The Spotlight On The Week Ahead For WWE 2/8-2/14

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Monday everyone!  With the football season officially behind us and baseball season still a few months away, it’s time to shift our focus entirely on a whole different season, wrestlemania season of course!  With a little under 8 weeks away until the biggest Wrestlemania of all time, things are guaranteed to be kicked into high gear before too long.  With that said, let’s take a look at what lies in the week ahead for WWE.

Raw Comes To Yes Country-  WWE Monday Night Raw will emanate live from Seattle, Washington tonight.  As many of you know by now Daniel Bryan released a tweet earlier today confirming that due to medical issues he is going to be coming to Raw tonight in Seattle to announce his retirement from wrestling.  While it’s to see that Bryan is being forced to stop wrestling, something that he loves to do, it is in a way nice that he is being afforded to opportunity to speak in Seattle, just a short drive away from Bryan’s hometown of Aberdeen.  It was on an episode of Raw back in December of 2013 where the fans in Seattle, during a segment designed to showcase the importance of a title unification match between Randy Orton & John Cena, chanted Bryan’s name relentlessly.  This was something that Bryan credited with the birth of the yes movement on his DVD that was released just last year.  For those of you thinking that this is just storyline, ESPN’s Jonathan Coachman has since confirmed that this is not at all storyline and that Bryan would be appearing on Sportscenter tomorrow night to discuss his retirement further.  It should be an emotional Raw to say the least.
Time For Us To Ride Along Once Again- Following Monday Night Raw, the second episode of Ride Along will take place on the WWE Network.  This week’s episode will follow along both King Barrett & Sheamus as well as the trio of Renee Young, Summer Rae and R Truth.  I was able to check out the first episode featuring the New Day and Miz/Ziggler and thought it was actually a lot of fun.  The show doesn’t last more than 20 and is an easy watch.  It’s gives you that “fly on the wall” atmosphere as you watch the superstars on their traveling adventures.
A Beast Of A Smackdown-  Don’t forget about Smackdown.  WWE’s Thursday night program has really picked up some steam in recent weeks since coming over to the USA Network.  Smackdown has definitely been getting more of a focus recently and new lead play by play man Mauro Ranallo has been a welcome addition to the booth.  This week’s Smackdown should be no different as Brock Lesnar makes his first appearance on Smackdown since, I believe, the end of his first run in WWE back in 2004.  On top of that the rematch between Chris Jericho and AJ Styles, which has really been building over the next few weeks, is advertised for Smackdown.
Fourth Quarter Earnings Call- On top of all of this, there will be a fourth quarter earning call on Thursday morning with Vince McMahon and George Barrios.  I’m not sure that I will be able to sit in on the live call, which i did for quarter three, but I will have coverage on Thursday regardless. This particular call will cover the fourth quarter on 2015, basically from October thru December.  These calls are always interesting because it is usually a forum for McMahon to talk about a variety of upcoming business ventures for WWE, as well as the current state of the business.  This is also the chance for everyone to get updated on the current number of subscribers to the WWE network and plans for the network moving forward.
Closing Thoughts-
Obviously with the news breaking of Daniel Bryan officially announcing his retirement from WWE, this has shook the entire week for WWE and taken a much deserved focus.  I have a number of personal stories from either watching Daniel Bryan as a fan or the number of times I got to meet Bryan over the years that I will share when I feel the time is right.
Aside from all of that, this week WWE will released their annual DVD/ Blu Ray compilation focusing on the Best Matches and Moments from Raw and Smackdown tomorrow.  That blu Ray is always fun but obviously loses a little steam with all episodes of Raw and Smackdown now being up on the network.  Total Divas also continues tomorrow night and this season has actually been a lot of fun.  If you’re a fan of Daniel Bryan, you can follow along a lot of what he’s been going through by watching Total Divas.  If you do check that out let me know what you think.  Also as stated above, Daniel Bryan will be on Sportscenter tomorrow night with the coach.  It promises to be one hell of a week in WWE and we’ve got you covered from start to finish so keep it locked in to thedailyspotligh

The Spotlight On Daniel Bryan’s Retirement

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Wrestling , , , , , , , ,

Well the above tweet really says it all, Daniel Bryan has officially announced that he is retiring from in ring action.  Bryan (34) has been out of action since a smackdown taping last April 14th in which he suffered a concussion, shortly after winning the intercontinental title at Wrestlemania.  Bryan had been hoping to gain medical clearance from the official WWE doctor, Dr. Joseph Maroon but had been unable to do so, despite gaining medical clearance from the doctor who worked at last year’s Superbowl.

While it is no doubt heartbreaking to long time fans of Bryan’s work (and I’m at the top of that list), WWE has to be commended here for taking concussions so seriously.  Bryan has been a part of WWE since 2009 and went on to win the World Heavyweight Title in 2011 and winning the WWE world heavyweight championship on 3 separate occasions, the last of which was in grand fashion at Wrestlemania 30.  As big of a fan as I am of Bryan the in ring performer, i’m a bigger fan of Bryan the person and his health and well being have to come first.

This tweet was released a little over an hour ago and I’ve already received a number of text messages from friends asking if this is storyline.  I suppose it’s possible being as Bryan teased a retirement announcement prior to announcing his return to the Royal Rumble back in 2015.  That said, I’d be pretty surprised to see that this is a storyline and I beleive it’s pretty legitimate.  Raw emanates from Seattle, Washington tonight, just a short distance from Bryan’s hometown in Aberdeen.

We’ll have a definitive update as more information is released and full coverage of Raw as well.

Nobu, John Scott & Colin Kaepernick…a New York Jet?- The Daily Spotlight for 2/2

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Happy Tuesday Guys & Gals! What you didn’t think after declaring a February filled with updates that I would stop on Feb 2nd would you? Let’s turn on the spotlight & get right into it. 

-Unfortunately we have to start with another sad piece of news on the wrestling front. It’s being reported that WWE Hall Of Famer Blackjack Mulligan was rushed to the hospital yesterday and isn’t doing very well. Mulligan is the grandfather of current WWE Superstars Bray Wyatt & Bo Dallas, which explains why they were off of Raw as WWE actually sent them home to be with Mulligan. Mulligan was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame back in 2006 with longtime tag team partner Blackjack Lanza by fellow Hall Of Famer Bobby The Brain Heenan. This sad news comes just 24 hours after the news about Bret Hart revealing that he is currently fighting Prostate cancer. Our thoughts & prayers are with Mulligan and his family during this very difficult time. 

– Had a chance to catch up on this entire John Scott situation and I can’t get over just how bad the NHL looked during the entire thing. An all-star game is supposed to be all about fun (my main reason why I hate that baseball puts homefield advantage during the World Series on the line during theirs) and it’s supposed to be an event for the fans. Sure, in theory, it’s supposed to be the best vs the best but by allowing a fan vote, you allow fans to choose the players that they want to see the most. The NBA All Star Game is going to be all about Kobe Bryant and he’s obviously not having an all star caliber year for the 9 win Los Angeles Lakers. Can you imagine the outrage if the NBA asked Kobe Bryant to sit out during his final all star game because “the game isn’t for him” or if they questioned Kobe about whether his family would be proud of him for accepting the all star spot despite his bad year? It would never happen! The good news for Scott is that he had the miracle ending and finished with the all star game MVP. The better news is this whole story is likely going to become a movie, and the NHL will look just as bad in cinematic form. 

– So it appears that Colin Kaepernick is seeking a trade out of the San Francisco 49ers organization and is interested in playing…for my New York Jets! Now I’d like to make it clear that I’m not a Colin Kaepernick fan. I always found that he came across very arrogant & I hated the way that the 49ers treated Alex Smith. That said, Colin Kaepernick has led his team (with a defense similar to that of the Jets & comparable weapons on the offensive side of the ball) to a Super Bowl and to two NFC Championship games. Kaepernick is a dynamic dual threat that in the right system can give your team the chance to win any game. I love Ryan Fitzpatrick but he’s only had one winning season and never made it to the playoffs, Colin Kaepernick would instantly become the most athletic quarterback the Jets have had since Bubby Brister….or ever! He’s certainly worth a shot. Sidebar but check out New York’s secondary teams (The Jets & the Mets)  becoming desirable landing spots in the same season, pretty cool to see. 

-Lastly I was able to check out Nobu for my girlfriend’s sister’s birthday and let me tell you, Delmonico’s may have competition for my favorite restaurant in New York City. I grew up the type of guy that enjoyed simple American chain restaurants. Applebee’s, Chilis and Friendlys ranked among my favorites, as I refused to try anything different. Well, over the last decade or so I’ve really expanded those horizons (partially because my relationships had a limited shelf life with weekly trips to Friendlys) andlast night may have been the pinnacle. From octopus to short rib to a variety of raw fish and sushi to a multitude of Sake, I tried it all and loved every bit of it. With a party of 10 we ended up getting 2 dishes of each one of the four course options offered on their restaurant week pre fixe menu. It was so much fun trying the many different delicacies and a major kudos has to be extended to the staff at the midtown Nobu location who treated us like kings and queens, while offering us special dishes on the house. I can’t give this place a higher recommendation and with New York City restaurant week still in effect until Friday, get out there and take advantage! 

That’s going to do it for me as its times to go burn off some of that sushi! Talk to you guys down the road. 

Bret Hart, UFC on Fox & More- The Daily Spotlight for 2/1/16

Tom Lynch The Daily Spotlight , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and happy Monday to ya, this is the Daily Spotlight for Monday, February 1st! Can you believe it is already February 1st? I sure can’t! My goal for this month is quite simple, to post a daily spotlight update for all 28 days of the month and I’m sticking to it! Of course, for those who don’t know (and how don’t you at this point?) the daily spotlight is a separate entity for the usual reviews you see here on the site and instead is a running blog of my day to day thoughts and adventures. Let’s get right into it.  

-Have to start with a real sad note to start with here, literally as I was piecing together the pieces of the spotlight, word came down that WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. In a Statement released on Bret’s Official Facebook page, Hart posted the following

 “It is with great remorse that I feel compelled to speak truthfully to my friends, family and my millions of fans around the world. In the past few years, I’ve spent more than enough time paying the price for all those years trying to be the best there ever was as a professional wrestler. I executed excellently and my proudest claim was that I never seriously hurt or injured another wrestler in my 23 year career. I’ve paid a price for all that “fake” wrestling. Aside from a devastating career-ending concussion and numerous surgeries when I was younger, in recent years I’ve had two knee replacements, two hernia operations, surgery on my right elbow, and, just a few months ago, I underwent a four-corner fusion of my right wrist that even now makes it most difficult to write or type.
Mark Helprin wrote: “We are all perfect clocks that Divinity has set to ticking when, even before birth, the heart explodes into a lifelong dance.” I’ve had a great lifelong dance and I’m a survivor of many hard battles. I now face my toughest battle. With hesitation and fear, I openly declare myself in my fight against prostate cancer. In the next few days, I will undergo surgery with the hope of defeating this nemesis once and for all.

My fans have always looked upon me as a hero and I’ve always done my best to live up to that in and out of the ring. I beat the odds when I suffered my stroke in 2002, but it is now yet again, that I draw upon the many adults and young children I’ve met throughout my life who courageously fought and usually lost in their battles against this deadly disease. One year ago, I watched a brave young man named Whesley fight brain cancer to the end. If I can find even an ounce of his courage to stand unafraid and face the tough road ahead of me, I will march toward this destiny with his spirit chanting in my ear.
I make a solemn vow to all of those that once believed in me, the dead and the living, that I will wage my fearsome fight against cancer with one shield and one sword carrying my determination and my fury for life, emboldened by all the love that’s kept me going this long already. Love is my weapon and I’ve got much of it around me all the time, for which I’m truly blessed and eternally grateful. My children, grandchildren, and my loving wife Steph have been and will constantly be at my side. I refuse to lose, I will never give in or give up, and I will win this battle or die trying.

Most important of all, I hope I can take the fight to prostate cancer. To be a leader in awareness and to set the example for men everywhere who find themselves in my very same shoes, that prostate cancer can be beaten.”

Bret Hart is one of the all time greats in the history of WWE and one of my favorite Superstars of all time. I wish Bret a speedy recovery and my thoughts and prayers go out to he and his family during this difficult time.  

– I had a chance to check out UFC Fight Night on Fox Saturday night and let me tell you, when I first looked at this card I wondered how this show didn’t make it to a pay per view. You had one of the most exciting young fighters in Sage Northcutt, you had Josh Barnett returning for just his second fight in two years and you had Ryan Bader riding an impressive 5 fight, 2 year win streak going up against one of the best pound for pound fighters in Anthony Johnson. In the end, Northcutt was handled easily, early in round 2, Barnett tapped out for the first time in his career and Bader was knocked out in less than 90 seconds. It ended up being a pretty good for nothing show but what I will say is that the presentation on fox is a lot of fun (with the classic NFL music), and the highlight of the show for me was Daniel Cormier in the analyst role. He’s got such a natural good guy charisma and I can’t wait to see him and Jon Jones go at it, if and when that fight takes place.  
– We’re on the road to Wrestlemania and that really kicked off for WWE in a big way last week when The Rock made his return to Raw. What a fun appearance by the great one who is simply incomparable. It doesn’t appear that The Rock will be back on television until Wrestlemania and that’s ok in my book as he was able to get his moment in Miami and also establish that he’ll be at Wrestlemania. A few folks seem a little dejected that it doesn’t appear that the Rock will be back in the ring at this year’s Wrestlemania (and that hasn’t been confirmed by the way but that is the widespread belief) but I don’t think it’s particularly necessary for the Rock to be back in the ring. Sure his two Wrestlemania matches with John Cena were a lot of fun but I feel like the Rock has added so much to the show in his non wrestling appearances. Starting with his return as the host of Wrestlemania 27 to the opening of Wrestlemania 30 with Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin to showing up in California last year the night after hosting Saturday Night Live for an unforgettable moment with Ronda Rousey, the Rock always finds a way to steal the show whether it’s in the ring or out of the ring and it’s just great to have him as a part of the show.  
– Lastly, it’s been a busy time with my girlfriend’s family over the past two weeks. Just two weeks ago, my girlfriend’s niece turned 18 and held back to back (and belly to belly) birthday celebrations, culminating with a great meal over at Blend on the Water in Long Island City. Just last night my girlfriend’s other niece and our god daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday in grand fashion with a standing room only guest list of over 60 family and friends (54 more guest than I had at my plenty of seating room birthday party back in October, what’s up with that?). This all leads to tonight where we’ll be celebrating my girlfriend’s sister’s birthday in New york City, taking full advantage of Restaruant Week and trying Nobu (Nobu, Nobu, Nobu, Whoo…what no other Drake fans?) for the first time. I’m excited about that and will report back to all of you guys tomorrow about that experience.  By the way, this is a surprise party so I sure hope she isn’t reading this. 

That’s going to do it for me, but I will be back a bit later on with more fun content right here on thedailyspotlight.com… Until then, let’s knock this week out of this park! 

The Spotlight On The 2016 WWE Royal Rumble

Tom Lynch Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well the 2016 WWE Royal Rumble is in the books and what else can be said?  We are on the road to Wrestlemania! I really enjoyed the heck out of that Royal Rumble show last night and felt that it was top to bottom a really good show.  I’m going to go through everything in the order of which it took place so i can point out what I enjoyed about everything.

Highlights:

1) Preshow- It really seems like WWE is behind Byron Saxton as he is now the commentator for Raw, Smackdown and Pay Per Views.  While I like Saxton and think he works really hard, there was something really nostalgic that I enjoyed abut Jerry Lawler calling the pay per views.  That said, with Lawler and Booker T now both a part of the pre show panel, it instantly adds importance and credibility to the panel as the two legends work nicely with Corey Graves and Renee Young.  As for the four way match, I thought it was a lot of fun and it felt really important as all 8 superstars involved showed a sense of urgency that they really wanted to be a part of the Rumble.  I really also liked how into Damien Sandow the crowd was, they loved the guy and this is despite him not really being on tv for about 9 months.

2) Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens-  At first i didn’t understand why Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose were the first match out but seeing that they were also in the Rumble, following a last man standing match, this was the only spot for them.  These two tore down the house and lived up to the other last man standing matches in Rumble history (Foley-Rock 1999, Triple H-Shawn Michaels 2004, John Cena-Umaga 2007).  The two kicked the show off with a bang destroying the timekeeper area almost immediately.  My favorite spot of the night had to be when Kevin Owens took out Michael Cole out of desperation when he was sent flying over the announce table.  I didn’t think the loss hurt Owens at all as he continued to come back throughout the match.  On the other hand, it was good to see Dean Ambrose get a big win and he was one of the MVPs of the whole show for me.

3) The New Day Vs. The Usos- The New Day continue to grow on me more and more throughout their run in WWE.  they have tremendous personality and it looks like it’s becoming harder and harder for them to remain a heel group as the crowd loves them just as much. The new Francesca was incredibly over with the crowd and i was happy to see the trombone back in full effect.  As for the match itself, these four all busted their ass and continue to revitalize the tag team division.  it was good to see the New Day keep the titles as they’ve now held those title for over 200 days.  Keep your eye on Xavier Woods, by the way, I wonder if over time he’ll continue to show more of his athleticism because he’s really good in the ring.

4) Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio-  I could watch these two go at it all the time here but to me, I would have held off on the first title change until this show as I felt it would have meant more for Kalisto to get it on a big stage.  Kalisto is a joy to watch in the ring and it looks like WWE may have found their new Rey Mysterio type of luchador for the kids to get behind.  As for Alberto, while i believe he could really benefit from having a mouthpiece or his own ring announcer, I don’t think he’s ever really had a bad match.

5) Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch-  both of these ladies looked great in the ring and had a good match but the big story here in the end has to be the return of Sasha Banks.  Other than AJ Styles, Sasha Banks got the biggest pop of the night from the live crowd.  WWE has done a good job in keeping Charlotte and Sasha away from each other since both of them debuted on the main roster last August.  I felt that last night was a great time to reintroduce their feud to WWE fans especially to do in in NXT country where fans love all of the talents who performed down in NXT.  It’ll be great to see a high profile Divas title match on Wrestlemania, as I expect that’s where this is going.

6) Royal Rumble Match- There’s been a lot of criticism over the last few Royal Rumble matches but let me tell you, they got it right last night.  First let’s start with AJ Styles who looked great and got a heroes welcome from the Florida crowd who couldn’t wait to see him. Styles got instant credibility by showing up and going toe to toe with the current WWE World Champion.  He also lasted nearly 30 minutes in the Rumble match and WWE was really smart to have Kevin Owens (who has a similar fanbase as the phenomenal one) be the one to eliminate him.  Speaking of Kevin Owens he looked tough as hell to stumble his was down the aisle to enter the ring because there was no way he was missing out on the Rumble.  Of course this led to our second big return of the match as Sami Zayn returned and immediately reignited his feud with Owens.  While people I was with were hoping that Finn Balor would be the NXT entry this year, I thought Zayn was the clear choice and the right choice.  It was nice to see the little comedy spots from Kofi Kingston (who looked rather confused like it was supposed to be Xavier Woods in the match) and R Truth as there’s always room for some comedy during the Rumble. As for the finish of the Royal Rumble, I was a big fan of it.  First of all if you watched that Rumble and saw Roman Reigns get taken out and walk to the back a beaten man, logic would say he was coming back at the end to win the match.  I feel like if that happened (especially since Roman wasn’t brought to the back by a stretcher) then people would have a right to be a little frustrated.  But the fact that Triple H returned, won the title and it came down to Hunter and Dean Ambrose (not Roman) that made for a very exciting finish.  Personally, I would have went with Ambrose and had Roman cost Triple H the title but that’s not because I don’t think Triple H deserves a run with the title but rather that I don’t think Roman and Triple H need the title for their feud and that I think it would have been a good time to propel Dean Ambrose by giving him a run with the title.  That said I think that by Triple H stealing the title from Reigns this puts a lot behind there feud.  I also wouldn’t been too surprised to see a little tension between Reigns and Ambrose being that Ambrose outlasted Reigns in the Rumble.

Closing Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was a really enjoyable Royal Rumble event and my favorite since the 2010 show which saw Edge return and win the rumble.  The match had so many twists and turns along the way and it made for a really exciting watch.  The three big surprise entrants (four if you include Kane) worked as they added to the match and each one, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Triple H, meant something to the match as a whole.