Table of contents for April 2018 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

VINCE McMAHON HAS gone unchallenged in this business for so long, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Things have gotten so dull at Titan Tower that there are reports that Vince is thinking about bringing back the XFL. Is there anyone out there who is rich enough or dumb enough to get into the wrestling/sports entertainment business and offer Mr. McMahon a little old-fashioned, all-American competition? After the Carter family waved the white flag, it’s hard to imagine anyone who would be willing to lose millions in the wrestling business again. A friend recently suggested to me that New Japan Pro Wrestling was emerging as a legitimate threat to WWE. I politely laughed him off. Mind you, NJPW is doing its due diligence in analyzing the possibility of…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO On Election Night 2000, much of the United States went to bed believing that Al Gore had been elected the 43rd President of the United States. The vote was so close that the major news networks initially made the wrong call. When all the hanging chads were considered and Florida flipped from Blue to Red, George W. Bush emerged as President in a swerve that would have made Vince Russo green with envy. Well, something very similar almost occurred in this year’s Rookie of the Year voting. Coming into the final stretch of the voting period, Puerto Rican sensation Ray Gonzalez Jr. had enough of a lead in the race that we had penciled him in as this year’s Rookie of the Year and began working…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO One of the loudest ovations of WrestleMania 33 took place when The New Day announced that a surprise fourth team would be entering the tag title ladder match. When the Hardys’ old WWE theme music hit, the pop could have been heard 90 miles away in Tampa. It had been eight years since Jeff Hardy last appeared in a WWE ring; seven years for Matt. But the brothers were riding high off the wave of Broken Brilliance they had developed in TNA and continued on the independents, making Broken Matt and Brother Nero the hottest free agents in wrestling. While the “Broken Hardys” characters were tied up in legal red tape regarding intellectual property claims, that didn’t stop the fans from chanting “Delete” and it didn’t…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO It seems ridiculous in retrospect, but there was a time— not all that long ago—when people wondered whether or not AJ Styles had what it took to succeed it in WWE. Sure, he had the athleticism, but he lacked the stature, the larger-than-life personality, and the promo abilities needed to climb to the top of the “E.” Surely, the soft-spoken country boy from Gainesville could never make it in the big leagues. Right? Wrong. Dead wrong. Not only has he had two runs as WWE champion since his Royal Rumble 2016 debut, but he’s also gone on to become the most popular wrestler in the game, earning almost 40 percent of the vote in the category. For a frame of reference, last year’s Most Popular winner…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO The selection of The Young Bucks as Tag Team of the Year is unprecedented in the history of the PWI Achievement Awards Though the Bucks won first runner-up honors in both 2015 and 2016, their win this year marks the first time that the award went to a team not affiliated with WWE, TNA, WCW, NWA, or the AWA. It is the first time that a true independent has won either Tag Team or Wrestler of the Year, a remarkable feat considering the Bucks lacked the national television presence enjoyed by their competition in this field. Matt and Nick Jackson split their year between New Japan and Ring of Honor, with plenty of indy dates thrown in for good measure. They held the ROH tag title for…

Top 10 and Tag Team ratings are based on won-lost records for the past month, quality of opposition, and inherent skill of each wrestler or tag team. These ratings are compiled by a committee consisting of Stu Saks, Dan Murphy, Kris Zellner, Harry Burkett, Louie Dee, and STRIGGA (cagematch.net, purolove.com). The numbers in parenthesis indicate a wrestler’s position in that category last issue. Agate-sized ratings are supplied to PWI by promoters and veterans fans can be e-mailed to us at pwiresults@yahoo.com (please put the word “ratings” in the subject line). TOP 10 1 AJ STYLES 218, Gainesville, GA (–) WWE heavyweight champion 2 KAZUCHIKA OKADA 240, Tokyo, Japan (3) IWGP heavyweight champion 3 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (2) WWE Intercontinental champion 4 BRAUN STROWMAN 385, Sherrills Ford, NC (6) No. 1 contender…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO When Christopher Daniels wrestled his first match, Bill Clinton was President, Robin Hood: Men In Tights was playing in theaters, and Beanie Babies were taking the nation by storm. Twenty-four years later, “The Fallen Angel” captured his first “world” championship, winning the ROH heavyweight title from Adam Cole in March. Over the course of the past quarter-century, Daniels has been one of the top technicians in the world, universally praised for his in-ring prowess, his promo abilities, and his willingness to reinvent himself and remain relevant. Daniels had a developmental contract with the WWF in the late-1990s, but he never advanced to the main roster. In 2001, he was signed by WCW, but the company went out of business a short time later. His early career…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO Asuka held the NXT Women’s title from April 2016 through August 2017, when she was forced to relinquish the title due to injury. Over the course of 500-plus days, she successfully defended that title more than 130 times, turning aside challenges from everyone from Alex Bliss and Nia Jax to Nikki Cross and Ruby Riott. She made her main roster debut in October and it was immediately clear that her success in NXT would carry over. As of press time, her undefeated streak continued. For years prior to joining WWE, Asuka (then known as Kana) had built a reputation as a world-class wrestler, but her success in WWE was far from guaranteed. She had a reputation for being a maverick in Japan; she would speak her…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO Jinder Mahal deserves credit for a breakthrough year, but his behavior as champion was simply despicable. Mahal relied on constant interference from The Singh Brothers to help protect his WWE championship and to attempt to injure opponents. After defeating Randy Orton in a controversial match at Backlash, he wrapped himself up in the flag of India, trying to portray himself as an honorable national hero. It was disingenuous at best and insulting at worst. Mahal wasn’t a national hero; he was a cut-throat competitor who flouted the rules and cared only for himself. As champion, he politicked to get favorable stipulations for his matches (such as the Punjabi Prison match at Battleground). He doubled down on the Singhs’ interference (and the interference of The Great Khali…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO AJ Styles becomes the seventh wrestler ever to earn Wrestler of the Year honors in back-to-back years, joining Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, John Cena, Randy Orton, and CM Punk in that very exclusive club. Styles actually started 2017 on a losing note, dropping the WWE title to John Cena in a tremendous match at the Royal Rumble in January. Frustrated with his inability to get a rematch, Styles attacked Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon, leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania. In July, Styles defeated Kevin Owens for the U.S. title at Madison Square Garden. To some observers, the win seemed to indicate that Styles was settling into a mid-card role with a secondary title; his days as a world title contender appeared…

’TAKER’S APPARENT RETIREMENT HIGHLIGHTS RECORD-BREAKING WM33 In its 33rd installment, WrestleMania provided the usual mix of spectacle, excitement, and history, and appeared to bring to a close to the career of the man who has been synonymous with the “Showcase Of Immortals.” The Undertaker bid an emotional farewell to his fans following his loss to Roman Reigns in the main event. In a 23-minute war that lasted through midnight local time, The Undertaker withstood four spears by Reigns before finally being pinned after the fifth. After being dealt just his second loss in 25 WrestleMania matches, the “Dead Man” symbolically left his gloves and hat in the ring while receiving a standing ovation from the 75,245 people in attendance at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. In the night’s other…

WRESTLING FANS ARE an opinionated bunch. They know what they like, and nothing irritates them quite like the feeling that their opinion doesn’t matter. The PWI Achievement Awards is one place where the fans’ opinions very certainly matter… and the entire wrestling world takes notice. While the editorial team offers its opinion with the “PWI 500” and “Female 50,” the 11 Achievement Awards are decided entirely by fan ballot, without regard for promotional affiliation, “push,” or hype. The Achievement Awards, dating back to 1972, are among the most respected and honored accolades in wrestling. In addition to Wrestler of the Year, Match of the Year, and the rest of the fan-decided awards, the staff of PWI selects one recipient of the Stanley Weston Award, given in acknowledgment of a lifetime…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO At this time last year, Jinder Mahal was a virtual afterthought on the Raw roster, making occasional appearances on Main Event and suffering losses to the likes of Sin Cara, Darren Young, and Curtis Axel. Now, he’s a former WWE heavyweight champion and one of the top heels on the Smackdown brand. It took 16 years for Mahal to become an “overnight sensation.” He started his career on the Alberta independent scene and spent several years toiling in Canada before signing a WWE developmental deal in 2010. After a stint in Florida Championship Wrestling, he was called up to the main roster in 2011, but he never rose beyond the opening-match level. In 2012, he joined fellow undercard mainstays Heath Slater and Drew Galloway to form…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO For the first time in the history of the PWI Achievement Awards, not a single match waged in what would be voted Feud of the Year took place in the United States. Garnering just over one-quarter of the vote, the New Japan rivalry between “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada and “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega earns Feud of the Year honors. Ironically, this wasn’t a feud built on hatred. There were no steel cage matches or Hell in a Cell bouts. There were no outlandish stipulations. There were only two men at the top of their games giving everything they had in an effort to claim the IWGP heavyweight title. Omega earned a title shot at Wrestle Kingdom 11 by virtue of winning the 2016 G1 Climax tournament.…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO Before many of us had fully recovered from our New Year’s Eve festivities, the 2017 Match of the Year had already taken place. How good was the January 4 Wrestle Kingdom 11 bout between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega? Good enough to play havoc on the famed star-ranking system popularized by Wrestling Observer Newsletter publisher Dave Meltzer, who rated the match six stars on his five-star scale. Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada may have put on the greatest match in pro wrestling history,” Meltzer raved in his review. He wasn’t alone in his assessment. Okada versus Omega drew praise from fans, wrestlers, and media alike. Fans who didn’t watch the event on the New Japan World streaming service flocked to YouTube to view one of the…

TAP HERE FOR VIDEO There is a certain irony in the fact that Jack Brisco is being honored with the Stanley Weston Award, an award named after the founder of PWI. If not for Weston’s wrestling magazines, it’s entirely possible that Brisco would have chosen a different career path. “Jack and I were huge wrestling fans,” remembered his younger brother Jerry. “My sister worked at the drugstore and she would call us when the new wrestling magazines came in every month, and we’d run down there to be first in line to read them. We couldn’t buy them because we couldn’t afford the 25 or 30 cents they cost, but we’d read them cover to cover. Jack had the opportunity to play college football, and maybe go to the pros,…

STU SAKS [PUBLISHER] Until this year, it hadn’t occurred to me that venerated Wrestling Observer newsletter publisher Dave Meltzer’s “star rating” system could actually exceed a perfect five. Obviously, I was wrong. Each match in the Kazuchika Okada- Kenny Omega trilogy was graded six or higher by Meltzer. Upon further review, Meltzer actually gave six stars to the Mitsuharu Misawa-Toshiaki Kawada Triple Crown title match in 1994. He also gave 5.75 stars to this year’s Omega-Tetsuya Naito match. So that makes five 5+ ratings in Meltzer’s 34 years of rating matches. Even with New Japan’s rising U.S. profile, I was pleasantly surprised that PWI readers displayed their broad knowledge of the sport by voting the January 4 Okada-Omega match the year’s best. 10 stars to you! HARRY BURKETT [SENIOR WRITER]…

SEND LETTER TO: BETWEEN FALLS BOX 96 Ft.washington,PA 19034 or you can e-mail your comment to prowrestlingilustrated@yahoo.com PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED welcomes reader's comment on any of our stories or columns. PWI JINX Due to the nature of the print magazine industry, we have to make decisions on editorial content long before a particular magazine goes on sale. Sometimes things don’t work out as planned. To wit, our February 2018 issue: • Cover boy Braun Strowman loses his biggest match to date, vs. Brock Lesnar at No Mercy. • Feature story subject Neville takes a leave of absence from WWE. • Feature story subject Jinder Mahal loses the WWE title to AJ Styles. Still, we have no regrets. “The Strowman ‘Hotseat’ was compelling reading,” wrote Rob Mulvaney. “Clearly, Braun recognizes that…