Funny origin story, but Finlay clicked for me through SmackDown vs. Raw 2007.

He wasn't a guy I picked for his stats or his look (though I admit he looked very good even in his late 40s). I just kept gravitating toward him in-game for no obvious reason. That habit eventually pulled me toward his actual TV matches from his Smackdown run,and once I started watching, it clicked immediately that Finlay was a different breed of wrestler. Equal parts captivating and vicious and, in my opinion, genuinely one of the nastiest guys to ever step in a ring. His whole approach was rooted in scrappy, borderline-dirty brawling, yet he never lost the technical sharpness underneath it (check his debut match against Matt Hardy). Blending those two things convincingly isn't something most wrestlers manage.

I really don't have much more to say about his first theme song. It was just perfect. I think they ruined his "aura" (as much as that word gets thrown around nowadays) by saddling him with the Hornswoggle theme, which was presumably his own idea to begin with. The original entrance did so much work on its own but once the leprechaun gimmick took over, all of that got buried under comedy segments.

Does anyone else feel like even though he was already up there in age, he still could've had a real championship run if they'd booked him right?

MATCH RESULTS

• Kick-off with Robert Stone telling an official that Tony D and Naraku can not touch before the main event. Thea Hail tries to get his attention but Stone says it's a very busy night and Thea says she just needs 5 minutes. Nattie storms in and says he doesn't have time for someone like Thea but he does have time for the low-key legend and talks down to her. Stone tells them he doesn't have time for this and walks off talking on the phone.

• Backstage Lizzy Rain says she was too focused on kicking Izzy's teeth in that it cost her a shot at the North American Championship. Thea Hail walks into the locker room and says at least she's getting opportunities she can't even get 30 seconds with the GM. Jaida says she's sick of Nattie being around here like Raw and Smackdown don't miss here but Kendal Grey chimes in and says Nattie being here at all his Jaida's fault so she better kick her ass tonight. Jaida leaves to get ready as Wren asks Kendall if she know what she's going to say to Lola tonight.

• Kendal and Wren make their way down to the ring before being joined by Lola Vice. Kendal says it would have been nice to run it back with Kelani or Kali but she's glad Lola won. Lola asks if she needs to prove that it wasn't a fluke? She says that this was her division until she decided it was done and she isn't done yet. She waited though Lyra, Roxanne, Stepanie, Jacy, but now it is her time and she's not giving this up. Lola says at the contract signing she saw Kendal as someone who needed validation. Grey says she didn't need validation, this title is her validation and she didn't take years to make it like it did for Lola. Lola says with or without the title she looks like a champion and knows her worth while Kendal is just shy and vulnerable. Kendal says that doesn't make her weak, it's just her being honest with herself and anyone knows they can't beat her. Lola says Kendal beat her one time in a match but she couldn't last in a fight. Kendal jumps to agree as Wren tries to get her to re-think this. Lola says she'll give Kendal an extra week to train then she'll see her in the NXT Underground! Kendal agrees but Lola says the pick-me girl will have to get picked up off the floor. Kendal tells her she'll kick her ass so hard she'll have to go back to shaking it.

• Keanu attacks Tank Ledger after his match with Hank by throwing him on top of the announce table.

• Backstage Nattie tells Thea that she'd be happy to invite her to The Dungeon to make a name for herself because what she's doing clearly isn't working. She can help make her a legend because what she's doing right now clearly isn't working. Thea tells her she doesn't want her help and she can't wait for Jaida to knock her teeth in tonight.

• Last night we see Shiloh Hill visit Danhausen's lab! Danhausen says he's heard of Shiloh and asks if he's here to be experimented on. Shiloh explains that Tristan Angels broke his tooth because he's mad he beat him in a beauty pageant and needs a replacement. Danhausen says sure thing and gives him one of his teeth and tells him he just has to glue it in but it'll cost a lot of human monies. Shiloh gives him a USB stick and says it has crypto currency on it as long as Danhausen doesn't care that it's stolen then it should cover it. Danhausen says he's happy with the crypt currency and tries to shove it into his computer as Shiloh leaves. Danhausen has a realization hoping that he didn't give Shiloh one of the cursed teeth and says that'd be bad for everyone except for him.

• Backstage Kelani complains to Robert Stone about the match from last week and says she had the 3 count and the ref couldn't count, Stone tells her the decision is final and turns his attention to OTM. He tells Bronco Nima with Heatwave and AAA being on the same day he's going to have to make a choice about what show he's on. Lucien says of course they'll be on the NXT show but Nima doesn't seem sure and Stone says they'll talk later in private.

• Backstage Kam Hendrix tells Stone that he had a bit of a setback and he's only 67% ready to go. Myles Borne and Tavion Heights walk up and Myles tells Stone that he wants a NQCC reunion and for him and Tavion to get a shot at the tag titles. Stone isn't sure about the idea since Myles hasn't defended the North American Championship. Myles agrees to defend it next week if Stone can find him an opponent. Kam pretends to get a text and says it's from the medical team saying he is now at 107.6% and is clear to compete next week! Stone makes the match between Kam and Myles and says in two weeks him and Tavion can have a tag title shot against Vanity Project.

• Stone is eating some KFC popcorn chicken when Shiloh Hill walks in, Stone asks if that tooth is cursed but Shiloh says this is the side of him that's been waiting to come out. Shiloh says the fog is coming for Tristan and he is dying to come out as he gets uncomfortably close to Stone. Stone says okay he can have a match against Angels next week and Shiloh snaps back to his normal self and says that sound awesome and takes 6 containers of KFC popcorn chicken that Stone has before leaving. Stone laments saying he was really craving that KFC popcorn chicken.

• Following the main event Mike Santana appears! He makes his way through the crowd and stares at Tony D from the barricade with his arms wide open.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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We all wanna see the babyface get their revenge against the dastardly heel but when is too much? When I was a kid and is aw John Cena burry Wade Barrett in chairs i was like "Yeah get him John!" because he'd been attacked nonstop by seven guys for months. Apparently some people thought that was going to far and how can this supposed good guy do that to someone. I'm aware that people hated John Cena especially during that era of WWE but surely theres some wiggle room for getting back at a heel. Another example I can think of is Jim cornette telling a story of how Dusty Rhodes was going to drive off in a truck dragging Jim behind him until the Midnight express saved him.

I thought how fans could cheer someone about to commit murder but its the south, since when have they ever been against lynching. That being said surely someone back then thought maybe we shouldn't have the babyface try to kill someone. Surely it would've had some fans think that maybe Dusty wasn't such a good guy after all. What do you think? What's your limit on how far a babyface can go?

What are wrestling matches that just didn't live to the expectations you had for it and just underwhelmed? These don’t have to be bad matches. Just ones that disappointed you overall. These could be from any company. I have 2 to start.

Edge Vs AJ Styles. Wrestlemania 38.

Although the build to this match wasn't the best thanks to a needless Edge heel turn, I was still super excited for this match and it was one I had always dreamed of as a fan of both guys. But the match was super underwhelming and both guys looked as if they were holding back. Add in a distraction finish with Damian Priest and it just left a lot to be desired. I really wish we could have got a great match with these two that didn’t involve a heel Edge or overbooking.

Okada Vs Kenny Omega 5. All In 2025.

This was a match that I couldn’t believe was happening again and the build was fantastic. Seeing Okada and Kenny go out at it one more time made me think this match could live up to how amazing their previous matches were. While I still thought the match was really good, it just didn’t live up to the hype and wasn't anywhere close to their previous ones (Especially the legendary 2-out-of-3 falls match). Having interference during the match by Callis also lessened it in my eyes as Okada and Kenny don’t need that type of booking for their matches.

What are your picks for this question?

The Scenic City Invitational, one of the most celebrated tournaments in independent pro wrestling over the last decade, has ballooned into an entire weekend spanning both Chattanooga, TN and Atlanta, GA as it has grown into an international spectacle.

This year’s SCI Weekend was no different, but its expansion hit historic marks for LGBTQ representation as well. Encompassing five events over four days, the 2026 edition was by far the queerest as every event featured multiple out LGBTQ talent in record numbers.

The annual ACTION Futures Showcase tournament, which highlights up-and-coming talent, saw the highest concentration of out performers during the weekend and delivered multiple firsts for the event.

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Airs on CMLL’s YouTube!

I listen to stuff while doing chores and I have a bunch of chores coming up, and I'm in a wrestling mood.

My go to is Cultaholic, but they are the reason why I wish you could subscribe to playlists for updates and not the whole page. They post some good doc/video essays, but WAY too much clickbait news nonsense.

So, who makes wrestling content that you think others must see?

For me it’s Jevon Evans. Don’t even need the kid to immediately take the ic belt immediately off the penta/chad winner I simply want him to finally have a storyline or feud. He’s already shown to be over with the crowd and electric in the ring now i would love if they gave him a feud or storyline that’ll give him an opportunity to showcase his character work. Renewing his feud with Ethan Paige with their NXT ties would be a strong start. They’ve teased him having more edge and attitude in his matches page is the perfect foe to fully bring that out of him just like he did in NXT.

Another name is Jacy Jane. She and fatal influence started out red hot to the point where it seems they got over faster than WWE planned and kind of been cooled off as a result. Jacy losing her match to qualify for the women’s championship ladder match go tiffy aaa a baffling booking call. She easily has top women’s heel in Smackdown potential. I hope post summerslam they have her feud with tiffy and let her take the us title off him. Wouldn’t be mad if they had her win MITB too.

How to watch:

https://www.ajpw.tv/lives/c9e0a2d8-9e5f-42df-9a35-5405c9710ceb

Start times:

2:30 PDT; 4:30 CDT; 5:30 EDT; 10:30 BST; 6:30 JST; 7:30 AEST

Match Card:

Singles Match -

Jun Saito vs. Yasutaka Yano

Singles Match -

Rei Saito vs. Shota Kofuji

Singles Match -

Senor Saito vs. Leon de Oro

6Man Tag Match -

Shotaro Ashino, Hokuto Omori & Dan Tamura vs. Kumaarashi, Seiki Yoshioka & Seigo Tachibana

6Man Tag Match -

Kento Miyahara, Go Shiozaki & Rising HAYATO vs. Ren Ayabe, Hideki Suzuki & MUSASHI

Tag Match -

Yuma Anzai & Ryuki Honda vs. Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi