411 Fact or Fiction 08.18.11: ADR as Champion, Big Sexy’s Return, Crimson, More

1. Having Alberto Del Rio cash in at SummerSlam was the right call.

Trent Howell: FACT. Aside from the fact he is awesome. Aside from the fact that the Punk storyline is going to work better if he doesn’t have the title. Aside from the fact that there is a huge tour of Mexico coming up. There’s one simple reason that this was the right call: logical booking. CM Punk just had a twenty something minute match with John Cena where we was on the wrong end of multiple close falls. Then he was destroyed by a seven foot monster. How foolish would ADR and the whole money in the bank concept looked if he hadn’t cashed it in? It was the perfect time booking wise.

Todd Bergman: FICTION. I’m sort of split on this answer and here’s why. After having ADR win the Royal Rumble, I really thought that the WWE was serious about making him a major player. Then Edge unfortunately needed to retire so ADR was forced to lose to Edge at WrestleMania. Then they had ADR win the MITB match and get another guaranteed title shot so this would appear to be a make good for ADR after the Edge incident. I’m all for the WWE putting the title on someone other than John Cena because I don’t think at this point in his career that Cena needs to hold the title because he’s already an established act. Wrestling in general is struggling to make big stars anymore. If the WWE wanted to do this properly, they could’ve found a way to include Cena into the Nash/Punk/HHH angle and had Del Rio take on a newly turned Miz (who has no feud for the future). Del Rio is slowly becoming a must see act on Monday nights and placing the title on him is a terrific way to continue getting him over with the fans even though he will likely lose the title to Cena (another title run ☹) by Survivor Series at the latest. My problem with ADR getting the title at SummerSlam is that it was so overshadowed by the Nash/Punk/HHH nonsense that is going on. The best possible scenario for ADR would’ve been to cash in his MITB contract after the Cena/Rock WrestleMania match. That way The Rock could’ve won the title and shocked a good amount of people watching before dropping the title later that night and legitimately making ADR a star on the grandest stage.

Score: 0 for 1

2. You are interested to see Kevin Nash back in WWE.

Trent Howell: FACT. Sure I’m interested. WWE has done this “Summer of Punk” redux beautifully thus far, and this adds another very interesting character to the mix. I don’t want to see him out there wrestling 15 minute matches, but I don’t think that’s what we are going to get. Kevin Nash is just another twist in the story, and he’s a twist who is still one of the best in the business on the mic. Monday he wasn’t even on his best form and he still was pretty damn good. Glad to see big sexy getting that paycheck again.

Todd Bergman: FICTION. If Nash’s promo on Monday night was any indication as to his talent now-a-days then count me out. Granted, Nash was talking against CM Punk and that’s a tough thing to do especially when Punk has an entire clip of ammo against Nash based on Kevin’s previously destruction of WCW. Nash looked out of place & it seriously hurt this angle in the grand scheme of things. I thought that the WWE did a great thing when they brought back Nash as Diesel for the Royal Rumble (small doses) but God help us if the WWE actually decides to put “Big Sexy Cool” into the ring for an actual one-on-one match. Nash is one of those guys who will likely always get a job in wrestling but I don’t think that he can deliver anything of substance in this run with the WWE.

Score: 0 for 2

3. Triple H is telling the truth when he says he had nothing to do with what happened at the end of SummerSlam.

Trent Howell: FACT. It concerns me that we didn’t hear from Hunter again on Monday to confront the allegations against him, but I still am going with the theory that someone else had his phone that night. Maybe he left it on his desk. Maybe Steph had it. Maybe the Marlboro Man Johnny Ace swiped it. Perhaps Zack Ryder sent the text message of doom. WWE has been trying to pull off a “mystery” angle for a couple summers now, and things keep screwing up. I see this being another one of those that hopefully has a payoff this time.

Todd Bergman: FICTION. This shitty angle has “Higher Power” written all over it folks. I’ve got a feeling that Stephanie is going to be announced as the person who sent the text & set up some sort of feud with her husband and CM Punk. Then sometime down the road, it will be announced that Triple H was the man who orchestrated the whole thing and then we will have the McMahon/Helmsley Era back in full swing. There are possible avenues that could make this interesting like if the RAW GM actually plays out to be someone interesting and just how the WWE will go about the Punk/Nash situation. All and all, I look for Triple H to be the man behind all of this in the end.

Score: 0 for 3

4. Christian will remain a viable SmackDown main event talent despite losing the World Championship at SummerSlam.

Trent Howell: INBETWEEN. Is that allowed? Look Christian is going to still be one of the top heels on Smackdown, I don’t doubt that. And he’s probably going to main event the Smackdown show regularly. But I don’t expect him to be headlining any pay per views any time soon. I don’t expect him to be getting any more world title shots. I see him moving on to feud (hopefully) with Sheamus or (God Forbid) Big Zeke. I’d also really dig a Barrett and Christian team should that come to pass. So top talent? Yes. Main event (Orton, Cena, Punk, HHH, Undertaker)? No. But let’s be honest, he wasn’t treated like he was at that level when he had the belt anyways.

Todd Bergman: FACT. This is a no brainer simply based on the fact that Smackdown has very little top tier talent to place into the main event scene. I’ve got a feeling that the WWE is interested in giving Mark Henry another shot in the main event, based on his recent push. This would open up a potential feud between Christian & Sheamus and in my book that match-up is higher profile and more interesting than Orton/Henry. I’m a firm believer in that you don’t have to have a title in a feud for it to be main event status.

Score: 0 for 4

SWITCH!

5. Cody Rhodes will restore honor & prestige to the Intercontinental Title.

Todd Bergman: FICTION. I think that Cody Rhodes is a solid choice for the IC title but I don’t think that the WWE booking committee will allow any honor or prestige to this title. Need I remind everyone that Big Zeke was the IC titleholder before Rhodes took it from Jackson. The ideal situation would be for Rhodes to hold the title for 6 months to a year and defend it numerous times & actually get wins against bigger names. There are just too many things working against Cody for him to bring honor & prestige back to this once great title.

Trent Howell: FACT. Look it’s a midcard belt, and I don’t think it’s ever going to be back to the level we have seen it at previously. But, the fact of the matter is that Rhodes is a young guy with loads of talent. He’s great on the mic and more than good in the ring. He gets deserved TV time and his character seems like one who would really be proud to have and defend the IC belt. Perhaps even give some story to it. Which is a far sight better than the human package of hotdogs whose only motivation for having the belt was matching it with his Ahmed Johnson brand red tights.

Score: 0 for 5

6. Vickie Guerrero as manager is just what Jack Swagger needs to get back on track.

Todd Bergman: FACT. Jack Swagger is the type of guy who needs a mouthpiece per say to stay over with the fans. Swagger had a big year in 2010 when he won the Money in the Bank match and then cashed in the MITB contract against Chris Jericho on an April 2nd edition of Smackdown. Since losing the title to Rey Mysterio two months later, Swagger has done very little outside of playing second fiddle to Michael Cole at WrestleMania this past year. Unquestionably, Vickie Guerrero is a heat magnet to say the least. Dolph Ziggler wouldn’t get a reaction without her and will likely disappear from the WWE Universe when she’s not in his corner. So the logical decision here is that Swagger needs someone to get him back over with the crowd and Vickie is that person. As a big fan of Vickie Guerrero, I can’t wait to see her get more TV time and develop a stronger presence on RAW.

Trent Howell: FICTION. When this went down, Mrs. Penguin was super excited because she hates hearing Jack Swagger talk, and this gives him a mouth piece. And I agree, it seems like it could lead to some good things for the All American American who has been in a holding pattern for some time now. But let’s be honest here. This is a former world champion. For him to be “back on track” he would need to be considered a contender for a world title again. That’s not going to happen any time soon. So back on track? Not quite. Better than he was? I hope so. I do miss the Swagger Soaring Eagle though. Freaking Chavo having to quit.

Score: 0 for 6

7. Kurt Angle’s explanation for turning heel and joining Hulk Hogan made sense.

Editor’s Note: Is it just me or does Angle resemble Konnan here?

Todd Bergman: FICTION. So Angle aligned with Hogan after Hulkster told Kurt that Dixie Carter knew three years ago about Double J smashing his guitar into Karen Angle’s (last name at the time) love box. This makes zero sense on so many levels and only continues to further the cluster-fuck that is Impact Wrestling booking. First off, since when is Hulk Hogan the oracle (truth speaker, kids) of professional wrestling? Even in the kayfabe world, Hulk Hogan is as trustworthy as the Repo Man during his heyday. I understand that TNA or Impact Wrestling if you will (Dusty Rhodes voice) needs a legit bad guy because they are generally lacking in both quality bad guys and good guys. However, the money is in a legit bad guy coming to different cities and drawing the money as he challenges the good guy in hopes of the crowd wanting to see the bad guy lose. The problem with all of this is that TNA refuses to put any time into actually allowing a storyline run its process. Angle can usually turn a turd into gold but this whole Dixie knowing about the affair stuff is over the top and completely an insult to anyone’s intelligence.

Trent Howell: FICTION. Alright, I admit I don’t watch Impact or TNA or whatever the blue blazes they are called this week. But I know enough to see if something makes sense. So let’s head over to Larry’s Impact report. Let’s see, wait what? I thought Dixie Carter had lost her shares of the company to Hulk Hogan or Mick Foley or Jeff Jarrett or Vince Russo or Eric Bischoff or someone. Angle wants to hurt all the young guys to prove a point and started off by attacking Sting? The dude from the Blade Runners in the old Mid South? He’s not young. And now we find out Hulk Hogan was the one who told Angle to do what he did? Didn’t Hogan help Jeff Hardy beat Angle at Bound for Glory? Wasn’t that how Immortal formed in the first place? What the holy hell?

Score: 1 for 7

8. Crimson‘s push is working.

Todd Bergman: FACT. I’m choosing fact based on the idea that we as a wrestling site are actually talking about the guy. Granted this site still talks about Paul Roma & RVD’s one shot deals but I like the fact that TNA (Impact Wrestling) is actually trying to build a legit star out of someone who didn’t come from up North. As far as I know Crimson is unbeaten & currently leading the BFGS with a total of 43 points to James Storm’s 33. Time will tell if Crimson has staying power but at this point, Crimson is a legit rising star in a company that has few options when it comes to fresh faces. Ultimately, this will be screwed up much like TNA did to Monty Brown back in the day.

Trent Howell: FICTION. Who? The guy who was supposed to be Amazing Red’s big brother? That dude sucks. Are they really trying to push him? *Heads back to Larry’s TNA report* Hey, he’s winning that Bound for Glory thing. I thought they were done with that already? Still doesn’t help much. Good thing I know people. I’ll call my buddy Bill Goldberg and ask him. Stand by. Well that didn’t go over very well. He mumbled something about no name pissants and asked if I wanted to go smash some limo windows with him. Which I do. He’s on his way. So screw Crimson I have glass to break.

Final Score: 1 for 8

Wow…these guys sure weren’t on the same page. They weren’t even reading the same book! The only thing they could find agreement on is TNA’s main event angle making no sense. I still love them both, and I want you folks to pick a winner! No, not the one in your nose.

I’d like to thank Penguin and T-Berg for their answers, and you the readers for seeing what they had to say! For Trent Howell and Todd Bergman, this is Steve Cook saying join us next week for more Wrestling Fact or Fiction!