The Triple Threat 1.08.12: Jericho’s Return, Lesnar’s Future, Samoa Joe Highlight, More

Topic # 1 What are your thoughts on Jericho‘s return to the WWE?

Sean Garmer: It was great to see Jericho back in WWE. I was a bit upset that he didn’t talk on his return, but I liked that it was different than his other returns because he got two intended reactions. It looks like he is trying to comeback as a heel and he made me laugh by playing around the crowd the way he did. If anything he did a great job of creating interest to see what he would do on Monday where I’m sure he will explain his actions. It looks like he is destined to meet CM Punk at Wrestlemania and I cannot disagree with that. These next two months will be interesting to see where the WWE title goes and what happens with Y2J now that he has returned once again.

Jacob San Antonio: I hate playing the “let’s wait and see” card, but that’s really all I’ve got right now. Jericho, being the Jericho that he is, is trying something new/different/weird with this return. It’s hard to guess how the crowd will take to it, especially in this case. My best guess, at least with what little I’ve seen, is that Jericho is going to slow burn right back into standard heel. He’s going to start by keeping up this image of all smiles, pandering to fans, but through matches he’ll go overboard and quickly get booed. Eventually he snaps and demands what the fans want. This is the best guess I have, and it’s not really that special. Regardless of what direction his character goes in, I can definitely pick up on some frustration on Jericho’s part. When he’s a face, he’s kinda cheered. When he’s a heel, he’s kinda booed. He never really gets the whole reaction he wants, and what better way to point it out than by his big debut. I’ve seen a clear split in the fan base over it; some people loved it, some people hated it. Either way, there was no middle ground. It’s interesting how Jericho purposely put the crowd in that situation, too; I fear I may be expecting a bit too much out of this run.

Zach Brown: I have to say, I absolutely loved this. First of all, Jericho’s initial entrance was electric. No one does long awaited entrances like Chris Jericho. The video, the light-up jacket, the fireworks, and his classic theme hitting all sent a shiver down my spine. And then there was the 10 minutes of crowd interaction, followed by a frozen smile at the entrance ramp and then leaving. How often can you remember in pro wrestling where someone debuted or re-debuted, and something strange or unexpected happened that got everyone talking? While sitting through ten minutes of Jericho going around slapping hands, getting the crowd cheering, and saying, “YAY!” over and over isn’t the most thrilling thing to sit through, it is genius to get a crowd booing you simply by being overly happy and positive and not saying a word into the mic. For Jericho to debut as a face would have made pretty much zero sense, especially after the video packages that lead to his re-debut. But there is a conundrum of wanting to re-debut as a heel because a crowd is going to cheer for Jericho at first no matter what because everyone is excited to see him. So, Jericho handled that perfectly and in his own way. And needless to say, I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next week on Raw.

Topic # 2 Do you think that Brock Lesnar will return to the WWE after retiring from UFC?

Sean Garmer: I think he will but I don’t expect it to be immediate. Brock is a smart guy and having a Sable as a wife makes him even more business savvy than the average wrestler. If he wants to comeback he knows he can command a big payday because of his previous stint in WWE and his tremendous success in UFC as well. I think maybe in a year or two we could see him back in the squared circle and he will probably be doing a television only schedule because he hated being on the road last time around. If WWE Network lasts a long while, his return may not be as limited as there will be more opportunities for him to be seen. He could cut promos on WWE Network and appear on some other shows for the channel. I just hope that when Brock does return he is ready for the grind. He should understand that he automatically does not get this crazy success and respect because of the way he left last time. As long as Brock really wants to be around, then I have no problem with him coming back. And I think we all know he will at some point. I don’t think he would even talk about or agree to appear in WWE video games if he hasn’t at least thought about it.

Jacob San Antonio: He might try, and he’ll have a decent amount of support in the corporate office, but he should never come back. In the wrestling business, respect and professionalism is a big deal. Regardless of how you get treated, you respect everyone you meet and deal with. Brock Lesnar disrespected the fans and the WWE both when he left. They pushed him to the moon, had him set up to be the single most dominant force in the company, and he left them high and dry. Why should Brock Lesnar stay out? Look at what he’s done to the WWE since his departure. When was the last time anyone saw a competent, well-executed push for an up and coming star? It hasn’t happened in a really, really long time. Lesnar has changed the way the WWE operates with new potential. Terrible first championship reigns, losing streaks, and losing tons of non-title matches when you are a champion (though I guess that’s an extension of the first) seem far more prevalent since Lesnar’s departure. It’s a tool the WWE uses to keep certain wrestlers from getting too hot, possibly too full of themselves, in order to keep them firmly planted within the WWE and nowhere else. Lesnar damaged the WWE with his departure, and for anyone to be ready and willing to let him back into the company so quickly upsets me a great deal. It may happen regardless, but if it does it’ll just be another sad reminder that the WWE rarely operates on respect nowadays.

Zach Brown: First of all, let me just say that I have never been a fan of Brock Lesnar. When he was a wrestler, I appreciated what he could do in the ring, but I never liked his character or who he was as a person. When he joined UFC, I still respected his skills, especially after he beat the likes of Heath Herring, Randy Couture, Frank Mir and Shane Carwin. Some of his victories were downright scary. But how much crap is it that if he’s not fighting the people absolutely closest to the Heavyweight title, he wants no part of it? As if he wouldn’t still earn the big paydays fighting the likes of Nogueira, Roy Nelson, Shane Carwin again, or Frank Mir for a third time? It just furthers my belief that Brock Lesnar is a finicky athlete when things aren’t going exactly the way he wants them to go. His health is a factor for sure, but he clearly said he would have continued in the UFC had he won the Overeem fight and gotten another shot at the title, which just makes him a sore loser. Anyway, I know I’m digressing…this is a wrestling column after all. I think Brock Lesnar coming back to WWE is inevitable, but only in a certain capacity. Brock is at a stage of his life where he pretty much deserves big paydays for anything he does, and he’ll choose the minimal amount of effort to get it. If anyone thinks Lesnar is coming back full time, they are mistaken. Brock will do a one-time Wrestlemania match against one of the top stars in the company, like Cena or Undertaker. He may have a brief squash or some kind of in-ring action on Raw to promote said Wrestlemania, but nothing more than that. And it may not even be this upcoming Wrestlemania. I could imagine Brock wanting to take some time off completely to go hunting, and do whatever else he does in his free time. But whenever it happens, I’m positive Brock Lesnar will make a return. Brock loves money, and WWE is money in the easiest form for him outside of the UFC, plain and simple.

Topic # 3 TNA‘s Genesis PPV is this Sunday. What are your thoughts on the card?

Jacob San Antonio: RVD takes on Gunner in what looks like another match to make Gunner look totally serious as a singles competitor. I’ll say this: this match will probably be a lot closer than it should be, but RVD will still walk away the winner. Jobbing RVD to Gunner would be a stupid move. Samoa Joe and Magnus get a shot at Crimson and Matt Morgan’s tag team titles, and despite everything in my head telling me I’m wrong I’m choosing Joe and Magnus to win the belts. It wouldn’t be smart to make the winners of a four-week wild card tournament look like chumps, so if Joe and Magnus don’t win it I expect it will be from interference. Austin Aires takes on three challengers for the X Division Title, and I think he might finally drop the belt. Zema Ion, for whatever reason, looks to have a decent shot at taking the belt away. Sorensen just isn’t ready, and if Kid Kash couldn’t get it done with all the other opportunities he got I don’t see why he’d surprise me now. Zema is a long shot, I admit, but I think Aries will finally slip up and lose the title. Abyss takes on Bully Ray in a Monster’s Ball match, with Abyss’s failure meaning a rejoining of Immortal. Can I be honest? I don’t care about this match. I think it’ll be good, it’ll be violent, and Monster’s Ball matches are usually fun to watch. I just don’t care about Immortal’s shenanigans at this point, and dragging Abyss back into that would be a bad idea. As such, Abyss will destroy Bully Ray and be done with him. Hopefully. Gail Kim defends her Knockout title against Mickie James, and I don’t think Kim’s going to drop the belt quite yet. Madison Rayne will get involved yet again, and Kim will walk away champion as Mickie tries to figure out a way to deal with Rayne. The Pope squares off against Devon, in a match that might get a little weird. Dinero’s got help, and the odds are completely against Devon in this matchup. And really, that explains the matchup quite well. Devon will get some offense in, but the minute things get hairy Dinero’s backup will run in and beat Devon down again. This feud isn’t over, but the match will go to the Pope. Kurt Angle wants to fight James Storm yet again, and the only reason I can think of for this is that Angle’s got some backup. With any luck, this match won’t be right before/after the Devon/Dinero match, since I think it’ll go the same way. Someone’s going to try to interfere in order to help Kurt, and Storm is going to get beaten down in order to draw this feud out further. Finally, we come to Robert Roode against Jeff Hardy. Roode’s had some close calls in his reign so far, but I’d say this is by far his biggest test. Should Roode retain against Hardy, it should be a good sign from TNA that they have faith in him as champion. He’s made a pretty good run with it, all things considered, and I certainly wouldn’t mind him retaining yet again. As such, I’m going with Robert Roode to retain his championship. I don’t think this feud is over yet, though, so I’m already preparing for another Hardy title reign in the future. Overall, decent card. Nothing to pop your top over, but it’s hard for me to say this card is terrible as well. Should be a solid outing by TNA.

Zach Brown: Honestly, this card is middling at best. First of all, Rob Van Dam vs. Gunner. This might be alright, but it won’t set the world on fire, and will most likely be forgettable when all is said and done. RVD can take a loss, and TNA wants Gunner to be a bigger deal, so I predict Gunner to win here. Crimson and Matt Morgan aka The Green Team vs. Samoa Joe and Magnus. Considering that Crimson has an undefeated streak, I’m betting they will win. This also should be pretty forgettable unfortunately. Crimson and Morgan didn’t have a good match at the last PPV, and I doubt they will here either. The Four Corners match for the X-Division Title will probably be match of the night, and I think Austin Aries will retain. Kid Kash has a shot at winning the title, but I don’t know if tonight is the night. Abyss vs. Bully Ray in a Monster’s Ball match has me curious. You know, the Monster’s Ball match type has rarely ever been good. This may deliver because these men have had great street fights in both of their careers, but you really never know. I predicting Bully Ray to win because I doubt TNA would have the stipulation of Abyss rejoining Immortal and not actually go down that route. Gail vs. Mickie is a great women’s match and far better than anything WWE can put on right now. I expect it to be decent and for Gail to retain. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Devon does not have me interested whatsoever. I hope Dinero wins so that he can get back on track. But damn, TNA has seriously dropped the ball on both these men, so why would I care about this match? Kurt Angle vs. James Storm last month was just kind of middle of the road, and I’m not expecting this to be any different. It will be decent, but forgettable overall. I’m predicting Angle to win that one. And finally, champion Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy. Who thought it was a good idea to let Jeff Hardy back into the main event scene after the debacle that was Victory Road is beyond me. Sorry, the man gave TNA its most embarrassing moment in history. And yes I’m counting Shane Douglas throwing up in the ring, Jenna Morasca vs. Sharmell, their failed Monday Night War, The Nasty Boyz, Immortal, the Main Event Mafia, and Scott Hall. As for Jeff and Bobby’s match, I’m not expecting much. It will probably get some kind of screwy finish like most TNA matches, and Roode will remain champion for now. All in all, I don’t think TNA is putting its best foot forward to start out 2012. I don’t think this PPV is worth full price at all. The X-Division match and seeing what happens with the titles is the only thing that piques my interest, and it’s just not enough to shell out the cash in my opinion.

Topic # 4 There are rumors going around that RVD might be interested in coming back to the WWE. How do you feel about this?

Sean Garmer: I do not see anything wrong with this as long as RVD is not expecting to get some world title run or something like that. WWE does need to develop some more new talent but they could also use more credible mid-card help too. Kane and Jericho are two company men that have helped get a lot of people over in the past. RVD has proven he can do that as well but he still poses a threat anywhere on the card and that is something you always need. I could see him in a program with Wade Barrett, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, I think Zack Ryder might be interesting as well. Maybe if he does everything he asked he might get one of those “professional thank you” title runs like Mark Henry and Kane got.

Jacob San Antonio: No. RVD is doing fine in TNA, where the company is comfortable giving him consistent matches at a regular pace. He gets his exposure, he gets paid, and by all means he should be content. The WWE isn’t comfortable giving anyone consistent matches at a regular pace, is spotty with showing off all their talent (who else is watching NXT and Superstars?) and has a roster filled with mixed feelings. I don’t see a spot for RVD on the WWE right now, and he’d be wasting his own and younger talents’ time if he showed up in the E again. Would it be nice to see him working with the WWE again? Absolutely. He made some memorable moments when he was working for them, and he’s still capable of making more. That said, should the WWE waste time, money and roster space on an older talent that people can already see quite often? I just don’t see why.

Zach Brown: Ok, get in all the “one-shot deal” jokes you can. Honestly, I don’t know why WWE would be interested in getting RVD back. He is a great wrestler for sure, but he is probably on the last legs of his career. I see him retiring in TNA in all honesty. And besides, RVD hasn’t evolved in…you know…ever. He has barely evolved his moveset in the last decade, he hasn’t evolved his character ever, and he’s the same wrestler he’s always been. Can you even think of another wrestler that has stayed almost exactly the same for his entire career the way RVD has? Even Cena started out rapping, Hogan went Hollywood, Sting turned into the Joker, Undertaker was a biker, and Jericho thought we were all a bunch of sycophants. But RVD has always been the whole damn show, and even that show gets boring after a while. RVD is stale nowadays, and I don’t understand why WWE would want that. He’s not evolving. I think it would be moving backward, not forward, and RVD is already older than the vast majority of the WWE roster. It’s all about the future now in WWE, not the past. But hey, maybe WWE does want him back. Maybe they want to get some of that RVD nostalgia and highflying attitude back in WWE. I just really don’t understand why they would though, that’s all.

Topic # 5 Do you think Daniel Bryan should turn heel?

Sean Garmer: He has worked well as a heel on the indy scene before and he seemed to be flirting with it on Smackdown Friday night as well. I’m not opposed to it at all if it gets the crowd to respond to him more. I know Benoit is not someone WWE wants to emulate, but he is a perfect guy to pull the “I’m a better wrestler” than you angle. I think being a heel might also help him get better in his promos as well because he has more freedom. Bryan is one of those that can play either face or heel very well because his size makes him an underdog for the people to rally behind. However, his wrestling style and personality might work better as a heel. If anything, I want to see how Michael Cole reacts when Bryan is suddenly someone he has to like.

Jacob San Antonio: If this is how he further develops his character, so be it. The WWE never felt inclined on giving Face Bryan any personality save for “a quirky, nerdy dude who will destroy your limbs.” Sure, AJ was around to smooch and stuff…but that was it. Face Bryan didn’t get many spotlight moments from the WWE save for their allowing him to flip out on Michael Cole all the time. Turning Bryan heel now would give him an opportunity to show off the villainous chops he’s got, and it adds more to the Daniel Bryan character. Back to Michael Cole, though, it dawns on me that hearing Cole do a 180 on Bryan and becoming his biggest fan would be pretty hilarious. I think it’d be the longest slow burn the WWE’s ever done, but I can only see hilarity coming from a sheepish Michael Cole, desperately trying to make things right between him and Daniel Bryan. Simply put, I think Bryan turning heel opens more doors for him as far as developing into a bigger star. I don’t want to see a heel turn so that the WWE can job him out in non-title matches; I want Bryan to continue defending with the same amount of success. Only this time he’s saying mean, hurtful things.

Zach Brown: No, definitely not, at least not at this point. Daniel Bryan is an excellent heel, don’t get me wrong. And I can’t wait for the day that Daniel Bryan has a full-blown heel run with the title. But I don’t think a heel turn right now is the right time for that. For now, he does a great job of getting the people on his side, and the way that helps him is that WWE will notice that people care about Daniel Bryan as champion. This is a critical time for Bryan and I think he should remain face for the entirety of his reign to show WWE that he has staying power with crowds. It’s more difficult to tell about that when wrestlers are heels. Sometimes, you can’t really tell if people boo heels because they’re supposed to storyline-wise, or if most of the crowd generally doesn’t like that wrestler. I think the best time for Daniel Bryan to turn heel is after he loses the title, whenever that is, and whenever he holds the title after that. A heel champion Daniel Bryan is a great thing, and I can’t wait for that. But he’s too fresh of a champion right now to just randomly turn in my opinion.

Our thoughts on Samoa Joe.

Sean Garmer: There are rumors going around that Joe is not going to be resigned by TNA since he is doing basically nothing over there. Joe is a case of missed opportunities by a wrestling company that tends to cater more towards wrestling types like Joe. If he goes to WWE I could see him doing well over there because he is a bigger guy that has good promo skills and can wrestle. Not to mention WWE loves Samoans and as long as they don’t give him a dance like the Usos he will be ok. It all depends on Joe because many felt he should have left last time when he was at his popularity peak. So if he wants to do anything he might want to go ahead and leave. However, because he waited this long I don’t think we can expect for him to be this huge star in WWE either. I would be happy to see Joe do something better though and if that means leaving TNA, than so be it.

Jacob San Antonio: Oh Joe, you get me all mixed up inside. His recent comments about sticking with TNA and helping out the younger talents had me impressed by his loyalty, but also depressed that he never tried out for the WWE again. Looking at the WWE’s recent attempts to make something out of Husky Harris and Brodus Clay, it shows that they were interested in a big fast monster type. Had Joe tried to join the WWE, I’m sure they would have worked with him on it. As it is, I think Joe’s not quite as fast as he used to be, and at this point the WWE seems determined to make their own talent in that category. It’d still be nice to see him working with CM Punk again, even Cena since the two are apparently good friends, but other than that I just don’t see a point. I will say though, that if Joe is determined to stick with TNA and help develop newer faces, you could hardly ask a better wrestler to do so. Joe’s got a ton of experience, and he’s dealt with just about every type of wrestler there is.

Zach Brown: Samoa Joe has really fallen off the map for me. And I used to be the hugest Samoa Joe fan. Remember Joe’s undefeated streak? His fantastic triple threat matches with AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels? And when Kurt Angle joined TNA and entered into an immediate feud with Joe? People were salivating back then, calling it an absolute dream match. It seems almost foolish to think that now, doesn’t it? If that match happened nowadays, would people even care? I think it would barely even register on people’s radars if it happened now. Joe used to be the absolute hottest thing in TNA. He was their number one star, outclassing AJ Styles and Christian by a long shot. He was unlike any other wrestler. Talented on the mic, a unique gimmick, and absolutely brutal in the ring. Remember when he carried a bloody towel, soaked with the blood of his opponents? Remember the chant, “Joeeeeee’s gonna kill youuuu?” Who even says that anymore? It’s because Joe’s character is no longer interesting, and he rarely has matches like he used to have. And it’s not entirely his fault. TNA made him champion way too late. For a period of about two to three years, Joe was one of the best wrestlers in the world, and TNA wasted his potential. Back when TNA suspended him, Joe should have jumped ship. I think that was Joe’s biggest mistake: not leaving TNA. Now, Joe has just fallen in line with the rest of the overcrowded mid-card in TNA. Even if he jumped ship and went to WWE at this point, I don’t even think WWE would want him anymore. The crowd is no longer hot for Samoa Joe, and it really breaks my heart. Now Joe has had a losing streak storyline lately, and it’s downright embarrassing. SAMOA FREAKING JOE should not have a losing streak storyline. Even if Joe were to turn things around, I strongly doubt he can recapture the glory that he once had because TNA will keep him down and focus on other talent. At this rate, I just see Samoa Joe spinning his wheels in TNA until he leaves or eventually retires. I hope something can improve the state of his career, but I honestly don’t know what.

That is all for this week. Fell free to comment at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!