http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?8537-WrestlingNerd Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Tue, 21 May 2013 23:00:32 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?8537-WrestlingNerd http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40844-Why-most-of-the-IWC-never-seem-to-be-happy Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:58:24 GMT I've been a wrestling fan for years now and while scrolling around on the internet reading multiple different news stories, comments, blogs and etc. on the wrestling business, I've come to the conclusion that wrestling fans, and people in general, like to bash what is currently the hottest, most popular thing going, which is a major reason why the IWC never seems to be happy. People like to act like they're hipsters. I'll give you the most relevant example that can be seen right NOW throughout many of the blogs and comments on this site alone. CM Punk. This is only the latest example, but throughout history, there are countless others. Now allow me to explain:

When CM Punk sat down on the stage wearing his Stone Cold T-Shirt this past summer, picked up that microphone and verbally sliced John Cena, The Rock, Vince McMahon and the rest of WWE to shreds, he took the wrestling world by storm and surprised all of us. He gave us something different that we had been waiting for at that time. At first, the VAST majority of wrestling fans became even bigger fans of Punk than they already were. It seemed that everyone was thrilled about where this promo could lead and gravitated toward CM Punk. Throughout the summer and a bit into the fall, the general consensus among wrestling fans was that they were enjoying CM Punk's attitude, his personality, his sarcasm and his wit. His match with John Cena at Money In The Bank was a 5-star match that got praise from wrestling writers and reviewers all over. But once the rivalry with John Cena ended, and maybe even a bit before it was over, people already started to jump on CM Punk for being overrated. Why? Because it's "cool" to hate on whatever is the current most popular thing around.

Let's travel a few years back when John Cena was drafted to Raw. At that time, he was the most popular thing going in wrestling and the whole crowd erupted every time they heard the intro to his theme begin to play. But his popularity made us call him "overrated". Nowadays, he's often booed out of arenas, something you never would have heard back in 2005 or so. It's the cool thing to do, like I said.

Again, that's a major part why the people in the IWC are never happy with the WWE or the wrestling business. It's human nature to at first gravitate toward the underdog (CM Punk) and hate the established dynasty (John Cena).. But then when that underdog becomes a major face and a popular name, it becomes the cool thing to do to nitpick and dig up reasons to dislike them. Another general example: ROH and the WWE. ROH is favored heavily by much of the IWC. People like to say that ROH is much better than the WWE. Because people by nature gravitate towards an underdog like ROH, trying to fight its way up the ladder.. and they tend to go against the top dog, which in this case is the WWE. However, if and when ROH becomes a major company in the wrestling business, I'm sure that many will turn "hipster" on it and say how it used to be so much better back when it was a developing indy company. They'll call it overrated and they'll insult it because it has become mainstream. Much like they did to Punk and much like they did to Cena once they hit their peaks in popularity. Now that CM Punk seems to have elapsed Cena in popularity (at least on the internet), people are jumping back on Cena's side a bit (as evidenced by some of the recent blogs posted on this site).

It's easy to say that the past was so much more enjoyable, because, hindsight being 20/20, it's easier to see how well things could have turned out. But it's also easy to hate on the here and now... and talk about how this past summer was so much better than what's going on in the present day. Just sit back and learn to make the best of what's going on now. That's my blog, guys. Hope you enjoyed it. ]]> WrestlingNerd http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40844-Why-most-of-the-IWC-never-seem-to-be-happy http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1775-State-of-the-WWE-roster-Who-are-the-next-Wrestlemania-headliners Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:54:51 GMT WrestlingNerd here once again. Today I'd like to chat a little about WWE's roster. It's sort of alarming right now and I hope Triple H is really good at what he's doing up in the talent development department (his new job), because by the looks of this roster, WWE needs a bunch of new stars to be developed pretty quickly. I'm going to take a look at the top stars of both brands and add my own analysis of them. Just a warning, this could very well be a long read since I have a lot to say about this topic.

RAW:

Top babyfaces: John Cena, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Alex Riley, Kofi Kingston

Now, am I the only one who sees a major problem ALREADY? Of course, this is my own opinion of who the top babyfaces on the roster are, but it looks pretty accurate to me.. these are the only guys you could even CONSIDER to be the top five babyfaces on the Raw roster. Go and take a look at the entire Raw roster yourself and I dare you to name someone who is a more popular babyface than these five men. It's impossible. I guess you can throw Evan Bourne in there as well, just to prevent someone from trying to prove me wrong. But the fact is, Morrison, Riley, Kofi and Bourne don't have what it takes to be a good main event superstar right now. Morrison is flashy in the ring and popular amongst the crowd because of it, but listening him on the mic is like pulling teeth, and he doesn't have much of a character to get behind. Then you can go ahead and add in the fact that they're most likely de-emphasizing him due to the controversy surrounding Melina's release and backstage behavior and you can pretty much scrap him from this mix. Riley is brand new in the WWE, I understand that. But he's made a lot of progress in these last few months and has became one of the top stars on Raw. Some call it a sign that Riley is destined for greatness and that he's a good superstar, I'm going to call it like I see it. I see Riley only being pushed the way he is, getting a feud with former WWE Champion and one of the top heels in the company, the Miz, followed by a United States Championship shot ONLY because there is a lack of stars on the WWE roster and now WWE is trying to push guys like Riley fast towards the top so they can make up for it. The potential is there with Riley and by no means am I saying that I have a problem with the way they're pushing him. In fact, I think he's a solid midcard talent and would make a good United States Champion. But the fact that he's seen as a top 5 babyface on Raw is a shame. It shows the lack of depth that WWE suffers from. Kofi is much like Morrison. He's able to captivate fans (though, not as many fans as Morrison can) with his flashy and unorthodox in-ring style. However, he doesn't have what it takes to be a WWE Champion. In Kofi's case, I was almost convinced that he may get a shot at some sort of brief world title reign back when he was in that feud with Randy Orton. That was when he first started talking on the mic and had a decent little program with Orton there. But the key word in the last few sentences is almost. Kofi's chance has come and gone, and at this point he's destined to be a low-midcard guy for the rest of his career. He's not a big guy, doesn't have a good character and not that good on the mic. In other words, he's pretty much condemned from ever getting a world title shot. But you could tell from the start that he was never going to be used as the type of guy that you'd see headline Wrestlemania. And that's my whole point here.. WWE lacks that type of guy and they need to start building those types of superstars. John Cena and Randy Orton aren't going to last forever. The Rock isn't gonna make an appearance at every Wrestlemania to draw more attention to it. They NEED to begin work on their next huge superstars and right now I just can't see who's going to step up.

Top heels: CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler

I'll admit, the heel side of things looks a lot better than the face side. The reason for that is pretty simple. It's easier to create an interesting heel character, the type of guy that fans love to hate than it is to create an interesting face character. The evidence? R-Truth. His rapping face gimmick was popular with the fans, but he was more of a fun type of babyface. Not a guy that the fans could take seriously. Once his heel turn came along, he became a guy that fans could boo. He attacked the oh so loveable John Morrison, took a puff of a cigarette and the heel turn was an instant success. See how easy that was? R-Truth was elevated from being trapped in the midcard, not to mention the fact that it was the SMACKDOWN midcard and he was taken all the way to a WWE Championship match, main eventing a PPV just with a simple heel turn. I'm not knocking these heels. They all play their roles pretty well. But could you see R-Truth main eventing Wrestlemania? I sure can't. And he won't main event Wrestlemania. Dolph Ziggler has potential to be a big star, not doubting that. Alberto Del Rio certainly has the potential too. Do I even have to mention CM Punk, who is the talk of the entire business right now? The Raw roster is pretty solid on the heel side. All of these guys are pretty good and with a good push I can honestly see any one of them headline a PPV as big as Wrestlemania with the exception of R-Truth and maybe Ziggler (too early to tell how big he'll be, plus he has a stupid name that's hard to take seriously), but it's because of what I said before. It's easier to get behind a heel than it is to get behind a face.

SMACKDOWN:

Top babyfaces: Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Ezekiel Jackson, Sin Cara, Sheamus (Undertaker too, but he's not an active superstar)

As I said earlier, guys like Randy Orton and John Cena aren't going to last forever. So over on the blue brand, it's up to Daniel Bryan, Ezekiel Jackson, Sin Cara and Sheamus to step it up and become the next top babyfaces in the WWE. Daniel Bryan is doing a pretty awesome job. Despite worries that he would flop in WWE, he has had a great beginning to his career. I can see him headlining Wrestlemania and/or being a face of WWE due to his fine wrestling skills, and because he seems like he has everyone pulling for him, which pretty much defines the word "babyface". I see a lot of Chris Benoit in Daniel Bryan. The aggression, the skill, it's all there. Benoit didn't need a good character to make it to the top. He didn't need to be great on the mic like most do. He made it to the top based on his skill in the ring, and that's what Daniel Bryan is doing right now. With Ezekiel Jackson, I'm going to be frank. He's terrible. Awful in the ring, awful on the mic and has an absent character. The only thing he has going for him is a pretty cool entrance theme, I guess. Now, Sin Cara. I thought Sin Cara would go places, but it seems he has messed up his career. I'm not sure if Hunico portraying Sin Cara will go over as well as Mistico playing the character and it will hurt the character's development. There's talk of firing Mistico, which would hurt the Sin Cara character especially in Mexico, where he's looked at as a celebrity. So we're talking about an entire country souring on the character before they even give it a second chance. But I'm trying to find the next generation of Wrestlemania headliners. Even WITHOUT all this controversy surrounding Sin Cara, I think he MAY have had a few World Championship reigns throughout his career, but I wouldn't see him as the type of guy who could headline a Wrestlemania card. Sheamus, however, is a guy I might be able to see do that. He's got the size, he has a unique look, he's good on the microphone and has the support of Triple H, who is taking on a larger role in WWE now. That's evidence enough that he'll most likely become a big player in WWE's future.

Top heels: Christian, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett.. and, uh... Ted Dibiase Jr. I guess?

Christian is already 37 years old. Mark Henry is 40. That leaves the future of Smackdown's heel side up to Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett and Ted Dibiase Jr. All three of these guys are question marks. I can see each of them going places, but not fast enough. Not as fast as WWE needs them to get there. I do see a future World Champion in Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. But I can't see either of them main eventing Wrestlemania as soon as a few years from now. But they need headliners for the near future.

The Bottom Line

So really, the only guys that can headline Wrestlemania NOW are John Cena, CM Punk, The Miz, Randy Orton and maybe Christian? MAYBE Albertio Del Rio or Daniel Bryan? That doesn't sound too bad, but after Wrestlemania 28, 29 and 30 are all in the past, who's in the position of John Cena? Who will put on matches like we've seen at past Wrestlemania events like John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho vs. Edge, Triple H vs. Randy Orton.. The only guys on the roster right now who I can see rising to that point are Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and maybe a few others.. Maybe. But will these guys REALLY be as iconic as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, the Undertaker and John Cena? Who are our next legends? I may just be acting too negative about all of this and I may just be too in love with my childhood heroes, but I just don't see the next generation of WWE being as great as the generation that is starting to die out, sadly. I know that I'll probably be wrong and that WWE will certainly find a way to make it work. But that's my say for tonight, fellas. Hope you enjoyed reading.

Yours truly, the WrestlingNerd ]]> WrestlingNerd http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1775-State-of-the-WWE-roster-Who-are-the-next-Wrestlemania-headliners http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1766-Breaking-down-the-future-of-the-Undertaker Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:03:53 GMT Hello readers of this site. I'm the WrestlingNerd and I'll be making my first blog about the future of the WWE legend known as the Undertaker. Now, it's no secret that the Undertaker is nearing the end of his career and is in pretty poor physical condition. I'd say he has one good match left in him, but after that, it's fair to say that the gas has finally ran out of his tank. I don't see the Undertaker returning to WWE television until about a month before Wrestlemania 28, which is where I strongly believe his final match will be. There's already a bunch of speculation about who his Wrestlemania and perhaps the final opponent of his career will be. I have my own list of who I'd like to see face the Undertaker in his final match which is pretty realistic. But first, let's break down the traits that the final opponent of the Undertaker should have.

Experience and Popularity
This pretty much rules out everyone who is below main event status in the WWE, and it even rules out some of the main eventers. Some guys have one of these things, but not the other. People like William Regal and Mark Henry have the experience, but their popularity is lacking. Other guys like the Miz, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio have the popularity, but lack the experience in the ring that is needed to face the Undertaker in his last Wrestlemania match and possibly the last match of his entire career. Who wants to go out of a fantastic, storied career with a win over somebody like Sheamus? My point exactly. I mentioned Mark Henry before and yes, I have heard the rumors that the WWE is looking to possibly go in that direction and have Henry face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 28. It seems like they're trying to build his popularity as much as possible, making him look very dominant in the ring and perhaps threatening to a weakened version of the Undertaker. Mark Henry is certainly a possibility, but I don't agree with this option. I'll explain why a bit later.

Ability To Carry A Match
You need to be able to carry the Undertaker through a match if you're going to face him these days. He's not in good enough shape to keep up with the WWE superstars of today anymore. This is why experience in the ring is needed, since the vast majority of inexperienced workers cannot carry a match with the Undertaker. Examples of guys who can carry a match very well would be veterans like Triple H or Shawn Michaels, which is one of the reasons why they were chosen to face the Undertaker these past few years as his physical condition has been continually depleting. He has to rely on his opponent to carry the match.

Trust Factor
This ties in partially with the ability to carry a match. The Undertaker probably wants an opponent he can trust to carry him through the match, even if he knows other people can do it. This would suggest that he may face someone who he has gone up against in the ring before. Someone who he can operate with and someone he trusts to make them both look good in the ring.

"Belief" Factor
This is very important to the annual event where the Undertaker defends his undefeated streak. Obviously, the crowd isn't going to believe that someone like Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne or Heath Slater is going to defeat the Undertaker. I'm not saying that WWE would ever dare to put these guys against Taker at WM28, but in order to face him, there should be some type of belief that Taker's opponent can actually beat him. Most people who aren't marks know that Undertaker will almost certainly never lose at Wrestlemania, but his opponent should at least slightly awaken our inner mark to make us believe this opponent may have a fraction of a chance.

Sentimental Factor
This is also key to a great goodbye match for the Undertaker. There should be a lot of sentimental value to this match, which means that the best case scenario would be Undertaker going up against a fellow legend to make the match feel ultra special. This is why I disagree with Mark Henry as an option to face Undertaker. I don't view him as a legend and I don't think Undertaker defeating him would come as a surprise or make the match look very special at all. Would it be cool to see Taker beat Henry after months and months of complete and utter domination? Creating a sort of "Grizzled veteran gives it all he has to defeat dominant phenomenon" type of story? If they continue to push Henry in that direction, then maybe it has a slight chance at making the match feel special. But then again, someone dominating the Smackdown roster isn't much of an accomplishment. The fact that Mark Henry of all people is one of the top heels proves that point.. So I think there are better options available.

Those are the traits that I believe Undertaker's possible last opponent should have. Now, taking all of those into consideration, here's my list of opponent's I'd like to see face the Undertaker.

1. Mick Foley: Experience and popularity? Check. Ability to carry a match? Check. Trust factor? Check. Sentimental factor? Check. The only thing Foley might be lacking in is the "Belief" factor. But not by much. Foley's a veteran and a fellow legend who knows the Undertaker and operates well with him in the ring. They had one of the best feuds in WWE/F history and I think one last match between them at Wrestlemania 28 would be great. It would feel extremely special, and it would probably be the end of Foley's in-ring career as well. Maybe a handshake or a hug in the ring at the end of the match afterward. Perhaps have it take place inside HIAC? Nostalgia, anyone?

2. Sting: Sting has every trait needed except for the trust factor. They've never faced each other before and in reality that could be the most important factor to possess. There were rumors about this match happening for Wrestlemania 27 and it was even reported that WWE had signed Sting to a contract, which turned out to be false. The rumors continue to run into the present day and I believe a match between these two still remains possible. I remember reading an interview with Sting and he was asked about the match. He said he'd like to do it, but in order for something like that to happen, other things need to be agreed upon.

3. Mark Henry: As I've said before, I don't really like the idea of Henry getting the nod to face Taker. Definitely not as much as I like the idea of Undertaker facing either Mick Foley or Sting. But the truth is that even Henry has most of these traits that I believe you need to have in order to be the Undertaker's last opponent. But there is one big hole. The sentimental factor. Henry does not have this and he will never have it. No matter how hard they push him in these next 6-7 months we still have before Wrestlemania. The match won't feel special enough if Mark Henry is the guy who faces Undertaker. I'm not sure if Sting is available to do the match, but I know for a fact that Foley is. He has been talking about returning to WWE for a while now and I'm sure he would love to do it, so he's obviously the better choice in my view. However, I do see a way that Henry vs. Undertaker could work. If they continue to push Mark Henry as this unbelievably dominant force, they should move him to Raw for it. It would get more attention and anyone can replace his spot on Smackdown. Henry moves to Raw, dominates the midcard, maybe even have him challenge for the WWE Championship once or twice. Then finally, once it seems like Henry has run his way through everyone, Undertaker returns and try and stop him. On an episode of Raw or something, have Henry cause Taker to pass out to a Bear Hug, as the announcers emphasize the fact that Henry is trying to literally squeeze the life out of Taker. Over the course of the next few weeks, have Henry repeatedly take out Taker and do anything to try and weaken him before Wrestlemania. An "I Quit" match between the two is announced for Wrestlemania, as Taker begins to look very vulnerable, just as Wrestlemania rolls around. At WM28, Henry looks to be squashing Taker, who is made to look as if he has absolutely nothing left and that he'll have to be carted out of the arena with the match being stopped. The referee asks Taker if he wants to continue, and he refuses to quit, but Henry won't let up. Undertaker can't get to his feet. Henry lifts Taker up, presumably for the World's Strongest Slam. Then, suddenly, Taker slides his way out of it and mounts some offense, leading to a tombstone where he goes for the pin and Henry kicks out. Henry seems to be angered as Taker continues his remarkable comeback, but then Henry jumps back on offense. Taker tries to counter a few times but Henry keeps control of the match. Then Henry brings Taker back into the Bear Hug which he made Taker pass out to weeks earlier. Taker looks to be fading. The referee raises his arm twice to check on him, but on the third try, Taker quickly drags Henry down to the mat and locks him into the Hell's Gate. Henry quits. Match over. But why choose Henry to face Taker when you have to put so much work into making him relevant enough for the match when you have guys like Foley who are ready to do the job NOW?

Those are the top three candidates for me, but the only other possible options I see are Triple H for the second year in a row, Kane, or Chris Jericho. All veterans who would be good in the ring with Taker, but still, I believe Mick Foley or Sting to be the best options, followed by Henry. But Henry has a lot of conditions in order for him to work out in my humble opinion. That's all I have to say about this topic. Look forward to future blogs from the WrestlingNerd. For now, I'm out. Thanks for reading! ]]> WrestlingNerd http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1766-Breaking-down-the-future-of-the-Undertaker