Posted in: Hustle Is Posting Right Now Hustle Is Posting Right Now: Volume 42 ("Bracketology 5" Edition)
By Hustle
Apr 17, 2009 - 9:08:46 PM
Pure Magic.
"Demolition Man.. tell your friends I demolish ya.."
This week's intro line is brought to you by Juelz Santana, and it's only dedicated to a few of you out there. Nice to see that my female audience is picking up. That's always nice to have happen in the ridiculously male-dominated world of the IWC and column-writing, in general. Welcome to not only the ladies, but to all my homies of the penile persuasion. This is yet another edition of the column that strikes like lightning.. Hustle Is Posting Right Now. Once again, back is the incredible.. the column animal.. tis I, Hustle, and I'm back in it to win it. We all know what you're here for, and damnit, I think it's about that time, so, uh.. shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!!
I absolutely hate when this happens to me.
There are times in your life when something comes along and steals your attention and your affection. You spend your time and money just to have this as a part of your life, even if it's just a small part. Things are going good for you, and you're on top of the world. Unbeknownst to you, however, things are slowly changing, and those things are leading to your relationship taking a much different path than you originally thought it would.
This scenario has happened to me in the past. Hell, it's happened several times. Honestly, it really doesn't matter what type of relationship it is.. if it lasts long enough, things are going to change, but hopefully, not to the point where said relationship is dead in the water. Unfortunately, those have also happened to me in the past. Each time, I tried to learn from any mistakes I may have made, and I tried to study whatever what wrong in an effort to avoid having it happen again. That's a major key to becoming successful in life. You must always learn from your past in an effort to make your future better.
It appears that I didn't study hard enough. My relationship with Ring Of Honor is now crumbling before my very eyes, and there isn't much I can really do about it. RoH and I go back a long way. One of the first columns I ever wrote was a letter from me to my "girlfriend" (WWE, who I've stood by since my childhood) to inform "her" that someone else had come into the picture to steal my affection (RoH, who I was, at the time, still a new fan of), and that my "girlfriend" had one final chance to convince me to stay (WrestleMania 24, which was my first live non-house show event, and was a few weeks away at the time) or I would leave forever. That's how much I enjoyed RoH. I had been watching WWF/WWE programming since before I could remember, and here was this new company making me start to forget about them completely. The weeks went by, and RoH became my #1 promotion, and actually, it wasn't close. Outside of a small handful of things, WWE wasn't giving me a whole lot to get excited about, and that's where RoH stepped in. I could watch an entire RoH show and find a different reason to get excited about each and every match. I had no problem whatsoever in going to RoH's website and taking advantage of their weekly sales so that I could purchase DVD after DVD. In all, I probably spent in the vicinity of $2500 on RoH DVDs over the span of a year or so. It was an addiction. An addiction that I wanted to be hooked on.
Bryan Danielson was one of the very first RoH wrestlers to draw me in, and names like Nigel McGuinness, The Briscoes (Jay & Mark), Claudio Castagnoli, and Chris Hero also had a fan in me, as well as some names that have since left the company (Samoa Joe, Homicide, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and even Colt Cabana, who is now back with RoH). Even the people I didn't care for.. people like Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, etc.. were still fun to watch in their own way. People in the IWC often speak about different types of wrestling as being good "alternatives" to the "mainstream" product, and I felt RoH was an absolute perfect "alternative" to what we were being given by both WWE and TNA. They put much more of a focus on the actual in-ring product than either of the "Big Two" companies, which was really nice. Even the "lower-tier" matches would often feature two guys who could go, and the matches would last as long as, if not longer than, WWE's televised main events. I'm just rambling here, but the bottom line is that RoH delivered everything I was looking for in a wrestling promotion. As time went on, names like Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs, Davey Richards, Kevin Steen, and El Generico all came along to continue making the promotion a "must-watch" for me.
Eventually, I started to feel that WWE's product improved enough that I could look forward to watching it every week. It goes without saying that I'm a huge John Cena fan, but people like MVP, CM Punk, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Shelton Benjamin, Shawn Michaels, John Morrison and the like were all putting on wonderful matches that pulled me back in like I was trying to escape the Mafia. I could still enjoy RoH, but as the months went on, I found myself shifting more and more of my time back to WWE's product. My enjoyment with RoH would soon go through some trials and tribulations, though.
Personally, my problems with the company can be traced back to their parting of the ways with Gabe Sapolsky, who was the company's sole booker, and the man responsible for a huge portion of their success. We still haven't heard the entire story of why Sapolsky was let go, and chances are, we never will. The bottom line, though, is that he isn't with the company anymore. RoH replaced him with Adam Pearce, former NWA World Champion and, up until that point, had been a longtime regular on the company's talent roster. As a wrestler, I wasn't the biggest fan of Pearce's work, but I could appreciate the "old school" style that he brought to the considerably "new school" company. It made for a nice contrast, and it helped him garner some big-time heel heat every time he went out to perform. As a booker, people figured he'd be different than Sapolsky was, but they also figured that the "old school" aspect would keep the company grounded a bit and allow them to continue focusing on the in-ring action. In my opinion, that isn't what has happened. Since Pearce took over, the company has taken more of a WWE-style approach to things, using more storylines and promos to advance things. To be fair to Adam Pearce, I can't say how much of that is his doing, how much of it is RoH Owner Cary Silkin's doing, and how much was of it was due to possible suggestions from HDNet Officials over their station's new TV deal with RoH. No matter who was responsible for the change, a change was still taking place. On top of that, RoH began to bring in wrestler after wrestler to participate on their shows. In a matter of weeks, they seemingly doubled the size of their roster, and they just continued to bring people in, even for one-shot deals. I understand the idea of wanting to expand your roster. Really, I do. I just don't see the point in doing so much in such a short amount of time. If Vince McMahon wants to sign a new wrestler or two, he'll do it, but he won't just go ahead and say "fuck it" and bring in new wrestlers by the dozen. It just doesn't work that way. It got to the point where, if you missed an RoH show or two, you'd check the results for an event and see the entire pre-show filled with people you'd never heard of, and just about every main show match featured someone who wasn't in the company the month before. To use another loosely-based WWE comparison, imagine if you watched Raw and nothing but Raw. You would go on vacation, and during the vacation, the company decided to combine the rosters of Raw, Smackdown, and ECW. When you got back to watch a new episode of Raw, it would be chock full of wrestlers you had never seen before, and you'd wonder just what the hell was going on. It got incredibly difficult to follow the action.
We're currently sitting through multiple "controversies" involving RoH, and all of them are bad in their own little way. First, we have "Sweet N Sour" Larry Sweeney, who has blogged about being owed money by the company because they treated his medical condition (being bipolar) like it was some sort of drug problem, and they suspended him without pay for showing up to work unable to perform. Second, we have the company's working relationship with Japan's Dragon Gate organization. Dragon Gate, apparently, wasn't getting paid properly for their various appearances with RoH, and they decided to end said working relationship. This move led to DG announcing that they're starting up "Dragon Gate USA", which is the American branch of the company, and that they'll perform a show in America once every other month, starting with a show in Philadelphia (aka RoH's birthplace) in July. Oh, and who was announced as the Vice President of DGUSA? If you guessed "Gabe Sapolsky", you'd be correct. With both Sweeney and DG's problems, there is one huge thing that links them.. money. It's never a good sign when a smallish wrestling promotion is having disputes with people over money, especially when it involves those people being owed money that they aren't getting. Could it all be nothing more than a coincidence? Of course it could, but I've grown up in the era where the "Rise and Fall" of the original ECW has shown people what (and what not) to do as far as running a pro wrestling promotion. Previous to any of this news, there was buzz, here and there, about RoH live attendance being down, with cities that usually drew pretty well putting a fraction of the fans in arenas. "Where there's smoke, there's fire" immediately comes to mind, as much as it pains me to say.
Right now, I anxiously await more news on DGUSA, as, at the time of posting this column, the announcement of the company was only a couple days old. I'm a fan of Dragon Gate's Lucha Libre-style product, and to see them get some shine in this country is nice, but it was the signing of Gabe Sapolsky that truly piqued my interest. His title of "Vice President" could mean a lot of things, but undoubtedly, he'll have his hand in the company's booking decisions. He also has a familiarity with the DG roster, due to their previous work together. Best case scenario? DGUSA is an immediate success, and with continued growth, basically becomes a new RoH, as far as quality matches and mark on the indy wrestling map. Worst case scenario? DGUSA provides a few months worth of excitement to those that know about them, but do not get any bigger than that, and just head back to Japan for good. There's one man that may hold the key to the upstart promotion's success in this country, and that man is none other than Paul Heyman. Heyman goes back quite a long way with Gabe Sapolsky, as Sapolsky worked for the original ECW and has been labeled as Heyman's "Right Hand Man" by some. DG is a completely different style of wrestling than most American fans are used to, and they could use a little help in marketing their product before the ball officially gets rolling. When it comes to marketing and promotion, other than Vince McMahon himself, there's nobody better suited for that than Paul Heyman. The guy could sell salt to a snail, and he has enough followers that could still hang on his every word. I'm not saying that it will happen, but if it did happen, I think it would do nothing but benefit Heyman, DG, and the wrestling world, in general. Just as long as they keep Heyman away from the financial aspect of the company, of course.
Has it really come down to this? Am I really hoping for the success of a "rival" company like that? Not that I wanted other indy promotions to suffer and go out of business before, but I'm looking at the potential rise of DGUSA as if it were a savior of some sort. "save_me.DGUSA", I suppose. Right now, my interest in RoH is on life support. Rumors of money problems, too many "unknowns" on the roster, ending Nigel McGuinness' epic World Title reign by having Jerry Lynn beat him for the belt, the continued mistreatment (in my eyes) of Bryan Danielson, a continued annoyment over the hardcore RoH mark fans.. there's just a lot to dislike about the company right now. There have been numerous times in the past that I would hope for the "big" names on RoH to make their way to the WWE roster, but that hope has never been as strong. McGuinness and Danielson, especially, could become big stars (to different degrees) in Titan Land. If the RoH ship truly is sinking, I would hope those two, more than anyone else, could find a life raft so that they don't go down with the Titanic.
I.. I'm just.. my emotions on the subject are so strong, but they're all going through my head at such a rapid pace. So fast that it may have even hurt the fluidity of this column. This was more of a "rant", and with things so jumbled in my head, I fear it'll come across as jumbled to you, the readers. I apologize if that's the case. It just sucks to sit back and have to watch what is happening to the company that, not too long ago, I recommended to everyone who would listen, and now, I can't even bother to recommend it to myself. It's getting to the point where, like the column I mentioned earlier, RoH is going to have one more chance to keep me hooked. Unfortunately for them, though, they don't have a WrestleMania-like event coming up, and I won't be in attendance to help with the "magic". I don't even know what to say anymore.
I absolutely hate when this happens to me.
The Hustle Madness tournament continues to roll on, and I've made a decision on the inclusion of WrestleMania 25's instant classic between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Including it in the current tournament, in any way, would be unfair to all of you who have taken the time to vote thus far. Also, with the match still being fresh in our minds, it may get some unfair bias towards it, causing it to advance further than it would under other circumstances. Therefore, the current tournament will carry on, and Taker/HBK will be added to a future tournament of some sort, even if I have to wait a year and do this again next March. Thanks to everyone that chimed in with their thoughts on the matter. Let's look at the results for the Elite Eight..
Red Bracket #3 Steve Austin VS The Rock (WrestleMania 17) over #1 Ric Flair VS Ricky Steamboat (WrestleWar 1989)
The #1 overall seed in the tournament has now fallen, with Austin/Rock taking this by the score of 70-57. I can't really say I'm too shocked at the result here, regardless of the seeding situation. Austin/Rock has had some really strong support in this tournament, and I've had numerous people say the match would've been a #1 seed in their own tournament of this nature. To see it reach the Final Four wasn't exactly a huge stretch of the imagination.
Blue Bracket #12 The Undertaker VS Mankind (King Of The Ring 1998) over #7 Ric Flair VS Terry Funk (Clash Of The Champions 9)
Technically, this result shouldn't have been a huge stretch of the imagination, either. "Cinderella" moves on yet again, but this one was just about as close as you're going to get, with HIAC winning by the score of 65-62. I've had a few people who have professed how unhappy they are over Taker/Mankind making it this far, but all of that is out of my hands. These results are what you, the readers, vote on, and the winners move on because of you. Those of you that have e-mailed me and have been directing your anger towards me on the subject.. it's clear that you haven't actually read my columns very well, or you would already know this. Come on, folks.. I've stated, in damn near every round thus far, that things are 100% up to you once I post the new matchups for every round.
Purple Bracket #9 Shawn Michaels VS Kurt Angle (WrestleMania 21) over #6 Triple H VS Cactus Jack (Royal Rumble 2000)
This was the only blowout of the round, with Michaels/Angle winning by the score of 81-46. A lot of you e-mailed me about your current frustrations with Triple H, along with your picks, so I'm guessing that had a little something to do with the result here, although I'm not trying to take anything away from how good Michaels/Angle was. Here we are, a little over four years after the match, and damn, I'd really like to see a rematch before one or both of them retire.
Orange Bracket #1 Steve Austin VS Bret Hart (WrestleMania 13) over #3 Dudley Boyz VS Edge & Christian VS Hardy Boyz (SummerSlam 2000)
Another #1 seed nearly fell here, but in the end, Austin/Hart rallied and pulled out a 68-59 victory. The TLC juggernaut had a really strong showing in this tournament, but now that we're to the end, no TLC matches remain. A few days ago, "C" and I watched the Austin/Hart match again, and although it flew by a lot quicker than I remembered, it still held up quite nicely all these years later. No surprise whatsoever to see the match make the Final Four.
This brings us to the Final Four, ladies and gentlemen. Your votes have been cast, and we're down to only four matches left. It's getting down to the nitty gritty here, so make sure you choose wisely. Here are the matchups..
Red #3 Steve Austin VS The Rock (WrestleMania 17)
VS
Blue #12 The Undertaker VS Mankind (King Of The Ring 1998)
Purple #9 Shawn Michaels VS Kurt Angle (WrestleMania 21)
VS
Orange #1 Steve Austin VS Bret Hart (WrestleMania 13)
"Cinderella" has come this far, but will the Austin/Rock classic from Houston be able to stop it? Will the only remaining #1 left in the tournament be able to move on? Will we really get a #9 VS #12 matchup in the final? The answers to these questions, as well as a new set of questions, I'm sure, will be revealed next Friday. Be there~!
Hustle Highlight Of The Week: This one was another easy choice for me. John Morrison VS Evan Bourne from this week's episode of ECW was a beautiful match. Approximately 18 minutes long, I'd probably rate it at around the four-star mark. While you'd expect a match involving those two to be a high-flying encounter, they spent a surprising amount of time on the mat, absolutely stiffing the shit out of each other. That only added to the awesomeness of the entire thing, if you ask me. This will definitely be in the running for TV Match Of The Year in 2009, and maybe even be in the Top 10 or so for overall Match Of The Year.
Honorable mentions would include John Cena VS Jack Swagger from Raw, Kofi Kingston VS The Miz from Raw, Christian VS Finlay VS Tommy Dreamer from ECW, Christopher Daniels' return to TNA, and Todd Grisham's SICK BURN on Tommy Dreamer from Raw (where he said that if Tommy Dreamer is considered a "Legend" in wrestling, then Brooklyn Brawler should be considered one, as well).
Writer's Note: Well, the WWE Draft Lottery (as well as the Supplemental Draft) has now come and gone. I've read a lot of people's thoughts on the event, and .. surprise, surprise.. there's varying opinions from people, ranging from "The Draft sucked" to "I think every brand came out looking really well", and just about everything in between. I'm one of the people that think the Draft worked out well for Raw, Smackdown, and ECW, all for different reasons. I'm going to take this time to briefly review the picks from the Lottery itself, as well as the "big" moves from the Supplemental Draft..
United States Champion MVP goes from Smackdown to Raw: I mentioned this move last week, and I still think it's a great choice. "Rey Mysterio to Smackdown" was one of the most talked about moves heading into this week, and it was only natural to replace the midcard IC Title on Raw with the midcard US Title. Once this move took place, it pretty much sealed the deal that Mysterio would be moved, as well. MVP has been in need of fresh surroundings for several months now, even before his long losing streak began, and now he has that. He's a versatile competitor that can be one of Raw's "workhorse" guys, able to go out there every week and wrestle a variety of opponents for 10-15 minutes. Raw seems to have one or two of those types of matches every week. MVP always has his "work boots" on, though, so it won't be a problem for him.
Big Show goes from Smackdown to Raw: I don't know what this does for the Vickie Guerrero/Edge/Big Show love triangle, but moving Show to Raw was a good move, especially with Kane moving to Smackdown later in the show. At worst, Show will be the Kane "monster" replacement on Raw, where he'll never quite be competing for the World Title (or WWE Title), but always in some sort of a high-profile feud with one of the upper-midcard names. At best, he can continue the momentum he's had in recent months, and ride that momentum towards another title reign of some sort, even if it's a US Title reign. It's a pretty symbolic move of the Draft's direction as a whole.. the "name" guys move to Raw, while the "work" guys get placed on the other two brands.
Women's Champion Melina goes from Raw to Smackdown: This match was needed more for Smackdown than for Raw, because Michelle McCool has feuded with every Diva on the Smackdown roster (except for Gail Kim, obviously) at least 4.6 million times at this point. Melina moving to Smackdown allows her to have a fresh batch of people to face, with McCool and Kim leading the way. A Melina/Kim feud could be pretty decent if given the right time to develop.
Matt Hardy goes from Smackdown to Raw: Although moving Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard to Raw is a sure sign that God is punishing me, it's still a good move for Mr Hardy. After his feud with Jeff, he was straight f-u-c-k-e-d on the Smackdown brand. No matter how many times in a row he won, he would never be the star that his brother is, so a move to get them on different brands was for the best. Now Matt won't have to live in his brother's shadow, although any chance he had of becoming a legit main eventer has now Ron Browz'ed itself (jumpin out the windowwwww~!). He's a solid US Title-level guy.
WWE Champion Triple H goes from Smackdown to Raw: Honestly, I really have nothing to say here. As I mentioned in my feedback thread at LoPForums.com, I try to give Super H the benefit of the doubt a lot of the time, but there are far too many "kowinkydinks" for me to truly believe that his ego and position within the McMahon family isn't controlling decision after decision that takes place on a weekly basis. I'll save more of my opinion here for a column that will be hitting the streets in the coming weeks.
CM Punk goes from Raw to Smackdown: At the moment, moving the Money In The Bank winner to a brand that has no World Champions seems like a strange move. Logic would seem to indicate that one of two moves is about to take place.. either Edge beats John Cena at Backlash, which would bring the World Title to Smackdown.. or Cena wins, but Punk cashes in his title shot immediately after the match, wins, and that brings the World Title to Smackdown. Either way, expect something to happen soon. I like this move, as a whole, because it allows Punk to avoid being lost in the shuffle on Raw. The names on Smackdown are filled with people who either already have had good matches with Punk, or have what it takes to do so in the near future.
The Miz goes from ECW to Raw: On one hand, splitting up the best tag team going today is a bad idea. On the other hand, the move works out for both Miz and Morrison as singles stars. Even Stevie Wonder could see that Miz was the more charismatic member of MorriMiz, and his mic skills are decidedly better than his partner's are. Those skills fit in nicely on the Raw brand, while Morrison's style of wrestling fits in better on ECW, where there's more of a focus on in-ring abilities than on how well someone can "talk". If Miz can continue his rapid improvement in the ring, he'll be a solid US Title-level guy for the next few years, easily.
Kane goes from Raw to Smackdown: There wasn't a whole lot left for him to do on Raw, unless any of you were dying for another "Big VS Big" feud with him and Big Show. On the other side of that, though, is the almost-inevitable feud Kane will have with The Undertaker. Unfortunately for me, as I've always been a fan of Kane, I think he's nearing the end of the line soon, and if that's the case, I think it's quite fitting to be involved with Taker in one way or another. As a bonus, because of the lack of "names" on the Smackdown brand, Kane is closer to being a World Champion now than he was during his time on Raw.
Chris Jericho goes from Raw to Smackdown: Here's another one that I felt really needed to happen. There wasn't a whole lot else for Jericho to accomplish on Raw, and let's be real, folks.. with Super H back on the Raw roster, Jericho didn't stand a chance in hell of being "the man" on Monday nights. Jericho looks to be constantly involved in the title picture for whatever World Title heads to Smackdown. This move also gives us the potential for a Jericho/Undertaker feud, which a lot of people (myself included) seem to be asking for. I'd think Taker would probably have a thing or two to say about the opinion Jericho has about "legends". That should be fun.
Vladimir Kozlov goes from Smackdown to ECW: For those of you that have been reading my columns for a while, you might remember that I predicted big things for Kozlov in the 2009 calendar year. There was a point where it looked like I would be correct on that, but things began going downhill rather quickly for "The Moscow Mauler". This move could be the absolute saving grace for his WWE career. He'll be the ECW Champion by the end of the year, without question, barring injury or some sort of stupid personal decision (steroids, legal issues, etc). He's free of Super H, who nearly killed his push single-handedly, which is also a nice addition to this move.
Divas Champion Maryse goes from Smackdown to Raw: With Melina moving to Smackdown, there really wasn't a point in having Maryse on the brand, as well. The rumors are that WWE Officials are high on Maryse's heel work, and having her moved to the top brand is proof of that. No, she isn't the greatest wrestler on the Diva roster, but she's not horrible, either, and, as I've stated several times in the past, she's such a believable natural "bitch" heel. She'll do just fine on Raw, getting to work with names like Beth Phoenix and Mickie James.
Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio goes from Raw to Smackdown: The ratings on Smackdown will drastically improve with the Latino demographic, that's for sure. I have no problem with Rey moving to Smackdown, and actually, the prediction I made a month or so ago about Rey possibly being a future World Champion may still come true. On Raw, he wasn't going to be facing Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, etc, and coming out on top. On Smackdown, he could definitely be believable in beating Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Edge, etc.
Mr Kennedy goes from Smackdown to Raw: I thought a move to ECW would be a better move for him, but what was clear was that he needed something fresh, so I'm not surprised to see him changing brands. At this stage of his career, I think it's quite clear that he'll never match the hype that a large majority of the IWC had for him when he debuted, but as a US Title contender, he's a perfect fit, as long as he can keep himself healthy for more than a week or two at a time. We shall see if he can do just that.
John Morrison goes from ECW to Smackdown: Man, he would've been perfect as a singles competitor on ECW right now. No, his ECW Title reign wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but he's a much bigger star today than he was when he won the ECW Title (not to mention the fact that Morrison was a last-minute replacement to win the title at Vengeance that year, and was chosen because the original pick, Chris Benoit, decided he'd rather change the course of professional wrestling history that weekend). I felt a second reign as ECW Champion was coming soon, but with his move to Smackdown, my opinion isn't changing much. He'll be involved in the IC Title chase for the first few months on the Blue Brand, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if he's fighting for a World Title in the future, especially if he can work on his mic skills. In front of an audience, he flounders, but he's pretty good when it's a "Dirt Sheet" type of thing that is done in front of the camera crew and nobody else. That needs to change for him to move to the next level.
Unified Tag Team Champions Carlito & Primo go from Smackdown to Raw: Personally, I don't see a point whatsoever to having the champs moving to Raw. Actually, I don't see a point to them even having to be confined to one brand. There are only a few legit tag teams in the company right now, and the tag champs should be able to appear on any brand, much like MorriMiz have done during their time together, especially now that there's only one set of titles. Having teams on either ECW or Smackdown now makes zero sense. We'll see if the champs do move about from show to show.
Ezekiel Jackson goes from Smackdown to ECW: This move doesn't make much sense to me, either, for two different reasons. First, splitting Big Zeke from The Brian Kendrick without having any sort of storyline where Zeke snaps at Kendrick for the way he's treated him.. well, that just makes me scratch my head. Secondly, with Mark Henry, Vladimir Kozlov, and Jack Swagger (to a lesser extent) already on the ECW roster, there wasn't a need for another "monster" heel. I think Henry should've been moved, and replaced with Zeke, but hey, what do I know? It'll be interesting to see what type of plans are in store for the guy now.
DH Smith goes from Smackdown to ECW: Hmm.. with Tyson Kidd already being a member of the ECW roster, and with Natalya officially being sent to ECW, this move just screams out some sort of New Hart Foundation in the near future. Well, actually, maybe they'll be involved in a feud against each other, but I'd think the stable is coming. There was a time that Smith probably would've been the "star" of the group, but things change, and I really think Kidd would be the anchor of the faction now. It's kind of a "ha-ha" situation, after Smith tried to jockey himself away from his childhood friends in order to have him placed in Randy Orton's group. Smooth move, buddy.
The Brian Kendrick goes from Smackdown to Raw: Why? No, seriously.. why? The way he's been booked, he hasn't looked all that tremendously strong without the help of Ezekiel Jackson, and now he's all by himself on the most stacked brand in the company. Not only that, but he's still on the same brand as the guy who single-handedly squashed any and all momentum he had.. Triple H. You know, that's starting to be a recurring theme, isn't it? Unless they throw Kendrick into some sort of a tag team, he's in big trouble, in my opinion. He's got more than enough talent to be involved in the US Title picture, but again, without Jackson, he didn't accomplish much on Smackdown, so the way he's booked needs to change for his talent to be fully utilized.
Hurricane Helms goes from Smackdown to ECW: I love this move. Love, love, love this move. He's one of the most underrated talents in the entire company, and he's a perfect fit on ECW with the way he wrestles. He'll probably end up being an ECW Champion in the future, and I wouldn't complain one bit if that happened. I've been a fan of this guy since the days of "Sugar" Shane Helms in WCW, and I feel he deserves a lot better than he's received, post-Hurricane gimmick.
Again, this worked out quite well for each brand, in my opinion. Raw will be helped in the TV ratings due to their stacked roster of "name" wrestlers. ECW will be helped by having a bunch of depth added without actually having to lose much. Smackdown will be helped by having a roster full of people, from top to bottom, that can really "go" in the ring. The people that have been complaining about Raw "raping" the other brands are out of their minds and clearly aren't thinking this through enough.
Damn, that was quite the long "Writer's Note".
Writer's Note Part Deux: Because it was requested by someone (Hi, Alvin), here are my predictions for this weekend's Lockdown pay-per-view, and yes, WWE predictions get actual column time, while TNA predictions get a "Writer's Note"..
Sting retains the TNA World Title over Mick Foley.. Team Angle wins Lethal Lockdown after Jeff Jarrett turns heel.. Team 3D wins the TNA Tag Titles by beating Beer Money.. Awesome Kong retains the Knockouts Title over Angelina Love and Taylor Wilde.. Abyss over Matt Morgan.. Suicide retains the X-Division Title over Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Sheik Abdul Bashir, & Kiyoshi.. ODB becomes "Queen Of The Cage".. Motor City Machine Guns retain the IWGP Jr Tag Team Titles over LAX and Team No Limit..and really, I couldn't give two shits less who wins the Danny Bonaduce/Eric Young match.
Oh, and Taz probably winds up being the "former World Champion from another organization" that makes his TNA debut at the event, but again, I don't really care, one way or another. If he does show up, he had better replace Don West on commentary, because the last thing TNA needs is another "authority figure" type getting in the way of actual action taking place. As for the other "former World Champion" that will be showing up at Lockdown.. well, if it's "Psycho" Sid Vicious, I wouldn't complain one bit.
Writer's Note Part Ekolu: To clarify, for those of you that have been asking, the plans for the 2nd Annual LoPForums.com WrestleMania Weekend Wrestling (W)Extravaganza that I mentioned last week aren't necessarily for everyone. When I brought up a road trip from Phoenix to Las Vegas and to Los Angeles, that was more something that "C" and I had mentioned as an idea. If you just want to go to Phoenix to watch wrestling, that's fine. The early plans are for this shindig to last anywhere between a week to two weeks, depending on everyone's schedule, so there will be plenty of time to get things done. For example, here's a bit of a schedule I just came up with off the top of my head..
Saturday (week before Mania itself) - Arrive in Phoenix, pick up rental car, check into the hotel, meet up with whoever is in town already, go out to dinner
Sunday (week before Mania itself) - Drive to Las Vegas in the morning, get to Vegas in the afternoon, do Vegas things until whenever's clever, drive back to Phoenix that night or early Monday morning
Monday - Check out Phoenix and do Phoenix things, hit up the mall or whatever, go out to dinner, meet up and watch Raw together in someone's room
Tuesday - Drive to Los Angeles in the morning, get to LA in the afternoon, do LA things until whenever's clever, drive back to Phoenix that night or early Wednesday morning
Wednesday - More touristy Phoenix things
Thursday - Hit up Glendale (where the stadium is) to check things out and what the drive time/parking scenario will be
Friday - More touristy Phoenix things during the day, attend the RoH show that night
Saturday - More touristy Phoenix things during the day, attend either the RoH show or the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony that night
Sunday - WrestleMania, obviously
Monday - Possibly head home
If my group and I are heading to Vegas, but you want to stay in Arizona and do touristy things, feel free to do so. We'll all be back the next morning. There will be numerous opportunities for people to meet up and hang out, whether it's on those road trips, or just little things like getting together for dinner and some drinks. There will also be numerous opportunities for people to do things with their family, friends, chaperones, etc that accompany them on the trip. It just seemed that some folks thought I was coordinating everyone's plans for the week, which is untrue. You don't have to meet up with me or anybody else. If anybody has any questions about the trip, or has questions about how last year's trip in Orlando went, feel free to hit me up and ask. As the weeks and months go by, more information will come out, and this shindig will take better shape.
What Hustle Is Listening To Right Now: "I Luv Your Girl" by The Dream.. "Flow Motion" by Bone Thugs N Harmony.. "Dance With Me" by Intrigue.. "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" by Az Yet.. "I'm On A Boat" by Lonely Island & T-Pain.. "The Bay" by Zion I.. "Temperature" by Zion I & Talib Kweli.. "Around My Way" by Talib Kweli & John Legend.. "Hey There Delilah" by Ju'not Joyner (yes, again).. "I Wanna Love You Tonight" by Pati.. "Gimme Love" by Collie Buddz.. "Rock Witcha" by Bobby Brown.. "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder.. "Girl Let Me Know" by Kawao.. "As I Em" by Asher Roth.. "Letter To Puffy" by Kain.. "The Rose" by Bette Midler.. "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova.. "Thug Luv" by Bone Thugs N Harmony & 2Pac (I had to follow the last two songs with something hard).. "Slow Down" by Bobby Valentino.. "Older Gods" by Wu Tang Clan.. "Feel Me Flow" by Naughty By Nature.. "Imagine" by Jay Rock, K-Dot, & Punch.. "What's Next" by Jay Rock, 2Pac, & A3.. "Where's Da G's" by Dizzee Rascal & UGK.. "Somebody's Gotta Die" by Notorious B.I.G. .. "That's The Way That Goes" by D12.. "Presidential Shit" by Youngbloodz & Lil Jon.. "Overstand Me" by Pimp C, Chamillionaire, & Trae.. "Back Again" by Reflection Eternal (yes!)
Volume 42 is now finished, not unlike the seasons for any team that gets in the way of my Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA Playoffs, including LeBron "I'm Trying Too Hard To Be Like Kobe Bryant Who Is Trying Too Hard To Be Like Michael Jordan" James and his Cleveland LeBrons. Thanks, all, for riding with me yet again. Next week will be another jam-packed column, as I deliver the final matchup of the Hustle Madness tournament, a mini-preview of Backlash, my NFL Draft preview, and as for the "main" section.. well, if I'm done with my Super H piece by then, that'll be it, but if not, "Ask Hustle" will tide us over for a week until the HHH section is ready. Until then, however, I must bounce like a half-ounce, nah'mean? From the land of.. well.. me.. I bid you farewell. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa.
”I'm exceedin expectations, you barely meetin quota.. I give it to em straight, you cut it with baking soda..”
"I don't walk in fear. I walk as fear."
"See, that's the difference between you and I.. you get money, and you get crazy.. I get crazy, and I get money..”
"The same reason y'all could love me is the same reason y'all condemn me.."
Hustle HIPRNFeedback@gmail.com
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