wrestling / Columns
The Wrasslin’ Countdown: 01.19.11: Drama Dominates
Greetings, guys and gals, and welcome to this week’s edition of The Wrasslin’ Countdown. This week of wrestling was an eventful one that included internet fights, major announcements and of course, solid wrestling. I had a column about 80% done last week and my internet went out, so that sucked. I had a nice little rant on Matt Hardy that’s pretty irrelevant right now. Oh well. I’ve lined up a solid lineup for this week and I hope you enjoy.
So let’s get to the column and see what reportedly went on behind the scenes of the third week of 2011.
January 12 – So Ring of Honor and HDNet decided, for whatever reason, to split later in the year. According to the dirt sheets, there were some in ROH that were “happy” about the split-up and there were other reports that the independent was looking at other outlets for their show. Unless ROH has a plan lined up, I’m not sure how some could think this is a good thing. Reportedly, HDNet was working with the company to finance some of the shows. I’m sure without that, they’ll run less shows which leads to less income. I’m sure there are people smarter than I running the company, so they should know what they’re doing. I’m just confused as to why some guys would be happy with not having a TV channel to display their product.
January 13 – We got Beer Money v. the Motor City Machine Guns: Round 2342366 and we finally ended up with different tag team champions. The match was okay, definitely better than the Hardy Boys reunion so you can’t really complain but I feel like I’ve seen this match more than I’ve seen Santino and Kozlov fight the Usos. Every time we see one match a bunch of times, and then a random title change between the two opponents, it feels forced and loses some of it’s luster. That’s probably won’t damn Beer Money’s reign from the start. I’m sure in two weeks I’ll forget all about this and enjoy what Storm and Roode bring to the table.
January 14 – CM Punk’s NEXUS runs Raw so Wade Barrett decided to start his own version on the Blue Brand. I’m not sure how Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Wade Barrett will function as a team but they have all the makings for a solid stable. The only weak spot for me is Heath Slater. Barrett can be the face, Zeke can be the muscle and Gabriel can be the assassin he was with the first incarnation of this group. Slater can be the jobber? The comedic heel? I have no clue.
January 15 – Jeff Jarrett said in an interview that the difference between the Monday Night Wars of last year and the Wars of over a decade ago was the DVR. I’m not sure how a DVR would hurt TNA from competing with WWE or the WWE from dominating TNA. TNA’s fanbase will choose to watch and DVR Raw if they want while the Universe will watch Raw and DVR Impact. If one likes the other more, they’d adjust their viewing habits and watch whatever they want to watch. Jeff Jarrett’s DVR answer just seemed like a cop-out. I’m not sure why people are still asking the TNA guys about the failed attempt at taking some of the WWE’s Monday Night Viewership. A few weeks ago, it was the anniversary but there’s not much new to talk about today.
January 16 – Val Venis and Matt Hardy decided to have themselves a TWITTER FIGHT. Matt Hardy made videos and I definitely do not want to sit through those so I have for you Val Venis’ contributions to the fight, most of which, were shots at TNA. In one tweet, he questioned why they had Val go over Christopher Daniels with “0 story.” I believe I recapped TNA during that time and had the same question. Before that fight, Daniels hadn’t really shown any signs of being on the way out and we all thought Morley was just going to be a comedic act. Strange stuff indeed. In another shot, he questions why TNA is pushing Matt Hardy (being listed below Karen Angle’s debut on their website isn’t exactly a huge push) instead of someone talented like Desmond Wolfe. A question, I’m sure, lot of internet fans have. I hope Wolfe is still injured since it’s been a while since we’ve seen him wrestle. Finally, in the funniest tweet, Venis kind of compared Hardy to Hitler by saying “even Hitler had a large following.” This phrase has gotten many people in trouble over the years and every time I have the same reaction. It’s not a big deal. He’s just talking about all of the people that followed Hardy.
As always, the Twitter fight was fun stuff to read. I can’t really judge since I didn’t watch Hardy’s videos but Val raised some solid points.
January 17 – So it looks like the CM Punk-John Cena feud won’t be one of those weak feuds where Cena’s enemy doesn’t get any offense. It’s actually been a good while since Cena has been in one of those but it’s still a complaint whenever Cena “squashes” anyone. I am anxious to see what Cena and Punk can do at Wrestlemania if they’re given the chance to wrestle on that program. Some people are talking about this feud ending before the Big Show but I really can’t see that happening. There’s too much potential here. Punk and Cena were given ample time and delivered a very entertaining bout. We didn’t get a finish which was expected so nobody should be complaining about that. Why would you want a finish anyways? Let’s wait for a match at the Royal Rumble or at Elimination Chamber. And if they don’t do it there, it’ll be a nice, slow build for an exciting Wrestlemania bout. Good stuff.
January 18 – Before Tuesday morning, I had no clue who Wade Keller was. I saw a tweet in my timeline from Eric Bischoff that referred to Keller and decided to do a google search (because Bischoff’s blog wasn’t working). He’s a wrestling reporter. Why would someone like Bischoff, who claims to hate people like Keller, give Keller the time of day? Bischoff is talking about how he dislikes the 10 percent of wrestling fans that give the IWC a bad reputation yet gives Keller a voice. Why? Apparently Keller and his website reported something about the X Division going away (a rumor that’s been reported for years) and Bischoff took offense to that. I just don’t get why Bischoff is so angry about it. Why not just ignore it? Post a blog entry talking about how the X Division is not going anywhere and don’t give the people you hate press. Besides, this is Mr. Controversy Creates Cash we’re talking about. Obviously Keller’s report was taking out of context and someone made a huge controversy out of it. If I were in Bischoff’s position, I’d just assume this guy was just trying to get a rise out of me and ignore it. I like Bischoff, he has good ideas and excels at what he does but he should just ignore people that he claims to dislike.
The Royal Rumble will be extended to forty men this year. (WWE)
Just off the top of my head, I could see the following Superstars winning the Royal Rumble:
John Cena, CM Punk, Triple H, Sheamus, loser of Edge/Ziggler, loser of Miz/Orton, John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio, The Big Show.
That’s twelve guys just from memory, the WWE website isn’t letting me access the roster page for whatever reason so I can’t go and count one by one but that’s a lot of people. Adding an extra ten wrestlers to the mix adds an extra bit of uncertainty. Of course, one of the best parts of any Royal Rumble is the mystery entrances. Will Booker T show up? Because of his sons, Rikishi has been namedropped a ton. It’d be sweet to see him to do his thing for five minutes or so. We get to see these guys, the guys we expect to win and the jobbers. Trent Baretta, Zack Ryder, Tyson Kidd. They’ll all be involved. They won’t win but it’ll add to the legitimacy of the Rumble. Saying you beat 39 other superstars, instead of the usual 29, sounds like a big improvement. I’m not sure why people don’t think this is an awesome idea. Just please keep the intervals at 90 seconds. It’d be awful if they went with 30 seconds like I’ve seen some people suggest. That’d go by way too fast. Bring back the hour long Royal Rumbles!
Former Elite XC and UFC star Kimbo Slice is heading to pro wrestling. Slice will debut on February 5th for the IGF promotion in Fukuoka, Japan. He will face Shinichi Suzukawa, who is considered the most pushed star in the IGF. (The Wrestling Observer)
MMA isn’t something that I ever got into. I’ve tried to sit down and watch random mixed martial arts event on Spike TV or Versus and it just doesn’t interest me. So whenever I hear about an MMA athlete, you know he’s been hyped to hell by ESPN or CNN or whatever. Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez and Randy Couture are all guys I’ve heard while watching other sports or just flipping through the channels. Some of these guys interest me while others bore me. Kimbo Slice is another one of the guys I’ve heard of. His story was one that was told many times over. I’ve seen his “underground” fighting videos countless times on television and they always seemed legitimate but apparently his MMA career didn’t take off. It was a huge failure in fact. There were ratings, which is the biggest part of this story, but he lost to people hardcore MMA fans didn’t know about.
Let’s say Kimbo Slice does okay in Japan and shows some potential. That right there should be enough for Vince McMahon or Dixie Carter to call up his people and sign him up. Brock Lesnar made the transition from wrestling to MMA, maybe Kimbo Slice could go from MMA to wrestling. I don’t think he’d be the first, but he’d be the first in a while. I think the prospects of Kimbo Slice are magnificent and he could make himself or a promoter a ton of money some day.
Of course, he could fail there too and just make appearances on television shows and whatnot. It doesn’t always turn out how we want it.
CM Punk was attacked by a fan during a WWE Raw house show in Shreveport, LA Sunday night. During a match with Mark Henry, Punk was outside the ring taunting fans when a young fan reached out and struck him. (PWInsider)
The gash on CM Punk’s eye from this altercation was more than noticeable on Raw. I hadn’t paid attention to any of the dirt sheets so I completely missed all of the discussion over this thing. The “Punk goes too far” camp is just silly and wrong. It’s professional wrestling, the guy is supposed to make people like that kid hate him. I won’t go into attacking IQs or anything, like many people have done, but it’s just common sense. Wrestling fans are supposed to know to never physically interact with the wrestlers. Maybe Punk provoked the kid, and that’d be wrong, but still, you’re supposed to know that it’s all premeditated. The wrestlers don’t really hate the fans, the Undertaker really isn’t dead and Zack Ryder isn’t really from the Long Island.
Wait.
TNA is experimenting with the tapings on the road, as a was to bring the excitement that comes with their shows on the road to their television product. (PWInsider)
This is a long-time coming, in my opinion. It’s not as if it’d be that hard. Sure, there are probably a ton of people affiliated with TNA that live in the Florida area but those guys are probably really dedicated to TNA. Probably main eventers and such. For the rest of the wrestlers, TNA can just direct their flights to Random City, Nebraska instead of Florida. You tape three or four or however many shows you need there and then you’re done. It’d be perfect for TNA. At least they need to take every pay-per-view on the road. The Impact Zone is so stagnant, so boring and them leaving would be a major gain for the guys in charge of TNA.
Alex Shelley’s band The High Crusade posted on their Facebook that Shelley suffered a broken collarbone on Sunday. (PWInsider)
So this is very unfortunate for TNA. They obviously had some plan for the Guns after they dropped the tag straps to Beer Money. I don’t know how long this is going to keep Shelley out of action, if it’s even as bad as reported, but a broken collarbone kept my favorite quarterback Tony Romo out of football for 9 weeks. I’m not going to predict what the folks behind TNA were going to go with the Guns but you had to imagine a feud between the two or maybe something more. It’s awful timing and it’s a bad injury. Something that isn’t rare when it comes to TNA…
AJ Styles tweeted, “Good check-up from the doc today on my hip. Hopefully at the next PPV I’ll be ready to go.” (Twitter)
…as exemplified by AJ Styles’ injury right before their last pay-per-view. It’s so strange how TNA goes through “last second” injuries more than any other promotion in the country. This is at least the fourth time I can remember someone being pulled the day of or before a big show. The good news is that AJ Styles looks to be ready to return for TNA’s next pay-per-view. Against All Odds is TNA’s next show and although the Television Title is no longer involved, I would not complain if we got a Douglas Williams-AJ Styles bout.
• It’s Royal Rumble time, so we get all of those neat statistics regarding the big match. Aaron Hubbard provides ten in this week’s The Contentious Ten.
• Larry Csonka and Steve Cook take a look at TNA’s year and hand out awards in The 2010 TNA Wrestling Awards Spectacular.
• Wade Barrett re-establishes himself in the WWE and in this week’s edition of 411s Wrestler of the Week.
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1. Hardy Fanboys and Fangirls – So, not technically a wrestler but this group of people had the best week by far. Let’s be serious for a moment, Matt Hardy has been living on reputation FOR YEARS. The guy hasn’t had an exciting wrestling match in ages. That’s not all his fault since he’s been in wrestling purgatory but if he’s as great as he says he is, he should rise above that. Anyways, this was something that probably energized the aforementioned Matt Hardy base. It wasn’t the most exciting wrestling match in the world but it had an interesting vibe, at least for me. I don’t think these guys should team regularly because Jeff Hardy should be one of the faces of the company after his legal troubles are solved. The elder Hardy would be fine being an upper midcarder for the rest of his time in the business.
2. Batista – Thanks to the debut of Mason Ryan on Monday’s Raw, Big Dave Batista was thrust right back into the spotlight. Well, if you consider trending on Twitter the spotlight. The second Ryan hopped on to the ring apron, people were all atwitter with speculation. Could that really be Big Dave? It turned out to be Mason Ryan, who I know little to nothing about. He looks like a wrestler so he has that going for him. Oh and his finisher isn’t too bad. I, and I hope the WWE Universe, will give this guy a chance and not compare everything he does to Batista. Big Dave was a main eventer for most of his career and I doubt Ryan will be placed in the same position.
3. Ezekiel Jackson – I can’t imagine many people would fear a stable comprised of Wade Barrett, Heath Slater (REALLY?) and Justin Gabriel. I mean, maybe Barrett makes some wrestlers shake in their boots but really, not that menacing. Adding Big Zeke to the picture adds a new dimension to Nexus’ spinoff. I’m very happy to see this guy getting this spot instead of having him do the generic squash every week until he’s ready to challenge the Undertaker or Edge.
If the popular ESPN program “Pardon the Interruption” taught us anything, it’s that there’s always time to get happy. This segment is dedicated to birthdays, anniversaries, departures and the like.
Happy 70th Birthday, Pat Patterson! – Pat Patterson, first ever Intercontinental Champion, creator of the Royal Rumble and a WWE Hall of Famer. Today is his seventieth birthday, which is fantastic considering what he did for a living. My memories of Patterson probably don’t give him his dues since I was first exposed to him via his Stooge gimmick with Gerald Brisco. I loved those guys despite them making fun of the Hulkster but he should be remembered for what he did as a pro wrestler. Still, he’s done enough things right to have enjoyed a long and successful career in the wrestling business. His last appearance with the WWE was at Breaking Point in September 2009 where he engaged in some in-ring shenanigans with Dolph Ziggler, who was the Intercontinental Champion at the time if I remember correctly. Wrestling needs more people like Pat Patterson.
Happy Anniversary, Royal Rumble 1992! – Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ted Dibiase, Shawn Michaels, Chico Santana, Roddy Piper, The Undertaker…and Virgil. All of these men participated in the 1992 Royal Rumble match, a match that looks awesome on paper and on video. This Rumble match was quite different, as the winner would be rewarded with the WWF Championship instead of just the right to fight for the belt. Thirty Superstars entered at two minute intervals and the match lasted a little bit over an hour. At the end of the day, Ric Flair, with an assist from the legendary Hulk Hogan, eliminated Sid Justice and won the WWF Title. This thing is available on the internet and I’d recommend you find a way to watch. It’s entertaining television.
So, Dave Lagana, formerly of the WWE, currently with Ring of Honor decided to start up a social media campaign known as “I Want Wrestling.” When I first saw Lagana mention the I Want Wrestling hashtag, I was interested. This guy has been involved with wrestling for longer than I’ve been watching so he’s certainly qualified to do such a thing. I’m not so sure about the campaign now but it’s been gaining steam on Twitter so it’s definitely worthy of being discussed.
It’s still very young so this may not be a completely fair judgment but it seems like it’s very biased against The Big Two. That’s not unexpected since Lagana is directly involved with an independent promotion but it’s still sort of a downer. He blogs that we’re supposed to demand good storytelling from our entertainment but re-tweets someone bashing the Daniel Bryan-Bellas storyline before it even gains any momentum. Sure, the thing seems like a rehash of things we’ve seen many times before but it hasn’t even started. How do we know this thing won’t take a turn for the better? Or that it’ll get the WWE Universe emotionally invested in Bryan. It just seems unfair, especially after the WWE delivered a decent wrestling match between the United States Champion and John Morrison. A quick glance at the Twitter page shows some praise for the WWE but every complaint is against things the WWE and TNA do. Nothing about some of the flaws we see in the independents. It’s unbalanced.
Maybe that’s his definition of what wrestling is? Maybe the whole point of the thing is to get us to travel down to our local independents and check them out. That’s not a bad message but it’s one that he’s sending very vaguely. It’d be sweet if he could direct people like me to a Mission Statement or something that says there are problems with wrestling organizations all over the world.
I like what Dave Lagana brings to his tweets and the stuff he’s done in his career and I really like the potential this movement has. I hope him and the supporters make some waves because wrestling needs it. It’s not a dying business but there is the talent to bring it to new levels.
So there you have it. I’ve developed a new system for writing this so incidents like last week’s won’t occur again. It’s kind of a waste to sit down and write over a half a column only for it to go to waste. Hopefully this upcoming week will have as much drama as the last one. Lots of good fights and stuff to digest. Until then, enjoy your week.
