My First wrestling memory was Summerslam ‘91. I was only 2 years old when this event happened, so it must have been a few years later with some classic Silver Screen Home Video. The vivid memory is Big Boss Man vs The Mountie - the loser had to spend the night in prison, and I remember being terrified for The Mountie when he was dragged away, because he had just lost the match to a corrections officer so the other corrections officers at the prison were going to give him a hard time!

This is one of those promos that wasn’t just fantastic; but it came at a perfect time. It pushed the “Kayfabe 2.0” envelope that they were really getting behind at the time. Blurring the lines. The Miz has always been the heel, but in this moment he had just had enough and he managed to cut one of the best and most honest face promos against one of the biggest faces in WWE History, Daniel Bryan. Everything he said was completely true. He was making the IC Title Relevant, he was the guy wrestling week in and week out.

Ibushi has been on the fringe of that “best in the world” argument for many years. But with his lack of interest in signing with any company full time, he hasn’t been able to push past just being a guy with fantastic technical ability - into a role where he is having legitimate feuds and character work. But this last year he has done just that. With his friendship with Kenny Omega and his G1 performance last year, as well as his matches in the NJ Cup so far - Ibushi has really cemented his place as one of the best in the world today.

The Filthy Animals aren’t mentioned a lot when it comes to lists of Stables, but they were the first stable that I loved. Most of them went on to have amazing careers in the ring and backstage: Rey Mysterio Jr, Konnan, Eddie Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Juvi Guerrera, and Hall Of Fame 2019 inductee Torrie Wilson. They were a bunch of tweener high flyers who would pull pranks on the locker room and have some killer matches. They were a fun group of soon-to-be legends who even sang their own (bad ass) entrance theme.

Mauro brings SO much to the current product. His pure love and excitement for the product is contagious, while also moving stories forward and bringing extra layers of drama. He is also arguably one of the most experienced Commentators in the world with experience in MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing as well as other big wrestling companies like NJPW.