Fact or Fiction: Lashley, Kennedy, Vince's Death and More!
Submitted by Randomguy#5 on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 8:18 PM EST





Welcome to the latest edition of “Fact or Fiction” here on the Lordsofpain.net! The jist of the column is simple-we’ve taken some of the most entertaining and opinionated (or at least bored and willing) minds swirling around our beloved website and throw them five questions for them to speak on. For each question they call “BS” or “Helz Yez” and tell you why.

Today’s column is something of a treat as we’ve got quite the “Hall of Fame” lineup, taken from the Lop Columns Forum Hall of Fame discussions.

1) Fact or Fiction: The WWE made the right move by moving Mr. Kennedy from Smackdown to Raw in the ‘07 Draft.

Snapple: (Former Lop.net contributor, Hall of Fame Nominee and author of “Wrestling in a Bottle“) I went back and forth on this issue, but in the end, I have to say it's FICTION. The draft completely stripped Smackdown of its talent. Chris Benoit, Kennedy, and Booker, were three of the best guys on that show, and their replacements are Khali, Torrie, and glorified jobber Chris Masters. Combine that with the now re-activated Mark Henry, and the absence of the Undertaker, and you have a complete disaster of a show. Maybe it's best for Kennedy's career to get off that sinking ship, but I'm assuming that the WWE actually wants to make Smackdown a good show. That being the case, they needed a dynamic talent like Kennedy to stay there and save the show. He's charismatic, he's over, and he's not bad in the ring either. With its current roster, I wouldn't watch another episode of Smackdown again if it weren't for JBL's priceless commentary.

Your Ayatollah:(CF Hall of Famer, Former Main Page contributor and author of “All About The Game“ FACT. Like, so fact. Now, I say that not because RAW is any better than Smackdown, because the two shows are fairly even right now. At least on paper. Anyways, I say that because Kennedy is the fuckin' man. They could have moved him to ECW, I'd still say fact. Such is my faith in Ken Kennedy. I'd say that a prolonged babyface run is coming up, and the sky's the limit from there, as far as I'm concerned.

I do regret that we won't get the see the Edge feud just yet, but that's cool also, because I didn't want either of them to have to job for the other. I'm an Edgehead, too. I can tell you right now that it'd make my fucking summer if Ken comes back to roll over Orton. The only real fear I have in Kennedy making the jump is that the babyface ranks are kinda stacked at moment. You got Cena, Lashley, and a soon to be returning Triple H soaking up a lot of the spotlight, there. I'm just not seeing how Kennedy's going to fit in. Still, though, I'm behind the move, as it freshens him up by giving him new competition, and fighting for that spotlight should prove whether or not this guy's got it for real. I'm betting that he is. Why, because he's Mr. fuckin' Kennedy.

Winter:(CF Hall of Famer, Former Main Page contributor and author of “Let it Snow“) There isn't need for much debate here, it's complete fiction. First and foremost, as if there was any doubt, Smackdown's fate as the B-show has now been forever sealed. Losing Benoit, Booker and Kennedy in exchange for Khali, Torrie and Masters is a clear slap in the face to the Smackdown brand. Sure, they've still got Batista, Edge, MVP, Mysterio and a few others, but the lack of depth on the show is frightening. As far as Ken Kennedy goes, I feel he would have developed better and at a better pace on Smackdown!. On RAW he's a mid-carder with a little bit of momentum stemming from WrestleMania, but looking 12 months ahead I can't see him in the WWE title scene, especially with the competition he faces for a main event spot, whereas on Smackdown he was one of only 4 or 5 wrestlers that were in or around the World title area. The kid'll still have a decent career barring serious injury, it'll just take him a while longer to really kick off into the big time.

Leviathan: (4-Time Column of the Month Winner, Author of “On the Couch” in the Columns Forum of lop forums.com) Of course this is fact. Raw is the big leagues of WWE. Kennedy is the hottest prospect in years. Before his injury, Kennedy was set to do big things for WWE like a little yearlong rise to the very top of the company through Money in the Bank and the headline spot at next year’s Wrestlemania. Well, surgery and months of rehab turned into weeks on the shelf and now Kennedy is back and in his new home on Monday nights.

Apparently, the company still has faith in Kennedy and will continue to push him on Raw. If I’m lucky, this push also portends to Cena finally coming down from the top of the mountain to retool and perhaps turn heel in the process while Kennedy places his banner right into the peak of WWE.

Zuma: (Author of “Viva La Lucha” on Lop.net) I'd have to say that a FAAAAACT...

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FACT. See, Mr. Kennedy...

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Kennedy is indeed a major player for the WWE. This guy has all the talent it takes to seriously be an impact personality for the upcoming decade, and it's high time that the WWE recognized that and put his various talents to work on the show that matters most to them. The Man from Green Bay is a serious threat to the world title, and if things play out the way I hope they will, he could be the person that John Cena needs to play against.

Random: (Author of Lop.net column “The Nosebleed Section“ and host of “Monday Night Countdown“) You know..this is tricky. Had more people left Raw, I know exactly what I’d have answered. Kennedy is Raw. Everything about that guy’s character is begging to be on Raw. Hell, when he was still Mr. Money in the Bank he was making cameo appearances on Raw. There is no doubt that Raw is where the WWE puts people to become stars.

But isn’t that the same thing we thought about Carlito? Johnny Nitro? Hell even Cena’s character, despite his success away from the ring and the duration he’s held the belt, seemed to fall flat once he went to Raw. There’s too much preassure on Raw.

Kennedy is going to be a Mega-Star in this bussiness. I believe it and so does 99% of the IWC. However, now was not the right time for him to make that move so this is most certainly FICTION. He should have came back on Smackdown and begun a slow face turn, have Teddy keep him away from Edge until around Survivor Series, where after an extended program with Edge he loses, never gaining that title. He then SHOULD have been 2008’s Royal Rumble winner, where he comes over to dethrone Cena. Yup, I rule.

2) Fact or Fiction: The WWE made the right move by moving Bobby Lashley from ECW to Raw in the ‘07 Draft.

Your Ayatollah: Again, FACT. Lashley's move was actually part of a sequence that I hoped for, that being Bobby's going away and Benoit's coming in. I've always thought that Benoit was a perfect fit for ECW, and could really be their guy. Besides the fact that I really want to see the Crippler wearing big boy gold one more time before he's done, I really just think that Lashley had kinda topped out in ECW. He'd beaten everyone who even came close to threatening him months ago.

Aside from that, though, when's the last time the dude WASN'T on RAW? He pretty much joined that roster months ago, this just made it official. It should be really interesting to see how this plays out. With Vince now out of the picture, I'd venture the guess that their feud is over, so Bobby's pretty much got nothing going on at moment. I'm not seeing how the whole him and Cena thing is going to coexist, but I guess that's going to be part of the fun. Whatever he ends up doing, though, I hope it involves him losing a few times. This whole Suntan Superman gimmick is really getting old, at least to me. And for fuck's sake, please don't have him wrestle Umaga anymore. We get the picture, he's tough. Stop it.

Winter: Let's be honest, Lashley was essentially a RAW superstar already, but this one's a definite FACT in any case. Lashley's a big guy, Vince clearly adores him, and he gets a good reaction from the fans; he's clearly someone that's destined for a big main event run in the immediate future. ECW is nothing more than a modern version of Shotgun Saturday Night complete with its own title belt, Lashley will be delighted to have escaped that sinking ship. He's already been thrust into the WWE title, and a feud with Cena could do wonders for his career, assuming any possible rivalry doesn't result in the WWE making him the heel. RAW has gained a valuable addition to the roster, while Lashley's departure from ECW does nothing to hurt the brand thanks to the addition of Benoit. It's a win-win situation for all involved. Well, all except Benoit at least.

Leviathan: Here’s another fact. Lashley was finished with ECW. There wasn’t anything left for him to do on ECW other than sweep the floors and take apart and pack the ring into the truck for the next show. Hell, he had to tolerate McMahons for months just to have something to do as ECW Champion.

Luckily, while ECW Champ, Lashley learned more about the wrestling business, how to move a match physically and psychologically and how to speak on the mic with some aptitude. He’s better talent now than he was before his stay with ECW and that makes him worthy of Monday Night Raw.

Zuma: This one isn't as cut and dry as the last answer. See, Bobby Lashley was truly done with everyone that was on the ECW roster at the time. However, it seems that Lashley's character is almost dependant upon beind "the dominator" and not the dominated. As of right now, I'm at a loss to think what they'll do with him, unless he's a major player in the "McMahon Whodunnit" saga, which is going to require acting skills which are way over poor Bobby's head. If he had stayed on ECW, he would have had fresh rivalries in the form of Chris Benoit, Johnny Nitro, Elijah Burke and of course the feud that never happend in CM Punk. I just see Bobby not being the center of attention after such a superman push as being detrimental to his career, so it's FICTION from me.

Random: FICTION Holy Mother of God what were they thinking? Yes, he’s been on Raw almost non-stop since ’Mania. And yes, his pops are now noticeable, whereas before they were a myth. However, what exactly will you have him do on Raw? Feud with…who? The majority of Raw’s main event scene is Face right now, and while I would like to see Lashley work as a heel, he isn’t going to get anywhere turning heel to feud with Cena, and probably won’t get far at all in the same main event scene that features Triple H, Shawn Michales, SuperCena, King Booker, Randy Orton and now Kennedy.

On Smackdown, he has a great champion to chase in Edge, who is not only heel but fantastic in the “running from the scary face who’ll kick my ass” role. He could also form a decent little temporary stable with Batista (tell me you can’t hear JBL screaming about the power in that tag team) before one of them eventually goes heel to feud with each other. Plus, there’s Kahli and Mark Henry I guess.

Hell, what he really should have done was stay on ECW and become the face for that crappy hour of television. Feuds with Benoit, Punk and even Boogeyman would have been better use of him than on Raw, where he’ll get buried or get overexposed as having fewer mic skills than The Sign Guy.

Snapple: I don't think I even completely understand this topic, because I thought Lashley moved from ECW to RAW several months ago. Lashley spends more time on RAW than even the RAW wrestlers. It wasn't even that long ago that I had to sit through a RAW that contained no less than FOUR Lashley matches. Talk about pure torture. My disdain for Lashleyberg aside, I will say this is a FACT, if I am to assume I am being asked whether it's a good idea for Lashley to be exclusive to RAW as opposed to exclusive to ECW or Smackdown. ECW is a total mess, and I really think that anyone with credibility should abandon ship from that brand before it caves in. If closing down ECW is not an option, the next best thing is for that brand to get a new top face. Bobby Lashley is the worst "top face" the company has had since Bob Backlund. Benoit or CM Punk will do a better job carrying that show, so it's good that they got Lashley out of there. Between RAW and Smackdown, I'd rather have Lashley on RAW, because his presence on Smackdown might create some of the worst feuds of the year. Lashley vs. Henry. Lashley vs. Khali. Lashley vs. Masters. That isn't exactly what I want to see every week. RAW has enough talent that we can hide Lashley in the mix, and maybe it won't be so bad.

3) Fact or Fiction: The “presumed death” of Mr. McMahon will become the greatest storyline of the last five years.

Winter: Absoloute fiction!. I can actually see this one becoming, if not a flop, then a great disappointment. Remember the higher power? The 'who ran over Steve Austin' storyline? Well we've got the same thing here. Don't get me wrong, I thought the limousine explosion was great and it certainly got a lot of people, but in 3 or 4 weeks will anyone still be interested? Especially considering this is once again another huge angle which centres around the McMahon family. I mean really, they were entertaining around 1998-2000, but since the abysmal invasion storyline I struggle to recall being entertained over a period by any of them, bar the odd decent match involving Vince or Shane. Sure, if it turns that Cena planted the bomb/rigged the limo, then we might have something good on our hands, otherwise I think it's just another McMahon-obsessed storyline.

Random: Maybe I’m blindly optimistic here (certainly) but I’m going to go with FACT. If for no other reason that there have been few truly awe-inspiring storylines in the last five years. I know there is a TON of room for the WWE to blow the shit out of this storyline, and god knows they rarely miss an opportunity to fuck up storyline that hinges on characters not titles, but look at the room to maneuver here.

Who planted the bomb? I’ve no idea. Could have been an active wrestler, anybody from The Sandman to John Cena. Hell, what if it was Triple H? Maybe Hunter comes back from the injury as the uber-face he was when he left, but he is later revealed to be the attempted killer of Vince so as to form the long awaited union with Stephanie and they take over the company…not just challenge Vince, but actually win and Vince becomes a novelty act and is only on TV a few times a year. The Vince character could be not literally killed off here, but for all intents and purposes, done.

Maybe it was Muhammad Hassaan, and the WWE is finally willing to push the cultural envelope again. (worked well the last time they tried it…Attitude Era anybody?) Maybe Lashley snapped and now we have a reason to care about him besides he’s fast and strong. Maybe Cena snapped, tired of being booed when all he’s done is tried to be cheered. Maybe The Undertaker is bringing back The Ministry of Darkness and they’re purging wayward souls? The possibilities are literally endless, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say the WWE wouldn’t risk Vince’s character, the strongest, most influential, most consistent character they have, if they didn’t have somewhere to go with it.

Leviathan: The best part of this storyline is I constantly hear JBL in my head. “He smells like smoke because he’s been through fire!” Why won’t they let JBL say that? Just once? I say, fictional, like his death.

The biggest problem for WWE is handling death, be it real or fake. Eddie really died, yet they chained his ghost to everything, including merchandise, for over a year. I could hardly watch Smackdown due to Eddie being one of the “undead”. His own family cashed in on his death. Friends swiped his moves. Storylines were Eddie Guerrero storylines even though Eddie was gone. Sickening to say the least.

Now, we’ve got barbequed McMahon, promos about his death, promos about his life, promos about how his superstars loved him and hated him... It’s all a waste of time for us and them because it takes away from active storylines and wrestling in our WWE rings. How many months are we going to suffer through Vince promos, faux FBI footage and fact finding, McMahon family reunions and funeral marches, clips from other news sources both real and unreal?

I only want to know one thing. Who did it? That’s the only interesting thing about the whole rancid gimmick. When the culprit or culprits come forward, then we’ll have something to sink our teeth into. Was it Triple H? Was it Shane McMahon? Was it Austin? Was it Vince McMahon himself? That part is the intriguing part of all of this, the who done it.

Finding who done it, talking about who done it, seeing how this will all be overdone-done-ing it fills me with dread. I’d almost welcome back Eddie’s ghost and hope for some sort of Biblical retribution on behalf of Eddie Guerrero upon WWE’s collective souls.

Snapple: I don't have to think about this one. It's FICTION. We've already seen the best part of the storyline, and that's the limo blowing up. It will be a cut-and-dry "who dunnit" angle from here on out. After we find out who blew up the limo (I'm guessing Lashley or the Jackass guys), Vince will come back to tv in a few weeks, "shocking the world" with the news that he still lives. Then, Jim Ross will scream at the top of his lungs like he didn't see that one coming.

There are two storylines that come to my mind when thinking about the best storylines of the past five years, both of which are better than the attempted murder angle. One angle is the Mickie-Trish saga, which hopefully I don't need to explain why it was great. The other angle which happened just a little less than five years ago, that will go down as one of the greatest non-wrestling moments in the history of the WWE, is the Billy and Chuck wedding. Anyone who says they didn't mark out when Bischoff took off his disguise and had Three Minute Warning destroy the place is lying. The moment didn't change storylines in the long run, as both tag teams fizzled out soon after, but it was the climax of the war between the brands, and it was damn entertaining.

Your Ayatollah: I'm gonna have to go with FICTION here. I really don't want to see some big elaborate murder mystery played out for the next six months. Even if there are great twists and turns and stuff, you just know the end result will suck ass. I mean, seriously, who the fuck could ever recover from "murderer heat"? You seen Lex Luger around lately? Point proven. Besides that, why wouldn't they be arrested and tossed in jail and shit?

I'd really just rather they kinda forget about it and just move on Vince free. I'm all for killing off the Mr. McMahon character, as he had just about stretched it as far as it'd go. Great character, don't get me wrong, but his best days were behind him. Having said that, though, I sadly doubt that they're just going to let it fade away. If they really just have to let this play out, I'd like the end result to be that Vince committed suicide. That way it doesn't fuck with anybody else, and it'd make sense since he's been all creepy and depressed and stuff. Either way, I look for this to be somewhat of a ground shift within the product, but not a big blowout storyline to end all storylines. Leave that to an actual feud, ya know?

Zuma: Well, what other "great" storylines have we really had in the last five years. It'll be better than the Lita/Kane/Snitcky saga, that's for sure. Especially if it turns out to be Aurora who planned this all. Seriously though... it's a FACT that this is the greatest risk the WWE has taken so far. Even the murder of Muhammed Hassan didn't cause this much of an uproar, and he was a Taoist. Right?

This is absolutely a FACT that it's the greatest storyline of the last five years, and it's probably the greatest storyline from this decade. So far, the matter's been handled perfectly. From the statement from the WWE Lawyer, to the Press Release, to the moving of the supplemental draft - the angle's been well thought of so far. Joey Style's face on Tuesday was epic, as was JBL's commentary on Smackdown. His faux revulsion to the fans' actions towards Mr. McMahon's legacy was amazing, and the man deserves a freakin' Emmy so far. I can't wait to see how JR handles selling McMahon's death on Monday. FACT FACT FACT.

4) Fact or Fiction: TNA Impact will be cancelled before it becomes legitimate ratings competition for the WWE.

Leviathan: Test and Albert are making a comeback? Oh, TNA... the wrestling promotion. Eh, the one with the six-sided doo-jobber ring-thing. They still have a wrestling show? Fact. Why it’s not a fact already is beyond me.

What’s wrong with TNA? They have talent. They have superstars. They have names that people recognize. Perhaps TNA simply suffers from being fundamentally flawed, six-sided ring anyone? TNA can’t compete unless they address the issues on why they aren’t growing at a higher rate.

Impact can’t sustain itself over the years unless the company makes progress. TNA signs the biggest talent it can from WWE and still, there are no signs of real forward progress. Without it, both Impact and TNA itself are in danger of folding. I don’t know what they should do about it either, but that’s not the question this week anyways.

Zuma: Who? Are they still on TV?

Not only will TNA be cancelled from their SPIKE Tv agreement, but TNA will cease to exist as a company before they are ever anything more than a blip on the WWE's radar screen. Here's a company that's had all the tools, and all the talent needed to compete with and overtake the WWE, if they could only figure out how to use them correctly. Their marketing is horrible, and their advertisement campaign has been null and void. My favorite was the fact that just last week - I'll admit, I watched TNA - was that they were still hawking tickets to the Slamiversary PPV - that's this week! Not only were they trying to sell a PPV to the audience at home, they still hadn't sold out the arena to their biggest event in years! They were returning to where it had all started, Nashville, and they couldn't fill every seat. Sad FACT.

Random: Are you kidding me? This is total FICTION. Spike’s not going to cancel Impact because nobody at Spike TV gives a shit. C’mon man, this is the same company that let Raw walk out the door, if they were worried about what wrestling they have on TV, that would have never happened. Furthermore, TNA was pulling ratings comparable to what they are now a year ago, and Spike gave them an improved timeslot. Now, after ratings have stayed at the 1.0 range seemingly forever, what’s Spike rumored to be doing? Giving them a second hour! TNA won’t get cancelled because everybody at Spike TV is foaming at the mouth over UFC, and Impact is just second tier programming for them, like Law and Order. They’re not worried about it.

Spike will continue to peddle along in mediocrity for a few years until the next big wrestling boom happens. They’ll find something amazing to capitalize off of and catapult themselves at least near Smackdown’s ratings, which should be enough to at least raise an eyebrow in Stamford. The company has all the talent in the world, so eventually they’ll either catch lighting in a bottle and get lucky or somebody with a clue will buy them out teach them how to run a wrestling business. Let’s start a LLC interested in purchasing them from Panda Energy. Send checks payable to Randomguy#5.…

Either way, Spike TV will let them hang around until something bizarre happens just so that the “first network for Men” can have wrestling on it’s network.

Your Ayatollah: FICTION. TNA is probably my favorite show of the bunch at the moment, actually. RAW's still my show for whatever reason, but I get the most enjoyment out of TNA, mostly because of Christian and Papparazzi Productions. They've really come a long way, and I think they can maybe mount an offensive in a couple more years. Of course, getting cancelled would negate all that in a real big hurry, but I just don't see it happening. Spike has invested a lot in getting TNA the recognition is has thus far, and I just don't think they'd abandon them after bringing it along this far. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't see it. Given a little more time and room to grow, they could have a real homegrown brand name thing going on.

That said, I'm still not entirely convinced that TNA will ever pose a serious threat to WWE. The market just doesn't seem that hot right now. By the time it heats back up, it may be too late for them anyways, whether Spike keeps them on or not. Still, though, if they do make the leap into the big dance, I do believe that it'll be Spike still providing the dancefloor.

Snapple: I hate to say this, and I don't mean to be cynical of TNA, but I think it's a FACT. That doesn't mean I think Impact is going to get cancelled in the immediate future, but I don't think it's going to match ratings with WWE anytime soon either. There are two things another wrestling promotion needs to match ratings with the WWE. The first thing is a product which is at least equally entertaining as the WWE. The second thing is exposure. Ted Turner's resources and Hulk Hogan gave WCW exposure. Angles like the nWo gave them a good product. Thus, it worked.

TNA back in the days when it showed weekly PPVs were a good product with no exposure. They couldn't bring the product to the masses without a tv deal, and even once they could get a tv deal, they couldn't afford to market the product correctly. Unfortunately for TNA, once they did get a tv deal, the product turned to crap as well. Instead of every week providing its own blockbuster main event with an entire card of lengthy, quality matches to make the show worth buying, and no commercials, the shows became half as long, with frequent commercial interruptions, much shorter matches, and the emphasis became hyping the monthly PPV instead of providing a big show each week. That was the fatal flaw with TNA, but once Vince Russo became a booking power in the company again, the storylines became even worse. TNA has some of the best wrestlers on the planet: Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Christian, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, and so on. Yet, they still manage to have a poor product. It's a waste.

Winter: Again, I'm going with fiction. I don't watch Impact as much as watch RAW, Smackdown, or even ECW, not because I don't enjoy it but because I don't always get the opportunity to watch it. Saying that however, when I do watch Impact I'm usually impressed, and generally at least one match if of a higher standard than you'll see on any of the WWE shows. Of course I know TNA gets a rough time from WWE marks, and the ratings haven't been outstanding to say the least, but the name is growing and I think Spike TV will stick by TNA in the foreseeable future.

I don't know if TNA will ever pose a threat the WWE in the way WCW did. WCW had the backing of Ted Turner and of the greatest business minds in the business, Eric Bischoff, as president. But TNA is still young, and those WWE marks who whine that TNA will never do anything should remember than it took around 12 years for Turner to take Georgia Championship Wrestling and turn it into a profitable organisation. TNA is doing extremely well for such a young company, and I envisage TNA and Impact will competing with the WWE in 5 years. Not as WCW did, as I'm not sure that can ever be replicated, but they'll become more of a mainstream force certainly.

5) Fact or Fiction: The next mega-star in the WWE (ala Hogan, The Rock, or Austin) is currently on one of the three main rosters (ECW, Raw, Smackdown).


Zuma: Well, I'm gonna have to agree with my good friend from the Midwest, Leviathan, and say that it's a FACT. There's some serious talent on the roster at the moment, and there's four men in particular that I can see having enough appeal to be the "Next Big Thing II".

First, there's the man I mentioned earlier in Kennedy. He's charismatic, and he's talented in the ring. He can be someone who could have "the look" that Hollywood and the mainstream media is searching in a headline maker. Speaking of "the look" there's also MVP and CM Punk. Both have a different sort of "urban" appeal that could pull mainstream America in to take notice.

Lastly... there's the man who's already racing cars on ABC against Tony Hawk, John Elway and that speed demon Jewel. He's John Cena, and he's sort of already pulled himself into pop culture's stream of consciousness. It will only take the right storyline to draw in all those that know of him and like him to actually watch wrestling. Hey... maybe he should murder Vince McMahon?

Snapple: This is total FICTION. The most you can do with any of the current guys is give them a gimmick that clicks, push them hard and force a reaction out of the fans. You can do that with anyone, such as a John Cena or a Batista or even a talent less bum like Bobby Lashley. None of these guys, however, no matter how invincible you make them look, will draw like the Rock. There are guys within the company that I like a lot. I love Chris Benoit, but is he a transcendent star who young people will look at, and say, "Wow, he's the coolest guy ever?" No, he's not. Although he's not my favorite guy in the company, the guy on the current roster who has the best chance of cross-over appeal is Mr. Kennedy. He is the closest thing we have to a complete package. He exudes energy. He's a good wrestler. He's a good speaker. He has a great entrance. Yet, I don't think even he will be the next sport savior.

Winter: This is a tough one to call. Who would have thought Rocky Miavia would go on to become a recognized Hollywood actor, or that the guy playing the Ringmaster would become an international household name? There are a couple of guys I see as having the potential to be the next mega star, but I'm still having to with fiction on this one. The WWE just doesn't give enough wrestlers enough time to shine. CM Punk could be one the hottest things going right now, anyone who saw his work in ROH would probably agree. But when is he given a chance? Every week he runs to the ring, smiles and waves to crowd and faces Elijah Burke or another member of the New Breed. He's getting decent pops from the crowd, so I'd hope the WWE recognises this and gives him an opportunity to develop his character, but I just don't see it happening.

MVP and Mr Kennedy are two guys who have been given an opportunity. A lot of people are high on Kennedy, and while I do like the guy, he doesn't seem like someone non-wrestling fans are going to care about, in fact he's something of a typical WWE character. MVP is someone I'm a big fan of; he's great in the ring and oozes natural charisma. However, the guy was made to play a heel, and heel's don't become mega-stars. The WWE are clearly pushing John Cena as the next big thing, but the problem I've always had with Cena is that he's someone that was forced on fans; fans didn't fall in love with his character as they had with Austin and The Rock, the WWE just decided "you're gonna cheer this guy". That strategy never works. The next huge crossover star could be on the roster right now, for all anyone knows The Miz could really take off in a few years, but I honestly can't pick anyone and say "he's the new star", so I have to stick with fiction.

Random: He’s there somewhere, just keep holding on kids. It’s a FACT. Who is it? Your guess is as good as mine. Smart money’s on Cena (yes, I said it!) or Kennedy. But hell for all we know its Kenny Dykstra or one of the Major Brothers.

I know the question asks about the WWE’s three major rosters, but don’t sleep on Samoa Joe in TNA. That guy is one major storyline, one major spot, and one big catchphrase away from sweeping the nation. The world is ready to worship a fat guy. At least, we all hope so…

Leviathan: I’d love to be able to say fact for certain. Uncertainty doesn’t mean fiction either. I suppose I’ll guess fact. You can’t really be wrong for making a guess, can you? It’s not Cena. It’s not Batista. It’s probably not Orton, although Orton has the biggest shot from that class in my opinion.

I’ll go with Kennedy on Raw. I think he’s the hope of millions. At the very least, he’s my hope for the next big interstellar, cross-promotional, megafantastical superstar in WWE. So many questions though. Can he stay healthy? Is he as good as he seems to be? Will people embrace him like they once did the Rocks and Austins and Hogans?

Kennedy’s now on Raw. He’ll be working with the top talents WWE has to offer in Cena, Orton, Triple H, HBK, and others. He was scheduled to headline next year’s Wrestlemania mere months ago. We know he’s getting the push of a lifetime. WWE has given him every tool, all the time in the world between his return and Wrestlemania, the push, the patience, and the talent to work with. It’s all up to Kennedy... Kennedy.

Your Ayatollah: That, my friends, is a FACT. Now, will we ever see him truly emerge? That I'm not so sure of. There are a few guys out there now who could be megastars if given the proper platform to do it on, but you don't see that platform too much anymore. Austin was on RAW three or four segments a week in the buildup to his megarun. Hogan toured more than Van Halen in 1984 as Hulkamania was just taking off, just to keep his face out there constantly. Hell, Rock was given entire segments to run his mouth before he became huge and was just Intercontinental guy. When's the last time you saw an Intercontinental champ spend more than 2 minutes on a mic?

I think that the desire to find the next big draw is what hurts them in finding it. They're so eager to push as many guys as possible onto our screen just to see if it might be them, instead of giving the couple guys who it REALLY might be more time to ingratiate themselves to the audience. We've seen them do a pretty good job with Kennedy over the past year or so, and Edge was really handled quite well, though he had to win a World title before they'd do it for the guy. Seriously, though, where's CM Punk's interview segment? Or the Alpha Male's chance to scream "Pooooooooounce!"?

If it's going to be anybody, I'd have to say Kennedy right now. He's got all the tools, it's just a matter of letting him use them. Punk has potential to be big, but I don't see him blowing up. Cena's actually still got a lot of steam left in him, and he doesn't seem to be lacking in crossover appeal. Edge, Orton, Boogeyman, they've all got a shot at it. Okay, not Boogeyman. Maybe Little Boogey. Either way, I think the next big megastar is already there, and it's just a matter of giving them the same kind of shot to get themselves over as they gave to guys like Rocky and Austin.



Thank you everybody for reading. Please feel free to drop everybody a line and let the contributors know what you thought, they’re a friendly group. (Well, all but Ayatollah. He’s crabby cause his job sucks…)

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