In a Divas Division that is barely showcased on TV, females that have no originality and little wrestling ability, and matches that don't even get to 5 minutes, AJ Lee is definitely a breath of fresh air. Let's run through it.
Originality: Check. She's got her own style which gives her a cool factor and makes her likable whether she's a heel or a face.
In-ring ability: Check. She's one of the best female wrestlers on the WWE roster at this moment in my opinion.
Good mic skills: Check. Her promo with Stephanie McMahon a few months ago, and the way she buried the Divas roster that one RAW should say it all. She needs to cut down on that "crazy" thing. It needs to be more of an on/off thing rather than some strange tick.
Over as a heel/face: Check. She's probably the only Diva that gets a pop.
Looks: She's definitely a cutie. I don't think anybody can dispute that.
Plus, she's dating CM Punk (rumored.) Only flaw with her character, is her theme music. They have got to give her better music. What happened to the days when female wrestlers had rock music, or hip-hop as their themes and not stupidly generic pop music? I'm not sure if she's still skipping to the ring, or not, but if she is, she needs to stop.
But what is she missing? For starters, more exposure. Backstage promos, media appearances, longer matches, and consistent interaction with other Divas in the back. A heel Champion should play off their dominance over the rest of the roster since they're holding the top Championship of that Division. Gives her more Heat as a heel.
What else? A good feud with a person of equal mic work, style, and presence. I haven't been watching much NXT, but what I have heard are the two female wrestlers down there lighting it up.
Paige:
Paige is the exact opposite of all the Divas in the WWE. Her moniker is the "Anti-Diva" meaning she's in it for the wrestling and the right to be the Champion. She's not there to be a cover girl, or model trotting looking pretty for the cameras.
Basically, it's what they're trying to do with AJ, except Paige is doing is much better. She's younger, a better, more physical in-ring worker, got a great, dark style plus she's got a sweet accent.
Emma:
Emma on the other hand is silly, funny, cute, literally a bubbly personality (her entrance includes bubbles), but her in-ring work speaks for itself and is solid when it comes to promos.
You give any one of them to AJ and book it the right way, you've got some magic. Especially with Paige. Paige is a darker version of the Anti-Diva character AJ is portraying. I believe she's better than AJ on the mic and in the ring. Imagine the kind of feud these two can have.
How would I do it? Have Paige debut and attack AJ (if she's still with Tamina, I'd end that partnership), ending with her holding up the Divas Title. The next week, Paige comes out, introduces herself to the audience, and says she's been watching AJ for some time now. From then on, she runs her down for being a sham of an Anti-Diva and how Paige is everything she's not. She's the true Anti-Diva. Not there to make friends, look pretty for the cameras, etc. She's there to wrestle, win the Divas Championship and save the Division from itself. AJ comes out and attacks her and both women have to get pulled apart.
Right off the bat, you've established that Paige is a heel, the fans love AJ, so she can make the instant transition from heel to face, you've established a personal conflict and what the Divas Championship means. What I wrote isn't exactly perfect, but honestly, the story writes itself.
If it was up to me, it'd Paige challenging AJ for the Divas Championship at WrestleMania. An Anti-Diva vs an even darker Anti-Diva.
Both of these women can put on a good match, and if booked right, a feud with characters like this can ignite interest back into the Divas Division. The Divas Division hasn't been interesting since Trish feuded with Mickie James all the way back in 2006. Divas today have no flavor, no personality, aren't good wrestlers or talkers, the booking is horrid, and matches are short.
I don't know when they're bringing in Paige or Emma to the main roster, and even if they do, they won't have AJ drop the belt to either one so soon. If AJ does lose the belt, it'd be absolutely random. Natalya should be the one to take the belt off her. She's the best wrestler they've got, and is barely on TV, and when she is, gets jobbed out.
But it comes down to the booking. AJ has been holding the Divas Championship since June, but let's be honest, how many times has she actually defended it? Her title reign is flawed, inconsistent, and a sham. It's not on AJ, it's the booking. How can one be a fighting Champion if they have barely defended the title they're holding?
Just my two cents.
Here are some links to some Paige promos and a few matches between Paige and Emma. Feel free to check them out and broaden your horizons.
This is not a lie. This is not a fabricated story. Check Bleacher Report, check CBS Local, check any wrestling website that reports any sort of wrestling news, this is the real deal. CM Punk pulled a Stone Cold, and basically took his ball and went home. He straight up told Vince McMahon, "I'm going home."
CM Punk, the man who -- up until the Daniel Bryan craze -- was arguably THE most popular superstar in quite some time. He debuted in 2006, and held the WWE Championship for a year in 2011. The only problem is that his title reign was mostly in the mid card, while John Cena was taking the Main Event spots.
This is what I mean. You have a somewhat young talent like CM Punk that lit the world on fire with his promo back in 2011, you give him the WWE Championship for 1 year, but WWE didn't want to run with him as the man closing out each show. He was put in the middle of the show while John Cena main evented most of the pay-per-views. CM Punk was quite possibly the best talker on the mic in this PG Era and one of the only bright spots.
But I'm not going to bash Punk on this one. He was starting to get buried. Anybody with eyes could see that. You could even see it in his face. His promos were getting dull and lacking the same energy they used to, he looked he was just going through the motions at this point. It was honestly a matter of time. CM Punk knew what was going on. He knew what time it was. If I was getting the burial treatment when the man should still be in the Main Event scene over guys like Cena, Batista, and Orton, I'd pack up my bags and head out too.
This is an example of WWE keeping down popular superstars that people want to see and sticking people that we don't want to see in the main event spot. It's ridiculous. Unlike some people, I didn't hop on the CM Punk bandwagon in 2011, I was a fan of the man when first debuted in WWE's ECW program. Great talker & in ring worker, related to a lot of the fans, had his own style, etc. That's why he was so popular. He was "cool" and people loved him. But no, let's give him the company's Top Championship, put him in the middle of the show, and push people who's time was clearly up years ago.
I can tell he was getting frustrated at the amount of part-timers WWE had to bring back and the fact they were put in the Main Event scene right away. That's partly WWE's fault for not pushing their young guys properly. If they booked them right away and gave these guys pushes, they wouldn't have to bring back The Rock, Undertaker, Lesnar, Batista, etc. to get more people to watch. They are too dependent on the past and aren't spending enough time building for the future.
I'm not mad at you CM Punk. You do your thing. WWE severely misused this guy, didn't want to take a chance with him as the face of the WWE, and once he lost the belt, the burial process started. Now, he's gone. I don't know if he's gone for good, or if he's taking a vacation. I hope he's gone for good. WWE really doesn't deserve a talent like this guy.
Last Night on RAW, it was announced that Alberto Del Rio would be defending The World Heavyweight Championship against the returning John Cena.
You know, I've said this before, I don't personally hate Cena, it's the way he acts on TV and how he's booked. It has not even been 2 full months and already this guy is coming back. WWE had the chance to make such great headway in his absence and build up their stars, but they have done none of that. They had the chance to make good TV and focus on the rest of their roster rather than ONE person. They had the chance to make a good storyline between Bryan and Orton for a fresh Championship scene, but who's commanded the show and the feud? Triple H. I've said this before. I like old Triple H, like Attitude Era and around 2004-2005. But he is taking too much time of something that is none of his business taking away time from Orton and Bryan. He's trying to Mr. McMahon, but there is only ONE Vince McMahon.
And now here comes Cena and he'll be ALL OVER THE TV. And he'll eventually run into McMahon-Helmsley 2.0. and who will come out of that angle as a winner? John Cena. They can screw Daniel Bryan 3 pay-per-views in a row, but Cena will win once clean and clear and that will be the end of that. Here come the bad promos, cheesy and goofy disposition, CONSTANT reminder on commentary and throughout the show and all of the above.
I'm hoping that this is a cruel joke and that Vince is trolling all the Cena fans, but I really don't think he'd joke about something like this.
I have a theory about this. People are saying that RAW ratings and pay-per-view buy rates are going down because John Cena isn't there anymore. They could not be MORE WRONG. A combination of poor storylines, bad entertainment & promos, over saturation of certain characters, and horribly bad booking are why the ratings are going down. This was happening even when Cena was there.
But here's my theory. What if WWE is purposely making bad TV so they have a reason to bring back John Cena early? What if WWE is purposely sabotaging Daniel Bryan's push making him look weak so that John Cena returns as the conquering hero? Could they really stoop that low? I know the first one is a little far fetched, but I have no doubts about the second one.
WWE Officials even said, a week or so after Cena went out, that this the time for WWE Superstars to "step up" in Cena's absence. I guess they didn't step up enough and they have to bring Cena back because the creative team isn't competent enough to make up proper storylines to get characters over. I guess ONE WHOLE MONTH showed that WWE can't live without Cena. I guess having Triple H dominate the majority of the show is the WWE superstars not stepping up. WWE has no faith in their roster. That's the truth.
But it begs the question, why is Cena wrestling for the World Heavyweight Championship? I have two theories about this:
1) Maybe they want to make the World Title relevant and prestigious again, making John Cena the guy to do it. But let's be honest, the World Title hasn't been relevant in years. Del Rio hasn't been doing squat with the World Title and he himself hasn't looked like a dominant Champion even in the slightest. Him losing the title was way overdue, but this way? Ugh.
2) This is the first step in unifying the World Title and WWE Title. I've been hearing rumors about this for a while, but they were only that: Rumors. Cena vs Bryan or whoever, Title vs Title, Winner is Undisputed Champion. And take a wild guess who would win that match? If Cena wasn't injured and wasn't on his way to surgery, no way Bryan wins the title at Summerslam.
Hell in a Cell is just a couple weeks from now. The Countdown has begun. For the Cena fans, be proud, your hero is coming back. For the people, like me, that don't like Cena, just try to breathe and take it one day at a time. We still have Bray Wyatt, The Shield, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk, etc.
You remember the guy above? Dolph Ziggler? The guy who was on the midst of breaking out in the WWE. The guy who got one of the loudest pops I've ever heard when he won The World Title the night after WrestleMania. What happened to him?
Well, in cased you missed it...
Ziggler won the World Title the night after WrestleMania and got a HUGE pop!
A week into his title reign, he had a match on SmackDown where Jack Swagger's dumb ass botched a move and injured Ziggler. Because of this, he had to drop the belt and leave to heal up. Once he came back, Del Rio was The World Champion and slowly Ziggler fizzled out of the World Title picture. He's jobbing now and his push has been halted, or stopped, in my opinion. He jobbed to The Wyatt Family, jobbing to The Shield. The guy hasn't even had any air time to cut promos anymore. He's become nothing more than an afterthought now after being one of the hottest acts WWE had.
From what I've heard, the "Powers That Be" think that Dolph Ziggler can't draw, or put asses in the seats. Um...?
Dolph Ziggler had the World Title for ONE WEEK. We never had a chance to see what he could do with the belt until he got injured.
So, let me understand. The fans love Dolph Ziggler. Guys like me love seeing him wrestle, sell moves, take bumps, he's good on the mic, and we could argue that he puts asses in the seats as well. The man had everything to be the future of the company and they don't believe he can draw.
And yet, you have a guy like Alberto Del Rio. He's been a 2-time WWE Champion, 4 Time World Heavyweight Champion, Money in the Bank AND Royal Rumble Winner. He's gotten every chance to get over, and he STILL CAN'T. Even when he was a face, his reactions weren't that big. Ricardo Rodriguez gets more of a reaction than him. Del Rio gets almost little to no reaction when he comes out. And yet WWE still wants to keep the World Title on him. Why? Because they're trying to build up another Latino star cause they don't have one right now. Rey is on and off, Sin Cara has proven to be a bust in my opinion, and they have nobody else. Basically, they're trying to make the next Eddie Guerrero.
I'll say this, Del Rio is NO Eddie Guerrero. I'll get that out of the way right now. He can never be the superstar Eddie was. Secondly, they don't need to keep the belt on him to make the Latino star that they want. Del Rio is a good in-ring worker, (in my opinion, he could be a lot better) but he can't draw, or put asses in the seats. Yet, they keep the belt on him rather than a guy that people will ACTUALLY pay money to see in Dolph Ziggler.
This is the sort of thing I mean. How will we know if Ziggler could be "The Man" if he never gets the chance?
Look at The Miz in 2010. People thought his title run would fail, but it was damn good. Miz made that WWE Title look better than it had been in previous years. He was a great Heel Champion. WWE let him run with the ball and he was getting interviews, appearing on Talk Shows, doing all the things your WWE Champion should do. He even beat their Golden Boy, John Cena, in the Main Event at WrestleMania. If WWE had taken the belt off Miz the week after he won the title, we wouldn't have seen how effective his heel run as Champion would have been.
In Ziggler's defense, he was injured 1 week into his title reign, so we never had a chance to see how he would be booked with that title. You could also argue that when Ziggler was injured, he was ripping into the WWE via Twitter during RAW, and maybe that upset the officials. Whatever.
I think it's BS that Ziggler is getting the short end of the stick here. And you have a guy like Del Rio getting the push that anybody else could be getting.
Who knows when Ziggler will be back to the status he was around WrestleMania Season. WWE has butchered Ziggler so badly, I don't think he ever will.
Ok, I've been wanting to talk about this for a LONG time, but I needed to do my homework and really look up a lot of stuff before I came on here and talked about this.
Judging by the picture, you know who I'm talking about: The current face of the WWE, John Cena.
Fair warning, this will be a LONG post, so be prepared. Have some snacks or something ready.
Ok, before I start, let me be very clear about something. I don't hate John Cena the person. For all I know, he's a great guy. Off camera, he looks like someone you can chill out and have a beer with. I'm not one of those guy who ALWAYS hated Cena. I liked the old Cena, but I'll get into that later. I absolutely detest the current John Cena. Why? I'll explain in detail.
1. He's not a great in-ring worker.
- Cena is not as good as people make him out to be. Back in 2004-2005 when Cena was smaller, he could move around quicker and put on decent matches. Now, he's bigger, a lot bulkier and you could argue that he's sloppy in the ring, botches alot, can't take bumps well, can't sell moves, awkwardly executes moves, and constantly needs to get carried by better wrestlers that make him look passable, i.e. Punk, Bryan, HHH, HBK, Edge, etc.
I also hate that these "sheep" say that Cena's match with Punk was the best main event in RAW History? Are you kidding? Constant nearfalls do not make a great match. You want great RAW Main Events? Here's a list:
The Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy: Ladder Match for the WWE Championship in 2003.
Razor Ramon vs 1-2-3 Kid. RAW 1993.
Triple H & Stone Cold vs Benoit & Jericho for the WWF Tag Team Championship. May 2001.
10 Man Tag Team Match: The Rock, Cactus Jack, Too Cool & Rikishi vs Triple H, X-Pac, Benoit, Malenko & Saturn. May 2000.
Some of you really need to wake up and smell the coffee on this topic.
2. He can't cut good promos.
- I hate when people say Cena is "great" on the mic. Back in the Attitude Era, Golden Era, hell even the Ruthless Aggression Era superstars were allowed to improv more. This is what people don't understand. In those days, wrestlers could go out there and improv as long as they followed bullet points. It was natural and it all flowed. This is why NOBODY in this current era can match wits on the mic with anybody from other eras. They would have to break character to keep up with them. Like Punk and Cena did with The Rock. It's not hard to attack somebody when you break character. Cutting promos IN CHARACTER showed how truly good you were.
Don't believe me? They had to tone down The Rock so they could build up Cena. They had to have Rock write on his wrist so Cena could have some ammo to attack with him. Rock memorizes movie lines for a living. You really think he has to write a promo on his wrist? The Rock is Mr. Improv. Give him a mic and it's magic. I still find it funny how people say Cena owned The Rock. If you REALLY THINK that THIS John Cena would own Prime Attitude Era Rock, then you're delusional. Usually I say, in my opinion, but this is just a fact.
Need more proof? Check out the video below. You'll see how inferior CM Punk looked next to Stone Cold.
Back on topic, Cena's promos sound dull, he sounds robotic, he doesn't sell what his opponent says, sounds like he literally read his promo before he walked out, he's not funny, and he goes off tangents. When somebody cuts a promo on him, he mentions the Make-A-Wish kids. What does that have to do with a wrestling match for the WWE Championship? If Cena's character was attacked in a promo, then that's a different story. But he mentions that constantly. We KNOW you do this, you don't need to mention it in EVERY promo to remind people you're a good guy. WE GET IT. He constantly has to mention that he busts his ass night in, night out like he's the ONLY person who does it. Everybody travels, everybody goes overseas too.
It's ok to tell a story on the mic, but you have to bring it back to the match. Cena doesn't do that. He'll go off topic and stay off topic.
You wanna know how bad John Cena is? Check it out.
3. He lacks seriousness.
- When you're in the ring and you're selling a match for a ppv and you're in a mic exchange with somebody, you have to sell the opponent. When somebody is in your face and says, "I'm gonna whip your ass and take your title" you don't stand there with this goofy smile on your face, you stare him down with a serious face and give him your undivided attention and let him know you're listening to every word he's saying. If you smile and laugh, you're not taking the promo, the match, or your opponent seriously. Cena use to take things seriously back in the day, nowadays, he just smiles and doesn't sell his opponent in the ring and it infuriates me.
Have you seen when Cena tries to get serious now? It's fake and forced. Looks horrible.
You wanna talk about not selling your opponent? Go back to John Cena vs Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules last year. Brock Lesnar beat him and bloodied him for around 20-25 minutes and what happens? Cena literally wins with TWO moves and then he cuts a promo? HUH?!?! If I got beatdown for 30 minutes or something at the hands of a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, with blood covering my face, I certainly wouldn't be on my feet 2 minutes afterwards talking normally. I would need to be carried out on a stretcher. That had to be one of the most disgraceful things I've ever seen. No wonder why Brock was pissed backstage afterwards.
4. HE MAIN EVENTS EVERY SINGLE PAY-PER-VIEW.
- This is a major one for me. There is such a thing as over-saturation. John Cena is a major reason why WWE is failing. He's in EVERY SINGLE MAIN EVENT and WINS. It gets to a point that that you know what will happen. Cena always wins, so why waste your time watching? The unpredictability factor is out the window because you know in the end, Cena always wins.
Did Stone Cold main event and win every match? No.
Did The Rock main event and win every match? No.
Why? Because seeing the same thing time and time again, gets boring and repetitive and turns the viewer off to the product. The more you change it up, the more you keep people hooked. Seeing this guy main event every match and then win every match is annoying. People love seeing the hero rise, fall and get his vengeance on the villain in the end. If the hero is constantly winning, there's no conflict or threat to him and there's no way he can ever be beaten, what's the point? Even Superman was defeated. Well, sort of. There's a difference between looking dominant and looking invincible.
Then, when you build somebody up and you feed him to Cena, it kills any chance of that person making it. Look at Ryback, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mark Henry, CM Punk, etc. If you build somebody up just to have him job out Cena, it makes the build look utterly useless if he doesn't win in the end.
And stop saying Cena puts people over. Triple H let Shelton Benjamin beat him. The Rock let THE HURRICANE of all people beat him. When Cena puts over Santino or something, come back to me.
5. His character is stale.
- John Cena has dressed the same, had the same music, same character and said the same nonsense for about 6 years now. There's a time when you have to change it up and keep your character fresh.
Great example? Chris Jericho. Every time he came back, he had a new gimmick to keep his character fresh. He said it himself. He doesn't want his character to get stale so before he comes back, he brainstorms about what he can do to keep himself fresh and not be stale.
Hulk Hogan got a little stale and what happened? He turned heel and became Hollywood Hulk Hogan and formed the nWo, the New World Order.
You need to change up your character. Cena hasn't done it. This is why we same, "Same old sh**" Well, that's why I say it anyway.
If you're over and people love you, don't change a thing. But if people start to boo you because you just suck, it's time to change things up and find a new way to get over.
Cena has said himself he doesn't want to change his character or turn heel just to please 30 year olds. Um....ok?
This is The John Cena I personally miss:
THIS John Cena was a decent in-ring worker on his own, had a cool factor, he took things seriously, didn't make dumb, corny jokes, but would rap and run his opponents down.
This begs the question: WHY is John Cena the Face of the WWE? Is it because he's good on the mic? No. Is it because he's a good wrestler? No, because he's not. Is it because he's entertaining? No, because he's not even close. Well, not anymore anyway.
He's the Face of the WWE, because, for lack of a better term, he's the "safe" pick. I personally think he became the face off of sheer luck, but I'll get into that later. But let me explain why he's the safe pick. Let's take a look at some top guys that worked out, and some that didn't work out:
Bret Hart: Push him as the face, what does he do? Leaves and goes to WCW.
Shawn Michaels: Push him as the face and what happens? He becomes a liability backstage, and had a minor drug problem, from what I heard.
The Rock: I'll let this video explain.
Chris Jericho: Where do I even start? This guy was MEGA over when he first debuted, but a combination of being held down by Triple H and unpredictability in scheduling because of his band Fozzy didn't make things any better.
Booker T: Over with the fans, but was held down by Triple H. Look up their match from WrestleMania 19. The ending of that match alone should explain it all.
Randy Orton: When he became face in 2004, WWE should've pulled the trigger on that and made him the face, but soon after his Legend Killer gimmick, he was getting injured, failing wellness policies and his name is almost always mentioned backstage, sometimes negatively among superstars.
Rob Van Dam: Not a great talker, but a great in-ring worker. He was WWE Champion and ECW Champion AT THE SAME TIME around Summer of 2006, but what does he do? He gets caught by the police with weed in his car and ruins his shot. Next week, he loses both belts in the same week.
Chris Benoit: Do I even need to explain?
Eddie Guerrero: When he was WWE Champion in 2004, he was OVER with the crowd. People loved this guy so much and could've carried WWE into the future, but his death in 2005 halted all of that. It's a shame because he was supposed to win the World Title around the time of his death. RIP Eddie.
Rey Mysterio: I personally don't have an issue with Rey. I personally think WWE botched the booking of his World Title run in 2006, so it's not all his fault. But once they WWE knew Rey was a lost cause, they moved on.
Jeff Hardy: This is a BIG one. Jeff Hardy was arguably more popular than Cena around 2008-2009. The women and kids loved him, dressing like him, putting on his make-up, buying his merchandise and loved his overall laid back, risk taker personality. THIS is the guy that could've taken Cena's spot easy. What happened? Drugs. WWE constantly tried to get him help, but whenever he did, he would just go to his old habits. Sold more merch, was more loved than Cena, but was too much of a liability.
Jeff Hardy is fine now, but how bad was he? Check it out.
CM Punk: Oh yeah. This is one I want to talk about. His pipebomb promo generated so much buzz that radio stations and ESPN were talking about it. Punk was THE MAN. But what does WWE do? They make him the WWE Champion for A WHOLE YEAR, and didn't main event a pay-per-view unless it was with Cena, or if Cena was injured. Punk outsold Cena in merchandise the year he was Champion and was more over than Cena ever was.
When Kurt Angle was WWF Champion, he was main eventing over The Rock and Stone Cold. When The Rock became the face during Stone Cold's injury, even when Austin came back, Rock was still main eventing over Stone Cold. He never took a backseat. You could argue that Rock was even getting bigger pops even when Austin came back.
How do you expect people to take someone seriously if you don't push him as such? I understand once in a while, there's a storyline bigger than the WWE Championship, but it makes no sense how the WWE Champion doesn't close out the show for SIX MONTHS out of his 1 year reign as Champion. Especially at WRESTLEMANIA.
WrestleMania 18: The Rock vs Hulk Hogan was arguably a HUGE match, but did it Main Event WrestleMania? No. Triple H vs Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Championship did.
WrestleMania 19: The Rock vs Stone Cold, HBK vs Y2J, Hogan vs McMahon. ALL were bigger storylines than either WWE Championship or World Title matches that were on the card, but did any of them close the show out? No. The WWE Championship Match did. That speaks VOLUMES about how valuable and prestigious the WWE Championship used to be.
WrestleMania 25: The Undertaker vs HBK had Match of the Night and The Streak was highly regarded then. Did they Main Event? No. Triple H vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship did.
Once again, WWE dropped the ball on this one. They put him a feud with Triple H which killed his steam, turned him into a corny, cookie-cutter face instead of letting him go out there and be CM Punk and kept putting Cena over him. Once again, you want a new face? PUT HIM IN THE MAIN EVENT and push him as such.
Edge: If it was up to me, Edge would've been THE MAN. The Rated-R Superstar was one of the most over characters in the WWE. Edge could draw, he was a great wrestler, he was absolutely dynamite on the mic and he was just a complete character. He could get it done as face and heel. He held the WWE Championship in January 2006 for 3 weeks and lost it to Cena. He held the belt again in Summer of 2006 for 2 months and lost it to who? Cena. Why he was never the man boggles the mind.
Brock Lesnar: Said it himself that he's just in it for the money. Had he not left after WrestleMania 20, Cena wouldn't have been rushed to the top like he was.
Batista: I saved this guy for last for a reason. These two were pushed to the top at the same time. At WrestleMania 21, Cena won the WWE Championship and Batista won the World Title. Now, this is what happened, around Fall of 2005, Batista got injured and had to relinquish The World Title. Batista was involved in the bigger storylines, was getting bigger pops, was better on the mic, and had a cool factor that John Cena lacked. Cena was slowly turning into the Cena that people grew to hate. Batista pretty much explains it in this promo.
You could argue that during the time of Batista's injury, Vince pushed Cena and by the time Batista healed up and got back it was too late to pick up where he left off. Cena was the man and Batista was just there, fluttering, until he became WWE Champion for a short time in 2010. Some of his best work in my opinion. But then towards the end of his career, Batista became uninterested in the WWE and hated the PG Era direction WWE was headed towards.
There you have it, if not for some lucky breaks, injuries, and mitigating circumstances, Cena would not be the Face of the WWE. Vince keeps him there because he TRUSTS him.
Cena won't get caught with weed in his car, won't get hooked on drugs, he won't put WWE on the news in a negative fashion, and he won't leave and pursue other careers, he's marketable and the kids love him. That's really about it. He's not the face because he's the best. He's the face because he's the most trustworthy, and he'll do what he's told because he's a good little boy. There's a lot of politics involved too. Cena keeps people down halts pushes too.
Remember Alex Riley? Let me share a story with you. Cena was making fun of Riley backstage in front of the whole roster (I believe because of a bad botch he had in a match) and Riley defended himself. What happened? Well, you don't see him on TV anymore, do you? Way to Be-A-Star Cena.
I also laugh when people say Cena would never leave the company to act or do something else. Remember Cena's rap album? It bombed. Remember when Cena tried to do movies? It bombed. When nothing else worked, he remained in the WWE. I GUARANTEE you if Cena proved to be a good actor, he would leave the WWE and pursue a career in acting. You can't tell me otherwise.
Again, you can like who want to like. You like Cena? More power to you. I'm not walking in your house and telling you stop watching Cena, he sucks. I voice my opinions.
I laugh when people say nobody can take Cena's spot. WHAT? Vince doesn't give people a chance. Back in the day, Vince would go with who's hot and it would work. There's something you guys don't understand. Back then, when it was somebody's time, IT WAS THEIR TIME. When it was HBK's time, it was his time. When it was Stone Cold's time, it was his time. The same goes for Rock, Triple H, Angle, Lesnar, Eddie, and you could even go back to Macho Man. Nowadays, when it's somebody's time, Vince either doesn't push him or he feeds him to Cena and begins their de-push. Look at what Punk is doing. Fluttering. Look at Daniel Bryan. You actually think that when Cena comes back, Bryan will still be in that spot? Don't hold your breath. If Vince wanted to, Bryan and Punk would've been those guys long ago and Cena would be the veteran who puts the young guys over. Like what Jericho is doing. But no. Cena continues to be shoved in our face. 8 years on top is long enough!
When Cena leaves, WWE will be screwed. Why? Because they aren't building stars for the future. The whole company revolves around Cena and everybody else is there. Nobody is being groomed to be the man because Vince won't allow it. He put all his chips in with Cena and more people are turned off to it. When Rock, Austin and others were main eventing, you always had a backup plan. You had backup guys like Jericho, Benoit, Angle, etc. who were over and could take that spot in case things didn't work out. Vince use to put effort into building up his midcard, but now? ONE GUY just dominates the entire show and nobody else gets built up.
I can already hear some ignorant people saying, "If you don't like it, don't watch it hater! Cena iz da best! Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. Cena 4Lyfe!" First of all, shut up. Secondly, people throw the term "hater" around too damn much these days. If you don't like what somebody else likes, you're a hater? That makes sense. I guess people can't have differing opinions without being labeled as a hater. If you hate on someone, or something just to hate on it with no reason why, THEN you're a hater. If you explain why, then it's your opinion. Simple common sense. Moving on.
I've been a fan of the WWF/E since I was 7 years old. The first episode of RAW I watched was the Austin/Tyson confrontation. Hooked ever since. I remember how good wrestling USED to be. I still watch because I hope and I pray that WWE can get back to the way they used to be. The rate they're going now, that's a long ways away. WWE can't be edgy without Parents complaining or kids getting offended. It's sad to see what WWE has become.
Ok, real quick, I wanna talk about this. This is one of the dumbest things I think ever seen. Apparently, Cable companies are offering refunds to their customers over how Night of Champions ended and just how bad the overall pay-per-view actually was.
I'm about to go on rant mode, so bear with me.
WWE has been on a bad ppv stretch for quite some time, but that's cause the product today is trash. But there have been LOADS of pay-per-views worse than this. Even dating back to other eras, I'm sure pay-per-views didn't end the way the paying fans had wanted, but even then they never asked for refunds just because they didn't like how the show ended.
I'll give you an example. Iron Man 3. I won't give it away, but there's a certain twist in that movie that pissed A LOT of fans off, but not once did I see people asking for refunds or some other nonsense. And shame on the Cable companies for being so weak and giving in to these ignorant people. I don't believe they'd even be so childish to ask for them because they were unsatisfied. How many times do people ask for ticket refunds for a movie cause it was awful, or the hero died at the end or something? I guarantee you won't find many.
Like I said there've been pay-per-views worse than this. Shows like: WWE Payback, WWE Extreme Rules, remember ECW December to Dismember in 2007? How about Over The Limit 2011 & 2012, how about that GOD AWFUL WrestleMania 27? How about any pay-per-view that John Cena has main evented and won? Oh yeah, people are upset, but I don't think they'd would go the length and ask for a refund. We could even discuss Night of Champions from last year too where the finish was so sloppy, messy, and poorly executed.
There've been pay-per-views where people haven't liked how the show ended. How about the people that were bitching and moaning when The Rock beat CM Punk for the WWE Title? They were pissed, but they didn't ask for any refunds. There were people upset when Triple H beat The Rock at WrestleMania 2000. No refunds. How about Survivor Series 1999 when Stone Cold was taken out of the Triple Threat main even for the WWF Championship? Any refunds? Nope.
In my opinion, this is absolutely ridiculous. Today's society never ceases to amaze me. After all the nonsense WWE has done the past year, NOW people ask for a refund? Get outta here. And then to complain because the title was then stripped from Bryan the night after. Do you people have ANY IDEA how many times that's been done?
I swear, this kind of thing makes me angry. It makes no sense and it makes the customers look so childish and stupid.
My two cents. I apologize for the ranting and judgment. I honestly hope none of you are that stupid.
After a rather long hiatus, The Sports Monarchy Dynamic Duo is back looking to expand our horizons and achieve greater heights. We're back to talk NFL, NBA, WWE, TNA, and once in a while we'll go off topic and discuss movies and music.
For the first topic back, I want to talk about something that's been irritating me: Namely, this Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton storyline. When Triple H screwed Daniel Bryan out of the WWE Championship at Summerslam and sided with Randy Orton, the Attitude Era fan in me was excited to see a Corporation 2.0 and how they would do it. But they messed it up. ROYALLY. Shocker. Last night was the first time that I was interested to see where this angle goes next.
The night after Summerslam, Orton should've come out in a Suit and Tie and cut a nice, lengthy promo on why he did what he did. Instead, Triple H talked for 10 minutes and Orton had something along the lines of 2 sentences.
And that brings me to my main problem with this storyline: Triple H. I was a big Triple H fan in the Attitude Era, but him taking center stage in a feud that is supposed to be about Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan is beginning to get on my nerves. Randy Orton is the Corporate sellout. He should be coming out cutting promos in a suit and tie telling the people what he thinks about them and how he is everything Daniel Bryan isn't. But Triple H is doing the bulk of the talking and Orton is getting no chance to garner heat on his own. The feud is now Daniel Bryan vs Triple H and Orton is just in the background. Orton's not even the WWE Champion anymore!
In 1998, when they ran this Corporation Angle with The Rock. Yes, the premise was Mr. McMahon getting the belt of Stone Cold and onto somebody who he felt was "worthy" of wearing it, namely The Rock. But Mr. McMahon never did ALL the talking for The Rock. The Rock was able to cut promos and gain heat on his own. Not one time did The Rock become an afterthought in an angle that was about him selling out to become the WWF Champion. Randy Orton became an afterthought long ago.
Also, RAW didn't end 4 weeks straight with Austin getting his ass handed to him by The Corporation.
The build to their match at Night of Champions was horrible. Instead of building a proper story and balancing out Bryan and Orton getting the upper hand on each other, it was Bryan getting laid out EVERY SINGLE WEEK. Your challenger is supposed to look strong to feel like he has a shot against the dominant Champion. But instead, he looked weak heading into this match. Still over, still sympathetic, but weak.
I personally believe it was too early for Bryan to win the WWE Championship anyway. Having the fast count ref as a fail safe in case Orton lost was cool, but executed a little poorly. Orton should've beat Bryan one-on-one in classic heel fashion. Striking him with the belt, or low blow followed by RKO. Orton retains in heel fashion, but Bryan doesn't lose any steam.
But no, Bryan had to get stripped of the title. Bryan is a two time WWE Champion and he hasn't even held the belt for a full day. The booking of the WWE Championship is absolutely horrid. But last night was a glimmer of hope that they're gonna put this angle on the right track.
Since the WWE Championship is vacated, this is what I would personally do:
Triple H comes out announces there will be a Deadly Game Tournament at Survivor Series to crown a new WWE Champion. For those unfamiliar, The Deadly Game Tournament was used in 1998 and was a 1 night tournament to crown a new Champion because the title was vacated around that time as well.
ALL are able to compete except for Daniel Bryan. Triple H then strikes Bryan a deal. It'll be Daniel Bryan vs Triple H at the October ppv. If Bryan wins, he's in the tournament. He loses, Bryan never gets a shot at the title again. Bryan beats Triple H, gets in the tournament, faces Randy Orton in the Tournament Finals and beats him to FINALLY win the WWE Championship.
The angle literally writes itself. But somehow, WWE will find a way to mess this up. Hopefully, they get things right sooner or later.
This poor excuse of this new Corporation, McMahon-Helmsley Era rehash, or whatever it is they're doing is losing steam. It had initial appeal, but repetition and having ONE guy taking the bulk of the storyline and making the anti-authority character look WEAK is dragging it down.
They need to pick it up and make this thing interesting.
My two cents.
By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete
Also, we'll be launching a Youtube page very soon for Vlog posts and discussions on a variety of topics. It may take a little time, but this is just the beginning!
WrestleMania. The biggest show in WWE's industry. The showcase of Immortals. Let's see how the show went. BIG crowd. BIG arena. LITTLE hype.
Pre-Show:
The Pre-Show was pretty damn good. Reminded me of Sunday Night Heat. An hour long, covering all the matches, and we have a panel now. This Scott Sanford guy, Jim Ross (who should be commentating), Kofi Kingston, and The "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Wade Barrett (c) vs The Miz
Not much of a feud between these two, but these two had a nice little match. Back and forth and not much lagging or lull in the action. I'm not a fan of the characters, but I know Barrett and Miz can go in the ring. A short match to set the pace, and Miz wins with the figure four. Miz is the new IC Champion like I called.
The Pre-Show closed with one last look at The Rock and John Cena.
Not a bad Pre-Show. I remember when they had Sunday Night Heat before each pay-per-view in the Attitude Era showing promo packages highlighting the main feuds and I loved that. This was a nice little show to get everybody hyped and ready for WrestleMania. JR and Kofi were the two best commentators/analysts. I would've preferred it was just those two to be honest.
And now, on to WrestleMania!
WrestleMania 29:
No celebrity singing the National Anthem. We instead get a video covering Hurricane Sandy. Ok? Moving on.
We get a pretty sweet video package and it's time to get this show started!
6 Man Tag Team Match Randy Orton, Sheamus, & The Big Show vs The Shield
WrestleMania kicks off with the The Shield taking on Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus. The fans were HOT for The Shield. Everything about these guys is great. I've said it on many occassions, so I won't repeat myself. I'll get to the match.
Definitely one of The Shield's shorter matches, but you don't want a LONG opener for WrestleMania, so this match was satisfying. The Shield looked great in their Mania debut. They kept that fast pace and quick tags. Rollins looked like he took one too many flying moves because when went for a suicide dive, he looked he flew right into the barricade.
Show was in for a while, but Sheamus was the best member of that team. He brought it tonight. The ending saw Orton reaching out and stealing a tag from Show and that was a theme in this match. Orton didn't want to tag Big Show. Reigns hit his HUGE spear on Orton and Ambrose got the cover and win while Show didn't do anything.
After the match, Show knocked out both Orton and Sheamus because he literally only got ONE tag in the match. Specifically, it was Orton who didn't want to tag him in. So, this whole time, I thought Orton would turn heel, but he sort of did. He acted a little heelish to a Big Show who was trying to be good.
Maybe a Show/Orton feud in the works?
All in all, The Shield looked great in their WrestleMania debut and scored a strong win over Show, Sheamus, and Orton. It was a decent opener missing a little something, but a good match to get the crowd riled up. Maybe now, The Shield can move on to other things. Sheamus can move on. Show will probably go on to feud with Orton after tonight.
But what does The Shield move on to? They've beaten every top star in the WWE? Where is this going? We'll have to wait and see.
Ryback vs Mark Henry
This is one of the matches I was looking forward and I was underwhelmed.
Love Mark Henry. His attitude, theme music and Monster gimmick. Ryback was supposed to be his Kryptonite, but didn't look like it here.
The started with a staredown and got it on. Mark Henry dominated pretty much the whole match, making Ryback look very weak in the bulk of the match.
Here's where I get confused. Ryback start to build momentum and hits the meat hook clothesline. He gets him up for the Shellshock, but Henry grabs the rope, Ryback crumbles under the weight and falls and Henry gets the win. What?
But then Ryback hits the Shellshock and celebrates. He didn't win the match. Yeah, he looks strong, but HE DIDN'T WIN THE MATCH. Ryback has jobbed the last 5 pay-per-views. I'm not a big Ryback fan, but constantly losing makes him look very weak.
That was bad. Really one sided and Ryback didn't get the win. And they were pushing him as one of the top faces? He needs to WIN some pay-per-view matches first.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match Team Hell No (c) vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston (w/AJ Lee)
Tag Team Championship Match for the first time in 3 years. I was excited to see this match. I was hoping Team Hell No dropped the belts, but boy was I wrong.
The match itself was another short one. Bryan and Ziggler worked a bulk of the match. Big E. looked strong in his debut. He manhandled Kane and when he was in, he displayed a lot of power moves. I'm not a fan of this guy yet, but he could grow on me.
I like the tease they did with Bryan/Ziggler/AJ. They were trying to do to Ziggler what Sheamus did to Bryan last year. That was funny. I would've been legit upset if the match ended there.
Not much to say with this match. It was a good match, don't get me wrong. I felt like it could've been a little longer. Too short, and seemed rushed. Kane and Bryan double team Ziggler and Bryan picks up the win after a flying headbutt.
Team Hell No wins and retains the tag titles. Ok, I like Team Hell No. I really do, but their tag team title reign has gotten very stale. This was a fresh feud for the tag team scene, and I really thought Ziggler and Big E. were going to walk away with the belts, but I guess WWE still wants Team Hell No to parade around with the tag titles. I hope this feud isn't over. I would like to see these two teams feud a little more.
Chris Jericho vs Fandango
The WrestleMania debut for FANDANGO and he's taking on Chris Jericho. Fandango had a pretty cool entrance with multiple exotic dancers. Fancy entrance for a guy who's making his debut at WrestleMania.
I was excited to see this match and it didn't disappoint. Jericho dominated a bulk of the match, but when Fandango got it going, he pulled off some great moves. The kid sold moves well, when he countered Jericho, he hit a great kick, and he can get some air when he wants to. I thought it was over when he hit that legdrop. Jericho wasn't going to be outdone hitting the spot of the match with a BIG cross body on the outside.
Something I liked about this match is that it had a fast pace to it. When they moved slow, it wasn't for the whole match, it would be for a little while. These two guys put on a show in that ring and told a good story. It was physical, fast, and had a good pace. Not too long, or short. Great match. Ending saw Fandango counter Jericho and get him into a small package for the upset win. It could'be been executed better, but it was nice that the upstart heel got the win over the top face.
Not surprised here in the least to be honest. Who didn't think Fandango would win? For a guy who's first match was at WrestleMania, I say he did a damn good job. It also helped that he had a guy like Chris Jericho to work with. The ending was VERY sloppy, but the rest of the match was good.
I don't think this feud is over. I'm not sure how long Jericho is around for after tonight, but if he's sticking around for a while, I would love to see this feud continue.
Match of the Night so far for me. I may be biased because I like this Fandango guy, but this was still a good match.
For all the people complaining about Jericho losing, he's back to PUT PEOPLE OVER. Get over it. It's his job. You can't build new stars by having them lose. Jericho is being a company guy.
World Heavyweight Championship Match Alberto Del Rio (c) vs Jack Swagger
The World Heavyweight Championship didn't last 18 seconds this year. Good start. Jack Swagger got a jobber entrance. As in, we didn't get to see him even enter the ring. I knew then, he wasn't going to win.
I'll keep this brief. The crowd was dead, but the match was pretty solid to me. It seemed sluggish and lagged at times, but it kept a consistent pace and we got to see a little interaction with Zeb Coulter and Ricardo on the outside. I really can't say much about this match. It was a good, solid match with one cool spot where Del Rio countered the ankle lock into his cross arm breaker. That was a great reversal. Never seen somebody counter the ankle lock like that before. Del Rio and Swagger wrestled as good as they could, but in the end, it felt like I was watching a SmackDown Main Event.
It's a shame. I had high hopes for this match. Don't get me wrong, it was good. I just felt like more could've been done with it.
Del Rio retains and Ziggler does NOT cash in. Told ya.
The Undertaker vs CM Punk
Most of the hype was on this match. A LOT of people were calling this the match of the show. I thought it was going to be slow and methodical, but I was blown away. Taker maybe an old man, but he can still work a damn good match and move like he's around his 30s.
This match started off fast and the crowd was HOT. Some of what Punk did in this match reminded me of what Randy Orton did in his match Undertaker at WrestleMania 21. He slapped Taker a few times to set the tone and get him riled up. They took it to the outside where Taker beat him down and dominated the early goings in this match. Taker missed a big boot in the corner and Punk took advantage. He hit a great crossbody, did old school, and dominated the latter parts of this match. They went back and forth a few times, but ultimately, they wanted to make Punk look dominant for most of this match and this man was good. Punk hasn't wrestled in a while, so I forgot how good he actually is in the ring.
Let's move on a little bit. Punk tries to pull a Shane McMahon later in the match hit an elbow from the turnbuckle to Taker on the announce table. Unfortunately for them, the tables don't break as easily as they used to. The ref gets knocked out and Punk uses the urn to drop the Undertaker. Punk does Undertaker's pin much like HHH at WrestleMania 27 and he kicks out! Taker hits the Tombstone and Punk kicks out! I gotta admit, I'm not a fan of the whole kicking out of finishers thing except when it's at WrestleMania.
CM Punk goes for the GTS one last time, but Taker comes back with a sweet reversal and hits the Tombstone for the 2nd time. 1, 2, 3!
21-0.
THAT is now Match of the Night. It's gonna be a tough act to follow without question. The pace in this match was so well done. Taker proved he can still work a good match at his age and Punk showed he can hang with The Deadman. This was a great match. BUT Taker vs HHH in Hell in a Cell last year was better, and there no point where I said, "OMG IT'S OVER!" but this was a great match for those who said Taker didn't have it anymore. I'll put this in Taker's top 10. Maybe.
This match really reminded me of Orton vs Taker at WrestleMania 21. Go back and watch that match. You'll see I'm right. Only difference here is the crowd was better and the match was longer.
The Streak will never die. Is Taker done? After tonight, he can probably do this for one more year or two. I heard Punk was going to take time off so I'm not sure if he'll be on RAW tomorrow night.
This will be a tough act to follow.
No Holds Barred Triple H vs Brock Lesnar
This was the match I thought would be match of the night, but it didn't really live up to what I thought.
This was a GREAT brawl, but I expected a little more from it. There was a lack with weapon use. They barely used the chairs and HHH only used the sledgehammer ONCE. It started out fast and Lesnar suplexed HHH through the announce table that Punk tried to break earlier. I liked the story they built. Lesnar is a Monster so I'm not surprised that he dominated almost the whole match. I think it would've been better that instead of punishing him with wrestling holds, it would've been more suitable in a No Holds Barred Match to punish him with weapons, make him bleed, make him suffer. This is what this match needed.
Anyway, it picked up more towards the end when Brock Lesnar introduced the steps into the match hitting Triple H with them twice. Triple H came back and tried to use Brock Lesnar's submission move to beat him and Lesnar powered out of it THREE times, showing how strong he is. It would've been pretty weak to make Lesnar, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, TAP OUT to his own submission move.
Triple H hits the pedigree on the steps for the win over Lesnar. Not too surprised there.
Great brawl. I'll say that. It towed the line between wrestling and brawling. Lesnar dominated the match to push his Monster gimmick so that HHH could stage that comeback. The fans were drained from Taker/Punk so they didn't get loud until the closing moments of this match. It got good and they turned it up. As a old school guy, I needed to see more violence in this match. It seemed too laid back and normal for a No Holds Barred match. The match told a great story, but more violence, adds to that story. Great match though. I'm not taking anything away from the match. They worked their asses off. Just expected a little more.
8 Person Intergender Tag Team Match Tons of Funk & The Funkadactyls vs Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins
The match didn't happen. All 8 of them got hosed. Poor Damien Sandow. Moving on.
WWE Championship Match The Rock (c) vs John Cena
No special entrances for either men and no last minute hype/sell right before the match. Interesting.
Right off the bat, the crowd was a dud for a good portion of the match. The match started out much slower than last year. They spent like 5-10 minutes in the feeling out process trying to get the upper hand on each other. The crowd was bored. I liked the storytelling early on, but they spent just a tad bit too much time on it. It took a while for the match to really get going. There were a lot of holds and a very slow, methodical pace. And no, it wasn't because Rock was gassed. It's called selling. Sheesh.
Let's get to the part where the crowd woke up. Cena was going for the 5 knuckle shuffle and the crowd exploded with boos. Rock counters and goes for the People's Elbow and the crowd erupts! From that point on, it was an endless number of reversals, near falls, kicking out of finishers, and etc. Too much for me to even go into. I do know that Cena kicked out of THREE Rock Bottoms. THREE. Sheesh. I knew that only one thing could make this match better: Using each other's finishers! Cena used The Rock Bottom and I was waiting for Rock to use the AA, but it never happened. Cena reversed the Rock Bottom for the umpteenth time and hit the AA for the third time, if I remember correctly and got the win.
Rock and Cena then pulled a Rock/Hogan and shook hands in the middle of the ring. Cena left and Rock soaked in the cheers. This is most likely his sendoff. I'll miss The Rock unlike some marks that confuse him with David Arquette circa 2000. But The Rock made WWE watchable for a while when it was unwatchable. I thought he was advertised for Extreme Rules but I guess not.
Rock and Cena raise each other's arms at the top of the set and the pyro goes off.
Show ends.
NO CENA HEEL TURN! I told you WWE doesn't have the guts to turn Cena heel. Maybe now people will drop that subject because it's not going to happen. Cena is once again WWE Champion. Lord help us.
I'll admit, last year's Rock/Cena was better. Much better. Even the crowd was better last year. There was no 10 minute feeling out process and it was more fluid. It's weird because that was their FIRST meeting. You would think Part 2 would be better. As much as I don't like Cena, I admire the whole Rock/Hogan way to end the show. The match didn't have that one HUGE moment. It had good moments, but you kinda expected what was going to happen in this match.
So, THAT was WrestleMania. I will say this. WrestleMania 28 was better. MUCH better. It started off really good. I thought we were in for a show that blew WrestleMania 28 away, but nope. WM 29 was good, but I was expecting more. It didn't beat WrestleMania 28 in my view. I'll give it a 7/10. Generous number. Henry/Ryback was horrible, Rock/Cena was a letdown, and only ONE title changed hands. Tag Title match and Jericho/Fandango was too short, Del Rio/Swagger was meh, The Shield match was good, HHH/Lesnar was still good, but missed something, and Punk/Taker stole the show.
I enjoyed the show, but nothing about it was exciting. No twists, no turns, no HUGE moment that you'll go back watch over and over.
WrestleMania Sunday is upon us! I've tried to get excited about the show tonight and it's about the same as it was when I posted the WrestleMania Predictions blog. I mean, it's WrestleMania, so I am excited. I'm just gonna post my final thoughts. I'll make it quick.
Match of the Night:
I think Match of the Night very well could be Triple H vs Brock Lesnar. IF they decide to let these guys cut loose, we can get a real street fight. These days, WWE thinks hardcore is a few chairs. We need these guys to use everything they can get their hands on. More importantly, we need blood. Blood adds such an extra layer to personal matches like this one for example. I expect a WAR. This match will be entertaining.
Punk/Undertaker is gonna be good, but slow and have a lot of false finishes and people are gonna proclaim it as the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. Sheesh.
Rock and Cena are going to be LOADED with false finishes, near falls, and multiple finishers. Should be a solid match overall.
As far as the undercard, I'm looking forward to Jericho vs Fandango. If these guys get 15 minutes from bell to bell, they can steal the show. A lot of people are underrating Fandango. This is gonna be a good match.
What I'm Not Looking Forward To:
I'm not looking forward to all the cheesy segments they WILL do. Cheap attempts at comedy and bad humor and then you factor in all the ads, touts, and other stuff which are there to give the crowds a break, but it's just useless filler to me.
I'm also not looking forward to seeing Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls dance in the ring with the little kids.
Overall Presentation:
This is what the set looks like. Excited yet?
Let me just say, the set looks AMAZING. They've really out done themselves with this one. It really represents New York even though Metlife is in New Jersey. Can't wait to see it.
Overall, I think this WrestleMania has the potential to be REALLY good. With matches like Rock/Cena, HHH/Lesnar, and Punk/Taker, no way this show should be bad. It should surpass last year's show. They have great matches and an awesome crowd to work with.
Do I think Dolph Ziggler wish cash in his Money in the Bank? No.
Will John Cena turn heel? Doubt it. WWE doesn't have the balls to pull the trigger.
This is how they reel you in. They tease both of these and they both don't happen. If they do happen, then I'll be surprised. But I really doubt it.
Like I said before, expect a lot of ads, touts, poor backstage comedy and insanely long video packages. I'm looking forward to the show. I'll be watching intently tonight.
Be prepared for a LONG blog after the show because I'm going to be covering the Pre-Show as well. I'll also be tweeting during the event.
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