Breaking The Walls Down - Mission Accomplished Submitted by Chris Dailey on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at 7:51 PM EST
Breaking The Walls Down
Hello and welcome back to another edition of Breaking The Walls Down. Commuiting to work over an hour each day is O.K., but it does tend to cut into your normal routine. I guess I was spoiled. What with my previous temp. job only being three miles exactly from my driveway to my parking spot. I guess I'll get to know PA roads even better now (note the sarcastic joy in my words). And now, onto Bits and Pieces.
Bits and Pieces
A friend of mine who is in Australia has opened up and is operating NWA-Australia. He now is in charge of all NWA related items in Australia and the NWA! promotion in Australia. If any of you live in Australia you should check out the shows. He's working hard to put together some great ones for everyone, as Australia certainly needs an influx of professional wrestling. Fans there clamor for the WWE when they come to town and the new NWA-Australia will give them their wrestling fix. Here is the web site address: http://www.nwaaustralia.com
Steve Austin is now gone from the WWE. . . again. Well, my predicition is that he will be back by SummerSlam. No, I have no inside information, it's simply a prediction. The WWE still depends on Austin for marketing revenue and Austin still relies on the WWE to keep his name in the forefront of the mind's of the people. It's a symbiotic relationship (to an extent) and one that will be rekindled.
Holly and Gunn are teaming up? Huh? And, you know the sick thing, for some reason I actually think it could work. Something in the back of my head got somewhat excited with the prospect. Holly is a stiff wrestler and Gunn is (at times) sloppy, but effective in the ring. Together, somehow, I think they could feed off of each other. It'll be interesting to see if this team remains together or not.
So the NWA-TNA has signed a national TV contract with FOX FX. Finally some competition. Looking at this federation, you'll see some former WWE and WCW superstars. Some of the matches will be a complete shock to you (for those of you who haven't seen them, some of these wrestlers actually put on good matches). Will this be the competition that makes the WWE wake up? It's way, way, way to soon to tell that. I'll re-evaulate that in another two to five years if the NWA-TNA still is in existance and has a na! tional TV deal and if the WWE still is in existance and has a national TV deal. For those of you that doubt the WWE could ever go out of business, simply think back to late 1996 and early 1997 WCW. Did you think they would go out of business then?
I'm happy to see William Regal back. He's a great wrestler/character.
And now, onto the column.
Mission Accomplished
Foley did it. He showed me he could still do it. I didn't think he could, but he did. And, all without taking twenty chair shots to the head. I thought the Cactus Jack vs. Randy Orton match was by far the match of the night. In no uncertain terms, that match was great. Foley's whole point of the feud was to get Randy Orton over a! s a serious main-eventer and he succeeded. The only problem is, Orton should never have won that match.
Don't get me wrong. In order for Orton to prove he could take a large amount of punishment and still come back he had to be involved in an incredible match, but a hardcore match against (still) one of the greatest hardcore wrestlers of all-time was an incredibly tough and gutsy thing. However, Orton didn't have to come out as the winner to prove himself. About 75% of the match was complete when the guy I always sit next to at PPVs, Matt, turned and said to me, "He gained a ton of respect from me tonight". That was before the finish even took place. Now that is an accomplishment.
For a relatively new wrestler to put on a match like he did with Cactus Jack was phenominal. Now, I won't lie, Orton by no means looked great in this match. As a matter of fact if it wasn't for Foley carrying him throughout a l! arge portion of the match, the match would have bombed. But, what was important was to see how Randy reacted to getting a severe beating and fighting back. To see if he could make the crowd believe that he was indeed a legitimate main-event wrestler. Mission accomplished. On RAW last night the crowd was actually chanting Orton's name.
And, the man to thank for this is a man who is completely non-selfish, Mick Foley. I know seeing Cactus Jack wrestling again is a special "treat" and we aren't likely to see if for a long time (if ever again), but it was GREAT while it lasted. It was very evident Foley lost weight when he donned the Cactus Jack attire. It looked great on him, down to the leper-print boots. To complete the tingle going down my spine, I wish the WWE would have played the WWE's version of Cactus Jack's entrance theme. That would have been great. The sick, da! rk, and twisted Foley is the character I love best. Why? I think it's because Foley's right in what he says when in character. I know in the RARE occassions I get extremely angry, I become a totally different person. I stand there in a confrontation with someone and I actually can envision doing things so horrible to that person, they phy! sically will never be the same. I enjoy the feeling of pain being inflicted on me and I feed off of that to inflict even more pain on that person. Sounds messed up, right? Sounds dark, right? Time to send Chris to the psycho ward for eval., right? Wrong. Each one of us has those feelings in us, we simply choose whether to admit it or not. And, that's why I love the Cactus Jack persona and that's why I think it was perfect to resurrect that character for that match.
But, back to wrestler development, both men's careers will be going in different directions. A feud with Edge is obviously in th! e beginning stages for Orton. This should lead up to SummerSlam and maybe beyond. These should be good matches and an interesting storyline, as long as the WWE doesn't feed Edge those horrible lines from yesterday's RAW anymore. As for Foley, it's been said he was going to use this match as a gauge to see what is left of his wreslting career. If the match is a flop, he will give up on wrestling in the ring. If it is not a flop, he will make special appearances once or twice a year. In my opinion, the drop in weight and the couple of years off did wonders for his health. I know his knees are in bad shape, but he looked pretty darn good on Sunday night. As a matter of fact, in that match, Foley looked better health and wrestling wise than he has for at least four ! to five years. I would love to see Foley wrestle at the major PPVs like SummerSlam, Survivor Series, The Royal Rumble, and Wrestlemania at the very least. ! ;I don't think Foley should do house shows anymore (but maybe sporadic ones could be done) and I don't see a need for many matches on RAW and/or Smackdown (but again, I can see sporadic ones being done). What I do see is man who has obviously not lost his passion for the sport.
As I'm sure all of you can tell by now, I like Orton and I am one of the biggest marks for Foley. I haven't given up on him nor will I. I think he's wisened up a bit and won't take such rediculous bumps, but he has realized he can still put on one heck of a match. Or, at least I'm hoping so. I don't think what we saw on Sunday was a final match or anything close. I think what we saw on Sunday night was magical for both wrestlers. One wrestler was graciously put over and rose to the next level and the other wreslter realized (hopefully) that he still has an extreme passion for the business and the fans and can still hang with the best of them. By all means, a very magical night! .
