Bate vs. The Bruiserweight - A United Kingdom Champion is crowned

The WWE crowned their first-ever United Kingdom champion last Sunday after a two-day tournament that saw hot prospects from all across the UK compete in a single elimination bracket not unlike last year's Cruiserweight Classic. Being mostly unfamiliar with the British wrestling scene (WWE, ROH, and NJPW are wear I hang my hat), it was a crash course for me on European style wrestling. From what I saw on the two-night WWE Network special, it seems to be a mix of Japanese "strong style" and old-school work-a-wristlock style grappling that used to be more pervasive in the NWA/AWA era. Wrestling purists and UK fans will find a lot to love on the UK Tourney, even if the product was altered slightly to fit the WWE's familiar programming model.

The real action - NXT, 205Live, and Nigel calls the UK Tourney

The cruiserweight division has been the brightest spot in WWE for me personally. 205 Live features more bell to bell action than even NXT nowadays and the little bits they borrow from Ring of Honor (like the pre-match handshake) make this show in particular feel a little more legitimate.

The new Champs are here - Raw and Smackdown shuffle the deck

The Royal Rumble is just a little over two weeks away and the annual 30-man bout is filling up quickly. Even current title holders like U.S. champ Chris Jericho and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose have announced their intentions. Three of the WWE's biggest attractions (Goldberg, Lesnar, and The Undertaker) will also be entering, giving this year's event the aura of a "gold rush". Not to mention we haven't heard much from Finn Balor's camp, so The Demon could surprise everyone with a return.

Strowman ascends

Last week's edition of Raw saw the WWE's latest monster heel, Braun Strowman, defeat Sami Zayn in a Last Man Standing Match and make his presence felt in the main event segment with Roman Reigns and Goldberg. Even though the duo were able to knock Strowman off his feet and send him packing for the night, the fact that it took both of them to do so and just the visual of seeing the southern strongman tower over two of the bigger fellas on the roster made me realize that Braun Strowman had finally arrived.

The Cleaner has arrived

Last year, I wrote no less than a couple thousand words about Wrestle Kingdom 10, perhaps my longest wrestling-related post to date. It was only my second time watching New Japan Pro Wrestling's equivalent to Wrestlemania, but it left a huge impression on me, especially in the main event department, where Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi had a rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Title that contained several interesting callbacks to their previous encounter. It showed such grace, intensity, and continuity, that I became a NJPW mark for life. Since then, I've gone out of my way to follow as much "puro" as I can, and it's getting all the easier thanks to things like the FiteTV service and english commentary from vocal legends like Jim Ross.