3 Things I want for Royal Rumble 2019

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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The Royal Rumble is still weeks away and I know odds on favorite are already pointing at Seth Rollins. However, I'm going to use this post to do a little fantasy booking. I know what I'm wishing for are most likely not going to happen and probably won't even get the thumbs up from most fans, but here goes.

Courtesy: WWE

1. Becky Lynch wins the Women's Royal Rumble. This has to be a no-brainer right? I think most fans are hoping for a Ronda Rousey-Becky Lynch battle at WrestleMania. I maintain this could be the main event of the 35th installment of the show. Rousey and Lynch have had a great 2018 on their respective shows. The canceled Survivor Series matchup between the two disappointed many, myself included. However, this fresh contest can be revived and built up with Becky winning the Rumble.

Courtesy: WWE

2. Matt Riddle wins the Men's Royal Rumble. I know, I must be high bro, right? No, no. Hear me out. Riddle or someone else unexpected would certainly shake things up. Given Riddle's MMA background, I'd love to see him in a match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35. Not only that, I'd like to see Brock drop the belt. I don't dislike Lesnar. However, I've grown bored of him being on top. New blood will probably not fix the rating problems but I really don't see it hurting anything. 

3. No Legends required. I love when the Legends make an appearance from time to time. However, with the talent pool being so deep these days, I'm not sure there should be three or four Legends taking a spot in this match. 

What are your wishes for the 2019 Royal Rumble? Am I crazy with my thoughts? Comment here or on the My 1-2-3 Cents Facebook page.

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Put a ring on it

Sunny and her ring

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Recently former WWE Diva Sunny has drawn some online criticism for putting her Hall of Fame ring up for sale on eBay.  It's something that's happened before with Abdullah the Butcher, "Superstar" Billy Graham and the sons of the late Paul Bearer.  Sunny claims Jimmy Hart sold his while going through a divorce recently.

Sunny's induction (we were there)

The embattled Diva has had her ups and downs in recent years.  I'm not here to judge her or anyone else for that matter.  She's made it clear that she wants to cut ties with the company and move on.  I do find that a bit disheartening and disappointing.  Five years ago WWE had enough faith in her to add her to their Hall of Fame.  She was honored not just at the ceremony, but also the next night at Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta.  Something along the way changed obviously.

Here's where I put on my judgment hat... I would hope that for any legend inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame they'd cherish the induction and the ring that goes along with it.  I know we're talking about a ceremony for a predetermined activity, but the Hall of Fame is one of my favorite wrestling related events of the year.  I look forward to the day there's a physical location.  Furthermore, I'm a bit of a packrat and save everything, so I can't ever imagine parting with such a sentimental gift.

Sunny's ring is currently up for bids on eBay and as of this posting has two bids to the tune of $1,099.  I hope the impending sale gives her what she need financially and whatever issues she has with her former life in the world of wrestling gets resolution too.  The same for anyone else who has sold their ring.  

Fill in the Blank Friday: The Ultimate Warrior

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I'm starting a new feature here on the blog each week.  I'll come up with a topic, but I want you to write the blog.  I'll post three statements, and in the comments section below, I would love for you to fill in the blanks.

This first edition is about the Ultimate Warrior.  Since he has come to an agreement with the WWE on the new 2K14 game, I thought it would be timely.  I haven't really said anything about this new relationship, but honestly I hope it's something that develops into more involvement from the Warrior.  I wasn't the biggest Ultimate Warrior fan back in the day, but for the sake of nostalgia, I would love to see him back at least on a temporary basis.  As time has gone by, I've become more of a fan of this legend.  The WWE seems to recycle the same superstars of yesteryear, so seeing the Warrior back would be something fans haven't seen since 1996 (not counting his WCW run in '98).

Photo courtesy: WWE

That being said, it's time for you to Fill in the Blanks...

1.  If the Ultimate Warrior does in fact wrestle again for the WWE, the one opponent I would love to see him face is _________________.

2.  The Ultimate Warrior had two runs as Intercontinental Champion and one reign with the WWF(E) championship during his time with the company.  I think his greatest match during that time was against ______________.

3.  I believe the Ultimate Warrior (chose one) should or should not be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame because _____________________.

Remember, enter your answers in the comment section below.  You don't have to have a Blogger or Google account to participate.

Thanks!

Legen (What for It) Dary

Terry Funk & Roddy Piper at Wrestle Reunion

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Regular readers know that I'm a fool for old school.  But I'm also in favor of pushing new and fresh talent.  It's a conundrum sometimes.  While I'm not a fan of watching Stone Cold Steve Austin stun up and comers or the Rock deliver a Rock Bottom to someone who is climbing the ladder to the main event, I understand why the WWE does it.  I understand it, but I don't agree with it.  As Chad pointed out in a previous post, we never saw guys from the 80's coming in during the Attitude Era and delivering their finishers on the Rock, Stone Cold, or the Undertaker.

That being said, I do think there is a place for the legends and Hall of Famers of the wrestling world.  If the WWE ever launches that much anticipated cable/satellite network, I think there could be a show dedicated to them, as active performers.  Wait, hear me out.

The recent legends event at the Gathering of the Juggalos had me very interested in attending the show.  The likes of Roddy Piper, Terry Funk, Mick Foley, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan all on the same card made me kinda mark out a bit.  I know the wrestling quality isn't what it was 20 years ago, but I still enjoy seeing these guys in the ring.

I think the WWE could create a Legends show, make it an hour long.  Do a couple, three matches.  Have a Piper's Pit segment or Barbershop or Funeral Parlor, whatever you want.  Heck, you could rotate out these segments too.  Rotate the talent.  You wouldn't have to have them signed to exclusive WWE deals.  Bring them in and do a short program and let them do their own thing for a while and come back when they're needed.

from WWE

I also like the idea of doing the Legends Roundtable that's on WWE as more of a TV show too.  Personally, I love hearing the guys talk about the good ol' days and show highlights and share some of the behind the scenes parts of the story.  We don't need to know everything, but it's neat hearing their perspective on things.

Ideally, I'd have Mean Gene and Jesse Ventura doing the commentary on the wrestling show.  Bobby Heenan isn't in the best of health to do the talking.  And of course Gorilla Monsoon and Gordon Solie are no longer with us.

"Dangerous" Danny Davis

Now how do you decide who's a legend?  I hate saying all guys over 40 get pushed to this show, as I feel like there are guys in their 40's who can still have an impact on the main roster.  Of course all Hall of Famers would be welcomed.  Big stars of the 80's too.  You could also still use some of these guys on Raw and SmackDown! to help PUT OVER the younger guys.  Sorry Hot Rod, no more pin fall wins over the Miz.

Finally, I think this would be a good way to draw in fans from the 70's and 80's and 90's who may have left after the Monday Night wars came to an end.  I would like to think there is a niche for this and the fans who stopped watching would like to come back and see their favorites from childhood have a final swan song.  It's been said before, wrestlers never really retire, and I think it would be a fun way to pay homage to the men and women who we cheered for back in the day.

Your thoughts are always encouraged.  Post them here or "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. My 1-2-3 Cents is also on YouTube.  Please subscribe.

Why Build New Stars When Past Stars Can Make Cameos

The Miz vs. Roddy Piper

By Chad Smart

@ChadSmart on Twitter

Note: All photos in this post are from WWE.com

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a few weeks now and with comments Kevin made in his “Wheel of Misfortune” blog and some comments from the my123cents Facebook page (go “Like” it, then come back and finish reading), I figure now is as good a time as any to toss out my feelings on a problem WWE has had for the past few years.

I don’t know why, but WWE seems to have an issue with wanting to build new stars. Are they still brokenhearted over Brock Lesner leaving them seven years ago that they’re afraid to trust in any other new talent for few of a similar rejection?  Seriously, WWE has ridden John Cena and Randy Orton as the only guys who really matter (outside of Triple H and The Undertaker) for almost five years now. In that time there have been several other guys who could have been elevated but for some reason those guys would get a taste of the main event before quickly being pushed back down to the middle of the card. While I could focus an entire blog around that topic, there’s another issue, which seems to be happening more and more often lately.

Is Andy really Tough Enough?

Over the last month we’ve seen “Stone Cold” Steve Austin berate The Miz and Stunner, Tough Enough winner, “Silent Rage” Andy Levine. We’ve seen Roddy Piper pin The Miz (granted it was a fast count by special referee Alex Riley) and Shawn Michaels super kicked the tag team champions, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty as well as Drew McIntyre. Then you have The Rock, who hasn’t been seen in over two months, in the main event of Wrestlemania next year despite having not wrestled a match in over seven years. While I don’t think former stars should be shown the door and never seen again, the way they are presented doesn’t help the guys who are currently trying to make money for WWE.

Yes, each of the above mentioned guys are legends and hall of fame talents. Yes, the crowd will always go crazy for them when they show up. Does that mean they should consistently apply their trademark moves to members of the current roster? At the end of the night what is more likely going to entice people to want to purchase a pay per view; seeing the current champion laid out at the hands of a retired superstar, or seeing the current champion look like he’s worthy of holding the title? 

Piper pins the Miz

With Triple H and Undertaker not being seen since Wrestlemania (the fact they both returned for 6 weeks to wrestle at Mania then disappeared is another rant), CM Punk looking like he’s leaving soon, as well as the departures of Batista and Chris Jericho over the last year, WWE doesn’t have a lot of main event level talent. They have guys that could be yet haven’t been given an extended shot at being there. Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger are all former World Champions. How many fans that just started watching over the last four months would know that based on what those guys have done since Wrestlemania? 

Getting back on topic, when former superstars who aren’t active show up and get the upper hand either verbally or physically with current superstars, it tells the crowds, “hey this new guy isn’t that important. He can’t even beat a past his prime old guy.”  Correct me if I’m wrong but did Austin or Rock ever get laid out by any 80s era WWF wrestler? If Piper or Hogan or even Koko B. Ware had showed up would Austin have tried to make peace with them and kiss up to them? Or would he flipped them the bird (not Frankie in Koko’s case) and stunnered them? Then why (other than the Attitude Era being successful and Triple H being a part of that era) do the current guys all get disrespected by the past generation? Have Cena or Orton ever been treated poorly on-air by former talents?

Shouldn’t the past generation be used to help give the rub to some of the new talent? Wouldn’t Dolph Ziggler gain a little bit of credibility if Roddy Piper put him over on the mic saying how Dolph reminded him of a young Piper? Instead, Piper would make fun of Dolph’s hair, the crowd laughs, and Dolph looks like a fool for just standing there.

Cena gets Rock Bottomed

I have nothing against using past stars. I would like to see some new faces in the group of past stars, but using them is fine. It’s the manner in which they’re used that WWE doesn’t seem to understand. No one will become a star unless they’re presented as stars. Next time Vince or Stephanie or Kevin Dunn want to criticize someone for not connecting with the fans or not selling pay per views, they should ask themselves how have they presented said superstar. And if they want to blame the talent for not being a hit, they can always call in Steve Austin to give a stunner and send the guy packing. At least then the crowd will cheer.

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