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.
I must be doing something right because Kinny Killa and Sugs asked me to join them on their Sunday Segue Podcast. This weeks episode is a four man effort as @TopRopeElbow joined us to shoot the breeze on last Monday's RAW and give out Battleground predictions.
Battleground isn't exactly going in with all the bells and whistles but that shouldn't stop you enjoying the actual show. There is a few opportunities for advancements and new chapters from tonights card involving a number of Superstars.
Ziggler VS Sandow
I'm going for a Ziggler win here. Just by the logic that the briefcase is extra weight on the owners shoulders, making it harder to seemingly kick out. But will this Kickoff match be the last we see of Mr. Money in the Bank tonight?
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!
Tattoos are now a very much socially acceptable trend. Once being tattooed was just for a "certain type of person" such as punks, bikers, thugs & hooligans or the occasional veteran with a stamp of duty or souvenir of their time in the ranks. Tattoos had a stigma of general toughness and roughness.
Now getting inked is sexy and fashionable and they've been around in everyday life for a couple of decades, everyone from Grandmothers to their grandkids have them.
Having tattoos now is somewhat of a trophy to show you've endured full sleeve work and have the wallet to do so. Also it seems that more and more of the lady folk are impressed and into guys with a splash of ink.
Wrestling is no different. Tattoos can be found all over any roster from the shocking jesters (See Anderson) to some of the most elaborate sleeves and back pieces. Here is a quick list of 10 of the best and few honourable mentions. So if you like wrestling or tattoos take a scroll.
10
Rey Mysterio Jr
Rey has many tattoo all over his body with lots of meaning, his childrens names of his biceps, his hometown dial code and finisher on his forearms and Mexican across his stomach. However you can't look at Mysterio without noticing his spine on his....spine.
"Eighty percent of the falls we take are on our backs" Rey explains. "I thought it would be cool to design a tattoo on my spine showing how each vertebra should be aligned. Something I found cool is that when they filled it out on me, they said everything is pretty much as it should be. So it's all pretty much in place."
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.
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.
We all have our favorite wrestling moments. We all have those memories of watching wrestling and thinking that we have just seen something amazing, surprising, special, historic and even sometimes funny. Or it may be that you have been to a live show and caught up in the atmosphere made in the arena and created a bit of an emotional attachment to the show.
I wouldn't blame you, live shows are 1010 times better than they come across on TV.
Many of these moments for wrestling fans, with good chance, would have been provided by WWE PPV or TV. These moments maybe in form of backstage interviews or brawls, in ring action or promos, or a formation of new a team. WWE's Monday night, flagship, weekly, episodic, longest running, highest tweeted, most viewed show on TV, 3 hour, RAW could also be responsible for your favorite moments in wrestling.
This is a quick look at my personal favorite Raw moments and little bit on why I like them so much.
10. RAW IS JERICHO - August 9 1999
By this point I had become fully immersed with in WWE and was just so into the whole product. Every week just seemed to deliver more gold than the last and I had been getting hyped by a countdown to the millennium clock on Raw.
I was a complete spoiler free kid watching Raw in a TV lounge of a hotel in Spain with a dozen or so kids all as compelled by wrestling as me.
When the countdown clock interrupted none other than The Rock we knew what ever was about to happen was gonna be big. Then this guy who I didn't recognize appeared and a couple of the other kids in the lounge piped up by telling us he was a WCW wrestler. It was at that point I knew we was in for a treat and what followed just pumped me up more.
This made it to the top 10 not only because of the debut it self but also what that moment gave us WWE fans.
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.
