Goldust's second act

Goldust has a new attitude
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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It's hard to believe that nearly 22 years ago Dustin Rhodes shocked the world and made his debut as Goldust. The character was one I immediately embraced, waiting each week to see a new vignette by the bizarre one. Without a doubt, Rhodes' career was given a breath of fresh air and the Goldust character was well ahead of its time in 1995.

Cody & Goldust
Courtesy: WWE

Goldust would come and go through the years, enjoying success in more recent years in tag team action. Goldust and his brother Cody Rhodes captured tag team gold before Cody made the transformation into Stardust. But like all good things, the duo came to an end and Cody exited WWE. That's when Goldust found a new partner in R-Truth and as the Golden Truth, the two had decent chemistry but just seemed to exist on the roster.

A couple weeks ago, Goldust turned on his partner and on Raw was featured in a promo that was a throwback to those early days in the company. I don't know how long this ride for Goldust's second act is going to last, but I intend to enjoy every moment of it. The gimmick is my favorite of any in the history of wrestling. And his theme song remains in my top five of all-time.

Goldust circa 1996
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

There are some guys cast into roles and you can't imagine anyone else doing it. Dustin as Goldust is on that level.  I have nothing but respect for what Dustin Rhodes has done in his career as both "The Natural" and Goldust. Here's to hoping for newfound success along with the new attitude. I for one will never forget the name of.... Goldust!

How the Goldust teddy bear segment SHOULD have gone

The bear incident begins
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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On the post-Christmas edition of Raw, WWE produced a segment featuring R-Truth, Goldust and Bayley. You've probably seen it by now, but if not, here's a quick recap. Bayley pays homage to the late, great "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes by presenting his son Goldust with a teddy bear dressed in the Dream's trademark black gear with yellow polka dots.

What happened next brought criticism from some fans and members of the Rhodes family, including former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson entered and ridiculed the gesture. Anderson snatched the bear from Goldust's hands and then ripped off its head. Yes, it was a low blow, but I understand Creative is trying to put heat on the heels and make Anderson and Gallows look like jerks. 

Anderson pins Goldust
Courtesy: WWE

It's what followed that irritated me. Because fans and family members are hypersensitive to situations like the one at hand, Goldust and R-Truth should have beaten the crap out of The Club with Goldust getting the pin and avenging the earlier act of aggression. Instead, Anderson and Gallows not only won the match, but Goldust is the one who was pinned. (Yes, Goldie got some good shots, but still...) 

Because of their position in the company right now, it's highly unlikely there will be a follow-up. However, for the sake of keeping the peace and in true American Dream fashion, the opposite of what happened should have occurred. I'm not critical of the original act, it's the follow-up that bugs me the most.

Moves Like Swagger

Lots of potential... (from WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I didn't realize it until today, but I haven't blogged in nearly week. For those of you who read this regularly, I apologize for the lack of content. This has been a busy month as I've kept up more with the YouTube channel and the Video a Day in the Month of May challenge that I put on myself.

Anyway, enough of that, let's talk wrestling. I was really disappointed Sunday night that Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler came up short in their bid for the WWE tag team titles. The lose bothered me for two reasons, as I had them picked in the From the Rafters Radio PPV pick contest. But more importantly I think it's a sign that a talented duo is being misused by the WWE.

Ideally, I'd like to see Dolph and Jack on their own, pursuing singles titles, but let's face it, the title situations are crowded and the tag team division is less than stellar. I think these two former world champions work well together and bring something to the fledgling division. I just can not buy into Kofi Kingston and R-Truth as a tag team, let alone as the tag team champions. This is not a knock against either man, as I enjoy them as singles competitors. Here's to hoping that Epico and Primo get back into contention now that they're a part of AW.

Kofi dominates (WWE)

But back to the subject at hand, I still don't understand why Swagger and Ziggler seem to be enhancement talent these days. Swagger is probably the fastest falling former World champion and Ziggler is that guy who is so good, the company just doesn't seem to know what to do with him. He makes his opponents look good, so maybe that's why he seems to be stuck in this current mode. No matter the reason, here's to hoping the second half of 2012 is better for Ziggler and Swagger whether they continue on as a team or pursue singles careers.

Black History Month: R-Truth

The Brain meets the Truth

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger

I'll be honest, until recently I was not a fan of R-Truth at all.  Ever actually.  Not when he was K-Kwik in his first WWE or when he was just Ron Killings in TNA.  I especially disliked his "What's up?" chant as a face.  But when the WWE turned him heel last summer, he started to grow on me.  I must say I have worked "Little Jimmy" and "I've been a bad R-Truth" into a regular conversation.

It's funny too because for some reason my son loves the guy.  R-Truth was one of his two picks to win the Royal Rumble.  Kofi Kingston was the other.  But remember, my son is 10 and is not a constant viewer of WWE or wrestling for that matter.

Despite not liking the personas he has previously played, there is no denying that R-Truth is one of the most athletic guys in the WWE.  Consider the fact that he is 40 years old and can do things still today that I couldn't do in my 20's, it's impressive to me.

R-Truth will likely never be WWE champion (but I said the same thing about Mark Henry a year ago), but he is quite entertaining.  I think the bat sh!t crazy gimmick works for him.  He's pretty funny on the mic when he's not yelling "What's up!?!"

R Truth in action (WWE)

He has held the WWE U.S. and Hardcore titles.  Truth was also the heavyweight champ in TNA a couple of times and held the tag team titles too.  But let's ignore that reign he had with Pacman Jones, huh?

Long story short R-Truth goes out there and puts on a good show.  He's doing well in the role the WWE has developed for him, and despite my dislike for him in the past, I do enjoy what's R-Truth is doing right now.  And you can bet that's no c-o-n-spiracy.

You're Fired

Not quite as effective as Vince's "You're fired"

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

On Raw recently WWE COO Triple H (who that's a lot of letters) fired R-Truth and the Miz.  In fact, just like when Bobby "the Brain" Heenan got fired from the WWF (he was leaving for WCW) and tossed from the building by Gorilla Monsoon, Awesome Truth had a similar fate.

But I think we all know that Miz and Ron Killings aren't going to show up on TNA anytime soon.  Or ROH or even in my beloved AAPW (cheap plug).  I think most of us know that these "firings" just like Kevin Nash's are part of the storyline.

From WWE.com

The WWE could probably have pulled this angle off a little better had they not gone on to their website and posted reaction from other Superstars about the releases.  And now there is an interview on the site with the Miz's mom, reacting to her son's termination.  Of course this has never happened with any other future endeavoured star, so as a fan are we really supposed to believe the firings are legit?

At least the WWE did take the step of removing the bios of the Miz and R-Truth from dot com.  Hopefully creative will keep them off TV for a bit (at least until the next pay per view which is less than 2 weeks away) to sell this.  Remember last year when John Cena was "fired", but was on Raw every week?  It just made that angle suck even more.

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Wheel of Misfortune

Photo from WWE.com

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Raw Roulette is one of my least favorite wrestling concepts.  It usually includes a lot of goofiness.  More so than usual.  (I'm writing this reaction as I watch on my DVR Tuesday afternoon)

The show opened up with a pretty good interaction between Shawn Michaels and CM Punk.  Punk has really grown on me in recent months and I think he's the best heel in the company right now.  (Sorry Miz)  Despite being out of the ring for more than a year, I must say I was impressed with the Sweet Chin Music delivered by HBK.  The one on David Otunga came out of no where.

While I was impressed, I question the constant use of Hall of Famers making the developing talent look bad.  We saw it on Raw Roulette with HBK, Otunga, and Mike McGillicutty.  Two weeks ago it was Roddy Piper and the Miz.  And don't forget about Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin humiliating Tough Enough winner Andy.

Back to Raw, Punk is put in a match, and Booker T spins the wheel.  It stops on the mystery opponent and Kane just happens to be standing there.  That's another of my problems with the roulette show.  It's obviously stages, even though they are trying to make it not appear staged.  Maybe I'm being too critical...

Punk loses by countout to Kane.  I had expected a Mark Henry run in.  Glad it didn't happen.

Sin Cara vs. Evan Bourne went WAY too short.  These guys could have and should have done much more in the match.  I'm still not real big on the lighting change when Sin Cara wrestles.  And, I'm being nit picky.  The match was good.  Some great high spots, but like I said, it should have gone longer.

Photo from WWE.com

In the past, didn't they do qualifying matches for the Money in the Bank?  They just flashed a screen with the participants this time around.  I'm not opposed to that.  Some fresh faces in the match, but my gut tells me Alberto Del Rio is going to win that one.  More analysis of that to come later.

Dolph Ziggler's mannerisms have remind me of Curt Hennig in the past.  Now that he has "Perfection" on the back of his shorts, I'm wondering if a gimmick change is coming or an evolution of the character.  It'll be interesting.  Of course, I don't see the point of a non title match.  But as usual, these two put on a great show.

If Big Show and Del Rio are on Raw, why is Mark Henry here?  I know he's been stalking Show lately, but I don't understand why this is happening.  Another reason why I think the brand concept is a failure.

Was I the only one hoping for a Kharma return during the divas matchup?  Or heck, how about Beth Phoenix?  Why is she not being used on TV?  Anyone?

Surprise visit Diamond Dallas Page...

And another up and comer taken out by Shawn Michaels.  Maybe next time Drew McIntyre...

It's appropriate the Miz and Jack Swagger are teaming up.  I don't think two former world champions have fallen from grace as quickly as these two.  *Sigh* The match was definitely action packed.  Haven't seen a Texas Tornado match in years.  And the descent continues.  At least Swagger took the fall and not the Miz.  Would have rather seen Riley get the win if they're going to be pushing him.

I'm hoping for a Little Jimmy on a Pole match for Cena vs. R-Truth.  Damn, tables match.  Maybe next year...

Photo from: WWE.com

I will say this about Raw lately, I don't feel like they're totally cramming Cena down our throats.  Although, I am watching on DVR, maybe I missed something.  The crowd is into this match. I hear the "Cena Sucks!", "Let's Go Cena!" chants.  I want to just fast forward to the end of this, as I've heard about the Punk promo, but I'm going to hold out and watch.  Especially now that my 9 year old son has joined me.

R-Truth wins.  Surprising.  Why weren't any of the matches title matches?  Seems like a bit of a crock to me.  Okay, Punk has the mic.  Here we go...

Love all the "unmentionable guys" being referenced here.  Seems like he is speaking from the heart, but I really believe this is a work.  Lots of folks on line are talking about this being a shoot.  I still believe if this was a shoot, they would have cut him off a lot sooner than they did.

So the question is where do Punk and the WWE go from here?  I know they've posted spoilers for next week's show, but I haven't read those yet, and I'm not planning to either.  I hope if this is a work, it's not bungled like all the other potentially hot angles from the past (the WCW Invasion, the Nexus, Ric Flair coming in back in 1991)

I hope on July 17 we're not all disappointed.  If Punk is really leaving, I could see him winning the title only to be beaten by the winner of the MITB match.  If Cena wins and Punk is really going, then this angle seems kinda pointless.

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Capital Punishment Review

By Chad Smart
WWE’s newly titled June pay per view is in the books. Personally, I’m glad WWE ditched the Fatal 4-Way concept pay per view as I’m not a fan of themed pay per views since they often lead to matches booked more for fitting the theme instead of having a legitimate reason for happening. How did the new pay per view fare? Here are my thoughts.

First off, the set was probably the most impressive looking pay per view stage outside of Wrestlemania. The Titantron was flanked by a replica White House set up which played into the Capital aspect as well as being held in Washington D.C.

Photo courtesy: WWE.com

Before I get into thoughts on the actual matches, I have to mention the segments with "President Obama." I didn’t think these types of segments worked back in the ‘90s with President Clinton and I wasn’t a fan of the segments on this show. I understand they were tongue in cheek segments, but having members of the WWE roster treat the imposter as if he was the actual President is just as bad as when TNA had Daffney portraying The Governor "Sarah Palin" and the Beautiful People acted like she was the real deal. Another issue I have with the segments is fans paid $44.99 for the show. The price is a bit steep for lame comedy, in my opinion. Though by now I should expect such segments on all WWE programming.

Photo courtsey: WWE.com

Two new mid-card champions were crowned. Dolph Ziggler won the US Title while Ezekiel Jackson on the Intercontinental title. Hopefully their reigns will be more memorable than the champions they beat. Remember when Kofi Kingston was feuding with Randy Orton and it looked like he was about to break through to upper mid-card status? How about when Wade Barrett was part of the hottest angle of the past few years? Both Kofi and Wade have fallen in the eyes of the fans. The Wade/Zeke match was so void of interest a "We want Zack" chant broke out midway through the match. Wade’s pre-match anti-America promo couldn’t even incite the audience enough to boo him. Something drastic needs to be done with Wade to rebuild the character and it needs to happen soon.

Courtesy: WWE.com

Alex Riley scored the upset of the night beating his former mentor The Miz. While I like to see new talent getting the chance to shine and feel wrestling companies tend to wait too long before pushing potential stars, the elevation of A-RY baffles me. How Riley goes from John Cena whipping boy to beating a former World Champion in the span of four weeks doesn’t make sense. The live fans seem to be behind Alex though, so who am I to criticize the lack of character development.

Mark Henry attacked the Big Show before his match. Henry slammed Show through the Spanish announce table reinjuring Show’s leg. Once the match started, I was once again shaking my head at wrestling logic, or the lack thereof. Big Show backed Alberto Del Rio into the corner to start the match, why Show didn’t throw his knockout punch to end the match is baffling. Del Rio kept attacking the leg eventually leading to Show being unable to stand and the referee stopping the match. With video surfacing of Del Rio at the E3 convention challenging John Cena to a match at SummerSlam, I figured this was step one in rebuilding Del Rio as a credible contender. Del Rio gets the victory, Big Show doesn’t suffer a pin fall, so neither guy looks weak. Besides the logic questioning, I was also bewildered by the use of Mark Henry. Is this the start of making Henry look like a monster again, or was it simply a way to get Big Show to sell the leg injury?

CM Punk and Rey Mysterio had another solid match that saw Punk turn a 619 attempt into Go To Sleep for the pin fall. During the match, Michael Cole started slipping back into obnoxious announcer mode. The announcing really distracted from the match. Before the match, Punk said after he beat Mysterio, he would do something shocking. Punk didn’t do anything after the match, so the shock may come on Raw or in the next few weeks.

Photo courtsey: WWE.com

Randy Orton defended his World Championship after being cleared to wrestle following a concussion. With the way the announcers played up the concussion, and the number of punches, kicks, slaps, and other moves putting impact on Randy’s head during the match, I got the feeling the concussion was more story line than real. Christian tried to finish of Randy with a spear to no avail. I don’t know how I feel about Christian using the spear. On one hand I can appreciate Christian paying tribute to his friend, Edge. On the other hand, taking Edge’s finishing move makes Christian look weak by needing someone else’s move to win matches. Randy hit an RKO for the victory after Christian leaped off the top rope jumping over Orton. Christian’s leg was under the bottom rope during the pin and the referee wasn’t even looking in the direction of Randy and Christian when making the three count. I’m expecting this to be mentioned on Smackdown and another match between Randy and Christian to take place at Money in the Bank pay per view.

Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne was a bonus added attraction. I’m not a fan of unannounced matches being put on pay per views unless they’re the result of events that happen on the show. The original ECW was good at creating matches during their pay per views. While announcing the match beforehand probably wouldn’t have led to a measurable about of added buys, just throwing guys out there screams, filler. During the match the Bella twins and Keystone mascot, Keith Stone were at ringside. The history between Michael Cole and Jack Swagger wasn’t brought up during the match. Can I say how I hate when events are forgotten simply because they don’t fit into the current story being told. It’s one thing if the events happened months or years ago, but when they happened weeks ago, it’s very annoying. This match was Swagger tossing Bourne around for the most part until Bourne made a comeback and got a roll up for the victory. Basically a lengthier Raw match.

John Cena and R-Truth had a match. That’s about all I have to say about it. I didn’t expect Truth to win the title and there was nothing during the match to make me feel I could be wrong. The ending with a kid throwing his soda on Truth leading to Cena throwing Truth back into the ring and delivering an Attitude Adjustment was very anti-climatic.

Overall Capital Punishment wasn’t a bad show. At the same time there was nothing on the show I’d recommend going out of your way to see. With the exception of new mid-card champions everything is the same in the WWE Universe and will probably continue during the upcoming weeks leading to the next pay per view.

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What's Up? What's Up?

"Bobby Heenan" knows "What's up?"

By Kevin Hunsperger

Sorry for not posting this sooner, but what are you gonna do?  Monday night, besides Edge announcing his retirement, another shocker happened.  R-Truth was named co #1 contender to the WWE championship and is heading to the main event at Extreme Rules next month.

When this happened, I must say I was shocked by the development.  I really had hoped that either Dolph Ziggler or John Morrison would have been the one to win that match on Raw Monday night.  Let me explain why I don't think Truth should be in the title hunt.

First, he's rarely a part of the show.  During Alberto Del Rio's push, he was simply used several times to put the SmackDown! star over.  He wasn't even on the Wrestlemania card, now he's facing the Miz (and John Cena) for the WWE title.  Speculation is he's just a prop that will be used to take the fall so Cena doesn't have to lose two pay per views in a row.  To quote the Miz, "really?"  Of course, this is just Internet speculation, so who knows what's really up.  Pardon the pun...

I'm not going to hate on Truth.  He does have a following.  My son (he's only 9, so give him a break) says R-Truth is his 3rd favorite wrestler behind Rey Mysterio and Triple H.  Again, the kid's only 9...

During our usually Tuesday morning booker discussion, the My 1-2-3 Cents gang noted the fact that Truth still came out skipping and singing during what should have been a more serious moment of everyone stating their case as to why they should be the #1 contender.  At least Truth got the city they were in correct.  Maybe I shouldn't dis him so much.  He isn't that bad of a worker, I just find his gimmick completely annoying.

And I know he had some success in TNA as a member of 3Live Kru and had a run as the NWA-TNA champion a couple of times.  I never realized he was the U.S. champion.  How did I miss that one?

I'll end on this note.  While I'm glad we're not getting a total rematch from Wrestlemania with Cena and the Miz, I just don't feel R-Truth is the guy who should be in the main event.  My hope is they have bigger plans down the road for John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler.  And I hope the rumors that Morrison is being punished for "snubbing" Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania 27 are bogus.

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