Top 10 Superstars of 2013

10. Goldust

It's 2014 and we are legitimately talking about Goldust as one of the best wrestlers of the year. What is going on?! Its true! Goldust has been putting in the best work of his life since coming back and teaming with his brother Cody, who also belongs on this list, but it was worth recognizing Goldust. He's been involved in some of the most high profile and best tag matches of the year and isn't showing any signs of slowing down. I never thought I'd see a crowd of Goldust shirts past the 90's but I'm glad I do now.

9. Big Show

I've never been a big fan of the giant sized wrestlers. They don't move well and hardly have matches that you would call great, but Big Show has really stepped up in my eyes this year. I was really hoping to see Big Show's bully story lead up to a match with Triple H but instead we got a lame duck Randy Orton feud but everything leading up to that was pretty great. A lot of people had trouble with the crying Big Show but him taking Stephanie McMahon's abuse just made his rebellion that much sweeter. Just a shame it fizzled out so quickly.

8. ACH

If you don't like ACH then I'm not sure I like you as a person! This guy debuted in March for Ring of Honor and has been killing it ever since! Every match he's in turns explosive pretty quickly and it just seems so effortless to him. They partnered him up with Tadarius Thomas and they have become one of the best high flying tag teams in the business and every match that he's involved in is garunteed to have the craziest flips you've ever seen. Seriously, check this guy out!

7. Chris Sabin

Unlike Derrick Rose, Chris Sabin came back from two torn ACLs' better than ever! Now I really miss Alex Shelley in TNA and the Motor City Machine Guns but Sabin has been putting in some amazing singles matches and even won the world title! TNA is doing one thing right and that's proving that the little guy can hang with the big dogs and it helps when you have someone as talented as Sabin in the spotlight.

6. Bully Ray

Bully Ray has been as successful as any tag team wrestler can hope to be. He's an incredible talent and has proven is worth time and time again, and 2013 was his year for singles competition. Bully Ray was the leader of a powerful and interesting (but horribly misused) faction called Aces & Eights. He won and successfully defended his first world title multiple times while putting in some of the best matches in his career. In my opinion this was a long over due push for a legendary talent.

5. Austin Aries

Austin Aries is easily one of my favorite wrestlers. He's got a good look, the right attitude, and some flashy moves. The guy knows how to work a crowd and can use his talents to be an perfect heel or a face. Even if a match isn't the best Aries is able to save it and hold up his end of the deal. He may he stuck in X Division limbo right now but the man is world champion material and already had a great championship run and even an amazing tag run with Bobby Roode. I only expect more great things from Aries. 

4. Brock Lesnar

Its hard not to include Lesnar on this list since he made it into multiple of my top ten matches, but more importantly he was in the best match if the year with Cm Punk. This man is a giant and still manages to put on a convincing fight against a wrestler half his size. I know Brock is kind of one note but he hit that note well in 2013.

3. The Shield

Oh The Shield I believe in you! The Shield is one of the best things to happen to the WWE in years and while they lost sight of their Hounds of Justice attitude they were still a formidable force to be reckoned with. Now all of these guys individually deserve a spot on this list but The Shield really stands together as a cohesive unit and it's better to recognize them as such. I will be very interested to see what's in store for all three of these superstars!

2. Cm Punk

Cm Punk could have easily been number one again. He had the top two best matches of the year, but didn't have the strongest year overall. He came into the year as the most dominant champion and put on the best show of his life and even took on his best friend Paul Heyman. Punk is always an expert in the ring and and a genius on the microphone and he fell oh so short of the number one spot but he still stole the show time and time again.

1. Daniel Bryan

Yes! Yes! Yes! Daniel Bryan has completely captured the WWE Universe and holds them in the palm of his hand! No one has been more over since Stone Cold. I have been left speechless by the crowds reaction to Bryan. He says one simple word and an entire stadium explodes! The WWE has something special here and hopefully they don't squander it and let it slip away from them. Daniel Bryan has overcome so much in the last year and performed in a number of mind blowing matches. Daniel Bryan is worthy of the number one spot and could easily hold this momentum!

So what do you think of the superstar of the year list? Sound off in the comments and you can always find me on Twitter @advent_crash.

Honorable Mentions: Jay Brisco, Sami Zayn, Jeff Hardy, Magnus, Bray Wyatt, Jimmy and Jey Uso,

Top 10 Matches of 2013

2013 was a pretty interesting year all around for wrestling. A lot of ups, a whole lotta downs, but that doesn't mean there weren't some amazing matches this year. I started thinking about what my favorite matches were and decided to compile a list of my top ten matches of 2013. Now this list, like most, will be incomplete because I didn't see everything. This list is based off only the matches I watched and is strictly opinion.

10. The American Wolves vs Adreneline Rush

So this match I saw live at the Ring of Honor TV tapings after their 11th Anniversary IPPV. It was the first match of the day and it was incredible! This could have been a PPV match easily but it was just a normal tag match on TV. The styles of The Wolves and Rush are both fast and high flying and led to an explosive high flying match. I'm not sure exactly what day it was on I just know it aired in March so just try and look up the March ROH shows after their Anniversary show.

9. Jeff Hardy vs Chris Sabin in Full Metal Mayhem on Impact

What can I say? This match was Sabin and Hardy doing what they do best. This was the first match of TNA's world title tournament after AJ Styles won the title (and well into TNA's decline) and was one of the company's best matches all year (one of.) Tons of hardcore and high flying action that any wrestling fan should be happy to watch. Plus it's always awesome to watch Hardy Swanton over a ladder.

8. Rhodes Brotherhood vs The Shield vs The Usos' at Hell in a Cell

Tag Team wrestling has been pretty dead for a couple years. That is until we Goldust came back to the WWE, The Shield appeared, and the Usos' got more TV time. Three of the WWE's best tag teams in one match that was full of great spots and convincing tension. Its hard to pull off a good tag team match convincingly, it's even harder to do it with three teams and somehow this match turned out to be the best on a pretty lame pay per view that should have been awesome. Luckily it's the first match so you can start Hell in a Cell and then turn it off when the match is over.

7. Daniel Bryan vs Antinio Cesaro on RAW

Daniel Bryan was head butting with the Authority to prove he deserved his title shot. Their response? Make him run a gauntlet of three of their biggest stars. The second match brought in Cesaro and what we got was some old school ass ROH wrestling. This match was phenomenal exposure for both of them, and when you put two ROH guys against each other (a company that prides itself on wrestling talent more than production values) then you will get one hell of an entertaining match on a grand stage for everyone to see. The match was long and brutal and solidified both Bryan and Cesaro as top wrestlers.

6. The Rock vs Cm Punk at Royal Rumble

The Rock's comeback for 2013 peaked pretty early and then fizzled out fast. We all knew it was leading up to Rock vs Cena at Wrestlemania and CM Punk was well into his lengthy title reign. Punk had already conquered every challenge in his way and I badly wanted to see him beat The Rock because that would have been a nice bullet point on his résumé but sadly The Rock beat Punk for his title at the Rumble with a People's Elbow (meh) but it was a pretty solid feud and great match!

5. Triple H vs Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 29

Well this was a rematch from maybe one of the weakest matches I have ever seen at Summerslam. Triple H and Brock Lesnar rolled around on the ground for about fifteen minutes in the same wrist lock (so just like UFC) until Lesnar "broke"  Triple H's arm. It was then followed up by the most confusing retirement speech ever. So naturally they needed some big names to draw in Wrestlemania and we saw the rematch. Now it was a solid match with some good spots but makes the list really for being a million times better than their Summerslam match and being one of two matches that made Wrestlemania 29 worth watching.

4. Bully Ray vs Sting at Slammiversary

The Aces & Eights had such promise. It was a solid idea that was dragged out and misused but led to some great matches like this one. Two guys who have been in the business for a long time, and should be way past their prime, put in some of the best work of their careers. Slammiversary was a solid PPV and worth a DVD buy. If TNA held this momentum they would be doing fine now but sadly it may be the last great thing that happens to them. Bully Ray had made a big name for himself as a singles competitor and held his first world title as was defending it against Sting, who if lost could "never earn a world title again." The match was great, kept you on the edge of your seat, and had some great hardcore spots. The highlight was Bully Ray cutting up the ring and wrestling on the wood. This is the best TNA match in a couple years, and probably the last great match Sting will have.

3. Daniel Bryan vs John Cena at Summerslam

Daniel Bryan is one of the best workers in the WWE today, and while he's held the World Heavyweight title before (which means nothing. Sad.) this was his time to step up. A great story of the doubts Bryan had to overcome and his eventual win (and immediate loss) of the title was one of the best moments of the year. The match had one major botch from Cena but overall it was amazing and had a feeling of triumph for Daniel Bryan that the WWE will be trying to capture for a long time.

2. Cm Punk vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29

Well Cm Punk couldn't beat the streak but he did put on one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history when he took on the Undertaker. This match was so good that even the botches looked flawless and purposeful. Cm Punk isn't te biggest guy but is convincingly able to take on the big men with ease. Even though Undetaker only wrestles once a year now (and without the power of his flowing loches) this match managed to steal the entire show at Wrestlemania. Now hopefully we can just get Punk to headline the next one.

1. Cm Punk vs Brock Lesnar at Summerslam

And maybe he can headline against Brock Lesnar because these two convinced the world that they could put on the greatest match in wrestling history. These two exploded as soon as the bell rang and didn't stop until the three count. Cm Punk was up against impossible odds, and while he still lost, he showed that he can make even the biggest opponent blink. The Best vs The Beast was one of the best (but shortest) rivalries in a long time and easily the best match I have ever seen, let alone being the best of 2013.

So there you have it, my personal top ten matches of 2013. What do you think? Anyone agree or disagree? As always sound off in the comments and toucan find me on Twitter @advent_crash

Darkstation Talks Wrestling Eps. 4

So for a while now me and Jon Fisco, fellow Darkstation.com writer, have been meeting up to record a wrestling podcast in our free time. The problem is, I don't have a way to post to iTunes, and I don't know where else to post it that offers an embed code to put in this blog. So far I've been using sound cloud but I only have the free subscription and can only post one episode. So I can only have one work at a time which makes the archiving of this blog pointless because those links will become dead. However for now, sound cloud is what I have so in the meantime I hope you enjoy episode 4 of our podcast. I'm going to be working on getting the previous episodes up in a listenable fashion. For now, enjoy the show. As always leave comments for questions, concerns, or opinions and you can find me on Twitter @advent_crash and my co-host @fisco.

Ring of Honor 11th Anniversary Flashback Post.

So on March 2nd in 2013 I went to the Ring of Honor 11th Anniversary Show. It was a great IPPV, only the second ROH show I had been to, but one of the more entertaining shows I have been to. I don't really have much to say for this post. I went to the Anniversary show and then the TV tapings the next day and I thought I would just share some pictures from the event. Enjoy! Sorry for the sloppy arrangement!

WWE Program Spitballing

The WWE Network is happening. It's now a thing. For real. It gives us access to an amazingly extensive library of wrestling programming, but what else are they going to feature? What kind of shows will the WWE pick up? Word is they are looking for more ideas for original programming so I thought it would be fun to sit down and spitball some ideas on the Internet. So let's start off with the easy ones.

-MIZ TV- Make Miz TV a talk show for wrestling. This seems like the most obvious choice to me. I mean TV is right in the name. Think what you will about the Miz in the ring (personally I've come around) but the guy is a good host and a goods talker. Give Miz TV about a half hour and let him run things for a while and see how it goes. Could be fun. Question is does to go kayfabe or not? Personally I think with this it would be kind of boring if it was just a bunch of guys talking about who they are going to beat up. I guess with this it could really go either way but personally I would rather them break kayfabe.

-The Steve Austin Show- Stone Cold now has two reality shows, Redneck Island and the Broken Skull Ranch. However he also has a very successful podcast that I think she just be recorded with video and made into its own show. Its Howard Stern but with your buddy Stone Cold. That sounds fun to me. Let him do his interviews the way he does (masterful) and give him a nice studio with cameras to do it in. Minimum work and you have gold! Now Chris Jericho could also dip into this a little because he does a podcast on the same website but let's let him build up his chops a bit more. I'm sure there's something else he could do in the meantime.

-The Road Show- Now this idea is borrowed from Kevin Steen's Weekend Escapades and Colt Cabana's Wrestling Road Diaries but the idea is simple. Just follow a couple wrestlers on the road. If you've ever listened to any stories from wrestlers on the road, they ways have crazy or funny stuff to talk about. The problem with this idea though is its the WWE and that means it's PG. So a show like this might get old pretty quickly but there's potential to see people like Daniel Bryan and Bri who like to check out hotspots, or maybe follow CM Punk to a comic book shop. There's enough different personal interests in the roster, and enough combinations of different people driving together that there could really be a mixed palette of content.

-Documentaries- All of those DVD compilations that the WWE has put out through the years, put em' all in one place. This also gives them the opportunities to creat new documentaries and interviews. I could get lost for days in this stuff alone.

-Tough Enough- Remember that show? Where wannabe wrestlers would compete for a contract? And then remember how they canceled it and then brought it back (with success) and then canceled it again? Well, now is the time to bring it back! But here's the thing. There's no reason for a show like Tough Enough anymore as far as getting a WWE contract goes. That's what NXT is for. Maybe just rework the show into something a little different. Maybe take normal people instead of independent wrestlers and treat it like. Wipe out sort of thing. Or maybe Biggest Loser is a better comparison because then they can tell you you're the worst kind of human for not being Tough Enough! See what I did there? Pure gold. (Nailed it!)

-Any Reality Show- Does Steve Austin want a show? Done. Does Daniel Bryan want a show about beard grooming? Sure. Does Cm Punk want to cruise comic books stores across the country? Let him. Just give a reality show to any one of their superstars that wants to try something and let the good ones weed themselves out. Not all at once of course. Let's not get crazy. I love watching any behind the scenes action I can find. It's the only reason I watch Total Divas really. Let's face it, reality shows are in. So let's use that.

Well the wheels keep turning but this is what I have off the top of my head. The WWE is looking for content and I just hope they find some interesting ideas. Maybe they will even hire me for my ideas! Yeah and then I'll be the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion while we are still in fantasy land! So what does everyone else think about my program ideas? What kind of shows would you want to see? As always sound off in the comments with ideas, or if you just want to talk (I get lonely) and you can follow me or berate me on Twitter @advent_crash. (Seriously guys. Really lonely!)

The WWE Network is Real!

So for weeks the WWE has been teasing a big, company changing announcement to take place in Vegas. We heard a lot of talk about the future of the business ad all of that kind of stuff, and they managed to pay off the excitement. Now we've heard about the possibility if a network for years and what we got wasn't exactly what we expected, but is more than likely the smarter move. The Network is not its own channel on TV. It's more of a Netflix app but for wrestling. A 24/7 streaming service. This actually makes a lot more sense in the grand scheme of things. Less hassle, less hoops to jump through, and more control on their end. However if the service is as good as their love stream I don't have a lot of hope because it crashed on me multiple times and I had to refresh. Maybe that was just my end, I have no idea. For now I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. So what is the Network? It's an app. Pure and simple. You will be able to use it on your gaming consoles, any smart device like a phone or tablet, and TVs that allow apps. However some devices like certain TVs and the X Box One won't be getting the app until around the summer.

So what is featured on the WWE Network? Simply put, everything. Original programming and reality shows, PPVs will be live streamed, you have access to the entire libraries of WWE, WCW, ECW, and NXT, and they announced other shows like Top 10 Countdown and Monday Night War. Overall its a loaded package. The best part? It's only 9.99 a month! That caught me with an actual wow! I only hope there is a yearly subscription option. So if you're a wrestling fan, it's about to become a lot harder to go outside. Why would anyone anymore? I'm going to need. Lot more pairs of sweatpants and underwear, not to mention stocking up on cereal. On the images they showed during the press conference they listed Total Divas as well which is curious since that is currently on the E! Network so I'm sure there was an interesting deal going on there.

So now let's talk about the actual press conference. Stephanie McMahon was doing a lot of the heavy lifting as the host of the event. Honestly, I was expecting either a complete shit show, or a lot of boring executive talk. I was pleasently surprised. It felt a lot more like an E3 press conference on a condensed scale. We got plenty of stage talking with a screen presentation, but we also got Triple H and Shawn Michaels as DX stealing the show. These two guys have always been hilarious and that was obvious here. Its hard to tell if their mix up with the teleprinter was staged but it came off hilarious and clever nonetheless and I'm not going to ruin it. If you didn't see the video, this part alone was worth watching. The show wasn't incredibly long, or rather didn't feel that way, I think it was only an hour and a half. All honesty I missed the first few minutes because I was late. I'll say two hours at most. There were only a few superstars involved with the show including Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, and naturally John Cena. Otherwise me mostly saw Stephanie introducing everything. There were some interesting train wrecks however. The MLB guy on stage seemed like he was having a stroke (and that relationship wasn't clearly stated either) and there was an awkward segment with an exec that just felt horribly staged with another Teleprompter gag and then him be intimated by DX. It was just awkward.

So what is all of this going to mean for the WWE and their talent? After the announcement I saw a lot of wrestlers and insiders questioning about their pay. Wrestlers get pay bonuses based on PPV buys. Well if everyone is using the app PPV buys might see a drastic drop. How many people are going to pay fifty to sixty dollars when you can pay that for the entire year? Well if this is successful chances are you will get millions of people buying the Network subscription versus the hundreds of thousands that buy PPVS. You do the math. Now as far as the pay boosts for PPVs. Well that's more insider talk that we will probably never hear about but in a perfect world the WWE will be pulling in a lot more money because it is going directly to them trough their own Network versus paying out to other networks. So hopefully they will have more money to throw at their talent. Again, in a perfect world. Those guys and gals have earned it so I just hope they don't get screwed. And what of how TV will work? Will the show lose ratings when people are watching on the app? Will they track ratings on their own Network? What if this Legends House show doesn't work? Will they cancel immediately or let it ride out? The main thing about their own Network is that it's now all on them. They have a lot more responsibility but a lot more control so maybe if their first season of something isn't working then they can keep it around longer than most other networks would and see if it picks up. It's an interesting time not only for the WWE but for television. And now we get to the cherry on top. The release day. February 24th right after Monday Night Raw, the WWE Network goes live.

So what do you think? Are you excited for the WWE Network? Was it a good presentation? What were the pros or cons? Are you going to subscribe or at least check it out? Feel free to sound off in the comments. As always you can reach me on Twitter @advent_crash. Don't have a Facebook but I am on Youtube with my own Wrestling Machinima called HCW: Hardcore Championship Wrestling. Its kind of on hiatus right now but I promise more episodes are coming soon! 

**UPDATE** So looking back on the pricing, they were purposely a little vauge. They said it was 9.99 per month but also said that's if you go in for six months. So it sounds like its 60 for 6 months and 120 for a year. Most subscriptions have a 60 a year deal so this could be twice that, but honestly, there's so much content that it's still a hell of a deal.