Mitch Nickelson’s WWE Raw Preview 5/15/16

Serving as the go-home show for next weekend’s Payback event, Monday Night Raw hails from Greensboro, North Carolina this week. That’s Ric Flair country, so expect plenty of Wooo’s whether or not he’s there.

Going off of WWE.com‘s official preview, I’ve taken their  bullet points (the bolded stuff) and added my thoughts on each of these issues. Let’s get to it…

It’s Club-ering Time

Get it? The pun is that they’re calling themselves The Club. GET IT?

We called them The Club because it turns out nWo Japan was taken. #Kayfabe

— WWE Creative Humor (a sub of TKO Creative Humor) (@WWECreative_ish) May 13, 2016

Despite WWE’s inability to give these guys a name that comes across even a quarter as cool as Bullet Club, this Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles feud has been absolute money. Last week, the two had an awesome exchange over a chair that wasn’t even used that had the crowd going bananas. Since this is the final Raw before their WWE Heavyweight Championship Match at Extreme Rules, I think AJ Styles will get the upper hand in whatever exchange these guys have. Roman will almost certainly retain his title on Sunday so his opponent needs to look strong prior to their match.

The only reservations that I have toward their interactions is the fact that AJ suffered some injuries since last week’s Raw. WWE and Styles are acting like any setbacks are only temporary but that is an issue to be mindful of.

For those of you who were expecting to see AJ Styles this weekend, I apologize. Banged my ankle up pretty good, but I'll be ready for RAW.

— AJ Styles (@AJStylesOrg) May 14, 2016

As far as The Usos and Anderson & Gallows are concerned, I think there will be a setup for a tag team match between these guys. There isn’t anything official set up for Extreme Rules at this point and it would be odd if this match doesn’t happen. Maybe this one will be a Tables Match. It could go on without a stipulation but I think it would be better if they attach one to it.

New Day Rocked

The Vaudevillains became the Number One Contender by default when their tournament final match at Payback was stopped due to an Enzo Amore injury. Since then, they’ve come across as way more of a formidable opponent to the WWE Tag Team Champions New Day. Seriously, their big vocabularies and annoyance for childish antics have made them perfect foils for New Day.

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I’m not sure if it’s time for New Day to drop their belts or not so I won’t guess who might get any advantages on Raw. As long as both teams get plenty of mic time then I’m happy with all of this.

The ‘EnD’ Is Here

Wait, wait, wait….the team name for Emma and Dana Brooke spells “End?” I literally just figured that out while putting together this preview article. That should make a good t-shirt that I’ll consider purchasing. Dana Brooke is perhaps the best female talker in WWE so I’m more than ecstatic that she rejoined Emma on the main roster. Besides, there are WAY too many heads that need patting right now.

https://twitter.com/MadelineSlays/status/730916900205514752

Emma is in need of a tag team partner to even the odds a little and it just so happens that Sasha Banks isn’t doing anything right now. There are a bunch of other women not doing anything that could also join her but Sasha would be the best.

Lights Out

Chris Jericho destroyed Dean Ambrose’s potted plant Mitch. Dean Ambrose ripped Chris Jericho’s obscenely expensive light up jacket to shreds. There was also a straitjacket and some Colin Cassady action mixed in with all of this. Jericho and Ambrose seem to be heading towards a Straitjacket Match at Extreme Rules but the Big Cass factor might change that up somewhat.

Even @TheDeanAmbrose wanted to try on @IAmJericho's $15,000 jacket… that is, BEFORE he destroyed it! #RAW pic.twitter.com/GjkCB3K0E2

— WWE (@WWE) May 15, 2016

Every time these guys cross paths some sort of property damage occurs. My guess for Raw is that whatever gets vandalized and destroyed this time around will valued at a minimum of $25,000.

Caribbean Cool

Oh crap, I forgot that these guys are going to be debuting. I try not to be too negative so I guess I’ll hold out judgement until they actually do something in the ring. It’s a re-re-re-debut and unless these guys are actual travel agents trying to get people to vacation in Puerto Rico then those video packages truly were worthless.

Plugs

Check out my exclusive articles to WhatCulture.com. I’m the weekly Most Insane Spots guy over there, so there’s tons of fun visuals.

Follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson. Thanks for reading.

Answering WWE’s 5 Point Raw Preview 5/9/16

Omaha, Nebraska is the lucky town to host Raw this week and at this point I’m unaware of any matches announced for the show. Nevertheless, WWE’s got me covered with some of the things I should be expecting in the form of their weekly WWE.com Preview.

I’ve attempted to offer some analysis to WWE’s own questions for the show. You’ll notice that WWE’s questions are in the form of the bolded headings. My opinions are everything else. Let’s get to this…

Will AJ Styles Embrace His Ruthless Side?

Last week’s Raw ended with AJ Styles getting put through an announce table thanks to a Roman Reigns Powerbomb. It was a fun way to close out the show. Considering the two are building towards an “Extreme Rules” match at the upcoming eponymous event, I expect another hardcore interaction between these guys.

#AndStill #WWE World Heavyweight Champion… @WWERomanReigns! #WWEPayback https://t.co/NdeDIKois4 pic.twitter.com/CapFQo1A4n

— WWE (@WWE) May 2, 2016

I think AJ’s alliances will still be teased as he keeps playing with the emotions of his New Japan buddies. So maybe we don’t get a definitive answer on whether he embraces his ruthless side or not. But if the question was rephrased to include “extreme” in the place of “ruthless,” then yes – I do believe AJ will embrace his extreme side. Maybe Roman will find himself put through an announce table this time around. It is his turn.

Who Deserves To Challenge This Miz?

The three most likely options to this question are Sami Zayn, Cesaro, and Kevin Owens. That’s quite an impressive short list of challengers. Shouldn’t Zack Ryder be on that list as well? Poor guy.

My money is going towards Miz defending against all three of those wrestlers at Extreme Rules. I wouldn’t be upset at all if Zayn and Owens did a second PPV singles match in a row, but since there was a clean loss at Payback a multi-man match this time around feels more likely. My official answer to WWE’s question is “all of the above.”

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A post shared by Mike "The Miz" Mizanin (@mikethemiz)

As a Miz fan, I hope that he survives this onslaught of challengers. I’m eating up the Hollywood ego-overload between he and Maryse, so keep that coming WWE. I will concede that he might not be the best wrestler in the mix here, but he’s still such a great character. Keep that IC strap on him for a long time.

Where Is Dean Ambrose?

Wait, Dean Ambrose has been missing? Wasn’t he just on Raw last week getting his head hit with a potted plant thanks to Chris Jericho? I guess I don’t recall seeing him on SmackDown, but I wouldn’t automatically think someone was missing simply because they miss Thursday night.

The point of this question is to sell the Mitch the Plant strike by Y2J, which is acceptable. If you bust something off someone else’s head, it should mean a potential injury. Even with WWE teasing that he might not be on the show because apparently nobody has seen Dean since the plant attack, I still expect him to get some sort of revenge on Chris.

With the plant out of commission, Ambrose will have to find another talk show item to whack Jericho with and I don’t think his posterboard sign is going to cut it.

Is Charlotte Running Scared?

Charlotte will be defending her WWE Women’s Championship against Natalya at Extreme Rules in a Submission Match. The reason she might be “running scared” is because her 16-time World Champion of a father is banned at ringside. Ric Flair has gotten involved in his daughter’s favor in the past, so of course Charlotte must be a little scared.

Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act. -PauloCoelho pic.twitter.com/46ptBCCXJq

— Nattie (@NatbyNature) May 6, 2016

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks have been on the backburner since WrestleMania, which sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing a talented in-ring performer like Charlotte getting some spotlight, but can’t Sasha be on TV a little more? She’s probably being saved for a SummerSlam title push but surely she’s got unfinished business with Team B.A.D. or something in the meantime.

Will Rusev Devour Kalisto’s ‘Big Heart’?

Rusev won a Battle Royal to determine the new Number One Contender to the U.S. Championship because he looks close enough like Ryback, I assume. Seriously, does Kalisto only fight big, beefy dudes now? I like Rusev, it’s just there’s a specific formula being presented at the moment.

On SmackDown, Kalisto performed a quick but successful strike against The Bulgarian Brute. They could simply do a repeat similar to that angle or maybe Rusev will get the upper hand this time around. Either way, Rusev’s really only in the picture to lose to Kalisto in the end in hopes that he can get the little guy over.

Plugs From Mitch:

Follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson. Also, here are a few other recent articles from me worth checking out:

Jim Cornette vs. Cowabunga 8/19/93 Highlights (GIFs)
10 Most Insane Wrestling Spots Of The Week (May 8) (More GIFs)

Thanks again for reading.

Answering WWE’s 5 Point Raw Preview 4/25/16

We’re 6 days away from WWE Payback and the roster is fresh off of a trip to the other side of the Atlantic. WWE is in Connecticut tonight, which is where the company calls home. Here are the 5 major points that WWE has used on their website to tease the show tonight. Just like last week, my opinions are the unbolded stuff below.

Styles’ Longtime Friends Gallows & Anderson To Make Raw Debut

Anderson & Gallows will be facing off in tag team action against The Usos tonight in their first WWE match. I expect the debuting team to look strong but more importantly, I expect some revenge from Roman  Reigns during this match. I don’t see Roman just running out to be a pure heel or anything, but maybe the Bullet Club duo will grab chairs or other obvious signs of cheating to provoke The Big Dog to get involved. To aid his friends, AJ Styles could then come out to help out his pals to even things out. To avoid an obvious alignment, AJ should then shove his friends and ask what they were thinking while pointing at the chair originally used. Then he could storm off with a disappointed father look on his face.

Regardless of how it plans out, more teasing of who Anderson & Gallows might be aligned with needs to be happening. This is a highly interesting element to Payback’s main event.

How Will Dean Ambrose Retaliate Against Chris Jericho?

Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens during the main event of last week’s show and instead of getting to enjoy his victory he was attacked by Chris Jericho. I can’t say enough how much I’ve been loving Chris Jericho’s heel work as of late and look forward to whatever dastardly stuff he has planned for tonight.

I’m hoping that Dean Ambrose wins the singles match against Y2J on Sunday. But then again, if he loses then that means he gets a WWE Championship match at the next Pay-Per-View, right? Right?!

Has Corbin Stolen Ziggler’s Spotlight?

Baron Corbin, the winner of the illustrious Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has been introducing The Showoff to his finisher every time they meet up on the floor area around the ring. I think we’ve seen Dolph eat an End of Days three times on the floor recently, which is a little too repetitive. Corbin’s the new guy to the main roster and will almost certainly win at Payback, so I expect Ziggler to get some sort of an upper hand tonight. He’s got to look good right before he stares at those ceiling lights.

Will Old-School Fisticuffs Trump New-School Smacktalk?

The Vaudevillians had there best main roster promo yet last Thursday on SmackDown. Actually, I think it was their only real bit of promo time so far. They seem pretty neglected in getting the audience truly invested in them and I’m hoping that they can get something similar to what they got on SmackDown tonight on Raw.

They’re super proper and are offended by the crudeness of Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady. Enzo & Cass have really taken off and it’s been mostly off of the overwhelming charisma that emanates from Amore’s voice. Promo time opposite the Smacktalker Skywalker is the best thing to get Aiden English & Simon Gotch as over as they should be.

Is Shane McMahon’s Tenure As Raw Showrunner Coming To An End?

The fact that the stipulation to the Hell in a Cell Match at WrestleMania 32 has been rendered completely meaningless has been said millions of times by millions of people in the past few weeks doesn’t mean that it isn’t still worth stating. The show’s been overall better in that time frame but it would still be nice to hear a logical explanation to important issues like where Triple H and Stephanie have been during all of this.

There’s probably going to be a new element to the “Shane on Raw” story and it will likely get tied into the WWE Championship, which is a mistake. Keep the Roman & AJ story separate because it doesn’t need the over-complication treatment when the McMahon drama gets mixed in.

Final Thoughts:

I find most of these stories to be interesting, so my hopes are high for Raw tonight. Even the lesser developed feuds like Baron Carbon vs. Dolph Ziggler (which has consisted of nothing other than repeated End of Days to the floor) still has interest because it’s a completely fresh matchup.

As long as at least two or three matches with some quality talent are give a decent amount of time, this could be a strong wrestling show.

Follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson.

Answering WWE’s 5 Point Raw Preview 4/18/16

Taken from WWE.com, here are the big questions going into tonight’s Raw. WWE’s questions are bolded, sprinkled with my thoughts regarding each subject.

Will  rivalries reach a boiling point?

The rivalries referenced here are the ones between Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. The Jericho/Ambrose one was apparently the original plan for Dean at WrestleMania, which would’ve been better than the Lesnar match we got instead. The Highlight Reel hijack from last week was goofy, but I was okay with it. Jericho is doing some fantastic heel work right now and I have full faith that he’ll pull this all together between now and Payback.

Kevin Owens received a Y2J back body drop while he was hanging out at the announce table during the Zayn vs. Jericho main event on last week’s SmackDown. This feud is one of the best things about WWE right now. My only request is that Owens gets all the banter time he needs…and free reign over the hats and cell phones of the announce team.

Can Reigns continue to silence his critics as “the guy” in WWE?

The only silencing going on here is what WWE’s production team is doing to the audience. I remember seeing a fan sign recently that asked not to silence the crowd noise because they were paying for this experience. That’s kind of sad to see in the crowd.

I don’t have a problem with Reigns as “the guy,” but WWE needs to acknowledge his connection with the crowd for what it is. They want to boo him and that’s fine. It’s when they continually try to present him as something he’s not that leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s not like the ratings are going up with the way they’re doing things.

Might Shane McMahon run his third consecutive Raw?

Sure, why not? I’m over the fact that the stipulation of the Hell in a Cell Match at WrestleMania 32 meant nothing. Raws have been better with Shane “in charge,” so who am I to complain? They seem to be presenting the debuting talent as Shane’s doing. That association works for me.

Is Emma in for an Irish Lass Kicking?

I’m still happy for Emma and her return to the main roster. The aloof chick with the goofy dance failed the first time but she’s since been repackaged as a more serious heel. I wish other wrestlers got second chances like this. Becky Lynch is about as babyface as can be, so this is a clear contrast of hero vs. villain. Plus, they’re both pretty good in the ring.

Who will advance in the No. 1 Contender’s Tag Team Tournament?

I’m hoping the answer to this is Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady, but there’s a bigger question to ask here: Do Gallows & Anderson have another attack for The Usos or another tag team? Their debut last week got a huge reaction.

I’m excited to see who they target next. If they continue their aggression towards Jimmy & Jey, perhaps that will spill over into the Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles feud. The Roman family vs. whatever they’re calling Bullet Club now can set up a ton of interesting combinations between all six of these guys over the next couple of months.

Then again, maybe Gallows & Anderson might attack a new tag team. They might be establishing their dominance solely in that division right now.

That’s all for me. Follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson and go ahead and watch the video of me, my wife, and my kids doing some wrestling catchphrases if you have an additional four minutes or so. My kids are adorable.

Seth Rollins vs. John Cena Could End Up Being Match Of The Year

Looking forward to tomorrow’s Night of Champions event, there’s one match in particular that I’m most excited about. Before talking about the reasons why Seth Rollins vs. John Cena is a lock to be the match of the night, here are a couple of other matches that I’m also excited about. I won’t touch on everything but here are a few quick thoughts:

New Day vs. Dudley Boyz

This should be loads of fun. New Day are on levels of funny that haven’t been touched since the days of Edge & Christian. Add to that the fun of when Bubba Ray and Devon put one or more them through the table and this should be a highlight of an already great show.

Ryback vs. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens has been one of the best performers of the year in WWE as a mark for The Big Guy, I’m stoked for this matchup. I ultimately see Owens carrying the IC Title, but I hope that this is more than a one and done feud. That would likely require a screwy ending, which would hamper this match from being as good as it could be.

Seth Rollins vs. John Cena

The United States Championship will be defended in what should be Rollins’ first match of the evening. Considering the two titles he has to defend, this one seems way more likely to have a clean finish. Also factor in that Rollins is already a spectacular performer and John Cena is having a legendary year of matches already and this could end up being one of the best matches of the year. I’m very stoked for this one and hope it lives up to the hype that I’m putting into it.

Thanks for reading my quick thoughts on the upcoming show! If you have the time, go to WhatCulture.com to check out my feature archive, including “8 Losses That Need To Happen At Night Of Champions 2015!”

WWE TLCS 2014 Quick Picks

Is TLCS the correct abbreviation? Probably not; that just looks odd. But regardless of what letters are the right combination, WWE will be bringing its annual Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (and now Stairs!) event to the city of Cleveland on Sunday, December 14th, 2014.

After an amazing NXT Takeover: R Evolution show took place mere days before, these main roster-ers have a bar before them that has been raised pretty darn high. Will they rise to the occasion? Maybe. There are definitely a few matches that could come together for something magical. I will be tuning in on the WWE Network to see the event.

As far as predictions go, well, that’s what I’m doing right now. Here are my picks with some brief thoughts along with them. I wasn’t too good on my NXT predictions so hopefully I’m a little luckier this time around.

The New Day vs. Gold & Stardust (Pre-Show)

This should be one of the easier calls of the night. New Day will win. I’m still rooting for the Rhodes boys to self-destruct and then they can  get their singles match against each other at Wrestlemania 31.

The Miz & Damien Mizdow (c) vs. The Usos
(WWE Tag Team Championship)

The Miz  & his stunt double have been one of the best things in WWE right now and I’m hoping that they still have legs under their run as tag champs. I like the Naomi stuff mildly as it’s brought out some Jimmy Uso aggression that I’ve not really seen before. But Miz and Mizdow are my picks.

Ryback vs. Kane
(Chairs Match)

While I find The Big Guy highly amusing (especially on social media), I don’t have much hope that this will be entertaining. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong but I’m rooting that the total minutes in this match doesn’t go into double digits. Ryback will win.

Erick Rowan vs. The Big Show
(Stairs Match)

I’m not sure what can be done with Stairs that we haven’t already seen before but since this is a new gimmick match for this event, maybe they’ve been brainstorming extra hard to think up something good. Erick Rowan is the newer singles guy that could use a W against a veteran, so he should win.

Rusev (c) vs. Jack Swagger
(United States Championship)

It’s hard to see this match-up and not point out that it’s a rerun. This was such a great angle from the summer but it’s pretty blah at this point. Rusev wins and Putin stays happy.

Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee
(Diva’s Championship)

This one does feel like a toss up to me. Depending on if any of those ‘AJ is leaving WWE soon’ rumors are true then that could sway some people’s call in this match. I haven’t been paying attention much to this feud since Nikki won the title so I’m just going to pick Nikki without giving any reasoning behind it.

Luke Harper (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
(Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match)

THIS is a match to get excited about. Mixing the danger of a ladder with Ziggler’s ability to sell with Harper’s creepy presence might be a recipe for an awesome match. I think that the period between this past Summerslam and the upcoming Wrestlemania could be Dolph Ziggler‘s Intercontinental Championship era, so I’m calling him to win. The Luke Harper reign will just be a roadblock in Dolph’s reign much like Miz’s one night takeaway of the IC strap.

Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt
(TLC Match)

This is another potential show stealer. Their match last month was just a preview for this match so I’m hoping they go full throttle on this night. The truly sad thing is that one of them has to lose. They’re both young stars who could use a big win like this to establish themselves in the top tier of the company. Dean Ambrose has been selling quite a lot of merchandise lately so I’m picking him to win. That way, WWE can tell their stockholders that they’re interested in the bottom line.

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
(Tables Match)

I hope the Ambrose/Wyatt match goes on last but this one might instead. There’s a stipulation that if John Cena loses then he’s no longer the #1 Contender to Brock Lesnar’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I don’t really care about the stipulation because I don’t believe it. John Cena is perpetually in line for a title shot so even if he loses I can expect him to be back in the hunt within two weeks. I want to be optimistic and all call Seth Rollins to win but I’ll be safe and give the pick to John Cena. Although Randy Orton should be returning and interfering or something.

---

Well, there are my picks for the shows. I wasn’t as brief as I thought I’d be.

While you’re here feel free to catch up on my most recent episode of Mitch Nickelson Radio. Sgt Damage joined me as we discussed recent UFC happenings. Also, the mind-blowingly hot Rosie Piper helped me make picks for WWE TLC later in the podcast. I don’t remember what I picked on the podcast so I hope I didn’t contradict myself. But the bottom line is that you should click PLAY below and listen for yourself…

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mitchnickelson/MitchRadio_20141210.m

Mitch Nickelson Radio #4: Sgt Damage Talks UFC 181 and CM Punk’s Signing

Welcome to the brand new episode of Mitch Nickelson Radio, your 30-ish minute fix of the pursuit of the various niche promotions and brands in sports entertainment. Before I preview this week’s show, I want to go ahead and announce that next week Ring of Honor’s Caprice Coleman will be on the show. He just competed in ROH’s Final Battle Pay-Per-View this past Sunday and I get the chance to chat with him on next week’s episode. Don’t forgot to subscribe on iTunes so you don’t miss that one!

Here’s the preview for this week…

Sgt. Damage returns to the podcast to talk about UFC and he couldn’t have picked a better week to do so. With a big UFC 181 event happening this past weekend and the HUGE news of CM Punk signing with Dana White’s company, there was no shortage of topics to discuss.

Afterward, Mitch is joined by the extremely hot Rosie Piper as she helps him make picks for this Sunday’s WWE TLC event. Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Stairs are expected, but not always all at the same time. Did I mention that Rosie is a smoking hot babe?

To listen to this week’s episode…
1. Click the Play button on the player at the top of this page.
2. Check us out directly at the site that hosts us (libsyn)…CLICK HERE.
3. Look up Mitch Nickelson Radio on iTunes. Don’t forget to subscribe! (This is how I listen to it. Give me a good rating! I’m also on Stitcher Radio!

Leave a comment below or even ask a question. I’ll try to answer your questions on the next podcast. And as always, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson to keep up with all things Mitch. Take care.

NXT Takeover: R Evolution Predictions

NXT Takeover: R Evolution will be live on the WWE Network this Thursday at 8 p.m. Personally, I’m highly stoked as NXT has been putting on the most consistently good wrestling product today. So to get myself even more hyped about the event, here are my predictions with some brief thoughts about each match. (No Main Event review from me this week since it was all recap stuff.  I’ll get back on that next week.)

NXT Championship
Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn
**If Sami Zayn loses, he will leave NXT**

Sami Zayn is way overdue to move up to the main roster. He’s more than ready and with that stipulation about him leaving NXT if he loses, then that seals the deal for me. I won’t be disappointed if he ends up winning the NXT title but I’m calling for Neville to retain.

Mitch’s pick: Adrian Neville

NXT Women’s Championship
Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks

This is another match where I feel that one person is more than ready to move up to the main roster. I can fantasy book a stellar Diva’s division between AJ Lee, Paige, the Bellas, and Charlotte that produces entertaining, athletic, wrestling matches. My call is that Charlotte loses her title so that she can wrestle for the bigger title in the near future.

Mitch’s pick: Sasha Banks

NXT Tag Team Championship
Lucha Dragons (c) vs. The Vaudevillians

This one is a toss-up for me. The Vaudevillians are entertaining and could use a championship run to help establish themselves a little better. The same argument could also be made for the Lucha Dragons; they haven’t been champions for very long and a lengthier title run would do them wonders. I could see this going either way but I’ll pick the team of Aiden English and Simon Gotch because of how funny they are. Maybe this match will have a screwy finish to extend the feud?

Mitch’s pick: The Vaudevillians

Hideo Itami & Finn Balor vs. The Ascension

I am excited for this one. Itami & Balor are new to the brand and hopefully this will be the showcase that’s needed to really put them over to their new audience. I haven’t seen much of Kenta or Devitt before NXT so I’m eager to see what they can do.  There’s no reason for them not to go over The Ascension.

Mitch’s pick: Hideo Itami & Finn Balor

(no pic, sorry Bull and Baron)

Bull Dempsey vs. Baron Corbin

This is the one match I’m not really looking forward to. They’ve been doing super short matches to build this up and nothing makes me want to see either of those guys get more time than they’re getting. Hopefully they can prove me wrong but I’m rooting for Corbin to win in an even quicker time that some of his recent matches.

Mitch’s pick: Baron Corbin

Kevin Owens will also be debuting on this show. I’m hoping they insert him into a big matchup to show his importance. If Zayn loses like I’m predicting (to move up to the main roster) then I’d like to see Owens come out after the match is over and get in Neville’s face to become the next challenger for the NXT Championship.

Lastly, throw in a little Enzo Amore and you’ve got a recipe for a great show.

– – – – – – – –

Those are my predictions for the show. If you’re hungry for an even more thorough preview of the show then check out my most recent podcast with TJWrestling.com’s NXT guy, Brandon Lasher. He’s been covering NXT for quite a while and gave me his thoughts on R Evolution. Just click PLAY to listen…

Thanks for reading, take care.

Mitch And Al Radio Ep. #8: Final-ish Episode

Welcome back to Mitch and Al Radio, your 30 minute fix of pro-wrestling awesomeness. Here’s the preview for this week…

Mitch makes the sad announcement that Al is officially retiring from pro-wrestling podcasting. But never fear because Mitch WILL continue on! This week, Sgt. Damage returns to the podcast to talk about the UFC Fight Nights in Australia and Brazil this weekend. Also, Mitch kicks off the show discussing various news and rumors including Rey Mysterio’s current situation with WWE, the UK’s potential ire against WWE over the next week, Kevin Owen’s (formerly Steen) imminent debut, Dixie Carter’s history of credit card abuses, and much more!

To listen to this week’s episode…
1. Click the Play button on the player at the top of this page.
2. Check us out directly at the site that hosts us (libsyn)…CLICK HERE.
3. Look up Mitch and Al Radio on iTunes. Don’t forget to subscribe! (This is how I listen to it. Give us a good rating! We’re also on Stitcher Radio!

Leave a comment below or even ask a question for myself and Al N Jaxson. We’ll answer your questions on the next podcast. And as always, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson to keep up with all things Mitch. Take care.

SBP Wrestling Ep. #6

Welcome back to Mitch Nickelson’s premiere pro-wrestling podcast, SBP Wrestling! Like usual, I’m joined by two the two witty and intelligent wrestling minds of Ronnie and Bryan. Here is this episode’s show description…

Join us as we discuss our predictions of the Hell in a Cell matches. Who’s going to come out on top? We also discuss some new rumors concering Brock Lesnar, Bully Ray, and Kurt Angle. Also….Legos and Jolly Ranchers.

To listen to this week’s episode, simply do one of these simple tasks…
1. Click the play button on the player at the top of this page.
2. Direct Download…CLICK HERE.
3. Check us out on iTunes. Don’t forget to subscribe! (This is how I listen to it. Give us a good rating!)

Thanks for listening! Check me out on Twitter @MitchNickelson. Take care.

NEW Rick Rude “‘Simply Ravishing” Outside The Ring T-Shirt Now Available at WWEShop.com!