Posts Tagged ‘raw’

#Rampage Defends Pro Wrestling’s Honor

Posted: February 12, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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potatoshooterlogosportsrollby @anarchyroll
2/21/2014

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is one of the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Undeniably one of the greatest knockout artists the sport has ever seen even if his place in the overall pantheon is questioned. Jackson is also a lifelong fan of professional wrestling. Jackson recently defended pro wrestling’s legitimacy from its haters.

Calling pro wrestling fake is outdated. The correct term is pre determined. The correct term is wrestling is live entertainment like theater or exhibition stunt shows. Theater actors get injured on stage, stunt people get injured on movie sets, and neither group works three hundred plus days a year like professional wrestlers do. If they do, they’re not getting their bodies thrown onto plywood covered by insulation padding and canvas.

Rampage isn’t the only highly successful mixed martial artist to defend the legitimacy of pro wrestling and pro wrestlers. On episode four of The Steve Austin Show, Chael Sonnen talked about how when he needed to get serious about his cardio, he went and trained with pro wrestlers.

No wrestling fan over the age of ten thinks that they are seeing a sporting event. But last I checked, plenty of people go and see concerts to hear songs they already know the lyrics to, pack movie theaters to see fictional events played out in spectacular fashion, and Photoshop the hell out of realistic photos to make them more pleasing to the eye.

Pro wrestling is entertainment, it is a simulated, exhibition combat sporting event with a predetermined winner. It’s where the NFL meets Broadway. A synergy of live sports and live theater. But those bumps and high spots you see that make you pop hurt. Those muscled up bodies you see taking said bumps take years of discipline and dedication in gyms to form. Those larger than life characters and emotionally gripping verbal exchanges take lifetimes of preparation to execute to perfection.

So have some fucking respect. Pro athletes from the NFL, NHL, NBA habitually talk about how pro wrestlers are the best athletes on the planet because they don’t have an offseason. 300 plus days a year on the road. A band that literally never stops touring except if they get physically injured beyond what band aids and pain killers can mask.

Still think pro wrestlers can’t hold a lick to real fighters. Then I’ve got two words for ya,  Brock Lesnar.

Plentiful Parallels of #Bryan & #Benoit

Posted: February 9, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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potatoshooterlogoby @anarchyroll
2/8/2014

“It’s not right to pretend he didn’t exist. It’s one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is OK, and it’s another thing to promote him, which is not OK.” Vince McMahon

That quote from Vince McMahon (from a 2009 issue of WWE Magazine) could easily be confused for the company policy regarding Daniel Bryan’s main event push over the last two years. With Bryan being as popular as anyone on the roster since May of 2012, and undeniably the most popular member of the WWE roster since June of 2013, it seems the quote above fits into exactly how WWE has been using Bryan terms of creative.

If you saw the Royal Rumble, and my condolences if you did, then you know what I am talking about. 10-20,000 person arena crowds have literally been shouting at WWE management to give The American Dragon the WWE Title for eight to ten months depending on how good your hearing is and how good the speakers on your TV/computer are. Do the people in the arenas know wrestling is not a real sport? Do I? Do the Seattle Seahawks? Yes, Yes! YES!

The nod and wink, unspoken deal between pro wrestling promotions and it’s fans is this; “We know it’s not a real sport, but entertain us and we’ll suspend our disbelief and give you our money.”

Vince McMahon’s old, out of touch, personal bias against Daniel Bryan and physically small talent from the independent wrestling scene, has violated that contract between fans and promoters to the point of necrophilia.

I recently watched two WWE title defenses of John Cena from his prime in 2005. The crowd was loud, I’m not going to lie. BUT, the crowd reaction of even all those women, children, and military veterans that make up Cena’s lucrative fan base were not nearly as loud as Daniel Bryan’s fans are in 2013-2014. Not to mention half of the arena isn’t booing Bryan for sucking at his profession.

What are the parallel’s to he who shall not be named? Besides the signature (diving headbutt) and finisher submission move (Crossface/Yes Lock) they both share(d)? It is the fact that for their respective eras, they’re both undersized workhorses who made their name outside of the WWE, endeared themselves to both the hardcore and general pro wrestling fans, and were held out of the main event slot until they could not be ignored.

The first screen shot I saved when I got my first laptop was when I checked WWE.com after the 2004 Royal Rumble and saw Chris Benoit had won the whole thing and would be main eventing one of the most important and influential WrestleMania’s in history.  Benoit deserved to win that Rumble, he earned it. AND, he wasn’t half as over as Daniel Bryan is now. He was in Canada however, look up Backlash 2004 and turn your speakers down because the crowd noise might make them explode when he defends the WHC against Triple H and HBK.

Bryan and Benoit are both junior heavyweight wrestlers who made their names both on the American independent wrestling scene as well as in the major Japanese wrestling promotions.  Benoit to this day is still one of the most successful American wrestlers in Japanese wrestling history under the Pegasus Kid and Wild Pegasus monikers. Bryan earned the nickname American Dragon as well as multiple world titles in Japan from 2003-2008. In WWE however, those things work against you when it comes to getting to the top.

When you are in the entertainment business your job is to give the fans what they want, period. James Franco has said the movie industry is as much a business, and insider social club as it is an art. The same is true for WWE and its owner Vince McMahon. WWE is publically traded, at what point do the shareholders speak up? It doesn’t look good when the crowd verbally shits all over your third most lucrative show of the year.

It doesn’t help when paying customers in a large arena ignore the product in front of them repeatedly (almost habitually now) and in unison shout for a talent you are holding back because of a personal, not professional bias. Vince McMahon is a senior citizen now, and like most his age has lost touch with the reality of his younger demographic of fans. 2005 is almost a decade ago. John Cena’s time is over, Daniel Bryan’s time is now.

The same was true in 2004 for Chris Benoit. Austin and Rock both left suddenly and the guys picked to replace them, Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg, also left in a hurry. So Triple H was given the ball and got to dominate the landscape for two years.  But then his time was over and it was time for Chris Benoit to have his run. Even when Benoit was relegated to the third tier US Title division he was getting louder pops than Batista, Orton, Khali, Cena, JBL, and the other people Vince McMahon was more comfortable having in the main events after Summerslam 2004.

Daniel Bryan has been getting louder applause for his work in the tag division than anyone in the main event slots (Cena, Del Rio, Orton, Sheamus, Big Show) for the last two years. It is his time now. It’s not the internet marks demanding it. It’s not the hardcore wrestling fans demanding it. It is both groups plus; women, children, military veterans, and the rest of the general audience demanding it too. Chris Benoit after years of being the internet and hardcore fans’ darling finally got over with the casual, mainstream fans and as a result got rewarded with the WrestleMania XX main event in The Garden. Daniel Bryan has done the same and then some. It’s undeniable to anyone who didn’t just pay millions of dollars out of pocket to Dave Batista.

Where do the parallels between Bryan and Benoit end? In all the right places. No roids, no mental issues, no weird backstage reputation, no rocky marriage. Where do they begin? In all the right places. Humble, workhorse, mechanic, loves the sport, respects the business, over with the boys, over with the general audience. I’ve purposefully been careful to not use any insensitive metaphors or phrasing here. Like the quote at the top, Chris Benoit is a part of history, it can’t be denied. His similarities to Daniel Bryan can’t be denied. You know what else can’t be denied? That Daniel Bryan is more deserving by WWE metrics for success of winning the main event of WrestleMania XXX than Chris Benoit was of winning WrestleMania XX.

#CMPunk = The Real McCoy

Posted: January 31, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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potatoshooterlogoajclogo2by @anarchyroll
1/31/2014

CM Punk walked out of WWE between the 2014 Royal Rumble going off the air and the January 27th 2014 episode of Monday Night Raw going on the air. In doing so, Punk cemented his legacy as the Stone Cold Steve Austin of his generation. Punk also showed the difference between the real thing and a cheap imitation; the Chicago Made Punk is the real thing.

WWE Superstars make guaranteed money nowadays, thank you Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.  In a way they are like sales people who makes a base salary but makes their real money from commission checks.  From 1985 to 1996, WWE Superstars were like sales people who were 100% commission based, and were literally dependent on a fat WrestleMania check for their livelihoods. CM Punk walked out of WWE over creative differences and burnout the night after the Road to WrestleMania began. He is definitely going to miss out on the biggest pay day of the year.

If CM Punk was some cheap imitation he would have bit his lip, sucked it up, faked a smile, gotten his WrestleMania check, then not resigned with the company when his contract is up in July or maybe just drove home from the Superdome and never looked back. But he didn’t, he got into shouting matches with medical and creative personnel backstage at RAW and informed Vince McMahon he was going home and not returning. CM Punk left a lot of money on the table by leaving when he did, the way he did. But he’s not about money, just ask Joey Matthews.

Why is he the Steve Austin of his generation? Austin did the same thing in the spring of 2002. Also like Austin, Punk is the best on the mic and in the ring simultaneously as Austin was in his prime, both bucked authority, both are Paul Heyman guys, both were initially held down by WWE management before exploding into mainstream pop culture popularity, and Austin has said Punk is the only guy he would come out of retirement to have a match with.

Will his legacy take a hit? Just the opposite, it is enhanced. In his pop culture cross over “Pipe Bomb” promo Punk spoke about his loathing of The Rock being a part timer and main eventing WrestleMania. What do you think he had to say backstage about Batista winning the Royal Rumble after a four year absence? Punk shouted for change in 2011. As 2014 begins the top spots of WWE are occupied by John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Sheamus, Big Show, and Brock Lesnar, sounds familiar.

Maybe Punk left because he selfishly felt he should main event Mania. Well he’s a workhorse in the ring, cuts the best promos bar none, moves merchandise, gets paid top dollar, is as over with the female children as he is with the adult males, and Vince trusts him; why not put him in the main event? PS he worked the Rumble for 50 minutes.

I think we all know why he left. It’s directly correlated to the live crowd’s reaction to the last ten minutes of the Royal Rumble pay per view. In 2011 CM Punk shouted for change. The change was Vince needed to start actually listening to what the fans wanted organically rather than using his billion dollar marketing machine to manufacture the consent of approval towards McMahon’s handpicked gym rats. Summerslam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble proved beyond any shadow of any doubt that nothing has changed in the WWE.  CM Punk should have quit because of this and he did, like a real McCoy is supposed to do.

The Rise of Roman Who?

Posted: January 25, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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potatoshooterlogoby @anarchyroll
1/24/2014

Have you heard the latest funny joke going around? It goes like this; Knock knock. Who’s there? Roman Reigns is going to be a main event player…

No this isn’t going to be a shit on Roman Reigns blog.  Roman Reigns has a good attitude, an even better head of hair, and the best possible bloodlines for a professional wrestler to come from.  But let’s all pretend we aren’t ten year old marks for a minute and face some facts.

Roman Reigns is the third wheel of The Shield. How? Why? Well there is a reason Dean Ambrose got the US Title.  Seth Rollins is the third wheel you say? Well there is a reason Rollins (Tyler Black to some of us) was the FIRST ever NXT Champion.  Roman Reigns is the muscle, the enforcer, the guy who looks that much bigger next to two certified cruiserweights.  He has no discernible mic skills, and WWE knows this, it’s why he talks the least. He can’t carry a singles match by himself at the minor or major league level, and WWE knows this, it’s why he is the only one of the Shield to not win a singles title on the main roster or developmental.

The WWWF, WWF, WWE 50 year old big man bias will ensure he gets pushed ahead of Ambrose and Rollins?  Big E Langston is already IC Champion after all.  Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson both got the IC Title early, in Barrett’s case, often. Both were big and bred in developmental.  Barrett actually knows what to do with a mic and can carry a match.  Jackson had muscles in places not seen in Scott Steiner’s heyday.  But unless you’re the Great Khali you need talent to get the big belt.

Don’t get me wrong, I personally, LOVE superman punches and Samoan wrestlers.  But 1 +1 will always equal 2 no matter how many times you say 11 and force a laugh.  WWE’s middle aged marks are being blinded by Seth Rollins’ charisma and Dean Ambrose’s character oozing and shining through the screen.  As their vision comes back to them, in a dazed like state, they are confusing the shine that Ambrose and Rollins are putting on Reigns by osmosis for major league talent.

Roman Reigns is Jim Neidhart. Roman Reigns is James Storm. Roman Reigns is Arm Anderson.  Roman Reigns is Marty Jannetty.  Roman Reigns is  Jake Youngblood.  Roman Reigns is D Von Dudley.

What do all those names have in common? They were/are all GREAT complimentary players.  They were/are GREAT secondary acts.  They were/are GREAT mid card gate keepers.  I look forward to Roman Reigns taking Umaga‘s spot in the mid card.  Remember, as IC Champion Umaga was in the defacto WrestleMania 23 main event.  Reigns can be/do something like that.

But lead a generation? Hold the Undisputed Title? Be the face of the WWE?  Stop kidding yourself.  Again don’t get me wrong, we could all do a lot worse.  Bo Dallas anyone?

Pray for the #Heel

Posted: January 17, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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potatoshooterlogoby @anarchyroll
1/16/2014

I really hope Dolph Ziggler doesn’t end up as a never was, he deserves better. More importantly, he earned better.

I know I know, he got the world title twice and both mid card belts for like six months at a time. But in twenty years will he be remembered? If he has to retire due to concussions, he’ll only be remembered as a what if story. There are worse things than retiring young, with money in the bank, and a university education in your back pocket. Look at Chris Nowinski, his life is far more meaningful now than if he got a series of secondary, transitional title runs during the heyday of the roster split.

But Dolph Ziggler could have been money, he should have been money, he should be doing what Orton is doing now. Sure he had his slip ups. The black dye job head shave immediately comes to mind. As does every match he had with CM Punk during Punk’s WWE Title run. And of course being passively blamed for Jerry Lawler’s infamous on air heart attack (by Jerry Lawler himself on Austin’s podcast). But Ziggles survived his stretches of nothing to do, mid card pushes that went nowhere, and congruence tests management threw at him and won the world title in front of one of the hottest crowds in wrestling history at the RAW after Mania last year. Just thinking and writing about him cashing in that briefcase is giving me goose bumps. You could see it on his face what was about to happen, and when it did happen, you could feel the emotion through the television set. Which is how it’s supposed to be for the top guys with the big gold belts.

If Ziggler is done, he’ll always have that night in New Jersey. He earned the belt, for real, before it had to be taken from him, for real. In a fake sport that’s saying a lot. And Ziggler has a lot of talent. Move set, charisma, mic skills, looks, and cardio all in abundance. He got over as a heel and as a face with the internet fans and the common fans. His t shirts were so brightly colored that they are easy to see in the crowd in the HD era, and there were a lot of Ziggler shirts in the crowds from 2012-2013.

I don’t just hope he comes back, I hope he comes back and management trusts him enough to give him the Undisputed Title. Sure he’d look good with the white IC Title but he is bigger than that belt, better than that belt, and has earned the real thing. Ziggler is a talent you build the roster around like Bret Hart back in the day because he can work with anyone. But if he comes back as a mid card gatekeeper, it will be just as sad as him having to retire, because both mean the same thing. That his time at the top that he earned, was taken from him by external forces outside of his ability to control or influence. That would be sad for the fans and bad for business, no doubt.

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