1: Vickie Guerrero rules extremely.
For the past three or four years, it's been no secret that Vickie Guerrero was capable of getting more heel heat than anyone else on the entire WWE roster. How foolish did The Miz or Wade Barrett look when they were cutting bad guy promos, and trying to establish themselves as the new anti-Cena, when Vickie could come out and get twice the reaction in half the time? She's been a top heel for years, and deserves a ton of credit for her ability to get that reaction. I don't know anything for sure, of course, but I kind of assume that her write-off from Raw on Monday was to give her some time off, which she'll maybe spend with her daughter who was recently released from developmental, but you've gotta believe that the door to come back would always be open for the "screech queen."
2: What is going on with TNA?
I don't watch Impact anymore. Anyone wanna field this? I do know that the Young Bucks briefly reprised their roles as Generation Me on a TNA PPV recently (although it was taped months ago). I think Bully Ray is the heel champion, and leader of heel faction Aces & Eights. I've also heard that the Main Event Mafia has been resurrected (in a babyface kinda format), and that the gaps left by Booker T, Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash have been filled by Magnus and "Rampage" Jackson. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I think I just remembered why I don't watch Impact anymore. Did you guys hear how many guys were recently laid off from the roster? A bunch. Still there: Hogan, Bischoff, Taz... On second thought, I don't care "what is going on with TNA."
3: Chikara..... Dead?
There are two stories going around. ONE: it's all an elaborate work. Chikara has temporarily shut down and is losing money just to make us all speculate and mark out about how awesome they are for doing this. There will still be a show/gathering in Easton, PA on July 20th, since Icarus posted about how he plans to be there on the official forum. TWO: it's all an elaborate illustration of the basic reality that Chikara is in fact history. Mike Quackenbush lost the company as a part of a divorce settlement, and shut it down to maintain his pride, and the integrity of Chikara. Only time will tell if Chikara is truly gone or not. In either case, it easily had the 2nd best 11-year run in modern Independent wrestling, second only to ROH. It's a real comfort to know that (from what I understand) the Chikara School of Wrestling continues to be fully operational. If Chikara is gone, I'll really miss the stories and booking, but it would be a much greater loss if their school were no longer operational, considering how many great talents they've populated the Indy scene with.
4: Podcasts.
I listen to two pro-wrestling podcasts. The Art of Wrestling by Colt Cabana has been a standby for years and I know you guys know about it. It's awesome. Somewhat recently though, I've added another to my list, and that's the Steve Austin Show. I want to especially recommend the latest episode, in which he interviews himself, because he basically uses the format to expound on the psychological aspects of putting together a match from the heel and babyface perspectives. A really well spoken discourse coming from (arguably) the most successful wrestler EVER. I'd also recommend the Bret Hart, Terry Funk, and Lance Storm episodes.
69: Daniel Bryan, American Dragonson.
As the Rocksmeister Heavy Salvage stated last week, Daniel Bryan is the best thing going right now. It's so true that it basically goes without saying, but there it is, I agree. At the end of Raw, do we think that he turned heel, or do we think that he was just setting up a little tension for the all-babyface ladder match? There've been heel turn rumors for DBD for a while now, but it's hard to believe that he'd really be booked that way, considering how starved WWE is for strong good guys right now. Anything is possible however, and a brief heel run could actually set Bryan up for an even better face character.
187: Hoopla Hobbies
I was pretty sore at ROH in general when their World Champion Jay Briscoe made violently hateful homophobic comments on his twitter a few months ago. Honestly, it took a few weeks before I could watch their show again, and when he was on screen, it made me sick to look at him, even though he'd been one of my favorites beforehand. Now, I wouldn't wish bodily harm on anybody, but I can't say I feel any bad feelings about Jay's recent injuries. I even have to admit that his being stripped of the title feels pretty damn justified. Now I'm doubly ready to jump back into ROH whole-heartedly, especially due to the impending single-elimination tournament to crown the next ROH Champion! Yeah!
420: Arr Vee Dee! Arr Vee Dee!
After watching him for a few years on TNA, I thought his only matches worth a damn were the ones he was booked favorably in. I'm honestly not expecting much from his WWE return, but I'm still trying to keep an open mind. He's still in great shape and is obviously a tough SOB. Still loving Poncho Sandy Vag's idea for the Ambrose feud, even though I'd only give it about a 50/50 chance of yielding any worth-a-shit matches.
OK Ponch, you're not sold on his matches, but I'm hoping you're at least more open now to the idea of a credible Mark Henry than you used to be. When working against faces like Bryan and Punk, the matches were nothing short of classic. We'll see what the feud with Cena brings us. Best case scenario in my opinion would be for Henry to give Cena the Disneyworld Splash, DBD to win the Raw briefcase, resulting in a reboot of their 2011 WHWC feud. Those were good times. Worst case scenario: what we all would have imagined a Cena/Henry feud to be like in 2010.
2013: Eater of Worlds
It was just a few minutes out of a (hopefully) very long career, so I'm not gonna get too bent out of shape. Truth be told, I was disappointed by the way the Wyatt family debuted on Monday, and I'll tell you why. I will never forget my first introduction to the Bray Wyatt character. I haven't gone back to listen to it, but I know on some episode of the MMS I talked about the FCW debut of the character. It was a pretaped promo, with Eli Cottonwood in the background, and Wyatt talking about how he'd committed patricide via houseboat arson. When he debuted live, he came out with a mic and cut an absolutely wicked promo before decimating his opponent with a bevy of heavy moves capped off with Sister Abigail. That was (and is) his strength-- creepy, intimidating promos, and signature power moves. When neither were featured in his Raw debut, I was disappointed. I'm not going to gripe about it though, since I'm guessing he'll have a chance to talk and cut a real promo very soon.
I will make one passing gripe, though. Who blows out an electric lantern? That's silly.
Over 9,000: Stealing the Show, your Girlfriend, and your Suspension of Disbelief.
I just hope he can stay over as a babyface. I don't expect Del Rio to provide any more heel heat for him ( the double turn match was crazy good, but Del Rio's right back to his old character, just as stale as it was when he left it.) I figure if Ziggler can just keep his mouth shut and work he should be fine for a while. Does that sound pessimistic? Whatever, I know I'm just a mark.
1. I've been saying that Vickie was the best heel since her run with Edge. Maybe Ryback needs a manager??????
ReplyDelete2. Uhhhh...it sucks.
3. It's not dead!!! It can't be.
4. I listen to those also.
69. See my preview.
187. I'm not caught up with ROH. I've always kinda disliked the Briscoes. Kinda like how I've always disliked Homicide. I read that Mark admitted in public that they had been talking to WWE.
420. See my preview.
903.9. My problem with Mark Henry has always been that it seems like he has a really hard time moving around the ring. Vader at 50+ looks comparable to Henry of the last 15 years. This causes me to not believe a lot of his ring work. His promos in the last few years have been incredible, but his body shape and size don't make him a credible badass in my eyes. Andre The Giant may have been slow, but he was bigger than everybody...making him very very scary.
2013. I was embarrassed that the fans started chanting Husky Harris. I read that those chants were silenced during the commercial break by "That Was Awesome" chants...for what it's worth.
Over 9,000. The double turn match is about where I fell asleep when I watched Payback. I went back and watched it, but really....this made me think about how we're puppets. I don't believe in either of them being the champ...because the title means nothing....I think I just got really bitter all the sudden, so I better go do something else.
OUT