#WWE RAW 2017 WWE

[adam-trademark]

Monday Night Raw

(April 24, 2017)

[wrestlingmgc]

Asuka.

[oplishin]

i'm so charmed by this slip -> finger guns -> elbow drop combo from bayley

[usosreign]

I’m yeeting more than I ever have

[betterelliprints]

Black Friday Sale Starts Tomorrow!!

Stay tuned!!

[cmpink]

god i miss this so bad

[caramara3]

Just Friends...? :Meet Imani Cove

Chapter 1 | Playlist for fic | Imani's tattoo's | My other work

Yea, I deleted the other one. I'm sorry but I had to because as I worked on this story and building just who Imani Cove is, the original background and story I had built for her had shifted. So with that in mind, here is the new and improved Meet Imani Cove.

Hope you enjoy!

Name: Imani Cove

Full Name: Imani Jade Whitley

Ring Name: Imani Cove

Nicknames: Ems, Snips, Bumblebee

DOB: August 3, 1989

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Born: Houston, TX

Billed From: Houston, TX

Resides: Orlando, FL

Age: 33 (as of Backlash 2023)

Ethnicity: Afro-Caribbean (mother/mother's family is from Barbados; father/father's family is Southern Creole from TX/NOLA)

Height: 5 foot 6

Alma Mater: Prairie View A&M University

Occupation: Professional Wrestler | Actress

Years Active: 2007 - present

Family Members:

Father & Stepmother: Charles Whitley Jr. & Renee Harlow-Whitley

Grandparents: Evangeline Whitley & Charles Whitley Sr.

Siblings: Nylah Raine (sister), Adryan (half-brother), & Jude (half-brother)

The Pets:

Cashew, Cheddar, & Brucey

(biological mother to be introduced later on...)

Accomplishments:

CBS Sports:

WWE Match of the Year (2017) vs. Ember Moon at TakeOver: WarGames

WWE Match of the Year (2021) vs. Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 37

Tag Team of the Year (2020) with Bayley

Chaotic Wrestling:

Chaotic Wrestling Women's Championship (1 time)

ESPY Awards:

Best WWE Moment (2021) - Imani Cove & Bianca Belair make history as the first black women to main event WrestleMania 37

Pro Wrestling Illustrated:

Ranked No. 1 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2016

Ranked No. 6 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2018

Ranked No. 2 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2021

Reality of Wrestling:

ROW Diamonds Division Championship (2 times)

Rolling Stone:

Future Diva of the Year (2015)

Ranked no. 3 of the 10 best WWE wrestlers of 2016

NXT Match of the Year (2016) vs. Bayley at TakeOver: Dallas

NXT Match of the Year (2017) vs. Ember Moon at TakeOver: WarGames

Shimmer Women Athletes:

Shimmer Championship (1 time)

Shimmer Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Athena

WWE:

WWE RAW Women's Championship (3 times)

WWE Smackdown Women's Championship (2 times)

NXT Women's Championship (1 time)

WWE Women's World Championship (current; 1 time; won at WM40 against Rhea Ripley)

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship (3 times, inaugural) with Bayley (2) & Rhea Ripley (1)

Women's Royal Rumble Winner (2024)

Fourth WWE Women's Triple Crown Champion

Third WWE Women's Grand Slam Champion

WWE Bumpy Awards (4 times)

Best Match of the Half-Year (2019) - surprise participant in NXT Women's WarGames match

Best Match of the Half-Year (2020) with Asuka at Hell in a Cell

Best Match of the Half-Year (2021) vs Bianca Belair at WM37

Best Match of the Half-Year (2022) vs Charlotte at WM38

Tag Team of the Half-Year (2020) with Bayley

NXT Year-End Awards:

Female Competitor of the Year (2016, 2017)

Overall Competitor of the Year (2017)

Match of the Year (2016) vs Bayley at TakeOver: Dallas

Match of the Year (2017) vs Ember Moon at TakeOver: WarGames

Match of the Year (2019) Team Ripley vs. Team Baszler at TakeOver: WarGames

Facts about Imani Cove:

Imani started wrestling when she was 15 years old and trained under Booker T when she turned 16.

Imani is a HUGE fan favorite in WWE. Think of good crowd responses and big pops compared to Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Rhea Ripley. She's also very well respected by WWE Executives backstage.

Imani graduated from Prairie View A&M University with her Bachelor's in Music and a minor in Theater. If she hadn't gone into wrestling, she originally wanted to pursue a Broadway career.

When Imani was 8 and her sister was still a newborn, her parents divorced and she went to live with her mother and her new husband in Georgia. Her mother would lose custody of both girls to her father when Imani was 10. The last time she saw her mom was when she was 12. She doesn't like to talk about her mother or that time she and her sister lived with her.

Before signing with the WWE, Imani was the certified it girl on the indie circuit from 2007-2015, kicking ass and racking up championships left and right, as well shattering the expectations of fans and critics alike.

Imani, though a social butterfly, tends to keep her private life extremely secretive, especially in regards to her childhood.

She's wrestled in promotions such as ROH, Reality of Wrestling, DDT-Pro Wrestling, NJPW, PWG, & Shimmer.

Imani holds a Guinness Book of World Records for most title defenses while holding the NXT Women’s Championship.

At the request of Booker T, Imani auditioned for the fifth season of Tough Enough in 2010, but sadly didn't make the cut.

Imani's entrance music is heavily influenced by a combination of 90s/00s hip hop and 2000s grunge, think the Linkin Park/Jay-Z collab.

In late 2014 she became a free agent and was almost immediately approached by WWE. The initial goal was to sign her and get her into an immediate feud with Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair, but Imani had been under a 90 day no compete clause at the time.

She finally signed with WWE in spring of 2015 and would make her first TV appearance on NXT TV in August. She would later confront Bayley during TakeOver London which would kick off their 5 month feud. Imani would win the NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: Dallas.

Imani Cove still holds the record for longest title reign with the NXT Women's Championship at 522 days. She would lose her title to her friend and former tag team partner Ember Moon at TakeOver: WarGames in 2017. This would also be her last match in NXT before debuting on the main roster the RAW after WrestleMania 34 to begin a three-way feud between Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss.

She would win her first RAW Women's Title at that year's Money in the Bank before getting cashed in on by Alexa to begin their feud. She would win the title back at Summerslam that year and would hold the title for 161 days before dropping it to Ronda Rousey at 2019 Royal Rumble.

During COVID, she held the Smackdown Women's Championship for the first time in her career for a total of 371 days, winning it against her tag team partner Bayley. She held the record for the longest reigning Smackdown Women's Champion until Rhea Ripley.

She has an amazing relationship with her sister and half-brothers and is very close to her stepmom Renee.

Imani is a huge fan of horror movies and musicals. Very weird combo I know, but she likes what she likes. Her favorites are Bram Stoker's Dracula and Little Shop of Horrors.

She's also a BIG ASS NERD. She loves Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Star Wars, and is currently obsessed with a show called The Legend of Vox Machina. She's played several campaigns of D&D with Xavier Woods.

As a teen Imani participated in dance, music, & theater arts. She also played volleyball, and competed in track & field.

She appeared in the first ever Women's Royal Rumble at entry number 4, lasting 35:46 before being eliminated by Asuka.

Her most favorite feuds have been with Ember Moon, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Bayley.

In 2019, Imani made a surprise appearance as the mystery 4th member of Team Ripley at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.

At WrestleMania 38, Imani paid tribute to her Houston roots. She had a full escort of candy-painted slabs led by legendary Houston rapper Paul Wall.

The first thing she did with her first big WWE paycheck, aside from paying off her remaining student loans, was pay for her sibling's college and move her dad and stepmother to Orlando to be close to her.

Imani grew up in an affluent musical family. Her grandmother started as a jazz singer in New Orleans before becoming a background vocalist for artists like Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. Her grandfather played trombone for Stevie Wonder (that's how they met).

Just two months after winning her second Smackdown Women's title at WrestleMania 38, Imani was in a terrifying car accident while at home in Orlando. She had to be pried from the car with the jaws of life and life lighted. Luckily, she had only suffered a fractured jaw, leg, and left arm, but still she was forced to relinquish her championship.

Imani would make an emotional return nine months later after her car accident and begin a feud with Bayley/Damage Ctrl before being drafted to RAW.

Right now Imani has 16 tattoos. She plans to get more in the future.

Thanks to her grandparents, Imani is a classically trained pianist and can also play the guitar.

Imani has two dogs and a cat: an orange male named Cheddar, a pitbull male named Brucey, and a Golden Retriever female named Cashew. Cashew was a birthday gift from Damian when she was a puppy.

Imani's signature fragrance is a perfume she had created at a local apothecary shop in New Orleans. It's a blend of vanilla, black orchid, and amber.

Her dream WrestleMania entrance would have Megan Thee Stallion performing her theme.

A few of Imani's major wrestling influences are Rey Mysterio, Chyna, Lita, Batista, Trish Status, Jaqueline, Eddie Guerrero, & Shawn Michaels.

She is very close friends with Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Zelina Vega, Ember Moon, Finn Balor, Samantha Irvin, Mia Yim, Cathy Kelly, & Jade Cargill.

She and Damian Priest have known each other the longest, since 2012 after first meeting at an ROH house show. They've been friends ever since and even lived together at one point.

Imani is fluent in both Spanish and French. She knows a good amount of Japanese though.

She has an intense sweet tooth. Her favorite candies are peach and watermelon rings and will go ham on a fudge brownie.

Two of her favorite matches in WWE so far have been a triple threat match between herself and Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Title at TakeOver: WarGames and main eventing WrestleMania 37 with Bianca Belair.

~~~~~~

*Notes:

this is an AU in which Asuka doesn't go to NXT but rather straight to the main roster.

Imani Cove mainly takes a good chunk of Sasha Banks' achievements and title runs but with slight changes.

Ronda Rousey does not win the RAW Women's title at Money in the Bank 2018 but instead Imani does. The only reason she loses to Ronda at the 2019 Royal Royal is due to Vince McMahon not believing Imani would be a big enough draw alongside Becky & Charlotte at WrestleMania 35.

Imani takes the place of Mia Yim as a surprise partner in the 2019 NXT Women's WarGames match, not Candace LeRae.

Imani Cove teams with Bayley to become the inaugural Women's Tag Titles, not Sasha Banks.

Imani Cove main events WrestleMania 37 with Bianca Belair, not Sasha Banks.

Tag List:

@beibigirl124 @madhatterbri @eringobragh420 @damiansgoodgirll @terrortwinunicorn @kultklassickiller @bossbitch-22 @rootedinrevisions @thedeboniardevistation @neversatisfiedgirl @blueblazezz @mzv11 @retro-rezz-the-est @writinglionqueen @miss-kuki-nz @southerngirl41 @abadbitchblogs @jstarr86 @babiidee28 @shamaness11 @chaneajoyyy @gold--gucciempress @sassymox @msbigredmachine @adriennegabriella @yana3sworld @trippinsorrows @glitterquadricorn @joy-of-life88 @royallyprincesslilly @jazzy-tzw @wrestlingbabe @wrestlingprincess80 @krystalporter22 @misslackey @hotwheels1108 @the-iridescent-phoenix @cookiebelle @disc0fairy @flawlessglamazon @simplymyself29 @ramp-it-up @lorena26

[wrassledits]

Bayley's Championship History

NXT Women's Champion - 223 days (August 22, 2015 to April 1, 2016)

Raw Women's Champion - 76 days (February 13, 2017 to April 30, 2017)

WWE Women's Tag Team Champion w/Sasha Banks - 49 days (February 17, 2019 to April 7, 2019)

SmackDown Women's Champion - 140 days (May 19, 2019 to October 6, 2019)

SmackDown Women's Champion - 380 days (October 11, 2019 to October 25, 2020)

WWE Women's Tag Team Champion w/Sasha Banks - 85 days (June 5, 2020 to August 30, 2020)

WWE Women's Champion - ongoing (April 7, 2024)

[architect-2015]

WWE 24 Specials - Returning Home.

After many years on the sideline from a severe neck injury, this WWE 24 specials shows Kailani ‘Anoa’i’ Silva’s return the the squares circle.

Raw 2017

“You know, sometimes no matter how much you love something and how much you dedicate your life, your body and your soul to it, things don’t always turn out the way you want. Wrestling is my lifeline, your support and energy is what keeps my blood pumping, your love and dedication runs through my veins. You guys are the reason i’m here.”

Kailani’s voice cracks, a silence washes over the once overjoyed crowd.

“Truth be told i haven’t had the easiest life before reaching the WWE and i’m gonna be 100% honest, my real name is Kailani Anoa’i: i’m a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter and a WWE Superstar. You guys have seen a lot of my life, a lot of my early life from when i was part of something called Total Divas, that was one hell of a ride, but there was always one part of my life i kept away from the screen and that was my medical background.

I’ve tried so hard to preform my best for you but to also be able to do simple things, play with my children, go sightseeing with my friends, cook a dinner for my husband but i can’t do that anymore. I’ve recently had an MRI for a problem in my neck and i’ve been told that if i carry on the way i am now, i won’t be able to do anything at all. My love for this company, this job, this industry is infinite and i cannot thank you enough for all the support you have shown me and if you would ask me if i would do this all again, i would say in a heartbeat.

so thank you for everything, and god bless you all.”

The clip changes over to a heartwarming scene of Lani and her family: Herself, Joe, Alina and Malo. The children sit on top of a storage crate whilst the couple stand in each others embrace.

“Baby girl, we’re gonna get through this. You’ll have your surgery and i’ll be there for you in every form i can be at any time you need. You’ll be okay.” Joseph comforts his wife who is stood before him in hysterics, she had just come off the biggest title defence of her career against Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania 33.

The next shot shown is a backstage interaction between Paul Heyman and Kailani. A hug is shared between the adults as a whispered conversation i’d taking place.

“You’re not alone.”

A sob racks through Lani’s body, seeing this Paul only pulls the 30 year old closer.

“i’m gonna check in on you everyday, you don’t even have to respond.”

“You will never be alone Kailani”

Interviews

“So tell me about Kailani”

Triple H: “Kailani Silva is one of the most dedicated, safest and most passionate women I’ve had the honour to mentor. She’s incredible and her career will definitely be one that will continue to be spoken about”

Charlotte Flair: “Lani will always be my favourite person to work with, we have made history in that ring and i owe a lot of my career to her.”

Jey Uso: “That’s my little sister man, i mean she’s my family. I ain’t never seen anyone else do it like she does it”

Paul Heyman: “I’ve been with the Anoa’i family for 40+ years and since Kailani joined, she just… she the kind of person that you gravitate towards. She has done so much for the women of this company because that’s the kind of person she is. She’s a giver, and she gave it all for the WWE. I will forever be proud of her.”

Roman Reigns: “There’s no amount of words i could string together to describe Kailani, she is the most selfless woman i know, she the best mother and wife i could have ever wished for and she of one of the best if not THE best woman to ever preform in that ring. I know she’ll get through this.”

“Kailani, how are you feeling?”

Kailani Silva: “I’m good you know, you’re all acting like you’ll never see me again. I promise i’m feeling good, i know it’s what���s best for me and my future but just know that i’m not disappearing.”

For the next five years Kailani spent every waking moment doing whatever she could to be the best version of herself possible. Rehab after surgery, physio therapy, training her own body and new up and coming talent at the PC.

SMACKDOWN BEFORE WRESTLMANIA 38 (segment)

Kayla Braxton walks up to a door, one simple sign is placed up front and centre

‘Roman Reigns’

a delicate knock sounds around the locker room, Paul Heyman immediately throws open said door and scurries out, closing it behind him.

“Yes Kayla?”

“Paul, you and the Head of the table Roman Reigns have both stated recently for Brock Lesnar to watch his back, is this a hint towards outside help from the Usos during the unification match?”

“Kayla, when a man like Roman Reigns is your Head Of The Table, The Tribal Chief, you need to understand that a man of that power stands on his own too feet, he needs no help from The Usos to beat a beast incarnate. That being said anyone who has a problem with Brock has an opportunity to take a hit, and one person jumps to mind. Roman Reigns will leave as the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. That’s a spoiler, not a promise.”

DAY OF WRESLTEMANIA 38

A black, tinted windowed van pulls up into the parking lot of the AT&T Stadium, a black bloodline shirt clad figure walks up to the door, opens it and is immediately met by a short, brown haired women. Lifting them into a hug, two children follow the lady’s steps, also met by a warm embrace from the man.

The couple, trailed by their children walk further into the bus, closing the door.

MAIN EVENT

ROMAN REIGNS VS BROCK LESNAR

Brock currently has Roman in a kirmura lock when a theme song, that hasn’t been played in five years, engulfs the arena sound system.

The pop from the crowd is deafening, this shock give Roman the time to grab the rope, break away from the submission move and create some distance.

“COLE, ITS KAILANI, ITS KAILNAI SILVA ROMAN REIGNS’ WIFE SHES BACK IN THE WWE!”

“Kailani Silva hasn’t been seen inside of a WWE ring since she retired due to a neck injury in 2017!”

“Lani is back after five years! She’s back and is running down the ramp to her her husband!”

Roman distracts the ref, pointing towards his shoulder whilst his wife slides into the ring, steal chair in hand and begins a beat down on Brock. Once the beat down had concluded, Lesnar stands up only to be met by a spear from Reigns.

1

2

3

“Reigns has done it! A returning Kailani Silva helps her husband cement his WWE Legacy!”

The wresltemania show closes out with the couple sharing a kiss, and Roman Reigns standing victorious, two WWE title belts in his grasp.

The shots change to a back stage view, Kailani and Joe walking back through the curtain greeted by a round of applause.

“That’s what i’m talking about Uce!” Jonathan Fatu’s voice projects over the sound of claps.

The Bloodline, now stood in one circle, all share a group hug. Words of affirmation shared between all members.

“Welcome back lil’ sister, what a way to make a come back!”

“Aye you put that beast in the ground!”

“I’m so proud of you”

“We did it y’all, The Bloodline is on top”

“Wait the Bloodline ain’t on top yet, Miss Flair better watch her back cuz i want that title”

FINAL INTERVIEW

“So you want the Smackdown women’s championship?”

“What kind of question is that Corey, of course I do i mean my family is on top, Trinity is one half of the women’s tag team champs, Jon and Josh are smackdown tag team champions, Joe is the new WWE Undisputed Universal Champion and i’ve worked by ass off for the last five years, defied all odds to get back here so hell yeah i wanna have gold around my waist. Im gonna continue to work my ass off until i get it and anyone who gets in my way is gonna get put down and pinned.”

“The Anoa’i family has dominated this company for decades and we will continue to do so for many years to come.”

“Well on behalf of all of the WWE Universe, welcome home.”

“Thank you Corey, it’s good to be back.”

[again-thistimewithfeeling]

I fell out of the WWE fandom in 2017 for a lot of reasons, mostly personal. I watched Wrestlemania this year, since I hadn't seen it in a while and I have Peacock, and I saw that Roman and Seth - two of my faves- were headlining. By the end of the night I was crying and had fallen back in love with pro wrestling.

I'm trying to catch up now- 7 years of WWE is... a lot. And who knew that if I'd stuck around a few more months I'd get to see the Shield finally reunite?

Anyway, if anyone has any fave matches or storylines from this time - or ones to avoid- I'd love any suggestions! Right now I've mostly been scanning through Raw for any Shield guy segments and then watching anything that catches my interest and watching the PPV's.

[thnksfrthmmrs]

WWE RAW | January 30, 2017

[acknowledge-reigns]

Somebody truly had the nerve to say Roman has never had to deal with or wrestle with injuries/set backs in his career and that he "could never power through like C*dy did with his torn pec". First of all, comparing how these two athletes deal with injuries is big fucking weird but since we're going there and I take my role of #1 Joe Anoa'i defender to heart what I'm not about to do is let y'all set up here on this internet and make it seem as if my Tribal Chief ain't ever fought through shit because this man is a WARRIOR, do you hear me???

(HE'S A TWO TIME LEUKEMIA SURVIVOR SINCE Y'ALL MOTHERFUCKERS LIKE TO FORGET HE KICKED CANCER'S ASS TOO.) Generally speaking, not just that situation but in many others in Joe's life, some of your faves would have folded. (especially those two yt men that run from company to company when they don't get their way) . Really this ain't shade to C*dy, I give him his props for powering through injuries and shit too. Most of these superstars have. And saying some of them would probably fold (hell, I would. Most of us would.) Isn't saying they're weak. I'm saying Roman is a badass on a different level and you can argue with your momma or with the wall on that one, not me.

List of injuries/illnesses known to us throughout Roman's career -

Back + Hip injury 2023 (Sumerslam, v Jey Uso.)

Ruptured Ear Drum 2022 (Survivor Series, v Kevin Owens who surprised him with a spot that was not planned and resulted in the injury. There however is no bad blood between the two.)

Had COVID 2022 (https://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/32974962/roman-reigns-wwe-biggest-star-tests-positive-covid-19-scratched-atlanta-event)

Lingering affects from COVID 2022 (due to being immunocompromised https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/roman-reigns-discusses-his-covid-experience-says-he-still-feels-chest-tightness)

Shoulder/Arm injury 2022 (Wrestlemania 38, v Brock Lesnar)

Reveals Leukemia treatment side effects (including Nausea and arthritis in arms and legs, mentioned in 2019 and 2020 interviews. Ex. https://www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/support-and-information/latest-from-leukaemia-care/inspirational-stories/roman-reigns-wwe-cml-and-me/#:~:text=Previously%2C%20Reigns%20revealed%20to%20the,in%20terms%20of%20being%20sick.)

Knee Injury 2019 (Hell in a cell tornado tag with Daniel Bryan, v Erick Rowan and Luke Harper.)

Second battle with Leukemia 2018

Eye injury, required stitches 2018 (after 6 man tag match on RAW https://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/wwe/roman-reigns-gets-stitches-raw)

Shoulder injury + Cracked ribs 2017 ( RAW, v Braun Strowman)

Shattered nose + Surgery 2016 ( v Triple H. See attached article https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2016-02-22/article/reigns-surgery)

Needed stitches May 2016 (live show, see photos https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/gallery/roman-reigns-receives-stitches-in-melbourne-australia-photos#fid-40042095)

Head Injury that required staples 2014 (https://youtu.be/OYMce1GDiDc?si=KtbVybtoQVr7FKDL)

Emergency surgery for Hernia 2014 (which he wrestled for some time while dealing with, see WWE.com article herehttps://www.wwe.com/shows/nightofchampions/2014/roman-reigns-breaking-news)

This list does not include FCW injuries, football injuries or his 2007 leukemia diagnosis durring which he was unhoused with a child on the way. And these are just the instances we know of!

Say what you will about Roman in kayfabe but do not minimize the struggles Joe has been through or his resilience. And if you're a Roman "fan" buying into the the rhetoric that he hasn't faced any adversity then as my dear friend @love-islike-abomb says, Please "Go whistle in the woods". IYKYK.

Oh and while we all here...

Acknowledge him, Bitches ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾.

[dalekofchaos]

Booking King of the Ring for the years WWE didn't have it

Fantasy booking a King of the Ring winner every year WWE didn’t have King of the Ring.

2003: John Cena wins King of the Ring

In 2003, John Cena was finding his stride as a heel having a WWE Title match against Brock Lesnar and facing The Undertaker on PPV, he was becoming a big star. John Cena (Smackdown) would cheat to beat fan favorite Booker T (RAW) in the finals to become King of the Ring and the rap verses he could’ve cut about all of it would have made it even more better.

2004: Randy Orton (RAW) wins King of the Ring

Randy Orton was in the middle of a long IC Title reign and along with Evolution went over two legends at WrestleMania and was being groomed to be the youngest world champion in WWE history. John Cena now a babyface and US Champion on Smackdown would look to become a 2 time King of the Ring winner and repeat but he would make it to the finals and lose in a First Time Ever match to the WWE Intercontinental Champion and Evolution's Randy Orton from RAW.

2005: Christian wins King of the Ring

Now I know WWE wouldn’t have done this, I know they didn’t see Christian as anything more than a mid card guy but around this time he was white hot around this time and a King of the Ring win could propel him to the main event. Christian (RAW) would beat Chris Benoit (Smackdown) after interference from his problem solver Tomko and set up a WWE Title match against John Cena at Summerslam which Christian wins.

2007: Bobby Lashley wins King of the Ring

I would have gone with Mr. Kennedy but he got injured around this time and was later suspended, so why not go with Bobby Lashley on the condition that he turns heel because he proved in TNA he’s a very good heel. We’re in the finals with Lashley vs King Booker, last year's winner. Lashley is going in as a babyface and Booker as a heel but we have a double turn when Queen Sharmell turns on Booker helping Lashley win and aligning with him.

2009: The Miz wins King of the Ring

The Miz was starting to make his way into the upper mid card as the US Champion and a King of the Ring win in 2009 could’ve better prepared him for his eventual WWE Title win in late 2010. Miz would defeat ex tag team partner John Morrison in the finals.

2011: CM Punk wins King of the Ring

This event would replace Capital Punishment with Punk defeating Mysterio in the finals. This added momentum would make him even hotter after his pipebomb promo and his WWE Title win over John Cena at Money in the Bank, all that much better.

2012: Cody Rhodes wins King of the Ring

Cody Rhodes has just come off of a great Intercontinental Title reign but his moment halted because he dropped the belt to The Big Show of all people. Rhodes defeats Christian in the finals to regain his momentum back and hopefully face Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Title.

2013: Dean Ambrose of The Shield wins King of the Ring

Dean Ambrose was US Champion and considered the leader of The Shield. He would go on to defeat Daniel Bryan in the finals with the help of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns getting a lot of heat since Bryan was white hot around this time.

2014: Cesaro wins King of the Ring

Again I know WWE wouldn’t have gone for this but this would’ve have been the right move since Cesaro was super over at the time. In my booking Cesaro has just won the Intercontinental Title and qualifies for King of the Ring. He would go on to defeat ex tag team partner Jack Swagger in the finals to win King of the Ring.

2016: AJ Styles wins King of the Ring

In 2016, Styles debuted in the WWE and had a great debut year and at this point was only a few months from winning his first WWE Championship. I would have AJ and Cena make it to the finals and have their very first one on one encounter and here is where I’d have AJ turn heel when The Club (Gallows & Anderson) interfere and costs Cena the match giving AJ the win.

2017: Braun Strowman wins King of the Ring

Braun was white hot as a monster heel around this time just wrecking anything and everything in his path. Braun would wreck Roman Reigns in the finals to win King of the Ring and go on to win the Universal Title from Brock Lesnar probably at No Mercy.

2018: Shinsuke Nakamura wins King of the Ring

In 2018, Nakamura won the Royal Rumble then faced AJ Styles for the WWE Championship and then turned heel on AJ after failing to win the title making his character more interesting but also killing his momentum because he lost all the time. Then he had a 5 month reign as US Champion which he only defended once on PPV. Nakamura would defeat Roman Reigns in the finals after a low blow and a Kinsasha. After the match, we have Corey Graves say Nakamura is not only the king of strong style but now has become the King of the Ring. Nakamura would go on to defeat Jeff Hardy for the US Title and hopefully have a much better run with it.

2020:Let's say Drew McIntyre. It was his time as the top guy and despite the pandemic era, I think McIntyre as king would've worked.

2022:Seth Rollins. Peak insufferable douchebag Seth Rollins as king would've been hillarious

2023:Solo Sikoa. It adds to building up Solo up as the enforcer and Roman's right hand and heir to the Bloodline.

Bonus round. Fantasy booking the Queen of The Ring from 2016-2023

2016::Charlotte Flair, there we get Charlotte as Queen of the ring out of the way. This is the obvious choice since they really began to push Charlotte hard at this point

2017:Sasha Banks. Feels right move, plus Queen Bo$$ has a nice ring to it

2018:Alexa Bliss. ALexa was in her peak Goddess era and Queen Alexa would've been over.

2019:Shayna Baszler. Shayna got called up and I feel like this would've been a consolation prize for not winning the title at Mania 36(FOR SOME FUCKING REASON)

2020:Bayley. The year that put Bayley on the map and during her longest reign, so Queen Bayley fits so much

2022:Becky Lynch. Big Time Becks as Queen would've worked. The fans hated her when she beat Bianca, boy would they hate her as the bitchy condescending Queen of the Ring.

2023:Rhea Ripley. Rhea was the hottest name in the company and Mami was on top. Queen Eradicator would've just been perfect.

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Joining The Family Business: Wrestlers Who Followed Their Families Into The Squared Circle Part 1

A lot of families have a business, including mine. It’s common for members of a family to take over and or follow their elders into a business after they retire. The is also a popular occurrence in pro wrestling. Over the years , there have been many families who’ve made a name for themselves within the business and have a new generation of wrestlers carrying the family name and creating their pwn legacies .

Hook ( Tyler Senerchia ) - 2nd Generation . Hook is the son of ECW and WWE Legend, Tazz. Both are currently signed to AEW , where Hook is a 3x FTW Champion and Tazz is a Color Commentator. The FTW Championship was created by Tazz in 1998 during his time in ECW.

Lexis King ( Brian Pillman Jr) 2nd Generation - Lexis is the son of WWE and WCW Legend, ‘ Flyin ’ Brian Pillman. King was signed to MLW in 2018 before being signed to AEW in 2019 and becoming a member of The Varsity Blondes alongside Griff Garrison and Julia Hart. Since 2023 , King has been signed to WWE and is currently in NXT.

Leati Joseph Anoa’i ( Roman Reigns ) and Matthew Tapunu’u Anoa’i ( Rosey) - 3rd Generation. They are the grandsons of Amituana’i Anoa’i and the sons of Sika and the nephews of Afa. Rosey is a one time WWF Tag Team Champion and Roman is the 4th longest reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion. Rosey passed away in 2017.

Leah Van Dale ( Carmella )- 2nd Generation . She is the daughter of Paul Van Dale . Paul Van Dale was mainly used an Enhancement Talent in WWE for their top stars. Van Dale was the opponent for Razor Ramon when he made his WWE debut in 1992. Carmella was signed to WWE in 2013 and is the Inaugural Ms Money In The Bank, 4x 24/7 Champion, 1x Women’s Tag Team Champion ( with Queen Zelina ) , 1x Smackdown Women’s Champion, 2019 Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal Winner , and part of the Mixed Match Challenge with R-Truth

Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr ( Charlotte Flair ) - 2nd Generation. She is the daughter of The Nature Boy , Ric Flair. She made two appearances in WCW in 1993 and 2000. Charlotte was signed to WWE in 2012. She is the final WWE Divas Champion, a 2x NXT Women’s Champion, a 6x and Inaugural RAW Women’s Champion, 7x Smackdown Women’s Champion, Participant in the 2014 NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, 1x Women’s Tag Team Champion ( alongside Asuka ) , 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble Winner ,5th Women’s Triple Crown Champion, 4th Women’s Grand Slam Champion

My Final Thoughts:

I’m writing this article series to explain wrestling family dynasties and how we have new stars out of each family . While working on this one , I never knew that Carmella was a second generation wrestler. I briefly discussed her father in my article about Razor Ramon. I’ll probably have part 2 up later.

Love You All,

- Kay

[mrs-foleys-baby-boy]

Some Backstory on Wrestling and Me

I was quite young when I first got into the WWE. It was something that my dad had been into for a long time, but I only really took notice of it around 2004, 2005. I was quite young at the time so it's hard to remember. My dad can be a pretty abrasive, won't take shit dude, and so his appreciation for the WWE has historically centered itself around a respect for the ability to get the shit kicked out of you. He paid attention to the kayfabe and the story arcs but they took a back seat; the star of the show was the fights.

Which for a lot of outsiders looking in at the world of professional wrestling, I can understand how you might think that wrestling... Is about wrestling. And it is, to an extent. But it's truly so much more.

Even from that young impressionable age where I was grappling with anger issues, I think I always had a lot of appreciation for the theatrical side of the WWE. Truly my budding love for the theatre and my love for sweaty men yelling at each other walked hand in hand. I loved the costumes. The character designs. The backstories. These fantastical larger than life characters that in practice boiled down to a big guy in a cool looking jacket, but by god these men knew how to sell it. Raw and Smackdown in these eras had a habit of focusing on darker, edgier characters, and a tiny me lapped it right up.

As a child, my favorite wrestler was Kane. A big, foreboding figure who by this point had stopped wearing his cool mask and shaved his head, admittedly a much less cool looking wrestler than he was when he debuted as Kane in the late 90's, but he had the dark backstory and the fire and the chokeslams so I loved it.

Despite my love for the brooding heels, I also had love for the babyfaces. John Cena was getting a lot of screen time, beginning to distance himself from the edgy gangster image he had once had where he would tell the Rock he was going to give him a Cleveland steamer (yes, really)

But I also had a soft spot for Rey Mysterio. A relative newcomer to the promotion who was a huge babyface that would play the David to many much larger, meaner wrestlers' Goliaths (particularly Big Show, another favorite of mine.)

On some level I think I saw what many young children see in pro wrestling, role models who face endless adversity and continual strife in their lives but go out and prove themselves every single week to be strong. Tough. Bigger than the hardships they had to face.

It also provided me a nice outlet for my budding artistic creativity. The time-honored tradition of hand-making signs to hold up in the audience was alive in my household, despite the fact that I never actually got to see an event live. I would draw my signs on printer paper and store them tidily in a cardboard box beneath my TV, with my Rey Mysterio mask. Frequently I would make them for wrestlers I didn't actually care all that much about, just because I wanted to make another sign.

But then at some point around 2007, (or perhaps sometime after, time dilation is a bitch) I stopped watching Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown. I don't recall there being any reason for it. When you're young these passions can burn very brightly but flicker out without a moment's notice for unclear reasons. The interest simply wasn't there anymore for one reason or another.

And so life moved on. I abandoned my wrestling hobby, although the WWE still moved on without me. As did a number of other promotions that people have come to know and love. I would carry a vague shadow of my once intense passion forward with me in life, but it didn't really come up a lot. The friends that I made didn't really have any interest, or if they did it was a long-lost childhood one like mine. That is until 2017, when I discovered what would become my new favorite band— the Mountain Goats.

If you're not familiar with them, they are a post folk band with a very eclectic and poetic lyrical style. They are much more than this, and I have much more to say on the matter, but I'll try to keep it brief for the purpose of this post; John Darnielle, singer-songwriter for the band is quite fond of concept albums. In 2015 they released Beat the Champ, a concept album about professional wrestling.

In these songs lies a haunting and deeply personal exploration of a profession that involves injuring yourself for the attention of screaming fans. It grapples with mortality, with the shortcomings of the human body when you treat it so harshly for so long, with the emotional turmoil that comes from sacrificing your own well being for the happiness of another, and in an angle that speaks specifically to John's own experiences, it explores the relationship an abused child has with his abuser, and with searching for justice in the form of a moonsault press off the top rope.

This album floored me. I loved it musically, lyrically, and the subject matter spoke to a part of that young wrestling fan that I never even knew existed until that moment.

When a long-time wrestling fan accepts you into the fold and teaches you how wrestling works, generally they're going to tell you that while the things that they're doing are dangerous and shouldn't be attempted at home, the people performing these stunts have an extreme amount of knowledge on how to perform them as safely as possible, being able to sell it for the camera but not actually sustaining (major) injury.

For much of wrestling, this is true. But it fails to consider the side of wrestling (i.e. "hardcore" wrestling) that is predicated on actually getting hurt, and much more importantly it downplays the fact that these men and women do still get legitimately injured on a regular basis. It's not unusual at all to see wrestlers going about their high impact job with a broken foot. A brace here. A cast there. Sure, many of these injuries are played up for kayfabe, but to say that the risk of injury in the sport is negligible is simply ignorant. It fails to take into account the horrifying cases of people like Jimmy Snuka and Chris Benoit.

But as a child you're more likely to accept what you're told as fact. And I watched wrestling understanding that at the end of the day, these people would be okay. But that didn't stop the queasy feeling in the stomach you get when you see someone get hit really hard, when you see them start dripping blood from the head. When I listened to that album, it put things into perspective. That fear that I felt was justified. It was vindicating. But also saddening.But though I had a newfound respect for my childhood passion, I would not get back into actually watching wrestling until August of last year. And it was all because of Mankind that I did.

I've always loved Halloween, and I've always loved putting together costumes and playing characters, so as the autumn months approach I'm on the lookout for what I can put together. As a taller, heavyset guy with a beard and hair that I prefer to keep long, I sometimes struggle finding characters from things that I enjoy to dress up as and feel like I properly represent the character. The year prior I had been Brad Armstrong, protagonist of the game LISA: The Painful RPG who is an emotional wreck who solves his problems with his fists. It's funny the sorts of characters I find myself gravitating towards.

But that August I had stumbled across Mankind, a wrestler that I vaguely knew to exist but had never really properly engaged with. Mick Foley, despite his long tenure with the WWE, was largely absent for the years that I watched as a child. The most I knew of him was his appearance as an unlockable character in the PS2 game Smackdown Vs. Raw, which did him no favors.

But as I looked more at him, I discovered how much I loved the character design. A relatively simple design, but an odd juxtaposition of deranged and disfigured while simultaneously trying to look professional. And the body type was perfect. The biggest sticking point was the mask, but I found a nice quality latex replica on Etsy. All the rest could be easily thrifted and weathered by hand.

And the more I researched Mick Foley, the more I came to discover that this was a man that was the epitome of everything I had ever loved or respected about pro wrestling. A man who played not just one larger than life character, but three interchangeably. Intriguing and iconic costume designs (Though I say this, I recognize that they probably look really fucking corny to a lot of people, but it's The Aesthetic). He explored the subtleties of these characters on a regular basis while presenting them as human, as emotionally complex people going through struggles in their lives.

And perhaps most famously, he was a man who was really good at getting hurt. You see him seemingly take massive amounts of punishment and then continue to keep fighting. He loses blood. Teeth. Appendages. Okay maybe just one appendage but that's still too many. And he wears those scars and injuries as a badge of pride. Every one is an audience full of people for whom he performed and left everything he had out on the mat. Because he loves the art. He loves the fans. Pro wrestling is historically a subculture for outcasts, and he draws on his own experience as an outcast to empathize with his audience, and to say "I see you. I will fight for you. We can make it through life together."

And by god I love the man.

He's also just a genuinely very good person with (to my knowledge) good opinions, which is surprisingly rare for WWE superstars from the era. Remember my childhood favorite, Kane? Yeah, he's the Republican mayor of Knox County, Tennessee now. Like. What. But Mick has come out in vocal support of LGBT rights (trans rights in particular) as well as donating his time and labor to various good causes. Also he plays Santa for children and makes Christmas a big part of his personality. While I try my best to keep all of my "idols" at arms length because the human experience is multifaceted and anyone can turn out to be a very specific brand of shithead at any time, everything I've seen seems to suggest that Mick is good vibes.

Which brings me to the current day, where I currently sit, progressing my way slowly through the WWE catalog at a rate that will never catch up with reality, but I'm enjoying myself nonetheless. I started, of course, with the episode of Monday Night Raw that saw Mankind's debut, April 1st, 1996, and as of now have only just gotten to June 9th, 1997. It's slow going, and it only stands to get slower as the programs get longer and they start adding more pay-per-view events. But I've found myself engaging with something I love, which is always a nice feeling.

If you've made it this far, I thank you for reading my ramblings, it really does mean a lot to me. I don't intend to post anything nearly this long going forward, but I feel like a bit of context for my specific perspective is good.

Have a nice day!

[chiaroscurko]

Ludovico Carracci, Holy Family with St Francis and Donors, 1591 (X)

WWE Raw - October 16, 2017 (X)