Hello and welcome to a new TurnbucklePost Blog! Thanks for reading!
As Michael Corleone once famously quipped "Every time I think I'm out they pull me back in!"
It wasn't just one thing but a well-timed group of things that have renewed the interest of this old rasslin' fanboy. The biggest pulls for me have been the continued dominance of Brock Lesnar, the continued successes of NXT, the rise of Kevin Owens, the rise of real women's wrestling, & many other positive movements.
We are fresh off a 3 day explosion of the WWE in Brooklyn, NY. Takeover, SummerSlam, & the post SS Raw all delivered to varying degrees of success. The fact that a "developmental league" like NXT sold out the very same arena the big SS show was in the following night speaks to the strength of the brand & its cultivation of a hardcore audience.
I'm not going to go bell-to-bell with reviews but I will hit on some of the awesomeness.
First: Bayley defeating Sasha Banks in the co-main event of TakeOver was one of those rare moments in the predetermined world of rasslin that generated some very real emotion from the performers in the ring, the people in the arena, & the viewers at home. These women put on a wrestling clinic & the tears in Bayley's eyes at the end as she clasped hands with her NXT cohorts in a curtain call homage were extremely moving.
Second: I love the simplicity of Kevin Owens heel character. He is the villain that is the hero of his own narrative. Every evil thing he does can be justified in his mind because he is "doing it for his family". I would hope he will pare down his move set a bit because after a while the audience becomes desensitized to the big spots & loses interest. Less is more KO less is more.
Third: The New Day are absolutely hilarious. They remind me of the "five second pose" incarnation of Edge & Christian.
Fourth: Crossfit Jesus was the MVP of SS for the absolute show he put on with John Cena. I was meh to the screwball ending, but Seth Rollins absolutely went balls out & left nothing out to entertain the fans. Rollins upcoming face turn will be Legend...Dary
Fifth & Final: Brock & Taker had their best match in a long while only for it to fall victim to screwy booking of the finish. I really hated that the ME of SS ended with a tie. What is this Soccer?!
Until next time.
Spandex & baby oil for all
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
Wrestlemania 31 review and beyond
Hello and welcome to another edition of the WrestleBlog!
I'm as surprised to be writing this as you probably are to be reading it. WM 31 got my fires reignited a bit for the future of the company. That paired with my extreme love of NXT has turned my tide so to speak.
Onto the review....
IC Ladder Match
This was one of those crazy spot fests that would be hard to review as a whole. It would be like trying to review a SNL sketch vs. the entire movie that would be a normal match. I will say it was rather enjoyable like many of the MitB matches. Ambrose took some especially nasty bumps and falls. The powerbomb through the ringside ladder was especially brutal looking at home. The finish with Daniel Bryan hoisting gold was the bookend to a year of extreme highs and lows for him. I would've liked to see him in the ME, but it looks like they know that he will elevate the IC title to the level we have seen in the past.
Randy Orton d. Seth Rollins
This was a solid one-on-one throw down. While past mania's have put Orton in a bad position with opponents like Kane, HHH, or Batista/Bryan this was a solid meshing of styles and abilities that made for a rather entertaining match. The sheer athleticism of the finishing sequence was AMAZING with Orton reversing a curb stomp to hurl Rollins high into the air and then delivering the RKO. At first Orton going over did not make much sense to me, but as you will see Rollins had bigger fish to fry by night's end.
Triple H d. Sting
That is no typo. The Game defeated the Stinger in what may be his only WWE match ever. The match itself wasn't bad considering Sting's age and limitations. It was really quite cool to see the DX/NWO showdown, HBK-Sting altercation, and the novelty of Sting at Mania. I think some Flair intervention would've been appropriate, but I digress. At the end of the day it was extremely overbooked, but none of that would've bothered me if Sting had got the victory.
AJ Lee & Paige d. The Bella Twins
Knowing now that AJ Lee literally just came back for a Mania paycheck it makes it even more humorous that WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella did the honors on this one. It wasn't a terrible match by any means but I think unfortunately the resulting AJ Lee retirement may have made #givedivasachance DOA. A lot of the problem that Vince has with going all the way with divas is that they have left him in the past. I could rattle off a plethora of names here, but I'm sure there are already others floating around in your head so I'll let you make your own. Point being it was a good match with some good tag psychology, and it was better than we've come to expect from the divas on any show not called NXT.
John Cena d. Rusev w/ Lana
I have vocally and prominently defended John Cena in the past; however, I have to say his act is starting to get old with me as well. I think he did a great justice to the business by taking an absolute wrecking at the hands of Brock Lesnar at Summerslam, but he has undercut that good with his actions in the months since the SS beat down. With Goldberg (and THE STREAK) as an outlier I think undefeated streaks in wrestling are horseshit. Nonetheless Rusev was riding a nice never-been-pinned streak coming into this tilt with Cena. It was a solid match overall with Cena even pulling out a springboard Stunner, but the result was never in question. This makes two years in a row where Cena could've done the right thing for the business and got his win back at ER one month later. Undercutting the credibility of what-could-be mega heels Wyatt and Rusev hurts the ability for any other faces to make money with them.
The Undertaker d. Bray Wyatt
This was a pretty entertaining match! I really enjoyed what I saw of the buildup with Bray carrying the entire load by himself, and to Taker's credit he looked a helluva lot better this go round than at WMXXX. A lot of great psychology at play in this one with Bray trying to take the mantle as the new face of fear and Taker just being his normal bad ass paranormal self. I was hoping to see Bray go over as the streak doesn't matter anymore, but it appears as if WWE is setting Taker up for his last ride at WM 32 in Dallas, Texas.
Seth Rollins d. Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar
This was probably my favorite match of the night. I really liked both guys going in, but I wasn't sure if they could piece together a good match. I was very happy that my skepticism was wrong, because they told a really compelling story in the ring with Lesnar delivering an absolute beating and Reigns taking it with a sadomasochistic smile like he was Tyler Durden in "Fight Club". Then after the big babyface rally we get another F-5 from Lesnar which queued Rollins to come down to cash in. Two curb stomps later he walks out WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I absolutely loved the swerve in this match as it's something we haven't got at Mania in awhile in the main event at least. The last I could think of was SCSA teaming with Mr. McMahon at the conclusion of WM 17.
The Rock-Rousey-TripleNippleH segment could've been about 10 mins shorter, but it was a nice little Mania moment as well.
As a whole show I enjoyed this Mania more than WM XXX. I won't give it a score, but I will say that it gets a thumbs up in my book. To tell how good it really is we will have to see how WWE follows it up. Does Rollins continue the sad lineage of heel champions that become absolute chickenshit cowards as soon as they get the strap? Can Lesnar go on a sustained face run while only working 4 events a year? Do the divas get a chance? I think there was a great deal of good done with this show, but I think WWE still has a long way to go to improving their product.
I'm as surprised to be writing this as you probably are to be reading it. WM 31 got my fires reignited a bit for the future of the company. That paired with my extreme love of NXT has turned my tide so to speak.
Onto the review....
IC Ladder Match
This was one of those crazy spot fests that would be hard to review as a whole. It would be like trying to review a SNL sketch vs. the entire movie that would be a normal match. I will say it was rather enjoyable like many of the MitB matches. Ambrose took some especially nasty bumps and falls. The powerbomb through the ringside ladder was especially brutal looking at home. The finish with Daniel Bryan hoisting gold was the bookend to a year of extreme highs and lows for him. I would've liked to see him in the ME, but it looks like they know that he will elevate the IC title to the level we have seen in the past.
Randy Orton d. Seth Rollins
This was a solid one-on-one throw down. While past mania's have put Orton in a bad position with opponents like Kane, HHH, or Batista/Bryan this was a solid meshing of styles and abilities that made for a rather entertaining match. The sheer athleticism of the finishing sequence was AMAZING with Orton reversing a curb stomp to hurl Rollins high into the air and then delivering the RKO. At first Orton going over did not make much sense to me, but as you will see Rollins had bigger fish to fry by night's end.
Triple H d. Sting
That is no typo. The Game defeated the Stinger in what may be his only WWE match ever. The match itself wasn't bad considering Sting's age and limitations. It was really quite cool to see the DX/NWO showdown, HBK-Sting altercation, and the novelty of Sting at Mania. I think some Flair intervention would've been appropriate, but I digress. At the end of the day it was extremely overbooked, but none of that would've bothered me if Sting had got the victory.
AJ Lee & Paige d. The Bella Twins
Knowing now that AJ Lee literally just came back for a Mania paycheck it makes it even more humorous that WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella did the honors on this one. It wasn't a terrible match by any means but I think unfortunately the resulting AJ Lee retirement may have made #givedivasachance DOA. A lot of the problem that Vince has with going all the way with divas is that they have left him in the past. I could rattle off a plethora of names here, but I'm sure there are already others floating around in your head so I'll let you make your own. Point being it was a good match with some good tag psychology, and it was better than we've come to expect from the divas on any show not called NXT.
John Cena d. Rusev w/ Lana
I have vocally and prominently defended John Cena in the past; however, I have to say his act is starting to get old with me as well. I think he did a great justice to the business by taking an absolute wrecking at the hands of Brock Lesnar at Summerslam, but he has undercut that good with his actions in the months since the SS beat down. With Goldberg (and THE STREAK) as an outlier I think undefeated streaks in wrestling are horseshit. Nonetheless Rusev was riding a nice never-been-pinned streak coming into this tilt with Cena. It was a solid match overall with Cena even pulling out a springboard Stunner, but the result was never in question. This makes two years in a row where Cena could've done the right thing for the business and got his win back at ER one month later. Undercutting the credibility of what-could-be mega heels Wyatt and Rusev hurts the ability for any other faces to make money with them.
The Undertaker d. Bray Wyatt
This was a pretty entertaining match! I really enjoyed what I saw of the buildup with Bray carrying the entire load by himself, and to Taker's credit he looked a helluva lot better this go round than at WMXXX. A lot of great psychology at play in this one with Bray trying to take the mantle as the new face of fear and Taker just being his normal bad ass paranormal self. I was hoping to see Bray go over as the streak doesn't matter anymore, but it appears as if WWE is setting Taker up for his last ride at WM 32 in Dallas, Texas.
Seth Rollins d. Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar
This was probably my favorite match of the night. I really liked both guys going in, but I wasn't sure if they could piece together a good match. I was very happy that my skepticism was wrong, because they told a really compelling story in the ring with Lesnar delivering an absolute beating and Reigns taking it with a sadomasochistic smile like he was Tyler Durden in "Fight Club". Then after the big babyface rally we get another F-5 from Lesnar which queued Rollins to come down to cash in. Two curb stomps later he walks out WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I absolutely loved the swerve in this match as it's something we haven't got at Mania in awhile in the main event at least. The last I could think of was SCSA teaming with Mr. McMahon at the conclusion of WM 17.
The Rock-Rousey-TripleNippleH segment could've been about 10 mins shorter, but it was a nice little Mania moment as well.
As a whole show I enjoyed this Mania more than WM XXX. I won't give it a score, but I will say that it gets a thumbs up in my book. To tell how good it really is we will have to see how WWE follows it up. Does Rollins continue the sad lineage of heel champions that become absolute chickenshit cowards as soon as they get the strap? Can Lesnar go on a sustained face run while only working 4 events a year? Do the divas get a chance? I think there was a great deal of good done with this show, but I think WWE still has a long way to go to improving their product.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
This is not going to be fun for me to write....
I think I will be taking an extended hiatus from Rasslin' again after this year's Mania. I've watched it off & on again since Mania 25, which in and of itself was the first WWE product I had watched in over 6 years if I'm being honest.
It's not due to Super-Cena or my favorite Punk-er leaving to try different things. I can't take anymore how blatantly out of touch Vince is with what people want to see, and the history of this product.
I'll address the second part first. In it's heyday (mainly the attitude era widely regarded as the most profitable time in the business) WWE was more about SPORTS entertainment than sports ENTERTAINMENT. Yeah it was a bunch of guys in speedos pretending to fight one another, but it was presented as a traditional sport with match ups that were made because they were "earned", hype videos were produced, and the matches themselves were presented as being important. That is what hooked me, and it has been a model of success for Dana White at the UFC. Now, VKM has returned to over-the-top circus acts with very little in the way of in-ring work. Good technicians are labeled as "boring", or pushed and then blamed for the company's success even when they didn't get the full creative effort behind them.
A lot of "the fall of WCW" was blamed on talent having guaranteed contracts and that marginalized the creative efforts of Eric Bischoff, Ed Ferrara, Vince Russo, and others. If we are looking at the "fall of WWE"; however, with no guaranteed contracts and creative control the shows are still being hastily rebooked at the last minute because despite having a room full of writers for each show Vince still feels that they are not getting the job done. In 30 years of business it's hard to believe that the man has never learned that sometimes you have to be accountable for your faults when failures occur. It's much too easy for Vince to write it off as "an apathetic crowd" or "a talent not getting over the gimmick" and so on. Instead of looking at what worked in the past to help provide a template for the future.
I use "fall of WWE" loosely because the truth is that the company will probably succeed in spite of itself, because it's the only widely accessible game in town.
When I say Vince is out of touch you can see it in the programming. A ready-made destruction machine like Roman Reigns has been reduced to cutting promos about how he is like Superman, or telling fairy tales to the audience. PAC made a name for himself on the indy circuit with his incredible in ring ability and no benefit of the WWE hype machine, yet Vince is set on making him a "mighty mouse" superhero character when he comes up to the main roster. Mighty Mouse? I am pretty sure some of the parents in the audience may only partially get that reference. We keep on going down the line and look at Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose, who has been booked into oblivion with inane comedy and shenanigans finishes to his main event matches. Tyler Black/Seth Rollins has been handled well so far, but give it time. Sheamus went from a powerhouse heel to a one-note ethnic joke that wasn't funny the first time. Bray Wyatt was absolutely killed by booking, and the powers that be decided that they can rebuild his character by having him beat Ambrose multiple times on free tv and ppv. There are many more, but this was just to make my point.
The booking decisions alone show what kind of chaos reigns in the backstage of the WWE right now. It's not something I can willingly support any longer, and part of me hopes that they fail. This was something that I enjoyed as a kid, but they have stripped away anything enjoyable about it.
Being home with my son meant I had time to kill while he napped on me so I had gotten in the habit of watching the 90-min Raw on HULU, and even that has gotten insufferable.
So after Mania I'm done & this is my last post at this site.
As Edward R. Murrow would say "Good Night and Good Luck"
It's not due to Super-Cena or my favorite Punk-er leaving to try different things. I can't take anymore how blatantly out of touch Vince is with what people want to see, and the history of this product.
I'll address the second part first. In it's heyday (mainly the attitude era widely regarded as the most profitable time in the business) WWE was more about SPORTS entertainment than sports ENTERTAINMENT. Yeah it was a bunch of guys in speedos pretending to fight one another, but it was presented as a traditional sport with match ups that were made because they were "earned", hype videos were produced, and the matches themselves were presented as being important. That is what hooked me, and it has been a model of success for Dana White at the UFC. Now, VKM has returned to over-the-top circus acts with very little in the way of in-ring work. Good technicians are labeled as "boring", or pushed and then blamed for the company's success even when they didn't get the full creative effort behind them.
A lot of "the fall of WCW" was blamed on talent having guaranteed contracts and that marginalized the creative efforts of Eric Bischoff, Ed Ferrara, Vince Russo, and others. If we are looking at the "fall of WWE"; however, with no guaranteed contracts and creative control the shows are still being hastily rebooked at the last minute because despite having a room full of writers for each show Vince still feels that they are not getting the job done. In 30 years of business it's hard to believe that the man has never learned that sometimes you have to be accountable for your faults when failures occur. It's much too easy for Vince to write it off as "an apathetic crowd" or "a talent not getting over the gimmick" and so on. Instead of looking at what worked in the past to help provide a template for the future.
I use "fall of WWE" loosely because the truth is that the company will probably succeed in spite of itself, because it's the only widely accessible game in town.
When I say Vince is out of touch you can see it in the programming. A ready-made destruction machine like Roman Reigns has been reduced to cutting promos about how he is like Superman, or telling fairy tales to the audience. PAC made a name for himself on the indy circuit with his incredible in ring ability and no benefit of the WWE hype machine, yet Vince is set on making him a "mighty mouse" superhero character when he comes up to the main roster. Mighty Mouse? I am pretty sure some of the parents in the audience may only partially get that reference. We keep on going down the line and look at Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose, who has been booked into oblivion with inane comedy and shenanigans finishes to his main event matches. Tyler Black/Seth Rollins has been handled well so far, but give it time. Sheamus went from a powerhouse heel to a one-note ethnic joke that wasn't funny the first time. Bray Wyatt was absolutely killed by booking, and the powers that be decided that they can rebuild his character by having him beat Ambrose multiple times on free tv and ppv. There are many more, but this was just to make my point.
The booking decisions alone show what kind of chaos reigns in the backstage of the WWE right now. It's not something I can willingly support any longer, and part of me hopes that they fail. This was something that I enjoyed as a kid, but they have stripped away anything enjoyable about it.
Being home with my son meant I had time to kill while he napped on me so I had gotten in the habit of watching the 90-min Raw on HULU, and even that has gotten insufferable.
So after Mania I'm done & this is my last post at this site.
As Edward R. Murrow would say "Good Night and Good Luck"
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Wrestlemania XXX review and other thoughts.....
Hello and welcome to the inaugural edition of TheWrestleBlog!
Wrestlemania XXX review....
Daniel Bryan d. Triple H
I think hands down this was the best match of the night for this year's Mania. Hunter, much like many of his other large wrestler cohorts works much better with a smaller opponent. In past years we have seen HHH lock horns with other hosses like Undertaker & Brock Lesnar in slow, methodical paced matches. This was a much different psychology as it allowed HHH to play the power role believably and allowed to Bryan to play the underdog face in peril effectively. Just a fantastic match with a good pace and a lot of time to work with to tell a believable story.
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns) d. Kane & The New Age Outlaws
This was a glorified squash match. Clocking in just under 3 minutes it is amazing that we were given a bonafide "Wrestlemania Moment" when the Shield triple-powerbombed the NAO right out of the WWE again. With their newfound face status lets hope the Shield break up is a long way away, because I have honestly enjoyed the run these guys have had. I'm very happy that I was present the night the trio debuted at "Survivor Series 2012", and like I said previously I have really enjoyed their run at the top. The upcoming match and hopefully feud with the reformed Evolution stable is something that has me extremely excited (no pun intended).
Cesaro wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by last eliminating The Big Show
This was about par for the course as far as battle royals go, but there were some really cool moments like Kofi going over the turnpost and landing with his feet on the stairs to avoid elimination, and then ultimately Cesaro powering up to throw Big Show over the top rope with a bodyslam. I remember the first time I saw Brock Lesnar F5 The Big Show and I thought that was impressive, but it is a feat that has lost some luster over the years. It's still impressive nonetheless, but it's more of a seen it before at this point. Cesaro is extremely hot right now, and they have attached him with heat magnet Paul Heyman. It may be a mistake, but I think it's a great idea but we will get more into that post Streak discussion.
John Cena d. Bray Wyatt
I will say this off the top this was not a win that Cena "needed", but I don't think it hurt Bray in the long run. If anything he lost because of his stalling in the name of psychology, and can be more offensive in the next match. While I'm a big proponent of Wrestlemania closing the booking for the year I think that this is a case where Bray will get a big win over Cena in the return match inside the cage at Extreme Rules. As far as this match goes there was a lot of stalling that hurt the overall match because it was a very slow pace, but they made up for it with some halfway decent psychology. They told the story of Bray trying to get the inner monster to come out of Cena with Cena teasing a turn to the dark side a couple of times. While I think we are a long way away from a full Cena turn small teases like this should serve to satiate the vocal fan base that wants to see that happen. I give Bray a lot of credit because this is a gimmick that could have fallen flat on it's face, and he has made a believable, charismatic monster out of what he has been given.
Brock Lesnar d. The Undertaker
While I have all the respect in the world for Taker I am an unapologetic Lesnar mark and I always have been. Despite his part-timer status Lesnar was the right choice to end the streak for a few reasons in my humble opinion. The first is that it is a big win that will help Lesnar's drawing power for as many appearances as he wants to have in the future. It is not hard to see that Lesnar has a lot more time left as a "special attraction" then Taker does. The second reason is because now Paul Heyman can transfer that heat from "beating the streak" to his other clients. As we have seen the past few weeks Heyman comes out and needles the crowd about the streak before introducing Cesaro. Hopefully, this will lead to a good rub for Cesaro and further help him on his climb to main event status.
I think it's likely that Undertaker's time as an active wrestler is done, but I am still holding out hope for that Sting-Taker tilt that at least will be a little more intriguing now that The Streak is no longer in play.
AJ Lee won Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational
I honestly lost all interest in this match when my friend explained that it was first fall wins and not in fact another battle royal. I mean no offense to the Divas but this is the way we have been conditioned to respond to them as "bathroom break" material. I think with the championship win by Paige there might be more prestige brought back to the division, but the first move would be to get rid of the goddamned butterfly title that is absolutely ludicrous.
Daniel Bryan d. Randy Orton (c) & Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
The YES! era has arrived! This was a well done triple-threat that gave Batista ample opportunities to catch his breath. One nasty spot of note was when Batista and Orton combined for a Batista Bomb-RKO on the table and Orton landed squarely on a computer monitor. It was the most legitimately painful looking thing I saw out of the entire night, because it was one of those things that could not have been planned. It somewhat reminded me of when HBK was irreparably damaged by an awkward fall on a casket, but thankfully Orton will live to fight another day.
In a moment that was a call back to the ending of Wrestlemania XX Daniel Bryan made Batista (one of the leaders of a new generation post-WM 21) tap-out to usher in a new era. We got back our feel- good moment.
Other News......
The Warrior's wife Dana released a statement today that was absolutely heart-breaking. Her words were very soulful and touching. She was very appreciative of the help that WWE provided in her hour of need, and described how she turned on every TV in the house to hear the tribute on Raw. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bring a tear to my eye. As I said in my Warrior memorial spot over on my comic page this was an extremely tragic passing mainly because two little girls have lost their Father.
The Evolution Reunion was an extremely exciting end to Monday's Raw. I was a big fan of the faction in their heyday, and I'm happy to see them have one more run at the top. Of course it doesn't hurt that they are entering a feud with one of the best factions of the last ten years in The Shield.
That's all for today....thanks for reading the inaugural edition of TheWrestleBlog!
Wrestlemania XXX review....
Daniel Bryan d. Triple H
I think hands down this was the best match of the night for this year's Mania. Hunter, much like many of his other large wrestler cohorts works much better with a smaller opponent. In past years we have seen HHH lock horns with other hosses like Undertaker & Brock Lesnar in slow, methodical paced matches. This was a much different psychology as it allowed HHH to play the power role believably and allowed to Bryan to play the underdog face in peril effectively. Just a fantastic match with a good pace and a lot of time to work with to tell a believable story.
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns) d. Kane & The New Age Outlaws
This was a glorified squash match. Clocking in just under 3 minutes it is amazing that we were given a bonafide "Wrestlemania Moment" when the Shield triple-powerbombed the NAO right out of the WWE again. With their newfound face status lets hope the Shield break up is a long way away, because I have honestly enjoyed the run these guys have had. I'm very happy that I was present the night the trio debuted at "Survivor Series 2012", and like I said previously I have really enjoyed their run at the top. The upcoming match and hopefully feud with the reformed Evolution stable is something that has me extremely excited (no pun intended).
Cesaro wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by last eliminating The Big Show
This was about par for the course as far as battle royals go, but there were some really cool moments like Kofi going over the turnpost and landing with his feet on the stairs to avoid elimination, and then ultimately Cesaro powering up to throw Big Show over the top rope with a bodyslam. I remember the first time I saw Brock Lesnar F5 The Big Show and I thought that was impressive, but it is a feat that has lost some luster over the years. It's still impressive nonetheless, but it's more of a seen it before at this point. Cesaro is extremely hot right now, and they have attached him with heat magnet Paul Heyman. It may be a mistake, but I think it's a great idea but we will get more into that post Streak discussion.
John Cena d. Bray Wyatt
I will say this off the top this was not a win that Cena "needed", but I don't think it hurt Bray in the long run. If anything he lost because of his stalling in the name of psychology, and can be more offensive in the next match. While I'm a big proponent of Wrestlemania closing the booking for the year I think that this is a case where Bray will get a big win over Cena in the return match inside the cage at Extreme Rules. As far as this match goes there was a lot of stalling that hurt the overall match because it was a very slow pace, but they made up for it with some halfway decent psychology. They told the story of Bray trying to get the inner monster to come out of Cena with Cena teasing a turn to the dark side a couple of times. While I think we are a long way away from a full Cena turn small teases like this should serve to satiate the vocal fan base that wants to see that happen. I give Bray a lot of credit because this is a gimmick that could have fallen flat on it's face, and he has made a believable, charismatic monster out of what he has been given.
Brock Lesnar d. The Undertaker
While I have all the respect in the world for Taker I am an unapologetic Lesnar mark and I always have been. Despite his part-timer status Lesnar was the right choice to end the streak for a few reasons in my humble opinion. The first is that it is a big win that will help Lesnar's drawing power for as many appearances as he wants to have in the future. It is not hard to see that Lesnar has a lot more time left as a "special attraction" then Taker does. The second reason is because now Paul Heyman can transfer that heat from "beating the streak" to his other clients. As we have seen the past few weeks Heyman comes out and needles the crowd about the streak before introducing Cesaro. Hopefully, this will lead to a good rub for Cesaro and further help him on his climb to main event status.
I think it's likely that Undertaker's time as an active wrestler is done, but I am still holding out hope for that Sting-Taker tilt that at least will be a little more intriguing now that The Streak is no longer in play.
AJ Lee won Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational
I honestly lost all interest in this match when my friend explained that it was first fall wins and not in fact another battle royal. I mean no offense to the Divas but this is the way we have been conditioned to respond to them as "bathroom break" material. I think with the championship win by Paige there might be more prestige brought back to the division, but the first move would be to get rid of the goddamned butterfly title that is absolutely ludicrous.
Daniel Bryan d. Randy Orton (c) & Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
The YES! era has arrived! This was a well done triple-threat that gave Batista ample opportunities to catch his breath. One nasty spot of note was when Batista and Orton combined for a Batista Bomb-RKO on the table and Orton landed squarely on a computer monitor. It was the most legitimately painful looking thing I saw out of the entire night, because it was one of those things that could not have been planned. It somewhat reminded me of when HBK was irreparably damaged by an awkward fall on a casket, but thankfully Orton will live to fight another day.
In a moment that was a call back to the ending of Wrestlemania XX Daniel Bryan made Batista (one of the leaders of a new generation post-WM 21) tap-out to usher in a new era. We got back our feel- good moment.
Other News......
The Warrior's wife Dana released a statement today that was absolutely heart-breaking. Her words were very soulful and touching. She was very appreciative of the help that WWE provided in her hour of need, and described how she turned on every TV in the house to hear the tribute on Raw. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bring a tear to my eye. As I said in my Warrior memorial spot over on my comic page this was an extremely tragic passing mainly because two little girls have lost their Father.
The Evolution Reunion was an extremely exciting end to Monday's Raw. I was a big fan of the faction in their heyday, and I'm happy to see them have one more run at the top. Of course it doesn't hurt that they are entering a feud with one of the best factions of the last ten years in The Shield.
That's all for today....thanks for reading the inaugural edition of TheWrestleBlog!
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