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.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
6 Things to Expect at the Chamber
The Elimination Chamber is just over a week away and with 6 people in the chambers match I thought it would be a good idea to share 6 things I expect to see in those matches.
Show or Khali to get hit by multiple finishers before getting eliminated
Let's face it there hasn't been a chamber match that hasn't featured a massive "monster" in the match and as such they are often eliminated by a number of guys hitting their finishers. It's always a wise decision as it helps make these massive men look that much more of a threat, which they should do. My only problem I have with this is that one year they did this with JOHN CENA! What the hell? But in terms of the people in the chamber this year expect Khali or Show to get the multiple finishers spot.
The Raw Chamber will revolve around Punk and Jericho
Look at just who's in the match and think what they will be doing at Mania? These two are rumoured to be working with each other at Mania and they other 4 are pretty much doing nothing. Punk or Jericho will likely leave with the title and they will likely be the final two in the match, I can see Punk starting the match and going to the end. This match could revolve around these guys but the other 4 could at least make a impact during it.
Anyone but Show & Khali could leave with the belt in the Smackdown match
This is kind of open but look at the match. Granted some have better chances than others but with Sheamus facing the winner at Mania I can easily see him face any of the four. Cody Rhodes is the longest shot as he's the Intercontinental champion and isn't ready for the World title. Wade Barrett is the second longest shot but he could very well win it, Barrett vs. Sheamus could be good at Mania. The best chances are Orton and Daniel and too be honest I'm going with Daniel. Daniel is shining as a heel right now as his work deserves to put him in the Mania main event. Orton doesn't need the win or the belt right now it would make much more sense for him to face Barrett at Mania although their talking about a former World champions Money in the Bank which would feature Orton. My pick is for Daniel to retain but like I said I wouldn't be surprised to see many others leave with the belt.
Kofi Kingston will do the craziest spots
Kofi had the most memorable spot in the Rumble match this year and he's the biggest "dare devil" of all participants in the Chamber this year. There is always one who takes huge risks and is remembered whether it be RVD doing the spiderman in the first one or John Morrison jumping all over the chamber last year. Kofi will likely do at least one crazy spot which will be a highlight.
The Miz won't last long
The Miz is very much in the dog house at the moment. He's being blamed for the low Survivor Series buy rate, which is so stupid, and this past Monday he didn't catch R Truth which could of lead to Truth getting seriously injured, thankfully that didn't happen. Miz has been in a lot of trouble lately and it's a shame that he'll probably pay the price here after he had such a long, strong showing in the Rumble. Miz was meant to get a big push late last year and was rumoured to work with Punk for the title and now he'll likely get beaten really quickly which is funny as Truth usually doesn't last long in the chambers, seriously he didn't last 2 minutes in his chamber debut and he didn't last much longer he his second one.
To be surprised if Khali actually makes it to the ring
Khali is such a physical wreck that it's painful to watch him walk let alone work! Khali is a awful wrestler and does not deserve to be in this match, he's only there to replace a injured Henry. It doesn't make sense to replace a injured guy with a guy who can barely work and is probably more of a wreck then the guy he's replacing. Khali only just returned at the Rumble to no ones care and now he's in this match. Honestly I hope they replace him with someone else as the match is already hindered by the fact Show's in there. On a different note was anyone else disappointed that Show was number 30 in the Rumble? With all the hype of mystery people and possible returns and they pick Show as number 30! Such a let down just like Khali replacing Henry and we're back on point!
Anyways there you have it 6 things I expect to see at the Elimination Chamber. Let me know if you agree or not, I'm always up for talking about wrestling. Thanks for reading.
Show or Khali to get hit by multiple finishers before getting eliminated
Let's face it there hasn't been a chamber match that hasn't featured a massive "monster" in the match and as such they are often eliminated by a number of guys hitting their finishers. It's always a wise decision as it helps make these massive men look that much more of a threat, which they should do. My only problem I have with this is that one year they did this with JOHN CENA! What the hell? But in terms of the people in the chamber this year expect Khali or Show to get the multiple finishers spot.
The Raw Chamber will revolve around Punk and Jericho
Look at just who's in the match and think what they will be doing at Mania? These two are rumoured to be working with each other at Mania and they other 4 are pretty much doing nothing. Punk or Jericho will likely leave with the title and they will likely be the final two in the match, I can see Punk starting the match and going to the end. This match could revolve around these guys but the other 4 could at least make a impact during it.
Anyone but Show & Khali could leave with the belt in the Smackdown match
This is kind of open but look at the match. Granted some have better chances than others but with Sheamus facing the winner at Mania I can easily see him face any of the four. Cody Rhodes is the longest shot as he's the Intercontinental champion and isn't ready for the World title. Wade Barrett is the second longest shot but he could very well win it, Barrett vs. Sheamus could be good at Mania. The best chances are Orton and Daniel and too be honest I'm going with Daniel. Daniel is shining as a heel right now as his work deserves to put him in the Mania main event. Orton doesn't need the win or the belt right now it would make much more sense for him to face Barrett at Mania although their talking about a former World champions Money in the Bank which would feature Orton. My pick is for Daniel to retain but like I said I wouldn't be surprised to see many others leave with the belt.
Kofi Kingston will do the craziest spots
Kofi had the most memorable spot in the Rumble match this year and he's the biggest "dare devil" of all participants in the Chamber this year. There is always one who takes huge risks and is remembered whether it be RVD doing the spiderman in the first one or John Morrison jumping all over the chamber last year. Kofi will likely do at least one crazy spot which will be a highlight.
The Miz won't last long
The Miz is very much in the dog house at the moment. He's being blamed for the low Survivor Series buy rate, which is so stupid, and this past Monday he didn't catch R Truth which could of lead to Truth getting seriously injured, thankfully that didn't happen. Miz has been in a lot of trouble lately and it's a shame that he'll probably pay the price here after he had such a long, strong showing in the Rumble. Miz was meant to get a big push late last year and was rumoured to work with Punk for the title and now he'll likely get beaten really quickly which is funny as Truth usually doesn't last long in the chambers, seriously he didn't last 2 minutes in his chamber debut and he didn't last much longer he his second one.
To be surprised if Khali actually makes it to the ring
Khali is such a physical wreck that it's painful to watch him walk let alone work! Khali is a awful wrestler and does not deserve to be in this match, he's only there to replace a injured Henry. It doesn't make sense to replace a injured guy with a guy who can barely work and is probably more of a wreck then the guy he's replacing. Khali only just returned at the Rumble to no ones care and now he's in this match. Honestly I hope they replace him with someone else as the match is already hindered by the fact Show's in there. On a different note was anyone else disappointed that Show was number 30 in the Rumble? With all the hype of mystery people and possible returns and they pick Show as number 30! Such a let down just like Khali replacing Henry and we're back on point!
Anyways there you have it 6 things I expect to see at the Elimination Chamber. Let me know if you agree or not, I'm always up for talking about wrestling. Thanks for reading.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Time for a Rumble
In 2 weeks time one of my favourite events of the year will happen. The Royal Rumble! I love this event every year and partly because of the Rumble match itself. So I decided to have a little look back at some past Rumbles. Now I will say this if you want to hear reviews of all the rumbles then check out Aftermath radio where Jimmy Kordeas and Arda Ocal are looking back at them all and they are fantastic podcast. Anyways I'm going to look at 3 Rumbles from the 90's and 3from the 2000's. For each event I'll pick what I thought was the best match, what was the worse and share my view on the Rumble match. So lets begin.
Royal Rumble 92-Greatest of All Time
Best Match: The New Foundation vs. The Orient Express. This match could not compare to the fantastic opener that was the Rockers vs. Orient Express from the previous year however it was a damn good match. To me Neidhart and Owen were always an odd team but to be honest Neidhart just seemed to do very little after breaking away from Bret. Anyways this was a great way to open the show.
Worst Match: The Natural Disasters vs. LOD for the Tag Titles. The Legion of Doom were never the greatest workers and the same could be said for the Natural Disasters so you can imagine the results. In fairness it was not that bad but it wasn't good. Basically it was 4 big men being big. Enough said.
Rumble: What can you say apart from this was probably the greatest rumble ever. One of the most high profile rumbles ever. The match itself was for the WWF championship and so many stories were going on but the main story was Ric Flair. Flair walked in at number 3 and ended up winning the entire thing. Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon do a fantastic job on commentary helping put over Flair and the situation. This is a rumble that has to be watched. Flair won by eliminating Sid Justice, with some help from Hogan, and he then cut one of the best promos ever. My personal highlight was Jake Roberts reaction when Macho Man came out, Randy ran to the ring and Roberts hid. Randy then looked around for him but Roberts came back in after Savage was knocked down. I don't know I just liked that.
Royal Rumble 95-Hey look it's Pamela Anderson
Best Match: Diesel vs. Bret Hart for the WWF championship. Granted these two had a better match at Survivor Series but this match wasn't bad either. At that time it was weird to see babyface vs. babyface and to have both men trade off getting heat. Bret was always great in the ring and Diesel could have a good match with the right guy. What was a let down was the finish. During the match interference happened twice with a group (lead by Shawn Michaels) beating up Diesel and then a group (lead by Owen Hart) beating up Bret. The finish came when both groups came down and attacked leading to a no contest. It was a downer to an otherwise great match.
Worst Match: Undertaker vs. IRS. At this time Undertaker just went through the mentions and did the same old thing. IRS didn't do much hear either apart from get his tie grabbed. The quality in the ring was bad but I think the purpose was to move the story along, the Undertaker was taking out the Million $ Corporation so in this match the Takers urn is stolen and King Kong Bundy beats him up. We move on.
The Rumble: The fastest and in my opinion worst Rumble ever. Entrants came ever minute and there was a serious lack of stars in there. Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog start and end the rumble match. In my view I don't get why they put such a focus on Shawn being number 1 and winning, if the interval time was like previous years it would of been a big deal. To be fair to Shawn he bumped his ass off he was flying all over the place. The highlights to this rumble were the infamous "one foot" finish which made it look like the Bulldog won but my personal highlight was Bret Hart coming out and beating up Owen & Bob Backlund when they were entering the rumble causing them to be eliminated in seconds.
Royal Rumble 97-Look at this place it's massive!
Best match: Hunter Hearsy Helmsley vs. Goldust for the Intercontinental title. To me this match showed just how good these two were and were going to be. This match was extremely physical with the action getting very hardcore. I remember Goldust just beating the hell out of Hunter with the steel steps. The match had everything, someone got burned with a cigar, steps were used, the title belt was thrown around and we got some kissing. It was a great brawl and a great match to open the show, and it helped advance two young careers.
Worst Match: Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq. Great googly moogly! As Jim Cornette would say. I like Ron Simmons but Ahmed Johnson was not great. The hype to this match was fantastic it's just a shame in the ring work was crap mainly due to Ahmed's limitations.
The Rumble: This was a little bit of a mixed bag star wise but it wasn't bad. If anything it helped Stone Cold into a star. Him being in the ring by himself so often was great and the way he used that time as well. The match was filled with ups and downs moments in terms of action but the final section, started when Bret Hart came down was the best in my view. Highlights included Austin being eliminated but not being seen so he comes back in and wins it. Another highlight was Jerry Lawler, who was on commentary, says "It takes a King" he enters the ring and gets limited by Hart in seconds and then gets back on commentary and says "To know a King". Just great!
Royal Rumble 02-Hey in case you didn't know the Games back people!
Best match: Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon in a Street Fight. We never imagined this match would happen but man what a match it was. Flair is one of the greatest ever and in the right situation Vince can put on a great match as well. Vince dominating Flair made sense as Vince was probably in better shape than Flair (looks wise anyways). Everything about this match just flowed so well, we hated Vince when he took pictures of Flair and gave it to his kids at ringside and we loved it when Flair came back and kicked Vince's ass. Just a fantastic brawl in my view.
Worst match: Spike Dudley & Tazz vs. The Dudleys for the Tag title. Why did Spike and Tazz have the tag titles? And why for so long? This match was short and basically consisted of Spike getting his ass kicked and Tazz making the save. Which wouldn't be bad if a) we hadn't seen it hundreds of time in ECW and b) Tazz wasn't the smallest guy in the match. The highlight here, Stacy Keibler man is she hot!
The Rumble: Not bad was a nice little mix of stars and you could see several possible winners but sadly it was all based around HHH and his return. The final section with Angle and Hunter was great and to be fair HHH winning made perfect sense. The match had it's lows but the final section was fantastic. Highlights included Maven, who was pretty new after winning Tough Enough, eliminating the Undertaker in a shocking moment. Mr. Perfect returning was a personal highlight and him spitting out his gum and swatting it away while HHH tried eliminating him was amazing. I also loved the Hurricane trying to double chokeslam Austin and Hunter and the two of them just throwing him out.
Royal Rumble 04-The Rumble that never happened!
Best match: HHH vs. Shawn Michaels in a Last Man Standing for the World Heavyweight Championship. I always had mixed feelings when these two met in the ring, sometimes they put on a awesome show but other times it wasn't anything special. This match was something special. You could feel the heat in this match and this was a prime example of when blood can help a story. These two beat the hell out of each other and it was brutal. Now the match ended in a draw but by watching it you can understand why. The match ended with Shawn hitting Sweet Chin Music on HHH and because Shawn had lost so much blood he couldn't get up either. It looked like he could of won if he was in a slightly better condition and Hunter got to keep the belt leading to a possible rematch down the road.
Worst match: Brock Lesnar vs. Hardcore Holly for the WWE title. I hate Hardcore Holly and the fact that he only got a title shot because Lesnar shoot injured him sums up Holly's career in my view. This match was just all kinds of wrong. Brock could put on a fantastic match but Holly was just awful, I've never seen a match with Holly in that was worth watching again apart from his Hardcore title and that's just because he got his ass beat with weapons! Seriously though I bet many people weren't even aware this match happened.
The Rumble: Now this is a bigger deal. Chris Benoit, you know THAT guy, entered number 1 and won the whole thing after going over an hour in the ring. Benoit eliminated Big Show in a dramatic final segment to win the match. What I really liked about this match was that it looked like were going repeat the 95 Rumble and have both 1 and 2 at the end, number 2 being Randy Orton, but that was changed when Mick Foley made a surprise return and eliminated him. The other highlight here was the teasing of the Undertaker's return which caused Kane to be eliminated. We all knew Taker would return but this was the beginning of the Dead man coming back!
Royal Rumble 07-The Old Timers can still go
Best match: John Cena vs. Umaga in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE title. 2007 was one of the best years for Cena in my eyes, his in ring work was fantastic and this kicked off his year. Umaga was an unstoppable monster who Cena just barely beat earlier in the month so we all thought that he couldn't win here. This match was insanely brutal and dramatic. Umaga really went out of his way to go through some insane stuff to help make him look great and in term make Cena look great. At this time they were 3 announce tables at ring side and I remember Umaga running over 2 and trying to splash Cena on the 3rd but Cena moved. This is another match were blood helped tell a story, that is one of the things I miss now WWE is PG. The finish came when the top rope was unscrewed and Cena applied the STFU with the rope wrapped around Umaga's neck and repeating it several times. It looked brutal so much so that on the next night Umaga was so bruised by it it was insane!
Worst match: Bobby Lashley vs. Test for the ECW title. I can't tell you how glad I am that Lashley doesn't wrestle any more. He was just awful and his wife cut a better promo then he could. The man marked as "the next big star" was just wrong on so many levels. Now I liked Test (RIP) but he wasn't brillant and couldn't make Lashley look good. Hell very few could.
The Rumble: Looking back at the list of entrants not many could of won it but I didn't see Taker and HBK being the final two. Boy was I glad they were though as they probably put on the most dramatic finishing section of any rumble match ever! But to honest apart from the ending there is very little I remember from this Rumble. The fact is that the final two men would both be challenging for each brands World title at Mania that year and that is how the Rumble should work in my view.
So there you have it, a little mini review of 6 Rumbles in the past. I will end this by saying I hope and pray that Jericho or Orton don't win the Rumble this year. My pick is Dolph Ziggler but I'll be happy if Sheamus or Wade Barrett won it.
Royal Rumble 92-Greatest of All Time
Best Match: The New Foundation vs. The Orient Express. This match could not compare to the fantastic opener that was the Rockers vs. Orient Express from the previous year however it was a damn good match. To me Neidhart and Owen were always an odd team but to be honest Neidhart just seemed to do very little after breaking away from Bret. Anyways this was a great way to open the show.
Worst Match: The Natural Disasters vs. LOD for the Tag Titles. The Legion of Doom were never the greatest workers and the same could be said for the Natural Disasters so you can imagine the results. In fairness it was not that bad but it wasn't good. Basically it was 4 big men being big. Enough said.
Rumble: What can you say apart from this was probably the greatest rumble ever. One of the most high profile rumbles ever. The match itself was for the WWF championship and so many stories were going on but the main story was Ric Flair. Flair walked in at number 3 and ended up winning the entire thing. Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon do a fantastic job on commentary helping put over Flair and the situation. This is a rumble that has to be watched. Flair won by eliminating Sid Justice, with some help from Hogan, and he then cut one of the best promos ever. My personal highlight was Jake Roberts reaction when Macho Man came out, Randy ran to the ring and Roberts hid. Randy then looked around for him but Roberts came back in after Savage was knocked down. I don't know I just liked that.
Royal Rumble 95-Hey look it's Pamela Anderson
Best Match: Diesel vs. Bret Hart for the WWF championship. Granted these two had a better match at Survivor Series but this match wasn't bad either. At that time it was weird to see babyface vs. babyface and to have both men trade off getting heat. Bret was always great in the ring and Diesel could have a good match with the right guy. What was a let down was the finish. During the match interference happened twice with a group (lead by Shawn Michaels) beating up Diesel and then a group (lead by Owen Hart) beating up Bret. The finish came when both groups came down and attacked leading to a no contest. It was a downer to an otherwise great match.
Worst Match: Undertaker vs. IRS. At this time Undertaker just went through the mentions and did the same old thing. IRS didn't do much hear either apart from get his tie grabbed. The quality in the ring was bad but I think the purpose was to move the story along, the Undertaker was taking out the Million $ Corporation so in this match the Takers urn is stolen and King Kong Bundy beats him up. We move on.
The Rumble: The fastest and in my opinion worst Rumble ever. Entrants came ever minute and there was a serious lack of stars in there. Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog start and end the rumble match. In my view I don't get why they put such a focus on Shawn being number 1 and winning, if the interval time was like previous years it would of been a big deal. To be fair to Shawn he bumped his ass off he was flying all over the place. The highlights to this rumble were the infamous "one foot" finish which made it look like the Bulldog won but my personal highlight was Bret Hart coming out and beating up Owen & Bob Backlund when they were entering the rumble causing them to be eliminated in seconds.
Royal Rumble 97-Look at this place it's massive!
Best match: Hunter Hearsy Helmsley vs. Goldust for the Intercontinental title. To me this match showed just how good these two were and were going to be. This match was extremely physical with the action getting very hardcore. I remember Goldust just beating the hell out of Hunter with the steel steps. The match had everything, someone got burned with a cigar, steps were used, the title belt was thrown around and we got some kissing. It was a great brawl and a great match to open the show, and it helped advance two young careers.
Worst Match: Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq. Great googly moogly! As Jim Cornette would say. I like Ron Simmons but Ahmed Johnson was not great. The hype to this match was fantastic it's just a shame in the ring work was crap mainly due to Ahmed's limitations.
The Rumble: This was a little bit of a mixed bag star wise but it wasn't bad. If anything it helped Stone Cold into a star. Him being in the ring by himself so often was great and the way he used that time as well. The match was filled with ups and downs moments in terms of action but the final section, started when Bret Hart came down was the best in my view. Highlights included Austin being eliminated but not being seen so he comes back in and wins it. Another highlight was Jerry Lawler, who was on commentary, says "It takes a King" he enters the ring and gets limited by Hart in seconds and then gets back on commentary and says "To know a King". Just great!
Royal Rumble 02-Hey in case you didn't know the Games back people!
Best match: Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon in a Street Fight. We never imagined this match would happen but man what a match it was. Flair is one of the greatest ever and in the right situation Vince can put on a great match as well. Vince dominating Flair made sense as Vince was probably in better shape than Flair (looks wise anyways). Everything about this match just flowed so well, we hated Vince when he took pictures of Flair and gave it to his kids at ringside and we loved it when Flair came back and kicked Vince's ass. Just a fantastic brawl in my view.
Worst match: Spike Dudley & Tazz vs. The Dudleys for the Tag title. Why did Spike and Tazz have the tag titles? And why for so long? This match was short and basically consisted of Spike getting his ass kicked and Tazz making the save. Which wouldn't be bad if a) we hadn't seen it hundreds of time in ECW and b) Tazz wasn't the smallest guy in the match. The highlight here, Stacy Keibler man is she hot!
The Rumble: Not bad was a nice little mix of stars and you could see several possible winners but sadly it was all based around HHH and his return. The final section with Angle and Hunter was great and to be fair HHH winning made perfect sense. The match had it's lows but the final section was fantastic. Highlights included Maven, who was pretty new after winning Tough Enough, eliminating the Undertaker in a shocking moment. Mr. Perfect returning was a personal highlight and him spitting out his gum and swatting it away while HHH tried eliminating him was amazing. I also loved the Hurricane trying to double chokeslam Austin and Hunter and the two of them just throwing him out.
Royal Rumble 04-The Rumble that never happened!
Best match: HHH vs. Shawn Michaels in a Last Man Standing for the World Heavyweight Championship. I always had mixed feelings when these two met in the ring, sometimes they put on a awesome show but other times it wasn't anything special. This match was something special. You could feel the heat in this match and this was a prime example of when blood can help a story. These two beat the hell out of each other and it was brutal. Now the match ended in a draw but by watching it you can understand why. The match ended with Shawn hitting Sweet Chin Music on HHH and because Shawn had lost so much blood he couldn't get up either. It looked like he could of won if he was in a slightly better condition and Hunter got to keep the belt leading to a possible rematch down the road.
Worst match: Brock Lesnar vs. Hardcore Holly for the WWE title. I hate Hardcore Holly and the fact that he only got a title shot because Lesnar shoot injured him sums up Holly's career in my view. This match was just all kinds of wrong. Brock could put on a fantastic match but Holly was just awful, I've never seen a match with Holly in that was worth watching again apart from his Hardcore title and that's just because he got his ass beat with weapons! Seriously though I bet many people weren't even aware this match happened.
The Rumble: Now this is a bigger deal. Chris Benoit, you know THAT guy, entered number 1 and won the whole thing after going over an hour in the ring. Benoit eliminated Big Show in a dramatic final segment to win the match. What I really liked about this match was that it looked like were going repeat the 95 Rumble and have both 1 and 2 at the end, number 2 being Randy Orton, but that was changed when Mick Foley made a surprise return and eliminated him. The other highlight here was the teasing of the Undertaker's return which caused Kane to be eliminated. We all knew Taker would return but this was the beginning of the Dead man coming back!
Royal Rumble 07-The Old Timers can still go
Best match: John Cena vs. Umaga in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE title. 2007 was one of the best years for Cena in my eyes, his in ring work was fantastic and this kicked off his year. Umaga was an unstoppable monster who Cena just barely beat earlier in the month so we all thought that he couldn't win here. This match was insanely brutal and dramatic. Umaga really went out of his way to go through some insane stuff to help make him look great and in term make Cena look great. At this time they were 3 announce tables at ring side and I remember Umaga running over 2 and trying to splash Cena on the 3rd but Cena moved. This is another match were blood helped tell a story, that is one of the things I miss now WWE is PG. The finish came when the top rope was unscrewed and Cena applied the STFU with the rope wrapped around Umaga's neck and repeating it several times. It looked brutal so much so that on the next night Umaga was so bruised by it it was insane!
Worst match: Bobby Lashley vs. Test for the ECW title. I can't tell you how glad I am that Lashley doesn't wrestle any more. He was just awful and his wife cut a better promo then he could. The man marked as "the next big star" was just wrong on so many levels. Now I liked Test (RIP) but he wasn't brillant and couldn't make Lashley look good. Hell very few could.
The Rumble: Looking back at the list of entrants not many could of won it but I didn't see Taker and HBK being the final two. Boy was I glad they were though as they probably put on the most dramatic finishing section of any rumble match ever! But to honest apart from the ending there is very little I remember from this Rumble. The fact is that the final two men would both be challenging for each brands World title at Mania that year and that is how the Rumble should work in my view.
So there you have it, a little mini review of 6 Rumbles in the past. I will end this by saying I hope and pray that Jericho or Orton don't win the Rumble this year. My pick is Dolph Ziggler but I'll be happy if Sheamus or Wade Barrett won it.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Well that's a Surprise
This week saw two new videos advertising returns to WWE and it made me think of some of the better reveals/surprises that have occurred in wrestling. So in this list I'm looking at wrestlers "revealing" themselves (not like that) or just general surprises, you'll get the idea when I start listing them off. So let us begin.
10) The Power Trip Begins
At Wrestlemania 17 Stone Cold challenged the Rock for the WWE title. This was one of the biggest matches at the time and the Reliant Astrodome was jammed packed, partly because of the great card (this Mania was one of the greatest ever in my view) and for their own Steve Austin going for the title. The match is still one of the best I've seen and is one of my personal favourite Mania main events. As the match went on Vince McMahon, who had been feuding with Steve Austin constantly for years, headed down to the ring. Everyone was worried about what he would do but no one expected him to help out Austin, it was a great twist. The biggest problem was where they did it, you could of had Steve Austin shot a bunny in the face with a shotgun and they still would of cheered him like crazy. Anywhere else and this would of worked so well but in Texas was a big mistake.
9) Andre wants his shot
Andre the Giant was one of the biggest stars in wrestling and probably one of the only true global stars when he was around, everyone knew who he was. Andre became one of the main guys in WWE and when they were looking to expand they hit the mother load with Hulk Hogan and he became just as big of a star as Andre maybe even bigger. The two biggest babyfaces had met in matches way before Hogan rejoined the WWE but it never really went down well. Hogan's reign as champion went well and he was beating everyone, we come to a Piper's Pit and a big surprise. During the segment out came Andre with Bobby Heenan, Bobby announced that that Andre wanted a title shot and that Hogan had been ducking him. It ended with Andre ripping Hogan's shirt off and necklace and walking away. At the time this was a massive deal and it was done so well that it drew 96,000 *cough* it didn't draw that many at all, they lied *cough* for Wrestlemania 3 and it became one of the most iconic matches ever.
8) They're Here
When Abyss mentioned that "They" were coming at 10/10/10 in TNA we all knew that it involved Hogan & Bischoff turning heel. The date was for Bound for Glory and as the night went on we were waiting to see Them at some point. They were so many rumours running around that Kurt Angle or Mr. Anderson would be involved in the group. As the main event began a Triple threat between Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Mr Anderson, we were sure that They would show up to help Angle. So as we waited for an eternity for Hogan to make it down the ramp while Eric Bischoff was in the ring we thought it was time and then BAM it turned out Jeff Hardy was apart of them. Hardy was one of the biggest babyfaces at the time and the turn was a big surprise. I haven't been able to praise TNA much over the past two years but this was one of the better planned and executed turns.
7) You know that girl you want to marry, I married her first
First off this is one of the funniest things I've seen in wrestling. In 1999 Test was set to marry Stephanie McMahon (on-screen) and there were some big angles based around it, including a great match between Test and Shane. The ceremony had started but as it went on Triple H came out and said he had something to show the world. What was shown was a drugged up Stephanie being married to Triple H in a drive-thru ceremony. It was a truly hilarious and one of the better twists in wrestling, I really didn't see it coming and I think the fans didn't either. All I can say here is go and find it.
6) The Next Entrant is
I would love to write about one specific moment on this one but it's just too damn hard to pick one. Let's face it the Royal Rumble match is always one to watch every single year and in part it's due to the surprises that we expect, there are always surprise entrants or returns that gets a pop out of us. Whether it was RVD, Diesel, Booker T or the Honky Tonk Man we always get a pop from it. But the two bigger shockers in terms of Rumble surprises were the return of John Cena and Edge (in different years) both at the time were recovering from major injuries and hadn't been expected back for months, they received some of the biggest reactions and then went on to win the Rumble. The rumble is and will forever remain one of my favourite matches every year and the surprises is a key factor there.
5) I now pronounce you man and man?
Bischoff was playing the priest and then his monster squad (3 Minute Warning) destroyed everything. The reason why this is on the list is because you really couldn't tell that it was Bischoff or that it would end the way it did. You can look back now and say it "Oh I knew it was Bischoff" but I'm pretty sure that at the time you didn't, and if you still say you did then you're a liar a dirty, dirty liar.
4) Congratulation and I'm gonna beat you up
At Summerslam 2009 one of my personal favourite matches took place, the main event saw CM Punk face Jeff Hardy in a TLC match for the World Heavyweight title. Oh what a match it was, those two probably had the best series/feud that year to be sure. The ending to this match saw Jeff take himself out by Swantoning Punk on the outside, as Jeff was being taken off Punk began to climb. Hardy battled back and began to climb but was caught by a kick and Punk won the World title. Punk began to celebrate and even stood over Hardy to gloat. But then the lights went out and when they came back on the Undertake replaced Hardy and chokeslammed Punk. This was beautifully done and set up Punk's next feud while ending his previous feud. The problem then came with the fact Punk had to work Taker and Punk couldn't really win in that feud and he didn't.
3) The Millennium is here
When we saw the countdown clock we knew something special was coming. Ultimately that clock would lead us to one of the best debuts ever in wrestling. We all wondered what that clock would exactly lead to and it ended up being the debut of Chris Jericho. The debut became one of the greatest TV segments ever as the clock ran down while the Rock was in the ring, the two then proceeded to have a great back and fourth with each other and it showed that Jericho was going to be a big deal, he wasn't at first but he did in the end. Again all I can say is search this out as it's worth watching and harder to describe.
2) A King in a crap hole
Every wrestling fan See's the ECW arena as a holy grail in wrestling but it looks like a dump and the fans in their are mostly dicks (personal opinion I really don't like the arena fans). Anyways in 1997 a big program occurred in ECW with some of their guys (Rob Van Dam and Sabu) announcing their alliance to the company. ECW's main guy, Tommy Dreamer, was about to end his feud with Raven and just after he had won he was ambushed by RVD and then Sabu. ECW seemed to always have the lights go out on a show but after the first two times and big surprise came with the third as Jerry "The King" Lawler then appeared. No one expected to see The King, who truly hated ECW and still does to this day. While RVD and Sabu were ECW wrestlers claiming to be WWE guys this was a true WWE guy. The reaction the fans gave was one of true hatred so much so that the King had to sink out afterwards as he was truly afraid for his life. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan with angle likes this could happen.
1) Oh Yeah time to drop a leg
I may be a little predictable here but how could this not be number 1, we've all seen the Bash at the Beach in 1996 and the infamous third guy of the Outsiders. While the Outsiders were beating up Randy Savage everyone asked who could save WCW now, out came Hulk Hogan and the Outsiders ran. Hogan then proceeded to dropping a leg on Savage who was lying on the mat and Hogan became the third guy. The fans couldn't believe it and began to throw garbage into the ring, you could feel real passions from the fans. Hogan was the quintessential babyface and no one expected him to turn heel. This was one of the biggest heel turns ever and more to the point one of the biggest surprises we've seen in wrestling. Hence why it's number 1 on this list.
So that's my top 10 surprises/reveals, were you surprised? Probably not but hey I tried. Anyways let me know what you think and thanks for reading.
10) The Power Trip Begins
At Wrestlemania 17 Stone Cold challenged the Rock for the WWE title. This was one of the biggest matches at the time and the Reliant Astrodome was jammed packed, partly because of the great card (this Mania was one of the greatest ever in my view) and for their own Steve Austin going for the title. The match is still one of the best I've seen and is one of my personal favourite Mania main events. As the match went on Vince McMahon, who had been feuding with Steve Austin constantly for years, headed down to the ring. Everyone was worried about what he would do but no one expected him to help out Austin, it was a great twist. The biggest problem was where they did it, you could of had Steve Austin shot a bunny in the face with a shotgun and they still would of cheered him like crazy. Anywhere else and this would of worked so well but in Texas was a big mistake.
9) Andre wants his shot
Andre the Giant was one of the biggest stars in wrestling and probably one of the only true global stars when he was around, everyone knew who he was. Andre became one of the main guys in WWE and when they were looking to expand they hit the mother load with Hulk Hogan and he became just as big of a star as Andre maybe even bigger. The two biggest babyfaces had met in matches way before Hogan rejoined the WWE but it never really went down well. Hogan's reign as champion went well and he was beating everyone, we come to a Piper's Pit and a big surprise. During the segment out came Andre with Bobby Heenan, Bobby announced that that Andre wanted a title shot and that Hogan had been ducking him. It ended with Andre ripping Hogan's shirt off and necklace and walking away. At the time this was a massive deal and it was done so well that it drew 96,000 *cough* it didn't draw that many at all, they lied *cough* for Wrestlemania 3 and it became one of the most iconic matches ever.
8) They're Here
When Abyss mentioned that "They" were coming at 10/10/10 in TNA we all knew that it involved Hogan & Bischoff turning heel. The date was for Bound for Glory and as the night went on we were waiting to see Them at some point. They were so many rumours running around that Kurt Angle or Mr. Anderson would be involved in the group. As the main event began a Triple threat between Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Mr Anderson, we were sure that They would show up to help Angle. So as we waited for an eternity for Hogan to make it down the ramp while Eric Bischoff was in the ring we thought it was time and then BAM it turned out Jeff Hardy was apart of them. Hardy was one of the biggest babyfaces at the time and the turn was a big surprise. I haven't been able to praise TNA much over the past two years but this was one of the better planned and executed turns.
7) You know that girl you want to marry, I married her first
First off this is one of the funniest things I've seen in wrestling. In 1999 Test was set to marry Stephanie McMahon (on-screen) and there were some big angles based around it, including a great match between Test and Shane. The ceremony had started but as it went on Triple H came out and said he had something to show the world. What was shown was a drugged up Stephanie being married to Triple H in a drive-thru ceremony. It was a truly hilarious and one of the better twists in wrestling, I really didn't see it coming and I think the fans didn't either. All I can say here is go and find it.
6) The Next Entrant is
I would love to write about one specific moment on this one but it's just too damn hard to pick one. Let's face it the Royal Rumble match is always one to watch every single year and in part it's due to the surprises that we expect, there are always surprise entrants or returns that gets a pop out of us. Whether it was RVD, Diesel, Booker T or the Honky Tonk Man we always get a pop from it. But the two bigger shockers in terms of Rumble surprises were the return of John Cena and Edge (in different years) both at the time were recovering from major injuries and hadn't been expected back for months, they received some of the biggest reactions and then went on to win the Rumble. The rumble is and will forever remain one of my favourite matches every year and the surprises is a key factor there.
5) I now pronounce you man and man?
Bischoff was playing the priest and then his monster squad (3 Minute Warning) destroyed everything. The reason why this is on the list is because you really couldn't tell that it was Bischoff or that it would end the way it did. You can look back now and say it "Oh I knew it was Bischoff" but I'm pretty sure that at the time you didn't, and if you still say you did then you're a liar a dirty, dirty liar.
4) Congratulation and I'm gonna beat you up
At Summerslam 2009 one of my personal favourite matches took place, the main event saw CM Punk face Jeff Hardy in a TLC match for the World Heavyweight title. Oh what a match it was, those two probably had the best series/feud that year to be sure. The ending to this match saw Jeff take himself out by Swantoning Punk on the outside, as Jeff was being taken off Punk began to climb. Hardy battled back and began to climb but was caught by a kick and Punk won the World title. Punk began to celebrate and even stood over Hardy to gloat. But then the lights went out and when they came back on the Undertake replaced Hardy and chokeslammed Punk. This was beautifully done and set up Punk's next feud while ending his previous feud. The problem then came with the fact Punk had to work Taker and Punk couldn't really win in that feud and he didn't.
3) The Millennium is here
When we saw the countdown clock we knew something special was coming. Ultimately that clock would lead us to one of the best debuts ever in wrestling. We all wondered what that clock would exactly lead to and it ended up being the debut of Chris Jericho. The debut became one of the greatest TV segments ever as the clock ran down while the Rock was in the ring, the two then proceeded to have a great back and fourth with each other and it showed that Jericho was going to be a big deal, he wasn't at first but he did in the end. Again all I can say is search this out as it's worth watching and harder to describe.
2) A King in a crap hole
Every wrestling fan See's the ECW arena as a holy grail in wrestling but it looks like a dump and the fans in their are mostly dicks (personal opinion I really don't like the arena fans). Anyways in 1997 a big program occurred in ECW with some of their guys (Rob Van Dam and Sabu) announcing their alliance to the company. ECW's main guy, Tommy Dreamer, was about to end his feud with Raven and just after he had won he was ambushed by RVD and then Sabu. ECW seemed to always have the lights go out on a show but after the first two times and big surprise came with the third as Jerry "The King" Lawler then appeared. No one expected to see The King, who truly hated ECW and still does to this day. While RVD and Sabu were ECW wrestlers claiming to be WWE guys this was a true WWE guy. The reaction the fans gave was one of true hatred so much so that the King had to sink out afterwards as he was truly afraid for his life. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan with angle likes this could happen.
1) Oh Yeah time to drop a leg
I may be a little predictable here but how could this not be number 1, we've all seen the Bash at the Beach in 1996 and the infamous third guy of the Outsiders. While the Outsiders were beating up Randy Savage everyone asked who could save WCW now, out came Hulk Hogan and the Outsiders ran. Hogan then proceeded to dropping a leg on Savage who was lying on the mat and Hogan became the third guy. The fans couldn't believe it and began to throw garbage into the ring, you could feel real passions from the fans. Hogan was the quintessential babyface and no one expected him to turn heel. This was one of the biggest heel turns ever and more to the point one of the biggest surprises we've seen in wrestling. Hence why it's number 1 on this list.
So that's my top 10 surprises/reveals, were you surprised? Probably not but hey I tried. Anyways let me know what you think and thanks for reading.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
High Noon Preview
So this weekend has Chikara's offical Season finale, I saw offical because they will also hold Joshimania a three day special show involving all female wrestlers and lots of japanese wrestlers. Back to the season finale on November 12th the annual Cibernetico takes place but I'm not looking at that the next night has Chikara doing their first iPPV. So here's a little preview of the show and what I'm expecting from it.
Before I mention the first match Amasis from the Osirian Portal is set to update his wrestling status on the show. For those of you who don't know he was involved in a car accident and had to quit wrestling. We'll have to see just what he has to say. But onto the show.
El Generico vs. Jigsaw-Free Pre-show match
No back story here just one awesome match and it's FREE! I like Jigsaw he's a great wrestler but has had problems working outside of Chikara mainly due to his mask in my view, he did wrestle in ROH without it but he just went downhill until he put the mask back on in Chikara. His opponent, El Generico, is probably one of the best wrestlers I've ever seen. Seriously think about it, when was the last time you saw Generico in a bad match? Generico deserves main event pushes where ever he goes and thankfully Pro Wrestling Guerrila aren't afraid to make him World champ. I'm also looking forward to him challenging Davey Richards for the ROH World title but that's not being discussed here. This free match should hook those who are on the fence about buying the iPPV.
Winner: Jigsaw-This is really a toss up and anyone could win but I'm going with Jig because he's Chikara's own while Generico is just a visitor.
Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck
Archibald Peck is one of the weirdest gimmicks I've seen in a while but it works well in Chikara and it works even more by the fact Robert Evans is the man behind the gimmick.
So the backstory here is at King of Trios this year Peck beat Cabana, he said that Eddie Kingston sent him to the future via the Backfist to the Future and he saw who he was going to be facing. Since then Peck has re-introduced Colt Cabunny to Chikara. Colt has declared war on Peck and said he was going to stop his abuse on the Cabunny.
I expect this match to give you some laughs and really just entertain you, these two are two of the most entertaining men in wrestling today. If you don't know who Peck is then you may have seen him working with the Embassy in ROH in a non-wrestling role. And we should all know Colt who is probably the best wrestler to mix comedy into his wrestling and put on great matches. If you don't get a laugh from this match at some point I'd be surprised.
Winner: Peck-Once again it makes more sense to give the win to someone who is always at Chikara instead of someone just visiting the promotion. But having said that I could also see Colt winning.
Sara Del Rey vs. Jakob Hammermeier
These two were once part of the BDK faction in Chikara Sara was a part of the faction while Jakob was their personal ring announcer. Over the last year a lot has happened, Jakob was trained to wrestle and started to regularly. While Sara broke away from the BDK and was left to fight on her own when her tag partner Daizee Haze was injured. Sara scored some big wins over the two BDK leaders (Claudio Castagnoli and Ares) in singles matches. So the main backstory here is that Del Rey was to beat all of the BDK members and so she's on to Jakob.
This is a weird one to me, Sara is one of the best female wrestlers and generally one of the best wrestlers going today but I haven't seen much of Jakob's work so I don't know how good he is. Sara can probably make him look great and if Jakob is good then the match can be good.
Winner: Del Rey-She beat the top dogs of the group so I'm pretty sure she will beat Jakob here. I'm personally more interested in just who she will be wrestling over the Joshimania weekend.
Green Ant vs. Tursas
This is not the first time these two have met but this time it doesn't have as much build, let me explain. Earlier this year these two were set to meet and Green Ant decided to copy the infamous Lex Express from WWE in 1993/4. They even got Luger on a Podcast-a-go-go to add his support. On the day of the show Green Ant showed off a new red, white and blue outfit and had the fans going crazy, sadly he did not win that match. So we now get the rematch. Tursas has not been beaten often during his Chikara run only losing a handful of single matches. He is a real big man but is a good worker for his size. Green Ant has really shown talent during his time in Chikara, I was actually surprised that he didn't win the Young Lions Cup this year. I expect this match to be good but short as a long Tursas match just doesn't work for me really.
Winner: Green Ant-It just makes sense to have him get this big win here and Tursas doesn't really need the win.
Gregory Iron vs. Icarus
Gregory has really exploded in the world of wrestling this year, he has gained a lot of attention and has proven himself to be a great wrestler as well. These two have met twice before, scoring one win each. The main story here is that Icarus has often made fun of Greg's cerebral palsy on Chikara shows and on his Chikara blog. This is the big grudge match between the two and the story is pretty simple. I expect this to be one hell of a match, Icarus is extremely underrated in my view and Greg has shown serious talent as well.
Winner: Gregory Iron-With this season rapping up once again it makes sense to give the good guy the win.
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
No real story here except that both teams are on two points and want their third. For those of you who don't know in Chikara teans gain points by winning tag matches and when they get three they can challenge the champions (currently Team FIST aka Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor). FIST and the Colony have had some serious history in Chikara and have started up again recently, the Colony have been champions before and could be the first to become two time champions. While that match could be great I'd personally prefer to see the Bucks challenge for the tag champions. Either way you will get a great tag title match and this will be a great tag match as well.
Winners: The Colony-As I said I'd prefer the Bucks but it just makes more sense for the Colony to win this one.
The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black & Hallowicked) vs. The BDK (Tim Donst & Ares)-No DQ match
Pretty much two years of feuding could come to a end here. When the BDK formed Ultramantis was one of the guys leading the charge, Mantis tried to get Hallowicked on his side but wasn't able to due to their history. At last year's Season finale Wicked joined up with Mantis and they've been in a stable ever since. This is really two feuds put into one. Mantis and Ares have had some a series of matches, including a wild Falls Count Anywhere's match at The Germans. Their feud has really been Chikara vs. BDK but Hallowicked vs. Donst has more story. Donst has made it his mission to be recognised as the greatest Young Lions Cup champion ever problem is that Hallowicked is a former champ. They have traded wins and the feud even saw Hallowicked beat up Donst and made him lose to Max Boyer in the shortest match in Chikara history.This match should be crazy, I expect outside interference from both parties but overall it should be awesome.
Winners: The Spectral Envoy-After all this time between these four it's about time to move on and the Envoy winning could put a end to it.
Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush to crown the first Grand Champion
Earlier this year Chikara announced they would crown their first Grand Champion, they held the 12 Large Summit which had two blocks of wrestlers having matches and scoring points. Mike Quackenbush won the highly competitive Block A which could of been won by any one while Eddie Kingston won Block B by beating everyone except Vin Gerard who injured Eddie's knee at the last event. So Kingston enters this match with a injured knee which could be bad since Quack is the Master of a 1000 holds. Now I'm pretty sure this tournament final was meant to be Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli but Claudio signed with WWE and that match can't happen.
Quackenbush has done pretty much everything there is to do in wrestling he's won tournaments and titles throughout his long career. Over the last couple of years Eddie Kingston has really became the MAN in Chikara, he has beaten some big name stars including Chris Daniels, El Generico, Homicide and more.
Winner: Eddie Kingston-He is the man in Chikara and deserves to be the first champion. A first challenger already seems in the making in Vin Gerard and Kingston has pretty much been facing whoever for the last two years now so making them title matches makes sense to me.
So that's my preview of High Noon, Chikara has been one of my favourite companies for years now and I always love their shows. I expect this show to be just like their others and by that I mean truly awesome.
Before I mention the first match Amasis from the Osirian Portal is set to update his wrestling status on the show. For those of you who don't know he was involved in a car accident and had to quit wrestling. We'll have to see just what he has to say. But onto the show.
El Generico vs. Jigsaw-Free Pre-show match
No back story here just one awesome match and it's FREE! I like Jigsaw he's a great wrestler but has had problems working outside of Chikara mainly due to his mask in my view, he did wrestle in ROH without it but he just went downhill until he put the mask back on in Chikara. His opponent, El Generico, is probably one of the best wrestlers I've ever seen. Seriously think about it, when was the last time you saw Generico in a bad match? Generico deserves main event pushes where ever he goes and thankfully Pro Wrestling Guerrila aren't afraid to make him World champ. I'm also looking forward to him challenging Davey Richards for the ROH World title but that's not being discussed here. This free match should hook those who are on the fence about buying the iPPV.
Winner: Jigsaw-This is really a toss up and anyone could win but I'm going with Jig because he's Chikara's own while Generico is just a visitor.
Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck
Archibald Peck is one of the weirdest gimmicks I've seen in a while but it works well in Chikara and it works even more by the fact Robert Evans is the man behind the gimmick.
So the backstory here is at King of Trios this year Peck beat Cabana, he said that Eddie Kingston sent him to the future via the Backfist to the Future and he saw who he was going to be facing. Since then Peck has re-introduced Colt Cabunny to Chikara. Colt has declared war on Peck and said he was going to stop his abuse on the Cabunny.
I expect this match to give you some laughs and really just entertain you, these two are two of the most entertaining men in wrestling today. If you don't know who Peck is then you may have seen him working with the Embassy in ROH in a non-wrestling role. And we should all know Colt who is probably the best wrestler to mix comedy into his wrestling and put on great matches. If you don't get a laugh from this match at some point I'd be surprised.
Winner: Peck-Once again it makes more sense to give the win to someone who is always at Chikara instead of someone just visiting the promotion. But having said that I could also see Colt winning.
Sara Del Rey vs. Jakob Hammermeier
These two were once part of the BDK faction in Chikara Sara was a part of the faction while Jakob was their personal ring announcer. Over the last year a lot has happened, Jakob was trained to wrestle and started to regularly. While Sara broke away from the BDK and was left to fight on her own when her tag partner Daizee Haze was injured. Sara scored some big wins over the two BDK leaders (Claudio Castagnoli and Ares) in singles matches. So the main backstory here is that Del Rey was to beat all of the BDK members and so she's on to Jakob.
This is a weird one to me, Sara is one of the best female wrestlers and generally one of the best wrestlers going today but I haven't seen much of Jakob's work so I don't know how good he is. Sara can probably make him look great and if Jakob is good then the match can be good.
Winner: Del Rey-She beat the top dogs of the group so I'm pretty sure she will beat Jakob here. I'm personally more interested in just who she will be wrestling over the Joshimania weekend.
Green Ant vs. Tursas
This is not the first time these two have met but this time it doesn't have as much build, let me explain. Earlier this year these two were set to meet and Green Ant decided to copy the infamous Lex Express from WWE in 1993/4. They even got Luger on a Podcast-a-go-go to add his support. On the day of the show Green Ant showed off a new red, white and blue outfit and had the fans going crazy, sadly he did not win that match. So we now get the rematch. Tursas has not been beaten often during his Chikara run only losing a handful of single matches. He is a real big man but is a good worker for his size. Green Ant has really shown talent during his time in Chikara, I was actually surprised that he didn't win the Young Lions Cup this year. I expect this match to be good but short as a long Tursas match just doesn't work for me really.
Winner: Green Ant-It just makes sense to have him get this big win here and Tursas doesn't really need the win.
Gregory Iron vs. Icarus
Gregory has really exploded in the world of wrestling this year, he has gained a lot of attention and has proven himself to be a great wrestler as well. These two have met twice before, scoring one win each. The main story here is that Icarus has often made fun of Greg's cerebral palsy on Chikara shows and on his Chikara blog. This is the big grudge match between the two and the story is pretty simple. I expect this to be one hell of a match, Icarus is extremely underrated in my view and Greg has shown serious talent as well.
Winner: Gregory Iron-With this season rapping up once again it makes sense to give the good guy the win.
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
No real story here except that both teams are on two points and want their third. For those of you who don't know in Chikara teans gain points by winning tag matches and when they get three they can challenge the champions (currently Team FIST aka Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor). FIST and the Colony have had some serious history in Chikara and have started up again recently, the Colony have been champions before and could be the first to become two time champions. While that match could be great I'd personally prefer to see the Bucks challenge for the tag champions. Either way you will get a great tag title match and this will be a great tag match as well.
Winners: The Colony-As I said I'd prefer the Bucks but it just makes more sense for the Colony to win this one.
The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black & Hallowicked) vs. The BDK (Tim Donst & Ares)-No DQ match
Pretty much two years of feuding could come to a end here. When the BDK formed Ultramantis was one of the guys leading the charge, Mantis tried to get Hallowicked on his side but wasn't able to due to their history. At last year's Season finale Wicked joined up with Mantis and they've been in a stable ever since. This is really two feuds put into one. Mantis and Ares have had some a series of matches, including a wild Falls Count Anywhere's match at The Germans. Their feud has really been Chikara vs. BDK but Hallowicked vs. Donst has more story. Donst has made it his mission to be recognised as the greatest Young Lions Cup champion ever problem is that Hallowicked is a former champ. They have traded wins and the feud even saw Hallowicked beat up Donst and made him lose to Max Boyer in the shortest match in Chikara history.This match should be crazy, I expect outside interference from both parties but overall it should be awesome.
Winners: The Spectral Envoy-After all this time between these four it's about time to move on and the Envoy winning could put a end to it.
Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush to crown the first Grand Champion
Earlier this year Chikara announced they would crown their first Grand Champion, they held the 12 Large Summit which had two blocks of wrestlers having matches and scoring points. Mike Quackenbush won the highly competitive Block A which could of been won by any one while Eddie Kingston won Block B by beating everyone except Vin Gerard who injured Eddie's knee at the last event. So Kingston enters this match with a injured knee which could be bad since Quack is the Master of a 1000 holds. Now I'm pretty sure this tournament final was meant to be Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli but Claudio signed with WWE and that match can't happen.
Quackenbush has done pretty much everything there is to do in wrestling he's won tournaments and titles throughout his long career. Over the last couple of years Eddie Kingston has really became the MAN in Chikara, he has beaten some big name stars including Chris Daniels, El Generico, Homicide and more.
Winner: Eddie Kingston-He is the man in Chikara and deserves to be the first champion. A first challenger already seems in the making in Vin Gerard and Kingston has pretty much been facing whoever for the last two years now so making them title matches makes sense to me.
So that's my preview of High Noon, Chikara has been one of my favourite companies for years now and I always love their shows. I expect this show to be just like their others and by that I mean truly awesome.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Oh I Hate Your Face!
Do you ever watch wrestling and think to yourself "Man that guy annoys me so much" well then this list is for you. I'm going to focus more on a wrestlers personality instead of just their work in the ring which might be a small factor in my choices. Now these are the people who just annoy me for one reason or another and like most lists I'll give you 10.
10) Randy Orton
I never really noticed his problem until I watched a build up video to one of his matches with Christian, his match at Summerslam I believe. Orton's personality fits a cold hearted heel to a tee but there lies the problem, Orton is a babyface. Randy keeps the same tone in every interview and it's hard to relate to a guy who doesn't show actual emotions, oh and when he does show something it's just anger and nothing else. The reason why Randy is number 10 is because this flaw is often ignored because of his fantastic ring work, he is my pick for wrestler of the year right now he's had so many good matches this years with such a variety of wrestlers.
9) John Cena
Shock horror Cena isn't number 1. Why? Because if he was then I'd be like everyone else and I'm better than that! Now I'm not going to pick a part his wrestling ability, what he does in the ring or the fact he won't put anyone over cleanly without burying them in the end. No what bugs me most is his attitude on the microphone. Now you get one of two things from Cena, either extremely childish which makes him look like he's 5 years old (seriously putting on stupid voices) but at least that appeals to his fan base who probably are 5 years old. Or you get MEGA ego who is a guy who destroys people's reputations by mere words (before he does it in the ring). You want proof he's something he said on a Raw before facing Alberto Del Rio: "I am so sick and tired of trying to make average seem awesome. There is only one man in this company that can go toe-to-toe with me. You are not CM Punk" what a way to put over your new WWE champion!
8) Vickie Guerrero
Excuse Me! I truly believe Eric Garguilo used that to a much greater effect while in CZW. Vickie is amazing at getting the fans to boo the living hell out of her, she has to be one of the most over heels the company has had ever since she turned heel while on TV. Those two simple words gets the crowds going. That's part of the reason why she's only number 8 because I know she is actually doing her job well. What annoys me is the fact that she often drags her segments on just to get that reaction, she spends more time saying excuse me than anything else just because she knows it gets a reaction. Good heel or annoying? Wait it's annoying.
7) Karen & Jeff Jarrett
Did you know that Karen was married to Kurt Angle? No well then TNA will drag that onto TV for 6 months! This is probably more about Karen as I don't really mind Jeff, he did annoy me when he had a guitar involved in every single match he had but he's not so bad now. The problem is Karen doesn't really fit into the world of wrestling well and her personality is horrible, I actually believe she's not putting on a act and that's just her which makes me feel bad for Jeff in a way. The most annoying thing about the couple on TV is the fact they go from one extreme to another, first they do a storyline that is way to personal and now they are disrespecting Mexicans on a weekly basis. Not the best TV but with TNA there is very little good TV in the first place.
6) Rob Van Dam
Are you worried that someone will forget your name? Well apparently Rob is because he has to remind us 10 times in every match he has! Now I've expressed my views that I feel Rob just doesn't care at all in TNA and doesn't give it his all in his matches, which annoys me in the first place. But what is more annoying is the fact Rob doesn't show his anger when he's meant to. Remember his match last year with Abyss at Bound for Glory? Well Abyss was the guy who destroyed him and forced Rob to give up the TNA World title, so you'd assume that Rob would want revenge right? Well he spent more time pointing to himself and playing to the crowd then wanting revenge. That might have been a one off, I don't watch enough TNA to be a full judge, but Rob's personality has bugged me for years now. That relaxed, "stoner" personality is fun for a while but it gets old and Rob is getting old so should of stopped by now.
5) Hornswoggle
Talk about a waste of time and money. Who in WWE is looking at Hornswoggle and thinking "This guy deserves TV time and deserves to go over stars who could actually become main eventers in the long run". All Hornswoggle does is come out to the ring, he does a "comedy" skit which no one laughs at and embarrasses wrestlers who deserve so much more. The fact he gets TV time while guys like Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes etc. struggle to get a segment truly gets me pissed. I will simply say this whoever is writing for Hornswoggle should stop right now, the guy should not be on TV at all. Unless he's in Mexico as the midgets are huge down there.
4) Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff
These two go together because you rarely get one without the other. These two men just HAVE to be involved in every other segment on Impact and have to be involved in some way in nearly every storyline. They are old, over the hill and shouldn't be wasting our time. I can't believe I'm going to say this but the Ultimate Warrior was right in a recent video he released "It's not Kevin Nash's time, it's not Hogan's time and it's not the time of the old timers. It's time for these old guys to move out of the way and let the young guys shine". The fact Hogan and Bischoff are in TNA who probably has one of the greatest rosters in wrestling today is a even more important factor as they could showcase main difference between them and WWE instead all we think of is WCW 2000 with these two putting the spotlights on themselves.
3) Jeremy Borash
We've all known that person, you know that person who wants to be one of the guys so badly he'd do anything. Well that is Jeremy Borash in a nutshell. Whenever he's given a job he has to be one of the guys instead of doing his job. If he's interviewing a guy backstage he has to act up and be a part of the interview instead of letting the star shine, if he's in a vignette he gets heavily involved. Borash has always annoyed me because he just comes off as desperately needing approval like a little kid saying "Hey look at me, you're not looking. Look at me now!". And lets face it we've all had a interactions with a kid like that and it's truly annoying.
2) Michael Cole
Is Cole just being a good heel commentator? NO! He's being annoying and he's taking away from the action. It's funny when I decided to write this up today I listened to the Aftermath Radio podcast with Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas and Cole came up during the podcast. There is no better way to put it then how those two did: "Is Cole doing a good job? No as he's getting the wrong heat. He's not getting heat he's getting annoying to the point where people would rather mute him and that's the problem. He's not like Bobby Heenan who was getting heat while keeping people listening, Cole is just getting the wrong kind of heat". That is Cole's biggest problem, people don't like listening to him. He takes away from the action and insults those who should be respected e.g. Jim Ross (although that's probably McMahon's doing). What is more annoying is his switching back and fourth, one minute he's loving the heels and then he's cheering for Cena like there's no tomorrow. I think I speak for everyone when I say please Cole just stop your vintage crap and shut up!
1) Teddy Long
Holy crap is Teddy Long annoying! Whether it be his one sided actions towards babyfaces or just how he talks (seriously stop saying Holla and playa, also thugging and bugging sounds stupid). What is more annoying is that you forget that he's even there until he pops out and reminds you that he has some power "I'm the Smackdown GM you know?" "Really I thought the show ran itself" recently it seemed that Zack Ryder had more power then Teddy Long does. I mentioned earlier that he's completely one sided towards the babyfaces and that shows in many title matches of the past, here is a prime example. Batista challenged Undertaker for the World title in a Chair match (don't ask) the match ended after Batista hit a low blow on Taker behind the referee's back and hitting Taker with a chair. Teddy then comes out and demands the match is restarted. What bugs me here is that you could use a chair to beat the hell out of your opponent but you couldn't low blow them? May be if he did it with a chair it would of been legal? And this has happened a lot in the past. Teddy is just the stereotypical goody goody who just appears from time to time to bug the crap out of you. Teddy Long is truly the most annoying guy in wrestling.
Well there you go, my list of the Top 10 annoying guys in wrestling aka the I hate your Face list!
10) Randy Orton
I never really noticed his problem until I watched a build up video to one of his matches with Christian, his match at Summerslam I believe. Orton's personality fits a cold hearted heel to a tee but there lies the problem, Orton is a babyface. Randy keeps the same tone in every interview and it's hard to relate to a guy who doesn't show actual emotions, oh and when he does show something it's just anger and nothing else. The reason why Randy is number 10 is because this flaw is often ignored because of his fantastic ring work, he is my pick for wrestler of the year right now he's had so many good matches this years with such a variety of wrestlers.
9) John Cena
Shock horror Cena isn't number 1. Why? Because if he was then I'd be like everyone else and I'm better than that! Now I'm not going to pick a part his wrestling ability, what he does in the ring or the fact he won't put anyone over cleanly without burying them in the end. No what bugs me most is his attitude on the microphone. Now you get one of two things from Cena, either extremely childish which makes him look like he's 5 years old (seriously putting on stupid voices) but at least that appeals to his fan base who probably are 5 years old. Or you get MEGA ego who is a guy who destroys people's reputations by mere words (before he does it in the ring). You want proof he's something he said on a Raw before facing Alberto Del Rio: "I am so sick and tired of trying to make average seem awesome. There is only one man in this company that can go toe-to-toe with me. You are not CM Punk" what a way to put over your new WWE champion!
8) Vickie Guerrero
Excuse Me! I truly believe Eric Garguilo used that to a much greater effect while in CZW. Vickie is amazing at getting the fans to boo the living hell out of her, she has to be one of the most over heels the company has had ever since she turned heel while on TV. Those two simple words gets the crowds going. That's part of the reason why she's only number 8 because I know she is actually doing her job well. What annoys me is the fact that she often drags her segments on just to get that reaction, she spends more time saying excuse me than anything else just because she knows it gets a reaction. Good heel or annoying? Wait it's annoying.
7) Karen & Jeff Jarrett
Did you know that Karen was married to Kurt Angle? No well then TNA will drag that onto TV for 6 months! This is probably more about Karen as I don't really mind Jeff, he did annoy me when he had a guitar involved in every single match he had but he's not so bad now. The problem is Karen doesn't really fit into the world of wrestling well and her personality is horrible, I actually believe she's not putting on a act and that's just her which makes me feel bad for Jeff in a way. The most annoying thing about the couple on TV is the fact they go from one extreme to another, first they do a storyline that is way to personal and now they are disrespecting Mexicans on a weekly basis. Not the best TV but with TNA there is very little good TV in the first place.
6) Rob Van Dam
Are you worried that someone will forget your name? Well apparently Rob is because he has to remind us 10 times in every match he has! Now I've expressed my views that I feel Rob just doesn't care at all in TNA and doesn't give it his all in his matches, which annoys me in the first place. But what is more annoying is the fact Rob doesn't show his anger when he's meant to. Remember his match last year with Abyss at Bound for Glory? Well Abyss was the guy who destroyed him and forced Rob to give up the TNA World title, so you'd assume that Rob would want revenge right? Well he spent more time pointing to himself and playing to the crowd then wanting revenge. That might have been a one off, I don't watch enough TNA to be a full judge, but Rob's personality has bugged me for years now. That relaxed, "stoner" personality is fun for a while but it gets old and Rob is getting old so should of stopped by now.
5) Hornswoggle
Talk about a waste of time and money. Who in WWE is looking at Hornswoggle and thinking "This guy deserves TV time and deserves to go over stars who could actually become main eventers in the long run". All Hornswoggle does is come out to the ring, he does a "comedy" skit which no one laughs at and embarrasses wrestlers who deserve so much more. The fact he gets TV time while guys like Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes etc. struggle to get a segment truly gets me pissed. I will simply say this whoever is writing for Hornswoggle should stop right now, the guy should not be on TV at all. Unless he's in Mexico as the midgets are huge down there.
4) Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff
These two go together because you rarely get one without the other. These two men just HAVE to be involved in every other segment on Impact and have to be involved in some way in nearly every storyline. They are old, over the hill and shouldn't be wasting our time. I can't believe I'm going to say this but the Ultimate Warrior was right in a recent video he released "It's not Kevin Nash's time, it's not Hogan's time and it's not the time of the old timers. It's time for these old guys to move out of the way and let the young guys shine". The fact Hogan and Bischoff are in TNA who probably has one of the greatest rosters in wrestling today is a even more important factor as they could showcase main difference between them and WWE instead all we think of is WCW 2000 with these two putting the spotlights on themselves.
3) Jeremy Borash
We've all known that person, you know that person who wants to be one of the guys so badly he'd do anything. Well that is Jeremy Borash in a nutshell. Whenever he's given a job he has to be one of the guys instead of doing his job. If he's interviewing a guy backstage he has to act up and be a part of the interview instead of letting the star shine, if he's in a vignette he gets heavily involved. Borash has always annoyed me because he just comes off as desperately needing approval like a little kid saying "Hey look at me, you're not looking. Look at me now!". And lets face it we've all had a interactions with a kid like that and it's truly annoying.
2) Michael Cole
Is Cole just being a good heel commentator? NO! He's being annoying and he's taking away from the action. It's funny when I decided to write this up today I listened to the Aftermath Radio podcast with Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas and Cole came up during the podcast. There is no better way to put it then how those two did: "Is Cole doing a good job? No as he's getting the wrong heat. He's not getting heat he's getting annoying to the point where people would rather mute him and that's the problem. He's not like Bobby Heenan who was getting heat while keeping people listening, Cole is just getting the wrong kind of heat". That is Cole's biggest problem, people don't like listening to him. He takes away from the action and insults those who should be respected e.g. Jim Ross (although that's probably McMahon's doing). What is more annoying is his switching back and fourth, one minute he's loving the heels and then he's cheering for Cena like there's no tomorrow. I think I speak for everyone when I say please Cole just stop your vintage crap and shut up!
1) Teddy Long
Holy crap is Teddy Long annoying! Whether it be his one sided actions towards babyfaces or just how he talks (seriously stop saying Holla and playa, also thugging and bugging sounds stupid). What is more annoying is that you forget that he's even there until he pops out and reminds you that he has some power "I'm the Smackdown GM you know?" "Really I thought the show ran itself" recently it seemed that Zack Ryder had more power then Teddy Long does. I mentioned earlier that he's completely one sided towards the babyfaces and that shows in many title matches of the past, here is a prime example. Batista challenged Undertaker for the World title in a Chair match (don't ask) the match ended after Batista hit a low blow on Taker behind the referee's back and hitting Taker with a chair. Teddy then comes out and demands the match is restarted. What bugs me here is that you could use a chair to beat the hell out of your opponent but you couldn't low blow them? May be if he did it with a chair it would of been legal? And this has happened a lot in the past. Teddy is just the stereotypical goody goody who just appears from time to time to bug the crap out of you. Teddy Long is truly the most annoying guy in wrestling.
Well there you go, my list of the Top 10 annoying guys in wrestling aka the I hate your Face list!
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