Arrival Of A Legend & The Truth Finally Gets Revealed

What's happening kiddies!  Been a while since I've done my wrestling blogs but I'm back and what a hell of a historic week for the WWE, although some of it wasn't flattering.  We'll start with the positive.  The WWE's annual pre-Thanksgiving event, Survivor Series, was this past Sunday.  This was a very lackluster event as a whole (what else is new), but there was one earth-shattering highlight.  Leading up to the historic arrival of an icon, the main event was in full swing.  The company did a great job promoting the main event, which consisted of Team Cena (Cena, the newly babyfaced Ryback, Ziggler, Big Show, and a surprising teammate in former Wyatt member Erick Rowan) vs. Team Authority (Rollins, Henry, the undefeated U.S. Champ Rusev, Kane, and the new Inter-Continental Champ, the other Wyatt member Luke Harper).  The match itself was overall well done, but what was surprising was the match ended up revolving around Ziggler.  It wasn't about Cena, as he was eliminated in the match thanks to a heel-tuning Big Show (yet again).  The former 3-time I-C Champ showed that he belonged in the main event with a hellacious showing for himself.  As he started eliminating Harper and got Rusev counted out, it was down to him and Rollins.  Before long HHH and Steph were desperate, knocking out refs and such.  Then, in what was the biggest moment perhaps in many years, the lights went out and a video emerged on the titantron, and it was clear...it was Sting!  Then, the man himself appeared and the roof completely was blown off.  As we witnessed a staredown for the ages between him and HHH, the Game attempted to strike first, but Sting countered with the Scorpion Deathtrap, and put Ziggler on top of Rollins for the win.

Longtime fans have been eagerly awaiting his on-air arrival since signing a Legends and Merchandising deal with WWE late summer.  Not to mention his appearance on WWE 2K15 as a downloadable character.  For those that have been fans for over twenty years, you know this was the moment you've been waiting for, as Sting was widely considered the greatest wrestler of all-time never signed by Vince.  At fifty-five years of age, he doesn't need a full-time schedule, but truthfully, so what?  It's irrelevant.  The fact that he's there is a historic moment in itself.  If he only has one or two matches remaining in him, he has already made our wildest dream come true.  Now it's a matter of who he'll face.  The obvious selection will be HHH, but he's stated in the past that he would love to face Taker at WM.  We'll see how it goes, but for now us fans are still marking out over the debut of the last of the remaining icons.

Now on to another matter.  This morning, the wait was over!  Estranged WWE star CM Punk FINALLY did a shoot interview with his great friend Colt Cabana on his podcast about his departure from WWE.  To no surprise, he held nothing back, although he was very calm and docile.  He revealed some very classless and insensitive things about the house that Vince built.  Among some of the highlights of the hour long interview was the fact that after he "took his ball and went home", he was suspended for two months, and was then fired on his wedding day to current Diva, AJ Lee.  Furthermore, he revealed that he had been wrestling with a potentially life threatening MERSA staph infection that the WWE chief physician just kept giving him z-packs for months that ended up in him losing countless hours of sleep due to pain as well as diarrhea bouts.  He revealed that he was unsurprisingly working with numerous injuries including concussions and banged up knees and elbows but that Vince would barely give him any time off to heal, and that he would actually look forward to surgery just so he could have time off and rehab.  One surprising moment came when he revealed that he came up with the idea for The Shield, only instead of Roman, he wanted now-released star Chris Hero, or known in NXT as Kassius Ohno. Also remember when HHH walked Floyd Mayweather to the ring before a bout of his over the summer?  Well, put that another Punk idea because he had asked to walk alongside UFC fighter and friend Chael Sonnan, but Vince shot that idea down claiming UFC was "barbaric". This can be found on Colt Cabana's website, colt cabana.com.  Trust me, it's well worth your time and serves as the most interesting shoot podcast in years.  Hopefully, this will put to rest any and all rumors leading up to this interview.  Many will never look at WWE the same again, and perhaps rightfully so in my opinion.  It's funny how promotion can make you hate something you've loved for so long.  It makes me push for the the North American success of the New Japan Pro pay per view in January, Wrestlekingdom, that much more.

This is really a no-holds-barred interview that is very detailed and captivating and I highly encourage any fan or mark to listen.  This has given me even more respect for Punk for being a fighter and literally putting his health and well being on the line for a company that truthfully didn't have his back, even with them putting the strap on him for over four hundred thirty days.  Part two of the interview will be next week, and this time (duh, duh, DUH) he's answering tweets and questions.  Rather historic week like I mentioned folks.  See you guys next time around!

Hell In A Cell Overview

What's happening folks!  Another weekend in the books.  Hopefully everyone had a great one.  Chances are people were getting ready for Halloween this coming Friday and getting prepped for some outlandish costumes and special "Halloween drinks" (save a cup or two for me).  This past Sunday was WWE's annual Hell In A Cell pay per view.  This event spawned from the WWE producing its most sinister and violent match.  To this day I question making entire pay per views of gimmick matches, especially considering only one or two of the matches on the gimmick pay per view will actually involve the gimmick match to which the event is named after.  In any event, traditionally, HIAC isn't that impressive of an event.  It doesn't stand anywhere near the big four (Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and Survivor Series) and quite frankly the value of the HIAC match itself has all but died a complete death.

Before I get into the review of the event, let's go into the history of the cell.  When the cell was first introduced into the WWE in 1997, it was to put a violent end to the rivalry involving Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.  We saw a monstrous cage, very similar to WCW's old Thundercage matches, in which it was a cage that surrounded the entire ringside area.  This was a huge, steel enclosed fence with a roof on top.  The match was vicious, violent, and for Shawn Michaels especially, a very bloody evening (he needed twenty stitches to close the wound).  Deemed as Michaels' worst beating ever, we also witnessed the debut of Kane, as he was responsible for the outcome of the match, which was Michaels crawling his limp, blood stained body on top of Taker for the win.  From there, came a couple of others which continued to show the awesomeness of matches in the cell.  Then came June of 1998 in Pittsburgh.  Taker vs. Mankind.  The match that took violence and compelling storytelling to a whole new level for WWE and maybe even the sport.  You already know what happened, but it's still widely considered the most memorable Cell match of all-time.  Foley came out of that match with NUMEROUS injuries and it subsequently shortened his career.  From that point on, the bar was set, never to be fully met to such expectations ever again.  However, there had still been some incredible matches within the cell for the next few years (who can forget matches like Taker vs. Lesnar, Taker vs. Batista, HHH vs. Batista, DX vs. The McMahons and Big Show, and definitely the six man Armageddon match?).  Once we entered "PG", we knew the allure of HIAC and matches like the Elimination Chamber would be grossly scaled down, and boy were we right unfortunately.  Arguably the last great Cell match that kept us on our toes was Taker vs. HHH at Wrestlemania 28.

Let's now fast forward to last night's event in Dallas (go Cowboys!)  I didn't have a lot of high hopes for this event to start off with except for the double main event and maybe Cesaro vs. Ziggler in their Two Out Of Three Falls Match.  The first match of the night involved Mark Henry vs. Bo (don't call me Bray Wyatt's brother) Dallas.  While going to the ring, he did make a great one-liner, stating that because he had a cit named after him, that night he would be called Bo Washington (ironic considering tonight's game of my Boys against the Dead, I mean Redskins).  The match last damn near a minute and Henry picks up a win.

Next up, the two out of three falls match was upon us.  Great back and forth match with Cesaro continuing to show why he's truly one of the most under appreciated talents in the sport today, however Ziggler showed the same thing, as he deserves the same distinction as Cesaro.  Ziegler won the first fall with an inside cradle after a competitive first fall.  The second fall was even better, as both men turned up the intensity, but in the end of this exciting fall, Ziggler picked up the win for the second fall, thus winning the match.  This should've been a WHOLE lot better considering the talent involved, but due to the double main event, one could see why they didn't want these two to go over twenty minutes.  Damn shame though, I mean really.  These two are certifiable main venters.  Trust me, I'll rant about this later.

Next was the "Battle Of The Bellas", as Brie faced Nikki, with the stipulation that the loser would be the winner's personal assistant for thirty days.  Based upon Nikkie's affiliation with The Authority, and her very pathetic stories of how Brie was always the more popular twin growing up, one could already tell how this would turn out. Somewhere during this match the crowd started chanting for Texas native, JBL, which typically means fans are tuning out. In all fairness, these young ladies tried to put on a good contest. It wasn't a terrible match like I expected it to be going into it, but I just think the storyline is just utterly and completely played out and worn out. Brie did many moves reminiscent of her hubby Daniel Bryan (who's career may unfortunately be over if he does have this suggested surgery). Nikki ultimately won with her "Rack Attack" finisher, thus Brie has to be her "bitch" for the next thirty days or get fired.  One can't help but see she'll use her sister to obtain the Divas Title from AJ, maybe starting as soon as tonight.

The Tag Team Championship was next between The Usos and Gold & Star Dust.  The Dust Brothers defeated The Usos last month at Night Of Champions to win their second Tag Titles.  The stage was set for a great rematch.  Truthfully, they didn't disappoint.  The Usos have been the real saving grace of anything that remotely has to do with the tag team division, along with Goldie and Cody (pre-Stardust).  After a battling fifteen minutes, The Dust Brothers retained the belts.

The Cell is finally lowered.  It had been speculated that Cena vs. Orton would main event the show due to the stipulation attached with it.  The winner would be number one contender for Lesnar and the title.  However, this would NOT be the main event as Orton's music started to play.  Then Cena came out.  Yes, we've seen everything these two can give us.  Yes, most of us are completely and utterly spent of Cena and Orton.  On the other hand, from a business perspective, this is a draw with two guaranteed big money drawers for an event such as this.  Also, anytime they get together, nine times out of ten, you're going to get a very compelling match.  This was no exception, in fact I would put this up there with their best matches like their sixty minute Ironman match and their I Quit match.       Many great near fall attempts here, including a couple of insane RKOs form Orton.  In the end, Cena came out with the win and stared a hole through Paul Heyman, who was sitting with the HIAC panel, along with Renee (future Mrs. Jonathan "Dean Ambrose" Good perhaps) Young, Booker T, and A-Ri.    One can expect Lesnar vs. Cena at Royal Rumble, as Lesnar isn't scheduled to appear on WWE TV for the remainder of the year.

The United States Championship match is next as the challenger Miz, along with his "understudy" Damien San/Mizdow in his corner as always, faces Sheamus.  Not an impressive match, but what made it bearable, and at times very damn comedic, was the actions of San/Mizdow.  He literally mimicked every single action of Miz in and out of the ring.  This man has really showed himself to be the true "awesome" one of the two, just based upon entertainment alone.  Otherwise, not much to say here, as Sheamus retained the title.  The fun part happened after the match.  Miz, laid out from the Brogue Kick, was mimicked by San/Mizdow by appearing laid out as well.  Seamus was messing around with a prone Miz just to see if San/Mizdow would mimic the actions, or lack thereof, of Miz, including hoisting Miz up having Miz do the Y-M-C-A arm gestures, just to see if San/Mizdow would imitate them, and he did.  Sheamus delivered Brogue Kick number two to Miz, and of course San/Mizdow had to mimic Miz falling to the mat and selling the kick.  In short, San/Mizdow is incredible, and DESERVES more than this.  Here's to a WAY overdue push to get away from Miz and become more than what he's been throughout this year.

The next match was Big Show vs. the undefeated Rusev.  The build up to this match was good, and definitely better than what we've seen lately involving rivalries with Rusev.  Show took the fight completely to the young Bulgarian.  Out comes Mark Henry to cheer on his friend and teammate Show.  However, Rusev, before too long, took control and took out Henry, gained control over Show, and put him in the Accolade (Camel Clutch anyone?)  Show eventually tapped, thus extending the undefeated streak of Rusev.  What's next for Rusev?  One has to think either a U.S. Title shot, or a rivalry with Cena.

The Divas Title match is next as Paige once again challenges AJ Lee for the title.  Paige has her "new bestie" Alicia Foxx at ringside with her (no coincidence that these two are put together just as the announcement is made that these two are the newest cast members of Total Divas next season right?) Simply put, the match was almost all Paige.  Let me go left for a second.  This has to be one of the most disappointing rivalries I have seen all year, and it was supposed to be a monster.  I should've been one.  It could've been one.  Once again, booking/creative and Vince have dropped the ball on a gold mine.  They had salad and turned it into shit.  Paige is one of the most celebrated women wrestlers in the world and AJ has proved her worth for over three years now.  This should've been our new Trish vs. Lita, or at least Taryn Terell vs. Gail Kim in TNA.  Nothing!  Do booking/creative care?  Likely not.  Does Vince care?  Completely not.  Again, more on my rant shortly.  Now back to the regularly scheduled program.  Paige was in top form here until they went to the outside.  Paige stood on the security wall but AJ reversed Paige and it resulted in a very nasty head bump against the wall for Paige.  Right now, there aren't any concussion concerns, but after looking at that bump, I wouldn't have been surprised.  Foxx sends Paige back into the ring, and into the Black Widow submission and it was a fairly quick tap out.  Afterwards Paige turned on Foxx, and thus we've seen the end of a once very promising rivalry.

Now we've finally come to our thrilling main event of Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins.  This was a good choice to headline the event because of the hellacious match quality these two do.  After the excellent promo Mick Foley gave to both of them last Monday, the anticipation built that much more.  Dean comes out first to quite a loud ovation, and has some goodies that came to the ring with, notably a kendo stick.  After bringing weapons into the cell, he then had visions of Foley, as he climbed the cell, all twenty plus feet, and was on top of the cell, as he wanted to start the match on top.  Incredible sight.  Seth comes out with perhaps our new generation's "Stooges", Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble.  He tells them to go up and bring Dean down, however as they climb up, so does he so it's three-on-one on top of the cell.  He does get the better of the exchange and then proceeds to scale down the cell along with Seth as both are fighting on the side of the cell with the announcers tables.  As predicted, both men go through the tables.  Truthfully, I didn't understand why BOTH men went through.  Here's why: Dean delivered a head-butt to Seth, but as soon as he did, they both took the bump through the tables.  It would've made more sense if they had both head-butted each other, thus both men going through, but not one delivering to the other and both going through.  Anyways, stretchers are brought out to attend to both men, but Dean gets off and attacks Seth who's still on it.  Dean sends Seth back to the ring and implores officials to lock the cell door so now the match begins.  This match was hard, heavy, and all kinds of physical.  Ambrose fought back from being on top of the cell fighting off Mercury and Noble, as well as a fire extinguisher attack from Kane who appeared at ringside.  However, as Ambrose was getting the cinder blocks from underneath the ring and would attempt to perform Rollins' Curbstomp move on him, the lights went off and there was murmuring going on, almost demonic-like chanting.  Before too long, a light comes on and a lantern is in the middle of the ring.  Then smoke appears from the lantern with an image being formed from the smoke.  AWESOME STUFF!  Out of nowhere come BRAY WYATT!!!!  The returning "Eater of Worlds" struck Ambrose, then the lights go back out.  Lights come back on and we see Ambrose prone and Wyatt in that creepy exorcist stance of his.  He then slams Ambrose and kneels next to him while Rollins pins him for the win.  Afterwards he does Sister Abigail on Ambrose and the show ends with a new Wyatt signature.  Crazy to see Wyatt back!

Now for my much anticipated rant.  While an okay event, nowhere near a classic, but a pretty tolerable event, HIAC delivered an overall very predictable event as it always does.  We're beyond tired of Cena and Orton.  The AJ vs. Paige rivalry was almost pointless and was quite disappointing to say the least.  Let's look at the current stuff going on.  It was correct to use Rollins and Ambrose in the main event, and I completely agree with the decision.  However, this should've been a thirty-forty minute classic much like Shawn vs. HHH in a HIAC match in 2002 that lasted nearly fifty minutes.  These two should've had a match of the year candidate.  Did they have a great match?  Yes, but it could've been three times better.  Furthermore, what are they going to do with Orton and Rollins?  Rollins Curbstomped Orton last week, and they're both a part of The Authority.  Orton should've RKO'd Rollins as soon as he left the ring to set up this rivalry properly.  Meanwhile, as much as I'm really looking forward to crazy vs. crazy as this new Ambrose vs. Wyatt feud picks up, booking/creative and Vince have had moments where they could've had golden moments but they turned them into crap (Jericho vs. Wyatt, AJ vs. Paige, Cena vs. Wyatt, etc.) so what's going to give us the assurance that they won't repeat history?  As much as I wanna go in on booking and creative, ultimately, everything filters through Vince, and he ultimately the biggest problem of his promotion.  The greatest were the ones that had the nerve to challenge Vince and his decision making.  Stone Cold, The Rock, Hogan, Taker, Foley and even Punk told Vince that his ideas sucked, and eventually he saw their vision.  The problem is that we don't have anyone willing to tell Vince that his ways aren't working.  He's playing way too safe.  Cena's career will soon be dwindling down.  Bryan may never return.  Punk doesn't want anything to do with you ever again.  SO who does that leave?  Roman Reigns, and simply put, he's not ready to be in the main event, I don't care how good he looks.    Give him another year and I'll say go for it, but if you risk putting him in that spotlight and shoving him down peoples throats, you know what will happen, ask Cena.  What we as pure wrestling marks and fans have to realize is that Vince doesn't give a damn about us marks and fans, he cares about the kids, women, and family entertainment and branding so that he can obtain more revenue.  As I've said, this will continue unless more people like Jeff Jarrett start their own brands and start making more options for people to watch.  I don't know the future of TNA, ROH still has production woes, and Lucha Underground is only for people who have satellite and digital cable.  Mark my words, Vince will start to get it when you actually appear on his radar.  This, like many pay per views they've had lately, could've been awesome with engaging writing and exciting performances, but Vince likes to screw things up and shake things right before it's go time.  To me, what's the use of a writing team if you're just going to veto what they write.  How much longer are you going to ignore complaints from the likes of Russo, Jim Ross, Mick Foley, and Edge about how suck-ass your product has been, not to mention fans?  Mark my words, Vince, you'll regret this.  That's all for now folks!  See you next week God willing.

The Rise & Fall Of TNA

What's going on folks!  I don't know about you but, depending upon your geographic location, I'm thrilled with the arrival of Fall.  This is sooooo much more my season than Spring or Summer, especially Summer.  Love it!  Anyways, on to this week edition of The Cypher.  This week, we'll take a slight departure from my WWE ramblings, and focus on TNA.  At one point, this was the most promising wrestling promotion in North America.  When ECW and WCW went bell up and Vince bought them both out, TNA was the best alternative we had, and boy was it welcomed.  I first noticed TNA when they were under the NWA banner, and Ken Shamrock was its champion.  I also noticed that a lot of guys on the rooster adopted the Paul hetman/ECW philosophy of bringing in guys that nobody else (WWE) wanted and would make stars out of them.  This promotion that was ran by Jeff Jarrett but Dixie Carter, thanks to her parents investing in the product, was also President of TNA.  They introduced new and innovative ideas into the fold with a six-sided ring (which was used within the ranks of the AAA promotion in Mexico) and something called the X-Division, which originally was thought to be a Junior Heavyweight or Cruiserweight division.  This X-Division was putting on outstanding matches much similar to WCW Cruiserweight matches, and introducing young talent like Chris Sabin, Matt Bently, and Ring Of Honor favorites Christopher "The Fallen Angel" Daniels and "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles.  This division, however, placed more an emphasis on high-risk moves and tremendous aerial spots.

Branching off from the independent circuit, TNA had a ton of promise building and it when Carter and Jarrett announced that they had a TV deal with Spike TV, us fans were very excited.  Very quickly, we found out just how awesome this talent pool was.  Their tag team division was off the charts, with teams like Triple XXX, Team Canada, The Naturals, and America's Most Wanted.  This promotion purposely went against the "Sports Entertainment" route, and make a pure wrestling product, with story lines being not as high of a priority.  For purists, this was nothing but a breath of fresh air, as the Attitude Era of WWE was coming to an end and the beginning of the mostly overlooked "Ruthless Aggression" era was on the verge of breaking through.  Aside from new, burgeoning stars, we also saw some familiar faces.  Wrestlers like Raven, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, R-Truth (he was known by his real name Ron Killings) in TNA, and others were also helping to better the product without it having to be another WCW spinoff.

Truthfully, even their Women's Division was different, but in a good way.  Their women were tougher and put on more entertaining matches that didn't have to involve bra-and-panties matches.  Gail Kim was the inaugural champion defeating the likes of ODB, former WWE Women's Champion Jackie Moore, Ms. Brooks, and Angel Williams and others.  These women were clearly out to show off more than their gorgeous looks, they wanted to show that they could kick ass as much as the boys, and they absolutely did prove it night after night.

One area that they broke ground in was the fact that Ron "The Truth" Killings (R-Truth) became the first Black to ever hold the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  Bobo Brazil was technically the first, but it was never recorded in the annals of wrestling history.  Killings won that title twice.  Unlike Vince would never allow a Black man to win the WWE Title, Dixie and Jeff saw his talent and his excellent promo work and allowed him to become champion.

Unfortunately, the notoriety it was getting started to become an albatross.  We started seeing more worldwide stars such as Kurt Angle, Christian, The Dudleys, and even Sting come through the company.  While this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as Christian became a min eventer which was something he never was in WWE, it slowly started to become a WCW clone, as it started getting former WWE stars more and more.  Then, the unthinkable happened.  Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair joined.  We knew things were completely going to change, and it did, in very unflattering fashion.  Aside from the fact that they were moving their weekly shows away from Disney, which they affectionately called "The Impact Zone", they did the unthinkable.  They got rid of the six-sided ring.  The one thing that made them different in mainstream North American wrestling got canned, thanks to the vision and direction of Bischoff and Hogan.  They also, briefly, wanted to move TNA to Monday nights.  VERY bad move.  From that moment on, things became a slippery slope for the once very promising group.

Then a few years later, they introduced a Hall Of Fame, which was pretty much designed to beat WWE to the punch when it came to inducting wrestlers who would be sure fire Hall Of Famers if Vince got his hands on them.  The first inductee was Sting, a no-brainer as his legacy in the business makes him just as legendary and revered as peers of his like Flair, Hogan, and Austin.  The next year was Kurt Angle.  Although he was battling demons like depression and addiction, he still was an overwhelming choice as he remains the only professional wrestler that's an Olympic Gold Medalist.  Not to mention he has fifteen World Titles to his credit.  Many view him the greatest all-around wrestler in recorded history.  This past Sunday, The Dudley Boyz (or as they would be called in TNA, Team 3D, due to Vince owning the name 'Dudley Boyz') were inducted, and much like the aforementioned inductees, they deserve their spot in immortality in the sport as they're legitimately seen by many as the greatest team of all-time, especially if one were to base it off of championships won, as they've earned over twenty-three tag tiles, a record that has yet to have been broken.

While this is to be commended on the part of Dixie, who took over total reigns as Jarrett decided he wanted nothing more to do with TNA based upon the direction his promotion was going towards, her lack of industry know-how and listening to some of the wrong people has caused this brand to have people, and sponsors to lose faith in the promotion.  Spike TV decided not to renew their contract, so the quest is on for a new network.  Many wrestlers such as AJ, Daniels, Kazarian, and others have left the promotion because they were getting fairly low-balled in the renewing of their contracts or because they saw the handwriting on the wall.  House show numbers were grossly down and ratings were very, very dismal.  Also of note, the X-Division wasn't as big of a draw as it used to be.  It had loss a bit of its flare, and it was noticeable.

We have witnessed the downfall of one of wrestling's most intriguing promotions due to clumsy and ignorant mismanagement.  It seems like no matter what Dixie tries to come up with, or people like her Senior VP of Talent Big John Guberick can think of, as well as her creative team, the quicksand is deepening for the company.  Without a TV deal, TNA's days are numbered, and Vince can say he's won, yet again.  Although he never really considered them a threat by any means, he knew who they were.  Perhaps the problem here lies with the fatal flaw most promotions in the past would try to execute: competitng with Vince.  If you try to compete with Vince, YOU WILL LOSE!  However, if you offer an alternative, you have a better chance of expanding the wrestling market and set a precedent for your promotion on your own terms.  just because Vince is the industry leader doesn't mean that you must follow his lead.  Originally, TNA knew this and offered a phenomenal alternative to "sports entertainment".  Then, with Rong Of Honor acquiring a TV deal with Sinclair Broadcasting, it seemed that wrestling was becoming a three headed monster again much like the days of WWE, WCW, and ECW.

I really hope Dixie gets it.  She needs a complete overhaul of her product.  Allow someone with wrestling sense (Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Gabe Sapoltski, Danny Davis, etc.) to run the promotion from a creative and talent standpoint.  The wrestlers there are talented and, if allowed, can put on quite an entertaining show.  The NYC taping that have been aired have been some overall great displays of the entertainment and competitive storytelling they can offer.  Although they brought back the six-sided ring, the damage has been done.  Has it been too little too late?  Maybe.  Is there room to fix the problem?  At his point, doubtful.  If for some reason, they do acquire a new TV deal, Dixie needs to humble herself and overhaul her company.  Dixie is NOT a wrestling promoter.  Meanwhile Jarrett is putting the finishing touches to his new promotion Global Force Wrestling, which is already making news for their multiple partnerships with many different international promotions such as AAA, NJPW, Wrestle Zero-One, All-Star Wrestling, and a few others, not to mention the indies.  This has potential to be the very badly needed alternative to Vince and the much overdue breath of new, fresh air the sport needs.  TNA is no longer it.  Ring Of Honor, although their talent pool is straight awesome, needs way better production value.

I'm rooting fror TNA.  Really I am.  However, if Dixie doesn't come to terms with her failures as a promoter and allow better voices of reason to dig her out of this hole that she dug for herself, the promotion will surely die.  Here's to hopeful days ahead for TNA.  See you guys and gals next week!

The Mishandling Of The Wyatt Family

What's happening folks!  This is my weekly entry in the area of the blogging universe concerning what's right (or wrong) with the state of wrestling, or mores the WWE.  This week, it's the travesty that the WWE is creating (one of quite a few by the way).  Last week on RAW, there was a strange, yet very intriguing, vignette from The Wyatt Family, in which it has Bray at his creative best as usual, but this time it was a little different.  He was highlighting one of his "brothers", Luke Harper.  He gave a brief background into Luke's character, then stated he had "fixed" him, and that he was "free". Here's a look:






From there, widely spread talk was that this was the promotion of The Wyatts breaking up.  With me being the biggest Wyatt mark, I said that this wasn't true.  It couldn't be true.  However, this past Monday, another Wyatt video emerged, and this time Bray was endorsing the more strange of the two more physical members, Erick Rowan.  Much like last week's video, Bray was giving us a brief glimpse into who Erick was, stating he was a "grown child", but that Bray had "fixed" him. At the end of the vid, there was a pregnant woman with the words "It's coming" written across her stomach. Here's a look:





As you can see, these videos are simply BRILLIANT.  One can only imagine what next week's video will be.  Now comes my very venomous rant towards this whole thing.

Bray Wyatt is the single best new heel character the company has had to offer in many years.  His presence oozes the likes of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and could literally be the most imaginative and engaging talker in the locker room other than perhaps Dean Ambrose.  Maybe even more than him.  The things this man comes off the top of his head with screams, "How does he come up with this stuff and none of it is scripted?"  His mysterious, enigmatic cult leader type aura is plain and simply awesome in its approach.  The man behind this amazing character is actually a third generation wrestler.  His father is former NWA, WCW, and WWE great Mike Rotunda (known in WWE circles as Irwin R. Schyster- former WWE Tag Team Champion). His younger brother is current WWE star and former NXT Champion Bo Dallas. His uncle is WWE Hall Of Famer, and famed former Horseman, Barry Windham, (in fact he was named after Windham in real life, as his legal name is Windham Lawrence Rotunda) and his grandfather is another Hall Of Famer, Blackjack Mulligan.  Known at one time as Husky Harris, as part of CM Punk's version of Nexus, he was sent back to developmental for weight loss (his heaviest was around three hundred forty pounds) and character overhaul.  Boy, what a difference a year made.  He reemerged in FCW (before it became NXT) as an entirely new person.  He then introduced a big guy named Luke Harper.  Luke Harper had been known in the indie circles as "Big Rigg" Brodie Lee and was a certifiable ass-kicker.  The big six foot seven, near three hundred pounder from Montana was seen as a modern day Bruiser Brody, only more athletic, as this huge man could dropkick and do huraconranas (Frankensteiners for the unaware).  A complete package of size, strength, speed, and agility was introduced to a bigger audience.  Wyatt then introduced an even bigger guy named Erick Rowan, another indie guy known primarily in the northern states, Canada, and in Japan.  This Norwegian transplant was dressed in what looked like a green prison jump suit and was equipped with a strange, yet somewhat creepy, sheep mask, reminiscent of the sheep mask seen in the movie "You're Next".  Although not as athletically gifted as Luke, he definitely had the power game, and standing at six foot eight inches and  weighing in at three hundred thirty pounds, he had brute force with him.  Together, those three men ran through NXT and Harper and Rowan eventually became NXT Tag Team Champions.  When the first vignettes appeared on RAW promoting their arrival, nobody was more amp red than me.  They had the best vignettes of anyone I had seen in years, but they were also a group that would cause a stir.

Besides The Shield, there wasn't a force or faction that could touch them.  Wyatt went undefeated for nearly a year and the big guys were contenders for the titles.  Unfortunately, the company must've felt that they had peaked.  Harper and Rowan kept losing opportunities at the gold, and Wyatt had faced and/or beaten every top face in the company.  Another example of creative laziness.  There was NO reason Rowan and Harper couldn't have won the belts at some point, especially when they were at their hottest.  Furthermore, Bray should've been a lock for a contender for any championship he desired, especially the big one.  Everything about Bray screams "star".  As usual, Vince finds a way to screw things up creatively and has dropped the ball on them.  Much like The Shield ran through everyone during their rule, how come the Wyatt clan couldn't have done the same?  Sure, The Shield were overall better athletes than The Wyatts, but in terms of the character, The Wyatts were clearly more intimidating.

This is not a good idea to split this group up, at least not right now.  Although Bray can excel without anyone, and Luke has shown himself to be able to hang with the best, Erick is the one I deeply worry about.  Erick will struggle badly without Luke and Bray.  I don't believe in his talking ability, and he's fairly one-dimensional.  The word going around is that former NXT Tag Champs, The Ascension will join Bray, that is unless they decide to turn Bray face (which to me isn't the right time because he has many more miles to go as a heel).  I like Viktor and Connor, but they're NO Luke and Erick.  Luke , by himself, could defeat both of those men.  This was yet another blunder that will kick the company in its asses.  You mean to tell me that we don't know any of Erick and Luke's background until they leave Bray???  What kind of foolishness is that??  See what I mean by there was still more miles for this group?  Fingers crossed, we may have a Wyatt Family movie coming soon, either straight to DVD or for the network ($9.99 folks).

Bottom line: the Wyatts are the latest victim in seriously screwed up visions of the Owner and CEO.  I'm truthfully very scared of the future of not just them, but anyone not named Cena, Orton, Rollins, Reigns, Lesnar.  I purposely left Bryan off just to see how they do him when he comes back from injury and if he'll still be a main event player.  Here's to Bray, Luke, and Erick, one of the most imaginative and intriguing groups in many years.  Here's a look at the best of The Wyatt Family.  Until next week guys and gals, follow the buzzards!

WWE & Overworking Talent

Hello again folks.  Hope everyone had an outstanding weekend. Before I begin with this week's "Wrestling Cypher" piece, let me just say I recently picked up the new, and MUCH anticipated and overdue Best Of Sting DVD and, although it definitely reminded me why he's one of my top five wrestlers of all-time, it was a slight letdown.  The reason being that there were only FOUR pay per view matches.  They should've included his matches with the likes of Vader, The Great Muta, Hogan (from SuperBrawl VIII), and Luger.  These were rather hot matches that would've been greatly watched and appreciated to further highlight the in ring high-level abilities of Steve "Sting" Borden.  Hopefully when they do decide to drop the bio of Sting, they'll include those matches on there as well on the bonus features portion.  Just my three cents.  Let's go with this week's wrestling minute, and this one could cause some WWE anarchy.

I recently stumbled across a blog that pointed out how former WWE wrestler, and champion, CM Punk and the relationship he had with WWE was continuing to dissolve and how bridges were continuing to burn, only not on his part.  The blog was excellently pointing out how Punk's passion for the business was snuffed out due to sloppy booking, false promises, and injuries he had acquired due to overworking him when he desperately needed time off.  However, the WWE continues to bury him on television and label him as a "quitter" and that he "walked out on the fans".  Oh, how marvelous the WWE makes everyone look like crap except themselves.  Punk's issues are very much more of a problem than people realize, and continues to make the "industry leader" look like insensitive, irresponsible assholes.  Allow me to break it down.

Just like the blog pointed out, there was an earlier incident in 2003 when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin "took his ball and went home", or in other words walked out, when he was booked in an angle to job to the monster rookie (at the time) Brock Lesnar.  He has stated that, although he didn't have a big problem jobbing to Lesnar (that's losing for those not in the wrestling lingo know), the build was not properly set up and it would make his character look weak and normal, when his character was ANYTHING but that.  He subsequently took his own sabbatical and went home to Texas for a while. While this wasn't the only reason he went home, it was the paramount of some understated frustrations of the "rattlesnake".  Although he looks back on it now and regrets his decision to do that, many would totally and completely understand his thought process at the time in doing so.  Phil Brooks had a passion for this business unlike many we had ever seen, and was an understated genius at that.  He had been fighting the system from day one of his arrival.  It's been clearly known that Vince and WWE didn't want him because of his lack of size and physique, not to mention his straight-edge lifestyle and outspoken approach was quite different for them as well.  He managed to overcome every single obstacle placed in front of him and became a record-breaking WWE Champion, and arguably the hardest working in-ring performer in the locker room (sans the likes of Bryan and Ziggler).

Let's fast forward to Royal Rumble 2014.  An already mentally and physically worn out Punk, who was told some weeks earlier that he would win the Rumble match, was tossed out so that the returning forty-five year old grandfather Batista would win instead.  It's well documented how livid the fans were with booking at that event, to the point where the fans "hijacked" the event as well as the next night's Raw.  It made complete and logical sense to them that Daniel Bryan, in spite of losing a damn good match earlier that night to Bray Wyatt, enter as number thirty 30, come in, clean house and win the Rumble, or at the least have Punk win after entering at number one.  Neither of those things happened.  The outcry of the fans was incredible, but the anger backstage was even more hostile from one particular "Voice of the Voiceless."  Punk reportedly told Vince and Hunter that he was "going home".  He hasn't been on WWE television since, although fans day in and day out chant his name throughout every venue there is.  While many of us miss Punk and his controversial, yet superbly talented, in-ring abilities, there's an underlying factor here that must be covered.

The blogger wrote specifically about Punk and how overworked he was and how it led to his eventual burnout.  There are quite a few other CM Punks in the locker room as well, in terms of those performing three hundred days out of a year with current or lingering injuries.  John Cena being a big time case.  He's the biggest star of the company and has been for nearly ten years.  He took the place of Austin and The Rock in terms of megastar, box office attraction for this crappy, watered-down era known as the "PG Era".  Cena, for all intents and purposes, is a workaholic in and out of the ring.  He's dealing with neck issues as well as back and knee problems, but is expected to perform at high levels almost all year long with no time off unless its for surgery or death in family.  However, here's where the irony comes in.  Dolph Ziggler is one of the company's most talented, and overall most athletic, in-ring performers who, even when he was a heel, had a very significant fan base because of how sincerely great of a competitor he was, and still is.  He had finally hit the big mark of winning the World Heavyweight Title (you know, back when there were still two belts).  Unfortunately, he suffered a pretty nasty concussion and had to drop the title to then-WWE star Alberto Del Rio, and hasn't been pushed back ingot he main event since.  Also, the current situation with Daniel Bryan.  He's clearly the company's most popular overall act, even though the company wants to continue to have him appear as the number two guy in the company behind Cena in terms of audience draw and financial popularity.  Bryan has been out for almost the entire year due to a career-threatening neck injury.  His neck problems had been built up since his indie days and his high level in-ring working style, but it had been aggravated even more by the constant travel schedule with very little days off.

What exactly is my point?  I'll be happy to tell you.  Even the most prized workaholic needs time to heal and rest from any type of lingering issues so that they can perform at the highest caliber rate possible for all the fans who pay to see them.  The problem is, Vince doesn't believe in rest.  By Jim Ross' own words, Vince once said to him "Sleep is our enemy", which means Vince is very OCD when it comes to his product.  He believes all his performers should perform at one hundred percent in spite of injuries or issues that could shorten their careers or even their lives if not careful.  Traditional sports have off seasons, even regular entertainers have down periods.  Vince doesn't believe in that.  Punk had reportedly asked for time off quite a few times, and was only allowed that period between Wrestlemania XXVIX and the Money In The Bank pay-per-view three months later.  While that would be normally seen as long enough time by many wrestling purists, it's not nearly long enough on a human level.  Punk at the time was thirty-four, which is still fairly young by all merits but he was clearly not at the level he should've ben at due to the wear and tear of the business. All that he asked was to main event Wrestlemania, but due to the company riding Cena's nuts, he was never given that top billing, in spite of holding the title for over four hundred twenty days.  The only reason to be in the business is to be (ahem) the best in the world.  This was a moniker that Punk held very dear to him because of in-ring ability and work ethic.  When injuries and declining health come crashing down, on top of being booked as second or third best, that moniker has little significance anymore.  My guess is, if he felt he couldn't sincerely be the best at what he could do, there was no reason to perform and rob the people or dumb himself down for that matter.

When you have a new car and it only has ten thousand miles on it, most of us tend to like to run it up and down the highway like there's no tomorrow.  The car holds good gas, the engine is on point, and no internal problems.  The car is like that!  As time and years go along, the car has hit over one hundred thousand miles on it.  There are more and more problems with the car, and it doesn't hold gas as greatly as it used to.  This means the car has to get better taken care of and maintained, plus it may just be time for a new car because it's no longer the prized value it was.  However, to some people, it still can be, but the maintenance must be kept up completely if they want it to perform even half as nice as it did when they drove off the lot with it.  It's the same thing with wrestlers.  These are phenomenal athletes, but they're also human.  As time, years, and injuries start to collect, it's time to have better maintenance.  This includes rest, any necessary rehab or surgeries, and just time to refuel, if you will.  Even Cena has thought about having some adequate time off, but here comes Vince again with this whole, "But John, the company really needs you" bullshit, and he acquiesces to the VKM philosophy of "sleep is your enemy". We really don't want to see these exceptional athletes and workers in disabled heaps once they reach elderly ages. What is it going to take for Vince to see that this extremely rigorous road schedule is walking the lines of inhumane?  For that matter, when will talent have the balls to say to Vince or Hunter or Stephanie, "I need some time off to heal so that I can give you and the fans my best" before it's too late.

There's the argument that could be made saying that back in the sixties and seventies, people like Ric Flair were wrestling all year round, all over the world.  Even as recently as the Bret Hart reign era, he had admitted that he didn't have a day off in six years.  That's beyond ridiculous.  I have to wonder if the unbelievable workload over the years was a factor in his unfortunate stroke that he ultimately recovered from successfully, along with the stress of losing his baby brother Owen, as well as his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, and friends such as Mr. Perfect and Rick Rude, and the whole "Montreal Screw Job" fiasco.  It was stupid then, and it still is now.  These wrestlers aren't robots, they're human beings.

I applaud Punk for saying enough was enough and deciding to leave.  Although we miss him as an in ring performer, Punk needed to heal, spiritually (although he's a widely-known Atheist), mentally, and definitely physically.  In public appearances that he has had since his departure, he appears a LOT more happier, starting to get back in good shape, and looks overall very relaxed and at peace.  WWE or not, wrestling business or not, that's something EVERYONE should want to have for themselves in this industry or in any walk of life: peace.  Maybe if more people took the route that Punk did, Vince will start opening his eyes more towards being a human being instead of a boss who's hell bent on financial gain than the safety and long term well being of his talent.

That's all for now.  Trust me, there's a lot more I could say about this subject.  I'll end it, however, on that note.  Stay good, and trust me, if there are things that are grinding my gears about WWE or wrestling as a whole, you'll definitely know about it.  Based upon some of the stuff I'm reading on dirt sheets already, this is already looking to be an interesting week, and not all of it in a good way either.  See you guys and gals next week!

Night Of Champions

After last night's Night Of Champions pay-per-view, only one word comes to mind: LAZINESS!!!!  This was exactly what I was afraid of when it came to this event, and I was spot on.  Not that this event has ever really been a very big, substantial event in the past, this one constitutes as one of their worst ones.  Before I get any further into my personal view of the vent, let's get into the recap of the event for those that still don't have their $9.99 together and subscribe to the network.

The event started (after some kickoff show antics with Chris Jericho and the now semi-retired Christian) with the Tag Team Championship with the reigning Usos defending against the extremely bizarre, yet very dangerous, Gold & Star (don't call me Cody Rhodes anymore) Dust.  After the somewhat surprising heel turn of the Rhodes brothers, this rivalry became personal, and with trash talk and (kayfabe) injuries being involved, this match was in tow to be quite a competitive match.  After  about close to ten minutes of action, Star Dust rolled one of the uses clean for the pinfall and the Dust Brothers (unofficial name) became the two-time Tag Team Champions.

Next was the U.S. Title, as Sheamus defended against Cesaro.  On paper, this looked to be a very physical battle, next to Cena and Lesnar, and truthfully it was.  Surprisingly a pretty good match and a great outing for the champion.  Those that are familiar with the indie history of the wrestler formerly known as Claudio Castognoli (which is actually his birth name as well) know that he can main event anywhere in the world.  Sheamus, on the other hand, can have hits and misses most of the time.  This was a definite hit.  After a lot of very grueling action, all it took was the much-feared Brogue Kick and Sheamus retained the title.  Great showing by both men.

Next was the Inter-Continental Title match between the champion Dolph Ziggler and the challenge of former two-time champion The Miz.  No this match wasn't great, but what made it straight buffoonery and shameful was the usage of both men's "stunt doubles".  If Damien "Mizdow" isn't enough (again, what the hell did this man do to deserve such terrible treatment by booking/creative), R-Ziggler is the epitome of coonery and embarrassment.   Not only does the Black community find it appalling, some within other races do as well.  Entertainment???  I don't think so.  I digress.  Truthfully, this match was so bad my attention span didn't last longer than about three minutes.  I was just so over this entire angle with these two.  At least the former Miz, the must-see sports entertainer, was good enough to be a worthy heel with great promos and a naturalistic way of generating his heat.  This 'Hollywood" Miz is tired, played out, and frankly makes him look worse than he ever has in his career.  Ziggler, on the other hand, SHOULD be a main evener any time, anywhere.  Now, he's nothing more than a B-listed young wrestler that is undisputedly the most under appreciated guy in the locker room besides Kofi Kingston. On top of that, the country music duo Florida Georgia Line was invited to help call the match.  Are you serious right now??? Long story short, Miz became a three-time champion.  Not surprising considering how little they think of Ziggler because of how "injury prone" he is, which is a PISS poor excuse.

This past Friday, Roman Reigns underwent emergency incarcerated hernia surgery.  This is not a work.  At first I was very skeptical because of the timing of it.  What do I mean?  I'll explain shortly.  He was scheduled for a match against Seth Rollins, Mr. Money in The Bank came out and wanted the referee to raise his hand by forfeit.  He then issued an open challenge to anyone in the locker room.  We shortly see on the titantron a cab pull up into the arena, and out comes Dean Ambrose!  Ambrose had been out shooting a WWE Films movie and shooting wrapped this past Saturday so he was already scheduled to be at Raw tonight.  Ambrose came out like a house of fire and there was a brawl between both men, but as usual The Authority wanted Ambrose thrown out of the building and arrested.  Although Rollins managed to escape with Steph and Hunter at his side, this was the not the last we would see of Rollins this evening.

Next up, the gigantic struggle between Mark Henry and the undefeated Russian destroyer Rusev.  Seen as a match of nationalistic pride, Henry seemingly has embraced the role of the patriot due to his near involvement in the Olympics of 1996.  In fact, the beginning of the match had Lillian Garcia singing the national anthem, while henry was openly weeping as the song was being sung.  What...in...the...hell????  I could see Kurt in this role, but Henry????  Out came the Lana-proclaimed "Super-Athlete", and boy did these two collide with each other.  Although not as good as the Sheamus/Cesaro match, this was another highly physical match, but Henry ultimately tapped out to the move formerly known as the Camel Clutch, The Accolade.  Rusev's streak of defeating all the Black wrestlers has finally been met.

Next was Chris Jericho, who will be leaving to tour with Fozzy and for the promotion of his new book "Best In The World", faced Randy Orton.  Whenever these two get together, it's magic and this was overall no exception.  After ten to twelve minutes, Orton scored a big win over a sure shot future Hall Of Famer in Jericho.  Word is Orton's next rivalry will be with Ambrose, and that one, folks, will be interesting.

The Divas Title match was next.  The twenty-two year old champion Paige defended the title against prior champion AJ Lee and the newly heeled Nikki Bella (yawn!) in a Triple Threat Match.  This actually wasn't a terrible match like most Divas matches are expected to be. The promo of Paige was well done and nicely put together before the match.  It helps that AJ and Paige are great, great wrestlers, and...then there's Nikki Bella. While I admit Nikki took a big time bump to the floor during that match, she doesn't strike me as, pardon the expression, an A-plus player.  However, AJ ultimately came away with her third Divas Title, which is making her one of the most celebrated stars to hold that championship.

The main event is finally here.  Cena against Lesnar.  The build up has been pretty good.  The story of Cena overcoming his doubters was completely on point.  Would he endure that same vicious and one-sided ass kicking that he suffered at Summerslam?  We would find out when the bell rang for the match began.  This time, Cena gave Brock the Attitude Adjustment (the F.U. for longtime Cena fans) within five minutes.  The match didn't end with that, but this was clearly not the lopsided match Summerslam was, nor did I expect it to be.  We definitely saw a lot of fire and intensity that we're used to seeing from Cena, but we also saw that same animalistic barbarism from the champion.  The match was very much back and forth, and Cena was narrowing in on tying the (recorded) title reigns of Ric Flair with sixteen World Titles.  However it was stopped by Seth Rollins, who attacked Cena and also a prone Lesnar with the Curbstomp finisher (known as The Blackout in the indie world).  He attempted to cash in his contract to get his World Title shot, but Cena prevented that from occurring.  This now serves as a very interesting set of circumstances involving these three men.

Overall, this night was average to probably below average in the WWE.  TNA threw shots, in fact, at WWE, tweeting "While we like the iPhone 6, Samsung Mobile is available as well.  Angry with #WWENOC, you have options too.  Impact on Spike.  Wednesdays at 9."  TNA may not be a great source to throw shots, at least a lot of their pay per views historically have been pretty well put together.  Neither is as on point as ROH or the iPPVs of Chikara, however.  Truth be told, this event didn't hold good placing with NXT's recent Takeover II: Fatal Four Way event (see last week's blog).

It's very obvious Vince and his creative team has gotten extremely lazy.  This is stuff that I've been saying for a long time now.  Why weren't the Wyatts on the card?  What the hell kind of ending was that during the main event?  This is proof of how mediocre the product has become and how they seemingly don't care.  This should've been an obvious note to fans that they really could care less about you if you're over the age of thirteen.  This night, as a whole, was embarrassing to watch and literally made my bad day only worse because of the very lackadaisical approach to provide compelling entertainment that actually makes sense and keeps the fans intrigued instead of accurately predicting the outcomes of very tactless writing.

Later this week, I'll provide a piece on the minors and indies could revive the dying wrestling scene.  However, for now, that's it and that's the basic summary of the C- graded Night Of Champions.  See you guys and gals later this week.

NXT Takeover II: Why Is The Minor League Better Than The Major League???

What's happening folks?  Obviously it's been a newsworthy week within the world.  In wrestling it's been almost as newsworthy.  First of all, I can't continue without giving a rest in peace salute to former WCW, WWE, MMA and NJPW star, Sean O' Haire.  He passed away September 8 from an apparent suicide, as reportedly his father found him hanging by his bed post.  He was also reportedly dealing with substance abuse and was in a deep state of depression at the time of his death.  His accolades included being a former three-time WCW Tag Team Champion and former Rookie Of The Year in 2000.  Once his wrestling career started winding down, he had brief careers in the MMA world as well as in acting.  Here's to Mr. O' Haire.  Very underrated and grossly misused, O' Haire could've been a bigger star than even he imagined for himself.  My hope and prayer is that he finally found the peace in the afterlife that he very much wanted for himself while alive.

Now, on to the subject at hand.  This past Thursday marked the third special event for WWE's developmental company, NXT.  The event, entitled Takeover II: Fatal Four Way, was very much hyped to be a noteworthy event, and it lived up to its hype, yet again.  Although not exactly flawless, this event was still very much worthy of being among the best events the WWE has produced all year.  We saw new Tag Team Champions in the newly named Lucha Dragons of Sin Cara (shamefully not the original one that they fired earlier this year) and former indie sensation Samurai Del Sol, now known as Kallisto.  They defeated the impressive duo of Viktor and Konnor, known as The Ascension.  The Ascension had held the belts for near an entire year, defeating previous champions of the current NXT Champion Adrien Neville and Corey Graves.  Although many would say that Viktor and Konnor had practically zero serious competition, they still held the titles for a very lengthy period.

Next up marked the debut of Baron Corbin, a 6'8', 275 pounder who was formerly a part of the NFL as he played for Arizona.  He very soundly defeated CJ Parker and I suspect we will see a lot more from this guy.

Soon after, we had the much anticipated arrival of famed international star, KENTA.  he signed a developmental deal with the company earlier this summer (which is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned because this is the same man that influenced the styles of the likes of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan and you send him to the minor leagues???).  After an excellent introduction by new NXT GM William Regal, out comes KENTA to a much deserved standing ovation.  He gave half of his promo in Japanese, however, the other half was in English, albeit choppy.  He also introduced his WWE name (WTF ???), Hideo Itami, which is named after his mentor.  Soon after comes The Ascension, who had just lost the tag belts earlier and they wanted to jump the Japanese legend.  It was to no avail, as Hideo cleared the ring and we can look forward to a program involving these three men in the weeks to come.

The Hair Vs. Hair match was upcoming between Enzo Amore and Sylvester Lefort.  I'm starting to be a fan of the pair of Amore and his seven-foot partner Collin Cassidy.  Their humor is getting infectious and they're not being overtly annoying like say, Santino.  At least not yet, although that 'S-A-W-F-T' will start to get old eventually to the new audiences of NXT.  After about five minutes, Amore got the win over the Frenchman.  Unfortunately, they weren't able to get their hands on Lefort to use the hair removal cream.  They were, however, able to pour the cream on top of Lefort's partner, Marcus Louis.  This was overall an okay segment, but you could easily tell this was filler for the show.

The NXT Women's Championship was next with the challenger, Bayley, facing the current champion,  the daughter of Ric Flair, Charlotte.  Although this match paled in comparison to the match Charlotte had to win the title against Natalya, both women performed very well, as Charlotte continues to show incredible growth in the ring.  Charlotte defeated the young challenger to retain the title, with an exchange that resulted between her and ex friend and BFF member Sasha Banks.

We then witnessed a brief, although physical, battle between Mojo Rawley and impressive newcomer Bull Dempsey.  Simply put, Dempsey rolled over the former NFL Defensive Lineman.

We were then ready for the main event.  Adrien Neville defended the title in a Fatal Four Way Match against Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, and Tyson Kidd.  After nearly thirty unreal minutes, Neville retained the title.  Let me just say, this was easily a match of the year candidate and the truthfully the best NXT main event all year.  Every single person gave A-1 performances and I would suspect all four of these young men to get called up to the main roster very soon.

This, in tow, leads me to the topic at hand.  This is the third big event for NXT, and even their worst one was better than most of the main rosters pay per views.  The question is: why???  This is completely back-asswards.  Their first event, NXT Arrival, was very, very good.  The second one, NXT Takeover, was arguably the best event that wasn't named Wrestlemania.  NXT has been consistently good in their special events, even if their syndicated show isn't all of the time.  Granted, I get that they would like to make stars, but for every one success like Bray Wyatt, we have Bo Dallas, Fandango, and Adam Rose that have been floundering and Vince has all but given up on them completely.  For the developmental guys and girls, it's almost as if you would rather see them stay where they're at rather than see them go to the main roster and turn into subsequent failures to keep people like Orton, Cena, and others that like to hog the main event.  No, I'm not forgetting about the former members of The Shield, but so far it's been Roman (the next megastar), Seth (main evener), and Dean (whom Trips claims isn't main event ready get, which is nothing more than a crock).  If three of the four combatants (Tyson doesn't count because he's actually still on the main roster) get called to the big stage, they SHOULD be booked to be mid-upper card status, especially Sami.  However, booking/creative is known to drop the ball on a number of occasions when it comes to talent and story angles.  I digress.

We can all attest that, in spite of WWE being the industry leader, they're far from the best WRESTLING product in the world.  Most are familiar with how good TNA talent can be, ROH never fails to deliver great wrestling, and other promotions like PWG, Dragon Gate, and Full Impact Pro always present some of the best action in the world.  However, WWE's "minor league" promotion is in the spirit of these indie promotions that are hungry and want to get worldwide respect.  It's this spirit and mind state that consistently compels them to bring the best they can, especially with special events such as Takeover.  The writers of Raw and Smackdown need to seriously look at their developmental league and look at how much sense their storylines make sense.  I guess it goes to the comparison of college and the pros.  Many adore the heart, hunger, and the need to prove within the college-ranked levels.  NXT is roughly considered the college ranks.  The only catch is, this college-level ranked developmental promotion has showed up the "professional" ranks three straight times in terms of acclaim and appeal.

Next Sunday, WWE will present the Night Of Champions and although the card looks like a pretty good event overall (give or take the triple threat Divas with Nikkie Bella involved).  They will have to look at the NXT event, and turn it up a notch to keep the positive momentum going.  It's not a good look to have your minor league outscore your major leagues.

That's all for now, folks.  See you guys and gals next week!

The Decline Of The Divas

What's happening everyone?!  Great to have you back with me again.  Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend and that hopefully someone saved me some grub!  Anyways, let's get down to it shall we?

This blog is centered around the decline and subsequent ridicule of the Divas division in WWE.  What exactly is the Divas division?  It's just really a group of decent to terrible women wrestlers trying to obtain camera time.  Truthfully folks, it's not all these young ladies fault, at least not entirely.  This is clearly not the age of talented women in the ring in WWE.  Gone are the days of superb in-ring talent of underrated stars like Ivory, Mickie, and Victoria (later known as Tara in TNA) and special, exceptional wrestlers like Hall Of Famers Trish Stratus and Amy "Lita" Dumas.  Let's go back even before them.  Icons like the late pioneers of Sherri Martel, Fabulous Moolah, and Mae Young helped define women wrestling for generations to come.  For Vince McMahon, it became all about models, ex-dancers, and former professional football athletes.  While the pro football athlete isn't terrible necessarily, models and ex-dancers should NEVER be in this game without a decent amount of wrestling knowledge and ability.  The question is "What happened to those who could care less about being models, and just cared about hanging with the guys and being show stealers?"  I have to keep remembering that this is VKM's world.

Case in point about how bad the division has gotten: this Bella Twin storyline.  First of all, the Bella Twins, although very attractive and fairly athletic, have become the 'it' girls of the company.  They were trained by retired wrestling great Tom Pritchard and have since been the centerpieces of the division.  Am I a fan of the Bellas in the ring?  Not at all.  Do they have heart and show that they like to perform?  Yes and I'll give them that.  However, this angle of twin versus twin speaks of the same tired, worn-out, formulaic story lines that we've seen way too often before: one twin, or sibling, is more successful than the other and the other gets resentful.  This already has overdramatic acting all over it (you don't believe me?  Watch last week's "Family Meeting" segment on RAW concerning those two).  In case you've been missing what's been going on, here's the skinny.  Stephanie Nicole "Nikkie Bella" Garcia turned on her sister Brianna Monique "Brie Bella" Garcia-Danielson (yes it is true that she's the real-life wife of recovering star Daniel Bryan) at Summerslam in what was a very anti-climatic and predictable moment.  The inevitable twin versus twin matchup will occur very soon and I can't say that this will be a new Trish versus Lita classic, nowhere close.

That however is the problem.  Why wouldn't it be?  Why aren't these two young ladies good or exciting enough to garner a potential classic?  The answer lies in the fact that WWE could care less about thrilling Divas matches.  Take for example the rivalry between champion AJ Lee and the youngest star in the entire locker room, the twenty-two year old Paige.  These two are arguably the best overall performers in the Diva locker room and their match at Summerslam SHOULD'VE been that good classic, at least it looked that way on paper.  Not only was the match sub-par, but it was also short, but then again the average time for Divas matches is between five and seven minutes.  This should be a legitimate flap in the face to Divas like Natalya (whom in my opinion is the best pound-for-pound performer in the Diva locker room), Naomi, and Emma, who are all tremendous working talent.  They should be given a ton more time to exhibit their gifts and story-telling abilities and with more compelling story lines.

The NXT ladies of Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, and NXT Women's Champion, Charlotte (daughter of iconic Hall Of Famer, Ric Flair) are all stars in the making, but I dread them getting called to the main roster.  Although Paige, former NXT Women's Champion, is finding success, Emma has not.  She's been relegated to a fairly comedic act that's not being taken seriously, in spite of how good her in-ring work is.  I've often stated that there's closeted racism that's going on the WWE, but don't sleep or ignore sexism either.  At one time, Trish and Lita was the main event on RAW at one time, and nearly there main event on several other occasions.  If, in fact, those days are long gone, I feel very sorry for the division, for Vince is silently killing it without loudly doing so.  The fact that the NXT Women's Trainer, Sara Del Ray, is one of the toughest women on the planet and she's just relegated to a trainer is beyond ridiculous.  Take a look at the "Death Rey" in indie action.




Folks, THIS is what true, passionate wrestling from women is really all about and what it should represent.  Young female wrestlers such as Sara, Jessica Havok, Mercedes Martinez, and others put their blood, sweat, and tears into the business just as much as the guys do.  Maybe, young ladies like Cameron, Summer Rae, and Layla could be far better competitors in the ring with lots more disciplined training, but all Vince, Kevin Dunn (EVP of Television Production), HHH, and Stephanie McMahon Lesveque care about is the entertainment aspect of the company.  Before, the sexism was centered on heavy sexuality and partial nudity (not to mention Jerry Lawler's constant references to women's chests and refer to them as "puppies").  Now, it's making these young ladies look like incompetent amateurs that don't need to ever be on television except at ringside being eye candy.

In contrast, the Knockouts division in TNA is a little more fair game.  Ladies like Gail Kim (the TNA Knockout Champion), Madison Rayne, Terryn Terell, and The Beautiful people duo of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky are decent to great athletes that legitimately work their rear ends off and we, as fans, greatly appreciate it.  The huge six foot, two-hundred pound aforementioned Jessica Havok is now on the TNA roster, and it's very possible she will turn that division upside down.  Also, independent women promotions like Women Superstars Uncensored, Shimmer, and Women Extreme Wrestling highlight superb talent that needs to get presented to the masses on a global scale.

One only knows how much longer this will be acceptable to audiences.  Point blank: the Divas division is a joke and needs to be seriously addressed.  I hope the young ladies of the locker room, one day, have the audacity to let Vince have it and say enough is enough.  In the meantime, I guess money really does talk.  Before I go, I'm going to show two different vids.  One will show a match between "Divas" Eva Marie and Bayley from NXT and a highlight tribute video of "Death Machine" Jessica Havok.  See you guys and gals next time!

Part-Time Wrestlers: Ego-Driven Or Useful Help?

Folks, what's happening? Glad to see you back with me for another highly opinionated observation within the world of professional wrestling (note: this is not the place for "sports entertainment").  This piece centers on an area that a lot of hardcore (in this instance, very enthusiastic) fans get really rattled and irritated by,  The area in question is part-time wrestlers.  What are part-time wrestlers, by chance?  Part-time wrestlers are wrestlers that literally come and go whenever they feel, or wrestlers that have temporary contracts that wrestle and entertain until their contracts are up and stay gone for some time and come back again.  Let's explore this further.

One of the first part-timers in this age is Dwayne Johnson, otherwise widely known as The Rock.  When The Rock first came on the scene, he was one of the most naturally gifted athletes the sport had ever seen, and that covers a lot of ground.  If you've known or had become aware of his professional history, you're familiar with the fact that he was struggling to get over with the fans, struggling quite hard in fact.  Although great in the ring for a rookie, possessing a look that screams "star", and enrapturing the proverbial "it factor", his white-bread, clean cut, overtly happy image wasn't hitting on cylinders.  It wasn't until he became a part of the Nation Of Domination faction, which at the time was lead by WWE hall Of Famer Ron Simmons, who was playing the militant, Huey P. Newton-esque Farooq.  Once he was running way past the leadership of Farooq, he became the star and all eyes were on him instead of Farooq.  His previously mentioned traits, along with his ever building charisma, made him a big time star before anyone knew it.  In fact, as time progressed The Rock became one of the sport's brightest stars.  At a time where "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Vince McMahon's on-screen character Mr. McMahon, and D-generation X were all defining a new era (affectionately known as the "Attitude" era), The Rock was starting to make his own name known and building his own identity.  Fast forward a couple of years and he and Austin are the two biggest wrestlers not just in the WWE, but in the sport.

Once the lights were bright on him, movie directors started knocking on his door, and before long the acting bug hit him.  His first stint of acting came in The Mummy Returns and eventually the lead role in The Scorpion King.  Once that movie took off, so did he.  He put his burgeoning movie career as a bigger priority than his wrestling career and of course the fans resented him for a while because of it. He ended up briefly returning to feud with Austin, his longtime and most revered rival, and before you knew it, he was gone again to do more movies.  It became a return-then-leave situation for the next few years for The Rock.  As he started doing more movies, there was less and less attention the fans were giving him, but one could clearly tell that the people were really missing him.  Enter Valentine's Day 2011, where was seen as the host of Wrestlemania XXVII in Atlanta.  He was greeted with an extremely deafening ovation, which showed how much the fans still loved The Rock. He was soon entered into quite the entertaining rivalry with WWE's top guy, John Cena.  After the two year rivalry had passed, it was back to Hollywood (this after he swore he would never leave again).

The Rock started getting a lot of criticism from Internet fans for not only coming and going as he chose, but he actually ended the record-breaking four hundred thirty day-plus WWE Championship reign of then champion CM Punk at the Royal Rumble of 2013.  He lost the title to Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIX, and was gone until Wrestlemania XXX (that's 30) in New Orleans, where he was in the opening segment with Austin and Hulk Hogan for what was one of the most iconic moments in WM history.  However, he wasn't the only guy that would leave the company and come back, and leave again on a regular basis.

The night after Wrestlemania XXVIII, Cena was confronted, and sub sequentially attacked by the returning Brock Lesnar (I wish I could say that in Heyman's voice). Lesnar had been gone for years after a failed stint trying out with the Minnesota Vikings and eventually moving on to UFC where he became UFC Champion.  After he lost the title, and retired from MMA competition due to diverticulitis, he was in talks with Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Vince about returning.  The catch was he would only do a few on-air appearances per year, including pay per view events, plus he wouldn't do any live house shows. While the fans were really amped to see Lesnar return, and feud with the likes of Triple H, Cena, and Mark Henry, there was still subtle resentment that guys that perform night in and night out on a daily basis, three hundred to three hundred ten days a year.  Nearly two weeks ago, Lesnar became the WWE World Champion for the first time since 2003 thoroughly defeating Cena at Summerslam.  Once again Internet fans (or "marks" as the term is frequently called) were highly resentful at a part-time guy who gets special treatment in his contracts is the new champion.

Other names that are considered part-timers are Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho.  Van Dam returned to WWE in 2013 after a successful run in TNA where he became X Division and World Champion.  The catch was that he would wrestle 3-4 months on-air and on pay per views and not wrestle at live events.  Plus he could exercise his option to leave after his 4 month period was up and could possibly return after his sabbatical.  As for Jericho, his music career started highly taking off, as he would tour with his band Fozzy and put out quite a few successful albums.  Whenever there was a lull in his touring, he would return to help the company and help get talent over.  His current rivalry is with one of the company's brightest stars, Bray Wyatt (yes I know I'm a Wyatt head so part of this is subjective, but hey he just is).  His run with the company ends in September, as he goes back on the road with Fozzy.  Van Dam just left the company this past Tuesday after his match with Seth Rollins. There's currently no time period as to when or if he'll return.

I almost forgot about Batista.  After a five year hiatus, in which he tried his hand at MMA and eventually returned just in time for the Royal Rumble of this year and needless to say it was received quite underwhelmingly.  In fact, fans starting booing him and referring to him as "Boo-tista."  He won the Royal Rumble match and ended up co-headlining Wrestlemania, along with then champion Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan, who ended up winning the title.  Batista ended up leaving once again, only this time it was to promote his highly-grossing movie Guardians Of The Galaxy.  It's been said that he plans on officially retiring soon to fully concentrate on his movie career.

Being a part-timer in an industry that requires one to perform fifty-two weeks a year for the fans is one thing, but winning Royal Rumbles and World titles is completely something else.  In his now legendary "pipe bomb"promo, former WWE star CM Punk briefly stated how angry he was that "Dwayne" as he called him was in the main event at Wrestlemania and he wasn't.  he's far from the only person that feels that way, but nobody will actually come forth and say anything likely due to either getting fired or getting buried on the roster (to those that aren't aware of this term, it means constantly losing, or jobbing).  Incredible wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, Bad News Barrett (who's currently sidelined with an injury), Kofi kingston, and even Dean Ambrose aren't spotlighted in the main event, but guys like Lesnar and The Rock can be.  Booker T replied to those that have complained, in terms of wrestlers in the locker room, by stating, "Once you sell out arenas and pull big box office draws, then you can be part time if you so choose".  In all respect to one of my favorites ever, what a load of crap.  While there are a lot of young guys that aren't stepping up on a weekly basis to steal the show, there are those (such as the ones I just mentioned) that work their asses off to do better than the match before.  They still can not get to the main event.  Is it fair?  Absolutely not, but then again we all know Vince, Steph, and Hunter all have their favorites will stay in the main event or the upper card (Shaemus and Cena anybody?).  It's a complete and total slap in the face to those that put in the work.  The main reason why those guys stepped up to the level they worked to was that there was competition going on, whether it was with Eric Bischoff or even within his own company (I can't lie I miss the brand extensions).  Without any big reason to step up, guys will remain complacent, in spite of their best intent.

Lesnar SHOULD NOT be the champion.  Nobody that is a part timer should be a champion, especially not a World Champion.  Part of the grip that Punk had was for the guys that busts their asses night and day to live their dream and to entertain the fans that pay their hard earned money to see them, and they get pushed to the side in favor of people that go and come.  The exceptions are Van Dam and Jericho, for they have nothing more to really prove in this sport as both men are future Hall Of Famers and they want to work with young guys to help them get to the next level like people had to help them along in their careers.  The Rock is seriously contemplating retirement and so is Batista, but Lesnar has terms with his contract and he becomes champion.  Is Lesnar at the top of his game right now? Damn straight he is.  Should he be World Champion compared to others like Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Dolph, or Bray?  Hell no.  Part-timers should stay part-timers unless they're around to help the next generation of young guys elevate to the next level of their careers.

For Batista and The Rock, that realize their in ring careers may really be over for greener pastures in hollywood, all success to those guys.  They get it, and in all respect to The Rock, he did want one more Title before he left for good, and he transitioned the belt over to Cena at Wrestlemania XIX.  Now Lesnar, if he's going to be part time, be part time.  If he's going to be a champion, he needs to have NO special terms on your contract.  Is Vince or Hunter that scared to make new stars that they would lower themselves to acquiesce to the demands of Lesnar?  He keep doing this, and I would expect guys like Dolph and Barrett and Ambrose to head to Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling when it launches.

That's all for now cats.  I will leave with this thought.  Many hate Cena, loathe Cena, and think he straight sucks.  One thing about him, is that he has given all he had to being the best.  Regardless if he's Vince's golden boy, he works hard day in and day out.  Whether at Madison Square Garden or in Fayetteville, NC he gives one hundred percent each and every time he performs and he's for the fans. Part-timers, especially those that would like to be champions, are selfish.  Then again, it's all about business right Vince?  Check you kind folks out later.

Summerslam 2014...Hot Or Nah??

What's going on kiddies!  Another pay per view in the box.  Last night was the annual WWE Summerslam pay per view.  In front of a sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, we witnessed some some pretty good action, and some hit-or-miss angles as well.  One thing that struck in particular was the fact that every single championship changed hands last night that was on the line.  We have a new Inter-Continental Champion, new Divas Champion, and especially a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  However, I will go into the event in detail for those that don't have the WWE Network (folks, as they keeping pushing, it's only $9.99!!).

First up was the Inter-continental Title match between champion The Miz and challenger Dolph Ziggler.  Easily the most under appreciated match of the night, both guys performed well and it was enough to keep the people engaged in the match.  Yes, Miz has a very annoying new "hollywood" gimmick (be for real, Mike Mizanin has done the small screen and DVDs/Blu-Rays, but big screens???), but his in-ring work has been actually better then before when he left to do The Marine 4 (coming soon with co-worker Danielle 'Summer Rae" Moinet).  However, Dolph, a former two-time World Champion, is easily one of the best all-around performers on the entire roster, and has been for the past couple of years.  These two young guys put on a pretty good match for the viewers, but at the end it was the Zig-Zag of Ziggler that was the death blow in the championship reign of The Miz, which by the way was only about forty-five or so days.

Next up, the Divas match.  On paper, this match between champion AJ Lee and challenger (and former champion) Paige had the makings to be a Divas classic.  Although it was short of that feat, it was still not a bad match.  The build up to the match had Paige getting the best of AJ in confrontations, and referring to Lee as her "frienemy" (get it, friend and enemy?? Blame that on creative, folks).  Arguably the two best overall Divas in the locker room (save for Natalya, Naomi, and a currently injured Tamina Snuka), these two have exchanged the title twice.  When Paige graduated from NXT to the main roster the night after Wrestlemania, she defeated AJ, only for AJ to defeat the nearly-ten year veteran the night after Payback in much the same fashion.  This is reality is their first regularly sanctioned match on a card.  These two young ladies didn't have a very long match, and quite frankly it was very underwhelming, but Paige, or her twenty-second birthday yesterday (the youngest star on the entire main roster) won her second Divas Title with a cradle DDT that she called "The Ram-Paige."  Although I would love to see another match between the two because of how good this rivalry can be, rumors are that AJ may be on her way out of the company to start a family with her newlywed husband, the severely-missed CM Punk.  Only time will tell.

Next was a big time encounter between former members of the very impressive faction The Shield, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.  This was a match I had been wanting to seen on a big stage like WWE due to their indie histories and how great both guys are as in-ring performers.  Rollins has achieved accomplishments and garnered championships in ROH, PWG (if you don't know about them, I implore you to Youtube them), FIP, and FCW (later became NXT).  He was also the first NXT Champion.  Ambrose, on the other hand, had success in the previously mentioned FIP (that's Full Impact Pro), Evolve, and the animalistic promotion Combat Zone Wrestling, where he won two World Titles.  The build to this match was done overall very well, with Ambrose finding time to attack Rollins at every turn possible.  The stipulation for the match was it would be contested as a Lumberjack Match (others may refer to it as a Human Cage Match).  I had my concerns initially, as I'm typically not a big fan of Lumberjack matches, but this match was easily the match of the night, or should I say fight of the night.  The action didn't last terribly long in the ring, although the rules clearly state that if a participant leaves, or gets tossed from, the ring, the "lumberjacks" on the outside of the ring are to throw them back in the ring.  Simply put, the match exploded onto the outside to where both guys fought amongst the crowd and then back to ringside.  Truthfully the craziest spot in the match was a HELLACIOUS clothesline from Ambrose that literally knocked Rollins into a 180-degree turn in mid-air.  However, despite his best efforts, the once-again-corporate Kane got involved and Rollins took the opportunity to use his Money In The Bank briefcase to hit "The Lunatic Fringe" in the face with it to pick up a big win.  Although Ambrose has been signed on to star in an upcoming WWE Studios film, I would suggest this rivalry isn't over by a longshot.  Unquestionably the best lumberjack match that I can ever recall.

The Flag Match was next between Jack Swagger and the undefeated Rushev.  With their respective corner personalities of Zeb Colter and Lana, the patriotic build up has been intriguing, as Zeb has done a fantastic job on the mic with his promos, and Lana has done modestly continuing to get heat for her and her guy (both on AND off camera) Rushev.  This, folks, was physical but in the end, it was Rushev with the win.  Swagger was caught in the Accolade (Rushev's version of the Camel Clutch), but didn't tap out.  Instead the young Oklahoman, and former World Champion, passed out.  As per the stipulation of the Flag Match, the winner's flag would be raised and the country's national anthem would be played.  Rushev, who had just brutally kicked a sixty-plus year old man in Zeb in the face, celebrated with glee as his country's song was played.

The match between WWE "principle owner" Stephanie McMahon (Levesque) and former Divas Champion, Brie Bella, was next.  Nobody expected this match to me a Trish/Lita chess game...and it wasn't.  To no surprise this was the worse match on the card, but then again, it wasn't about the technical nature of the match, it was the storytelling of the match. In all fairness, Steph is not a seasoned wrestler, nor has she ever been classically trained (what's sad is that, last night, she looked better as an in-ring wrestler then a few of the Divas in the locker room *cough Eva Marie cough*). The build was all the way on up until last week and the rather stupid and idiotic storyline twist of Brie's real-life husband, currently injured star Daniel Bryan, being involved in an affair with his "Physical Therapist" last week.  While Brie putting her hubby's "Yes Lock" arm submission on Steph was a good visual, the match was, well, kind of what you would imagine.  The story, however, involved one of the evening's biggest shockers (depending upon whom you ask) when Brie's twin sister Nikkie, turned on her and caused Steph to deliver the "Pedigree" onto an already semiconscious Brie for the one-two-three.

Next was the match up between Chris Jericho and (my personal favorite wrestler in the company since he debuted last year) Bray Wyatt.  This was the rematch to their match last month at Battleground where Jericho, in his first match back in nearly a year, defeated the "Eater Of Worlds".  The rivalry continued with more attacks from Wyatt and his two huge followers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.  Although this hasn't been quite the verbal battle I had hoped that it would be, this has still been a somewhat compelling rivalry.  This match pretty much picked up where their last match left off, only with the absence of those two big towers.  After just past ten minutes, Wyatt picked up a much needed win over the soon-to-be Hall Of Famer in Jericho.  Now that the rivalry is at one won and loss each, that naturally means a rubber match will be coming soon, and this one could be very good.

The next match was a tremendous one in the awesome, eleven-time World Champion "The Viper" Randy Orton against the company's next big megastar in Roman Reigns.  Both men actually have one thing big time thing in common: both come from hugely successful families.  We all know Orton is son of WWE hall Of Famer Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. and grandson of Bob Orton Sr.  Reigns, on the other hand, is the son of Hall Of Famer Sika of The Wild Samoans.  His famous family consists of The Rock, The Usos, Rikishi, Tamina, and deceased wrestlers Yokozuna and Umaga.  This has already been a noticeable year for the young Reigns.  Reigns had an outstanding showing in this year's Royal Rumble and had excellent matches (when with The Shield, they had exceptional matches against The Wyatt Family and the temporarily reunited Evolution).  His clout continued to grow when being a part of the Money In The Bank ladder match and was in the Fatal Four Way match for the World Title at Battleground.  This match was a highly competitive, back and forth match.  Although Orton showed why he's one of the company's best of our generation, clearly this time is Reigns', as he picked up a big time win.  Many would say he's not quite ready for that main event spotlight yet, and he's not, but with enough grooming, and continued hunger, he might be in an okay spot.  I just feel that it's a shame that Caesaro, a much more worthwhile contender for that number two baby face role, had his momentum taken from him just to focus on Reigns, thus making Caesaro a relative job-guy now.

Finally, it was the big one. The main event.  The World Champion, John Cena, defending against the unbelievably intense Brock Lesnar.  The build for this match was simply off the page.  The sit down, in depth promos between these two made this match a big fight feel, and it completely worked.  Not to mention, Paul Heyman's mic work has been stellar as usual (if you have not peeped his new DVD/Blu-Ray "Ladies & Gentlemen, My Name Is Paul Heyman", it is simply FABULOUS and one of the best bios the company has produced since the riveting CM Punk bio).  Cena's mic work has been excellent as well so the stage was set for an explosion.  The result: one of the worse physical beatings in recent memory.  With a huge chorus of boos from the sold out crowd in L.A., Cena stepped in the ring against Lesnar, who has already had a historic year by being the man that defeated The Undertaker to end his twenty-one year undefeated streak at Wrestlemania and sent Taker to the hospital with a severe concussion.  Within five minutes of the match, Lesnar hit his F-5 finisher onto Cena, even though Cena kicked out.  Cena was the unfortunate recipient of an exhausting sixteen suplexes and another F-5.  This time, after all of that abuse, which was quite brutal, he couldn't kick out and we had a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  Lesnar dethroned a fifteen-time World Champion.  Say what you will about Cena, and most usually do, but Cena is a workaholic.  We've seen this man put on noteworthy performances throughout his ten year run, but never have we ever seen him demolished quite like last night, with little to no offense from him whatsoever.

It's not the most popular decision for McMahon and company to give the belt to a part-timer like Lesnar, much less for him to be rumored to hold it until Wrestlemania at the least, but at the same time we all know that if one is about to shoot a movie or two, there's no need to have them hold on to the most prized belt in the company, and some would even say in the entire sport.

What this match showed was two things in particular: one, Cena was in fact human.  Cena has been very much vilified for being "Super Cena", as in coming back each and every time from severe adversity to have very clear cut wins.  While many were cheering at first, the cheers turned into concern after about the eighth suplex.  Kudos to Cena for selling the punishment like he was, and for legitimately putting his body through that kind of torment.  However, the second thing of note was that Lesnar is the most feared star perhaps in the history of the business, or at least of this generation. Lesnar commanded the attention of the people just by his mere presence, but once the match started, Lesnar turned on the switch, and it was such a one-sided match, to the point where you had sympathy for Cena.  Not in the way that we've had sympathy for him in the past whenever he would take an abundance of punishment, but people were genuinely concerned with his well being.  The scary thing about this, as well, is that he didn't cheat.  This didn't step outside the ring.  No "foreign" objects were used.  There wasn't even any outside interference from Heyman.  Cena, for the first time that i could ever recall, was plain and simply outmatched.  In fact, there was a part in that match where Cena did his "Attitude Adjustment" finisher, and not only did he not pin Lesnar, but "The Beast Incarnate" sat up similar to The Undertaker, and laughed at Cena.  Simply put, it was scary and slightly psychotic.  Lesnar wasn't quite this incredible in his first run with the company, and that was very impressive in itself.  This Lesnar is more mature and looks better than any of us could've imagined.  Keep in mind, he left WWE after winning three World Titles from 2002-2004.  He went to UFC and won their World Title as well, having quite a dominating run there as well, only to have his career in MMA end from diverticulitis.  Upon his return, he has gone through the likes Of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, back in 2012, he had a bloody war against Cena at Extreme Rules, but he came out the loser in that exchange.  However, this event will be known as the night Brock Edward Lesnar truly was, as Paul Heyman refers to him, "The Conqueror".

With it being Summerslam, and once again in L.A., of course the stars came out.  ESPN's Michelle Beadle (who had a locker room falling out last year with CM Punk and AJ Lee), hip-hop trailblazer Rick Rubin, and the most dominant MMA female fighter in the world, Ronda Rousey, were all in attendance.  Speaking of Rousey, the self-professed "Heyman Girl" and her "Four Horsewomen" collective are rumored to be a part of Wrestlemania 31 in California, which could be very, very interesting.

Overall, Summerslam was a fantastic show.  Definitely better than the last few pay per views WWE has had since Wrestlemania.  The question is now, how will WWE follow up with last night's excellent show?  I can only hope tonight's RAW broadcast will continue the good storytelling and angles from last night.  Also, Night Of Champions will be here next month.  Will they repeat the success of last night?  We'll see.  Until next week people!