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Top 20 Of 2016
Graphic by Salwinder Singh.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“It.” “Delete.” “Obsolete.” “The List.” “10.” “The Champ That Runs The Camp.” “Stupid Idiot.” “Glorious.” “Too Sweet.”
The list above describes a fiesta of phrases commonly found in pro wrestling jargon that made 2016 possibly its best year ever.
The one below describes select moments that help seal that argument and make us forget about things like The Titus Brand, The Cruiserweight Division, Raw’s Third Hour, WWE’s overloaded Pay-Per-View schedule, TNA’s X-Division and Matanza Cueto.
If you want to remember that bad stuff, check this out.
Manopera! Episode 32: The Best and Worst Wrestling of 2016
Image courtesy of The Bonesaw.
*Courtesy Of The Bonesaw*
Check out the latest edition of “Manopera! A Wrestling Symposium,” as PWO’s own Nicholas Jason Lopez guest stars to discuss the best and worst of wrestling in 2016 with Hosts Chris Butera and “Spaceman” Frank Lucci.
In a year filled with twists, turns and too many Pay-Per-Views, this thrilling trio breaks it all down!
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Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/31/16: The Era Of Strong Style Begins
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/31/16)
The Era Of Strong Style Begins
– With NXT back at home at Full Sail University, it was time to see some new feuds and stars develop as the next NXT TakeOver event looms in the coming months. We started off with a backstage segment with Samoa Joe, NXT General Manager William Regal and a medical trainer as Regal was told that due to numerous injuries caused to Joe at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, he wouldn’t be cleared to compete any time soon. Joe, who was uncrowned of the NXT Championship at Brooklyn by NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, was expectedly pissed and stormed away. Uh oh.
Notes In Observance – WWE CWC 8/24/16: Rounding Out The Elite Eight
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/24/16)
Rounding Out The Elite Eight
– The Cruiserweight Classic could in many ways be described as WWE’s hand-crafted gift to the internet wrestling community. Name recognition has never meant so much these days and the next stars are just waiting to be made here. The opening video followed in the way of NXT TakeOver highlight reels in that we saw the prettiest slow-motion sequences of the series’ biggest strikes, flips and submission holds. Also worked in was the sound bite from Triple H at TakeOver: Brooklyn II where the CWC winner would be crowned on Sep. 14 and receive a trophy designed by the guys at Orange County Choppers. We finished it out as we saw how Akira Tozawa, Noam Dar and Brian Kendrick all made it to the “Elite Eight.” Hyped for this episode were the last of the Second Round matches, which were Zack Sabre Jr.-Drew Gulak, Lince Dorado-Rich Swann and TJ Perkins-Johnny Gargano. That card alone sounds so good on a regular show.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/24/16: Stick To The Plan
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/24/16)
Stick To The Plan
– To nobody’s surprise, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II stole SummerSlam weekend in all its goodness. In line with highlight videos of past TakeOver events, we saw the cool slow-motion effects as everything newsworthy from the event was covered, from No Way Jose’s conga line, Hideo Itami’s Go To Sleep on Austin Aries, Ember Moon’s finisher to Bobby Roode’s “Glorious” entrance and the fantastic NXT Tag Team Championship match where Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa fell short against Champions The Revival to Bayley’s failure to regain gold and Shinsuke Nakamura’s fulfilled mission to win it. We came out of this with the idea that a “new chapter was written” and how right they were.
WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
While that cliche can apply to most things in life, it especially applies to NXT, particularly around SummerSlam weekend.
Again, despite efforts to divert attention to the six-hour spectacle that is SummerSlam itself, it only goes to that of its previous-day predecessor, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
Last year, 15,000 Brooklynites held witness to one of WWE’s matches between WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and Bayley.
While this year’s bouts didn’t capture that match’s emotional whirlwind, just like every previous TakeOver special, we left each contest with a “talking point” of some sort.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/17/16: Brooklyn Bound
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/17/16)
Brooklyn Bound
– With NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II just within reach on the calendar, it was one show left and it promised a face-to-face encounter between NXT Champion Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura. How could you not get excited about that? On the surface though, we could tell it’d be one of those “special” episodes that served as a preview show to an extent.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/10/16: Psychological Warfare
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/10/16)
Psychological Warfare
– We liked how the show opened out of the usual realm, as Bobby Roode walked out of General Manager William Regal’s office with a smile on his face now that he knew of “something great.” He left it at that and walked away. Yummy, some light drama and anticipation.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/3/16: The Wait Is Finally Over
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/3/16)
The Wait Is Finally Over
– At the time Hideo Itami got injured, he was arguably in the running for an NXT Championship reign. A year and a half later, he was back from the shoulder injury and possessed a fury of self-justice and redemption. The opener between Itami and Sean Maluta was all about Itami’s return while at the same time let Maluta soak in the NXT spotlight, since he came over from the Cruiserweight Classic. Also liked that the camera panned to Zack Sabre Jr., Tony Nese and Drew Gulak in the crowd to hype the CWC, as they were each First Round victors. Maluta wasn’t a complete afterthought, as she showed off some fierce kicks, but the purpose was obvious from the get-go and Itami didn’t miss a beat. Commentary smartly brought up that his career pre-injury had mirrored Finn Balor’s and was on route to Championship contention before he was sidelined possibly by Kevin Owens. Itami’s signature running knee finisher ended it.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/27/16: Flipping The Switch
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 7/27/16)
Flipping The Switch
– The Shinsuke Nakamura-Wesley Blake match was an easy way to keep the undefeated Nakamura just that while we also saw a quarrel between Blake and Buddy Murphy, who were convinced that one could upstage the other. Blake challenged Nakamura, while Murphy claimed he could beat “a favorite to win the CWC.” As for Blake, his new theme music was eh and commentary mentioned a “new look,” but he still looked the same to us. Anyways, this was reminiscent of Nakamura’s squash over Murphy and didn’t give us anything new, but Nakamura’s always a treat to watch. The follow-up was also fun since we saw NXT General Manager William Regal come out and formally announce that Nakamura would face NXT Champion Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II. Oh, snap.
Pro Wrestling Opinion 