Cageside Seats: All Posts by Geno MroskoInside Pro Wrestlinghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48257/CSS-Logo-fv.png2024-03-29T08:00:00-04:00https://www.cagesideseats.com/authors/geno-mrosko/rss2024-03-29T08:00:00-04:002024-03-29T08:00:00-04:00The Daily
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<p id="BwYgSN">Here’s your “Daily Open Thread” for Mar. 29, 2024. Come chat about whatever you would like. Come back all day and night for discussion of all things pro wrestling and beyond, some of the former but much more of the latter. Basically, this is the spot to yak about anything related to anything other than wrestling.</p>
<p id="HZ6bmk">Don’t forget to check out everything else we have going on here at Cageside today. Keep checking that front page for content throughout the day, but for now, scroll on down to the comments and talk about whatever your heart desires.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/2024/3/29/24107204/daily-open-thread-mar-29-2024Geno Mrosko2024-03-28T08:00:00-04:002024-03-28T08:00:00-04:00The Daily
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<p id="Z6NDNm">Here’s your “Daily Open Thread” for Mar. 28, 2024. Come chat about whatever you would like. Come back all day and night for discussion of all things pro wrestling and beyond, some of the former but much more of the latter. Basically, this is the spot to yak about anything related to anything other than wrestling.</p>
<p id="8cnpE6">Don’t forget to check out everything else we have going on here at Cageside today. Keep checking that front page for content throughout the day, but for now, scroll on down to the comments and talk about whatever your heart desires.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/2024/3/28/24107203/daily-open-thread-mar-28-2024Geno Mrosko2024-03-27T08:00:00-04:002024-03-27T08:00:00-04:00The Daily
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<p id="nFdjLE">Here’s your “Daily Open Thread” for Mar. 27, 2024. Come chat about whatever you would like. Come back all day and night for discussion of all things pro wrestling and beyond, some of the former but much more of the latter. Basically, this is the spot to yak about anything related to anything other than wrestling.</p>
<p id="1iLY5k">Don’t forget to check out everything else we have going on here at Cageside today. Keep checking that front page for content throughout the day, but for now, scroll on down to the comments and talk about whatever your heart desires.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/2024/3/27/24107202/daily-open-thread-mar-27-2024Geno Mrosko2024-03-26T21:50:39-04:002024-03-26T21:50:39-04:00North American championship match set for Stand & Deliver
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<p>Not one but two challengers to the throne.</p> <p id="nIgREM">Josh Briggs and Dijak both campaigned for a shot at the North American championship at the upcoming NXT <em>Stand & Deliver</em> premium live event scheduled for Sat., April 6, 2024, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both bolstered their claim to actually being awarded the shot by show8ing up to this week’s episode of NXT TV and scoring victories in singles matches.</p>
<p id="QhGawz">First, Dijak defeated Shawn Spears thanks to an assist from Joe Gacy. Later, Briggs took care of business against Duke Hudson. After, Oba Femi, the current North American champion, decided they were worthy of being his opponents but they’ll have to challenge him together in a triple threat match.</p>
<p id="zVfyLZ">Shortly after, it was announced that the match is official.</p>
<p id="olR9rz">Here’s the updated <em>Stand & Deliver</em> lineup:</p>
<ul>
<li id="Qdfmxf">Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes</li>
<li id="JlulDd">
<strong>NXT Championship</strong>: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Tony D’Angelo</li>
<li id="LOaQjV">
<strong>NXT Women’s Championship</strong>: Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Roxanne Perez</li>
<li id="0KgUpM">
<strong>NXT North American Championship</strong>: Oba Femi (c) vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs</li>
<li id="axfua6">
<strong>NXT Tag Team Championship</strong>: The Wolf Dogs (c) vs. TBA</li>
</ul>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/26/24113159/north-american-championship-match-nxt-stand-deliver-2024Geno Mrosko2024-03-26T21:17:09-04:002024-03-26T21:17:09-04:00Rhea Ripley’s Mount Rushmore of women’s WWE wrestlers
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<p>You probably won’t be surprised who made the cut.</p> <p id="hQEoN6">Rhea Ripley joined Logan Paul for an episode of his “IMPAULSIVE” podcast and the entire hour is well worth the watch. They cover a lot of ground, from her cheeky social media presence (literally) on down to her relationship with Dominik Mysterio on screen and Buddy Matthews in real life.</p>
<p id="q5iSaF">Here, we’re going to cover her Mount Rushmore of women’s WWE wrestlers:</p>
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<li id="4GSXSi">Rhea Ripley (“I’ve gotta put Mami on it. I’ve got to.”)</li>
<li id="2QDTiO">Bianca Belair (“Love Bianca.”)</li>
<li id="jYfHyD">Becky Lynch (“Right now we got beef but I’d go her.”)</li>
<li id="5oJcTG">Charlotte Flair (“My arch nemesis.”)</li>
</ol>
<p id="mRaWpf">The original Mount Rushmore was made to showcase Presidents who presided over some of the most important events in the history of this country. If that was the motivation behind this group, it’s a pretty good list, considering everything these four have meant to the women’s division. Most never take it like its originator, though, and instead who they think is best. Even then it’s a pretty good list.</p>
<p id="9wSko7">Right?</p>
<p id="ehH53N">Here’s the full episode. Again, it’s well worth the watch:</p>
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https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/26/24113122/rhea-ripley-mount-rushmore-womens-wwe-wrestlersGeno Mrosko2024-03-26T09:00:00-04:002024-03-26T09:00:00-04:00Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch get personal
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<p id="H3VtiX">Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch started their feud by teasing out a confrontation between two of the top stars in the women’s division in all of WWE. It was a simple enough angle to take. It’s been some time since they went at it, and never at the highest level.</p>
<p id="qoj7UB">Naturally, they set it up to go after it at <em>WrestleMania 40</em>.</p>
<p id="VZKfBa">Then, a problem — they bounced around a bit much with the story. Lynch at one point made clear she was having some issues with getting back to the top and needed to prove that she is better than Ripley, the hot new blood occupying the tippy top of the mountain. But then they went away from that to a sort of generic approach, just two wrestlers talking trash and Lynch seemed to lose that chip on her shoulder.</p>
<p id="rkAcnx">This week on <em>Monday Night Raw</em> things took another turn, this time to the deeply personal:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">MAMI just ignited the flames on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>! <a href="https://t.co/GR2BSyzPP8">pic.twitter.com/GR2BSyzPP8</a></p>— WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1772445995336396871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2024</a>
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<p id="PEABoB">It felt a bit out of place, especially the way Lynch made sure to mention her father never meeting her daughter, but the idea was to generate even more of a rivalry and it did just that.</p>
<p id="cUazPq">The match is just a couple weeks away.</p>
<p id="a00tds">Anyway, here are all the videos from <em>Raw</em> this week:</p>
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https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/26/24112248/rhea-ripley-becky-lynch-get-personal-wwe-raw-videosGeno Mrosko2024-03-26T08:00:00-04:002024-03-26T08:00:00-04:00The Daily
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<p id="yKKhH0">Here’s your “Daily Open Thread” for Mar. 26, 2024. Come chat about whatever you would like. Come back all day and night for discussion of all things pro wrestling and beyond, some of the former but much more of the latter. Basically, this is the spot to yak about anything related to anything other than wrestling.</p>
<p id="tIT4ZB">Don’t forget to check out everything else we have going on here at Cageside today. Keep checking that front page for content throughout the day, but for now, scroll on down to the comments and talk about whatever your heart desires.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/2024/3/26/24107201/daily-open-thread-mar-26-2024Geno Mrosko2024-03-25T21:17:46-04:002024-03-25T21:17:46-04:00CM Punk will be a special guest commentator at WrestleMania 40
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<p>He finally has an official role on the big show.</p> <p id="zKOyF1">CM Punk recently promised to be at <em>WrestleMania 40</em>, saying he couldn’t miss the show in PHILadelphia, injured or not. Just two weeks away from the big weekend, he made his return to television on <em>Monday Night Raw</em> in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Would he be there to set up whatever he is he may be doing at the “Showcase of the Immortals?”</p>
<p id="IIRS4v">Thankfully, he confirmed once again that he will indeed be at <em>WrestleMania</em>. Sadly, he’s not yet medically cleared but his mouth still works just fine.</p>
<p id="46OkFB">He teased hosting the show, he teased doing commentary for the show, he even teased being a special guest referee on the show for a certain world title match.</p>
<p id="gVBPas">But he also had an open mic so he decided to take some shots at those taking shots at him — Roman Reigns got it (I’m on the way up and I’ll be seeing him on his way back down soon), Seth Rollins got it (he wears high heels now and has bad knees, but he’s got it coming to him), and then The Rock even got it, even though he hasn’t had anything to say. “His arms were just too short to box with god,” he called back.</p>
<p id="qqIybw">And then, of course, Drew McIntyre, Mr. DM Hunk himself. Finally, then, a confrontation would ensue. Sure enough, McIntyre hit the scene and Punk demanded, medically cleared or not, he get his “bitch ass in here!”</p>
<p id="DV88S8">It was a pretty damn good confrontation too, with the two exchanging some pointed barbs. McIntyre invited Punk to be a special guest commentator for the WrestleMania title match against Rollins, which finally brought Seth out to the party. He took a poll of the crowd, asking them if they want Punk to be special commentator. They cheered as though they did, but then chanted for him to be the special guest referee.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">These three DESPISE one another!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/wAqZnOanKn">pic.twitter.com/wAqZnOanKn</a></p>— WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1772430718875971988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2024</a>
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<p id="tVFpPO">Eventually, Rollins said he would prefer he be on commentary so he could narrate his finest hour. Punk agreed, and now it’s set.</p>
<p id="r4Pl52">It’s not much but, hey, it’s something!</p>
<p id="lZGbyt">Get complete <em>Raw</em> results and coverage of this week’s entire show right <a href="https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/25/24111127/wwe-raw-results-live-blog-mar-25-2024-cm-punk-returns-chicago">here</a>.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/25/24112037/cm-punk-special-guest-commentator-wwe-wrestlemania-40Geno Mrosko2024-03-25T20:24:29-04:002024-03-25T20:24:29-04:00The Rock makes surprise appearance at Raw in Chicago
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<figcaption><a class="ql-link" href="http://twitter.com/wwe" target="_blank">@WWE</a></figcaption>
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<p>The Final Boss came to the Windy City to ... whisper in Cody Rhodes’ ear?</p> <p id="x4x6W7">The Rock was announced for <em>Monday Night Raw</em> in Brooklyn next week, the final stop for the red brand before <em>WrestleMania 40</em>. He was not announced for this week’s show in Chicago but I’ll be damned if he didn’t make a surprise appearance to interrupt a Cody Rhodes promo.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">IF YA SMELL...<a href="https://twitter.com/TheRock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheRock</a> just shocked us all by showing up on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>!!! <a href="https://t.co/4yu2b1uzCC">pic.twitter.com/4yu2b1uzCC</a></p>— WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1772417948075855907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2024</a>
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<p id="GjvxxQ">And one hell of a staredown ensued, with the two earning “this is awesome” chants while still standing across the ring from each other.</p>
<p id="gK4yve">Then, The Rock whispered something to him, something that had Rhodes awfully upset, and then he slowly exited stage left. The fans at the Allstate Arena responded with “Rocky sucks” chants while the Brahma Bull simply smiled before turning around and heading backstage.</p>
<p id="KbPv7D">And that was it.</p>
<p id="GYpIqH">Rhodes was left looking utterly mindblown in the ring while the rest of us are simply confused over what that was all about. At the very least, The Rock didn’t straddle the babyface/heel line. So there’s that.</p>
<p id="xGDFyH">Get complete <em>Raw</em> results and coverage of this week’s entire show right <a href="https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/25/24111127/wwe-raw-results-live-blog-mar-25-2024-cm-punk-returns-chicago">here</a>.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/3/25/24112050/the-rock-surprise-appearance-wwe-raw-chicagoGeno Mrosko2024-03-25T08:00:00-04:002024-03-25T08:00:00-04:00The Daily
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<p id="3jEAcv">Here’s your “Daily Open Thread” for Mar. 25, 2024. Come chat about whatever you would like. Come back all day and night for discussion of all things pro wrestling and beyond, some of the former but much more of the latter. Basically, this is the spot to yak about anything related to anything other than wrestling.</p>
<p id="kXAjku">Don’t forget to check out everything else we have going on here at Cageside today. Keep checking that front page for content throughout the day, but for now, scroll on down to the comments and talk about whatever your heart desires.</p>
https://www.cagesideseats.com/2024/3/25/24107200/daily-open-thread-mar-25-2024Geno Mrosko