Hogan's return; Hall of Fame reinstatement

With Hulk Hogan recently signing a new deal with WWE, and his subsequent reinstatement to their Hall of Fame, we've been seeing quite a few discussions involving this. I personally feel that there are several good points to be made about the subject, as well.

Was bringing Hogan back a good thing? Was this a bad move? Should people "move on" and stop beating a dead horse? Is this even a "big deal"?

I'll admit that I've got mixed views on his return, so I'll try to go into some detail on that.

One perspective that's probably a no-brainer is Hogan's legacy. Yes, his legacy does involve him being a racist. I'll go into further detail on that during the course of this article. Right now, I want to discuss what he did as a performer. Hogan, quite simply, was WWE's top draw for many years. Even when you factor all the great talent the company had, Hogan was easily the top draw for the promotion.

Having so many talented people to work with made it easy for Hogan & WWE to keep things fresh. Put him against Roddy Piper? Paul Orndorff and Cowboy Bob Orton were worked into the feud. Problems with Bobby Heenan? Heenan had the revolving door of superstars coming & going from his stable....forcing Hogan to deal with a never ending source of problems. Randy Savage was constantly breathing down Hogan's neck, giving him many great matches over the years.

It was easy, at that time, to question if Hogan would survive. It was no wonder why people kept showing up, buying the merch, ordering the Pay-Per-Views, and so on. At a time when WWE was expanding into a major national promotion, Hogan was the biggest reason why Vince McMahon could afford to keep expanding.

His contribution to the business, as a whole, can't be questioned. I don't think many people would doubt that. He was one of the few people that could catch your attention and keep it.

As far as the racism is concerned, we shouldn't be surprised that it's still happening. If anything, I expect we'll be having problems with racism for a long time to come. Seems like every few weeks, we've got another example of people being cruel to each other. It could be stupid crap like being black in the "wrong" pool, grilling at a public park "without a permit", or selling bottled water without a permit.

There are too many examples to go through. There are probably examples that I haven't heard about yet (somehow).

Realistically speaking, this shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. I realize that Hogan made his controversial comments during a phone call that was recorded without his knowledge. Doesn't make his comments any less evil. I've heard the argument that Hogan likely wouldn't have made those comments had he known he was being recorded. If he was at a public event, many people seem to think he would've chose his words better.

Should that matter? Depends on the argument you're going to use. Those explaining Hogan's comments have mentioned that we all say stupid crap in private that we wouldn't say publicly. I'll acknowledge that point. I've said many stupid things over the years that I wouldn't normally say publicly.

Doesn't mean that any of my stupid comments in life should've been said. Same goes for Hogan or anyone else.

Now, for a point that should be mentioned. Since we've already brought up Hogan's racist comments, there are others points that should be discussed. WWE has a bad habit of selective memory. How many people forgot about Mike Tyson being in the Hall of Fame? How many people even realize Tyson is a convicted rapist?

If we're going to be upset about Hogan's comments (rightfully so), then we should start looking at Tyson's criminal record. I have to emphasis Tyson is a CONVICTED RAPIST!!! I'd consider that to be pretty freakin' horrible. I doubt anyone ever truly recovers from being raped. Some victims may learn how to live their lives as close to normal as possible.....if there is such a thing. It's not unusual for many victims to suffer so much from the crime, they end up committing suicide.

From what I understand, mental health issues like PTSD and depression are common problems for victims.

Yet, we have a rapist in the WWE Hall of Fame. How sad is that? Yet, we're still upset over racist comments.

You think that's bad? There's still more. We still have the allegations involving Jimmy Snuka, another Hall of Famer. This on, however, is a bit different then Mike Tyson or Hulk Hogan. The story involving Snuka involves him allegedly killing his then-girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.

For decades, he wasn't prosecuted due to a lack of evidence.....as the story goes. When prosecutors felt they could finally make a case, he was deemed too mentally ill to stand trial.

Legally, we'll never have the answers to his case. We'll have our suspicions, based off known evidence. That's about all we'll have is suspicions. Many people will argue that Snuka was never convicted, thus he's innocent. Speculation and actual convictions are two different things, so I'll leave it up to everyone else to make their own judgements.

Is this a case where we learn to forgive Hogan for his screw up? Do we use this as a learning experience?

For me, I think the way Titus O'Neal, Mark Henry, and New Day are all handling the situation are great examples for the rest of us. Their public statements have made it known that they're upset with Hogan while being professional about it. They're demonstrating that you can upset with someone without it interfering with business.

Seeing their public display of professionalism should be commended. It would very easy for them to go on huge tirades on social media. I wouldn't blame them for blowing a gasket, either. Yet, they've maintained their cool....at least in public. How they've reacted behind closed doors, I can only guess.

All the black performers should be applauded. I believe they're handling the situation far better then I could.

Roman Reigns: The Failed Experiment

I know I'm about to repeat what's been stated countless times before. I realize it's repetitive at this point, so I'll try to get to the point as quickly as I can.

For the last few years, WWE has been trying hard to push Roman Reigns as a face. Try as they may, fans have either grown to love him or they hate him with a passion. My perspective, the haters seem to out number the fans. The more I've seen Reigns, the harder it is for me to watch him.

Personally, I don't think this is Roman's fault. I don't want to take anything away from him. He busts his ass night in & night out. Unfortunately, busting your ass simply isn't always going to be good enough. Whether or not you want to talk about basketball, music, Television, the Big Screen or daily life of the average person, hard work simply isn't enough.

Some people, regardless of the industry they're in, always find ways of skating through. Some people manage to succeed because of politics. Some people can actually work hard and succeed at it. Wrestling is the same thing. There are times where busting your hump isn't enough.

For Roman, I don't have any doubts that he's working hard. You don't make it into a company like WWE if you are a lazy jerk. I suspect the problem lays elsewhere. This could probably be debated for years to come. Since I'm only looking at the problem from a fans' perspective, all I can give is a fans' perspective.

Based purely off my own vantage point, part of the problem is WWE trying to hard to make Roman the face of the company. It appears as though John Cena's time at the top has finally come to an end, for one reason or another, WWE wants Roman to be "the guy". This could be a simple case of trying too hard. How often does this happen in life where people try too hard to be well-liked by others, only ending up pissing everyone off in the process?

Happens far more then any of us could comprehend. I'd bet my bottom dollar this is one of the main problems with Roman, right now. WWE is just too desperate to make Roman so well loved by the fans, many fans have automatically rejected him. Same problem Cena had for many years. WWE tried too hard to get fans to love him.

With all the access fans have to wrestling, this sort of tactic doesn't work like it did 30-40 years ago. Back then, you could push wrestlers to the moon and get away with it because you didn't get to see them every week. If we did see certain wrestlers more often, there was only so much time on TV they could get as promoters needed to make every minute count.

There was no YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or other forms of social media to interact with wrestlers or watch them on.

Over-saturation is another problem for Roman. Tied in with WWE's efforts to get the fans to love Roman, fans are naturally going to boo him.

Here comes the problem. Fans want to boo him, regardless of what WWE wants them to do. Typically, this would be a chance to make a heel turn. Considering the investment WWE has in making Roman the top good guy, I don't imagine that happening anytime in the foreseeable future. Yet, this would be a great chance to do it.

WWE could still push Roman as a top tier wrestler. He'd easily be the top heel, automatically. Fans would easily want to see Roman's teeth kicked in on a nightly basis. There's only a few people that fans would readily accept as top faces. Because of this, Roman would easily viewed as a top ass kicker. Anyone that would take him on would automatically be cheered like the Second Coming of Christ....in a manner of speaking.

A simple heal turn would be a wise decision, in my humble opinion. I realize that the odds of this happening are pretty slim. I realize that WWE wants Roman as their top face, regardless of what I think. I'm fine with that.

If WWE wants to keep Roman as their top face, that's their choice. I doubt I'll ever agree with their choices 100%. Then, that's the nature of the beast.

the worst of wrestling.....part 1

KERWIN WHITE

Poor Chavo. For the life of me, I'll never understand why he got saddled with a character like this.

As a well established wrestler, as well as a member of the legendary Guerrero Family, WWE decided to repackage Chavo. Not like he needed a new gimmick, but WWE was hell bent on making it happen anyway.

What did they give Chavo? He was repackaged as a middle class yuppy who loved golf. He'd drive to the ring in a golf cart. Dolph Ziggler was his caddy before he became a male cheerleader, but that's for latter.

Take a few seconds to notice how Chavo had to dress. Yeah.....that's embarrassing.

And we were supposed to forget that his name was Chavo Guerrero. We were expected to call him Kerwin White. His catchphrase was "If it's note White, it's not Right."

If memory serves me right, his entrance theme was played by Frank Sinatra.

Kerwin was a completely stereotypical middle class, conservative character. This might've worked if it weren't for the fact that Chavo was already well established. He's talented. Chavo just didn't need a character like this.

MAN MOUNTAIN ROCK

Previously working in WCW as Maxx Payne, he would debut in the WWF somewhere in February 1995. All I recall of his time in the company was him :"playing" the guitar (shown in the above photo). 

According to his Wikipedia page, MMR was released in October of the same year. 

P.N. NEWS

Yo baby, yo baby, yo baby, yo!

That was the catchphrase to the current craptastic blunder known as P.N. News. A lowcard rapper in WCW, PN News debut on the May 11, 1991 episode of World Wide Wrestling. According to his Wikipedia page, he was modeled after P.M. Dawn. Don't ask.....I probably know less about P.M. Dawn then you do.

He had a brief feud with then WCW Television Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin. Unfortunately, he managed to injure Dave Sheldon (AKA Angel of Death) during a house show on June 21, 1992 after a botched Broken Record (top rope splash) on Sheldon's legs. This injury would put Sheldon out of action for the better part of a year.

P.N. News made sporadic appearances on TV after this before finally being released.

I've heard he currently wrestles in Europe under the name Cannonball Grizzly.

He's also the cousin to Mike Halac, who's better remembered as Mantaur in WWE. I'll go into detail about that later.

ABE "KNUCKLEBALL" SCHWARTZ

Steve Lombardi will be known for playing a wide variety of characters during his time in wrestling. His most well known being the Brooklyn Brawler, which I hope to get to eventually.

In this case, he briefly played the part of Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz during 1994. At this time, Major League Baseball would eventually have a player strike, which would inspire the character. Abe would be a revamped version of a character known as MVP......not to be confused for Montel Vontavious Porter.

His theme would be a variation of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".

ARACHNAMAN

I don't recall if this started in late 1991 or early 1992. What I recall is that Arachnaman was WCW's version of Spider-Man. The differences between the characters were minimal, such as the color of the costumes.

The character didn't last long as Marvel Comics threatened legal action against WCW.

Played by Brad Armstrong, Arachnaman wouldn't be the first bad gimmick he'd be saddled with. Even worse, this was far from the last (or worst) gimmick he'd be stuck with. For whatever reasons I'll never understand, Brad Armstrong was constantly stuck with lousy gimmick after lousy gimmick. He really should've been given more money for being saddled with so much crap.


More to come in later posts.

Commentary: Daniel Bryan

On a recent episode of Smackdown Live, Daniel Bryan confirmed rumor that he had recently that he was finally cleared to compete again. For 2 years, there had been doubts by many people that he'd ever be able to get in the ring again. If he did, it was speculated that it would be back in the indies. After all this time, many fans (including me) will get to see him compete in a WWE ring.

How soon that happens is currently unknown. Who his first opponent will be can only be speculated on, at the moment. What is known is that his return will happen, barring any surprises.

(Daniel Bryan as United States Champion)

As of now, it looks as though Daniel Bryan will initially feud with Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens. There's still the option of feuding with Shane McMahon, as well. I haven't kept up on the storylines very well, as of late. I don't know if I'm right on those possibilities.

Considering the nature of his prior health issues, he's only going to have a few good years left.....realistically speaking. His body will only be able to handle so much abuse before retirement is permanent.

With that said, he needs to make the most of his time. If that means going straight for the WWE Title, then so be it. Depending on how confident WWE and/or Bryan is, he could start off chasing the United States Title. Considering Randy Orton is currently the US Champ, WWE may choose to give the title more credibility by having Bryan win it (again). 

Hopefully, he can do better then job any titles in a 8 second match or avoid retiring shortly after winning any championships. Outside of a couple crappy situations, D. Bryan still has a lot to be proud of. He's accomplished quite a bit during his career. Below is a partial list of his accomplishments.

• WWE Championship (3X)
• World Heavyweight Title (WWE) (1X)
• WWE Intercontinental Title (1X)
• WWE United States Title (1X)
• WWE Tag Team Titles (1X) w/Kane
• Money in the Bank Winner (Smackdown brand 2011)
• 26th Triple Crown Winner
• 6th Grand Slam Champion (current format)
• ROH Champion
• ROH Pure Champion

(Daniel Bryan as World Heavyweight Champion)

Now that he's safe enough to compete, I'm interested to know what's next for Daniel. What is he capable of still doing? I suppose time will tell.

too many titles?

It's been recently announced that NXT is going to introduce a secondary title, which is to be introduced at the TakeOver event during WrestleMania weekend. The title is going to be the North American Title. If I've heard this right, it'll be determined in a 6-man ladder match.

After the WrestleMania weekend, the 205 Live brand is expected to introduce Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles. Last time I saw this was in WCW during their dying days.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out if adding more titles is a brilliant idea or simply overkill. Honestly, I feel these decisions could go either way. There are pros and cons to this.

The pros?

NXT currently has the a heavyweight title, tag team titles, and a woman's title. A secondary title could be beneficial for those who aren't in a tag team, not a female, or for those who simply aren't ready for the heavyweight title. Secondary titles do give wrestlers something to shoot for that aren't involved in the top title. Many wrestlers have benefitted from holding secondary titles over the years. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Triple H & many others often held titles like the Intercontinental Title long before holding the WWE title.

Secondary titles do help promotions to groom wrestlers to eventually become top stars. Adding the North American title to NXT could be helpful when it comes to grooming people in NXT.

Plus, you can only have so many people involved with the NXT title at any given time. You only want your best people fighting for the title. For those that should have a title but aren't ready for the heavyweight title, a secondary title would be something for them to fight for.

In 205 Live, I'm not so sure about adding tag team titles. How many people does the brand have on the roster? 16?  How many of those people are in a team?

Honestly, I haven't kept up with a lot of WWE programming as of late, so I'm not entirely sure how many cruiserweights they have under contract. Depending on how many cruiserweights they're working with, adding tag team titles for the division could be pulled off.

Personally, I wouldn't make the cruiserweight title or their tag team titles exclusive to the 205 Live brand. I would allow the titles to be defended on Raw AND Smackdown Live. Again, I haven't paid much attention to WWE as of late, so I don't know if they're still on Raw or not. Not even sure if they get any time on Smackdown.

To be honest, I would even allow the titles to be defended on NXT as well.

If WWE is still planning on doing a brand specific to the United Kingdom, perhaps the cruiserweight & tag titles could be defended on the UK show as well. This would give the titles more challengers. At the same time, fans would have another reason to watch the show.

Speaking of a UK brand, I don't know if WWE is still considering a brand for the UK. They still have the United Kingdom Championship. It's been defended in NXT, treated like a secondary title, as well as independent promotions in the United Kingdom.

Is this something WWE is still planning or working on? Maybe I should just get off my ass and try to find out sometime.

While more titles could be beneficial, there are also downsides to this.

As an example, WWE does have a lot of titles already. Let's break it down a bit.

RAW:
Universal Title
Intercontinental
Tag Team
Women's

SMACKDOWN:
WWE Title
United States
Tag Team
Women's

NXT:
NXT Title
WWE United Kingdom Title
Tag Team
Women's

205 Live:
WWE Cruiserweight Title

In the different brands, we've got 13 championships already being defended. 13 different titles to build storylines around. 13 titles that you need to keep a fresh supply of challengers for.

My concern is that WWE is going to devalue it's titles by adding more. I feel there's too much saturation as it is. Like it or not, but fans have a short attention span as it is. If fans have too much to try and remember, this could hurt the product if they have too much to think about.

I hope WWE can make this work. With WWE branching out, perhaps having more titles is a necessity. We'll see.

WWE: Bringing back the territories?

The following idea is going to fall under the category of fantasy, partially filled with reminiscing about he “good ol’ days”. Whatever.

Since WWE is the clear and undisputed king of wrestling/sports entertainment (whatever terminology you prefer to use), they have an impressive influence on everyone else. At least, this is going to be true in North America. For most wrestlers, I would suspect a large majority of them would like to get into WWE at some point in their career.

After all, WWE is one of the few places you can go to anymore and make some serious bank. Closest alternative would be what? NJPW? That’s the first place I think of when it comes to serious competition. Considering that most of NJPW’s fan base is Japanese or “smart marks”, WWE hardly has anything to worry about.

The casual fan might be familiar with NJPW, but how many of them are buying DVDs, merch, or paying for any pay-per-views? NJPW is going to have a fan base that likely wants an alternative to WWE.

With that mentioned, I think WWE could find a way of catching the attention of fans who crave something different and potentially make money off of it. My idea? Simply put, I think it could be beneficial if they ran a territory system, much like the NWA of old.

Since most people are tech savvy, I won’t waste anyone’s time rehashing things about the old territory system. What I want to suggest is that WWE try to develop it’s own territory system, of sorts. I don’t want it to be confused with a developmental system, such as NXT. This would work in conjunction with NXT.

Allow me to explain.

Currently, WWE uses NXT to help develop wrestlers prior to joining the main roster. While a few people have been able to go straight to the main roster, most of them end up in NXT first. From my perspective, NXT is looking more like a third brand due to its increasing popularity as well as its exposure on the WWE Network.

Since NXT has been gaining more and more popularity over time, perhaps this would be a good time to capitalize on this by expanding business. I’d like to start by suggesting WWE use some of the trademarks they already own. Since WWE already has the intellectual property from WCW, ECW, and AWA (WCCW as well?), this would be the first area I’d start in.

What WWE could do is work these territories like promoters would do in the old days. Shows could be run in different towns in certain areas. The AWA, for example, could be run in places like Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Shows would be run in communities that wouldn’t otherwise get Raw, Smackdown or NXT. Any tapings could be held at smaller venues, much like many territories did back then….or as many Indys do now.  

Occasionally, larger show could be held at larger venues. I wouldn’t necessarily go with venues that are freakin’ huge, not like MSG or anything like that. Maybe a college campus with a mid-sized gym would be one possible idea. Anything like a civic center or small stadium would be sufficient.

If WWE doesn’t want to use up space on The Network, have small tapings to be aired on YouTube. They could be 45-60 minute shows airing once a week. If any of the wrestlers are marketable enough, merch could be sold. I’d wouldn’t clutter up WWE’s website with merch from the smaller territories, as that should be used for the main roster, IMO.

While I’m at it, I would even add shows, similar to you’d see on Superstars or Prime Time Wrestling used to do. Have a few segments to hype storylines, interview segments and other such stuff. Maybe have a match or two taped during different house shows that could be aired on shows like this.

Any of the larger events would have DVD sales available, much like WWE pay-per-views.

I would even do random DVD sales, much like the old Coliseum Home Videos. They could be on the same line as the straight to DVD movies. Perhaps some of the best matches from the YouTube/Network tapings could be used or best matches from various house shows.

I’d bring in wrestlers that WWE that could be groomed for advancement to NXT or the main roster. This would be a testing grounds to see what talents could be groomed at a slower pace. Personally, I’d like to see wrestlers have more time to hone their talents longer before being hurried to the main roster. In the “good old days”, wrestlers often had more time to gain experience before making it on a larger stage. If done again, this would be a good way of helping the younger wrestlers to have that same opportunity.

Instead of having people learn how to be spot monkeys, they could develop more psychology, chain wrestling, and so on. Since different wrestlers would have different styles, that could be developed properly as well. If you have guys that are brawlers, as an example, they could better develop brawling skills.

I’d make sure many shows are held in front of smaller crowds. Do this in markets that’s typically not visited by companies like WWE, TNA, ROH or other large promoters. When fans realize that the territories are owned & operated by WWE, this could be good pr for them. They’ll realize, hopefully, that WWE is trying to bring more wrestling to fans who might not otherwise get regular shows in their town.

This would allow WWE to also invest in the future of the business, giving people opportunities that they might now otherwise get. Plus, if anyone on the main roster is injured or needs a lighter schedule (for any possible reason), there would be more people that could be called up.

At the same time, if any wrestler wants a lighter, easier schedule, they could go to one of the territories. If used in one of the territories, they could bring instant cred to that territory. Some of the more experienced wrestlers could even be used as trainers for the younger wrestlers.

If any of the talent is coming back from a major injury, they could work off any ring rust in a smaller environment. It would also give fans more incentive to go to the smaller shows, as well. This could even be an opportunity for wrestlers who have nothing going on as part of the main roster. Instead of not getting any TV time, they could be moved to one of the territories. Again, this would be a major selling point for fans to buy tickets to the events.

Each territory would have it’s own set of titles. There would be the Heavyweight title, a secondary title of some sort, maybe a Cruiserweight title, tag team titles, and a woman’s title.

At the very least, I’d bring back certain promotions, starting off with the AWA, WCCW (assuming WWE has the appropriate trademarks), WCW, and ECW. Each territory would have it’s own style of doing things. ECW, for example, could be a faster paced territory where athleticism can be displayed far more readily. Due to the dangers of the extreme-style they used to have, I would back off stuff like that. WCW could incorporate family friendly shows that displays more storytelling without the goofiness that WCW frequently had. With a company like the old AWA, I would want to avoid the insanely boring style that the original AWA had.

A few territories could be spread out in different parts of the country. Developing wrestlers to potentially make it to the main roster would be the ultimate goal. This could be used as another source of revenue for WWE, as well. Even if the performers don’t make it to the main roster, if this gives them a better shot at making it big elsewhere, that would also be great.

The big downside? It would over saturate many markets, making it harder for smaller promoters to compete. Since this is only a fantasy scenario, it doesn’t really matter.

Enzo accused of rape

Unless you've been living under a rock during the last few days, you (most likely) would've heard about Enzo Amore being accused of rape. His accuser came out on Twitter, I think it was on Sunday. As of today (Tuesday), Enzo has already been fired from WWE.

From my understanding of this, thus far, Enzo failed to report to the company that he was being investigated. Sucks that Enzo had to lose his job under circumstances like this. At the same time, I can see WWE's perspective. An accusation like this is bad PR. Just look at the stuff that's happened to Bill Cosby, the former Subway spokesman, and others.

On top of that, the accuser has a history of lying already. This certainly doesn't help her case any. I realize that her past doesn't make her a liar in this situation. She could be telling the truth as far as I know. I'm just saying that her history is going to work against her.

If the accusations are true, this could do a lot of damage to Enzo's career. I say "could" because different factors could come into play. I can only speculate as to what those factors could be. If the accusations are false, Enzo's accuser is going to see a serious backlash.....I would think. 

If the accusations are false, Enzo could potentially turn this to an advantage. He could use this to help make himself either one hell of a huge face or go full blast heel, claiming that he's the Teflon-man.

If Enzo is guilty of this, then he needs to do some major prison time. That's only working off the thought that he's guilty. I don't want to rush to judgement on this. It's way too early to figure out if who's telling the truth.

All we can do is wait & see.

Ultimate Royal Rumble

Since January 1988, the Royal Rumble has been a major part of WWE programming. There have been several big names to participate in, and win, the Rumble match. Some years, the match is rather predictable. Other years, any number of people could actually win.

It got me to thinking who I'd put into a match like this. For this particular example, I'm going to use as many major names as I can think of. The only rule? I'm going with the standard 30-man rule. Everything else can be whomever I want to add.  

1. Hulk Hogan
2. The Rock
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin
4. Bret Hart
5. Triple H
6. John Cena
7. Randy Orton
8. Ric Flair
9. Lex Luger
10. Sting
11. Booker T
12. Undertaker
13. Chris Jericho
14. Lex Luger
15. Sting
16. Randy Savage
17. Ricky Steamboat
18. Edge
19. Kurt Angle
20. Brock Lesnar
21. Goldberg
22. Shawn Michaels
23. Batista
24. Eddie Guerrero
25. AJ Styles
26. Dusty Rhodes
27. Scott Hall
28. Kevin Nash
29. Rick Rude
30. Sid Vicious

If you could book a Royal Rumble match with anyone, past or present, alive or dead, who would you use?

The Rock, the most entertaining superstar in sports entertainment?

The Great One.

The People’s Champ.

The Most Electrifying Superstar in All Sports Entertainment.

The Brahma Bull.

Hearing those nicknames brings up so many memories. Memories, I must add, of a bygone era. I was a young adult when The Rock burst into the limelight. To say it wasn’t pretty would be a massive understatement. The Rock, then known as Rocky Maivia, was poorly received by wrestling fans. He was so poorly received, I’m not sure I can adequately describe it. Some people might use the term “X-Pac Heat” to describe this.

Now that I think of it, the heat Rocky was getting was a combination of a few styles of heat. In the old days, there’d be fans that would go so far as trying to actually harm certain heels. This would involve putting bleach into water bottles and try to squirt that bleach into a heel’s eyes. In some cases, it would involve trying to actually stab the heels.

While I’m not aware of anyone trying this with Rocky, there was a lot of hatred towards him. Fans looked as though they really wanted to beat the holy fuck out of Rocky personally. It’s not like he even did anything wrong, considering he was a face.

Perhaps it was the changing attitudes of the fans. There were a lot of fans, at that time, that grew up with the take your vitamins and say your prayers during Hulkamania. Many of these same fans grew up in a time when Network executives wouldn’t allow certain programs to air unless it met certain guidelines. As examples, I grew up on shows like He-Man & the Masters of the Universe, Thundcats, Voltron and many other cartoons.

While other countries, such as Japan, you could actually have characters killed off in cartoons, American cartoons were far more limited on what they could show. Even shows like Married….with Children was considered a game changer and the show didn’t debut until several years later.

If memory serves me right, the only physical “violence” many of these cartoons could show violence IF it involved an inanimate object. If you destroyed something like a robot, nobody cared. If a character had to fight a living, breathing character, the violence had to be toned down considerably.

Many wrestling fans of the era grew up with that form of mentality, despite having the knowledge that the world isn’t always a nice place to live in. At that time, we, as young kids, understood that sometimes, good people end up being screwed over for no good reason whatsoever, that evil people win far more frequently then anyone likes to admit to. We grew up realizing that reality can really fucking suck.

I suppose many of us grew up as variations of Al Bundy, in a way. We realized that hard work doesn’t always mean shit. We grew up realizing that sometimes, you have to do shit that you don’t always like doing. When we continued seeing the old, worn out characters that preached about doing the right thing and everything would work out.

By the time Rocky came around, the younger generation was admitting to things that the older generation, as a whole, didn’t necessarily want to admit to…..that life isn’t as black & white, right or wrong, good or evil.

I was lucky that my old man understood the mentality, understanding why my generation would rather flip off our boss, kicking them in the crotch while telling them to “suck it”. Probably helped that he knew those urges a bit too well, himself.

So, when people like Vince McMahon felt it necessary to keep using the same tired themes of shaking hands, kissing babies and being a real gentleman/lady, fans were embracing things like the gangland beat downs the n.W.o. were giving to their rivals.

When fans first saw guys like Steve Austin in ECW, fans could certain relate with his anger towards his previous bosses in WCW. When the Stone Cold character eventually developed in WWE, the beer swilling, foul-mouthed, beer drinking, disrespecting persona was something people could grasp very easily.

Even now, I’m sure most people have bosses that they’d like to flip the bird to before dropping them like a bad habit. Even at 40, I still want to do that to people. Why? Because it would be far more satisfying then working for the evil shithead bosses.

When Rocky came around, fans were making a drastic change from family friendly to a more cynical viewpoint. Nobody wanted to hear how you just have to work hard. Nobody wanted to hear that you just have to keep trying. People were tired of hearing about turning lemons into lemonade or life is what you make it. As far as most people were concerned, at that time, it was all about knowing the right people. It as all about taking any opportunity you could. If it meant fucking your way to the top, so be it. Step on a few feet? Fuck them.

Wasn’t until WWE allowed Rock to finally cut loose and stop being the uber nice guy that his career truly took off. Allowing him to finally show a meaner, crueler personality made one hell of a difference. During this time, as a show of confidence, Rock getting to lead the Nation of Domination and getting rid of Faarooq greatly helped. I doubt Rock would’ve gotten as far as he had, at least not so quickly, if he hadn’t been allowed to lead the nation.

Then again, most people could probably argue that if you’re going to put anyone into a prominent role, you have to build them up. If that mean putting on a secondary title on that person, so be it. In a few cases, giving a stable for a wrestler to lead is a big damn deal. Not always, though. One or two solid rivals typically helps.

Rock had the right combination of people working with him in the Nation at the right time. Six months sooner or later and there’s no guarantee that Rock would’ve succeeded as the leader.

One major point that always needs to be mentioned is having the right rivals to face, as well. Facing off with D-X and Steve Austin was easily the best choice of rivals for The Rock, and the Nation to a lesser degree. Most of the people in this scenario were wrestlers that seriously needed the exposure. If you think of it, guys like Rock & Triple H were reasonably young yet. Looking good in a feud like this would really help to solidify their careers.

X-Pac & Steve Austin were performers that had been around awhile. Looking good could make the difference in how far they would be pushed. For years, X-Pac managed to gain a solid mid-card push while Ausin, much like Triple H & Rock, would become multiple time champs. While I’m thinking of it, Mark Henry got a bit of a screwjob out of the ordeal. He should’ve had a few title reigns in there. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking IC Champ, maybe a couple times as tag champ. Maybe a few times with the European Title.

Anywho, when Rock was given liberty to be the loud-mouth, smack talking, insulting jerk, only then did he get to show what he was capable of. Can you imagine how WWE would’ve looked if The Rock never had that chance to succeed? Even Hollywood would’ve been a different place, as well…..to one degree or another.

Without the freedom on the mic, we never would’ve had many of the classic insults with Jonathon Coachman or Kevin Kelly, the later of which I believe was even referred to as an ugly hermaphrodite. That’s something we won’t get to see happen again……not anytime in the near future. Whether you have some of the DVDs with The Rock, old PPVs, have a subscription of the WWE Network, or just want to watch YouTube, re-watching the Rock’s promos/segments with Kevin Kelly, The Coach, even with Lillian Garcia are absolutely entertaining.

Watching him go off on other wrestlers was just as entertaining. Mick Foley seemed to be one of those guys Rock could work with. Never mattered if they worked together as a team or as rivals, they managed to bring the best out of each other. As rivals, they’d have some pretty brutal matches. Even though Foley couldn’t do as much as he used to, he managed to take…..and dish out……some pretty hellacious beatings. This would include the Halftime Heat episode where Mankind’s head would be put into a hot oven. Other scenarios would include beating Foley in an “I Quit” match with some pretty insane chair shot, as well as a Last Man Standing match, which I believe occurred at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Granted, the ending of the match was viewed as bullshit, but that’s not really the point.

If there is a point, I suppose it’s the idea that Rock could go to Hell and back with just about anyone and manage. No matter how many times he faced guys like Triple H, Austin, Undertaker, Big Show or anyone else, for that matter….Rock could have an entertaining match and/or feud with a wide range of people. He could just as easily work with those same people as a duo/group.

When working with Foley, Rock easily showed just how entertaining he could be. The “The is Your Life” segment is still credited as the highest rated segment in WWE history. Not sure if this is a WWE claimed stat or if it can be backed up independently. For this discussion, I’ll trust that it can backed up.

When you can have such a goofy segment bring in huge ratings, it says a lot about the people you’ve got putting on that segment. It’s been proven time and again that you can’t just put anyone into a roll or a situation and just expect it to succeed. You have to have the “IT” Factor to pull certain things off. Foley and Rock…..holy shit…….it’s really amazing how they could work together so damn well.

While I’m at it, their time as the Rock & Sock Connection, albeit short, made for several great matches, which included the New Age Outlaws, as well as Undertaker & Big Show.

Another person that Rock seemed to work well with is Chris Jericho. Not many people were capable of going word for word with The Rock. Both men seemed equally adept at being smart asses. Similar to Foley, Jericho could work wonders with The Rock, both as an ally and as an enemy. Matches weren’t nearly as violent, but still highly entertaining. Never seemed to matter how often they met in the ring. It never got old.

I could make the same point for Steve Austin and Triple H. Rock couldn’t seem to lose when it came to either of these men.

Generally speaking, The Rock could work well with so many people. He managed to even have popular segments with Jonathon Coachman and Kevin Kelly. Though, it’s not likely you’ll catch anyone in WWE calling others a hermaphrodite on TV anytime in the foreseeable future.

When I think of it, as great as Rock was, it’s not likely that his old routine would work in the current product. The day where you can call someone a hermie, tell them to “Suck It!” while making gestures at your crotch, drink beer (spilling most of it), among other things is long over. Whether or not it’s good or bad is really up to the reader.

What I can say is that I’ll enjoy the memories, no matter what.

Hulk Hogan (opinions)

I realize Hogan has many flaws, including a racist comment several years ago about his daughter dating black dudes. I know there are plenty of reasons for knocking the guy. I can’t disagree with the reasons for hating the man. I truly can’t.

Yet, he still manages to be a favorite of mine. Probably will be one of my all-time favorites, no matter how old I am. No matter how flawed certain people are, all of us still manage to have fond memories of certain people. Hogan is one of those guys that I have a hard time hating on too much.

Perhaps it’s all those memories I’ve built up, over the years. Maybe I realize that we all screw up hard and try my damnedest to judge him too harshly.

As far as entertainers are concerned, he was huge at a time when wrestling didn’t have nearly the TV time that it has now. Since the internet wasn’t exactly available, we didn’t exactly get to see guys like Hogan on TV on a never-ending cycle. Made it a lot easier to hide his in-ring flaws.

Personally, I feel WWE officials were a lot smarter back then. They used people as agents, bookers, and whatnot to help develop their talent in such a way that they could look good on television.

Hogan was no different. He was pushed in such a away where his strong points were emphasized. Quite simply, Hogan had a certain charisma. Kids seemed to love him. When kids love certain performers, promotions are foolish to not take advantage of that. WWE was no different. You need younger fans, those less jaded, to help sell tickets. When younger fans want to go to a show, the parents buy tickets for the kids, themselves, maybe bring along a few friends. It could be a parent and the interested child. Maybe it’s the whole family.

Either way, you’ve got several people going to the event. Merchandise is bought at the event. A buddy of mine from Middle School used to get all the Pay-Per-Views, back in the day. This was when the major companies only had 4-5 major shows a year. Didn’t matter if we were talking WWE or NWA/WCW. Dude use to get them all.

Stuff like this was huge. Took guys like Hogan to keep drawing in the revenue.

Somehow, he managed to do it. Even as a kid, we knew it was the same, worn out, tired shtick. Said the same thing when he was on TV. His matches followed the same format. I suppose it was forgivable, considering the generation. Hogan had so many talented opponents, all of whom seemed more then capable of working an entertaining feud, nobody seemed to care all that much.

Wasn’t until a few years into the 90’s when anyone gave a damn. Wrestling was gaining more exposure on TV. We had a fresh crop of talent available to us. Tastes were changing. While the business was slowly changing, beginning with the New Generation, guys like Hogan were still operating under the old ways of doing business.

Took the formation of the New World Order to give Hogan a fresh image, something that allowed fans to look at him in a new light. If you didn’t grow up in this generation, you can’t completely understand how big of a deal this was. Personally, I feel this kept Hogan’s career alive. There’s a strong possibility that Hogan’s career would’ve ended in the mid-90’s if he failed to change with the business.

Hogan’s ability to change with the business was probably his biggest asset. Playing politics, no matter your line of work, is always a high priority. I don’t care if you clean toilets for a living. If you have the ability to play ball convincingly, you’ll always be poised to get the best returns for your investment, in a manner of speaking. That’s what kept Hogan going for so many years.

Sure, he had the look. He had the gift to gab. He could keep your attention when you’d otherwise stop caring. Hogan had the ability to make you believe he was in deep crap, during his matches. Each match could be the match where some monster heel, such as King Kong Bundy or Andre the Giant, would take him down. When he face a technically sound opponent, he had a way of making them look strong as well, despite the size advantage he had over them.

We don’t get that like we used to. Perhaps one day, we’ll go back to the basics. Perhaps we’ll return to the days where you had to convince the fans that shit has gotten real.

Lance Storm & Christian

Why was Christian in possession of the Women's Title?

The 4x4s

Spotlight: Hulk Hogan

NOTE: This won't be a full biography. This is merely intended as a partial look at Hogan's career.

Alias:

Hollywood Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan

Mr. America

Sterling Golden

Terry Boulder

The Super Destroyer

Thunder Lips (Rocky III)

Nicknames:
Hollywood
The Fabulous
The Incredible
The Immortal
The Hulkster
The Unstoppable Force

Billed Height: 6' 8"

Billed Weight: 303 lbs.

Billed from: Hollywood, CA (as Hollywood Hogan), Venice Beach, CA (as Hulk Hogan), Washington DC (as Mr. America)

Trained by: Hiro Matsuda

Debut: 1977

Promotions worked for:
AWA
WWF
WCW
TNA
NJPW

Finishing Move:
Atomic Legdrop

Managers:
Lou Albano
Freddie Blassie
Miss Elizabeth
Jimmy Hart
Johnny Valiant

Championships/Awards:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion (x6)
WWE Tag Team Championship (x1) (w/Edge)
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (x6)
Royal Rumble Winner (1990, 1991)

Notable Feuds:
Roddy Piper
Bobby Heenan
King Kong Bundy
Paul Orndorff
Andre the Giant
Big Boss Man
Ted DiBiase
Slick
Randy Savage
Earthquake
Sid Vicious
Zeus
Mr. Delete repeated word
Sgt. Slaughter
Yokozuna
Ric Flair
Dungeon of Doom
The Giant
Arn Anderson
Lex Luger
Sting
Ultimate Warrior
Goldberg
Diamond Dallas Page
Kevin Sullivan

Clash of Champions thoughts + more

I know I'm a bit late on this, but I've got a few thoughts regarding Clash of Champions. I mostly want to cover a few major points.


Tag Team Title Match. Once again, New Day managed to retain the titles. This time, Xavier had to use a trombone to help the team win. I seriously expect heels to do stuff like this, but a face team? When I see a face team struggle to keep their titles like this, it really makes them look desperate. I think it would look better if a team like Anderson & Gallows to just get the win, forcing New Day to chase the titles.

I'm seriously bored with New Day as champions. I mentioned this previously and it's worth repeating. I realize WWE is hyping New Day with a record breaking title reign. Trust me, I get it. I'm just not thrilled with how WWE is building this record. If they want to build New Day up as such a dominate team, don't make them into such a joke.

When Demolition was building their record, they were allowed to actually kick ass. I can't remember if they were faces or heels at that time. Not sure if that's relevant to this point. They didn't have to be ridiculous. Even as faces, they were allowed to be ass kickers.

New Day, during most of the groups history, has been a bunch of goof offs. I know that's normal, but most goof offs typically don't have long title reigns. That's usually because they're used as comedians and not serious wrestlers. To me, this makes the titles look weak when comedian wrestlers are allowed to be champions too long.

They're capable of doing more then just being comedians. Allow them to show what they're capable of doing without goofing off so much. Even wrestlers like Edge & Christian were allowed to develop into serious wrestlers.

Anderson & Gallows would be a serious change of pace as tag team champions.

This brings me to another concern. What the hell was the point of a best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus if it's going to end up tied? I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, logic would be used. The first point that would've been obvious would've been book a rematch, only this time we must have a winner. It could've involved a cage match. Could've been a Last Man Standing match. Book a Submission match, as far as I'm concerned. A match could've been booked where one of these guys had to fucking win.

Nope. Couldn't get that. A suitable 2nd choice would've been a triple threat match for the Universal title. If booked right, this would've been acceptable. It could've been booked as simply as Foley or Stephanie telling Sheamus & Cesaro that they're being viewed as equals because of how badly they've been beating each other up. Since they're viewed as equals, they both get a shot at the Universal title.


Nope, couldn't get that.

What do we get instead? WWE uses the crap of "we promised they'd get A title shot, but didn't state which title they'd challenge for" bullshit. Since we didn't specify what title you'd challenge for, we're going to make arch rivals team up to challenge for the tag team titles, but only if they seriously want their title shot.

Yeah, like that hasn't been beaten to death over the years. Sadly, this is how I expect New Day to drop the titles. Make them drop the titles to a mix & match team where both wrestlers hate each others' guts. Then, just to make a point, they'll somehow keep the titles a few months, forcing them to work together for awhile.

Next.....I'm cool with Charlotte being the champion. Basic logic seems to apply here. Her challengers look strong going into the title matches. When the big match happens, she finds a way of retaining the title. They manage to do so while still allowing Charlotte to look credible. WWE seems to have the Charlotte booked in a fashion where she cheats, but still allow her to show off her talents. Nice balance, so far, IMO.

I also have to ask why Roman Reigns was allowed to leave Clash of Champions as new United States Champion. Considering how he's been booked, I thought it would've made sense for Rusev to remain champion, even if it was through hook & crook. When a face dominates this much going into a major title match, it makes sense to have the heel somehow leave as champion. Allow for the heel champ to pull off a few big matches where he squirms out as the champion, only for the face to finally get his ultimate revenge.

Perhaps WWE will surprise me. I hope so. I doubt it, but I'm hoping they manage to find a way of surprising me.

Looks like WWE is serious about having Roman as a midcarder for awhile, which I'll happily live with. When fans are ready to accept him as a main eventer, then push him back to the top. WWE has more room for top stars with a roster split. Roman will have his shot at the main event again, with the right grooming.


Finally, it doesn't surprise me that Kevin Owens is still Universal Champion. I was expecting Triple H to interfere at one point. Then again, Jericho's interference wasn't a surprise either. From what I caught on Raw, earlier, I think a Jericho/Owens feud will be inevitable. We've seen this before. Two close "buddies", one of which is a champion. The wrestler without the title becomes jealous. Jericho did make the comment along the lines "we're the champ"....something along those lines.

I suspect this will build into Jericho being jealous. Maybe Owens becomes ticked off with Jericho trying to steal his thunder. We'll likely see things involving Jericho believing he's really the champ and whatnot. There are several options WWE could probably go with.

If a feud eventually happens like I suspect, this could be entertaining. Jericho & Owens are both entertaining wrestlers. I feel they could put on a great series of matches, if allowed to.

Thoughts? Comments?

Clash of Champions predictions

With Clash of Champions happening on Sunday, I'm going to try and predict the winners.



Pre-Show:
Nia Jax defeats Alicia Fox easily in a short match.

Main Card:
Sami Zayn defeats Chris Jericho

Cruiserweight Title Match: T.J. Perkins(c) retains against Brian Kendrick

Cesaro defeats Sheamus.

Raw Tag Team Title Match: Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson defeat The New Day(c) to become new champions.

Raw Women's Title Match/Triple Threat: Bayley defeats Sasha Banks and Charlotte(c) by pinning Sasha to become the new champion.

United States Title Match: Rusev(c) defeats Roman Reigns to retain the title.

Universal Title Match: Kevin Owens(c) defeats Seth Rollins to retain the title, likely with help from Triple H.

thoughts on current WWE product

Over the last couple of years, I've been making an attempt to get back into wrestling. Since I don't have access to TNA on TV anymore, I'm going to limit myself to WWE at the moment. When I  get the odd indy show coming to town, I'll make sure to be excited about that.

Until then, here's how I'm feeling about a variety of topics.

The New Day:
I've generally become bored of the trio, as of late. Nothing against them. The group has made me give a shit about Big E. Xavier & Kofi can usually have good matches, as far as I'm concerned. Where I'm having problems is that their routine has become stale. It's the same stuff day in and day out.

Not really keen on their bumpin' & grindin' when they mention that they're WWE World Tag Team Champions. When Xavier states that, it's really the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard for me.

Plus, no matter how many "threats" come their way, New Day keeps coming back time after time. It's as though they've become the John Cena of the tag team division. Every team they've faced, as of late, inevitably turns into a joke. Hopefully now with Gallows & Anderson taking them on, that will change.

I understand WWE is building up New Days' record breaking title reign. I just ask they make some of the opponents a bit more threatening to the group.

I'm still trying to figure out the bit with the unicorn horns. Damned things look like dildos. Seriously, whenever I see New Day wearing the unicorn horns, it looks more like dildos then horns.

KEVIN OWENS:
I have to admit that I'm happy about WWE putting the Universal Title on Owens. I was surprised that he became the champion as I was expecting it to go on Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns, the latter I'll discuss later. Putting the strap on Owens was inevitable. It was simply a matter of time before he'd get a main event title (WWE or Universal titles).

How long this reign lasts will depend on a few key factors, usually the obvious points like merch sales, TV ratings and whatnot. With football season upon us, the ratings are going to take a hit for awhile. Hope this doesn't get WWE to cut Owens' reign short.

Then again, I can't imagine WWE cutting his reign short quite yet. It would make his build up a huge waste of time.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:
A recent trend I've been noticing is that WWE is bringing up a wrestlers success from outside WWE, as of late. Currently, it's small tidbits here and there, usually whenever someone is coming onto the main roster. I noticed it with Styles, Anderson & Gallows originally with their time in Japan.

I can't recall, off-hand, the other wrestlers they've done this for. It's usually quick little bits of information, usually involving the Indies that are no threat to WWE. Perhaps this trend will continue. After all, most wrestling fans are capable of looking this information up anyway.

Bo Dallas has gotten a few tweaks to his character, lately. Since I don't watch WWE every week, I mainly noticed this after he got into shit a few weeks back while drunk. Bo's showing a more aggressive streak. The goofiness he had previously was holding him back. Perhaps this new mean streak will mean a serious push for Bo.

Nice to have a cruiserweight division again. If this goes well, perhaps WWE will expand on it by adding a cruiserweight division for Smackdown. Depending on this works out, a separate 1-hour show on the Network could be an option.

We'll see.

While we're on the topic of divisions, it's about time WWE is taking the tag team division seriously again. They've been building on their tag team ranks quite a bit over the last several months. I'd have to go back several years to remember the last time WWE had such a healthy tag team roster.

The women's division is easily at it's best, right now. I'd have to go back to my childhood when I can remember women wrestlers being treated as serious competitors. Even then, I don't recall the women's division getting as much attention as it is now. When you have women like Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and so many others kicking ass, I can't help but feel happy.

Finally rid of the "divas" who have to win ridiculous contests, just to  get a contract and have sloppy matches. While I'm at it, I don't miss the "She-Ra Princess of Power" Belt. Seriously, that thing was atrocious.

Nice change having jobbers brought back to WWE. It was stupid to have your main roster battle it out week in & week out, making one guy look great at the expense of another performer. You need to make a wrestler look good? Don't do it at the expense of someone else's push.  Makes all their past accomplishments meaningless if they've been turned into over glorified curtain jerkers.

Couple weeks back, the Usos had a much needed heel turn. About damned time, I must say. They had been stale for a long time, through no fault of their own. If we could only get a heel turn with John Cena, I would have an easier time watching his matches again.

WWE seems to have realized that fans just weren't that interested in Roman Reigns. As of late, he's been depushed. Granted, he's being used more in a midcard/upper midcard capacity, but his push has been lessened. Nothing against the man, but WWE was trying too damned hard to push him down everyone's throats. One way or another, they were determined to get people behind him.

Maybe by taking it slower, WWE will have a better job getting fans behind Reigns. Maybe his feud with Rusev will also help build Rusev's character, which I wouldn't mind seeing.

The two bright spots for me, as of late, are AJ Styles and Miz. Miz has been more entertaining, as of late, then he's been previously. I think this started around the time Maryse first returned. Unfortunately, it didn't do Zach Ryder any favors. At least Ryder's managing to recover from that by teaming with Mojo Rawley, but I digress.

Miz has been nailing it out of the park, as of late. I'm of the opinion that once he had the worked shoot with Daniel Bryan, a few weeks back, Miz has truly found his niche. I want this to continue. The Intercontinental Championship hasn't looked this important in a long time. With Miz as champion, it may be awhile before we see him drop the belt.

I would like nothing better then Miz breaking Honky Tonk Man's record. I feel it could be truly epic, if WWE tried this.

Final thought for the day is AJ Styles as WWE Champion. That's something I never thought was possible until recently. Even when he finally joined WWE, I didn't want to get hopes up too high. Surprisingly, WWE had AJ win the title after a short time in the company.

He hasn't even been with WWE a full year and he's already the WWE Champion. That's not too shabby for a guy that started off with a few appearances in WCW, early on. Perhaps this is WWE's way of saying AJ's proven himself. I hope so. I want to see him go far in WWE.

That's all for me for right now. Please feel free to leave your comments.