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...
Showing posts with label Kane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kane. Show all posts
May 1, 2012
April 30, 2012
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.
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.
April 28, 2012
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.
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.
March 28, 2012
Home Schooling No.9
It's that time again, another week has come and gone, another episode of RAW, and that means it's time for another installment of Home Schooling. This week is going to be a little different. The first half of this post will be about Raw, and the second will be my regular "pre pay-per-view" blog, The Calm Before the Storm, which will be my rundown and predictions for the Wrestlemania card. I'll try to keep everything nice and concise so this doesn't turn into a short novel.
So let's get down to business.
I thought this week's RAW was a decent episode, but I was a bit disappointed with it, seeing as though it was the "go home" show for Wrestlemania. To me, this show is meant to be the one that "talks people into the building". I know that with Wrestlemania it's obviously different, because you have people who will be buying it no matter what, and also that most people will have already made up their minds about buying it or not, but still, it lacked that extra something for me.
Maybe it was that Chris Jericho wasn't "live" in the arena. Maybe because we just got a video package for one of the top 3 matches for Wrestlemania. Maybe it was because the last 25 minutes of the show were set aside for Rock and Cena. Probably not that last one. I really enjoyed that whole segment. Especially once Cena came out. But I'll get to that later.
The other thing that bothered me, is that we seem to have lost a lot of that "Pay per view" feel. Take the opening match. Sheamus and Orton vs Daniel Bryan and Kane. I would have thought the way to have this match work, would be to tease Orton and Kane (and Bryan and Sheamus) being in the ring together, not have the two sets of opponents spend a good majority of the match wrestling each other. To me it's now kind of like (especially with Orton and Kane) I've seen a lot of the match I'm going to see at Wrestlemania already, and I didn't have to pay for it. So why do I care about this match now?
One quick thing about Team Johnny/Team Teddy.. Laurinitis can't even deliver a one line promo correctly. That says just about everything that needs to be said about this match.
Part of me thinks that there's a little too much emphasis on the Rock and Cena. Yes, it's a huge match. Yes, it's "once in a lifetime". But the WWE Title should be just as important I think. So why wasn't Chris Jericho wrestling a singles match this week? All we've seen is Jericho talk for the last few weeks. Why is that? Do we not need to see that Jericho is a great wrestler? Something doesn't quite feel right in that sense, and I can't really figure out why they wouldn't have him wrestling, or at least interfering in a match or something.
Unless Jericho is slightly injured. Hopefully that's not the case.
Jericho's promos have been entertaining, and edgy. They have made the feud personal. Now I don't really see that the whole "bastard" thing is a big deal, or why that's a bigger deal than saying things about CM Punk's family. But that's neither here nor there.
Punk taking his anger out on Christian was the right move. It shows us that Punk IS angry about this, and also that Jericho has gotten to him, which in turn adds a little bit of doubt into whether Punk will retain the title. And also, apparently Christian isn't 100%, so it was a good way to write him out of the Tag match.
Incidentally, I really like the way Punk delivers those kicks to the head.
Did anyone else notice that this week's Jericho promo looked exactly the same as last weeks? As in, it was recorded the same time as last weeks? Lazy bit of TV right there.
Now, about this "End of an Era" video package. I understand that Triple H and Undertaker have basically said everything they could possibly say, but I think we, the viewers, and more importantly the people who paid to be at the show deserved to see these guys. Originally I was thinking the way it should have been done, would have been to show the video package last week, and then have the in ring segment from last week, on this week's show. But I've come up with a second theory.
What if this week, Triple H came down to the ring, and called out Shawn? They have some kind of heated words about Shawn's ego, about what Undertaker said, and maybe it gets a little phyiscal, maybe they push each other, get in each other's face? And then, the lights go out. When they come back on, Undertaker is at the top of the stage, looking at the ring, and all he does is smile. I don't know, it just felt like only having a video package detracted from how big this match is.
Cody Rhodes delivered probably the second best moment of the episode for me this week. His promo was great. And the best part, it actually got me interested in the Intercontinental title match. Well done to Cody. Hopefully this continues after Wrestlemania, and we see him getting a shot at the World title/WWE Title soon.
Ok onto The Rock, and John Cena. Rock spends way too much time standing there with a cheesy grin on his face. So let's just get that out of the way right now. Rock talks about all the young starlets throwing themselves at him. That's only a little bit creepy Rocky. But let's move on.
Yes. Rock delivered a great promo. It was the same stuff though. My biggest problem with all this though, is yes, The Rock will be on RAW next week. But after that, he's gone again right? So really, regardless of the result, John Cena will be proven right (at least temporarily if Rock is going to be part of WM 29).
So let's talk about Cena for a minute here. His promo was the best part of the night. He talked about how the fans boo him. He talked about it not bothering him. That was expected. But after a few minutes it got real good, real quick. It got into that weird area of "is this a shoot?" for a little bit there as well. But once again, as has happened in the last few weeks, John Cena basically owned The Rock on the microphone.
He talked about how he's been the only guy who's gotten booed and never turned heel. And then antagonised the booing crowd, saying that he always wins. That part to me was the most interesting, because if you think about it from a non-kayfabe perspective, he's saying "The office knows that I'm the man, and that's why I always win". Very interesting. Of course, kayfabe wise, it was just saying "you can hate me all you want, but i'll still find a way". I think that may have been my favourite part of Cena's promo.
He talked about how The Rock was there when it was "cool" to be a WWE Superstar, but Cena has been the face of the company when it's been going through harder times. This is why Cena has been better than The Rock in these promos. Rock has insulted everything Cena wears, cares about, says, his family, and basically been a schoolyard bully.
Cena, has been saying things that are fact, yet things that show the Rock in a poor light, like the notes on the wrist, like Rock being there when it was "cool". Not insulting what makes the Rock, The Rock.
Ok scratch what I said about my favourite part. Cena calling the Rock a visitor, and then Rock's response. That is my favourite part of the night, and this entire feud. Because Rock delivered his response with passion. Not trying to get things trending, not trying to say new cool catchphrases, just speaking from the heart. Also, Cena's response to Rock's response was just as good. All in all a brilliant final segment, and thinking about it, definitely worth giving them the 20 minutes at the end of RAW.
One last thing about Rock/Cena, I think they should have made a slightly bigger deal about Rock wanting to be the greatest of all time by being the first guy to beat Hogan, Austin and Cena, instead of the ladyparts/transvestite wonder woman/barney's turd crap that we had to put up with. I would have been much more interested, and, now that I think about it, probably have been wanting The Rock to win if it had gone that way. Oh what could have been....
Ok so that's all for this week, I'll be on twitter during Wrestlemania so I'll be joining in with the crazy tweet barrage that happens. Until next week's blog, follow me on twitter if you're not already @TheOZMouthpiece and leave me a comment on here if you like, or dislike, or have something interesting to say.
Business.. is concluded.
So let's get down to business.
I thought this week's RAW was a decent episode, but I was a bit disappointed with it, seeing as though it was the "go home" show for Wrestlemania. To me, this show is meant to be the one that "talks people into the building". I know that with Wrestlemania it's obviously different, because you have people who will be buying it no matter what, and also that most people will have already made up their minds about buying it or not, but still, it lacked that extra something for me.
Maybe it was that Chris Jericho wasn't "live" in the arena. Maybe because we just got a video package for one of the top 3 matches for Wrestlemania. Maybe it was because the last 25 minutes of the show were set aside for Rock and Cena. Probably not that last one. I really enjoyed that whole segment. Especially once Cena came out. But I'll get to that later.
The other thing that bothered me, is that we seem to have lost a lot of that "Pay per view" feel. Take the opening match. Sheamus and Orton vs Daniel Bryan and Kane. I would have thought the way to have this match work, would be to tease Orton and Kane (and Bryan and Sheamus) being in the ring together, not have the two sets of opponents spend a good majority of the match wrestling each other. To me it's now kind of like (especially with Orton and Kane) I've seen a lot of the match I'm going to see at Wrestlemania already, and I didn't have to pay for it. So why do I care about this match now?
One quick thing about Team Johnny/Team Teddy.. Laurinitis can't even deliver a one line promo correctly. That says just about everything that needs to be said about this match.
Part of me thinks that there's a little too much emphasis on the Rock and Cena. Yes, it's a huge match. Yes, it's "once in a lifetime". But the WWE Title should be just as important I think. So why wasn't Chris Jericho wrestling a singles match this week? All we've seen is Jericho talk for the last few weeks. Why is that? Do we not need to see that Jericho is a great wrestler? Something doesn't quite feel right in that sense, and I can't really figure out why they wouldn't have him wrestling, or at least interfering in a match or something.
Unless Jericho is slightly injured. Hopefully that's not the case.
Jericho's promos have been entertaining, and edgy. They have made the feud personal. Now I don't really see that the whole "bastard" thing is a big deal, or why that's a bigger deal than saying things about CM Punk's family. But that's neither here nor there.
Punk taking his anger out on Christian was the right move. It shows us that Punk IS angry about this, and also that Jericho has gotten to him, which in turn adds a little bit of doubt into whether Punk will retain the title. And also, apparently Christian isn't 100%, so it was a good way to write him out of the Tag match.
Incidentally, I really like the way Punk delivers those kicks to the head.
Did anyone else notice that this week's Jericho promo looked exactly the same as last weeks? As in, it was recorded the same time as last weeks? Lazy bit of TV right there.
Now, about this "End of an Era" video package. I understand that Triple H and Undertaker have basically said everything they could possibly say, but I think we, the viewers, and more importantly the people who paid to be at the show deserved to see these guys. Originally I was thinking the way it should have been done, would have been to show the video package last week, and then have the in ring segment from last week, on this week's show. But I've come up with a second theory.
What if this week, Triple H came down to the ring, and called out Shawn? They have some kind of heated words about Shawn's ego, about what Undertaker said, and maybe it gets a little phyiscal, maybe they push each other, get in each other's face? And then, the lights go out. When they come back on, Undertaker is at the top of the stage, looking at the ring, and all he does is smile. I don't know, it just felt like only having a video package detracted from how big this match is.
Cody Rhodes delivered probably the second best moment of the episode for me this week. His promo was great. And the best part, it actually got me interested in the Intercontinental title match. Well done to Cody. Hopefully this continues after Wrestlemania, and we see him getting a shot at the World title/WWE Title soon.
Ok onto The Rock, and John Cena. Rock spends way too much time standing there with a cheesy grin on his face. So let's just get that out of the way right now. Rock talks about all the young starlets throwing themselves at him. That's only a little bit creepy Rocky. But let's move on.
Yes. Rock delivered a great promo. It was the same stuff though. My biggest problem with all this though, is yes, The Rock will be on RAW next week. But after that, he's gone again right? So really, regardless of the result, John Cena will be proven right (at least temporarily if Rock is going to be part of WM 29).
So let's talk about Cena for a minute here. His promo was the best part of the night. He talked about how the fans boo him. He talked about it not bothering him. That was expected. But after a few minutes it got real good, real quick. It got into that weird area of "is this a shoot?" for a little bit there as well. But once again, as has happened in the last few weeks, John Cena basically owned The Rock on the microphone.
He talked about how he's been the only guy who's gotten booed and never turned heel. And then antagonised the booing crowd, saying that he always wins. That part to me was the most interesting, because if you think about it from a non-kayfabe perspective, he's saying "The office knows that I'm the man, and that's why I always win". Very interesting. Of course, kayfabe wise, it was just saying "you can hate me all you want, but i'll still find a way". I think that may have been my favourite part of Cena's promo.
He talked about how The Rock was there when it was "cool" to be a WWE Superstar, but Cena has been the face of the company when it's been going through harder times. This is why Cena has been better than The Rock in these promos. Rock has insulted everything Cena wears, cares about, says, his family, and basically been a schoolyard bully.
Cena, has been saying things that are fact, yet things that show the Rock in a poor light, like the notes on the wrist, like Rock being there when it was "cool". Not insulting what makes the Rock, The Rock.
Ok scratch what I said about my favourite part. Cena calling the Rock a visitor, and then Rock's response. That is my favourite part of the night, and this entire feud. Because Rock delivered his response with passion. Not trying to get things trending, not trying to say new cool catchphrases, just speaking from the heart. Also, Cena's response to Rock's response was just as good. All in all a brilliant final segment, and thinking about it, definitely worth giving them the 20 minutes at the end of RAW.
One last thing about Rock/Cena, I think they should have made a slightly bigger deal about Rock wanting to be the greatest of all time by being the first guy to beat Hogan, Austin and Cena, instead of the ladyparts/transvestite wonder woman/barney's turd crap that we had to put up with. I would have been much more interested, and, now that I think about it, probably have been wanting The Rock to win if it had gone that way. Oh what could have been....
Ok so that's all for this week, I'll be on twitter during Wrestlemania so I'll be joining in with the crazy tweet barrage that happens. Until next week's blog, follow me on twitter if you're not already @TheOZMouthpiece and leave me a comment on here if you like, or dislike, or have something interesting to say.
Business.. is concluded.
January 3, 2012
I'm back babydolls!
Wow, I haven't written anything since Survivor Series. I'll admit, I kind of stopped caring about the wrestling stuff for a while there. Maybe it had something to do with Skyrim. Maybe it was because the product (with the exception of a few I'll mention in due course) sucked. Maybe a little of both.
I had thought that it would have been amazing if the first thing he actually said was something like "And that's how easy it is to control you people... you sheep.. you "insert big long jericho style word here".. you really think I'm here to please you??" Etc.
Either way, I'm back! I find the new year so exciting, the "Road To Wrestlemania" is beginning, it feels like the WWE always lifts it's programming up a notch or two in these months. Wouldn't it be great if it held to that standard for a whole year...
And then there's the returns. Wow.. so much to talk about. Where do I even begin...
I guess like any good return, it begins (see what i did there) with an intro. For those of you reading my page for the first time, I am the Aussie Mouthpiece. There you go, intro done.
Returns seem like a good place to start. Well, technically one return, and one re-imagining. I'm talking about Kane and *spoiler alert.. oh just go watch RAW already* Jericho.
So Kane first of all. I am a huge fan of "new Kane". I saw some people get all upset because he started talking and cut a long promo. Here's what I think about that. Kane is a great talker. Why would you want him not to use that to further storylines, and entertain you? What, just because he puts the mask on suddenly he's a mute again? He talked before he took his mask off in the first place. He also had facial hair. My point is, having him suddenly become silent again, would be a step backwards for his character.
The one thing that I think maybe needs to change (and this is just a purely aesthetic thing) is the design on his tights.. the bright yellow part of the flames and then everything else is red... it just looks a bit silly. A bit cartoony. Make it more subtle I think, because his character is coming across as a little unstable, and very dangerous and kind of psychotic. bright yellow does not reflect this image.
However the way Kane has been used since making his return has been great. The end of this week's RAW especially. I've always loved that slightly hokey, yet really "supernatural" style stuff that they've done with both he and Undertaker in the past. I hope they keep it up, and Kane gets a really good spot on the Wrestlemania card, and not just as part of a ladder match again.
And the other return. The one everyone's been talking about since that first It Begins video. The one everyone has speculated on.. is it Shane and Stephanie.. is it Y2J... is it Undertaker.. I think i saw that "is it Skip Sheffield"... Seriously? Skip Sheffield? I mean I've read this thing about this Ryback character.. but man.. I never really got it with that guy. Looked like a meathead, sounded like a meathead... but then Batista had a fairly good run with WWE so I guess that kind of person works for them.
But back to the It Begins clips. Amazing stuff. I was hooked from the first one. Trying to play them back in slow motion to get any kind of hint about who it might be. Part of me really didn't want it to be Jericho. Because it seemed so obvious. And that if it was him, the surprise would be lessened with the live crowd chanting his name and bringing signs.
I wanted it to be Undertaker. I think he is due for a change in character, especially to wind down his career. But in the end, I'm really glad it was Jericho.
Here's the rub though. How many people watched his return and felt like something was a little off, or hated it? Here comes the babyface Jericho and all he does for near 10 mins or something is pander to the crowd?
I'll admit it, I was of that mindset until about 5 minutes into it. Then I (like a few other people I've noticed) figured it out. He's not pandering, he's showing how easy it is to lead the crowd, to have them follow him. To make them sheep essentially. He had that entire place eating out of the palm of his hand for 10 mins. Brilliant.
And there were just a couple of subtle signs that he wasn't sincere. Don't get me wrong, the initial couple of minutes was all real as far as I can tell. Jericho has got to be happy to be back and get that kind of reaction. Who wouldn't want 15000 people cheering for them? But there were a couple of times where the smile faded, and you could see the "Best in the world at what he does" Jericho face.
I had thought that it would have been amazing if the first thing he actually said was something like "And that's how easy it is to control you people... you sheep.. you "insert big long jericho style word here".. you really think I'm here to please you??" Etc.
But I love the way this played out. The lack of talking makes people go .. "what...?" And more importantly, will make them tune in next week to see if he says anything.
As with most other people, I think that this is leading into a Punk/Jericho feud. Which I am more than happy with.
So those were the returns. But we've got some more returns happening in the near future I dare say. The biggest one being Undertaker of course. Which will probably happen after the Rumble, maybe at the Rumble depending on who he will be facing at mania. I really hope they don't go with HHH again. It's a totally different situation to Taker and HBK. There's really nothing more they can add to what Taker and HHH did last year. I would love to see Taker and Kane, I think with Kane's resurrection, it could make for a really interesting story, and really, a good way for Taker to go out (if that's what he's planning to do). 20-0 seems an appropriate number to retire on I think.
But really, it's still 3 months until Wrestlemania, and they have a ton of options.
Taker vs Sheamus (they would have to turn sheamus heel though)
Taker vs Cody Rhodes (doesn't make a lot of sense though, if Cody is still IC champ)
Taker vs Ziggler (I would like to see this as Ziggler rules, but I can't figure out the story behind it other than Ziggler saying "i can beat the streak".. and we've seen that a lot)
Taker vs CM Punk .. if they decide to go down a different road with Punk of course
And then by that logic, Taker vs Jericho. That would be an amazing match.
I'll even throw out there Taker vs HBK III ... So unlikely that it would happen, but it would still be amazing.
Ok I think i'll leave it there for now, I'm going to try to get back into this writing thing a lot more regularly. So I'll be back in a few days or a week or so to write about some of the other stuff that's been happening in the last few weeks. Like Cena still not turning heel. That's going to be a long blog.
Until then, follow me @TheOZMouthpiece on twitter and if you like what you've read, leave me a comment and check out my older posts.
Done.
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