Steve Cook is in the home stretch, starting with 2011! Take a look at the changing landscape of pro wrestling that is now coming to a decade in age.

2011 is one of those years that could have changed the course of wrestling history. TNA & ROH were going through all sorts of changes. WWE saw some unexpected comebacks, unexpected departures, and a pipebomb that had everybody talking for weeks afterward. All things considered, I’m not sure it quite had the impact people thought it might at the time.

It was definitely an interesting year to write about as it happened. Let’s take a look back at some of the best moments as we continue my 30th Anniversary Wrestling Fan Celebration.

5. The Rock returns to WWE

WWE promised their announcement of the guest host for WrestleMania XXVII would be pretty big. Most of us didn’t think too much of it, as previous WM hosts had included the likes of Kim Kardashian and other celebrities. This WrestleMania host would also be a celebrity. A movie star, in fact. Some dude named Dwayne Johnson, who had done a little wrestling before getting into acting.

Needless to say, fans were hyped. Rock’s WM hosting would involve costing John Cena his match against the Miz, which led to Cena & Rock agreeing to meet in a match at WrestleMania XXVIII. Before that, they would team to face Miz & R-Truth at the Survivor Series, Rock’s first match since WrestleMania XX. It was great to see Rock back in action, but I remember WWE being disappointed in the buyrate & blaming Miz & R-Truth for not being threatening enough opponents. Like it was their fault or something.

4. Edge’s last match (of the 2010s)

WrestleMania XXVII saw a number of notable events take place. One that we didn’t realize was a thing until a little over a week later was Edge’s last match of the 2010s. We didn’t know at the time that Edge’s World Championship defense against Alberto Del Rio was the last time we’d see the Rated R Superstar wrestle for a very long time, but that’s what happened.

Edge had suffered a variety of injuries throughout the course of his career, but it was still very surprising to hear that he would have to retire due to cervical spinal stenosis. He retired at the top of his game, an eleven-time world champion and first ballot WWE Hall of Famer. Edge would pop in on WWE from time to time with special guest appearances, and SummerSlam 2019 actually saw him get physically involved by delivering a spear to Elias. That would be a sign of things to come in 2020…

3. Sinclair Broadcasting Group purchases ROH

Ring of Honor had been getting by just well enough to survive for nearly ten years as it entered 2011, but there were problems on the horizon. Their TV deal with HDNet expired early in the year. Business had pretty well stagnated. Cary Silkin was looking to sell, and Sinclair Broadcasting was looking for some cheap weekend programming. Jim Cornette & Gary Juster got it all together, and ROH is still appearing on Sinclair stations every weekend.

There have definitely been ups & downs. The early days of Sinclair ownership got ROH pretty far away from what people knew the promotion for. It feels like they’re heading in the right direction now, but they still have issues airing the show properly. It’ll be interesting to see where things go for them in 2021.

2. Lockdown 2011

Lockdown was one of the staples of TNA/Impact Wrestling’s schedule from 2005-2016. Many questioned the logic of having every single match on a card take place in a steel cage, but it became one of TNA’s most popular events & one that would take place outside of the Impact Zone every year after 2006. 2011 saw Lockdown take place in Cincinnati at the U.S. Bank Arena, and your humble correspondent had pretty good seats for it. As usual, The History of WWE

Pre-Show: Devon pinned Anarquia in a steel cage match; after the bout, Devon led Anarquia up the entrance ramp and twice dropped him with a suplex
Pay-per-view bouts – included a promo by Eric Bischoff where he predicted Immortal would wipe out Fortune and regain the TNA World Title in one night:
Max Buck won an Xscape match; Other participants included: Brian Kendrick, Jay Lethal, Suicide, Chris Sabin, Robbie E. (w/ Cookie), Jeremy Buck, and Amazing Red; order of elimination: Robbie pinned Suicide; Red pinned Lethal; Sabin pinned Red after a clothesline; Max pinned Sabin with a neckbreaker; Max pinned Jeremy with a rollup; Kendrick pinned Robbie after a dropkick (Lethal’s last match)

No, I don’t remember which one of the Young Bucks “Max” was. I would assume Matt?

Jesse Neal & Shannon Moore defeated Eric Young & Orlando Jordan, Scott Steiner & Crimson, and Douglas Williams & Magnus in a steel cage match when Moore pinned Magnus after hitting the Mooregasm; Young thought he had won the match when he climbed over the cage and hit the floor, but the match could only be won via pinfall or submission

Big Poppa Pump got quite the reaction out of the crowd because why wouldn’t he?

Mickie James pinned TNA Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne to win the title in a steel cage match after hitting a jumping DDT to win at around the 40-second mark; before the match, Rayne told Tara to remain backstage; stipulations stated James would be shaved bald if she lost

I was a big Madison Rayne supporter at this time, so this was pretty disappointing. I want to say there was an injury to one of the combatants that kept this short, but maybe not.

Samoa Joe defeated D’Angelo Dinero via submission with the Coquina Clutch in a steel cage match
Matt Morgan pinned Hernandez (w/ Anarquia & TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Sarita & Rosita) after hitting the Carbon Footprint in a steel cage match; after the bout, Sarita & Rosita took the mic and insulted the crowd and the Knockouts division, prompting Velvet Sky to come out and clear them from the ring
Jeff Jarrett (w/ Karen Jarrett) defeated Kurt Angle in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match; fall #1: Angle won a submission match with the ankle lock; fall #2: Jarrett won a pinfall match with a roll up; fall #3: Jarrett escaped the steel cage after Karen slammed the cage door on Kurt’s head; during the third fall, Angle was about to escape through the cage door but was stopped by TNA TV Champion Gunner, who was later chased off by Scott Steiner; Angle then nearly escaped through the door again, but Karen sprayed something in his eyes; Karen later slid a guitar into the ring for Jarrett to smash over Angle’s head

Impact in 60 recently replayed the Angle vs. Jarrett match. I’m not sure what it says about me or the match that I didn’t remember it was the one in Cincinnati until Angle did the moonsault off the cage. Where else would they have had a cage match? I dunno.

TNA World Champion Sting defeated Rob Van Dam and Mr. Anderson in a steel cage match by pinning Anderson after hitting the Scorpion Death Drop; late in the match, Hulk Hogan came out and gave RVD a pipe to use as a weapon, with RVD refusing; moments later, Anderson hit RVD with the weapon and gave Hogan the middle finger; after the bout, Sting and Hogan had a staredown

It was cool to finally see Sting wrestle in person. That’s pretty much all I have to say about that.

Christopher Daniels, TNA X Division Champion Frankie Kazarian, TNA World Tag Team Champions James Storm & Robert Roode defeated Ric Flair, Matt Hardy, Bully Ray, & Abyss in a Lethal Lockdown match when Flair submitted to Roode’s armbar after AJ Styles interfered; order of entry: Kazarian, Abyss, Hardy, Daniels, Flair, Storm, Ray, and Roode

Lethal Lockdowns are a fun kinda like War Games match, and this one was no different. Good ol’ fashioned crazy brawl in a steel cage with weapons. This ended up being Flair’s next-to-last wrestling match, at least for now. You think I’m ruling out a Flair in-ring return as long as he’s alive?

1. CM Punk’s Pipebomb

CM Punk had a fairly productive first half of 2011. After spending time on commentary while recovering from an injury, Punk took control of the Nexus from Wade Barrett, declaring the group to be the New Nexus. Things kicked up a notch when Punk worked his way into WWE Championship contention, earning a title shot against John Cena at Money in the Bank. It just so happened that Punk’s WWE contract expired then as well.

Punk launched into a diatribe on the June 27th edition of Raw that set the wrestling world on its ears. People went crazy. It was said that Punk’s “pipebomb” would change the course of wrestling history. Did it? Well, kind of, but likely not as much as people hoped. It did help Punk ascend to the top of the card & increased his popularity with the vast majority of the WWE fanbase. WWE didn’t fully take advantage of Punk’s popularity, but as it turned out, CM Punk would be gone before WrestleMania XXX.