F-5 Fury Going Forward

(Author’s Note: As I type this, it is officially Memorial Day here in the United States. Just want to thank all of the members of our defensive forces in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice. Without them, as well as our living veterans, this blog post amongst many others wouldn’t be possible. Thank you for defending our freedoms!)

Hey everybody!

It’s been a little while since I’ve written a piece for the blog, and there’s a good reason. A myriad of health problems stemming from a faulty appendix kept me from being a normal human being for a while.

Now that I summarized two months of my life in a single paragraph, time to get back to business!

Extreme Rules took place a little over a week ago on pay-per-view. As a show itself, I personally found it somewhat as take it or leave it on a match quality standpoint. In terms of booking decisions though, this show seemed well executed with one major flaw.

Let’s get the flaw right out of the way first. That is the No-Contest in the WWE Championship match between Ryback and John Cena. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if it were a different stipulation. But, and I mean BUT, THIS WAS A LAST MAN STANDING MATCH! The count of ten ends the match, no matter who is down.

The Royal Rumble of 2004 saw Triple H and Shawn Michaels just about kill each other in a Last Man Standing war. Shawn superkicked The Game, and both men fell. Earl Hebner counted to ten, thus resulting in a draw with Triple H retaining the World Heavyweight Championship.

For WWE’s sake, what was so hard about a double-countout? It makes Cena’s legit injury look even more legitimate while Ryback doesn’t look like he jobbed again. I understand the whole concept of crashing through the stage, but Batista & Undertaker did that before to a double-countout. This could have easily worked, and the angle wouldn’t need to be changed.

WWE really needs to be thankful that they were able to further the feud with continuity, because that NC in a LMS match is a bullshit way to go. Thankfully it won’t be a crippling issue as the months go forward.

Now to the positives, and there were two major ones.

First off, need to tip my hat to The Shield.

This unique trio has opened my eyes. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns have all exhibited tremendous ability in the ring. Better than that, the WWE has booked them to be almost indestructible. Dean owns the United States belt after he pinned Kofi Kingston, while Rollins/Reigns owning the Tag Team belts after they ruled supreme over Team Hell No. Their matches at Extreme Rules were amongst the best on the card, and with time will bring justice to the main event. I can’t wait until one of these guys gets the WWE Championship. With Money in the Bank coming around, it may be sooner than later.

Now to the title portion of the program.

Brock Lesnar and Triple H took their long-running feud inside of a shiny new cage to end the show. Over the course of a year, these two have beaten the living crap out of each other. Whether it’d be Brock breaking Trips’ arm multiple times, or Triple H knocking out Lesnar cold at WrestleMania, the climax would inevitably hit soon. Soon being Extreme Rules.

I’ll admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of this match going in. I haven’t seen ‘Mania yet, but I did watch SummerSlam. That match felt pitifully slow, and when Brock put Triple H in his Kimura, it felt like as if all of us were gonna tap out to boredom.

However, this cage match had just enough to keep it going forward.

For example, I liked how Triple H went after Brock’s knee. Lesnar sold it like a monster was wounded mortally! Also, I liked how Paul Heyman (a main instigator of this whole angle) got his licked in, plus got his ass kicked. Heyman was never one to shy away from getting into the fray, and he didn’t disappoint here. Plus I liked how Triple H played by his figurative sword but would ultimately die by it too.

The ending may have been somewhat weak, but I didn’t mind the outcome. Brock Lesnar winning was the only realistic way to go. Brock losing would have been like Lesnar turning into the 2013 version of Brian Pillman: the world’s richest jobber. While jobbing doesn’t always have a bad connotation, it can definitely leave the wrong impression in certain situations. Fortunately, WWE did the right thing and let Brock go over massive.

_________________________________________________

 

From here, Brock can only feud with one man.

A man whose penchant is to elicit strong hometown reactions, and a man whose manager (plus Curtis Axel) will inevitably turn on him with a broken arm in tow. 

Don’t forget people… PAYBACKS ARE GONNA BE A BITCH!

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WWE 2013 Predictions

Happy new year everybody!

As per the norm this time of year, everyone is making de facto predictions of what will happen in the coming months. Some of it is positive, most of it negative, but nevertheless interesting.

WWE in 2012 felt interesting yet stale at the same time. There was an emergence of superstars like Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Daniel Bryan, and others to the foreground. Some of these men were on the rise, while others like Ryback caught fire immediately.

CM Punk’s year was far from normal. He started off the year beloved WWE Champion who took on all comers. He ended the year as vilified WWE Champion who scoured underneath Paul Heyman. No matter what the character traits were, there were consistently great matches happening all across the board.

John Cena however had a year overbearingly par for the course. He was all over the main events, ranging in quality from shit to epic. Even when he was injured, Cena was still on all the shows every week. Overexposure at its worst, and this interprets that WWE doesn’t have the confidence to allow anyone else in the spotlight. This would be the perfect time for WWE to lean back, take a breath, and let Cena take an extended vacation. More on this in a bit.

Big Show had a nice rebound in the second half after a floundering first half. His stale monster bit led to an atrocious firing angle which then culminated in a heel turn. That heel turn however led to a different Show than what we are used to seeing. Not only can this monster be serious, but he can also match wits with guys like Sheamus. He is convincing, dangerous, and shockingly cunning.

Speaking of SHEAMUS. He had a great year, no doubt about it. He was World Heavyweight Champion majority of the year. His match quality has risen dramatically, and being paired with guys like Daniel Bryan and Alberto Del Rio can only help. The biggest complaint is that he is too much like the babyface WWE wants, and that is a jerk douche whose actions lean on the bullying side. Remember, BE A STAR! All things considered, Sheamus needs to find a balance character-wise, but his in-ring work can be effective with anyone.

Daniel Bryan has been able to use fundamental elements of a sentence, ‘YES’ and ‘NO’, as catchphrases to get over. That only scrapes the surface with this guy. He has been a proven hand wrestling people with the sets varying from CM Punk to Kane. Sure he lost the WHC in eighteen seconds at ‘Mania this past year, but that might have actually helped him be more over with the fans than where he was.

Speaking of Kane, that tag team duo of ‘TEAM HELL NO’ has been strangely captivating all year. From the therapy sessions to their dysfunctional tag team style, Kane and Bryan have been able to gel their abilities into one destructive force. While WWE will predictably break this team up soon, let’s all revel in probably the most entertaining team in the last six or seven years.

Dolph Ziggler has spent all of 2010, 2011, and 2012 as a guy on the outside looking in. His mic work is improving, and he bumps like no one else in the WWE. However, 2013 needs to be HIS YEAR. Cash that briefcase, win that title, defend that title, BECOME THAT LEGEND. He’s next, and I’m talking about victims for Goldberg’s spear!

Ryback. Big, hungry, over pushed hoss. The only reason why I accept him in the main event is because the fans are fully behind him. No seagull pops for this guy! I will also admit he did a fair share of work at TLC in that epic six-man match. A big hungry monster is all I see him as, not as a representative of the WWE as WWE Champion for an extended period.

That all being said, with some recaps of 2012 in the books, let’s take a proverbial look into the crystal ball.

Right now, WWE is about to go through a motion of the last three or four years of ‘Mania time. The TV shows between now and mid-April are going to be STACKED. All of the big names contracted to work ‘Mania will show up every week, and then disappear again. This will leave the WWE in yet another quandary.

The mid-card needs to be reborn in 2013. While it seems obvious that this is already taking place, the bottom could fall out of the main event scene at any time. Guys like John Cena and Randy Orton have been with the WWE over a decade now. Their bodies aren’t getting any younger. Big Show just turned 40, and lord knows about the wear and tear on him. Of all main eventers right now, Sheamus is by far the healthiest looking option, but his overexposure could be a problem one day.

Time for Dolph to rise.

Time for Kofi to make something happen.

Hell, Ryback could be a quickie champion if need be.

For 2013, we need a revolution. WWE needs to evolve with the times, and now will be as good a time as any to start. Too much young talent is waiting in the wings while main event talent could break at any second. TIME TO GET MOVING!

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