By Nick Rackley

As you may know, it was reported earlier this week that Canadian high-flyer Tyson Kidd suffered a torn ACL, and is expected to be out from anywhere from eight months to one year. As a fan of Tyson Kidd, I personally am upset that something unfortunate like this happened. It felt as though International Airstrike was starting to get more momentum in the brought back form the dead tag-team division. It’s not like they were number one contenders, so this injury isn’t totally devastating to any current storylines.

With Kidd out for quite a while, the question has to be asked: What’s next for Justin Gabriel?

I can only see a few plausible paths the career of Justin Gabriel could take. The most likely one for the South-African is fading into obscurity. Without Kidd, he has no direction and will fall down to JTG-like status. I personally don’t want this to happen. Gabriel has impressed me since he debuted on NXT. Another option (although a very pessimistic one) would be Gabriel handed his pink slip. I don’t want that to happen, either. But there is a possibility, albeit slim, that it could happen.  

By Park Henson

Today, the WWE released superstar Trent Baretta, a wrestler who was never given a chance in WWE. Over the past couple of years, WWE has focused on the top 7-8 superstars, leaving the rest of the roster to wait and hope for their time to shine. Unfortunately, most of them never get this chance, and end up either being released or quitting out of frustration. WWE superstar Johnny Curtis has been with the company for 6 years. 6 YEARS. After years of hard work, we’ve seen Curtis only a handful of times. 1 time on SmackDown, where he jobbed to Mark Henry. The other times we saw him, were on the original NXT brand. This is a serious problem with WWE as of late. In my opinion, I think it’s Vince McMahon’s ego that is the problem. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of Vince, and he has done many good things for the business, but it is time for a change. The WWE is in need of some fresh talent to move up in the roster, (Zack Ryder and NXT Diva Paige are great examples), to fill in the gaps in the current roster. With all that being said, allow me to change gears for a moment. In the past few months, I have noticed WWE trying to use their talent better. Making Dolph Ziggler a main eventer was absolutely brilliant. But it also left gaps in the mid-card roster as well. These gaps could be filled with guys like Johnny Curtis, Trent Baretta, and, of course, Zack Ryder. WWE is headed in a great direction with the choice to move guys like Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio up the card, but guys like Trent Baretta, Johnny Curtis, and Zack Ryder also need their time to shine as well. Only time will tell, but guys like John Cena can’t be in the spotlight forever.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Great opening match with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy and James Storm defeating Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. The pre-match promo was well done and it set up the subsequent tag match nicely. This bout felt more exciting than their clash from last week and it did a sufficient job of building towards Daniels vs. Hardy for next week. I would've liked to see Daniels go over here, but he was still made to look strong following the contest by assaulting Hardy.

Nice Gut Check segment with Jay Bradley earning a TNA contract. Although it felt a bit rushed, the whole segment ran smoothly. Bradley's promo was strange at points, but his mic skills are solid overall. I'm glad to see he now has a TNA contract and I look forward to what he can bring to Impact Wrestling.

By Brian McGurn

There is only a small list of moments in the wrestling industry that become revolutionary: the birth of the Attitude Era, Undertaker going 20-0 at WrestleMania, Hogan slamming Andre the Giant in front of 93,173 fans, the Montreal Screw job, just to name a few. Rightfully so, all these moments are earth-shattering (at least in the wrestling industry) in their own special way. In 1996, three men had the chance to make that earth-shattering moment in history. Those three men are the following: “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall, and together they formed the infamous New World Order (n.W.o.) of professional wrestling. The n.W.o. left their mark on professional wrestling forever, and some would argue that they were the catalyst that started the WWF Attitude Era.

There’s no denying that the birth of the n.W.o. was the catalyst that started the war… between WCW and WWF. The Monday Night Wars officially kicked off: WWF Raw is War vs. WCW Monday Nitro.  The wars would continue to heat up when “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon and “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel made the switch from WWF to WCW. This move would eventually change the tide of the WCW, WWF, and their yearlong rating battle.  The move they played was the debut of the New World Order.

Over the years to come, the n.W.o.’s intentions would soon be realized—to claim WCW as their own. But to do that, they would need much more than three men.  They enlisted the help from many popular wrestlers, pro-athletes, and managers throughout the years ahead. Ted Dibiase Sr., Vincent (a.k.a. WWF Virgil), Randy Savage, Dennis Rodman, and many more.  Together they would become the most powerful faction in wrestling history.  

By Astonishing Cadarian

As you all know, this is my first article for Next Era Wrestling. I am very excited to be writing this. Well, the topic is CM Punk's self proclaimed "Pipe Bomb". In his definition, he states that a "Pipe Bomb" is the whole truth in a little bitty pipe bomb. On June 27, 2011, CM Punk sat on the stage in Las Vegas "Indian style". He basically broke the fourth wall by saying that the company would be better if Vince Mcmahon was dead. It got so extreme that the WWE production crew had to turn his mic completely off. Over a year and a half later, CM Punk has been WWE Champion an astonishing 414 days. After he defeats Ryback in a TLC match he comes out to the ring. He gives out the definition of a "Pipe Bomb" and states that the WWE Universe has been using its meaning wrong. He starts by saying that he has never done it for us. He goes on by saying that there is a glass barrier in the business. Babyface people like John Cena and R-Truth get their pockets lined because of their ability to "Woo" the crowd. One of the producers tries to tell Punk that they need a commercial break. Punk states that he wants to get his point across. That's when they get their break and then The Rock comes out. My point is that he needs to stop before things get out of hand. You know what they say, three times the charm. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Punk.