Thursday Sports Entertainment News Report 05.17.12

“In addition, WWE Studios has announced plans to film more sequels in the Marine and Leprechaun franchises, starring The Miz and Hornswoggle, respectively.”

WORLD (WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT) NEWS TONIGHT

With John Cena turning 35-years-old, the talk has been that Vince McMahon is already looking for his next top babyface.

– Vince is now 66-years-old, and still has a hand in virtually every aspect of the company. But it is expected that he will be delegating more responsibilities to Triple H and Stephanie as time goes on. Many have speculated that the next top baby face to carry the torch in WWE could be Vince’s final handpicked face of WWE.

You can’t deny that Vince has an eye for top talent. Not a single name on that list isn’t deserving of being a top player in the game.

It’s interesting, though. WWE has a lot of potential “next John Cenas.” CM Punk or Randy Orton are the other top babyfaces at the moment, and either one could potentially carry the company in the near future. There’s a whole crop of young talent just waiting to break through to the next level. But I think that this is only half of the equation. In my opinion, it’s far more important to build the next super heel than it is to find the next super babyface. And here’s why:

1) Your hero is only as impressive as the villain he faces. This is why John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar is awesome and John Cena vs. Lord Tensai is awful. The hero is the same in both situations, but the popular opinion of each feud is on opposite ends of the spectrum. This is why Batman is a much better character than Superman – Batman’s rogues gallery is far more impressive than Superman’s. Once you get past Zod and Lex Luthor, who’s left? Mr. Mxyzptlk? Batman has the Joker, Two-Face, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Bane, etc. The storyline potential is much better for Batman because is villains are much, much cooler. The same goes for Sports Entertainment. It takes two to make a great storyline, and the heel’s part is more critical than the face’s.

2) Look at that list of top Superstars again. Most of the top champions started out as a heel. For example, Steve Austin, The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Triple H all got over as heels. Granted, they were cool heels, but their heelish antics endeared them to the audience, and they were basically forced to turn face by popular demand.

So stop looking for the next Babyface, Vince! Look for the next big heel instead!

According to The Miami Herald, John Cena had filed for divorce from his wife of three years. The divorce papers state that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” Cena’s soon to be ex-wife Liz, who was his high school sweetheart, has hired Miami attorney Raymond Rafool, the same attorney that represented Linda Hogan in her divorce from Hulk Hogan.

Cena is reportedly worth over $18 million, and the couple has a prenuptial agreement signed in 2009, that is said to include the ability to take back all gifts and presents.

Divorce always brings about mixed emotions for me. On one hand, it’s sad to see a marriage fall apart, but on the other hand, if both parties aren’t truly happy as a couple, then it doesn’t make sense to stay together. At least there aren’t any kids in the middle of this mess.

I’ve often wondered about John Cena’s home life. The man must be on the road 5-6 days per week at minimum, and I doubt he had his wife in tow all that time. If so, that’s a lot of time to be apart from your spouse. That kind of physical distance can translate to emotional distance, and I’m sure she often gave Cena an earful about his busy schedule. But rather than speculate on their love life, I suppose all we can do is wish Mrs. John Cena the best in her future endeavors.

During his recent appearance on MLW Radio, Warrior spoke about fighting Vince McMahon in court for years and spending over a million dollars in the process. Here is what he had to say: “…Vince is stubborn. Both Linda and others in their depositions under oath said the problem between me and Vince was that we were so much alike.”

“At the end of the day, after all the fighting and everything, I respect Vince more than anybody else. The writing is on the wall while you’re there. All the guys that are bitter about where they ended up in their lives, that wasn’t Vince’s responsibility. Vince’s loyalty was to his company, himself and his family. He wasn’t going to let anybody stand in the way and even though outsiders can see some of the things he did as vicious, I happen to admire that.”

And this is why Warrior is awesome. He is an old-school, capital “M” MAN. Even though McMahon and Warrior have butted heads numerous times over the course of their careers, they both feel mutual respect toward each other because they are self-made, old school men. It doesn’t get any better than that. Type-A guys usually don’t get along, so it’s no surprise that Vince and Warrior were always at each others’ throats. But the two are undeniably similar, which explains why both are successful.

-WWE officials are said to be panicking about how to book Brock Lesnar vs Triple H. The original plan was to have the match at Summerslam in August, but there are some pushing for the match to happen at No Way Out next month. Since WWE rushed into the Lesnar vs Cena match and only had less than three weeks to promote it, several people think that doing the same with Lesnar vs HHH would be a mistake.

It’s also noted that Lesnar has 24 dates left on his contract. At this time, word is that most of those dates will be saved for WrestleMania season next year.

I, for one, am a proponent of having HHH and Lesnar face at SummerSlam. In this day and age, there are very few “big” matches left, and with SummarSlam traditionally being the 2nd biggest pay-per-view of the year for WWE, it would make sense to hold off the big Lesnar/HHH match until then. After all, No Way out and Money in the Bank both have their respective gimmick matches to help sell the PPV, but all SummerSlam has is the SummerSlam name, which isn’t as valuable as it used to be. To bring back that crucial cachet to SummerSlam, you need to make sure that the matches are special. Also, from a kayfabe perspective, it’s much easier to believe that HHH will be in fighting form 3 months after having his arm broken rather than after 4 weeks (impossible) to 8 weeks (not likely), especially since a broken arm typically takes 6 weeks to heal, plus a few more to get all the strength and mobility back.

– Forbes has posted an article on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, discussing his successful year. For the first time, Johnson has made the “Celebrity 100 List”. The article notes that Rock made an estimated $36 million over the last 12-months. The article also notes that movie producers are lining up to work with Rock, not just because he’s earned a reputation for “saving franchises,” but due to his willingness to go on the road to promote movies. Here is a quote from Johnson…

It reached a point where I felt that ¬instead of me trying to conform to Hollywood, I needed to have ¬Hollywood conform to me and ¬embrace my past,”

Man, life on the road promoting a Hollywood movie must be a cakewalk compared to life on the road for WWE. Rocky’s used to driving rental cars hundreds of miles, 5 days a week, all year long to bruise his body in the ring. Now he occasionally flies on a private jet and gets chauffeured to talk shows. And that makes him a hot Hollywood commodity! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, professional wrestlers don’t get enough credit for all the travel they undertake, which is probably more taxing than the physicality of the matches themselves.

But good for Rocky for making it big. My favorite part of this newsbit is where Rock says that Hollywood needs to “embrace his past,” like he was a convicted serial killer or something. Dude, you were a wrestler. Sure, most people think it’s a stupid, fake sport, but you still made a name for yourself and have credibility as a tough guy.

OVER THE LIMIT: WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN

This week I bring back the Will Win/Should Win concept, wherin we take a look at an upcoming pay-per-view and discuss who will win vs who should win. With Over the Limit a mere 3 days away, let’s take a look!

Zack Ryder v. Kane: YouTube Match
Will Win: Kane. Use some WWE logic. Kane = Monster. Ryder = Popular jobber. Easy enough to call.

Should Win: Ryder, although it should be on a larger stage. To me, it logically follows that a young, popular merchandise seller would have a lot to gain by going over the older, established monster. But that’s just me.

Kofi Kingston & R-Truth v. Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler: WWE Tag Titles
Will Win: Kofi & R-Truth. They just got the titles and I don’t see any signs of singles feuds for them in the future. Ziggler kind of has something going with Brodus Clay, and Swagger just seems to be along for the ride.

Should Win: Kofi & R-Truth, because anything else would be RACIST!

Ryback vs. Jobber(s)
Will Win: Hungry, inbred Goldberg. Okay, so this match isn’t officially announced, but it’s WWE tradition to throw in a few unannounced matches when the card is kind of thin. So it’s either Ryback or Brodus Clay vs. a jobber.

Should Win: Ryback. So he can scream “Feed! Me! More!”

Sheamus v. Orton v. Jericho v. Del Rio: World Heavyweight Title
Will Win: Sheamus – he just got the title and is seemingly being groomed to be an upper mid-carder or lower level main eventer. A big win against tough opponents would go a long way in making the Celtic Warrior seem bona fide. The guy won the Royal Rumble, then the title at WrestleMania – why stop his momentum now?

Should Win: Sheamus – See above.

Layla v. Beth Phoenix: Divas Title
Will Win: The folks working the concession stands. It’s during this match that people will be getting their hot dogs and sodas. Cha ching!
Should Win: Kharma. Where the hell is she already?

CM Punk v. Daniel Bryan: WWE Title
Will Win: CM Punk – Punk has hit his stride as champion and I just don’t see Daniel Bryan winning this one. As much as I like Bryan, my gut tells me that Punk walks away the victor.

Should Win: Daniel Bryan – Punk has held the title since Survivor Series, which is a respectable six months. For selfish reasons, I’d like to see the Punk/Bryan feud continue past Over the Limit. The most likely way that this will happen would be if Bryan beats Punk, setting up the rematch at No Way Out.

John Cena v. John Laurinaitis: Like it or not, your Main Event
Will Win: John Laurinaitis – I expect Brock and/or Big Show to get involved, as both are “non-employees” of WWE at the moment. Brock’s motivation is that he needs Laurinaitis in power to give him what he wants, and Show’s motivation is that he could get his job back if Big Johnny is gone. With Laurinaitis recently gaining power of both RAW & Smackdown, expect Johnny Ace to have his arm raised when all is said and done.

Should Win: John Laurinaitis – After all the trouble they went through to build up Laurinaitis as a character, it would be a waste to throw it all away in a hastily built, nonsensical PPV match. Also, do you really want to be subjected to any more GM turmoil?

What say you, dear readers? Who will win and should win at Over the Limit?

@FGOODISH SAYS

My Twitter chum @FGoodish was kind enough to let me re-post some of his tweets in this column. I always find him entertaining, even though I don’t always agree with him. Something about this guy cracks me up. Maybe it’s because in my head I’m picturing Bruiser Brody posting all these wrestling-related tweets. Anyway, here’s some of what @FGoodish had to say this week!

1) Kelly Kelly has the most natural fake smile I have ever seen. #RAW dog

5) Hogan and Bishoff using AJ’s own friends to downgrade him, and people seem to like it. Its too transparent for me to enjoy

To Mr. @fgoodish, I reply

1) Agreed
2) Tell us what happened
3) I dunno, Eric is up there. He almost put WWE out of business, gave us the nWo, Goldberg, cruiserweights, etc. I’m no Bischoff apologist, but he was a good promoter.
4) Nice catch!
5) Who’s AJ? I kid, I kid.

@FGoodish, everyone! It seems he’s a landlord. Would you want him as your landlord? I know I sure would!

NON-SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT THING OF THE WEEK

I’ve never really understood why music is such a big deal to some people. I mean, I enjoy music, but there are folks out there who are just obsessed with it – like music is the be-all, end-all of their lives. To me, music was something you play while doing something else- driving the car, cleaning the house, etc. It’s nice for the ears, but it doesn’t impact my life too much, you know?

All that changed when I saw the clip below. There’s a lot going on in this video, so pay close attention. This is one of the most powerful, heartwarming things I have ever seen in my life, and we are all fortunate that it was captured on video.

The background is this: Jacob, a blind-autistic boy from Kansas, was walking with his parents when they came across local busking musician Tyler Gregory. They stopped to listen, and here’s what happened next:

Isn’t that the best? You can tell that music means so much to young Jacob, and his honest appreciation of Tyler’s music helped me appreciate music even more.

You can read Tyler’s account of what transpired here. Below is a little excerpt:

“I felt so much energy coming off of him and I was completely overwhelmed. His hand on my leg was very powerful and about brought me to tears while playing. Not because he is blind or autistic.. but because of a connection I have never felt and one that is impossible to explain. Honestly, a feeling that came from my toes all the way up my body and surrounded me. I can’t begin to explain it. I want to try to put it into words, but there is no way to tell how powerful his energy felt.“

How wonderful is that? If you’re not moved by any of this, then you, sir, are a monster!

YOU’RE IN FOR A REAL TWEET

And of course, follow all the 411 stuff on Twitter! #spon

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma

SIGNING OFF

And there we have it. Thanks for taking the time to read my silly thoughts. Come back next week, where we’ll discuss Over the Limit fallout and Zack Ryder’s revelation that he is into beastiality. (Card subject to change).

Hasta Jueves,

This is Sean.