Nick Piccone

Nick Piccone is a Pro Wrestling Contributor for PhillyVoice.com. Nick was the founder of the popular sports and pro wrestling blog Bleed Philly before joining Philly Influencer as Editor and Writer in 2015. He's hosted a weekly pro wrestling podcast with Vaughn Johnson, The Straight Shooters, since 2015. Nick also does editing, writing, and audio engineering for the only sports betting radio station in Philadelphia, Fox Sports Radio The Gambler. Nick graduated from nearby Neumann University after growing up in south Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. His family history is entrenched in Philadelphia culture, as Nick's great aunt Dolly's house was used as Rocky's and Adrian's new home in Rocky II. Nick is a huge Philly sports fan, and he has watched professional wrestling since he was five years old; he has not only a strong passion, but also an abundance of knowledge about the industry. Follow Nick on Twitter: @_piccone.

April 15, 2016

Wrestling

WWE SmackDown rundown: Zayn and Jericho go one-on-one, tag tournament continues

by Nick Piccone

On Thursday night, SmackDown invaded the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego and continued a string of strong shows from WWE after WrestleMania 32 two weeks ago. The tournament for the No. 1 contendership to the WWE World Tag Team Championships continued on Thursday night, along with a good main event and a match that could have been the main event that occurred in the 9 o’clock hour.

April 12, 2016

Wrestling

WWE Raw roundup: Reigns and Wyatt ... tag team partners?

by Nick Piccone

The Staples Center in Los Angeles hosted Raw on Monday night, and it was the second straight week that The Authority was nowhere to be found. Shane McMahon was back in charge again, and Raw was actually, dare I say, pretty good again. Is a brand split coming soon? I would welcome it.

April 8, 2016

Wrestling

WWE SmackDown rundown: Owens, Zayn feud far from over

by Nick Piccone

The first SmackDown after WrestleMania wasn’t nearly as exciting as the first Raw after WrestleMania, but Houston’s Toyota Center still hosted an entertaining two hours of WWE television on Thursday night.

April 5, 2016

Wrestling

WWE Raw roundup: AJ Styles becomes No. 1 contender to Reigns’ title

by Nick Piccone

The American Airlines Center in Dallas had the pleasure of hosting the post-WrestleMania edition of Raw on Monday night, and the show didn’t disappoint. The crowd at the Raw after WrestleMania is always involved with chants and cheers, and this edition of Raw after WrestleMania was no different.

April 4, 2016

Wrestling

WWE WrestleMania 32: Reigns’ revenge ends in WWE championship gold

by Nick Piccone

Dallas had a record-setting crowd in attendance at AT&T Stadium on Sunday night for WrestleMania 32. WrestleMania set a new attendance record with 101,763 people apparently in the stadium. WWE inflates those numbers, so who knows what the true number is? The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez says the real figure is closer to 86,000.

April 3, 2016

Wrestling

WWE 2016 Hall of Fame: Freebirds steal the show, Sting officially retires

by Nick Piccone

In Dallas’ American Airlines Arena, WWE inducted eight individuals into the Hall of Fame Saturday night. This year’s class has been much debated about, but there’s no question each of these individuals deserves the honor of being called a Hall of Famer.

April 2, 2016

Wrestling

Straight Shooters Podcast 33: Huge WrestleMania edition

by Nick Piccone

This week, we talk about Raw from Philly this past Monday, but not for long.

April 2, 2016

Wrestling

NXT TakeOver: Dallas shines as Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut captivates all

by Nick Piccone

In what many wrestling fans view as the true WrestleMania of the weekend due to the popularity of NXT, the developmental brand of WWE that’s not so developmental anymore invaded the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas two days before the biggest event of the year to put on one of the best wrestling shows I’ve ever seen.

March 31, 2016

Wrestling

WWE WrestleMania 32 preview: The Undertaker and Shane McMahon enter hell in Dallas

by Nick Piccone

There’s a lot riding on this year’s WrestleMania for WWE. Emanating from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas this coming Sunday, around 100,000 people are expected to converge on what could be the biggest WrestleMania ever attendance-wise.

March 29, 2016

Wrestling

WWE Raw roundup: Shane takes a huge leap as we head to WrestleMania

by Nick Piccone

The last episode of Raw before WrestleMania this Sunday came to us from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Monday night. This episode of Raw is one of the biggest of the year and we were hoping to see a good show to allow us to look forward to WrestleMania after the snoozefest we witnessed in Philly last Monday.