Henry's World

 More action has taken place in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2021 season, and another couple injuries for key players, plus some overall tinkering, has led to 4 more waiver moves being made in the Dog League. Let's break 'em down. (Reminder: the Dog League is a custom fantasy football league run on NFL.com) Canine Comets The Comets made their second move of the year shortly after the last update was written, bringing in Jerry Jeudy as a backup receiver in place of Darnell Mooney. Jeudy flashed potential last year, and with the reliable Teddy Bridgewater now throwing to him, the Comets hope the young receiver will take a step forward in his second season.  Growlers The league's other expansion team has stayed active on the waiver wire, making a move this morning to acquire Tyler Higbee, who will be penciled in to start at tight end with Irv Smith set to miss time with a knee injury. Higbee was added in place of Matt Ryan, as the Growlers will gamble on Josh Allen to s...

 By far the most impressive contest from NXT TakeOver 36 was the clash between Ilya Dragunov and Walter for the NXT UK Championship, an absolute barnburner that has a good shot to end up as the best match on WWE programming this year. After seeing what the two pre-eminent stars of the NXT UK brand could bring to the table, I'm interested enough to check out the latest edition of their weekly show, which I've only seen a brief amount of in the 3 years it's existed. This past Friday's show promised more brutality and violence in the vein of that Walter/Dragunov classic, so I'm extremely excited for what these 70 minutes have in store.  - I love the visual style of NXT UK, the logo looks so clean and dignified, and the colors used for presenting matchup screens are eye-catching and vibrant. The overall presentation of the show is a little dingy right now, as they're operating out of the BT Sport Studios in London, where the brand has been stationed since re-launchi...

 It's been a little while since we last check in on the Dog League, which has seen a multitude of changes in the past week in response to recent NFL injuries and other happenings. The preseason isn't over yet, so these roster may not be fully finalized for Week 1, but I figured I'd jump in and give an update now, as there's already a decent amount of ground to cover. I'll give an update on each team, though not all of them have made changes, so you can get an idea of where everyone's at right now. (Reminder: the Dog League is a custom fantasy football league run on NFL.com) Canine Comets The Comets have the top waiver priority in the league, but haven't had much of a reason to take advantage of it, only making one move post-draft, which was to drop Zach Moss for Ryan Tannehill. The only situation on their team that might require a respond to right now in the ankle injury suffered by starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, although he's still in the ...

 I don't watch a ton of modern wrestling, though I do still keep my eye out for important happenings in the business, and it's safe to say that the NXT brand that I grew to cherish in 2014 has been in a state of serious turmoil recently. A gutting of the roster, which featured the bizarre firing of recent North American Champion Bronson Reed, has led to a cascade of rumors of a complete rebranding of NXT, re-focusing the product to be more centered around the stars of the future, as opposed to the big name indie stars that have populated the main event scene for the past 5 years. I can't say I love this new direction, although it might be easier to swallow once we actually glimpse the final product, but no matter what the future holds for NXT, they almost always deliver when it comes time for TakeOver. The 36th edition of the event features the return of Samoa Joe, a rematch of one of the 2020's best contests between NXT UK Champion Walter and Ilja Dragunov, plus what i...

 I really don't know what the appeal of Harry Potter is these days. Between the years that have passed since the release of the original books, the shear incompetence displayed in the attempts to venture out into other mediums (boy, the script for that Cursed Child screenplay sure was wacky, and don't get me started on the Fantastic Beasts movies), and J.K. Rowling's, shall we say, insanely controversial opinions, what was once the most profitable property on Earth likely isn't the draw it used to be in some circles. For me, the Potter series was an integral part of my childhood; my mother helped me learn how to read with the first book, I got a personalized invitation to Hogwarts on my eleventh birthday, and the books and movies have held a spot on the shelf on every home I've ever lived in, and likely always will. Those books still hold weight in my life, as I've gone back for countless re-reads over the years, and my latest trip through inspired me to try and...

 After two weeks of steady work, I am almost through the 9 and a half hours in this anthology, with only four more matches left to review. Three of them are tag affairs, prominently featuring the Young Bucks and the Briscoes, two of the greatest duos in ROH history, and we'll end this journey off with the revival of the Pure Championship, the finals of a fantastic tournament that put the promotion back on the map while under the specter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Modern day ROH may not have the big names and cutting edge appeal that it possessed during it's early days, but the promotion is still capable of producing some of the best damn wrestling on the planet when it tries, so hopefully, this long trek throughout 19 years of history ends with a bang today.  - We start this run of three tag matches with a highly anticipated clash of generations at Supercard of Honor 11, as Jeff and Matt Hardy, in the midst of their eclectic "Broken" phase, defend the ROH tag titles in...

 As we close in on the present day of Ring of Honor, you can see the influence of their partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling begin to take over the product. This crossover would bring ROH back to relevance, as their heavy association with the Bullet Club helped bring in an influx of new fans, with that faction slowly developing into the most influential group of wrestlers outside of the WWE. ROH produced a number of great matches during this timeframe, most of which featured the Young Bucks, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson, who were establishing themselves as the defining tag team of this era in wrestling, especially with the WWE less focused on tag team competition as the years went on. The large-scale takeover of ROH by the Bullet Club also allowed for the much anticipated return of AJ Styles to the promotion, almost a decade after he first departed. Styles had finally made his exodus from TNA, quickly rocketing to IWGP championship contention in New Japan, continuing to steal ...

 2011 was perhaps the most pivotal year to the future of Ring of Honor, as the promotion was sold by Cary Silkin to media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcasting. Sinclair have a sizeable imprint on local TV stations across the Midwest and South of the United States, known for their incessant pushing of suspect social and political views, not that that really needs to be dug into today. For the purpose of this post, let's just talk about what the Sinclair purchase meant for ROH, and on the outset of the new deal, it seemed promising. Sinclair have built a mini-empire, flush with cash and holding plenty of reach for ROH to find new viewers, which began to slowly expand the promotion over the coming years. It's around this time when I first discovered the company, and my introduction would come through many of their newest stars, many of whom have found a solid foothold in the business.  - The first match of this post comes from ROH's fourth Manhattan Mayhem event in March of 2011...

 Ring of Honor reached what is arguably it's greatest peak in the mid-2000's, where a continued lapse in interest in the WWE led more and more wrestling fans to seek out an alternative. But as the aughts wore on, the promotion ran into the same fate that had spelled the doom of ECW, it's most direct predecessor: talent sniping. Extreme Championship Wrestling had slowly faded from the public eye as their best and brightest moved on to greener pastures down South and up North, while Ring of Honor was mercilessly taken apart by Vince McMahon and Dixie Carter, who combined to create a complete stranglehold on the top talent in the US. Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, and many others would depart, and while not all of them have left for the three matches in this post, by the time the new decade would begin, all would be gone. This forced ROH to quickly transition into a new era of competitors on the fly, and while their ability to create fresh st...

 Ring of Honor took a significant hit in early 2004, when promotion owner and founder Rob Feinstein was exposed as a pedophile in a digital sting operation. Feinstein had been the man pushing for ROH to exist in the first place, looking to fill a void in his "RF Video" distribution that had been left open after the death of ECW, and the new promotion had done so admirably, providing something uniquely different but still extremely popular. Feinstein stepped down as the head of ROH in disgrace, leaving one of the shining beacons of American independent wrestling suddenly in dire trouble. TNA, a frequent partner of ROH who had loaned them several of their stars, including AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels, quickly distanced themselves from this potential trainwreck. Ring of Honor desperately needed a savior, and fortunately for them, there was one waiting. Enter Cary Silkin, who not only stabilized the company, but began to greatly expand it's influence. It was under Silkin...

 I've decided to make my jump into Ring of Honor today, beginning the 9 hour anthology that the promotion released on their YouTube channel. I will be reviewing all 19 matches in the video in many separate posts, and today, I begin with the first 3 matches, which primarily focus around one Bryan Danielson. Danielson, otherwise known as Daniel Bryan, was the central star of the early years of Ring of Honor, and exactly the type of wrestler that ROH head booker Gabe Sapolsky wanted to promote. Sapolsky had worked under Paul Heyman in ECW, but carried none of the chaotic, hardcore nature into his next venture, instead focusing around an air of legitimate competition, with "strong style" striking and crisp technical wrestling. I've seen a minute amount of ROH in my time as a fan; I know the promotion a lot more for the star they've produced that went on to large roles elsewhere, and I'm certainly not alone in that. Despite the absolute bevy of talent ROH was fille...