How I would book the Road to WrestleMania including Ziggler, Reigns, Ryback and Lesnar.

The most prominent rumours surrounding the Royal Rumble recently would be that Roman Reigns is going to win and go on to face Brock at WrestleMania. However, I personally don’t think that Reigns is ready to be at the top of the card at Mania. In this article I’ll tell you why I think that, and what I think they should do instead with regards to booking Reigns going forward and with that I’ll cover a list of guys who I think should win the Rumble instead and why. At the end I’ll write about what I think they should do if they DO have Reigns win the Rumble. Also, I’ll write this with the mindset that Brock will be champion, or at least that’s what I’m hoping for at WrestleMania, if it is Cena it still sort of works too.

First of all it’s probably good of me to point out that I do actually like Reigns for the most part, he’s quite athletic for his size and a lot of his move set is quite unique and original, I know this is sort of an overused phrase but I genuinely do think that if he was on the indies using these moves that people would be calling for him to be signed. With that being said, I think I’m in the same boat as most people when I say that he isn’t ready to be pushed to the moon. Recently, his promo quality has come into question and I have to agree that bar the odd line, his promos appear so scripted that he can’t flow naturally with them. To me, his character would be cooler if he didn’t talk much anyway and just showed up and speared guys out of nowhere. Anyway, that’s not the point, it seems obvious to me and the majority of fans that Reigns is going to be pushed to being one of the top guys because he has that ‘look’ and you can’t deny that, he definitely does have the look and the physicality to be a top guy but I think he needs another year to get his promo ability, confidence and to be booked in the right way to becoming the champion. At the minute, because of his injury it seems that he hasn’t really done much since breaking up with The Shield, he hasn’t been booked or positioned in anyway for the fans to get behind him as a singles star in my opinion. The recent criticism of Reigns as well might leave yet another Rumble with a sour taste with the majority of fans. 

Anyway, Because of this I think that Reigns’ inevitable push should be held off till next Rumble so he has more experience and has that time to slowly get more over. Instead, I think this is what they should do with Reigns at the Rumble. First you have the guy come out and annihilate a good chunk of the roster, eliminating Big Show or Kane and a few jobbers. Meanwhile, I would have Rusev acting in a similar way and together (not as a team, just individually) they clear the ring and are left the only two standing facing each other. No doubt this would cause the crowd to go into the “This is Awesome” mode. Then I’d have the two be broken up by the next guy or whatever who jumps on them both and then have Reigns eliminate Rusev in a way that doesn’t make Reigns look too dominant over him. This would set up the feud between them both and I think would escalate Reigns as a character and get more of the crowd behind him, also you have the combination of that and the fact that Rusev is still unbeaten. Then, I’d stretch this out till Mania and maybe have a match at, what WWE are now calling, ‘Fast Lane’. Maybe, have Rusev beat down Reigns or do a double count out or what might be even better is keeping them away from each other so that the first time they have a proper match and properly get to fight is at Mania. I think this way it would help Reigns get over by beating Rusev and becoming US champion, it would probably bring more prestige to the belt which we all know it needs (although I think it’s improved since Rusev has had the belt). Rusev at the minute is probably the third best heel in the company just below Lesnar and Rollins but with Lesnar being used sparingly, he really seems the second most prominent heel. Rusev will also probably feel even bigger if he beats Ryback in what feud he seems to be at the minute. Tell me what you guys think of what they should do with Reigns and how you would book it, or, do you want him to win the Rumble? Leave a comment or something.

So, if Reigns isn’t going to be the Rumble winner then it raises the question who should be? I’ve got a few guys I can think of which, to me, all should be winning it above Reigns at this point and I’ll go through them one by one.

Daniel Bryan

First, of course there is Daniel Bryan, I know he’s not back yet but there is no question that when does get back he’ll be the most over guy on the show. Rumours at the minute are that Bryan will be back in the summer but we’ve seen WWE release that kind of information to only spin that and have Cena turn up as a surprise in the past. I don’t really know whether I have to go through the reasons of why it should be Bryan because it’s pretty obvious. The MMA style of match the two would have would be great and seeing Bryan get thrown around by a monster only to turn round and pin him would be the ultimate underdog story. Perhaps, the ultimate underdog story which we should have been given last year when Bryan should have won the Rumble instead of Batista. I think because of the risk that Bryan not turning up they should have him come out on RAW and tell the crowd he won’t be showing up or even advertise him for the pre-show panel. That way it’ll let any sour fans of Bryan not boo Reigns if he wins.

I think most people will think I’m crazy for saying the next guy has a chance of winning but THAT is what it makes it even more likely

Dolph Ziggler

Now, I know what you’re thinking “WWE wants to keep him down” and that is precisely why I think that he might be able to put on, again, the ultimate underdog story. If you think of how this guy has been pushed recently, he’s the number 2 guy in the company without a doubt. I’ve seen people saying that they aren’t crediting him on RAW with Survivor Series but I think that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. I mean, first of all he beats 3 major guys in one match, BY HIMSELF. I think people forget that Ziggler had the match won before Sting came out, Sting only came out to reverse the damage that HHH had done interfering. Since then, Cena has credited Ziggler which is a big deal and perhaps, what means more is that Ziggler has done run ins to help Cena on RAW which you don’t see often. They’ve positioned Ziggler in a spot that he is both a main event guy AND he is more over with the fans now than he ever has been. Another reason to do this is because it’ll be such good storytelling, it’d be such an underdog story and he’s so over that EVERYTHING that Ziggler does towards Lesnar will get a pop and every near fall the fans will believe. On top of that you’ve also got the fact that Ziggler will SELL so much for Lesnar that it’ll look like Lesnar is going to kill him. Both guys also have that amateur wrestling background which could make for a really good match. I think another thing to note is that this guy has been consistently stealing the show (pun intended) for the last couple of years and he’s developed a fan base single handedly pretty much, at one point he was finished and relegated to jobber but to get enough fans to follow and support him without the company necessarily wanting too, to me, that deserves a reward. Maybe he should be winning the Rumble more so than Bryan.

My final guy who I think should win the Rumble match is THE BIG GUY

Ryback

The Big Guy, Ryback, I think it’s pretty obvious why I think he should be winning the Rumble. As a face, Ryback is probably the number 3 guy on the roster currently and he is JACKED which we all know that WWE likes. This guy always gets a pop and the crowd ALWAYS chants FEED ME MORE to his music and shoulder pumps. The obvious thing is to play up the monster v monster angle and if booked right, the match doesn’t even need to be good technically to be the most over thing at WrestleMania. I know it’s not on the same level but what I mean is similar to Hogan and Rock at WM18 (again, I’d like to reiterate, Ryback and Lesnar are NOT on the level of Rock and Hogan, I know) but if booked right the crowd could be into it enough for the match quality to not matter. With this as well it means that Ryback would still remain face if facing Lesnar which he obviously performs better at. Ryback as an option mostly comes from if WWE don’t want Lesnar to lose to a ‘smaller guy’. Ryback at the minute, in my opinion is more of a crowd favourite that Reigns too. It seems that Reigns is over with the kids and women mostly whereas Ryback caters to ALL of the sub-audiences. 

Finally, if WWE must have Reigns win it to ensure that he is recognised as a top guy, this is what I would propose:

It seems that Rollins, by last weeks RAW, will be eventually the new Paul Heyman guy. Now, if I was booking at WWE (which I should be, Vince, if you see this, drop me an email or a tweet, we’ll talk figures, I’ll look forward to it) I would have Reigns win the Rumble and Lesnar beat Cena again and have Rollins stay involved in and around the feud. For example, when Reigns and Lesnar are having a stand off, have Rollins jump him from behind and then have Lesnar F5 Reigns, things like that, even to the point of where you get Reigns and Rollins facing off on RAW and have them reach a DQ finish or something. Then, after Fast Lane, segue Rollins into another feud - maybe Chris Jericho, something important and rememberable.Then at Mania you have Reigns beat Lesnar and have the confetti and all the crowd is going wild. The next night on RAW, I would have Reigns come out beaten up, selling an injury and start cutting a promo and then just have Seth cash in the MITB briefcase and beat him for it and then have Heyman doing the evil genius smile and the clapping because he’s still won with PLAN B (pun intended). This way, it pushes Reigns into that main event spot by beating Lesnar but also allows Rollins to become the biggest heel in the company. By doing this you make 2 main event stars out of Lesnar’s title run.

Let me know what you guys think, follow me on twitter or leave a comment. 

Carl

@curbstxmp - twitter.

My Thoughts and Review of NXT Takeover: R Evolution

First thing I want to say here is what a great show. If you like wrestling and you haven’t seen this you are definitely, definitely missing out. I’ll go through each match and give you my overall thoughts on what’s going on in NXT at the minute. Also, SPOILER ALERT. This show was without a doubt in my top 5 shows of all wrestling (not just WWE) in 2014.

The show started off meaning business as indy star Kevin Steen, debuted under his new name Kevin Owens. The immediate reaction from the crowd was a really loud one, and this was the first pop of many throughout the night. Owens wrestled against CJ Parker and his debut was marked with a really good performance, he hit some of his signature moves like the Cannonball Senton in the corner, the Pumphandle Neckbreaker and used the Pop-Up Powerbomb as his finisher which Parker sold great. Perhaps what made this match even better was that Parker got in some good offence rather than it just being the usual ‘squash match’ which wrestling fans are catered too often in NXT (not a criticism). One of the most eventful parts of the match came from Parker palm striking Owens in the nose causing Owens to break his nose and to start bleeding (hard way of course). Not that he needed it but it made Owens even MORE badass than he already did. What else was weird was that the palm strike caused Parker to have a hole in his hand off of Owens nose which he posted a picture of on Twitter later. Overall, just because of how much of a fan I was for Steen on the indies, I’ll have to give this match a 4 out of 5 star rating. 

On another note, I’d like to shout out Kevin Owens for how much weight the guy has lost and how much better condition he looks. He’s obviously made a lot of effort to lose weight and go for it to get into WWE and be successful so well done to the lad.

The next match on the card was probably my least favourite match of the night to be honest which says a lot when looking at the competitors. Lucha Dragons v The Vaudevillians (I hope I spelt that right). As usual, watching Kalisto fly around the ring like gravity doesn’t apply to him was really entertaining. The Vaudevillians are both good in-ring workers too and they work together well but I personally find the gimmick a bit too much and a bit monotonous at times. However, at least it’s different. Sin Cara was, as usual, overshadowed by all the guys in the ring and especially Kalisto. No offence to Sin Cara but I just think that Kalisto would be so much better off without him there. Every time they have a tag match the crowd and everyone watching is just waiting for the hot tag to Kalisto but in a negative way as nobody really seems to care about Sin Cara. All in all, it was a decent match though but I haven’t really cared about this feud so i’ll give it a 3 out of 5 star rating.

Third match on the card was a Baron Corbin squash match against Tye Dillinger. I don’t really know what to say about this match other than it was the usual Baron Corbin match which we’ve been conditioned to love. If anything, I think the match went TOO long and it only lasted about a minute and it could have been shorter as Corbin looked around and seemed to waste a bit of time just staring Dillinger out. I think they should be aiming for the crowd to not stop counting during the match and they seemed to give up around the 30-40 second mark. I don’t even know whether you can give that a rating so I won’t bother. All the same though, entertaining and Corbin is pretty cool and badass. I’ll look forward to the impending match between him and Bull Dempsey although I hope Corbin will win the feud because I’m not the biggest fan of Dempsey.

NOW THIS IS WHERE THE SHOW GOES FROM BEING GOOD TO ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS OF THE YEAR IN MY OPINION.

Next on the card was Finn Balor and Hideo Itami v The Ascension. The most memorable part of the match was Balor’s entrance where he was wearing the warpaint which he’d made famous on the indies and in New Japan. The entrance music and video and entrance movements were totally different. This was definitely the second mark out moment of the night, I’ll put a picture of how his warpaint looked next to this so I won’t describe it but it was so creepy and The Ascension’s reaction and the way they sold it was equally as good. This match again was probably the best to this point (and it was going to get better), my favourite spot of the match was watching Hideo tease the GTS which the NXT crowd popped big for. All I can say for this match is that it is definitely worth a watch. Again, 4 out of 5 star rating.

Next, was, in my opinion the best woman’s match of the year. Sasha Banks and Charlotte for the NXT Womens title is one of the best womens matches I’ve ever seen. Banks, as a heel is phenomenal and gets the right kind of heel heat. Even if you appreciated her character you still want to see her get beat because her character is just so horrible. She’s brilliant, and on the other hand there is Charlotte who is phenomenal in the ring. It’ll be a crime to wrestling if these women don’t et a chance to show what they have in the ring once they are both promoted to the main roster. Not only is this my Womens match of the year but it could arguably be up there for one of the matches of the year. Phenomenal. 5 out of 5 star rating.

Adrian Neville v Sami Zayn

If the Slammys were this week, this would HAVE to be nominated for Match of the Year at the very least. The feud going into the match left Zayn saying that if he ‘couldn’t win the big one’ that he’d quit which was good enough to get the interest going. Both, Neville and Zayn are on another level when it comes to in-ring work and this match was no exception. The spots and teases throughout were phenomenal and if you like wrestling you NEED to watch this match because it was one of the best i’ve ever seen probably. I’m 18 now, but I can’t remember many times where I’ve regressed into a child-like mindset nearly shouting at my TV as Zayn teased hitting Neville with the belt and as he locked in the Koji Clutch. Brilliant. The finish of the match only brought a similar reaction to what Daniel Bryan winning at WrestleMania 30 and Benoit winning at WrestleMania 20. Absolutely phenomenal. After, the whole NXT locker room came out to celebrate with Zayn and Owens was the first guy out into the ring to hug Zayn which was reminiscent to Eddie and Benoit at Mania 20. This is definitely a must see for all you indy fans out there. 5 out of 5 star rating, if not better. Best match of the night and if the Survivor Series match was Match of the Year then it has to be said that this was better and is more deserving of the award. Phenomenal.

After, all of the roster went to the back and Zayn was left in the ring to celebrate by himself which was nice to see again. As he is going to the back, Owens comes back out to help him to the back and help carry him. AND THEN IT HAPPENS, I marked out so much for this bit, as they are walking to the back Owens turns heel and slams Zayn onto the NXT ramp and then grabs him and Powerbomb’s Zayn onto the apron which is makes an indy fan like myself mark out anyway but because it is against Zayn, it is even more so. The show goes off the air with Owens walking to the back and Zayn being stretchered out from ringside.

Overall, this is probably in my top 5 wrestling shows of the year as a whole as I’ve already said. It had everything you could want in a wrestling show, great wrestling, not TOO much if any filler, great spots, hype and good feuds. Comparisons between this and TLC have been common on Twitter and across the internet with the majority deciding that NXT was by far a better and more entertaining show and I would have to agree. This 2 hour wrestling show gets a 10/10 from me and if you only watch one wrestling show this week, make sure it’s this one.

Carl Maddison

@discuslariet - twitter.

Overall Thoughts on RAW 02/12/14

I might do this weekly just to give my thoughts on the episode, I’m not sure whether to do it in bullet points or just ramble so I guess I’ll just see how it goes. One thing I’d like to point out is that I’ll probably only talk about things actually worth talking about, if I don’t mention something it’s probably because I either didn’t care about it, or I’ve forgotten that it happened which is basically the same thing isn’t it? I’ll probably leave the article with a rating out of 10 each week as well, that’d be cool.

First of all, we’ll start at the top of the show, the opening segment saw that at TLC there would be a Seth Rollins V John Cena tables match at TLC. Until this was announced the opening segment was quite dull and annoying with the anonymous GM role (to be fair they probably want you to feel that way). Anyway, the stipulation was added that if Cena loses then he isn’t the number 1 contender anymore. At this point in RAW I was like, THANK GOD and thought it looked up from there. Sadly, I was mistaken. However, this stipulation is a really good one because that means we don’t need to sit through ANOTHER Cena and Lesnar match (that coming from someone who skipped NoC because of college exams). So, anyway, I’m hoping that this leads to Orton against Brock or just pushing someone from the mid card just to get the star power by association (I doubt it will be him but maybe Cesaro). Perhaps, just someone who can have a good match with Lesnar at the Rumble and who will gain something from being beat by him.

Secondly, The Uso’s were made number 1 contenders for the Tag Team Championships against Miz and Mizdow. At first I was thinking here we go again but then I thought about it properly and thought, what if The Uso’s go on to win the belts at TLC which will set off 2 different opportunities for WWE.

1. Losing the match will mean that Miz and Mizdow will be able to star their feud and they can start to build Sandow as a big face for WrestleMania.

2. The way I see it, The Uso’s winning will mean that there will be a Face Tag Team as the champions. This means that at Rumble or whatever, WWE will most likely debut The Ascension  against The Uso’s and that way they can get The Ascension over as a big time Heel Tag Team.

Thirdly, I noticed that WWE are still showing signs of disgruntlement between Brie and Nikki Bella which makes me think that eventually, they might pull the trigger on Brie to have her beat Nikki for the Divas belt. Maybe dream booking here, but I’m hoping that Daniel Bryan will be back for the Royal Rumble and to win it, as he should have last year and then go on to win the belt at Mania. Meanwhile, I’d like to think that they would do a similar thing with Brie and have them end up having that moment in the ring similar to Eddie and Benoit at WM 20.

Another thing I liked last night was the Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose confrontation albeit slightly confusing. Who is this Jacob Bray was talking about? Probably just the usual anonymity which Bray talks about. That wasn't a criticism of Bray as such, maybe a slight critique of the creative. Anyway, the match looks like it’s going to be a good one and definitely worth the watch.

From what I saw of the main event, it was good but I’m not going to lie on my own blog, I fell asleep during it. Not because it was boring or anything but because I’d had 6 hours sleep and I live in the UK so at this point it was half 3 in the morning.

Anyway, this RAW seemed to be quite dull for the most part, it was definitely one of them episodes of RAW which if you didn’t watch then it’s not worth watching and you won’t miss anything really. 

Rating: 4/10

My Thoughts on CM Punk leaving WWE

The latest episode of Colt Cobana’s Art of Wrestling podcast was given to CM Punk to explain his story and reasons behind why he left WWE. First, it’s only common sense to point out that this is HIS point of view on the situations he’s talked about and we, as an audience, will probably never hear WWE’s side of things properly because it probably wouldn’t be, as they say, best for business. However, this doesn’t mean that everything Punk says is a lie or an exaggeration. With risk of sounding like a “fanboy” I’m quite inclined to believe the majority of Punk’s story because he never mentions anything that is either unbelievable or that Punk would have to gain by lying. Also, if WWE did release their version of events for some reason, it would be equally as unreliable, if not more because we all know that they love their own revisionist history. For example, that Bret was going to take the WWF championship onto Nitro the night after Survivor Series. And, that the arena was filled with Austin 3:16 signs the night after his famous KOTR promo, as if Austin was made a star overnight. 

(I’d like to add that this won’t be written chronologically in terms of what Punk said in the interview)

Anyway, earliest in the podcast Punk mentions about how unhappy and miserable he was at the end of his run in WWE. Now, personally, my opinion may differ to others on this part because a lot of people (and perhaps rightly, this is only opinions after all) have suggested that he should have adhered to his contract which I do understand and partly agree with because any “normal” job, Punk wouldn’t have his “star power” to help him. However, I think I’m most inclined to support Punk at this point because I’m personally a big believer in if something makes you genuinely miserable, then you should change it and make yourself happier. It’s also at this point I’d like to throw in that Punk wasn’t in any feuds at the time of his leaving and although plans were to be altered without him there, it’s not as if he just left someone else to flounder. 

Throughout the podcast Punk does bring up points about having to put Brock, Taker and Rock over all in the same year. Punk’s argument here is that he’s the guy that is going to be there at RAW the next night wrestling and having nothing to do while these part-time guys are off home and don’t have to worry about it. Although, here Punk does have a valid point, after the programmes with these guys, he was left for the most part to feud in the mid card which never really lived up to what he could have done if he’d went over one of them. For instance, from having a match against Brock at Summer slam, Punk feuded with Ryback after and even after the Taker feud, he was left to feud with Jericho (no offence to Jericho, but he’s hardly the main event talent he once was). In my opinion, all of these booking decisions by WWE were probably right for the time, Rock going over Punk at the Rumble was to build for the Wrestlemania main event so Rock could have the title. Punk even counters this point in the podcast and argues that Wrestlemania sells itself and although that is true for many people, the Solomonster pointed out on episode 356 that the buy rates would argue against Punk statements as he recalled the buy rates which were higher with The Rock on the card than they had the year before. So, in this aspect, you can argue that Punk is exaggerating, or wanting this to be true so he feels more acceptance of not reaching the main event of Wrestlemania. Punk’s criticisms of him losing to Taker seem to me a bit unfair because the Undertaker’s streak match has become a draw for Wrestlemania for the fans so for Punk to win that would be probably a bit absurd if Taker could continue to wrestle after. Last of all was his criticisms of Lesnar which again, although the guy is part-time, it was necessary to make Lesnar look legit after his loss to HHH at Mania. However, this brings us to the part that Punk argued which I 100% agree with and that is his criticisms of having to put HHH over 3 years ago. Even today, it seems like a bad idea as nothing has come from it and the story itself didn’t really make sense from  business perspective, bringing HHH out of retirement only to beat CM Punk and then retire again is madness and I can only imagine that HHH had politicked his way to this feud backstage, so in this regard I think Punk has a credible argument.

Another thing Punk criticises in his WWE run is that he had to work with Ryback after Lesnar. At this point in the podcast Punk refers to Ryback as “The Steroid Guy”. He references that Ryback hurt him in their first feud and recalls a story about the episode of RAW when Ryback military press slammed Punk through a table and Punk was slammed onto the edge of the table and then landed on the concrete. First of all, I’m not a health specialist but I think it’s pretty obvious that Ryback is on steroids, The Big Guy is huge after all. Also, I love Ryback as a character but I think we can all also agree that he’s not the safest in-ring competitor and Punk recounts him being injured off Ryback numerous times. Further than the military press, Punk alleges that Ryback broke Punk’s ribs with a kick in their feud a year prior. It has to be said really that these things aren’t something Punk would probably lie about because there is nothing to gain from it.

Perhaps, the most horrifying thing to take away from the full podcast was Punk’s encounters with the WWE doctors. He notes times where he had been cleared for a knee injury over the phone, I’m not a doctor but the idea of clearing someone over the phone for a knee injury is simply ridiculous. He then mentions the Royal Rumble match where Kofi gave him a clothesline leading to what he thought was a concussion. He recounts in some what a humorous way because the Doctor just looked at him at ringside and asked what Punk wanted to do but when you think of how much impact concussions can have these days it really is scary. He then goes on to say that he passed their concussion test (even though he knew he had a concussion) and then is asked to ‘run the ropes to make sure’ which again is ridiculous and even he laughs at this and points out it shows you that the test itself is unreliable. Now, this concussion issue takes us into the question of how much does WWE really care about their employees? If this was another sport like the NFL, the guy would have been took straight out of the Royal Rumble match against his choice but we seem to have WWE encouraging the guy to work while injured and even as so far as the doctors. To me, in my opinion this is shocking as WWE’s priority should be the health of their wrestlers rather than whether they can still make money with the injury. It seems that they forget that Punk and the rest of the roster have to go home to their families and will eventually one day retire from wrestling and would like to do so in as much health as they can.

If the concussions wasn’t enough, Punk recounts a problem he had with, what was later diagnosed as a Staph Infection in his lower back. According to Punk, the WWE doctors first claimed the lump was just a “fatty deposit” and gave him anti-biotic’s to try and get rid of it but they weren’t medication suited for dealing with Staph infections so Punk was reaping none of the benefits of the medication and all of the side effects, even leading to him defecating in the middle of a Smackdown show. He recounts the side effects leaving him dry-heaving or vomiting after a match leaving him on his hands and knees. Leading up to Punk leaving, he’d asked multiple times for the WWE doctor to remove the lump and cut it out but each time the doctor refused because Punk would need a stitch. This appears to be the last straw and the main build up to Punk leaving WWE. After leaving Punk would go to a different doctor and found out that it was a Staph Infection and not simply a “fatty deposit”. Further, shocking is that Punk claims the doctor said that he could have died because of it which really shows the lack of professionalism in the WWE health system. Now, as I’ve said before, in my opinion the health of WWE’s wrestlers should be the main concern from WWE officials but to misdiagnose something so serious is really concerning on whether the doctors truly deserve to be working there and if they do deserve it then it leads to the staff just being too lazy to deal with Punk’s injury. On any level this is concerning and unprofessional but also makes you wonder how many other health problems go unnoticed? How many times do wrestlers still work with concussions? How many of the wrestlers currently are being treated with the wrong medication?

This article isn’t about bashing WWE by any means but a part from the really alarming health issues, there’s also the fact that WWE ‘fedexed’ Punk his termination papers on the day of his wedding which to me, can only be described as a ‘dick move’. It seems that this is just WWE trying to have some sort of malicious attack on Punk and ruin his wedding day all because he wanted time off. Punk notes throughout the full podcast that he’d asked several times for a lengthy time off to heal up but was never granted as long as he’d have liked. Perhaps, most notable was his break in 2013 after Wrestlemania when he came back for Payback just so WWE could sell the stadium out instead of healing completely and returning at Summerslam. I just feel like this podcast has truly shown how little WWE care about their talent for any more than just making money and as soon as you can’t do that they seem to throw you aside. You can argue that Punk left against his contract but as he points out, he is an independent contractor which means that he’s not breaching any contract although that leads into a completely different debate which I won’t cover here.

Although not directly to do with Punk leaving, he did confirm that the main event for Wrestlemania 30 was supposed to a singles match between Randy Orton and Batista which really does show how much WWE want to control who the audience likes and makes it no surprise that Bryan’s title run (although shortened by injury) was really disappointing, feuds with Kane at this point are irrelevant because the guy NEVER wins a match and he’s been in the company for 15 years. It really does baffle me that WWE was ever going to consider just having that as the main event for Mania. Especially when the whole story that they’d played out in the Summer that year would only have been right if Bryan won the title, I suppose in some way you have to give WWE credit for not being as stubborn as people would have thought and to actually change it but it really does leave you thinking of how much of a shambles that Wrestlemania would have been. It confuses me as I’m writing about it as to why they ever thought that was going to work. 

Another thing which Punk suggested was that WWE doesn’t care about storylines for anyone else other than John Cena which again, although obvious off of what we see every Monday night, it’s still slightly impactful to hear someone come out and say it. This offers a good explanation of why it seems to be rare to have a mid card feud that is in-depth without a championship on the line for it. Punk further points out that WWE focus on Cena’s make-a-wish a lot more than any of the other guys on the roster which seems to be a pretty credible argument. The most recent wrestler to do a make-a-wish was Daniel Bryan with Connor the Crusher but even then, they only publicised that one case of Bryan’s when it’s clear that he does a lot more than that.

This article is becoming A LOT longer than I thought it was going to be so I’ll leave you with some of my overall thoughts on Punk leaving. First, I fully understand why he left and to a point I’m in full support (without sounding like a fanboy). Second, I’ve seen a lot of people claiming that Punk sounds bitter throughout the podcast, similar to Bret Hart but I think it’s okay for him to be bitter at this point considering all that’s happened and in my opinion is completely different to why Bret Hart was bitter (maybe we’ll get onto that at some point). Moreover, although some parts may be exaggerated throughout the podcast, I believe that Punk believes what he’s saying to be correct. In my opinion, he hasn’t fabricated stories to portray WWE in a negative light. And lastly, I think that if I was in Punk’s position, with the money and backing he has in crowd support, I’d probably leave too if the passion wasn’t there mixed with health problems.

Carl Maddison

@discuslariet - twitter.

AJ Styles - Styles Clash.

Recently there’s been a debate within the wrestling community as a whole regarding AJ Styles’ finishing move; the Styles Clash, so I thought I’d provide both sides of the debate and put forward my two cents on the situation. Also, I’d like to point out that I have been and continue to be a huge AJ Styles fan, personally, I think he is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Further, PWI ranked him #4 in their top 500 professional wrestlers this year. Before, you read on, I would also like to note this isn’t an article based on “who is to blame?”, it is an article about the move itself and the recent news and my opinion on what should happen.

Since Styles left TNA last year he’s wrestled predominantly for New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring Of Honor while also working independent shows. Last month, at the Power Struggle pay-per-view for NJPW, Styles wrestled Yoshitatsu (formerly of WWE) which ended in Styles giving the Styles Clash to him and winning the match. However, Yoshitatsu landed wrong and has sadly, broken his neck in two places. Similarly, this has happened 2 times prior to this since AJ has left TNA against Roderick Strong, in ROH, and against the UK’s Lionheart when AJ toured after his TNA release. Since the incident with Yoshitatsu happened, Lionheart has took to Facebook to ask AJ to stop using the move, he said:

“I'll make the assumption he sees this somehow so please read and share... I'd like to openly address him...

Firstly, I hope things are well for you and family... I wanted to write you because I feel it's important someone speak up in a more formal and diplomatic manner, as opposed to simply throwing abuse via anonymous social media ramblings...

Here's the truth... The move is not directly dangerous... It's a simple move in principle... Arms and legs locked, you fall forward, guy looks up/back, easy... The Styles Clash 'on paper' is a fairly safe and basic process...

That said, what is dangerous, is the instinctual reaction of your opponent... The wrestler taking the move, who like any wrestler taking any move, their safety and welfare is the priority...

Without ANY injuries, it could be argued that the mechanics of the move are unnatural, and injury could easily happen due to the physical restrictions and instinctual habits of the recipient... The numbers now are surely too great to even call it an argument?

I'm more than happy to be educated on my statistics, but there can be no move in wrestling history that carries more (documented) serious and potentially career threatening injuries than this... This, is what makes the move dangerous, whether indirectly or not...

Thus far, more specifically the last 12 months, several performers, actual experienced athletes, have been injured with this, 2 of them now with broken necks... The question I want to put to you honestly is, what does it take? What will it actually take for you to stop using this move, at the very least on an independent level, with people not necessarily exposed to the experience of working with you and taking the move semi regularly... How honestly will you feel the day you receive the news that the man you just wrestled has a broken neck and will never walk again? Statistically, that day is coming... It is a mathematical certainty...

I take this opportunity now, to openly and publicly beg you... Please, stop using the Styles Clash... You are unquestionably one of the greatest in ring performers of our time, I truly believe that... But the time is now, to put all pride, ego, blame aside, and acknowledge that irrelevant of fault, circumstance or anything else, the move is a direct risk and a danger to the safety and well being of your fellow wrestler...

All the best.”

First of all, I’ve seen a lot of people on Twitter suggest that AJ Styles doesn’t care about his opponents and that’s why there’s been injuries. To me, to say this about a guy who is in the majority of people’s mind, one of the top 10 best wrestlers in the world currently is idiotic. There is no way, in my opinion, that you can be on the level he is in terms of wrestling without having care for your opponent. I’d also like to play devil’s advocate to Lionheart’s statement and suggest that moves such as the piledriver are used by MANY wrestlers in the world despite the increasing neck injuries that seem to occur, perhaps, most well know, Stone Cold Steve Austin and even on a lesser level, Mike Bennet’s piledriver against BJ Whitmore. My point here is that wrestling is dangerous and that the Styles Clash, to me shouldn’t be outlawed as a move that is banned permanently when there is other moves that are used a lot more often that can, and do cause serious injuries. Also, this isn’t a move that AJ has suddenly started using in the last year, he debuted this move over 10 years ago and as soon as he leaves TNA this problems have started to arise. Perhaps, I’d like to suggest that, with no disrespect to Yoshitatsu or Lionheart that they aren’t the most experienced of wrestlers. Yoshitatsu, although his career began in the early 2000s, within recent years his wrestling exposure has been limited at best due to his WWE contract and although Lionheart, is known as one of the better wrestlers in the UK,  he may have lacked experience in taking this move. However, one thing that cannot be argued is that Roderick Strong is inexperienced as he has wrestled regularly, with no breaks since 2003. With the longevity of Styles’ career and the amount he’s used the move, it has to be argued that out of all the times he’s used this move, the amount of injuries with it has to be in the 1% margin of error, even Lionheart mentions in his post that the move, on paper is easy to take. Perhaps, it can be further argued that because of how easy it is for the opponent to seemingly take that the responsibility may fall onto the opponent for not knowing how to take the move correctly. When viewing the clips of the incidents, prior to the bump, the positioning of the wrestlers, visually, seems like every other Styles Clash which suggests that it could be the responsibility of Styles’ opponents. This raises the argument that this could have just been an unlucky year for Styles, however, bad luck such as this can end in paralysis. 

Perhaps, it has to be said that on the other hand, 3 times in a year is a hard statistic to let go of, especially when causing such serious injuries as these. No matter how “real” or “fake” wrestling is, I’ve always believed that a wrestler should be able to WALK away from a match and under these circumstances the competitors couldn’t, and if they did, they suffered for it. Also, some have proposed that AJ is just getting too old now and that’s why the injuries have started to become more prominent. Perhaps, this is true, and if it is then it is AJ’s responsibility to manage that and alter his move-set and if it does have to do with people knowing how to take the move then maybe the responsibility is on the opponent to either learn or ask Styles not to use that move in a match. 

Overall, I feel like when the safety of a performer is brought into concern, the actions and consequences need to seen very seriously. In my opinion, the Styles Clash shouldn’t be outlawed altogether but maybe AJ should begin to use an alternate finisher that he can use for the majority of matches, and only using the Styles Clash for bigger events or matches, also, this gives the time for more preparation and for the opponent to learn how to take the move properly without injury. 

Carl

@discuslariet - Twitter

http://talkwrestlingtalk.blogspot.co.uk/ - Blog

Brock Lesnar - A Part-Time WWE World Heavyweight Champion

In my opinion, one of the only things in WWE at the moment that is keeping my attention is the fact that Brock Lesnar is now WWE champion. Summerslam was 2 weeks ago, and since I’ve been seeing tweets about the validity of Brock’s run because he is part-time and some negativity towards his victory. I just wanted to say my opinion and question some of the negative opinions that these fans seem to have. 

First of all I completely understand and appreciate the criticism that Brock Lesnar is a part-time superstar who only appears a set number of dates according to his contract. However, this isn’t any superstar, I’d totally get it if it was Batista or even Cena working part-time and winning the belt but this is Brock Lesnar - other than his multiple runs as WWE Undisputed/WWE Champion and even a stint as IWGP Heavyweight Champion prior, Brock is a NCAA collegiate champion and a UFC Heavyweight Champion. There is a reason why Paul Heyman keeps referring to these accomplishments in his promos and that is because they scream LEGIT. Out of anyone in the WWE, the most legit/real fighter is Brock Lesnar - yeah, Batista had fights in MMA but he never won the most prestigious prize in MMA. Anyway, my point is, is that Brock can have the belt for as long as he wants and nobody, NOBODY, can complain about a UFC heavyweight champion not losing. The counter-arguement to this of course is - “this is wrestling, it’s storyline and narrative driven” and yes, it is but even within Kayfabe - Brock is a legit badass and a machine, most recently he conquered the Undertaker’s streak which every year for probably the last 6 or 7 years has been the fans’ main event of Wrestlemania. 

Again, the criticism can be made of “why have a part-timer conquer the streak” and that’s because it comes down to the fact that if Taker lost to say, Roman Reigns, the question has to be raised, even within Kayfabe - why couldn’t CM Punk do it? Why couldn’t Shawn Michaels? or HHH? or even Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match? It wouldn’t really make sense. Not to mention that putting such a big title on a newcomer to help “put him over” may only hinder him and if in a few years they haven’t reached his full potential it’ll most definitely look like a waste. In my opinion, the only guy that within the world of wrestling that could have beat Undertaker at Wrestlemania would be Brock, Cena or Hogan in his prime. Obviously, the latter is impossible and Cena is positioned so highly as that superhero babyface that beating Undertaker would only allow more fans to turn on him (although a heel turn would have been fun). So is it really surprising that the most legit guy on the roster was the guy to conquer the streak?

This leads me to Summerslam - If Brock had just conquered the streak and then was beaten by Cena I think we’d all agree with the fact that the streak ending would have been just another ploy for Cena to be the underdog that we all know WWE want him to look like and for him to overcome the odds (which arguably could happen at NOC, hope I haven’t jinxed it). But no, WWE seemingly has booked it the right way and had Brock demolish Cena which is definitely the most vulnerable we’ve ever seen Cena in a match. For this, the part-timing criticism of Brock may be one of his - and the WWE’s - biggest strengths at the minute due to the prestige of the title. Brock dominating Cena in such a way puts him over big to begin with but Brock having a long run, with Heyman as the mouthpiece of course, Brock could really bring the WWE World Heavyweight Championship back to a level of prestige that it hasn’t had for a while. Instead of looking at Brock being a part-time champion - view him as a special attraction, because that is what he is. Also, for those who are critical of the same guys getting the belt over and over, this is someone different - someone that WWE can take a new direction with. Remember, if the championship isn’t on the line as much as well, it may add prestige and excitement for when Brock actually does have to defend it.

Perhaps, the biggest argument towards Brock being part-time as a negative thing may be this weeks RAW. Instead of Brock making an appearance, WWE aired a promo which, for me, worked just as much as an in-ring promo to hype the match for Night of Champions. Perhaps, it works best with Lesnar because WWE’s editors can make Brock’s mic skills shine. Whether or not you enjoyed this of course is an opinion but I really did and I additionally enjoyed the promo prior to Summerslam, which is why I believe that if WWE keep this up it can be the best WWE Championship run since, at least, CM Punk’s.

Another criticism which I saw was that this gives Cena the opportunity to win the title for a sixteenth time, equalling Flair’s record of championships. I feel like I am the only one that found that criticism to be counter-productive because the only way that Cena can’t equal Flair’s record is with either WWE never giving him the belt again (yeah, unlikely) or Cena maintains having the title and never loses it. I feel like this criticism was just fans looking for something to be negative about but I felt like I wanted to address it, maybe others would feel the same as I do? Or, maybe you could tell me your point of view in the comments below.

Finally, I just wanted to add that having a part-timer as champion may also effect the rest of the card and their performances. For example, currently, the Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose storyline seems to be the focal point of RAW’s which Brock doesn’t appear on, for me anyway. Therefore, IF booked correctly, WWE could also use this time as a way to boost the prestige of the ever-so-lacking mid card titles which are seemingly cursed in recent history but again, trying to think optimistically, it means that the rest of the card has the chance to climb the ladder and - to quote CM Punk - “grab Mr. McMahon’s imaginary brass rings.”

Carl Maddison

Twitter - @BomaKneee

Blogger - http://talkwrestlingtalk.blogspot.co.uk/

Bray Wyatt - For Now and For the Future

A few weeks ago on RAW we all heard the first ‘boring’ chants from a WWE audience in refetene to a Bray Wyatt promo, this got me thinking about his recent run since his feud with Daniel Bryan and his ultimate loss to John Cena. I’ve seen a lot of fans on Twitter playing up the usual ‘Cena burial’ argument which brought me to write about what I think WWE should do with Wyatt and his family, why I feel like people are classing his step down from the main event as a burial.

Undeniably, since his debut, Bray Wyatt has been one of the most interesting characters on the WWE roster and in my opinion he still is. First of all, I’ve seen complaints that he appears to cut the same promo week in week out with different words. To be fair, for the most part I agree but I don’t see why that is such a hindrance when some of the biggest names in wrestling did that for the majority of their career and made millions for themselves and the company, for example, how many times have you heard Hogan talk about his 27 inch pythons and Cena introduce himself with the same “my name is John Cena and the Champ is here” shtick, of course followed by the ultimate never give up and never back down worked into his promos. Despite his criticism, he’s still the biggest name in the company and is obviously in the main event. This begs the question, why does Wyatt have to come up with a completely different topic in each promo when the majority of wrestlers cut around 1 topic for the majority of their career (this isn’t criticism of Cena or Hogan). I feel like IWC especially has adopted Wyatt as the current “anti-Cena” guy and that appears to come with a risk of fans looking for negatives to appear different and cool, sort of what BEGAN to happen post-mania with Daniel Bryan.

Perhaps, the most criticism of Bray Wyatt has been since his defeat to Cena at Payback. Fans have appeared to see this as a burial which confuses me as for decades, the way wrestling works is that the superhero baby face eventually overcomes the odds and beats the heel. However, I can get the grievance that Cena overcoming the odds has been overdone so much that he doesn’t even overcome odds and it comes off as a burial. What fans haven’t seemed to think about is that the problem may be with the WWE roster or creative instead of just being with Cena ‘burying’ everyone. Currently, Bray is feuding with Jericho which is obviously a step down from Cena but the question has to be asked, who was Bray supposed to be feuding with instead? The main event has all of a sudden become stacked with Orton, Reigns, HHH and Cena all being in different feuds. I believe this is one of the reasons that fans are saying Bray has been buried because their are very few on Cena’s level to begin with so anyone other than maybe Randy Orton or HHH would seem like a step down. At the minute, it would seem like WWE need to keep heat on guys like Bray while the main event stories continue, only to use them later in the year or beginning of 2015. This is why I personally don’t think Wyatt has been ‘buried’. It is obvious to me that the WWE still have faith in him after giving him an interview segment with Jericho last night in which he was the main focus for 3/4’s of the duration. At the current moment I think Bray is pretty safe, he’s in a solid long term-ish feud with Jericho which he’ll most likely win and hopefully move onto something just as interesting. Because of this, I’m starting to think that wrestling fans, especially the smarter fans, are becoming harder to please, it appears that they NEED to have their guys going over every match otherwise there is a storm of critical tweets, not to say that criticism is never deserved though.

An idea I did have for Bray after this feud would be to win the IC or US belt. I know, what about the curse of the mid card titles? However, if treated right, I think it could be very successful. For instance, have Wyatt beat Miz for the IC belt - harming his ‘money maker’ while doing so - and then let Wyatt cut promos treat the belt as if it was Sister Abigail, maybe even further, have him talk about how it’s the only thing that matters in WWE and now he can gain more followers and on and on. Surely, having Bray Wyatt come on the Titantron every week telling the crowd how prestigious the belt is and how much it means to him and his family would only increase the value of the belt as well which has been diminished a ridiculous amount in the last 10 years. However, doing this may take a risk as if it isn’t done properly, Bray would ultimately end up in boring feuds and would no doubt suffer the same fate as Sheamus and Miz (although they didn’t help themselves).

In more recent RAW episodes, I haven’t heard any ‘boring’ chants during Bray’s promos which would suggest that he remains to be over with the majority of the crowd and that it was just a one off but this becomes worrying as a wrestling fan. In the current WWE roster, Bray, arguably cuts the best promos and also has took part in some of the most interesting feuds in recent years with Bryan and Cena. If wrestling fans can’t get stay focused on the product enough to keep following Wyatt without being bored then other than their favourite indie guys having 5* matches every week I don’t know what more can impress them. All in all, for now, personally I feel that Bray is safe where he is and hasn’t been buried by Cena but with WWE stacking and focusing on the main event, we can only hope that he won’t get lost in the shuffle.