aiden English

Rawley got a good reaction and won quick.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

Both guys got huge pops. As expected, they have great chemistry together. Zayn was the underdog while Owens was on offense for most of the match. Owens knows how to work a crowd and won with a pop-up powerbomb.

– Mark Andrews, United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate & Trent Seven defeated Pete Dunne, Joseph Conners & James Drake

Andrews got a big ovation in front of his hometown crowd. This got a good amount of time and was arguably one of the best matches of the night. Andrews hit a shooting star press to get the win.

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Natalya, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair to retain her title

Everyone got good reactions. Naomi retained after hitting Carmella with the Rearview.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles to retain his title

Mahal came out to a lot of boos and cut a promo similar to the one on SmackDown about him looking different. Orton and Styles both got great reactions. They had a good match, with Orton getting the win with an RKO on Mahal.

WWE Glasgow, Scotland, live results: Triple threat main event

Posted on May 5, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Josh Rennie

– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, and Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth) to retain her title

Naomi hit the Rearview to get the victory.

– Breezango & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension & Aiden English

– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan

Harper won with his discus clothesline.

– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles

The Usos retained after pinning Jason Jordan while holding onto his tights.

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler

Nakamura hit the Kinshasa to get the win.

– United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate, Wolfgang & Trent Seven defeated Pete Dunne, Joseph Conners & Tyson T-Bone

Wolfgang got the pin in front of his hometown crowd.

– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title

Owens talked trash to the crowd before the match, calling Glasgow a dump and saying that he hopes WWE never tours in the city again. He won by pinning Zayn while holding onto his tights.

– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles in a triple threat match to retain his title

Orton hit Mahal with an RKO to close out the show.

WWE SmackDown video highlights: Jinder Mahal lays out Randy Orton

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Joseph Currier

With some help from the Singh Brothers, Jinder Mahal laid out Randy Orton and tried to make off with the WWE title on last night’s SmackDown.

That came after Orton had defeated Erick Rowan in a no disqualification match. There were also two Beat the Clock challenge matches to determine the next contenders for The Usos tag titles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Dolph Ziggler continued their feud, and Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair was interrupted by the heels in the SmackDown women’s division.

More coverage from last night —

WWE SmackDown video highlights —

Dolph Ziggler interrupts Shinsuke Nakamura

AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin

American Alpha vs. The Colons in a Beat the Clock challenge match

Rusev won’t come to SmackDown unless he gets a title shot at Money in the Bank

A New Day is still coming to SmackDown soon

Randy Orton vs. Erick Rowan in a no disqualification match

Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers lay out Randy Orton

Another Lana vignette airs

Breezango vs. The Ascension in a Beat the Clock challenge match

A look ahead to the House of Horrors match at Payback

Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

SmackDown fallout: Tyler Breeze & Fandango celebrate their win

Talking Smack: Baron Corbin attacks Sami Zayn

Figure Four Weekly 4/24/2017: Jinder Mahal’s surprising WWE title shot

Posted on April 25, 2017 by F4W Staff

WWE’s booking rarely ever manages to be quite as surprising as what happened on last week’s SmackDown.

Without any real build or any prior semblance of an ascent to the top of the card, Jinder Mahal became the number one contender for the WWE Championship by winning a six-pack challenge. It shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was given the wrestlers involved in that match, but it was only a week prior that Mahal was introduced to the SmackDown roster in the Superstar Shakeup by losing to Mojo Rawley and once again getting shown up by New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Mahal challenging for Randy Orton’s title at Backlash speaks as much to the awkward build to WWE’s two post-roster shakeup pay-per-views as anything else. Even if Mahal vs. Orton does main event the show, it would be hard to call it the main attraction. The United States Championship match between Kevin Owens and AJ Styles has overshadowed the plans for the WWE title. Shinsu

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

WWE Bismarck, ND, live results: Tag team main event; Balor vs. Mahal

Posted on April 23, 2017 by F4W Staff

Submitted by reader Tyler Herman

– The show opened with Braun Strowman interrupting JoJo. Strowman demanded that a referee come to the ring and went over how he injured Roman Reigns. He issued an open challenge to anyone in the back. Sami Zayn responded and said Strowman’s actions are that of an insecure bully. A brawl ensued that ended when Strowman put Zayn through a table.

– Sin Cara & The Golden Truth defeated Curt Hawkins & The Colons

R-Truth got the pin on Primo.

– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defeated Austin Aries to retain his title

Neville retained by submission with the Rings of Saturn.

– Big Cass (w/ Enzo Amore) defeated Titus O’Neil

Cass hit the Empire Elbow and a big boot to get the victory.

– Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal by DQ

Mahal cut a promo before the match asking if the crowd dislikes him because he’s different or because he’s a professional in something they’ll never be good at. He declared that he will win the WWE title. Balor won by DQ after Mahal hit him with a chair. Balor managed to hit the Coup de Grace after the match.

– Raw Women’s Champion Bayley defeated Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and Sasha Banks in a fatal four-way match to retain her title

Bayley got the pin on Charlotte with the Bayley-to-Belly.

– Sheamus & Cesaro defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Cesaro connected with the Swiss19 on Gallows, then Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick to get the win.

– Seth Rollins & Chris Jericho defeated Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens

Jericho pinned Owens after a Codebreaker. He ended the show with a promo declaring that he doesn’t need a stupid idiot like Owens as a friend when he has friends like Rollins and everyone in the audience. He then ran through his catchphrases and ended by putting the crowd on the List to a big pop.

My Favorite Wrestler (This Week): The Elite, Jinder, Braun, Ohtani

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Zach Dominello

It was quite an eventful week in wrestling, what with mid-match promos, rings exploding, and former jobbers getting WWE title shots. There’s certainly no shortage of choices for our favorite wrestlers this week.

This week’s panel —

Alan Counihan (Dr. Keith Presents host and Figure Four Weekly writer)
Zach Dominello (Columnist)
Jeremy Peeples (Lucha Underground writer)
Bryan Rose (NJPW and 205 Live writer)

The Elite

By Zach Dominello

Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks had a match against Lio Rush, Will Ospreay & Ryan Smile in OTT (You down with OTT? Yeah you know me!) that you may have heard about. I haven’t seen the whole match, but I did catch the final few minutes, and the divisive running commentary spot by Omega and Matt Jackson.

I’m drawn to wrestlers who do things a little differently, wrestlers who think outside the squared circle when it comes to their style and approach to pro wrestling. Guys like Ibushi, Ishii, Shibata, and Omega, who aren’t afraid to work a different style, or have a match with a kaiju.

The Elite, in their OTT match, did something very different when Matt Jackson got on the mic and started pushing his merch while he had his opponent in a sharpshooter, and Kenny Omega did his own play-by-play. I’m sure it’s been done before, but it’s not something you see very often, and some might feel that’s a good thing.

It’s quite a divisive spot among wrestling fans. For those who enjoy the sporting side of wrestling, the portrayal of a real fight, well, this match, for the most part, wasn’t that. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I mainly follow NJPW, which calls itself the “King of Sports.” Not many companies take wrestling as seriously as New Japan. I’m not sure if this was the match the OTT crowd expected from The Elite, but if you’ve seen the clips, they loved every second of it, and so did I.

And that’s why The Elite are my favorite wrestlers this week. It’s not simply that they’re ridiculously talented and entertaining, but they’re smart. At least, they work smart. That OTT match in New Japan probably wouldn’t fly. When The Elite work New Japan, there’s still some comedy, but their matches are much more physical, much more of a battle.

But OTT isn’t New Japan, and on that night, they worked a match that kept the physical toll on their bodies to a minimum, but still got over huge with the crowd. Granted, they probably could have spent thirty minutes discussing climate change and still had a 4+ star match.

The match isn’t for everyone, but for better or for worse, depending on which side of the fence you’re on, it pushed the boundaries of what a pro wrestling match is and can be.

Jinder Mahal

By Bryan Rose

You see, you have to give credit to Mr. Mahal here. He came back, proceeded to get ripped to shreds, grow traps the size of beach balloons, then got a push out of it instead of jobbing on Main Event, which was what he was doing for a good six months on Raw. Then he got traded to SmackDown and is now the number one contender to the WWE title!

Yes, he is not at all memorable in the ring, and yes, he’s one of the few who actually possesses the ability to have a boring match with Cesaro, but you know what? He’s worked hard to get where he’s at, and that is why he is my favorite wrestler this week. Kudos to him! Hard work and having an incredible body will get you high up the WWE ladder of success! You may not like it, but who else has had a more successful week than Jinder Mahal?

He will not be my favorite wrestler when he and Orton actually have their match though, I’m pretty sure of that.

Braun Strowman

By Jeremy Peeples

Braun has been shining brightly the past few months, but the past two weeks in particular have been fantastic for him. He was given a strong match against Big Show where he not only showed off his power and agility — but did something no one else has done.

The ring break spot always left everyone involved down and out, but he emerged, posed, and came off like a world-beating badass. If WWE protects him properly, they’ll have their best-booked actual monster act since the original Kane push nearly 20 years ago.

Braun has an aura to him that no one else has outside of Brock Lesnar, and every time he is on screen, he elicits that same feeling that something big is going to happen — just like Brock did in 2012. He may not have Brock’s physical gifts, but Braun is being built up nearly perfectly and as long as they don’t stop and start him in main event slots, or have him lose in awkward ways like at Fastlane, he should be an effective main event-level act and possibly an act that can even draw money and generate some buzz.

His biggest stunts have been water-cooler discussion among even my casual wrestling fan co-workers, and he could bring some lapsed fans back simply due to how great he looks in pulling off these stunts. Who can’t just adore a guy who will tip an ambulance over to hurt someone or toss a dude in a dumpster? It’s impossible!

Shinjiro Ohtani

By Alan Counihan

Zero 1 is not exactly the foremost promotion on people’s radars these days. Thus many may not be aware that 44 year old Shinjiro Ohtani is still churning out great performances like it was 1996 all over again.

Ohtani hasn’t slowed at all, still has great charisma, and has a knack for getting the most out of matches against younger more inexperienced opponents. With his role as the boss in Zero 1, he doesn’t have much scope for wrestling outside of that promotion, but that is something I hope changes in the next few years while he still has high level performances to offer.

I have no doubt he’d get over huge on a US or European indie show even if some newer fans weren’t aware of who he is. He’d win anyone over with his personality and the tightness of his work. A role representing Zero 1 in another promotion like New Japan or NOAH could also bear great fruit and a ton of interesting matches. Watch some 2017 Ohtani, you won’t regret it!

WWE SmackDown video highlights: Jinder Mahal gets a big win

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Joseph Currier

Though there was no obvious winner in the announced field for the WWE title number one contender’s match on last night’s SmackDown, it was still fairly surprising to see who came out on top.

Jinder Mahal won the six-pack challenge and will be getting a title shot at Backlash. Also on the show, Charlotte Flair took on Naomi in hopes of earning a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship next week, Kevin Owens issued a “Face of America” open challenge, and AJ Styles faced Baron Corbin in the main event.