The 411 Wrestling Hot or Not 8.21.11: CM Punk Owns, Bret Hart Whines and Brock Kills

Hello and welcome to the 411 Wrestling Hot or Not! My name is Seán Reid, and at times I love wrestling. I love the in ring action, the over the top characters and the drama it brings. But I hate when they get things wrong. I hate when egos ruin the product, when guys don’t bring it in the ring and when they make me scream “Who is booking this crap?!?”

First off, we are getting rid of the overall review of the comments (For now anyway). Instead, in the spirit of the angle, I will be picking out the comment I liked the most and the comment that made me squint my eyes and check to see if under the bridge was empty. So ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to my…

Broski of the Week is actually someone who emailed me on Sunday. “RockTheMullet” was the man who made both the Pedobroski and Troll Face signs on Raw two weeks ago that I featured in my column. He was delighted that people had enjoyed the signs and has emailed me the original sign he made of Pedobroski that you’ll see here every week. You sir were robbed of Broski of the Week on Zack Ryder’s show, but we here at Hot or Not recognise the brilliance of the sign and you are Broski of the Week.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with fans chanting ‘eat a sandwich’. If anything it might be a rude awakening.

Posted By: Guest#9758 (Guest) on August 15, 2011 at 12:52 AM

This is in relation to my complaints at fans chanting “eat a sandwich” at Daizze Haze two weeks ago in Chikara. There is no way something like would be a rude awakening, because no one knows exactly what it is that has Daizze so unwell. Maybe it is an eating disorder, but even if its not it doesn’t excuse anyone from making those kind of comments. But if you want to believe that there is nothing wrong with it, then you have earned the title of Troll of the Week!

1) The Age of Destiny: It’s the biggest development of the past seven days and one that has split everyone down the middle. Alberto Del Rio, after too many false starts, has become the WWE Champion. Alberto is one of those wrestlers who just carries himself like someone who belongs in the main event. He has the look, the charisma and can more than deliver in the ring.

A lot of people are quite vocal in their belief that Del Rio looks weak in how he won the belt, but there is one huge problem with that argument: Del Rio is a heel; he isn’t supposed to win clean! Perhaps the problem is the fact that this type of victory has been used with almost every Money in the Bank winner and just comes across as stale, but he is one of the few guys who make this type of victory work. The Miz and Edge are the two who jump straight to mind that made that kind of victory work so well with their characters and it worked brilliantly for them.

But Del Rio can only go up from here. The title scene has become fresher over the summer. Gone are Randy Orton and John Cena being unchallenged in the main event scene and now we have CM Punk, Christian and Alberto Del Rio becoming settled within the scene. If Miz can find himself back in the position he was at Wrestlemania then the main event could be the strongest it’s been in a long time.

2) Punk Carries Nash: Raw this week felt incredibly weak, especially after the last few weeks and two top PPVS. But it had two huge highlights: The WWE Title match and this:

I am an unashamed Kevin Nash mark, but CM Punk completely destroyed him on Raw. Kevin Nash came across flat and lost in his promo, while CM Punk looked like the professional carrying the rookie. It was also great to hear someone say those words to Kevin Nash on a national platform at long last. Some people have tried it before in the past but have fallen into obscurity. CM Punk did it with such passion and courage that it ensured that no one will forget it any time soon, especially Nash.

3) Mark Henry = This Years JBL? : I remember a few years ago when I was about to start college, a few friends of mine were having drinks and talking about the past year in wrestling. One of the guys said something that has stayed with me, “If a year ago you told me JBL would not only be a main eventer, but one that I enjoyed, I would have said you were crazy.” And now, I find myself thinking about that line once again, but with Mark Henry’s name in place of JBL.

Vince has tried time and time again to make Mark Henry into a killer main event heel, but he always falls flat on his face. Honestly I would be in the group that believed he received too many shots and would never carry himself in the role. But here we are, and I find myself eating my words. The former Sexual Chocolate has had a fire lit under his ass and is putting on the run of his career. His squashes have been effective and his match with Sheamus was far better than any of us expected. And now I look forward to him working with Randy Orton and (I can’t believe I’m thinking this!) I want to see him win the title.

4) Here Come The Girls!: It’s a running joke that the WWE’s women’s matches are piss breaks during PPVs. But anyone who went to take a piss at Summerslam missed a shockingly good match. Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly entertained me a lot more than I expected, and I don’t think this was a case of Beth carrying the whole match like others might think. Kelly is coming along in leaps and bounds. No, she isn’t Manami Toyota or Sara Del Ray, but she is performing far better than the usual former models the WWE tend to employ. Hopefully this is the beginning of the WWE giving women a chance again, because there are a lot of great female wrestlers out there that deserve the opportunity to perform on the biggest stage of them all.

5) Mick Foley Brings The Laughs: This week Mick Foley announced a comedy tour of the UK in November. From what I have heard, Mick’s comedy shows are a great show for both wrestling and comedy fans alike. I’m hoping to make the trip across myself (Unless he graces us Irish fans with a show!), and with my girlfriend being a huge Mick Foley fan it makes the trip more and more likely! I will be looking forward to hearing great road stories and funny observations from a man who is funnier than more people today give him credit for.

Brock Lesnar Loves His Guns! : Brock Lesnar came back to us this week after his surgery, and what a return it was! Very few men could make this look as awesome as Brock. It’s a video of him shooting prairie dogs. No words can describe the brilliance of this video:

Welcome back Brock! And if anyone of you hasn’t done so already, I recommend getting his book. It’s good, not great, and has some interesting stories of his time with the WWE. He also really hates Frank Mir. A lot.

Mark Haskins: I’m convinced that Mark Haskins accepted bookings depending on if my girlfriend was coming to a show or not. I first saw him wrestle at the debut Dragon Gate UK show and he impressed me from the start. Next, he turned up on a Dragon Gate show in Kyoto that I sat at ringside for. Finally, when TNA came to Dublin, sure enough Mark Haskins was there also. And my girlfriend was present at every one of those shows. When I saw that he was wrestling near my home town a few months ago I began to ask questions! But recent TNA signing deserves your time and attention. Check out these videos and you’ll see why Mark could be a future main player in the X Division:

1) Don’t Make Cena Angry…: John Cena clearly didn’t learn a thing from the last few weeks. After giving some of the best promos of his career, Cena came out this week shouting and complaining at Alberto Del Rio and reverted back to that style that irritates the majority of the IWC. Having him carry himself in such a way really hammered home everything CM Punk said about Raw being the John Cena show. Here is a man who lost the WWE Title to CM Punk acting like it is him that deserves a match with Del Rio before Punk. Hustle Loyalty and Respect clearly only apply when they benefit you John. I really hope this is just a one off setback, unless it leads to a John Cena heel turn, if so keep it up Cena!

2) Those Damn Young Bucks: The Young Bucks received a try-out match with the WWE this week, and it appears they rubbed people up the wrong way. After their match, Booker T tweeted the following:

“A friend RVD made comment few week back..now I no why, i say a small tag team called the YB’s did hay shake my hand no! Yes I said SMALL!!!

Repost:: To make it clear,I saw two small guys at tv this week,then I past them during the day,they never introduce themselves, and later One of them was leaning on my jacket and still never introduce themselves… No RESPECTnow do u get it.”

I have met Matt and Nick and thought they were great guys that had the chance to become the next Hardy Boys, but stories like this really make me wonder. First RVD complains about their attitude, now Booker and Goldust have joined in. Now there is always a chance that both guys genuinely meant no disrespect, but by rubbing these men up the wrong way they have potentially squashed any chance they had of joining the WWE. Former work mate Velvet Sky defended the guys on Twitter just before my deadline, saying that she was :

“Very surprised to hear all of this controversy with The Young Bucks. From what I always witnessed, they were respectful with everyone. I think their shyness gets interpreted as disrespect but I know them and they mean well.”

Time will tell how this story develops. I hope it is all a misunderstanding, because if the WWE does intended to reinvent the tag division then they could do a lot worse than signing these two.

3) The Miz Can Sell (Subs): The problem I have with watching Raw live is that I have to endure a lot more ad breaks than I would get watching the repeat at a more sociable hour. I have no idea how you Americans put up with the frequent breaks! But it really pissed me off when ten minutes of Raw were turned into an advertisement for Subway:

I wouldn’t have minded if this led to a story for The Miz but no, not a single development from this, other than the fact that the new sub looks delicious! Damn The Miz and his world class selling skills!

4) Wade Barrett Follows His Win On…Superstars???: So Wade Barrett beat Daniel Bryan at Summerslam decisively. He beat the Smackdown Money in the Bank winner and is about to get a good run started. So he keeps the momentum going by…appearing on Superstars? While the man he beat gets a match with the WWE Champion? Someone needs to find the person who decided that this was a great way to keep people interested in Wade and give them a firm slap across the face.

5) Bret Hart Complains (Surprised?): Bret Hart appeared on The Wrestling Voice this week to promote his Irish dates later on in the year, and the topic of his positioning in the 50 Greatest Superstars DVD came up, and he has this to say:

“I beat Steve Austin every time I worked with him throughout my career and yet he he’s graded above him, so figure that out. I could give you a list of 50 wrestlers and it would have credibility because I would have an idea but some guy that’s working for WWE Magazine that makes it up frankly, he can kiss my ass, he doesn’t know anything.”

Wow. Bret Hart is the only person in the world who would complain about being number 4 in a list of the greatest wrestlers to grace a WWE ring of all time, taking into account that he also placed higher than Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Ric Flair. But no, Bret still finds a way to complain about this. I can’t help but think that if Bret was placed at number one he would still find a way to complain about it. And if you are wondering, he was beaten by Stone Cold, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. You know, a man who made the WWE the most money in their history, a man who is respected by everyone in the business and perhaps the greatest wrestler of all time. But you just try tell Bret that.

That’s me for this week, if you have any stories that you feel should make it into next week’s list then fire me an email or leave a comment below. Take it easy and I’ll see you next week!