The old series I back for the first time in the new year and for the first time I actually am taking it from the new archive site. Check out the article from the past: 

For the longest time the Television title was a staple of various companies during the territory era of pro-wrestling in companies like MACW, MSW, PNW, and a variety of other companies. Though it seems to be that this title was more present in southern wrestling companies. In modern pro-wrestling the idea of having a television title seems to be lost as only Ring of Honor has had the TV championship for any length of time.

​Now to really pull out an obscure championship I bet not many of you knew that the American Wrestling Association had a Television Championship for a time. It should tell you something that at this point Ring of Honor has had the TV title active for longer than AWA did as even though the AWA went under in 1991 they retired the title less than year after creating it. Due to the fact that there were only two different wrestlers to hold this title there are no matches available showing this title on the line. So instead I chose to give you a tribute video of the AWA and a link to the very short title history of the AWA International Television Championship.

Through the years wrestling has had a tough time with a number of our favorite stars leaving us way to early and leaving us to question what if. One of the things I have really tried to with this site is to tell the story of the past and part of the past is looking at those who had potential but for whatever reason didn't reach it. This is not a series but more an occurrence that will happen when the opportunity presents it. The focus of this is Mike Alfonso who made a name for himself as The Gladiator and Mike Awesome during his in ring career. Though Mike fit in quite well during the 1990's due to the size he posed and how well he fit in with other big competitors from the era. One main difference between Awesome and other big men from the era is that he actually was athletic in the ring and could fly unlike any other talent from the day. 

Mike's career would start to take off when he made his way to Japan while working for All-Japan Pro-Wrestling and Frontier Marital-Arts Wrestling. It was overseas that Mike would begin his career long feud with Masato Tanaka which is one that would actually make its way over to the US specifically ECW. Heyman would be the first American promoter to really give Mike a shot by giving him a push right out of the gate to allow to lead the company. Awesome would however not stick around as a full time competitor and until his third stint with ECW when Mike won the ECW World Title in a three way dance against Taz & Masato Tanaka. However, around the time that Mike was given the ball ECW was starting to have financial distress and would move onto WCW where they gave him a chance. 

​At first Mike was given a massive push as the "Career Killer" but then bad booking got the better of the potential ridden Awesome. Mike would lose his way after the WCW went away and never really did anything of note in the WWE which is surprising, but I guess timing wasn't the best. Overall Mike was a tremendous talent and someone that really fit well with a manager due to his lack of charisma and just being someone who would kick ass over cutting a good promo. Either way though Mike had no pun intended Awesome Potential that was halted by outside circumstances that plague the business at the time. 

The WWE has taken major steps forward in the booking of the women's division and just how they allow the female talent to be perceived on television is a lot different then how it was years ago. Now with how well they have booked talent like Asuka, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and others it would be almost impossible for me to imagine them booking them as weak as they use to handle the division. However, with the Women's Royal Rumble on the horizon they seem to be taking even more steps forward then anyone thought. This makes me want to look back at how things use to be in the WWE and find some positives in a mess of garbage. With that being said there was only one woman I could think of as she was "flawless." 

​I'm aware that there were two "flawless" women from the team formerly known as LayCool but I am focusing on just on of them as I do think that Michelle did more during her career. Now at first I don't think any fans would have thought that McCool would be anything more than just another manager but she proved everyone wrong and showed a lot more skills then I'm sure anyone thought they would've. Originally, McCool was a member of the 2004 diva search and though she eliminated early much like Tough Enough the winner wasn't the only one that got a contract. By the end of 2005, McCool was heading into Deep South Wrestling which was one of the developmental territories for the company at the time. 

​Michelle would then be brought to main roster as the manager of K.C James & Idol Stevens and though this didn't really last to long it did open the door for McCool remaining on the main roster. Two years after being nothing more than a manager Michelle would defeat Nattie to become the first Divas Champion and her first taste of WWE gold. In my opinion it was around this time that Michelle began to hit her stride and really show just how good she was in the ring and the potential she was really putting on display. 

​Though I won't go through it all it is fair to say that Team LayCool was one of the few good thing about the WWE during this time period. Even though Michelle wasn't around to long in the company she did really leave a legacy behind but not really because of the legacy she left behind, but more how weak the division was at the time. Now I'm not trying to bash McCool or anything it just that she made the most out of a weak division and really earned everything she would receive in her career and very much should be consider a legend in the wrestling business because of this. 

Over the last few years I have made a tradition out of making special announcements in the month of January due to the site starting in January 2015. During that time the site has gone through a lot of changes and different stages with sections & series coming and going. However, once a section gets closed it disappears and in some cases never to return though some might not care I have always been a believer in conserving history. It was for this reason that I decided to preserve my history by making website to house the past of this site. 

With that being said some sections will be disappearing and I don't just mean inactive section I mean sections that have been active for a long time on the site. The reason other reason for this decision was to try and shrink down the amount of pages on the site & not make the site look so congested like it is at least on my end. Overall though this has been an idea I've been playing with for a while as in I have been thinking about ways to expand the brand of Wrestling Express & this was the easiest way to do it. 

Though this might not seem like a big deal to some it can be and for those who think it is, your the reason I do this and have enjoyed this ride so much. I'm not asking for the same support you give wrestling express or to shift attention as if anything the archives site is just another car on the roller coaster we are on. 

As always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below. ​

Back in February 2000, it was announced that a joint venture between the WWF & NBC was announced. The joint venture was a new football league called the XFL. At the time the reason that NBC was involved in the venture was they had recently lost rights to the NFL games and need something to fill the time. Based on the report from the WWE Corporate site when the league was announced the launch date was set for February of 2001. This did mean that the XFL would in fact allow football fans to have a league to follow after the NFL's Super Bowl was done. 

​Though some fans might not believe that football could work in the summer months and that this was one of the reasons why the league failed. However, this actually had nothing to do with the XFL disbanding, but had nothing really to do with it. Then in May of 2001 both NBC & WWE would put the company out of their misery & began to move onto things outside the football world.

Recently, lots of rumors have been around that the XFL could be returning after all this time and being looked at as a joke in many respects by fans & critics. But with the founding of the self funded Alpha Entertainment venture it seems like something could be in the works as Vince once again looks outside of wrestling. Being honest with the drop in popularity for the NFL now would be as good a time as any to try and give the XFL another try. One could ask though with the XFL a possibility does this mean Vince could end up stepping back from the WWE. 

​In the last few weeks the rumors of the XFL returning have not been shot down by anyone within the WWE and considering the fact that the WWE sold 100 million shares of stock to finance Alpha Entertainment they are absolutely planning something. The apparent date for us to find out officially if the XFL is returning is on January 25 so put it in your calendars & don't forget to keep in mind remember the blimp. 

It is very fitting that with the new year here this series is coming to an end. It took around the same time that it usually does & I have actually enjoyed doing it during a different part of the year then I had in the past. Once again a major thank you to those who had a part in this series and I look forward to doing this series again in 2018. With that being said let's get to the question: 

​Question: If you could give a smaller company a shoutout which would you chose to give one to?

Through the Ropes PW: "I'd love to shoutout All Star Wrestling in the UK. They were the first ever live wrestling shows I ever visited. They used to be the wrestling show that was on ITV during wrestling's last years on TV before it was unfairly cancelled. All Star featured the greats of the business that you see in WWE's PC today, IE Robbie Brookside, [Who I met in person countless times], and Fit Finlay and British Bulldog [RIP]."

Gabrielle: Shout out to NCW - Northern Championship Wrestling based in Montreal.

​Bryan: There really isn't one at the moment which has given me an interest as I've been mostly focused on NXT the most out of any promotion.

​KM Podcast: I know they're technically not a wrestling promotion but who cares? Lucha Underground should have more fans than it gets, I'd hate to see them get shit canned right now so I'd like to urge fans to give them a look.