I've actually received a lot of requests to share my opinion on Ring Ka King over the last few weeks, but with my daily streak coming to an end, and then with me slowing down to recharge my batteries a bit, I simply couldn't find the right opportunity to write about it.
Times have changed.
Let's break things down a bit, for those who are unaware of what Ring Ka King is. It's the Indian subsidiary promotion of TNA, started by Jeff Jarrett. Literally translated, Ring Ka King means "King Of The Ring", which raises a lot of eyebrows. Filming began last month, with the first episode airing in India on January 14th. Jarrett is also a part of the Creative Team, along with Dutch Mantell, Jeremy Borash and former WWE Writer Dave Lagana.
Just for shits and giggles, here's the Ring Ka King roster..
- Abyss
- American Adonis (better known as Chris Masters)
- Broadway (better known as Little Guido or Nunzio)
- Chavo Guerrero
- Cliff Compton (better known as Domino)
- Dr. Nicholas Dinsmore (better known as Eugene or Nick Dinsmore)
- Harry Smith (better known as David Hart Smith)
- Hollywood (better known as Joey Ryan)
- Jimmy Rave
- Luke Gallows
- Matt Morgan
- Roscoe Jackson (better known as Trevor Murdoch)
- Scott Steiner
- Shawn Daivari (better known as Khosrow Daivari or Sheik Abdul Bashir)
- Sir Brutus Magnus
- Sonjay Dutt
- Zema Ion
- Mickie James
- Raisha Saeed
Obviously, the first thing that jumps out is the small roster. A grand total of 19 workers, and only two females. That's it. Of course, the show hasn't even aired yet, so there's plenty of time for more names to be added. I have no doubt that we'll see more people added in the not-too-distant future, but compare that to the TNA roster (a total of 52 workers, with 13 of them being female) and it looks incredibly thin. Hell, for more comparison, Ring Of Honor currently has 30 workers on their roster.
However, even though there are less members of the Ring Ka King roster than many backyard feds across the globe. the quality of the roster is high. There's a solid mix of brawlers, monsters, mat technicians, high-fliers, and charismatic characters. Some will complain that TNA brought in more ex-WWE talent to work for Ring Ka King, and while that's true, they brought in some solid, underrated names.
- As I said on multiple occasions before he was released, Chris Masters had improved his in-ring work by leaps and bounds. He still isn't the next coming of Dean Malenko or anything along those lines, but he's much better than people give him credit for.
- Trevor Murdoch is also a very nice worker. One who is a lot smaller than a lot of people realize (6'4", 240 pounds). A lot of his brawling and his look leads people to believe that he's in line with similar workers such as JBL, Barry Windham, Dick Murdoch, etc, but he's still small and quick enough to "go" with the smaller workers he faces.
- When people think about Eugene, they remember the gimmick.. Eric Bischoff's mentally handicapped nephew who was such a big wrestling fan that he studied tapes of various workers and was able to use their finishers during his matches. His gimmick and the way he was booked didn't really allow for him to actually show off his skills, though. In actuality, he's one of the most skilled in-ring workers that World Wrestling Entertainment had employed in the last decade or so.
- I've also mentioned Daivari on a few occasions, but he's actually a solid X-Division/Cruiserweight-style worker. He never got a chance to show that off when he was on the WWE roster, and only got to briefly show it off while in TNA before, but I'm happy to see him get another chance to be a heat machine.
The rest of the ex-WWE guys pretty much speak for themselves. Even with all the bitchassness and douchebaggery that Chavo Guerrero has shown on Twitter in the last several months, he's still a fantastic worker and a nice veteran presence to have in a locker room. He can be, to the younger guys in Ring Ka King, what his uncle, Eddie Guerrero, was to the younger guys in the WWE locker room. That type of thing is much more valuable than words or statistics can convey, in my opinion.
Writer's Note: This next section is going to feature some spoilers from the Ring Ka King tapings, so those of you that are reading this from India might want to skip ahead (I'll let you know when the spoiler section is over).
However, there's already a problem that I've seen. Some of that strange, nonsensical booking that TNA has been famous for seems to have found its way 9000+ miles across the planet. At RKK's first set of tapings, Matt Morgan became the inaugural RKK Heavyweight Champion. That's fine and dandy. However, at the next taping, which took place the following day, Morgan dropped the title to Magnus. What the hell was the point in putting the title on Morgan in the first place? TNA has become famous for having titles change for "no reason", and this just reeks of that. This is your promotion's very first Heavyweight Champion. This is the person who is supposed to be the "face" of your promotion, moving forward, at least for a while. This is the person you chose to represent the company, on-screen and off. Matt Morgan was that person, and then, without warning, you had the title change hands. I have no problem with Magnus at all, but why not give Morgan more than one day/show to be the champ? If you wanted Magnus to have the title so badly, why not have him be the one to defeat Scott Steiner at the first tapings to win the belt? If it has to do with not liking Morgan, why make him the champion in the first place? It's just a strange booking decision. It would be strange, no matter when it happened, but at the very beginning of the company's existence, before the general public has even been made aware of them through television? It makes me worry for RKK's future, actually.
Writer's Note Part Deux: The spoiler section is over.
Overall, I'm excited to see what happens with RKK. Unless something dramatic happens in the next week, and I find myself moving to India, I'll have to hope that episodes of the show hit torrent sites on a prompt basis. If so, I'll be checking them out every week, hoping to see something completely different, and not just "TNA in a foreign land". As I said, I think the roster could be a lot of fun, although they still need some new additions. I mean, come on.. there are only two women on the roster. Mickie James VS Raisha Saeed every other week? I'll pass.
What do you folks think? Are you excited about Ring Ka King? Do you think it will end up being a failure? Do you think it will end up becoming so successful for TNA that they end up bringing some of the workers/storylines over to America to be on Impact and/or pay-per-view? Holla at ya boy and let me know what's on your mind.
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2. Day 9 "Baby, what a big surprise.."
9:00pm: According to my Mayan calendar phone app, it's Monday night, and that means one thing.. it's time for Raw.
9:02pm: After a video recap of the recent goings-on between John Cena and KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE, we're starting the show this week with the Big Red Monster himself, on his way to the ring for what looks like a promo. Last time he cut a promo, it had a very mixed reaction from the IWC, and I'm expecting this to be no different.
9:06pm: You know, I don't think this promo is getting the type of reaction that it's supposed to be getting.
9:06pm: KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE just said that, when people chant "Cena Sucks", it really means that they suck. Does WWE want the fans to boo Cena or not? KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE went from wanting the crowd to chant "Cena Sucks", and actually starting the chant for them, to basically cutting down the entire idea behind the chant. That doesn't make sense.
9:08pm: Cena has heard enough, and he's out, sprinting to the ring. The brawl is on.
9:09pm: They brawl from inside the ring to the ringside area, and then backstage.
9:10pm: As I type that, they've brawled completely out of the arena, and are now in the parking lot. This is pretty rare for WWE programming these days. Kinda cool to see it all go down.
9:11pm: Because he has magical, mystical powers, KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE punched Cena and then completely disappeared after the camera cut to Cena recovering. Oooooh.. scary.
9:12pm: As I said on Twitter the other day.. if Geico was smart, they'd make little plush dolls of Maxwell Pig, complete with the "Wh-whee-wheeeee" sounds when you squeeze its stomach or something. I guarantee they'd sell a lot of them.
9:15pm: It's a shameful thing, Lobster Head! Too many limes! Too many limes! Having to watch Sheamus wrestle is just fine, but I heard Justin Roberts say this is going to be a tag team match, which means Jinder Mahal is probably coming out soon! I don't even like curry, to begin with, but now I'm supposed to eat a spicy lime curry?!? What makes you think I'll want to try that, Brenda?!? I don't have time for this! I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!
9:17pm: Son of a bitch.. I was right. It's Sheamus & Santino VS Wade Bar-ruh & Jinder Mahal. Monday Night Smackdown lives on. Michael Cole just announced that all four of the people in this match will be in the Royal Rumble this year. Alright then.
9:19pm: Cole feels Jinder will be a "big player" in 2012. That alone makes me wish more pain and suffering on both of those idiots.
9:21pm: Brogue Kick to Jinder's mush, followed by a Cobra Strike, and the face team wins. Not much to this match at all, but the crowd was animated for it, at least, which is a nice change of pace.
9:22pm: In a backstage segment with John Laurinaitis and The Miz, Laurinaitis basically tells Miz to fend for himself in his feud with R-Truth, and then says "I'm not Lil Jimmy.. I'm Big Johnny", and then flashes a cheesy smile. He's getting more and more entertaining every week. Amazing.
9:26pm: Jumbaco! Jumbaco! Jumbaco!
9:27pm: It's time for the first official inductee for the Class Of 2012 in the WWE Hall Of Fame. I say "official", because Mil Mascaras will be going in, but it hasn't been announced on television yet.
9:28pm: Wow.. Edge. That was quick. I'm legitimately surprised they aren't going to wait a few years for WrestleMania to be back in Canada for him to be inducted. There's no denying that he belongs in the Hall, though.
9:29pm: After doing some research, Edge will be the youngest living member in the Hall Of Fame. He just turned 38 the day before Halloween. That's probably not a record that will be broken for a while, in my opinion.
9:35pm: S-O-S! I eat up Shelton! (pause) S-O-S! I eat up Brian! (pause)
9:36pm: Hey, speaking of "Brian".. we're getting Kofi Kingston VS Daniel Bryan right now. Non-title. I've been looking forward to seeing these two face each other for a while. This could be fun.
9:39pm: Wait.. what? Kofi jumps off the top rope with a reverse crossbody attempt, and Bryan steps out and catches Kofi coming down, putting the LeBell Lock on him (very nice, by the way), and it was enough for the win. That match didn't even last two minutes. I don't even know if it went a minute-and-a-half. Thanks for coming, Kofi. Good to see Bryan pick up a decisive victory, though.
9:40pm: During Bryan's post-match celebration, Big Show's music hits. Bryan doesn't look happy at all.
9:41pm: D-Bryan says that he's a fighting champion, so he'll grant Show another title shot whenever he wants it. Show agrees, and says that Teddy Long also agrees, which is why Peanuthead booked Daniel Bryan VS Big Show for the World Title on Smackdown in a match where there will be no countouts and no disqualifications. Nice.
9:43pm: Brodus Clay's dressing room is shown backstage, and Cole says Brodus will be making his return after the break. Is it really going to happen this time?
9:48pm: Planet Funk? The Funk-A-Saurus, Brodus Clay? What?!?
9:48pm: What. The. Fuck.
9:49pm: Coming to the ring to Ernest "The Cat" Miller's old entrance music, Brodus Clay comes to the ring dressed like a Run-DMC reject, flanked by dancers and everything. He's dancing, smiling and generally getting down with his bad self.
9:50pm: His opponent is Curt Hawkins?!? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?!?
9:51pm: Brodus wins, stopping to dance and gyrate at several points during the match, but no.. seriously.. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?!? We've had to wait months to see his return, and we got the hip-hop version of Akeem The African Dream? There are no words to accurately describe the ball of fuck that is floating around in my head right now.
9:57pm: CM Punk is wrestling in the first hour main event once again, this time against Jack Swagger in a non-title match. Short of Vince McMahon actually coming out on television and saying it, I don't think it could be any more clear that the company sees John Cena as their top star, no matter who the WWE Champion is.
9:59pm: John Laurinaitis comes out before the match begins and says that Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero will be banned from ringside during the CM Punk VS Dolph Ziggler match at the Royal Rumble.. if Punk wins this match. He also tells Ziggler that he wants him to stay in shape for the Rumble, so he's booked Dolph in a match with John Cena tonight. More proof of the pecking order on Raw.
10:04pm: The more I watch Punk wrestle, and see his in-ring style, and the types of matches he gets in.. the more it blows my mind that he continues to live his Straight Edge lifestyle. That means nothing to help take the edge off of the bumps and bruises (and sometimes more) that he deals with. No alcohol. No drugs. Not even pain medication. He's insane.
10:10pm: Punk's going to kill someone with that step-up knee in the corner one day. He dishes out some brutal shots with that move.
10:11pm: Nice reversal by Swagger, catching Punk in mid-air and delivering a suplex for a two-count. He looks strong so far.
10:13pm: The fuck, man? Punk lands his top rope elbow, and gets the pin, even though Swagger clearly kicked out. The ref's hand hit the mat three times, though. Clearly a botched ending, and Punk immediately getting up and cursing proves that. A nice match between Punk and Swagger, nearly ruined by that awful ending. Nice to see Swagger actually get booked to look like a legit contender for the first time in, what, a year or two?
10:23pm: The Miz, even though he continues to put on tough guy faces and overact like a fucking idiot, is so afraid of R-Truth (who is smaller than Miz, by the way) that he continues to try and recruit people to help protect him. Sad.
10:25pm: Time to announce the next inductee in the Hall Of Fame.
10:25pm: Well, I'll be damned.. it's the Four Horsemen. A video package on the group highlights Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and JJ Dillon. No mention of anyone else that has ever been in the group. I'm sure people will complain about Chris Benoit, blah blah, but they'll have to get over it. I'm sure others will complain about no mention of Ole Anderson, and I agree with that, but at the same time, Ole is on bad terms with not only his former Horsemen mates, but with Vince McMahon, as well, so it isn't a surprise that he's being overlooked.
10:28pm: On orders from The Miz, Ricardo Sandusky is in the ring to say some offensive things about Truth, in an attempt to draw Truth out to the ring.
10:28pm: Ricardo says that Truth's mother has a mustache, that Truth smells like a wet donkey, and that Truth's breath smells like a rotten burrito. That's what Ricardo considers "offensive"?
10:28pm: I guess it worked, because here comes R-Truth.
10:31pm: Truth wants Ricardo to sing "La Cucaracha". This is really happening, folks.
10:32pm: lol @ Ricardo actually getting into the song, singing it and dropping a "REEEEEEEMIX" into the rendition. The crowd even popped for him when he was finished.
10:33pm: Truth lays Ricardo out, and then gets jumped by Miz. From behind, of course, like the pillow-biter that Miz is.
10:34pm: That advantage didn't even last long, and Truth fights back, eventually chasing Miz off through the crowd. Holy shit, Miz is being booked to be absolutely worthless these days. He used to be the WWE Champion, you know.
10:39pm: Justin Roberts is announcing Chris Jericho as the only man to ever defeat The Rock and Steve Austin in the same night. Damn, Jericho's still holding on to that?
10:40pm: Alright, Jericho supporters.. here's the follow-up to last week's much talked-about return for your boy. You said it was all about the follow-up, so let's see where this goes.
10:40pm: Same entrance, including the same stupid jacket.
10:42pm: Same reaction, including the cheesy smiling, yelling and running around at ringside.
10:43pm: Same delays and stalling.
10:44pm: Hey, it's something different.. he's pretending to cry. Very badly, I might add.
10:45pm: ..aaaaaand now the crowd is booing.
10:45pm: He puts the mic down, and he leaves to his music without saying a word. Again. Get the fuck outta here with this waste of time. Alllll the fucking way outta here.
10:51pm: It's time for some Divas action, as Eve makes her way to the ring. Son of a bitch.
10:51pm: Clearly giving away that something was about to happen, Justin Roberts says "..and her opponent.." followed by silence, and then KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE's music hits. Just stupid. How often does Justin Roberts announce matches like that? It's almost like he knew something iffy was about to take place. That couldn't be, though, right? That would imply things are fake.
10:52pm: Zack Ryder runs out to get Eve, with no sign of KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE. They run out of the building, to a waiting car, which Eve hops into, but Ryder notices that the tire is flat, so he has to take out tools to fix the flat as Eve sits in the car, yelling at him to hurry up. Look here, heifer.. if he's not moving as quick as you'd like, why don't you step your ass out of the car and change the tire yourself? Yeah? That's what I thought. Sit down, lock the doors, and shut the hell up.
10:56pm: I'd buy a Maxwell Pig plush. I'm just saying. Pure. Adrenaline.
10:58pm: We come back from break, and Ryder is still struggling to change the tire, and yes, Eve is still yelling at him like the dumb whore that she is. I'm not saying Zack should backhand Eve with all his might.. but I'd understand.
10:58pm: Dolph Ziggler gets the jobber entrance for the main event. Way to put over your #1 Contender for the WWE Title. The main event is going to begin at 11:00. It's almost like the show is running late or something. Hmm.. perhaps if they weren't wasting time with Chris Jericho, they wouldn't be short on time. Nah. That couldn't be it.
11:01pm: This crowd seems worn out. They were hot and vocal at various points during the show, but seem less enthused than usual right now.
11:03pm: Ryder is still trying to change the tire, but to nobody's surprise, KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE arrives and is now attacking Ryder. He must really have magical powers, because Eve only began screaming a split second before he showed up, so he popped up out of thin air. That, or Eve is an idiot. Actually, yeah, that's probably it.
11:04pm: Seeing all of this on the TitanTron, Cena goes running out to check on Ryder, and he's attacked by KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE in the loading area. Cena gets smothered out once again, and we go off the air with KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE standing tall over the fallen bodies of both Cena and Ryder, who are both selling unconsciousness.
#ThankYouAlabamaForProvingHowOverratedLSUWas: The opening brawl between John Cena & KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE, which looked fresh and unique because WWE doesn't do those types of things very often anymore.. Some very deserving inductees for the Hall Of Fame this year, already making it a very loaded class.. Daniel Bryan finally getting a strong victory.. Brodus Clay (the only reason I'm putting him here and not in the other section is because, as others like to say, it's all about the "follow up").. CM Punk VS Jack Swagger.. Jack Swagger actually being booked to look really strong.. Ricardo Sandusky's performance of "La Cucaracha"
#FuckYouBCSForContinuingToFuckCollegeFootballFansOverEverySingleYear: Jinder Mahal still has a job.. Daniel Bryan VS Kofi Kingston could have been a very fun match.. The botched ending to CM Punk VS Jack Swagger.. The Miz.. Chris Jericho.. Eve
Grade: B-. Stop the fucking presses. Not only did I give Raw a good grade, but I actually gave it a much better review than pretty much everyone I've seen. In fact, of all the reviews I've seen, only one person.. literally.. has had anything positive to say about tonight's episode. Wow. I must be getting sick.
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2.61295 Day 10 "Take time.."
If you've been following me on Twitter for a while, you've probably seen me complain about this on a few occasions, but now, the complaint gets to make its debut in my columns.
It happens with pretty much all genres of music, but because rap is the genre where it happens most, I'll use it in my example..
Let's say Rick Ross drops a new mixtape when the clock strikes midnight EST to start Monday off. Within an hour or two, you'll start seeing people posting their opinions of the mixtape on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. You'll start seeing some hate almost right away. People will say that Rick Ross is a terrible rapper. People will say that he raps about the same thing on every track. People will say that the selection of beats is subpar. People will declare the mixtape as being "garbage". When people begin discussing the negative things, you'll undoubtedly see people jump up and defend Ross, telling the beacons of negativity that it's far too early to rush to judgement because the mixtape just came out.
However, if you look at things a little closer, you'll notice those same "too early to rush to judgement" people praising the mixtape. They love the way the mixtape sounds. They're posting their favorite lyrics from their favorite tracks. They're recommending the mixtape to their friends that haven't listened to it yet.
So.. it's not alright to rush to judgement on something.. unless your judgement is going to be something positive, in which case it's perfectly alright?
Geeeeet the fuck outta here with that nonsense.
Obviously, I'm bringing all of this up because of the feedback I've been receiving in the last eight days. On at least a dozen occasions, I've received an angry e-mail from someone who is complaining about my comments towards Chris Jericho during the last two Raw Running Diaries. Those people were telling me that it's way too early for me to be having these types of thoughts about Jericho's return, because it hasn't played out yet, so we don't know where it's going, why it's happening, etc.
However, in the exact same e-mail, these people are then going on about how "brilliant" the return has been. About how Chris Jericho is a "genius". About how he's the only one "talented" enough to pull something like that off.
So.. it's not alright to rush to judgement on something.. unless your judgement is going to be something positive, in which case it's perfectly alright?
Geeeeet the fuck outta here with that nonsense.
I've made it perfectly clear.. I haven't been a fan of Chris Jericho's return to this point. Not at all. I've called it a "waste of time" to this point, and I stand by that. I think people are slightly misinterpreting me about that statement, though. When I say it's a "waste of time", I don't mean that Jericho shouldn't have come back, or that he should go away immediately. I mean it in the literal sense.. it's taking up several minutes of time on television, with nothing happening. That time would be much better served going to the rest of the show.. or, at least, to Chris Jericho actually doing something during his segments. That point only stands out even more this week, as it was pretty clear Raw was running short on time towards the end of the episode.
Could things change? Of course they could. I even said as much last week. He's still one of the most talented sports entertainers on the planet, and with his skills, both in the ring and on the mic, it wouldn't take a whole lot of effort on his part to turn this entire thing around. However, how many weeks of this silence will his supporters continue to make excuses for? If, at this time next week, we still haven't heard a single (official) word from Jericho, how "brilliant" will the return be then? He needs to say or do something, and it needs to happen soon.
The funny thing about all of this is the fact that the scenario is happening again, but this time, with Brodus Clay. We waited and waited and waited for his return, and we finally got it, only for the return itself to draw a line in the sand between those who loved it and those who hated it, but with both sides wanting to use a "wait and see" approach to things.
Of course, the main difference with these two returns is that Chris Jericho is already over with live audiences. Always has been, and probably always will be. Brodus Clay, on the other hand, is still trying to make a name for himself. Having him return as the "Funkasaurus" is one of those "high risk, high reward" moves, in my opinion. Whether you enjoyed the return or not, one thing that's clear is that the gimmick is silly. Downright and utterly silly. It could/should have been shit on immediately by the live crowd and by the viewers at home. Based on initial reactions I saw from people, it was shit on by a lot of people, but there are also people that found themselves entertained by the entire thing. Even with the silly gimmick, those people feel big Brodus did everything in his power to make it work. His dancing, facial expressions and fresh twists on wrestling (basically doing live commentary on his own match isn't brand new, but it's rarely seen) are helping him out tremendously. Raw has been over for nearly 27 hours, as of this very second, and based on my conversations with people, and from the things I've seen, Brodus Clay is more over right now than he was yesterday. People have had time to think it over and to soak things in. Those who hated Brodus' return yesterday are starting to come around and aren't taking things so seriously. Those who liked Brodus' return yesterday are starting to like it even more after multiple viewings on DVR, YouTube, torrent, etc, and are pointing out specific things they enjoyed. Will this lead to Brodus being a WWE Champion by WrestleMania? Chances are, no, it won't. It's still something to keep an eye on, though.
Both scenarios are. Chris Jericho. Brodus Clay. Two returns that are giving people more questions than answers. Two returns are worth watching. What if Chris Jericho never speaks again? What if this is all for Brodus Clay to snap and attack people he feels are making fun of him? What is nothing happens with either character? Who knows?
As of right now.. I'm not happy with Chris Jericho's return.
As of right now.. I'm happy with Brodus Clay's return.
Both feelings could change. Despite what some people are saying about me, I'm actually going to give both returns a chance to really play out. However, there's still a nagging sensation in the pit of my stomach that makes me feel uneasy about the directions of both characters. No matter who they are, and no matter what their abilities are, both men are still in the hands of the Raw writers, who haven't done a whole lot to impress people in the last several months.
Only time will tell.
Before I get out of here, I'll leave you all with a funny thought, based on what multiple people have mentioned in the last day..
Reports were that Brodus Clay is the one that basically came up with the "Hall Of Pain"-type gimmick that Mark Henry has been using in recent months. He pitched the idea for himself, but obviously, the company gave it to Henry instead. Well, what if they gave Brodus his own idea for a gimmick? Picture Mark Henry dancing around as the Funkasaurus from Planet Funk.
You're welcome.
Somebody call my mama.
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4. Day 11 "Wolves gotta eat.."
It's time for yet another annual tradition here at Hustle Industries.. the "Wolves" list.
At the beginning of every year, I come up with a list of wrestlers that need to be the hungriest over the coming year, hence the "wolves" tag. Just for clarification purposes, this is just for those who need to be the hungriest. This isn't a prediction of who will be the hungriest, or who'll achieve the most success during the year. Let's get things started. Shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!!
The first name is a pretty obvious one. Big Brodus Clay, the Funkasaurus. As I mentioned in yesterday's column, he's been saddled with a pretty silly gimmick, and it's now up to him to get that silly gimmick over. We've seen situations like that in the past. In fact, someone who Brodus is already being compared to, Rikishi, is a prime example of that. A former badass big man worker that became a comedic, happy-go-lucky dancing face character. If you remember back to the days of Rikishi and Too Cool, you'd remember that they were easily some of the most over wrestlers in the world, on a weekly basis. Can Brodus reach that level? Obviously, that remains to be seen, but I think he has the capabilities to do it. He brings something unique to the table, with his gimmick, allowing him to stand out from the crowd. He's already a better worker than most men his size. He's shown, during his time on NXT, that he has a natural set of mic skills and a speaking voice that grabs attention. Now, with this new gimmick, he's showing a sort-of goofy charisma that nobody knew he had. If he can continue going out there and putting his everything into the gimmick, I have no doubts that he'll continue to gain fan support, and that could lead to any number of things.
Next up is a name that I've also mentioned on multiple occasions recently. He's someone that I feel could be on the verge of a breakout year in 2012, but he needs a little help. I'm talking about none other than TNA's Jesse Sorensen. Before I say anything else, allow me to say something that I've noticed about the way people talk about Sorensen. I've often seen him compared to two people.. Legacy-era Cody Rhodes, as well as early years and Evolution-era Randy Orton. People say it in a negative light. Why, exactly? People saw big things in the future of Legacy-era Cody Rhodes. People saw big things in the future of early year and Evolution-era Randy Orton. Why is it bad, all of a sudden, for someone to come along and remind people of those two? I'd understand if Sorensen reminded them of, say, Horsemen-era Paul Roma or something, but not these comparisons. Anyway, a lot of Sorensen's future really depends on TNA's on-again, off-again focus on the X-Division. There are times when the company seems to put a major emphasis on the division, pushing various workers and giving them plenty of time to work with. There are other times when the company seems to forget they even have an X-Division. Right now, it seems to be more of the latter, with only a small handful of X-Division names getting any television time, and it's always in the same matches against the same opponents. It seems like we've seen the combination of Sorensen, Zema Ion, Austin Aries and Kid Kash in the ring together on a weekly basis for the last several months. Obviously, it's a lot easier for Sorensen to succeed under those circumstances, than if TNA decides to focus on the X-Division once again, bringing in a half-dozen more "regulars" to compete. Sorensen is still relatively green, but he's also incredibly young (he's still 22 for another two-and-a-half months), so he has a lot of time. He has that "All-American" look that can be beneficial towards being pushed as a face, but, like Rhodes and Orton before him, that can also be used to push him as a cocky, arrogant heel. All that is before he even steps in the ring or says a word. With his young age, he might still be a few years away from really reaching his potential and being a major player, but he has to know that he's right at the cusp of X-Division success and he could very well achieve it sooner than later.
I guess, if I'm going to mention one of my picks to have a breakout year, I might as well bring up the main person I picked, huh? In case you missed it during the "Year In Preview" podcast, that pick is AJ Lee, which is stepping out on a limb, to say the least. She might not immediately jump out to everyone, as far as her in-ring work is concerned, but if you really stop and think about it, my prediction for her might make sense. She has been placed in a romance angle with the man who went on to become the World Champion on Smackdown, and even after he reached the main event scene, she continued to be involved with him. However, to this point, that involvement has only been various backstage segments, and it hasn't translated to anything in the ring. It is helping her to get more over, even if it's by osmosis, and she can use that to help her in the ring. The males often feature the "scrappy underdog" characters that get pushed to varying levels of success, but those types of characters are a lot more rare in women's wrestling, especially when it comes to someone who is smaller than even the average female wrestler, and not just someone who is smaller than the largest workers. She can use her size (5'3", 105 pounds) to her advantage, in regards to getting over. If they place her in a feud with someone like Beth Phoenix, or even Kharma down the road, the storyline pretty much writes itself, I would say.
My next two names aren't officially connected, but right now, when you discuss one of them, the other one's name comes up almost immediately. It has happened in my columns, on my podcasts, in other columns, etc. Next up on the list.. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose. They could both be called up to the main roster at any time, and there's a whole lot of hype (again, different from HIPE) surrounding them. That means that they'll be under extra scrutiny. One slip from the average young worker hurts, but one slip from either one of them might hurt much more, especially if you subscribe to the line of thinking that Vince McMahon and WWE officials don't really like workers that they didn't "create". To say Rollins and Ambrose need to be hungry would be a big understatement. In fact, they need to be extra hungry, because they need to get themselves onto the main roster first and foremost. They can't take things easy in FCW, assuming their recent tours of the house show circuit will be enough for them to get called up. If/when they do get called up, they need to understand what I said earlier.. all eyes will be on them. In fact.. let's go ahead and throw Antonio Cesaro in here, as well, because he's being mentioned with them even more after his recent house show tour. 2012 could/should be a big year for these guys, but perhaps more than most, just how big a year really depends on them.
Next, I'm going to mention a name that is unlike the rest of the names on this list, because he's actually been to the top of the proverbial mountain, but has since tumbled back down to earth like nobody's business. Of course, I'm talking about none other than The Miz. He has gone from being the WWE Champion, main eventing and winning in the main event of WrestleMania, to where he is now.. an absolute whipping boy for R-Truth, and he's been nothing more than a joke for months. He has no choice but to take his lumps, but if he remains hungry, and keeps working hard without complaining, either publicly or privately, he certainly has a chance to reach great heights again. He's still one of the top names in the company, and he knows that he's at least had supporters in management at one point in time. As much as I rip him.. he still overacts, has to tone down his over-the-top facial expressions, and find some new things to talk about in his promos.. I won't deny his "worth" to the company. Once again, it's really up to him if he can be pushed back up the ranks, so we'll have to wait and see if it happens.
That's my list for 2012. I'm looking forward to tracking the year of each person on this list, to see if things go their way or not. What about you, ReaderLand? Who are your "wolves" for 2012? Remember my criteria, though.. who needs to be the hungriest, for one reason or another, not necessarily who you think will have the biggest years. Holla at ya boy and let me know what's on your mind.
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5. Day 12 "Tough decisions.."
Let's take a trip back to a very dark day in pro wrestling history.
May 23rd, 1999.
A lot of you are already shaking your head, because you know exactly what happened on that date. For those of you that don't know, that's the date of the World Wrestling Federation's Over The Edge pay-per-view, but to be specific, it's the date that Owen Hart died.
Over The Edge was looking to be another good event, on paper, from that era. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was defending the WWF Title against The Undertaker in a main event that would feature Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon as the special guest referees. The Rock was going one-on-one with Triple H. The WWF Tag Team Titles were on the line, with the champions, Kane (pre-KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE) & X-Pac, defending against D'Lo Brown & Mark Henry. Al Snow was defending his Hardcore Title against Hardcore Holly. There was even an eight-man elimination tag match, with The Union (Mankind, Big Show, Ken Shamrock & Test) taking on The Corporate Ministry (Viscera, Big Bossman, Faarooq & Bradshaw).
Another match that people were looking forward to was the Intercontinental Title match, with The Godfather defending the belt against the Blue Blazer, who was Owen Hart's "alter-ego" and other gimmick at the time. Owen was going after his third Intercontinental Title reign, and most people seemed to think he would win, even with the different, more comedic gimmick.
It was a big event, at a time when every pay-per-view looked to be worth watching.
Again, though, that was just on paper.
Nobody remembers any of the match results from Over The Edge. All we remember, after all this time, is that Owen Hart died during the event. In case you've been living under a rock, or are brand new to the world of wrestling, let me break down what happened that night..
Owen was to rappel from the ceiling, down into the ring, just like Sting was doing for WCW at the time. During the descent, there was an issue with the safety harness Owen was wearing, and a cable was disengaged, sending him plummeting over 70 feet, where he landed on one of the turnbuckles, chest-first. None of it was shown live to the viewing audience, which can only be viewed as a minor miracle, for lack of a better term, because they were mere seconds away from having it air. EMTs immediately got to the ring, and eventually strapped Owen to a gurney and sent him to the hospital, all while a stunned Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler could do nothing but stall on commentary and try to get over the fact that what was taking place was not a part of a storyline, but was, as JR put it, "as real as real can be".
For the next 15 minutes, Vince McMahon had a very important decision to make. One that could very well change the course of wrestling forever, depending on the reaction. It's those 15 minutes that I want to look at in this column.
"The show must go on."
That's a famous phrase in almost every walk of show business, which indicates that the paying customers are the most important thing, and they need to get their money's worth, no matter what happens. It's not a phrase that you hear too, too often in wrestling, though. Usually, you'll hear it if, say, a company's biggest star suffers a serious injury and will miss a lengthy period of time, but it's a phrase that pro wrestlers subscribe to. However, on that fateful May night in Kansas City, it's a phrase that everyone was either using or thinking about. Over 16,000 fans in the building, plus a whole lot of WWF employees, just watched a man fall just about from the ceiling of the Kemper Arena. Some of the crowd assumed it was some strange part of the show, while others were terribly distraught. I shudder to think of what was on the minds of the young children in the crowd that night, having to watch that happen.
Vince McMahon had to make the decision on whether or not to continue the show. It wasn't a decision that he was prepared to make. It wasn't a decision that he had ever had to think about before. On one hand, it was going to be tough for the fans to sit through the rest of the show, as well as for the rest of the wrestlers to go out into the ring and perform after watching one of their "brothers" fall like he did. On the other hand, though, it would be a hassle beyond all words to hand out refunds to the 16,000+ in the building, as well as the thousands upon thousands that ordered the event on pay-per-view.
What would Vince McMahon do?
What should Vince McMahon do?
Alright, so we know the answer to that first question, but what about the second question? Did Vince do the right thing in not ending the show?
I think he did.
While I completely understand the line of thinking for the other side of this debate.. you don't want to risk further injuries by having wrestlers go out and compete even though their minds and hearts most certainly wouldn't be into performing, you don't want to have the fans have to sit around and think about the incident any longer than necessary, etc.. but I just don't see any way Vince could have stopped the show.
First, as I mentioned earlier, you have the financial aspect of things. I know it sounds cold and cruel, considering we're dealing with a human life here, but at the end of the day, Vince runs a business, and the loss he would have taken if he called the show off would be insane. Not only would he have had to give all that money back for tickets and pay-per-view buys, but think of all the money it probably cost to rent out the Kemper Arena for the day. That money wasn't coming back to him. Then, think of the money that it cost for every WWF employee to travel to Kansas City that day, whether it was by car or by plane. That's also money that wasn't going to come back. Then, on top of that, you're talking about the pay days for the wrestlers themselves. That's a big loss for them if they don't get the money they'd normally get for competing on a pay-per-view card. Also, what about the wrestlers that already wrestled before Owen's incident? Owen's match was to be the third match of the pay-per-view (sixth of the night, counting the Sunday Night Heat matches). Would the wrestlers before his matches get some sort of pay day, since they actually wrestled? That's way too many headaches to deal with, on top of the obvious headaches that were coming involving the Hart family suing the company over Owen's death (a settlement of $18 million was reached). That's a ridiculous amount of money lost over one event. Vince might as well try to make as much as he could for that night, in my opinion.
Before I get into my next point, allow me to preface it by saying that I don't know Owen Hart on a personal level. I've never met the guy. I've never talked to the guy. I've had zero interaction with the guy over the course of my life. With that said, based on everything I've heard from the people who did know Owen personally, he loved the wrestling business, and was a consummate professional. If those people say Owen is the type of person who would have wanted the show to continue, who am I to argue? Who are any of us to argue? Whether it's right, wrong, or indifferent, the mindset of a pro wrestler is to keep things moving forward.. the show must go on, after all.
I hope and pray that I'll never find myself in such a tough situation, where I have to make a choice like Vince McMahon had to make that night. Unfortunately for him, he's been placed in that situation on a couple different occasions since then. When Eddie Guerrero passed away, there was a large percentage of wrestling fans who felt that Raw should have been called off. It wasn't. When Chris Benoit passed away, there was an even larger percentage of wrestling fans who felt Raw should have been called off, based on the circumstances of the passing (when all we knew was that the Benoit family had died, and not how they died). It wasn't. Obviously, the Guerrero and Benoit situations were slightly different, as they didn't die during an event, but in all three situations, Vince McMahon caught a lot of flack from people all over the planet.
A lot of unnecessary flack, I might add.
Vince absolutely, positively made the right decision to keep Over The Edge going. He absolutely, positively made the right decision to have an episode of Raw after Eddie Guerrero died. He absolutely, positively made the right decision to have an episode of Raw after Chris Benoit died.
Yes, you read that last part correctly. Even after we learned what we learned, it was still the right decision to have a tribute show for him. It was a nice look back at his storied career, which has nothing to do with what took place in his home over the final weekend of his life. It was a nice way for his friends and co-workers to look back at the man they all knew, loved and respected. Whether you like it or not, that also has nothing to do with what took place in his home over the final weekend of his life. However, that's going to take me into a different direction, and it's going to be a wild tangent. This column has gone on long enough, I'd say.
What do you folks think? Should Vince McMahon have stopped Over The Edge after the Owen Hart accident? Why or why not? Holla at ya boy and let me know what's on your mind.
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6. Day 13 "Right through me.."
10:00pm: Thanks for nothing, DVR. Thank you, torrent sites.
10:01pm: We're kicking things off with a promo from the World Champion, Daniel Bryan. Words really can't express how strange it is to see a WWE television show being started off with a promo from the man formerly known as Bryan Danielson, who is the World Frickin Heavyweight Frickin Champion. Incredible.
10:03pm: A loud "You suck" chant breaks out, and without skipping a beat, Bryan follows that up with "Don't be mad at Big Show", which was fantastic.
10:04pm: "That is a load of dung!" - Daniel Bryan. Wow, he's really running with this new heel character, isn't he? I love it.
10:05pm: Bryan blames Mark Henry for last week's World Title match being ruined, and that, of course, brings Mizark out. There was some noticeable face pops for Mizark, but mostly the usual heel reaction.
10:07pm: Henry reveals that he has banned from ringside for tonight's World Title match, which causes Bryan to stand up with the "tough guy" act, followed by Mizark calling D-Bry "Tiny Tim". Now that was funny.
10:08pm: The next big reveal from Henry is that he gets a World Title shot on Smackdown next week, as long as he follows Teddy Long's orders to stay away from the match tonight. That's quite the brutal stretch for Daniel Bryan, isn't it?
10:08pm: That's it? That was the entire promo? Wow.
10:09pm: Justin Gabriel is out for the first match of the night, and his opponent is his former Nexus stablemate, Heath Slater. This seems to be the fifth or sixth attempt at a feud between these two since Gabriel turned face.
10:12pm: Chalk this up as yet another match that the WWE Universe doesn't really care about. There's a little bit of heat when Gabriel is on offense, but Slater.. zero fucks given. You've brought this upon yourself, WWE.
10:13pm: Slater goes up to the top rope, but is distracted by Hornswoggle, allowing Gabriel to pop back up and knock Slater down. Gabriel goes to the top.. 450 Splash.. boom.. Gabriel wins. It doesn't say a lot about Gabriel that he needs Hornswoggle to help him win.
10:14pm: AJ walks up to Daniel Bryan backstage, tells him that she's proud of him, and then tells him that, no matter the result of tonight's match, she loves him. Say it with me, folks.. awwwww!
10:16pm: Cody Rhodes is out next, cutting the tried-and-true heel promo, insulting the fans. This time, he's making fun of the Mexican fans there in Laredo, Texas.
10:18pm: Cody takes some shots at Booker T and Goldust, before saying that his goal for 2012 is to "pull an Ultimate Warrior" (pause) and simultaneously hold the Intercontinental Title and the World Title. Good luck with that.
10:19pm: Ezekiel Jackson comes out to be Cody's opponent here. Another match that I feel we've seen 100 times already.
10:21pm: Apparently the only time WWE Management will allow Michael Cole to be an annoying douchebag on commentary these days is when he's yelling at Booker T. He seems relatively toned down otherwise. What does that say about Booker T?
10:22pm: Cody wins. No surprise. Quick match. Also not a surprise.
10:24pm: A backstage segment with Santino and "Teddydore" Long, with Santino pitching some new ideas, including an idea to overturn former WWF President Jack Tunney's ban on bringing reptiles to the ring. Makes sense.
10:24pm: Peanuthead just called Santino "Santina". Foreshadowing?!?!?
10:26pm: Santino pitches a match between himself and "Dave Batunga", who just walked in (with his trusty coffee mug). Sounds like another quick match in the making.
10:27pm: Drew McIntyre, facing a "third strike" with Teddy Long, is in the ring (complete with jobber entrance) for our next match, and his opponent is Ted DiBiase. Alright, this one could actually go either way.
10:28pm: Before the match begins, Hunico, Camacho and DA BYSICKLE make their way to the ring. Hmm.. perhaps that sways things in the direction of McIntyre.
10:29pm: On commentary, Hunico sounds out of breath like he just finished wrestling a 45-minute match. Must be tough work hanging onto the back of DA BYSICKLE as Camacho slowly walks it down the ramp.
10:31pm: It's really distracting to hear Hunico's heavy breathing on commentary, especially when nobody else is speaking. It's creepy, too.
10:32pm: DiBiase wins in yet another quick match. While it has never been officially said, according to the hints that Teddy Long has been dropping, this should mean Drew Mac is about to be "fired".
10:33pm: It's a shameful thing, Lobster Head! Too many limes! Too many limes! Actually, there might not be too many limes this week, because we're close to Mexico, so you're going to have your fair share of margaritas, as well as various Mexican dishes with lime sprinkled throughout! However, Agatha, I'm not a fan of you when you drink too much! You do ridiculous things, and you embarrass our family! You don't respect me at all, but you should! I'm a Regional Manager! I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!
10:35pm: Jinder Mahal is out to be Sheamus' opponent, and he cut a promo while I was typing the previous entry, but I don't give a fuck, so I wasn't paying any attention to it.
10:37pm: Booker T just said that Jinder Mahal ranks in the top five, as far as who has the best percentage of winning the Royal Rumble this year. Clearly, the Wellness Policy doesn't cover announcers, because that guy is on Avon Barksdale-level crack and heroin. I'm officially requesting the fade on Booker for that comment.
10:39pm: Brogue Kick leads to the win for Sheamus. Another short match. We're going to end up with 48 matches on this week's episode at this rate.
10:40pm: Booker just said the strategy for everyone else in the Rumble is to get Sheamus out "early and often". I'm requesting a second fade.
10:41pm: AJ finds Big Show backstage and tells him that she doesn't want Show to hurt Bryan tonight. As Show is telling her that his only plan is to win his title back, Daniel Bryan walks in, accusing Show of trying to steal his girlfriend. Does Bryan just stand off to the side and spy on every backstage conversation or something? If so, why does nobody ever see him until he actually joins the conversation? Weird. Bryan asks AJ about earlier, when she told him that she loved him, and then asks her how much she loves him. He seems to have a plan. Uh-oh.
10:43pm: Time for Santino VS David Otunga. Joy.
10:45pm: Otunga blocks an attempt at a Cobra Strike, and he ends up winning the match, but nobody cares. Another quick match. Strange episode of Smackdown so far.
10:46pm: The funk is on a roll!
10:47pm: The catchiest entrance music in all of wrestling hits, bringing out the Funkasaurus himself, Brodus Clay. It's growing on me (pause), folks.
10:48pm: Tyson Kidd is Brodus' opponent, and literally, in the time it took me to type that, Brodus wins the match. That was insane. It took him a couple minutes to beat Curt Hawkins, but Tyson Kidd gets a ten-second match?
10:50pm: A backstage segment with Teddy Long and Aksana, discussing next week's episode of Smackdown, coming to us from Las Vegas. Hmm.. let me guess.. a visit to a wedding chapel for the two next week?
10:51pm: Jobber entrance for Natalya, and her opponent is Tamina. Wild guess here, but this is probably going to be another quick match. Just a hunch.
10:53pm: Tamina wins in less than a minute. Jesus Christ. Could Natalya fall any further?
10:54pm: Wade Bar-ruh is out, dressed for action, but he has a mic in his hand. ZOMG I'M SO CONFUSED~!
10:54pm: Bar-ruh says he isn't impressed by Sheamus' performance from earlier tonight, saying that nothing is impressive about a burly Irishman with a temper. Oh.
10:55pm: Wait.. what? He came out to challenge Sheamus to a match next week? No response from Sheamus. No response from Teddy Long. Just "I challenge you next week", and then booyakasha, the segment is over. That almost seemed like someone backstage realized they had a minute or two to kill, so they just found the first person available and told them to go out and cut a quick promo on something random.
10:57pm: It's main event time. Daniel Bryan VS Big Show for the World Title. No countouts. No disqualifications.
10:58pm: The insanely cute AJ is out to join her boyfriend at ringside. Just wanted to point that out.
10:59pm: Show slaps the ever-loving shit out of Bryan's cheat on multiple occasions. One of Show's hands is probably the same weight as half of Bryan's body. Ouch.
11:01pm: Fighting outside the ring leads to Bryan grabbing a steel chair and using it to gain his first real advantage of the match, but it doesn't last long. Show takes the chair and looks to use it himself. As I type that, Bryan gets the advantage again, and uses the chair on Show again. Sure, it's using a weapon, but as I've said before, I like the booking of Daniel Bryan recently, with him going toe-to-toe with these guys that are literally more than twice his weight.
11:05pm: Holy shit.. as Show was chasing Bryan at ringside, Bryan ducked around AJ, who was completely run over by Show. When I say she was run over, I mean she was run the fuck over. That was a man-sized bump by AJ. Whatever they're paying her, they should double it after that bump.
11:06pm: lol @ the fan in the front row saying "You broke her, Big Show!"
11:08pm: Show is distraught as EMT's tend to AJ, and he's doing a very believable job holding back tears.
11:09pm: As AJ is being wheeled up the ramp on a stretcher, Bryan absolutely berates Show, calling him out for how reckless he is, and how he can have the World Title if these are the depths he's willing to sink to to win it. Great work here, as Bryan just screams at Show, who is actually crying at this point. Now, of course, the storyline will be, based on what we saw earlier, that Bryan planned that out and had AJ take the bump for him, knowing it would lead to a match stoppage (even in the No DQ setting). Very interesting.
#ThankYouFunkasaurus: Daniel Bryan's heel character is coming along quite nicely, finding the right mix of false bravado, cunning intellect and legit in-ring skills.. AJ's bump, and by that, I mean her ass in those jeans she was wearing.. AJ's bump, and by that, I mean the actual bump she took as a man who outweighs her by a good 400 pounds ran right through her.. Daniel Bryan VS Big Show was fun while it lasted
#FuckYouBrontosaurus: Hunico's apparent lack of cardio.. Instead of the other way around, as Smackdown usually seems to be, there was much more focus on quantity over quality as far as the matches this week were concerned.. More strange booking for the midcard
Grade: C-/D+. Pretty bad episode (by Smackdown's standards).
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7. Day 14 "What's your rank?"
Fuck it.. it's time for the Power 25 again.
25. Brother Devon (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over D'Angelo Dinero at Genesis - He's been participating in the storyline that not only wouldn't end, but wouldn't get anybody to care about it. Maybe the storyline, and the feud between him and Pope Dinero, is over now, but probably not. Pope turned on Devon's sons (there's an easy joke to be made in there somewhere), and Devon picked up the "feel good" victory with his sons back on his side, but knowing TNA, they'll keep this going, with Devon still looking to hurt Pope for putting his hands on his kids (there's another easy joke to be made there). I hope not, though. I'm so sick and tired of seeing these guys feud already.
24. Gunner (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over Rob Van Dam at Genesis - He picked up the biggest singles victory of his career at Genesis. Yes, he's beaten Rob Van Dam before, but that match was on Impact, and this was on pay-per-view. His first win of any kind at a pay-per-view, at that. I still don't think he's worth a damn, but as I stated last week, these rankings aren't about my personal preferences and biases. It appears as though he's in line for some sort of push, although it remains to be seen if that push is just to make him look bigger and better for when he loses to Garett Bischoff. For now, though, Gunner's on something of a roll.
23. Tamina (Last Week: #24) - Pinfall victory over Natalya on Smackdown - Tamina gets to look strong at Natalya's expense yet again. Like I said in last week's edition of the rankings, though, it remains to be seen if this push is going anywhere, and if it will lead to shots at the Divas Champion for Tamina. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Beth Phoenix VS Tamina, at least for a single match, but we can never really tell what the company is thinking, so who knows what will end up happening.
22. Justin Gabriel (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over Heath Slater on Smackdown - There was a time, not all that long ago, when it looked like Gabriel would be one of the next breakout stars on the WWE roster, with many labeling him as the person who would end up taking the Intercontinental Title from Cody Rhodes. Alright, so it could still happen, seeing as how Rhodes is still the champion, but Gabriel went from being pushed pretty decently on television to jobbing in dark matches, almost overnight. It's hard to really predict what's going to happen with Gabriel next. On one hand, he's back to winning matches on television. On the other hand, he needs the help of Hornswoggle to do so. I still think it would behoove WWE to make Gabriel a solid midcard name. He has the "look" (pause) and the moveset to be a good face, and he'll be able to stay over with women and children because of it. Time will tell, I guess.
21. Ted DiBiase (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over Drew McIntyre on Smackdown - DiBiase is yet another person that gets pushed, loses the push, gets pushed again, loses the push again, etc, seemingly at random. That trend has been going on with him for a few years, though, making the entire thing that much worse. There's no predicting his future, that's for sure, but he got a singles victory on television, and that's gotta count for something.
20. Jack Swagger (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall (kind of) loss to CM Punk on Raw.. Still the best he's been booked to look in several months - As I said in the explanation, he had a great performance on Raw, even in a loss, and it was the best his character has had a chance to look in a long time. Perhaps even since he was the World Champion. Until Zack Ryder suffered his "injury" at the hands of KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE, which forced him out of the match, people were actually calling for Swagger to take the United States Title on the upcoming episode of Raw, but I guess we'll have to hold off on that for a little while. I think Swagger deserves a little something something, either way.
19. Bobby Roode (Last Week: Unranked) - Disqualification loss to Jeff Hardy at Genesis (Retains TNA World Title).. No Contest with Jeff Hardy on Impact (Retains TNA World Title) - Well.. at least he's still the champion. Hooray for him. Having a main event World Title match at a pay-per-view end in a disqualification is sickening, though, and is something that happens far too often in TNA. Making it even worse is the fact that we got a rematch on free television on the very next show.. and that didn't have a clean ending. Hell, it didn't have an ending, period. However, there's still something to be said about having two matches against Jeff Hardy in a week, and coming out of both matches with the World Title. He would be ranked higher if he actually got any sort of win, though, that's for sure.
18. Sheamus (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory (with Santino) over Wade Bar-ruh & Jinder Mahal on Raw.. Pinfall victory over Jinder Mahal on Smackdown - He's building up momentum at a really good time, with the Royal Rumble coming up, meaning that more and more people will start looking to him as their pick to win and head to WrestleMania. I don't know about all that (I still haven't officially made my pick for the Rumble), but again, this is a great time of year to start building momentum, even if it's random wins over random jobbers/midcarders.
17. Brodus Clay (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over Curt Hawkins on Raw.. Pinfall victory over Tyson Kidd on Smackdown.. One of the most talked-about returns that wrestling has seen in years - Based on the people I talk to all over the internet, the Funkasaurus seems to be gaining more fans on a daily basis. To say he's only beaten jobbers to this point would be quite the understatement, though. Before Raw, the last non-Battle Royal appearance on television for Curt Hawkins was in September.. of 2010. The last time Tyson Kidd won a match of any kind on television was in December.. of 2010. It will be interesting to see if/when Brodus starts getting bigger and better competition, but for now, he's doing the best with what he's being given, and he seems to be gaining popularity within the IWC. Can't help but to reward him for that.
16. Abyss (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over Bully Ray in Monster's Ball at Genesis - TNA's version of a midcarder that gets the "yo-yo" push. He goes from being a main event monster to a midcard comedy goof, and back around again. Now that he's back to being pushed as a monster again, it will be interesting to see if he gets another main event push, and just how long it will take him to get there. Getting a pay-per-view win over Bully Ray is a very good start to that. I feel like a broken record saying this, but.. now we just have to wait and see what happens with him. Based on TNA's track record with booking, Abyss could just as easily become the new World Champion in a week as he could end up jobbing out on Xplosion.
15. Cody Rhodes (Last Week: #14) - Pinfall victory over Ezekiel Jackson on Smackdown - It still looks like he'll end up on a collision course with Goldust at WrestleMania, which isn't exactly the type of WrestleMania match people have been predicting for Cody in recent months. Since the initial promo where he brought back the old Intercontinental Title design, he hasn't really done much, as far as the title is concerned. Since winning the title back in August, he's defended it a whopping total of six times. Other than the two recent title matches with Booker T, the last time he defended it was against John Morrison at Hell In A Cell on October 2nd. There's almost no point in him even having the title anymore. Almost. After his feud with Booker came to an end, I was really hoping that he could start feuding with some other top midcarder/upper-midcarder, in an attempt to raise the prestige of the title, but if he's going to move on to Goldust next, I don't really know how much that will do for things. He's still winning, though, so we'll see where things go.
14. Austin Aries (Last Week: Unranked) - Successfully defended the TNA X-Division Title at Genesis against Kid Kash, Zema Ion & Jesse Sorensen - Even some of the staunchest TNA haters will tell you that Aries is a joy to watch, whether it's wrestling or on the mic. He continues his reign as the X-Division Champion, having defeated every other X-Division regular on multiple occasions. You know what that means, don't you? It's time to get a new challenger. That's a different story for a different time, though.
13. Jeff Hardy (Last Week: #7) - Disqualification victory over Bobby Roode at Genesis.. No Contest with Bobby Roode on Impact - The more that I think about it, the more I feel I probably should have dropped Jeff a few more spots, but it is what it is. He had two chances to become the TNA World Champion in the past week, and was unsuccessful on both occasions, but based on the way things went down, it doesn't exactly take him out of the title picture. He's still keeping his nose clean, literally and figuratively (yes, I made the same joke last week), which is an added bonus.
12. CM Punk (Last Week: #22) - Pinfall (kind of) victory over Jack Swagger on Raw - It was a really good match in what seems to be a several-month stretch of really good matches for Punk. He's on a roll, and he needs to be. He's going to be viewed as the (kayfabe) underdog at the Royal Rumble, with a hungry young challenger across from him, and an authority figure he's feuding with (John Laurinaitis) as the Special Guest Referee in the match. I can't really expect too much from Punk between now and the Rumble, as the company will want to keep him relatively fresh for this major stretch on the WWE calendar, so I'm kind of expecting him to be in the middle of the pack for these rankings in the future.
11. Gail Kim (Last Week: #10) - Disqualification victory over Mickie James at Genesis (retains TNA Knockouts Title) - She just keeps on winning. Whether it's by pinfall or by disqualification, she just keeps on winning. She's approximately 852-0 since returning to TNA, but I guess that could be a slight exaggeration. They're getting close to the point where there isn't much left for Gail to do in TNA, short of the company bringing some new Knockouts in as challengers, which is sad.
10. Matt Morgan & Crimson (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over Samoa Joe & Magnus at Genesis (retained TNA Tag Team Titles).. Pinfall victory over Robbie E & Robbie T on Impact (retained TNA Tag Team Titles) - I really thought they'd drop the titles at Genesis, but not only did they win and retain the titles, they successfully defended them again on Impact later in the week. TNA is already lacking in legit tag teams (hence putting the Wildcard tournament together in the first place), but now, the champs stand atop the division after being booked really well. Like with Austin Aries and Gail Kim, perhaps it's time to bring in some new challengers for these two.
9. Chris Jericho (Last Week: #2.8259) - Everyone's still talking about him, even though he isn't doing any talking himself - He's dropping in the rankings because he even has some of his biggest fans slowly turning on him after a second straight week of trolling people. After the first week, people thought he was a "genius", calling his return "brilliant". After a second week of it, people are still waiting to see what happens, but they're already tired of him coming out and wasting ten minutes of television time every week. This coming episode of Raw is incredibly important, because if he goes a third straight week without saying anything, people are really going to stop caring.
8. Kurt Angle (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall victory over James Storm at Genesis.. Pinfall loss to James Storm on Impact - This is an interesting one, because I had him ranked much higher than this after the victory at Genesis (obviously), but then he went on to lose to the exact same person that he just defeated, so I had to drop him a bit (obviously, again). He's still Kurt Angle, though, which means, whether you like it or not, he'll continue to be right at the top of TNA's proverbial totem pole, no matter what.
7. James Storm (Last Week: Unranked) - Pinfall loss to Kurt Angle at Genesis.. Pinfall victory over Kurt Angle on Impact.. New #1 Contender for the TNA World Title - He and Angle both won a match against each other this week, but the reason that Storm gets ranked higher is because the second match meant more, giving Storm a shot at the TNA World Title. Angle's victory at Genesis was, for all intents and purposes, rendered useless as a result, which is some strange booking, but hey, it's TNA, so nobody's surprised.
6. R-Truth (Last Week: #12) - Continues to get the upper hand in segments with The Miz.. Had an entertaining segment with Ricardo Sandusky - Two straight weeks of high rankings. Two straight weeks of zero matches. Weird, isn't it? Like last week, I ranked him high because of how strong he's looking in his current feud with The Miz. This week, he gets added points because he looks more like a clear face in the situation, while it's been somewhat iffy looking to this point. Then, on top of that, he was involved in that entertaining segment with Ricardo, while Ricardo sang the hell out of "La Cucaracha", so Truth is getting a lot of momentum without actually having to do much of anything.
5. Anti-Zack Ryder Fans (Last Week: Unranked) - Ryder appears to be performing horribly in the ratings - I'm not going to say much here, or for the next two spots, because they're topics that will be covered in the next episode of the Lords Of Podcast Roundtable that will be recorded on Tuesday, but let's just say this is a great time for anti-Zack fans to say "I told you so".
4. Ric Flair (Last Week: Unranked) - Will become the first person officially inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame twice - Saving it for the podcast, as I said, but damn, being inducted twice? That's crazy, and it tells you just how amazing the career of Ric Flair has been.
2.87 Edge (Last Week: Unranked) - Will become the youngest living inductee in the WWE Hall Of Fame this year - Saving it for the podcast, as I said, but he's gotta be on cloud nine again. As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, he's about to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, and will be the youngest living member of the group to boot. Wow.
2. East Rutherford, New Jersey (Last Week: Unranked) - Came out of nowhere to pretty much be announced as the host city for WrestleMania 29 - All this time, people had pretty much figured it was a lock that Dallas would be the host of WrestleMania 29, especially after the Smackdown in Dallas not all that long ago, where Shawn Michaels and Triple H showed up and all but said "yes, WrestleMania 29 will be here in Dallas". Other sites that I've seen rumored were Toronto and Indianapolis, but I don't recall seeing East Rutherford (site of the new billion-dollar football stadium for the New York Jets and the New York Giants) on anyone's list. Now, with Dallas apparently being out of the running for both WrestleMania 29 and WrestleMania 30, due to scheduling conflicts, East Rutherford has swooped in and become the front runner. That, of course, confuses a lot of people, who pretty much assumed that Madison Square Garden would be hosting WrestleMania 30. It would be tough to imagine New Jersey getting WrestleMania 29, and then New York City getting WrestleMania the following year, but I guess stranger things have happened.
1. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: #1) - Pinfall victory over Kofi Kingston on Raw.. No Contest with Big Show on Smackdown (retains World Title).. Heel turn continues moving along nicely - He's still the World Champion. He's still having a masterfully done heel turn, without actually being a heel. There's added intrigue to his character, and to his storylines, with the romance storyline he's in with AJ. He continues to look strong in the ring, whether he's facing a smaller (but still larger than he is) high-flier or a 500-pound giant. Add all of that up, and it's difficult to put anyone else in this spot but Daniel Bryan. Perhaps if East Rutherford were officially awarded WrestleMania 29, instead of just having them be the rumored front runner to get it, I'd place them in this spot, but as it stands, Daniel Bryan is, as a great philosopher once said, winning.
