6 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (Nov 17)

2. Joey Janela Is Triggering The Old Guard

Joey Janela
Twitter (@briantheguppie)

Joey Janela has leveraged a cult following not through being the best wrestler on a loaded Independent circuit, but by far the most batsh*t insane. Or stupid. You mileage may vary.

Janela was the guy taking that controversial roof bump last year, in which he was driven off a building and through a flaming table laden with light tubes. He missed three months' worth of ring time after that. He was the guy who drove Lio Rush through a table off a ladder earlier this year, only for Rush to immediately no sell it and roar straight back up. At this year's PWG Battle of Los Angeles, he kicked out of a Burning Hammer delivered on top of a chair. Essentially, he's the Shane McMahon of the Indies - the guy who gets over by acting the lunatic.

This week, he annoyed - and worried - much of the wrestling community by spiking Ryan Smile's head on the canvas at a RevPro show. Watch forensically, and you'll actually see Smile just taking the move across the shoulders - but the scope for injury is so vast, the long-term dangers of this style so unknown, that you have to question the intelligence of the spot, and not merely the anti-psychology of it.

Janela reaches for notoriety, not fame - and it's working - but you can't take worse bumps than Mitsuharu Misawa and expect a better fate. I dread to think what awaits Janela - quite a few Indy and New Japan guys, for that matter - in a decade.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!