http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?7712-The-Next-Big-Thing Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:35:22 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?7712-The-Next-Big-Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41283-My-last-event-as-a-WWE-fan Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:16:45 GMT Hi everybody, this isn't some overreaction. I decided that this year's Wrestlemania would be the perfect way to bow out of being a pro wrestling fan. If the show lived up to the hype there is no doubt I would be eating my hat and watching tonight's raw and invested for the future. Luckily I am okay with leaving this show behind. I try to defend WWE time and again from the barracking that the IWC has in store for them. Mostly just because I like to piss people off, it makes me feel like a big man. Seriously, I still love wrestling for what it was, and just get abit ansey at reading all the negative bile reserved for wwe. But I agree with ya all in theory. I hate seeing people do the usual "WWE has f'ucked up XXX's push here's what I would have done" kind of stuff but to be honest your idea's generally trump the one's the professionals come up with. Wrestling though has been getting to new epic area's of "GAAAY" over the last few year's, which I have been finding increasingly hard to handle. Nothing against gay people, I hope any gay people or those with gay friends reading this know I mean gay as south park would define it, as in Wrestlemania was gay as shit this year aka. it was shit. Anyway, I am going to fast forward through Raw tonight, see how all these angles end and get the fuck out of "THIS BUSINESS" for good. I love blogging, I love reading blog's (especially the Best and Worst of Raw, look it up) and of course going through the vast Youtube archives. Hell, I even like the dirtsheets. You know there's a problem when you look forward to all the other things WAYYYY more than the actual TV/PPV show (I know this is popular, but wwe fucking nailed money in the bank last year - PPV should be like that ALL THE TIME). Let's get to this review anyway you crazy Next Big Thing-anites-anites-ites.

1) Sheamus v Daniel Byran for the World Heavyweight Championship

As soon as this farce happened I knew my soon to be wrestling death would not be in vain. What a way to shit on everybody Vince, or whoever the fuck came up with this idea. There have been few things I have enjoyed more in the last few months than Daniel Bryan's descent into the most original heel in year's. His "YES!YES!" schtick has caught on in a big way and the crowd were definitely interested in him last night. Whatever about creating characters and storylines, just don't job your champ out in 18 seconds. It's a shame that Vince McMahon is so insecure by the internet that he needs to play an april fool's on them. That's him all over though. If you can find this on youtube look it up, I tried linking it but I couldnt find it. It's Vince on Conan back in about 1999 at the height of the attitude era. It is one of those "Something said, not good" moments, where Vince says something about wrestling being an actual sport (this is as high as it has ever been remember) and there is mocking laughter from the audience and Conan and just for a split second you see Vince become very small. I shit you not. You can see that Vince is totally embarassed to be in this wrestling mullark. Genius yes, ashamed, unfortunately yes.

2) Kane v Randy Orton

Politics eh? Orton said in interviews very confidently that this would be the bigger match than the world heavyweight and he was dead right. I actually liked this match, I didn't hate the feud either but that's because I've been drinking the wwe koolaid for the last 10 year's, and would watch whatever the fuck they put on. You become conditioned by them to just accept what is on the tv. I was happy to see Kane get the win, cause I love that guy. For you people still interested, you can be happy that Kane is still in dominant heel territory.

3) Cody Rhodes v Big Show

I liked it, I really really did. Good to see Big Show get a Mania moment, which is what this was all about. Cody Rhodes is the one guy I see being a proper superstar in the future. He has that shit eating grin that I just adore in a heel. I hope they don't bury him. Which they will.

4) Divas Match

Even when Trish, Lita, molly holly, victoria and whichever women could actually wrestle where wrestling back in the day there was no guarantee I would watch it. Kelly Kelly and Eve are severely smokin', but I didnt even really pay attention. I was on the dirt sheets, which have been more entertaining to me than wrestling for a very long time.

5) Triple H v Undertaker

By far in my opinion the match of the entire night. It made the whole thing more worthwhile for me. Quite similar to last years No Dq, but just with a bit of extra brutality on top. The kind of shit that they were doing in this match, that is the kind of shit that is going to be more and more what "wrestling" is actually about. All the talking to each other, the shocked faces etc. It will be less about brutality and manoeveurs and more about emotions. That is why wrestling doesn't work for me anymore. But it all had it's place in this match because of who was involved and what the setting was. I would say Shawn Michaels was the mvp - He really is the showstealer. I loved the unpredictability of this match, and there were a few times I thought Hunter would win, even though we knew Undertaker would win. I've got a huge list of my favourite characters in wrestling history but Triple H is by a mile long my favourite heel of all. That 2000/2001 HHH, There were times it looked like he was back. Undertaker is a fucking machine. He looked ferocious out there. The end was quite brilliant. The three walking up the ramp together, truly end of an era. Much as it is the same for me. Thank god Jim Ross was present for this entire match. He really is the god of announcing, he called this match like he has never missed a beat. Perfect way for all three men to bow out of their careers, which I think has now happened.

6) Team Teddy v Team Johnny

Wow! There must have been 19 people ringside for this match. Thank fuck for the Bella twins anyway, they looked durrrrrrty last night. That's all I'll really say. Mark Henry angrily threw Hornswoggle on the ground, which should happen at every show,and there was a triple plancha from Ryder, Kofi and R Truth to guys on the outside that was pretty cool. Miz got the win when Eve distracted Ryder. Then Eve kicked Ryder in the balls. Right now, my wrestling ban is seeming to be easier than ever. The Hell In A Cell was all I'll ever ask for out of 3 of my favourites but it's clear that brilliance is either over indefinitely or coming to an end. The Eve era is now here. I am glad I'm not going to stick around to find this out. I'm sorry to tell you, but Eve is going to be a woman's John Cena - You will like her and you will watch her. We get it, she's a woman empowered and she's a bitch. Brace yourselve's people, wrestling just got really shit.

7) Chris Jericho v CM Punk

Before this, Johnny informed Punk that he could lose the title via dq. It kinda pissed me off at the start because I thought it would be Jericho spitting at Punk and making him MAAAAD and getting him DQ'ed. I didn't think the match needed that kind of stip but it's nice to see feud continuation between Punk and Johnny. The match was pretty good in my opinion, I enjoyed it, deffo second best match of the night. I don't care about the finish because I'm done, outta here. Thanks for putting on a decent match though, this is what wrestling should be.

8) The Rock v John Cena

The main event. They built it up so well but it just reminded me of how corporate and "GAAAAY" wwe has become. First off, the entrances. I don't know who Machine Gun Kelly is but I assumed for the last few weeks that was a Rihanna song, cause they all sound the same. And I fucking hate that song. I was in wrestleania mode the last couple of days and I couldn't get that song outta my head at all. Fucking horrible. It's even still in my head. Thank god for Youtube and an endless supply of brain damaging drum and bass to ease my pain to. I'm obviously not the kind of fan wwe caters for anymore, that's why I'm throwing in the towel. I avoid all the shitty television and the shitty music pretty successfully and the only one thing that drags me into this pit of despair is wrestling. It has changed so much. The last time I really enjoyed wrestling was back in 2003, that's pretty insane for a wrestling fan. I've obviously enjoyed bits here and there but it has generally involved suspending my level of belief to incredibly epic proportions, particularly the last 4 years. Where are the Macho Man's, Triple H's (I know he's still there, but I'm talking bout young mega heels like him in his prime). There certainly are no Stone Cold's any more. Anyway, back to the entrances. WWE couldn't possibly pass up this opportunity to have Cena shill out his new shirt. Then The Rock's entrance. Flo Rida. Another guy I know nothing about, performs not one but two songs. If WWE had any sense they would listen to their fans. They didn't give a crap about either guy. Hell, they cared more about making him look superior to their employee Heath Slater. Always sucking up to celebrities.I liked MGK's slight at The Rock's ego at the end of his performance for Cena, it got good heat so fair play to the little scrawnbag for that.

It was an okay main event, but definitely not the best match ever. Jerry Lawler made it fucking worse though. Another example of how bland wwe has become, look no further than Jerry Lawler. He was an awesome heel and an even better heel announcer, and he has been phoning it in for year's now. Him constantly telling us that this is a great match is just another fine example of WWE propaganda. Not a bad match by any means, but certainly nothing mega memorable. If something big happened in this match there is not a doubt that WWE would have retained my loyalty. If fucking Cena cheated dirty to win, it would have been worthwhile me coming back for me. The big thing is going to be John Cena saying "I failed you all.... I don't deserve to entertain you anymore.... But I want a rematch.....etc.". As the fans would chant "same old shit".

I will say I actually jumped in the air when The Rock got the pin though, and was properly excited that he got the win. I just don't care for the second in a lifetime rematch thats going to be on the horizon.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am stopping watching wrestlling for several reasons. First of all, I am moving out of Ireland for good and going back to Canada, where I was born. Watching wrestling and going on dirt sheets, reading and posting blog's is not going to help me get my shit together in the upcoming months and years. It was also an easy decision thankfully. I was very comfortable that it truly was the end of an era, not just for the three hell in a cell behemoths but me as well. WWE is not wrestling anymore. It is entertainment. Last night was a complete shill. WWE has become total propaganda. I am 28, I loved watching Macho Man, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Million Dollar Man, Mr. Perfect, and fuck it every single guy from the roster in those days. They lost me at one point when it just became sorta boring cause none of those big guys worked there anymore. I also remember I REALLY hated Vince McMahon and the way he made everything sound absolutely incredible. I felt pretty insulted/massively underwhelmed. When I came back, wrestling was better than it ever was, it was completely different from everything I knew again. I loved Triple H the most, but still got excited for Stone Cold, The Rock and fuck it everyone from that particular era. So much so that I still have watched until today. Vince had me at attitude era.

Wrestling has not been that fun for quite a while though. WWE were struggling with their identity after they weren't the cool thing anymore. It was still good for a few years but the propoganda machine got bigger and bigger. Vince will always big up anything, he's a promoter. But it became all about perceived quantity instead of actual quality. The modus operandi of WWE has been 100% telling the fans what they want instead of listening to what they want. That's fucking insane. With me, that goodwill has now gone. It has happened to lots of other people and it will happen to more. The whole Daniel Bryan fiasco was a big Fuck You to the hardcore fans that made his company a success. Those hardcore fans are internet fans. Vince doesn't want any of us anymore. It's obvious. He wants the kids. Maybe he always wanted the kids, that was his target back in the glorious 80's. WWE is an entertainment company. It will never be a wrestling company again. The most important thing in WWE's mind is being seen with celebrities. That's it. It's pathetic in the sense that they latch onto whoever the flavour of the month is. I have basically been watching for years and years because of what happened in the attitude era. It was must see every show and every PPV. It has been years since it ended but I have stayed loyal like most. I read a comment last night. It's like being in a bad relationship with an abusive partner that you keep going back to. WWE is the definition of corporate shillery. That's fine for some but that doesn't fly with me. Being a WWE fan is about living in hope. It's not fun. WrestleMania is not the same show it once was. We have always been force fed it's the biggest show in the world but there was actually some year's that was completely true. Hence our undying love remained intact. Last night's show was about advertising, it was about getting new sponsorships. It was about getting P Diddy on WWE TV. It was about forming alliances with MGK and Flo Rida, because they are celebrities whose music is based on the propoganda of "you will like it because it's everywhere". Apart from the HHH-Taker match, there was no heart in it. It was still entertaining. All the other matches underwhelmed (even Punk-Jericho, especially Rock-Cena), while the yes men on announce Lawlor and Cole told us repeatedly that we are all having a great time and it was the best wrestlemania ever. They have to say that stuff, I know, but a little bit of integrity over the year's would go a long way. WWE are immensely proud of themselves, and rightfully so. They are a huge empire. But they are so smug and condescending about it, that I am extremely happy that they didn't do any kind of swerve to make me keep watching their tripe. I certainly don't care that Eve's still a bitch, which was the big swerve of the night. I won't watch new wwe programming ever again, because they treat their fans with no respect. And somebody should really fucking look out for wrestler's best interests. This man has blood on his hands. All those guys I loved growing up that are now dead before their time because of subrances, drink or whatever got that way for a) because they were fucking party animals, and b)they were on the road all the time. Good rest affects brain cells, which affect your state of mind, which affects the need to drink and do drugs, and on and on and on.

The WWE is now all about the top brass, and the guys below in the hierarchy who will grovel for the rest of their lives. Stuff the fans, they are just mindless drones who will watch what we tell them to watch.
that's my Wrestlemania review. Regardless of my rambling I still enjoyed the show. But only 2 wrestlemanias i have ever seen lived up to the hype, 17 and 19. The most enjoyable thing about WrestleMania is usually the hype. This year was the same. Next year will be the same, but I've had enough hype and I'm ready to give my wrestling boots away to the new generation of fans.

Best Match: Undertaker v Triple H - A fitting end to an era that I have enjoyed, but is at the right time to end. In my mind, there will be no more rematches. Nothing will live up to this. This will be my last memory of wrestling.

Worst Match: I fucked off somewhere else for the diva match, so it's gonna be Bryan v Sheamus. WWE love all these "WrestleMania moments", but the fans who have grown up as WWE fans (like me) want storytelling and ring action. We don't care about WWE's ego, we care about the people in the ring and their dreams.

Best Moment: Undertaker and Michaels dragging Triple H off the ground to give him his due. That was real, that's why we watch wrestling. We can suspend our disbelief but it's about being genuine.

Anyway, this'll be my last blog. I am going to read the Raw results tomorrow, but then thats it - I'm a goner. Won't be watching any more shows, won't be reading dirt sheets (which are far more entertaining now, imo they do wwe's job for them), and won't be doing any more blogging. Whatever the quality of the show, Wrestlemania 28 was going to be my last. It was good, but not enough to make me bail on my decision. It's just a money making machine. Sure it always has been, but it once had heart and personality. The wrestler's don't even have personality now which really sucks. They have video packages, entrance theme's and announcers who tell you their great, but they're all the same now. As I said, my last wrestling moment will be Triple H, Undertaker and HBK getting a standing ovation. I was excited for Rock-Cena, but it was no where near the Rock-Hogan ballpark. Miles away to be frank. I'm not bitter, its just television and I enjoyed it, but wwe has had enough of my undivided attention.

Please leave your comments, I'd appreciate it, I care much more about what wrestling fans think than what wwe think, 100%. ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41283-My-last-event-as-a-WWE-fan http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41202-Great-Things-about-Wrestling-Episode-2 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:28:36 GMT Hi Everybody. I hope you all read episode 1 on this new series. Your comments and your input is crucial to me continuing this so I don't lose the will to live (or something along those lines). We all take wrestling abit too seriously sometimes. Not just the things we don't like, but the whole thing in general. It's fun playing god with our blogs, but let's be all lighthearted and learn some lessons. Episode 1 is here http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/commun...ling-Episode-1 if you are interested. I am going to keep doing this until it get's stale, but wrestling has been around for a long long time and there's lots of material to make us shiny happy people.

The everlasting confusion of the underpants thing

Everybody, fan and bypasser finds something very, very odd about wrestling that has always had a blind eye turned to it. Why is he wearing underpants? Especially when he's wearing normal full length pants. And if he's not going to be wrestling today but he's here for an interview why is he still wearing underpants (I'm looking directly at YOU, Randy Orton). It has never been explained, and long may it continue, as it's a thing about wrestling that wouldn't really happen in most other sports. I have a few theories. 1) I assume it's "strictly" a comfort thing. 2) It has been long influenced by "Mr Universe" type deals. Underpants are worn by the truly most powerful men on the planet (Arnie). 3) It's strictly for the ambitious. The lower card guys just look ridiculous but for that guy who's going on to bigger and better things undies are the final piece of the jigsaw. Look at Triple H. Long legged ring attire, mid card status, then BAM! wearing trunks, and he becomes a behemoth in the industry. Chris Jericho, long legged ring attire, then PLOP! in 2008 he finally embraces the pants look and becomes a solid main eventer. But yeah, an unexplained answer that is best left unexplained.


Really Bad Acting/Dialogue

This is the thing that makes wrestling truly stand apart from everything else. And there is much joy to be had, as this brilliant niche in the wrestling world seems to be going from strength to strength. Who could ever forget all those Raw's in 2009 when Randy Orton was heeling it up and advancing into his mental character that we all love. Just staring into the camera for minutes on end making psycho faces in his underpants. No other TV show would ever get away with that kind of guffery. With wrestling it's completely acceptable. If you've read my blogs that involve moaning about people generally moaning you'll see that my stance on wrestling is that it's supposed to be bad. We look back at the Attitude era and we cum into our pants (philosophically) but that was some seriously bad acting, and we ate it all up. I think it's even better RIGHT NOW than ever before. Undertaker (Act Dead/Satan Worshipper/"Cool" guy who likes motorbikes), Triple H (Hunter Hearst Helmsley/The GAMEEEEEH/Blade Trinity/The Chaperone) and Shawn Michaels ("Rocker" with a mullet who fist pumps/Boy toy/Super christian) are three of the worst actors in WWE history. Which means they are three of the best. I am currently greatly enjoying the 4 years of promo's between them that consistently produce such great lines as "this business". Long may it continue. I could have written an encyclopedia on bad acting in wrestling, I've only touched on a couple of topics which is a shame. I am definitely going to do a blog as a tribute to bad acting.


Excitable Announcers

We all love announcers. I don't think anyone can downplay the effect they have on the product. If there was no commentary I doubt oily men hugging each other would have ever made it as far as it did. Commentators in real sports get excited, but commentators in our beloved fake sport go absolutely batshit insane when the very best things happen. There are many things that make ordinary folk laugh at the wrestling industry, and this is one of them. When a 10 foot (allegedly) Giant in a ridiculous costume with painted abs and some unneccesary fur does something underhanded to The Undertaker, there really is nothing that can compare to wrestling announcers making it seem like the biggest thing that ever happened in the history of the universe. I'm looking directly at Jim Ross (God I love that guy). There's also something I have a lot of love for, the announcers reaction to a debut. It's so forced that I feel like having a shit.


Stating the obvious

When we know that Sheamus is feuding with Daniel Bryan and the Oirish flower is in the ring talking about foightin, D Bryan interrupts him, who cheated in a match to defeat CM Punk on the previous Raw. Chris Jericho, who provided an assist against his enemy, comes out to chastise Punk over being a failure or something. That's now 4 guys in a ring at the one time with various present and past histories together. "HOLE ON A MINNET PLAYA", Teddy Long is here to make a "TAG TEEM MATCH". We all know what's coming, it's obviously going to be the two faces against the two heels. We could have wrapped this up a good minute and a half before the announcement concludes. Teddy gets a lot of stick from the internet, but he is just the latest in a long line of gm's/commissioners to use this technique. "Tonight ... in this very ring (points downwards to middle of the ring)..... in this very arena (you don't say).....we're going to have Daniel Bryan .... (Boo)....teaming up with....Chris Jericho .... (Boo)........ to face off against...... Sheamus (YAY!).........and......... ......... ........ CM PUNK (Big YAY!). It surprises no one, but it really is how it's always been done. At least since dubya c dubya changed Vinnie Mac's philosophy forever.


I will be back soon with some more things that could only work with wrestling. ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41202-Great-Things-about-Wrestling-Episode-2 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41197-Great-Things-About-Wrestling-Episode-1 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:54:53 GMT Hello everybody, Mania is very very close and things are getting exciting. Do you know what I never see, I never see any blogs about things that... Hello everybody, Mania is very very close and things are getting exciting. Do you know what I never see, I never see any blogs about things that people love about wrestling. There's lots of analysis, opinion and so on, but a lot of it is written in a forlorn kind of way. I'm not a fan of Tna by any means, but watching some random episode tonight has reminded me of the things I, and I believe the vast majority loves most about wrestling. Here are things we can probably all agree on.

Screwjobs/Interference/Run-Ins

We all love screwjobs. In the attitude/Nitro era, they were commonplace every program and every ppv. People may rag on the attitude era but this is not the blog for it, it was the most successful era of wrestling ever and thats all there is to it. This influence far exceeds the aforementioned era's though. It has been a staple of the system for many generations. Managers cheating will always be my favourite. Who could ever forget Mr Fuji running around using his cane and throwing salt into the eyes of a beloved face. Awesome. When Triple H runs in on Austin costing him the title, and a wild brawl ensues. Awesome. When The Yeti comes out to the ring and hugs Hulk Hogan to death while the announcers put on their "shocked and outraged" voices. Err, Awesome. Then Vince Russo came into known existence and got his picture put in a dictionary together with the word "overbooked". Eventually, smarks will run in to a wrestling ring. Russo and his buddies (while in football helmets and gear) will say "Let's get out of here" while we all make nerdy noises and advance on them with weapons. It will be just like The Simpsons, except with actual real life consequences and a wrestling ring.

Staredowns!

Remember Rock and Austin? Remember Hulk and Warrior? A moment where the fans are in unbridled joy of two awesome super powers trying to psyche each other out. Some of the biggest moments in wrestling involve staredowns.

Gimmicks

Funkasaurus. New Jack. Mr Perfect. Koko B Ware. Glacier. Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Macho Man. The Goon. Papa Shango. One Man Gang. Big Boss Man. Ultimate Warrior. Tazz (ECW). The Berzerker. Raven. Supermen (John Cena, Golderg, Brock Lesnar). Beaver Cleavage. Million Dollar Man. Andre "The Giant". Kane. Vader. Mankind. Dude Love. Cactus Jack. The Ringmaster. Legion of Doom. The Red Rooster. Junk Yard Dog. Sabu. Hulk Hogan (Original Superman). The Undertaker. I'm sorry I went a bit crazy on the gimmicks there, but the list goes on and on as you know. Some great, some not so great. But good enough to make us fans. Gimmicks are the lifeblood of the business. I look forward to the return of Matt Bloom as Lord Tensai.

Heel Turns

We do love our face turns, especially the kids, but there's really nothing like a good heel turn. Especially when it involves a wrestler with a cookie cutter personality. If Kofi ever goes heel, I'm sure we'll all mark out. Just last year the heel turn of R Truth made that wrestler a hot commodity, and one of my favourite characters ever, and I'm an 80's guy. Another example of cookie cutter was Edge. The fan's were booing him as a face. He had the ring skills, he had a unique look, but he had a bland babyface personality. His heel turn rebuilt him up as a potential main eventer, and it was great to see it pay off with his ultra sneaky heel persona making him probably the best heel at a certain level since Triple H. Another slow building turn was CM Punk in 2009. Another cookie cutter personality. Or the shocking kind of one where Rock joins the corporation in screwing Mankind over. A heel turn will always be the better option in my opinion, and is parodied in great shows such as The Simpsons.

Episode 2 coming up tomorrow, I'm tired. ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41197-Great-Things-About-Wrestling-Episode-1 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41122-John-Cena-s-Second-Chance Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:42:51 GMT While everyone is getting themselves in a hoop about things like what The Rock's REALLY back for and whether a 12 Man Tag Team match is a logical choice for Wrestlemania, alot of Cena detestors have been surprisingly quiet about this thing. I'm glad that people are showing their true colours and admitting they like the guy and not making a big stink about what is really happening.

John Cena's first match of prominence at Wrestlemania was at the 21st version of the event as he defeated the long reigning champ, but modest in the pantheon of established main eventers, John Bradshaw Layfield and won the WWE championship. It was the start of Cena main eventing and it was an exciting time. Cena had a load of momentum. But it had been at the back of the minds for a long time of the viewers that every week he was becoming more and more a marketing ploy. By the summer of 2005, the first dissenting voices appeared in conjunction to his move to Raw. A copy of McMahon-Austin with Eric Bischoff as his adversary ranked of fakeness on all sides and the first boo's crept in. Being able to headline Pay Per View's with the likes of Kurt Angle, Christian and Chris Jericho ensured that he would hold some sort of credibility. He lost the title to money in the bank winner Edge and had a short lived feud with where he got the belt back soon, and then he was being built up to face his biggest test - The Game, Triple H.

WrestleMania 22 was supposed to be the match that confirmed John Cena as the guy. Sure he went on to win the title at WrestleMania 21 but that was against JBL, who I loved having around but was not on the calibre of big hame characters over on Raw even. Wrestlemania 22 was his big defense against the biggest name in the business. Whatever about Triple H's "ways" outside of the ring, he ran with his character and made him into a gargantuan heel force in WWE. He was one of the big 3 from the attitude era. Stone Cold. Gone. Rock. Gone.

This was Cena's biggest match to date and quite arguably the most important match of his entire career so far. A heel loving crowd in Chicago booed Cena mercilessly and cheered his rival who had the reputation for getting booed out of the building. Cena beat his epic opponent in the most desirable way imaginable, by submission and people smelt bullshit. Things had not gone to plan for Vince McMahon's marketing creation, a fanbase created by the prosperous attitude era, but he could be confident that the guy he picked got a relevantly big reaction. He was now being coined as the most controversial WWE champion in history, which at the time sounded preposterous but now could definitely be accurate.

With attacks on Cena personally as a man, they can range from the vitriolic to the sympathetic for getting his personal life confused with his "superstar" image. Vince McMahon saw dollar signs as John Cena emerged from controversial heel to charismatic face and decided he was his man. Cena showed his loyalty to the company by being a company man and keeping his nerve when all looked ruined by his increasingly gimmicky appearance to suit the marketing department.

At the culmination of this Wrestlemania 22 though, everybody saw through Cena. His viability as a credible face saw his reputation in ruins with vast amounts of fans, in the ring and on the internet. He now had a large share of haters that were exposed again at One Night Stand, defending and losing his belt to Rob Van Dam in one of the most hostile nights for any performer in the wrestling business. A feud followed with Edge that Cena was able to have that first real defining rivalry with. Out of everyone that he has been on a roster with, Edge was his best rival. When that was over, a feud would begin with another legend, Shawn Michaels for Mania 23. The response was similar again, Cena was put over but once again it was at odds with what the audience wanted. John Cena was the man who just could not lose, and it was clear that we just had to get used to it.

Wrestlemania 24 was the dawning of a new era in WWE. John Cena and Randy Orton had been groomed to be the new Rock and Austin for the years after the attitude era. The big problem though was that their personalities just did not clash well. Randy Orton v John Cena was going to be groomed to be the big main event of a future WrestleMania. They decided to do it in 2008, but they had Triple H in the match. Whenever Orton and Cena went face to face before the reaction from performers and fans had been lukewarm, so it was good to have Triple H as an extra sentimental face trying to win back the title at Wrestlemania. WrestleMania 24 was the end of an era for Cena. His would be defining feud with Orton massively undersold itself that the two would never individually face each other at Wrestlemania. Cena had gone through all the big guys he could to make himself insanely popular, and it did to a point. WreslteMania 24 would also be the end of an era for everyone else. one year later, the PG era was in full order.

John Cena in 2009 was a certain cash cow for WWE. He had done movies, and most importantly he shifted merchandise. The hardcore fan with an attitude era heart long started tailing off and the one's who were still there barely gave him a reaction, completely numb by who they were told the best is repeatedly down the years. The kids loved him though, because he's a good guy who always gets the best of the bad guy at the end of the day. It's a proven formula in cartoons, and it's a proven formula in modern wrestling. In 2009 Cena's presence couldn't be faltered but his goodwill was severely tested by the audience and he wouldn't be in the final match for the second consecutive year, going up against old rival Edge with Big Show in the mix. When he hit both Edge and Big Show together with an attitude adjustment it just reinforced Cena's superman image. WWE were absolute in their endorsement of John Cena being the company poster boy but they didn't want to ruin that with a lukewarm response to him closing out the show in victory.

Same happened at Wrestlemania 26 as he faced Batista, but if it had been on any other card that didn't have the streak v retirment Undertaker v Shawn Michaels match it would have been a worthy main event. Batista had ended his Cena like stale babyface run and turned into a conceited, self centred asshole who was the perfect foil for John Cena's "good man" character. It was worthy of the main event. Though his win felt like a tragedy to some.

Batista was leaving the company, and after initially being miles ahead of Cena until the mania match he was made look like a complete chump by Cena's superman prowess. It is understandable that Cena should be made look good in favour of the guy on his way out, but the way he was superior to Batista in every way after Wrestlemania made people roll their eyes. His miraculous and compelling displays were long boring. He was on another level from every WWE superstar and had no real rivals, he dismantled an entire dominant group on his own, he did his salute, threw his cap to the audience, same ol same ol.

Last year's WrestleMania further exposed Cena's failings. In each WrestleMania performance he had been against an opponent who could say they were main event quality but now it was up to him to bear the load of a feud with the Miz, who had done well for himself in getting the WWE championsip but was far from the finished article. The overshadowing of the match by The Rock's presence owed showed that Cena was not on his level yet. The aftermath of a dull main event which included a double countout, subsequently restarted with The Miz retaining but The Rock coming out with all the glory, was immediate. There would be a match at WrestleMania 28.

It was business as usual for the majority of the last year, Cena recaptured his title and dominated any comers. CM Punk however made Cena's involvement must see over most of the last summer, allowing for exploration of Cena's character that was untouched. That was short lived as Cena would still call himself champ twice more during the year.
Since The Rock reappeared before Survivor Series however, Cena's character has been built as a credible main event opponent. To the obvious lack of respect from the crowd at Madison Square Garden that night to the following feud against Kane, which was interesting to say the least, Cena has been back to The Rock and is not backing down but is looking good going against him.

One of Rock's biggest adversaries from the Attitude Era was Triple H. Triple H and The Rock were considered as equals, one obviously being more marketable than the other, but they were eternal rivals on the exact same level. By 2006 when Cena needed an opponent to put him over, Triple H was still at that level The Rock was, so was the epic opponent for Cena to shine against. The investment in Cena's character is in agreement by all it seems, he would go over Triple H and seal himself as the face of the company. Cena went over the biggest guy on the roster there was, by some mile. But the rot had well and truly settled in. A new audience began manifesting that resisted change and Cena lost most of his fans. Luckily, there are a number of fan's who will love anyone who they're told are great, and these fans have access to other's who can be manipulated. Kids can get their parent's to buy anything if they really want it. Cena is the bees knee's in WWE so is a large part of it being a PG product. John Cena undoubtedly went over on Triple H at WrestleMania 22 and has dominated the landscape since. But he went over all wrong, things got muddied and he has to get that big win again. Vince McMahon has shrown tremendous faith in Cena, in that he has changed his whole companies outlook (The Benoit incident played a part too). Now, he needs to go over again, and what better opponent than his rival at WrestleMania 28.

After the match with The Rock Cena will be a bigger name than ever before, quite likely. In what is a main event that will surely live up to the hype, the year build up will be reflected well on Cena. He'll finally be the megastar Vince McMahon wants him to be, whether he is still getting booed or not.

Most people should be looking at this for what it really is - A second attempt to reach Cena's potential. It's funny that people will bitch forever at Cena yet forget the fact that he is being spoonfed further big names to get him truly over as the main guy, and turn on The Rock who is just back to do the job to him (likely).
Thanks for reading, ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41122-John-Cena-s-Second-Chance http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41053-WrestleMania-28-3-Weeks-to-go Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:01:00 GMT Hi all, I thought that I'd start giving a preview for the upcoming WrestleMania 28 PPV, by analysing the actual and rumoured card from top to bottom to see where we are right now and how it's going. I'm going to post this every Saturday or Sunday (after I've seen Smackdown) in the coming weeks and see how this big PPV is shaping up. let's get started, have a lot to go over this week.

CM PUNK v CHRIS JERICHO WWE Championship

Best in the World v Best in the world. I'm pretty sure this has happened before, but who cares really, it hasn't happened with these two guys locked up. Speculation was rife that Jericho would go after Punk upon his return and we have been proved right. There have been a few run-in's, a roll up, a "knock out" in the EC match, and a little bit of verbal sparring which was as good as we can expect out of these two. The match has already been hyped up well enough, Punk has already sealed himself as a credible WWE champ and Jericho is a legend. The bases have already been covered adequately enough to get this match sold, and there are another 3 weeks to add some stardust to this feud. They are building up Jericho being a threat as opposed to Punk being an underdog which is the right way to do things (Jericho won with a roll up on Raw, which shows that he can get a pin out of nowhere). This will be one of the best matches on the card if not the best, and the next 3 weeks of build can only do good for this match.

DANIEL BRYAN v SHEAMUS World Heavyweight Championship

Though WWE are trying to make this match seem important as heel just by having it be announced well before the day of the show, it really hasn't gotten into gear as of yet. There is a good chance that WWE are doing this match to appease the vocal internet fans who derided them for scrapping this from the card last year, and there is also a good chance that WWE probably have no idea how they got here or what they are going to do. WWE has been ballsy with regards to this match however, whether or not they had planned on Daniel Bryan actually holding the strap until Mania is only for them to know, but his brilliant work in getting his new character over has made WWE's decision a lot easier for them. Turning Sheamus into the Irish version of John Cena though has hurt this immensely so far though. Having an unfinished article in Bryan in the main event would always be a risky enough venture as it is, but having him carry Sheamus is an issue with me and probably others. Bryan isn't over enough yet to carry the World title match on his shoulders, and he is because Sheamus is completely bland right now. There is still a lot of time to make this into an exciting match for people to look forward to, but it's not working right now.

KANE v RANDY ORTON

There have been a lot of Mania's in years gone by of two top talent's that are just paired together for the hell of it because there is no one else to pair them with. This is the case with Orton v Kane. I am actually happy about this being on the card because it gives each guy someone credible to have a match with on this card. Kane may be going after sloppy seconds but Orton is arguably on the same plateau as Cena is and it's therefore a good feud for him to have. Honestly I think it's the best feud for Kane to have if they want to keep him at a main eventish level. Same for Orton. His injury record in the last few months has rightly seen him excluded from a title match and with Kane being relevant in the last few months it is also a good feud for Orton to have. It is arguably the best possible opponent for each guy as they are around the same level. All that's missing is motive. Orton has motive alright, he's trying to get back at Kane. What's Kanes motive though? Is he just having fun? If that ends up being the motive, hell I'll be happy with that. Even if the commentators start putting over the question of why is Kane attacking Orton I'll be happy, as long as I think there's a story behind it. I hope they have some kind of plan, otherwise this will just be an afterthought really.

BIG SHOW v CODY RHODES Intercontinental Championship

Forgive me for jumping on the bandwagon but Rhodes is the best thing in WWE right now. Ziggler also has a great bandwagon appeal but Rhodes just oozes charisma that makes every appearance of his a highlight. I am glad that he is involved in a singles match against a big name opponent because he deserves to be there. Big Show has also been pushed into a big spot in the last few months that it would have been a waste of his current credibility to have him be an extra number in some meaningless multi person match as well. The Big show embarassing mania moments vignettes have been enough fuel for this feud as well, both guys have a motive, Rhodes is revelling in pushing Show's buttons, and Show has a major beef with Rhodes too. It is also nice to have the IC belt finally having a relevant place on a WM card for the first time in years (Mysterio-JBL was all about setting up JBL quitting). I am very happy that a mid card match has some proper build to it.

JOHN LAURENITIS v TEDDY LONG

This is heavily rumoured to be a big tag match. It is impossible to specualte too much on what is going on with this as no official announcement has been made, but it will be all about JL v TL. If they plan on putting any big name guys into this, I hope they stack it with big names guys. If there are low level guys in it, I hope they include only lower level guys (ie I don't want to see Ziggler relegated to being just another number among the likes of Ryder, Santino and Otunga unless he picks up the winning pin, when he could do be doing something else). I am surprised at the goodwill that Long has picked up from fan's so far in this feud, but it is an indicator from just how reviled big Johnny is from the crowd. The character of JL has made more of an impact than anybody could have expected.

UNDERTAKER v TRIPLE H ; Special Referee Shawn Michaels Hell In A Cell

I was very apprehensive about seeing these two go at it again but making it Hell In a Cell was the perfect call, as these two own that gimmick match really. I didn't think adding in HBK would have ben the right call and I have been saying that over that rumour for months, but the new friction between him and HHH has made it a lot better. We need a bit more Undertaker, which we will get next week in a showdown with HBK. By the time all the promotion is done this will be just depending on the match itself if it will go down as a classic.

THE ROCK v JOHN CENA

The main event. I am excited. Rocky is boring at the moment for me, it's like we've gone back in time to 2002 and The Rock is just rehashing old material. Apparently that's the plan though anyway, so I'm down with that. There is a lot of promotion still to come, and it's going well so far, and I'm not even going to speculate too much about it. I am looking forward to this however, it might really turn WWE around, as opposed to just turning John Cena into a bigger player.

I will be back next week to review the new happenings in these again and any new matches that are certainties or likely to happen. Until then, Fairdy-well! ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41053-WrestleMania-28-3-Weeks-to-go http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40846-A-VERY-LONG-Blog-about-The-Rock-and-his-career-as-a-wrestler Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:06:03 GMT Hi everybody, the last few days there have been an overwhelming amount of blogs that have appeared, some for, most against, The Rock. If you haven't read my blogs before, or forget, I grew up as a WWE fan in the 80's, and quickly my hero's were Hulk Hogan, Million Dollar Man (definitive heel), Macho Man Randy Savage and funnily enough Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (he really had a lovely head of hair, and a nickname I could get behind). I continued to watch for a lot of years, when Bret Hart became my hero along with Razor Ramon. Around the time Razor left, I had a niggling problem over how boring WWE had gotten, I particularly hated Vince McMahon the commentator (back at this time he wasn't lauded as owner on TV). I hated McMahon the commentator because he always made everything seem so, so much better than it was, and I could tell it was absolute shite (Man Mountain Rock? Yeah, this is great AHEM!). Anyway, eventually it felt like bullshit to me, so I stopped watching. I thought it was pretty cool that Hogan turned heel with the nWo, but even during these big days for wCw, the product was always too cheesy for me to enjoy, especially seeing how cool this group of guys were all the time. So I stopped watching wrestling completely for about 2, 2 and a half years.

When I returned after everybody I knew suddenly thought wrestling was cool again, things were completely different than they were before. What of course happened was that the fad died out and alot of people did the new cool thing, but I would say anyone around here who went through that period obviously didn't see it as a fad - We were excited to see wrestling again.

I saw "Rocky Maivia's" debut at 1996's Survivor Series. At this time, my interest had waned but I noticed The Rock. I won't claim to know he was going to be the star that he was, but there was just something about him, even on that one night, that marked him out as a guy to look out for. He didn't have a gimmick at all apart from the goody goody smiley type, but he had something.



Anyway, when I started gradually getting back in to WWE programming around early 1999, and being completely up to speed by WrestleMania, Rock was a 3-time champ. And I was kind of shocked at the status, but this was a new "real" era, with real characters. Even then, The Rock looked like the perfect compliment to Stone Cold Steve Austin. To Austin, he was Macho Man to Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart. His ultimate rival.

The Rock "electrified" an audience like no other. He was a complete heel for a very long time, and people loved him for it. He made fun of people, he was quick witted, he looked like the epitome of cool, and his ego was incredibly engaging. When Rock turned face after the initila feud with Austin, turning his back on The Corportation, he became my favourite wrestler for a long time, and same with other people. In April 1999, The Rock officially became deservedly on par with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the fans choice. Throughout 1999, Rock was box office. Though always second to Stone Cold in terms of PPV placement, he was not far behind. When Austin was busy with the McMahon's, Rock would be in a title match. When Austin was not around basically, Rock was the number 1. In 1998 and 1999, The Rock's layed the grassroots of his character. He became "The Rock", began an 8 month Intercontinental title reign, ousted Faarooq as leader of the Nation of Domination, who all took their cue from his attitude, had a lengthy feud with Triple H and DX in which he properly "arrived", and sewd the seeds for an eternal rivalry with Triple H. When this was done, he turned face and the crowd were more than ready for it. With Austin so hot as the main face though, The Rock was turned heel again in a masterstroke storyline at Survivor Series, aligning with McMahon and becoming the number 1 heel wrestler in the organisation. A rivalry with Mankind, who he turned heel against, ensued for months, with the two trading titles, most famously in an I Quit match. The Rock was officially cool. He revelled in his wealth, his looks, his success, and most of all his quick wit. Even though he was booed people loved him for it. The lines between face and heel were completely blurred in the Attitude Era. When he became officially face in April, going on his own for the first significant time as a draw, he was, as I said earlier, definitely number 2 after Austin, and definitely the replacement if he had other affairs.

Rock had enough to keep him busy though. Triple H was being groomed the be the future champ as he joined the Corporation/Corporate Ministry, and he picked up his feud with Rock with the roles reversed. This is an example of what The Rock was. Anybody that was paired with him, if the had the ability, would come out shining like gold. Triple H's run in 1999 into total heel owed a lot to The Rock. Never having a problem of doind the job, he put Triple H over as at Over The Edge and Fully loaded in 1999. Rock was bankable, he was a star in his own right and arguably already at Austin's level, so two victories for Triple H, and selling many attacks from the cerebral assassin, put him over HUGE. Rock's only blemish in 1999 was his feud with Billy Gunn, but that was the latter who couldn't keep game with The Rock at SummerSlam. After SummerSlam, Rock put himself back into the title picture, saying he was sick of wasting time with the likes of Mr Ass and Gangrel. He would only still be a sideshow though to Austin, he would return from injury and try avenge against the new champ Tripple H. In this time, Rock would help form the extremely memorable tag team with the deranged Mankind "The Rock n' Sock Connection". When Austin took a year long sabbatical after being "run over", Rock was the new big man in WWE, and was trusted to be the new face of the company. He didn't disappoint. He won the Royal Rumble (albeit controversially, as was the style at the time) and would go on to WrestleMania to compete in a fatal 4 way with the recently retired emotional pick Mick Foley, former champ Big Show and Uber heel Triple H. After mania, The Rock was firmly number 1 in the company. His feud with Triple H properly picked up again, and he defeated him at Backlash 2000 to finally...finally become WWE champ again. It had been a year, and people were more than ready for it. Rock lost the title in an Iron Man match to Triple H at Judgement Day (in controversial circumstances, as was the style at the time), before picking it back up a month later at King of The Ring, to go on his most definable title reign of his career.



There was a time that if Austin was going to be out of the picture, that mass panic would have ensued putting all the momentum the company gained from wCw at serious risk. By the time Austin had to get neck surgery, confidence in Rock being the face of WWE was clear. He would lead them into the 21st Century. Rock became a mainstream hit, making memorable appearances on the likes of Saturday Night Live, That 70's Show and even Star Trek. His ultra cool demeanor brought a new image to WWE, that built on what they had achieved in the earlier Attitude Era years. The first PPV defence of his definitive title reign was against Chris Benoit at Fully Loaded. Chris Benoit had his fan's and was absolutely a credible threat, but we all knew his charisma was very lacking. Rocky made him look like gold. Main eventing this PPV with an upper midcarder would usually be a forgettable scenario in most WWE years for other champ's, but they had one of the greatest main event's arguably ever and definitely of the year. Rock made Benoit a worthy challenger to his title. A month later, he retained at SummerSlam in a triple threat with Kurt Angle and Triple H, where the focus was clearly on the latter two and their feud and Rock took a backseat. Regardless, Rock still got the biggest pop of the night by a long shot. He would defend against Undertaker, Kane and again Benoit in a Fatal 4 Way at Unforgiven, before putting Angle over at No Mercy for his first WWE championship. He was an integral part of the Austin storyline, and was right to be. This storyline was going to be head and shoulders above everything else going on, and The Rock's involvement was a must. Out of the title picture, he would fight Rikishi at Survivor Series and then compete in a big 6 Man Hell In A Cell at Armageddon, taking the pinfall, which he never minded doing. The Rock could be beat by anyone, and that made him even more believable. After falling short at the Royal Rumble, hebeat Kurt Angle is a much better than expected match at No Way Out 2001 to set up the rematch between him and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Now they were on a level playing field, there was no doubt about that. This was going to be the biggest main event since Andre The Giant v Hulk Hogan. It didn't disappoint. They had the iconic clash of a generation. Austin won. And then Rock was gone.



In 2000, the Rock appeared in The Mummy Returns and gained attention of Hollywood. This led to his exit of WWE as he would be filming the spinoff of his character, The Scorpion King. This was Dwayne Johnson's big break. In 2001, he would come back and be hugely over and was once again number 1 face in lieu of Austin's heel turn that year. He put Jericho over not once, not twice, but three times when he was trying to establish himself as a main eventer. His promo game was welcomed back and he was thrust in the limelight. Alot of people though, myself included, were kind of bored by The Rock. We didn't hate him by any means, we were still entertained by him, but it just seemed "same ol stuff". Maybe fans in the know found it harder to get behind a guy who they knew would be gone again in a few months. I personally just think the writing and all the set pieces in the shows went spectacularly off the boil (still good but a bit meh). He would face Hollywood Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, get booed out of the building (during the match) and then be gone from our screens for the rest of the year, more or less. This is the booing at the two WrestleMania's explained. The Rock was incredibly well liked by everyone in attendance, but.... he was never a sympathetic face. He was a face like no other, because he was a complete heel, but he would mostly be heel towards other heel's. Against Austin at WrestleMania X-Seven, it was in Austin's home state for one, and he was built up as the face trying to compete his comeback. Against Hogan, Rock had less fans than he did for various reasons, but Hulk Hogan was making an emotional comeback to his proper hime, the WWE, and at WrestleMania. There was no way nostalgia would lose out. Dwayne Johnson, the man, showed his credentials and respect to WWE when he made an emergency return in the wake of Stone Cold Steve Austin's sudden departure from WWE in June 2002 and duly stepped in for a couple of months. No doubt a record 7th championship reign was a barter in the deal, but why not? Instead of going over The Undertaker for the title at SummerSlam, and having less options as defending champion, Brock Lesnar was able to add The Rock to his list of victims for his debut title, and THEN be able to work with Undertaker in a fresh program. Rock's return wasn't selfish. When Lesnar would have won the title as SummerSlam, he wouldn't have had as many options for his first defence. With Rock in place to defeat, he could then stamp his credentials as champ by beating Undertaker. That's my argument anyway. He got booed yeah, but Rock always got booed when up against somebody with incredible momentum. He was going away though, and the fans made him know they weren't impressed.

In early 2003, Rock emerged. A new Rock emerged though, The version of The Rock a lot of people think he really is. He was cocky (of course), but EVEN MORE cocky than he ever was, too good for WWE because he was now a MOVIE STAR. A satellite promo with Hulk Hogan to promote their rematch at No Way Out 2003 consisted mainly of Rock acting like Hulk Hogan wasn't even there. A week later, he would return to Smackdown! to a chorus of boo's (for leaving for Hollywood, for being bland at the end of his last run and for making fun of the superhero that was Hulk Hogan) and he ran with it. Rocky was heel again, and it was absolutely fresh. He returned to the ring at No Way Out, with a swagger that he never had before and beat Hulk in the rematch to go 2-0. His promo the next night at Raw, was epic. He insulted the crowd in Toronto for booing him against Hogan at the prior WrestleMania, saying that since they booed him first they are the first who aren't allowed to sing along with The Rock and do his catchphrases. It was funny, and Rock was once again the best thing in wrestling. His return was not a long one, he was now a movie star but we were all happy to have him back for this short time in his pay off feud to his epic rival Stone Cold Steve Austin and the debut feud he engaged with Bill Goldberg. Of course, he put Goldberg over, and rode off into the sunset. After only being back for about 2 months as a fresh heel, once again the power that the Rock had made him into arguably into a face again, people loved the new attitude that he portrayed. Hell, for a few weeks of his short return, he had a mini tv feud with The Hurricane, giving him a win and the most memorable program of Gregory Helms' career.



In May of 2003, as a guest on the highlight reel, Rock showed that he could just snap his finger and have everybody fall in love with him again, just in one segment. He came back for a program in early 2004 where he was going to help Mick Foley in his feud with Evolution, for a match at WrestleMania XX. After this bout, he bowed out, apart from the very odd appearance. The Rock had done everything in WWE, now he was going to concentrate on his acting career.

That is basically The Rock's whole career in a few paragraph's. It doesn't do his career justice. The Rock was a phenomenom and his continued success is a credit to himself, and to WWE.

Here is my view on the whole thing. When Rock originally went to dp The Scorpion King, this wasn't a new thing in wrestling. Many wrestlers throughout the year's, most notably Hulk Hogan, took time off from the squared circle to do movie's. The Rock had "it", the same "it" that made him a success in WWE translated over to Hollywood. Anyway, the first time he went away, it was pretty disappointing that he wouldn't be on our screens for a few months but everybody got over it. When he went away after his match with Hogan, it was a good thing in a way. WWE needed a new direction. Everything seemed all thrown together, too much was happening with such a bloated roster that couldn't be controlled after the wCw buyout, and Rock was no exception. When leaving after SummerSlam, people were pissed off with him. He had many great moments in his return, the triple threat at Vengeance, the classic promo with Eddie Guerrero, the match with Lesnar, but everybody knew he was no longer a full time wrestler and they wanted rid of him, partly because everybody was invested in Brock Lesnar's unstoppable rise. In 2003, he came back, thankfully as a heel, using the recent past for turning on the fans like they turned on him. This sealed the deal in my opinion that I preferred him as a heel, and I wasn't alone. This time, by the time he left, people were in love with him again, he wasn't just doing the same thing, this last run was fresh and he was appreciated for it, even if he was going back to Hollywood.

The sad thing about this "disrespecting the business", only coming back to promote his movies, all the stuff we've heard ONE MILLION TIMES already is that some fans genuinely believe this and are buying into a wrestling storyline as real life. WWE are pushing this as a storyline, and unfortunately too many fans take what they hear as gospel. Face up to it, The Rock has always been Dwayne Johnson. And frankly, he's still helping out the business, and himself of course. I haven't heard any stories of guys going up to The Rock and asking for any advice and getting knocked back. These wrestler's in the back reek of spoiled brats from what I hear, who think that Dwayne should go up to them and fall over himself to endorse them, instead of putting out their hand and trying to get to know him and learn from what he has to offer. The Rock has earned his stripes, he deserves his spot regardless of being full time or not, this is WWE people, the same guys who put Mr T in the main event of the first WrestleMania. For the guys upset at losing their spot who bust their ass all year, they should remember this is WWE and WrestleMania, It's all about the occasion, not about the superstars. If these spoiled and over entitled brats in the back have a problem with any of this, they have to knuckle the fuck down so WWE doesn't feel compelled to use the Rock in their main programs because they have some guys with bloody character to fill the void. No wonder Vince McMahon is weary of the future, there are a bunch of prima donna's in his organisation who as Dwayne says, spend their time complaining about not getting over instead of trying to get over.

To the internet fans with too much time on their hands, The Rock, or Dwayne johnson, is an actor now. Deal with it. I've obviously got too much time on my hands myself, so I'm going to stop defending The Rock's audacity now to get back involved in wrestling because to some people it's going to fall on deaf ears, and they'll only believe negative news because that's what's the fun and easy thing is to do.

Leave comments if you want, but I'm bored with this slander of Dwayne Johnson, the man who had the cheek to get out of wrestling early and follow a fun and more lucrative career, and didn't develop either a drink problem or a drug problem. How dare he come back into the organisation and not stay on in the first place so he could see his career, and possibly mental state go down the drain like all of our favourites, so we could kick him when he is down like all the other guys we "like".

for new and old fans, those of you who lament that Dolph Ziggler is the best seller yet not the main man yet (he's flavour of the month), The Rock WAS the best seller at one time but he got ahead because he created a personality so engaging that Ziggler could only dream of.

To me, this begrudgery of The Rock is a slap in the face to all the legends who have been paralyzed, died well before their time, had drug and drink problems, lost all their money and had to take any job they could to stay afloat. It's fucking typical, one genuine diamond in the rough in the whole industry and people give him shit because he's made a success out of himself. The wrestlers who are below him and complain are just jealous and that's it, yet another example of "feeling they should be handed everything". The Smarks have no fucking idea, no matter how clued in they think they are. Sorry about some of my language but how else can you express yourself sometimes when faced with complete ignorance. I can't wait til somebody tells me how wrong and stupid I am. In the words of the great one...Just Bring It! ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40846-A-VERY-LONG-Blog-about-The-Rock-and-his-career-as-a-wrestler http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40822-One-simple-solution-to-usher-the-WWE-into-modern-life Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:19:41 GMT I am not going to go on and on and on about what we already know, that despite all the good happening with Mania coming up and some of the good ... I am not going to go on and on and on about what we already know, that despite all the good happening with Mania coming up and some of the good things we see, that WWE is clearly ailing. Not in the terms of what we see on TV, big screen sets, lots of pyro, all of that presentation. What is ailing though more than anything, is identity. It is the one thing that they have been trying to re-find since the attitude era ended to be honest. In the wake of the attitude era, WWE often would desperately try to get back that feeling of being "hip" that they had for a couple of years. Hell, they even brought back ECW. I can understand now why Vince put the kybosh on ECW, because it was in danger of becoming a real big thing, and he knew it (He wasn't just going to throw away his brand for ECW was he?). I am getting off point here, WWE spent a good 5 or 6 years trying to get back to the plateau they were on in the attitude era. That plateau was so good, that WWE were really all on their own, even when wCw was still in business. WWE were their own niche, not just a wrestling company. That is the feeling Vince was trying to get back after all those years. The Benoit thing put some priorities in place though. From that horrible moment on, it was about consolidating the future of the company, which I believe has been done in spades. But the one thing Vince and his company yearn for is to be accepted by popular culture. It happened twice, will it happen again?

I am going to write a few blogs with my various "collection of little" idea's for the WWE to consider altering to their presentation.

For my first blog, I say entrance music needs to be updated.
Now, of course, the established music for guy's like Kane, Show, Punk, Cena, Rock, Austin, HBK, HHH and Undertaker has no need to change at all. They are all established or retired to a point where if you got rid of their current entrance theme's, or a variation of them, that it would ruin part of the wrestler's recognizable factor. For example, We may be sick of Cena's music to death but unless a complete change of character is going to happen then it woud be completely dumb.

Dance music, whether you love it or hate it, has become very mainstream in the last few years. All the horrible (in my opinion) pop songs are now heavily influenced by the electro genre of dance, and from what you've seen of the WWE network promo, WWE are already up to speed on this dub-step fad (and it is a fad). This is the world now, the common music listener loves electronic dance even if they don't know it, and dance music (to some, not me :-)) is a big big fad. To WWE, that shouldn't be any different of a fact. They just need a guy like me who knows a shit load about dance music to point them in the right direction :D If somebody either debuted or he got a complete overhaul, the entrance music can often make or break him, hard to believe but it's true. If the music is good and fan's are excited to hear it, and the guy embraces it, woohoo that's good. Sometimes the music can be good but with a bad performer, who just doesn't come alive to his entrance music. That would be a waste, which we want to avoid.

Whether you like Dance music, love it, hate it, indifferent to it, leave a comment. I am going to add some songs I picked and make note of who i want this for and what i want it to achieve. And if you hate it, try and imagine this song being used and see how you'd feel about it then. I know I've hated the likes of Saliva over the years and all the other nu-metal bands they embraced for a while, but I could tolerate, even like it, on WWE. This would be the same, only different. Here we go.

THE PRESETS - MY PEOPLE



I'm not a big fan of the presets, i dont hate them, but theyre a bit too heavy for my taste(I'm into lots of dance, from trippy shit to simple yet in depth drum n'bass). Regardless though, this would be perfect for a man of the people kind of gimmick, not a suck up but someone who is clearly over with people and interesting. It is up tempo and would definitely garner a reaction, which would be perfect for Dean Ambrose from what I've seen of the guy.

JAPANESE POPSTARS - LET GO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ_LUoLTKLo&ob=av2e

Currently a huge song in the dance scene in Europe, the only reason Japanese Popstars are not completely main stream is because they don't seek it. I have seen them 15 times (they are from Northern Ireland), sometimes at various festivals alongside bigger and more famous names, and their tents are always bulging with people and an unrivalled atmosphere. A true phenomenom in dance music, Vince would be smart seeing the creativity of using this as the entrance for an exciting superstar. My tip, Justin Gabriel, if they ever want to make him seem cool.

JAPANESE POPSTARS - RISE OF ULYSSES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjLH...eature=related

Maybe I'm cheating here, but bands like Saliva did more than one song for the E. This is another powerful song that they could use, perfectly fitting for letting you know that a monster is here to feast. Seeing as he's a terminator or something, give it to Skip Sheffield/Ryback.

INFECTED MUSHROOM - BECOMING INSANE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6hL6fkJ1_k

Keep in mind with this list that I'm doing. WWE has to be a nearly different place, at least in terms of attitude in the overall show. It would need to be at a pear again for music like this to fly properly. We can dream right. This song would be perfect for some guy who's lost the plot, like R Truth, but more vicious than funny but a once normal guy who completely cracked, like an Al Snow going mental one day kind of thing.. I see vicious potential in ... Drew McIntyre

even for the same gimmick, try this theme below from 2:55.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQs_dv4o3Is

Next...

SKREAM - SUMMER DREAMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soaAo8sx3Yc

This tune has some serious legs to it. You know what I was saying about dubstep being no more than a fad, thats true, but this kid here is Skream. Well after dubstep isn't cool anymore, he'll still be doing dub and doing it better than anyone else. He is basically the Liam Howlett of the dubstep industry. That means Skream is The Prodigy of dubstep (Prodigy is mainly about Liam Howlett, the rest of the band are sideshows really). This is an entrance song nobody would get sick of, even after they are sick of dubstep. Because simply, nobodu does dubstep as good as Skream. An unassuming superstar could use this, someone who doesn't have a gimmick but has a future, for fun let's say a tag team, whoever that might be.

SKREAM - COLOURFUL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_mtL...eature=related

If the tag team changes music, it would be best to give them a seamless transition then something completely different. Or, new music if one of them goes solo. I promise I'll stop pimping out Skream.

That is it, basically if you read it all and you even listened to it all my point is that this is one way WWE should be getting in touch with what is out there at the moment. They are not in touch with their fans anymore, we can see this as clear as day. I have put these songs in on the basis that WWE knows what they are really doing again. For the last 10 years WWE has been bumping from turnbuckle to turnbuckle hoping to find that one thing that makes them relevant again. It's no quick fix, it takes time, and more importantly, vision. Making your wrestlers seem "cool" is what wwe needs. They only need 1 guy to set everything off really. Part of what makes people notice a wrestler, is the entrance theme. If it is something people get into, it goes a long way to establishing that characters.

I will be doing a new one of these either every week or every few days, and I will try and keep them as un-obvious as possible. I enjoyed doing this one because I got to combine wrestling and some music I like together.

So if you want to add comments, please please please even if it's negative it's the only way I'll learn. If you have song choices, by all means, feel free to add.

P.S. I'm sorry there is only one video up, I never ntoiced this before but I can't add more than one. That's life anyway. ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40822-One-simple-solution-to-usher-the-WWE-into-modern-life http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40779-Raw-Review-Number-1-contenders-Challenges-and-HO-SKI-s Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:56:57 GMT Hi everyone, I'm back and I've decided to write this Raw live from my laptop for you all, as I have the time for this as I am luckily (or unluckily) unemployed at this time. I may as well do this as long as I have nothing else to do so if you like it let me know what you think.

After the opening backstage skit before the opening video, I kind of rolled my eyes, (you know in one of them "it's gonna be one of these episodes......sigh).

Thankfully, The opening bit in the ring was quite fucking good. Eve's pretty much made a badass heel turn here, openly mocking Zack and bragging about using Cena to the Bella's (Wrestling rule 436: To get over quick as a heel, congregate with other heels), and then being a whiny bitch, getting moidered by Cena's admittedly decent put downs. He has a stab at The Rock by comparing Eve's faker ways to him that was actually quite good. He gets a ho-ski chant going that will later "Tweet Worldwide" before he puts that bitch down verbally. She breaks down in the ring, Cena consoles her, She tries to kiss Cena, thankfully, a couple of referee's were able to save Cena from Eve's mighty tits. Do it for the kid's John!!! I enjoyed this, Eve was cringeworthy but in a funny "bad acting" kind of way and was sorta good on the mic, and Cena didn't say much but alluded that he didn't want to catch an STD off Eve, which is good enough for me.

Another Taker promo. Taker is not just a phenom in the ring, he is now also a master of producing highly good quality video's to make his point. His promo's are fucking movies man.

Daniel Bryan and CM Punk get an epic promo for an epic main event on this week's Smackdown. I can't wait.

Sheamus makes his way down to the ring and Justin Roberts announces he will officialy challenge Daniel Bryan for the World title. Sheamus is my boy! I thought it would be another promo but my lord, Mark Freaking Henry comes out as his opponent. Whatever about his legendary in ring work, I fucking love Mark Henry. He's the most badass thing in WWE. ya dig? If injury hadn't been a problem, and Henry was champ again, I would have looked forward to this as a WrestleMania title match, their match at SummerSlam was adequate. They have a good back and forward match, and Sheamo brogue kicks Henry to death for the 1-2-3. Of course Sheamus was going to win, but in my heart Mark Henry's the mega angry black man that dominates every man and I hope he's not now an afterthought :(

YES!! "Mr Excitement". YES!! David "Best Thing in Wrestling" Otunga........
"Hole on wait a minna Playa". DANG!!!! Teddy Long is here to ruin all the fun and make tag matches for the rest of the night. They agree a battle royale to face CM Punk for his WWE Title at this year's WrestleMania and then JL and Teddy bitch about their shows etc. This also sets up a match between Otunga and "ANY" Smackdown superstar later on. It has to be Great Khali or Big Show.

AWESOME! "The Memory Remains" by Metallica is playing in the graphic for the scheduled Taker-Trips confrontation. Haven't heard that in years, and I think Metallica are made for wrestling.

Woohoo!! R-Truth is here. He's teaming up with Kofi Kingston, who I want to see become relevant, even if he does stay as a face. Rosa Mendes wiggles her sexy ass down here. Primo and Epico are here too. They have a 4/5 minute match in which Kofi gets the pin, so this mean's that Kofi and Truth are gonna be the new tag champ's soon. We are reminded for the second time tonight that "Hoe-Ski" is trending worldwide. I hope this doesn't turn into one of those things were we are reminded of this all night so "THE MACHINE" can brainwash us that they are really awesome at everything.

We have a graphic for the battle royal, it has 10 guys, Ziggles, Cody, Barrett, Santino, Jericho, Khali, Kofi, Truth, Miz and Big Show. That's later.
Hall of Fame announcement next.

Jesus, not yet. I thought thay had stopped with those "Did you know?" screenshots... years ago!!

YES!!! This is AWESOME!!! Ron Simmons rules, as Simmons or Faarooq. DAMN!!!! It is good to see WWE for once acknowledging his title win as well in WcW. Some great footage of the Acolyte's. When considering the great team's of the era that he was in (Dudley's, Hardyz, Edge & Christian), The APA are often forgotten. But I always loved them and I think loads of other people did too. A proper tag team.

They show a replay of the Jericho injury angle. I'm sick of these bad storylines, especially the one's where they are "emotionally scarred" or something. They are so long drawn out, and when fake fighting is trying too hard to make injury angles look real, it just looks beyond stupid to me. Hopefully after tonight they put this certain happening to rest.

Jericho promo....Aaaahhh, He's back. he gives a great Jericho style verbal interluding into tonight's battle royale. And then says "It will be the end of the world as you know it" tonight. Should we be excited? I had forgotten all about it to be honest. Will the smarks be happy? We'll see later.

Otunga makes his way out to the ring with John Laurenitis. He is announced as a "graduate of harvard law school" which I think is awesome. His entrance music is gay though. Big Zeke makes his way down with Teddy, which inevitably results in a clean win for Otunga. For a guy who was so damn bland, Otunga is really making a solid gimmick for himself. I think the wrestling world has been crying out for a Harvard graduated moccachino drinking lawyer since it began, and now Otunga's here and this is getting special. Cole meanwhile, marks out for Big Johnny and Otunga by clapping like a teenage girl standing on her desk.

They show the promo from last week with Trips and HBK. Just the naff end part of it though were Trips hurt Shawn's feelings by saying No to him.

Undertaker's boots have the ability to play Metallica through them, which I think is pretty amazing. Taker is announced to be coming up. New theme song for The American Badass being resurrected? I never thought I'd say this, but I want to see the American Bad Ass again.
WrestleMania is 41 days away promo.

Dong....Dong...Dong...Flame's split up. The classic theme starts up, so the Metallica thing is no go. Ah well, that end's that speculation. I got pretty bored of The Undertaker's long ass entrance, but I guess I don't mind if it's only a couple times a year, it seems better because it's limited. Just sayin... Taker has a mic in hand, loud "YOU SUCK" shout out from some guy which is funny but everyone else is interested. loud "YOU SUCK" shout again as Taker goes on about his emotional problems. 3 Weeks ago, Taker CAME inside this ring. Nice to know! He said No. This upset Taker. He comes off like a whiny bitch til he says that the choic wasn't Trips' and they have to end this era together. Isn't that sweet. Seriously though, all the melodrama aside I'm interested in seeing where it goes. "The end of an era" has been coined in the last few week's as well as tonight by Taker.

The game hits the ring in his sell-out suit. When he alluded last week that "All this would be his" and everybody booed the shit out of it, I was a boy once again rooting for my favourite heel ever. The sooner Triple H becomes a total heel again the better. Trips starts to prepare his reasons til Taker cuts him off, which is the Taker I wanna see. Trips starts talking again anyway, people may get down on him for his promo's, but I think he's deadly. This is bad for business is the mullarky he is on about, and he's gonna stick by it DAMN GOD!! I have a feeling the big pay off is gonna be Taker taking off his hood, but anyway, he calls him a coward. I like the way this story is teetering on getting political. For example Undertaker is coming off more as Mark Calloway than the supernatural being. Triple H gives an overwhelming NO for the third or so time and leaves til Taker baits him by saying he know's he couldn't do what his buddy could do and beat him because he knows that Shawn was always better than him. OOOOOHH. Triple H takes off not only his jacket, but his tie, surely for no other reason but to emphasize that he is really really mad and walks back down the ramp. Triple H starts talking like a heel again just like last week and I mark the fuck out for a second. I am looking forward to the second walkout over Triple H picking fights with superstars. Match is on!!!! Hooray!!! Triple H will only fight in Hell In A Cell, and me and the whole world go on a simultaneous boner. Taker pats Trip's on the shoulder. Huh!!! Mind games, as Taker leaves to Metallica. This is the dream way to see this match happen, the two guys who are most associated with Hell In A Cell is the perfect way to do this. And I have a feeling this isn't going to be PG.

They show a clip vid of Big Slow climbing into Bryan's cage from Elimination Chamber. YES!!! YES!!! Your champ is here to tell us why he's a role model and to remind us that he's the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION...YES!!!! YES!!!! I like this Daniel Bryan who needs to grab a microphone at any opportunity so he can tell us how great he is and reminds us that he's the champ. After a failed cobra attempt, Bryan makes short work of Santino, bragging proudly about his victory. I love that guy. Before the match begins, an offical graphic of the world heavyweight title match is shown. I guess that's official, but thing's do change. Whatever the internet says, WWE has done their best to cater to IWC fans in the last year, putting Punk at the forefront, promoting Bryan into a long title run at a significant time, and countering the negative feedback attached to cancelling their match last year.

The battle royale is advertised again, and we are notified Cena will be addressing everybody regarding The Rock later.

John Cena has more Facebook followers than you Rocky, haha suck it down bitch.

Kelly Kelly and Aksana(the two sexiest models to grace a wrestling ring in modern WWE) have a sex off against the resident hot twin's of WWE. They win and start going all "you're not all tha" and all that shit.
Cena has his serious face on, and has the slow almost dead like walk of a man who is distraught from a near rape by a serious bit of talent. Let out the tear's John. Cena's on next, to tell us that Rocky makes him so mad. When you are writing live it is real easy to compare john Cena to an emotional teenage girl quite often.

JC does his usual "I'm here, He's not" schtick. Then he runs down The Rock on the mic about how he is Dwayne and no longer The Rock. And throws in that he doesn't respect him and he has a legitimate beef with Dwayne the man. Who he mentions is going to be on the show next week by the way. Cena's beef is that Rock bailed on WWE so he could pursue his other opportunities. At last, Cena get's his point across why he is fighting. Good and passionate promo from Cena saying the same stuff he always says, but he big's the shit out of WrestleMania and says his piece. By virtue of No Rocky this week, Cena wins this week's feud.

Cult of Personality hits and Punk's got his commentary jacket on and is going ringside. Punk makes fun of Cole immediately. First over his tweeting and then his disgraceful WrestleMania hoarding ways. Show enters, then Cody, Truth and The heel himself, Dolph Ziggler. Not gonna happen but I'd like him to win. Alot of people don't like Wade's new theme, but I like it because it's different from other WWE theme's. Ugh! Khali's here. The The MIz walks out with his angry face. Kofi's here to do his spot and get the hell out. Wahey, Santino. The lights go out, that awesome jacket lights up and Jericho walks down to the ring like the golden god he is. I like the new Jericho, he seems to believe he is the golden god, and he is reminding me of Dennis Reynolds off it's Always Sunny In Philadelphia more every day. We get kicked off, and several guys are brawling while Cole and Punk yammer on about last night's Elimination Chamber. I am delighted to say that Khali is dumped out right away after about a minute, and the 80% chance of the match sucking has drastically gone down. Whatever about his "mass appeal", Khali drags every match down monumentally, even if it was with Shawn Michaels or Kurt Angle, who can get a great match out of everyone, would have no way of preventing a stinker with the Punjabi Giant.

Michael Cole excitedly is trying to remind us that we're watching Raw, but Punk just speaks over him, and then dissed him by blanking him when talking about who's on the commentary team. I feel that CM Punk is becoming more like Bart Simpson every day. Miz gets double drop kicked off the apron by the tandem of R Truth and Kofi, who walk into a double chokeslam by Big Show. And then a succession of finshers happen from all the participanys when suddenly Santino eliminates Barrett. And R Truth right away!!! Ziggler also get's got and we're down to 5. the commentary team are selling an arm injury to Barrett, which I think is legit. Kofi follows going over the top rope. Disaster kick by Cody to Big Slow, then lionsault by Jericho and then Santino with one of his stupied moves. Jericho throws Santino over the rope, but he hangs on, Cobra's Jericho, but then Rhodes flips him over the rope and we're down to Show v Cody v Jericho, who suplexes the latter two. Show eliminates Cody, which sucks. Cody tries to eliminate Show who fights him off, but then Cody comes back at Show is teetering over the rope and pulls him out. Show walks up after Cody. Y2J and Punk have a staredown and Punk enters the ring. Punk puts out his hand, Jericho walks away and smirks. No slobberknocker, either verbal or physical between the two tonight, but I'm sure it's to come.

Good Pop's!!!

Taker-Trips promo to set up Hell In A Cell at Mania, which is really the only way I could get excited to see them face off again.

8 Man Battle Royale. It was predictable, but all the workers (bar Khali) were adept in the ring to make whatever time they had exciting. It only went about 7 minutes.

Cena grows a pair, dismisses Ho, runs down Rock.

Three matches confirmed for WrestleMania as a result of tonight's show, Bryan v Sheamus, Punk v Jericho and HHH v Undertaker.

I don't know if Lawler is disenchanted with being there or not, but he was pretty quiet tonight, which I welcome happily

The very underused Ron Simmons gets a Hall of Fame place

Daniel Byran - Still awesome

Bad Boo's!!!
Opening backstage skit that I really thought would set a sour tone for the show

Godammit Teddy stay on Smackdown, or better yet disappear from television forever. You know the way Cena gets shit for his never changing personality, Theodore Long has been in his position longer than Cena and grew completely stale and bereft of idea's in 2007.

As great as it is seeing the funk man being the vice president of talent relations and Interim Raw General Manager back on our screens, this Raw was only half funky. The Funkasuarus is sleeping.

A long term injury is just bad timing for Wade Barrett, I hope it's a story line or not as bas as it seems, thought he announcers alluded that his arm was broken in a rather serious tone.

The good far outweighed the bad in tonight's episode on Raw, so I'm giving this an 7 out of 10. ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40779-Raw-Review-Number-1-contenders-Challenges-and-HO-SKI-s http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40456-Last-10-WrestleMania-s-The-Epic-One-time-Only-Matches-3 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:09:26 GMT Image: http://www.freewebs.com/arbaz01/photos/WWE/WrestleMania-25-The-Undertaker-v-Shawn-Michaels-Wallpaper-480x320.jpg *The 25th Anniversary of...

The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania was an alright PPV but it didn't live up to expectations. However, the show will forever be known as the first encounter between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Mania. it was their first official meeting since being the last 2 in the 07 Royal Rumble where they put on the most heart stoppping final 2 showdown in history, and the subequent No Holds Barred, Hell In A Cell and Casket matches way back in 97 and 98. What transpired, is what was the match of the year and also a good shout of GREATEST MATCH OF ALL TIME. Wrestling was shown at it's purest art form, I can't say anything else to describe this match, it was genius. After a misjudged moonsault attempt, Taker tombstoned Michaels for the second time and Taker won to go 17-0.



The other Big Draws

Chris Jericho v Mickey Rourke was going to be the biggest attraction for Mania 25, as Rourke was hot off the heels for his universally well received portrayal as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler. After giving an interview where he said he would be interested in facing Jericho, it looked like it would be a lock. Wisely, Rourke's associates wholeheartedly advised against a match (let's face it, for an A lister off the grid for 15 or so years, wrestling matches would be a very risky move after you've just gotten back to form) with Jericho, so the momentum from the possible Rourke involvement was used for Jericho to feed his ego against pathetic and has been legends (his words not mine) who endorsed Rourke being in the film. In an elimination match, Jericho beat Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper and the shockingly still excellent Ricky Steamboat. Rourke got involved after the match, flooring Jericho, which was a nice moment, meaning that the faces really won at the end of the day even if they technically lost.

John Cena WON AGAIN....AGAIN...ARGHHHHHH as he took Edge's World Heavyweight Title and he pinned Big Show in the triple threat after amazingly doing an F-U (Attitude Adjustment) on both Show and Edge. By the time he won the title, I was okay with it as I had become desensythised and pretty much was in roll over and die "Oh, Cena's champ again" mode. I don't hate John Cena, I hated him from 04 - 06, as I never bought that he was going to be the new Stone Cold. From 06 on, I just accepted he would always be around and so got on with it.

Triple H and Orton had a big dud, which was completely one sided, as trips was out for vengeance ahead of defending his WWE title and proceeded to murder Randy Orton for the whole match, rendering his Royal rumble win useless.

Matt Hardy turned evil on Jeff Hardy costing him the title in favour of his long tiime nemesis Edge at the Rumble, and it turned out to be a classic brother v brother feud, albeit with ridiculous occurances like starting house fires and blowing faces up with pyrotechnics. The two had an extreme rules match at Mania, which was pretty decent but nothing spectacular, with Matt picking up the winning and getting the rub. Oh! back in the days before he became a well known douchebag and I always rooted for thee.



WrestleMania XXVI was one of the best card's on paper in the last few years. It was properly stacked. This was a good Mania too. The one time match was the longest awaited face-off in years, Bret Hart v Mr McMahon. After 12 years of shunning WWE, Bret Hart made his unlikely return in January. I remember watching Raw when he made his return, I thought it might be a prank as they have done in the past. When he returned, he made peace with Michaels, and then with McMahon after a rather more tense conversation, until Mr Mac Mahon (Gerald Brisco voice) kicked Hart in the gut. Hart challenged Mac to a match at Mania which was refused, so a convuluted plan was thought up where Hart got his legs run over by some woman and then challenged to a match by evil Vinnie, who then got the wool truly pulled over his eyes at the contract signing where Bret revealed he was faking. In Mania, McMahon made his way down with his Hart family members that he "bought off". Vince's arrogance got the best of him, as they turned on him right away and Hart brutalised Vinnie for the entire match. It got the right payoff, but my it was a horrible match as expected.



The other Big Draws

The real biggest match at this show however was more promoted than Hart's return (HBK getting himself booked over Bret again eh?) and was Streak v Career, Undertaker v Shawn Michaels. The storytelling from the previous years Mania continued to perfection as Michael's had gone crazy with obsession and challenged "Take" to a match which was refused. Once Michaels cost Undertaker the World Title at Elimination Chamber, the match was on as long as Michael's career was on the line, to which he duly accepted. Though not as good as the match the year before, it was the rightful main event and will go down in history, as Taker's incredible streak went to 18-0 and HBK was forced to retire.

Batista v John Cena for the WWE title was the first genuine John Cena match I was actually looking forward to seeing in a long long time. That shows you there how sucky WWE has often been, that a lifelong fan like me and millions...and millions of others don't pay attention to their main event. Or it's brilliant business strategy, use the main event candy generally to bring in new fans while letting the mid card be used for the hardcore fans. You Decide? His match was interesting though, because Batista was utterly dominant over Cena in the build up, saying bad things always happened to John against him, with bad blood stemming over how similar in accolades yet so far away in fame they were. Batista was magnificent in his heel run, one of the best things I've seen in years, and a real indication that if you have been bored by stale smiley faces for alot of years that you will completely get behind them when they go heel. Cena won though, which in my opinion was the right thing, as WrestleMania is about overcoming the odds and all that jazz. So Cena got away with this one, for a bit :D

Edge v Jericho for the world title had history behind it too. They were tag champs until injury sidelined Edge for most of a year and Jericho said some demeaning things. Edge won the Rumble on his shocking return and challenged Jericho for Mania. The match was decent, nothing spectacular, and shockingly Jericho won which I thought was great, as the courageous comeback to win the title is overplayed generally. It's a classic though! The payoff was the spear through the barricade after the match. They never really got to go gung ho in a feud before, so I was happy that they got to face at Mania.

Triple H d. Sheamus in a past v future match. Sheamus was new to WWE and the WWE title looked uneasy around his waist because of the haste it was given to him. However, locking up with Triple H really put him on the map. 5 big matches, this Mania was well put together.

Also, Randy Orton beat Ted Di Biase and Cody Rhodes in a personal triple threat between Legacy members.



I hate to jump on the bandwagon but WrestleMania XXVII was one of the worst WrestleMania's I have ever seen, and I felt that soon enough, and I can't believe I paid a handsome sum for it on PPV. What killed it for me was the crowd. And the sub par entertainment. But one thing stood out, and that was Undertaker v Triple H in a No Holds Barred match. Well before the show, everybody knew this would be the biggest match by a mile long. And it didn't disappoint, it was brutal and full of fun spots, including Triple H tombstoning Taker to a thrilling kick out at 2. Taker won in an unexpected way, using Hell's Gate, which I severely liked. The Saving grace of the card, no doubt about it. I hope it stays where it is and is resigned to history though as I am not interested in seeing them duke it out one more time, for 3 Reasons, 1) It has already happened, 2) I don't think the streak needs any overbooking in the actual match like the idea of HBK being special ref (though maybe would hide Taker's ring rust and age)and 3) For the blatant convenience in highlighting that they have never had a match before at Mania one year and the inevitable juggernaut of promotion that will arise for this "trilogy".



The other Big Draws

The Rock returning to host WrestleMania completely overshadowed everything else on the card bar Undertaker v Triple H.

Hell, Rock just being there overshadowed the main event between Miz and John Cena, in which the highlight was a hype video for The Miz before his entrance. Cena came out in some kind of religious deal that just seemed not necessary for him or the occasion. The match ended in double Countout (Huh!), until Rocky used his host privileges to restart the match so he could give a Rock Bottom to Cena and make him lose like the little bitch The Rock thinks he is, for the highlight of the main event. God damn I love the way Rock hates Cena.

Edge (accompanied by Christian) succesfully defended the World Title against Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio (w/Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez) in a match that was unexpectedly the opener. I didn't mind it's placement on the card, as long as they don't make it into a habit for the supposedly inferior title. Had Edge's retirement have been known, this definitely would have been higher up on the pyramid

CM Punk was at his heelish best going into a feud with Randy Orton arising from Orton punting Punk in the head several years ago and ending his first title reign by virtue of not being able to compete. After the big match I think this was going to be everybody's favourite match.

Jerry "The" King Lawlor certainly paid his dues over the years to one day receive a proper bigged up WrestleMania match. Cole apparently also paid his dues and got into this match somehow. I had no problem with the match taking place, or the amount of hype it got building up to the show, and Cole had become a properly hated heel in fairness, but OH MY GOD, BOO, THIS SUCKS WORSE THAN PAT PATTERSON! This was just an example of WWE going through the motions, as it got about 15-20 minutes too much by my memory.



So as we come to The Rock v John Cena we already know that it is going to be the WWE's "Epic match" for the WrestleMania XXVIII card. I don't think they've promoted it badly at all up to now, some people have complained but if The Rock was showing up to TV every week to keep the feud going the feud would be long burned out. Some serious promo's are needed however as it gets closer to Mania, which I don't doubt will be on the way.



The other Big Draws

As of now it is hard to predict with the way the booking has been lately, the fact that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are currently world champ's do nothing to help us anticipate what the card will be, as both could easily lose their spot in the next couple of months. Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes are a lock to be dependable in whatever role they are put in. Kane and Big Show have become more relevant than they have in years, Mark Henry has become a valuable asset, will Undertaker be back in time, and more importantly, who will he face? Will it be Jericho, who is keeping everybody guessing as to what he wants to do. Will Orton, Mysterio, Christian and Del Rio be back in time too? What about last year's main eventer The Miz, how will he fare on the card? A lot of questions that are not clear at all, I'm looking forward to seeing how it shapes, and more importantly, will it live up to the standards of previous successes.


On a personal note, I will be taking a break from the blogging for the moment, maybe forever, I have some rather pressing "adult" matters that I must attend to instead of the important wrestling blogging that occurs regularly. To all who have read and commented on any of my blogs, be it positive or negative, I thank you for taking the time to read my opinions, whether you opened your mind or not and I hope you enjoy the blog, plus appreciations to guys like Knox, Rated R(ob)KO and The Crippler, DKWrestlingSaviour and others who have written some of the best blogs I've read, along with newcomers like ComingToCinemas. Thanks to to Ryan Clark, Frank and the e-wrestling news team for providing a blogging system for schmucks like me. And finally, finally, feel free to leave feedback or any questions you wanna ask. Later wrestlemaniacs! ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40456-Last-10-WrestleMania-s-The-Epic-One-time-Only-Matches-3 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40455-Last-10-WrestleMania-s-The-Epic-One-time-Only-Matches-2 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:43:46 GMT

WrestleMania 22 was a decent "Big Time" feeling PPV. The one time and only match on this occasion was the Edge v Mick Foley hardcore match. This was Edge's first big match WM singles moment, as he and the long departed Mick Foley stole the show among the vast hardcore audience. This was WWE in 2006, hardcore wrestling was big among the public and had been since The Attitude Era, and they would soon attempt to reinvigorate ECW. The highlight was Edge spearing Foley through a flaming table from the ring to the floor to get the 1-2-3.



The other big draws

One big match was the No Holds Barred bout between Shawn Michaels and Mr McMahon. A lot of anger was in the iwc in the run up to this over McMahon's right to be in this position, but the match was fun enough, as HBK brutalised McMahon once he got rid of nasty interferers like Shane McMahon and the Spirit Squad.

Undertaker had his least significant and least promoted "streak era" match of all as he defeated Mark Henry in a casket match.

Unfortunately Mickey James defeated Trish Stratus for the womens title but forgot to lez out for everybody at home. H.L.A, Hot Lesbian Action, will it ever come back? We had a lot of it haha.

Rey Mysterio became the biggest underdog of that time as he predictably (though definitely rightly) beat Randy Orton and defending champ Kurt Angle in a fast paced but criminally short Triple Threat to become World champ, and thus a funny sight would emerge for months of him being vastly outsized by his BIGGER THAN AVERAGE title belt. As for the angle, all I'll say is RIP Eddie.

Triple H entered as Conan the Barbarian (lol) and John Cena made his way to the ring with an entourage of 20's style Tommy Gun and dressed in black with a hat kind of people, including CM Punk, and fought over Cena's WWE Title. This Mania was in Chicago, and they really, really, really hated Cena and loved Triple H, cause Chicago (and me) would take SUPER HEEL over SUPER CENA anyday. Fanboys orgasmed simultaneously as Triple H did the DX chop AS WELL AS Michaels in his earlier match, teasing and resulting in an eventual reunion. Cena somehow won with an STF a.k.a STFU (To me, this was when I noticed Cena would win every match he was in).



WrestleMania 23 may have been "All Grown Up" but seemed a misconstructed card to me. I liked it, I'll always get into WrestleMania mood but it didn't have much appeal for me as the most recent efforts. The big money spinner on this (or you would be led to believe) was the Battle of the Billionaires between Donald Trump and Vince McMahon, gaining widespread media attention, and it would be officiated by the always great Stone Cold Steve Austin. What is so odd about this is that the actual in-ring competitors took a back seat publicity wise, Umaga and Bobby Lashley, unlike most WrestleMania big matches. Happily for everyone McMahon ended getting his head shaved, and Austin stunned everybody, Hooray!



The other draws

Match of the night was rumble winner Undertaker beating up Batista for the Wold Title and keeping the streak in tact. Whoever says Batista's not a main event quality guy, look at this match.

The actual main event of the night was John Cena WINNING..AGAIN grrrrrrrr, beating Shawn Michaels by STFU in a rather good match actually. I say Grrr because I like many others really thought that it was time for Michaels to have another run with the strap, and because it was kind of fun to hate Cena, because it was so easy haha.

The Money In The Bank match was huge. Unfortunately I have never seen it in it's entirety because I never ordered the PPV before and I haven't been able to find it on Youtube. But the competitors included Edge, both Hardyz, Mr Kennedy, Finlay, CM Punk, Randy Orton, and King Booker. Apart from Finlay, all huge names in that match, which Kennedy won making him look indeed like the future.



Floyd "Money" Mayweather v The Big Show was the thing that put butts in seats for WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando. The match was heavily hyped and got what WWE always want, and that's a bit of mainstream media. The timing was impeccable on WWE's part, as Mayweather had just come off victorious after a big time fight against Ricky Hatton. As he is a celebrity, Mayweather beat the Big Show, even though that would never, ever, EEEEEEEEVER happen in any other scenario.



The other Big Draws

Once more, I feel dirty. For any wrestling fan, which thankfully make the most noise at these events, the match of the night would live long in the momory, and that was HBK retiring Ric Flair at this Mania. Great match from 2 of the very best storytellers ever.

The Raw main event consisted of John Cena and Triple H, both on the comeback trail, trying to beat the bastard that was Randy Orton for his WWE Title. This match looked absolutely huge on paper and was not too bad, even though fan favourite Triple H didn't win and evil monkey Orton did. At least Cena didn't win, so that was a positive as the IWC becomes a pretty unbearable place to congregate when he's champ.

SD's main event was a streak v Ttile match, which included a handy little nugget that Edge had never lost at WrestleMania either (conveniently forgetting the previous year). Taker won in what was a really brilliant match by his new arsenal attack, Hell's Gate. ]]> The Next Big Thing http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40455-Last-10-WrestleMania-s-The-Epic-One-time-Only-Matches-2