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Submitted by Randomguy#5 on Friday, September 21, 2007 at 10:22 PM EST
Welcome to another edition of Shuffle Up and Deal the column that allows you to get your poker and wrestling fix all in one place. I would like to thank everybody who helped me improve as a writer especially Romans. Last but not least for all the people who leave feedback, I hope I can keep producing a quality product for you guys to enjoy. What an interesting two weeks in football eh? If you would have told me at the start of the season the Texans, Packers, and Lions would be 2-0 I would have called you crazy but I guess that shows why football is so unpredictable. All 3 teams look to be pretty legit I always knew that the Texans had a decent D but I guess that there O-Line is deciding to give Schaub more then 2 seconds to throw the ball. What a difference an offensive line makes. My lions are off to a pretty good start if I do say so myself. I am not one of those naïve fans who think they really are going to win 10 games like Jon Kitna claims. I do however think they can win about 7 or 8 which is a huge improvement for them. I want to know when Kitna started thinking that he was Mike Vick. He ran for 2 first downs while making a Vikings defender badly miss him. When Jon Kitna successfully puts a move on you, you know you are bad. I do a lot of sports betting so I figured I will start giving you guys my lock bet of the week. How many columns do you read that entertain you and make you money? I have always went by the philosophy of don’t bet on your home team but this week I just can not resist. The Lions +7 over the Eagles is an easy pick. The Eagles D hasn’t looked to good and McNabb doesn’t look 100%. Add that along with the fact he has nobody to throw to I think this should be an easy game for the Lions. I fully expect them to win but even if they don’t they will cover the 7 points. Well enough football talk this is a wrestling column. Let’s get those cards shuffling… Well another PPV has come and gone and once again I missed out on it. Hopefully with my girlfriend being back up at school I will be able to catch a few PPVs this year. The Buffalo Wild Wings up by her shows all the PPVs for free. From what I heard about Unforgiven it sounds like I didn’t miss a lot. It sounds like Unforgiven had a decent mid card with a rather disappointing main event. Whoever really thought that The Undertaker and Mark Henry would make a credible main event must have been crazy. Henry has been doing nothing but squash matches week in and week out which certainly hasn’t helped his cause any. I also really don’t understand the thought process behind giving Batista the title. The only thing I can think of is that they are putting the strap on Batista so he can drop it to Edge when he returns but in my mind this makes no sense. If they wanted Batista to win the title why didn’t they just have him win it initially when Edge got hurt? I have enjoyed Khali’s title run so far which makes me sad to see it come to an end. I think they could of prolonged it for a couple more months and then let Edge or The Undertaker win it back in some type of 3-way. It was nice to see that tag team wrestling is finally getting a chance to shine in the WWE world of hosses and hero’s. From what I hear Cade and Murdoch vs London/Kendrick stole the show. I can not think of the last time that a tag team match received match of the night on a PPV. Hell I can’t even think of the last time a tag team title match was on PPV. Good to see the WWE finally giving there tag division some time to shine. Hopefully they don’t go back to there old routine of letting the tag champs get squashed in a handicap match…Whoops spoke to soon. I mean seriously you finally build up your tag division to look legit and what do you go and do? Let HHH beat them both cleanly the next night. I have never been a fan of letting your tag champs get beat cleanly by any man, Even if he is the world champ. Does HHH really need the extra push anyways? There is no way you can tell me that it would make a difference if Triple H won or loss that match. The only people it stands to hurt are the tag team champions. It’s a win win situation for H, if he loses nobody would think any less then him it’s 2 vs 1 but if he wins it makes him look even stronger. It’s the exact opposite for Cade and Murdoch who already are trying to recover from all the DX beatings they got early on in the year. You can call me crazy but I have loved this Hornswaggle McMahon storyline. It makes for comedy gold if you ask me. How can anyone not laugh at seeing a grown man sitting in a child’s seat with masking tape all over him to keep him from going crazy? I love how Vince is calling him a kid yet he has a beard. Vince must think he is like Robin Williams in that movie Jack. I understand why everyone is upset that the angle wasn’t used to elevate talent but there wasn’t much for them to do with all the suspensions. I think it might be for the best that it didn’t end up being Mr. Kennedy as I think it would of came off as kind of a forced push. I don’t really think Mr. Kennedy is ready for that big of a push yet anyways. I think Vince did just fine with all the suspensions and scandals going on in the WWE right now. When life gives you lemons you make lemonade. Let’s take a look at one of my recent tournaments… When I was in Vegas recently I played in a private tournament for a poker forum I post on regularly. The buy in was only $125 which is not that much for a Vegas tournament. First place I believe was something around 1,000 or so but the money really wasn’t the issue it was about the bragging rights. We started with 4,000 in chips and there were only 20 people in the tournament. I figured I wanted to win but I also wanted to have some fun at the same time. For that reason I decided I was going to play a lot more hands then I usually do. The first hand of the tournament I look down and see 95 suited. Being on the button ( means last to act in poker ) I decided to raise 3 times the big blind to about 600. Everyone folded around to me and I could tell this was going to be fun. As the tournament went on I gained a few chips here or there. I was probably up to about 8,000 in chips when this hand happened. A guy from under the gun ( means first to act ) decided to push all in for his last 2,000 chips. It came around to me and nobody had called yet. I decided not to even look at my cards. I reraise another 2,000 chips. The point in doing this is to make sure nobody else calls with a decent hand. If they are going to get involved they will have a monster hand and I will know it. Everybody folds and the guy who went all in flipped up AK. I said to the guy I didn’t even look yet and I flipped up a big bad 38 offsuit. The flop came 3 8 8 and it was good game for him. Everyone at the table was talking about how sick of a bad beat that was. The sentiment I hear the most around the LOP boards is that if the WWE was smart they would bring Chris Jericho back. They say that Jericho would be the savoir and would vastly improve the ratings, but what I don’t understand is how people think that he would do so. Outside of the core wrestling world does anybody really know who Jericho is? Well I guess some do he’s the guy who got voted off first on Celebrity Duets. Now if that doesn’t scream ratings then I guess I just don’t know what does. Now you might think that I am not a Jericho fan but you couldn’t be farther from the truth. I have been a huge Jericho fan for a long time. I loved him back in WCW during his feud with Dean Malenko and he called himself the man of 1004 holds. He would then proceed to read every single one of them off to the crowd. I marked big time when he beat Triple H for the World Title. I remember when RAW went to commercial I was like a little boy who had just seen porn for the first time…ok maybe that was a bad example but you get the point. I always have been a Jericho fan and I always will be. I even enjoyed his run as the Undisputed Champion even if he was made to look like a tool. At this point in the tournament I had just taken out another guy after I flopped a strait and he thought I was bluffing. I was at about 20,000 in chips and we were heading to the final table. We got a 5 minute break at this point and a lot of people started to gather around the table to watch the tournament. Not only was there people from the forum watching but also just a lot of locals who were waiting to get into a poker game watching also. The table was raised up on a podium so that everyone could watch us play. After a few hands once the tournament started I eventually got AQ and called a lady’s all in for about 6k. She had AK and was in pretty good shape after the flop of A 4 8. The turn was a J. The river was my money card though Q. She flicked me off as she left but it was more of a friendly gesture. Chris Jericho would be a breath of fresh air to an already depleted WWE roster. It could open up a world of new possibilities. If Y2J did come back where would he go? I would have to assume RAW but I think Smackdown would make a lot more sense. If Jericho was to go to Smackdown we could see some great feuds that could be fresh and new like Y2J/MVP. That could be a great way for MVP to learn from one of the best while still coming off as a legitimate heel. I mean in a way MVP is kind of the younger version of Chris Jericho. He has all the right tools. He can wrestle, He’s entertaining on the microphone, and He isn’t a huge monster but still a credible wrestler. We could also see another version of Jericho/Mysterio which never really seems to get old. Really, there are endless possibilities, as they could feud him with pretty much anybody at this point and it would be refreshing There are 7 people left. The blinds are at 1,200-2,400. One lady decides to push all-in for 9,100. I look down to see 78 of spades. I am in the Big Blind so I already have 2,400 in the pot. If I was to call the additional 6,700 and lose it would leave me with about 12,000 left. I wouldn’t be the chip leader anymore but I would still have a decent amount of chips left. I decide that I want to win this tournament plus it will make for a good story if I can win. I call. She flips over AJ. The flop comes 4 7 3. The turn comes a K and the river a 5. I ended up getting lucky and winning and ohhhhhhh was she pissed! She was cussing me out right there telling me how horrible of a player I was. She’s like “how the hell do you call with something that bad your so lucky its sick. Don’t worry you will lose it all and be out before the money." Well that never happened because the next hand I took her husband out! Her husband pushed all in for 5,500 and I had A10 and obviously called. All he had was KJ and I hit the Ace on the flop to win. Within 2 hands I took out both of them and she was still on the rail bitching me out. I looked around and noticed there were even more people standing around watching the tournament. As I was saying before I didn’t understand how Jericho could be that guy who will save the WWE and bring the ratings back to what they use to be. After thinking about all the new feuds along with new faces that are around I think I am going to have to jump on the Jericho bandwagon. Even if they decided to go with Jericho on RAW there is tons of potential there. Sure we have seen him wrestle with the likes of HHH and Cena before but it’s still a change compared to the normal same old shit that we see nowadays. I would love to see Jericho try to mentor Carlito or something along those lines. Just think of the promos those two could produce. The Cabana vs The Highlight Reel. Or I could see Jericho bringing along young Cody Rhodes much like he did with John Cena when he first came into the WWE. Really with all the possibilities and the right angle how could Jericho not work? We were down to the final 2 people. It was just me and one last guy. We decided before hand that we were going to chop the prize pool. It basically means we were going to split the money evenly and just play for the pride and the trophy which was much more important to me anyways. I had about 20,000 chips compared to his 10,000 or so. The money went back and forth for a few hands and then this hand arose. I was in the big blind and the blinds were 1,500-3,000. He was first to act and decided to move all in. I looked down at my cards to see…   This certainly is not the best hand to be calling an all in with. If I did call and lose I still would have about 10,000 chips or so left but he would have a pretty big chip lead on me. I already had 3,000 in for the blind so it would only cost me another 7,000 to call. Odds are I probably have around a 25% chance to win with my little 24 suited as long as he doesn’t have a big pocket pair. If he already has a pair then I am pretty much screwed. There are a lot of people watching now and I know that if I can call with this hand and win the crowd will probably go crazy. After debating for awhile I finally decide to call. He flips up…   This was exactly what I wanted to see. I have about a 35% chance to win this hand which is much better then I was hoping for. Here comes the flop…    Bingo Bango Bongo!!! The crowd went wild as did I. I hit the jackpot on that flop. As long as I can dodge an Ace or a Jack on the turn and river I am going to win this! Here is the turn…  That’s another great card for me. I am only one card away from winning this tournament while playing really crappy cards the complete time. Here is the river…  Noooooooo. I had him right were I wanted him and he some how was able to sneak out a Jack on the river to win that pot. From there I went on to eventually lose the tournament a few hands later. In my last paragraph I asked as long as Jericho had the right angle how could he not work? Well let me tell you how. It has nothing to do with the angle or who Jericho might wrestle really all of that is trivial. If the WWE brought Jericho back, they would be doing it just to please the long time fans, who would love to see Jericho back. But other than the fans who will be watching regardless of if Jericho is on or not, will anybody care? I highly doubt it. The name Chris Jericho really isn’t that synonymous with people outside of the wrestling world. Some people might know of him and that he was a wrestler but that’s about it. Aside from the occasional TV appearance on shows like Best Week Ever, most people don’t even have a clue who he is. He has tried to get some TV time but from what I have seen the general public just doesn’t really care that much for him. During that tournament I talked about playing tons of hands I usually wouldn’t just so I could make it entertaining for the people watching. That worked and it was entertaining for all of the railbirds but in the long run it ended up costing me the tournament. If I had decided to tighten up and wait for a better hand then 2 4 suited my chances of winning would of went up a pretty significant amount. The worst part about it was that I found out all the people that were watching were not watching because of the cards I was playing but because of the fact they were waiting for the tournament to get done so they could use the table. Apparently at Binion’s casino the final table is always played on that same table. So while I thought the way I was playing was bringing a lot of people to come over and watch I was sadly mistaken. The same thing will happen with a Chris Jericho return. If Jericho comes back, it won't bring anybody new to the table, and all WWE will be doing is keeping their current fans happy. There is nothing wrong with this as you want to keep your fans happy or you will lose them also. The happier the fans are the more willing they will be to shell out $40 a pop for a PPV or buy a TV or DVD. I am not quite sure that there is any single man right now who can “save” the WWE. If there is though I wonder who it could be? So who could be the man to “save” the WWE? To be honest I don’t believe anybody could “save” the WWE from its current state. If there is anybody who could help out it would most definitely be The Rock. However I don’t see The Rock coming back anytime soon. I mean why would he when he could keep making such classics as Doom? While I don’t feel that there is anybody who really can come back and “safe” the WWE, I also don’t really understand why everybody believes the WWE needs to be “saved”. I understand the ratings are not currently what they use to be and I also understand that the WWE is not as popular as it use to be but what I don’t understand is why everyone thinks that what I mentioned is such a big deal. The attitude era has come and gone. While that era might have been some of the most entertaining wrestling we need to realize that things change. The attitude era was a combination of great timing along with good talent. Before the attitude era wrestling had just been more straightforward. We really got spoiled by seeing great matches every night on RAW. I still remember the days when I use to get excited to see Skinner vs The Matador Tito Santana match. Not because it was going to be a great match but because it was an actual match instead of the usual squash matches shown. Nowadays a match like Skinner vs Santana would be considered boring by today’s standards. We need to stop trying to relive what wrestling use to be and enjoy what it currently is. The times have changed since the attitude era and I guarantee you they will change again. In 5 years from now people will be saying how they missed the current state of WWE. In wrestling it’s all just a cycle. When the time is right the WWE will get popular again and become part of mainstream pop culture. Right now I think we should just enjoy the WWE for what they do best, which is giving us quality sports entertainment week in and week out. Yes a Jericho return or a Rock return would be fun but I think we should just enjoy what we currently have. Well that will do it for this edition of Shuffle Up and Deal. I hope you guys have enjoyed the column. If you did I would suggest to check out my former column were I shed a little light on my personal life while also making a point that I think every wrestling fan should take a look at. Hopefully you enjoy it. It can be found here… While you’re in the Column Forums you should take a look at some of the other columns going on in there. In my opinion it is some of the best writing on the net. I would suggest starting off by taking a look at these columns. The Usual Suspects by Uncle Joe Uncle Joe takes a look at some of the new young heels currently in the WWE. He gives his take on who he thinks has the most potential and the ability to be an impact player. Take a look for yourself Well that will do it for me guys. Please feel free to send any feedback to MSN1983@yahoo.com. Hope you guys enjoyed this and will keep reading. Until next time I will see you guys on the tables… *NEW GALLERY* Hot Photos of Shawn Michaels' Wife Rebecca!!
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