WELCOME TO 5 MOVES OF DOOM

Stables in the ordinary world are usually wooden barns that are transformed and modified to house Horses and other animals. They are made if wood, nails and the sweat of man. Stables in professional wrestling are groups of wrestlers who band together for common purpose or cause and work as a single unit, they are made of steel-like fortitude, screwed together joints and the blood of man. What does a wrestling stable and a real world stable have in common? They house Stallions and work horses, some of the top performers and greatest quality livestock. As great as stables are, fans always want to see a break-up and a split, they want their impact wrestler to shine and they often forget about the lesser talents.

In 2013, we saw the rise of three-3 man stables in WWE, 3-Man Band (3MB), The Shield and The Wyatt Family. In TNA, we've seen the fall of 2 stables, the implosion of Aces and Eights and Main Event Mafia. We seen the formation of a Corporate stables in "The Authority" and the yet to be named Alliance of Magnus, EC3, Rock star Spud and Dixie Carter. But in this age of rapidly changing story lines and evolving characters, lets not forget some of the greatest stables of all, "The Kliq", though they never were acknowledged as an actual stable, they are responsible for formation of two of the hottest stables to ever wrestle, Degeneration-X and the New World Order (N.W.O.). Among the vastly deep and rich history of Stables, certain groups stand out more then others, "The Four Horsemen", "Evolution", "The Corporate Ministry", "The Van Ericks" and the "Free Birds". This isn't an article about my opinion on who the greatest of all-time is, because my opinion is my own. I'm not gonna even list my top 5, because truth be-told, I don't actually know every stable and would be ignorant to believe that I could fully grasp what some of these groups have accomplished. What this article is about is the internal make-up of a Stable, the fallout after the stable collapses and the perfect dream stable that WWE let die.

The Stable is usually centered around a single star, and much like the group of girls that walk the hallways of High School, there is a formula to the madness. The Star is generally the prettiest, the one who most stands out and is easily recognizable. The truth is, without the stable, The Star could be a main eventer or definitely a a top mid-carder. Throughout Stable history there is one guy who is recognized as the Star, "the Man" or the leader. Most of the time, it's easily identifiable. He is the guy who generally holds the largest singles title in the group. At one point, Shawn Michaels was the head of DX and held the European Championship! Yes, Shawn Michaels, ex-WWF Champion held the European Title, the low-card title in years of DX.

The Second most noticeable characteristic is the Muscle, or the Heavy! Going back to the High School Girl Metaphor, there is always a beast. The ugly or mean chick who is somehow the best friend of little ms. popular and protects her from unwanted boys. Later in life, they will become know as "grenades", the chick your wing-man "bags" so you have a play with the popular one. Be a good friend and lay on the grenade for your fellow man! 

This behemoth or monster is usually unstoppable or dastardly. He will cheat for his Star, pull out all the stops, low blows, eye pokes and goes the whole nine yards. He is usually identified by his actions, generally speaking they hold the tag titles with the Number 3 or 4 guy in the stable. Very rarely does the Monster get to hold a singles title and if he does, its a mid-to-low card title (with the star holding the superior title) and if the monster does hold the big title, the group is ready to fall apart. Think Batista in Evolution. 6 foot 5, two hundred and ninety pounds of raw brutal strength. He was chiseled out of granite and as monstrous a man WWE had ever saw. He and Ric Flair would hold the Tag titles and all was great, Evolution was on top of the world. When Dave won the rumble and had a chance to face Triple H, the Star of Evolution, this spelled the real end of Evolution. Dave would win the title at Wrestlemania 21.

Come to think of it, Ric Flair as a number three is a perfect situation, think "The Magnificent Seven", when he was #3 as CEO of WCW behind the group's Star Scott Steiner. As great as Flair is, and in some opinions the greatest to ever do it, he fit better as a Number 3 than he did as "the Star" in his Four Horsemen days. Not taking anything away from "the greatest stable of all-time" in my opinion (sorry I know I said I wouldn't do that). A Number 3 is that High School girl who is just as pretty as the Star, sometimes even prettier, but has a dark side. She is the one everyone thinks is a whore because of the way she acts but is actually the best fit. She's weird in a good way, attractive and all sorts of appealing, she has a sense of mystery surrounding her and its just because she wants to stand out a little more than the rest. She's different, she has a love/hate relationship with her "best friend" the star and make sure that every chance she gets she shows how much better and smarter she is. This is my personal favorite. In Wrestling, the Number 3 is the best seller. He puts on a match every time he steps in he ring, he is so good, he makes everyone who is in his stable look respectable and often times "steals the show". He is usually equally as good on the microphone. He is sometimes referred to as the next big one, or the future, maybe he plays the slick and suave veteran who is now the teacher or maybe he is the guy that is quiet, stays to himself but shows up. It is common for the number three to feud within the group with the leader, often times its a game of "one-ups'manship" and generally doesn't cause the group to break up. The #3 has multiple routes to choose from as far as future story lines go. Sometimes they decide to breakout on their own away from the group (Ken Anderson Aces and Eights); sometimes they are kicked out (Randy Orton in Evolution) and sometimes they become the leader (The Rock in the Nation of Domination). He is the guy to watch. He too holds either a mid-low card belt or is part of the tag champions. Like I said before, Ric Flair is the best #3 I can think of but other great #3's include Seth Rollins of the Shield, Arn Anderson of the Original Four Horsemen and Eddie Guerrero as part of The Radicalz.

If the Stable has a #4, they are generally exclusive to a tag team and rarely participate in singles competition. In the school yard, this is generally the girl that makes everyone laugh. She has the personality that makes up for her lack of looks and is just oozing charisma. In wrestling, this person is fantastic on the microphone, can entertain and says just some of the most memorable quotes from the group. Other than tag titles, a number 4 never obtains singles gold. A good example of a Number 4 is Road Dogg as part of Degeneration X. The greatest to ever do it, of course, is Ric Flair in Evolution. In Evolution, a four-man stable, Triple H was the Star, followed by Batista as the Beast, Randy Orton played the #3 and Ric Flair was #4.

A #5 is usually odd, they play a retarded role. Often not too intelligent and says very little. A #5, if the group can reach this length, is kind of a throw away character. He can be played by any fool. Think Bad Ass Billy Gunn, and much like Billy Gunn, the most this guy will see is the tag titles if he is paired with a #2, #3 or #4. In the school yard, this is the weird chick who sticks out like a sore thumb and you wonder how this group of misfits are even friends in the first place. A number 5 role is society is to make #1 feel better about themselves. And just when you thought shit couldn't get more weird, you always find a #6. In society, a #6 is the little sister to the group. The younger one who looks up to the older one, sometimes the actual sister. She thinks the star's friends are her friends and that she matters because of this, if your Stable has six members, this is usually a singles competitor who wrestles meaningless matches and eventually screws up an important match. X-PAC, from DX, is the #6 that comes to mind. After this, you will have other characters like the genius and this could go on and on.

Much of the time, the fall of a stable is caused by a #3 challenging #1 as a right of passage. The young lion challenging the king of the jungle to carve out a piece for his own. Most of time it's the Beast or Animal lashing out at those who chained him and control him and there is even #4 who just can't take the bullshit and wish to just walk away. Each eventual breakdown is symbolism for life, "nothing last forever" and that inevitability everything has an end. Recently, Aces and Eights met it's end when Ken Anderson beat Bully Ray and the writing is on the wall for The Shield, as Dean Ambrose continues to consider himself the best of the three members because of his title reign. Usually great things come out of it, occasionally a re-kindle of friendship or a long rivalry, but from the ashes of the now deceased stable, rises something beautiful like a phoenix. And occasionally things never fall through the way we planned.

Much can be made from my analyse of Stables in wrestling and recently I had believed that a possible stable would be forming. I saw signs that lit up my imagination and got these creative juices flowing. If you follow WWE, you are aware that there is a HEEL stable called the Authority, which is just saying that Stephanie and Triple H are on the same page in the fact they were looking for the next Face of WWE. With the help of the Authority, Randy Orton was crowned WWE Champion in a feud he was involved in with Daniel Bryan for several months. For months I watched WWE Creative screw up so many possible angle to get ratings and form, not one but TWO stables that could clash for years. Of the Heel Stable, The Authority, Randy Orton is the Star. His number 2 is Roman Reigns and his Number 3s are both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The Groups number 4 is Triple H, the perfect villain everyone hates but cant get enough of. Much of the angles during this time period revolved around The Authority attacking faces and making examples of wrestlers as what is "best for business". Randy Orton and Triple H have proven success when it comes to Stables. But every great villain needs a hero. Randy's fued with Bryan makes him the perfect #1.

With Daniel Bryan at the helm of the anti-authority movement, the door opens to the formation of a counter stable. Big Show spent much of the last couple months under the mental mind fucking of the Authority. He played a puppet who was controlled by his financial hardship trying to keep his family a float, a sympathetic character. Cody and Golddust were both fired and later re-instated after beating the Shield in a match. And though CM Punk was never really involved in the angle at the time due to his involvement with Paul Heyman and Ryback, CM Punk is mister Anti-Authority and is currently "feuding" with Triple H over remarks he made about his leadership. They could have pushed this story up. With Bryan as the Star, Big Show as the Monster, CM Punk as the perfect #3 and Cody and Golddust as the 4 and 5, WWE missed the perfect opportunity to make the fans go nuts. If you wanted to go without Punk, than a Dolph Ziggler is a perfect #3 who recently turned face and had legitimate beef with the snub he received after his concussion.

I love Stables. I love the birth of new fresh feuds and story lines. I love what it does to the product. Most memorable moments are involved surrounding stables. Think back to NWO, all you remember is NWO. Think back to WWE's Attitude Era, dominated by the Nation of Domination, DX, the Ministry of Darkness, the Hart Foundation, the Corporation, the Corporate Ministry, The JOB Squad, the Blue World Order and so many more. I truly wished that some of WWE's Creative team could learn to think outside of the box, the possibilities are endless.

The Hammerstein is filled to the rafters. The crowd chanting in one loud, overwhelming voice "kill steen kill", over and over the roar of the crowd growing louder and louder as Kevin Steen, "Mr. Wrestling" grabs the microphone from the ring announcer, his bass filled voice echoes off the walls of the House that ECW built. He says, "you wanted to get rid of the strechter bitch, it's gone! Now I'll beat his ass until he can't move!" The crowd grows louder, they wait in anticipation of what Steen has in store for Bennett. This is my first Ring of Honor event, and to my surprise I sat most of the night on the edge of my seat waiting for the next huge spot; things I knew for a fact WWE, my perceived champion of Wrestling, would never air on television. I watched in awe as Steen placed three steel chairs in a triangle, all three seats facing each other, he picks Bennett up onto the chairs and proceeds to package piledriver him into the chairs. The crowd rush to their feet cheering, "holy shit" slipping off of every tongue in the building like saliva and stale beer; the chair lying flattened and destroyed like twisted metal in the aftermath of a wreck, the stone cold look in Steen's eye as Bennett laid motionless. I thought he was dead. Why would two athletes risk their careers to entertain us? Is it for our applause or maybe our respect? In that one instance, I saw Indy wrestling, I saw Wrestling, I saw everything that makes a hardcore fan a fan in the first place and I was hooked!

The whole night was filled with drama and excitement, (minus the boring homicide fight which was only interesting because of the fan interaction after the match) the crowd was into it. Ring of Honor catered to the fan who wasn't stupid, a main issue with today's WWE. Ring of Honor didn't have an issue with the crowd dictating the product. The crowd changed Yes! Yes! Yes! Only seconds before the camera began to roll on ROH's super show, Final Battle (ROH's version of Wrestlemania or Bound for a glory). The crowd recognized that ROH was where Daniel Bryan made a name for himself as an Indy God, when he wrestled for the company under the name of Brian Danielson. During the Steen and Bennett match the Arena fills with CM punk chants, another Indy God who wrestled for ROH but this time it was in reference to his previous relationship with Maria Kennelis. Wrestling fans aren't stupid, and true fans have an issue with the crap that is force fed to us weekly by WWE and TNA. When the line between wrestling Kayfabe and reality is blurred, the result is a product that is more entertaining than both would be individually. The fans aren't stupid, we know that Prince Albert was repackaged into Tensi, that Skip Sheffield is Ryback and that Mike Magillacuddy is Mr. Perfect son, Curtis Axel. It's time we stop being treated like idiots and begun to get real stories. The people who wish the Attitude Era would return, wish the style of storytelling not necessarily the bloodshed and carnage. 

Many fans criticize the "PG Era" of wrestling that is heavily aired on Television. WWE alone has four PG television programs includingMonday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown, Main Event and Superstars. WWE also has a cartoon wrestling show, a recent cartoon movie featuring Scooby Doo and a "reality" television show centering around their Diva division. It's very hard to take most of the WWE product serious when some of the more edgy content has been stripped from their production. No more chair shots to the head and blood has been taken out of the sport except for accidents and occasionally to promote the match as a violent spectacle, i.e. "these two guys hate each other". Now here is the truth, The WWE doesn't need this edge to promote their product, the edge was a tool that WWE used to win the Monday NightWars. WWE has NO COMPETITION when it comes to televised wrestling promotions. Realistically TNA is closest in term of Televised wrestling, being it has secured a tape-delayed airing on Cable television on SPIKE TV. And talent wise, ROH is pretty close to as exciting. WWE can afford to promote their product to loyal viewer, the same people who complain about how horrible the PG Era is and reminist about the Great Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras.

The Indy promotions and Semi-Indy promotes need as much help as they can get to stay afloat. They need teh chairshots and 'holy shit' moments, much of the Attitude to sell their product to the older crowd. For instance, Kevin Steen would never make it in the WWE. He doesn't have the look, he has a finisher that is banded and his character is not PG friendly. The man can wrestle, he is a wrestling GOD. He is a modern day Stone Cold Steve Austin, who could probably stand toe-to-toe on the microphone and far surpasses Austin's in-ring ability. The issue is the WWE doesn't need guys like this, the days of raging aganist the man and putting on a show that rocks the house has had it's day, and until the WWE is in a DOG FIGHT with a company who can compete, we may never see it again. WWE, and much of MMA, have been labelled a "Blood Sport", making money off the battered and broken bodies of real human flesh. When Linda McMahon began her push to become a political figure, WWE needed to change their image and thus the PG Era was born. Has anyone else noticed that as of late, as soon as 10pm rolls around, the WWE product gets a little more intense? Thats not a coincidence, that has to do with the fact that the WWE wants to boost ratings and is looking to bring back some of the attitude to it's product while still keeping it clean and teenage friendly. By ten, most of the children are in bed, and the audience shifts towards the advanced age group.

Recently, WWE allowed Randy Orton to cut a promo in the ring. He told the audience to look to either side, If it was a man, he wishes "he" was like Randy Orton, and if it was a woman, She wishes the man she was sleeping with looked like Randy Orton. This promo HAD to air after 10pm, it was a heavy subject, one children couldn't relate too. Also, notice that most of WWE's comedic routines, the Tons of Funks, Santino Morella, Great Khali, Hornswoggle, 3MB and any other Jobber, usually air before 10pm and after that, we get some of the main superstars. Much of the fans who miss the Hardcore nature of WWE still watch the product, even if they fast forward the first few mintues of the show and actually rather watch it on Tuesday on DVR rather than Live, and watch one of the Indy Promotions as a compliment.

I have also made a more recent observation about the "spots" of the show. Indy show have multiple "spots" per match. Jay Lethal or the tag team of Young Bucks had about 10 spots in their match at Final Battle, the WWE might have one or two per match; Punk's Elbow at Mania is an example that automatically comes to mind. This makes the match more memorable. I have also noticed that their are more botched moves and miscues in Indy wrestling than on WWE's product. Minus Ryback (who has improved from his Rybotch stigma) and Sin Cara (the original one not Hunico), many of WWE's superstars don't botch offen, they are incredibly polished talent that put on a live show and entertain without miscues and getting someone hurt, this makes the product more professional and presentable. Take this analysis with a grain of salt, WWE has one or two spots per match and has very little botching, TNA has 5-6 spots a match (occasionally, they have an abundance of boring matches) and have a significant amount of botching and ROH has 10+ spots and also has a botch or two a match! Spots and Botching must go hand in hand.

“The Push”; the single greatest moment in anyone’s life. It’s the moment when someone realizes what you’ve already known for years, how good you really are. Some Superstars go most of their career without getting a push, some never seen Championship gold because they competed with Icons and Legends that towered over mere men like skyscrapers looming over the concrete. Some superstars dream of getting the push and never get to realize the dream; they remain suffocated by the mid-card, bouncing from feud-to-feud, forced to Job for both the main eventers and the talentless manikins that seem to be chiseled out of solid Granite. The only question left unanswered is, why? Why do some superstars get a push while others don’t? Why do some superstars get pushed to the moon and buried deep in the mid-to-low card by executive figures? Why do some superstars leave and maintain their Main Event Status when great companies are filled with potential G.O.A.T.’s (Greatest of All Time) and all-ready active stars?

With future greats of the business like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Antonio Cesaro, Cody Rhodes, Big E Langston and even Damien Sandow, it still amazes me how much of the talent is overlooked and their well-deserved pushes snubbed by returning part-timers. Almost a year ago, The Rock returned to the WWE, he captured the WWE title, beating CM Punk in his first match back after a year lay-off. CM Punk was reigning champ for 434 days up until that point, with little sign of stopping. The Rock was the monkey wrench in CM Punk’s destined Wrestlemania Moment. Here is my opinion, take it with a grain of salt, Superstars dream of Main Event Wrestlemania; they dream of stealing the show with another ambitious superstar who also understands that winning or losing isn’t everything, it’s the moment. The moment lives on. To many times, Superstars are forced out of the light, because a returning cash cow has the itch to go a match or two, and it cost the company in the end. Economically speaking, a returning Superstar like The Rock will draw greater ratings and PPV buys than an emerging star, but in the long run, the emerging star matures into a long term success. Established Superstars like John Cena deserve the Main event Spotlight that shines on him, the man is single handily responsible for almost 24% of the WWE’s gross annual profit; for all intents and purposes, Cena really does “feed” every WWE Superstar’s family with the revenue he generates. Recently, Vince told creative that “John Cena is the main event until he no longer feed us”, a very candid look into what Cena brings to the table and why he gets the Push he deserves.

The Rock doesn’t draw nearly the same as revenue as he once did when he was a full-time wrestler during the legendary Attitude Era. Granted, The Rock and Stone Cold (along with selective others) were also probably responsible for feeding the Locker room and WWE Staff; it’s evident that the Attitude Era wasn’t more profitable fiscally then the PG Era but it did have Higher Attendance and More PPV buys  (almost double as per WWE Financial Reports). I am not against The Rock returning for a match or two at back to back PPVs, and I’m not against giving him a Main Event Spot, I just don’t believe he should have worn the Crown jewel of Sports Entertainment on a part-time basis and defend the title in the main event. It’s the same issue I have against the purposed Dave Batista storyline. The rumor mill has a Batista win at the Rumble to sling shot into a title match against Randy Orton at Mania for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. That is such a horrible story. It’s a crime against the Superstars who have busted their ass this year to be in that match. As a fan, I hate the idea and as a blogger I hate the idea, I see no logical reason for it. What I would consider to be entertaining, again in my opinion, would be for Batista to win the rumble and instead of challenge Orton for the title; he chose to face the streak! Have Bryan win at Rumble and Punk win a Chamber match to face Bryan at Mania for the title. Punk and Bryan have been the work horses for WWE and deserve their moment. Also, Vince was recently quoted as saying, “there is no longer any Heels and Faces”, which means Punk and Bryan could both remain Face a la Michaels/Hart and allow them to put on an amazing match, possibly the greatest Mania match of all-time.

I have to say, this is a recent trend the WWE has entered. Part-Timers like Brock Lesnar, The Rock and now Dave Batista, have returned to WWE and have stolen much of the light away from the fresh young talent in the WWE; and it has become evident that when you speak out against the nature of things you get buried. The art of being “Buried” is similar to the art of the “Push”. They are either tools the executives use to make you love someone or make you hate, or even forget, about someone. In TNA, Dixie Carter has begun to push Magnus down their fans throats, while great wrestlers like Sting, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries and even Mr. TNA, AJ Styles are kind of losing their shine. The WWE has also perfected the art of burring someone. Who could forget the “meteoric” rise of the Long Island Iced Z, Zack Ryder and the unstoppable monster, Ryback. Ryder isn’t even on television and only ‘jobs’ for people, Ryback has been reduced to the mid-card and tag team contest. Truthfully, both Ryder and Ryback don’t deserve the push they received and ultimately WWE got it right. I don’t believe Ryder should be left off Television, he is a better performer than some of the crap WWE puts out there, but Ryback does deserve to be in the Mid-card and not Main Event-ing a Wrestlemania as he is rumored to be against Bill Goldberg.

Other Superstars however do deserve the spotlight like Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan. Both Bryan and Ziggler had ‘mark-out’ moments from fans and consecutively received fan appreciation and admiration. I remember the Pop Daniel Bryan got when John Cena offered him a title shot in front of a New York crowd at the Barclay Center, I remember that Raw, I was there! The tiny hairs on my arm still stand up at the thought of the outcry in fan emotion as they cheered “yes!” what seemed to be endlessly. I also remember watching at home as Dolph Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank contract for the World Heavyweight title and won! Yet, in the same token I was saddened deeply as the WWE force fed us a healthy dose of Alberto Del Rio (again) and a Randy Orton cash in that left a bitter taste in my mouth. No moment to shine, no long runs or great title matches for these fan favorites. Both of them are “too small” or “have a big mouth” or “not what the company wants and isn’t best for business”. I thought business was about putting fans in the stands and ratings? Real fans cheer Ziggler and Bryan regardless of if they are Face or Heel. Real fans appreciate the effort they put in and the unrecognized appeal they have. Too many times WWE critics say they are tired of the “John Cena underdog story”, they create shirts mocking his marketing profile and personal slogans and they cry about wanting a new story, a new character; they practically beg for a change. Yet it never comes. Well here is an opinion, why not make Little Daniel Bryan the Underdog? He is after all, too small and not the draw and let’s make Dolph Ziggler the man who kicks out at two and seems unbeatable. These guys are deserving of these stories, yet both were pushed to the moon only to be quickly buried, alive.

Now, all Dolph does is lose and Bryan is tormented by the Wyatts because he has a scraggly beard… really? That’s the best you have WWE creative? Bray Wyatt is a beast on the microphone, and he set up a story line that could have put Bryan over even further with the crowd yet instead it never happened, much like the Miz heel turn and Chris Jericho Undisputed Championship match. With one simple sentence, they could have opened up a world that rivaled the mystery surrounding Kane and The Undertaker. “The Devil made me do it” followed by the most insane and sinister laugh, god! It bothers me, who was this devil? What did the devil tell him? Why did this turn out like the Kane/John Cena feud that proceeded the “Once in a Lifetime” match of Cena v. Rock? Instead, nothing happened. They had a match at Survivor series and it seems to be over. If I was WWE Creative I would have dug deeper into the Wyatt lore. Who was Sister Abigail? Was she the devil? I would have teased a new member to the Wyatt Family and even prolonged the Missing Bryan story. I would have played it off like the re-education of Daniel Bryan, a psychological struggle to remain good when everything has been turned upside down. I would have brought in Paige from NXT, the anti-Diva, who is perfect person to play Sister Abigail or even a doppelganger, look-a-like, which drives Bray to madness. Or I would have made Stephanie McMahon the Devil. What a twist would that have been? After all, Stephanie was abducted several years ago by the Ministry of Darkness, kind of a nice tie-in to an Attitude era storyline.

Most of the time, WWE creative believes that the audience is either not following along, suffering from Dementia or Mental retardation. So many things have been forgotten and we pretend like we didn’t see it or it just didn’t happen. Many of the times its stories like this that define a character. The Stone Cold Character comes to mind, it was a feud that literally made a character larger than life. If you remember, Stone Cold was rather nameless, not quite a main eventer, not quite a full on SUPERSTAR that he would become. He faced Bret Hart and passed out in a pool of his own blood, a sign of a man who doesn’t quit. From that sprung forth the ruthless Texan that took no shit from his boss. A story everyone wished they could be a part of and wish they could emulate in real life. Imagine walking into your boss’ office, holding an ice cold Steve-weiser in your left hand and flipping him off with your right. You let him know exactly how you feel about that him giving that asshole a raise and promotion over you when everyone damn well you deserve it... Oh I'm sorry, venting my personal life. 

So who deserves a push? Is it the hardest worker? Is it the best technician? Is it the guy with the great gimmick? Maybe it's the guy who talks the best on the microphone or the guy that gets the chants? How do you determine who gets the push and who gets a great run? So recently, fans have bared witness to a plethora of favorites gets a boost up and fall flat like a failing heart. Ziggler held the World title for about four weeks, got a concussion by an accidental kick to the face by Alberto Del Rio who then beats him for the title and is never given a rematch. Or Daniel Bryan who held the WWE for a whopping 21:10:15 (yes that is a real figure and includes both reigns). He was easily the hottest superstar of 2013 and was given a title reign that ended faster then his 18-second title match at Mania against Sheamus. CM Punk had a great run as champion, While Orton has had a rocky road as of late. Cena will forever hover around the title picture, but I believe that as he is approaching the Twilight of his career he should begin to put people over more often. Hover around the picture but make other wrestlers look amazing, much like Taker did for Jeff Hardy and Edge.

The Undertaker is the last REAL wrestler. Proof that you don't need the title to be the man. It's long been chronicled how Taker is the man backstage. He sits at the head of the Kangaroo Court and his word is law. He is proof that you can hover around the title picture just have great matches. The Undertaker is 4-time WWE/F Champion, and has made more superstars than anyone wrestling today. John Cena is 11-time Champion (almost three times more reigns than Taker) and has made really only one Superstar, Randy Orton. Cena's major feuds have all been with Made guys: Eddie Guerrero, JBL, Triple H, CM Punk, The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Edge. Most can argue that 4 names of that list were all made by the help of Taker (Rock, Edge, Triple H and Eddie).

The point of the matter is this, the person who deserves the push is the guy that is hottest. He should get a run with the title that matches his level of how OVER he is or how much HEAT he is getting. Instead of giving already made guys big pushes like winning the rumble or money in the bank, they should go to up and coming guys like Damien Sandow, Big E Langston, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and title opportunities should go to Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk and Daniel Brian.

To Push or Not to Push, that is the question WWE creative seems to struggle with. They have gotten into the habit of pushing you and then burying you into oblivion.

For the last 3 weeks we have heard the people at the WWE refer to the match that occurred at TLC on 12/15/13 as the match that would give us the first Undisputed WWE Heavyweight champion. The Irony behind that is that it was already done, in the month of December, 12 years ago, on the 9th of said month. When Chris Jericho defeated two of the biggest names to ever step foot inside the squared circle. In the first match he defeated The Rock. In the last Match, He defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin. I am sorry, but defeating those two names in one night, is a bigger then defeating the highly inflated John Cena.

        The Original Undisputed Heavyweight Champion

Where is the respect? Its gone. Its lost. Its been forgotten. And Vinnie Mac needs to remember his history.

It is predominantly the same belts that's were unified in 2001. The WWE Heavyweight Title, and The Big Gold Belt, then the WCW championship, today the World Heavyweight Championship.

We were forced to listen to the Announcers clamor and claim that this               man is the firstUndisputed Heavyweight Champion.

What was accomplished on Sunday by Randy Orton in fact is a big feat. Not taking anything away from his win, but the business needs to remember that it can not erase its history. They bring up the fact that the Big Gold Belt belonged to the NWA-WCW to the Flair,  Harley Race, Dusty and  Thesz era of wrestling, brought up the fact that their many Greats the likes of Hogan, Bauklund, Bre Hart, HBK and Stone Cold held the prestigious WWE World Heavyweight Champion. But they forgot the man who won the right to be called the first, and as he claimed, only Undisputed Champion. Chris Jericho. At that he is, because he out right won the belt when it still belonged to WCW even if it was kayfabe. And he won the WWE belt. And he did it on the same night. Becoming the True Undisputed Champion.

        When The Belts for these two companies were combined, it gave us                          an actual undisputed champion.

If the WWE ever buys out TNA we will talk about an Undisputed Championship match once again, until then no, there is only 1 first time Undisputed Champion. And his name is not Randy Orton.

5 "BOLD" Predictions going into Sunday's TLC PPV

   So many bloggers out there post these absurd predictions, calling them "bold" and "daring" but the truth is most of it is just shots in the dark trying to hit a target so they can scream and shout how right they were. Most seem to forget, WWE is a scripted show, much like The Walking Dead, Lost, Days of our Lives and other day-time television dramas, and what that means is, writers tip their hands. It's something screenwriters and play-writes do called "Foreshadowing". If you can identify the foreshadow you can figure out what will happen down the road, in this case, the PPV that is this sunday. I will give five (5) fact based arguments that are guaranteed to come true this Sunday. 

5. AJ LEE WILL DEFEAT NATALYA

  Going into the PPV Natalya has looked strong in her last few matches including beating AJ's Heavy, Tamina, this week on RAW. General rule of thumb in WWE booking is, the more unstoppable an opponent looks going into a title match at a PPV, the more likely they are to lose. My prediction is, either the match ends in a DQ and AJ retains the title but loses or AJ wins "dirty", maybe a pull of the tights or a belt to the head but one thing is for sure, there isn't much focus on the match and not much of a build-up. AJ has sat ring-side and commentated but they haven't gotten in each other's face much. With the lack of build-up and Total Divas spotlight firmly placed on Brie Bella, look for Brie to dethrone AJ at the Rumble or Wrestlemania. 

Truth be told, this is a dream match for me; both these ladies can wrestle and put on a clinic in the ring. Natalya has the skills to hang with most Mid-card men and AJ can take a bump like Seth Rollins but with 15 minutes, maybe 22 minutes with the entrances included, they aren't going to get much time to really steal the show. I for one, hope that the rivalry between AJ and Natalya extends to the Rumble, if it does, it's quite possible she could be crowned the new Diva's Champ at Rumble. 

Chances of Natalya proving me a liar: 10% 

4. Big E Langston retains the Intercontinental Title 

  This match has the potential to be match of the night, but with Punk and Seth Rollins in the ring together, anything can happen. The WWE has some of the best young talent period. I'm glad to see them bringing people up from the minor leagues and building from within. Until recently the WWE was run like my favorite baseball team, the NEW YORK YANKEES in the sense that, they would bring in already established stars from all over the world, instead of bringing up farm handled talents. Much of their developmental talent you can argue are from the Indie scene, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Dean Ambrose and Wade Barett, but there are a few that stand out as pure talent that don't have such a grand Indie following; and Big E and Sandow are two of those talents. Sandow is trained by the Killer Kowalski, the same guy who trained Triple H, look for Sandow to get a huge push someday, but not today. Though Sandow is very polished on the microphone, he still lacks the heat to be a big time heel and one worthing of holding the IC strap. Big E is currently very much over with the crowd, there was this really cool Big E sign in the crowd the other night, a sign he is set for lift-off. Both these guys will feud for years to come, this will be the rivalry that will be Wrestlemania Main event in ten (10) years. 

As we speak, Sandow and Big E haven't clashed much. There isn't much drama and after several clean victories over the last three weeks Sandow hasn't taken a single shot at Big E. Big E has also looked strong as a champion should. With the rumble around the corner, these two guys will feud for the next couple of months and eventually go their separate ways. Big E will be IC champ through Mania, he might even face Seth Rollins at Mania for the belt. 

Chances of Sandow making me into a liar:   15%

3. CM Punk defeats the Shield, well the Shield defeats the Shield, Punk just gets the victory!

  The writing is on the wall guys and it's very obvious the end of the Shield is upon us. Who can forget Reigns and Rollins face when Ambrose rubbed it in their face that he was still a champion and they weren't? Who can forget on RAW when the Shield was deciding who should face Punk and they were describing themselves, except Ambrose thought they were describing him? Yup! You got it. Ambrose will be the "chink in the armor", the crack in the shield (Okay I'll refrain from the corny puns). So, this how I see things unfolding, Punk takes out one member of the SHIELD, probably Rollins who seems to be the neutral member right now, Reigns will set up to hit Punk with the spear and miss him striking Ambrose, Reigns will turn around to get the GTS and Punk will either pin Ambrose or Reigns. 

The feud that will develop out of this will include be a game of one-up-man-ship, leading to the Rumble. I see this being the tipping point of the faction, probably their last match as a team as part of the 30-man rumble. At some point, the entire Shield team will be in the ring, and most likely eliminate everyone leaving just the three members standing. They will watch each other closely, until the countdown begins, some one comes to the ring, and two of the three members of the Shield will pounce on them leaving most likely Ambrose will eliminate Reigns, while Rollins and Reigns are attacking the new entrant. Rollins will turn to Ambrose and be eliminated by the new entrant who will be tossed out by Ambrose, leaving Ambrose in the ring alone, and the sole survivor of the Shield, until he is eliminated later in the Rumble by the eventual winner. 

Moving forward from there, Reigns and Ambrose will feud. Possibly a new member of the Shield might get introduced and I believe that Rollins will remain somewhere in the middle while competing against Big E Langston for the Intercontinental strap going into Wrestlemania. These two have a history in NXT as Rollins was the first NXT champion and Big E beat him for the title when Rollins was called up to the big show for a full-time run. It's also possible that Rollins might ask for Reigns to be his heavy in his Single-matches to keep the team of Rollins and Reigns together, a la Diesel and Michaels. 

The three members of the shield, Big E, Sandow, Bryan and Orton, will be the future of the WWE, a lot like the Attitude Era of talent with Mankind, Undertaker, Kane, Angle, HHH, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. 

Chances the SHIELD wins: 40%

2. Daniel Bryan Heel turn! oh, and his loss to the Wyatt Family. 

  The Wyatts will re-educate Daniel Bryan like he's Lauren Hill! Over the past two months or so, HHH has continued to allow Bryan to be a major assets to the company. He consistently gets the largest crowd reaction, he bust his ass to put on a show for the fans but because he is under 6'4" and not 245-270lbs of raw chiseled muscle, he isn't worthy of being the face of the company and thus begins the process. 

HHH bust out the shovel and bury Bryan like we know you want too. Just like HHH did with Dolph Ziggler and thankfully Ryback, Daniel Bryan will be buried in the worse way possible. They will strip his character of his likableness. We have seen Daniel Bryan as a heel, remember he lasted 18 seconds in a match with Shaemus at Wrestlemania, no body really liked that guy. He was the same performer but he wasn't likable, the crowd never rallied behind him, it's also worth noting that with a chance that Super-Cena walks away with the title as a face, this could lead to a Heel-Face feud at Mania where Bryan finally wins the Unified title as a heel. I digress. 

I believe that Daniel Bryan will be abducted during the match after Bray Wyatt lands the greatest named finisher in wrestling history: Sister Abigail's kiss. The Wyatts will walk away with Bryan's destroyed body, a la Corporate Ministry and Stone Cold, and after two weeks, Bryan will return normal, and too a large pop by the crowd. In a match later that night, the Wyatts will come out to ring side and watch the match, after Bryan's victory, Bray will slide into the ring and take the person out, Bryan will climb to the top rope and land his headbutt or take the guy out with his running knee, solidifying his heel turn. 

Chances Bryan wins: 5%

1. John Cena goes Heel, FINALLY!  oh and he doesn't win the title. 

  In a matter of three months, Cena will go from Face to Heel to Face. At the end of RAW WWE creative teased a Cena heel turn, with Orton in the corner looking over at them in disbelief that he has fallen from grace. Orton's character looks to break away from the authority storyline but remaining a heel in the process. Cena will enter the match a face (who gets booed) and leave a heel (that will get cheered, don't get confused). Here is how I see it playing out. 

This will probably be both Cena and Orton's match of the year, they will leave everything out there because realistically they are actually competing for the real position of Face of the Company. With a swerve bound to happen, HHH will interfere in the match, probably taking out Orton. Cena will climb to the top of the Ladder and out will come Vince McMahon (or Shane, maybe?). He will cut a promo and cancel the match, leaving the company without a champion. HHH will be pissed and Cena will be too, Orton will probably hit the RKO on Cena and leave the ring upset. Next night on Raw, Vince will open the show with an idea for Rumble, the Authority will hand pick two guys to represent their "interest" in the company and Vince will choose his, and in the same way Vengeance Unified the  title originally, the Rumble will be the stage this time. Vince will choose two "Face" guys, Bryan and Punk. The Authority will choose Cena and Orton (two heels). 

At Rumble, Cena will beat Punk (Punk will win the Rumble) and Orton will lose to Bryan. Backstage Cena and Orton will have a falling out, the Authority and Cena will disagree and go their separate ways, Cena face turn. In the main event, Heel Bryan will beat Face Cena for the title and defend it at mania against CM Punk. Cena will defend Vince's honor by being his hand picked champion to face HHH for control of the company. 

Or at least that's how I would Script it. --- In reality, the show will end with Cena going Heel and Triple H will somehow get the belt, not as champion but hold it till the Rumble. That's what the evidence shows at least. 

  There is always a chance I'm wrong: 50%

The Autumn of Styles Storyline

You may not like what I have to say right now but here is the truth, TNA is the #2 wrestling company out there, and it's about time I write an article about them. There is a plethora of subject matter to pour through in our short time together, so I'm planning on getting straight to the point. This article is intended to talk about TNA's attempt to save face and remain in Business.

  Over the last couple months there has been report after report that TNA is a sinking ship; and some of their talent has jumped overboard already without a life raft. TNA has cut ties with some of it's biggest names including Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Breaking News reports that TNA is up for sale and that the Carter's are looking to sell the company. And yet somehow, they have been able to produce consistently entertaining television. Dixie Carter isn't Wrestling Royalty, she doesn't come from a wrestling family and she wasn't a wrestling a fan until her daddy purchased her a wrasslin' company. With the impending doom of TNA lurking, TNA has taken a page out of WCW and have begun to blur the lines between reality and entertainment.

  Arguably TNA's golden boy, the Modern Day Sting (A NWA/WCW company guy), AJ Styles has put the company on his back again. His real life gripe with the failure of the company began to manifest itself in his promos as Bound For Glory approached. His real life contract negotiation break downs and expiring contract became storyline focus, and pulling a page out the CM Punk Handbook of awesome story lines, and thus the "Autumn of Styles" was born (I coined the term). At first I was a skeptic of the blatant attempt to steel the WWE storyline, especially since TNA has longed claim that WWE has recycled and stole story lines and promo styles from TNA for years; but the angle has sort of grown on me. I see the clear financial sense the move makes. AJ Styles who is arguably the best in-ring performer and outside personality and in CM Punk style, AJ won the title at Bound for Glory and "left the company". The main difference of the two story lines is, Punk only threatened to defend the title in Mexico and Japan, Styles actually did it. Some skeptics will say that because his appearances aren't televised events that they don't count, but I would say it doesn't matter. The storyline beings legitimacy to TNA something they lost somewhere along the way. 

  Lets face it, it's a gamble. TNA's poster boy is travelling around defending his title at house shows and at the same time he's performing for the most Hardcore of fans. The fans who are watching wrestling for Wrestling and not the soap opera aspect. House shows do very little to progress televised story lines, and at some point in the 90's WWE house shows had a totally different champion. What AJ Styles storyline does is draw international interest into the TNA company. The Japanese and Mexican fans who rarely get to see TNA's product can now see their champion and hopefully buy into the product. A larger audience means more funds and more funds means staying on TV longer and keeping the company around, a brilliant move by TNA creative team. In a very interesting turn of events, the Autumn of Styles may be bigger than the Summer of Punk, in the sense that the payoff will be greater.

  The Storyline is making Dixie Carter into the company's Monster heel, and because she's a good christian southern gal and won't enter the ring with Styles himself, look for her to crown herself a Heel Champion to draw AJ back to TNA. For this reason, I believe Magnus, who is currently on a slow burn heel turn after the Main Event Mafia broke up, will be crowned TNA interim Heavyweight Champion, the corporate champ. So my prediction for TNA's upcoming event, Final Resolution, Dixie Carter to solidify her heel turn screws Hardy out the title and Magnus, who is constantly referred to as "the only guy in the tournament who has been a champion" becomes a Champion, joining Dixie Carter as her hand-picked Champion. He will eventually show up at a indie Show and attack AJ Styles, forcing Styles to return and pull the john Cena v. CM Punk Storyline, who is really the TNA Champion.

  I would like to see AJ Styles appear on RAW with his belt in hand outside the arena, a la Monday Nights War style, talk shit about how the WWE won't let him in to face their fake champions, and start a war between companies. There is also rumor that AJ Styles could appear at the Ring of Honor (ROH) event on December 15th, which me and Nailz will be present for. As for TNA's future outlook, I will predict this, somehow it wil prevail and be around for the next couple of years. AJ Styles may have single-handily saved TNA.

Vince’s Gamble Could Cost WWE

                A lot of speculation always surrounds WWE’s Mega-Event Wrestlemania, and this year is no different. With Wrestlemania 30 just under five months away, the internet is on-fire with dirt-sheet information, leaked interview questions and Wrestlmania Dream matches, but the main question I have is this, If all the articles are true, and WWE books the dream matches, is Wrestlemania the Event is should be or just a gimmick to sell Tickets to gigantic football fields and PPV buys?  And the way this Wrestlemania Dream card is shaping up, I believe that Vince’s Gamble won’t pay-off.

                I have to admit this first before all else, NO MATTER WHAT THE CARD LOOKS LIKE I WILL ORDER WRESTLEMANIA. Good, now that we got that out the way, let me explain why. To me Wrestlemania is more than just ‘another’ wrestling PPV, it’s the {Bleeping} Super bowl of Wrestling, and much like the NFL, I will watch the Super Bowl no matter which teams are playing. Most casual fans turn into Wrestlemania. I’ve been to bar that show Mania on the big screen, I paid a ton of money to see Wrestlemania live this year at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey; so for me Wrestlemania is a definite buy so Vince, Mr. McMahon, you can have my money, I will hand it over willingly. Realistically, not all fans are like me and my partner, most fan may tune into RAW once or twice a month, if nothing else is on or if Football isn’t on; but not me, I watch RAW every week, without fail. I enjoy the WWE product.

                My gripe is with the recent trend with WWE, and pro wrestling in general, it’s less about the storytelling and wrestling and more about the green in our wallet. Follow my train of thought for a moment, two years ago, The Rock returned to WWE and faced John Cena in what was billed as an “Once in a Lifetime Match”, and then booked the exact same Main Event the very next year, Wasn’t really once in a lifetime there Vince. Why? Because the Rock and John Cena sell, they sell tickets, they sell merchandise, they sell PPV, hell the only thing neither of them do is Sell Finishing Moves, both enjoy kicking out at two. Most fans would also tell you, they bought Mania 29 either to see CM Punk v. Undertaker or out of straight loyalty to the brand; you would be hard pressed to find a true fan say they bought the PPV to watch Cena v. Rock 2, when 99% of the casual fans knew who was going to win. This year is shaping up to be possibly the most star-studded card in the history, with a household name in every match.  

                Some places report, Undertaker may finally meet Sting (10 years in the making!), Goldberg versus Ryback, Rock versus Brock, Hogan versus Cena, Shawn Michaels versus Daniel Bryan and even CM Punk versus Stone Cold Steve Austin. Unfortunately the truth is, no one knows what the card will look like, and if any of these dream matches will happen. In an article written forDailywrestlingnews.com by Eric Arrington (which can be found on Bleacher Report), Vince McMahon is “unhappy” over the Creative plans surrounding Wrestlemania 30. Large part is due to the fact that not a single mega-fight has been solidified. The Articles goes on to state “The Rock…won’t agree to an appearance yet. […] Michaels won’t commit to coming out of retirement for the match (against Daniel Bryan).  […] Austin wants way too much money for the company to commit to signing him for the event (to face HHH for control of the company). […] Undertaker isn’t completely behind facing Lesnar at Wrestlemania this year as he’s recovering from his latest surgery”; and reportedly Mr. McMahon is also unhappy with the leverage Bill Goldberg has gained because of these missed opportunities.

                My broadcast partner, Johny “Nailz” Barzola, and I, have discussed this topic for several months and our opinions have their similarities. We both agree that some of these matches can’t happen, shouldn’t happen or are being booked wrong. The Rock has had three major matches, of the three only one is memorable, Royal Rumble 2013 against CM Punk, the other two were against John Cena at Mania, and both resulted in injury; this signifies that The Great One is not as durable as he once was and could be the defining principle behind his indecision; couple that with his filming schedule and promotion and the man may not have enough Minutes in the day to accomplish everything. I am a firm believer that if you are retired by One of the Greatest performers of all-time, you should probably stay retired. I pretty much believe that Michaels will choose to stay retired, and not enter the ring with Bryan. Bryan should be used in other capacities anyway. The Undertaker versus Brock Lesnar is a disaster waiting to happen. The match would be a spot fest, but it would probably fall flat like Taker’s previous match with HHH did. Taker needs someone to carry the match for him, make him look good and take a bump, Lesnar doesn’t really provide those qualities to a match; and unfortunately like we all do, Taker has grown much too old to take the necessary bumps to make Lesnar look strong. An ideal match for Taker would be Chris Jericho. Simply put, if the most recognized face from the Attitude Era returns for one match only, Stone Cold Steve Austin should never agree to face HHH; in fact, he should only return for one match, CM Punk. Other than that, Stay retired Steve, your last match is awesome, you don’t need to pull a Mick Foley and return to have a crappy match only to feel guilty about it and be drawn back in for one more down the road.

                Speaking of Crappy match, Ryback and Goldberg could be the single worse match in the history of mania. Why WWE would want to put this match on the card in beyond me. Ryback hasn’t sold like a top star sells, he doesn’t draw crowds, and he is reportedly getting heat backstage for his lack of professionalism in interviews, his unauthorized usage of Goldberg’s signature moves and also his behavior during WWE promotional events. The guy is a dud. He doesn’t deserve to be in Wrestlemania, he doesn’t deserve to get a Wrestlemania dream match because he hasn’t done anything for the company. Ryback has been reported as being too stiff and hurting top guys, he needs a mouthpiece or the buildup to Mania will be a contest of talking as much smack in 5 words or less, because let’s face facts, Goldberg isn’t Roddy Piper on the mic neither; and they recently got rid of Heyman as Ryback’s mouth piece. It isn’t all Ryback’s fault either, WWE Creative has gotten lazy over the last couple years and don’t realize they have a Dream Match, and a storyline, right in front of them, Lesnar v. Ryback.

                And since we are switching matches in the interest of Business, HHH should face the company man himself, John Cena for control of the company in the Authority angle, and If Stone Cold can’t or won’t return, don’t fret, people will pay to see CM Punk v. Daniel Bryan for the title in the Main Event.  See WWE Creative, I gave you a REAL Wrestlemania, one that will be memorable, one that will sell as many tickets as your Dream Match Mania and one that has something some of the last couple Mania’s haven’t had, a story; and I didn’t break Mr. McMahon’s wallet doing it. So Mr. McMahon I urge you, please do not sell out trying to sell a product, please keep Mania simple and please bring back the relevance to Wrestlemania; I implore you DO NOT GAMBLE, it could cost you.

The Best of All time

      The World of Wrestling has seen the greatest athletes do some amazing things. Yes it’s fake. It’s scripted but the falls the jumps off the top ropes, crashing through tables all of the craziness of the wrestling world is real. The word great is used a lot when referring some wrestlers such as Flair, Steamboat, Macho Man and others who paved the way for today’s world of wrestling. This week WWE is celebrating the 27th edition of Survivor Series, and it also marks the anniversary of the debut of who i personally believe is the greatest of all time. Standing in at close to 7 feet tall and weigh over 300 pounds, I have witness this man do maneuvers that men half his size haven’t been able to do. The man’s gimmick was created during the cartoon era of the WWE, where characters were very limited in how open they were. Unlike today where we have Cm Punk portray someone close to who he really is as well as John Cena, Mark Calloway has had the task of portraying The Deadman, The Undertaker. Nearly a quarter of a century later, He has become the greatest attraction at the super bowl of wrestling WRESTLEMANIA. What makes him great has been his ability to keep his character fresh, including going to a more realistic biker gimmick at the turn of the century. At the heart of the company’s best era, the Attitude Era, he was the leader of Ministry of Darkness. One of the biggest factions any company has seen and it was his best work. He kept people at the edge of their seats Week in and week out, not knowing if he was going to crucify the company’s biggest Attraction, Stone Cold Steve Austin. During his matches you would see this agile man, climb the top rope, balance himself on the top rope taking a couple of steps and hit an arm twist ropewalk chop known as OLD SCHOOL. This is also the same man who would run across the ring and jump over the top rope with a suicide dive. He has countless encounters with his kayfabe brother Kane, great matches at WrestleMania and slowly but surely, we will not be seeing him enter the ring anymore and quite frankly I would say it’s like seeing Mariano Rivera retire. The Greatest act will be sorely missed, and in history , and death valley, The Deadman will always exist.

The Blame

Honestly speaking, if the marquee reads CENA, which real hardcore wrestling fan would be interested? Better yet, who wants to buy into something as predictable as we know when and how someone would cash in?? I am in the crowd who ordered SummerSlam this year and quite frankly aside from the Lesnar/Punk match and the actual back and forth of the Main Event was a lackluster event. Once it was announced that Triple H would be the special guest referee who did the WWE think they were fooling?

The only surprising thing about Randy cashing in was the fact it was on Bryan and not Cena. Why would I personally prefer it on Cena? Maybe it would’ve refreshed Cena. The still could’ve played off the injury, had Triple H used his Sledgehammer, on the golden boy of the pg era. And have Orton go against a couple of impromptu challengers for the belt until Cena healed. Where Cena can continue the Superman act that we’ve come to know, where all he does is play the Underdog, who is coming close to a record he has no business being around, at 14 championships. Define the odds one more time, and have the pay per view buy rate go down without having a superstar taking blame for the pay per view struggles.

But instead you go with the most logical decision. Put the belt on the hottest thing in wrestling. But only for a few seconds because, he’s “not best for business”. Something even a causal fan could realize would happen as soon as the final card was announced for the WWE’s showcase of the summer. But somehow the Hottest thing creative could’ve had hit their flash pan is at fault. But then again what blame can go to the direction of which creative took the storyline. NONE, because it’s apparent that being the best performer on the card, the most over in the arena, means you don’t draw. I was personally at the Raw that Cena announced he was facing Daniel Bryan for the belt. When you hear any venue erupt the way The Barclay's Center did on July 15th 2013, you can tell what draws. And for every show since, it’s been the same reaction. The Crowd tells you who they want in the spotlight. And it is indisputably not John Cena, but the blame goes to the one who no arena can contain the crowds’ volume for. The one the Fans really want.

To Be the Man, Wooo!, You have to Beat the Man!” 

In today’s WWE, there has been an absolute obsession with the Man, The Face of the Company. It has dominated WWE Creative teams main story lines for the last couple months; and the truth is, it doesn’t work. I know, My opinion is exactly that, “MY” opinion and for most readers, your attention was drawn because I quoted one of the greatest men to lace up their boots and entertain the masses, but stick with me and see why I chose to quote Ric Flair.  

   When Dinosaurs roamed the Hall of Madison Square Garden, and Bruno Sammartino was reigning champion for over four-thousand days, wrestling drew crowds and people from all over the east coast crammed to stadiums to see the name of the Marquee. Everyone knows, “The Man” is the guy who puts fans in the stands just by putting his name up in lights, and no name was bigger than Sammartino. Not to take anything away from Mr. Thesz, who contributed to wrestling by inventing the Power bomb, the STF and the Lou Thesz Press, and who was the Longest reigning Champion in NWA History at 3,749 days, but many casual wrestling fans have no idea who he is anymore. Today WWE is struggling to find the guy, the one who will replace John Cena, or arguably someone to pick up the mantle left by Stone Cold Steve Austin, and thus the search for the next “Face” has commenced.  

   What I believe to be the right path is away from One Guy mentality to a group of guys running the show. I get that simplicity is key in today’s WWE, which is indeed geared towards younger viewers, and they won’t over complicate the storyline for the sake of keeping their young viewers interested. For this reason, John Cena is Superman, on the verge of breaking Ric Flair’s record and has a gimmick as stale as these old Girl Scout cookies I just accidentally opened. The Undeniable truth is, most of the Hardcore fans wish the Attitude Era returned, but not for the reasons you would think. Its not the Puppies, or lingerie pillow fight matches, hell its not the Mic Foley Hell in the Cells and Vicious Chair shots to the head; hell its not even the edgy pop-culture references or the indulging of our personal demons and vices, like stomping a mud hole in our boss or drinking on the job. Simply put it’s the wrestling and the storytelling. 

The Attitude Era had a host of characters that were top level performers who each could talk, carry a storyline and had story lines build around them, the Attitude era was the LOST of wrestling. It had elite stables like Degeneration X, The Corporation and Corporate Ministry, it had alliances form and crumble and it had WRESTLING. Maybe some could say that because the Attitude Era was so violent that it needed multiple stars because at any given time someone had a neck injury, tore a quad or broke a major bone in their body. Different Men ran the show for periods at a time, Shawn Michaels and Triple H started the Attitude Era, Hell the whole thing kicked off after the Montreal Screw job, then stars like The Undertaker, Kane, Stone Cold, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Big Show and Mankind, all had their own back stories, all had intertwining story lines that work and all held the belt and were the MAN. Without a second thought I can say that After Michaels left, Stone cold was the “face” of the WWE until the Rock emerged, and for a time they shared that honor until Austin Retired.  

     The WWE doesn’t need the Attitude of the Attitude Era to rekindle the flame they lost, they need to develop their talent and allow them to have broad stories. Right at this moment, The Authority is the main focus, and as they did with John Cena, they are trying to shove Randy Orton down our throats. I believe they should develop good strong stories for each of their top level stars, stars like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Damien Sandow, Big E Langston, the Wyatts, instead of them having them relegated to the Midcard or forgotten about. Give your talent a chance to flourish instead of shoving garbage wrestlers like Ryback, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus. I know most of you will say, “most of the people you mentioned are involved in a storyline”, I would ask you “really?”. Punk and Bryan are involved in a story line with the Wyatts and Cody Rhodes is feuding with the Real Americans and the SHIELD is part of the Authority Angle, but the question is WHY? There is no story. The SHIELD works are hired muscle for the Authority okay, but why did Punk and Bryan get attacked? Why did the Rhodes v. McMahon’s angle just die? And where the hell is Dolph Ziggler? These feuds don’t have substance, they lack direction and finesse. And what is WWE’s obsession with pushing people to the moon and then burying them?  

    I don’t believe Orton is best for WWE, he doesn’t connect with the child filled audience, and he isn’t solid on the Mic like a face should be. I think he could be the Triple H of this generation, a great Heel who has awesome matches but was never THE guy. I think Punk is a modern day Piper/Austin, Bryan is Modern Day Flair/Bret Hart, Ziggler is a modern day Michaels and so on and so forth, all able to be champions with strong stories and great matches. And for those who believe that Punk, Bryan and Ziggler aren’t WWE Champion material because they are 6’5” 275lbs, remember this Ric Flair was 6’1”, 243lbs; Shawn Michaels was 6’1” 225lbs, Bret Hart was 6ft 234lbs, Owen Hart was 5’10” 227lbs, Stone Cold Steve Austin was 6’2” 252lbs and Bruno Sammartino was 5’10” 265lbs, and all of them are legendary Superstars who for a time, no matter how brief, were the “Man”.  

    WWE needs to get away from the Single Face of the WWE and go with the FACES. Switch up the PPV booking, instead of having the same PPV Main Event 4 months in a row like Randy Orton V. Bryan or Punk V. Ryback and mix it up! In 2001 WWE had 11 PPVs, The WWF Championship was defended at 9 of those PPVs and contended/defended by 7 different superstars, in the midst of the WCW/ECW invasion which dominated about 6 months of storytelling and was the main event focus of 2 PPVs. It was also the first time an Undisputed Champion was crowned in Chris Jericho. This compared to 2012 when the title was defended 11 times out of 12 PPV against 5 different opponents, Punk faced Ryback in two straight PPVs and the Raw after TLC because he had to have knee surgery and didn’t defend the title at TLC, Punk also faced Jericho in Three straight PPVs, Bryan in three straight PPVs and Cena and Ziggler in 2 straight PPVs (would have been four but Cena gave his HITC title shot to Ryback due to injury).