wrestling / Columns

Watry Q&A: If Arn Anderson’s Firing Was Justified, Defending Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin, MORE

April 5, 2019 | Posted by Justin Watry

Image Credit: WWE

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan In Less Than A Minute” and October 2016’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Backstory

Once a month, I reply to the comment section from my 411mania columns. This is the best and worst from March 2019. Enjoy!

Misconceptions In Wrestling

Yohannes Setiadji: Numbers don’t lie. Unfortunately we live in post-truth era where people would believe what they want to believe regardless it’s the truth or not.

Pretty much. The point of the column was to kinda reel everybody back to reality. Conspiracy theories and all that are fun to think about in the wild world of the internet, but cold hard facts are just that…cold hard facts.

Ken Wood: Yeah, I don’t really get the hate for Charlotte. She’s an amazing performer and a great heel. Yes, I’d prefer it was Lynch versus Rousey 1 on 1 at Mania but adding Charlotte isn’t the worst thing in the world.

I also think Rousey gets a bad rap. I actually think some of her promos have been fantastic. Yes she’s a little rough around the edges but, overall, she’s fine with moments of greatness. Lynch is the man though.

Precisely. Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch is very similar to the WrestleMania XXX main event. Everybody felt Daniel Bryan was unfairly robbed of ‘his’ moment by the WWE World Title match being a triple threat bout with Batista and Randy Orton. Yet, we all knew the outcome that was coming, and we all knew it would be epic…

…and it was.

Andy B: Technically there is a reason for her to be in the match, she was the last legal entrant in the royal rumble. Not sure why they went with the corporate pick angle.

Besides outrage is the new heat, Charlotte has very much “outrage” being thrown at her. My guess is that they wanted Charlotte to be in this reigns position.

I’d also add that Charlotte earned the opportunity in a non-kayfabe sense through the past few years of carrying the division and then delivering BIG TIME with both Becky and Ronda in 2018.

Shaq Da Fak Up: Watry, you had me til your Roman “prediction”

Why? I posted it all on Twitter hours before the news was made public and laugh all you want here, but I also told my girlfriend earlier in the day. No BS. Same with my Sheamus/Daniel Bryan WM28 column people STILL call me out on. I don’t get it. The column is right there, dated and everything. *shrugs*

Blu3D3vil: Better yet, make Ultimate Warriors widow a writer and fire Arn. Good idea right?

I can’t comment on Dana Warrior because I have no idea if she is doing a great job or a terrible job. Time will tell. What I can comment on is reports that say Arn Anderson let an intoxicated member of the roster get in the ring to wrestle. That is dangerous, irresponsible and downright stupid. Like Victory Road levels of stupid. Just because we all love Arn and respect him as a wrestler decades ago doesn’t mean he is perfect. Dude messed up and if the story is true deserved to be let go. Sorry.

Fastlane Review

World’s Schlongest Man: Watry is great at predicting after the show is over.

My WWE Fastlane 2019 preview podcast was posted two days before the event. Also my predictions were on 411mania the day before the event and was the only person to get every match correct for the record, yet I am the ‘clown.’ Gotcha!

Jim Lahey: Yeah, pretty much my opinion of the show. I wish WWE would go back to having only one ppv between Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. But I also wish Taco Bell would bring back bacon cheeseburger burritos, so I’m used to disappointment.

Yuck. Taco Bell? I have not ate their food in years. I tend to avoid fast food anyways, but just the thought of T-Bell makes me want to use the bathroom.

As for the first part, I tend to agree. Keep the Road to WrestleMania free of pointless filler. If the company wants to add a bunch of PPV and international events, do so in the Fall.

Chad Kuhns: No offense to Watry, but Larry’s back and has the reviews back on point. Watry has this annoying habit of ‘predicting’ everything yet only ever conveying those predictions after the fact

Read above, especially the column opening each week. It’s been 11 years now. I post all my predictions BEFORE each event. The only thing annoying is still seeing comments like yours doubting me when there is undisputed proof. Facts. Right there in black and white confirming what I say is true. For 11 years.

IAmLars: Nobody asked for this.

The boss man did, so you are wrong once again. Sorry Mr. No Longer Reading My Columns.

HockeyFan13: Lost on pretty much everyone was Kevin Owens narrowly escaping serious injury on the somersault attack on the stiff as a board Rowan to the outside. Owens must have missed the commentary table by inches with his head and face.

Rowan is right there with Nia Jax and Tamina in my book. I went on a mini-rant in the inaugural 411 Forecast Wrestling Podcast before Fastlane. If he can’t even stand there and look menacing behind WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, I have no idea what role fits him. Weak link of The Wyatts, bombed as the genius Big Red, bored audiences as a Bludgeon Brother…and now this. Hopefully, Bryan is giving him plenty of lessons on how to succeed out there. Might be his last chance.

Best To Never Be World Champion

Mirer: Andre had a title… The Giant. He didnt need anything else to solidfy himself. Once u put a title on him ur booked inti a corner, how do u get it off and how do u not give it back. It was Right to never give him a major title, regardless of hogan.

Exactly. Nobody looks back at Andre’s career with an asterisk or mentions his NEED for a title. Legend, myth, giant.

Michael L: If you’re talking world champs of any brand, Samoa Joe would be excluded due to his TNA run as champ in 2008. Depending on whether you consider the ROH title a world title at this time, Cody Rhodes might be excluded as well.

TNA doesn’t count, nor does ROH. I don’t even count NXT, and I’m a massive fan! Some readers clearly didn’t read the criteria listed. Oh well…

Todd: Still no Watey hate yet? Wow, Justin, you may have turned babyface for once, but don’t hold your breath! Enjoy it while you can. Would have been funny if you inserted yourself in the article for never holding the world title yourself lmaooooo

I’m getting hate from folks who must have skipped the opening paragraphs or didn’t even read the column. As for myself, I am a former NRW World Champion. I’m good.

The Goalfather: shoutout for the William Regal pick.

Thanks. What sucks is that I don’t feel bad for William Regal. He was getting his big main event WWE Title opportunity in 2008 and blew it. Regal has admitted as such and owned it. Similar to Rob Van Dam ruining his one shot as WWE Champ in 2006. Hard to feel sorry for the guy.

William Jansen: In the 1990s, you could make a case for Vader and Davey Boy Smith as among “the greatest to never be WWE World Champion.”

Funny story. The guy behind me at Saturday’s WWE live event in Milwaukee was telling everyone Natalya was The British Bulldog’s daughter. Plus, he kept saying Dean Ambrose pronounced with a ‘long e’ at the end of Ambrose. Fun times.

Rodney Strangerfields: Glad to see you give props to Test, I find him and The Wall to be 2 of the most criminally underrated wrestlers of the early 2000s…shame both succumb to personal demons. Really good article this time around.

Test was just a personal favorite. I’m not blind enough to call him an all-time great or rank him with legends. The fact remains though that him winning the WWE Title at Survivor Series 1999 made perfect sense and is what probably should have happened. Rather, Big Show was randomly thrown into the Triple H and Vince McMahon feud when that spot had Test’s name written all over it. More logic, more build, more fan support, etc. Shame.

RipStamps: Andre was WWE champion Watry. Doesn’t matter if you don’t want to count it. He’s a part of the title’s lineage.

My column, my rules. If you want to include him in your next column, go right ahead!

Noah Martinez: A Goldust world title run in the mid 90s would have made for some pretty intriguing television! I would have loved to see heel Goldust obsessing over the belt while fending off the top baby faces. Dude was always good worker, could’ve had some cool clashes with top names. Even if it was a transitional champ role for a couple months, seeing him do those creepy promos with the WWF title would have been really cool to watch.

Anything that would give us more Terri Runnels on television…

Defending Angle/Corbin At WM35

barley96: Yes I want logic, and I may be in the minority, but for a retirement match, I’ll take an illogical great match over a logical boring match.

Right. This comment proves my point. In other words, you don’t want logic. You just want to yell and scream about logic, until you get it…and then you don’t like it. You want something illogical to fit your needs. Just call it like it is. You are guilty. I am guilty. We are all guilty. We pick and choose what we want when we want and how we want it. Same with title matches, pay-per-views, and everything else in life. We’re hypocrites. Logic and story says Angle loses to a newer/younger star on the way out. WWE is doing that, yet now we want The Undertaker or John Cena as his final opponent. Again, I am all for Cena showing up to do his ruthless aggression bit and face him on Sunday night. At the same time, I am also aware of all these amazing ‘wrestling rules’ that pop up online. We shall see what happens in a few days.

Yohannes Setiadji: If anyone would defend WWE booking, no matter how dumb it is, it’s definitely Watry. Vince would pay for thousands of Watry clones sitting in the crowd.

You need to follow me on Twitter or at least re-read the column then. I groaned when Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle was announced on RAW a few weeks ago. I was all jazzed up for John Cena returning and us getting one final clash between the two. In Chicago that week, same as when Cena confronted Angle back in June 2002. Made all the sense in the world. Said as such on Twitter. Said it on the 411 Foresight Wrestling Podcast. Said it here. That being said, there is logic and reasoning behind WWE going with Baron Corbin. I was simply making that case.

Vlad Tzeapa:Yes, Justin Watry, we do just pick when these “rules” apply, because they are not actual rules, they are contextual opinions about what people think should happen…

…and that is fine. Just be sure to remember that the next time you offer an opinion but then offer a complete opposite opinion on the same subject only to fit your mindset, which would then go against your original thought. Should an old timer lose his last match? Or should he deliver a final match with a victory and celebration? Would the guy wrestle a next generation star? Or an established rival? Is he taking the spotlight away from someone who deserves it more? Or is he deserving of that moment? Again, opinions are fine, but it becomes a slippery slope to change and mold what you think to fit whatever is going on. Whether those contradict each other or not.

MikeK.: Any chance WWE might give the fans the best of both worlds? Where Kurt beats Corbin in relatively quick fashion, his music’s on, people are celebrating and all of a sudden, Cena’s music comes on, he walks to the ring, and challenges Kurt to his “real” final match?

I am writing this before Mania Weekend. Duh! Thus, I have no idea what is about to happen. In a perfect world, yeah. That gives Baron Corbin bragging rights to westle a WWE Hall of Famer on the grand stage. At the same time, we get something satisfying and a match the WM Crowd will eat up with a spoon. There are two problem though. One is all reports say Angle/Cena is NOT happening. If you believe those rumors, that is your choice. So far, it has been a hard no from every source out there. I’d love for that shocking revelation, not going to lie. My second issue is Angle’s health. His Samoa Joe match was rough. The AJ Styles bout was cut to a minute, and his Rey Mysterio battle was scrapped completely. There is a reason why he’s retiring. There is a reason why Corbin was selected. The dude is done. Sucks to say but could he go 15 minutes with a John Cena? Or a Daniel Bryan? Or whoever. Likely not. A quick 30 second tap out win over the hated Baron Corbin is easy to do and please the fans. Win-win.

The 411 Foresight Wrestling Podcast

The Top Ten Finishers Of All-Time, The Top Five Greatest Championship Matches Ever, The Mount Rushmore Of Wrestling, and much more has been discussed on the podcast during March 2019. Many more topics to come, as well as current happenings. Be sure to follow, listen, and keep up to date.