The Triple Threat 8.21.11: The 247th Edition – Alberto Del Rio, Kevin Nash, Booker T, More

David Martell: I really don’t know if this was the perfect timing for this to happen. Del Rio isn’t as over as he was in the early part of the year and right now he just seems like he is going to be a transitional champion. I don’t dislike Del Rio, I just wish they would of built him up better and picked a different time for him to cash in. Right now CM Punk is red hot and having him lost the title kind of hurt the situation. Now Del Rio moves on to face John Cena, or so it seems. I hate the fact that Cena is mad at Del Rio for not being respectful. Alberto Del Rio cashed in just like everyone else has so why is it a big deal now? With CM Punk feuding with Triple H and gang, I hope Del Rio will be able to hold on to the title. I am just tired of John Cena going for or having the title. Something new needs to happen. For now we will just have to see where Del Rio takes the belt.

Jacob San Antonio: Well, the WWE wanted him to win the title, and they weren’t changing their plans for anyone. I question the company that decides to interrupt a hot angle in order to switch around the belt, just so it’s easier for John “The Champ” Cena to get his belt back. You can disagree about this all you want, but that’s exactly what this situation is. CM Punk is really, really over right now, and it’s hard for Cena to take the belt from him without being the bad guy. So of course, throw in some Kevin Nash and Del Rio, and Cena can have his belt again with the crowd behind him. Through all of this I don’t really blame Del Rio. As MitB winner, it’s expected for him to steal the belt right from under someone’s nose. I may not like his taking it from Punk, but as Punk mentioned on Raw he’s not surprised Del Rio did it. I’m far more irritated with the WWE for all this, and I’ll go into that with our next topic.

Zach Brown: I have to say, I was disappointed in this happening at Summerslam. On one hand, we did get an exciting event that capped off Summerslam. It left the wrestling world in a frenzy and everyone was talking. That I cannot complain about, and in that sense, WWE did their job because it got everyone talking about them. But couldn’t they have waited on Del Rio? Could they not have waited a little longer for this CM Punk storyline to run it’s course? I have been a massive fan of CM Punk’s recent storyline because it has been amazing week after week, and Punk keeps outdoing himself. Couldn’t he have solidly held the title for at least a few months? I think it’s ironic that this whole storyline originated because Punk was not in the place that he deserved to be in in WWE, and even after this storyline is pretty much said and done, he still wasn’t champion for long. I mean Punk has moved so much merchandise these last few weeks that it’s not even funny. Why doesn’t he deserve to be champion for a few months? It’s not that I don’t like Del Rio, because I absolutely do. But Money in the Bank can be cashed in at any point, and I would have liked to see them wait for Del Rio to do it. WWE got a little too excited with wanting another big moment, and they killed all the steam of the CM Punk storyline in doing so. When Alberto Del Rio cashed in, it kind of reminded me of when John Cena returned from injury as number 30 in the Royal Rumble. It was exciting and awesome for all of about 30 seconds, until the dust settled and you realized what it meant. When all was said and done, it was a complete let down for me.

Topic # 2 Kevin Nash made his debuted back with the WWE at last weeks Summerslam costing CM Punk the WWE Title. How do you feel about his return?

David Martell: A lot of people are dogging this but I am more of a wait and see type of person. We all knew that CM Punk was going to be feuding with Triple H at some point and this is just the start of the slow burning process. How much power does Nash really have? Who knows and that’s the fun of it. Nash did show that he is a little rusty on the mic when he had a verbal sparring with CM Punk. Hopefully as the weeks go on, we will get some better promos out of him. When it comes to wrestling, that’s what I am afraid of. I honestly cant think of the last good match Nash has had. I just don’t know if even CM Punk could bring him to a good match. Nash is slow, old and injury prone. Does he really have it in him? I am definitely looking forward to the match but almost at the level where a NASCAR fan is looking forward to a crash. We can only hope it will be something respectable.

Jacob San Antonio: Let me just say this. When Diesel showed up at the Royal Rumble, I was okay with it. I figured Nash would be the
Anonymous GM, he’d stay out of the ring, and the last thing I expected him to do was ruin the hottest angle of the summer. So…to clarify, I was totally fine with Kevin Nash around the Royal Rumble. As of right now, I don’t think there’s a proper word to describe my disappointment in Nash, HHH, and the WWE. Anyone who watched WCW during the NWO will tell you that Kevin Nash was just as bad as Hulk Hogan to the business. In it only for the money, couldn’t really wrestle with the condition of his legs, and pulling his weight around WCW Creative in order to squash the likes of Sting and Goldberg. Simply put, Kevin Nash + Hot Angle = Bad, bad news. So to see Nash interfere with Punk at the end of Summerslam…it’s been a while since I’ve gone into WCW-mode, folks. I don’t like it, I’m not going to like it, and I feel like the WWE has brought themselves back to square one with this enormous step back. “But Jacob,” you ask. “why did you
bring up HHH?” It’s the same situation with HHH, I’m afraid. I was all for this new COO-angle with Trips if it meant him staying out of the ring. All I wanted was the occasional appearance, no stupid promos, no hogging time from other talents, and for HHH to simply keep himself out of the spotlight. His guest ref spot was bad enough. Nash’s involvement just made it a lot worse. I hope there’s someone out there who still likes watching HHH stroke his own ego. I say that because I’m all prepped and ready for the next six months of HHH, Nash, Punk and Stephanie McMahon (cause we really wanted her back, right?) revolving all around HHH’s problems. There’s a very small quota of HHH I can take in a given year, and it certainly looks like HHH is going to step all over that by the end of next week. Long story short, Kevin Nash’s involvement has opened the door to everything I cannot stand in the WWE, and wrestling in general.

Zach Brown: Even though Nash’s involvement hurt Punk’s momentum and his storyline, this is exactly what I wanted Kevin Nash to be doing in WWE. His powerbomb on Punk was phenomenal. Why he didn’t come back sooner after the reaction he got at the Royal Rumble was very confusing to me. While I am excited that Kevin Nash is back on WWE TV, I am excited for only certain things. I am most excited to see Kevin Nash return to WWE so that he can take place in good storylines. In my honest opinion, TNA does not know how to craft good stories at all. Their wrestling can be great, but the storylines behind those matches are often unbearable to me. So it’s exciting to me that Kevin Nash can now go back and forth with CM Punk in front of a huge crowd and in front of millions of people at home. Interesting things are happening with Nash and that’s exciting. But what I don’t want is for Nash to make a full time return to the ring. I wasn’t a huge fan of Kevin Nash’s work back when he was in TNA, so why would I want to watch it now? I mean the guy is not terrible by any means. But he is limited somewhat. Every time I watch him wrestle, I am afraid that he is going to get hurt simply because the guy is large and not very agile. And will he really have in-ring chemistry with CM Punk? It’s tough to say. I’ll wait to see actual WWE matches with Nash before I really pass judgment on the guy. For now, I am definitely excited on where this is going.

Topic # 3 Randy Orton recently won back the World Title from Christian at Summerslam. Your thoughts?

David Martell: First off I would like to say that Orton and Christian had one hell of a match at Summerslam. By far one of Orton’s best matches ever. It stole the show but I really didn’t enjoy the outcome. It is really that hard for Christian to hold on to the belt for a few months? I really wanted them to keep dragging this out to Hell in a Cell with Orton finally getting the title back. It would have been fitting. Now we stuck with Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry. I am not really mad about that because Mark Henry is at his best right now but its hard to not want another match with Orton and Christian after their string of classics. I really do wish WWE would stop flip flopping with the titles so often and give us a champion that holds on to the belt for a good while. After all, the longer someone holds the belt, the more exciting it will be when he loses it.

Jacob San Antonio: You know, as long as the Orton/Christian feud lasted, I am totally okay with it ending like this. Don’t get me wrong, I’d kill to see one more match at Hell in the Cell between the two, but I thought the story told was an interesting one. Also, that last between the two at Summerslam was the best hardcore match I’ve seen in a while. While certainly not one of the greats, it didn’t stop itself for blood and set up stupid raining chair spots that clearly did no damage. Christian got an actual reign out of his last title win, and that pretty much makes up for any complaints I had about his situation. Orton earned his title back at Summerslam, and it looks like he’s taking his psycho persona into new territory, which I’m surprisingly okay with. So long as he’s not hopping around smiling and high fiving everyone as a baby face, I’m okay with Orton. I’m still going to hold out for that Hell in the Cell match, but for now I’m perfectly fine with Orton’s title win. Both he and Christian walked away from that Summerslam match looking like a million bucks.

Zach Brown: This just confused me. Their match at Summerslamwas incredible, but why Orton again? Why couldn’t Christian just stay champion for longer? I mean hasn’t the guy proven himself yet? For me, this latest match with Christian and Orton was their best yet, and will probably be remembered as a MOTY candidate for 2011. I couldn’t even believe that they could top their last match at Money in the Bank, but boy did they. And they made the entire Extreme Rules PPV look like a joke. Hell, it was even better than anything they put on TLC these past few years.But the thing that disappoints me the most is that this feud will probably not even continue. Mark Henry is the new number 1 contender after Smackdown this week. And even though Mark Henry has been on an impressive tear lately, I wanted to still see Christian in the mix, especially with the great matches he’s had lately. I wanted this feud with Orton to be the start of the greatest time in Christian’s career, and it disappoints me to say that the best period in Christian’s career was still when he was the Instant Classic TNA Champion. I hope Christian finds that same level of success soon in WWE because he really is a phenomenal talent.

Topic # 4 Do you think Vickie Guerrero as manager could help out Jack Swagger?

David Martell: I have a feeling this was a last minute storyline change since Alex Riley has been less than stellar. The guy cant even lift himself up for a power bomb! I am perfectly fine with Vickie being Swagger’s manager. It makes for an interesting storyline and a possible great match for Night of Champions. Swagger vs. Ziggler is way better than Riley vs. Ziggler. Yeah, it would be heel vs. heel but I think it would be an interesting dynamic with Vickie in the middle. Maybe Ziggler could turn face although I don’t know if that would be a great idea. If not a feud, why not tag them together. The tag division is as stale as it has ever been and these guys would make a great team to freshen up things. It does seem like they are going to at least try and make something out of the tag division. There is a lot of promise here and it will be better for Swagger to get more TV time.

Jacob San Antonio: She could help, but not nearly as much as a competent creative writer could. I’m looking forward to this Swagger/Guerrerro partnership, but it seems Swagger’s biggest enemy in his company has been the WWE itself. Swagger’s got everything he needs to be one of the top wrestlers in the company, the only thing he needs is a little faith from his coworkers. Sure, it’s hard to give could promos when you have a lisp, but it’s not nearly as bad as Bobby Lashley’s. Swagger’s a physical powerhouse, and his style works well with just about anyone. If Vickie is indeed the missing piece to the puzzle of Swagger’s success, I will accept this partnership with open arms. Every time Swagger’s on TV I wonder why he hasn’t gone farther in the WWE, and if it’s going to take some help from someone else I’ll take it. Hopefully after a couple of months with her, Swagger will start seeing some new success in the company. It’s all I can really hope for right now.

Zach Brown: At this point, I don’t know what could honestly help Jack Swagger. I like the guy a lot, but he needs a character overhaul in my opinion. And what would Vickie Guerrero honestly do for him? Vickie needs to stop being a manager at this point. She is a heat magnet, but I think she is much better in an authority figure position. She drew a good amount of heat for DolphZiggler, sure. But managing Jack Swagger simply because it would be her latest boyfriend would be pretty tired. How many wrestlers has Vickie managed as their romantic interest at this point? Eddie, Edge, Big Show, Eric Escobar, DolphZiggler, and now it’s going to be Jack Swagger? Give it a rest already. I’d like to see her step away from managing and concentrate solely on being a GM or some other authority figure. Jack Swagger is a great wrestler, but if he really needs Vickie Guerrero to get heat, that means his character is on life support. I wish they would give Swagger some type of new gimmick instead of just pairing him with Vickie Guerrero. It would be a short term fix to a long term problem, and that’s not a great idea for Jack Swagger’s future in WWE.

Topic # 5 Who do you think is the most underrated guy on the TNA roster?

David Martell: Probably Matt or Jeff Hardy. Or at least they think they are. With all joking aside, I think a lot of guys in TNA are underrated. How about all the X Divison guys. Doug Williams is very underrated. The guy is good on the mic and a great wrestler but never really got a chance to make it to the main event. You know who show be in the main event? How about Alex Shelly? Yeah, this guy has held the X Division and the Tag belts but as one of TNA’s home grown talent, he never got to be a main eventer. He is another guy who is great on the mic and great in the ring but right now hes getting overshadowed by guys like Crimson. Shelly deserves his shot and honestly I would rather see him face Kurt Angle than any of the other guys in the Bound for Glory series. But I guess when you are in an organization that has Hogan in it, the little guys will never get over.

Jacob San Antonio: If you asked me this a couple years ago I’d say Samoa Joe in a heartbeat. As it is, right now I’d say I’d like to see more from D’Angelo Dinero. He’s got a solid fanbase, so I don’t think he’s underappreciated or anything, but it’d be nice if the TNA tried more with the guy. He’s talented, and he’s young, which should be all they need to hear in order to be convinced. I see this with a lot of TNA talent, but it bothers me how often some of the midcarders get completely ignored when it comes time to push someone. I hate to be that guy, but I don’t see why Kurt Angle or Sting should get yet another title reign while a guy like Dinero is sitting in the back wondering if he’s ever going to get his big shot. It’s just frustrating, really. Why does TNA ignore all the talent they have in order to push old guys?

Zach Brown: Most underrated in TNA…it’s difficult to say. There are so many talents in TNA that are actually overrated, or mostly untested. And so many are simply rated as well. Most wrestling fans already know that many of these wrestlers are great. I almost picked Robert Roode for this, but he’s had great success with Beer Money. I think he could be a great main eventer if just given the chance. But anyway. I’m going to have to go with Magnus on this one. Brutus Magnus to be more specific. I’ve always liked this guy a lot, and it’s baffling to me how little TV time he gets. He was great on the mic back when British Invasion was big, and he was great in the ring as well. He has a great look too…he looks like an English gentleman that can kick your ass. Sure, Doug Williams is arguably the better wrestler. But I don’t know why Magnus was seemingly left behind while only Doug Williams was put in higher profile matches and storylines. And London Brawling seemed like a match made in heaven, but then Nigel Wolfguinness had his medical issues. I think Magnus at least deserves time with a midcard belt to see what he can do if given the ball. I’d love to see him as X-Division Champion or Television Champion. Magnus won the Xplosion Championship challenge, so maybe that will set that up. I really enjoy his cocky personality and I like what he can do in the ring. And with the British Invasion re-formed, maybe he can be the leader of the stable. When talking about most underrated, I think Magnus is definitely at the top of the list because he hasn’t had many opportunities to show off his great skills. Hopefully 2011 and 2012 will show us more of this guy because I think he is a main eventer waiting to happen.

Our thoughts on Booker T.

David Martell: I don’t understand why Booker T isn’t wrestling right now. We all know he can still go. I understand he is one of the older guys but I think he would do a great job of putting people over. It would be better than him on commentary. A lot of people dog Booker T’s commentating skills and for the most part they are right. He isn’t the best but sometimes he can be funny and I always enjoy his constantly changing fav five. One thing I am looking forward to with Booker T is the fact that he will be hosting the King of the Ring DVD as King Booker. King Booker really did rejuvenate his career at the end of his wrestling days in the WWE. I wasn’t to happy that they decided to have Booker T commentating instead of JR at Summerslam. I realize they want to have someone representing Smackdown but Michael Cole is already on Smackdown anyways. I mean that three person booth was probably the worst you can have right now. Just put the tights back on Booker, I think it would fit you a lot better.

Jacob San Antonio: Time to draw the line in the sand. After watching Summerslam, I have decided. Either Michael Cole goes (preferred choice right now), or Jerry Lawler goes. Seriously, neither of those two commentators bring anything worthwhile to commentary anymore. There’s too many commentators as is in order to have worthwhile dialogue during a match, but with King and Cole the dialogue you get is simply garbage. King hasn’t sounded like he’s cared in years, and Cole’s ego has become so large that he can’t go five seconds without shouting over someone else. It’s unbearable. Why did I enjoy Summerslam so much? Because my friends and I simply spoke over the commentary for the majority of the matches. Which brings us to Booker T. T has a…unique approach to commentary. He’s different, which is refreshing, but thanks to Cole’s addition to Smackdown he hasn’t had the time to settle down into the job. He spends every week going over his standard phrases and nicknames (Fav five, D-Bry, etc, etc) in order to hang with everyone else. I have no idea if Booker T can be as good a commentator as the others, but right now it doesn’t really look like he’s getting a real chance. I want to like Booker T on the mic, but until the WWE drops all the other terrible commentary I don’t see him lasting for too much longer.

Zach Brown: I don’t know why Booker T is at the commentary table. That is not where I want to see him whatsoever. If the Royal Rumble taught us anything, it’s that Booker’s still got it. And he’s still got that hilarious charisma that fans are wanting to see. I’ve been saying it for a while now: the team of Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T is one of the worst commentary teams that WWE has ever assembled. Even with JR back in the company, that team of three were the ones commentating at Summerslam. The three of them are a commentary team that WWE has been favoring for the past several months. Why? Which fans honestly favor this miserable banter? Why is Booker wasting his time on commentary? The fans want to see him in the ring, or at least doing something backstage or as a manager or SOMETHING. Give him the opportunity to cut promos, for crying out loud. If I had it my way, I would want to see Booker T back in the ring, in limited fashion. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are two guys that are great examples of wrestlers who go to their bitter age and give you the best matches of their career right at the end of said careers. Sure, they had incredible chemistry at Wrestlemania, but still, you get my point. Booker could be giving us great new moments of his career, but he’s choosing commentary over wrestling. That is a mistake in my eyes. King Booker was great and that was not that long ago! It was only back in 2007 when King Booker was on top of the wrestling world. Booker T can still go, so give us what we want! Let him cut promos and put guys over. He had a match with Jack Swagger, but that went absolutely nowhere. What was the point? Someone like DolphZiggler could really use a great feud with Booker T. That’s the kind of thing that I want to see. I’m not saying put the belt on him or anything like that, but put him in the ring every once in a while, and make it matter.

That is all for this week. Fell free to comment at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!