Weekly Watchlist 028 - December 22 2024 - Continental Classic Special

What's new, enthusiasts of tournament-based, predetermined tousling?! 

Happy Holidays to all! I hope you've been able to enjoy yourself this season and find time to relax and be with friends and family. I've been busier than ever and feeling a bit of a crunch a few days before Christmas but doing my best to just go with the flow and enjoy the time I have. 

I also did some brainstorming this week, thinking about what I could review for this weeks review when the idea came to me one night, after I was visited by three spir- wait, wrong story. 

Breaking a bit from the norm, I'll be giving AEW's Continental Classic a spotlight this week. I've been catching up on the matches before World's End and felt like there were too many good to great matches that deserved a bit of love. 

Giving the Continental Classic some love this holiday season.

Tapping Out: How to Abandon Your Wrestling Dreams #3 - Foreclosure of a Dream

The third and final part of my Tapping Out audio feature for the Wrestling Vault. I thought initially that this would be a four part series, but I realized I didn't have much as far as a follow up after this recording session. 

I talk about the aftermath of giving up on my dream, and how I was able to come out the other side feeling confident I made the right choice.

Weekly Watchlist 027 - December 15 2024

 Whats new, my fellow fans of fraudulent fisticuffs?

Another week down and another week closer to the end of 2024! I'm not sure if I mentioned in a previous post or not, but I toyed with the idea of doing some "year end awards" for the blog, going over matches and stuff I liked best from the year. But I don't think I'll do that this year. I'm getting in a good grove with how I watch and do these reviews right now and I want to keep that flow going. I might work on that next year, when I have a full 365 days worth of matches under my belt. I will, however, give you guys a quick rundown of some stats in a short year end post. Matches, promotions, and general star rating for the year. Think that will be fun for all of us to find out!

 

Tapping Out: How to Abandon Your Wrestling Dreams #2 - The Waking Nightmare

Part 2 of a 3 part audio feature for the Wrestling Vault. I go more in depth about my experience with wrestling training and, eventually, how it all falls apart.

It wasn't easy to dig back some of these memories. A lot of it was stuff I'd tried to forget.

Weekly Watchlist 026 - December 8 2024

Whats up my fellow dedicated observers of preordained hostility?

It's been a good week here at Wrestling Vault HQ, a nice break from the fast paced month of November as the holidays start to roll around and things no doubt pick up once again. I'll take whatever victories I can. The DPW library is in the current year, I dig back to a match I've watched far too many times, and I try to understand why so many people want to hear my voice! 

This, and so much more (mileage may vary) in this weeks review!

 

Tapping Out: How to Abandon Your Wrestling Dreams #1 - A Dream is Born

This is a project idea that I've had in my head for over a year now. It's really personal to me and, in a way, serves as a way for me to heal. 

This is a 3 part audio feature for the blog, the first of hopefully many audio features (I dread to call them a podcast because god knows we don't need more of those in the wrestling sphere) for the blog. 

Weekly Watchlist 025 - December 1 2024

Whats up counterfeit combat enthusiasts?

The watchlist is back for another week of exciting matches, insightful commentary, and biting critiques that you've come to expect from your dear old wrestling fan. The weeks just seem to keep getting busier and busier so the amount I'm actually able to watch seems to be dwindling as the weeks go by, but I won't let that stop me! I had a couple matches already in mind this week and was thrilled to get to add them to the archives this week.

Let's dive right in!

 

 

Matches of the Month - November 2024

 November is in the books, friends! 

This was a really crazy month for yours truly. Some great wrestling, a wack ass schedule that really threw a wrench into a lot of my wrestling viewing, and a pair of great shows from the big 2 brands that made it all worth while. 

Let's go over what really stood out this month!

Weekly Watchlist 024 - November 24 2024

What's new grappling groupies?

Been a real busy week for your favourite wrestling junkie, again. Sometimes you want to do nothing but watch wrestling, other weeks you want to just... watch less? I've been working on a big project I've started for the blog and its been occupying a lot of my brain during the day, so needless to say as soon as I get home, all I want to do is give it even more of my time. Not like it's a bad thing, its a real passion project that won't be on here for at least a couple months and I want to make sure I have as mush information as possible. Should hopefully be the start of a series of real in depth reviews for the blog. 

Either way, I was still able to get my usual 2 matches in for the week, and what a fantastic pair of matches I found! Buckle up folks, it's a bumpy ride.

Weekly Watchlist 023 - Nov. 17 2024

 What's new grappling groupies?

Back to my usual routine this week after a couple weeks of shaking up the formula to keep things fresh! Feels good to be back in the saddle again. I wasn't really feeling like watching a whole lot of wrestling last week for whatever reason, so it was kinda hard for me to just sit down and find something to pass the time with. This week, however, was not so hard. I had a big show I'd been meaning to watch for a while, DPW to catch up on, and some other matches that came across my radar that I wanted to give some time. 

So, without further delay, let's get into this weeks review!

Cactus! Cactus I'm flying!

Weekly Watchlist 022 - November 10 2024

Welcome back purveyors of predetermined pugilism!

Have I got a treat for you folks this week! I've been holding back on watching this for days now and I'm so excited to share it with you guys finally. I don't want to take up too much time, so let's get right into it!

The First World Heavyweight Champion of Wrestling, George Hackenschmidt

Weekly Watchlist 021 - November 3 2024 - Halloween Special! Part 2

 Welcome back viewers of simulated violence!

Like I've mentioned in the previous 2 reviews, this weeks Watchlist is a continuation from number 019, part 1 of my Halloween Havoc review. I had to split it in half because reviewing 12 matches in one week was a bit much. 

 

Matches of the Month - October 2024

 October is in the rear view so that can mean only one thing! It's time for Matches of the Month! This was another exciting month of matches complete with Wrestling Roulette and a Halloween Havoc special to really spice things up this month! 

Enjoy the read!

Weekly Watchlist 020 - October 27 2024 - Wrestling Roulette

 Welcome back fans of phony fisticuffs!

Its review number 20 which means its time for another instalment of...

The Weekly Watchlist Wrestling Roulette!

For those who weren't around for post 10 where I first introduced Wrestling Roulette, let me give you a quick breakdown of the concept and basic rules. For those who don't know, I keep a spreadsheet with a running list of wrestling matches from all over the world and from all periods in history. It serves as both a record of what I've watched and enjoyed the most (or least, for some matches) as well as keeping track of matches I want to check out. I'm up to over 1300 entries right now and it keeps growing every day.  

Too often I get in a pattern with my watching and don't stray too far from the norm. Lately I've been working on catching up on DPW as well as just staying up to date with current AEW, WWE and TNA on the side. I haven't had much variety lately and I think I'm in desperate need of it. Wrestling Roulette is the perfect answer to this! For one full week, I force myself to watch whatever match a random number generator picks for me. I do have rules I've set out and will allow myself some wiggle room but, for the most part, I stay pretty consistent to the formula. 

 

Weekly Watchlist 019 - October 20 2024 - Halloween Special! Part 1

 Welcome back wrestling fans!

I knew I wanted to do something special for Halloween this month but had to move plans up by a week, given that next week will be another edition of Wrestling Roulette! So this week we'll be doing a special Halloween feature for the blog, I'll be formatting it very similar to how I'd do Wrestling Roulette where I review a whole bunch of matches instead of 2 like I usually do. I've already decided what we'll be watching for the week so there's no need to spin the wheel (and make the deal!) and I'll be reviewing them in order. 

 What is "them," you may be asking? It's a match from every single WCW Halloween Havoc event, of course! I went through CAGEMATCH and looked at every event, all the way from 1989 to 2000, and picked out one match that stood out to me. Some are historically significant in how well they are received now, some for the opposite reason, and some are on there because there was nothing else of note on the card! I tried to not pick the same wrestlers more than once and was kinda able to stick to that rule, but there will be some repeats on here just because the matches they had are worth viewing. For better or for worse.

Seriously, this might be the biggest mixed bag of match quality I've seen so far. I got whiplash from some of these matches it was so severe at times. A real case of "trick or treat" you could say? I'll show myself out.

While working on this review, I came to realize that reviewing 12 matches, even if I only give them a few paragraphs, is a lot to do for one week. So, with that in mind, this weeks post is going to feature matches from the first 6 Halloween Havoc's. Next week's will be Wrestling Roulette, as scheduled, and the week after will be part 2, featuring the remaining 6 Halloween Havoc matches. We'll return to our regularly scheduled bullshit for Watchlist 022.

Weekly Watchlist 018 - October 13 2024

 Welcome back wrestling fans!

Didn't get to watch nearly as much wrestling this week as I normally do, despite having a long weekend. I had a date night Saturday so I had to catch up on Wrestledream sunday morning and a 4 hour show before I needed to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner that night threw my whole day out the window. Oh well! 

Weekly Watchlist 017 - October 6 2024

Welcome back fake sports fans! 

The Watchlist is back in full force this week with another pair of exciting, excellent matches!

I was really spoiled for choice this week, no real stinkers, a LOT of good to great to incredible matches. Even the lower ranked matches that you can see below were still alright, just not great. 

Weekly Watchlist 016 - September 29 2024

 Welcome back wrestling fans!

The weeks keep on ticking away and the wrestling does too, more and more to watch each week. But, your intrepid reviewer will trudge through the fields and brave the trenches, unafraid to do what must be done to keep these reviews coming!

Another DPW show down this week, still a few months out from watching the 2 year anniversary show in December and I'm starting to feel excited. I see the boys promoting current shows with exciting matchups, new champions and crazy cards (still can't believe they got Roddy for Limit Break and now FTR is coming through for Super Battle?! WHAT?!) and I really want to jump ahead and watch current shows but I must abide. I've gotta stay the course and work my way up to the current product. I'm too far to give it all up now.

 

Matches of the Month - September 2024

September is in the books which means another roundup for Matches of the Month! Some really fantastic matches both from current shows as well as ones I dug through my archives to find and watch. 

Enjoy the read!

Weekly Watchlist 015 - September 22 2024

Wrestling fans! Boy, does it feel good to be back!

What a week I had, an absolutely incredible time away. What I'd give to go back, see the fog roll in over the lake in the wee hours of the morning. God, that was so nice. And, for the first time since starting this blog and maybe even for the first time this year, I went a full week without watching any wrestling. No matches, barely saw any clips, couldn't tell you a promo I listened to, it was great. I mean I obviously listened to the DEADLOCK pod and The Lapsed Fan when I had some time to myself, I can't give up the essentials. Now I'm back in town and trying to do some catch up on stuff I missed and get back into the swing of reviewing matches again. 

 

Weekly Watchlist 014 - September 15 2024

 Whats going on wrestling fans! 

If your reading this, then it means I'm dea- nope, wrong draft. Sorry. If you're reading this, then I'm just coming back from vacation. Making the bold prediction a week in advance that I had a wonderful time away with my beautiful fiance celebrating 6 whole years together. Where does the time go? 

As a result of me being away for a week, there's no update for what I watched this week. I did, however, prepare a short review for this week to keep my ravenous readers satiated while I'm away. So, lets skip all the small talk and get right to business, shall we?

 

Weekly Watchlist 013 - September 8 2024

 Welcome back wrestling fans!

The next 2 weeks of reviews are going to be just a little bit different, but I'm doing it this way because I'll be on vacation by the time you're reading this! My fiance and I are gone for a week so that means no wrestling for your intrepid reviewer (pray for me) so no time to review anything while I'm away! But, fear not. I'm drafting not only this weeks review, but next weeks review as well. Dropping the same time, same day as usual, so the streak lives on. The only difference is I'll be reviewing 1 match for both weeks, spreading out the 2 I had in mind to make up for my absence. I hope that will suffice.

 

Weekly Watchlist 012 - September 1 2024

 Welcome back friends! 

Another busy week of wrestling and your intrepid wrestling reviewer is back with what you all need. I kind of lucked out with these matches this week, the DPW x Gatoh Move show isn't quite hitting like I'd hoped and NXT didn't either, but the 2 matches I watched for this weeks reviews really delivered. 

Matches of the Month - August 2024

 August has come to a close, meaning its time to go over the best of wrestling from the month that was. July may have been my first proper month of the blog, but August was by far the biggest! The sheer volume of wrestling I watched this month is kinda insane, when I take it all into account. A few full shows, a week of random matches, and a lot of digging around to find some classics made August an amazing month for wrestling. Let's try and do the same in September, shall we?

 

Weekly Watchlist 011 - August 25 2024

 Welcome back wrestling fans! 

Man, what an exciting week Wrestling Roulette was! I came up with the concept for a few weeks before and was so excited to try it out I almost pushed it ahead to like week 7 or 8! But, I decided I'd wait and try to make it a once every 10 week tradition. Something to change up the flow of my viewing schedule and add some spice to the blog. I'm sure glad I did. 

 

Weekly Watchlist 010 - August 18 2024 - Wrestling Roulette

 Wrestling fans! Welcome one and all to a very special edition of the Weekly Watchlist! 

I was brainstorming the other day and knew I wanted to do something unique for the 10th edition of the review, I know it may not be a huge milestone but keeping this consistent with something I really started on a whim is big for me, trust me. I'm proud of myself and want to have a little fun.

So, without further ado, let me present to you:

The Weekly Watchlist Wrestling Roulette!

As I've stated many times here on the blog, I keep a spreadsheet of matches I've either watched or want to watch, with my own personal rankings for each one. We have just crested 900 entries with the additions slowing down recently as I haven't had as much time to peruse Cagematch like I'd like to. But, I've also found myself getting in a pattern with my watching recently, working through DPW, watching classic All Japan, or whatever hot match is popular this week. And while there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, I can watch whatever I want dammit! It does make reviewing different matches a bit of a challenge when every week feels like the same rotation.

So, I'm leaving it up to random chance! 

Weekly Watchlist 009 - August 11 2024

 Back at it again, wrestling fans!

We're but a week away from the big 1-0 and I've gotta say, I'm really pumped up for what I've got in store for next week. Your gonna want to keep your eyes peeled. This week was a bit lighter as far as wrestling viewing goes, but I think if we are going to compare every week to last week, we're gonna be disappointed more often than not. Ended up getting sick for 2 days so basically had 5 free days to do whatever I wanted, and I spent most of it watching wrestling. 

Weekly Watchlist 008 - August 4 2024

Whats new wrestling fans?!

The watchlist is back like a phoenix this week, rising from the ashes of a pitiful week of viewing with a hefty list of matches and shows to choose from this week. SummerSlam was this past weekend and it was a lot of fun! A lot of title changes that make for exciting viewing in the weeks and months to come. 

I also finished up 2 more DPW shows and made a couple spreadsheets to keep track of the shows I need to watch from the various promotions I have in mind for working through at some point. Overall, a much better week for your favourite wrestling blogger.

 

 

 

Matches of the Month - July 2024

 Another month in the books, wrestling fans, and what a month it was. 

I know June was a shorter month, given that I just started my blog that month, but July was jam packed with matches and a whole lot of really good ones at that. Some I featured in the watchlist, some I opted to not review. But they'll get a little snippet here to wet your appetite so you can find these matches yourself. All of them come highly recommended.

 

Weekly Watchlist 007 - July 28 2024

Wrestling fans! Welcome back to another Weekly Watchlist!

I know I said in a recent weekly watchlist “The discussion of "greatest wrestler of all time" comes up pretty often and the same few names get thrown around each time. (…) But for my money, there's no wrestler that will ever compare to Terry Funk” and I’d like to amend my previous statement. 

While I do believe that Terry Funk is the greatest wrestler of all time, I also believe that Mitsuharu Misawa is the greatest wrestler of all time. Hell, while we’re at it, Bryan Danielson is the greatest wrestler of all time. 

See, while I feel like this is a valid discussion to be had, I’ve never been someone who likes to put one great thing a notch above another great thing and call it “better.” The top matches on my bloated spreadsheet can change week to week, depending on what I’m feeling. What matters to me is “did these matches make me feel something? Do they stand out to me in a unique way?” If they fit that criteria, you’ve won me over!

It’s the same for wrestlers. While I have a very short list of those that I think are head and shoulders above the rest, I can’t convince myself to try and put them in order. 

And honestly, why can’t there be multiple “greatest wrestlers of all time”? Who’s the authority that says we all need to have one? I say we buck the trend and have as many GOAT’s as we want! 

 

Weekly Watchlist 006 - July 21, 2024

Welcome back, dear reader!

The weekly watchlist trudges along and I've got to say, as much as this is just another thing I'm committing myself to doing, another ball to juggle, it doesn't really feel like work each time I sit down to watch a match and review it. Maybe its like what they say, love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life? Once I start getting paid to write these, I'll give you a better answer to that.

I've been working my way through the DPW library recently in an effort to get caught up and start on some other promotions I've had on my list to watch for a long time now. I've got the idea to do a different series/type of post for these promotions but haven't locked that idea in yet. I don't want them to flood the watchlist but also don't want to abandon the watchlist either. I'll let you guys know when I've come to some sort of conclusion.

 

Weekly Watchlist 005 - July 14, 2024

 Welcome back to another Weekly Watchlist wrestling fans!

After a break from form last week with the Money in the Bank special review, we're back to our usual review format!

A note regarding some of the matches on my watchlist, just because a match appears on the spreadsheet as something I've watched that week, doesn't mean its the first time I'm watching the match. A prime example would be the Hangman/Danielson series I included last week. With the exception of their newest match in the Owen Cup Tournament, I've watched their previous encounters a while back. But because I only started this spreadsheet back in march, they never got added and subsequently, never received my official, undisputed star rating. 

Its safe to assume some matches on the list are first time viewing, but rest assured dear reader, if a match shows up that you absolutely can't believe I'm watching for the very first time, its probably not my first.

 

 

Weekly Watchlist 004 - July 7 2024

 A new month, another weekly watchlist! This time, with a twist!

I mentioned that this weeks watchlist was going to be a special one, and I really didn't know what that meant until I started writing out this review. I just knew that I had to do something. Why, you may be asking? Well, dear reader, let me tell you.

I was at Money in the Bank 2024 live in Toronto! The show wasn't all too far from where your esteemed reviewer lives and after my partner was able to pick up a pair of seats for a decent price, we made our way to the big city saturday night.

Editors note: The date of this weekly watchlist is dated after Money in the Bank, June 6 2024. The weekly watchlist goes live every saturday morning at 7am, so there was no way I would be able to include it in the previous weeks watchlist, and I start my next week the day after. 

My partner and I were really excited for the show. The last live wrestling show I was at was when AEW Collision came to Toronto for the first time, and her last wrestling show was when AEW Dynamite came to Toronto for the first time as well. Before that? I really want to say TakeOver: Toronto 2019. We had our winners picked, our shocking predictions in mind, and were ready to enjoy the show.

With all that preamble out of the way, let me quickly go over how I'm going to handle this weekly watchlist. I'm going to go over Money in the Bank from top to bottom and review every match, as well as one promo, but I wont be going into nearly as much detail as I would for a usual review in the watchlist. I just don't have the time or energy to go that in depth for a 5 match card. I figure I'll be able to give a fairly unique perspective on the show being there live, and may even interject some things I notice when I watch back parts of it on the network through the week.

 

Matches of the Month - June 2024

    

The Wrestling Vault had a pretty good start, if I can be honest with you guys. Watched a ton of great wrestling and very few bad matches. Finally got this blog started and have been keeping the ball rolling for close to a full month now, I'm kinda proud of myself. 

As I mentioned in my June 30th Weekly Watchlist, I'll be keeping the best matches I watched for the month in their own separate post for easy reference. I'll also, for the sake of time, give each match that I haven't already covered in a Weekly Watchlist or any other kind of review a sentence or two to sum up why its one of my favourites for the month.

Without further delay, lets go over the month of June!

Weekly Watchlist 003 - June 30 2024

 Another week down, another weekly watchlist!

Some of you may have noticed the sidebar for "Matches of the Month" has shrunk. I've decided that instead of outright deleting the list I've kept for the month, I'll instead compile them into a post here simply called "Matches of the Month." As of right now, I won't give each match its own review, as most of them will already have one, instead I'll give each a sentence or two "review." Just something to give a bit more context as to why I picked the match. 

 

 

Weekly Watchlist 002 - June 23 2024

Back with another Weekly Watchlist!

Getting ready to round the final week of June and still rolling around the idea of doing a monthly recap of the matches I liked best. The only hangup I have is that, I've probably already gone over the matches I liked the best in my Weekly Watchlist. Would there really be a reason to do a monthly list too? I mean, I could absolutely include stuff I haven't already done reviews on... I dunno. Gotta let that idea simmer for a bit longer before I commit to anything.

Weekly Watchlist 001 - June 16 2024

 Entry number one in the Weekly Watchlist!

I knew I wouldn't be able to get a very lengthy post made up, given that I started this blog in the middle of the week, but still wanted to get something out right at the start. Get things rolling.

 

 

Welcome to the Vault!

 Greetings, dear reader! 

If you've somehow found your way to my blog, welcome! I've been a fan of wrestling for years and years now and decided I needed an outlet to share some of my thoughts with the world. Not like they really matter all that much but hey, if I'm gonna spend all this time thinking about wrestling, I may as well put those thoughts to good use! 

I wanted to start my blog off with a little breakdown of how I plan on using it. The types of posts you'll see and what it all about. I don't want to post the same stuff every other wrestling website on the internet does. I want to stand out a little bit, really make this website my own. How will I do that, you may ask yourself? Well, let me tell you how.