When in Rome XXX - KotR Projections + Rome & Friends Wish You a Happy Backlash
Submitted by romans_3:23 on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 12:44 PM EST





Welcome to When in Rome, the column that’s ready for a BBQ. The weather is starting to get nice and warm here in beautiful Eastern PA, and I’m ready to take my feasting outdoors! Seriously, I can’t wait to eat some succulent steaks, chicken and burgers hot off the grill. Maybe I’ll find some friends for a feast this weekend. If not, at least I have some friends joining me here today…

Let’s get this party started with some…

Apocrypha

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is in full swing, and my beloved Penguins have already advanced to the second round with a dominating sweep of the Ottawa Senators. I’ll admit that nowadays I don’t watch much regular season hockey, mainly because as a displaced Pittsburgh fan living outside of Philly I don’t get to see a ton of Pens games. I’ve come a long ways from my days of growing up as a kid without cable TV who sat in his room listening to Pens games on the radio every night. Those were the days.

I especially remember (besides the Cup winning years of 91 and 92, of course) listening during the 96 season when the Pens reached the conference finals only to lose to the underdog Florida Panthers. Remember that year? The year of the rat, the Beezer and my man Nedved’s big overtime goal to beat the Caps? That would’ve undoubtedly been my favorite NHL season ever if the Pens made the Cup Finals. I would’ve loved to have seen Lemieux, Jagr and company take on Forsberg, Roy and the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche. But oh well, I can’t live in the past. This year’s Pens team looks like they might be good enough to make the Cup finals themselves. I do fear playing Jagr and the Rangers in the second round, but I think the Pens can get by NY.

Hopefully we’ll see an all PA Eastern Finals with the Pens and Flyers going at it. The Flyers just took a 3-1 lead over the Caps with a big OT win, and I project that they’ll finish this series up over the weekend. Pens/Flyers with a Cup Finals trip on the line would totally rock. Sorry, Habs fans…

On the NBA front, I wish the Sixers would’ve had a better end to their season. They dropped their last four games and lost their chance to move out of the seventh spot in the East (and a matchup with the heavily favored Pistons). Yes, the Sixers got royally hosed by the refs in their game against the Cavs, and yes the Sixers did split the season series with the Pistions, but I don’t see the Sixers advancing to the second round against Detroit. I think the Pistons will win in six. The Sixers will look pretty good even in defeat, but they will have to wonder “what might have been” if they only finished a spot higher and got to meet a relatively playoff untested Orlando squad…


Enough sports talk – it’s time to talk sports entertainment.


The big wrestling news of the week is the announcement that next Monday’s three hour Raw will feature the King of the Ring tournament. I think that this could be the greatest KotR ever if WWE chooses the right eight participants. I’m hoping for a mix of established guys and so-called “up and comers.” If I were booking this tourney, my eight guys would be

From Raw – Chris Jericho, Carlito, Mr. Kennedy
From Smackdown – Finlay, MVP, Edge
From ECW – Kofi Kingston, John Morrison

I’d break it down as follows

First Round

Edge over Kofi in a match where Kofi looks better than expected while taking a loss.

Morrison over Finlay in a showcase for Morrison

Mr. Kennedy over Carlito in a good back and forth 10 minute or so match. I’d be curious to see if the crowd gets behind Kennedy here

Jericho over MVP in a good IC vs US champion match. They had a nice little program on Smackdown going into WM and I wouldn’t mind a revival of it here.


Second Round

Edge over Morrison - Again a nice showcase for Morrison, but here in a loss. I figure Edge is a guy who can make guys look good while beating them.

Kennedy over Jericho – Jericho would be an excellent opponent for Kennedy to defeat to reach the finals. If WWE is looking to not job Jericho out cleanly, maybe Batista or HBK could lead to his loss.

Final

Kennedy over Edge – It’s now or never for Kennedy’s big push!

Well that’s how I’d run with the KotR. Edge/Kennedy would be a great final and a Kennedy victory would finally restart the big push that’s been hinted at for over a year now. Seriously, if Kennedy doesn’t win something big soon, I don’t know if he’ll ever move up to true main event status. The KotR traditionally is an event in which WWE builds up a new star – some uber successful like Austin, Triple H and Edge – some not so much like Mabel and Billy Gunn. I think that WWE should use this opportunity to elevate Kennedy. Undoubtedly Kennedy becoming king could lead to a program with Triple H down the line sometime – maybe even for the WWE title.


Alright it’s time to get the main section of this column rolling. This main section is a real special edition because I’ve collaborated to write it with my buds RIPbossman, the retired main pager who is a true LOP legend and The Letter P, the winner of last September’s prestigious LOP Columns Forum Column of the Month award.

We did a few joint columns together last summer and had a great time writing together, so we decided to do it again. Now, most combo columns consist of each guy taking turns to say his piece, but we go about things a bit differently. One of us starts with a simple draft of something, the next guy joins in by re-writing it and adding there own nuances and then the last of us enhances it by giving it another rewrite and putting his own spin on it. So in the end it’s three columnists creating one voice while maintaining our individual styles in the mix.

That’s how we roll. Time to roll on…


Days, Weeks and Years

Numbers 10:10

On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the LORD your God.


Let's face it, there are times when WWE flat out sucks. Whether it be because you hate Vince McMahon's twenty minute long promos, can't stand watching an abomination of a JBL match, despise witnessing CM Punk vs. Chavo Guerrero for the 209th time or something entirely different, there are times when it's a downright chore to be a wrestling fan. WWE airs a minimum of three shows a week, four on the week of a pay per view, which culminates in 5 hours of footage (minus commercials, naturally), and roughly 8 hours on a given week. Because of this, it's often a challenge to keep up with all things wrestling. You could almost say it's similar to having a job - you don't necessarily always want to be there, but you reluctantly accept that you have no other choice than to stick it out through thick and thin. That's what being a true fan is after all - sticking through the good and the bad, and the ugly. Or Raw, Smackdown, and ECW, respectively.

But if we can liken Raw, and Smackdown! and ECW to having a fulltime career, we should also consider PPVs. The bigger, grander WWE events that offer something special compared to the average wrestling television show. PPVs are a chance for the WWE to really go all out and let their fans have a good time. In this sense, a PPV can be considered similar to a calendar holiday. Think about it - there's the Great American Bash, which can be likened to the 4th of July. Just as Thanksgiving leads into Christmas, the Royal Rumble leads into the biggest climax of the wrestling year in Wrestlemania. Whether or not you are a fan, every year at The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, bringing up the rear is always jolly old St. Nick himself, Santa Claus. People may officially be celebrating the gratitude they have for what they are fortunate enough to have in their life, but everyone knows it is merely the prelude to December 25. The Royal Rumble usually is an outstanding event in and of itself, however, in actuality it is intended to serve the purpose of building hype for Mania.

And just as you go all out with celebrations at Christmas time with office parties, family gatherings, chilling with friends, cool gifts, etc, etc, Wrestlemania is the time of the year every wrestling fan should rejoice and celebrate. It's a time when the biggest feuds of the year come to fruition, the best matches are displayed and the motivation of the performers is at an all time high. It’s almost a necessity that all the best high level performers the WWE has to offer are showcased at this event. And, in that same vein, if you are not a high level mid carder, it will probably be very difficult to make it to the big dance. It’s the showcase of the immortals, the biggest granddaddy of ‘em all. Everything from the design of the set, the lighting, the hype, and the certain, unmistakable feeling in the air. The energy Wrestlemania creates is unrivalled.

But once Christmas has passed and the shindigs are all over, you're not quite ready to return to the norm just yet. You want to keep on partying and having a good time, because you've had so much fun over Christmas time! That's why you have a whole week to get jiggy, until New Year's Eve! The calendar may say that Christmas is now over. But that really is only on paper. The spirit of Christmas is still all around you, and, whether or not it is actually a coincidence that the timing of the events are conducive to each other, the energy of Christmas, or more or less the energy going into Christmas, doesn’t come to a full stop, as there is a one week spill over good tidings and cheer.

And just like Christmas, after Wrestlemania, wrestling fans aren't quite ready to go back to how things were. We're still buzzing with excitement over all the amazing things we just witnessed and aren't ready for things to settle down just yet. In this sense, Backlash is the New Year's Eve to Wrestlemania's Christmas. The fallout from Wrestlemania is always present on the show and is affected by it. During a New Year’s Eve celebration, if it is at someone’s house, then most likely the house is still set up the same way it was a week ago. Lights and tinsel are still up, as well as a decorated tree surrounded by presents. Physically it is still very similar, just as Backlash usually features some of the same matches from Mania. On paper it may be similar, but the original feel is not there: only the aftermath is.
Backlash is advertised, as its name would suggest, that it is a result of the repercussions that come from Wrestlemania. However, is the official Backlash pay per view the only real subsequent big event that really is used to stage the “backlash” of the granddaddy of them all? To what degree do major storylines that are given significant attention on the biggest stage of the year end up culminating at Mania, Backlash, or beyond?


According to our research, eleven advertised Wrestlemania main events were eligible for continuing their aftermath at Backlash (brand split era is taken into account, when Backlash is a Raw ppv, and matches that would have been interbrand matches at Backlash were not considered). Out of those eleven main events, five of them have culminated at Backlash, three of them went through this ppv and beyond, and three of them had no immediate continuation in the form of a ppv match at Backlash. In the first Backlash, Steve Austin and The Rock had a rematch for the WWE Title that Austin had won from Rock a month earlier at Mania. In the post-feud that followed their Wrestlemania storyline, this build up featured the Rock “killing” Austin by throwing him off a bridge, Austin unexplainably surviving with no injuries, and The Rock stealing The Rattlesnake’s custom smoking skull belt, these two got it on in the ring, and when Austin stood triumphant afterwards, this bitter rivalry of two future hall of famers came to an end.

At the next year’s Wrestlemania, which in a lone exception was recognized by the year it took place in and not it’s number in sequence, saw Triple H winning a fatal four way to retain his title, becoming the first heel to ever win in the main event of WM. Did their rivalry end there? No, not even close. Following a Backlash singles rematch of Triple H and The Rock, who turned out to be the central figures of the WM Fatal Four Way, their feud went on through to the next pay per view, where an Iron Man Match took place. And, as time went on, the main event of Summer Slam that year was a Triple Threat of Kurt Angle going up against, you guessed it, The Rock and Triple H. There turned out to be months of backlash from a Mania feud, that could not be quenched with 30 days and one pay per view.

At Wrestlemania 17, Austin and The Rock squared off again, with Austin once again reigning supreme. Two legends who parted ways after 1999 crossed paths again, with their individual success since their last feud being central in everyone’s minds. The next night on Raw they competed again, and that storyline ended then and there, with Backlash not coming into play. Wrestlemania 18 saw similar results, as Triple H and Jericho, while they did wrestle each other in a Hell In A Cell match at a later ppv after they main evented the aforementioned WM, Triple H squared off against none other than the Immortal Hulk Hogan, not The Ayatollah of Rock And Rollah.

At the 2003 Backlash, one of the two Raw main events was followed up in some capacity, with Triple H and Booker T competing on opposite sides in a Triple Threat match. The Cerebral Assassin took on The Bookah’ Man again, after Trips was taken to his limit by him a month earlier. Austin did not wrestle The Rock again after he lost to Rock at WM after defeating him twice there, nor did Steve wrestle anybody ever again. When Wrestlemania 20 rolled around, we got to see Chris Benoit live what was formerly considered by many to be the most beloved moment in sports entertainment history when he won the World Heavyweight Title. One of the greatest WM main events took place that night in a Triple Threat that also involved Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and they had a big time rematch at the subsequent Backlash. This time the result was the same, and while Michaels and HHH main evneted the next ppv together, the rivalry of the three of them together had practically come to an end.

Enter Wrestlemania 21. Wrestlemania went Hollywood, and the animal was unleashed when Batista defeated his one time, cruel, selfish leader Triple H. They wrestled each other again, one on one, at Backlash 2005, but the intensity going into their Wrestlemania feud just couldn’t end there. The spill over kept going, and they finally ended their rivalry at Vengeance inside the ominous Hell In A Cell. Now, if you get the following year’s calendar, turn to April, you’ll see it was Big Time for WWE. At Wrestlemania 22, John Cena shocked the world by beating the man who was considered the best in the business, Triple H. They had a rematch at Backlash that year, but the big time, big money one on one rematch was not to take place there, as the then most watched champion in the past five years, Edge, made it a Triple Threat. Cena and Trips were still involved with each other, storyline wise, after BL, but their attention for each other fizzled away, as they each set their sights on different matters.

Wrestlemania 23 saw a double main event of The Showstopper, The Main Event, The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels trying to take down John Cena for his World Title, as well as Batista defending his own World Title, and in the process attempting to end The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania undefeated streak. Both Batista and John Cena were newly crowned champions at WM 21, and seemed to both represent a semi- “new generation” in WWE. When both of them returned to the same main stage on the same night, only Cena came out the winner, as Taker’s dominance at this event continued. However, neither pair of wrestlers had their business with each other settled then and there. At last year’s Backlash, Cena took on not only Michaels, but the individual entities that made up the force of Rated-RKO, Edge and Randy Orton. The Legend Killer and The Rated R Super Star mixed things up a little bit here, as did the fact that Michaels scored the nearly impossible clean win over John Cena on a then recent Raw before Backlash, but in the end, Cena walked away with the gold, and both Michaels and Cena went on their own different paths. Meanwhile, Undertaker and Batista battled again, only to have several more meetings in the months to come.

Out of nine Mania main events that actually continued on afterwards and did not end there, five of them ended at Backlash. Is the ppv after WM the last time you will get to see the aftermath of “the big matches” of the year? Roughly 63 percent of the time, you will. As said before, the Christmas tree and decorations are still around when New Year’s arrives, and while some of the Christmas feeling is still in the air, it is not nearly to the same degree. The same big time wrestlers that were in the advertised main events of the biggest event of the year usually do take each other on again in some capacity, but the energy going into Wrestlemania usually proves to be so strong that one successive ppv is not enough to put out the fire. Is Backlash worth your money? While this column is written by the three of us, RIPbossman actually considers Backlash one of his three favorite ppvs of the year, with Royal Rumble and Mania being his top two. Some people say you pay for Wrestlemania twice if you order Mania and Backlash. That may be true to a small degree, but roughly 37 percent of the time, there’s still more to come.


Well that’s the end of this little shindig we decided to throw for you guys. I hope you all enjoyed. I’ll be back all by my lonesome next time, until then check out the LOP Columns Forum . I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, especially if you read Rippy $ P's work. That is if P ever gets around to writing again...


If you want to email me individually about King of the Ring thoughts or whatever, send your email to romans_3:23 , at romes_writings@yahoo.com.

If you want to email all three of us about our joint effort, send any email to Rome, RIP and P , at Three_Men_One_Column@yahoo.com .

Later all














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