Gifts for everyone!

Hello all

Well here we are a week away from Christmas. As some of you may have already done, it is time to shop for gifts. I know that there are a lot of you out there who haven’t figured out what you should get that special someone for Christmas. What if that person is a wrestling fan, what then? Well luckily for you, I am here to let you know what to get that wrestling fan of yours. I will break down some of the items that every wrestling fan cannot do without. Trust me, as a wrestling fan, I know exactly what they would want. And I have to apologize; most of these things I am going to talk about are about WWE. I don’t really know much about the other organizations, beyond what I see on TV, and read on the internet.

1st let’s start off with the DVDs. There are plenty of DVDs. There is one for every Pay per View. If you have seen or have been to one, and you want to add it your collection, then I highly recommend it. There are also DVDs about the wrestlers and about certain situations. I just got the “Brett Hart vs. Shawn Michaels” DVD, and I loved it. I will be buying the new “Stone Cold” DVD (as if I need to say why), and I would also like to get the “Randy Orton” DVD. If your fan has anybody who is big star that he might be a fan of, there are plenty of DVDs for him. Some of my favorite DVDs that I own, are all of the WrestleMania, all of Stone Cold’s, both of Shawn Michael’s, Brett Hart’s, and the “history of” DVDs about the WWE championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, and the Intercontinental championship. As far as some of my favorite matches, I watch “Unforgiven” 2002, the WWE title, Hell in a Cell match, between the Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar. I also like “Unforgiven”, 2005, WWE title, “I quit” match between John Cena, and JBL. I like the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at Mania 25. And I like pretty much any Elimination Chamber match. If you have a DVD nut out there, that should help them.

Next are books. Books are always a great gift. Wrestling books are no exception. They take you deeper in to the world of wrestling a lot more than the DVDs do. I have read a few books and have learned a lot about some of my favorite performers. It is great to know exactly what they were thinking when they did what they did. How they felt leading up to their favorite match, or how they felt before they did the most famous, or infamous thing of their life. Or even what they were thinking when their world was crumbling around them as they were going through some kind of person turmoil. I have read the books of Stone Cold (naturally), Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, both of Hulk Hogan’s, and I am starting to read Eric Bischoff’s right now. I would also like to read the book on the history of the WWE championship, Brett Hart’s book, and the death of the WCW. If you know of any fans who want to know the ins and outs of the business, the real story, then buying those books would be the way to go. And if you get them on paper (not electronic), they will be pretty cheap too.
Last but not least is the stuff. I started off thinking about video games, then I thought about action figures, then I thought about the toy belts, then the replica belts, so I figured I would make this last part about all of them. Now, if you are not looking to spend all of your money, then I would not recommend the replica belts; not with a week before Christmas. Now if you had some time, then we can talk about it. So let’s talk about the video games. I have been a gamer for most of my life. Some of my favorite wrestling games were on the Nintendo 64. You have WCW vs. NOW revenge, which is awesome. You have WrestleMania 2000. But since most of us don’t have those systems, I have to say WWE Smackdown, has been the best wrestling game out there. TNA came out with a game, a few years ago. It was not good. I would not waste my time trying it out if I were you. Take my word for it. Now let’s talk about some of the action figures. They are coming out with some of the coolest figures you could ever want. Now they have them in event specific costumes. Meaning if you have ever seen a superstar in a special entrance, then most likely there is an action figure for that. From Mania 22 there is a figure for Rey Mysterio, and also one for Triple H. For the collector you would be buying for, they would love it.

So we I have given you plenty of options. Now you should be able to get something for that special wrestling fan out there. If you have a lot of money, go for the gusto. If not, go for an action figure, or book (remember people are not buying hard copy books anymore so they should be pretty cheap). I hope you enjoyed this little blog that is off of the beaten path. I will try to write a few more blogs this week, because like I said last week, I have a lot on my mind I would love to blog and get your opinions.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLIIIINNNNNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Hall!

Hello all

I will be doing something a little different this week. Since I did not write a blog last week, and I have some ideas just floating through my head, and because I would like next week’s blog to be a shopping guide for those of you who want to buy either yourself or your loved ones a wrestling themed present. And the week after that, I would like to do a yearend review, as I see it. I will be doing a few blogs this week. I will do one today, and maybe 2 more before the year is out.

With that said, let’s get started with today’s blog. I was watching wrestling a week or so ago, and something stood out to me, that made me want to know something. “Rowdy Roddy Piper” was in during the 1st segment. He was having a “Piper’s Pit” segment. His guest was John Cena. He was talking to Cena about the fans, and was wondering out loud to Cena, if the crowd’s lack of appreciation for him was starting to get to him. They went back and forth about it. Then Piper did something that started the wheels in my brain turning. Piper took off his Hall of Fame ring, gave it to Cena and said you will receive one of these someday. That got me wondering, this is a conversation we have in all other sports, but we don’t have it in this one. Well today let’s have it. And I mean a conversation, so let’s go back and forth with this. And I am not going to limit this to just the WWE. So let’s think about this, who are the future Hall of Famers.

I guess we will start off with guys who are not in yet, but are sure fire no brainers. I guess we could start off with a guy who has been the measuring stick for the WWE (and I will start with the WWE because they have been around the longest, and are the most credible), the Undertaker. Beyond him being undefeated at WrestleMania, he has long been the most respected man in the WWE. Taker is a 7 time world champion, a 7 time tag team champion, and has been involved in some of the more remarkable matches in WWE history. Ironic enough most of them have been “Hell in a Cell” matches. The 1st ever Cell matches with him and Shawn Michaels is my favorite match of all time. This was the introduction of Kane into the WWE, and it was a battle between to WWE staples. It was contested at the “Bad Blood” PPV. Of course we cannot forget the Cell match at King of the Ring in ’98, when he threw Mankind off the top of the Cell. Then there was the Cell match between him and Brock Lesnar, where believe it or not, Taker came up on the wrong end. Beyond Taker, there is another guy who has been with the company and has done everything one cold do; that man is Triple H. H has won the WWE Grand slam championship (which was all of the titles the company had to offer at the time he won them), he was the 2nd undisputed WWE champion, he is the 1st recognized world heavyweight champion in the WWE, and he has been the leader of some of the greatest factions in WWE history. Triple H is a no brainer. The next guy is known as a wrestling machine, Kurt Angle. Angle has done everything one could do in the wrestling world. He has won championships in college, the Olympics, at the world championship games, and in pro wrestling. He won an Olympic gold medal, is a 12 time world champion and has even been a MMA fighter. Angle is one of a few men to find success in both WWE and TNA, winning both world championships multiple times. If just these 3 men went into the hall by themselves it would be a star studded class.

Now let’s think of the guys who are pretty much there, but they are not quite the no brainers the others were. Let’s start off with a guy who could have been in the no brainer category, but I knew he would be better suited for this one, even with all of his accolades. John Cena. I am sure this will not be the most popular one, but it must be said. Let’s leave out the fact that Cena is a 10 time WWE champion (that is a record), a 12 time champion overall (one less than Triple H, and 4 behind Ric Flair), but let’s look at the fact that when Cena was given his opportunity, he ran with it. He grabbed a hold of that brass ring and never let it go. He has been everything a WWE champion is supposed to be. He draws big numbers every week. He is “Mr. Pay per View” (I coined that here at this blog), and he also gives a lot of his time outside of the ring. Like it or not, Cena is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. The next guy I can think about is someone who came on during the latter part of his career, which just ended. He revolutionized the ladder match, even making the TLC match popular. He is Edge. Edge was a multi time Intercontinental champion, a 14 time tag team champion (record), and an 11 time world champion. He has had some of the best matches of his time, especially as the champion. Unfortunately his career came to an end after Mania this year, due to injury. But Edge has had a career that warrants hall of fame mention. And next we have someone who I am not really sure if he is still in wrestling or not. He left for a little while, and then came back, and now he has left again. His name is Chris Jericho. Y2J is a guy who has done it all in the business, and has done it on every coast. He was big in Mexico and Japan, before he made it big here in the states. He is the only man to wrestle in WCW, but win the WCW championship in WWE (I know that is confusing). He is also a grand slam winner, he is a 7 time tag team champion, a 9 time IC champ (record), and he is a 6 time world champion including, being the 1st ever undisputed champion in WWE history. Y2J has done everything one can do in WWE. He is not one of those guys that come to the top of your mind when you think of hall of famers, but he needs to be thought about when it comes to the hall. And speaking of guys who need to be thought about, there is a guy who I am not that fond of as a wrestler, but he has the stats to prove he belongs. Jeff Jarrett. I know he hasn’t won a world title since he has not been in charge at TNA, but you have to give him credit. He’s not just a former TNA champ, but he was also a 4 time WCW champ, a 6 time TNA-NWA(back when the NWA was a part of TNA) champion, and he is a 6 time WWE IC champion(even though his last time reign was ended by Chyna). So I think Jarrett deserves some credit for being the man that he has been in the business, and for helping start an organization that can compete head to head with WWE.

So I have laid out some names for you guys. I really would like this blog to be interactive. I would love for you all to tell me what you think. If you want to take one of these guys off, let me know, and tell me who we should add. I do think the 1st group is no brainers, but if I need to add to that list let me know. And of course I think the second list of guys belong, but if you want to add, let me know. Let’s keep this one going for a month, and see what names we can put in there. I won’t veto anyone; I will ask you to explain your choice though. So here you are, this one is all yours. Let’s make something happen.

Why?

Hello all

This week as I watched wrestling, I had a visitor, my wife. She is not the wrestling watcher, so for her to sit down and watch it with me was a treat. As we watched the shows this week, she noticed there was a difference. She noticed as we watched Impact Wrestling this week that something was missing. Her exact words were “Is this the minor leagues”? I said “No this is TNA”. “Oh this is TNA. This is so much different than the other one you watch. Why is it so different”? I have a few theories that I will discuss today.

1st, I think a lot of the writing could use an update. A lot of times when I watch TNA, I feel like I am watching USWA wrestling, AWA, or Jim Crockett Promotions (the old WCW). It feels like old archaic wrestling. Back in those days in JCP (Jim Crockett Promotions), and even in the early days of WCW, Dusty Rhodes had a long stint as the head booker. This basically means Dusty was in charge of deciding who was going to win and how. During these times Dusty would always have the heels win by using some kind of foreign object. He’d hit the baby face in the head, then throw it out of the ring, and would always win the match. This was awfully predictable, and boring (if you ask me). This would be known as the Dusty Finish. I am noticing this same pattern in TNA. During the match we were watching, the heel hit the face with something (that did not look that big or heavy) that knocked him out cold, and of course, the heel won. To me this is a big reason why they are different, the Dusty Finish.

The next thing that I think makes a difference is the fact that TNA’s tag line is “This is where wrestling matters,” but I see more cutaways from the action than I would expect in a show that claims to be all about the wrestling. Everyone who reads my blog knows I am not doing this to kill anyone, or to act like I could do better, I just have opinions and want to put them out there for others to read. Anyway, I know that cutaways, run INS, and promos are all a part of pro wrestling, but I would think that they would want to focus more on the wrestling than the buildup. They have a lot of good wrestlers, why try to make them characters, or even superstars. That is not what you do. That is not what is going to make you catch up to WWE. You have to focus on your strengths, and their strengths are wrestling.

Lastly to me one of the main problems at TNA is the matches. I have to admit, the matches on Impact Wrestling every week leave a lot to be desired. In fact I have to say there are matches every week that I wonder why they are even having them. Who cares about them? This past week, 2 matches stood out to me. The 1st one was Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff, yes Eric’s son, and no he is not a wrestler. He was a referee. No he does not look or seem like a wrestler, but for some reason they decided this would be their next to last match. That is a spot that reserved for good matches. And to top it all off, the former ref who can’t weigh more than 150 pounds, beat Gunner, a former TV champ, and someone in the “Bound for Glory” tournament. He was in the running to be a main eventer. But that is not the worst part. The worst part is the main event of the evening was an elimination tag team match. To be honest, I can’t tell you all of the participants in the match. And the thing that confused me the most was, if you are going to have an elimination match, shouldn’t there be something that the winner gets? A title shot? A chance to choose the stipulations of the next match? Even a chance to choose your next opponent? I just didn’t understand the point behind the main event. This makes me not care to watch TNA at all.

All and all there are a lot of things about Impact Wrestling that makes the show unwatchable. These past few things I listed were just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on and on. With that being said, I think there are a lot of things they do right. But there are things that they do that make them look amateur. This past episode was a small sampling of what happens when all of that talent goes to waste, when people don’t know what to do, with everything they have. I know they are trying to compete with the big dog, but if they focus on what they do best, they can rise above where they are now……A distant second.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLIIIIINNNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Foley is reading it.....shouldn't you be?!

Hello all

So this past week I was watching RAW and they had a very clever angle. They brought back Mick Foley for one of the most successful segments to ever be on RAW, “This is your life”. The original segment was on RAW in 1999 (which still is the highest segment of RAW ever). Foley was excited about him and the Rock winning the World Tag Team championships, and was showing his appreciation to the Rock for being his partner and his “friend”.

Last week Foley tried to do the same thing for John Cena. This segment was not quite as funny, but still entertaining. Foley brought out a few people from Cena’s life. But the friends and family that Foley brought out did not show the same respect for Cena. The thing that got my attention was something Foley said in the beginning of the segment. In the beginning, Foley said John Cena may be the best WWE superstar of today. He said he was one of the most well respected men in the business. From the main eventers to the jobbers (guys who always lose), Cena shows every man the same respect. But it was what he said earlier that caught my attention. When he said Cena has had some of the best matches he has seen. Does that sound familiar to any of you? For those of you who have read my blog (which I hope is a lot more than 5), you will remember that I wrote a blog about how great Cena has been on Pay Per View. So that tells me one thing, Mick Foley is reading my blog. Shouldn’t you be? Mick Foley will be the blog topic today.

Foley started out as a wrestling fan, who famously hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden to see a Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, steel cage match. He began training in 1983, working in a lot of the small promotions for almost an entire decade. Then in 1991, he made his debut in WCW. He started as Cactus Jack and had a few epic matches with Sting. He was the original extreme wrestlers. Back in WCW he would do a lot of work outside of the ring. He would drop flying elbows on wrestlers (including Sting) outside the ring, on the concrete. Foley had a pretty good run with WCW, then he went to ECW. In ECW, Foley got his chance to really get extreme, and help popularize the extreme movement that was ECW. But Foley did not get much of a run in ECW. So he left there and went to Japan, before he got his chance at the big time.

In 1996, Foley made it to the WWE. In the early part of his WWE career, he was not as big of a star as I’m sure Vince McMahon thought he would be when he brought him in. Foley started out as “Mankind”, I guess a take off of the Hannibal Lecter character from “Silence of the Lambs”. Mankind would have a few good matches, battling Vader, and even fighting Shawn Michaels for the WWE championship, but he still not did not get the respect he deserved. Foley would go back and forth as this character, Cactus Jack, and a 3rd Dude Love. Foley seemed destined to be a mid-carder until the match that changed his life. In 1998 Foley finished a feud with the Undertaker. They had every kind of match you could imagine. So what match would they have to end it all? Hell in the Cell. This is the famous Cell match where Taker throws Foley off the top of the cage. 16 feet in the air, on to an announce table. But that was not the end of the match. Later in the match, somehow Foley got back on top of the cage, only to get choke slammed through it by Taker.

After this you would have thought Foley was done with wrestling, but no. As a matter of fact, this was the beginning of Foley’s rise in popularity. Fans were starting to make signs that read “Foley is God”. And they would all rush to their feet when his music would play. And while doing this, Foley’s character became more of a baby-faced character. He would get on the mic, and speak. He would do segments that really showcased his personality. McMahon even came up with a title for him, and made him the 1st Hardcore Champion. This did not satisfy Foley because he set his sights on the WWE title. After he got screwed out of the WWE title by the Rock and McMahon, he made it his mission to win the title. On an episode of RAW that aired on January 4th 1999, Foley defeated the Rock for the WWE title. During an episode of Monday Nitro, which was WCW’s rival show, the announcer gave away the surprise that Foley would win. Instead of it making more people stay, it made everyone tune in to RAW and watch Foley win the WWE title. Foley would go on to become a 3 time WWE champion and would have a long run with the company, until he left for what seemed like greener pastures at TNA.

After arriving in TNA, Foley hit the ground running. He joined the company in 2008, and got involved in a big storyline between Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle. Foley also stared working with “the monster” Abyss. Abyss seemed to have a lot in common with Foley, and Foley was acting as his mentor, coming out to the ring with Abyss and even giving him his signature look, the plaid lumberjack shirt. Later with that company, Foley became the top guy, defeating Sting (déjà vu), to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. After losing the title to Angle, Foley helped bring some of the former ECW guys to the company, and even helped them have their own ppv named “Hardcore Justice”. After bringing all of the old guys back to TNA for another shot at glory, Foley was used sparingly on TV until he asked for and was granted his release from the company the past summer.

I know Foley is not exactly reading my blog, but he should be. There is great stuff here. But on a more serious note, Foley is one of the innovators in this business. He ushered in the Hardcore Era. All of the stuff that Jeff Hardy, Dudley Boys, Edge did when he was popularizing the TLC match, even fans of the ECW movement, owe a debt of gratitude to Mick Foley. He was the common man, who worked his tail off, and rose to the greatest of heights in this business, becoming a multiple WWE champion. Not because he was a good politician, but because he gave everything he had in that ring, and in doing so he captured the hearts of millions. And in the process lost a few teeth, brain cells, and part of his ear.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

You again?

Hello all

This past week as I watched wrestling I noticed something that has bothered me for a long time. It may not mean much to any of you out there, but it is starting to annoy me just a bit. Three weeks ago, after Bobby Roode was unsuccessful at the “Bound for Glory” Pay per view, on the following episode of Impact wresting, James Storm, Roode’s tag team partner, won the TNA World title. After that win, many of us thought Storm would have a decent run with the title; maybe have a return match with Kurt Angle, then fight someone else, before dropping the belt to the person we all knew would have the belt anyway, Bobby Roode.

This however was not the way things turned out. Roode and Samoa Joe fought to find out who would be the #1 contender. Roode won and had a match with his partner and friend the next week. Roode would go on to win the match and the title. I don’t have a problem with Roode winning the belt (if you remember from a previous blog, I said he would be TNA champion), I do however have a problem with him winning it from James Storm.

Why not have Roode win the title at the Bound for Glory ppv? Why have all of that build up, to have him lose the match. Then after that, you would have another wrestler beat Kurt Angle and he beat him in less than 6 minutes. I just don’t understand why you had to have an in-between champion.

I know that in this business there are guys who refuse to lose to other guys. Brett Hart believes that the infamous Shawn Michaels “I’ve lost my smile speech”, and subsequent vacating of the WWE title was because Michael’s did not want to drop the belt to Hart, thus fueling their rivalry.

But I am just getting sick of seeing guys win the belt, just to drop it to a new guy a week later. Or worse drop the belt to the same person they just won it from.

As much as I love Stone Cold Steve Austin, during his title reigns, he would win the belt from someone, hold the belt for a month or 2, lose the belt to someone, and less than a month later he would win it right back. In his 5th reign, he lost the belt to Kurt Angle, only to win it back a month later. In his 3rd, he lost to the Undertaker, to win it back in a little over a month. And in his 1st reign he lost the belt to Kane, and won it back the very next night. I just don’t get it.

Triple H is another who has padded his number of times being champion with very short title reigns by his opponents. There are way too many for us to go through, but think about these few examples. Triple H lost the WWE title to the Rock at one ppv, just to win it back from him at the very next ppv. This next example isn’t necessarly a Triple H problem, but he was involved. Randy Orton won the World title, and didn’t even hold it a whole month before Triple H was made champion again. And in my last example, in the matter of a month(not even a whole month), Triple H lost the belt to Vince McMahon, Chairman of WWE, Vince would vacate the belt the following week, for Triple H to win it back in the last week of that month. Just unecessary.

And the person who lately has done this more often than needed, John Cena. Cena held the WWE title for the exact amount of time as JBL, who had the longest title reign in more than a decade, to that point. Then he lost the belt to Edge, only to win it back in 21 days. Then at the World Heavyweight Championship, he lost the belt to Edge at the “No Way Out” PPV, just to win it back at WrestleMania 25. There is another example that does not work in Cena’s favor, but he is involved in it. During Randy Orton’s title reign of 2009, Cena defeated Orton at the “Breaking Point” PPV, lost the belt in 21 days to Orton.

I know this has been happening for a long time in wrestling, and with more titles comes more of an opportunity to panic if someone does not show the ability to sell out arenas like the champion is supposed to, but I think it is a bit of laziness for all of these title changes to happen so fast. We don’t give the champion time to establish them. I know Vince had a plan for Hogan, and that lasted from before the 1st Mania, to a little before Mania 4. Can we have some faith in our newer stars? Just because a guy does not start out setting the world on fire as champ, doesn’t mean we need to put the belt on someone else in less than a month.

Something new?

Hello all

As usual, I was watching wrestling this week. Not as usual, I started to notice something I really liked. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things I love about the business (or I wouldn’t keep watching). RAW, Smackdown, and to a lesser extent, Impact Wrestling, are among the most entertaining shows on TV. I have been, and will always be, intrigued by the what’s and why’s of the business; however there are times when things get stale. So you can imagine my delight when I saw some new things on my shows.

As soon as I did my blog, I watched a taped version of Impact Wrestling. It was the show right after the “Bound for Glory” Pay Per View. As you read in that blog, Kurt Angle defeated Bobby Roode for the TNA World title. So they have the in ring confrontation about (you guessed it) the rematch. Roode came out 1st and got the crowd into a frenzy, telling them how he was “screwed” and deserves another shot at the title. Angle then comes out and says he won’t get a rematch because there was a clause in the contract. Then Roode’s tag team partner James Storm comes out and asks for a title shot instead, and was granted one. Later that night (in a match that was entirely too short for a title match, if you ask me) Storm wins the title. This was very refreshing to me for 2 reasons. #1 it was a title change on TV. I am getting sick of having to watch a ppv just to see a world title change. #2 It showcased a new champion. Even though it wasn’t the guy we thought, it was a new member of their roster, to win the world title. That got me to thinking about championships and the trend that we are seeing. As much as we all get tired of seeing the same old guys wearing gold (Angle, John Cena, Randy Orton), we have had some new blood in the main event spot in the last 3 years.

Let’s look at the most prominent (and longest recognized) major title in the business, the WWE Championship. Since this year is all but over, I am going to start at the beginning of 2009. Starting that year, we had a brand new champion, Jeff Hardy. Through that year the belt was held by some of the greatest champions of the past decade. But the year would turn out to have not just a wrestler who has never been champion, but someone we have never seen wrestle and barely knew become a main eventer. Sheamus was the next person to hold the belt. That was in December of 2009. He held the belt for a few months leading into 2010. In 2010 we had the usual suspects as title holders, Cena Batista, and Orton. But in November of 2010, we had maybe the most unlikely wrestler ever to win the WWE title (unless over of course you read this blog, then you remember that I said he would be champion), the Miz. Miz held the title for 6 months, and even defended it in the main event at this year’s WrestleMania. Yes he lost the belt to Cena, who passed it around to CM Punk and Rey Mysterio, till we got to the current WWE champion Alberto Del Rio. I know there have been a lot of old champions, but I don’t mind that. I want some of the best wrestlers to hold the belt to make it look more prestigious, and having the best wrestlers in the business hold the belt, will do that.

Next we will talk about the World Heavyweight Championship. Now for this one it takes a little longer to find new wrestlers who have become champion. But if you look at it from the angle of new guys getting a good run with the title, then yes this makes perfect sense. Let’s start with the beginning of 2009. You had the same guys of course, Edge, and Cena. But in June of that year, you had Jeff Hardy win the title in an exciting TLC match. Right after that, CM Punk cashed in his “Money in the Bank” contract, and won the title that night. These two would have an outstanding feud for that title, with Hardy winning it back. Punk won it right back from him developed his character, which most of you love today. Undertaker then took the title from Punk, and then lost it to Jericho in February of 2010. After defending it at Mania that year, Jericho lost it to that year’s M.I.B. winner Jack Swagger. Swagger held the world title for 3 month, before losing the title to Mysterio. Mysterio would only hold the belt for a month until he lost it to Kane in July. Now I know some of you are thinking, “Great, this would be the 1st time Kane held the belt”. That is not exactly true; he held the title for 1 day. Back in 1998, he defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin at a PPV, then lost the belt the next night on Raw. So Kane winning the title, and actually holding this time was long overdue. Kane would hold the title for almost the rest of that year, before losing it to Edge. Edge would hold the belt till after Mania, when he had to forfeit the title and retire due to injury. Then Christian won the belt and held it for 2 days before losing it to Orton in May. Christian and Orton would battle back and forth, trading the belt for the next 4 months, until Mark Henry beat Orton to win his 1st world title in the WWE. Taker and Triple H are the only wrestlers who been on the company roster longer than Henry. So him winning the title was a pleasant surprise.

Now for TNA I will not go as far back as 2009, because they had all of the guys you have seen in other companies. Sting was the champion and he lost it to Mick Foley. Foley lost the belt to AJ Styles, who yes you have never seen in another company, but if you watched TNA, you have seen him as a multi time champ. Styles lost the belt to Rob Van Dam. Van Dam was attacked and had to forfeit the belt due to “injury”. Then Hardy (yep Jeff Hardy) won their world title. That was all from the beginning of 2009 through the end 2010. Finally in 2011 we get a world champ in TNA who has never held a world title in a major company. Mr. Anderson (formerly Mr. Kennedy of WWE fame) won the title in January of this year. But that reign did not last long, because he lost to Hardy in February. Hardy held the belt for a month till he lost it back to Sting. Sting held it till June, and gave it back to Anderson. Who gave it back to Sting. Sting lost to Kurt Angle, who just lost the belt to James Storm. And we all know that eventually Storm will lose it to Roode.

So I know we have had a lot of the same old champions, and that could be turning you off to wrestling. But if you pay close attention, we are getting exactly what we want. New blood. New champions. Now, we as the consumer must support these new champions. If we do not, we will have another 5 years of Angle, Sting, Hardy, Punk, Orton, Batista(whenever he comes back), and Cena.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLIIIIIIINNNNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe they do get it!

Hello all

So as I was writing the blog last week, I was under the impression, as were a lot of people, that Bobby Roode was going to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship last week at the “Bound for Glory” pay per view. But that is not exactly what happened. Last week Kurt Angle defeated Roode and retained the championship. This confused lot of people, even me; but this may not be the worst thing in the world.

As time was approaching for this match to take place, I realized that now may not be the time for Roode.

First off, there was no lead up to this match at all. Up to this point in his career, Roode was a tag team wrestler. In TNA he has not held a singles title. Although besides the world championship, there are not too many singles titles. Even throughout the Bound for Glory tournament, there were matches that Roode would have with his tag team partner James Storm. So there was no time to make Roode look like a viable contender to the title.

Second, back to something I said in the last paragraph, we don’t know if Roode is a great singles wrestler. We know him as a 6 time tag team champion, but not as a singles competitor. Everyone is not Shawn Michaels, everyone is not Brett Hart, and on a much smaller tag team scale (but he is a once tag champion), everyone is not Stone Cold Steve Austin. Everyone cannot go from being a great tag team wrestler to being a world champion. Look at Bully Ray. As much as I love his new gimmick, he is not Heavyweight Champion material. What if Roode is the same? The World Championship at this point is too important to TNA to have it put on someone whom we don’t know if he is a great singles competitor or not.

Third, this is one of the smartest things that TNA could do. This is what used to happen back in the golden ages of pro wrestling. You had an up and coming contender fight his way up the ladder, till he gets a shot at the title. Back in the old NWA days when Ric Flair was the champion, this was how guys were built up to be the champion. David Von Erich wrestled Flair for months, and would have won the title, but sadly he passed months before he was supposed to win it. Dusty Rhodes and Flair wrestled all over the country with Flair narrowly escaping with the title, before Rhodes won it. And the classic confrontation between Flair and Ricky Steamboat encompassed an entire year, with both man having legendary match, after legendary match, and with both men holding the world title. With this past defeat TNA could be setting up for this same kind of back and forth that will not only make Roode look good, but will make the TNA world title seem very prestigious, and hard to get.

With all of this being said, I don’t think it’s a bad idea for TNA to keep the title on Angle. It seems like Roode will eventually be the World Champ, and rightfully so, but Roode needs to work his way up to the championship. I believe this is the first time Roode has challenged for the world title. Again this is a very important time for the TNA world title. This is a make or break time for that title. They can either do this the right way, and come out smelling like a rose, or they can put the title on him too soon, and have Roode not ready to hold the belt. Then the TNA title will have to be put back on Kurt Angle, or worse, one of the 50 year olds (like Sting). TNA’s title can’t afford for that to happen. They have to have a fresh new champion, and doing it this way, will make for a very deserving world champion.

What I would like to have right now.........

Hello all

Tonight will be the big TNA Pay Per View (and the only reason why I call it a big pay per view is because Hulk Hogan was doing a big media tour about it. Otherwise, I would not have known that it was anything other than their October pay per view), Bound for Glory. At this ppv the whole world is expecting Bobby Roode to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Speaking of a Roode who is going to become the next big star in the wrestling world, makes me think of another guy with a similar name, but no they are not related, Ravishing Rick Rude. We all remember Rick Rude’s gimmick, where he would talk bad about every man in the audience, and pull a woman out of the crowd, and kiss her, but let’s take a look back at his career.

Rude was born in Minnesota. He actually attended high school with a few other pro wrestlers including Tom Zenk, Nikita Koloff, and Curt Henning (Mr. Perfect). He began wrestling professionally in 1983. He started off as a jobber (a guy who is put in matches, and they are expected to lose). He worked at a lot of small promotions back then until he joined the National Wrestling Alliance. After joining the NWA, he got to compete in tag team against the Road Warriors, and started to make a name for himself. Then he moved Memphis to join the Continental Wrestling Association. In Memphis, Rude met Jimmy Hart and began to become the person we all grew to love to hate. He was over confident and arrogant, and changed his name to “Ravishing Rick Rude”. Rude would wrestle back and forth between the NWA and other small promotions before 1987, when he joined the WWE.

In WWE, Rude started out being managed by his old friend Jimmy Hart, until he got matched up with the manager to the stars in the 80s in WWE, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan. With Heenan beside his side Rude started the old gimmick I spoke about earlier, when he would kiss a woman in the audience. He did this until one night; he kissed the wife of the wrong man, Jack “the snake” Roberts. This started a small feud that did not last too long, but it got Rude’s name out there as a star.

If you have read my blog’s you know that anytime the WWE wanted to reward someone for being the best wrestler in the company back in the 80s and 90s, they rewarded them with the Intercontinental Championship. At the Royal Rumble of 1989, Rick Rude had a pose down with the then IC champ the Ultimate Warrior. The pose down ended when Rude attacked Warrior with a pipe, but their feud was just beginning. Rude and Warrior met for the IC title at WrestleMania 5 with Rude winning the title. Back then there were not as many pay per views, so Rude would hold the title for a few months, till the next ppv. During Summerslam 89, Warrior did regain the title. Rude would try to get the title back, unsuccessfully. Warrior would hold that title, until Mania of 90, when he won the WWE title. So of course since Rude was the only man to ever beat Warrior for the IC title, he thought he would be the only man to beat Warrior for the WWE title. Sadly he was unsuccessful. Shortly after that Rude left WWE, and went to WCW.

Back in WCW (remember it was NWA, until Ted Turner bought the main territory, and changed the name to compete with WWE) Rude came out like a ball of lightening. At the Clash of the Champions, he defeats Sting to win the WCW US Heavyweight Championship. He was a very good US champion holding that title longer than anyone else in WCW’s history. In WCW he was managed by Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman). Dangerously and Rude went on to form a faction called the “Dangerous Alliance”, which consisted of Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton Larry Zbyszko, and Stunning Steve Austin. This was the dominant group in the company in 1990, winning and/or the Tag Team, TV and US titles for WCW. During his time as the head of the Dangerous Alliance, Rude began a long standing feud with Ricky “the dragon” Steamboat over the US title. The two fought tooth and nail for almost a year over the belt, with Rude narrowly escaping every time. Rude would go on to keep the title until he had to give it up, due to an injury. After returning from injury, he tried to win the title back, but he was unsuccessful.

When Ric Flair left WCW in the early 90s, he left as the champion. Since he put a deposit down on the belt and did not receive his deposit back, he took the belt with him. So WCW created a new belt and crowned a new champion. After much litigation WCW got the old belt back, but they called it the NWA championship, since they had a working relationship with them.
Since Rude could not regain the US title, he set his sights on the NWA World title. In September of 93 Rick Rude defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight title. Unfortunately for Rude, that same month WCW and NWA severed ties, so Rude is not recognized as an NWA champion, rather as a WCW International World Heavyweight Champion (a championship created so they could get the old NWA belt as the WCW championship belt).
With WCW making a name for themselves as a big time wrestling company, they worked out a deal with a company in Japan (New Japan Pro Wrestling) to have some of their wrestlers compete there. And since they had some of their wrestlers, they used the International title to further promote both the belt, and their wrestlers. Rude would defend that title there, with some of the matches being shown on WCW television, but since they had a World champion, they didn’t have much use for the other. After holding that title for a few months, losing, and winning it back all in Japan, Rude came back to the states and lost the title to Sting. During their rematch, Rude attempted a suicide dive from the ring to the outside of the ring, and hurt his back so bad that he had to retire.

Rude stayed in the business for a few years after that. Working with all of the big companies in the 90s (WWE, WCW, ECW) at one point. He played a big part in WWE helping as an enforcer for the original D-generation X. Then he went to WCW and became a member of the NWO. There were even some rumors that he was training full time to make a comeback. But unfortunately on April 20 1999 Rude suffered heart failure and passed away.

Rude left behind a great legacy as one of the old wrestlers that we as fans will always look up to. He has been sorely missed in the past decade. May he rest in peace.

Thank you Cody

Hello all

I apologize for not writing a blog for the last 2 weeks. My wife had a baby and he has been a hand full. With the extra time I have had, I have been trying to relax. But today I am back and ready to discuss something I have seen from this past week’s wrestling that has caught my eye.

Earlier in my blog I wrote that I thought the WWE should go do all they could to bring some prestige back to the intercontinental championship. Now you may be thinking “how can they give the title back the prestige it used to have”? Well to me that is very simple.

Like I said before in that early blog, the IC title used to be the title for the best wrestler in the company. Sure Hulk Hogan, and Macho Man wore the WWE title (and yes that should be the ultimate goal of every one who has ever stepped foot in a WWE ring). But back in the time when those guys were holding the WWE belt, the IC title was for the guys who could bring down the house. Shawn Michaels is known as the “Showstopper”. He earned that name during his numerous IC title reigns. Bret “the Hitman” Hart, showed the world and Mr. McMahon that he was capable of going on and wrestling anyone, and making them look, not good but great. He did all of this during his IC title reigns. And of course we could not forget who some consider the greatest superstar to never win the WWE title, Mr. Perfect. Mr. Perfect became a WWE Hall of Famer and a household name to all wrestling fans for the last 20 years because of his prowess as an IC champion.

So with all of this history and prestige what happened to the IC title? The belt has been worn by some guys who maybe were not as worthy of being champion as the guys I mentioned earlier. The IC belt was a spring board to the WWE title for most guys back when it held high prestige. But I believe that in the last 10 years there is a reason why the prestige of the belt has gone down.

I have looked at the list of men who have worn the belt, going back to 2001, and I have noticed that a lot of these guys are of the same championship mold as the 3 superstar IC champs I mentioned earlier. Of the 60 title reigns since the beginning of 2001, there are only 14 men who have not held the WWE or World Heavyweight title. And of those 14 men, 8 still have the opportunity to win the big one.

So why has the belt lost prestige? Could it be that there have been too many champions? Not necessarily so. From 1991-2001 there were 53 championship reigns. That is only 7 less than the past 10 years. Of those superstars 17 did not hold a title in the WWE (Jeff Jarrett went to WCW to become their world champion, before starting TNA and become their world champion). So what is it? I think it could have something to do with the lack of quality IC title matches. Looking back in the 90s you could point out a hand full of good IC title matches. Bret Hart vs. Ruddy Piper, Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect. Who could forget Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match? And if you go back even further you would point out one of (if not) the greatest IC championship matches of all time. Savage vs. Steamboat at WrestleMania 3. I think we fans of this era are lacking the big time 30 minute IC title matches that we grew up with. In an earlier blog, I sang the praises of Kofi Kingston, and Dolph Ziggler because they had a classic IC title match, on TV no less. This unfortunately is the exception not the rule.

So with Cody Rhode re-introducing the new IC title, and having some very good matches lately I may add, I hope we are returning to a time when that IC title didn’t just mean one day you will be champion, but it meant every time you had a match, it was must see TV.

Wait, haven't we seen this before?

Hello all

So this week in WWE we have a big Pay per View: Night of Champions. This is a ppv where all of the championships in WWE are on the line. If you have been a long time reader of my blog, then you would know that I love ppvs like this. I love to see the championships being defended on a grand stage like a ppv (if you haven’t read it, 1st of all, where have you been, 2nd of all, read it).

There is another very important match that is happening this weekend. CM Punk will take on Triple H. This match is very important. It is personal for Triple H because Punk has been insulting Triple H the entire time he has been the WWE COO. And this is a big match for Punk, because if he wins, Triple H will resign as the COO.

Now, as I have been watching this situation for the past few months, I have noticed some things. When Punk’s music hits, he gets a huge pop. He comes out, and dogs out his boss. He says he is the best in the world, and tells people he has no problem beating them up. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone else? Now it could just be me, but it seems like the WWE is trying their best to recreate the most successful time, not only for them, but for the business as a whole, the Austin Era, or more specifically Austin vs. McMahon.

These two eras have a lot of similarities. They did not “officially” start when they won the championship. They started long before. They started back when both guys were working their way up to becoming the champion. Both started out with humble beginnings in WWE. Austin started out as the “Ringmaster”, a guy who Ted Dibiase brought in to the company to out wrestle everyone, but that character really did not fit Austin’s personality. When Punk first came in to the company, as everyone knows now, he had a very small part in John Cena’s WrestleMania 22 entrance, as one of the old time Chicago gangsters.

After being in the company for a little bit of time, both men received a chance to let their personalities show. In 1996 Dibiase left WWE for WCW, and Stone Cold was left to be his own man. Not too long after that Austin was a contestant in the King of the Ring (formally one of the big tournaments in WWE, but it has been relegated to just another RAW show). For those of you who do not know, Austin would go on to not only win King of the Ring, but he would coin the phrase that would make him famous. Austin 3:16. After that, Austin was allowed to get on the mic and tell the world “Austin 3:16 means I just whipped you’re a$@”! And the rest was history.

Punk was a baby face for the first 2 years of his career, until he cashed in his money in bank briefcase and beat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship. Since the fans have always been big supports of Hardy, they had to turn on Punk. And when they did, Punk began to turn on them, and in my eyes, he started to become a real star. That is when he was telling the world about his life as a straight edge champion. And he even went out and became the leader of the Straight Edge Society, a cult type group that he was able to use to get people to join his side as their savior. In both Austin, and Punk, we could see they had the skills on the mic.

Now leading up to their WWE championship was totally different. Since winning the championship Austin was running strong. He won the Intercontinental Championship 2 times, and the WWE tag team championship 2 times, and along with the King of the Ring, he won the Royal Rumble, guaranteeing him a WWE championship match. Now it was during Austin’s IC title reign that the rivalry between him and McMahon started. Until that point McMahon worked as the play by play guy for all WWE television and PPV events. Though he was the owner of the company, we were never made to believe that McMahon was in charge. That is, until Austin became the IC champion. During his 2nd reign, Austin hurt his neck in match with Owen Hart, and because he was not medically cleared to wrestle, he had to give up the belt. After he did, he gave McMahon, his boss, a stone cold stunner. This started the Austin - McMahon feud. So after Austin won the Rumble and a WWE title shot at WrestleMania, McMahon wanted nothing more than to keep the belt from Austin. McMahon even thought, if you can’t beat em join em, and tried to make Austin his corporate champion. But that did not work, and the 2 came together to have a match on Valentine’s Day 1999, at the St. Valentine’s Day massacre.

And of course leading up to Punk’s WWE title reign, he had that (what I think was slightly scripted) rant on RAW that got him “suspended”. He called out all of the WWE management, even Vince McMahon himself saying the company would not be good again, until Vince died; but he would just let his idiotic daughter and his stupid son in law run it into the ground. After winning the championship and leaving WWE for 2 weeks, Punk returned to find that Vince was relieved of his duties and Triple H was the new COO, and was in charge. But unlike McMahon, Triple H was not trying to control Punk; he was content to let Punk be his own man, and his own kind of champion. But after the mysterious appearance of Kevin Nash, Punk has made it a point to call out Triple H, and poke at him until, not too long ago, Triple H changed the match from CM Punk vs. Kevin Nash, to Punk vs. Triple H. And after last week’s RAW where Punk gave Triple H a sucker punch with the mic, it will all come to a head at the “Night of Champions” Pay per view.

I have been noticing the similarities ever since Punk’s “suspension”. Directly after that I noticed the WWE universe began to get behind Punk, because they felt his freedom of speech rights were violated. But I don’t think that at all. He was allowed to say what he felt; he just was not devoid of punishment for it. But ever since that event the people have been wildly behind Punk, just like Austin. I think in different ways. I am a huge Austin fan, and think that he captured people imagination, by being a rebel. The rebel we all wanted to be, by telling his boss, where to go, and what to do when you get there. In my eyes, Punk has cornered a different market. Punk claims he is the voice of the voiceless. Punk thinks he is the person who the fans want to see. Triple H calls him an internet hero, and I guess to some people he is, but in my eyes, I think he is nowhere near Austin. I think he is a good wrestler who is getting his time to shine, but he is no Austin.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLIIINNNNNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A lost art

Hello all

One of this blog’s loyal followers sent me a message about last week’s blog. If you remember, last week I crowned John Cena “Mr. Pay per View”. This was because I have enjoyed (and think if you watch them, then you will too) many of Cena’s ppv matches, and think they have been very much worth the price of the ppv. This follower called me out and asked me, instead of highlighting Cena, or any of the new guys for the entire time I blog, at least once a week, I should blog about some old school wrestler. Well Mr. Proctor (Doc Proc) this blog is for you. Today I will blog about a lost art in pro wrestling. WWE has all but gone away from it. Even TNA hasn’t featured it like they used too. I am going to blog about my favorite tag team of all times: Strike Force.

Since a lot of you are new school wrestling fans, you probably think I am talking about the 2nd tier MMA organization, but no. Strike Force was a team back in WWE in the mid to late 90s. The team consisted of 2 guys I would hope you know. Two guys who were great singles wrestlers in their own right. These guys were Rick Martel and Tito Santana.
Martel started with the WWE in 1980. He formed a tag team with Tony Garera. They went on to win the WWE tag team titles late in 1980. The team defended those titles deep into 1980, until losing the titles to the Moondogs in March of 1981. After losing the belts, it took them more than 4 months to get those belts back. And they would keep them till October of that year, before losing the belts again. This team would never get the belts back, because Martel would move on to the AWA. In the AWA Martel would become a big singles star. In 1984 he would win the AWA World title. He would hold that belt for almost 2 years. He lost that belt and went back to the WWE. Back in WWE he formed another tag team, with Tom Zenk (some of you may remember him from his WCW days as the Z-man), which was called the Can-Am Connection. This team was mildly successful for about a year, till Zenk left for WCW. Martel was a singles wrestler would didn’t see many wins until he became one half of strike force.

Tito Santana also started his career in the WWE as a Tag team champion. In 1979 he and Ivan Putski won the titles in Madison Square Garden. This duo would keep the belts for six months before losing them to the Wild Samoans, in April of 1980. After this Santana was a singles competitor. He worked his way up the ranks for a few years. In 1983 he was engaged in a very lengthy feud with the Intercontinental Champion Don Muraco. These 2 would go back and forth for the title, until finally in February of ’84 Santana defeated Muraco for the I.C. title. The next feud Santana would have would be with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Valentine would beat Santana for the belt September of ’84. Santana and Valentine would fight back and forth for the title, with Santana finally winning it back in ’85. Santana would remain champion for 7 months before losing the belt to the late great Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

So now we have both guys who were great single competitors, and both former tag team champs, but in 1987 these two wrestlers went on to form my favorite tag team: Strike Force. They rose very quickly through the ranks. In October of ’87 they ended the 9 month title reign of the Hart Foundation.

The thing I loved about this team is that even though they were very successful as singles, they were a fantastic tag team. They wore the same trunks, the same boots, and came out to the same music. I know this may not seem like much, but there are not too many single superstars that would become a team like this. As you see from the WWE tag champs now, “Air Boom”, though they are the champs, they still seem like two singles competitors.

I would love to see more teams like this. That way they would seem like more of a team, and tag team wrestling would not seem like such a lost art.
AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLIIIIINNNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Pay Per View

Hello all

I must say I never thought I would be writing a blog about this person. Mainly because I think a lot of other people would have done a lot of blogs about this person. This week I am going to do a blog, that I’m sure plenty of people will love, and plenty will hate. But I will admit by writing this blog, I think this person has gained a lot of respect from the wrestling world, and I’m sure from his peers as well. He has earned so much respect that I am going to rechristen him as “Mr. Pay per View”. The reason is that there have been a lot of his matches on pay per view that have been very much worth the price of admission, the cost of buying the ppv at home, or the cost of purchasing the dvd. The person I am talking about, the new “Mr. Pay Per View” is John Cena.
Now I know there are grown men out there, who may stop reading my blog because I am writing a blog about Cena. You may want to think again. There has been a number of pay per views that Cena has been in where he has made the entire event, because of his match.

Go back to his 1st title defense as WWE champion; at the “Judgment Day” ppv of 2005 it was the WrestleMania rematch between Cena and JBL. This was no ordinary match either. This was an “I Quit Match”. An “I Quit Match”, is exactly what it sounds like. You and your opponent try to beat the crap out of each other until one person says “I Quit”. This was Cena’s chance to show the world that he was tough enough to carry the company as the champion, so he had to have a heck of a match. And this match did not disappoint. I know this is not a part of the WWE’s new PG policy, but this was a bloody match. This match had everything, JBL whipping Cena with a belt, of course a broken table, and even JBL getting hit with the huge metal rods from the side of a semi-truck. It was a fantastic match.

The next match I want to bring to light is “One Night Stand” 2006. At this ppv, Cena was set to defend his WWE title against the newly reformed (though under the WWE umbrella) ECW, and their top wrestler, who won the “Money in the Bank” Ladder match from that year’s mania, Rob Van Dam. Cena was going into the most hostile environment he had ever been a part of, up to that point. At this point in his career, since he won his first WWE title at mania 21, he was champion for 13 months and a week, only losing the title for 3 weeks to Edge. He beat Triple H at mania 22, and people were starting to get tired of seeing Cena as the champion. And with the return and popularity of ECW and the ppv being in the original place where ECW shows were tapped, you could understand why this was not a very pro Cena crowd. The thing about this match that you would not believe is that Cena was the one who would carry this match. You would have thought that with RVD being the ECW staple, he would be the man who initiated all of the action, but Cena was the man who kept the action going from the opening bell. The strangest thing about this match was that even though it was an ECW match, there wasn’t much extreme stuff that happened in the match. Yes the ref got knocked out, and there was a run-in that decided the match, but still it was a pretty clean match outside of those things, and Cena was the reason for that.

The last match I am going to talk about today is another specialty match. This match is also special because of whom it was against. Cena’s 1st title reign was a memorable one. Cena beat JBL to win that title. JBL had the longest championship reign in over a decade up to that point. Cena’s 1st reign was 1 month less than JBL’s. During that 1st reign Cena defeated some of the greats, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Christian. He even defeated 6 other WWE superstars in the Elimination Chamber match at “New Year’s Revolution in 2006.” Directly after the match Edge cashed in his “Money in the Bank” contract, and became the WWE champion, thus igniting one of the greatest rivalries the WWE has seen in the last part of the last decade. Cena and Edge would go back and forth over the WWE title, and their quest for the ultimate prize would conclude (at least for the WWE title) at the “Unforgiven” ppv, in Toronto, Canada. In Edge’s favorite match, a match to that point that he had never lost, a TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) match. This match had most everything you would want. Leading up to it, Edge had been doing everything in his power to get under Cena’s skin. He slapped Cena’s father, he threw Cena’s trademark spinner belt into a river, everything you could imagine. So when they got into the match, Cena was geared up, and ready to go. This match was back and forth. They used plenty of TLC. A lot chairs during the match, a ladder (because in essence, this is a ladder match), and plenty of tables set up at the end, that Cena sent Edge through before he grabbed the title, and was a champion for the 3rd time.

There have been plenty of pay per views, plenty of performers in those matches. I know Shawn Michaels was Mr. WrestleMania and rightful so. Shawn went out of his way to earn that moniker. But I believe that John Cena has earned the name of Mr. Pay per View. Cena has just given some of the greatest performances of anyone who could be in his position. These 3 matches are just a sample, not even the absolute best (although a few of them are). I know a lot of people don’t like Cena, but he is Mr. Pay Per View.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For me, this match is Money!!!!!!

Hello all

As you all know Wrestlemania 27 was held in the city that I live in, Atlanta Georgia. I was there, and was very excited to be there. I thought there were some great matches and though I did have a bit of a problem with the line up of those matches, I was very excited about them. But one thing did stick out. As I looked over the program I noticed that there was a match that was missing, which is one of my favorites: Money in the Bank.

This past weekend we saw a new WWE champion crowned. After a pretty good match between CM Punk and John Cena, where Punk was victorious, Kevin Nash came out, and gave Punk a power bomb. Right after this Alberto Del Rio comes down to the ring, and cashes in his Money in the Bank contract, wins the match and becomes the new WWE champion.

It is a big deal that Del Rio won the championship (the 2nd person I have done a feature blog on, and shortly after that won the championship, but who’s counting), but it is an even bigger deal because once again after 10 Money in the Bank Ladder matches, the person who cashes it in, always wins the championship.

On an episode of Raw in 2005, Chris Jericho, and Eric Bischoff came up with an idea of having a ladder match at Mania. And for those of you who don’t know (I am sure some of you may be 1st time wrestling watchers, so I will explain) a ladder match is match where you put something on a harness (most times it’s a title belt) and you suspend it 20 feet in the air. And the only way to win the match is for the wrestlers to release whatever is there, and come down the ladder with it. But this match would be different from other ladder matches, because this one wouldn’t have a title hanging from the rafters, but it would have a briefcase, and in that briefcase there will be a contract for a title match whenever the winner chooses.

So 6 men competed in the very 1st Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania 21, and they stole the show. Having all of those guys in the ring, putting on a show for the fans, that started something. After that, for the next 5 manias Money in the Bank became a tradition.

Why didn’t they have one at mania this year, you ask? Because MIB became such a hit that they made it its own pay per view. Starting last year MIB became its own pay per view features 2 MIB matches, one for Raw and one for Smackdown.

To me, the very best thing about MIB, is it always means we will have a new champion. All of the guys who have cashed in MIB, have won championships. Of the 10 MIB matches, 9 different guys have won the briefcase (Edge won the match once, but cashed it in twice). And of those guys 6 of them were new champions (you might as well say 7 because, Kane did win the WWE championship before, but he held that title for less than 24 hours). It also gives us a chance to look forward to future main events. Back in 2006, after winning MIB, Rob Van Dam told the world when he would cash his briefcase in, and that was at ECW’s One Night Stand. This year Daniel Bryan, the winner of the Smackdown MIB, said he will cash his briefcase in at Wrestlemania. How awesome is that?

I have loved Money in the Bank since that very first Mania it was in. It has launched the superstar run of a few champions. Edge was not thought of as a champion until he cashed his in, and since he did back in 2006, he has been a 10 time champion, before he retired. RVD was once thought of as the best wrestler never to be world champion (even though I think he is supremely overrated). After he cashed in his briefcase he won the title in WWE, and he won it in TNA. CM Punk has become a main event guy for 2 reasons, #1 he cashed in the briefcase twice. #2 the second time he cashed in the briefcase he was able to get on the mic and talk, and people realized that he can actually talk. Even the Miz cashed in his briefcase, became a very successful champion, and went on to headline Wrestlemania.

As much as I hated not seeing MIB at Mania this year, I do love the fact that every year we have 2 winners. I really wish we had one at all of the big 4 pay per views (if you don’t know what that is, I will go over that later on).

Does it really matter?

Hello All

Even though I skipped the blog for a few weeks, I still have paid close attention to the “big boys”; I guess you could call them. And as I have said on this blog a lot, I am not into coming on here and killing anyone, or acting like I could do their jobs any better than they can. But I have to admit, that this is going to be a blog where I take a company to task.

As all of you know, I am a WWE guy, always have been (and maybe always will be), but that does not mean that I can’t enjoy the other companies out there. You can tell from last week’s blog, that I am anxiously awaiting Ring of Honor becoming a big time player and getting on TV every week. I love the business, and think that having more companies on TV, so we the fans can see who these guys are, is nothing but good for the business. That being said though, I have to be honest about how I feel about what is going on with the WWE’s chief rival (at least they are right now) TNA.

If you have been watching TNA for the last 3 or 4 months or so, you have noticed that TNA wrestling on spike on Thursday nights, has changed their name, and are going by the name Impact wrestling. One of their main slogans is “Impact wrestling, where wrestling matters”. If wrestling matters in TNA, there are a few things that don’t make sense to me.

TNA says wrestling matters. To me that means that I should turn to TNA and see nothing but wrestling, maybe a little set up, but a lot more wrestling. Well whenever I tune in to Impact wrestling, the very 1st thing I see is someone in the ring cutting a promo. And not just some quick promo, but a 10-15 minute promo. I totally understand what is going on. They are setting up their show, trying to make sure the audience knows what is coming up later on in the show. I get that. What I don’t get is why is a company that is saying wrestling matters is doing this. There was a video of Mr. Anderson saying that he is not an entertainer, he is a wrestler. He did not want to be more of an entertainer, than a wrestler. But right after that video, he was involve in doing a set up for his upcoming World title match against Sting, that to me, would qualify as sports entertainment, and not wrestling.

Another thing I think TNA is missing the boat on, is the X division. That is a division in TNA where the wrestlers have no limits. They are not just the smaller wrestlers. Some of you would remember the cruiserweight division from WWE or WCW, though the smaller wrestlers are the guys who mainly fight there. But this division is supposed to be the backbone of TNA. For a long time in WWE it was known that the Intercontinental champion was the best wrestler in the company. They guy who could have a great match with anyone. Well in TNA, the X division champion is pretty much the same. There have been plenty of former X division champions, who have gone on to win the World title. Unfortunately, the X division has been almost wiped out. No one is paying attention to it anymore. Even though I watch TNA, I can’t tell you who the top X division contenders are. I know who the champ is, but that is only because he recently won it. If not for that, I couldn’t tell you who it was.

One thing I think they really have messed up is one of the most influential figures in this business. This man has done just about everything one can do in this business. He has shaped the lives of many of the guys in his locker room, and many of us fans have watched him for a long time. But I have no earthly idea what they are doing with him now. The person I am referring to is the TNA world heavyweight champion, Sting. Sting has always been a guy who has face paint, and seemed a little weird and a little off. But now, it seems like he has lost it. Sting now has changed his face paint to look like Heath Ledger’s Joker from the “Dark Knight” movie. And if that didn’t seem weird, he has been acting a little bit off. He has tied up, and kidnapped people. He has done a lot of strange thing. This would not be so bad if he was anyone else, but because he is Sting, a seasoned vet whose character has been over for decades, I just don’t understand what exactly the purpose behind this is.

All of this being said, I know exactly why TNA is doing this. They are going right at the big dog. Their slogan “Where wrestling matters”, is a direct shot at the WWE. And in some aspects, that is great. It is great to see a company that does not rely solely on the entertainment factor of wrestling, but puts stock in the wrestling. But if you keep saying that wrestling matter, shouldn’t there be more wrestling? Shouldn’t you make sure that your audience is given what they were promised? A wrestling show that is far beyond anything else on TV, because on your production “Wrestling Matters”.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLIIINNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!