Condo On The Moon Podcast: Matt Taven Returns

Matt Taven has added some gold in Japan since he last stopped by the podcast. Taven and Bennett get ready for a busy week as ROH and NJPW come together for 4 shows next week in Philadelphia and Toronto


If you are unable to listen via the site head over to Podomatic to listen or download there.

Talking Points: This Week In Wrestling

Normally we do talking points coming out of Raw but it is already Friday so let’s call it talking points for this week in wrestling. My apologies for not having any content this week it was a bit crazy on the home front. This is part of the reason we are looking for some new blood and content producers for the site. Reach out and tweet @Condoonthemoon if you would like to be part of our team. This all said let’s talk about the fallout from Raw and the week in wrestling.

NXT Invades Raw: No, we didn’t have a full-blown invasion but on the night after Raw, it was clearly forefront of the fans minds. They went nuts for the debuts of Neville and the Lucha Dragons. Surprisingly we didn’t see Charlotte Flair appear. There was also just random NXT chants for no reason at all. NXT had a show on Friday that made 200K dollars and packed 5200 people in the San Jose State arena. Despite the late 10pm local start time, it was the talk for all that attended the event when recounting their Wrestlemania weekend. The NXT brand era is clearly here and is off to a huge start. There was talk of monthly special events on the network but those stories were killed and for now, they will stick to the four a year format. I am in favor of that the worst thing WWE could do at this point is over expose NXT. It’s hot so let’s keep it that way.

Roman Reigns Can’t Win: It was clear from the Hall of Fame, Wrestlemania and Monday Night Raw that Roman Reigns is for the moment in a no win situation. Fans even after what was a good performance on his part at Mania still was booed out of the building on Raw. WWE definitely had him get the pinfall in the 6-man tag main event. This was the match on Raw where the fans just decided to hi-jack that is starting to become a somewhat annoying tradition of the night after Raw. I respect Roman for all his efforts in a match he ultimately was not going to be the winner at Wrestlemania. He had a good match with Brock before Seth Rollins arrived on the scene. The hate in my view is no longer with much of a basis. If the fans continue down this path, they are simply going to create the next John Cena and it will be there fault.

Brock Is Babyface: If it wasn’t made clear at Wrestlemania the fact that Brock is now a Babyface was driven home on Raw. Having him take out the entire announce-team and F-5ing Michael Cole was a not so subtle nod to hardcore fans that have hated commentary for some time. Stephanie suspending Brock gives him his angle to go away and the anticipation for when he next returns will grow. Expect Brock to be the biggest thing to hit the Barclay’s Center come Summerslam. What will be interesting is what role Paul Heyman will have in the time between now and that time. Make no mistake about it Brock is a fan favorite not just in reality but in WWE Storyline as well.

Bella’s are Not the Divas THAT NEED a CHANCE: The women’s match at Mania if there was a match that disappointed it was the diva’s tag match. Bella’s just are not good and the fact the way that match was booked to have them carrying it going 2 on 1 against Paige for the majority of the match proved it. Peter Rosenberg and others can slurp and give this girls undeserved praise all they like. Fact is as improved as they maybe it is not enough to be on the level of the NXT Roster or Paige and A.J. The Raw crowd the night after Mania when guns a blazing after the Bella’s chanting YOU…SUCK…..Cena at Nikki and the same for Brie with the name Bryan. There has been some that have been outraged by this, but let’s get totally real about this. Does anyone think these girls would have the chances they have had on their own merit and it has nothing to do with their significant others? If you do clearly you are living in some delusional universe which makes you the perfect fan for the Bella’s who live in their own delusion that they are good wrestlers and performers. They are not and the hate towards Nikki is not based on anything she does as a heel it is more of a hate of who she actually comes off as a person in reality. She is some stupid valley girl that some how fell into wrestling.

C.J Parker Quits NXT: Now you would think that on the surface this is not a big story. Which it isn’t but it does call into question something that you have to wonder about going forward. Parker had become a jobber in the NXT Brand and it seemed clear his shot at the main roster was likely never coming. Now his departure on its own means nothing. It does make you wonder if top guys who are stuck in limbo would actually look to walk as well if they are stuck in NXT to long. The money you make in NXT is not exactly the greatest and a team like the Young Bucks passed on the chance to go to NXT in favor of the money they could make outside of WWE. One thing WWE has smartly done is create merchandise for NXT. I just want to take a minute to go off on a side note, good for A.J Lee wearing Bayley’s shirt on the biggest Raw of the year. She made that girl some dollars by doing so. You have to wonder the patience level of the NXT 5 and if they are willing to remain patient. Neville has been the first to break the NXT Ceiling to get to the Main Roster. Will Zayn, Owens, Itami and Balor remain patient?  There becomes a real conflict for WWE in now having to keep NXT strong while still having a roster that wants to break on to main roster. That is where the big money is after all. Still as mentioned the 200K the WWE pocketed from what amounts to an NXT house show is not chicken feed. It also makes the main goal of developing talent have to be balanced with now being a brand growing in popularity.

Outside of WWE bubble, there was news from both TNA and ROH. If you are a TNA fan and you read this site, you must hate me. Still I am obligated to report that TNA has found a broadcast home in Canada on the fight network. I will now officially be able to ignore TNA like the one I always have on Friday nights.

In ROH, they lost a couple of talents coming out of Wrestlemania Weekend. Jimmy Jacobs is joining the creative team in WWE and wrestled his last match over Wrestlemania weekend. While Tommosso Chiampa could not come to terms on a contract with ROH and has left the company.

ROH has announced that Okada and Tanahashi as the first to names that will be on the co-promoted NJPW events in Mid-May. ROH also announced they would be returning to Brooklyn for Field of Honor.

However biggest news of all is Adam Cole who has remained silent since his injury to Jay Briscoe posted a brilliant promo on the ROH website. He is still the best talker not in the WWE System. Enjoy him while you can ROH Fans he won’t be there much longer. Have a listen to the magic that is Adam Cole.

Condo On The Moon Anniversary Edition With Guest Matt Taven

We welcome back are first ever guest from Ring of Honor Matt Taven for his third appearance on the show. We talk about the big 13th Anniversary show in Las Vegas. The Kingdom will have a busy night without Adam Cole healthy they have a 3-way tag match for Taven and Bennett. However they also have to find away to keep Maria safe during her match with ODB. We talk about it all with Matt and even squeeze in some NFL and NBA talk as well as what life has been like as part of the Kingdom.

Matt shares with us the buzz that went through Ring of Honor when news got out that Samoa Joe was returning to ROH. Walder is back and we breakdown the card and give our thoughts on who will be the winners and losers for ROH in Vegas.

We also talk about what happened at Fastlane and we give SOME divas a chance and go to town on others. Stephanie gets into a twitter tiff with A.J Lee while WWE is backing their doctor suing her husband. Brock Lesnar wants to have his cake and eat it too and WWE says no leaving Mania main event in some jeopardy for the moment. It's a jam packed extended addition of the podcast as we celebrate a year of bringing you the goods each and every Friday.



If you are unable to listen through the site head over to Podomatic and listen or download there.

If you missed our other interviews heading into this ROH PPV go have a listen:

Listen to Tommasso Ciampa 
Listen to Kingdom's Mike Bennett

Thanks to Matt Taven and the folks at Ring of Honor for their help to get some great interviews in just our first year on the job. We look forward to working with them for another year and giving all of you a great wrestling podcast to listen too. Thanks to all that have found us over this first year and we hope to keep building the podcast and website for years to come. Also thanks to Chris Walder for being my co-host for a year and Josh Lopez for pinch hitting on occasion

It's a big weekend for ROH so support them if you like their product, they have put together a heck of a show here for this Sunday. 

Condo On The Moon Podcast #49: Featuring ROH's Mike Bennett

We welcome back Mike Bennett of the Kingdom and catch up with him on how life has been since his last visit to the Condo on the Moon. He went to Japan Twice, got a new fuzzy pink belt, Tom Brady his man crush won a Superbowl and oh yeah he married Maria. We talk about The Kingdom and get a update on how Adam Cole is doing. We also talk about not only Mike's tag team match on March 1st on the ROH PPV but being in the corner of his wife who will be facing ODB. It is a fun 30 minutes plus with Mr Bennett.

In addition Josh Lopez fills in for Walder who is off in our nation's capital. Is he getting is work visa for WWE....probably not. In any case Josh and myself tackle C.M Punk getting sued, Samoa Joe parting ways with TNA, Some NXT talk and a Fast Lane Preview. So it is a jam packed show.


If you do not see the player above head over to Podomatic and download or listen there.

Thanks to Mike and best of luck to him on March 1st at ROH's 13th Anniversary show going down live on PPV from Las Vegas.

Adam Cole Sidelined With A Shoulder Injury That Requires Surgery

It appears that Adam Cole was injured in his match with Jay Briscoe. He has a damaged shoulder and will need surgery. He announced this at the PWG event over the weekend that was ironically named after him with the title Black COLE Sun. Cole has taped a podcast with Jim Ross that may shed more light on the situation to air in January. Cole’s contract with Ring of Honor was about to expire in December based on what he had said months ago on the Sam Roberts show. What Cole’s status is right now is not as much of an issue as his health. Rumors had been flying around for months that he would be the next independent star to make the jump to NXT. Where his good friend Kevin Steen just debuted this past week with one of the best debut’s wrestling has seen in quite some time.

Cole thanked the fans at PWG and gave this encouraging tweet for all his fans.

I'll be back better than ever. I can promise you that. #AdamColeBayBay
— Adam Cole (@AdamColePro) December 13, 2014

We have had Adam here on Condo on the Moon on two different occasions and he is one of the nicest people I have come across. We wish Adam nothing but the best and hope to see him back in a ring somewhere sooner rather than later. No time line has been given for his recovery but ROH recently released their poster for their next Live Pay-Per-View and Adam was noticeably absent from it. Former WWE Star Alberto Del Rio was on it as he is set to join ROH for several dates leading up too and including the pay-per-view in March in Las Vegas.

Losing Adam to injury or the WWE was going to be a big blow for ROH as he headlined both their live pay-per-views in losing efforts for ROH Championship. It would appear he would not be keeping that streak alive in March.

We offer all the best, to one of the best wrestlers and people in the business today. His future is still very bright and this we hope will just be a minor set back in his career path.

Condo on The Moon Podcast #41: Guest Steve Corino

It is our thrill to have Ring of Honor broadcaster and long time veteran wrestler prior to that Steve Corino on the show this week. We talked with him just hours prior to the debut of on of his close friends Kevin Steen as he debuted last night as Kevin Owens. Will also pick Steve's brain about how broadcasting is done in ROH compared to WWE. The year it has been for ROH in 2014. Some thoughts on Final Battle, his broadcast partner Kevin Kelly and thoughts on many of the ROH roster. Form his obsession with Adam Cole to B.J Whitmer's obsession with him. We talk for a good 30 minutes plus. You'll here Steve's choice for ROH Match of the year and the answer might surprise you. In addition to our conversation with Steve Corino, We give of two cents on the NXT and ROH shows from this past week. C.M Punk to the UFC and the future of his wife in the WWE. As well as some thoughts on a TLC event on weekend for WWE that I consider might not be as interesting as a good nap. It a long one but a good one.



Thanks to Steve and the folks at Ring of Honor we wish them nothing but success in 2015.It has been a busy time in wrestling and it was really a thrill to watch Kevin Steen make his debut in WWE and NXT. It was a fun night and one I won't soon forget.

If you are unable to listen via the site from your device head over to Podomatic where you can listen there or via I-Tunes.

for all the latest on the blog and podcast give us a follow @Condoonthemoon

ROH's Kingdom Is Going Global

The relationship between NJPW and ROH seems to be growing as Mike Bennett and Matt Taven along with Maria will be taking their Kingdom to Japan for a tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The tour goes from November 22- December 7, 2014. This will rule them out for Final Battle.

Which will leave Adam Cole, who recently secured a title match with Jay Briscoe, to go it alone in the Main Event of Final Battle on Live PPV in New York City.

The Kingdom will be Challenging ReDRagon is San Antonio who made their own news in Japan capturing the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championships. ReDRagon if they are successful in San Antonio will be defending there ROH Tag Team Titles against the team they beat in Japan the Time Splitters at Final Battle. Alex Shelley and Kushida last appeared in May in the shows in Toronto and New York. The relationship between Ring of Honor and New Japan seems to be growing after successful shows in May in both Toronto and New York City for co-promoted events.

NJPW also made some big news landing Jim Ross to do English commentary for their debut on PPV in North America on January 4, 2015. This is being put on in connection with Global Force Wrestling. What this will mean for the use of ROH talent on that show remains a bit of a mystery.

In any case, the ties between the two promotions seem strong as the Young Bucks are scheduled to appear at Final Battle part of the biggest faction in NJPW. The growing in popularity by the day among hardcore wrestling fans Bullet Club.

This will mark the second time Bennett and his new bride Maria will be heading to Japan. While frequent guest and newest member of the Kingdom Matt Taven will be making his first venture to the land of the rising sun.

We congratulate them all and look forward to hearing their stories of global domination in future podcasts hopeful here in Condo on the Moon. We are like the unofficial home for the Kingdom the only member we have not been able to nail down is the lovely Maria.

In any case, this is good news for fans of both promotions and opens the door to interesting possibilities for the future.

ROH has a story with all the details on Kingdom heading over to Japan. We here at Condo on the Moon are getting cranked up to do our Road to Final Battle on our Podcast. We had the great fortune to have Adam Cole, Mike Bennett, Matt Taven and Court Bauer join us prior to Best in the World. The debut for the company on live PPV and we are attempting to have a guest list just as grand heading into Final Battle.

This should be getting going with a guest this Friday. Be on the look out for confirmation @condoonthemoon on Twitter for what ROH stars are coming to talk with us.

Road To Final Battle Starting To Take Shape.

After this weekend, Adam Cole is set to main event his second ROH Live Pay-Per-View as he earned the right to challenge Jay Briscoe who won ROH World Championship in September in Toronto at All Star Extravaganza. Cole won the Survivor of the fittest tournament to earn the number one contender spot. Hear Cole’s thoughts on that along with Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino talking about ReDRagon making some waves in NJPW.



ReDragon has captured the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championships. This comes just after winning the Jr. Tag Team Tournament defeating the Young Bucks in the finals. They defeated the Time Splitters to win the championships. They are also still currently the ROH Tag Team Champions and will face a tough challenge of facing Mike Bennett and Matt Taven members of the Kingdom teaming up to go for the titles in San Antonio next weekend.

The Young Bucks former IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champs and former ROH Tag Team Champions will be on hand at Final Battle and it should be interesting to see who they will end up facing. They had an over the top exciting main event with ReDragon in 2 out of 3 falls at All Star Extravaganza.

Things are heating up for ROH, as Final Battle is just under a month away live in New York City and on pay-per-view on December 7th, 2014.

Michael Elgin And ROH on The Rocks

This whole situation with Michael Elgin and Ring of Honor seems quite odd and doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. While Michael Elgin claims that, we do not know the whole story as relates to his situation with Ring of Honor. I still find it all pretty odd. I welcome hearing what exactly these things are the Elgin is referencing but based on what we do know I tend to side with Ring of Honor.

The one thing that I think we can start with that is an indisputable fact is that Michael Elgin was given one hell of an opportunity by Ring of Honor when he became their champion. He defeated Adam Cole who I don’t think it is any secret I am a huge supporter of and think is a tremendous talent and asset for Ring of Honor. I have had the chance to talk with Cole on two occasions and he is an engaging and intelligent young man and quite the wrestling talent.

Cole embraced his role when he was the Ring of Honor Champion. He has been a huge asset in helping grow the product both in the ring and behind the scenes. Adam has mentioned in talking with me and other wrestling journalists about working with Sinclair Broadcasting on the promotion of Ring of Honor. It is something he admits that he enjoys and by all indications is pretty good at doing.

At the time of the "Best in the World" event that was the first ever on live pay-per-view I questioned if it was wise to have Elgin win the title. If this was solely based just on the storyline, heading into the match it did not make a lot of sense to feel that way. Elgin was positioned and booked in a way that he deserved and needed that moment to happen. Still my reservations of just how good Adam Cole was in terms of marketing the product and to use the often over used term he was "the face of the company." Well at least he would be with Kevin Steen departing for WWE developmental and NXT. Even with that massive shadow, that Steen had in ROH as being clearly their top attraction Cole was learning and growing ready to take on the role without Steen. Elgin while a great in-ring performer was not as polished as Cole in terms of the promoting of not just himself but also the brand as a whole. Just my opinion, but I think if you asked many people they would share in this opinion.

Regardless, Ring of Honor went forward and did what made the best wrestling sense for them. Making Elgin the champion and going forward with him. Steen would leave soon after and that was a major blow for Ring of Honor regardless of who was holding the title at the time. Ring of Honor seemed to not be able to follow up on the success of their first venture into live pay-per-view. In which they exceeded their modest goals of pay-per-view buys. Sometimes the thing is in wrestling even when a babyface deserves and he gets that feel good moment, as fans that is the completion of the journey. Once that guy gets the belt and becomes champion the real work begins for him. He now has the task to keep himself interesting and compelling to the audience. Elgin claimed he wanted to become the most decorated Champion in Ring of Honor history breaking the record for title defenses.

Sounds good we have a motivated champion with a goal beyond simply beating his next opponent. One of the issues that have been stated as part of ROH’s problems with Elgin was an interview that he did with Between the Ropes a site that I write for. He in the interview with Brian Fritz, this subject of Elgin wanting to try out for pro baseball in the spring became a topic. It was covered at some length in which Elgin even talking about hiring a hitting coach and changing things about his training to prepare.

While it is nice to have dreams and if Elgin is not the Ring of Honor Champion this might in fact be a cool story for ROH. As the Champion, though you represent more than just you, but the company as a whole. In this admission of this whole idea of wanting to try out of baseball, it gave the impression that Elgin was not focused on being the champion. Not focused on Ring of Honor and looking ahead to something that would take him away from the company for some period of time. Even if Michael Elgin doesn’t understand this, it gave an impression even if it wasn’t the correct one that his title reign, the championship and Ring of Honor were not his sole focus. That is something you need to project in such a high profile position that he found himself.

Just to counter this with examples of Kevin Steen and Adam Cole. Steen it was widely rumored had done well at a WWE tryout and rumors later surfaced about him getting a contract offer to go there. You never heard Kevin directly talk about it, he would instead focus on what he was doing and the company he was in at the time. Even on his exit from the promotion, he made no mention to where he was going after. Adam Cole recently has been the subject of rumors about him being looked at by the WWE. In the recent chat we had, he said little on that subject despite some questions that would allow him to go in that direction. Instead, he always brought things back to ROH and his group the Kingdom. It is showing the respect to a company that you are under contract too. This is something that clearly has gone off the rails in this relationship with Elgin and Ring of Honor, which has spilled into the public domain via social media.

Elgin’s visa issues were another story that was a huge issue for him that now has been solved. This regardless of anything else is great to see. Elgin had been stuck up here in Canada since losing his title due to visa issues. He is now back home with his wife where he belongs. Visa problema is something that is also an issue for Seleziya Sparx and why she was written out of the House of Truth for the time being.  Based on the versions I have heard Elgin’s visa issues ultimately were after the choice to swap the title to Jay Briscoe had been made.

Elgin has of course made his way back to the U.S and it seemed that things were fine. ROH even added him as a late edition to their card in Michigan on Saturday indicated everything seemed back to normal.  Elgin stated that he was unaware of this and it led to him publicly quitting the company on twitter. Everyone always wonders when things like this take place on social media but this seems to be a shoot and not a wrestling angle of any sort. This is not to say, if Elgin and ROH are able to mend their issues it couldn’t become one. It seems unlikely though with Tomasso Ciampa working a similar angle being exiled from the company for abusing officials.  In addition, Matt Taven recently quit the company only to return as part of the Kingdom.

Elgin is a great talent on this everyone can agree. It just seems that his championship reign will be remembered for a lot of drama and not celebrated for the great and real moment it was. He defeated Adam Cole to win the title on a historic night already for Ring of Honor debuting on live pay-per-view.

Elgin is a talented guy and it is unfortunate things have ended up this way in a blame game for who is at fault for what. It has been a big year for Ring of Honor and things will march on with or without Elgin as the one thing Ring of Honor has proven over the years is the ability to move forward with or without people. They have made a habit out of it by producing and ultimately losing some of the best talents in wrestling in the last decade.

While at the end of the day, I feel for Michael Elgin and all he has been through I do understand things from ROH’s point of view. If Elgin has things we are unaware of in all, of this that we are unaware of I would be interested in hearing them and willing to re-evaluate things based on them.

Given everything that is known at this point I have to side with Ring of Honor and hope the best for Michael Elgin who is a talented guy. The issue for Elgin is he is still under contract with ROH which will make this break-up if it ends up being that another sticky situation that he will have to navigate going forward.

It all rather casts a dark cloud on what for the most part has been one of the most successful years for Ring of Honor as a company. I hope that cooler head prevail and everyone can get back on the same page. That is ultimately, what should best for everyone going forward.

Rumors Already Surfacing For Next NXT Special

Seems the next NXT special is already taking shape with the main event expected to be Sami Zayn challenging Adrian Neville for the NXT title in a one on one match.

Both Zayn and Neville were front and center at an event for the WWE 2K15 game as they will be characters in the game along with former NXT alumni like Bo Dallas, Rusev and Bray Wyatt. Cory Graves is also said to be in the game as well but his career has been in much doubt with concussion problems and has not been seen in NXT in many months. Below are some links to interviews with various talents from that 2K15 event.




Brian Fritz with Sami Zayn
Sam Roberts with Sami Zayn
Brian Fritz with Adrian Neville
Sam Roberts with Bo Dallas
Brian Fritz with Bo Dallas 
Brian Fritz with Bill DeMott 


In addition to that the Lucha Dragons the new Tag-Team Champs will defend against favorites of NXT crowd the Vaudevillians in addition we will see Hideo Itami and Finn Balor better known as Kenta and Prince Devitt have a tag-team match with the Ascension. The two teams did face off at the television tapings recently in Devitt's debut so this would be a re-match of that encounter.

What still is up in the air is if Kevin Steen will be on this show with a set of T.V tapings between now and the proposed early December 11th date for the NXT special event. Steen has yet to debut and he like the other two is expected to have his name altered as well. Adam Cole a recent guest on our podcast spoke about his great relationship with Steen and his belief in the success he will have as part of the WWE. Cole himself has been talked about as perhaps going to NXT come the end of his current contract with ROH. In talking with Cole he just would state that you never know what the future would hold for him going forward. Cole was recently ranked number 9 in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated top 500 wrestlers. A list that saw WWE have the top 3 ranking stars with John Cena at 3, Randy Orton at 2 and Daniel Bryan topping the list.

Steen was seen in photos prior to the 2k15 event looking in tremendous shape and that was the one issue his detractors had about him being a success in the WWE. Kevin while still a large guy has certainly come a long way in the last year in getting into better shape and that has increased since coming into the WWE fold at the end of August.

Baron Corbin has recently debuted and is making waves the competition level and just level of talent in general at NXT is growing by leaps and bounds. Guys like Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Adrian Neville have been touring on various WWE house show loops. This in addition to the surprise appearance of those three along with Tyson Kidd on Raw a few weeks back. Kidd is being used currently as part of the angle with his wife and Summer Rae on the main roster. Rumors of some sort of love triangle being at least teased.

So, NXT is on the rise and once Steen officially joins the fold it should lead to some interesting potential match-ups going forward depending on how long guys like Zayn, Breeze and Neville remain on the roster.

You can follow us on Twitter @Condoonthemoon for all our latest on the world of pro wrestling.

He's Back #BayBay Adam Cole: Condo on the Moon Podcast #31

Adam Cole has been in the news of late in the wrestling world. From being named to PWI Top 500 as the #9 wrestler in the world to speculation about his future. He is also planning what we believe is a first in a wrestling bachelor party for Michael Bennett. It's busy times for the former ROH World Heavyweight Champion. He tells us about all of this and gives his thoughts on a variety of topics. It is his second time back on our podcast and we are thrilled to have him.

Josh Lopez is filling in for Chris Walder as he will be heading to this ROH event on Thursday October 9th in the Chicagoland area. For all the info head over to ROHwrestling.com here is a link to the event page. All this said enjoy the podcast featuring are 30 min conversation with Adam Cole off the top of the show.


Here is Adam telling you the line-up for this show:



Here is the Promo Adam and I discuss in our interview:



Thanks to Adam for stopping by and talking with us. It was a pleasure to have him back on the program talking professional wrestling. It sounds like this event coming up could be one people are talking about for years to come. The last unauthorized ROH event known as the night of hoopla certainly was.

If you were unable to listen via the website no problem head over to our podcast host Podomatic and listen there.

If you are new to Condo on the Moon welcome and make sure to follow us on Twitter @Condoonthemoon and if you didn't know by now you can follow Adam Cole @AdamColePro

Condo on the Moon Podcast #30

It might not have the history of Wrestlemania 30, but we are on Podcast number 30 here at Condo on the Moon. We have had many Randy Savage impressions some great guests like Jimmy Korderas, Adam Cole and many others. Along with countless hours of myself James Borbath and Chris Walder trying to offer are opinions and views on professional wrestling. It has been a lot of fun and we hope to keep this thing going and thanks to all of you who have listened over our 30 shows. If you enjoy the show we encourage you to help spread the word out of what we like to think is the best wrestling podcast a lot of people haven't heard of. Will look to change that in the next 30 episodes and hopefully with your help we can do it.

So this week we have an extensive talk about NXT and the direction of things with the shows taped last night at Full Sail. We offer a rather male oriented opinion on this whole concept of wrestlers names changing. We talk the struggles of Raw as well and the WWE power struggle behind the scenes that is rumoured. Also get into the PWI 500 list with the top 10 guys on that list including one of our former guests here on Condo on the Moon. In addition how I almost got ripped off for a new webcam and Walder having a meltdown about parking prices in Toronto. This and so much more this week on the show.


If you have an issue listening here on the site head over to Podomatic were you can listen there or via I-tunes.

Hangin on the Moon is coming back next week with are first ever 3 way video podcast as Walder and Lopez join me for a wrestling free for all. In addition the Roman Reigns piece I referenced is in fact out over on Between the Ropes so go check that out.

Keep up to date with everything Condo on the Moon related on Twitter and Facebook.

Once again thanks for all the support and we really enjoy bringing this to you each and every week. It has been a lot of fun making the transition from covering the NBA to covering the world of pro wrestling.

Condo on the Moon Podcast #29

Back to play in my second podcast of the last 24 hours with Chris Walder. We talk about delayed video games, Dean Ambrose where he may rank in wrestling actors, Adam Cole and why he should STILL be ROH champ and TNA still not getting it even now at the end of the road. Oh yeah and Night of Champions is happening on Sunday too.


So that was it if you were unable to listen here head over to Podomatic and listen there. Hope you all get something to enjoy out of Night of Champions. Anyone that has watched this build to this show deserves something to be happy about.

Adam Cole Should Never Have Lost The ROH Title

When it happened I questioned if it was the right move and looking back on it 3 months of so later it seems even clearer. Adam Cole should still be the Ring of Honor Champion. Ring of Honor wanted that feel good moment at the end of their first live pay-per-view. It makes sense with hopefully some new people watching the product. In theory, Michael Elgin was the right choice to be that guy as well.

In reality Adam Cole outside of his ‘heel character” he is an engaging and great guy to put out there to promote your product. Far more so than Michael Elgin or Jay Briscoe could be in that regard. Adam Cole is a guy that clearly has some gifts that make you see him as a next level guy with the WWE someday. If you’re a company like ROH, why not take advantage of every single day you have this guy under contract.

The company also was aware their overall top draw Kevin Steen was leaving for WWE developmental as well. So if you can’t draw people with your biggest babyface than why not go with the top heel that fans want to see get his butt kicked?

No one could have seen the issues Elgin would have with working in the United States. There seems to be some debate on if ROH knew this fact before they decided to change the title. ROH after having a successful 6 months to start 2014 things seemed to lose momentum after Elgin winning the title on pay-per-view. The follow-up overall by the company after the debut on pay-per-view was disappointing. Elgin himself did not gain any momentum even with having a number of title defences in short succession. Sometimes in wrestling, fans are more invested in the chase to get a championship and this seems to be one of those cases.

After setting some attendance highs in various markets, it seems like attendance dropped since Elgin became Champion and after Kevin Steen’s tour leaving the company. It’s not all doom and gloom as Sinclair the owner of the company has stuck a syndication to get ROH television in 2.4 million homes in Atlanta. A sign that we could see Ring of Honor make moves to get into several major markets they are not.

Given everything why not have Adam Cole hold the title until December and have him drop it at Final Battle as his contract with the company will be coming due. Adam Cole is still putting on great matches as he showed with his recent contest with A.J Styles in Toronto. It was a better match than the stunning title match in which Jay Briscoe won the title from Michael Elgin.

Adam Cole has also been working with Michael Bennett, Maria Kanellis and occasionally Matt Hardy in the “Kingdom” which has given him a new dynamic to use. Only a few people that book ROH know the answer but I feel if they had it to do all over again, Adam Cole would still be ROH Champion I believe.  That ship has sailed though and Cole is likely going to be out of the title picture for the remainder of his contract in ROH. This is a shame as he was really coming into his own as the heel Champion of Ring of Honor.It was never going to be forever as Cole's heel character was suggesting near the end of his reign but it should have been longer.

What's done is done and ROH has to make the best of the situation with Jay Briscoe as champion.

From Live ROH To On The Couch Watching Raw

We took a bit of a break over the weekend as I was at the All-Star Extravaganza being a wrestling fan more than a journalist. I did do a piece on Ring of Honor for the folks at Between the Ropes as there was a lot of drama tied to the card up here in Toronto with Michael Elgin dropping the ROH title.  Jay Briscoe is not just the second two time ROH Champion in history. Aside from all the drama with that, I got to see Adam Cole and Young Bucks who are not just my personal favorites but are some of the best workers not in WWE today.

The Young Bucks I will gladly declare are the best tag-team wrestling on the planet today. People will say they are two small for the WWE, but I would say they make up for it with an exciting move set that is ever expanding. They are almost unable to have a bad match at this point. Cole has grown in the last few years to be a fantastic heel and worker in the ring. It may still be awhile before we see any of these three on a Monday night but based on the last few Monday’s we could use some fresh ideas and or faces.

To make the transition from live Ring of Honor wrestling to Monday Night Raw will be interesting. Especially seeing as this is a streak of two weeks in a row where Raw has been awful. Can they make it three in a row? After Michael Sam got a job with Cowboys and passed on WWE’s invitation, they kept in the gutter and came up with “Plan B” of Jerry Springer. WWE has  Springer set to be in a segment with Brie and Nikki Bella. This has train wreck waiting to happen written all over it.

Total Divas is back and I barely could get through the first episode of the third season of the show. I am over the whole concept and maybe resentful that it is leaking into regular WWE programming. I just do not find the show very interesting and it has just stopped being entertaining to me. I may be alone in this will see how season three does in the ratings as it appears there is lots of contrived cat fighting and forced fake drama ahead for this season.

NXT is set to have its third special event of the week that is something to look forward too. The main event 4-way match is the one clear standout match on paper. Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, Tyson Kidd and NXT Champion Adrian Neville as part of that championship match.  The rest of the card on paper does not look as good as the past efforts for the NXT crew has offered. Will see how it turns out with the show set to take place on the significant date of September 11.

So that is about it. Condo on the Moon is back after a minute to catch our breath. Now if my voice will come back to 100% that would be great. Cheering for Adam Cole and Young Bucks can be tough on the vocal chords.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

Steen Signs with WWE And Reports to Work August 24th

Sometimes in life, good things still can happen to good people. This is what I am filled with hearing the news that Kevin Steen is now going to be a part of the WWE and NXT. Having heard the rumours of his great tryout in WWE that happened in March of this year it served as motivation to go see him live. I felt it might be my last chance to see him in that intimate setting that independent shows and Ring of Honor.

I was witness to Kevin tearing down the house at the Ted Reeve Arena in front of a capacity crowd over Adam Cole. It was an incredible match in an incredible atmosphere. What will sever Kevin well is his ability to connect with people. There is something Kevin has that you just can’t teach in his ability to connect with people and have them genuinely care about him as a performer. He can do that and has proved it for years and now is getting the chance to take that talent to the next level in NXT and in the WWE Developmental System.

It has been perhaps the worst kept secret in wrestling that this was happening but still there were unfounded rumours of if Steen might have not been able to pass the physical to sign his contract. All of that unfounded speculation can be put to bed as Kevin Steen is coming to Florida on August 25, 2014. He did an interview with WWE .Com in which he talked about a desire to eventual work with or against Bray Wyatt. This is something we here at the Condo on the Moon had speculated could be a good fit for him.

For the moment he gets to re-unite with long time friend Sami Zayn who even in his time in WWE made a few cameos on Kevin’s You-Tube show Weekend Escapades. Steen joins Prince Devitt and Kenta as part of this new arriving trio that should really up the level of competition in NXT.

It will be interesting to see if all three are involved in the NXT live special that is set for early September. There was talk of them coming in as a faction and working together but all of this remains to be seen.

NXT might not be done either as Nick Jackson of the tag-team the Young Bucks was teasing a move to NXT with his brother Matt. As we speculated add in the former ROH and PWG champion Adam Cole and all the members of Mount Rushmore a faction in PWG could be in WWE in 2015. Cole has ROH contract that ends in December after Final Battle the big ROH show of the year that is anticipated to be on traditional pay-per-view this year.


 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

Could Mount Rushmore Be Coming To NXT in 2015?

It could be nothing, but Nick Jackson one half of the Young Bucks was dropping some hints that he and his brother Matt Jackson could be heading to NXT soon. Kevin Steen who was part of the group known as Mount Rushmore is about to do his final independent date in which he is wrestling Jerry Lawler and is set to head to NXT and WWE Developmental at some point soon after. Lawler in the promo for match all but confirms this in his promo:



Now these hints on Twitter that the Young Bucks who have been the Best Tag-Team on independent scene and wresting in New Japan Pro Wrestling are teasing about going to NXT. In my mind they are the best tag team in wrestling period that are currently working in the business. The Bucks often are active on twitter and say a lot of funny stuff so could this just be a joke? Maybe, but it wouldn’t be a wise one you would figure. Here are the tweets in question and they have been up for sometime and not coming down:

It's pretty ironic we've lost the PWG, ROH, and IWGP Tag championships in a matter of a month.....
— The Young Bucks (@NickJacksonYB) July 30, 2014

I wonder where our careers will take us nxt?
— The Young Bucks (@NickJacksonYB) July 31, 2014

Now if you want to take this dream situation to the next level, you have Adam Cole the fourth member of PWG’s Mount Rushmore and the former ROH Champion having his contract with ROH coming due in December. Cole has been talked about as a prospect that the WWE likely should already have in its fold. You could see Mount Rushmore all in NXT at the same time in 2015. It would be a huge dream for many fans that have loved the work of all four. Sami Zayn has been the true rock star of NXT since his arrival there and these 4 guys all have the potential to do the same.

Pouring cold water on this whole idea is the reality of the WWE making cuts that included NXT today with a list of talents being released. Which many will connect to all the recent cut backs the company has made in the wake of their quarterly investors report and call to end July.

Still talent is talent and there is no denying that all four of these guys have had tremendous success and really done everything they could do outside of the WWE. It would definitely generate a lot of buzz with the hardcore wrestling fans.

Maybe this speculation is just a pie in the sky dream scenario but if it is not this would be something to be very excited about for fans from the independent ranks about NXT and in turn the WWE.

I have a dream, to see Mount Rushmore in 2015 in ring that is owned by the WWE. So far officially we have 0 of the 4, but it is a very real possibility we could have all four in NXT for 2015 if the stars align and WWE is willing to make it happen. Not to say the four would reunite and bring a little PWG to WWE but in my opinion the WWE could use a little PWG and ROH type guys in their fold. They have had so much success with a number of others with same backgrounds as there 4 guys.

This is not a case of should this happen as much as it is if it will happen. These guys are all great at what they do and more than deserving of the opportunity to do it on the biggest stage wrestling has to offer and that is the WWE. The risk in bringing them into to NXT is next to nothing and the reward could be very big if they translate as well as I feel they can. Change their names do whatever you need to do but these 4 guys know how to get "over" in wrestling and have proved it time and time again on the independent scene.

Why not them. Mount Rushmore 2015 all I have to do is BOlieve right?

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

ROH "Field of Honor" Card Starting To Take Shape

Ring of Honor is starting to roll out the card for Field of Honor and the Main Event will be Michael Elgin the new ROH Champion in a four way match for his title. He will take on former Champion Adam Cole, current IWGP Champion A.J Styles and Jay Briscoe.

We always talk about ROH being different from WWE and it really is but to have a four way match right after WWE did with Battleground is a bit disappointing. If I do have any knock against ROH it is having multi-man matches for the title as often as they do. Why not just split it up have the Cole vs. Elgin re-match as the headliner and have Styles vs. Briscoe for the number one contender spot. This seems simple enough to me. It also does no favours to Nigel McGuinness who as the storyline match maker or booker look like he can’t make up his mind.

This all said I get why ROH is doing what they are with having a chance to really stick it to TNA as they use to run this event annually. If you have noticed TNA just recently did a baseball stadium show Kentucky and drew a gasp worthy 67 people. Safe to say Ring of Honor wants to show of their ability to draw. It is also important for the company as this will be the first show without Kevin Steen who wrapped up with the company this past weekend.

Another match announced for the card sees Matt Taven in what I would think will be his last shot at the ROH Television Title taking on Jay Lethal in what has been a long on going feud that started with Taven as the heel and now both guys have switched roles. This seems like the old school cage match blow off to the feud.

Others signed to appear our:

ReDragon
Michael Bennett and Maria
Daniels and Kazarian
Rocky Romero (NJPW)
War Machine
The Decade
Tommoaso Ciampa
Cedric Alexander
Silas Young
ACH
Takaaki Wantanabe (NJPW)
Moose


Not to say things can not change, but a name notable that is missing is Matt Hardy. He has worked with ROH since going over to do tapings with TNA at a recent show but is noticeably absent here. What that means time will tell.

Like we always try to do here on Condo on the Moon will look to line up some guests prior to this show to appear on our Podcast in coming weeks. Event takes place in Brooklyn New York at MCU Park on August 15th 2014.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

ROH Facing More Challenges Is Nothing New For Them.

About a month ago, Ring of Honor was the hot topic of the wrestling world, about to head to live pay-per-view for the first time. A month later there doesn’t seem to be the buzz or follow-up you would have hoped for.

Kevin Steen has just 6 days left in effect as a member of ROH which is significant. He is for lack of a better comparison the John Cena of this promotion. He is nothing like Cena in many ways, but he is in the sense he is the companies biggest star. He sells the most merchandise for the promotion and has been a huge part of storylines since his return to the company in 2012. He became the champion of the promotion and even after losing it like John Cena would basically be the semi-main event even without the belt. This alone is a huge blow for ROH to recover from. They have done this so many times before though, so it is something they have a great deal of experience with. The best handling of the situation was perhaps when C.M Punk left the promotion which is referenced as “The Summer of Punk” and a watershed moment for the promotion. Other big names have left too like Samoa Joe, A.J Styles, Daniel Bryan and a list that could go on for a long time.

Steen is now off to get his chance to try and make it in the WWE like so many ROH performers have, with a decent success rate. Based on his body type, some likely saw Steen as an independent scene “lifer” and not someone the WWE would consider. Steen getting himself into better shape by his standards, along with the success of Bray Wyatt and a tryout down in Florida that impressed have all led to this opportunity. He, like his friend El Generico (better known as Sami Zayn to WWE audience) should have a good chance at making it.

Ring of Honor was hoping to figure out a way to have Steen appear at their Field of Honor show in New York City.  The event at MCU Park in Brooklyn on August 15th is a huge deal for Ring of Honor as they have basically replaced TNA who use to run this event annually. Unfortunately nothing could be worked out with Steen it would appear as rumours have had him reporting to WWE developmental as early as August 1st.

What might be as significant a blow for Ring of Honor is the news that U-Stream is phasing out live pay-per-view as part of their company. ROH made a successful return to I-Pay-Per-View back in May leading up to their debut on conventional Pay-Per-View in June with co-promoted shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling which also uses the service and it would appear is no longer going to be moving forward.

Before this news came out the plan for ROH was to run several I-PPV offerings before returning to conventional pay-per-view in December with Final Battle. That now appears not to be possible with U-Stream out of the picture. Well at least not with them, which is a big deal given ROH’s issues in the past with I-PPV with another provider that was a complete disaster from the company. It forced them out of PPV business for awhile in any form.

There has been no official word on how the conventional PPV did in terms of numbers other than it was on pace to meet or even exceed the modest goals that ROH had set of somewhere around 9000 buys. Dave Meltzer reported that ROH did out draw the Glory Kickboxing event on the same weekend on the Saturday. This is all pretty impressive when you consider the lack of mainstream advertising for the event in June.

So where exactly ROH heads from here remains a question mark to a large degree. Added into that concern would be where the now former ROH Champion Adam Cole is heading after 2014. His contract is set to expire at the end of the year and many feel it would almost be criminal at this point for the WWE to not give him a look. Cole is just killing it both in the ring and out of it with promos as you can see for yourself below.



Cole is heading to Japan along with Michael Bennett and ReDragon in early August. This is part of the on going relationship with the two promotions. Speaking of Bennett he too will have his contract come due around the same time with ROH in December. He is set to be married in the fall to his manger and fiancée former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis. Bennett has always been pegged as a guy with the look for WWE and a return with Maria could be possible depending on how the wind blows with WWE at the time. Maria had talked about a return to the WWE being thwarted by the Bella Twins some time ago. If the pair found their way to WWE it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. Add in the fact that C.M Punk may not be with company might play a role in this positively or negatively based on Maria’s past relationship with Punk. WWE had a lot of success with a real life love triangle with Edge, Lita and Matt Hardy back in 2006. It is something in theory you could do with this situation. This of course would be under the large assumption that Punk would be involved in company by the time Bennett debuts on the main roster if given a developmental deal. 

Speaking of Matt Hardy, as Michael Bennett speculated on our podcast with him Matt Hardy is in fact still working with Ring of Honor and in fact worked a match with the New ROH World Champion Michael Elgin for the title in Hopkins, Minnesota.  So it would appear Hardy’s appearance on TNA was just at least for the moment just being part of the tapings in New York City the week after the ROH Best In the World Pay-Per-View.

Kevin Steen one the first of his three final matches against Tommaso Ciampa and Silas Young set to face Steen next won a four corners match to earn a shot at the ROH title in the future. For a complete rundown of the results you can check it out at Wrestling Oseverer.com with this link.

The event was dubbed “Aftershock” and ROH has had some of those since their debut on PPV. Unfortunately they have not all been positives for the company and to some extent the follow up to the event has been weak. TNA is always labelled as the company that keeps on surviving, but in reality that promotion has been Ring of Honor they always have found a way to keep things alive no matter what obstacles have been thrown in its path.

It would be really out of the box idea but what if Ring of Honor used the WWE Network for instead of I-PPV. Before you cast of the idea as crazy maybe it makes sense. The UFC with fight pass has taken on Invicta FC a female MMA promotion to air it’s events on Fight Pass. If ROH was able to cut some sort of a deal with WWE it might make some sense.

Why would the WWE do such a deal? They might be inclined if it allowed them access to the ROH archives to have on the WWE Network as well. It is no secret that the WWE is considering anything and everything for the WWE Network. If the right deal could be reached it would give ROH some extra cash to keep moving forward. WWE has declared that pay-per-view is a dying industry, so if they are serious, than ROH to remain on it might not be the stumbling block one would think at first. The chance to see guys like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro Seth Rollins and others via the WWE Network would have some appeal you have to figure for the WWE.

This is all mere speculation on my part, but could a deal of this sort happen you can at least see the foundation for the two companies to have a discussion. Maybe even going as far as having a yearly event with NXT vs. ROH could be a huge draw for both companies if they were willing to work together. It is likely just a wrestling fan’s" pipedream," but it does make a lot of sense if you look at where the UFC is going with their online platform with Fight Pass.

In any case, it will be a very interesting 6 months or so for Ring of Honor as they head towards 2015. They could even be classed as the number two promotion legitimately if TNA is unable to come to terms with Spike-TV on a new T.V deal.

I have more faith in ROH’s survival than I do in TNA. I also have more love for ROH as they unlike TNA offer a true alternative product to the WWE.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 8pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

Added Note July 14th: After Publication of this article Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer reported that U-Stream has told all their clients that September 30th will be the end to their usage as an I-PPV provider. Based on this info in theory ROH still could have a show on I-PPV between now and that time. 

Condo On The Moon 17: Double Feature

 We are back for another week of podcasting as we have two guests in addition to reviewing the ROH pay-per-view debut did it live up to Adam Cole's word on this podcast that it would not disappoint? We share are thoughts on a historic moment for ROH debuting on live pay-per-view for the first time.

Michael Elgin won the ROH World Title defeating Adam Cole in the main event. We have a guy he helped train on the program in Ethan Page who since last appearing on our podcast has had a lot of big events in his world as well. Including being one half of a wrestling video that vent viral and he has had some other cool stuff happening for him including his debut on ROH television. We get his thoughts on Elgin winning the title and his thoughts on the Best In The World PPV. Also promoting a show locally here in the Southern Ontario Area for Alpha-1 Wrestling. The made a Power Rangers inspired promo video for the event that is worth having a look at




 We also welcome Chris Harrington who is a number crunching wrestling fan who is perhaps one of the world's only experts in "Wrestlenomics" it is nothing like "thugonomics" as it involves a lot of math and research. Who better to help us understand what a potential battle between TNA and ROH for the number two spot in wrestling has any viability. He also gets into where and why the WWE might be heading towards a Cena vs Lesnar title match at Summerslam and the impact MMA stars not named Brock Lesnar could have on the WWE. Chris writes for a number of websites including WhatCulture.com. He also has a podcast and is writing a book titled of course Wrestlenomics. You can find a link to his twitter in the link above. Bottom line he makes every wrestling fan seem a little smarter by being one of us.

Oh and Chris Walder is out of sick bay so we dread or is it look forward to Money In the Bank:


If you are unable to listen to the podcast through our site or would like to listen to via I-Tunes please head over to our Podcast hosts Podomatic.

Thanks to both are guests and as we mentioned if you would like to support Ethan and get a T-Shirt head over to Pro Wrestling Tees to his page and order a shirt. I have used them before and their service is excellent and first rate. Or an even better idea if you live in the Southern Ontario area come to the Alpha-1 show and save the shipping and handling. I have no shirts to sell but if you want to say hello ore even better buy me a beer I plan to be at the show on July 6th. Tickets are sold at the door so come on down. If my picks in audio former were not good enough check them out along with the rest of the staff over at Between The Ropes for Money in the Bank.

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com