Wednesday 28 March 2012

Wrestlemania Preview

I wanted to do a little preview of Wrestlemania since it's this Sunday and it's one of the biggest shows of the year but I have to do it now as I'm going to be visiting a friend over the next few days which means being on long train journeys and being very busy overall. I won't get back till late Saturday and don't really want to do it on the day. So here we go my take on Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres
This match is very much up in the air as Maria suffered a broken rib but it wasn't looking good when she was at full health. Don't expect this to get any time what so ever and this will be carried by Beth and Beth alone. This will be the blink and you miss it match and I don't care. Maybe if we're lucky Maria will be replaced by Natalya. This is really a toss up when it comes to a winner as either side could win but I'll go with Kelly & Maria just because it's Mania.
Winners: Kelly & Maria

Santino, Truth, Kofi, Ryder, Khali & Booker T vs. Dolph, Swagger, Otunga, Henry, Miz & McIntyre for GM Role
Ah the too many people match just so everyone gets a paid day match. I really see this breaking down fast and resulting in everyone hitting their finishers one after another. But I do see it getting some time as well, probably a max of 10 minutes. I really want Team Johnny to win as I hate Teddy Long and never want to see him again but with McIntyre on the team they could very well lose because of him.However it still makes more sense to have Team Johnny win as he's gained more attention during his short time as GM then Teddy has ever gotten. It makes no sense for Teddy to run both shows.
Winners: Team Johnny

Randy Orton vs. Kane
Talk about meaningless! These two would of made more sense in the 12 man tag rather than getting a singles match. The feud has done nothing and the reason behind it is completely stupid. Again I don't see this getting much time and I don't see it being that good. Orton has really been screwed this year, he was a top choice for the Rumble winner and he missed the Elimination Chamber. Kane was given an awful program with Cena which did nothing but kill time for Cena. Really this was thrown out there and it's done nothing. I find it funny that Orton said people were looking forward to this as I don't know many who are. I'd like this feud to end here so I'll go with Orton but that might not end it sadly.
Winner: Randy Orton

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship
I like the idea behind this feud of Rhodes making fun of all of Show's past Mania's. It reminds me of Edge & Foley back at Wrestlemania 22 when Edge brought up a similar fact. Sadly this build has been pretty one sided and it screams Show winning the title so he can have his Wrestlemania moment. I like Rhodes and I'd like him to get a bigger push to the main event maybe losing the title here will lead to a push. Honestly it wouldn't hurt the title to go to Show as it's been pretty meaningless for a while now. Still not a fan of Show's work but it is what it is. I think this will be OK but just be OK and nothing special.
Winner: Big Show

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship
How can a World title match be as overlooked as this match!?! It's sad that the Rumble winner has received such treatment. This should get plenty of time and should be really good. I think this has been greatly overlooked and could very well steal the show, seriously when was the last time these two had a bad match? Again it's been overlooked story wise and it's focused more on AJ and Daniel rather than Sheamus and Daniel. A few months back I would of gone with Sheamus winning but he's lost so much momentum in my view. I see Daniel retaining and then going on to lose to Sheamus further down the line at another PPV with maybe AJ turning on him then. It should also be noted that this match was on last years card but was bumped off, oh how much things have changed in just one year.
Winner: Daniel Bryan

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship
I think we can agree that the build for this match was much better when it was about who is the true best in the world and has gotten weird now they're focusing on Jericho calling all of Punk's family addicts. Watching their first promo together in the ring was incredible and I wanted it to continue like that. But when it comes to the match everyone has said that this will likely be the best match match on the card and I can't argue that. I see this as being awesome. These two had a fantastic series a few years back and I think we will see more of the same here. It makes sense for Punk to retain as we don't know how long Jericho will remain in WWE for but if Jericho wins expect Punk to regain it sooner rather than later.
Winner: CM Punk

HHH vs. Undertaker in the Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as the Special Referee
HHH loves to put in time just for the sake of it. I expect the same this year, it could very well get about the same amount of time as last years sadly. My view on this match has constantly changed, I didn't care when they were thinking of doing it as I wasn't too impressed with last years match and didn't want to see it for the 3rd time overall! I became interested when they announced the Cell as I'm thinking they will do blood and the match will be good but when they announced Shawn as well I got annoyed. Everyone is going to be looking at Shawn for if he's going to double cross someone or not. I've listened to many podcasts and previews of the show and I agree that this will likely be the most emotional match on the card but I'm still not that interested in it. As for who wins I'm going with Taker, I don't see the point of breaking the streak to put Triple H over when he's going to do nothing after Mania. Plus I'd like Taker to go 20-0 and maybe leave it as that just because I like things in 5's or 10's.
Winner: Undertaker

The Rock vs. John Cena
A year of build up! Or try a year of bitching about the other on Twitter and a month of endless promos. I know WWE want this to be the biggest match ever but they've done so little and what they've done I couldn't care less about. And this remains me why did they team at Survivor Series? What a waste of time and it shouldn't have happened in my opinion but that's a whole different issue. I fully agree that this will pull in the crowd as non-wrestling fans will tune it for the Rock and many have heard of Cena. People say it's a dream match, it's not one of mine but I can see how it is a dream match. I really don't see this being as big as WWE hopes it is. One thing is for sure the fans will be into this match but like many of Cena's matches it will be more anti-Cena than pro-Cena. I don't expect this to be awful as Cena can work when it counts and Rock was a pretty good worker back in the day so it could be good. When it comes to a winner it has to be Cena, what would be the point putting over Rock unless you plan to do a rematch and if you do it will be a while away and I don't want that.
Winner: John Cena

Overall: Honestly I'm not too bothered about this show. I'm interested in the World and WWE title matches. While the focus has been on HHH/Taker and Rock/Cena both those matches don't grab me at all. The rest of the card is pretty meaningless to me and with the lack of time they'll get makes them even more meaningless to me. Combine that with the rumour that we'll get a Brodus Clay squash as well and I think I will likely be skipping this event.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading it and let me know what you think about Mania this Sunday.

Friday 23 March 2012

The little things matter

I've been a wrestling fan since 1997 and as a result I'm now a fan who is aware of the smaller details during a match. So I thought I would share 5 of the small things I love and I hate when it comes to wrestling.

Things I Love
1) Unique Gear
I love when wrestlers have special gear for a match. Whether it's CM Punk wearing a Macho Man style trunks as a tribute, Shawn Michael's anti-Taker look he had for Wrestlemania 25, Ultimate Warriors Wrestlemania 8 outfit and so many more. There are three great examples for this point the first is Rob Van Dam, while he does repeat some of his singlets they are still unique to him and they usually stand out. Another example to a lesser extent is the late great Randy Savage, his outfits were so outstanding and he rarely repeated them but he also had times where he would simplify his gear a lot. The best example and the one I really love is Rick Rude. I don't think I've ever seen him wear the same trunks twice, they were all special for that event and would often insult his opponent or put him over. I would spend the beginning of his match trying to work out what was one them and the rest loving his work as he was one of the best.

2) Heel Managers who get involved every chance they get
I'm not talking jumping up on the apron or pulling the ref out every 5 seconds but there is a great way to work it. This point hit me while watching a tag match between Steve Austin & Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat & Sting. Sherri Martel was the manager of Flair at the time and every time the babyface was laying near the ropes and the ref was distracted she was attack by going for the eyes or choking. It was nothing major and it didn't change the match flow in any way but why not do it? Now we don't see this these days as the art of being a manager is completely dead but if they do return maybe think about doing this more often.

3) Brilliant Commentators
JR, Gordon Solie, Bobby Heenan, Eric Garguilo, Ben Jordan (check out 2006 IWA Mid South and see what I mean), CM Punk, JBL, the CHIKARA crew aka Ultramantis & Eddie Kingston and also Joey Styles. When you have a someone who knows what they're talking about and can make the match important when it has to be it's great. Sadly we have really annoying commentators like the King, Cole, Booker T, Mike Tenay & Tazz who are unbearable to listen to.  It's such a shame as good commentating can make a good match great while bad commentating just makes you want to mute the TV.

4) Going back to what we forgot
I love those moments when you say to yourself "When did they do that?" during a match. It's happened a lot and works really well when someone removes the turnbuckle pad but places the pad back on. Check out the HBK vs. British Bulldog Saturday's Main Event match for a great example, Shawn removes the pad but places it back the match continues for 5 minutes or so and Shawn reverses a Irish whip to the corner and all of a sudden the pad is on the floor. It's a nice simple concept called remembering what you did earlier, I wish more guys would use it!

5) Blood
I'm not morbid or blood thirsty but blood can really help a matches story. I do feel that matches inside Cages, the Hell in a Cell or the Elimination Chamber really helps put over the dangerousness of those matches. I don't agree with Flair or Hogan bleeding from a punch like they do now and I only think WWE should use blood when it's needed. The upcoming Hell in a Cell should have blood in my opinion and I will be surprised if it doesn't.

Things I Hate
1) WHAT!
Talk about beating a dead horse! Steve Austin himself has said he regrets creating this. The fans saying "What" during the gaps in promos was funny in 2001/2002 but it's a decade later and it's just annoying now. No wonder people groan when a episode of RAW has a lot of talking as those who are good usually get drowned out by these fans chanting "What" and amusing themselves. Speaking of fans who amuse themselves....

2) Dickhead Fans!
Specifically the asses who were at the Arena and often the New York fans. I don't want to say everyone one there is an awful fan and when their on and care they can be the best crowd in the world but the people is that 9 times out of 10 they're dead for matches because they feel like they deserve better than what's in the ring. The fans can be ass holes, I watched a fantastic match between Justice Pain (a rare one for him) and Sonjay Dutt in CZW and the match was ruined by the fact the fans couldn't care because they deserved more. The best matches are the ones where the fans are hot for the action, you get a sucky crowd and you get a sucky show. That's why I love CHIKARA as they're fans love the action. I could also mention the idiots in the Impact Zone but I prefer to ignore TNA all the time.

3) Becoming Superman
We've all seen it a match that just won't end because a guy is always kicking out. I understand near falls build suspense and that's not what bugs me, what bugs me is when guys hit their finishers over and over while the other guy keeps kicking out. A prime example is John Cena who you have to shoot with a gun just to beat it seems. This is up there with the Elimination Chamber moment when a big guy gets hits with 3/4 finishers in a row (by the way they've done that treatment to Cena as well). I understand you want to put over guys but you don't have to kill a guys finishers.

4) Social Media
Or any gimmick wrestling gets it's hands on, I'm picking Twitter as it's the key thing at the moment. I understand you want to use this new media to make your product bigger but come on. We don't need it mentioning every 5 minutes and we don't need segments designed for the sole reason of being a top topic on it or whatever it is don't look at me I don't use twitter. Hopefully this will come and go soon.

5) Pass Out Submission Finish
At Wrestlemania 13 Steve Austin lost to Bret Hart in a submission match by passing out while being locked in the sharpshooter. Austin was bleeding heavily and the image is one of the most famous moments ever. Ever since that day numerous wrestling companies and wrestlers have copied this finish and it pisses me off. Instead of using it to put over a babyface who just won't quit like the original did all this shows now is that we've backed ourselves into a whole and we need this guy to win without burying this guy. I remember reading that Nigel McGuinness passed out to Jimmy Rave in a submission match and the fans chanted Bullshit. Damn straight! It wouldn't of hurt Nigel to tap in fact it would of helped Rave. This finish is so overused when it comes to submission matches that it's just annoying. Heel you could put any overused finish in this category, the Magnum/Tully Cage match finish, the Bret/Piper roll up finish. It just scream that guys aren't creative and while they want to pay homage they'd be better off trying to be original.

As the title suggests these are just small things and in the grand scope of things these can either just add or take away from a match or wrestler. This isn't anything serious but these are just the things I love or that bugs me when I watch. Cheer for watching and let me know what you think.