Dream Over, Or Just Beginning?

Photo from: WWE.com

By Kevin Hunsperger

I will be the first to admit, I rushed to judgement after reading the results from the May 6th episode of SmackDown!  My rant can be seen here on my YouTube channel.   That's the problem with reading spoilers and not actually seeing the matches.

I felt like Christian and Randy Orton told a good story in the ring.  While I'm still disappointed with the outcome of the match, I'm getting the impression that this may be the start of a big feud between Orton and Christian.  My guess is the former Brood member will go back to his heel days.  And let's face it, that wouldn't be a bad thing.  The SmackDown! roster is lacking a good heel these days.  In my opinion some of Christian's best work came as a heel, especially when he and Edge were still together.

The way they played up the title win from Sunday night, and the way they stayed on Christian after the match tells me that this isn't over.   And I'm glad for that.  My first thought after reading the results was that this was a quick passing the title over, but I'm not so sure that's the case.  I really think if they book this right, a Christian-Randy Orton feud could be enjoyable.  It gives us a new face in the title hunt, even though Christian has technically been the champ.

Let's look at the other possible contenders on the heel side of the roster:

Sheamus:  We've already seen he and Orton feud and the results weren't all that exciting.


Mark Henry:  I don't think anyone will ever take him as a serious threat to the World title.  He spent too many years as the guy putting over other talent.  And there is talk of him retiring when his current deal expires.

Cody Rhodes:  I like Cody.  But I don't see him as a contender to the World title yet.  Maybe a run as Intercontinental champion first.  Besides, Orton pretty much buried him and Ted DiBiase after Legacy imploded.

Wade Barrett:  I had high hopes for Barrett after NXT and the formation of Nexus.  However, I feel like the WWE kinda dropped the ball with him.  While he is the IC champ right now, it's hard for me to buy him as a World champion.  At least right now.

The World Title

There are a few on the face side of the roster who could be considered contenders, but the E tends to still stick to the face vs. heel formula.  The WWE has an interesting task before them.  They need to do some major work in developing these younger talents I've mentioned and make them credible threats to the world champions.  I can accept the Christian title loss if it leads to a feud with Orton and another run as champ.  Unlike others in the WWE Universe, I'm not calling for anyone's head on a platter.  While the Internet fans may not like Orton, the crowd reaction to his win Friday night was pretty clear who they support.

Thanks for reading, spread the word and join the conversation.
Twitter (@my123cents)
Facebook
YouTube
Online anytime

Strolling Down Memory Lane...

Kickin' it old school in 1996...

By Kevin Hunsperger

I feel like lately Chad and I have done a lot of complaining about the WWE and TNA.  I've noticed readership is down a bit too. I'm wondering if there's a correlation.  Maybe there is, maybe readers finally figured out we suck.  (that's a joke)  So I'm going to focus on something positive today.

Some of you may already know from previous posts, but in case you don't know, I've been watching wrestling for almost 30 years.  I started in 1983 with Wrestling at the Chase (St. Louis) and World Class Championship Wrestling.  Soon I added WWF Superstars, Tuesday Night Titans, and Georgia Championship Wrestling to my palette.  There was also the NWA and Central States Wrestling thrown into the mix as well as the AWA running on ESPN.  It was great.

Wrestling was all PG rated back then, and that was okay.  I still don't have a problem with the WWE taking it back into that direction today.  It doesn't take away from the product.  It doesn't insult my intelligence.  In fact, I want my son to grow up and enjoy wrestling too.

One of the things I remember about wrestling from my childhood is the larger than life characters.  Many of them were like cartoon characters.  And for those who watched the WWF back in the mid 80's know there literally was a cartoon.  It ran on Saturday mornings on CBS and was called Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling.  You may not know that Brad Garrett (Robert on "Everybody Loves Raymond) was the voice of Hulk Hogan and James Avery (Uncle Phil from "Fresh Prince of Bell Air) played the Junkyard Dog.

The cartoon featured a gang of babyfaces lead by Hogan.  Besides he and JYD, there was Andre the Giant, Superfly Snuka, and Wendi Ritcher among others.  Rowdy Roddy Piper lead the heels like Iron Sheik, Big John Studd, and the Fabulous Moolah.  Each week the superstars would find themselves in unusual situations like Hogan and Nikola Volkoff going into outer space and having to coexist.  It was good, mindless entertainment.  Of course I was a tween at the time and didn't know any better.

With the talk of a WWE cable channel, it would be interesting to see if they'd ever bring back this concept.  It would be hard to do it as a baby face vs. heel show though because there are so many guys who flip flop.  But it could be fun.

Another favorite childhood memory with wrestling is the old LJN figures.  They were introduced in the summer of 1985.  I was 12, and up until then had been using my Star Wars figures as wrestlers.  I pretended that Chewbacca was Andre the Giant. Han Solo played the role of my favorite at the time, Kerry Von Erich.

So I was stoked when LJN released this figures.  I felt a rush every time we'd go to the store and find a new figure or when a new lineup would be introduced.  Remember, back then there was no internet, we had no knowledge of when new toys would be released or what they'd look like.

I collected the LJNs until I was about 16 years old.  The last two I bought, Slick and Ted DiBiase, I found while we were on vacation in Canada.  I loved those figures, and as you can see by the picture, I still have them today.

Finally, who could forget about the WWF ice cream bars?  As I searched for an image of them, I discovered they WWF sold ice cream bars three different times.  I guess I had forgotten that.  My best memory is of the mid to late 80's.  The only time I could find them was when the ice cream man came into our neighborhood.  I always ended up with the Junkyard Dog.  If I remember correctly each bar came with a card of some kind too.  Characters included of course Hulk Hogan, Bobby Heenan, and Ricky Steamboat.

Then in the 90's another line of bars was released.  Lex Luger, Bret Hart, and Yokozuna were among the superstars featured.  Then in the early 2000's, Chris Jericho, the Rock, and Stone Cold Steve Austin adorned the frozen treats.  I don't remember those at all.

I wouldn't mind seeing the E try something like this again either.  Heck, they could even do a breakfast cereal based on John Cena, right?

This has been a fun little walk down memory lane.  Good times.  And hopefully not too negative.  Remember to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter (@my123cents) and subscribe to the My 1-2-3 Cents YouTube channel.  Our main website is simply My 1-2-3 Cents.  Thanks for reading.

Monkeys with a Typewriter

Photo courtesy: the Simpsons

By Chad Smart

I guess a couple of confessions are in order before I start ranting.  First, TNA (or is it Impact Wrestling now) is coming to Marion, Illinois on June 10. Kevin and myself have tickets to go to the show. In fact, I planned my trip back to Illinois primarily to be able to attend the show. It’ll be my first TNA since TNA left Nashville and moved all TV tapings to Orlando. 

Second, until two weeks ago I hadn’t had a TV that got any signal besides the DVD player for two years. A co-worker gave me his old 32” HDTV for free so now I can watch over the air broadcasts. I don’t have nor intend to get cable because I can’t justify the cost for the little amount of television I would care to watch. All the “TV” viewing I do has been based on what’s available online. This extends to wrestling. There are places to watch live sports online and that’s where I watch Raw. Due to there being more shows on Thursdays than on Mondays that I enjoy watching, and usually not being home on Fridays, I rarely get to see Impact or Smackdown. Since both shows are taped days in advance, I also have a tendency to look at the results to see if the shows appear worthy of me devoting two hours of time to them.

I tell you that because I knew this week I would not be home on Thursday or Friday so I checked out the spoilers for both wrestling shows. I’m not going to get into Smackdown results but lets just say, I shake my head in disbelief. The point of this writing is to once again complain about TNA. I’ve said before that I’d rather not complain about TNA, and it’s true. I’d like for once to be able to write nothing but glowing praise about TNA, but the people running the company don’t seem to know how to put on a good, comprehensive, non-retread storyline.

To be fair, there was something from this week’s Impact that I will give TNA credit for. At the start of the show, Jesse Neal came to the ring in his military uniform while the rest of TNA roster stood on the stage while the National Anthem played. For those of you that may not know, Jesse Neal was serving onboard the USS Cole when it was bombed in a plan organized by Osama Bin Laden. Jessie’s best friend was killed in the blast.

OK, lets get into the complaints.  Obviously, if you don’t want to know what happens before the show airs, stop reading now.

Tommy Dreamer at an ECWWE house show

On this week’s Impact, Tommy Dreamer turns heel.  Why? Once again I throw out a challenge to TNA writers, can you go not six months but six weeks without someone turning for no logical reason, or even for a logical reason?  Do you really not grasp that fans stop caring about wrestlers when there is constant face/heel/face/heel switches? The spoiler I read didn’t explain why Dreamer went heel.  Maybe there’s a very good reason.  I’m curious to know what that reason is, but I’m also curious to know why Tommy Dreamer is on the active TNA roster as well but that’s a whole different topic. I’m simply tired of wrestlers switching sides on almost every episode of Impact.

On next week’s show, TNA once again fuels my biggest complaint about the company.  They bring in an ex-WWE employee.  And not just any ex-WWE star, someone who I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they wish was still active. The Ninth Wonder of the World, Chyna. 

Apparently Chyna is revealed as Kurt Angle’s “Business Partner.” Now I’m really confused. I did see last week’s Impact where Jeff Jarrett and Karen Angle were harassing TNA Knockouts and female employees trying to figure out which one was Kurt’s mistress. I hadn’t heard the original allegations from Karen Jarrett, but assumed Kurt had a mistress while in TNA, hence why they were questioning TNA employees. Although, I think Mickie James was out there and she came into the company after Jeff and Karen were already together, so.  Oh yeah, I forgot Vince Russo’s theory of small details don’t matter.  So does Kurt have a mistress? Why does he all of a sudden have a business partner?

Photo courtesy: WWE

At the next PPV, it’s going to be Jeff/Karen vs. Kurt/Chyna. Why is Karen Angle in a match? Why is Chyna back on TV? Where is the exciting, young, up and coming talent? I don’t get it. I know I say this every month, but I really wish I could stop watching both TNA and WWE. I just finished the Chikara King of Trios tournament and was excited about wrestling once again. Then I read these spoilers, and the recap of Raw where there were apparently about 15 minutes of in ring action and I question why is going on in the minds of the people behind the scenes. 

I simply don’t get it. Am I the only one? Are any other fans as tired of it as I am?  Weigh in here or on Facebook.  Don't forget to follow @my123cents on Twitter.

The Rock & Wrestling Connection

By Kevin Hunsperger

No, this isn't a throw back to the 1980's.  It's a recap of Monday's Raw.  I had a long day at work, and am just now getting to watch the show.

Let me start off by saying I love the Rock. I really do. He's one of my all time favorites.  I'm going to assume the party only happened because Raw was in Miami.  While parts of it were entertaining, and I know in WWE the focus is on entertainment these days.

I can appreciate the fact that they did the whole montage at the start of the show with the 9/11 stuff, but just making an observation.  This whole thing was done because Osama Bin Laden is dead, right?  Not once during the package did we see or hear anything about that.  It was a flashback to 2001.  I'm sure this was just an oversight and not politically motivated, right Vince?  ;)

I'm about an hour into the show and there has been not actual match.  Well, that's not totally fair, I guess Kelly Kelly and Maryse wrestled about 30 seconds before Kharma made her way to the ring.  I've gotta say, I'm curious where they're going with this character.  I assumed she'd be a heel, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Finally an hour into the show, and we're getting what looks to be a real match.  The WWE title match.  I like the fact that Jim Ross is back on the headset.  I think he, Josh, and the King could make a great team on Raw.

I will say the crowd is hot during this match.  I don't know how, but I avoided all spoilers today, so I have no idea how this match is going to end.  Hoping for a Miz victory, but I'm not holding my breath.  I'm sensing an Alex Riley turn, which would suck.   Ref bump.  Geez, that was the slowest count on the planet... What, they're reversing the decision?!?  Give me a break.  That's bull.  I kinda wish now they would have drafted Miz to SmackDown! so he could feud with Christian.  I'm sorry members of the CeNation, but Cena doesn't need the title to be over.

 Speaking of Cena, why didn't he just say we killed Osama Bin Laden at Extreme Rules?  Is "killed" not PG?  The Rock just called Michael Cole a b!tch.  Just sayin'...

We have a new Intercontinental champ, let's put him in a tag team match.  Huh?

I still think Dolph Ziggler should have kept his hair long and blond.  It helped with his character.  He just looks like Evan Bourne's big brother now. Mae Young cracks me up.  I always wonder how "there" she really is.  Will Cena hold the title to Wrestlemania 28?  I certainly hope not.  Neither he nor the Rock need the title.  The match is big enough without the belt.

Oh, now this continues to make sense.  One half of the tag team champions is wrestling in a singles match now.  I get it.  (Not really)  I think the WWE needs to do something with Mason Ryan so he doesn't look like Baby Batista.  Not sure how to fix that though.  And why was Kane wrestling in a singles match on Raw?  He's on SmackDown!  I thought only as the champion he could wrestle on Raw.  And didn't we just see the Corre feud with these guys last month?  It's pretty much the same thing at this point, isn't it?

More Rock.  Is he a lock for the Hall of Fame in 2012?  Why all the love?  Again, I love the Rock, but this entire show has revolved around him with very little wrestling.  I definitely think there was way too much entertainment on this show.  And I'm unhip and didn't recognize half the entertainers...   But I read the ratings did well, so I guess we can expect more of this in the future.  Just wait til he turns 40 next year...

Impact Zone or Pay Per View Zone?

By Chad Smart

I touched on this a few months ago when I wrote about different aspects of business TNA needed to change. With the announcement of Slammiversary taking place in Orlando at the Impact zone, I felt compelled to do a full write up about how TNA needs to stop doing pay per views from the same place they do weekly television.

I still don’t understand why TNA considers Bound For Glory their Wrestlemania. Yes, it was their first Sunday night three-hour pay per view, but in my eyes, Slammiversary should be their biggest show as it’s celebrating the formation of TNA. Plus it’s the only TNA show to include a number instead of the year. You know, the same way Wrestlemania is talked about by which Wrestlemania it is instead of the year it took place. If I ever get to talk to anyone in TNA management one of my top ten questions will be to explain their reasoning in this regard. Even if Bound for Glory is their main priority when it comes to pay per views, Slammiversary should at least be one of their top four shows. Right?

I bring this up because as I said in the intro, Slammiversary is going to be held at the Impact Zone in Orlando this year. Looking at past Slammiversary events, three have been held outside of Orlando while this year marks the fourth time (and 2^nd consecutive year) it is being held in Orlando. While TNA has seemed to commit to Bound for Glory and Lockdown being held outside Orlando on a yearly basis, why have they seemed to default back to Orlando for Slammiversary?

I know nothing about the inner workings of TNA. I don’t know how big the company is employee wise, or how many departments make up TNA. For all I know they could have ten guys doing the job of 50. Or at least that’s how I hope TNA is structured given their head scratching decisions sometimes. Could they not find a venue to run Slammiversary in or did they not think about Slammiversary until Lockdown was over? Is it simply more cost effective to run a PPV from the Impact Zone?

Whatever the reasoning, in my opinion, running Slammiversary in the Impact Zone cheapens the show from being a must see event to being another run of the mill show. Any PPV at the Impact Zone looks just like an episode of Impact because it’s the same layout, the same set, and the same fans. Nothing screams, hey look at me I’m a meaningful show. If TNA doesn’t care enough to make the show something special, why should the fans care?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it over and over again I’m sure, TNA has been around for almost 9 years yet has made minimal growth in that time. The only growth that can be seen externally is the growth of the number of ex-WWE Superstars on the roster. While they are doing more house shows than they were five years ago, attendance for those shows are more in line with what Ring of Honor is drawing rather than what WWE is drawing. TNA has a weekly show and monthly PPVs. Ring of Honor sells DVDs of shows and has an Internet PPV every couple of months.  After 5-6 years of having a weekly national show and monthly PPVs, there is no reason for TNA to still not being able to pack venues ECW was packing back in the ‘90s.

I’m getting off track. I’ll save my, “why hasn’t TNA gotten out of the starting blocks” rant for another time.  The purpose of this writing was simply to take TNA to task for not running more PPVs outside the Impact Zone. If they’re going to do 12 shows a year they should really try to make each one unique. And if that’s too much to ask, they should at least make their top 3 shows unique. Is that too much to ask? 

Something Extreme Happened, But It Wasn't in the Ring

Photo courtesy: WWE.com

By Chad Smart

While watching WWE’s Extreme Rules pay per view, I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. Then something major did happen. News broke that Osama Bin Laden was dead. While this news is good to hear as it hopefully means the ongoing war in Afghanistan will soon come to an end and all the troops will be on their way home, there was a pay per view that needs some trivial opinions spoken about it.

Extreme Rules was a show with good action and lame finishes. Outside of the tag team title match, I don’t think there was really any bad match. My dislike for the show comes more from the guys whom I thought should win ending up with their shoulders on the mat.

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton’s Last Man Standing match opened the show with the shocking announcement from the RAW GM banning the New Nexus from ringside. Giving how inept the New Nexus has been presented over the last few months would it matter if they were at ringside? Randy Orton has dominated this feud so I was hoping Punk would pick up a victory. That didn’t happen. I still don’t understand the fans fascination with Orton and will continue to change the channel every time he’s on screen. I’m just one fan though, so the cheers of thousands override the disdain of one.

Rumors proved true as Sheamus defended the US Title against Kofi Kingston in a bonus match. When Sheamus got drafted to Smackdown, Smackdown had both the US and Intercontinental titles. Kofi being drafted to Raw foreshadowed his winning and taking the US title with him so each show has one supporting title. Again, good action nullified by an outcome which was never in doubt throughout the match.

Layla defeated Michelle McCool in a loser leaves WWE match. Word got out a day or two ago about McCool leaving WWE to spend time with Undertaker while he rehabs so the beat continues with a foregone conclusion in place. The shocking moment came after the match when Kharma (formerly Awesome Kong) debuted giving McCool the Implant Buster for good measure. Afterwards the rest of the Divas were shown backstage watching a monitor. I’m guessing they were supposed to be shocked and awed at Kharma’s appearance. Instead they all looked bored.

Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio had the rubber match of their feud. While I feel Cody should have won the match to help move him up the rungs of the heel ladder on Smackdown, WWE felt Rey should win to cap off their feud now that they’re on different shows. I sound like a broken record, good match bad outcome.

Much like the Sheamus/Kofi match, after the draft the outcome of the ladder match between Christian and Alberto Del Rio was only in doubt if WWE wanted to really throw a curveball at the fans. Thought this was a good ladder match with some psychology and innovative spots. I had some technical problems toward the end of the match and missed Christian actually winning. Glad to see Christian get his first WWE World title and hope he has a successful reign.

I don’t know if the Tag Team Title match was announced before the show or added during the show. For some reason it was a lumberjack match with Wade Barrett/Big Zeke taking the place of Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel as sacrificial lambs from the Corre to face Big Show/Kane. As I said earlier, this was the only bad match on the show. Looks like there will be more dissention within the Corre while Big Show/Kane will keep the titles while waiting on the next round of makeshift challengers.

During the main event was when news of Osama Bin Laden so excuse me if I watching John Cena win another title wasn’t my primary focus. I will admit during the match I had some thoughts John Morrison was actually going to win. I’ll give WWE credit for creating that suspense. On the other hand, I never felt like Miz was going to win. Even when he had the upper hand, I felt it was only a matter of time until he was beaten. I understand John Cena is the face of WWE, but his being champion is beyond played out. WWE needs to elevate new talent. Cena doesn’t need the title to have the fans cheer for him. Though with The Rock being on Raw tonight, Cena being champ will give them something to add to the ongoing feud.

Overall Extreme Rules was the epitome of a B level show. If you watched it you got some good action. If you missed it, you didn’t miss anything monumental. John Cena winning a title isn’t meaningful it’s boring. That’s just my opinion. I could be bias.

UPDATED: After I submitted this for posting, I realized I forgot to mention the Country Whipping match between Michael Cole/Jack Swagger and Jerry Lawler/Jim Ross. I’m not going to give any thoughts on the match. Just saying I realized I forgot about it and hope my memory won’t let me down by replaying any part of the match.

Champ or Chump?

The forgotten titles

By Kevin Hunsperger

Unless there's a couple of matches added to the Extreme Rules pay per view, which begins in less than 3 hours, there will be no U.S., Intercontinental, or Tag Team title matches.  This shouldn't be a surprise though.  I've done a little research, and here's what I've discovered.

The last time the U.S. title was defended on PPV was at Survivor Series.  That was November.  Daniel Bryan defeated Ted DiBiase.  The WWE had scheduled a U.S. title match between Sheamus and Bryan at Wrestlemania, but it was dropped from the card and was the dark match of the night, but quickly turned into a battle royal instead.

The last time the Intercontinental title was defended on PPV was at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs back in December.  Not quite as long ago as the U.S. title.  Dolph Ziggler beat three others in a fatal four way match.

The tag titles were defended more recently, at Elimination Chamber, in February.  But prior to that, the tag straps hadn't been up for stakes on PPV since Bragging Rights in October.  In case you forgot, John Cena and David Otunga beat Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre that night.  Ugh.

Why does the WWE have champions if they never have them defend their titles on PPV?  I remember back in the day, you saw the champion defending their title on each PPV.  I can understand why no tag team title match.  That division is horrendous right now, and there's no way you could construct a PPV quality match that we haven't already seen on Raw or SmackDown! already.  But why not introduce Wade Barrett and Sheamus to a new challenger tonight?  I really thought they'd have at least one of them defending against a Raw guy to take one of the belts to that show.  To be fair though, WWE has been known to throw together a match like that at the last minute.  Maybe they're just waiting... that's a complaint for another post.

What do you think?  Should the tag, US, and IC belts be defended more regularly on PPV?  Weigh in here or join us on Facebook or @my123cents on Twitter.