SlamZilla

This months slam was a pretty easy pick.  Monday Night Raw  has gone through a few changes over the last little while, from the scaling back of the guest hosts, to the naming of Bret Hart as the General Manager.  But then along comes Nexus to take out The Hitman, and his replacement was….a mystery.

     This didn’t seem too bad at first, but quite frankly watching Michael Cole step up to his podium to read an email from a new GM, that’s too scared to show his face week after week has gone from boring, to just plain annoying.  And listening to the live crowd boo, the second that little musical note plays to indicate that Cole has “received another email” tells you everything you need to know about how well this angle is going over.  I did notice this past week, that there was a lot less of our mystery GM, and that one of those special messages was sent during a commercial break.  Perhaps somebody has noticed that crowd reaction, and doesn’t want the people at home to hear it.  Well, I hate to be the one to say it, but the fans watching at home hate this angle too.

     So for boring the living hell out of everybody, and stretching out an angle that could have been resolved in a few weeks, I have to name RAW’s mysterious General Manager as my Slam Of The Month.   And just because Michael Cole has been the one reading the emails, I guess I can name him as the Co-Slam.  I know he is just doing what he is told, but he is the only face we have for now.

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The Money In The Bank Pay Per View is now behind us, and as we all know, Kane cashed in his briefcase that very night to become the World Heavyweight Champion.  So now we can focus our attention on The Miz.

     This past week on RAW, we saw Miz stalking the current Champion, Sheamus, then after a well timed sneak attack, he came very close to actually winning the Championship.  But will The Miz succeed in his quest, or will he become the first person to ever cash in a MITB briefcase, and fail?

     As it stands right now, the WWE is trying their best to build some new stars for the future, and are giving different people a chance to shine.  We have seen the recent push of Evan Bourne, and the Title reigns of Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, and of course Sheamus.  But what about The Miz?  Sure he has been the United States twice now, but does he have what it takes to be a World Champion?  Some would say yes, while others most definitely would give a resounding no.  I happen to fall into that second group.  While I admit that Miz has improved over the years, and does seem to have some mic skills, that just isn’t enough for me.  A World Champion needs to captivate the crowd, and have ring presence.  Even Rey Mysterio seems bigger than life  despite his size, because of the amazing things he can do in the ring.  Just looking at the other people that were in the MITB match with Miz gives you some indication of how out of his league he is. 

     But despite all of this, he may still become a World Champion one day.  Certainly stranger things have happened in the WWE.  I just have a feeling that the odds are working against him at this point.  Every single person who has won a MITB briefcase has become a Champion.  It just stands to reason that at some point, somebody will have to fail.  My guess is, that person is The Miz.

For another view on this, check out the link below

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/422409-the-absurdity-of-mizs-money-in-the-bank-push

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For weeks now The Nexus have been making life hell for the Wrestlers on Monday Night Raw.  But more so for John Cena, than anyone else.  And all along they have said that this is all part of a bigger plan.  What this bigger plan could be is anybody’s guess, but that is what their leader, Wade Barrett keeps saying.  But is he actually the leader?

     From the rumour mill, comes news that Triple H may be coming back sooner than expected after injuring himself yet again, to be the secret force behind The Nexus.  Naturally he wouldn’t be doing any Wrestling for a bit, but the idea of him being the person who has been calling the shots, and directing the actions of the Rookies actually makes sense.   The original idea was for Triple H to return, and be the one to “save” the WWE by leading the other RAW superstars in their battle with The Nexus.  But quite frankly, that really didn’t sound all that exciting, and does Hunter really need to play the hero to feed his ego that much more?  But this new idea of him being the leader opens up a lot of story line ideas.  It also means that Hunter would finally be able to play the Heel role again, something he has wanted to do for a while now.  It also helps to explain why Nexus has been so determined to break John Cena.

     I have to admit, as much as I am not a fan of Triple H, this twist could be just what The Nexus needs to keep their momentum going.  It would also help if we saw them actually Wrestle in some one on one matches now and again, but hey you can’t have everything.

To read more about this story, check out the link below.

http://www.vivekwwe.com/wwenews/2975-wwe-reportedly-agrees-to-make-triple-h-the-leader-of-nexus.html

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And then there were six.

     What started out with a surprise attack on Monday Night Raw, that stunned the wrestling world, has already turned into a boat without a rudder, and a captain.  If you ask me, this ship is starting to take on water, and it barely left port.

     As everyone is well aware,  Daniel Bryan, the real star of NXT season one, was a victim of politics after the choking incident that occurred during the RAW invasion a few weeks back.  Which was a bad blow to the group, but not a total loss, since it is expected by most that the powers that be will find a way of bringing him back.  Also, they still had seven other men in their stable.  Not anymore.   Wade Barrett ( along with Smackdowns Drew McIntyre) is having some Visa issues.  Sort of like what happened to Angelina Love over in TNA a while back.  So now the spokesman for The Nexus, is cooling his heels back in jolly ol’ England, and might not be back until after SummerSlam.  So what does this mean for this new stable of bad guys?

     Well, for starters, they haven’t done anything other than group attack people for the past three weeks, and that is getting old very fast.  Perhaps these guys are just a little too green to be in the ring with the rest of the Superstars on Raw?   What must happen though, and very soon, is for these guys to start having matches.  Now that there are only six, they are just a larger version of most heel stables, which is just fine, but we have to see them compete.  Yes, we got glimpses of what they can do on NXT, but this is the big time now, and the fans are a very impatient bunch.  Its unfortunate that the WWE had this great angle, but didn’t seem to put much thought into the long term goal of it.  And it is even more amazing that they allowed the work Visa’s to expire on two of their young stars.  One of which (McIntyre)  was rumoured to win the money in the bank match, for the Smackdown brand at the Pay Per View.

     But such is the case with the WWE right now.  Even when the have a good thing, they just don’t know what to do with it.

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Dave Batista.  Recently on RAW,  The Animal decided to call it quits.  Of course we know that this is part of the storyline for the big man to take some time off.  But now that he is gone, its starting to look like this time off, could be permanent.

     Recently at the Stikeforce, MMA show, The Animal made it clear that he left the WWE because he was unhappy with the direction of the company.  And when asked by Dave Meltzer if he would do something like Chris Jericho and return in a year or two, he said he did not want to be compared to Jericho, and had no plans on returning.  He did however say that he did not rule out a return one day.  He also joked that he was in L.A. looking for work, and that he was open to offers.

     Now, this might come as a surprise to some, but the fact of the matter is that Batista hasn’t been happy in WWE for a while now.  In my opinion, he had a great run in the company, especially considering his age.  Batista was the perfect fit for what Vince McMahon likes in his Wrestlers.  He was huge, and jacked up beyond belief, had some Mic skills, and could barely wrestle.  But he looked good, so that’s all that really matters.  Either way, The Animal did very well for himself, and I think its actually a good idea for him to move on while he still has a chance to do some other things outside of the ring.  The idea that he might follow people like Brock Lesnar, and Bobby Lashley into the MMA world is a bit of a stretch, but the acting thing might work out for him.  He’s pretty good at crying on camera. 

     Of course in the Wrestling business, nobody is ever gone for good.  And I am sure at some point, Batista will get bored with whatever he is doing, and will feel the urge to come back to the WWE.  I would say that he could try TNA, but they are way out of his price range.  For now though, I am glad to see Batista gone.  It just opens up some room for the younger talent to move up into that main event status.

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So, last night I am up late watching the special 3 hour edition of RAW.  This was the viewers choice episode, that saw stars from both RAW, and Smackdown compete, with the fans voting for the stipulations.  And I couldn’t help thinking how this seemed to be anything BUT special.  Of course there were a couple of interesting matches.  Sheamus going head to head with Kane was nice to see.  And the tag match between R-Truth, and the returning John Morrison vs The Miz, and his partner Zack Ryder was entertaining.  But for the most part you got a lot of fluff, like a dance off between Santino and the worlds most boring man, Kozlov.  And the total waste of time that saw a great team like The Hart Dynasty, have to face Hornswogle and The Great Khali. 

     But the main event looked like it would fix all that.  The fans voted for a match between John Cena, and C.M. Punk.   And as far as matches go, it was turning out to be a good one.  But then a strange thing happened.  Wade Barrett, the winner of NXT season one approached the ring.  But Barrett wasn’t alone.  Out of the crowd came the rest of the rookies.  They proceeded to surround the ring, and then……..they attacked.   First they laid waste to Punk, and Gallows.  After that, they entered the ring, and it was Cena’s turn.  The rookies took Cena apart bit by bit, with each taking turns getting their best shots in.  But they weren’t finished yet;  in fact they were just getting started.  The rookies spread out and attacked anything and everything.  Announcers, the crew at ringside, and even the ring itself was destroyed.  And they still weren’t done with John Cena.  A fresh round of beatings took place before the group finally left the area.   Cena was taken out on a stretcher, and a buzz was all you could hear from the stunned crowd in the arena.

     Now I have to say that I haven’t seen carnage like that since the beginning days of the NWO.  In fact, I haven’t found RAW to be that interesting in quite some time.  But this new angle was something I never saw coming.  And judging from the reaction it is getting, neither did anybody else.  But one thing thats for sure, is that a lot of people liked what they saw, and it has everybody talking.  Years ago when WWE bought their rival, WCW, they tried to do an invasion angle and messed it up completely.  Lets hope that they can take the momentum from last night, and build something great from it. 

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This past Monday on RAW, we saw Evan Bourne make a huge impact, and all I can say is, it’s about time.

     For what feels like an eternity now, the powers that be in the WWE have held back this superb talent.  Of course Bourne did lose some time due to injury.  But aside from that it just seemed that his high flying skills were being wasted.  For a time I had almost wished that he would cut, so that he could join TNA, where he would be a perfect fit for the X-Division.  Especially since the only times they seemed to use him, was to job him out.  And the one thing that I never seemed capable of wrapping my head around, was the fact that another high flyer, who also happens to be smaller in stature, is one of their top stars.  This of course being Rey Mysterio.  Wouldn’t you think that it would be smart to build up a guy like Evan Bourne, who is just as exciting, very popular with the crowd, and is younger than Mysterio.  We all know that Reys not going to be around for too much longer.  Even now he is putting off yet another surgery.

     But now it seems like they are ready to give Evan his shot.  his brawl with Edge at the top of the show, and then later being John Cena’s surprise partner in the main event tag match, which eventually saw Bourne pick up the victory for his team after a brilliant performance.  The powers that be have thrown “Air Bourne” right into the main event mix, and he seems to be a perfect fit.

     Now lets just hope that this push isn’t a one night deal.  WWE needs to build that next generation of main event stars, and Bourne is one guy who deserves to be on that list.

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Randy Orton, also known as “The Viper”

     A couple of months ago I wrote about how I thought that Orton’s sudden increase in popularity would do to him what it has done to many former bad guys gone good, and that would be to rob him of his edge.  Or as I put it, rob the viper of his teeth. 

     Now here we are, and thus far Randy is as bad as he has ever been (minus some kicks to the head)  and the crowds still love him.  But watching him recently has made me realize that no matter how popular he is right now, he may never reach that plateau of superstar, reached by such greats as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, or Hulk Hogan.  Those three men had a certain charisma that was bigger than life, and had the crowds hanging on their every word.  Arena’s would explode with just the first few chords of their entrance music.  These were the men that the company was built around during their time.  Even the merchandise selling machine that is John Cena gets a mixed reaction no matter where he goes, and he is the companies golden boy.

     So what is this missing ingredient that can propel Mr Orton to that mythical ‘next level’  Unfortunately for Randy, it is the one thing that he has never been very good at.  He just can’t help being boring.  More specifically he has very little skills on the Mic.  Listening to a Randy Orton interview is the equivalent to putting your radio on a station that is nothing but static for 5 minutes.  It is just so much white noise.  On his best day he can only manage to be no more than dull.  And secondly is his in ring work.  For a guy who looks to be in fantastic shape, he is very slow and methodical, and seems to need constant breaks, which for The Viper, means headlock after headlock.

     So, can Randy Orton ever break this curse of being dull, and join the ranks of the elite?  Perhaps he can.  Maybe the right opponent would bring out something new.  Maybe he can explore other ways of drawing the crowd into his warped mind (those voices in his head)  I certainly did enjoy him more when he looked like he was having a mental breakdown now and again.  But I guess only time will tell on this one.

By Bruce Shearon

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When I first heard about this story a while back, I just about fell over laughing.  The problem was, this was not a joke.  The WWE really is going to make Its own sitcom, based around Santino Marella, Beth Phoenix, and Kozlov.  Of course It will be an online show on WWE.com, that according to Marella will be shopped around to the networks after the first season.  Okay, let me first start off by saying that I do think that Santino is funny.  His little skits that he does on Raw can be very entertaining.  And his involvment with Beth Phoenix as the duo known as Glamarella was also quite humorous.  But a sitcom?  And with Kozlov (the most boring man in Wrestling) as his best friend?  I just can’t see this being anything but a train wreck.  I suppose like most sitcoms, It will be a wait and see kind of thing.  But if WWE’s movie division has taught us anything, It’s that most Wrestlers should stick to Wrestling.   For Santino though, this might actually turn out to be a good thing.  He has stated that if the show is successful, he would like to spend more time working on acting.  As it stands right now, Marella is just used for comedy relief anyway.  So getting a little bit of experince doing a sitcom (even if it’s a wwe venture) can only help.  As for Beth Phoenix.  She still has a good in ring future, so hopefully she won’t lose too much time working on this.  And Kozlov?  Who really cares.

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With the Royal Rumble less than a week away, I thought I would weigh in with my thoughts on the overall card itself, and how I think things might play out.  Like many of you, I do like to check out the most recent rumours and gossip, but when it comes to Pay Per Views, I try not to read them just prior to the show, so I can be surprised.  Especially since plans change so rapidly.  What somebody thinks is a possible spoiler, turns out to be nothing at all.  That being said, some of the recent things I have read, and watching the show’s leading up to the Rumble have me wondering if we are going to be getting a show with zero surprise factor at all.  First off, we have the ECW Championship being defended.  Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson.  Why on Earth Christian has been forced to sit this long in ECW is beyond me.  Sure he has been the Champion for quite some time, but he deserves to be on one of the main shows.  I see Christian losing this match simply so they can take the Title off of him in preperation for a move come draft time. Next up we have the Womens Championship match.  Michelle McCool vs Mickie James.  Normally I would think that James would win this one, just to finally put an end to the whole “Piggy James” nonsense.  But with talk of her releasing a Country album of all things, I have my doubts.  This might turn out to be a half decent match though, since these two can actually wrestle.  The first of the two World Title matches is The Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio.  Taker is in pretty rough shape these days, so I don’t see this being a very long one.  Rey will be fast, and make this look exciting, but in the end Taker wins and moves on to the main event at Wrestlemania.  The second Title defense is Sheamus, taking on Randy Orton.  Earlier I did a post on how I felt that Sheamus would not walk out of this match as Champion, because I did not see him headling Wrestlemania.  I still stand by that, but some rumours are going around about the Rumble match itself that puts a bit of doubt in my mind now.  And so that brings us to the Rumble Match itself.  As per usual, the build up has highlighted how this is every man for himself.  People making bold claims that they will win.  Silly over the top rope challenges, and teams having words with each other.  Teams like D.X.  And here is where things get a little strange.  The whole notion that if Shawn Michaels wins, he can get his shot at The Undertaker again.  And HHH, basically just wanting to win, because…..well, just because.  One rumour out there, has both men winning in a Tie, so that they both get what they want.  I certainly hope this doesn’t happen, as it cheapens the whole point of ” I am the one”  John Cena winning would simply be par for the course, but this scenario works for my prediction of Randy Orton having the Title.  Then there is Batista.  No doubt if he wins, its a rematch with The Undertaker.  But for some reason, I think that the Sean Michaels rematch would be pushed first.  As for a surprise winner?  I don’t see it happening, but I see Edge making his return at the Rumble.  I doubt he will win, but I think he will eliminate Chris Jericho, thus setting up a fine feud that could last all the way to Mania.  So, who do I pick as the overall winner?  If I must choose a name, I’ll go with Cena.  Not exactly going out on a limb with that one, but I see this Rumble being pretty much by the numbers anyway. 

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