wrestling / Columns
411 Fact or Fiction 05.10.12: CM Punk vs. Twitter Followers, Heyman Returns, Steen as ROH Champ, More
Hi, hello & welcome to 411 Fact or Fiction! I’m Steve Cook, and it’s been another crazy week in the world of professional wrestling. Raw featured all sorts of stuff, including Lord Tensai getting the victory over CM Punk in the main event, Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio’s World title match at Over the Limit getting Randy Orton & Chris Jericho added to it, Maxine making her first non-NXT wrestling appearance in many moons & Paul Heyman returning to represent Brock Lesnar. CM Punk made some enemies on Twitter, though frankly I agree with the stance he took. Hulk Hogan’s huge idea for TNA ruffled some feathers, while Alex Silva earned a TNA contract by passing the Gutcheck Challenge. This Saturday could be a big day in Ring of Honor history, as the first iPPV produced in-house by ROH will feature Kevin Steen challenging for the ROH championship in his homeland of Canada.
I’ve invited two 411 veterans to discuss these topics. Introducing first, the man who ran the 411 Fan Forums for many, many years and now runs Offtheteam.com. Here’s the white version of Mark Henry, Big Mike Watters!
His opponent is 411’s Lucha Libre expert, but knows plenty about other wrestling as well. Give it up for Francisco Ramirez!
1. Lord Tensai will not get over as a main event act in WWE.
Big Mike Watters: FACT. But only in the long term. This is my personal opinion, but I really and seriously do not think they needed to give Matt Bloom/Albert/Giant Bernard the Tensai gimmick to get him over. Just call him Albert, make him kick the same amount of ass, let him use the Green Mist Claw move…the whole nine. But the gear/gimmick is kinda dumb, if you ask me. All this being said, I wish I could change my true answer to FICTION, because he will be credible as long as they book him to be credible, and Cena continues to put him over. Lord Tensai is Umaga — The 2012 version.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. As much as I would like to see the former Giant Bernard get over and maybe even win one of the big two titles in the WWE, I can’t help but feel this is the second coming of Umaga. Like Umaga before him, he’s come in as a huge deal, been on a winning streak, and then someone *Cough, Cough, Cena* will return to kill the big man’s push. I can still picture him main eventing a ppv or two, but his permanent home will be in the upper-midcard.
Score: 1 for 1
2. Adding Chris Jericho & Randy Orton to the World Title Match at Over The Limit will make it an upgrade from just a Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio match.
Big Mike Watters: FACT. Couldn’t hurt. It’s a clusterf**k match, on an off PPV…so why not? It’ll allow for cooler spots, and whereas Sheamus/ADR mighta been easier to call…this version of the match now put the surprise back into it. If you pay for a PPV, not knowing what is going to happen (with relative certainty) is a bonus.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. As much as I’d like to see Del Rio go over Sheamus, It’s still too early for that. A Four Way with the likes of Orton and Jericho, along with Del Rio and Sheamus would add a little more spice to the match. It would also accomplish the small task of making Sheamus look like a strong champion when he comes out on top. Then again the gods might smile down on us and we can see Jericho or Del Rio as the new champ.
Score: 2 for 2
3. CM Punk needed to apologize after telling a Twitter follower that disagreed with him on North Carolina’s Amendment 1 to kill himself.
Big Mike Watters: FICTION. Had to look this up, because I didn’t have a clue what it was about…but after doin’ the research, I am 1000% sure that the WWE most likely told him he had to apologize, or else they would have to, and that usually doesn’t bode well for wrestlers. But lets be serious…Punk wasn’t ACTUALLY telling the homophobic douche to kill himself. It’s a turn of a phrase. Dismissal, if you will. Not really a request to off himself. But…on behalf of myself, and OFFTHETEAM.COM, EzeeKay of Walsall….kill yourself. Homophobe.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Big time fact! Challenging and talking smack to Chris Brown is one thing, but Punk went a little overboard with this average Joe. This little tweet has all the potential in the world to be blown completely overboard. Punk is one of the top guys, has the WWE Championship, basically he has everything to lose. An apology was a no brainer. Without one, the WWE would be made to look like hypocrites, especially during an anti-bullying campaign.
Score: 2 for 3
4. Paul Heyman will help Brock Lesnar get more over than he already is with the WWE Universe.
Big Mike Watters: FACT. I had this written up as FICTION until I read here on 411mania that he is going to stick around and work this angle, and work with people he likes….I wonder who’s paying him? Brock or the WWE? Either way, having him as his mouthpiece worked before IMHO, and it’ll work again, because Paul E has proven many times over there are few guys who can cut a promo like he can. It’ll re-attract the ECW fans to an extent, and him being around will allow them to extend their hold on Lesnar for as long as they need without actually having to bring him in. PLUS…Heyman is around to help out with other guys if he wants to…I am sure CM Punk is stoked Heyman is around.
Francisco Ramirez: FICTION. It’s freaking Brock Lesnar! Former WWE Champion and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. How much more over can he get? Sure adding Heyman to the mix will add new depth to the character, a little something to keep his name out during his breaks, but as far as getting him more over, no I don’t think so.
Score: 2 for 4
SWITCH!
5. Maxine deserves more TV time on a show that isn’t NXT.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Maxine is quite the eye candy, with that said she has been highly entertaining on NXT Redemption. She did good paired alongside Derrick Bateman. The future looks bright for the young Diva and dare I say that Dragon sleeper of hers would look good on either Smackdown or Raw.
Big Mike Watters: FICTION. Was that the chick tagging with Nattie on Raw? Nope. Back to NXT, honey. I did like her outfit, though.
Score: 2 for 5
6. Hulk Hogan’s idea to have people videotape TNA talent in public is ill-conceived.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Somebody already beat me to the joke, but the guy who basically is trying to stop a sex tape from leaking wants wrestling fans to record TNA wrestlers doing their everyday activities and what not, then post it on YouTube? How dumb of an idea is this? This makes the whatnot on a Pole match look like Wargames.
Big Mike Watters: FACT. Hogan’s heart is in the right place…if candid videos of TNA stars started showing up all over the internet, it would, in theory, expose them to an audience that might not normally tune in to iMPACT Wrestling, but in reality…all it’s going to do is invite crazies to stalk the Knockouts, and interrupt the wrestlers in their off the clock moments, and it will not end well. When Velvet Sky is in court petitioning for her 152nd order of protection against some loser, and the Judge finds out that Hulk friggin’ Hogan told these rubes to do this…
Score: 3 for 6
7. Alex Silva deserved to win a TNA contract.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. I’ll admit I’m not too crazy about the guy, but Alex Silva has worked his ass off in OVW, had brief stints in ROH, and wrestled a few dark matches in WWE. Silva’s first step in TNA, wasn’t a bad one. His in ring promo and eventual acceptance in TNA were solid and it left me curious to see how far Alex Silva can go in TNA. The question was Alex Silva deserved to win, Fact, does he deserve to be on the Main Event? For that we will have to wait and see!
Big Mike Watters: FICTION. I seriously flipped a coin. If “Gut Check” is going to be the new audition process…cool. I don’t watch TNA every week, but as I understand it, he wrestled, and didn’t get a contract, but cut a promo and turned around the judges? MEH. I know lots of guys that can cut promos…can they have TNA contracts, too?
Score: 3 for 7
8. Kevin Steen will defeat Davey Richards to win the ROH World Title on their “Border Wars” iPPV Saturday night.
Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Davey Richards has been lacking, to say the least, as the posterboy of ROH. His matches have become a buffet of kicks and “Fighting Spirit”. To put it lightly, Davey Richards has not delivered. Kevin Steen on the other hand went from the Anti-Christ of Pro Wrestling to Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare putting on one hell of a show once he returned to ROH. Steen promised Richards that he would become ROH Champion in 2012, and I believe that man!
Big Mike Watters: FACT. I seriously wanted to go check this show out in Toronto…it’s not far from me…c’est la vie. In answer to your question…I say yes. ROH has a new TV show…new PPV set up…why not a new champion? Steen will bring enough of the Stone Cold heat to ROH while on top…a guy that most of the fans seem to like, despite him shitting on everything ROH would have you believe is supposed to be “good”. They better be careful, though, because they will lose their fan base if they go too far. As it is, the Border Wars card is ripe with talent that isn’t considered “ROH”, with Storm, Finlay, WGTT, Rhino, Maria…I digress. It should be a solid card, with Steen winning…but I’ll bet secretly (or maybe not secretly), the ROHbots will hate it.
Final Score: 4 for 8
Our participants agreed half of the time, and I do think that they each made compelling arguments. Who do you agree with more? How do you feel about these various topics? Let us know down in the comment section! Thanks so much to BMW & Francisco for participating, and we’ll see you back here next week for more 411 Fact or Fiction!
