Thursday Sports Entertainment News Report 03.21.13

Greetings, folks, and welcome to another edition of Thursday Sports Entertainment!

I think that’s the big problem; the WHC is kind of at an awkward place. People expect it to be big, but it really isn’t. IMHO, WWE needs to stop fucking around and just reunify the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship (WHC) belts. The brand split is dead, there’s too many championships, and that one is just awkward to have around
-Chris

I disagree. I don’t think that the WWE and WHC titles should be unified. The WHC has been sort of a proving ground for up-and-coming main eventers. Kind of what the IC title used to be. But there’s been a trend at WWE, whether intentional or not, of giving us unexpected WHC title matches at WrestleMania. Let’s take a look at the last three years’ worth of WrestleMania World Heavyweight Championship matches:

2011: WrestleMania XXVII – Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio. As I recall, no one expected Alberto Del Rio to win the Royal Rumble that year. Del Rio had never won a Main Event championship at this point, and he later went on to win the WWE title later that year. Winning the Royal Rumble and competing for the World Title at WrestleMania kick-started a main event run for him that continues to this day. So here’s a good instance of an unexpected WHC matchup at WrestleMania.

2012: WrestleMania XXVIII – Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan. In WrestleMania 27, Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the US Championship was relegated to a dark match. What a difference a year makes. Many people predicted that Daniel Bryan would be the first to cash in his Money in the Bank shot and lose, but we were pleasantly surprised when he captured his first World Championship prior to WrestleMania. Also, as I recall, the main consensus was that Chris Jericho would win the Royal Rumble that year, not Sheamus. Both men benefited greatly from the 18 second match that followed, and this proved to be yet another unexpected WHC WrestleMania match.

2013: WrestleMania XXIX – Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger. No one saw this coming at all. No one. Everyone thought that at least Randy Orton or Sheamus would be in the WHC picture come WrestleMania. Then, out of nowhere, Del Rio wins the title from Big Show on an episode of SmackDown. Then, Swagger returns after a long absence to win his title shot at Elimination Chamber. Whether or not this benefits Swagger’s career remains to be seen, but one thing is clear – this is a VERY unexpected matchup for WrestleMania.

If WWE unified the WWE and WHC belts, then you’d get John Cena vs. (fill in the blank) as your only main event title match. Having two belts gives them the ability to have a “safe” title match and one that’s a bit riskier. If WWE unified the belts 3 years ago, I can guarantee you that Daniel Bryan never would have become a World Champion. With at least 7 hours of primetime programming every week to fill, WWE needs something for the guys to fight over, so why not have two Main Event belts?

WORLD (WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT) NEWS TONIGHT

Diamond Dallas Page’s Indiegogo project to raise $80,000 for pay for Scott Hall’s hip replacement surgery, physical therapy, dental work, and his continuing medical expenses has reached its goal. The project raised the full $80,000 with twenty-one days to go; it is part of Page’s effort to get Hall clean and attaining a level of health after Hall moved into his “Accountability House” similar to how Jake Roberts did.

Congratulations to DDP and Scott Hall for pulling off this fundraising miracle. Ol’ Scott’s gonna be mighty busy this year signing over 1,000 photos and making hundreds of phone calls to fans. But he’s getting his hip surgery and, in theory, this removes a major obstacle on his road to recovery.

What surprises me is that no one shelled out the $3500 for the Accountability Crib Experience, where the fan gets to spend a day with DDP, Scott and Jake in Atlanta. You’d think that some super-fanboy would pony up to get the opportunity to either rub elbows with three great superstars. Or, perhaps a “wrestling news” site would shell out the dough to get some EXCLUSIVE CONTENT. Whatevs.

I hope Mr. Hall’s surgery is successful so he can finally overcome his “demons.”

Quick aside: why do addicts call their problems “demons?” Demons are external, malevolent entities that do you harm regardless of the personal choices you make. Addicts make bad choices that get them in a hole so deep that they feel they can’t escape. The chemical nature of the substances they consume do lead to a downward spiral, I’m not arguing that. But to call a self-imposed problem a “demon” displays a lack of…well…accountability. Anyone agree? Or am I over-thinking this?

Booker T has been announced on Raw as the latest inductee into the 2013 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. Booker now joins Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Trish Stratus and Mick Foley with Donald Trump being inducted into the celebrity wing.

This is a well deserved honor for Booker T. Including him in the WWE Hall of Fame is a no brainer, in my opinion. However, I feel that this is the wrong year for him. Booker is a wrestler that could be one of the top 1 or 2 entrants on any given year. However, this class is so jam-packed with Main Eventers that one could argue that Booker T is among the bottom one or two this year. I think that Booker’s inclusion would have been better suited for a future year, perhaps when WrestleMania is in Texas or thereabouts.

Still, that’s nitpicking at best. Congratulations to Booker T!

According to pwtorch.com, CM Punk has been pulled from the final two house show tours before WrestleMania. Punk was still listed on the event rosters as of Monday, but WWE pulled Punk from advertising on Tuesday. On the recent events, Punk has been working Kofi Kingston in singles matches. Last Friday, Punk made a non-wrestling appearance at a house show and then was pulled from the Saturday and Sunday events without an announcement being made to the live audience.

Punk is still scheduled for the final two Raw TV tapings before WrestleMania, and at this time, is also scheduled for the European Tour that begins the week after WrestleMania.

I’m sure Punk will still attend house shows in a non-wrestling capacity. And why do I think that? Because Punk is a lonely, lonely man with no one to love him. Just the crowd. The fickle, fickle, crowd.

Here is the latest WrestleMania 29 card:

* WWE Title Match: The Rock vs. John Cena
* World Title Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
* The Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk
* No Holds Barred Match, Triple H must retire if he loses: Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar
* WWE Tag Team Title Match: Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston
* The Shield vs. Big Show, Randy Orton & Sheamus
* Ryback vs. Mark Henry

Okay, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the WrestleMania card over the last week or two. And what I’m going to do is sit back, shut up, and try to enjoy myself.

I’m not going to make any part-timer jokes.

I’m not going to make any “Triple H wants his win back” jokes.

I’m not going to complain that the winners are obvious.

I’m going to try to look at this purely from a fan’s perspective. I want to leave all my IWC smark on the side for now. So, in the spirit of Diamond Dallas Page, here’s my Positive Perspective on WrestleMania 29!

WWE Title Match: The Rock vs. John Cena, I don’t care if this is a rematch from last year. It’s one of the few BIG matches possible. Go ahead, name another feasible match that is bigger than this one. It can’t be done. Especially if I limit the pool to active, full time wrestlers. What’s great is that I get the sense that these two actually don’t like each other, which adds an extra level of intrigue to the feud. The Greatness vs. Redemption storyline is compelling, even more so since they incorporated Cena’s real-life divorce into the angle. Cena can deliver a stellar match when it’s important, and I know the Rock will do everything he can to deliver as well. I also know that the New York crowd will be red hot for this one, so I’m excited to see what happens. Sue me.

World Title Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger. Admittedly, this one doesn’t do it for me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ricardo Rodriguez and Zeb Coulter are the two greatest things going in this feud. They still have a few weeks to turn it around, so I’ll hold out hope. Plus, Swagger and Del Rio are pretty darn good in the ring, so maybe at a minimum we can get a great match out of this angle. I learned a valuable lesson from the TLC pay-per-view. When Punk had his surgery and the main event was changed from Ryback vs. Punk in a TLC match to Team Hell No/Ryback vs. The Shield in a TLC match, I was disappointed. How could a thrown-together match with very little build deliver? Well, it did, and in a big way! So I always acknowledge the possibility of a silver lining in the form of a great match, no matter how poorly the dramatic elements of the feud have been executed. The optimist in me hopes that Swagger & Del Rio will put on a helluva show for us come WrestleMania.

The Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk: In terms of feasible streak matches, THIS is the best possible choice. Both men can deliver, and CM Punk has been on a tear these last 18 months. If both athletes put on the match I expect them to, then the Taker/Punk match at WrestleMania 29 may prove to be a more memorable career highlight for CM Punk than the historic 400+ day reign he enjoyed as WWE champ. Seriously. And Paul Bearer’s unfortunate passing elevated this feud to something bigger than it ever could have been, so I am eager to see the big match at MetLife Stadium. It’s PERSONAL, folks! The last four Undertaker streak matches have been about mutual respect, proving one’s self-worth, yadda yadda yadda. This one is about ripping a sonofabitch to pieces, and I can’t wait to see it!

No Holds Barred Match, Triple H must retire if he loses: Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar. Yes, it’s a rematch from SummerSlam, but so what? They’ve been building this rematch very well, making it personal between the two gladiators. Between Brock attacking Vince, HHH busting Brock wide open, to Paul’s comments about Stephanie – The Game and The Beast Incarnate sure seem like they want to kill each other. Not only that, but the stipulations (and Brock’s tendency to bleed) almost guarantee that this match will be an epic, bloody battle. And here’s two things to consider:

Everyone is saying that this is a guaranteed win for Triple H. That he wants to get his win back and his ego couldn’t stand losing to Lesnar at the Showcase of the Immortals. Plus, with the career stipulation, it’s certain that Triple H will win since he has the most to lose. But I disagree. Triple H has been slowly but surely acquiring more backstage power in the company. He’ll eventually have to stop being Triple H the wrestler and focus on being Paul Levesque, WWE Executive. What better way to go out than to put on a huge fight at the biggest wrestling event of the year? Also, it parallels his good buddy Shawn Michaels’ swan song, so there’d be a poetic element to his retirement as well.

At the end of Raw, Paul Heyman said that Triple H’s career would be on the line. The natural assumption is that it’s Triple H’s wrestling career. But what if the stipulation goes beyond that? What if it includes (for storyline purposes) Triple H’s business career as well? After all, even if Brock makes Triple H retire from in-ring action, Hunter would still remain a threat to them as WWE COO. What better way to COMPLETELY eliminate Triple H from being a threat than to strip him of both his athletic and executive careers in one fell swoop? Even better, what if, according to the contract, if Triple H loses the match his replacement as COO would be…Paul Heyman? There’s still time for them to flesh this out, and it would open up a lot of cool avenues if Heymen were suddenly the second-most powerful man in the company.

At this juncture, I’d like to point out that at least three of the four prior matches could stand alone as the Main Event of any other pay-per-view. It just so happens that with this PPV you get all three! Keep that in mind before you bash the WrestleMania card. These are big matches, whether you want to admit it or not.

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston. We know that three of these men are solid performers. Big E is making his wrestling debut at WrestleMania, which is one heck of an honor. While is hasn’t gotten as solid of a build as some of the other matches, AJ’s past with all four men comes into play, and there’s still 2 ½ weeks of potential storyline development to consider. As far as tag team matches go, this one is pretty good. Team Hell No has been one of the more entertaining aspects of WWE programming for months, and aren’t you at least a little intrigued to see Bi g E in an official match? Especially against Kane?

The Shield vs. Big Show, Randy Orton & Sheamus. The match itself should be good. The Shield have only had a handful of matches, but they’ve all been memorable. The only things that bug me are that Big Show’s involvement seems forced, and babyface teams with bigger star power have already tried and failed against The Shield. Still, mustn’t grumble. While there’s nothing terribly outstanding about this match, there’s nothing BAD about this match either. It should be a solid 8-10 minutes of wrestling action.

Ryback vs. Mark Henry HOSSAMANIA! Sometimes it’s fun to watch two huge beasts beat the piss out of each other. Both men have been built up as unstoppable monsters. Both men are incredibly strong and tough. Who wouldn’t want to see that? It’s like a real life Pacific Rim.

So there you have it, my positive spin on WrestleMania XXIX. I think it’s best to reserve judgment until after the event, but personally, I think that on paper everything is shaping up pretty well.

YOU’RE IN FOR A REAL TWEET

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SIGNING OFF

Thank you for making Thursday Sports Entertainment your go-to destination for Wrestling News, Opinions, etc. Keep your mind open about WrestleMania, people. It’ll be fun.

Hasta Jueves,

This is Sean.