Breaking The Walls Down - Bits and Pieces Submitted by Chris Dailey on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 1:06 PM EST
Breaking The Walls Down
Hello all and welcome to another edition of Breaking The Walls Down. I apologize for falling behind on my e-mails. I’m pretty busy right now with a bunch of things going on, so I have fallen behind on my e-mails. Rest assured if you’ve written to me, I will respond, but might be a bit. Also, my Internet connection hasn’t been all that great lately, so I’m typing this column off of my knowledge of what has been on TV and the scant times I’ve been able to go to LoP. So, I’m going to make this column all about Bits and Pieces.
Bits and Pieces
In an effort to conserve funds, I did not purchase The Royal Rumble this past Sunday. My wife’s 30th birthday is coming up shortly and I’ve been planning and saving for it, so expenditures like the PPV was not on my “needs” list. Usually The Royal Rumble is one of my favorite (if not the favorite) PPV of the year. I love the battle royal match and the supporting matches around it. However, as of late, I feel the Royal Rumble match itself is becoming cheapened and, sadly, I’m afraid the latest winner, Rey Mysterio Jr., is a prime example of this. Is it possible for someone of Rey’s height and weight to win The Royal Rumble? Sure, of course it is. Do the fans buy into him being a main-eventer at Wrestlemania, probably not. I know I sure don’t. Because, even if Rey becomes the next heavyweight champion, fans. . . won’t. . . take. . . it. . . seriously. Be honest with yourself. Would you buy into Mysterio being World Champion? I know I wouldn’t. But, he hasn’t reached that pinnacle, yet. He’s won The Royal Rumble, but I’m banking on him losing his shot at The World Title at Wrestlemania. Heck, he might even get his shot at the World Title, but I seriously doubt it will be at Wrestlemania. And, if the match is set for Wrestlmania with Mysterio taking on the World Champion, McMahon better have a strong supporting undercard, because I sense low buyrates.
Speaking of Rey Mysterio Jr. some people have expressed to me their concern that what The WWE is doing with Rey is cheapening Eddie’s death or attempting to make money off of his death. After thinking about it for a bit I am concerned that McMahon is beginning to cheapen Eddie’s death with all the mentions and references in the story lines. But, I’m wondering if there’s more to this than we know. Maybe by the storylines involing Eddie’s name, McMahon has agreed with Eddie’s widow to contribute the proceeds to her and her family. It’s already been made public that the remainder of Eddie’s contract will continue to get paid to his wife and children. But, I’m wondering if there isn’t a little bit more to the story than we know. Maybe the whole thing with Rey is a way to help out Eddie’s wife and children? I honestly hope so, because if this isn’t the case, I feel that The WWE may be coming close to cheapening his death.
Good stuff going on there between Vince McMahon and HBK. Some part of me feels that this is the cheaper version of Vince McMahon and Bret Hart. I like the idea of having Vince McMahon vs. HBK, however. The interviews between these two provide some good viewing and I’m pretty sure that the match itself will be good, as well. From what I gather, the match between these two will be an interesting match. I’m not necessarily looking for a technical, knock-me-out match, but I will be looking for an entertaining match, which I am sure they will give.
O.K., call me crazy, call me what you will, but I still feel Ric Flair should be allowed one more title run. And, by title run I mean World Title run. It could be Ric winning the World Title, defending it a handful of times and then officially retiring. I’m all for that. For now Ric has stated that he will continue to wrestle at the pace he is doing, but I have a real concern that it’s going to catch up to him soon. I don’t think his body can continue to compete with 20, 30, and 40 somethings in the ring.
Ric is Ric and he will always be drawn to the ring and the fans around it. I can personally say that Ric is the same on TV as he is at a house show. In fact, he was completely entertaining in the house show I saw him at in Reading, PA. And, for those of you who know what Reading, PA is like, Ric didn’t have to show up to that card and be on top of his game like he was. The arena wasn’t very full at all and the crowd was only semi-active, that is until he came out to the ring. Ric is a legend and deserves one more title reign. I’ll push for this as long as he continues to wrestle (well, unless he hits his 60s, LOL).
The WWE has reportedly or was about to contact The Warlord to return to the WWE at the age of 46. Personally, as I look back on the early 90s, I am a fan of The Warlord now, but wasn’t then (if that makes sense). I don’t know, but his character was cool. Of course his outfit/costume might need a bit of updating, but the idea is pretty good. I think he could form some sort of devastating tag team with someone, perhaps Animal? Eh, O.K., maybe that tag team would be a bit slow moving, but pairing The Warlord with someone young probably would be a good thing for the younger wrestler. However, I keep thinking that I read somewhere that he has legal problems and can’t be in a certain state(s). Of course, I’m probably confusing The Warlord with someone else, but something keeps telling me that he was in some sort of trouble.
Welcome back RVD! From the account that I heard from a friend who watched The Royal Rumble, RVD was welcomed back by a very positively vocal crowd. I can only hope that this continues and that The WWE allows RVD to work his matches and show off what he is truly capable of. Yes, I do want to see RVD as The World Champion. I think that is not out of the picture. One would argue that he has little to no mic skills, but I say that thinking is flawed. RVD simply hasn’t been given the time to speak. I also think that he should be reunited with Bill Alphonzo, as that pairing could really, really be something special again. They both worked off of each other so well that The WWE, in my opinion, is making a big mistake by not having these guys work together. Most people will argue that face wresters don’t have managers. If McMahon is the ingenious, creative guy that we all think he is, he’ll break that mold and allow RVD and his old ECW manager to reunite. I think this would add to RVD’s already entertaining matches that would help capture an audience. Bring back the cocky, ego-centric RVD and let Bill Alphonzo run around crazy outside the ring.
A friend told me that I should really watch NWA-TNA. I told him I keep wanting to, but forget what times they are on and always forget to record them. I see that some very interesting matches have taken place and now Jeff Jarrett will be taking on Christian Cage at their next PPV named “Against All Odds”. In what should be a very good match, I can only hope that Christian does come out the winner. “Captain Charisma” is a very deserving champion whom I think will add a new dimension to NWA-TNA. I admit that I want to see more of Samoa Joe, as all I hear about is him. But, right now putting the World Title around Christian Cage’s waist makes sense to me both storyline wise and business wise. As weird as it sounds, it would have been pretty cool to see Edge have The World Title in The WWE and Christian Cage have The NWA-TNA World Title at the same time. I doubt that was a reason/concern for The WWE when it was booked for Edge to lose The World Title to Cena at The Royal Rumble, but maybe The WWE didn’t want to run the risk of that very scenario happening. Why? I have no idea, but maybe they didn’t want comparisons made between the two?
Brock Lesnar keeps coming up in the headlines. Again, congratulations to him and what sounds like his new bride in Rena Mero (Lesnar?). Hopefully they are very happy together. As for Lesnar, it’s a shame that he can’t get things worked out with The WWE, as I wouldn’t mind seeing him back in the ring again. He was very talented in the ring and his presence is missed right now from the product perspective. From a locker room perspective, I don’t know if he’d be welcomed back. I’m sure after a while he would be, but I’m pretty sure the beginning for him would be rough, as well.
The answer to the mystery of John Cena continues to elude me. He was so over at one point, I simply don’t understand what made the fans turn their backs on him so quickly. Is it because he is too much like a babyface? Honestly, I have no idea. The fans still get a kick out of his mic work, but a large portion continues to boo him. Then, The WWE puts The World Title around his waist, which really confuses me. Why would they risk putting The World Title back on someone’s waist who the fans are so divided on? With Edge, they knew what they had as The World Champion. Maybe The WWE doesn’t have the confidence in Edge that we thought they did? I don’t know, but John Cena is someone who intrigues me and I want to see how this one plays out.
My thoughts continue to revolve around The Smackdown! roster. The roster truly does need some sort of significant wrestler brought on board. True, Kurt Angle is there, but he is there to replace the star power of Eddie. But, even before Eddie’s passing, the roster was weak. I think it’s time to transfer one more big name guy. It doesn’t have to be someone like Triple H, but maybe someone like Shelton Benjamin or someone of that nature. I also think Carlito or Chris Masters would be another excellent choice. I don’t know, but something does have to be done soon. That “brand” is not as strong as it potentially could be.
