SlamZilla

And then there were six.

     In just over a week, The Nexus has gone from the most dominant group in WWE, to a stable that is already showing  just how weak they really are.  So you just have to wonder, how long can this bunch of rookies hang on, before they totally fall apart?

     Of course you could point out that Nexus only lost one match during RAW, which saw the group turn on one of their own (Darren Young) as he is now banished from the group.  But of those matches, only two were clean victories.  And now that they are down to six members, they are just that much weaker.  Lets face it, the only thing these guys had going for them was the numbers game.  Sure there are two or three of them that could make it on their own in the WWE.  But as I pointed out in a previous post, I figure that’s about how many will be left after about a year anyway.

      Then there is the current group of NXT rookies.   Season 2 is coming to a close fast, and there are guys in that group that are probably going to be bumped up to the main roster as soon as it concludes.  The best guess by most is that this batch will wind up on Smackdown.  Even still, that is a whole lot of new, young, and green talent to have on two shows at the same time.  Somebody is gonna have to go.  

     So where does that leave The Nexus?  I think that what we saw this past Monday on RAW, is just the beginning.  The group will continue to have internal issues, and the weak will be weeded out.  I will be interested to see if my prediction of a core group of four being all that is left comes true.  What will be more interesting now, will be just how fast the group falls to pieces, and who is left standing.

By Bruce Shearon

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

For quite some time now there has been speculation on who will be named as The Undertakers attacker.  Of course we will have to wait until SummerSlam to actually find out, because we all pretty much figure that Taker will make his return then.  So since we still have a little more time to think about it. I decided to look at a few people that might have been forgotten.  I am also just sticking with people on Smackdown.  Although there are some really good choices over on RAW.

 Dolph Ziggler.   It might be a long shot, but with his association with Vickie (and we all know her past with Taker) and the fact that he uses a very wicked sleeper hold, perhaps Dolph was trying to make a statement, but kept that sleeper on just a bit too long?  Ziggler is a great talent, and a feud with The Undertaker might be the thing he needs to get him into that main event status.

Christian.   Yes, another unlikely candidate.  But think about this for a second.  Christian was kept down in ECW for what seemed like an eternity once coming back from TNA, and even now he is just starting to get a decent push on Smackdown.  Christian works very well as a Heel, so finding out that it was him that somehow took out Taker, would make that transition very easy.  These two would definitely have some great matches if paired up.

Drew McIntrye.     Even though he has been involved in a feud with Matt Hardy for the last little while,  and at the same time trying desperately to get back his Intercontinental Championship, maybe The Sinister Scott found a little bit of time to take out The Undertaker?  In case anyone has forgotten,  Drew of course is “The Chosen One”  hand picked by Mr McMahon to be a future World Champion.  But for that to happen, you have to eliminate the one person you know will stand in your way.  It wouldn’t surprise me if McIntrye wins his Money In The Bank, Ladder Match, then decides to cash it in at SummerSlam, only to have The Undertaker return and cost him the match, thus revealing him as the mystery attacker.

      So there you have it.  My three dark horse picks for who took out The Dead Man.  I never have been very good with predictions, but it is still fun to speculate.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

Welcome to the Slam Of The Month.  I used to have a separate page devoted to this, but it didn’t really see a lot of activity, so I have decided to just do it as a regular blog post once a month.  So for the month of July, I have picked one of my least favourite Wrestlers for the last 30 days or so.  None other than Cody Rhodes.  Or as he now refers to himself,  “Dashing” Cody Rhodes.  And this is what eventually helped me to decide who I would rant on this month.  The simple fact that WWE has decided to try and put over one of the most boring Wrestlers on Smackdown, by calling him Dashing.  This is particularly funny to me, because I have also had a nickname for Mr Rhodes for quite some time.  I liked to call him, “The Gargoyle”  Mainly because he is just so Pug Ugly, but as you can see from the picture, he also bears a striking resemblance to Goliath, from the Gargoyles Cartoon.

     But enough about how ugly I think Rhodes is for a second.  Lets talk about the other reason why I made him my Slam Of The Month.   You see about a year ago, Rhodes, along with his then partner, Ted Dibiase, were in a very heated feud with D.X.   I predicted back then that once the feud was over, and their little falling out with Randy Orton was done with, that these two would sink like stones.  It appeared that I was right.  Without the main event talent to carry them, these two just didn’t have anything going for them.   So, they got split up, and Dibiase is trying to milk his fathers gimmick over on RAW.  Million Dollar Belt and all.  And Rhodes has been sent over to Smackdown, where the best thing they could come up with for him, was to call him….Dashing.

     Well, I will say this much for him.  In a way, the new moniker suits him.  Any time I see he is about to Wrestle, I Dash for the remote, so I can fast forward.   Sorry Gargoyle, but you just bore me to tears.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

Drew McIntyre.

Height 6’6,   Weight 246,  Hometown, Ayr Scotland, Finishing move, A form of double underhook DDT.

     On paper Drew is the prototype for the perfect Wrestler.  He has the look, the size, and he is great on the Mic.  But there seems to be in my opinion, one little thing lacking.  A complete lack of skills inside the ring. 

     Okay, perhaps that is a little harsh.  It isn’t a complete lack.  Drew does seem to have a small dose of talent, and his finisher looks great, but aside from that, I just can’t understand why he is being over sold as “the chosen one”  So far  I can count on one hand the amount of matches Mr McIntyre has had that I have enjoyed, and still have fingers left over.  It almost reminds me of another Wrestler that had what appeared to be limitless talent and potential, but just didn’t work.  That person was one Billy Gunn.  For a while Mr Gunn, or as he later became more famous as, Mr Ass, had a good run as one half of the New Age Outlaws, and a member of DX.  But any time he was on his own, he was just plain boring.  And that’s pretty much how I feel when I see Drew McIntyre compete.  I want to like him, and he seems to have everything it takes to be great, but he just bores me to tears. 

     Regardless of what I think though, Drew has been “Chosen”  He has the supposed blessing of Vince McMahon himself.  And we know McMahon is never wrong. (yeah right)  And of course it always helps to be good friends with HHH as well.   So I guess I’ll just have to wait and see for myself.  Perhaps his greatness is just starting to be realized.  Maybe Drew is holding out on us, and we will eventually see that he is the next great technical wrestler, on par with such greats as Bret Hart, or Kurt Angle. …….But I won’t hold my breath.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

5 Days.  That is all it took.  Jack Swagger cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase on Smackdown, only 5 days after Wrestlemania, and we have a new World Heavyweight Champion.  A short time ago I made my Wrestlemania predictions, and since I took a few long shots, I failed miserably.  But the MITB match was a complete surprise for me.  I never would have guessed that Swagger would win it.  And once he did, I also gathered that he would be the first person to FAIL in his attempt to cash it in.  Wrong on both parts.  Good thing I don’t gamble.  Either way, we now have a new champion.  But is he any good?  It wasn’t so long ago that The All American, American  (sheesh is that ever lame)  was jobbing to everybody, including Santino Marella.  Now he is suddenly the top dog on Smackdown.  Yes the announcers are doing a good job of putting him over, and talking all about his credentials.  And yes, he is faily sound from a technical standpoint.  But he is still the same, boring as hell wrestler that he has always been.  I suppose I shouldn’t complain.  Its about time that some of the young talent starts getting some attention in the main events.  it won’t be that long before HBK is joined on the retirement circuit by his buddy HHH, and even The Undertaker.  But why Swagger?  Certainly there had to be better candidates for a main event push?  What about John Morrison or Dolph Ziggler?  Or lets get really crazy and stop holding back Evan Borne.  This guy could fill Rey Mysterio’s shoes in an instant if given half the chance.  But no, we get Jack Shhhwwaaaaaaager…..  The Kurt Angle wannabe.  Time will tell if he has what it takes, but right now I think he is simply a short term champion.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

About a year ago I did a post regarding the match between Sean Michaels and The Undertaker.  Now that we know that they will have their rematch, I thought It would be interesting to re-post this article, since it did have some interesting stats.  Enjoy.

So, for the last few weeks, In the build up to Wrestlemania 25, Sean Michaels has been taunting The Undertaker. And as per usual he is refering to himself as Mr Wrestlemania. I don’t really have a problem with that, but It did get me to wondering just how legitimate that claim was?
So after a little digging I came up with some interesting numbers and tidbits. Now, we all know that The Undertaker is undefeated going into this and he is currently 16-0. That right there could be his reason to lay clain to the “Mr Wrestlemania” title, but lets dig a little deeper.
The top 5 Win, Loss records for for wrestlers who have competed at 9 or more Wrestlemania’s is.
1) The Undertaker. 16-0
2) Hulk Hogan. 8-3-1
3) Bret Hart. 7-6
4) Randy Savage. 7-4
5) Sean Michaels. 6-7-2
So just going by Win, Loss records alone, not only doe’s Sean fall short, but he has lost more than he has won.
A few other big names who have been in less than 9 Wrestlemania’s, but are worth mentioning are.
7 matches…Steve Austin. 5-2
8 matches…Owen Hart. 5-2-1
8 matches…The Rock. 4-4
Now lets look at another interesting stat. Who has had more World Title victories at Wrestlemania? It is actually a 3 way tie, with all 3 men having won, you guessed it, 3 times. Those men are.
1) The Undertaker
2) Hulk Hogan
3) Steve Austin
But you may ask yourself this. Numbers aside, who has had more of those Wrestlemania moments? Who stole the show? And who really was, the main event, and the show stopper? Well here are two final stats for you to consider. The person who has headlined Wrestlemania the most in one of the main events is Hulk Hogan, with 8 main events. BUT!!! of all the matches that Sean Michaels has had, and despite his win, loss record, the last 5 Wrestlemania matches that Michaels has been in have won Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s match of the year award.
So there you have it. Personally I think that Taker is the man, and that Hogan has a big claim to that Title of “Mr Wrestlemania” Especially since it was built around him for years. But after doing my homework, I have to give Sean his due. He also has the right to use that moniker. But I’ll leave you all to make up your own minds on this one.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

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. 

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

C.M. Punk.  The straight edge world champion.  He is the first, of his kind in WWE.  And he’s better than us. Or so he likes to say.  The problem is, he just keeps going, and going, and going. His mouth is like the energizer bunny.  It never seems to run out of energy.  Now don’t get me wrong, as a Wrestler, Punk is great.  I have always liked watching his matches, and It’s nice to see somebody else at the top.  And I also understand that this is Punks new thing for getting heat with the crowd now that he is no longer a “good guy”  I just wish that his diatribes didn’t go on for what feels like an hour.  Perhaps Punk needs to study some of the masters on the Mic.  Some of the people who were excellent at getting the crowd to hate them.  People Like Edge, and Chris Jericho.  And even the Rock, when he was first starting out and was  hearing the “Rocky Sucks” chants.  These men have the ability to get the crowd going with just a few words, and sometimes a look.  But I digress.   The scary part of Punks new found passion for preaching, is that he is on the show that actually tapes, and edits, unlike Raw which is live.  So I can just imagine how much of his rambling gets cut out?  Hopefully sometime soon he will be hated enough that he won’t have to do this long and boring promo’s.  One can hope. 

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

For the last few months The Legacy-Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase- Have been Giving DX fits.  Things have gotten so bad for Hunter and Shawn, that Michaels was actually forced to tap out in their recent PPV match.  And of course coming up soon will be the infamous Hell In A Cell.  I have to say that this feud has been very entertaining, and Its good to see some of the young talent getting some time in the spotlight.  The only question I have right now is, are The Legacy really main event material?  What I mean is, after this feud with DX is over, will they still be as red hot as they are right now?  I think back to the matches they had against Cryme Tyme, and remember being somewhat bored.  Now of course DX is a whole different story.  But thats exactly my point.  HHH and Michaels are doing a very good job of making these young guys look good, but after that Its up to them.  There has been talk recently of DiBiase being the one to end The Undertakers unbeaten streak at wrestlemania.  But personally I just don’t think he will be ready for that sort of match.  Legacy is good, and they are getting better, and for now they are main eventing.  But for some reason, Im just not too sure they can keep it up once this current feud is over.  A step in the right direction though, would be for them to split from Randy Orton.  After showing how good they can be, going back to being his lapdogs would undo months of work.   I guess only time will tell.  And even If things don’t work out, and they are forced back to mid card status.  It will just be a matter of time.  They are both too good to be held down for very long.  And they are both still very young.  The Legacy have a bright future ahead of them.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

The WWE has decided to begin using themes with some of It’s Pay Per Views.  As I am sure you are aware of, the theme for Breaking Point was that the main events could only be won by submission.  Honestly, Im glad they stuck to only the main events, otherwise this could have been very boring.  But did this concept actually work?  And during the lead up, and even while the show was going on, did they have to actually use the term “Breaking Point” a thousand times?  Just my little pet peeve on that one.  For the most part though, I think in small doses the theme concept is fine.  This one wasn’t too bad, and It did allow for an interesting development or two. (I won’t do spoilers, so watch the show for yourself to know what I mean)  Without going into exact detail of every match, I’ll give a few quick thoughts on what I feel worked, and what didn’t.  First the bad news.  Khali and Kane.  Hopefully their feud is now finished, because this match bordered on train wreck material.  The good news is, that match was really the only real bad one.  It depends on your tastes though.  I really enjoyed Christians match with William Regal.  Is it just me, or is Regal actually getting better after all these years?  The tag team match with Jericho and Big Show vs MVP, and Mark Henry, wasn’t a classic but as always It was entertaining.  Miz going up against Kofi Kingston may have been a last minute replacement but they still did a fairly good job. Miz still isn’t quite ready for the big time yet though.  But the real highlight of the night was DX vs The Legacy.  The war they started at SummerSlam just carried on to this PPV.  And obviously they aren’t finished yet.  This match lived up to Its billing of Falls count anywhere, as they were all over the arena.  John Cena vs Randy Orton was for the most part, slow paced.  But It was brutal at times, and even funny now and again, but in all not too bad.  Now, as for Undertaker vs CM Punk.  The match itself was fairly short, but good.  And the way It ended has to be seen to be believed.  Of course this is just the begining to their feud, so surprises are bound to happen.  One last thought though.  I don’t know how badly this show will get edited for the eventual DVD release.  But If you had the chance to watch it live, you can’t help but  love the very vocal crowd.  Montreal is a very tough place, especially if you’re Shawn Michaels.  ; )

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post