Game Time

*The entrance theme hits and Delrihuzz enters the arena, talking to his keyboard*

JR: OH NO! AWESOME RANT! BUSINESS IS ABOUT TO PICK UP!

King: Hah

Cole: He ain't Miz.

All of that, just to say: hi, I'm back.

We're now five days before Wrestlemania. Time to chime in, now that the buildup for it is about to culminate in what seems to be the most star studded Wrestlemania in years. Star studded as in "Wrestling Star". 

Granted, WWE has been pulling some nice work to build up their annual extravaganza, spicing it up with Stone Cold (who hasn't made a 'Mania appearance since edition 23) and The Rock, whose last Mania appearance dates as far back as edition 20. To add to the mix, they got one of the greatest female wrestlers of the 00's to strap on the boots again, five years after her official retirement. Yeah, I consider Trish Stratus one of the greatest female wrestlers from the 00's ... along with Lita. 

Anyways, the fact that she's teaming up with the orange troll from Jersey Shore to face off against McCool and Layla El  is a blemish at best, ... but at least Trish is getting back in there, looking as pretty as she always has. (You can bet Cena will get a boner again.) I sincerely hope JoMo and Dolph Ziggler make this match somewhat bearable. I don't really care for poorly orchestrated catfights. 

Miz vs Cena could've been a show stealer, if they hadn't included Cena. You know, watching the build up over the past month made me think Cena and Rock were gonna face off at Mania, with Miz begging for attention. It would've made more sense if Rocky and Cena effectively faced off and Miz would defend his title against ... let's say JoMo. JoMo deserves a way better spot on the card than during "piss break".

Cena is a different thing ... I'll be the last to compliment Cena, but I watched the 03/28 RAW bits and I was genuinely impressed with the promo he cut on Rocky. Hell, I'm pretty sure most of it wasn't even scripted.

A match I'm looking forward to is CM Punk and Randy Orton. Both of them are wrestlers who can entertain a crowd by just opening their eyes menacingly and Punk's new role is just gorram awesome.

Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler. Gracious of WWE to allow us either an extended piss break or two separate piss breaks (dependent on where this stands on the card opposed to the divas match). Far too much build up for a match that will approximately last 25 seconds. Just saying.

8-man tag match? Filler. Most of the participants can put on a great show, and 4 opponents for Big Zeke means 4 different people can carry him through the match. Not a bad deal.

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan could be a good match, if they don't have SOS dominate AmDrag for most of the match. With 4 hours worth of programming time, they can easily hand these boys a 20-minute match to shine.

Undertaker vs Triple H, a re-match from possibly the best match at one of the best Wrestlemanias (X-7 to me, is simply the best. Others might disagree.) Strangely, I'm not looking forward to this match at all. You know Undertaker is going to win (which means Triple H has to retire, which has been rumoured). Taker can't go anymore like he could at X-7. It's No Holds Barred to boot. In other words, they're gonna kill themselves.

And what the hell is up with Undertakers new theme? I'm all for Johnny Cash and lyrically, it's not that far off ... but it just feels wrong. The funeral march was rather fitting music for his persona...

Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes. A THIRD piss break? My word, WWE thinks of everything.

Kofi vs Drew McIntyre? Could've been interesting if we hadn't seen it about 5 times before. Rooting for the Scotsman nonetheless. He's been robbed of too many opportunities now.

Edge vs Del Rio. Say what you want about Del Rio being in that spot ... the man has fantastic heat and he's got shitloads of talent. It'll be pretty interesting to see what he brings to the table. And you can almost predict that Christian is gonna turn on Edge, which results in Del Rio winning.

Is it the best Mania in years? No

Am I looking forward to it? More so than the previous few years

Will I bother watching it? Not very likely.

To be quite honest, I fucking miss Money in the Bank. It was continuously the best match on the card since Wrestlemania 22. (I know it was introduced at WM 21, but that's when Angle and HBK had the match of the night.)

In closing, Wrestlemania misses the excitement I need to effectively bother watching it.

~D.

Victory Road to Relapse

Aye caramba.


Since there's been very little interest in this blog (and I mean purely comment wise) I decided to hold off blogging until Wrestlemania was over. But sadly, certain incidents in the wrestling business have forced me to vent frustrations. 


For once, I'm not gonna criticise the TNA booking process. We know it's shit, over with. I'd like to direct my bucket of rant towards a single "star" in the TNA locker room. 


Jeff "Problem, officer" Hardy was, for the so-manieth time, an unreliable piece of shit this past sunday at Victory Road. Now, truth be told, I didn't order the ppv, nor did I have any intention of watching it in the first place. Reading the results on monday and the news articles that had followed suit, I had to bring myself to watching the main event. Well, main event being somewhat of a stretch.


Jeff Hardy was, unsurprisingly, in no fit state to perform. As a result of what is currently unknown, and will probably remain that way. If anything, he wasn't really able to perform properly and in the 2 minutes the main event lasted, it showed. 


Now, what baffles me is the fact TNA officials did not take affirmative action. If Jeff Hardy shows up, unable to compete, you work out crisis scenarios. That seems like to logical thing to do, but TNA would rather drop him on tv, in front of paying customers and hope for the best. 


How can you defend something like that? Especially when he's facing a legend of the biz like Sting. That's truly unprofessional behaviour as far as I can assess to the situation. And not because it was Sting. It could've been anyone, because it was the main event of a pay per view and it was a world title bout. (Okay, in TNA, main event and world title practically always involves a big name past his prime.)


Sting was visibly upset, which I can imagine. Even when the fans started chanting "bullshit", he loudly exclaimed he agreed with them. That's classy.


Now, I will admit I anxiously kept one eye on the dirt sheets since that moment, hoping to see the "breaking news" of Hardy's dismissal. So far, zilch. Top star or not, this guy should've been fired. The sooner the better. It's not the first time he's pulled this shit, even in his first TNA run. Some learn from their mistakes, but apparently, TNA takes the stubborn approach.


There's something positive to be said about TNA though, because Bubba Ray is absolutely fantastic in his new heel gimmick. He has even lost weight. Kudos. Good booking, right? 


From past entries, you can definitely say I'm not the great defender of World Wrestling Entertainment, but it has dawned on me that the build up towards Mania is nearing perfection. You got the array of cameos from past stars (emphasis on cameo, TNA)  and you got the inevitable celebrities involved.


I won't defend the inclusion of Snooki, because as a wrestling fan, I died a little. But seriously, business-wise, it's a money maker for sure. One can argue about Snooki deserving to be popular, but we can all agree that she creates a certain buzz. I truly hope they don't have her do a backstage segment with Hornswoggle. It would be too easy. Leprechaun and Troll, that practically books itself.


It must be said, Snooki didn't come across as the complete tool she is on her reality show. She seemed to legitimately enjoy herself, and she even promoted WWE over twitter. That's definitely nice on her part.


In closing, the Hall of Fame inductees this year are shaping up nicely. Drew Carey is a bit of a strange choice though, considering those that haven't been inducted yet. If you remember, Drew Carey made a 10-minute appearance at the 2001 Royal Rumble as a contestant, offering money to Kane to leave him alone and subsequently eliminating himself. History, right?


Ah, there's always a negative point to find for either company, but that's part of the game. Just gotta make sure the negative don't outweight the positive. A new mindset for TNA, I reckon.




~D.