The Only Good Thing From WrestleMania

 

 

If you missed WrestleMania, and I'm jealous of you for not wasting an entire Sunday evening, then you missed one good match. It was the match that closed RAW. Probably should have been the match to close Mania. It was the respect vs. the streak. It's CM Punk vs. The Undertaker.

 

Here is the match in full. I hope these two meet again at WrestleMania. It looks like next year will be Cena vs. Taker at WM30. My fingers are crossed they don't break the streak with Cena. That would be a wasted investment. Beating the Undertaker at Mania is something a talent could live off for decades. The kind of thing a guy in his 50's still talks about at local indy shows 25 years later.

 

If Punk doesn't snap the streak then a Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Antonio Cesaro, or Dolph Ziggler would be the logical choice. Then again maybe it is one of those things that should never be broken. That is the true debate.

 

And that debate is for another time.

 

Enjoy the match, and realize this was the only thing worth paying for on Sunday night. 

Fantasy Wrasslin'

As far as hobbies, or obsessions as my wife would say, go I am into three things: Pro Wrestling, Comic Books, and Fantasy Football. If it wasn't for my wife being pregnant then it would be hard for me to argue not being a virgin. I often find a lot of hobbies, but most just fizzle out after a couple of weeks. Those three things through the years have always managed to keep my interests. In a few weeks I'll have my fantasy football draft in a league that I have won the past two championships. It's all about mathematics and applied values in relation to quality/quantity ratios.

Broken down that basically means how far is the seperation between certain players at a position. Knowing that seperation allows for knowing when to grab certain players before the position falls off the cliff. Like this year Brady, Rodgers, and Brees will go in the first round, but Vick, Romo, or Manning could all have equal or just slightly worse values than those three, but go in the 5th to 8th round. While running backs who carry most of their teams load instead of being in a comittee are a rare commodity. Having two such backs like a McFadden, Richardson, Forte, or Jones Drew can tip the scales in your favor as opposed to wasting a top tier pick on a QB that might be equal to a mid-round pick. It's not an exact science, and there is way more that goes into it, but now you know how geeky I am about my hobbies. Hell you're reading a blog I write about pro wrestling, which I haven't laced up the boots for in almost 6 years.

As I prepared for my up coming draft I wondered what kind of fantasy wrestling team I could put together. I kind of want to get some of my wrestling friends together and do a draft. That might be a fun idea for down the road. Right now I just want to put together a fantasy roster. I'll go over my picks, and give some details on each talent.

Rules for building my fantasy wrestling roster:

1. Must contain 3 singles wrestlers from each of the big three promotions (WWE, TNA, RoH) to give the roster 9 total singles wrestlers.
2. Must contain one tag team from each of the big three promotions to give the roster 3 established teams.
3. Must contain four female talents involved in wrestling in the past year.
4. Must contain one unsigned talent

All together that gives the roster twenty wrestlers, which is a good start for a core roster of talents in any wrestling promotion. I had a lot of fun with this and I think I have come up with a good roster that can interact well together. Plus I decided when building this that I would try to do it without any Kevin Nash money makers just to prove a point.

G.R.o.W. Fantasy Roster

Singles

• CM Punk: Unless you're a first time reader to this site then you know I am a huge Punk fan. I think he has every tool you need to be one of the greats. He can wrestle with any person on the planet. He has buckets of charisma. He can cut a promo with the best of them. He also has a unique look that helps him stand out in a crowd. If this is a draft then he would be my first round pick.
• Daniel Bryan: He is a great in ring talent. He might even be better between the ropes than CM Punk. In the past year his personality has grown outside the ropes. He has the ability to make anyone look better than they are in the ring. He is the Macho Man to Punk's Hogan. If Punk is my top guy then Bryan is the guy that helps build future opponents for Punk and eventually sells out houses as his biggest rival.
• Dean Ambrose: Don't know who Dean is? Just wait and you will. If Brian Pillman had a baby with Stone Cold Steve Austin when they were the Hollywood Blondes then it would be Dean Ambrose. His promos are great. He has a good in ring ability. He also is willing to push any boundry. As a booker, Dean gives you no limits on where to take his character, which can lead to some interesting developments. Ambrose is my sleeper pick.
• Austin Aries: AA has come on the scene with a vengeance this year. He was good in RoH, but he's epic in TNA. His cocky personality becomes even better when he proves every word in the ring. Aries is the kind of talent that can steal the show in the dark match. He, like Punk & Bryan, can have great matches with a corpse. He might be my 2nd pick in a fantasy draft.
• Samoa Joe: If you haven't seen, my roster is not based on size, which plays into Joe's favor. Having average sized talents makes Samoa Joe look bigger. He becomes the beast of my roster. I also think his physical style sets him a part. I would use him like a Taz in that when you see Joe then you know shit is about to get real and somebody is going to get manhandled. I do think he has some limitations in his promo ability, but in ring he can really bring it with the right talents.
• Bully Ray: The former Dudley has really broken free from his tag team days. His new persona might be the best pure heel in the business. I like his physical style, and on a microphone he could cause a riot at a monastery. I would be real interested to see Bully Ray take on CM Punk.
• Kevin Steen, Steve Corino, and Jimmy Jacobs: I'm not listing these three separate because their work as the anti-ROH stable has been outstanding. They can all wrestle, plus each brings a unique role. Steen may look like a garbage man but he wrestles like Flair. Corino is an old vet that knows all the tricks plus cuts a mean promo. Jacobs is a fantastic pest in that he can wrestle, bump, and he can get on people's nerves with his antics. I would keep them as a stable.

Tag Teams

• Airboom: Before Evan Bourne got his 2nd strike, and got into a car accident, this was a really promising tag team. They could do a lot in the ring together. Their promo skills leave something to be desired, but as singles wrestlers they both can help build a roster. As a tag team they are very marketable.
• The Briscoe Brothers: Unique look, check. Great personalities, check. Crazy loose cannons, Damn Right! I love everything about this tag team. Nobody looks like they do. The Youtube videos are hilarious. Plus they are willing to do anything in and out of the ring including putting their bodies on the line. Every promotion should have a team this dedicated to their performance.
• Daniels & Kazarian: Both men can be good singles wrestlers, but together they have a great fluidity. They can interact with the high flyers like Airboom, but also get down & dirty with physical teams like the Briscoes. Another valuable team that strengthens the whole roster. Plus Christopher Daniels is a good mic worker, who constantly freshens up his character.

Women

• Amazing Kong (Kharma): How the WWE ever let her get away I will not know. No woman looks like her and no woman can wrestle like her. There might not be a lot of male wrestlers that can do what she does. Hell all you need is Kong to have a strong women's division. I might take her with my 3rd pick because of the draw factor for such a unique personality.
• Velvet Sky & Angelina Love: As a duo these two are great. They play the perfect stuck up bitches. Add in that they both can wrestle, and it's just sprinkles on my cupcake. My three ladies are all unsigned talents, and together they might be the best female roster in wrestling. That's how far back the big three are on women's wrestling.
• Sara Del Rey: The best in ring women's wrestler going. She doesn't look like a playboy bunny, which is probably why she isn't on your television. I heard she signed with the WWE to head up their development. She should be their champion. She's that damn good.

Unsigned

• Krimson: He's an old friend of mine. He has a great look, plus TNA stole his gimmick & his name for two of their wrestlers. Great mic skills with ten years of experience. I like having wrestlers on my roster that I can trust. He'll be that kind of worker on this all star roster. The gimmick stands out and it is something you can use in the marketing department on all promotions. Plus his promos are kinda creepy, which helps him stand out even more. He's also buddies with Kevin Nash, and this roster was inspired by Big Sexy.

That's my twenty person fantasy wrestling roster. I think I could do some cool things with these talents that hasn't been seen on television. Yesterday I said it takes breaking new ground to draw money, and that is what this roster could do. In ring this would be the best thing going today. With some time, character development, and some risk taking this roster of talents could be bigger than WWF, WCW, or ECW at the height of their popularity.

If you have a roster of your choosing please leave it in the comments section. Would love to see what other people come up with.

The Future Is Now

Before I begin writing this I want to send my thoughts and prayers out to those affected by the barbaric shooting in Colorado. It is a tragedy that can’t be imagined. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured, and my condolences to those who lost somebody. Know that today Aurora is on every American’s mind.

***

This week has been focused on RAW 1000 because, well, it’s the biggest thing in wrestling since WrestleMania. It also highlights the largest problem in the WWE right now, lack of future stars. Only when those from the attitude era are brought in do shows tend to draw back in the old audiences. This Monday there will be DX, The Rock, Possibly Stone Cold, Jim Ross, A Raw Legend, and a dump truck of other former talent.

Yet when RAW hits 2000 episodes, what talent from today will have the same impact? John Cena, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, but are they the talent of today? Outside of CM Punk & Daniel Bryan, are there any established stars with longevity created since 2010? That answer is foggy at best.

Some could argue that Albert Del Rio, Sheamus, and Dolph Ziggler are on the path to being these type of long standing stars, yet currently their yoyo handling by creative has them looking more like Ahmed Johnson than Rocky Johnson. For every John Cena there is a boatload of Christians. Talent that is very popular, but when they’re gone they might as well be forgotten. Sure when Christian appears on RAW in a decade he’ll get a pop like Vader, and probably a few “You still got it” chants, but his appearance won’t drive the needle into the 4+ range like a Rock or possibly a Cena in 2020.

This is why the future is now in the WWE. With Monday Night RAW going to three hours there is more than enough time to develop the future so that at RAW 2000 there will be a show as packed with ratings driving talent as RAW 1000. The beginning of this has to come from established stars like Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and John Cena. It is time for them to put this company on their backs in the way that a Terry Funk established ECW.

John Cena is fully developed. He has his fans and he has his detractors. He sells tickets as the main eventer, and he sells the same amount of tickets as the curtain jerker. He also has the eyes of the young WWE fans, who by the time RAW 2000 rolls around will be tip toeing around their late twenties. Their eyes are also watching the people John Cena interacts with. It is time for these young fans to build familiarity with Brodus Clay the wrestler, not Brodus Clay the sideshow attraction. It is time for John Cena to take up a tag partner and play the Yoda to his Luke. It is time for John Cena to leave a true legacy in the WWE, and that is not the amount of titles held, but the number of stars created.

It’s no secret here that I am a huge fan of the WWE development system right now. There is some true talent hanging out waiting in the wing down in Florida. In the sunshine state sits a vault of future mega attractions for the WWE.

Seth Rollins is as gifted in the ring as any performer in the past decade. He has the looks and athleticism to warrant a comparison to HBK. The girls will want to be with him, and the guys will want to be him. On the mic he lacks some, but with the right handling he is a future WWE champion. There is such a thing in this business as talent made to print money. Seth Rollins is that kind of talent. Put his face on a poster, a T-shirt, or a television show, and you’ll sell tickets. At the end of the day it’s why the WWE gets out of bed in the morning.

If Rollins is the next HBK then meet his Stone Cold Steve Austin, Dean Ambrose. Dean might be the most complete package to come to the WWE since Roddy Piper. He can wrestle, he can talk, and he is just enough off his rocker to draw people in. No storyline is out of bounds. Earlier this year he made waves for starting a twitter war with Mick Foley that might have been more entertaining and enthralling than anything on WWE Superstars. If any star will drive ratings for RAW 2000, it will be Dean Ambrose. He’s that damn good.

Kassius Ohno is a ring general. He is a Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Bret Hart rolled into a nasty package. He has forgotten more about different wrestling styles than half the current RAW roster knows as a whole. He can be part of a tag team. He can go 90 minutes with any talent. He can make others look better for just being in the ring with him. He is the blue collar talent needed to establish a strong roster of talents because he can work with anyone at any spot on the card. All in all, he’s the glue that keeps the show together.

That is just three members of a long line of talent that will make up the roster for WWE Monday Night RAW for the next decade and beyond. It is time for the established stars that have been recycled over and over again in rehashed feuds to begin building this future so there is a RAW 2000 for a John Cena to come back to. For the stars that got RAW to episode 1000, it is time to finish their legacy by putting over the next generation of superstars.

This doesn’t mean going Brooklyn Brawler and spending the next few years looking at the lights. It means it is time to pass the torch in the way that Magic Johnson passed the torch to Michael Jordan. You go out there, give it your all, and in the end your all isn’t enough. Give the same effort going down the ladder that you gave coming up it. That is unless you want RAW 2000 to take place at a VFW hall in Scranton.

The WWE can’t survive another decade of paranoid talent too insecure to drop politics in favor of longevity. When John Cena returns for a WrestleMania match in 15 years with a talent not even in the business yet, doesn’t he want a pay day from a thriving company?  What he does today, will impact his wallet in a decade. It is pro wrestling’s version of a 401K, put in some today, reap the rewards tomorrow.  That is because on RAW 1000, the present is the past, and the future is now.  

Who Needs To Win At RAW 1000?

(Courtesy of the WWE)

When Monday Night RAW went off the air this week, the main event for the 1000^th episode was set. It is going to be CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Title as Cena cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. As RAW goes to three hours this match will usher in the new era of WWE raising the question, who’s going to walk out of St. Louis with the thirty pounds of gold around their waist? A case can be made for both men winning, but the WWE needs only one man to win, CM Punk.

John Cena has done pretty much everything in the WWE, aside from selling hot dogs & sodas at live events. He is a decorated champion. He has main evented every major pay per view. He has wrestled the biggest matches against a slew of dream opponents. He has made movies. He has released music albums. He even got to hit his boss with a chair for a national television commercial. John Cena is a made-man in professional wrestling. He truly never has to worry about returning to the Indies unless he wants to, much like Hulk Hogan, Sting, or Shawn Michaels. Yet with all his talents he doesn’t possess the rare talent that CM Punk has, he doesn’t make stars.

With all of John Cena’s accomplishments how many stars has he made in and out of the ring? If you’re going to say Randy Orton or Edge, then I will respond with this: Did he make them, or did they make John Cena? Randy Orton found his legs with HHH and evolution. Edge was a star before John Cena walked in the building. It would appear that Cena’s star was only made brighter by these two men. For as charismatic and talented as John Cena is, he is more Hogan than Flair in that after a feud only one man comes out the better, and that man is John Cena. In that same vein, CM Punk is more Flair than Hogan.

In the 1980’s when the territories where still alive and well, Ric Flair was the NWA champion. One of the key parts to being the NWA champion was coming to a town once a year and wrestling the area’s top guy. That guy wasn’t going to beat Flair, but the nature boy made everybody believe that their local hero was a hair away from walking out of the building with the strap. When Ric Flair walked out he didn’t leave a beaten opponent, but a guy who was elevated in the eyes of the local fans. The same fans who would pay money to see their hero each and every week, even without Ric Flair at the events. Ric Flair as NWA champion helped sell tickets for all the smaller promotions by making stars that would be there when he wasn’t. That is the same rare talent that CM Punk brings to the table that John Cena doesn’t, and Hulk Hogan never had.

This talent has been on display for the past few months as CM Punk has consistently delivered top quality matches for the WWE at every spot on the card against each and every opponent. He has stolen the show as the first match, and sent fans home in a tizzy when he is the main event. He has righted the ship at the 10 PM hour, and kept fans glued when RAW runs over at 11 PM. It doesn’t matter when he wrestles, it will always be a must see match. It doesn’t even matter who the opponent is.

His recent matches with Kane have restarted the career of the Big Red Machine. The fan reaction to Kane has tempered over the past few years, but in one month of being inserted in a program with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan the monster Kane has catapulted back to the popularity of the attitude era. In Daniel Bryan, CM Punk has found his Ricky Steamboat. That being the one man that on any given night in any given match he can have a true classic showing at the drop of a hat.  

The two have wrestled off and on for the better part of three months and yet the fans salivate to see them hook up each and every time. In the ring they provide something that the WWE audience hasn’t seen in decades: Two men with the ability to make their opponent better than they ought to be. When put together against each other that means the ability to create matches and moments that have no limits.

As the WWE prepares to reign in a new era with a slew of gifted young talents waiting in the wings such as Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and the new breed of FCW, the WWE needs a man like CM Punk to be champion to help make the stars of the future. They need a champion who can beat Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose, yet still make them bigger stars in the process. They need a Daniel Bryan to be the man who works with CM Punk to prepare the talents for the next 15 years in the WWE. Bryan elevates Rollins and Ambrose to face Punk, and Punk sends them to the heavens to join the stars that the WWE Universe idolize.

Aside from building new talent and reestablishing former stars, CM Punk brings another advantage to being the WWE champion: Dream Matches. John Cena faced The Rock at Wrestlemania in a match it took a year to build. He backed that up with a dream match against Brock Lesnar. He has faced HHH, Jericho, and almost every legend aside from Stone Cold Steve Austin. In CM Punk there is a slew of dream matches including the Rock and Brock, plus HBK & Stone Cold. In between building the future, Punk as champion can elevate the title with defenses against the stars of the past without tarnishing their legacy because of his ability to have a good match with a broom. That includes the Undertaker at Wrestlemania where a title vs. streak match could be bigger than Rock vs. Cena.

When RAW 1000 is over there will be one thing for sure, a good match between CM Punk and John Cena. Yet the WWE needs one man to walk out as champion. No matter what happens John Cena will sell the same amount of shirts, tickets, and bring in the same viewers. It is CM Punk who will build the next John Cena, or even better, the next CM Punk. The WWE needs that more than squeezing the last drops of blood from the stone known as Cenation. That well is almost dry, while Punk’s is endless.