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Submitted by Hustle on Monday, November 10, 2008 at 12:28 AM EST
 Good lookin out for the graphics work, Noc "I ain't gotta hate, niggaz just hate Hus.." Today's intro line is a bit of a paraphrasing of a Cory Gunz lyric. That's really how it seems, too, because I don't even have to sit around and gossip about so-and-so or get involved in other people's business, because the haters are doing all of that work for me. It's still amazing that people are that concerned with every little thing that I do. Because I'm such a nice guy, I have an early Christmas present for those people:  Don't say I never did anything for you. Anyway, welcome, dear readers, to another edition of The HIPE. I am, of course, your tour guide for this adventure. Some call me Hus, and some call me H, but for now, let's just say that ya boy, Hustle, is back in the building. I don't see a reason why we need to continue the jibba jabba here. I think it's about that time. Shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!! Football season is currently in full swing, and because of that, I wanted to do a column with some sort of a football-related theme. I was given an idea, and I've been working on it for a few months now, but it's still not quite coming out the way I wanted it do. I have every intention of getting it done, it's just more a matter of when. I still wanted to do something involving football in some way, though, so I had to brainstorm for a while. Then it hit me.. Why not just rip off the WWE Power 25, only include TNA and RoH in the rankings, as well? That was a brilliant idea. I could write twice the amount and do half the thinking. Then, to make it even better, I could just turn it into a weekly thing. I just kept on finding ways to make things easier and easier on myself. I love me some me. Like the original WWE idea, I'll be taking a look at the past week and ranking wrestlers based on that. This won't be a list based on who is the best, most popular, or who I like the most. Strictly on who I feel had the best week, and why. Without any further adieu, I now present to you.. The HIPE 25~! (These rankings were created before today's TNA Turning Point pay-per-view, so disregard those results when reading this) 1. Chris Jericho Who: WWE World Heavyweight Champion What: Defeated Batista in a Steel Cage Match to win the title Why: It would be pretty difficult to find another wrestler who had a better week than Chris Jericho. Other people may have won matches, but he won the World Heavyweight Title in his match, AND he did it in a Steel Cage against "The Animal". Week in and week out, he continues to defy the odds. People don't give him much of a chance to win, and yet, he just keeps on winning. 2. Nigel McGuinness Who: RoH World Champion What: Defeated Kevin Steen, El Generico, & Go Shiozaki in an Elimination Match.. lost to The Necro Butcher by DQ Why: RoH continues to line up challengers for Nigel's title, and he continues knocking them all down. Today marks the 400th day of his reign, which puts him 62 days behind Bryan Danielson's reign for 2nd longest in RoH history. He still has a long way to go if he wants the longest reign, however, as Samoa Joe held the belt for 645 days from March 2003 to the very end of December 2004. 2.9 Matt Hardy Who: ECW World Champion What: Teamed with his brother, Jeff, to defeat MVP & The Brian Kendrick.. defeated Bam Neely Why: Although they team up more frequently now than they used to, it's still a big deal when the Hardy brothers wrestle together like they did on Raw. Sure, it wasn't an epic match or anything, but they picked up a victory, and he rode his momentum to ECW the next night, where he beat Bam Neely in a non-title match. He's in the middle of a pretty nice push, so expect him to remain highly ranked. 4. William Regal Who: The #1 Contender for the WWE Intercontinental Title What: Won a Battle Royal to become the #1 Contender Why: The 2008 King Of The Ring has a title shot (albeit a midcard one) to fight for, instead of his usual storylines just being "there". He'll actually have some sort of a direction against Santino, and as an added bonus, the match will take place in his home country. Should be fun to see him playing the face in that match. 5. Triple H Who: WWE Champion What: Teamed with Shawn Michaels to defeat The Miz & John Morrison.. teamed with Jeff Hardy to lose by DQ to The Miz & John Morrison Why: He got to look really strong in both matches, even in the DQ loss (which wasn't anything he did, anyway), hitting a completely pointless Pedigree on The Miz after the match to get back the heat that he never lost in the first place. Seriously, he's in such a great position in the company that he could lose multiple matches in a row and he'd still be booked to look good enough that he wouldn't fall far on this list. 6. Austin Aries Who: One of the top names in RoH What: Teamed with Bryan Danielson to defeat Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black.. defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a Dog Collar Match Why: His feud with Age Of The Fall is coming to an end, and Aries appears to be coming out on top with numerous victories recently. He also gets to handle tag action with Bryan Danielson as a part of "Team Work". He's over enough and is talented enough that he'll always be a title contender (either the World Title or the Tag Titles), so don't expect too much movement for him, either. 7. Shelton Benjamin Who: WWE United States Champion What: Defeated R-Truth Why: People were really sure that Shelton's title reign would come to an end at the hands of R-Truth, but not only has "The Gold Standard" now beaten the former K-Kwik twice in a row, but his recent victory was approaching "squash" levels. The company obviously sees something in the guy, as evidenced by the number of pushes he gets, and the fact that he even got to taste the main event a bit this year. Because of that, I wouldn't expect that he'll be dropping too far on this list anytime soon. 8. Vladimir Kozlov Who: One of the up-and-coming names on Smackdown What: Defeated Charlie Haas (who was wrestling as Bret "The Hitman" Haas).. defeated The Undertaker by DQ Why: His match on Raw was a 30-second squash that was designed to let an entirely new audience witness what he can do. He's mainly here because of his match on Smackdown, though. He did really well against The Undertaker in the time that they were given to work with. He's been booked to look good against Triple H and now The Undertaker, which bodes well for his future, I would think. 9. Awesome Kong Who: TNA Knockouts Champion What: Teamed with Raisha Saeed to defeat Taylor Wilde & Rhaka Khan Why: The most dominant female wrestler on the planet just continues winning matches. Earlier on Impact, she was involved in taking Roxxi out and injuring her, causing Rhaka Khan to take over in the tag match, where Khan eventually turned heel on Wilde, which only makes Kong more dominant. 10. Bryan Danielson Who: One of the top names in RoH What: Teamed with Austin Aries to defeat Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black.. defeated Tyler Black & Kenny Omega in a 3-Way Match Why: "Team Work" picked up another victory together, and Danielson went on to win a 3-Way the very next night, beating the man I think is the future of the business and a man who is coming into RoH with a lot of internet hype. On the 22nd of this month, Danielson gets an RoH Title shot at the company's next pay-per-view taping, so there's a chance that he'll move up a lot in these rankings then. Until then, though, a Top 10 spot isn't bad at all. 11. Finlay Who: The #1 Contender for the ECW World Title What: Defeated Mark Henry to become the #1 Contender Why: Much like William Regal, a lot of his storylines just involve him running in place, but he's now fighting for the ECW World Title, which could (and should) bring out a much more aggressive side to counter the happy-go-lucky (charms) character that he's been recently. Don't be too surprised if he walks away with the victory, either, folks. 12. Sting Who: TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and a member of TNA's Main Event Mafia What: Teamed with Kurt Angle & Kevin Nash to defeat Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, & Eric Young Why: Although he didn't get the pin, he still looked decent in the time he was in the ring, and he's still the TNA World Champion, so that's gotta count for something, right? His match against AJ Styles at the pay-per-view should be interesting because he never has very long title reigns in TNA. We shall see. 13. Scott Steiner Who: A member of TNA's Main Event Mafia What: Defeated Samoa Joe Why: Although it wasn't a clean victory, "Big Poppa Pump" still got to pin the man who was, up until very recently, the TNA World Champion. He then went on to cut a pretty decent (for his standards) promo on Impact, where he basically ripped apart 80% of the TNA roster. Love him or hate him, he makes things more interesting when he's around, especially if he's given a live mic. 14. The Great Khali Who: WWE's "Punjabi Playboy" What: Defeated MVP Why: Other than beating MVP, he had a busy week, coming out on Raw to save Rey Mysterio from a beating at the hands of Kane & Mark Henry, and he then went on to host a "Khali Kiss Cam", where he put in work kissing a fat man and a woman with fake teeth. He should get a spot in these rankings just for that alone. 15. Jeff Hardy Who: One of the top names on Smackdown What: Teamed with his brother, Matt, to defeat MVP & The Brian Kendrick.. teamed with Triple H to lose by DQ to The Miz & John Morrison Why: An interesting character tweak is taking place for Jeff, with him snapping on everyone and hitting them with chairs to prove to Vickie Guerrero just how "extreme" he is, and that he does, in fact, deserve another WWE Title shot, despite what Vickie thinks. He looked good in the Smackdown tag match before getting DQ'ed. His match against The Undertaker on the next episode of Smackdown could cause him to crack the Top 10, but it could also cause him to drop towards the bottom part of the rankings. Again, we shall see. 16. Kane Who: One of the top names on Raw What: Teamed with Mark Henry to defeat Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston Why: He looked good on Raw, getting booked properly as the "monster" that he always should be. Of course, he was taken out by The Great Khali, which is why he wasn't ranked a little higher, but at least Khali is bigger than he is, so it doesn't come across the same way as if he was beaten down by a cruiserweight. 17. Kevin Steen Who: One-half of the RoH World Tag Team Champions What: Lost to Nigel McGuinness at the end of an Elimination Match that also included El Generico & Go Shiozaki.. teamed with El Generico to defeat Jay & Mark Briscoe Why: He's had a few shots at McGuinness' title in recent months, and he's come up short each time, but he's still done enough to impress people and cause them to continue seeing him as a legit contender. Then, of course, there's the fact that he's one-half of the RoH Tag Team Champions, where he continues to have great matches in one of the more competitive divisions in North American wrestling. 18. Shawn Michaels Who: One of the top names on Raw What: Teamed with Triple H to defeat The Miz & John Morrison Why: Had a bit of a slow week for someone of his standards, but he still looked good and was on the winning side of a somewhat heavily-hyped tag match on Raw. He's in a strange spot right now because he isn't quite in the World Title picture, but he's far too big of a star to be in midcard feuds. Should be fun to see where he goes from here, or if he continues to just have random non-title feuds with people. 19. Booker T Who: The self-proclaimed TNA Legends Champion, and a member of TNA's Main Event Mafia What: Teamed with Beer Money Inc to defeat Christian Cage & The Motor City Machine Guns Why: It was a 6-man tag match, sure, but he did get to pin his upcoming pay-per-view opponent, so his profile gets a bit of raise because of that. Still not quite enough to get him anything higher on the list, however. A pay-per-view win will fix that for next week, of course. 20. Kurt Angle Who: A member of TNA's Main Event Mafia What: Teamed with Sting & Kevin Nash to defeat Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, & Eric Young Why: Looked good in his 6-man tag match, although his opponents were clearly outmatched. His promo with Jeff Jarrett was good, although the "Uncle Kurt" stuff is a little creepy and might be pushing things too far for some people. I'll have to see where that goes before I can really comment on it, though. 21. Erick Stevens Who: One of the up-and-coming names in RoH What: Defeated Eddie Edwards.. teamed with Roderick Strong to defeat Go Shiozaki & Eddie Edwards Why: In the middle of a storyline with Roderick Strong where the once hated rivals are beginning to respect each other and even start to team up to take out a common enemy. I'd like to see where it goes, actually. They did so well against each other, but I don't know if that's the direction that the storyline is going in (a heel turn for Erick, perhaps?). 22. Abyss Who: One-half of the #1 Contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Titles What: Teamed with Matt Morgan to defeat Team 3D, LAX, and Tanahashi & Volador in a Ladder Match to become the #1 Contenders Why: He actually won the match for his team, which is why he gets ranked a spot higher than his tag team partner, but it could really go either way. The company seems to have plans for Matt Morgan, no matter what happens with their tag work, and I'd think that an Abyss VS Morgan feud would do decent enough for both men. 23. Matt Morgan Who: One-half of the #1 Contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Titles What: Teamed with Abyss to defeat Team 3D, LAX, and Tanahashi & Volador in a Ladder Match to become the #1 Contenders Why: Again, the only reason Abyss gets ranked higher is because he actually won the match, but Morgan seems to have more planned for his future than Abyss does. Don't be surprised if you end up seeing him crack the Top 15 before too long, maybe even after he becomes one-half of the TNA Tag Team Champions. 24. Ezekiel Jackson Who: "Advisor" to Smackdown's The Brian Kendrick What: Defeated Jimmy Wang Yang Why: It was a squash match, but it was an impressive one. He doesn't need to do much of anything in the ring to "wow" people, but there's going to come a time when he has to step into the ring with someone who prevents him with more of a challenge. Until that time, I don't think I can see myself pushing him too far up in the rankings. 25. Brie Bella Who: One-half of The Bella Twins on Smackdown What: Defeated Victoria Why: For one reason or another, she continues to win her matches, and now that her storyline has revealed she wasn't acting alone, I'd almost expect her to continue winning, as she'll probably be a part of tag matches against Victoria & Natalya. In keeping with the football theme, I'd like to go ahead and drop my Top 5 rankings in college football right now, as well as my Top 5 Heisman Trophy candidates. Why, you ask? Because this is my column, and therefore, I can do things like that. Let's start with the team rankings: 1. Texas Tech - Led by QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree, this is the most explosive passing game in the country. What has elevated them this season, though, is a defense that has stepped up big-time when they've needed to. The team gets a much-deserved bye week coming up, before they go on the road and challenge the Oklahoma Sooners. They hold their national championship destiny in their own hands. 2. Alabama - The only reason I ranked them below Tech is because of the fact that they were basically given their most recent victory against LSU. LSU QB Jarrett Lee threw 4 interceptions in the game, without which Bama wouldn't have stood a chance. They're still an incredibly dangerous team, however. WR Julio Jones is an absolute beast of a player. 2.9 Florida - From top to bottom, this is probably the fastest and most talented team in the country. Although they should win, they have a dangerous game coming up this weekend as Steve Spurrier returns to The Swamp with his South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina's great pass defense will be put to the test as they chase players down all over the field. 4. Texas - Even with their loss to Texas Tech, the Longhorns remain at the top of the rankings. QB Colt McCoy leads one of the most dangerous offenses in football, with balance between the run and the pass. They have a big road test coming up this weekend as they travel to Kansas to face the Jayhawks. 5. USC - They have the most suffocating defense in the country, giving up a little more than 6 points per game, but their offense isn't too shabby, either, even though they're a bit streaky from time-to-time. If they play up to their potential every week, I honestly don't think there's a team that can beat them. Now, the Heisman Trophy candidates: 1. Graham Harrell (QB, Texas Tech) - 72% pass completion rate.. 4,077 passing yards.. 36 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions.. 6 rushing touchdowns 2. Colt McCoy (QB, Texas) - 78% pass completion rate.. 2,879 passing yards.. 28 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.. 7 rushing touchdowns 2.9 Michael Crabtree (WR, Texas Tech) - 78 receptions.. 1,010 receiving yards.. 18 touchdowns 4. Sam Bradford (QB, Oklahoma) - 68% pass completion rate.. 3,406 passing yards.. 38 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions.. 4 rushing touchdowns 5. Javon Ringer (RB, Michigan State) - 1,548 rushing yards.. 20 touchdowns Writer's Note: This is going to be the exact same Writer's Note that I posted yesterday, but I need to make sure everyone gets a chance to see it. I'll probably end up posting this for the next several days, at the very least. On the front page of LoP, some of you may have noticed that only my most recent edition of the HIPE is posted. It's not that the others are gone, it's just to make sure the other columnists get their shine, as well. Do not worry, loyal readers. The rest of the HIPE columns, as well as all of my main page HIPRN columns, are located at the following (just click the link, of course): Click Here For The HIPE & HIPRN Archives What Hustle Is Listening To Right Now: "History" by Jay-Z.. "Haters On My Jizzock" by Chepo.. "Baller's Prayer" by Boo Yaa Tribe.. "New York, New York" by Tha Dogg Pound.. "Get Interrupted" by Termanology & Skyzoo I want to take this time to apologize (even though I don't need to) for taking so long in getting this column up and posted. I had a minor computer issue that needed to be taken care of, so it took a few extra hours in getting this one completed, but here it is.. another column is now in the books. Believe The HIPE. It's real. I'll be back tomorrow.. same Hustle time (sort of), same Hustle page.. with yet another HIPE banger. Until then, from the home of Barack Obama, I bid you farewell. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa. Hustle HIPRNFeedback@gmail.com 
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