Vote Nate Mattson!

TNA Wrestling is doing a Gut Check online poll to determine who will get a shot down the road to be part of the Gut Check segment on Impact. One of my good friends, and one of the best in-ring performers on the indy circuit, "Amazing" Nate Mattson is listed in bracket #2. He is currently in second place behind a guy from Europe. If you believe in America then you'll vote for Nate. If not then it is proof you're a communist.

Nate is one of the truly good guys in pro wrestling. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He is always helping young talent hone their craft. Just having him in a locker room makes a promotion better. He deserves this shot more than anyone I know.

When I was booking MMWA in Northern Michigan, one of the first guys I got on the roster was Nate Mattson. He could have a great match with anyone in any style. He also shoots straight from the hip, so if things weren't being done right he'd tell me. Honesty in this business is rare and valuable.

He used to hang out after shows and go over my match with me, even if it didn't involve him. He'd always find something I did right and almost everything I did wrong. While I was never going to be Jim Cornette or Bobby Heenan, I know I became a better worker because of Nate Mattson.

Now it is time that people took a chance on Amazing N8. He has had a hand in helping talents like Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Jimmy Jacobs, Petey Williams, and so many more. TNA should just skip the Gut Check gimmick and give the man a job. Until then he needs people's help getting into the next round.

Check out his Gut Check Video right here.



Now go vote for Nate Mattson, or the Europeans win! Don't let George Washington down. USA! USA! USA!

http://twtpoll.com/a0tlhi

Monday Night RAW: It’s A Two Match Pay Per View

 



Happy Royal Rumble week! It is such a fun pay per view. It symbolizes the official start of the road to WrestleMania. It has such a unique match as its crown jewel that always seems to get a few new wrinkles added in. This year it has the boon of two top tier epic main events. Sorry 40-man Royal Rumble, but this year’s pay per view might be the biggest of all time. Those two matches sure as hell dominated the go home edition of Monday Night RAW.

Overall RAW was a little up and a little down. Some stuff was simply amazing. Some was good to push angles. Some was just blah. I don’t know if this show sold any more buys for the pay per view, but it was an interesting watch.

The start had me cringing. Everyone has commented on it, but why the WWE decided to basically do a RAW recap from last week is a head scratcher. Chad Dukes, from www.chaddukeswrestlingshow.com, hit it on the head when he said the WWE has two of the best talkers of all time, just let them talk. The whole “The Rock is banned from the building” angle was stupid. I get they are trying to show Vickie is power hungry and they are going for the cheap pop when Rock finally appears, but how stupid does the WWE believe their fans are. Then again maybe CM Punk is right.

I enjoy the Beat The Clock challenge. It’s a fun little gimmick that helps highlight talent and it puts a spotlight on the Royal Rumble match for multiple segments. Both of those are good things. Now there are at least 7 talents that fans know to watch going into the Royal Rumble: Antonia Cesaro, Randy Orton, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, and John Cena. All of those men have to be the favorites to win the match and headline WrestleMania. I have a feeling that Superman In Jorts is the lead dog.

The matches weren’t anything ground breaking. Miz is trying to become the next Flair but hasn’t quite got it down yet. Dolph is the man who pissed off his ex-gf, so now he has to go bell to bell. Antonio and Wade are both mid-card champs with main event potential. I would say Wade is a little more protected at this point because he wasn’t truly beaten. Reefer Randy is still dangerous no matter what. Sheamus is just as good as Dolph, but just a hair off on that night. I’ll get to John Cena and his promo later.

The filler for the show was hit or miss.

I don’t know if I really care about Big Show and Albert Del Rio. They both had squash matches. Their feud just seems like a plane still stuck on the run way. Maybe this Sunday they will take off with a great match to open the show. I also feel that Del Rio isn’t going to be champ for very long. I think that the Elimination Chamber will be his water loo. That doesn’t make me want to invest much time into this jiffy pop feud.

Ryback destroyed three men. Those three men now have no chance of ever being taken serious. Can you believe one of them used to be called Vince McMahon’s chosen one? Ouch. The WWE is trying to rebuild Ryback going towards WrestleMania. I just don’t see who he is going to feud with. I am guessing it will be Antonio Cesaro so that they can put the strap on Ryback. He would be a good US champ. Plus Cesaro can really protect him in the ring and make him look better than he does. Just watch Antonio’s match with Khali from Main Event a few weeks back if you don’t believe me.

After last week’s surprisingly good Divas match, the WWE returned to form. Kaitlyn is Vince’s new poster girl. She’ll probably be champ for a few months until his eye catches somebody else. I have a feeling he puts the title on the girl he thinks about at night when he’s in bed. Explains why Kharma never got a run with the strap. There is nothing much to talk about here.

The Dr. Shelby, Kane, and Daniel Bryan segment started off fun, but then took a huge nose dive. I’ve been going to wrestling events since the mid-90s, and I would never want to hug anyone in those audiences. Bryan is gold and Kane has some great comedy chops. Again the Shelby character is a waste. I just don’t get the appeal but he does well with the younger fans. Then again they think using a computer to change your voice is making music. These might be the fans CM Punk is talking about.

The John Cena promo to close the show wasn’t good. I know he sells tons of merch. He has a loyal fan base of young viewers and parents who like what he stands for. I just think he has gotten old. He is like Adam Sandler. I liked his older stuff but now he is almost unwatchable. The worst part is every once and awhile he is really entertaining, so you get false hope. Then he does a promo like last night and you can’t stop from shaking your head. I have a fear we are about to have him shoved down our throats beginning next week.

After Superman In Jorts put us all to sleep with his mic skills, the locker room unloads with a silly one liner gauntlet. Each one comes out, talks for 20 seconds, and gets in the ring to wait. Gee I wonder what is going to happen? Oh yeah the traditional fake rumble brawl that always happens to close the final RAW before the Royal Rumble. Maybe next year the WWE will mix it up. I’m not betting on it.

The best part of the show, and frankly the past month, was The Rock and CM Punk. Both men are red hot right now. It’s not Rock’s fault he got stuck with a silly “banned from the arena” storyline for the night. Creative needs to, I don’t know, get creative. This retread was weak and they need to do better. Even worse is that all he needed was to buy a ticket to the event. That overrides the ban and he even gets entrance music. Why didn’t the people’s champion come through the people? Guess the champ doesn’t like rubbing elbows with his people. This plot has more holes than John Dillinger.

Rock cut a decent promo but the MLK twist was a stretch. I get he is trying to honor Dr. King, but I am pretty sure “I have a dream” wasn’t about Rock’s want to be WWE champion as his three movies are coming out. There are just some things you leave alone. I think that is one of them. I would say in the three weeks of this feud that CM Punk has owned The Rock on the mic. One comes off like an entertainer just playing his hits like Jimmy Buffett. The other comes off as if this is reality.

Think about it. Jimmy Buffett sells out world-wide. He does his usual hits. His fans, “The Parrot Heads”, get wasted and sing along with him. That sounds a lot like The Rock. He does his catch phrases from a decade ago. His “people” chant along with him. No new ground broken, but everyone goes home happy. I mean twinkie tits isn’t really something that the Rock’s writers spent longer than five minutes on.

CM Punk on the other hand sounds like a wrestler. He doesn’t sound like a guy playing a character. He sounds like the same guy who threatened to kick my ass backstage at a TNA Asylum show in 2004 because I unbooked his girlfriend at the time, Traci Brooks, from a show in Northern Michigan to save the promotion money. He sounds real and that stands out in today’s WWE.

His promos have been amazing the last three weeks. He knows all eyes are on him, and win or lose; he is going to leave his mark. I would have to believe the WWE has to be considering keeping the belt on Punk at this point. He is hitting his stride as a hall of fame heel. The stipulation added by Vince McMahon concerning The Shield has me believing they might weasel their way around taking the strap off him without having him get beat.

Speaking of The Shield. How much does the WWE believe in them? WOW. They got to manhandle The Rock. I know it is three on one, but ask 3MB if that really matters. They beat the living snot out of the great one and even left him bleeding. That is huge. All three men are potential main event talents. It looks like their storyline is about to evolve at the Royal Rumble. I for one am excited about it.

There will be a Smackdown this Friday, but right now it looks like the WWE is heading into the Rumble with these four matches:

The 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

The Rock vs. CM Punk (c) for the WWE Title

The Big Show vs. Albert Del Rio (c) in a Last Man Standing Match for the World Title

The Rhodes Scholars vs. Team Hell No (c) for the WWE Tag Titles.

I also wouldn’t be shocked to see a Divas match tossed in to add a fifth match. It will probably get announced on Smackdown. I have a feeling it will be a lumberjills match to get all the Divas on TV. Also there might be a pre-show battle royal or elimination match with the low-card talent to earn a last minute spot in the rumble.

I’m going to do a Royal Rumble preview and prediction later this week. Next week is a Raw Roulette show. It should be interesting to see the fallout from the Rumble mixed with all the gimmick matches for that show format. With such a short build time before the Elimination Chamber the WWE shouldn’t be wasting much time to get things established.

Just like Zack Ryder’s push, this Monday Night RAW review is done (notice I didn’t say over).

Monday Night RAW: A Tale of Two Shows

I’m a day late in putting up this review because the one I wrote yesterday was a tad harsher than the show deserved. Sometimes you need to read your own writing and let time take the edge off. Monday Night RAW was hard to judge this week because it was two shows at once. What I mean by this is: What kind of grading scale do you use for this week’s episode?

It was the 20th Anniversary show. If you look at it like that then the show was a miserable failure. Especially when compared to the 1000th show from a few months back. It also was the two weeks out from a major PPV show. If you look at it like that, and compare it to the last few months of RAW, then it was an above average show with lots of good action. There were even a couple of great segments that the WWE could hang their hat on. In the last say 15 episodes of RAW, this was in the top three. Then again that is like saying I’m the hottest guy in the room at a Dungeons & Dragons convention. Not a real lofty goal.

As for being the 20th Anniversary show, it sucked. There was so much build up to this show. It had the hype that this was going to be a big event with tons of surprises. It ended up being mostly a past RAW clip show. No Austin, No HBK, No Undertaker, No DX (of any kind), No Nash, and No real presence of the past besides a few drops in the bucket.

Ric Flair showed up, but he was here a few weeks ago on a not so special show. Mick Foley too, but he was Santa less than a month ago. Jim Ross came in to wrap up the show, but that has happened a ton since Lawler had the heart attack. I would have even liked a Ron Simmons, “DAMN”, but nope.

It’s not my checkbook but you would think the WWE would have planned better for such a big event. They did have a lot of the stars around in July for the 1000th episode. They could have locked down commitments then for this show in January. Also they could have brought back some of the mid-card talent from the past 20 years. I don’t think Vader, Dustin Rhodes, Steve Blackman, Dan Severn, or any of those types of guys were doing much on Monday night.

That’s my gripe with the 20th anniversary angle of the show. Now looking at this week’s RAW as an overall show. It was actually a good show. I think one of their better shows. Maybe not as buzz worthy as last week but a nice follow up.

The whole three hours really paced itself well. It didn’t start out setting the bar too high and it ended with another strong closing 45 minutes. It had a few surprises, and even a title change. Then again if the Divas title changes hands, and nobody cares, does it really count. It also had some head scratch moments, and a weird drunken Ric Flair moment.

The start with Vince, Big Show, and Alberto Del Rio was pretty cookie cutter. It set up their match at Royal Rumble. Vince got to strut around for a bit. There was even a Harlem Globetrotters spot. Not too hot, not too cold. Just a nice way to kick off the show.

The first shock of the show came when Reefer Randy lost clean in the middle of the ring to IC champ Wade Barrett. When Wade didn’t even get an entrance I thought for sure he was going to eat an RKO. Maybe the no entrance was a way to make the surprise win even more shocking. Glad to see the WWE putting a quality win under Barrett’s belt. I’m sure Orton will get his revenge.

I make jokes about the Divas division because lately it hasn’t been good. The amount of empty seats during the arena pan before the match proves that. A lot of people took this match as a chance to grab a beer and a bathroom break. In the end it was a really good match. I don’t know if it was because this was Eve’s last WWE match, but both ladies let it hang out. If the WWE had more lady matches like this one then the division wouldn’t be such a joke.

The real joke is 3MB. They are the new job squad. Just when you think they’ll get some respect by beating Sheamus in a handicapped over the top rope elimination match, they come crashing down with a post-match dismantling by the Super Ginger. The WWE does need good enhancement talent. So I guess that is 3MB. The paychecks must be nice.

The Dr. Shelby segment and the two matches involving Team Hell No and Rhodes Scholars were middle of the road. Bryan and Kane are great as a duo. They make me chuckle and they can both go in the ring. The same can be said about Rhodes Scholars. The Dr. Shelby gimmick just fell flat for me. Younger fans find him funny. They also think the Kardashians are good role models. I question their judgment of character.

The booking of the two singles matches between the teams made no sense. The #1 contender got crushed in both matches. Why would I believe Rhodes Scholars has a chance of winning in a tag title match when they both got steamrolled by the champs in singles action? Luckily this feud doesn’t have to sell any tickets for the Royal Rumble.

The better booking would have been wins for both Sandow and Rhodes with outside help from their partner. Then the next week do a reverse matchup with Sandow facing Bryan & Rhodes facing Kane. The first match has another partner cheating finish only to have the second match end in a double DQ brawl between the four gentlemen when Rhodes Scholars tries to cheat for a fourth time. That’s my humble booking opinion.

Now onto “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair and his appearance. I’m a HUGE Flair fan. Huge. In the history of this business there hasn’t been a better performer to lace up the boots ever. On the mic, in the ring, and everything place else in between he is the gold standard in pro wrestling. This segment was a train wreck. Flair looked like he was on the tail end of bad bender. Miz did nothing to help control the situation. Sometimes just winging it ends in a crash and burn. This was one of those times.

Antonio Cesaro actually brought the segment back up. His mic work was top notch as always. His little jabs at Flair were great. The end was good because it furthered the Miz feud. I don’t know how I feel about Miz becoming the new “Nature Boy”. It looks like from spoilers that he’ll be using the figure four as a finisher. All in all it was a weird segment, and not in a good way.

That reminds me. The Houston crowd was horrible. I don’t know if it was the growing disappointment in the lack of returning stars, or if they just had no energy, but that crowd sucked. They gave no reaction to any part of the show that didn’t involve pandering to the audience. Ric Flair comes through the curtain and they react like it is the Brooklyn Brawler. Then the end of the show they only get lively for calling Vickie a bitch, yet stick their thumbs up their asses when the champ and Rock get into a pull apart brawl. A crowd can enhance a show and they can ruin one. This crowd really brought the feel of the show down.

I enjoyed the part with Mick Foley and the Shield. I remember the mini-feud between Dean Ambrose and Foley. I was hoping for some mic time between the two. Having Ryback, Sheamus, and Orton come down for the save made sense. The shield is getting stuck in a rut as the WWE tries to tread water with them until after the Royal Rumble. It’s about time to move the group forward with whatever the WWE has planned for them. I personally wouldn’t mind a Free Bird style tag team title run. In fact I’ll take anything that gets the three men wrestling more often as all three are really strong in-ring performers.

Watching Brodus Clay’s entrance and then watching CM Punk’s entrance is a prime example of the gap in talent between the champ and the rest of the WWE roster. Clay looks like a guy playing a character. CM Punk just looks like he is that guy walking through the curtain. He has really blurred the lines between reality and wrestling. It’s refreshing.

On twitter I got into a debate with a couple people about Punk’s value as champ. Most went with him being the lowest rated champ in history as their position. Unless he is wrestling or on TV talking for three hours straight then he can’t be fully responsible for the dip. I would even say if it wasn’t for him being champ and doing everything in his power to keep the WWE name fresh, the ratings would be worse. I’m talking below 2.0 and barely hovering above TNA worse. As I said Monday night, “CM Punk is the life boat on this titanic of a WWE roster”. John Cena is the piece of scrap that the rich chick clings to as Leo sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

The match between Punk and Clay was good. Nothing special. Clay got in more offense than I thought he would. The production team missed Punk taunting the dancers after. It’s a small thing but it was a great moment. The promo after was top notch again. He made beating Brodus sound bigger than it was. He also twisted reality again. I can’t wait to see next week just to see what happens between he and Rock.

The cage match between John Cena and Dolph Ziggler was amazing. I loved it. Sure the end was a little weak. I mean Cena took big move after big move and beats Ziggs with one finisher. It’s super Cena at its finest. Besides that I loved the psychology in the match. AJ had great facials. Big E Langston is a monster. He plays the muscle role perfectly for Dolph. I am really digging the Ziggler circus.

Rumor is the WWE wants to split Langston away from the group. That would be a mistake. They need to add more people to Dolph’s entourage. David Otunga as his legal weasel plus two stooges would be great. More is better in this case, especially when Ziggler gets fully into his World title chase.

Again the match was great. It entertained and was easily the best wrestling on the show. It is the second straight week the WWE delivered a PPV quality match as their main event. I’m almost scared to get my hopes up for three weeks in a row. I’m sure this week will be some convoluted six man. It always is.

The Rock concert is what it is. The Rock does his usual shtick. I laughed. Vickie Guerrero is a great character. The crowd gets to get involved so that perks them up. Dwayne was a little weaker on the mic this week. His singing is karaoke worthy and his promo was shaky, but it did its job. The end pull apart brawl was great but the crowd took a crap on that because it didn’t involve letting them play along. I guess if they could have chanted something during it like calling Vickie a bitch or saying “Si, Si, Si” then they would have been more excited.

The WWE is doing a bang up job in prepping this feud between CM Punk and The Rock. Right now it looks like Rock is going to walk out champ. Even the WWE PR department is tipping the hat that way with their press release about Mania as they tout the rematch of Cena and Rock. I hope they swerve us all.

Next week is the go home show. There is a lot of strong segments that could, and should, take place. The focus will be on Rock and Punk. Ziggler & Cena should be good. Plus I’m looking forward to more Team Hell No, Cesaro, Barrett, and Rhodes Scholars. Also interested in the direction of “New Nature Boy” The Miz. That’s a lot to look forward too, which is a good thing.

The lack of pressure or expectation from this not being a 20th anniversary show should help the overall reception of the product. Then again that may be setting the bar too high as three weeks of quality television from the WWE seems to be a rarity these days. Like watching a good Divas match.

Armchair Booker: Rock + Punk = WrestleMania



(Courtesy of WWE.com)

It’s been a week since the Rock and CM Punk began their collision course for an epic match at one of my favorite pay per views, The Royal Rumble. I’m always a fan of the Rumble match. It isn’t an overused match, and it usually has a lot of different aspects playing at once. Next to WrestleMania this is probably the WWE’s most anticipated event. At least it is for me. This year has even more hype with the longest reigning modern era champion putting his title, and streak, on the line against maybe the most iconic member of the attitude era. Sorry Stone Cold but where’s your billions in box office money?

If you’ve been reading the internet, and I assume you do if you’re reading this, then you’ve read that 99% of the fans expect The Rock to win at the Royal Rumble. Most sites will tell you it’s going to be Rock vs. Cena at WrestleMania in a rematch of their bout from last year. On paper that sounds good, but right now John Cena has lost some of his luster. He’s still a top guy but the thought of Rock/Cena II doesn’t have the same pull it did last year. It just doesn’t have the same sizzle that will sell a pay per view like the original match did. Even worse is this one doesn’t have a whole year to build on.

After last Monday’s amazing promo duel on RAW, the WWE needs to rethink their plans. I know they do what they want but there is something to be said about leaving money on the table. Will WrestleMania have a good buy rate with Cena vs. Rock 2? Yes. Let’s face it WrestleMania will have a good buy rate with me vs. a hobo in a wing eating contest. Yet is WrestleMania a success if it is a couple hundred thousand buys less than it could have been? No. That is literally leaving millions of dollars on the table. Unless they are trying to buy a senate seat, the McMahons don’t usually enjoy throwing away millions of dollars. 

The real rematch that should headline WrestleMania is The Rock vs. CM Punk 2. After one night there is more buzz on this matchup than after a whole year of John Cena and The Rock. This isn’t a WrestleMania match. It’s a title bout for a PPV where the matchup is probably second fiddle to the Rumble itself. Right now it looks like the Royal Rumble PPV could be more anticipated than WrestleMania because of two matches. That is saying something about how big Punk vs. Rock is building up to be.

And it should continue to build.

There is nothing new about what is going on between The Rock and CM Punk. It might even be the oldest storyline in professional wrestling. It was old school when Abe Lincoln was lacing up his boots. It is called, “The Baby Face Chase”.

The Baby Face Chase is real basic. Take one super villain champion. Make it so the fans hate him so much they’ll pay to see him get his. Then take one super hero contender. Make it so that on any night the fans believe he’ll beat the villain. Then for a few months keep the villain just a step ahead of the hero as fans continue to fork over money to see each showdown. Finally during the blow off have the hero capture the title and strike down the villain all the fans have been salivating to see get beaten. It’s simple and hundreds of years later it still works. It has kept many a territory in business.

If the WWE goes the easy route, and has The Rock beat CM Punk at the Rumble, then they’ll barely take advantage of this gold mine. They could put it off and save the payoff for the biggest show of the year. Plus why wouldn’t The Rock want his triumphant victory to take place at WrestleMania. Everybody wants their WrestleMania moment. Even Hollywood megastars.

The WWE could even have their cake and eat it too. They could still get Rock vs. Cena 2, just not at WrestleMania. In fact all of this might be the best case scenario for the WWE. I’ll explain.

Having the Rock win the WWE title at the Royal Rumble has many flaws. One is that the WWE champion probably won’t appear on any of the house shows. That hurts the product. The second is that The Rock, a man who makes his living with his face, probably doesn’t want to take part in an Elimination Chamber match. It’s an unnecessary risk. Finally, it is too predictable and that takes some of the excitement out of the win. If I know somebody is supposed to win and if he wins then I’m not jumping out of my seat. If I know somebody is supposed to win and they lose, well then my certainty going down the road is a little less. That leads to big, more genuine, shocking moments.

Since this is an armchair booker article, here is how I’d handle the Rock vs. Punk from now until WrestleMania.

First I’d have the Rumble match before the title bout. It’s that big of a match. Plus when John Cena wins the Royal Rumble it sets the table for people to believe The Rock is walking out champ. Cena is the penciled in opponent for Rock at Mania. Having John Cena win the Rumble makes sense to the smart fans believing that Rock vs. Cena 2 is merely a foregone conclusion. It is the feign before the knockout blow.

In the main event match pull out all the stops between Punk and Rock. These two can have a great match. This could easily be a modern day Steamboat vs. Flair. In the end, after false finish after false finish, it is CM Punk who retains his title. It probably shouldn’t be a clean win, but nothing too cheap. Punk’s last few months have all been tainted victories. An exposed turnbuckle into a school boy with the feet on the ropes goes a long way.

The fans are shocked. The Rock lost. The Villain won, and now CM Punk is closing in on 500 days as champion. In fact if he can stay champ just past WrestleMania he’ll hit that milestone. Just more heat on the fire.

The Rock of course will want a rematch. CM Punk won’t give it to him because who wins one match a year ago, then loses at the PPV the night before, and gets a rematch? The Rock will then try to earn his way into the Elimination Chamber in a qualifying match. It’s The Rock wrestling on FREE TV, which has to boost the ratings.

To help add heat to their feud CM Punk should cost him his qualifier match. It keeps Rock out of the cage, and it keeps him away from Punk until WrestleMania. Both will protect Rock and this feud. This is when Rock goes to plan B.

John Cena is the Royal Rumble winner. He also lost to the Rock last year at Mania. He is the Boy Scout who never backs down from a fight and always is looking for redemption. The Rock wants Punk at Mania and John Cena has the key. Rock challenges Cena at the Elimination Chamber for his WrestleMania Main Event spot. The WWE gets to reap the benefits of Cena vs. Rock 2 and have a logical way for Rock to face Punk again. It also help sell buys for your donut hole PPV. That is having your cake and eating it too. (So many food references, hungry yet?)

Rock beats Cena at the Chamber PPV and Punk survives the cage. Now the two are back in each other’s face. Fans can believe Rock will be beat Punk at Mania, but after the Rumble is anything certain? The chase is in full effect. Punk has his eyes on 500 days. The Rock is set on finally getting the WWE championship he came back for months ago.

The two meet at WrestleMania and after a slew of craziness The Rock finally pins CM Punk. Hell if somehow Bruno Sammartino was being inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame and came down to lay out Punk after his comments on RAW, how big would that be? I don’t care how old Bruno is; he can still deliver a helluva right hook. No matter what, Rock winning at Mania would blow the roof off that joint.

Depending on The Rock’s commitments there are two options. If The Rock is truly done after Mania, then have him retire as champion at the following RAW. It vacates the belt and you do a tournament to crown a new champ. If he sticks around for one more PPV, you can do Rock vs. Cena 3 with John finally getting the win against the Rock after two losses. Both ideas will do good business for the Backlash PPV.

That is how the WWE should be booking their biggest feud for the next few months. It protects all the parties involved. It makes the most money at the four upcoming pay per views. It delivers the better matchup for the biggest show of the year. All things that the WWE should be striving to do.

Now we get to tune into the Royal Rumble and see if the WWE does the smart thing. Until then I’ll do the smart thing and not hold my breath.

Monday Night RAW: Bring It!

If you’ve followed this site then you know the past three months have been a roller coaster ride without a safety bar. From the end of October until a few weeks ago I have dealt with the sudden diagnosis of my mom’s lung cancer. After treatments were less than successful, she has been downgraded to Stage 4 Terminal Lung Cancer. In December we decided to check her into hospice to make her transition from this world to the next as comfortable as possible. Nothing makes you grow up faster than helping plan your mom’s end of life details. She decided to donate her body to science. I think that is pretty cool. When my time comes I want a Viking funeral. Flaming floating boat and all.

Life is about balance. Dealing with my mom has been the lowest of the low. On December 24th my son was born five weeks early. That was the proudest moment of my time on this spinning rock. Having him in my life has been the highest of the highs. 2012 has truly been a roller coaster. With 2013 here I’m ready to ride the tea cups for a bit.

This Monday I sat on the couch with the little man and introduced him to pro wrestling. I hadn’t watched RAW in a few weeks. Mostly because holiday shows are wastes of my time. I started watching the BCS title game but Alabama turned that into a squash match early. Notre Dame looked like the Brooklyn Brawler of college football. I was waiting for the Crimson Tide to drop the leg. By 9:30 I flipped over to my DVR.

Monday Night RAW was really good this week. The last hour might have been the best television the WWE has produced in years. I want to really focus on that but here are a few notes from the rest of the show.

John Cena opening the show and not hogging the entire three hours helped the overall product. Not being in the main event picture suits him right now. I’m not saying John boy should never ride high again but he has really burned out the audience at this point. Helping guys like Ziggler get over is the perfect role for 2013 John Cena.

Speaking of Ziggler. I enjoy this new persona for him. Having AJ and Big E in his corner is perfect. He actually needs one or two stooges too. Like a Stevie Richards or Patterson/Briscoe. It would finish off the Ziggler Circus. I think this is Zigs year. AJ not being the focus of a storyline but a role player helps her too. She can’t carry a feud but she can sure spice it up. Big E plays his role to a T… a Mr. T.

I could write an entire article on Antonio Cesaro. He has put the US title back on the map. I actually care about it. He is great in the ring, and if you have a chance find his promo from last week’s WWE Main Event. Great stuff. How amazing was it when he picked up Khali for his finisher? I think a feud between he and Miz will be really good. I hope they keep the strap on him for a while. He is a future main eventer and will sell a lot of tickets for the WWE. Also got my fingers crossed that this Anti-USA thing is leading to a feud with John Cena. It could do wonders for both men.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Team Hell No. Just as Cesaro has resurrected the US title, Kane and Bryan have made the WWE tag titles relevant again. Their shtick makes me laugh. Yeah it’s childish but then again we’re watching grown men in tights grab each other. The crowd loves them and both men can have great matches with any talent on the roster. The tag division is heating up with a number of teams coming into their own.

Also Cody Rhodes has an amazing mustache. It is 70’s porn worthy.

Wade Barrett makes for a good IC champ. He is physical and has a great look. The WWE has to handle his run correctly. I still don’t think he has the tools to have a great match with anyone like an Antonio Cesaro. He’ll have to be paired with some good talents like a returning Christian or Rey Mysterio to help him make this a memorable IC title reign.

The show wasn’t perfect. The Divas division is in shambles. Nothing good can be said about it. Whose cereal did Kofi crap in? Big Show destroyed him and any credibility he had. Same goes for 3MB. I guess the WWE needs good jobbers. These weren’t big chunks of the show and more like breathers between the really good action.

Now onto that last hour … WOW!

I have so much more respect for Ryback. I still don’t like the “Feed Me More” thing but this feud with CM Punk has helped him grow. It is going to be important for the WWE to pair him with good talent beyond this feud. The TLC match between Punk and Ryback was PPV main event quality. It was brutal with new inventive spots. The two ladder bumps and the table bump that Punk took were insane. There is a reason he is the best in the world.

They told a great story and the end was good to keep Ryback strong, move him into a true feud with The Shield, and transition CM Punk into his match up with The Rock. Anyone who thought it was going to be Ryback vs. Rock at the Royal Rumble probably sends money to Nigerian Princes looking to share their fortune. As far as plunder matches like TLC go, this was one that should be studied by workers for years.

The last 40 minutes with CM Punk and The Rock was simply amazing. Jim Ross wrote that people shouldn’t look for a winner and he is right. These two were like Apollo and Rocky. They just kept tossing haymaker after haymaker at each other. Sometimes The Rock comes off a little campy but that is his character. If anyone else said Cookiepuss then I’d shake my head and groan.

CM Punk came out and cut probably the best promo in wrestling I’ve ever seen. He wove truth with twisted reality. He called out the fans and the WWE for being the problem with the product. It’s true that T-shirt sales are more important that actual ability. Fans have lost the want to watch wrestling and instead desire to be part of the show. I think it has gotten so bad that guys like Bret Hart or Chris Benoit wouldn’t have a chance in the current WWE. Not unless they are willing to show their ass on a regular basis. The reason for this … The Rock.

Guys like him with 90 catch phrases, who spend half their time trying to get the audience to chant whatever, are what ruined true wrestling. The Rock is what turned Pro Wrestling into Sports Entertainment. I love The Rock. I think he is a gifted performer. He has amazing charisma. Yet CM Punk is dead on when he points out that because of people like The Rock that true talent is buried unless they get out there and shuck n’ jive for the masses.

When the two finally went face to face I was sold. They didn’t have to say a word and I was ready to plop down $54.95 for the Royal Rumble in HD. Then they spoke and I was ready to order it twice. The Rock did his usual antics and CM Punk stuck to his guns.

Most people when faced with The Rock act over the top at all of his lines. If you could oversell an insult then it usually happens when facing off with The Rock in a promo. CM Punk didn’t do this. He shouldn’t. It doesn’t fit him. He took it all with a smirk on his face. He let the world know that it’s all a bunch of hot air and at the end of the day he is the WWE champ.

CM Punk finally did what a WWE champ or any active WWE superstar should do when faced with a part time talent. He let The Rock know in that ring he’s going to destroy him. Sure it’s a line from a Kid Rock song but when CM Punk said, “You’re arms are too short to box with God”, I leapt out of my chair. This is how pro wrestling is supposed to be.

Later this week I’ll be doing an Arm Chair Booker for this feud. I believe that the WWE needs to scrap any plans for Cena vs. Rock at WrestleMania and get these two into a real storyline for the next three months. The payoff will be huge. I’m talking Hogan vs. Andre huge. I’ll go more into detail in my Arm Chair Booker article. Look for it in a few days.

I’m geeked for more wrestling. Monday can’t come fast enough. The Rumble feels like it is a million days away and I want it to happen now. I haven’t felt this way about a PPV in years. Probably since the first ECW One Night Stand. In honor of that PPV I’m going with this war cry leading into the Royal Rumble, “If Rock Wins We Riot!”.

All I know is that The Rock and CM Punk for an hour on Monday Night did one thing … They Brought It!

Update

Hey All!

I haven't been blogging much lately because life has taken over my free time. A little under two weeks ago we checked my mom into hospice as her Lung Cancer was moved into stage 4 terminal. It has been a rough emotional time. She is in a great place right now. The staff is top notch. It puts my mind at ease to know her last days on this planet will be lived as pain-free as possible. I hope to post some ramblings on this site soon enough.

Thanks to all who have tweeted, emailed, and just found a way to reach out to be during this time. Your support has been amazing.

Better days ahead,

Quazi

Back in the saddle

Hey it's almost Thanksgiving. Life is slowing down a bit and I'm looking forward to posting new articles, opinions, and flat out rants about pro wrestling real soon. Like tomorrow soon. If you missed Survivor Series (like I did) then you missed the debut of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. I have been geeked about two of these three for years. This is the spark that I was waiting on to perk my interest in the WWE product once again.

Tune into RAW tonight to see where the future of the WWE is headed. Then check back here tomorrow for a RAW review plus I am sure I'll have something to say about something the WWE screwed up. I'm looking at you John Cena's new money grab ... I mean gear.

Until then enjoy this and try to keep your shirt on (or not)