Tag Archives: royal-rumble

Wrestlemania 41 Weekend: Hall of Fame

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The Hall of Fame ceremony was scheduled this year in Las Vegas and they were having it a couple of hours later than Smackdown. That meant it was going to start on Peacock at midnight, my time. I know how long the Hall of Fame ceremony can run, so I decided that I would watch this Saturday morning instead.

I am aware how some people online view the WWE Hall of Fame. They consider it a joke, lacking credibility. There is no brick and mortar Hall of Fame (which I wish they would have) and, for years, only one person admitted the inductees. Are there performers that I believe should have been inducted years ago? Of course (Demolition, Miss Elizabeth, Bam Bam Bigelow etc.) To all that criticism, I say that you can see the emotion in the wrestlers’ faces, eyes, tears… and it is clear that this honor means something to them. As far as I am concerned, that makes this an important event.

This year, the inductees included Triple H, Lex Lugar, Michelle McCool, and The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon). Then, they inducted Ivan Koloff, Dory Funk Sr. and Kamala in the Legends wing.

It was kind of funny how long Triple H’s speech was. I’m sure he’ll catch some criticism online for that, but he was clearly emotional and grateful for his induction.

Best induction of the night: Easily Shawn Michaels, who was emotional, funny, and was given more time than some of the others. Shout out to CM Punk who inducted the Austin-Hart Wrestlemania 13 match. He did not have much time, but he was able to present the match with a lot of sincerity. You truly believed that Punk loved this match.

Best Speech of the night: Triple H’s was great, but I am giving it to Michelle McCool. She was really solid and thanked plenty of people during the time she was allotted.

Lookie there: I spotted Zack Ryder in the crowd! Of course Zack Ryder, real name Matt Cardona, is married to Chelsea Green, who is a current performer and would be required to be there.

Awkward Moment of the Night: Triple H thanked Vince, calling it “complicated.” You think?

Best Joke: Triple H said about how long he was talking said he was sure Shawn was fuming backstage because he had a call time for NXT Stand and Deliver in 15 minutes.

Ugh: Linda McMahon. Nuff said.

2023 WWE Match of the Year

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This was a tough year, because there were a bunch of great matches in 2023, but there was none that actually stood out as the obvious best match. 

What makes a match of the year? There are several things. Obviously there is a great performance between competitors with some great in-ring storytelling, compelling near falls, and a great storyline surrounding it. 

There can be a match that has all of those moments but the ending is not what I like, it can dampen the match. For example, almost every Roman Reigns match this year.

So, here are the top 15 WWE matches of 2023 according to EYG.

#15. Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijek (NXT Battleground). These two had great chemistry and seemingly killed each other. It started Ilja’s push in NXT.

#14. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Last Man Standing (WWE Fastlane). Shinsuke’s heel turn was great, as was his Japanese promos leading up to this. It was a great match with Seth going over.

#13. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns/Solo Sikoa (Night of Champions). Sami and KO overcoming the Bloodline team with Roman was great. One of the peaks for Sami/KO.

#12. Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus Steel Cage (Payback). Two legends of women’s wrestling putting on a classic cage match with a couple of insane bumps. Great work by both.

#11. The Usos vs. Roman Reigns/Solo Sikoa (Money in the Bank). Jey Uso pinned Roman Reigns to win the Bloodline Civil War match. Some great storytelling.

#10. Women’s War Games (Survivor Series).  Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch face Damage CTRL in an exciting War Games match. 

#9. Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes II (NXT No Mercy). Dragunov defeated Carmelo to win the NXT Championship and end his long reign. 

#8. Men’s War Games (Survivor Series). Team Cody vs. Judgment Day. Notable for the return of Randy Orton and for Cody Rhodes to compete in the match his father invented.

#7. Gunther vs. Chad Gable (RAW). I really thought Chad gable had a chance to knock off Gunther. He lost, but that did not take away from this amazing confrontation.

#6. Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Wrestlemania 39). Roman shocked the world by defeating Cody Rhodes at the main event of night two of Wrestlemania (thanks to Solo, of course). Major twist in Cody’s story.

#5. Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (Wrestlemania 39). Some have this as MotY, but I put it at #5. Yes, it was great. Best triple threat of th eyear.

#4. Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn (Elimination Chamber). Perhaps the most emotional match of the year as Sami battle Roman in Montreal. Sami battled as hard as he could, but succumb to the Bloodline’s cheating tactics.

#3. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (Wrestlemania 39). Best women’s match of the year, lead to the crowning of Rhea Ripley as champion. Flair and Ripley put on a banger of a match.

#2. Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny, Streetfight (Backlash). In Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny knocked off Damian Priest in one of the best celebrity performances of all time. Crowd reaction was insane.

#1. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. The Usos (Wrestlemania 39). Sami and Kevin ended the record setting tag team reign of the Usos in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday. The end of a long term storyline that had been running on WWE TV for months.