The 411 Wrestling Hot or Not: 1.20.12: Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling

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?!?”

Hot

1) John F’N Laurinaitis: This week’s Raw was excellent, pure and simple. There were so many highlights that, while watching the show, I started to worry about how difficult it would be to decide what parts of the show to praise this week and what ones to leave behind. Then the final ten minutes happened. Punk delivered another world class promo, the type that he should have been doing every week since his return to the WWE. When he walked out of the ring I thought “That’s my highlight right there, job done.” But then John Laurinaitis started to speak. There was so many subtle movements in his body language and in his voice, that you could tell he was about to crack. But when Mick Foley began questioning him, I don’t any of us expect Johnny Ace to snap like he did. He took Mick’s head clean off his shoulders with an incredibly stiff looking shot with the microphone, and then proceeds to tell every one of us that he was sick of being bullied and disrespected. My eyes were glued to the screen, and it was obvious that I had just witnessed something special. John Laurinaitis was very slow to fit into his role on Raw, but that promo firmly cemented his position on the roster. A star was born at that very moment. Some people are comparing Punk vs. Laurinaitis to ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon. While it may not reach the same level that those two reached (Punk isn’t enough of a common man to get as much support and Laurinaitis isn’t the cliché asshole boss we all know in real life), it certainly deserves the comparisons that they are tough to argue against. A few months ago CM Punk vowed to make wrestling fun again, and it seems his dancing partner just emerged.

2) Daniel Bryan: Daniel Bryan’s heel turn has been brilliant, and this week it really got turned up a gear. His promo from Raw venting his issue with Big Show and trying to guilt trip him into believing that it was his fault that Bryan’s girlfriend AJ got injured during their match on Smackdown. Bryan is quickly silencing those who have labeled him as uncharismatic and a bore on the microphone. Daniel Bryan is a great wrestler and can play the underdog face very well, but as the cocky heel he is really in his element. The subtle things in his promo were the highlights that showcased how much of an asshole he truly is, the best line being “My girlfriend AJ told me she loved me, and I respect that.” Fans are responding to his heel turn a lot quicker than I had expected, and the response he gets when he walks through those curtains is huge! I hope this heel turn keeps going at the steady pace it’s at currently, because if they decide to pull the trigger too quickly it might ruin it and ruin Bryan’s climb to the top of the card.

3) Chris Jericho: This week on Raw, Jericho’s trolling antics needed to step up. The past two weeks had been perfect and were very clever, but if he came out again to do the same stick then it risked becoming stale, and not in a “Oh but he is getting more heat” way. And that’s exactly what Jericho did. By having him team up with Daniel Bryan and CM Punk in the main event, it really made fans think that we would get to see his in ring return. So when he was begging to be tagged into the match, fans were gearing up to see Y2J kick some ass. He got into the match, began getting the fans behind him…then walked away to the back again. It may have only been a slight variation on what he has done before now, but it was enough to do the trick without making it seem forced. Jericho is a master at pacing when it comes to his character and the storylines he finds himself in. I have no doubt that we won’t get an explanation for his actions this side of the royal rumble, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It’s perfect and the way it should be. My personal hope is for Jericho to enter the Royal Rumble at a late number, spend too much time with the fans at ringside so that he winds up being the very last person to enter the match by proxy and go on to win. Then on Raw it should be the first time he actually speaks to us and we understand what exactly he has been playing at for the past few weeks. Plus this way Jericho gets to do another thing on his check list and win the Rumble.

4) Low Ki: Low Ki working with Gabe Sapolsky again, I never thought I’d see the day. For those of you who are unaware, Gabe and Ki have quite the strained relationship. The full details between the two have never been made public (Gabe just keeps telling people they’ll have to wait for him to write an autobiography), but a lot of wrestlers and co workers have let it be known that they didn’t see eye to eye at all. Low Ki had been booked by Gabe when both men were working for Ring of Honor, and on two separate occasions Gabe had made the call to no longer have Low Ki be a part of the company. The two men simply did not agree on how Low Ki was being booked. Some guys have come out and said that Low Ki refused to job to certain guys on the roster, while others have said that Gabe wouldn’t take the ideas that Low Ki brought on board. But the truth is no one truly knows what has gone down between these two other than themselves. That’s why the indie wrestling scene was stunned to see Low Ki emerge at last weekend’s Evolve show in the ECW Arena. Low Ki has joined both Evolve and Dragon Gate USA as a full time member of their rosters, and that news is mouth watering. There are so many dream match ups that could take place in either company (In particular for me, Low Ki against Akira Tozawa), but this also gives Evolve that extra boost to its roster that it desperately needs. I hope Gabe and Low Ki have resolved their issues with one another and agree to move forward, because it would be a huge disappoint if their relationship fell through a third time.

Not

1) Flying High: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I personally have no problems with someone smoking weed or most other recreational drugs and I disagree with its current legal status in much of the world. Saying that, if you are working for a company that asks you not to use any drugs as part of their policy, then don’t do it. If you get caught, then accept the first strike, learn from your mistake and then move on. These were words I wrote in this column when Evan Bourne was suspended for a wellness violation, and now, only a few weeks back on our screens, he has failed a second time. Bourne will be off our screens for 60 days. And to be caught again so quickly is sheer stupidity on his part, pure and simple.

I was amazed to see that the WWE were allowing Bourne to hold onto the WWE Tag Titles with Kofi Kingston while he was suspended. This level of trust in Bourne is unheard of, especially when he isn’t a main event star, which makes this second suspension even more idiotic. There are hundreds of men and women across the globes that would kill to be in Bourne’s position, that bust their asses off in small gyms in front of 20 people wishing they could be in the WWE. Bourne may not agree with the rules, but for now they are there to be followed and he should have the respect to follow them. By throwing away a chance like this he is disrespecting the company and all those who damn near kill themselves only to never make it. And then there is his tag partner Kofi. Now, because of Evans actions, he is no longer a champion and his future has to be looked at by creative. What happens if they can’t fit him into a singles program and he falls to the background? Use those 60 days wisely Evan, because you have a lot of think about.

2) A Typical Day Steph? : Stephanie McMahon invited Entertainment Weekly to follow her on a typical Wednesday in her office. She spoke about the different meetings she was having with creative, Vince and several other departments within the WWE. Now, at first glance the piece didn’t seem that outlandish and presented Stephanie as a very busy woman. But Dave Meltzer and Brian Alveras on Figure Four Weekly talked about the piece and, paragraph by paragraph, he tore it all apart completely. I’m not going to spoil any of it for you all; I just recommend that you spend the next 6 minutes listening to the video below, because it is priceless.

3) Big Show Out? : I know The Big Show has been hit or miss with some people over the past few weeks. Some of you think that he has been dragging the main event scene on Smackdown down; while others (Including myself) believe that he has added so much to it and has been incredibly important to Daniel Bryan’s excellent, steady paced heel turn. That’s why I’m hoping the news coming from this week’s Smackdown tapping turns out to be minor, as Big Show has landed himself a back injury during a cage match with Daniel Bryan. (Don’t worry about spoilers, it was a dark match.) If show is out of action then Smackdown is really going to suffer, because while there is a wealth of heels at the top of the card, the face side is getting thinner and thinner. Orton is still out of action, now Big Show could be joining him, leaving Sheamus as the sole (credibly) main event face the blue brand has. While the idea of Sheamus and Daniel Bryan going at it now excites me, I’d much prefer if it took off when Bryan’s heel turn is complete and is closer to WrestleMania. Here’s hoping Show doesn’t miss much time away from our screens.

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!