411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: One More Hogan Match?

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are Tony Acero and Shawn Lealos!

Questions were sent out Monday.

Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

1. Wade Barrett was the wrong choice to win the 2015 King of the Ring.

Shawn Lealos: FICTION – Wade Barrett is going to be an awesome King of the Ring. He is almost like a mixture between William Regal and Booker T. I know people would have liked to see Neville win it so he could use it as a big push, but the King is better for bad guys and Barrett needs something to do while Daniel Bryan is out. Honestly, if he isn’t going to be the IC Champion, this is the next best thing. I think King Barrett is just a brilliant move for his career at this point. On a side note, I loved how JBL and Michael Cole were gushing over how no one looked better as the King than Barrett and then Booker T was just like, “you’ve got to be kidding me.” But, no, I love Barrett as the King of the Ring.

Tony Acero: FICTION – The 2015 King of the Ring was brought back specifically FOR Wade Barrett, I think, and I can’t see a damned thing wrong with that idea. Wade has been on the precipice of a push s many damned time, it hurts my head. This should – hopefully – be the push that brings him to the forefront of the WWE where he needs and deserves to be. His most recent return from injury saw him in amazing shape and although there are but remnants left of the Bad News Barrett persona, he’s done a great job with it. The transition to king should be a joy to watch, and as he continues to move towards the top, don’t be surprised with the enjoyment you’ll find watching it. Barrett wasn’t just the right choice for King of the Ring, he was the ONLY choice.

2. Chris Jericho’s podcasts with John Cena and Stephanie McMahon have been largely disappointing.

Shawn Lealos: FACT – I like Chris Jericho’s podcasting styles. I listened to him every week when he was on Sixx Sense radio and loved his show where he was interviewing musical stars. Hearing him talk to them, as a fan, and them sharing stories was just so fun to listen to. The same thing is true with his podcasts, as they are just a lot of fun because it is like two friends talking, or in some cases, like Jericho is talking to an idol of his, which is also great to hear. However, John Cena came around after Jericho and Stephanie McMahon is almost a contemporary when you consider their debuts as stars in the company. I wouldn’t mind reminiscing, and some of the stories were interesting, but Stone Cold Steve Austin ruined this for me. He pulled few punches with Vince McMahon and Triple H and his WWE Network podcasts were VERY interesting. After hearing some great questions from Austin, the softball throws from Jericho might have been good for his iTunes podcast, but for the WWE Network, they were hugely disappointing. I tuned out the Cena one about 3/4 the way through and the McMahon one was just background noise after awhile. As a Jericho fan, that should say how underwhelmed I was.

Tony Acero: FICTION – They were nowhere near as entertaining or as important to us as the Stone Cold podcasts, but that doesn’t make them disappointing. If there was one negative that the H and Vince podcasts did, it was to give false expectations for podcasts thereafter, in that we assume we’re going to get some scuttlebutt and hard-hitting questions that WE want answered. Have we considered perhaps that there are some things they don’t care to tell us or answer? And moreover, we’ve gotten what we wanted from Vince and H, and then some. What could we have gotten from Cena and Steph that would alter our perception of the product? Nothing. So, once the false expectations of what we were to receive are gone, you realize that you’re still getting a glimpse into a person behind a character, you’re getting some pretty cool road stories, and you’re revisiting history of years we hadn’t considered in quite some time. I enjoyed both podcasts for what they were.

3. You’re more excited for the next NXT special on May 20th than the WWE Payback show on May 17th.

Shawn Lealos: FACT – Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn II. Hell yeah. I loved, loved, loved the fact that Bret Hart came out and introduced Zayn as John Cena’s opponent this week, and the fact that he freaking kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment was about the best thing I have seen Cena do in a while when it comes to putting someone over. If anything, that might make people who haven’t seen NXT give it a chance to see Zayn fight for the title. And I absolutely love Kevin Owens. Then, we have the three-way between Tyler Breeze, Hideo Itami and Finn Balor that might end up as the MOTY candidate. Those two matches makes it must see for me. HOWEVER, I do want to say that the minute that they added Dean Ambrose to the WWE title match and made it a 4-way with the Shield members against Randy Orton, it immediately made Payback must-see for me.

Tony Acero: FCITION – I’d say that my excitement for the NXT Special is quite different than that of the WWE special, because my expectations for both are different. With the added member that is Ambrose, the main event just got a whole lot more fun. Extreme Rules was barred down by name and expectations (which seems to be a running trend in these here answers), but Payback doesn’t look all that bad, and is shaping up to be a natural progression into the future rather than a stop/start one-off PPV. The NXT Special is basically the Owens/Zayn show, and I’m loving it. Fans of PWG have seen this in one iteration or another, and it was great then – I see it being so much better now. Everything else on the card is as exciting and built up as it could be, but the NXT brand is so distinctly different than the WWE brand that I can readily be able to want to see both for very different reasons.

SWITCH!

4. Dean Ambrose was only added to the Payback main event so that he can eat the pin.

Tony Acero: FACT – I feel this is a definite fact, but I have to retort “Who cares?” It’s not like Ambrose is going to get his ass handed to him then pinned and everyone is ok. Someone has got to lose, and rather than trying to find some semblance of negative in the awesome fact that AMBROSE IS IN THE MAIN EVENT, we have people everywhere claiming this is just a fancy way of burying the guy. There were days when a man could float seamlessly into and out of the main event and not be hurt by it. Ambrose is seemingly one of those guys, and it’s great to see. Sure, he’ll eat the pin, but will it really damage him? No. In fact, this makes him level, equal, to Orton, Rollins, and Reigns. Couple this with the fact that The Shield IS the main event of Payback for the third year in a row, and I can’t help but call this a success. Reigns, Ambrose, and Rollins man…that’s the present of the WWE right now, and all three are getting their just due.

Shawn Lealos: FICTION – He might eat the pin, but I see something else happening and it would be very stupid for the WWE to do. First of all, on a side note, I loved how after Randy Orton hit Roman Reigns with the RKO, Ambrose had an IDENTICAL look on his face as he did after Seth Rollins turned on The Shield. It shows he really does love Roman Reigns. With that said, I have a strong suspicion that they are turning Ambrose heal and having him join forces with Seth Rollins at the PPV. It makes ZERO SENSE at all for that to happen, but then again, it made no sense for Ambrose to say that he would stop Rollins from cashing in forever, and then stopped trying. Anyway, the WWE has no idea how to market Ambrose, and even though the fans love him, I see him betraying Reigns at Payback, helping Rollins win, and then having his career ruined by the WWE even further.

5. You have no desire to see Hulk Hogan wrestle one more match.

Tony Acero: FACT – If there’s one thing the WWE has done over the years, it’s truly destroy the idea and feeling of nostalgia. A Bret Hart appearance is so…meh. Ric Flair showing up? *eye rolls* Hogan in the ring….FUCK THAT. I don’t think ANYONE wants to see it. I truly don’t. I mean, if he were to drop a leg and maybe tell someone NO, then it would get a pop. But having him pull even five minutes out of his ass against someone that he will certainly NOT be losing to just to brush the ego that’s as fine as his dying locks of blonde hair, no thank you.

Shawn Lealos: FICTION – It will suck, I am sure. Whether he fights John Cena, Rusev or Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hogan’s match will suck because he is old and can barely move anymore. I don’t care. Hulk Hogan put in a lot of blah matches in TNA to end his career. He deserves one last farewell match in the WWE, since that is where he became a star. I do not want to see him fight Rusev – or any other young talent that would be hurt if they lose to him – but I do want to see Hulk Hogan get his retirement match in the WWE and then never wrestle again. For everything he did for the sports, and the WWE, he deserves that final goodbye match.

6. What is your level of excitement level for Global Force Wrestling at this time?

Tony Acero: 6 of 10 – But admittedly, just a few weeks ago, it was a 0. I’m all for more wrestling, and it appears that GFW is really trying to become a viable contender – or at the very least – an alternative. With Lucha Underground being as successful as it is, GFW can ride the wave of it and hopefully create something special. I’m thinking they will, and before you know it, we’ll once again have…ALTERNATIVES! I mean, sure, we already do, but it feels like there is a stirring in the indies, and after a whole lot of stagnancy for the past few years, federations and promotions are popping up everywhere dying to be taken seriously. The next ten years will be an interesting time, that’s for sure.

Shawn Lealos: 4 of 10 – When Jeff Jarrett started talking about this, I really was excited and was probably as high as an 8 or 9 on the excitement scale. When TNA started, I was someone who got every one of their weekly PPVs and then watched on TNN and then Spike TV. I went to house shows when they came to Oklahoma City and loved just about everything about them for years. Then, Hulk Hogan showed up, my interest waned some, and soon I only checked out DVR episodes and fast-forwarded. My favorites are now almost all gone (Austin Aries and James Storm are probably it when it comes to long-time favorites). It got to the point where I won’t even pay extra to up my cable service to see it on its new network. Jeff Jarrett got me excited again that he could bring back what I used to love about TNA.

Then a couple of things happened. There was too much talk about making the wrestling shows less about wrestling and more about other stuff, and I hated the sound of it. Then, they promised something was coming and nothing came. Then, they made more promises and they helped produce that awesome Japanese show. That got me slightly excited again. However, for his GFW promotion itself, the initial excitement has died down a lot and it will take some big name signings and an actual TV deal for me to get excited again.

It is almost like Jarrett got me too excited too early and now I am just tired of waiting. He should have waited till he had something more concrete before he made an announcement.