Another podcast

Same podcast, different name. King of Wrestling podcasts is too egomaniacy [yeah it's a word, check the wrestling dictionary].

Survivor Series predictions

Another year, another Survivor series, but before I begin I would like to say that I am glad they decided to take Ryback and Punk out of the Survivor Series match and dump them in to a triple threat match for the title. Let's face it, Punk's title is the only one with any meaning in the WWE right now, so not having it defended at the PPV would be unwise. They have often only had one World title defended at the Surivor Series PPV, with the other champion being involved in the survivor match. The champions team was often also the one that lost, with the champion being pinned last, thus giving him an opportunity to lose the match but not the title.

On to the predictions

3 Man Band v Tyson Kidd and Gabriel

The 3 Man Band has never caught on with me, while Kidd and Gabriel are rather insignificant right now [like much of the roster I suppose]. It depends on how far WWE intends on taking the 3 Man Band. Do they want to push them and make them significant or are they thinking of breaking them up soon? I don't know, but since the stable is so uninteresting, the WWE will probably push them.

[prediction] 3 Man Band


Eve v Kaitlyn

I have never cared about female fueds in wrestling. I don't mind women in wrestling, them certainly have their part to play, but their fueds never grip. The match might not be that bad in itself [by women's standards] but I don't care who wins. Kaitlyn is getting a mini push now, perhaps? Isn't she? Well she has funny hair, that must mean something, right?

[prediction] Kaitlyn


Antonio Cesaro v R Truth [US Title]

The old 'foreigner holding a US title and not respecting it' is a bit played out [for the record I think Lance Storm did it best in WCW]. It's probably not played out to  the WWE though and it will last a while yet.

[prediction] Antonio Cesaro


Big Show v Sheamus [World Heavyweight title]

It would make no sense for Big Show to lose, not that it means the WWE wouldn't do it, but it would be really stupid. If they want Sheamus to be champion, why break his reign? They would have just had him keep his title. If he loses again though, it does make him look bad, but makes Big Show look great [not literally]. Big Show has never had the World title for very long in the past, perhaps this time he will.

[prediction] Big Show


John Cena v CM Punk[c] v Ryback [WWE title]

All I can say that I am fairly sure about is that Ryback won't win this. Why would he? If he was going to be the champ they would have put the title on him last month. The question now remains, are they sticking to the original planned story of The Rock fighting Punk at the Rumble for the title or have they changed their mind and decided to put the title on John Cena to perhaps have a Cena v Rock Rumble match, then possbly Punk and The Rock at Wrestlemania? If Punk loses, he just misses his 365 days. Perhaps The Rock will interfere and cost him the match, annoying him greatly taht he missed the 1 year milestone. Or not. I have not heard anything about a possible Rock interference at Survivor Series. Was it so well hidden? Not sure. If Punk wins he is probably going to pin Cena, as it would kill Ryback's heat and push completely if he got pinned.

[prediction] CM Punk



Team Foley v Team Ziggler

Well I did say I was glad that Ryback and Punk were taken out of this and put in to a more significant match but it makes this one even less significant. The question is whether Foley going to get back in the ring and wrestle somebody. If not, then this is pointless. If yes, it has some meaning.

[prediction] Team Foley


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Once again more matches might be added like last month, but then again the Survivor Series match does take a while, so they might not. Either way, looking at the undercard, it has no meaning. At least half the card is okay.

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Overrated wrestler of the week

Rob Van Dam

When I first saw Rob Dam Dam wrestle at the Invasion PPV many years ago [that's right I didn't see him earlier as I didn't watch ECW] I was in awe of his capabilities. I went from 'who is this guy' to basically waiting for his appearance every week during the whole Invasion angle. Stone Cold was great, Kurt Angle was great, but RVD was what it was all about back then. I don't think I was the only one either. After his debut he went on to have more matches on TV and the following PPV's. They were all great to watch. He got so popular that he was made part of a triple threat title match at No Mercy just a few months after he had his first match in the company. He lost that triple threat match but continued to have awe inspiring matches, at least when there were Hardcore stipulations.

The problems started when those Hardcore stipulations were taken away. Suddenly more than half of RVD's move set was out of the picture, since a lot of his jaw dropping moves took place out of the ring, on the barrier or among the fans. Now he had to try and have matches where he stayed in the ring. Suddenly his weaknesses were noticeable. That's not to say he went from being great to being bad, but he wasn't as capable in the ring with no weapons, as he was in and out of the ring with weapons. That's why he makes the overrated wrestlers section, not because he's awful [like some of the wrestlers in this section really are] but because he is not quite as great as his reputation suggests that he should be. Paul Heyman even said that when he was in charge of ECW, he took RVD's weaknesses and hid them, accentuating his strengths [that were clearly Hardcore matches]. This means RVD did have weaknesses [since they had to be hidden] and still has them to this day.

Who better than this guy?

Chris Kanyon

[Where are they now?]

This week's 'where are they now' is about former wrestler, Chris Kanyon. He will probably be most remembered for his time in WCW and his stint in the WWE where he debuted during the Invasion angle.

After originally appearing as a jobber in the WWE in 1994, he signed for WCW in 1995 and debuted as Mortis. He was part of the Flock and Jersey triad and went through a Chris 'champagne' Kanyon phase as Mr glitz and glamour. His most memorable fueds were probably with Diamond Dallas Page and his most notable fued with DDP was in 2000 when he would call himself Positively Kanyon, where a blonde wig and name his finisher the 'Kanyon' Cutter, all of these taking a leaf out of DDP's 'play book.'

After the closure of WCW, Kanyon was involved in the Invasion angle. He had enough TV time, getting the US title [although it was handed to him by Booker T who already had the WCW title] and re-packaging himself as the Alliance MVP, but he only wrestled in 1 PPV's during his time there, in a 6 man tag match at Invasion.

After being sidelined with an injury, he made one more appearance in the WWE, being one of the Big Show's supposedly pathetic apology attempts [after Big Show's attack] in the Big Show's fued with the Undertaker. He later wrestled mostly on Velocity for the rest of that year before being released. 

It was a shame for the man who Mike Tenay referred to as the 'Innovator of Offense' to be so underused in WWE. To be honest though, during his time in the WWE, he was often fighting injuries. He retired in 2004 after losing a retirement match to....yep, none other than DDP.

Where is he now? Unfortunately Kanyon committed suicide at the age of 40. His brother found him next to a bottle of antidepressants. He had admitted to being a homosexual some time before that. Whether this had any baring on why he did it, I don't know.  

   

King of Wrestling Podcasts up again

Here is week 4 of the now weekly 'King of Wrestling Podcasts'

[PS] I know it's not really the King of Wrestling Podcasts. It's not really the King of anything.

And the point of Smackdown is....[the split mess]

For those who view Raw and Smackdown regularly, surely by now you must have asked yourself whether Smackdown is even relevant to WWE television anymore. When the split was originally made, it was to give those of the younger audience the illusion that there were 2 separate rosters or 2 separate brands, even 2 separate companies who were competing with each other. I think this was done for 2 reasons and no, neither of them has anything to do with allowing wrestlers to have more TV time. How could it be? There was still the same amount of time available on both shows and most of it was taken up by the main eventers. If anything, it was done to give more main eventers TV time, because since Raw main eventers could not be on Smackdown and vice versa, it meant each show could have a different main event fued that was the focus of it, with the main eventers not having to share a show anymore. Anyway, to the 2 reasons of the split.

1/ It was done to give the idea that there is still some competition in wrestling. Ever since the elimination of WCW and ECW, many had said that the WWE product was getting worse due to a lack of competition. A split with brands supposedly 'competing' against each other would bring back that [much loved by fans] element of 2 wrestling 'companies' competing with each other head to head. This would get more ratings, hence make Vince more money.

2/ Vince likes American football and he likes the idea of transfers and drafts. He even tried to start his own American football league, the XFL, but it simply could not compete with the NFL. With Raw and Smackdown, wrestlers could make shock transfers and be drafted over and over, making it more exciting. American football drafts are popular and give people in American something to talk about, so the hope was that they would get drawn in to wrestling transfers and drafts as well. Simply put, if the product is more exciting then it get more viewers and obviously makes Vince more money [that really seems to be the underlining factor].

Now though, ever since the announcement a while ago about Raw wrestlers being able to wrestle on Smackdown and vice versa, the split idea seems irrelevant. Apparently there is no split these days, but 2 world championships still exist. The roster split [or no split] mess is not my issue in this topic though, it's Smackdown. Why is it that wrestlers are allowed on both shows, yet it is only on Raw where we see guys from both brands. It's like Smackdown is for some wrestlers, then Raw is for others, but Smackdown guys are invited to join in. Watching the 2 shows you will have noticed that there are certain Raw wrestlers that are never on Smackdown. The WWE title never makes an appearance on Smackdown either. The World Heavyweight title, on the other hand, is on Raw almost every week. Not only that, but Smackdown often re-caps Raw. Sometimes wrestlers even re-cap it. There was a segment a few weeks ago with The Miz, in the ring on Smackdown, talking about stuff that is happening on Raw and hyping it. Imagine that. A wrestler, rather than discussing himself, as a good heel should, is discussing a lame, non wrestling related story line that is currently being played out on Raw. Add to this that Raw is now 3 hours and can now fit a lot more in to the show, Smackdown seems even more needless.

I think the fact that Raw was always [well almost always] a live show has hindered Smackdown from the beginning. When there was no split, Smackdown had a reason to be around as it was a continuation of storylines and always the last show [not including Heat] before a PPV. It was the last opportunity to advance all the fueds going on and hype the PPV in a few days. Even after the roster split, Smackdown did seem like it was on a level playing field with Raw. In fact there were even times when Smackdown was better than Raw, when Raw was practically the Triple H show while Smackdown had great wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar and Edge, putting on great wrestling matches and generally making Smackdown more than watchable. Now it just seems like Smackdown rolls around every week and the people at the WWE think 'uh, time to think something up for this taping.' Given the current state of it, I really would not be surprised if they either turned Smackdown in to a 1 hour show of less relevance, just there to re-cap what is going on and perhaps have a few unimportant matches, or simply got rid of it. 'The Rock's show has had a nice run for many years, but it might be time to put it to bed, sad as it might be.

Having fun as booker

So I decided to have some fun and play booker for a little while. The particular story I wanted to re-book was the whole Ryback mess. Now let's say that as booker, I realised [or was told] not long before the PPV that Ryback was not ready for the title. How would I go about having him lose the match but still look like a monster? It's quite simple. Yes the match type does not allow for any DQ's, this is true, but that does not mean the match has to end with one or the other having to win. I know it's harsh on the fans to have a 'non finish,' but if you're going to have one then you must make the show go out with a bang.

Here's how it goes. Ryback is in the cell with CM Punk. Suddenly the lights go out. The viewers are in shock while the commentators play to it, pretending to be clueless and wondering if the electrics are faulty. A while later the lights are back on. One side of the cell is open and Punk is standing by the entrance with Vince. Ryback is in the ring confused, staring at them. He shrugs and calls for CM Punk to get back in the ring but Punk walks off backstage with Vince.

The following night on Raw, Vince is out with CM Punk. People are obviously confused since it was not long ago that Punk beat the ever loving crap out of the WWE chairman in the ring. Vince says what happened last night might surprise people but the reason he did what he did was because he realised, after the ruthless beating he took from CM Punk, that Punk is the true force of this company. Punk is the type of guy he needs to lead the company with ruthless aggression and that is why he must remain the champion.

I think this scenario is better than the referee interference angle. It would have kept Ryback as a viable threat and it would also have kept his streak intact, since he did not lose the match at the PPV. Not only that but it would keep the title on Punk for now, since it is probably not the best time for Ryback to have it. As well as this it would turn Vince heel [as I find it hard to ever accept him as a face] and he could start a Stone Cold v McMahon type mini fued going with Ryback, giving Ryback a further push since the guys who fued with Vince tend to be main eventers. Vince would obviously be putting other wrestlers in Ryback's path rather than himself, thus continuing Ryback's push and allowing Punk to stay clear of Ryback for now and keep the title for a defense later at the Rumble PPV against Dwayne 'The Rock' Rocky. 

Where are they now? Just-in indy feds

Justin Credible

Justin Credible is the next guy to enter the 'where are they now?' section of my blog. Hardcore ECW fans and those who have watched wrestling for over 10 years might remember this dude, but even some of the newer fan base might have seen his last few appearances in WWE a few years ago when there was an ECW brand. 

After learning his trade in Canada and wrestling in a few New England based promotions,  Justin Credible started in the WWE back in 1993 as a jobber named PJ. He spent a few years there before being released. ECW was where he really rose to fame, spending 4 years in the company. After ECW folded he was hred back at the WWE as part of the X Factor stable. He was later part of the Alliance [as one of the ECW guys that defected to the original WCW/ECW stable] but after the Alliance was 'beaten,' his importance was reduced in 2002 to occasional matches on Heat [with him losing most of them]. 

Justin Credible has since made a brief appearance in the WWE in 2006, wrestling as part of the ECW brand where he had a few matches. Other than that he has spent most of his time working in the independent circuit.

I should note that I personally enjoyed Justin Credible's short if not slightly irrelevant stint in the WWE over 10 years ago [although his 2006 one was even more irrelevant], but I do find it a shame that the WWE decided to change his rather impressive spinning tombstone piledriver [named 'That's Incredible'] to a 'Lifting DDT' finisher. I suppose he was too insignificant to have a move that would outshine The Undertaker's finisher, so they gave him a more generic move.

King of Wrestling Podcast [week 3]

I did this podcast alone and it does sound a little sad, me talking to myself, but check it out of you have some time.

Overrated wrestler of the week

Mark Henry

Mark Henry is one of those guys who you can just look at and shrug. He's one of those guys who you might look at and wonder who he knows or what he has done to have been in the WWE for so many years. The worst part is, it's quite difficult to criticize him because he really does seem like a nice guy, but I must look at him and his ability for what it is, and that is, not of a particularly high standard. He is another wrestler who has gone quite far on the gimmick given to him. At first he was just a part of a stable. He was also involved in a very odd and disturbing story line involving Mae Young. Later on they started pushing his strongest man gimmick and have never left it alone since. 

The problem is that being the world's strongest man does not mean you deserve some major push in the wrestling business. Anyway, he never officially was the strongest man in the world [he has a few records in lifting weights but no official world strongest man titles to his name] and even if he had been, you don't get to be the world's strongest man forever as the official world's strongest man takes place on a yearly basis. The amount of TV time and big story lines or matches that he had was enough to raise eyebrows, but to be a former World and ECW Champion goes to far. Why don't they just hire a Hollywood actor and give him the title for winning an Oscar? No they of course they would not do that because one thing has nothing to do with the other. 

A champion needs to have wrestling ability or charisma. Obviously if he has both that is even better. Mark Henry has neither and what's worse, he doesn't look menacing either, he's just fat. It feels like they keep trying to make him meaningful, that's why he is on and off television constantly as they look to bring him back in some fresh way [but yet always as the world's strongest man]. Let's face it, if he did not have this gimmick based on a reality that is heavily skewed by the WWE, there would not be reason for him to be pushed. 

I would probably not have put Mark Henry in the overrated wrestler's section if he was not given a World title but that was the decisive 'bad move' that gets him hear.