411 Fact or Fiction 06.14.12: Mr. McMahon Returns, Vader on Raw, Sting in the Hall of Fame, More

1. AJ will be the deciding factor in the WWE Title Triple Threat Match between CM Punk, Daniel Bryan & Kane.

Shawn S. Lealos: FACT. And I really, really hate that. Yes, this is a slightly interesting storyline when it comes to the “soap opera” style the WWE loves but I would have just rather seen the three men fight a solid match without silly outside distractions. Let Kane be the monster that Punk and Bryan have to fight off and then let Punk and Bryan do what they do best – wrestle. I’ll make a prediction. A.J. helps Bryan win and it turns out this was all a ruse to begin with.

David McGregor: FACT. I think it is quite obvious that AJ will make her presence felt in the match in some way or another. I am hoping Kane goes all psychotic and tries to hit AJ and leads to Punk pinning him for the win, mainly because Kane has no right to be in a WWE championship match after the two worst angles of 2012 contained him stinking the joint up. I’m interested in how this one will go as we know Punk and Bryan will have a great match, but Kane isn’t exactly at his physical peak at the moment so I don’t understand how he will factor into it. But yes, I expect AJ to be the deciding factor this one for sure.

Score: 1 for 1

2. Dolph Ziggler was the right choice to face Sheamus at No Way Out.

Shawn S. Lealos: FACT. Dolph Ziggler has done everything the WWE has asked of him up to this point, including some great two match nights at actual PPVs. He has the look and he has the personality to go a long way in this business. Plus, he flops around like a hybrid of Shawn Michaels and Curt Henning. He won the World tile before although it didn’t last and I think it is time to see if he can run with a big belt. He was a great U.S. champion, and while Sheamus is a solid champion, I think Ziggler’s time is now.

David McGregor: FACT. I would have probably picked Cody Rhodes if I had to pluck for someone to beat Sheamus but that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon so Ziggler is the next best man for the job. Ziggler can have a great match with anyone and Sheamus is definitely motivated at the moment so I expect this one to be a great replacement match, and a much better match than Del Rio v Sheamus would have been. I just hope that Ziggler gets to show people what he is made of in this match; after all he is a former World Heavyweight Champion even if it was for a cup of coffee.

Score: 2 for 2

3. You were happy to see Vince McMahon back on Raw this week.

Shawn S. Lealos: FICTION. Here is why I hate Vince McMahon. He comes back to RAW and immediately starts burying talent. The way he talks to wrestlers and puts them down makes me feel like every time he shows up, he pushes some guys further down the card. Plus, this is boring because he has done it over and over and over again. Triple H came back and put Johnny Ace in his place a while back and now McMahon is repeating that. This is boring storytelling and Vince is doing nothing to help his talent get over.

David McGregor: FACT. I think I read it on Twitter that someone said that it is an undisputable fact that the show always gets better whenever Mr. McMahon returns to TV. I have to agree. Any time Vince returns to Raw the show normally gets better, whether that be ego driven or not I don’t really care as the past few shows have been unbearable. Also, I’ve always been a massive McMahon fan and think the character is one of the best in history, plus who doesn’t love the billion-dollar strut? I understand that him returning to evaluate Big Johnny’s job make no sense storyline wise, but who the hell cares, the boss is back. For me Vince is the only authority figure in the WWE who I can take seriously as he has the aura of a true leader about him when he is onscreen, so I am definitely happy he is back on Raw. Also I loved how he called Big Show a waste of space and that he hasn’t been relevant since 1999. So true.

Score: 2 for 3

4. This week’s Raw was proof that a three hour weekly Raw show is a bad idea.

Shawn S. Lealos: FACT. This was a really boring Raw. The elimination match was fine but the entire McMahon and Ace stuff was tedious until Big Show came out and told McMahon what he really thought. The first match brought out Tensai and then McMahon buried him after the match. One half of the tag team champions was squashed. The other half was sucker punched. Really, the only good thing that came out this week was Dolph Ziggler getting a title shot. There is just too much filler.

David McGregor: FICTION. Let me start by saying that I don’t think a 3 hour Raw will be a good thing, but this weeks show wasn’t the best case for proving that point. This week’s show was actually quite good, and a vast improvement in comparison to recent weeks. Sure Big Show is still the main antagonist of Raw, which is ridiculous in 2012, but overall it flowed a lot better and was much more watchable than recent weeks. Also this show had a theme, a hook for the audience, in the return of Mr. McMahon. But that can’t happen every week and there lies the problem. 3 hour shows should be solely for big event like 1000th edition of Raw or superstars returning. That can’t happen every week and therefore the 3 hour shows will burn out the audience much like they did with Nitro. When you can’t fill 2 hours of the show with exciting and compelling TV then you don’t have any right making that 3rd hour, if the WWE had been on a great run then by all means go for broke on the 3rd hour. But they aren’t so they shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter anyway as Raw will be back to 2 hours within a year.

Score: 2 for 4

SWITCH!

5. You want to see more Vader on your television.

David McGregor: FICTION. I didn’t mind the little match he had with Heath Slater, It was a nice surprise to see him showing up, especially so close to the 1,000th Raw. But the man is getting up there in age and isn’t exactly in the best physical condition either, this in addition to the fact that WWE needs to build up young guys like never before means that Vader really has no place as a permanent fixture of the roster. Although I wouldn’t mind if he showed up every now and again as a surprise entrant in battle royals and maybe even the 2013 Royal Rumble. But I wouldn’t like to see him return full time, no.

Shawn S. Lealos: FACT. I don’t know if I want to see Vader full time since he is almost 60 but damn it was nice to see him again. Let him do special appearances, maybe serve as a bodyguard because that might be fun. But the big thing is to put him on TV for me to enjoy. I don’t want him to be a regular wrestler though. He is too big and it is clear that age has slowed him. But, I think he can be a really nice special attraction.

Score: 2 for 5

6. TNA’s Slammiversary is a sign that the company is on the right track.

David McGregor: FACT. It does seem like TNA has cut back on the crap recently and tried to put on a better product. I’m not saying that everything they do is great, I mean, the Slammiversary line up wasn’t that great for an anniversary PPV but the show did seem to go quite logically for a change. The TNA of old, Russo’s vision, would have definitely had Roode lose the belt to Sting but they have refrained and put his championship on the slow burn. I’ve never been a big TNA fan, I didn’t dislike it just wasn’t that bothered with it. But recently I have found myself watch more and more of it, it isn’t amazing but I have to admit some parts are better than the shit that WWE has been putting out as of late. I hope this is TNA moving forward with a more logical and entertaining approach to booking.

Shawn S. Lealos: FACT. I am in the minority but I like what TNA is doing right now. I love Bobby Roode’s long title reign because, honestly, the belt needs long title holders to make title changes mean something. The WWE is finally understanding that with CM Punk as well. I know a lot of ADD fans want title changes constantly but that is bad business. I love how they are building Austin Aries. Back when TNA was taking off, the X-Division champ was always a close equal to the world champ (see: A.J. Styles and Jeff Jarrett) and that is important if they want to make the X-Division special. James Storm is a star and Samoa Joe is actually turning things up as well. I love how Chris Daniels has stuck around this time. The PPV itself was really solid with some great matches as well. I think TNA is doing the right things when it comes to growing as a company. Screw competing with the WWE (and Christian’s appearance might be a sign that they are not). Let TNA continue to develop on its own. I enjoy and that is all that matters to me.

Score: 3 for 6

7. Sting was the right choice to be the first inductee in the TNA Hall of Fame.

David McGregor: FACT. I was all ready to say Fiction for this one as others like Styles or Jarrett would have probably made more sense, but Sting is the closest to retirement out of all of them so I can understand why they did this. I think we will see Sting retire at Bound for Glory or close to that show anyway, which makes sense seen as he will be going into the Hall of Fame. The actual hall of fame idea though is a bit odd to me, why is a company only 10 years old starting a Hall of Fame? If it was a one off thing for Sting retiring, like the WWE one was for Andre when he sadly died, then I would understand, but Sting is still wrestling and is still main eventing. Odd decision and I hope it is a one off thing, as TNA doesn’t have enough history or success to justify a Hall of Fame.

Shawn S. Lealos: FICTION. Sting is a great choice for any Hall of Fame and this gives TNA a chance to say that they have one of the biggest superstars in wrestling history in their Hall of Fame. I do think this makes his eventual induction into the WWE Hall of Fame less likely to happen soon. However, the man who deserves to be the first inductee is Jeff Jarrett, the man who brought this company from the ground up. If not for Jeff, there would not be an A.J. Styles or Chris Daniels or Samoa Joe on TV. And, no, they would not have gotten a chance in the WWE (they actually got tryouts but you see what the WWE thought of them). Jeff brought so many great things to the table, from the X-Division to the temporary alliance with the NWA to signing men like Kurt Angle. Jeff did more for TNA Wrestling than anyone and should have been the first entry.

Score: 3 for 7

8. Kurt Angle & AJ Styles will not turn against each other while they are TNA Tag Team Champions.

David McGregor: FICTION. 2 singles stars that are tag team champions almost never end their reign as friends, especially when they were in a match just the other month. I think this is almost definitely ending with a turn from one or the other, and I don’t fault them for it, as it’s a ready-made storyline that isn’t overdone to the point of nausea. Sure it is overdone, just not to the point I want to stab myself in the eye. Also, when it is two great wrestlers like Styles and Angle you can’t complain, we are going to get great tag team and singles matches from them throughout their reign and after their implosion.

Shawn S. Lealos: FICTION. I have watched a lot of the respect that Kurt Angle has been showing in the ring over the last few months so his coming to A.J.’s assistance made a lot of sense when it happened. It was good storytelling by having Kurt gradually shake his arrogance. However, Angle is a bad guy at heart. And this is professional wrestling. This pairing is a nice one (a lot like A.J. and Daniels back in the day) but it won’t last and these two will be feuding again soon. Oh, and one more thing: screw Alex Shelley for breaking up the best tag team in wrestling.

Final Score: 4 for 8

David & Shawn go 50/50 on this week’s pertinent wrestling topics! Lots of interesting thoughts & opinions here, and I thank them for their contributions. Who did you agree with more? How do you feel about these topics? Let us know down in the comment section! Thanks for reading, and we’ll be back next week with more Fact or Fiction!

Offtheteam.com’s OCHO sports show also returned on Saturday. This week Steve and Trent discuss NBA and NHL playoff news, The return of Tiger Woods, Horse racing, the NFL, College Football, Baseball and the top five hottest female athletes! Give the latest show and listen and share it with your friends! Remember, if it’s the OCHO, it’s a sports podcast with almost sports analysts! You can check out that show here.

The 411 on Wrestling returned on Monday. 411’s Larry Csonka was joined by Steve Cook to discuss the latest edition of WWE Monday Night Raw as well as the TNA Slammiversary PPV. Are three hours going to be bad for the company? Is anyone buying Dolph Ziggler as a main eventer? Can TNA actually follow up on the momentum from Slammiversary? These topics and more are discussed on the show. You can listen to the show here.

Thoughts From the Man Cave returned on Wednesday. A vacationing Samer Kadi joins the Man Cave to look back at UFC on FX 3 and talk about various news items in the sport of MMA. We’ll review UFC on FX 3 and discuss the performance of Demetrious Johnson and why so many people picked against him, the rise of Erick Silva, the fall of Josh Neer, and the overratedness of Scott Jorgensen. Plus we’ll talk about UFC running too many events and how that can be fixed and Samer rants about this notion that “Shogun” Rua is ducking Glover Texeria. You can check out the show here.

Thoughts from the Man Cave returned again on Thursday. This time, the well-rounded Mark Radulich joins the Man Cave to discuss all the hot topics in boxing. We’ll talk about the fallout from Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley, whether or not the fight was fixed, if the decision means the death of boxing, how MMA didn’t benefit, and people’s overreaction to the fight and decision. We’ll look at the fight from all angles. Plus we’ll talk about Floyd Mayweather’s plea to exit jail and enter house arrest. You can listen to the show here!