Highlights From Last Nights Royal Rumble

Last night was WWE's annual Royal Rumble event. For the un-initiated, the main attraction of the show is the Royal Rumble match, where 30 wrestlers enter one-by-one every minute and a half and eliminate each other by throwing their opponents over the top rope and having both of their feet hit the floor. The last wrestler in the ring wins and gets to challenge for the title of their choosing at WrestleMania in late-March/early-April.

A little background on myself, I was a HUGE wrestling fan in the mid-2000's, probably starting in 2005. Me and my friends bought the SummerSlam PPV in 2006, we would do backyard matches after school on this little piece of grass on the playground that had a wooden fence that looked like ring ropes, me and my friend were a tag team and since I was so much bigger than him we were Batista and Rey Mysterio. I never missed an episode of Friday Night SmackDown (wasn't allowed to watch Monday Night Raw since it was 9 PM on a school night). It was quite a time in the life of your boy. This is all around 3rd or 4th grade. But as will happen, I stopped watching wrestling regularly a few years later, probably 6th grade and the summer going into 7th. I would still check in occasionally since I Liked WWE on Facebook, so when something big happened I'd watch recaps and read about it. Some things that really stand out are CM Punks "Pipe Bomb" and Brock Lesnar returning. Other than that, I never really paid attention.

But two years ago I decided to watch WrestleMania while I was studying for finals. I watched the promo videos for all the matches that WWE put out (I'd seriously recommend checking those out at least for the major PPVs because whether you like wrestling or not, there's no denying that WWE's video production team has some serious skills, arguably the best in any field). My plan was to just sort of have it on as background noise and look up whenever I heard the crowd starting to get louder. I ended up basically tossing all my study materials aside and watching everything on the screen intently. Zack Ryder getting his moment and shockingly winning the Intercontinental Title in a ladder match, Charlotte winning the Women's Title in a Triple Threat over Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, Shane McMahon's INSANE jump off the top of Hell in a Cell that led to his loss to The Undertaker, it was a great re-introduction for me.

Now, I didn't really start watching again after that, but I was paying closer attention to the results and storylines in the recaps. I also wasn't able to watch WrestleMania 33 last year because I was in London at the time and it was on far too late and I had an early class. But when I got back to the US, I started on a wrestling kick. I'd tune into Raw and Smackdown every so often, listen to podcasts, read rumors, browse the subreddit r/SquaredCircle and all that. But I also started paying attention to non-WWE wrestling. I learned about this faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling called "Bullet Club" and was instantly hooked. I don't need to go through the complete history of Bullet Club because you have Google, but they're extremely cool and its easy to see why I, like many others, were instantly drawn to them. I found Tetsuya Naito and Los Ingobernables de Japon, Kazuchika Okada, obviously Bullet Club and all their talent. There was Ring of Honor and PWG in the States. There was so much more out there than just WWE. Some of my favorites right now aren't WWE products, and maybe my favorite guy out there currently is Bullet Club's Villain Marty Scurll.

All this leads me to last night and the Royal Rumble. The two main matches were the men's and women's Rumbles, the latter off which was the first in history. So given my rekindled love for pro-wrestling, I want to run down my top 5 moments from each.

Women's Match
5. Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson Return

Two staples of any wrestling fans lives in the early to mid 2000's. Michelle McCool was really around for the wrong generation, she'd kill it if she was in her prime right now with the number of good workers in the company. And Torrie... well, Torrie is Torrie. Both lookers that bring me back to days where my mom would walk in on me watching wrestling as a boy and be horrified by the "Divas" division. 

4. Trish Stratus and Mickie James Showdown

Two more staples of the earlier days of women's wrestling, Mickie James returned last year to a full-time schedule while Trish came back for last nights Rumble. These two had one of the best rivalries back in the day and the big pop from the crowd when they faced off showed that people didn't forget. They're two more who look just as good as they did in their heydays. 

3. Ember Moon 

The NXT Women's Champion showed up still heavily bandaged after the beating she took from the debuting Shayna Baszler at Saturday nights NXT Takeover: Philly. Ember Moon versus Asuka was a great rivalry in NXT and EMber's performances in those matches not only made herself look strong, but made Asuka and her undefeated streak look even stronger. Ember even hit a one-armed Eclipse, her finishing move, in the Rumble. It's one of the best looking moves in wrestling overall in my opinion, like a Stone Cold Stunner on steroids. 

2. Asuka Wins

Asuka has no losses in her combined NXT and WWE career, and the Royal Rumble was no exception. I really liked the way she won because of how real it seemed. My favorite Rumble elimination ever was when Rey Mysterio grabbed the rope as Randy Orton went to throw him over for the win, and when Orton took a step back to get a running start, Rey flipped over and threw him out of the ring with a head scissors. Great visually, but not the most realistic scenario. With Asuka, she got knocked down on the apron, saw an opening and delivered a simple kick to knock Nikki Bella off. She was then joined int he ring by Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss and Smackdown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, which I seemingly was leading to Asuka declaring which title she would challenge for as was done with the men's winner (more on that later). But, I got worked when this happened...
1. Ronda Rousey Debuts

A lot of people speculated that Ronda would be entrant #30, but when that spot went to Trish I think everyone sort of resigned to thinking the debut was being pushed to a later day. But then Joan Jett's voice started up and the crowd went wild. It took a few seconds for cameras to cut to the entrance, where, in Hot Rod Roddy Piper font, the words "Ronda Rousey" were displayed. Rousey came out and made her way out to the ring, facing off with the three other women, offering a handshake to Asuka (who hilariously gave Rousey a high five instead) and pointing to the WrestleMania sign. She made her way to Stephanie McMahon at the commentary table and shook her hand before the show went off the air. Just an incredible debut for one of the biggest rumored debutants in recent history. I highly doubted she'd end up in NXT anyway, but this just confirms that Vinny Mac is strapping a rocket to her back. There's also speculation that she didn't appear backstage until something like 10 seconds before she was supposed to go on, and that no one in the company not named Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon, Triple H or Kevin Dunn (WWE's head producer) knew about it, so the reactions from the three women in the ring were genuine.

Men's Match
5. Annual Kofi Kingston Spot

(If the clip doesn't go right to the moment, skip to 2:27)
Kofi Kingston, despite never winning git, has become Mr. Royal Rumble for all of his unique saves over the years. It's become one of the more anticipated moments of the event to see what they'll come up with. This year it was landing on New Day stable-mate Xavier Woods and using a plate of pancakes before being launched back into the fray. Here's a lot at some of his others:

I really hope he wins in the next few years and wins the WWE or Universal Title at Mania, the guy deserves it. 

4. Andrade Cien Almas

"El Idolo" Andrade "Cien" Almas had a hell of a weekend. He retained the NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano Saturday night at Takeover in what may end up as the best WWE match of 2018 at the least (and possibly the best match of the year already) and then debuted at #7 in the Royal Rumble 24 hours later. He competed for just over 30 minutes against Gargano and just under 30 minutes in the Rumble. A super strong weekend for Almas, who has made a believer out of me the past few months. He's looking like the next big Hispanic superstar, but the last great one entered at #27...

3. Rey Misterio

12 years after winning the match, Rey Mysterio was back after some time off and looked as good as he ever has. He was trimmed down and moving really well. It brought me back to my youth and I honestly didn't see it coming. Whether he continues on with WWE now, either as a competitor or as a GM for the Cruiserweights, remains to be seen but if nothing else comes of it, this surprise entry was enough for me.
2. Nakamura Wins

Not only did Shinsuke Nakamura win the Royal Rumble, he eliminated both John Cena and Roman Reigns to do so. The final minutes between him and Reigns especially swerved me. I taught Reigns was winning for sure, so while Nakamura was grabbing him and throwing him over the top rope, I was in shocked silence. I did not see this result coming at all. And even better, afterwards he was interviewed in the ring and asked if he would challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title, or AJ Styles for the WWE Title. And much to the delight of all fans out there, Nakamura said, "A... J... STYLES." They have history dating back to NJPW, so this match at WrestleMania should deliver times 10.

Remember all that time ago when I said Marty Scurll is my current favorite wrestler in the business? Well, I lied. He's tied for that title. With this man...

1. ADAM COLE BAY BAY

Speaking of things I didn't expect, WOW. Adam Cole had gone through a hellacious Extreme Rules match with Aleister Black (another guy I love and recommend checking out) at Takeover the night before (hence the taped ribs) but I guess after Ember Moon came out bandaged up I should have seen it form a mile away. Cole is from Lancaster, PA which is a pretty quick ride from Philly and he got the corresponding pop from the crowd. I wish Michael Cole (no relation) let the entrance breathe though so you could really hear the audience. Adam Cole is very much over with WWE fans. Any time he says "Adam Cole Bay Bay", he gets a huge response from the fans...

It's honestly my favorite thing in wrestling right now. I will always go nuts for a good "ADAM COLE BAY BAY". I first found out about Cole through his work with Bullet Club from May 2016 to May 2017 and went back to his catalog from ROH and PWG. The dude oozes charisma and plays the role of a sleazy heel so, so good. The dude is gonna be a star and is still only 28, meaning he really hasn't fully hit his peak as a wrestler yet. I see him challenging for the NXT Title WrestleMania weekend and maybe SummerSlam weekend if the Mania plan doesn't happen. He's money on the mic and in the ring. 

So there you have it, some of my favorite moments from the Royal Rumble. I might do these for the Big 4 shows (Rumble, Mania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series), but we'll see. 

The Lee Nguyen Saga

When the Revs re-convened for the start of preseason camp in late-January, there was a sense of new beginnings. Their first training sessions under new coach Brad Friedel and his staff were set to start and there were new faces to put through the paces. In addition to them there were guys like Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Cody Cropper, Antonio Delamea and Claude Dielna. The usual suspects were all there. Well, save for one.

Lee Nguyen never showed up.

He still hasn't shown up.

The holdout stems from a very simple place: money. Nguyen made $500,000 last season, but he's worth at least double that. New England is notably stingy when it comes to what they're willing to pay players. They didn't have any million dollar earners last season (the highest earner on the team was Xavier Kouassi, making nearly $900k) and had no players in the top-20 highest paid players, per The Denver Post.

Here's a rundown of what Lee Nguyen has done since joining the Revs in 2012: played in 191 games, scored 51 goals (2nd-most in club history), tallied 49 assists (2nd-most in club history), has the most penalty kick goals in club history, and the 2nd-most shots, shots on goal and game winning goals in club history. He is just the second Revolution player ever to rack up at least 40 goals and 40 assists, the only other to reach that mark being Steve Ralston (42 G, 73 A).

It seems clear to me that Nguyen is an all-time Rev, probably in the top 5 to be honest (off the top of my head and in no particular order I'd probably go Nguyen, Twellman, Reis, Tierney and Ralston).

The bigger issue is that this hold out has no become extremely publicized. Given Nguyen's stature within the club, his absence was extremely noticeable, only exacerbated by the fact that he has made it clear he was unhappy with his contract situation for quite some time. After he no-showed the start of training camp, the Revs put out a statement in which they said Nguyen was in breach of his contract:

Here’s @NERevolution general manager Mike Burns on Lee Nguyen not reporting for the start of #NERevs preseason.

The club is taking a zero-tolerance approach. #MLS pic.twitter.com/HYQNQh0x7Q

— Jonathan Sigal (@JonathanSigal) January 23, 2018

After trade speculation quickly started, Revs management including GM Mike Burns and Friedel came out to say, and continue to say, Lee will not be traded, with reports saying they are not even listening to offers. Rather, they likely have an intern picking up the phone an inch when it rings and then placing it back down to end the call.

Nguyen has finally spoken on the matter, telling ESPNFC, "I hope things can work out in a manner that benefits everyone... I've paid my dues and it gets harder and harder to watch so many players on the Revs and in MLS get rewarded year after year, despite not performing anywhere close to what I have done." He also said that at this point in his career he feels like he needs a new challenge, generally something players will say when they actually complete a move elsewhere, not while they are holding out.

It's easy to say, "Just pay the man." He is justifiably pissed off regarding his status as a top player and not being paid as such. He deserves more money, that much is clear. But the situation isn't as black and white as paying him more money. He may already be mentally out of New England.

Perhaps more interesting in the ESPNFC comments than the money talk is the fact that Nguyen has asked to be traded three times this offseason, once at the conclusion of the season, once more after the hiring of Brad Friedel and most recently before the MLS Draft and combine. He has his heart set on leaving, clearly.

I can see a scenario where Nguyen gets enough cash thrown at him to keep him here, but the damage would have already have been done. He'd be another player who doesn't really want to be here. While Friedel wants Lee in the fold when putting his teams together every week and as their #1 guy on the field and in the locker room, I think the most likely scenario is that things get so toxic that we have to deal Nguyen for less than we should be getting for him.

There is no end in sight as of now, and the road only looks to be getting uglier from here. We can hope for an ending to this mess that is all sunshine and rainbows and happy tailgates on sunny summer nights, but there could be a grim reality waiting around the corner. Brace for it.


Ps-More housekeeping to come, sit tight.

My Next Chapter

This has been by far the most challenging few weeks in my semi-professional life. I understood cognitively (Kevin Durant really wants me to believe he knew the word 'cognitively', let alone knew the correct way to use it all by himself? Kudos to his ghostwriter) that I was facing a crossroads in my evolution as a player counselor and as a man, and that it came with exceptionally difficult choices. What I didn’t truly understand, however, was the range of emotions I would feel during this process.

The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on what is truly best for me and my future as a person that lives on Earth. What would be best for me moving forward? I could job hunt and hopefully find a nice occupation in an office or some other sort of confined space with walls. A monkey cage like I'm a zoo attraction would actually not be too bad now that I think about it, I would likely be safe from attacks by large ursine mammals (talkin' bears, folks), granted the type of metal used and the density of the individual bars would play a large role in whether or not that bear eats me for supper. A nice steel would be preferable, but if they put me in some sort of aluminum contraption it's lights out for me. Not good!

So I could look for a job and hope something hits. As a 22-year-old facing the final few months of college, there is a sentiment that its time to move on. But what if I don't get any bites and end up having to spend the summer at home continuing the job hunt? What then, Max Kellerman? 

It is with much joy that I announce I will be returning to Camp Grossman for a third and final summer. 

I’m from Medfield, MA originally, but Camp Grossman truly raised me, for roughly 17 weeks of my life. It taught me so much about family as well as what it means to be a man who still acts like a child and gets a lot of joy out of beating a bunch of 10 year olds in basketball. There are no words to express what the organization and the community mean to me, and what they will represent in my life and in my heart forever. The memories and friendships are something that go far beyond the counseloring. Those invaluable relationships are what made this deliberation so challenging.

Now believe me when I say this was actually a very tough decision. Signing that contract meant I was committing to 8 weeks in the summer. If God himself came down form the heavens and offered me a job as his social media coordinator and dog walker, but wanted me to start June 1, I'd have to tell him, "Thanks, but I cannot start full-time until September 1. Also, you were a bit of an absentee dad to Jesus, people forget that." 

So, this was not a decision I took lightly. I will obviously be on a job hunt throughout the spring and summer, but this way I will actually be making money while I do it. Very nice! 

So what do I expect from my farewell season? Well, I have a Maccabiah title to defend first and foremost. I want to go out as a back-to-back champion (think Jordan '96-'97, or Drake when he ethered Meek Mill). Has any captain in the history of that camp pulled off a 2nd place-1st place-1st place run in their only 3 years of employment? The Elias Sports Bureau tells me no. I'm ready to make history. 

With some expected turnover to the camp family, I want to prep the next generation of counselors. The ones who look at me and go, "Wow, there goes the LeBron James of this Jewish day camp in Massachusetts." Once the old guard leaves, they need to be ready to step in. The role of mentor and idol has been thrust upon me and I will gladly and humbly accept it. 

Frankly, I need an 8-week Farewell Tour. I never really cherished last summer and never really said a proper goodbye. I will not make that mistake again. I'l take everything in and enjoy it. The ups and the downs. And as is the case with any good farewell tour, I will be accepting gifts, both of the monetary and physical nature. My Venmo (@alexwong85) is indeed open, so feel free to donate to the retirement tour fund wither at this time or at any point over the summer as you see fit. Even donate multiple times if you're feeling good. As I wrote last year, I will accept any and all monetary donations, preferably in large quantities in burlap sacks, paper bags, briefcases with far too many latches and also simply thrown at me like I'm Sepp Blatter...

That is maybe my favorite line I have ever written so I had to include it again.

Camp Grossman has allowed me to grow as a person in a very real sense. For two summers I took on a greater leadership role than I had ever previously encountered outside of a Call of Duty campaign. The experiences I've had have changed me for the better. 

I'll do the whole deep dive when the time is right. The way I see it, there are 8 editions of "This Week in Campers" left to write, so those come before any final reflections. 

It's been an emotional ride since the end of August. I've spoken a lot to my inner circle who helped me reach this conclusion. But in the end, its the one I'm happiest with, and thats enough for me. 

My next chapter isn't about me moving on. It's about me moving forward. It's about adding a third chapter this book. It;s about completing this trilogy. This is my Return of the Jedi. This is Camp Grossman Episode III: Return of the Counselor. 

I'm excited, and you should be as well. We'll have a good time, get some jokes off and take it all in for a final time. 

Welcome to Season 3. Let's get it.

-Alex Wong, Counselor, Kinneret 

Revs Offseason Update #2

We're back for another offseason check in as a few things have happened since the last update. The Revs signed a coach in Anton McElhone from Tottenham as the new Head of Fitness, and re-signed Teal Bunbury, Andrew Farrell, Brad Knighton and Brian Wright. Right there you have a good depth and squad rotation veteran, a likely starting right back, a very good backup goalkeeper and a nice forward project to factor into the young attacking core. 

The Revs also signed midfielder Isaac Angking as the fourth Homegrown Player in club history. The kid is 17 from Rhode Island, and scored 12 goals in 11 games for the Revolution Academy last season. In the Jay Heaps Era, young guys, namely Zach Heriveaux, got little to no time on the field to develop, so hopefully Angking and Zach can get good minutes under Brad Friedel. After former #1 Revs prospect Justin Rennicks had a bit of a falling out with he club and chose to go to college to play instead off staying in the Revs system, Angking became the new top guy in the Academy. I do still hope Brad can convince Rennicks to come play for the squad at some point. 

Next up, new jerseys! The Revs debuted the 2018 home kit at midnight on January 1, 2018. Here's Kelyn Rowe wearing it:

Looking good, @kelynrowe! #NERevs #happynewyear

A post shared by New England Revolution (@nerevolution) on Jan 1, 2018 at 8:09am PST

At first glance, its... meh. This is actually a much better look at it than the computer rendering they dropped at midnight. It's just a bit of a departure from the navy blue and red scheme of the past. We don't have light blue in the logo, or any part of the club really, so that part seems a bit out of place. I, like many others, want to see both the home and away uniforms go with a blue, green, white, red combination to model after the American and New England flags. But these are alright. Nothing special, but they will do the job. I am far more interested in what the new aways will look like heading into 2019, since I thought the update last year was a big downgrade from the previous red, white and green edition. 

Finally, some rumors...

Gabriel Somi

The Revs have reportedly signed Gabriel Somi from Swedish side Östersunds. This article is an interview with the player in which he says himself he's coming to Gillette Stadium. Its also in Swedish so thank you to Google translate for the assist. He plays along the left side and is not exactly a world beater, but we also have a lot of roster space to fill up, so he is at worst a death signing and could actually be part of a left back platoon with the rapidly aging Chris Tierney. This would also hopefully mean no more wasting Kelyn at left back. 

Evgen Opanasenko

SOURCE: #NERevs could be after Ukrainian Right Back Evgen Opanasenko. Scored 5 goals and 1 assist in 17 league games this past season for Zorya Luhansk. He will be out of contract on December 31st.

— Mat (@Marbies3762) December 18, 2017

Opanasenko is a 27 year old right back, meaning his signing would likely mean a battle at RB between him and Farrell. If he and Somi both sign, we could see a much better looking defense in 2018 with better depth than ever. New fullbacks and a nice looking partnership in the middle with Delamea and Dielna. We also don't know what formation Friedel will favor yet, so he could opt to go wth 5 in the back and utilize Farrell in the middle as well.

Cristhian Machado

The 27 year old is apparently the best CDM in Bolivia. Check out this Reddit thread on him, but to paraphrase, he's a good depth signing. It looks like the three players we have either already singed or are close to signing are all potential starters who will at least offer competition to the likes of Tierney, Farrell and Scott Caldwell.


Samuel Shashoua

Wraca temat wypożyczenia 18-letniego prawoskrzydłowego do NE Revolution.
Samuel Shashoua aktualnie gra w młodzieżówkach Tottenhamu. #NERevs #MLSpl https://t.co/8hNtryxxfV

— Katarzyna Przepiórka (@pustulkaa) January 1, 2018

One of the better Tottenham Hotspur prospects at the moment, Shashoua is an 18 year old attacker. Given the fact he is regraded somewhat highly in London, I doubt the loan would come with an option to buy, but loaning promising players for a year or two from bigger European clubs would be very interesting. Obviously, Brad's Tottenham connections would help immensely in deals with Mauricio Pochettino's club. 

Possible Big Names

#NERevs have had contact with a few eyebrow-raising players from overseas so far this off-season. Certainly DP-level. Possible Friedel and his staff have given Krafts some courage? #MLS

— Julian Cardillo (@JulianCardillo) December 14, 2017

Rob Stone from FOX Sports apparently mentioned Gareth Fucking Bale as an actual option, but Cardillo has denied that. I am very interested to see if Friedel actually brings in a known name for the "Splash Factor" we have been missing since signing Jermaine Jones in 2014.

Lee Nguyen is reportedly being looked at by Vietnamese clubs. He initially only came back to the US to increase he is chances of a USMNT call up, and he accomplished that. But with he US missing the World Cup, and Nguyen not being part of a team since around this time last year, he could see a return to Vietnam as a big time possibility. He was an absolute rockstar there as a young player. Check out this mini-doc on Lee for a better look at it. I love the guy, so hopefully his family and friends being well-established here more so now than then helps keep him in New England.

The status of Gershon Koffie and Xavier Kouassi are still to be determined as well.

And finally, we have opener dates. The Revs open the 2018 season on March 3 at Philly and the home opener is a week later on March 10 against Colorado.

SuperDraft is coming up and with all the player rumors there will be plenty to occupy us leading up to preseason.