http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?1100-miraistreak Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Sun, 19 May 2013 05:42:57 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?1100-miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45268-The-Commandments-of-the-WWE-IWC Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:41:14 GMT If you were to lurk on any of the dirt sheets, you would think the IWC is a bunch of hypocritical, indecisive lunatics who are just never happy. ... If you were to lurk on any of the dirt sheets, you would think the IWC is a bunch of hypocritical, indecisive lunatics who are just never happy. Which is not true at all, we are happy sometimes, it just lasts shorter than a New York minute.

The truth is though, there are some rules to make most (but never all) of the IWC happy. So instead of being all serious and boring, I'm going to have some fun.

WWE IWC Commandments:

1) Thou shall love heels more than faces

2) Thou shall not be a great face without one good heel turn

3) Thou shall realize we will always try to turn a heel face.

3) Thou shall not be predictable.

4) Thou shall not be unpredictable when we want it to be predictable.

5) Thou shall always like the veteran Jobber of the Stars who hasn't won a world title yet.

6) Thou shall love to hate John Cena as a wrestler

7) Thou shall hate The Miz, because it's The Miz

8) Thou shall not have a quick rise to the top unless you act like one of our old favorites.

9) Thou shall be built slowly to develop and win us over unless it's The Miz.

10) Thou shall always want the old vetreans.

11) Thou shall hate that the WWE brings back old vetreans.

12) Thou shall always want Rider

13) Thou shall love the indy star who wrestled for ROH and now for NXT.

14) Thou shall always want dream matches and whine when it doesn't happen.

15) Thou shall be too lazy to riot.

16) Thou shall love the promos and angles of when we were kids.

17) Thou shall hate the promos and angles of the past when they are redone for today's kids.

18) Thou shall always make fun of Jericho's jacket when it doesn't work

19) Thou shall always want tables.

20) Thou shall always bring up TNA.

21) Thou shall always hate the booking

22) Thou shall always wear rose colored glasses when looking back to the Attitude era

23) Thou shall always hate PG

24) Thou shall always make fun of ratings and non-sell out crowds

25) Thou shall never say the PPV was worth buying

26) Thou shall read dirt sheets then complain that Raw/PPV was predictable.

27) Thou shall always say the titles are worthless.

28) Thou shall always say their favorite star should hold a title.

29) Thou shall hum Fandango's theme.

30) Thou shall never be happy, threaten to never watch again, and watch it promptly the following week.

Feel free to add on to the list or tell me I'm wrong. :) ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45268-The-Commandments-of-the-WWE-IWC http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41770-Dear-Murderer Thu, 24 May 2012 06:43:59 GMT A NOTE FROM R(ob): I am approving this blog as a counterpoint to the "Dear Chris Benoit," blog that was approved last night. This will be the last Chris Benoit blog approved for a while. Thank you. Keep this civil, I will be watching!


Dear Murderer,

Oh, you might be wondering why I started this letter out by writing "Murderer", but you see Chris Benoit, that is what you are. A ruthless murderer who ended the lives of his wife and son. You see sir, I was relatively indifferent to you as a competitor, I neither cared to boo you nor cheer you, but the fact remains that all these years later that a number of people still look favorably towards you makes me sick to my very core.

You may have been a great WWE and WCW superstar, but guess what, all of that is moot, you are or rather were a terrible human being because you took the life of not just one but two innocent people. Some people are trying to defend you by covering it up with Steroids, or your head injury, and honestly if it was a single murder, I would be more likely to buy into that, but two people, in completely different ways that from what the reports said was very cold and delibrete and not out of a fit of random rage?

You sir, no that's wrong, you -- pos are a scumbag of the highest degree.

I'm glad the WWE struck out all records of you where they could. I'm glad they no longer acknowledge your previous existence, and I'm glad that at least you had the decency to kill yourself so you didn't cost the taxpayers additional money to put you to trial. However, why did you wait what was it, 2 days to kill yourself? Some people say you were living with the guilt. Perhaps. However, I'm more likely to believe you were trying to scheme a way out and couldn't think of a solution. However, I'm just speculating, but screw it -- it's my letter.

If anyone were to read this letter, or rather if someone who is blinded by fandom were to read this letter and try to defend you, they might say I'm not being fair, that circumstances.... no, that's crap. Regardless of what the prior circumstances are, you killed two people in cold blood. Not in self defense, not on accident, but murdered them.

I will never honor your legacy, I will never say you should be a member of any hall of fame, and wish you were removed from the one that had already inducted you prior your suicide, and it doesn't matter to me in the slightest how good you were in the ring, because guess what? It doesn't matter any more. You shamed the wrestling industry, you shamed your family (what's left of it), you shamed your colleagues, you shamed your friends, and you shamed the dignity of all athletes, not to mention who else...

Your young son will never grow up, his mother no longer breathes on this earth. You took them away from the people who actually cared about them in what was no accident, and for that, you pos -- is the only thing that matters.

Being famous is not a defense for a poor excuse of a human being.

You're just a white OJ Simpson.

Rot in Hell,
Streak. ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41770-Dear-Murderer http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41252-WWE-The-Reality-Era-and-how-Attitude-is-crippling-it Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:46:18 GMT (This may be my most polarizing blog yet, but I'm sticking with it.)

The Attitude Era's faux revival is crippling the WWE's bottom line.

It was observed last year that CM Punk's Shoot marked the end of the PG-Era and the rise of the "Reality Era" as some dubbed it came with it. Since I was always a fan of the name, I'm going to continue to use that term until I'm overwritten by the world at large.

Either way, name or not, the "PG-Era" is Dead. Not necessarily the "TV-PG" icon in the corner of US Screens, but the era that was associated with the return of that very icon in the later part of last decade.

It's been noted a few times before, but the reality era differs from the "PG-Era" on a few accounts:
*Social Media and YouTube
*Kayfabe is loose at best
*A dramatic increase of interviews out of character
*TV-14 level cursing, bordering on R at times.
*Moving away from the pure "Super-Cena" Main Events
*Violence scaled up a notch (not full hardcore, but it's up a bit)

That all is a bit subjective, but most of that has a basis in reality. Here's the thing though, all except the cursing was around for the majority of 2011.

2012 has been a bad year for the WWE despite dramatic improvements in key areas including storylines, wrestlers highlighted, match quality (besides Divas and Tag Team), production and advertising. Besides the over-use of twitter, people in general on the IWC have actually had a lot of positive remarks on the WWE this year even for a Wrestlemania buildup, and it's easy to say that people in the IWC are loving the WM 28 card as a whole compared to normal.

However, that's just our perception as IWC fans. The financial situation is bleak.

3.0. That was the TV rating for the "Go-Home" Show for Wrestlemania. That's horrific. a 3.0 is an average rating in the summer, pre-MITB last year. Last year's go home was...

3.8

Spin that how you like, but let's face it, we the IWC are a bunch of old men in terms of the larger wrestling audience. Most of the audience has always been kids except for those few years during the Monday Night Wars.

The Rock and John Cena's Attitude Era like profanity filled promos have caused the low TV Ratings. That's my theory. I am an older fan who actually likes the cursing, but how many parents turned off the TV the moment genitalia jokes started flying?

Apparently a lot since January 2nd's rating was a 3.1, and usually there is a ~15-20% increase of people in viewership during Wrestlemania season and they actually lost fans this time around. PPVs and live events are down as well, of course you can tack some of that to the fact that most people reading this blog steal them through streams.

Here's the thing, the Attitude Era's revival is near impossible because of this question:

"How do you bring back more older fans from the cold (who haven't watched in years) than the number of fleeing families in time before the WWE can no longer take the ratings hit?"

That's the dilemma, and I don't have an answer. Until the WWE can legitimately figure that out, the TV will likely return to PG in language and violence in the very near future and the semi-attitude like era will be over. ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41252-WWE-The-Reality-Era-and-how-Attitude-is-crippling-it http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41220-WWE-Nightmares-of-Wrestlemania Wed, 28 Mar 2012 03:41:07 GMT Once again, I'm back with another let's look at a different perspective blog. This time, with Wrestlemania in full swing, it's only natural to stick with the cliched theme. As always I'll be a bit different and point out many "nightmarish" scenarios that could happen at Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Nightmare #1:
Michael Cole will Wrestle

Just a few lines in and you're already scared and probably a bit pissed off. Let's face it, Michael Cole has a nack for being in the wrong place at the right time to generate Massive Heat. Team Johnny vs Team Teddy? Yeah, it seems like a no-brainer now that it's been put out there. With Booker T in the match already and Michael Cole already noted as the "Official Commentator of Team Johnny". If he's not wrestling directly, he'll likely interfere physically.

Nightmare Tier: Mason Ryan cutting a Promo Scary
Likelihood: High

Nightmare #2:
Cody Rhodes will "Big Show" at Wrestlemania

Job, I mean Job at Wrestlemania. It's a nightmare only in the sense that no one (in the IWC) is going to like the idea of the Big Show defeating Cody Rhodes for the IC Championship. Rhodes has been on fire in his promos and his "Big Show as a Verb" Promo might be one of my favorite from a non-main eventer in a long long time. However, Rhodes has already had his WM moment against a main event talent (Mysterio) last year, and he needs to drop the dead weight that is the IC title. He'll get KO'ed by the Big Show, giving Show a reward for his hard work (and his WHC bitchslap) and a opening a door for Rhodes to enter the main event post WWE Draft.

Nightmare Tier: Kelly Kelly doing a traditional wrestling move Scary
Likelihood: Medium

Nightmare #3:
The "End of an Era" match might suck

HHH is 42, Undertaker is 47. The Undertaker has wrestled less than 10 matches in 2 years, HHH just a few more... High Expectations, High Chances for disappointment via Shawn Michaels' reffing, Taker has nearly broken his own neck the past 3 Wrestlemania's... Hell in a Cells are either great or complete crap... I'll admit, I think the match is going to be great, but I think everyone has a little thing in the back of their head going: "If everything doesn't fall right, it'll bomb because of the high expectations." I think most people are assuming the WWE will botch Rock vs Cena, but the Taker/HHH 3 match.... I don't think enough people will think about it until it's too late.

Nightmare Tier: XFL
Likelihood: Low

Nightmare #4:
The Streak continues...

The keyword there is continues, not snapped or finished, but continues. Nothing short of John Cena or Randy Orton would make a Streak Match at Wrestlemania 29 even remotely interesting, and I'll admit, I'm not even sure if I'd care about a Cena/Taker or Orton/Taker match simply because The Undertaker is absolutely worthless Jan-March for main event promos beyond talking. Which I think everyone can agree.... we're all sick of right now. Combine HHH/Taker, HHH/HBK, HBK/Taker, Cena/Rock... and I think I could fill the 4hr PPV with just recordings of their non-physical promos.

I hope the Streak is finished (not snapped) at WM 28 or at the very least, is toned way down next year from importance unless The Undertaker returns as a near full-time main roster superstar. Exception: Kane vs Taker III would be acceptable under the right buildup and ended both stars.

Nightmare Tier: Unknown
Likelihood: Medium-High

Nightmare #5:
The King of Kings leaves a Sour Taste

I'll make this one quick, if you're a John Cena hater this will be easy -- imagine Cena winning the WWE championship and cutting a stereotypical "The Champ is Here" promo in complete PG form. Now paste that onto King "I used to never job" HHH and we're all left with a "ugh, what's left to do now?" feeling that would only be shaken under the right circumstance.

Nightmare Tier: The Nightmare is Here
Likelihood: Medium-Low

Nightmare #6:
Rise above Twitter's Champion

John Cena defeats The Rock.
I could add a thousand little astricks to that line, but it won't matter any more than it would to Barry Bonds' Home Run Record. It would be there, and it wouldn't go away. I'm going on record that Cena is going to defeat The Rock unless Rock vs Cena is planned out to be a series of matches. This is simply based on the idea that you don't bury a "Champion" with a guy who's not staying.
Recent Examples: Morrision vs Ziggler, Batista vs Cena.
Old School Example: Montreal Screwjob

John Cena's legacy would be tainted for years if the Rock never returned for a rematch, no matter how it's spun, the WWE will have already made it's money by the time the match starts, they wouldn't risk future earnings by having their main star lose to a visitor unless a rematch is planned.

Nightmare Tier: Depending on POV -- Katie Vick or Shawn Michaels wins WWF Championship at WM12
Likelihood: Coin Flip

I had some other ideas, but these will do for now... ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41220-WWE-Nightmares-of-Wrestlemania http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40781-WWE-Santino-Marella-The-Resting-Giants Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:37:35 GMT Had to make a pun at the accent...

I'll get to the point -- The WWE caught me a bit by surprise.

Let me start by saying that I haven't had a lot of mark out moments over the last few years. No, I think a better way to word that is: I don't have those child-like fan moments where I'm watching a match and I'm completely invested into it where I'm getting really excited and I want to know what happens next or I want "my guy" to win at all costs.
It's not the writers fault, or the different eras thing, it's just being a long term and now just an older fan of the WWE that I'm a bit more immune to a lot of things that would have worked on a younger fan since I've pretty much seen it all.

Fast forward to this past week. Orton was injured and there weren't many faces to pick from to replace him that was even close to Orton's league in being "Over".

If you had told me Santino would go into the Elimination Chamber, not be a joke, eliminate Cody Rhodes and nearly win the whole damn thing. I would have asked if what you're on is legal.

However, it hit me like a ton of bricks this morning:
Santino Marella is a "Resting Giants"

Over With Fans: Check
Excellent Mic Skills: Check
Been on air a lot lately: Check
Wrestling Skill: Above-Average (see FCW if you don't believe me)
Popular Backstage: Check
Sells Merchandise Well: Check

Outside of a recent push and his gimmick being goofy, he has all the top tier requirements, and I didn't even notice. In many ways he's farther ahead than a lot of our favorite picks for World Champion in 2012 (Rhodes, Truth, Barrett [hope his arm/collarbone is OK], Ziggler etc.)

Now you may think: "Yeah, but his gimmick doesn't have that World Champion or even near-main event feel to it"

Neither did Mick Foley after he abandoned Cactus Jack and Mankind.

Santino is not a hardcore legend, but with an addition of a more serious streak and most importantly -- time, would it be impossible?

No, it's not. It was easy to say on Friday Afternoon "Oh Santino is a joke being in the Elimination Chamber." Hell I thought like many: "Good for him, it'll be a nice reward getting that payday and recognition for his hard work, but he won't get close."

Then I saw Smackdown and saw the 4th biggest pop in the past 6 months -- outside of Zack Ryder winning the US Title, CM Punk winning at Survivor Series and The Rock's return at that same event.

Then the Elimination Chamber happened.... and I felt like that child, I caught myself actually hoping and pulling for Santino and thought... "He's not really going to win is he!?"

I wasn't the only one. Take one look at that crowd and name a star outside of CM Punk at MITB or Christian's first World Title who had that kind of reaction. You might find a few quick "pops" but not that sustained reaction.

WWE noticed, the "Resting Giants" that is Santino has woken up.

It's going to be slow, you won't see Santino headlining a PPV in 2 or 3 months, but he's going to join the upper mid card, especially with what seems to be a arm or collarbone injury to Wade Barrett, a concussion to Randy Orton which could keep him out of action from anywhere from 1 Week to 1 Year. [Example: Sidney Crosby(NHL) was out 11.5 months] and a number of lingering injuries to stars that will keep them at half-pace until Wrestlemania to protect them (ADR, Christian, Mark Henry, R-Truth).

We are all going to see Santino's first major push in years... and it starts at Wrestlemania.

Prediction: Cody Rhodes vs Santino Marella for the IC Title
Reasoning: Rhodes eliminated by Santino at EC, Rhodes eliminating Santino on Post-EC RAW and taunting ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40781-WWE-Santino-Marella-The-Resting-Giants http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40102-WWE-The-Most-Improved-Stars-of-2011 Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:56:11 GMT As usual I always like to take a different route with my blogs. Since everyone else is talking about Kane, John Cena, TLC, Top Heels and World... As usual I always like to take a different route with my blogs. Since everyone else is talking about Kane, John Cena, TLC, Top Heels and World Champs, I thought I would focus on a more 'traditional' topic:

As a disclaimer focus on the 'most improved' part, some great stars might be lower on this list or omitted because they we're already good to begin with and didn't improve much on it.

#10 - CM Punk
You might think I'm a bit harsh putting Punk at only #10 given the year he's had, but since this is improvement list, it's hard to put him much higher because his skills we're already among the top of the class. His ring work and chemistry are as strong as they always are, and while his promo skills have always been good, he has increased his ability to work the crowd and utilize them better than he ever did in his previous face run, and even his SES days have landed him a spot on this list. Again, the only reason he's not higher was because he was good to begin with.

#9 - Kelly Kelly and the Divas of Doom
I'll be honest, I couldn't really separate these because of this ridiculously drawn out feud between Eve and K2 vs the Divas of Doom. Of those in the feud, 3 of the 4 have greatly improved. Kelly Kelly's ring skills and development of character almost make her look like a completely different diva than a year or two back, and the promo work of Natalya and Beth Phoenix have improved right along side her. You know there's improvement when even many of the IWC smarks aren't as vocal. Eve however, hasn't really improved much compared to the others despite some new music and a few new moves.

#8 – Big Show
“Big.... what?” Hear me out. Big Show, like Kane is one of those guys who just goes with the flow, whatever the WWE needs, he's there for. However this year he took a more proactive role instead of being the “fill in the super star” guy. He stared off as the “fill in the blank” guy for the Nexus, went on to help win a match at Wrestlemania, then stay I the spotlight trying to recover the Tag Division with Kane, got involved with Del Rio (trying to keep his push alive) and then went on to what I have to admit has been a pretty interesting feud with Mark Henry and his first real main event push (with multiple title matches) since probably 2002.

#7 – Dolph Ziggler/Cody Rhodes
It's almost ironic that these two we're in a stalemate on Raw this past week during their Slammy match, they both have tried to bring Prestige to their respected titles, both have had amazing evolutions of their gimmicks, Cody's in ring work has improved at the same rate that Dolph's promo skills have, and it's very easy to say that when both of these guys get their next main event push, they are going to stay at that level. The only reasons they are not higher is because of their skills being high to start with.

#6 – Christian
I wrote an article about Christian awhile back saying if he didn't earn a WHC or WWEC in 2011, he probably never would and I broke it down into math somewhat. Obviously no one knew that Edge would be retiring due to injuries. However, Christian has taken full advantage of his friend's absence. 2 WHC reigns, some great matches, return of the annoying heel he's good at doing and he started Smackdown down this road of not just 'Yeah Smackdown has better wrestling usually' to, 'Not going to lie, Smackdown is better than Raw every week, period!' I don't know if it's just him or not, but he brought the entire morale of the roster up by the looks of it. It sucks that's he's injured I was looking forward to a feud with him and Sheamus

#5 – Sheamus
Speaking of Sheamus, he is another star who improved greatly. He wasn't terrible as a heel, and career wise, it's hard to beat 2 reigns as a WWE Champion. However, he was hollow. (Think Alberto Del Rio, right now) He wasn't over with the fans anymore, people weren't really reacting well, and it's a pattern many stars have been driven into before, and it wouldn't have been shocking for him to stay in the mid-card for years. However, when you turn him face against the first real monster heel in years, with a character that people were wanting to like... and you have Sheamus in 2011. He has regained his main event level stardom and is going to be a complete force in 2012.

#4 – Kaitlyn
“Wait..... no... shut up. She was in the worst Diva's Match in history last year!” Exactly my point, she was horrific and abysmal last year. There is no argument there I'm going to ignore the whole 'winning NXT' thing because that's a joke. The truth is she's not bad now and up until a few weeks ago she was going to be paired up with Natalya and Beth Phoenix. Compare 2010 to 2011. I rest my case.

#3 – R-Truth
“I don't need Little Jimmy!” R-Truth is down right amazing in this new heel persona. I'll be honest if he comes back a face I'm not going to be optimistic due to the WWE Creative screwing it up. I hope he can prove me wrong, because I am absolutely loving this crazy/delusional gimmick he's got going on. Combine that with the main event match with John Cena, some of the best promos of the year in the WWE and some solid ring work all add up to this spot, at #3.

#2 – Zack Ryder
Something like 38 weeks ago I wrote a blog about Zack Ryder saying that Z!TLIS was either going to be the thing that makes him, or gets him fired. I'm glad it was the first one. Coming from completely nothing to, what looks to be (as of this writing) his first Title since the Edge-Head days and sells more merchandise than anyone would have ever thought of is pretty impressive. Combine that with his development and character and mildly increased ring chemistry and you have a greatly improved star. He would be my #1 if it wasn't for...

#1 – Mark Henry
Raise your hand if you would thought in 2010 that in 2011 Mark Henry would not only be a World Heavyweight Champion but would actually be doing a pretty good job with it? Put your hand down and stop lying. No one honestly believed that. Everyone believed that Henry was well past his prime and would be lucky to even hold a Tag Team Title in 2011 much less a World Title, and a few believed he might be 'Future Endeavored'. His ring skills have improved from slow and meh, to “Bah Gawd King He broke him in half!” Is he a master in the ring? No, he's not, but he has greatly increased his promo ability, and he has redefined the term 'monster heel' for the PG Generation. Without a doubt Mark Henry is the most improved star of 2011.

Honorable Mentions:
Booker T (as a commentator), Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40102-WWE-The-Most-Improved-Stars-of-2011 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39949-WWE-John-Cena-Heel-Not-So-Fast-My-Friend Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:55:24 GMT Yes, I stole that line from Lee Corso.

There's been a lot of talk about Cena turning Heel ever since 'The Slap Heard Round the World' as a few people have called it. It's coming from the blogs, to the forum posts, to the countless opinion articles on some of the other 'dirt sheets', but is it coming?

Simple Answer – NO

Looking at the logical approach you have to keep in mind...

• John Cena is a huge contributor to the Make-A-Wish Foundation
• John Cena has brand new “Rise above Hate” merchandise
• No Middle-Game
• John Cena is a vocal member of the Be A Star Campaign.

There are other reasons, but I'll just focus on these four.

1) The Make-A-Wish Foundation pretty much requires Cena to stay face. Cena seems to be honest when he says he enjoys working with the MAWF, and by his record setting number of wishes fulfilled, I'd doubt he'd want to lower the amount of kids requesting him. Admittedly, this isn't a good reason by itself.

2) The new “Rise above Hate” merchandise speaks volumes. If Cena was someone like the Big Show, new merchandise wouldn't matter all that much, but Cena has been the #1 Merchandise seller for a long time, only recently eclipsed by CM Punk and on a given day – Rock and maybe Ryder. There is a lot of money invested in those products and they are expected to sell. The fact that this very same merchandise also has a “Be a Star” logo on it, would heavily complicate things by turning heel.

3) Let's just say he was to turn heel though, OK we have a early game – The Heel turn, and the Initial rants/promos/matches as a heel, and we have an end game – Rock vs Cena at WM. However, what does he do in the mean time? I wouldn't have the slightest clue. I can't see him feuding with Ryder, Riley or Kofi. I could see a re-do of Punk/Cena, but it would feel a bit forced in my opinion. To be fair John Cena as a face/tweener is hard to predict.

4) The final and most important reason is the “Be a Star” Campaign. What we all thought was a minor PR stunt a few months ago is something that the WWE is taking rather seriously. Even in Cena's down months in sales, there are a lot of shirts out there with that logo on them. Turning his back on the kid-base of his, as well as all the work he and the WWE have done with them would be a PR nightmare for the WWE.

Having said all that? What was the purpose of the slap?

Well let's face it, there's two ways to deal with bullies.

1) Ignore them and take the high road, or simply put – The Wuss Way
2) Confront and Fight them off – The way every father wishes their kid would do

The second one is what I see happening, John Cena will stay a face, but he will change his personality from “Never Give Up, Ignore the Haters.” to “Stand Up, Defend Against the Haters”

It's not a heel turn, that implies turning on his base. He's going to empower his base of kids and women by not taking the high road and ignore, but take the man's road and defend one's self. This means more direct reaction and emotion and less letting the Heels just talk down to him. He'll 'Be a Star' by no longer taking it.

The truth is there are three kinds of Cena Haters
1) People who just hate Cena as a person.
2) People who just hate everything about Cena as a wrestler.
3) People who hate Cena because he could do better than this.

I'm paraphrasing the third one, but that third one has a much larger population. Most people recognize his skills and work ethic, but are just bored and know he can do better. So having said all of that, He's going to cater to us, by hating on us for hating him.

Cena will be a Heel, but to one wrestler – The Rock. He'll still be teaming up with Kofis, and the Ryders of the WWE, but the Cena-Haters and anyone who gets in his way are his foes. We should be seeing a more aggressive Cena these next few months. A Superstar that says “Cena's hogging the spotlight”, should be getting a Triple H like response of “Maybe its just because you suck.” or maybe “I'm not apologizing for being better at this than you.”

Could this lead to a full heel turn after WM? Perhaps, but it also could return him into a full Face. It gives that flexibility for the ever-changing world of the WWE.

Sorry Internet Smarks, Cena going full blown heel just isn't happening at this juncture. Whatever this really is should re-energize his base, sell some more stuff and hopefully we'll still at least enjoy the ride and more importantly -- bitch about it all the way to Wrestlemania. ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39949-WWE-John-Cena-Heel-Not-So-Fast-My-Friend http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39880-WWE-Smart-Booking-Morrison-over-Ryder Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:14:48 GMT Your first (non-colorfully worded) reaction might be "You are a moron, that was a stupid decision!"

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, it may have been a genius move.

Disclosure: I probably repeated and contradicted myself, feel free to call me out on it, if I'm mistaken on my 'facts' anywhere, also feel free to correct me.

Reason 1: They want Morrison to resign long-term

WWE has been known to cater to a star that's about to leave to try and get them to resign: (CM Punk)

Your reaction might be “Well why didn't they just give him the title then?”
Well obviously, he's not signed, so they aren't going to let him win the title unless he negotiated it as part of his contract. They instead used this as a chance to get Morrison to reconsider by showing reaction from the crowd (positive or negative), to showcase his talent and bribe him with a PPV paycheck. Despite the fallout about Wrestlemania, they'd rather keep him than let him go to TNA, and wouldn't have signed him for Survivor Series otherwise.

Reason 2: Zack Ryder vs Dolph Ziggler at MSG in NYC was a Lose-Lose

Zack Wins
Pros: Popular Star wins Title, New York City crowd reaction
Cons: Predictable, Buries Ziggler, No other Heel Contenders for US Title

Ziggler Wins
Pros: Ziggler keeps his title and remains pushed
Cons: Complete Burial for Zack Ryder

Both:
Story lines halt to a grind

Reason 3: Increases Prestige of the US Title

Despite holding the title since June 19th, 2011, Ziggler has only had 3 title defenses prior to this PPV:
Kofi (rematch clause), Fatal Four Way (Riley, Swagger, Morrison) and Zack Ryder. No matter how you slice it, 3 defenses is pretty lousy for a 5 month reign. This was also the exact thing that people in the IWC buried Miz for during his US Title runs.

Defeating John Morrison increases the prestige of the belt by defeating a former IC champ and adding another PPV win and superstar feud victor to Ziggler's reign.

Reason 4: It helps Zack Ryder

To use a quote from Paul Heyman recently about SCSA. SCSA rejected the ECW title because it gave his character more to complain about and builds him up more for a better push so that when he finally won it, it would go over better for the entire product. Obviously SCSA moved on before this occurred, but SCSA recognized timing of a title change can improve/bury a storyline/character.

Zack Ryder is billed as the Internet Champion. While this is partially a self-promoted thing by Zack Ryder, it also doubles as the fact something that Morrison himself alluded to in Z! TLIS recently: Morrison used to be the internet Golden Child, and that moniker is now on Zack Ryder (and CM Punk, but that's not relevant). Cena and Mysterio have been called underdogs, and leaving the obvious jokes/comments aside, Ryder is the real ultimate underdog. He is the man who self made his own push and probably saved his job by doing it.

A US Title victory is the climax of this self-push.

Similar to CM Punk winning at MITB, it's going to be hard to keep the momentum for Zack Ryder this high. While his post-US Title win momentum isn't going to crash and burn, it is going to lull considerably afterward unless creatives pulls an epic feud out of their butts.

Reason 5: Horrible timing for Ziggler

I mentioned earlier that timing is critical. CM Punk's match with Del Rio (while being fairly fun) has been described as ill-timed and a result of every other star being busy. (To be honest I think Team Punk vs Team Del Rio/Funk Man would have been better in terms of story lines, but that's a different matter)

General Issues:
Top Heels: Miz, R-Truth, Del Rio, Ziggler
Top Faces: CM Punk, Cena

Ziggler doesn't have too many people to feud with to start with.

If Ziggler lost in November:

If Ziggler lost to Ryder, the rematch would definitely be on Raw (Ryder vs Ziggler on 3 straight PPVs wouldn't happen), leaving him with open spots until the Royal Rumble. With no other top faces to feud with at the moment (as CM Punk is busy with Del Rio and Cena is busy with Miz/Truth), he's going to look back at the Tag Team Division again with Swagger. Since the Division is on hiatus (and needs at least a month post-Bourne Suspension) the timing would be awful for the division and Ziggler. While a face-turn for Swagger is coming, it's still too early for that and the mini-feud with Ziggler that would occur and would do no one any favors.

If Ziggler loses in December:

One month makes a huge difference. First is that you can stretch out the feuds with Mason Ryan and Ryder to keep them on auto-pilot, and of course the rematch would again be done on Raw, but the story lines open up from this point.

The Tag Team Titles should be up and running again and a second attempt with Swagger should be fairly obvious. Win or Lose, a 4-8 week story with Air Boom and Swagger-Fall out, will get you to the Royal Rumble and/or Elimination Chamber where a World/WWE Title may be possible.

Reason #6: Morrison vs Ryder?

This one is obviously contingent on Morrison resigning, but Morrison vs Ryder just screams obvious and the hints on WWE's part are there. I don't think I have to really go into details here.

Conclusion:
Obviously all of that is contingent on Ryder winning in the near future, but the decision to put Morrison in over Ryder was a smarter long term decision. The short term feel good moment would have been nice, but putting long term good business is always the correct decision.

Questions, Comments, Am I just a moron? ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39880-WWE-Smart-Booking-Morrison-over-Ryder http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39767-Wrestling-Free-Agents Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:45:37 GMT It's been awhile since I've posted a blog, but given how there is a few blogs/forum posts about the term “Left over” I feel like I have to chime in, but given my habit of typing long messages I figured blog form would be best.

First for purposes of full disclosure, I have an admitted bias to the WWE, as my older blogs have indicated. However, I'm not here to argue that WWE is better, or that TNA sucks. My argument lies with the idea of “Wrestling Free Agents” and the idea of “What is a Leftover?”

Moving on... some definitions (in relation to this blog)

Free Agent: This is referring to a performer who is not under contract with the WWE, TNA or ROH.
Left-Over: A Free Agent who is past his or her prime and sometimes is released under negative circumstances.

Timfeyenoord's blog “The Leftover Stars of WWE & TNA” made an argument that TNA has a lot of former WWE stars and thus, are weaker than the WWE.

This is a rehash of an old IWC argument that the TNA will never be better so long as they use washed-up stars. There is some truth to this, and this argument has been used in both a correct manner, and incorrect manner.

I believe the argument that Timfeyenoord made, is an incorrect one, because it makes no distinction between a good “Free Agent Pick Up” and a bad one.

To pause for a second, let's move over to the NFL and NBA worlds.

Drew Brees was just hitting his strides in San Diego, when he was traded to New Orleans. Upon his trade he was already putting up respectable stats, and was considered a great pick up for New Orleans. He since has gone on to even greater things.

Lebron James was considered Cleveland's hero and was arguably one of the bigger stars in the league, upon his contract expiring before going to Miami. While I'm not going to argue about “why”, it was considered a huge positive move for Miami in the skill sense.

On the flip side, Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys was/is a legend in Dallas. He went to Arizona and spent his final time there as a washed up Running back. Chad Ochocinco to the New England Patriots is another example.

I could make another example of Michael Jordan going to the Washington Wizards, and I'm sure any sports fan can think of others.

When you think of WWE, TNA and ROH in the idea of competitive teams, you have to think about what is considered a good “Free Agent Pick Up” for the WWE, TNA, and ROH.

TNA is the #2 Federation in the English Speaking World, it's only natural that they are going to get some of WWE's "scraps", after all, the main goal of a wrestler (most of the time) is to be in the WWE. However, the WWE only has so many spots on it's main roster who are worth TV time. Eventually many stars will quit/be "future endeavored" etc. from the WWE for a variety of reasons.

However, who should be considered a good “pick up” for TNA and who is a bad one.

Kurt Angle is an example of a great pick up. He quit the WWE on his own accord, had plenty left in the tank and has done great things for himself and TNA. Anyone arguing against that is just delusional.

D'Angelo is an example of someone who under-achieved in the WWE (his fault or not, is a different discussion), but actually improved and built his stardom in TNA. He is a decent pick up.

Mr. Anderson feels like he is being force fed to us, that's probably why many get the "left over" vibe from him. He is a “not-bad” pick up.

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair we're great pickups in the short term because of their name recognition and experience, but poor in the long term because they are draining too much money and TV time. This is simply mismanagement by TNA's execs.

Matt Hardy – The Prime Example of a Bad “Free Agent” for TNA.

However what about the WWE?

Sure, I'll just make a quick list:
Good Pickups:
Chris Jericho, Big Show, Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Daniel Bryan
Bad Pickups:
DDP, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Kaval, Chris Masters

The point in all this?

Simply the argument that TNA is bad because all they have is Free Agents from the WWE is just dumb, because then you could say that the Miami Heat we're stupid because Lebron James and Chris Bosh we're leftovers from other teams, when they are making a boat load of money from the “Big 3” now. Or how the New York Yankees suck because all they do is buy their players, while their huge amount of trophies over the decades obviously proves you wrong.

However, if you are arguing that they make more poor Free Agent Decisions than good ones, then you have a better and more understandable argument. If you are going to argue about “Left-Overs” then, make better points and better examples. Because if you need a example of someone stupid in pick ups, Look at the Oakland Raiders for most of last decade. ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39767-Wrestling-Free-Agents http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1524-WWE-Self-Promotion Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:34:26 GMT There have been countless blogs, forum posts, comment threads etc. etc. that go on about how the WWE is doing [Superstar X's push/lack there of, Zack Ryder, PPVs, PG, CM Punk, I want the Attitude Era 2.0, Tag Teams, Divas, etc. etc. etc.]. However, as always I like to point out something a little bit different that a lot of people seem to have glossed over.

In 2011, WWE is too self-promoting.

What do I mean you ask? Let's start with a recap. In any given Raw/SD, we see the following self-promotions:

[Beginning]
WWE Wide Intro
Recap of Last Week or Recent Main Event Storyline
Raw/SD Intro
During Initial Promo -- Call-Back to Last Week

[Bulk of the show in no order]
Commercial for WWE Movie
Slam of the Week -- Call Back to previous Raw/SD
Raw/Smackdown Rewind
PR Stunt of the Quarter (Bullying for example)
Recent PR Stunt Rewind (International tour, reading tour etc.)
Multiple PPV Promotions (ex. Evan Bourne vs Swagger might bring up a MITB match graphic)
WWE Video Game Ad
Product Ad (slim jim, 7-11 etc.)
"Did you know???" (sometimes multiple times)
PPV is brought to you by [XYZ]
Middle of the Show Call back to intro of show or last week
iTune ad for Superstar/Diva Music

[End of show]
Complete PPV run-down
Call-Back to last Week
Tune in Next Week Plug

I'm not saying self-promoting is bad. After all, you do want to remind people about certain things that a person may have missed or about a product you are offering. The fact is, its getting too much and its distracting. During NXT and to a lesser extent Superstars it takes up even larger % of airtime for a show that has only 42-45 minutes of airtime. Raw has about 1:40/2:10 airtime, and SD gets about 1:30/2:00. When up to 15 minutes in a given broadcast is ads, self promotion, and wasted call-backs in addition to your ads, it becomes painfully clear....

WWE is the Home Shopping Network with some wrestling, smacktalk and cleavage thrown in. (not enough time on the cleavage though, but that's another story)

What's just right? WWE has always had it's show intros and a few call backs, and I can't blame the WWE for advertising their movies and video games. The truth is though, do we need to see the same re-hashed PPV plug, multiple times in a show? Do we need to see the SAME call back multiple times in a show, do we really need "oh hey watch Smackdown, LOL!"

Now why am I bringing this up exactly? Well besides using the added few minutes for longer matches (or an additional match) or another promo or two, there's a secondary (and perhaps even more important reason)

It's hurting morale of the viewer.

When you see something on TV, you generally want the viewer to have a positive reaction, or at the worst be neutral. When you spend valuable minutes on ads and call backs, you generally hope for a neutral-slightly positive reaction, because after all, you can't expect it to have the same reaction as a match or promo. The problem is with the sheer amount of them, it's creating a subconscious negative reaction.

We know it smells "pipelined" even though we may not be actively acknowledging it. The Attitude Era and even the previous two eras before it (Hulkamania and Post-Steroid Scandal) had a good deal of product placement, but they always changed it up.

What's a good start? Bring back the superstars talking to you directly during their intro ala the little square in the corner, if you don't know what I'm talking about check out the WWE Old School episode when I believe it was Dolph talking directly to the audience. It was simple, it worked and it gives people with weaker mic skills to get multiple takes to disguise it. Also saves time on call backs.

Any thoughts? ]]> miraistreak http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1524-WWE-Self-Promotion