10 Biggest Wrestling Stories Of 2019 (So Far)
From euphoria to horror.
The gossipy, inherently controversial nature of pro wrestling spews out new stories by the week.
This week, Seth Rollins unleashed his frustrations in defiance of what he deems a unfair narrative. Ahead of the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view, Rollins took a stand. "Best pro wrestling on the planet. Period," he tweeted, in an understandable if poorly-timed outburst. He was some 24 hours removed from wrestling Baron Corbin in the sort of sports entertainment theatre that the competition has essentially made extinct.
Adopting a siege mentality, he literally doubled down during the show itself. In its aftermath, he buried Will Ospreay as an ersatz Ricochet. It was a nasty and weak comparison; Ospreay has improved this year, somehow, where Ricochet has regressed. That's no fault of his. He lives in Chinlock City now. In WWE, it rarely is the fault of the talent, which accounts for the widespread criticism Rollins has somehow taken personally.
Seth Rollins, who has cribbed Hiroshi Tanahashi's high fly flow and slingblade in addition to Kenny Omega's V-Trigger, reckons he's the best wrestler in the world. Everybody steals, but most who steal have grace, humility. Rollins has turned himself heel by displaying absolutely none of it. He is shook.
But what else has shaken this industry so far in 2019?
10. Women Headline WrestleMania For The First Time Ever
After three-plus years of deadening rhetoric, a superb body of work the performers collected to match it, a despairing but typical default to blonde quasi-Divas, and a quite brilliant and euphoric Evolution pay-per-view, WWE made history by booking a Women's match to headline its biggest show of the year.
The timing was perfect. This didn't feel remotely like Stephanie McMahon's hollow, shrill bluster; it was a match contested by a crossover star prodigy, one of the best workers on the roster irrespective of gender, and the top star in the entire company. WrestleMania is the Grandest Stage. On that literal stage, Kitana Baker, Stacy Kiebler, Tanya Ballinger and Torrie Wilson once fought to a no-contest. Nobody interfered, none of the women were brutalised to an extent that they were left unable to compete. It ended when a de-pantsed Jonathan Coachman took the fall.
This is what the women were up against: years and years of institutional sexism and horniness. When WWE announced what would headline in New Jersey ahead of time, nobody blinked. Nobody rolled their eyes.
It was earned.
Regrettably, the match was a somewhat awkward disappointment - not without fleeting moments of vicious brilliance and character integrity - but the motive was undeniable, even if the quality wasn't. Refreshingly, nobody in critical circles made PR pains to over-praise it. A pro wrestling match underwhelmed.
It was what it was: something to be judged on its own terms, without bullsh*t optics.