A strange Kane/Raven hybrid that has been spawned by an accountant.
This guy is super hot as far as response and appeal go and has the potential to forge a very remembered career and become someone we talk about for years after his last Sister Abbie. (We're cool like that, she just calls me King Bing)
Fast Three Count is something I'm gonna try to do now and again to keep my brain active, talk wrestling with the IWC and hopefully learn a thing or two about the great industry we love.
Three random suggestions from Twitter followers will get a quick post in reply with my thoughts on the suggestions.
Without further ado, the first Fast Three Count with @timvicious
Fan Reaction
Fan reaction is as big a part of wrestling as knee pads and turnbuckles. The sound and sight of an absolute electric crowd just going nuts for what they're seeing always gets me pumped.
One of my favourite matches is Rock vs Hogan at Wrestlemania X8, yeah it was amazing because it was Rock and Hogan but also because of the fan reaction to every drop of sweat the two poured.
Standing ovations are something that chills me like nothing else, the first one I really remember was for The Hardy Boys and Edge and Christian for their tag team ladder match and I can just remember getting goosebumps and knowing this is what all wrestlers should be aiming for.
Put it this way, without fan reaction you are just Brian Christopher.
Merchandise
Does a superstar have to be good to shift merch? No. Do they have to shift merch to be good? Often it seems so.
If a guy happens to resonate with the money spenders be it parents for their kids or fans for their own collection/wardrobe he will be pushed no doubt.
I personally have purchased T-shirts for myself and got some as presents when I was younger, worn with pride because of my love for WWE. Also buying heaps of videos, DVDs and games I'd like to think I've made a small ripple in the ocean that is WWEs bank account.
Promos done in ring gear and not actually performing in a match that night on the show at any point
Sure sometimes it can't be avoided for instance masked Kane, Umaga, Big Boss Man, Undertaker and so on but when it comes to the likes of Cena, Hogan, Rock, Orton why would you get all dressed up, knee pads n'all to talk it up?
If gets them in the right frame of mind, thats cool but it doesn't stop them looking a bit odd. Be it a in backstage segment, in ring promo or match run in it just seems like extra effort for what?
yeah yeah you got a character, but we all know if you're a wrestler you love Under Armour so just chuck some of that on clothesline someone over the rope to stop a match.
Whatever you choose to wear, just don't get it from Batista's wardrobe.
After last nights escapade and crash on the first junction on The Road to Wrestlemania tonight is already proving to be a huge night. If not on screen but everywhere else in the world.
A few things that we can be sure of are we have a Royal Rumble victor whose name isn't Victor at all, it is Batista.
Bray Wyatt is moving on up to the guillotine by feuding with Cena.
The New Age Outlaws are the WWE SIX TIME TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOOOORRRRLLLLDD!
And Randy Orton is still the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Tonight of all nights the fans in attendance have to be heard. From start to finish they have to be the entire IWC and Universe's voices. They have the chance to really show WWE what we think and get someone to take notice.
I'm hoping they'll blow the roof off for the entire 3 hours while us at home can do the same from where you are right now.
So here it is the go home RAW before Heck in a Cell. Leading into PPVs RAW normally delivers a wrestle light, segment heavy kind of show maybe to protect talent and leave us wanting the physicality more at the PPV. With the contract signing between Bryan and Orton I think there is a good chance that we may not see either of the two in a actual match tonight.
So what can RAW offer us before entering the Devil's Playground.
Personally I love a big brawl to end a RAW going into a PPV, it leaves things evenly matched between opponents as it's not a one on one situation. With contract signings usually ending in chaos, I wouldn't be shocked, but would be happy to see Bryan, Orton, Michaels, Triple H, Big Show, Cody & Goldie and The Shield in a huge brawl to sign out the show.
Today I had the pleasure of recording my first podcast to be broadcast with the @SundaySegue lads.
Kinny and Sugs gave me the opportunity to chuck in my two cents on the WWE from Wrestlemania to now.
I was so happy that these guys went out of their way to invite me on their show, it's this supportive, positive and friendly side to the IWC that gives me hope in wrestling fandom.
Kinny and Sugs normally will run down the weeks happenings in the WWE, mostly RAW with Smackdown in 60 seconds and a brief touch on nXt and news and rumours. They have a very honest opinion and don't shy away from what they think!
That's right. Wrestling fans who not only think for themselves but will actually voice their opinion. You don't need to agree with them on everything they say, that's what is great about opinions, you can have your own.
But I do urge you to go and give Sunday Segue Podcast a listen on iTunes and get to know the guys from the UK.
Thanks again to Kinny and Sugs for giving me the chance to guest on their show!
SummerSlam is only bested by Wrestlemania in my opinion both in historic value and importance.
It has been home to many great and memorable moments and is one of the big four monthly shows, never dropped or moved around the calendar and has always held a certain amount of significance even in its early days.
Tonight sees SummerSlam on its 26th birthday, further solidify its status as the "Biggest event of the Summer" with a main event that has got me itching to see. The potential pay offs that could happen are everything a Attitude fan could want, with the McMahons and Triple H playing extras in the John Cena / Daniel Bryan feud over the WWE Championship and Randy Orton lurking in the shadows with his MiTB briefcase in tow, this could really be a landscape changing night.
During the go home episode of RAW John Cena teased a little .... Attitude Adjustment (seriously no pun intended)...of his own and gave Bryan a dry slap in retaliation over being told he wasn't a wrestler. Is this a little heel tease?
I'm dying to see a new side of Cena as much as the next guy, but I don't see it happening in reality. Partially down to the rumour he's taking time off after SummerSlam. It wouldn't make much sense turning just to leave, surely it'll be the anticlimax of the Summer if it did happen. Maybe a heel return but can't see him leaving as one.
Either way tonight could be the start of a new chapter in Cena's lengthy career (It's gone from 10 years strong to 12 years in 6 months apparently)
Mr. COO, Triple H who has a great SummerSlam history is the appointed official so the 1-2-3 is actually in his hand. Hunter has the power to help or screw who he wants here, even it's helping both superstars from getting screwed by McMahon or McMahons.
Triple H may call it straight down the middle to the last second and then screw either guy. Could Trips actually be on side with McMahons all along?
It maybe his role on the PPV could be for after the main event, he may call the Cena vs Bryan match down the middle just to screw the winner and assist Randy Orton to win after he cashes in.
I'm not claiming any of this is true or will happen. Hell I'd love none of this to happen so I can actually be shocked and happy with paying for this event.
The main event is what I'm really hyped for but with Punk and Lesnar about to put on a solid punch up I'm hoping at least two matches tonight will leave me hanging on for RAW tomorrow night.
John Cena squaring off against The Undertaker has already happened a few times through the mid 2000s but John Cena vs The Undertaker at Wrestlemania has never happened.
Will this ever happen? Could this ever happen? 'Taker may not have too many matches left and with the somewhat ambiguous situation involving The Shield, the white hot Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar looking for trouble there could be some other opponents for 'Taker to go for.
Would WWE or its fans benefit from pitting super Cena against The Deadman?
I believe given the right angle it could be oh so more than epic.
Personally I would love to see this match happen and have spent a few commutes to work thinking about how this could go down.
Respect
Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. It's what Cena is all about and it could play a part in this match up. If Cena decided to take the challenge to Undertaker he say it's all about respect and wants to have the honour to try and beat the streak.
As a wrestling fan you have, with out a doubt been told wrestling is fake.
I have been told that wrestling is fake fighting with fake blood, fake stories and I've even had someone tell me the ring is fake.
From here on in let's call these people Sheeple. That is what they are, right? Just a bunch of know it alls who want to ruin your fun. Sheeple for some reason will nonsensically spew their closed minded opinions for as long as you want to defend your own opinion.....They seem to have a lot of spare time and energy for this, so be careful if you want to take them on.
Now when I have some one telling me that I'm a childish fool for liking WWE or pro-wrestling I don't feel the need to justify my self, but I do feel the need to give them a few reasons to think about wrestling a little different. Not wanting to be a salesman, spokes person or ambassador but just giving a couple of facts that may make Sheeple look at it in a new way.
It Doesn't Hurt
First and most prominent argument that people tend to go with is that the "fighting" is staged and choreographed. Yeah sure it is predetermined and spots are planned, even some the moves and throws you see may have very little if any impact. But can you imagine a WWE match where every punch, kick and throw is real? It's called MMA and I, for one, am not a huge fan of watching men completely knock the snot out of each other.
So that means WWE doesn't hurt, right? EGH-UGH! Of course it does, the men and women that entertain us fans on a weekly to nightly basis go through ridiculous amounts of physical abuse. The recent case of Edge having to hang up the boots and retire in such Hollywood story fashion was down to injury. The injury was not like a one off career killing moment but more of a breakdown after years of using his body to entertain us.
Edge is one of many wrestlers who have had to retire due to their bodies being one bad landing away from a drastic life altering injury from taking bump after bump, night after night for a good 300+ days a year plus travel.
OK, OK Sheeple I hear you! How could anyone possibly go night in night out getting beaten up for real all year long? Not even Mikey Whipwreck could really do it. Boxers and UFC fighters could really max out 2-3 big fights a year but our guys must be fake because they get up the next day and do it all again.
It's true our guys are entertainers, working for a entertainment company, but they take some serious damage. The history of pro-wrestling is littered with injury, from the "small" finger breaks, to the Sids of the ring going all jelly legged, to the Brets and Edges having to walk away for good.
Pro-wrestling is predetermined, the matches are called but the action takes its toll in a big way and as cliche as it may seem, the risks are very real.
It's all soap opera with added baby oil
Yes. Baby oil. My only answer to that is there is less now than in the 80's and 90's.
But the soap opera part does have some weight behind it in all fairness and truth. Just like I have already pointed out for the Sheeple, wrestling is pre-planned, predetermined, choreographed, scripted so can it not be soap?
I'm sorry to tell you sXe_Punker20-1's, CenationsGurl16's and WWEfanmaniac's but wrestling you watch is not a documentary. The stories, rivalries and feuds you see are written to make you think it could all be real because of the blurry line they create between fact and fiction, sometimes these lines get ripped to pieces with the likes of the Montreal Screw Job, Austin vs McMahon, Edge-Lita-Matt Hardy love affair all of which make art imitate life and life imitate art.
With todays vomit inducing batch of "reality" TV like Jersey Shore, Made in Chelsea and tripe like Wife-Swap it has become increasingly harder to seperate what's real and what's not on TV.
So WWE maybe scripted like a soap opera but can be as real as any reality show on TV today, if not more so due to the fact that the people performing these stories can some times have their very real lives played out on screen.
Is It Real?
Even as a life long fan, I don't think I have the vocabulary or law school teachings to give an accurate conclusion for myself let alone the Sheeple of this world due to the often blurry line of reality that wrestling carries. Sure I can agree that a huge part of it is on paper before it hits our screens but such a huge compelling part is still kinda real.
Well maybe not as much as happy chappy here.
The fact that wrestling does have this blurry line I think leaves it open for us to make up our minds on its authenticity. I will still give Sheeple a gentle reminder of what these performers go through physically and some of what you see on its programming can be as close to life as any reality show out there.
One thing these Sheeple do need to learn is,
Even if wrestling is fake, it doesn't hurt for anyone to suspend their belief of reality to enjoy what they're watching. Just like most humans do when watching Eastenders, Days of Our Lives, House, Breaking Bad, Bridget Jones' Diary or Die Hard. Every now and again we just like to leave our real world and immerse ourselves in something we enjoy. It's just wrestling has more baby oil.
This week on Twitter I got involved in a conversation with @IfinRatedR and @VegasKustom about WWE ignoring its core fan base and investing too much time and effort in the younger fan base.
I'm 26 years old, I have been watching wrestling (mostly exclusively WWE) for the best part of 21-22 of these years and I was questioning do WWE care about people in the same bracket and older? Or are they focused solely on the CeNation Army munchkins?
Honestly, I feel it is both.
Unless you've just crawled out of the boiler room of you will know that WWE is PG. This simply means, of course it is directed at the young audience. Over the past several years WWE has changed from the blood soaking - boobie bouncing - weapon wielding - bird flipping - gritty - bonkers world it once was. It now prefers the family friendly - hand clappy - lady skipping - shiny glossy world.
This to me still doesn't prove that WWE has lost touch with the older bunch. Not even close.
Sure we can bang on all day about Cena running the place in Superman mode for the kids to cheer and adore, but we had Hogan doing the exact same thing! Sure the Hulkster only had two colours at the time but he still came out in the brightest yellow and reds, was all wholesome and all patriotic, put across messages of goodness and was cleaner than a DDP smile.
Being a wrestling fan you may of heard of a guy who has won championships, been on TV almost every week over the past 10 years, appears on least 11 out of 12 PPVs, gets mixed reviews from fans around the world and has worked as hard as anyone in the WWE today. In my opinion he's still not given the credit he deserves, the guy is a work horse and does whats asked of him, in what seems to be, every instance. You know exactly who I mean, but before you go saying "Ugh! Had enough of reading about this guy and what everyone thinks of him" don't worry. I'm not gonna bang on all day about Michael Cole, as the title suggests I'm here to talk about John Cena. To be exact I wanna talk about the potential and idea of Cena turning heel. If you have ever been on twitter and seen anything about Cena on there, chances are it's about one of a few things; 1. Cena is WWEs god and can do no wrong and is the best of the best of the best of the bestest best! 2. Cena sucks and needs to be heel by next week or I'm tuning out 3. Cena sucks and needs to die. Now point number 3 needs to stop. If you are wishing death upon a performer for doing their job, a job you would wear your own testicles as earrings to do, you are a shabby human being and need to do some thinking about your own life. Points 1 and 2 have some real merrit to be discussed further. Whether you like him or not, whether you buy into the character or not, there is no reason to totally discount the first two points.
