Huh, I figured Cole was going to get involved with Swagger, but I thought he was going to get him eliminated some how. I really would like to see Swagger at least be a tweener or just a full fledged face, just so to have a change of pace for his character.

With Edge leaving though, Smackdown needs another face to emerge because otherwise the only big faces there are Christian, Kofi, Big Show, and Rey. (Not totally buying Kane as a face) Swagger turning on Cole might have been accidental but if they do the full conversion it'd be very well timed. I'm for Drew turning face personally but whether they do it internally, the draft (too far away if it's in June), or an impromptu brand change, they need another person to step into that role.

And by "accidental" I meant accidentally timed with Edge's departure.

The WWE needs to throw R Truth's rapper gimmick into the ocean first before they are consider a push.

As I figured, Christian became the other guy in the Ladder Match for the title, ending with one last E&C moment. I'm gonna have to disagree with avie on this one - I think Christian should win at Extreme Rules. If Alberto gets it now, I get the feeling he'll have a very long run with it, whereas I can see Christian with a much shorter one. He's waited long enough for the gold; let him have it first, then let Del Rio take it from him.

So, uh, should we just give up on The Corre now? Maybe they'll have a Fatal 4-Way of some sort against each other at ER or something.

Drew lost again, but he didn't job this time - in fact, it was his best match in a while.

I still hope Swagger turns on Cole during the tag match. Being a heel just isn't working for him so much anymore.....

At 4/16/11 11:20 PM, Swackman wrote: As I figured, Christian became the other guy in the Ladder Match for the title, ending with one last E&C moment. I'm gonna have to disagree with avie on this one - I think Christian should win at Extreme Rules. If Alberto gets it now, I get the feeling he'll have a very long run with it, whereas I can see Christian with a much shorter one. He's waited long enough for the gold; let him have it first, then let Del Rio take it from him.

As much as it would be a feel good situation for Christian to win the title (which is long overdue) for Edge, I could easily see Del Rio winning it because they want to cash in on the mega push he's had. I just hope that if Del Rio does win that they don't kill a potential feud and send Christian back down to mid card. Del Rio saying that he was glad that he was part of the reason that Edge retired could be an good segway into an angle/feud that looks like it could work based on previous matches between the two.

Also I'm not putting much stock into this, but Jericho says he's coming back to WWE at some point after Dancing With The Stars in a video: http://yfrog.com/mtj0xlz

If he's really coming back, I would bet it's as a non wrestling personality. Even so, after reading his books and seeing some of his previous work years ago, I'd love for him to come back, whether it's on commentary, a manager, or a trainer on Tough Enough in a future season etc.

Couple things I'd like to comment on from the last couple posts:

Christian title reign: You build this children, I keep saying this and people seem to ignore me because a lot of you only know WWE style booking. I'm telling you that the feel good win on a B PPV is not going to do shit for them. The money is in the belt on Del Rio at Extreme Rules, and a long feud that has the belt flipped to Christian at Summerslam of Survivor Series, one of the "big 4" shows. This accomplishes a few goals at once:

1. You get maximum pop and elevation to Christian because what WWE often fails to realize is the best money tends to be in the face chasing the heel, and then ultimately defeating him for the prize.

2. You re-establish once more that shows like Summerslam or Survivor Series are the pre-eminent shows that the audience MUST pay attention to, like they pay attention to the Rumble and Mania (they aren't paying much attention to EC it seems). I think it's important for WWE to establish for themselves, and for the fans sort of "jumping on point" shows (much like comics attempt to do every few issues) where they can end certain storylines, and begin new ones. I think this allows the writers to tell tighter, better stories, and it creates a sense of newness for the audience as they get new and interesting story arcs every few months.

As far as Truth...you think this is a push? Really? You think being the guy that's going to take the pin or submission in this match is really a push? I guarantee you he does the job here, and Cena and Miz will continue feuding, and Truth goes right back down the card. Does this sound like a role you'd want someone you care about like a JoMo, or a Ziggler in? Because it's certainly not a role I'd like to see them in. When they get title shots, I'd like to see them either winning, or at the least getting strong performances that lead to return bouts.

As far as Jericho, I wholeheartedly believe he'll be back at some point. I think the "when" is going to hinge though on how well his outside projects fair after DWTS (I know he's got a huge gig booked with Fozzy coming up).

I really can't stand the Miz. I wish he retired instead of Edge.

At 4/18/11 12:19 AM, Tetris wrote: Also you're probably right about the whole Truth thing, but really it just seems weird.

I don't think it's weird at all (forgive spelling errors or upcoming crazy, I'm on my second rum and pepsi, and I drink big mother fuckin mugs at home, which results in the favored "drunken avie postings"). Hey, if I'm wwe, I don't give you a wrestlemania rematch on the very next show (they used to do it with Backlash and I thought that was dumb as hell, especially because Backlash was cheaper), I make you wait. But I can't just ignore Cena and Miz, they can't just not hook up...so they're only option was to throw someone else in to do the job. So they threw in R-Truth, a "solid hand" they aren't doing anything with. Hey, like almost their entire roster!

Which brings me to tonights survey question, and I'm really hoping you guys will play alone, here it comes:

Are we fucked?

As an industry, it's pretty much WWE...that's the only long-term, viable wrestling most of us are going to get, and the only viable way for most people to really make any money in the business. But they have done so so little to make any of these guys viable. Nexus? New or old? Who cares...they've been beaten like bitches. Corre? Hey, they just hired a guy off my mom's favorite soap, so we can be sure to get "as the Corre" turns some more...again, when they win I think I'm hallucinating...Drew McIntyre? Swagger? Kofi? Buehler? Buehler?

I mean, is there ANYBODY you honestly see approaching the level of a Randy Orton or a John Cena? Or an Edge? Who the hell is that next break out guy...more importantly who the hell is going to lead us into that next era of prosperity? I'd like to believe it's a situation where we haven't seen that person yet, but what if we have and the absolutely shitty way WWE treats guys has destroyed them? That's my greatest fear right now.

So you tell me, because damn I want to have hope...but I look at two years from now and I just get very very scared. Because in two years I don't see a Triple H, I don't see the Undertaker...maybe we have Jericho, but how often? If we have The Rock, it's part-time at best. I do see an Austin match or two on the horizon...but still. That's going back to the old...is there ANYBODY or ANYTHING out there that makes you believe there's going to be any sort of dawn coming soon? Anything? I NEED SOME HOPE DAMMIT!!!

Oh wow...that went way longer then I wanted, and it went to a really depressing place (weird, cause I'm watching that DX DVD from a few years ago and been laughing my ass off...ah well). Anyway, let me know what you think guys.

At 4/18/11 03:13 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: Are we fucked?

No. Are you crazy?

I was really excited when the Corre debuted on SD! and thought that it would provide a good chance for Barett to redeem himself.
Thank you for letting me down again, Vince!

At 4/18/11 10:17 AM, Dream-of-Duke wrote: I was really excited when the Corre debuted on SD! and thought that it would provide a good chance for Barett to redeem himself.
Thank you for letting me down again, Vince!

It's depressing right? i'm a big fan of Barrett and hope they dont just sweep him under the rug.

At 4/18/11 09:50 AM, Shaun wrote: No. Are you crazy?

Maybe.

At 4/18/11 09:50 AM, Shaun wrote:

At 4/18/11 03:13 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: Are we fucked?

No. Are you crazy?

Yes, we are...

If you looked at this years wrestlemania they relied alot on HHH vs. Undertaker. What happens when both of them aren't full time in a few years? wwe relies too heavily on a few people and once there gone shit hits the fan. Look at what happened after Shawn michaels left. They placed him in every high profile match and feud since 2002. At wrestlemania's 19-26 he's had the most memorable match on the card. Except for the rock vs. Hogan. It's been great watching them build him up so high, but now that he is retired it's left a vast hole in the program. Look at wrestlemania 25 and 26.. Shawn vs. the Undertaker was the show. Everything else seemed last minute and just thrown together.

Were at a unfortunate time were nearly all of the big stars are leaving or retiring or even dieing. Look at this list i've made over who has left since 2008:

Edge
Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Batista
Chris Jerico
Shawn Michaels
Shelton Benjamin
Carlito
Mike Knox
Gregory Helms
Mickie James
Brian Kendrick

Weather they retired, left, Died, or were let go because wwe saw no need for them. What are we left with? Super cena? randy orton? and then cm punk gaining main event status on raw? There's alot of voids that need to be filled.

The WWE is coming into a new "golden age." It is coming towards a peak we havent seen in a long time.

At the top you have Cena and Orton and there is no reason they wont be a constant there for the next 5-10 years.

The midcard has NEVER been as solid as it is today. There is a huge number of guys there who can step up to the main event.
Big show, mysterio, christian, jomo, ziggler, sheamus, punk, swagger, masters, kofi.

Then you have the attitude era guys who are now the returning legends. The rock, austin, trish, undertaker, HHH, kane, etc. etc.
You can't tell me that isn't far more exciting then seeing rowdy roddy piper every time you need someone in that role.

The most exciting thing though, the most exciting thing is all the young talent in the WWE getting a chance to shine.
Nexus, Corre, NXT, Tough Enough, Baretta, Ryder, Bourne, Kidd, etc. etc.

The divas are about to get a boost that could bring them to a long awaited high.
Awesome Kong, Beth Phoenix, McCool and Natalya..
Thats pretty much as strong a womans division as you have ever seen.

Then there is the FCW crew, there is people there waiting for their call up alot of people are excited about. 2nd generation wrestlers and the like. People we should see on the next season of NXT teamed up with legend coaches.

Golden age.

At 4/18/11 10:10 PM, Shaun wrote:
The most exciting thing though, the most exciting thing is all the young talent in the WWE getting a chance to shine.
Nexus, Corre, NXT, Tough Enough, Baretta, Ryder, Bourne, Kidd, etc. etc.

Nexus
The group that was single handedly destroyed by the WWE God Randy Orton?

Corre
The guys who lost at Wrestlemania in less than two minutes?

Barretta
The guy who wrestles on a weekly basis, or is at least on TV?

Ryder
The guy who only appears as a gag?

Bourne
The jobber?

Kidd
The jobber?

I hate to burst your bubble, but all those names look great on paper, but if you just watch the programming, you'd know they are never going to get taken seriously or receive a good push.

At 4/18/11 11:53 PM, boloneyman wrote: I hate to burst your bubble, but all those names look great on paper, but if you just watch the programming, you'd know they are never going to get taken seriously or receive a good push.

It takes nothing more then one week to take someone from a "joke" to serious contender.
The Miz was a joke, Ziggler was a joke.
Its a role that WWE needs filled, it doesn't mean that they are stuck in that role forever.

Lets not forget that the biggest jokes in the WWE are Santino/swoggle and he they are more over then anyone.

Not sure what the point is of having Truth be in the main event of a PPV only for Morrison to replace him the next week. Panic reaction to the realization that you just booked R Truth as one of three men in the main event of a PPV? Morrison got out of the dog house? It's like something out of what everyone describes TNA to be like.

Also Truth's heel turn is based on him drinking water, smoking cigarettes, and beating up someone who tricked him out of a title shot. My god, he is such a horrible human being.

So now that the draft is next week instead of in June, what are your predictions for the roster changes?

To Smackdown:
Daniel Bryan
Morrison
Evan Bourne
Sin Cara
R Truth

To Raw:
Kane
Kofi
Jack Swagger
Beth Phoenix

Raw has more people on the roster so if they find a way to even it out that way, all the better.

Lets recap RAW:

Am I the only one that liked the outburst by R-Truth?, i'm just glad their doing something with him. Though I am surprised he lost the match. I suppose they were just setting him up for a feud. I just liked the "haters gonna hate" smoking part.

Dolph Ziggler looks hot with his new hair (he's always been hot). Hope he gets a title shot soon.

I wanted to see Sin Cara in solo action, im dissapointed that Cena came out and completley stole the light.

*sees Awesome Kong promo and gets excited*...................*Bella twins come out*..........*Changes channel*

Oh hi Sheamus beating the crap out of Santino? ok, oh what youre done? ok bye Sheamus see you next week.

Thank you Cole for wasting 15 minutes of air time and almost ruining RAW again.

I liked the match between Punk and Orton, reasonable length and good strength from both. I'm glad their putting focus back onto their feud.

I found a funny sign on last night's RAW,can anybody point it out? :3

If you are a heel whose name is neither The Miz nor ADR, then you are nothing more than a feeder to the star faces ---- Vince.

Dolph looks like a Smackdown vs RAW CAW with his "new look". Now that I think about it, something was off about Dolph last night. Hell, I sense a conspiracy! That wasn't Dolph last night.. it was his (recently signed) brother!

At 4/19/11 12:37 AM, Shaun wrote:
It takes nothing more then one week to take someone from a "joke" to serious contender.
The Miz was a joke, Ziggler was a joke.
Its a role that WWE needs filled, it doesn't mean that they are stuck in that role forever.

Yeah, but WWE has proven time and time again that once you get stuck in that spot, it can be pretty damn hard to climb out. I think Avie refers to it as being lost in the shuffle, and it is what happened to the likes of Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, (although I'll admit there were causes for that) Paul London, The Brian Kendrick, Shad, The Highlanders, The Usos, Kenny Dykstra, etc.

It would be nice if that happened and those guys got pushed, but I'm going to quote Louis CK and his infinite wisdom here. "Why the fuck would anything nice ever happen?"

At 4/19/11 09:56 AM, illuminate wrote: I found a funny sign on last night's RAW,can anybody point it out? :3

Epic troll face :P

So R-Truth has turned heel. Could be a good way to go for him. His rapper thing was getting old anyway.

As far as what Avie as saying... I think there is hope, but it has mainly to do with how much longer Vince is going to stay in charge. I think a lot of what he prefers is still the way the writers have to work with. I had heard that he keps changing things for Mania and was driving the writing staff crazy. Is this all Vince's fault? No, I wouldn't say that, but their refusal to stick with guys like Swagger and Shemus and many others hurts the overall product. Start-Stop pushes never work.

At 4/19/11 09:56 AM, illuminate wrote: I found a funny sign on last night's RAW,can anybody point it out? :3

Speaking of signs:

"WWE ordered 02 Arena officials in London to remove all signs from fans which were directed at Zach Ryder. One sign confiscated read "Ryder =Ratings" and another one "Push Ryder". Ryder in recent weeks has gained a large following who watch his Z! True Long Island Story Episodes on Youtube. Many fans are pushing for him to get more television time which WWE do not seem intent on doing."

Yeah so remind me how it makes sense to try and tone down the exposure one of your performers who is getting over with fans through promotion work. And just because the higher ups don't want a certain guy to get that exposure because to them he's just a pure jobber isn't a good reason in case you were wondering. He's getting fired isn't he?

At 4/19/11 12:56 PM, boloneyman wrote: It would be nice if that happened and those guys got pushed, but I'm going to quote Louis CK and his infinite wisdom here. "Why the fuck would anything nice ever happen?"

The people you list just didn't have it. WWE gave shelton benjamin, carlito and even the usos every opportunity to get over but they just weren't that interesting. The crowd didn't get behind them and they stop being seen on tv.
If you don't have charisma and can't speak 99% of the time you aren't going to make it.

At 4/19/11 09:45 AM, WooldoorSockbat wrote: Lets recap RAW:
Am I the only one that liked the outburst by R-Truth?, i'm just glad their doing something with him. Though I am surprised he lost the match. I suppose they were just setting him up for a feud. I just liked the "haters gonna hate" smoking part.

I think that the reason why they turned Truth heel was to get JoMo over which is a good thing --- JoMo needs to go over a mid-card heel before establish himself as a serious title contender.

Dolph Ziggler looks hot with his new hair (he's always been hot). Hope he gets a title shot soon.

Watching him still remains me his Spirit Squad days. Maybe I am just not a fan of his.

I wanted to see Sin Cara in solo action, im dissapointed that Cena came out and completley stole the light.

It made sense because Cena is still feuding with the Miz. As much as I hate to say it, Cena will walk out of Extreme Rules as the new WWE champion. When a heel champion complains that the match is unfair because the odds are against him, we should know that his days as the champion are numbered.

*sees Awesome Kong promo and gets excited*...................*Bella twins come out*..........*Changes channel*

My bathroom break.

Oh hi Sheamus beating the crap out of Santino? ok, oh what youre done? ok bye Sheamus see you next week.

At least he is winning. Remember him losing to Santino earlier this year?

Thank you Cole for wasting 15 minutes of air time and almost ruining RAW again.
I liked the match between Punk and Orton, reasonable length and good strength from both. I'm glad their putting focus back onto their feud.

I am depressed because God Orton made Punk and the entire Nexus his bitches again.

At 4/19/11 12:37 AM, Shaun wrote: It takes nothing more then one week to take someone from a "joke" to serious contender.

I call bullshit on that. You can't just flip a switch and say "this person is legit now" and they are. The audience is not that stupid.

The Miz was a joke, Ziggler was a joke.

True, and it took YEARS to build them into what they are now. Good, consistent booking and opportunities at elevation. There was no switch flipped and suddenly Miz could headline, and Ziggler is looking to break out.

Its a role that WWE needs filled, it doesn't mean that they are stuck in that role forever.

Some guys are, because they should be. Santino springs to mind. But the problem is you don't do that to guys that are useful and can headline, or can be your solid undercard workers. WWE is so desperate not to be wrestling that they ignore the structure they need to follow.

Lets not forget that the biggest jokes in the WWE are Santino/swoggle and he they are more over then anyone.

Can they headline? Can they draw money in a title match? Do people PAY to watch Santino and Swoggle? No, they don't. You know why they're over? Because their character is consistent. You know what you're going to get from them, and they are used in the right spots, in the right ways. If they did that up and down the card, the shows would be so much better and the future would be so much brighter.

At 4/20/11 10:06 PM, Tetris wrote:

At 4/20/11 06:02 PM, bhsqad15 wrote: My draft predictions(So Far)

The Miz to Smackdown

The draft is next week. Miz is defending the title at Extreme Rules etc etc.

I think that the actual roster changes are happening a few weeks after the draft which gives them time to close story lines before the shakeup.

So, maybe JoMO was never even 'in the doghouse' - avie said that site was shit when it comes to 'reports'. Regardless, that was one of the more interesting heel turns I've seen. Surprised Ron was allowed to smoke on-air for it. Didn't know he smoked - which really isn't good for a pro wrestler (or anybody). Sadly, I don't think Morrison will get the title, but we all know he'll put on a hell of a match anyway like he always does.

Did Cole really get KNIGHTED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? How much worse can this possibly get before it goes away? And if he really just did, what the hell could he have possibly done worthy of THAT!?

I don't get it; Dolph is still Dolph, just with a new dye-and-cut. No 'new attitude' to be seen. If you're gonna say Dolph's appearance is signifying change, we'd better be seeing something different, here. The new do does make him seem a little more serious, but that's it, really.

To answer avie's drunken rant question (seriously, how do you somehow manage to get MORE intelligent when drunk? I only have the reverse happen to the people around me, dammit!), yes, we are, but just temporarily. We just have to wait out Vince's final years (just in the company, mind you - I didn't mean 'wait till he croaks'). Case in point: The apparent Ryder situation, which I'll get to in a second. We just have to stick with it, and remember that TNA is still worse.

At 4/19/11 08:03 PM, 36Holla wrote: Speaking of signs:

"WWE ordered 02 Arena officials in London to remove all signs from fans which were directed at Zach Ryder. One sign confiscated read "Ryder =Ratings" and another one "Push Ryder". Ryder in recent weeks has gained a large following who watch his Z! True Long Island Story Episodes on Youtube. Many fans are pushing for him to get more television time which WWE do not seem intent on doing."

Yeah so remind me how it makes sense to try and tone down the exposure one of your performers who is getting over with fans through promotion work. And just because the higher ups don't want a certain guy to get that exposure because to them he's just a pure jobber isn't a good reason in case you were wondering. He's getting fired isn't he?

What the shit? If you have someone who's becoming a fan favorite despite the way he's booked currently, you don't basically tell his fans "He can go fuck himself!", you take that as a hint & PUSH HIM! For bloody shit's sake, that's almost TNA-LEVEL failed logic.

At 4/20/11 12:32 PM, Dream-of-Duke wrote: I am depressed because God Orton made Punk and the entire Nexus his bitches again.

How? Orton won barely, and then Nexus mauled him. He only RKO'ed Punk after him & Mason took too long debating which one of them would get to punt his skull, and then Punk threw a tantrum of epic proportions. I don't quite see how this equates to what you said.

I'm a little surprised that Punk is still the Nexus leader, though, after that remark from before.