Tag: pro wrestling

Renaming ‘The Four Horsewomen’: Six Pro-Wrestling Stables That Better Describe the Group


(The Iconic Four Horsewomen: Ronda Rousey [not pictured], Three Other Chicks, and King Kong Bundy in a dress. Photo courtesy of TitoCouture.com)

By Seth Falvo

“If you’re gonna take a baseball bat to a Horseman, finish the job! Because there’s one rule of gang fighting. See, we are the original gang and we’re the most vicious in all of professional wrestling history. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of theirs to the morgue.”

– Arn Anderson, Horseman. August 5, 1996.

Those four sentences do more than anyone else could possibly hope to do in order to establish why “The Four Horsewomen” are anything but. On Saturday night, Horsewoman Shayna Baszler had the opportunity to get revenge on Bethe Correia, the fighter who outpointed Horsewoman Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172 and proceeded to downright ether the stable during her victory celebration. Not to ruin the outcome, but let’s just say that The Four Horsewomen now have to send four of Bethe’s friends to the morgue if they’re still trying to push that angle.

That the legendary Four Horsemen never feuded with nobodies like Hardbody Harrison — and sure as hell never jobbed to sub-.500 fighters — is completely besides the point. “The Four Horsewomen” have become such a tired joke that even mocking people who criticize how loosely they resemble The Four Horsemen on your social media accounts is completely worn out. Since we’re all in agreement that they need a new name, let’s look to some professional wrestling stables who The Four Horsewomen have resembled far more closely. Here are six that fit the description…

The Wyatt Family


A backwoods cult that’s gotten tremendously over with professional wrestling fans, despite accomplishing very little of note.
Why it works: Both factions are led by a compelling, charismatic eccentric.
Why it doesn’t: No offense to Bray Wyatt, but Ronda Rousey has accomplished far, far too much for this comparison to work.


(The Iconic Four Horsewomen: Ronda Rousey [not pictured], Three Other Chicks, and King Kong Bundy in a dress. Photo courtesy of TitoCouture.com)

By Seth Falvo

“If you’re gonna take a baseball bat to a Horseman, finish the job! Because there’s one rule of gang fighting. See, we are the original gang and we’re the most vicious in all of professional wrestling history. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of theirs to the morgue.”

  – Arn Anderson, Horseman. August 5, 1996.

Those four sentences do more than anyone else could possibly hope to do in order to establish why “The Four Horsewomen” are anything but. On Saturday night, Horsewoman Shayna Baszler had the opportunity to get revenge on Bethe Correia, the fighter who outpointed Horsewoman Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172 and proceeded to downright ether the stable during her victory celebration. Not to ruin the outcome, but let’s just say that The Four Horsewomen now have to send four of Bethe’s friends to the morgue if they’re still trying to push that angle.

That the legendary Four Horsemen never feuded with nobodies like Hardbody Harrison — and sure as hell never jobbed to sub-.500 fighters — is completely besides the point. “The Four Horsewomen” have become such a tired joke that even mocking people who criticize how loosely they resemble The Four Horsemen on your social media accounts is completely worn out. Since we’re all in agreement that they need a new name, let’s look to some professional wrestling stables who The Four Horsewomen have resembled far more closely. Here are six that fit the description…

The Wyatt Family


A backwoods cult that’s gotten tremendously over with professional wrestling fans, despite accomplishing very little of note.
Why it works: Both factions are led by a compelling, charismatic eccentric.
Why it doesn’t: No offense to Bray Wyatt, but Ronda Rousey has accomplished far, far too much for this comparison to work.

Raven’s Flock


In ECW, Raven’s Nest were a crucial part of major storylines. In WCW, Raven’s Flock could not have possibly been used more differently.

Why it works: “I don’t think there’s ever been a more over group that lost every single outing,” Raven recently said of his WCW Flock. You can say the same thing about how over The Four Horsewomen are with MMA fans — even if they think the Horseman comparison is a total farce.
Why it doesn’t: For the same reason it doesn’t work for The Wyatt Family. Ronda Rousey as Raven may sort-of work when comparing their personalities, but in terms of their accomplishments, it ain’t even close.

one Warrior nation


Much like MMA fans with “The Four Horsewomen,” professional wrestling fans are trying to pretend that one Warrior nation was never a thing that existed. Sorry for re-opening this wound, guys.
Why it works: Imagine Raven’s Flock, if it were led by an accomplished, ultra-charismatic, clearly insane grappler that fans either loved or hated.
Why it doesn’t: …except for the whole Halloween Havoc 1998 thing, when Hulk Hogan defeated The Warrior in one of the worst worked matches ever, but that’s another story for another day. As is that time Hulk Hogan saw The Warrior in his mirror…

The Latino World Order


A cheap, inferior knockoff of one of the greatest stables in professional wrestling history – why does that sound familiar?
Why it works: The L.W.O. was Eddie Guerrero and not much else.
Why it doesn’t:

Your argument is invalid.

The Kongtourage


See, because they were the entourage of a wrestler named “Awesome Kong.” I don’t care that you didn’t need the explanation.
Why it works: A dominant female champion, plus three random ladies who hung out with her. Sounds about right.
Why it doesn’t: Because what, are they supposed to call themselves the Rondarage? Egads, that’s unforgivable.

Pretty Mean Sisters


Consider this your daily reminder that The Attitude Era wasn’t nearly as awesome as you remember it being.
Why it works: Pretty Mean Sisters is regarded as one of the dumbest, most unnecessary stables in the history of professional wrestling. Plus it has the whole “all members were women” thing going for it.
Why it doesn’t: Because there really aren’t enough Al Bundy GIFs on the Internet to properly capture how ridiculous it would be for Ronda Rousey to describe her friends as “The Pretty Mean Sisters of MMA.”

So, what should it be? The Rousey World Order? Rousey’s Flock? Rousey and The J.O.B. Squad? Let us know in the comments section, or tweet your suggestions to @cagepotatomma.

Brock Lesnar Chills with Jon Jones After Winning WWE Title at SummerSlam

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar again captured the WWE heavyweight title at SummerSlam Saturday night, and one of the first men to congratulate him was none other than Jon Jones
“Bones,” the UFC light heavyweight champion, posted a video o…

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar again captured the WWE heavyweight title at SummerSlam Saturday night, and one of the first men to congratulate him was none other than Jon Jones

“Bones,” the UFC light heavyweight champion, posted a video on Instagram of his encounter with Lesnar just moments after he decimated John Cena to again wear WWE gold. 

“Hey, I’m here with big Brock Lesnar right after the smack down. How you feelin’?” Jones asked. 

“Good, man, good,” Lesnar responded. 

“That was a lot of fun. This was my first time getting to watch him do his thing and he was a beast out there, the people loved him,” Jones gushed. 

“Thank you, thank you,” Lesnar said, before Jones concluded by saying “good times.” 

Lesnar holds the distinction of being the youngest WWE heavyweight titleholder of all time, as he was just 25 years old when he wrestled the belt away from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at SummerSlam in 2002.

The hulking Minnesota native also wore WWE championship gold when he defeated Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XIX back in 2003. 

A two-time All-American collegiate wrestler, Lesnar retired from mixed martial arts after suffering back-to-back TKO losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem.

Months later, Lesnar decided to return to the WWE on a part-time basis. 

When Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight title from Randy Couture at UFC 91 in November 2008, Jones was just 7-0 as a professional mixed martial artist and had fought his first UFC bout just four months prior. 

Jones easily won a decision against Andre Gusmao at UFC 87, showing flashes of the superstar fight fans know today: utilizing explosive takedowns and spinning back elbows during their 15-minute affair. 

The fighters traveled two markedly different paths from there: Two bouts with the stomach disease diverticulitis took a serious toll on Lesnar’s fight career, while Jones has compiled a 13-1 record since that point and is generally regarded as the best fighter on the UFC roster. 

According to Paul Heyman, Lesnar’s manager, his top client would’ve been unstoppable inside the cage if he had never gotten ill, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports. 

Many years down the line when Jones hangs up the gloves for good, would pro wrestling be a natural transition for him?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The (Reported) Death of TNA Impact, And How Its Cancellation Could Affect Pro Wrestling and MMA


(*single tear* [via @SoDuTw])

By Seth Falvo

The inevitable has finally occurred: TMZ is reporting that Spike TV has cancelled TNA Impact Wrestling after nine less than spectacular years. It is unclear when the final edition of Impact will air, but TMZ says that TNA’s deal with Spike runs through October. Neither Spike TV nor TNA have released official statements at this time.

So why are we covering the death of a minor-league professional wrestling outfit that did everything it possibly could to run itself out of business on CagePotato.com? Because this is the same promotion that partnered with Bellator to bring us King Mo’s (unintentionally hilarious) wrestling career and Tito Ortiz slugging Rampage Jackson with a hammer. It goes without saying that the Bellator/TNA partnership is about to dissolve, but what can we expect Spike TV to replace TNA Impact with? Will this bring more MMA to Spike TV, or will Spike just find another indie wrestling organization to fill in TNA’s shoes? Your guess is as good as anyone’s at this point, so let’s recklessly speculate for a while.

Isn’t it a little premature to write that TNA Impact Wrestling has been cancelled, considering that TNA could still renew with Spike TV/find a different network?

Sure, Spike TV could still renew TNA Impact, just like someone hypothetically could hold the UFC flyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously. Not that it matters, but rumor has it that Spike TV executives cancelled Impact because they learned that TNA president Dixie Carter hired Vince Russo as a consultant, even though Spike specifically told her not to give him a job. If that’s true, that’s an oddly appropriate note for a company so hellbent on running itself into the ground to go out on.

As for another network picking up TNA Impact? Take it away, Razor…


(*single tear* [via @SoDuTw])

By Seth Falvo

The inevitable has finally occurred: TMZ is reporting that Spike TV  has cancelled TNA Impact Wrestling after nine less than spectacular years. It is unclear when the final edition of Impact will air, but TMZ says that TNA’s deal with Spike runs through October. Neither Spike TV nor TNA have released official statements at this time.

So why are we covering the death of a minor-league professional wrestling outfit that did everything it possibly could to run itself out of business on CagePotato.com? Because this is the same promotion that partnered with Bellator to bring us King Mo’s (unintentionally hilarious) wrestling career and Tito Ortiz slugging Rampage Jackson with a hammer. It goes without saying that the Bellator/TNA partnership is about to dissolve, but what can we expect Spike TV to replace TNA Impact with? Will this bring more MMA to Spike TV, or will Spike just find another indie wrestling organization to fill in TNA’s shoes? Your guess is as good as anyone’s at this point, so let’s recklessly speculate for a while.

Isn’t it a little premature to write that TNA Impact Wrestling has been cancelled, considering that TNA could still renew with Spike TV/find a different network?

Sure, Spike TV could still renew TNA Impact, just like someone hypothetically could hold the UFC flyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously. Not that it matters, but rumor has it that Spike TV executives cancelled Impact because they learned that TNA president Dixie Carter hired Vince Russo as a consultant, even though Spike specifically told her not to give him a job. If that’s true, that’s an oddly appropriate note for a company so hellbent on running itself into the ground to go out on.

As for another network picking up TNA Impact? Take it away, Razor…

What are the odds that Vince McMahon buys TNA Wrestling?

This may sound crazy, but I doubt Vince McMahon wants to acquire TNA; frankly, he’s far more interested in what the UFC is doing than anything TNA has ever done. TNA has never been any sort of legitimate threat to his business, and without a television contract, buying them out just means buying a few wrestler contracts and a video library filled mostly with guys he doesn’t want in the first place. As awesome as early AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Samoa Joe matches were, there’s no point in making them a part of the WWE video library when none of those guys are ever going to be relevant WWE wrestlers.

Enough wrasslin’ talk, what does this mean for Bellator?

At the very least, it means no more awkward plugs for TNA Impact during Bellator events, and no more Bellator fighters stumbling through cheesy professional wrestling storylines in crossover appearances. That alone is a gigantic plus in my book.

Unfortunately for Bellator, I’m tempted to say not much else. There’s no way that an MMA promotion could pump out enough events to fill in for a professional wrestling show, so let’s not even entertain the idea of Bellator getting a weekly segment on Spike. Even if they could, MMA simply wouldn’t bring in the ratings that professional wrestling brings in; despite being on its deathbed, TNA Impact is averaging more viewers than Bellator’s most-watched event brought in, period. Professional wrestling is cheap content that can bring in decent ratings, even when it’s complete garbage.

So Viacom is going to bring in Ring of Honor/Chikara/Some other indie wrestling promotion, then?

Not necessarily — I wouldn’t be surprised if Viacom was refusing to renew the television deal in order to outright purchase TNA Wrestling. Right now, the Spike TV deal is TNA’s primary source of income. Without that, they’re worth next to nothing (both ECW and WCW were bought out for peanuts when they lost their television deals). As for why Viacom would want to buy the promotion, it’s because the problem with TNA isn’t a lack of talent on the roster, it’s how completely clueless everyone running the company is. In other words, Viacom recognizes that a new, more competent regime would easily lead to better ratings.

Should I donate to that campaign to purchase TNA Wrestling?

I’m going to say that this is an awful idea for several reasons, but it’s your money, so sure, why not.

King Mo is Pro Wrasslin’ Tonight and This is The Actual Poster For The Event


(Best. Fight Pass card. Ever.)

King Mo is pro wrasslin’ tonight. I learned this by looking at the above poster, which was posted on his Instagram last night. According to all sources, this event is an actual thing that is happening. I don’t whether to laugh or cry.

I have so, so many questions about this poster: Why is “The Beast” wearing a Tron outfit? Where does one obtain a degree from the House of Hardcore? Or is that like when someone says that they graduated the School of Hard Knocks, The Streets, or ITT Tech?

Is “Macho Man Richie Boombots” the most hackneyed, unforgivably terrible wrestling nickname of all time? On the contrary, is “Merican Mayde” the greatest? Do you think the member of “Merican Mayde” doing the bird hands is a member of the 19th Street Gangsters? Why isn’t “Senor Entertainment’s” name “Senor Entretenimiento,” you know, so that both words are actually in Spanish? Does Flash (or maybe he’s Cash) have the most uninspired costume of all time? Is he wearing that pink headband in support of breast cancer?

Do you think…


(Best. Fight Pass card. Ever.)

King Mo is pro wrasslin’ tonight. I learned this by looking at the above poster, which was posted on his Instagram last night. According to all sources, this event is an actual thing that is happening. I don’t whether to laugh or cry.

I have so, so many questions about this poster: Why is “The Beast” wearing a Tron outfit? Where does one obtain a degree from the House of Hardcore? Or is that like when someone says that they graduated the School of Hard Knocks, The Streets, or ITT Tech?

Is “Macho Man Richie Boombots” the most hackneyed, unforgivably terrible wrestling nickname of all time? On the contrary, is “Merican Mayde” the greatest? Do you think the member of “Merican Mayde” doing the bird hands is a member of the 19th Street Gangsters? Why isn’t “Senor Entertainment’s” name “Senor Entretenimiento,” you know, so that both words are actually in Spanish? Does Flash (or maybe he’s Cash) have the most uninspired costume of all time? Is he wearing that pink headband in support of breast cancer?

Do you think Mikey Mondelli is on TRT? Because that pose kind of suggests that he’s on TRT. Why is Sidney Jones so serious? Did he just find out that the big break he thought he was about to have is taking place in an MMA gym following a BJJ belt ceremony? And why, oh why, did he not choose a more intimidating wrestling name than Sidney? Unless that his actual name, in which case, do you think his parents chose to be emancipated from him?

Does King Mo wear that crown everywhere, kind of like how Tim Sylvia treated his UFC belt? Does he bring it into the bedroom? Or do you think he just dons it during his post-coital pee while posing like Captain Morgan? Is this the low or high point of his professional wrestling career? It’s the low, isn’t it? Do you think Mo hates Felice Herrig?

Related: There are reports floating around that former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans might be leaving MMA behind for a career in professional wrestling. He apparently cited his ongoing knee problems as the reason for his potential departure. I’ll just allow you to chew on that for a minute.

–J. Jones

The 15 Worst Pro Wrestling Gimmick Costumes


(Nothing says “tough guy” like fake muscles and a landing strip.)

By Shep Ramsey

Ah, professional wrestling. You blaze into our lives when MMA fails us, reminding everyone that sometimes, it’s totally okay to put on ridiculous matches with absurd stipulations and objectify women.

On second thought, we can’t even tell the difference between you both.

At least wrestling allows us to tune in and out, without the pressure of having to watch every single event. The reason we love pro wrestling so much is because, like David Wooderson says about high school girls in Dazed & Confused, we get older and they stay the same age.

If anything, pro wrestling has become more mature than its fanbase, despite the WWE’s PG-rating. One thing we have to deal with less are the bad costumes — painted-on gimmicks that were never going to work, no matter how hard they were forced down our throats.

Here are 15 of the most senseless and detestable costumes inflicted upon some good wrestlers, and some really bad ones.

15. The Goon

Guys like Tie Domi and Bob Probert were NHL sluggers in the mid-1990s, so maybe that explains The Goon’s odd inclusion into the world of pro wrestling. It would have been cool if this guy came to the ring in actual skates, instead of those platform boots that are mostly favored by goth teenagers and drag queens these days.

14. Rocky Maivia


(Nothing says “tough guy” like fake muscles and a landing strip.)

By Shep Ramsey

Ah, professional wrestling. You blaze into our lives when MMA fails us, reminding everyone that sometimes, it’s totally okay to put on ridiculous matches with absurd stipulations and objectify women.

On second thought, we can’t even tell the difference between you both.

At least wrestling allows us to tune in and out, without the pressure of having to watch every single event. The reason we love pro wrestling so much is because, like David Wooderson says about high school girls in Dazed & Confused, we get older and they stay the same age.

If anything, pro wrestling has become more mature than its fanbase, despite the WWE’s PG-rating. One thing we have to deal with less are the bad costumes — painted-on gimmicks that were never going to work, no matter how hard they were forced down our throats.

Here are 15 of the most senseless and detestable costumes inflicted upon some good wrestlers, and some really bad ones.

15. The Goon

Guys like Tie Domi and Bob Probert were NHL sluggers in the mid-1990s, so maybe that explains The Goon’s odd inclusion into the world of pro wrestling. It would have been cool if this guy came to the ring in actual skates, instead of those platform boots that are mostly favored by goth teenagers and drag queens these days.

14. Rocky Maivia

He’s one of the most popular wrestlers to ever live and he could be the greatest of all-time, but unfortunately, Dwayne Johnson’s pre-Rock costume screams “lead role in a porn spoof of Braveheart.” Seriously, what in the name of Christ were the wardrobe specialists trying to do here? No wonder fans wanted him to die. Although when it’s all said and done, the joke’s on us for not making $44 million a year to star in a profusion of C-list movies.

13. Max Moon

Max Moon is a deleted scene from The Running Man.

12. Phantasio

The most frustrating thing about Phantasio was that his build could have led to something further down the road. I’m not sure he was a good wrestler, because I can’t really remember and the last thing I want to do is give him three minutes more of my time on YouTube, but had they ditched the Phantom of The Opera shtick, this guy could have, well, been someone else. He’s just so creepy, like someone who strangely appears at the end of your wet dream for absolutely no reason.

11. Shark Boy

When TNA wasn’t worse than a Friends spinoff, they were pretty fun to watch. One of their wrestlers, Shark Boy, had commenced his gimmick in the later stages of WCW (what better place to start) and thrived under the Tennessee-based company. He was more or less a really skinny dude who wore a shark mask and spandex that looked as if he was trying to be a shark. Never has a wrestler gone so far with a child’s dollar-store Halloween costume.

Ratings Tell the Tale: Pro Wrestling Is More Popular Than Ever — And MMA Promoters Need to Pay Attention


(Photo via UCWZERO)

By Citizen Kane Dewey

It’s hard to believe that only a few years ago, fans were predicting that MMA was going to kill off professional wrestling. The WWE’s ratings were slipping, and with the rise in popularity of MMA as professional wrestling’s unscripted counterpart, many fans did not feel that professional wrestling was long for this world.

To write that professional wrestling hasn’t exactly gone extinct would be a gigantic understatement. The WWE is not only attracting more viewers to its cable shows than the UFC is, but the company is also coming off of a wildly successful Wrestlemania XXX, an event in which over one million households paid to watch. Although pay-per-view buys were estimated at a healthy 400,000 for the April 6th event, much of the credit for that strong figure can be attributed to the WWE Network — the all-digital online streaming service that had 667,000 subscribers by the time Wrestlemania XXX aired.

“The Wrestlemania numbers just go to show how popular our sport is, even in the Internet era,” says Matthew Roblez, a veteran wrestling announcer and commentator who was appointed as commissioner of the Ultra Championship Wrestling Zero league last year. “People can’t wait to consume wrestling through new methods.”

Of course, it isn’t just the WWE that has been benefiting from the rejuvenated popularity of professional wrestling. Independent wrestling promotions such as Ring of Honor, Chikara, and Wildkat Sports have enjoyed packed auditoriums and sold-out events, as well as healthy Internet followings devoted to keeping up with their favorite promotions. In fact, the aforementioned UCW Zero has recently been awarded Utah’s Best of State for professional and semi-pro sports, beating out the Utah Jazz, Utah Grizzlies, and Real Salt Lake as the state’s best sports organization.


(Photo via UCWZERO)

By Citizen Kane Dewey

It’s hard to believe that only a few years ago, fans were predicting that MMA was going to kill off professional wrestling. The WWE’s ratings were slipping, and with the rise in popularity of MMA as professional wrestling’s unscripted counterpart, many fans did not feel that professional wrestling was long for this world.

To write that professional wrestling hasn’t exactly gone extinct would be a gigantic understatement. The WWE is not only attracting more viewers to its cable shows than the UFC is, but the company is also coming off of a wildly successful Wrestlemania XXX, an event in which over one million households paid to watch. Although pay-per-view buys were estimated at a healthy 400,000 for the April 6th event, much of the credit for that strong figure can be attributed to the WWE Network — the all-digital online streaming service that had 667,000 subscribers by the time Wrestlemania XXX aired.

“The Wrestlemania numbers just go to show how popular our sport is, even in the Internet era,” says Matthew Roblez, a veteran wrestling announcer and commentator who was appointed as commissioner of the Ultra Championship Wrestling Zero league last year. “People can’t wait to consume wrestling through new methods.”

Of course, it isn’t just the WWE that has been benefiting from the rejuvenated popularity of professional wrestling. Independent wrestling promotions such as Ring of Honor, Chikara, and Wildkat Sports have enjoyed packed auditoriums and sold-out events, as well as healthy Internet followings devoted to keeping up with their favorite promotions. In fact, the aforementioned UCW Zero has recently been awarded Utah’s Best of State for professional and semi-pro sports, beating out the Utah Jazz, Utah Grizzlies, and Real Salt Lake as the state’s best sports organization.

“The fact that our league beat out big four sports teams to win the Best of State Sports award speaks volumes,” Matthew Roblez continued. “People love wrestling more than ever.”

What’s interesting is the contrast between independent wrestling and independent MMA. Many independent MMA organizations — despite the popularity of the sport and abundance of prospects willing to compete — are failing to reach the audiences that independent wrestling leagues currently enjoy. For that matter, many small-time MMA shows today are only attracting the crowd sizes that small-time wrestling shows would attract not too long ago.

So why are the indie wrestling leagues like UCW Zero more successful than their MMA counterparts? Well, pick up an event poster from your local MMA promotion. How many times will you spot the phrase “UFC Veteran” on the poster, next to a fighter who is fresh off of a forgettable run in the big leagues? And how many times is this fighter given top billing over local prospects who are still attempting to prove themselves? A big part of independent wrestling’s success is due to the dedication to finding talented young wrestlers and turning them into stars; as indie wrestler Chris Hero recently noted, independent wrestling promoters have realized that they no longer need to rely on established ex-WWE wrestlers in order to generate interest in their own shows.

Perhaps the key to the consistent growth of MMA doesn’t lie with the high-profile powerhouse of the UFC, but with a stronger independent scene. If local, independent MMA can create and support future stars with the same efficiency as independent wrestling, then mixed martial arts might be able to recapture its “Fastest Growing Sport” slogan. In the meantime, there’s a lot that real fighting can learn from sports entertainment.