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Submitted by Morpheus on Saturday, December 31, 2005 at 12:18 AM EST
 Volume Forty-Eight – Validation 12/31/2005 Welcome, Dreamers, to the Forty-Eighth Edition of Enter The Dream Realm. I am Morpheus, Master of the Dreaming, and I will be your guide through this land of Nightmares and Dreamscapes. It’s been a hell of a two weeks since we last did this, and I trust the holiday season is treating everyone well, or as well as can reasonably be expected. I know I had a nice time hanging out with my mom and my sister. We also got to check out our annual Christmas Tradition: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra live at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY. There is nothing like it, and there is nothing better. If you haven’t seen them perform before, I highly recommend it. It’s also been a productive couple of weeks for me work-wise; I’ve gotten both papers I mentioned last time done and submitted, and now have turned my attention full-blast on my Prelim Proposal. It’s a bit of a bear to work through, but I’m psyched about it, thus solidifying my intense geekdom. Even though it can be supremely frustrating at times, enough to, say, make me want to punch a baby, it is all going to be worth it in the long run, and I am enjoying the process of getting it all together and seeing it get fleshed out. There are busy times ahead, but at least it keeps my head in the game and off of all the crap that’s going on elsewhere in life. ‘Cause that’s how I roll. Anyhow, on to the topic at hand. This time around, I decided it would be appropriate to take a look back at some of the predictions I made at the start of 2005 to see just how accurate they turned out to be, and I think there are some surprises there. I also am setting up another good old fashioned poll for the next edition of ETDR, so I would definitely appreciate your participation. No Nightmares or Daydreams this time out for two reasons: first being I’m not feeling particularly witty tonight, and the second being that I have to drive up to Rochester now, and I still need to pack! I think I’ve done enough introducing of this thing now, so enough banter, it’s time to get to it. Hopefully you will find this Forty-Eighth sojourn through the Dream Realm both enlightening and entertaining. So, without any further ado, let the Dreams begin!  Top Five World Champions of 2005 At the close of the year, it’s always an interesting prospect to look back on the happenings that have occurred over the last 12 months, both good and bad. During these last 365 days, the Big Three promotions in the US have had some excellent top champions, some of them being more successful than others. What I would like to do now is get your opinions on who you feel are the best World Champions of 2005 with a bit of an explanation as to why. The top champions from the WWE, TNA, and ROH from 2005 are included in this list, and they are listed in alphabetical order as follows: What I would like for you all to do is drop me a line sharing who you feel are the top THREE World Champions of 2005. Please put them in order so I can assign them points accordingly. Share some of your opinions as to why you chose these individuals, and you may find your comments included in the write-up next time out. The votes will be tallied and the overall Top Five World Champions of 2005 from the Dreamers’ perspective will be revealed in the next edition of ETDR. Happy voting, and happy new year!  Validation At the beginning of 2005, I posted a column containing my predictions for what would lie ahead in the world of wrestling during the year 2005. Now, at the end of that year, looking back on these prophesied portents, it is clear that some of them were more on target than others. The original predictions can be found in the following paragraphs. Below each prediction statement is the interpretation of it in black text, which you can read simply by highlighting it using your cursor. After that in plain gray text is a quick look back on each prediction from today’s perspective. Without any further delay, let us get on with the first of these prophecies. It’s amazing what a difference a year makes… Those Most Sought After will lead the call to the Revival of the Dyad. Tag Team wrestling, with few exceptions, has been caught in a lull period for the last couple of years, and is due for some measure of resurgence this year. Who better to lead this battle cry for the return of Tag Team wrestling to its former glory than quite possibly the greatest Tag Team in America right now: America’s Most Wanted? With stellar matches and excellent chemistry, this team definitely lives up to its moniker as the most sought after team in wrestling today. While they may not have spurred a revolution in tag team wrestling in the WWE, AMW certainly did lead the renaissance of tag team action that we have seen in TNA. The Tag Team Division over there is arguably one of the strongest I have ever seen, and is one of the hottest tickets on the show right now. With good reason, I might add. With America’s Most Wanted at the helm, and teams like The Naturals, Team Canada, Diamonds in the Rough, and Team 3-D, among others, this division definitely takes to heart the moniker of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Thumbs up for being right here. The cleansing Red Flames of Rage will engulf The Dispatcher, turning Sin to Ash in the wake of Vengeance. After months of torment at the hands of the man who ended his wife’s pregnancy, the Big Red Machine will finally exact his revenge against Snitsky, gaining the upper hand in the final match of their long and heated feud. He will end up going as far as putting Snitsky out of action for an indeterminate amount of time, and whether or not the big man will return to the company following his recuperation sits just beyond the reach of my penetrating gaze. Either way, one thing is for certain, and that is the flames of Kane’s wrath will burn the sin out of Snitsky, and teach him the lesson of why he is a force to be reckoned with. Well, Kane did in fact get the upper hand in the feud in the long run, even if it was the VERY long run. Once the feud concluded, Snitsky did disappear for a short time before coming back to RAW in a diminished capacity. While there was no indication that Snitsky’s short absence was caused by Kane’s decimation of his mortal body, it still does appear that this prediction, too, came out on the upside. The Man who walks the Straight and Narrow will be rewarded for his journey down the Path of Honor and Righteousness. One man has put on several stellar battles for the ROH Heavyweight Championship, but has always come up just short against the abominable Samoa Joe. Joe has finally lost the title which he held firmly around his waist for the better part of 2 years, and my foresight tells me he is not long for the ROH World. However, the man who prides himself on living the Straight Edge Lifestyle, CM Punk, will finally climb the final rung of that ladder and have his hand raised as the Ring of Honor Heavyweight Champion. Not much that can be said here except it’s about damn time. CM Punk did finally get his day in the Sun, winning the ROH World Title and having a good run with it before leaving the company to head to the WWE. Unfortunately, his career since coming to the Big One has been kind of on hold, but he can always look back on 2005 as the year he finally got the gold he deserved so well. Score another one for the Dream Master. The Descendants of Eve will replenish their ranks and begin to rebuild the stature that once was lost. With the release of several of the female wrestlers in 2004, the Women’s Division on RAW was cut literally in half, and was whittled down to four actual trained wrestlers. With Lita’s recent knee injury that will bench her for a number of months, this number has now dropped to just three. The WWE will recognize that this Division is teetering on the edge of disaster, and will beef up the ranks with more talent, leading to a stronger division and some great Women’s wrestling in the coming year. Things looked pretty dismal for this one for a while during the past year, but lately things have been picking up. Torrie has actually learned a little bit about wrestling, Candice is surprisingly agile in the ring considering her former profession as a Fluffer, and Trish Stratus finally made her long-awaited comeback from the injured reserve. In addition to that, we also saw the addition of Melina and Mickey James to the active roster, both of whom have extensive wrestling experience in OVW and elsewhere. Despite a rocky start, even though it can still use a lot more work, 2005 was a good year for beefing up the ranks of the Women’s Division just like I thought it would be. The Rising Sun will beckon its Favored Son to return to its ancient storied shores. This may simply be wishful thinking on my part, but I honestly feel that one man can only suck for so long before karma kicks in and he is given his walking papers. My powers of foresight tell me that 2005 will be the year that the wheel of destiny finally catches up with one Mr. Kenzo Suzuki, and he will be making the long trip back home to Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, only this time to stay. Finally, somebody was fucking listening! That’s 5 for 5! Although, honestly, if I had to be wrong about all of my predictions except for one, this would be the one I would want to be right. Fuck Kenzo. Fuck him up his stupid ass. The Warrior with the Heart of a Lion will become the Ruler of his Pride. It has been nearly three years since the last time that the Lionheart held World Championship Gold, and that dry spell is nearing its conclusion at long last. In 2005, we will finally see Chris Jericho re-ascend to his rightful position as a Main Event Player in the WWE, and recapture the World Title he lost so long ago. How long his title reign will be is still obscured in the blackness of the ether, but it is guaranteed to bring much joy to wrestling fans the world over. While Jericho did finally re-ascend to Main Event status, unfortunately it was only a last push before he took some time off, and he never did get that run with the big gold. I think I speak for all Jerichoholics when I say it’s only a matter of time before the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah makes his comeback, and when he does, that title is as good as his. For now, however, I admit to falling short on this one, and only got it half right at best. The Alliance of Three Kingdoms shall crumble under the weight of their rulers’ Greed and Discontent. The once-infallible coalition between three men at the top of the food chain in TNA has now come into question, as the NWA World Title has begun to come between two of the Kings of Wrestling. We have seen the beginnings of dissent between the members of this faction, and it seems that the avarice of these proud men will overcome the strength of their loyalty to one another. One can only hope that this doesn’t lead to a title reign for Kevin Nash, but again, not all things can be seen, and stranger things have happened… Yes, it was true. That’s exactly how it happened. Thankfully, it was over and done with sooner than later, and perhaps even more thankfully, it did NOT result in a title run for Kevin Nash. Sometimes good things DO happen! The Odyssey of a near-score of years has reached a plateau among the most high, but will not again know the Glory of Everest. It took this ferocious competitor eighteen years to finally make his way to the top of the mountain in the WWE, and once he got there, The Rabid Wolverine showed wrestling fans all over the world that he is without a doubt one of the best in the business today, and quite possibly ever. Despite the stellar year, and outstanding title reign that was cut short by the up-and-coming young Randy Orton, it seems that fate does not hold a second run in the cards for Chris Benoit. He will spend the majority of 2005 floating in and around the Main Event, but the second title reign will always be just out of his reach. Once again it seems I hit the nail right on the head. Despite being one of the top workers in the WWE, Benoit was unable to regain the top title on either brand he found himself on this past year. He did manage to have a good run with the U.S. Championship, bringing some much-needed credibility back to the belt after the train-wreck that was Orlando Jordan’s reign, however, so not all was lost. Perhaps 2006 will hold higher gold in store for the Rabid Wolverine, but it doesn’t seem all that likely as of now. I wish I was wrong about this one, but alas I was not. The Peaceful Man shall leave his Place of Honor to embark upon a journey into the Blue. Hailing from a little island in the peaceful Ocean of the Pacific, a man who has become known as one of the most dominant champions in recent memory will leave his current home in search of a new life. Samoa Joe will part ways with ROH in 2005, and sign a multi-year contract with the WWE. Just how many years and how much money will be involved, remains unclear, but Joe will rise quickly through the ranks on the SmackDown! brand. Again I find myself only half-right in this instance. Joe did end up sailing away from ROH for bigger waters, but he ended up coming ashore in TNA rather than the WWE. During his short stint there, he has managed to make a great name for himself, even go so far as to beat the Golden Child AJ Styles for the X-Division Championship, thereby becoming the first and only big man to hold that prestigious belt. If 2005 was any indication, Joe has a very bright future for himself in TNA. The Leviathan will rise from the depths and claim his Dominion atop the Mountains above. The closing months of 2004 proved to be great ones for the man formerly known as Leviathan, and 2005 looks to be even bigger for the Animal of Evolution, Dave Batista. This cryptic message from the nether realm could be taken two different ways. First, it could mean that Batista will finally reach out and touch the World Heavyweight Championship, and it will have his name on the faceplate. Second, it could mean that DAVE outlasts 29 other men to become the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble to fulfill his destiny and Main Event WrestleMania 21. It could be one of those two, or both, but either way, Batista will part ways with HHH in the coming months and make himself at home in his new dominion atop the WWE mountain. It could have been one, it could have been the other, but in the end it was both. DAVE Batista had an absolutely stellar year in 2005, picking up the duke in the Royal Rumble, winning the World Heavyweight Championship from HHH at WrestleMania, then going on to retain the belt against all comers for the rest of 2005. Despite the loss of his close friends Eddie Guerrero and fighting through an injury, the big man has remained dominant throughout the year, and shows no signs of slowing down. Chalk another one up for the Dream King. Three Men will know for the first time the intoxicating Touch of Midas. The World Titles in each of the big 3 organizations will change hands a few times in the coming year, but there are three specific individuals whose magic touch will turn their present lot into World Title Gold for the first time in 2005. First, Monty Brown will capture his first NWA World Championship this year, likely before the midpoint, but that is not yet set in stone. Second, John Cena will finally move past his role in the second tier of the SmackDown! brand, and step into the Main Event where he will earn his first WWE Championship, which he will then proceed to make a silly spinning version of in order to “Keep it Real.” Last, but definitely not least, after months of frustrating near-misses, Edge will finally get his hands on the World Heavyweight Championship on RAW, and though it is not clear when, SummerSlam 2005 seems to be a recurring image in my mind… Well there were four predictions held within this explanation, and again half of them were right. Monty Brown did not win the NWA World Title, and Edge did not win the Wrold Heavyweight or WWE Titles, so I called those two wrong. However, John Cena did win the WWE Championship, and he did proceed to make a silly spinning version of it in order to “Keep it Real,” so once again it looks like I shot 50/50 with this one. That which has been called Beyond this World shall set foot upon this plane no more. After a decade and a half entertaining wrestling fans the world over, the man known affectionately as The Phenom will once again return to the grave, this time not to be seen or heard from again. The Undertaker will have his final match in the WWE sometime in 2005, and will finally take his leave from the company and business that has made him a household name. For years to come, his name will be synonymous with the WWE, and highlights from his career will live in the hearts and minds of his fans long after he has passed from this world. Alright, I admit that on this one I was flat out wrong. To be honest, I am glad I was. At the beginning of the year, I really wasn’t all that high on the Undertaker’s work in the ring, but as the year went on, he really stepped things up. Granted, he wrestles every other full moon, but when he does, he has proven he can still go. The Once Mighty Oak shall find itself away from the Sun, fallen in the shadow of Saplings born of its own Seed. The man who has spent the better part of the last five years as the proverbial glass ceiling in the WWE will finally find himself overshadowed, and not just by one man but two; the two people he chose to be his protégés, no less. 2005 will see HHH finally lose his iron grip on the World Heavyweight Championship as his former pupils Randy Orton and Dave Batista both make their way to becoming permanent fixtures in the Main Event scene on RAW. Who will hold the title when, and what matches will occur remains to be seen, but these two fresh faces will step up in 2005 and let Triple H know that he is not the future of wrestling. They are. Once again, it looks like I came out half right here. While Batista and Orton definitely did take the spotlight off of HHH and show that they are the here and the now, they ended up both jumping ship from RAW to SmackDown! during the Draft Lottery. I mean, come on. Who could have seen that? I think it would be safe to say I was right here, but to be fair and conservative, I’ll only take half credit on this one. Now I just can’t wait for HHH to put Cena in his place and be champ again. Eye Hart Aitch. And that’s a wrap! So, looking back on it all, it appears that out of a total of 13 predictions, I got one completely wrong, four of them half right, and nailed eight of them. That adds to a total of 10 out of 13, which is a 77% success rate. I think that’s pretty damn good, considering it was my first time trying to do this sort of thing. Fuck Miss Cleo; I’m the real deal, bitches! I would love to hear you’re opinions on 2005 and how you feel it turned out, so send them my way if you feel so inspired. Next time out we may have some more prophesying, this time looking ahead to 2006. See you there!  As you slowly return to consciousness, the last whisperings uttered from the lips of the Dream Master encourage you to check out three particularly outstanding columns in the forums: J-Man – Train Of Thought #7: What It Means To Wrestle RIPBossman – Hardtime #48: Endless Possibilities BC – Write My Column #6 This brings to a close this Forty-Eighth Edition of Enter The Dream Realm. Any feedback you have, as always, would certainly be greatly appreciated and can be sent to me via email at morpheusreturns@optonline.net. I hope that those of you that haven’t yet will take the time to check out some of the great writers we have in the LOP Columns Forum. Until the next time we do this, sleep well, and I’ll see you in your Dreams! Contact Me! Email: morpheusreturns@optonline.net AIM: MorpheusLOP MSN: morpheusreturns@optonline.net Yahoo: MorpheusLOP Hit me up on MySpace! All the cool kids are doing it! PLUGS!  Click here to visit pt2’s Wrestling Fan’s Hall Of Fame!!! LOP Forums LOP Columns Forum Psychotic Wrestling Alliance - LOP’s very own E-Fed, and hands down the best out there. Ring Of Honor Wrestling Viva La Movie Bar! The Bar Forums 
*NEW GALLERY* The AMAZING New Karen Angle Tease Photos!
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