Below is the top ten moments from this week’s WWE Smackdown.
A Prodigy at Korakuen
Ring of Honor star Mike Bennett posted a photo on Instagram early this morning (late Friday night in Japan) from the famous Korakuen Hall in Japan. Bennett is one half of the current reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions, alongside fellow ROH star Matt Taven, and participated in today’s Road to Dominion main event – a massive ten-man tag team match that also included AJ Styles, the Young Bucks, Okada and more.
A photo posted by Mike Bennett (@therealmikebennett) on
On a personal note, moments like these are really cool for me as a fan. I first saw Bennett wrestle – and I’m being very generous when I say that – at the Frontier Fieldhouse back in 2011. He opened the show green as grass with two other young bucks new to the promotion, Adam Cole and Michael Elgin. Also the actual Young Bucks were there (although they hadn’t quite hit their Final Form of merch gods yet). To say Bennett has come far in four years is the Tesla Model S of understatements. The character depth that the always-on-point Maria Kanellis has brought to their on-screen pairing has to be a reflection of the awesome people making it work. Mike is one of the few guys in wrestling I’m actually glad to be on friendly terms with; a genuinely good human being in a sea of sharks. Congrats Mikey B., you’ve officially made it. It’s really hard to chant “you can’t wrestle” at a guy holding New Japan gold in one of the most accomplished buildings in wrestling history. And you know I mean it too, because sucking up to a guy with less Twitter followers than our website doesn’t really get me anywhere. 😉
