Back in October 2005, Japanese wrestling legend Kenta Kobashi was coming to Ring of Honor for a doubleshot weekend. ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky booked the no-brainer money match for the first night in New York City: Kobashi vs. ROH Ace Samoa Joe. There was intrigue behind what Sapolsky would...

WWE Payback Chicago, Illinois June 16, 2013 (Twitter @johnreport) I did not see Payback live. I had a prior commitment. I ordered the replay, so I missed the pre-show aka the Payback Kickoff show. I avoided social media and went into the show without knowing anything. The Kickoff match was a...

This Sunday night on pay-per-view, World Wrestling Entertainment presents the first ever Payback event. I’m not sure why they went with Payback or why they couldn’t bring back an old name like Backlash. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Since Payback is not a show with a...

June 10th 2013: On this week’s Raw Review Crew… The hottest streak in WWE history continues and Dolph is back. This week’s krizbii excuse is that I’m on holiday in Wales, but here for your usual dose of RRC goodness, here’s Justin. At Least I Got A Good Laugh...

Live from Richmond, Virginia this is the Raw Deal for episode #1046. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. The opening video focused on the health of Triple H and how last week Vince & Stephanie McMahon prevented him from wrestling. Stephanie called him Paul, so you know this is...

I’m intrigued by the NBA Finals this year because I think the two best teams are here. Before the playoffs I thought it would be the OKC Thunder, but once Russell Westbrook hurt his knee I knew it would be the Spurs. Now that the matchup is official who will emerge as the...

June 3rd 2013: On this week’s Raw Review Crew… McMahons galore, lots of Bryan and Axel gets another shot at Cena. Welcome back to the RRC, I’m still on my accidental break from watching Raw, here’s Justin. And Here, We, Go (sigh….) RAW started with Stephanie...

Live from Hartford, Connecticut this is the Raw Deal for episode #1045. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Thank you. The opening video package focused on the Ryback/John Cena story as well as Triple H’s head injury from two weeks ago. The announcers for the show are Michael Cole, Jerry...

This is the four year anniversary of the Raw Deal column. I wrote a column about it on Monday morning where I talk about how it got started as well a look at some of the best and worst moments of Raw in the last four years. Thank you so much for all the support over the years. It’s been...

May 27th 2013: On this week’s Raw Review Crew… Rematches galore, more Axel and a bit of filler. Welcome back to the Oratory Raw Review, the C should stand for Crew, but for now the C is just for Justin C. Ryback is Satan? After the usual Memorial Day video package, and our...

The world of professional wrestling has consumed HHH, and this week's actions reveal much of the same regarding the former Cerebral Assassin.

May 20th 2013: On this week’s Raw Review Crew… From this moment on, starting now, the genesis of Curtis Axel. Welcome back to the RRC, I seem to have slipped into a break from watching Raw, last week’s show remains recorded, but unwatched and although I might check out the...

Live from Kansas City, Missouri this is the Raw Deal for episode #1043. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. If you missed my WWE Extreme Rules review from Sunday night you can read it by clicking RIGHT HERE. The show began with an ambulance driving into the arena. Ryback emerged from it. They...

I wrote this live on Sunday. Here are some notes from the pre-show that began at 7:30pmET. There was a panel with Renee Young, Wade Barrett, Titus O’Neil & WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley talking about the matches on the card. They started this at WrestleMania 29, so it looks like it...

John: It is WWE Extreme Rules time. I remember last year’s event fondly. The top matches like John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho and Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan were all great while the undercard was just okay although Brodus Clay beating Dolph Ziggler in four minutes...

May 13th 2013: On this week's Raw Review Crew... Stuff happens, probably.

Live from Tulsa, Oklahoma this is the Raw Deal for episode #1042. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Raw opened with a replay of the end of Raw last week when Ryback attacked John Cena at the conclusion of the program. Also, Guy Voiceover told us we would see a “face to face”...

Brock Lesnar does his Hasselhoff impression, HHH does his HHH impression, and The Todd teaches a science lesson.  All this plus thoughts on Cena vs. Ryback, how WWE pushes stars, and TNA’s ratings.   Click here to...