Home Schooling No. 15

Hello there readers, it's me, the Aussie Mouthpiece, and it's time for another weekly dose of home schooling. This week I'll cover Monday Night Raw, iMPACT, and I'll even go back and talk a little about the repercussions from Extreme Rules. 

So let's get down to business.

Having had a few days to digest the events of Extreme Rules, I've come to realise how important the match between Brock Lesnar and John Cena was. 

Think about it.

How long have the fans been crying out for a return to the attitude era? How long have there been fans saying "PG wrestling is terrible"? How long have they been saying "bring back blood", or "we want blood"

Most people would say too long. The match between Cena and Lesnar changed all that. In the space of just 20 minutes, Vince, the writers, and the entire WWE showed us what we've been waiting for for the longest time: a return to a more bloody, violent product. 

Yes, there has been blood in recent memory, Lesnar's attack on Cena a couple of weeks ago, and Triple H vs Undertaker. But, the difference here is that they were accidental. Clearly, the elbows Lesnar rained down on Cena were planned beforehand. This match looked, and felt so different to anything I've seen in the last few years. Brock Lesnar's reputation obviously had a lot to do with that, but I'm not sure that people are giving the WWE enough credit.

This match was (for the most part) a masterpiece in psychology. Lesnar completely dominated Cena. It wasn't a wrestling match. It wasn't even an extreme rules match. The way that Lesnar, and his MMA skills were used in this match made it feel like the beginning of a new era.

I do think however, that they faltered in one area, which showed that the WWE aren't entirely ready to shift into a new era. I'm talking about having Cena win. 

This is the one time I kind of agree with the Cena haters. It really looked like Super-cena. Brock dominated the match for near 20 minutes, and yet Cena can keep him down for a 3 count with a punch to the head and an Attitude Adjustment onto stairs? and more to the point, Brock can't keep Cena down with the 20 minutes of violence he laid on him?

It felt like the wrong decision is all I'm saying. 

I'm going to disagree with some people here though, and say that it didn't really hurt Lesnar at all. It seems that people consider a loss to be a guy getting "buried". Jericho is a popular topic for that. He's lost at every pay per view since his return, so therefore he must be getting buried. 

No. He's not.

He's basically headlined Wrestlemania this year, in the sense that he was in the WWE title match. He's had another title match at the last pay per view. He was in the final part of the Royal Rumble. And he's featured every week on RAW heavily, and usually getting the better of CM Punk, or delivering really strong promos.

That is not burying. Not seeing someone for ages, and then seeing them only losing and being used badly, is burying. Some might say Zack Ryder is being buried at the moment.

But back to what I was saying, Lesnar losing, didn't hurt him. Anyone who's seen the match, or highlights of the match, saw that Lesnar dominated, cut open, and basically tore Cena's arm off. I just think that if he had won it really would have signified the beginning of a new era, rather than a timid step over the line.

Ok let's move on to Raw.

Like I was saying in my Extreme Rules review, something that deviates from the norm is usually good. And this is the case with the Beat the Clock challenge. It gives the matches a different feel, and connects all the matches together in a unique way. So I'm glad they decided to bring that back. And I'm also glad we have a different challenger for the WWE title. CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan is a dream PPV match. I just don't understand why it's happening on Over the Limit...and not a bigger stage like Summerslam or Survivor Series. Maybe it's a case of the WWE not having a lot of faith that this match can draw big numbers. 

The other match that was announced this week, really befuddles me. John Cena's next opponent is.. John Laurinitis? Didn't CM Punk want to fight Ace last time I checked? And, moreso, why would anyone think that Cena would even have the slightest problem kicking Ace's ass, if he can overcome the crazy beating Lesnar dished out, and beat Lesnar!

I just don't understand this match. I get that they can play up the injured arm and that gives Laurinitis an easy target to work on, but the man hasn't wrestled in something like 10 years, and he's spent a good part of that last 10 years in a suit, as a corporate man. Lesnar was a UFC heavyweight champion, and Cena beat him. 

It's like a story Jim Cornette told on one of his Kayfabe Commentaries dvds. He was talking about Marc Mero and Sable (History time kiddies). Mero was either just having a match with, or was supposed to be starting a feud with the then up and coming Stone Cold Steve Austin. So the story goes that Marc Mero let Sable powerbomb him on TV.

 Then soon after, Steve was talking to Vince and the writing team saying "Well who am I wrestling next week then? Because he just let his wife powerbomb him, so why would anyone think I would have the slightest problem beating him?" Granted this is a different circumstance, but the argument is still sound. If Cena can overcome Lesnar, why would Laurinitis pose any threat? And, more to the point, why would anyone pay to see it?

Speaking of Lesnar, we had this opening segment with Triple H coming out and tearing up Lesnar's list of demands, and then Lesnar "breaking" Triple H's arm. I was a bit ambivalent about this segment honestly. I just don't understand why they did it. I hear it could be because Lesnar has a set number of TV appearances in his contract, and they didn't want to use them up before the year is up or something. I guess as well that it puts him over even more as a ruthless animal. But it's all a bit confusing. I'm still not sure whether the WWE want the crowd to cheer for him, or to boo him. He acts like a heel, but then does really awesome stuff that we love seeing. Maybe they're not trying to sway the crowds one way or the other. Maybe they're letting Lesnar be Lesnar.

I also saw that it's come out this week that Rey Mysterio got suspended for violating the wellness policy, and that he was not/is not going to be getting a push when he returns. Now to me that's gotta be blown a little out of proportion (the second thing I mean). There will have to be some kind of announcement and big return. My theory is that they meant he won't be moving straight into the title picture or anything, but maybe will feud around the mid card level with someone. I think he and Ziggler could put on a good match.

Impact Wrestling.. I mean I'm trying to get into it.. I really am. But what with the crazy music going on during the "Gut check contract" segment, and Flair flipping and flopping around from a No to a yes after the dude delivered a crappy promo, and the heavy editing that's really badly done, I'm finding it really hard to keep watching. I did like the Bully Ray/Austin Aries segment though. Bully/Bubba has come so far lately I think. 

I just can't get past his name though. Imagine that.. "And the new TNA World Heavyweight champion.. Bully.. Ray!".. It sounds like a children's cartoon character. I understand they wanted to keep the similarity to Bubba Ray and Brother Ray, but surely they could have just used Ray, or his real name or something. We can figure out that it's still the same guy.

What about this? He comes out and says "Brother Ray was the name keeping me down for so many years, but now that I've rid myself of my "brother", you people, can call me ____________" Or something.

That's about all I have to say this week, so until next time, you can follow me on twitter @TheOZMouthpiece if you're not already, and also check out my writing at the following sites:

http://sltdwrestling.blogspot.com

http://pwjournal.wordpress.com

www.wrestlingheads.com

I'm the Aussie Mouthpiece, and my business is concluded, for now.

Oh Yes.. There Will Be Blood

Hello there readers, I'm back again. It's Pay Per View review time. And what an unexpected treat Extreme Rules was. I'll be honest, I ordered this just before I went to bed last night (in Australia we get the PPV's on a monday morning..time differences and what not). But I just had a feeling that the two main events would be worth paying for. And I was not disappointed.

Extreme Rules felt like a WWE pay per view from 2003/2004. I can't quite explain why, maybe the blood, maybe the way the card was set up, but something about it gave it that "ruthless aggression" feel. Brock Lesnar being a big part of the event probably just added to that. To me 2003 was one of the better years in WWE history that I've seen a lot of, so that vibe surrounding the event gave it a really good, solid feeling.

As usual I'm going to break down each of the individual matches, and give my thoughts and opinions.

So let's get down to business.

The show opened with Randy Orton vs Kane, in a Falls Count Anywhere match. This was the first thing that surprised me. I was thinking that Cody and Big Show would start the event off, but once again, I was pleasantly surprised with this.

Randy and Kane put on a solid match at Wrestlemania. Solid, but not great. I wasn't exactly brimming with anticipation for this match, but I think they did a lot better than 'mania. The addition of the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation made it much more of a brawl, which was refreshing. Too often wrestlers get stuck in their patterns and routines, so doing something different, especially the match is taken out of the ring for an extended period of time can be a really good thing. One thing i found quite amusing was the random steel poles just lined up in the same room that the "WWE superstars and personnel are watching Extreme Rules in". Why would there be steel poles standing up in the corner of a room?

Zack Ryder interfering I think was done just so that people would see him on PPV. His push has kind of stalled lately, but hopefully that's just a temporary thing, and we see him in a mid card feud soon.

On a personal note, I've always really enjoyed when wrestlers go backstage and fight. Kane vs Shane McMahon in an Ambulance match from Survivor Series 2003 is a great example of doing that right. As is Big Bossman vs Al Snow in a Hardcore title match from either 1999 or 2000. That match actually ended up in a bar across the street from the arena, with Zakk Wylde making a bit of a cameo.

I think I had picked Kane to win this match, my reason being that he was the monster, and it made more sense. Honestly, I didn't really think that through a lot. Orton winning makes much more sense. Kane won at Wrestlemania, Orton has that crazy side of him, willing to put his body through a lot, and also the smaller guy winning is always fun to see in these types of matches. Unless it's completely unbelievable. Which this wasn't.

My only problem with the finish is the RKO on the chair. Every time I've seen the RKO, Randy's opponent's head is cradled in his arm, and it never looks like he really hits his head on the mat. Using the chair made it even more obvious.

But overall, a really good match, and a great way to start off the pay per view. 7/10.


Brodus Clay vs Dolph Ziggler
The first of two unannounced matches. I really like this match. Brodus has made sure his Funkasaurus character hasn't just become a joke, and Ziggler is the most under-used guy in the WWE, and can work with anyone. My problem is that it feels like Ziggler is kind of stuck in this lower spot, mainly because he's still associated with Swagger and Vickie. I'm not saying they are bad talents or no good, I just mean that Ziggler could be so much greater on his own. Also the crowd was chanting for him like crazy.

There's not really a lot more that I can say about this match. It was entertaining, and the perfect length. My only objection is that Ziggler should win. I feel like Brodus has won a lot, or almost all the time since his debut.

I also don't buy Hornswoggle as a minisaurus. I still remember when he had blonde hair and dirt on his face.

Excellent finish though, and as usual, Dolph's selling was one of the highlights of the night.

7/10


Big Show vs Cody Rhodes (Tables Match)

Now we're getting to one of my favourite parts of the whole event. This match, like the Orton vs Kane match, was another that I wasn't really that excited about. Once I found out the stipulation though, that all changed. Just like Big Show said.. "good luck putting me through a table". I'm really into the psychology of matches, and anything that adds something different to a match makes for a different way to tell essentially the same story. And that is always a good thing.

And Cody is another one of those guys, like Ziggler, that has so much potential, and he's finally starting to get that "it" factor. He was annoying as all hell in legacy, but unlike Ted DiBiase, he didn't become a Randy Orton clone. I think that helped keep him relevant and helped keep him in his spot.

As usual, Big Show gave us a really good showing, and Cody was phenomenal. I liked the use of the table for Cody to hit his "beautiful disaster" kick as well.

And then, the finish. Having watched the WWE for nearly 10 years, there comes a lot of points where you say to yourself "I've seen it all now". But, time and time again, the WWE continues to surprise us. Who would have ever thought a table match would end by someone stepping through a table? This is one of those polarizing events though, people will either love or hate this finish. I thought it was absolute genius. Big Show played it perfectly as well. That look of "I can't believe I did that" mixed with "I'm gonna kill all of you " .. Really well done.

To me it almost seemed like this could be one of those rare double turn things. Show attacking Rhodes after the match, and especially throwing him through that second table is a very Heel-ish move. And Cody, getting to his feet under his own power, and holding the title up, yet not in an arrogant way, was a very subtle babyface kind of a move. And he got a massive cheer for it as well. In that moment, he reminded me of Shawn Michaels for some reason.

All in all I thought it was a really good match once again, but most importantly, it was unique. For that, it gets an 8/10 from me.

Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus (2 out of 3 Falls)

Yes! If there was one thing we could be certain of with this match, it was that it would last more than 18 seconds. And what we got was probably one of the best wrestling matches from the last 6 months. I've always liked the idea of the 2 out of 3 fall matches, like I said earlier, anything that deviates from the norm, can be a nice change of pace. The dueling chants of "Daniel Bryan" and "18 seconds" were pretty cool honestly. And the Yes chants are a great sign that Bryan is over.

 I really liked the way this match went with Daniel Bryan intentionally getting disqualified in the first fall. it's not often that you see wrestlers lose on purpose. But once again, it's that different kind of psychology that make these matches entertaining. The idea that someone would lose the first fall, knowing they'd done enough damage to hopefully get two quick falls on their opponent, very different.

Sheamus retaining wasn't what I'd hoped to see, but I'm not disappointed with it.

8/10


Ryback vs Jobbers
The second of the unannounced matches. Really once again, not a lot to say about this. Loved the Goldberg chants throughout the match, as there is quite a bit of similarity between Ryback and Goldberg. I mean they're both bald.. they're both muscular.. they both run/ran through their opponents.

Basically everything a squash match should be. Short, and brutal. The negative was that the jobbers got mic time. What was the point of that?

4/10

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight)
First off, I really liked the idea of coming out in different attire. You can't really call Jericho's "street clothes" because of the light-up jacket. CM Punk was rocking a Misfits/straight edge t-shirt which was awesome in of itself. But sometimes it's the smaller details that really make a match go from good, to great. The different look from the clothing made it feel much more serious, and really helped elevate the feel of the match.

Punk didn't get quite as huge a reaction as the last PPV match he was part of in Chicago, but it was still a huge pop. The Kendo stick got quite a big pop as well. Actually, now that I think about it, that kendo stick was another thing that reminded me of 2003. It's nothing huge, but I remember the Royal Rumble from 2003, Tommy Dreamer bought kendo sticks to the ring and Jericho got nailed in the face by one, and ended up with a huge knot on his head.

Of course the obvious highlight was CM Punk delivering a huge elbow to Jericho from the top rope, through the spanish announce table. Amazingly he was even forgiven for nearly falling off of the top rope!
 But another highlight, and again mainly for it's originality was the use of the, as Michael Cole called it "announce table hood". We never see them used as a weapon, they're always discarded and thrown away. My favourite use though, was Jericho smashing the broken off half over CM Punk's back, because of how it just broke into 5 or 6 pieces, and looked liked it just shattered on Punk's back.

I think this was the match of the night, really great action, back and forth, and at times it looked like a certainty that Jericho was about to win the title. 9/10


Nikki Bella vs Layla

I think the worst thing that happened to this match was the rumor that it would be Kharma finally making her return and taking out the Bellas. When Layla (or Michelle McCool)'s music started playing, it was a fairly big let down.
The match wasn't bad, however I did think it was a little strange to have Brie be the one beaten for the title. But I guess it at least leaves the door open for some kind of conflict between the twins on Raw this week.

5/10 and also glad to see Layla back. It's always good when someone returns from a bad injury.


John Cena vs Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules match)

Where do I even begin? Lesnar just looks massive. It was cool to see him in his MMA-style gear, it really shows that he is a different guy than he was in 2003/04, and that he has evolved into something different.

There was a lot of talk in the promos about the need to bring back legitimacy to wrestling, and that Brock would be the guy to do it. And, a lot of people have complained for a long time about the lack of blood in matches. I think the problem is we became so used to seeing guys get "busted open" that it lost it's significance and became part of the norm. Having a few years without blood being a prevalent thing in matches has really been a good thing, when you think about it. It's reconditioned us as fans. Now, if we ever do see it accidentally, it adds something.

And in the main event, we found out that when it happens on purpose, it REALLY adds something. I really hope that Lesnar didn't just lose his mind and revert to MMA mode and stiff the crap out of Cena's head. I'm almost sure that it was all planned though. Which says a lot about Cena, because that could have been really dangerous.

Brock being the first guy to really bust someone open in the last 3 or 4 years basically solidified him as the biggest badass in the WWE. The whole match was brutal. Cena not getting any chances to make a comeback was really a key to making this match as intense as it was. Brutal knees, elbows, suplexes and submissions helped as well.

The referee knock downs were a nice touch as well.

Lesnar is a maniac too. That fall over the top rope should have knocked him out, or at least blown out his knee. It looked so brutal, and was a really bad fall because of the rotation he got from basically spinning over the top rope.

I've been trying to work out, since the show ended, what I think about the finish to the match. On one hand, I think it's cool that the WWE have so much faith in Cena that he continues to win these "impossible situation" matches, but on the other hand, what does it say about Lesnar's condition that he can be beaten with what was essentially two moves?

However, Lesnar did completely dominate Cena for bout 20 minutes, so he really didn't lose any momentum or anything by being beaten. I think I would have liked to see it go the other way, just because it would have really just completely solidified Lesnar's spot as an unbeatable machine.

So with the blood, the brutality, and the really different feel for this match, I think it really capped off the night unbelievably well, and was the epitome of the theme of the night, which was "old school" for me.

8.5/10

Just quickly as well, John Cena's cryptic promo after the end of the match were.. well ... cryptic. The boss was going to get rid of him? What did he say or do that was so bad? Say the word Wrestling? Surely that's not it. Maybe he just knew he was injured and was trying to stay in storyline saying that Laurinitis was going to fire him. Maybe the blood wasn't supposed to happen and he thought Vince would be going crazy backstage. Maybe he was half unconscious and didn't know what he was saying? I think we'll probably find out tomorrow on Raw.


Ok that's about it for now, until tomorrow or wednesday, when my weekly recap will be up. Follow me on @TheOZMouthpiece if you're not already, and leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

I'm the Aussie Mouthpiece, and my business is concluded.. for now...

The calm before the storm: Extreme Rules

Hey guys, it's me, The Aussie Mouthpiece, and i'm back with my Extreme Rules predictions and preview.

So let's get right to it shall we?

Big Show vs Cody Rhodes

I'm not really sure what to say about this one. I would imagine that the WWE isn't done pushing Cody Rhodes, but I'm not really too interested in this feud to be perfectly honest. So I really don't have a lot to say about it. But, considering that Big Show won at Wrestlemania, and he's probably in that position these days of pushing younger talent, I'm going to say that Cody Rhodes is going to win this match.

Randy Orton vs Kane (Falls Count Anywhere)

Once again I'm not really sure what to say. Up until this latest episode of Raw I once again wasn't that interested in this feud. I think the writers really don't know what to do with it, even bringing in Bob Orton Jr, and Paul Bearer hasn't managed to make this rivalry much more interesting. Kane is always great when it comes to promos, but Orton is ... well... Orton. His character to me at least, has become stale and boring, and somewhat routine. I'm not really sure where this is going, but hopefully this is the end of this rivalry.

I'm going with Kane to win this one.


Nikki Bella vs Beth Phoenix (Diva's Championship)

I get the feeling there won't be much of a match, because the story here is going to be that Beth is injured. Whether it's a work or for real doesn't really matter, I think the general consensus (which i agree with) is that  Kharma is going to make her return and run through the Bellas, as their contract is up. I would be ok with this. It's beyond about time that some legitimate female competition happened in the WWE. For some reason they don't want the Beth vs Natalya match, but at least we'll get the Beth vs Kharma match. Which will be great.

Nikki Bella wins but gets destroyed by Kharma afterwards.


Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan (2 out of 3 falls)

At least we know this will be longer than 18 seconds. Unless it's three 6 second pinfalls. But surely the WWE won't do that. Right?

I have a feeling this will be a decent match. Daniel Bryan is developing somewhat of a cult following, and the Yes chants are, in a strange way, refreshing. I haven't seen a lot of smackdown recently honestly, but I have a feeling that Sheamus is going to keep the belt for a fair while longer.


CM Punk vs Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight)

Now we're getting into the interesting matches. Punk in his hometown defending the WWE championship. Jericho doing some really good heel work. It all adds up to what should be a really great match. Punk and Jericho have a really good chemistry in the ring, but with this being a street fight, it gives them a chance to show a different type of match to us.
My only problem will be that this match should be the main event. CM Punk is the WWE champion, and it's also his hometown. But I get the feeling that Lesnar and Cena will be in the top spot.

I'm not sure about who will win this match. Everything points to CM Punk retaining, with Jericho needing to get his come-uppance, and also because he's only there for a couple more months, but I have a seed of doubt, something saying that they might give Jericho the belt.

However, it's CM Punk's hometown, and they obviously have a lot of time and money invested in Punk. So my pick is that CM Punk wins, and retains the WWE Championship.


John Cena vs Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules)

Ok. This match is interesting purely because it is Brock Lesnar's first match (in the WWE) for over 8 years. It's worth watching just to see if he's still got it, how he's changed his style with the MMA stuff, and if he's worth all the effort the WWE have put into him.

The way I see it, this match can go two or three ways. One is that Brock completely dominates Cena, and basically takes him out. Cena is out for a few months, and comes back just before Summerslam with a massive re-invention of his character.
Two: Cena comes out as a re-invented character, maybe new music, a new look, something. The chain was there in his second appearance on Raw, as opposed to the dog tags, but it's not enough. In this situation, I'm really not sure who would win.
Three: Brock wins, but without taking Cena out.

Either way, I can't see Lesnar not winning, and the final shot of the PPV being Lesnar on the turnbuckles, hands raised. Maybe there will be blood. Doubtful. But maybe.
Cena needs a revamp. I know they've just come out with the new colour of the cena shirt, but really, it's time. Edge said it. The Rock said it for a year. CM Punk has said it. Brock even said something about it.

It's time.

What I hope doesn't happen is John Cena winning. Not because I don't like him, or think he sucks, but it would kill Lesnar's momentum. He comes back as a massive animal, destroying everything in his path, and yet he gets beaten in his first actual match back? Why would I want to pay to see him in any other matches after that?

So, my pick is Brock Lesnar winning. and (hopefully) some kind of change for John Cena.


That's about it really. Oh wait, the pre-show match.
Santino vs The Miz (US Title).

The Miz is on the pre-show?? Wow. Last year he was in the main event. Ok then... Anyway, maybe this is the start of a push for him. He made a great US champion, so I guess lighning could strike twice, but I think Santino will retain for now.

That's it then. Hopefully it should be a decent show. I'll be tweeting along with all of you tomorrow live during the pay per view, so if you're not already, follow me @TheOZMouthpiece

That's about it really, my business is concluded.

Home Schooling No.14

What's up everyone, I'm the Aussie Mouthpiece and once again it's time for another dose of home schooling, my weekly discussion about all things wrestling. This week as usual, will be about Monday night Raw, and there is a lot to cover, because of the extra hour. Also this week, I will be taking a look at some recent news items, and also Impact wrestling. This week's episode was the apparent 'beginning of the new era' with the first Open fight night, so I thought it would be worth checking out. Was I right? Only way to find out is to read on.

So let's get down to business.

As I said, this week was a special 3 hour edition of Monday Night Raw. I'm assuming originally that this week was supposed to be the annual draft, but, to quote Magnum TA, as plans will be, plans will go awry, and I guess what with John Laurinitis now being the GM of both shows, and with Raw already featuring Smackdown talent weekly, the draft is a little redundant.

Having said that, I've always enjoyed the draft episodes. Anything that deviates from the norm is interesting, and especially something that's unpredictable. I'm sure a lot of you read the same sites as I read, and I can distinctly remember reading that, at least a few years ago, the draftees did not know that they were being drafted until their name was called, like the whole situation with Jim Ross being moved to Smackdown.

The idea of something "real" happening is always exciting in wrestling.

But this year, at least for now, it seems that there won't be a draft. There are apparently going to be a number of talent releases coming in the near future. We've seen the first of these already with Tough Enough winner Andy Leavine being released this week, apparently because of a lack of improvement.  Now... maybe it's just me, but it just seems like if the guy was the winner of your "find a wrestler" competition, part of the idea was that he was ready to wrestle right? It's been over a year since the guy won, and he's not improving?

I know that it's impossible for Stone Cold and the WWE in general to have predicted this, but surely they could have seen that (as much of an Ass as he is) Luke seemed to be more ready. Not to mention AJ, and the guy who injured his ankle, Martin I think his name was. It's a shame that big Andy didn't get a chance to have even one match on the main stage, but really, in the end he has no-one to blame but himself it seems. Silent Rage will really be silent, at least until the dude shows up in TNA or something.


Let's move on to Raw.

I actually really enjoyed Raw this week. From the opening segment with Edge making a complete surprise appearance (I'm not even sure that the dirt sheets caught wind of it, though I could be wrong). It's definitely still a weird thing to see Edge with short hair though. Other than that, it's great to see him. One of my favourite things about Edge is how much he loves the business. I mean, most people who are involved in wrestling are there because they love it, but there's a few guys who you can just tell, there's nothing more special to them than wrestling. Edge is one of those guys.

So Edge is back, blurring the lines of reality and storyline talking about his contract expiring, and also with a message for Cena. The segment reminded me of when Edge was preparing for his Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker, where he asked Mick Foley for advice, and Mick talked about their hardcore match at Wrestlemania 22, and that Edge needed to "find that Edge, because this version of Edge has no chance to beat Undertaker". Edge basically said the same thing to Cena, in that he needed to find the John Cena that was feuding with Edge in 2006.

In a weird way that again blurs fact and fiction, he is completely right. 2006 was a big year for the John Cena character. That was the year he had the title match with Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand, and really, the first time I can remember him being booed out of the arena. There was a little of it at Wrestlemania 22, some fans cheered for the (then) heel Triple H, and I remember wanting Triple H to win as well. But that night in the Manhattan Center was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It's almost iconic, especially that sign.. "If Cena wins, we riot".

And at the same time as all that was happening, he had an intense feud going with Edge. He was still edgy, he hadn't morphed into the kid-friendly pg Cena that we know today. The problem today is that he's had this reaction from fans for so long, that I think it would take a major re-invention of his character for any of those fans to even think twice about changing their opinion.

Maybe that's what they are finally going for though. I mean let's face it, the underlying theme surrounding Cena for the last 6 months or so has been about his character, and the fan reaction to him. What if this sunday, Lesnar destroys Cena, and takes him out for say.. the next 3 months? Cena comes back about a month before Summerslam with a new look or something, a new edge to his character, and gets a return match with Brock at Summerslam. That could be good, but let's face it, the WWE will never do something like that will they? What do you guys think? Does Cena need a re-invention?


I did like Cena's silent reaction to Edge though after all that. It worked well, and continued at the end of the show, when the contract signing took place. But I'll get to that in a little bit.

Another part of Raw I really liked this week was the Kane segments. Once again we got another surprise appearance, this time by Paul Bearer. Kane's promo skills are severely underrated in my opinion, he delivers so well, and has his character's nuances completely nailed. Just quietly too, Paul Bearer got a really decent pop from the crowd as well. I'm not so sure about Kane eventually putting Paul back into the freezer, once again it's something that's been done before, in the sense of "killing" Paul Bearer. Undertaker did it back in 2004 in that Concrete Crypt match.

That seems to be the theme this week. Repetition. I got the same feeling with the Brock Lesnar list of demands. Lesnar's live promo work is nowhere near the same standard as his pre-taped promo from last week, but it was still entertaining at least. But the list of demands was eerily reminiscent of a certain segment from last year. CM Punk had been suspended and re-instated, and Vince McMahon was trying to get him to sign a contract. I'm sure you all remember it. Punk got Vince to apologise, Punk called himself the "voice of the voiceless". But he also demanded things. Cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons, Ice cream bars.. CM Punk the movie even. He demanded to use McMahon's jet. And then, this week on Raw, Lesnar demanded to use Vince's jet.

I don't think it was done intentionally, but it's still repetitive, and especially in the Lesnar case, way too recent to be re-hashing the same idea. Also the other difference is that CM Punk was being cheered for his list of demands, and yet Lesnar, even though he had been cheered the previous two weeks, he was getting nothing but boos this week, and even some chants like "Lesnar is a bitch". Sure, he'll get cheered sunday, because he's wrestling Cena. But if they were trying to bring him in as a badass who the Anti-Cena fans cheer for, they're going about it the wrong way.

Very quickly I want to mention the Diva's title situation. Well done to Beth Phoenix, because I think she worked everybody, including some people in the back apparently. It's a shame that it had to be a Bella that won, but the news is that their contracts are up at the end of this month, so hopefully it is a transitional thing. I've read that the idea is to have Kharma come back and destroy the Bella/s, and then eventually that will lead into a Kharma/Phoenix feud. Which would be amazing. Especially compared to anything else that's happened diva's wise for a long time.

Let's move on to CM Punk and Chris Jericho though, because for me, that was the best part of the episode.
It starts with Jericho telling us that he gave CM Punk a gift. Then, in a backstage segment, Punk show's us a basket of alcohol, which he gave to Josh Matthews, with the exception of that one bottle of Jack Daniels. I really liked how they did that, Punk didn't make a big deal of holding on to it, but it was still clear enough that if you were paying attention, you knew he kept it. To me it was like "why didn't he put that back?" Which immediately made things interesting. Initially I thought he was going to find Jericho and smash it on his head or something. I was wrong though, as I'd find out a bit later on.

So the public field sobriety test is announced, and then Teddy Long finds Punk, who seems to be acting a little different. Now straight away I'm thinking "oh he's acting drunk for some reason". And I continued to think that way for a while. Now admittedly in terms of reality I knew that they wouldn't actually have made him drink anything, regardless of what the outcome of this segment was, but in terms of storyline and working, they got me. I'll admit it. When Punk failed the alphabet thing the first time, I was convinced they were going to go with a storyline of him becoming a drinker. Which would have annoyed me, and probably a lot of other people as well. I'm really glad they didn't go that direction.

But the segment as a whole was amazing. Punk was believable as a drunk, his quick witty one liners were great, and something that's been missing from his promos for some time now. It's a shame he had to be pretend drunk to be able to get that funny stuff in, but in the end it was entertaining, and that's the most important thing. And he's right, it's insanely hard to recite the alphabet backwards.

It also worked in the sense that Jericho had kind of been getting one over on CM Punk for a few weeks, and then finally this week Punk got at least back on level terms. I'm not going to do any predictions right now, but I'll probably post something the day before Extreme Rules.

So overall, I think they did really well this week. The wrestling was good, I enjoyed the Brodus Clay match, although I think Ziggler needs to get away from Vickie and Swagger, otherwise he's not going to jump from that mid card status. But overall it was a decent show, and a good way to lead into the Pay per view.


So very quickly about Impact this week, I was curious about the open fight night concept and how it would work. Also it was Eric Bischoff's last night on Impact.

I didn't mind the concept, I think the best thing it could be used for is to give people match-ups that they hadn't seen before, especially if it's only a once a month show, which is what Hogan said it would be. I did sort of skip through the show, honestly I'm just not that big of a fan of TNA at the moment, it just seems like it keeps trying to compete too much with the WWE. TNA made it's own mark, but now most of that originality is gone, and the biggest part of that was the very first night Hogan was there, they got rid of the 6 sided ring.

But, TNA is now (hopefully) one step closer to getting some originality back, with Bischoff being gone. Again though, repetition. Remember when he was fired from WWE? Vince threw him into a garbage truck. A dirty stinky place. On Impact he was thrown into a portable toilet. Yes, it's not the same thing, but it's still sending him off in a humiliating way. Which I'm ok with.

So that's about it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Remember if you're not already, you can follow me on twitter @TheOZMouthpiece and also, recently I've started writing articles for some other websites. So far it's just the one article on these sites, but I'm really proud of it. The article is called "it's the best thing going", and it's all about why we, as wrestling fans, truly love wrestling, and what makes wrestling so great to us. You can find it on either http://sltdwrestling.blogspot.com.au/ , http://www.wrestlingheads.com/ , or http://pwjournal.wordpress.com/ 
and while you're there, check out all the other fine articles and posts on these sites, because they're all awesome.

Until next time, I'm the Aussie Mouthpiece and now, my business is concluded.

Home Schooling No.12

Hello again faithful readers, it's time again for another class of home schooling, my weekly recap of the best in wrestling action, in my opinion at least.

This week as usual I will be talking about Monday Night Raw, but as an extra added bonus I will also talk about the live Smackdown special episode, as there were some interesting segments that warrant talking about.


It amazes me how fast things can change in wrestling. It's only been two episodes of Raw since Wrestlemania, and in fact only one episode since The Rock left again, but already it feels like a new beginning. I think we have Brock Lesnar's return to thank for that. It was literally in two hours, from the beginning of Raw with Rock thanking everyone, to the end of Raw last week, with Lesnar's return. That's how quick things can happen. And already it feels like a completely different show, even though the bulk of the feuds have been carried on from Wrestlemania.

Before I get into specifics, I want to talk about one other thing. I really like what they've done with Mark Henry in the last couple of weeks. I feel like he's been floundering a bit since he lost the World Heavyweight title. He was still a badass and really impressive, but it felt like he'd moved down a couple of steps. In a way that's a good thing, because it opens the door for new people to step up.
But in the last couple of weeks, with him in title matches against CM Punk, and especially with him getting victories over him, albeit dirty wins, it's really pushed him back into that top spot. I think it's highly possible that Jericho and Henry might form some kind of alliance in the coming weeks, especially if Punk and Jericho's feud is to continue after Extreme Rules.

Ok so let's talk about Raw to start off with.

And we'll start with the beginning. Lesnar and Cena. It just feels.. big. Like the Rock/Cena feud did. But in a way, bigger, because even though Lesnar left, he left for different reasons. And, with his career in the UFC .. he immediately has more legitimacy than just about anyone in wrestling, save maybe Kurt Angle. Broken freakin' necks give you tons of legitimacy.

So Lesnar is in the ring with Johnny Ace. Now it's pretty much solidified that they are trying to bring him in as a heel. Or at least, a heel in the eyes of Cena's fans. To everyone else it seems, Lesnar is definitely a babyface. How could he not be? This massive beast of a dude who has legitimately beaten up people is now back in the WWE? Of course he's going to get massive cheers. And then add into the mix that he's beating up Cena, who a decent portion of the fans love to hate, and there you have it: instant good guy. But a good guy in the same sense that Austin was a good guy. And, for the past 6 months or so, in the same way that Rock was a good guy.

One of my favourite things on Raw this week was that slap. Cena says with no microphone "I never got to thank you for last week" and then slaps Lesnar? Worked or not, the dude has some balls. I don't know if Lesnar was handing Cena a reciept with that shot that busted up Cena's lip, or if it was just an accident or an old habit, but because of the blood, everything was more intense.

I thought having just about the entire locker room come out to hold both guys back was a great touch too. Legitimacy seems to be the theme for my blog this week, but it really added credibility and realism to this situation. I know that wrestling isn't as guarded as it used to be and we see the heels and babyfaces interacting with each other sometimes, but even so, you've got Sheamus and Mark Henry next to each other, trying to hold Lesnar back. And what's more, Goldust was out there as well, but out of character, and in a suit. Realism. That's what's going on right now.

Really quickly, I see good things for Santino and Brodus in the future. Santino needs a storyline that is a bit more serious, to make him (I swear it's the theme this week) more legitimate. And Brodus is that guy. He's not so serious that it would be stupid for him to team with Santino, but he's also a badass. As long as the team isn't just used for a couple of weeks and then disbanded, things could really develop there. And Santino's backstage antics (until he met up with the stooges.. but i'll get to them later) were great. His interaction with Kane... brilliant.

Getting back to Cena for a minute, his backstage segment/promo/whatever we're calling those things these days.. was really good. As much as the WWE seem to be against it, this week was a perfect example of blood enhancing things, and making them bigger, and better. I'm not sure what Cena's promo would have been like, had he not been able to use the fat lip as a part of it. Hopefully the powers that be realise this, and figure out that blood, if used correctly, won't just look like excessive violence.
And.. as much as I don't want to admit it.. Laurinitis' work has gotten a lot better too.  Hopefully it's a consistent improvement. Because bad Johnny Ace can be good tv, but really bad Johnny Ace is almost unwatchable.


Once again this week.. Lord Tensai proves that even if you have a really silly name, you can still be a badass. I mean even if they took the "Lord" part of the name away, and just called him Tensai.. that would be better. I don't really get what the point of ending the match without a pinfall is, other than giving Albert a chance to put that mist into his mouth.
Overall though, he's a different character type that we haven't really seen for a while in WWE.. he reminds me a bit of Hakushi, but I get the feeling he'll have more success than Hakushi did. I think we need to give him a few more weeks to grow and get comfortable in the character. Then we'll see some unique qualities come out, other than the moves and words he yells, that have already been figured out.


I've talked about Mark Henry, but let's talk about CM Punk. We all know that his character has become slightly less volatile, less of a cheered heel and more of a straight up babyface with an attitude, but this week CM Punk delivered a promo that was, to me, probably the best he's done this year. I don't know if the storyline stuff about his father is true in real life as well (my feeling is that it is), but when he talks about his father, and especially when he talked about the smell of the alcohol on him reminded him of his dad, it became real, worked or not. That kind of true emotion, that kind of real feeling.. that's what makes a good promo great. That's what pushes a wrestler to a top spot.

I actually kind of liked what Jericho did with his promo this week. It's a bit silly, saying Punk needed to start the 12 step program.. but he's a heel. Heels can get away with saying things that are completely stupid, but because they believe them, they seem credible. I liked his line about unleashing the "demon alcohol genes".
CM "drunk" is a little hokey though. It fits sure, but it's just feels a little.. off.

What I do like about this feud, is they're not having Punk and Jericho in matches involving each other every week. It makes the times that they do actually get in the ring together for a match special. It's the way it used to be done.

Now.. once again after the match with Mark Henry, Jericho attacks a hurt CM Punk and pours alcohol all over him. This is the second week in a row we've seen this, and to me, we don't need to see it any more. I did like Jericho's one line "Drink it in ya stupid idiot".. I love how he uses really childish insults like that, and still makes them seem really .. well really insulting.

What I did not like is that they used real beer to pour on CM Punk. I know that Punk would have been told about it before hand, and I know that they wouldn't have done it without Punk saying he was ok with it, but still, the guy is legitimately straight edge, and yet he's had beer poured into his mouth this week. I'm also sure that Jericho would have done his best to not be excessive with the beer around Punk's face, which is why most of it went on his shoulder and back/stomach as well. But really, in a more general sense, it's the WWE not caring about CM Punk's lifestyle choice.

Yes, this is the realism era, it's all about legitimacy, but surely they could have used non-alcoholic beer. Or just used the whiskey again. In the end though, it seems fairly obvious that CM Punk will get his revenge, and I'm starting to get the feeling that it might be some kind of I quit match that it happens in, where if Jericho loses, he has to leave WWE. Could be a good way to end things.

Just quickly before I finish up the Raw section, I said I'd mention the Three Stooges. Will Sasso delivered an amazing impersonation of Hogan. The crowd seemed a bit shocked more than anything.. and I was with them the first time I watched it. Hogan is working for TNA, so why would they want to do anything that promotes him? The only thing I can think of is that Will Sasso is a massive wrestling, and more specifically Hogan fan, so they let him do that bit. And let's face it, he nailed Hogan. Not just the voice, the body movements. And, even better, he took Kane's chokeslam amazingly well. I love that guy's work.


Ok let's talk about the main event. I'm impressed with Otunga more and more every week. He's finally gotten a decent character happening with some signature kind of movments and mannerisms, and his work in the ring has improved immensely since he was in NXT and the nexus.

And once again this week's episode ends with Lesnar getting the better of Cena. This time with a Low blow before the F-5. I've noticed though that Lesnar is executing his finisher differently these days. He's not doing the rotation part of the move that he used to. If you go back and watch an F-5 from 2003, it looks quite different to the 2012 version. In the 2012 version, he lifts his opponent over his head to get him in position for the "ddt" part, whereas back in 2003 he would turn him at the same time. Check it out. I prefer the 2003 version.


So overall a decent episode of RAW. I think the pattern needs to change for next week though, mainly with Punk and Jericho. No more alcohol baths. I do think that Lesnar is going to keep being booked as an unstoppable machine though. Which as long as it's done right, will work well.


Now let's talk quickly about smackdown before this turns into a short novel.

Daniel Bryan delivered a great promo last week, breaking up with his "girlfriend" AJ. And this week we were going to be treated to a very special Piper's Pit. Now, normally when I write my blog, I've watched everything I'm going to write about. I haven't watched Piper's pit yet, so I'm going to write the following part of this post as I watch for the first time. And then I'll get into a couple of other parts of Smackdown.

It's always great to see a Piper's pit. Rowdy is one of my favourite talkers out of anyone. His Piper's Pit from Wrestlemania 5 is one of my favourite non-wrestling wrestling segments ever.

I really hope this Yes chant catches on heaps more. It's such a simple thing, but works so well with just about everything.

I don't really like that they're portraying AJ as someone who seems to be completely clueless. I mean yeah, they can portray her as in love with him, but I don't really understand why she wouldn't have figured out that Bryan is using her. The rest of her character doesn't seem that dumb.

Piper got really intense talking about the "no's". I love Roddy. All in all it was a pretty good segment. Probably not right up there as one of the best Piper's pit episodes ever, but it was good. And we learned that it's going to be a 2 out of 3 falls match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus, which should be a really good match. Hopefully they don't just squash Bryan again .. only this time in 36 seconds.

The last thing I'm going to talk about, and it's just a quick one, is Ryback. This character is so much better than the Skip Sheffield character. It's more believable, yet still larger than life. From what I've read about the way Ryback was originally, it's a slightly different version in 2012, but it's still impressive, and again something slightly different. Like a combination of Goldberg and Rhyno or something. I'm definitely interested to see where it goes.

Ok that's about all for this week. Until next time, you can follow me on twitter at @TheOZMouthpiece , leave me a comment on here to let me know what you think, and also, check out my articles on http://pwjournal.wordpress.com There's only two on there for now, but check it out nonetheless.

I'm the Aussie Mouthpiece, and now, my business is concluded.