The Wednesday Wire: 7.25.12: Back In The Swing Of Things

It’s Wednesday again therefore it’s time for the #WedWi! I’m Nick Marsico coming to you LIVE from Florida where the geckos roam and the mosquitos bite like a motherfucker.

– The Wrestling News Experience with Stephen Randle
– News From Cook’s Corner with Steve Cook
– The Contention 10 Best Matches in RAW History with Gavin Napier
– Hidden Highlights 7.23.12 with Dmitri Dorlis
– The Triumvirate of Truth with Tony Acero & Friends
– The Piledriver Report with Ronny Sarnecky
– The Wrestling Sandwich with Scott Rutherford

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One thousand Mondays
A Thursday RAW Thursday too
Did they count that one?

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Professional Wrestling News: TNA Could Lose Bully/Devon; Punk Has Fan Issues; Chyna Still Alive

CM Punk Exonerated?
A few days ago there was an incident in which a “fan” upset CM Punk that led to a small internet uprising about how Punk was a douche and treats fans like shit. It seems that the guy was somebody who likely gets multiple autographs from the same wrestlers in order to sell them on Ebay, which was backed up by an unnamed wrestler who was not present at the airport for the incident. I believe that Punk is probably in the right, and although it would be nice for everybody to be the nicest guy in the world, there are no rules that anybody, celebrity or otherwise, has to be a saint. The onus, as far as I’m concerned, is on the fans to be respectful, not the celebrity/wrestler/anybody in the public eye.

Team 3D May Leave TNA
Top heel Bully Ray and TV Champ Devon have contracts that are running their course. Bully is in the best shape he has ever been in and is better in the ring than ever. Devon is always in great shape and while he’s not a technical wizard between the ropes he has a ton of knowledge to give the young guys. I think both men are going to stay right where they are. There’s no way that either man is hurting for money and they have no place in the current WWE. It would be a waste for them to have “one final run” and I don’t see it happening.

One Less WWE Pay-Per-View?
Based on the announcement by St. Louis’ Scottrade Center, WWE’s first PPV event after WrestleMania on April 7 will be Extreme Rules on May 19. That’s an extra 2 weeks of build than usual and it cuts back on the amount of PPVs. What have there been recently? 13 per year? I could be wrong. Either way, I just hope Kane gets a title shot.

Other Crappy News
– Stone Cold wasn’t on RAW due to being on crutches after a knee surgery. Or because he’s filming a shitty Adam Sandler movie. Or both.
– Chyna posted a few notes on Twitter regarding RAW’s 1,000th episode as well as Eddy Guerrero. It all seemed to come from a sober and not delusional individual, so if she didn’t write it we can also rule out Kurt Angle.
– The WWF scratch logo wasn’t blurred on RAW this week (I didn’t notice). A deal is in place that says WWE can use the logo in flashbacks and video packages of sorts. Nerds are already hoping to buy the re-released unblurred DVDs. Or Blu-Rays. Whatever.
– Congratulations to Charlie and Jackie Haas for welcoming another baby boy into the world.

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WWE Monday Night RAW: Episode 1,000

– Awesome opening video package. That really kicked off the show and made it seem like a special event. Plus I’ve always liked when TV or a PPV begins when it’s still light outside. Don’t ask me why. I just think it’s cool and it always adds to the atmosphere for me.

– Oh no! They got rid of the big WWE logo standing at the side of the entranceway! Now what are they going to use when somebody needs to have their head kicked into something?

– The DX segment was exactly what it should have been. My wife sat next to me on the couch staring at me like I was a moron (which is fair) while I marked out for everything DX did and mimicked everything that the guys were saying. I have no apologies for my excitement during the opening 20 minutes of the show. And I’m sure people will be bitching about it, but Sandow isn’t hurt by taking the Sweet Chin Music and Pedigree.

Are you ready?

– My son: “Ready for what?”

– Good opening match. I was hoping they would do a Mysterio/Sin Cara exhibition match to start of the show but the match was a good short six-man that kept the crowd hot after the big DX reunion. It sucks that Sheamus, Ziggler, Del Rio, Mysterio, Sin Cara and Jericho had to share 10 minutes, but they are SmackDown guys and Jericho is the only one of them that has a lot of history on RAW.

– Really? JR only gets one match? PLEASE let him call the main event. I’m beggin’ ya.

– So are we ignoring Swagger’s aggressive display aginst Ryback from last week? There was so much promise in that segment. When Swagger was out there for Clay’s entrance I was hoping for a similar showing, but it was just a set up for Dude Love. That’s a shame. I won’t complain about Sandow but this is stupid. What was the point of being the first guy to put up a fight against Ryback if he was just going to get tossed away in 10 seconds the following week? Oy.

– AJ is the permanent General Manager? She’s a great character, but I can’t imagine it’s going to last very long.

– It’s a shame that we’re not going to get Rock/Dragon at SummerSlam. For half a minute I thought they were teasing it. But maybe now we’re going to get Bryan v. Sheen. YAY. Nah. It would get D-Bryan on crappy afternoon gossip shows, though.

CM Punk is not impressed.

– Miz is the new IC Champ! Pretty good match. The crowd popped pretty big when Miz set up for and hit the SCF. I can dig that. Where does Christian go from here? And where was Cody?

– Stephanie’s looking good. Kinda skinny, but definitely good. And holy crap did she take Heyman down. NICE. I’m glad Triple H acknowledged “I’ve had my fun”, but that it was time for business now. Wish Lesnar would have gone back for a second round after Triple H clotheslined him out of the ring. Now we just have two shirtless guys for no apparent reason.

– Hey, Lita’s here! And looking much better than expected. Still hot in my book. I don’t have a book. But she’s in my mental rolodex. Although I do have the internet, so what’s the need for a mental rolodex? That’s neither here nor there.

– My wife: “Hey, that looks like…” Me: “Bradshaw?” Her: “Yeah!” Me: “Because it is Bradshaw.” Her: “Well that explains it.”

– SWEET sell of the Clothesline from Heath Slater. I’ll be honest, I hope that Slater doesn’t go away now that the big 1,000th episode is over. His unencumbered enthusiasm and confidence entertains me. He’s the one man BAAAAAAND, baybah!

– Way to take off your hood, ‘Taker. That was incredibly not badass.

– If I was those guys I woud have been GONE as soon as Undertaker’s music hit. Undertaker’s DONG = me leaving through the crowd.

– Hey, Punk wins the poll! Thank you very much, internet.

The Big Development: CM Punk Takes Out The Rock
I like that Rock is getting a shot at the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble. We often get some lame duck matches at that PPV for the World Titles, so this one is guaranteed to have good hype. My feeling at this exact moment is that Rock will win at the Rumble, possibly defend it at Elimination Chamber and then defend it at WrestleMania against Cena, who wins the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Title shot. Not ideal in my view, but we’re half a year away from the Rumble so who knows what will happen. I have a feeling that Rock/Cena II for the title is guaranteed, though.

On a side note, I’m over my issues with The Rock. No more bitchfits from me about him. He doesn’t owe me (or anybody) anything and complaining about him trying to distance himself from wrestling a few years ago is like crying over spilled milk. It happened, it’s been cleaned up and now he’s keeping up appearances. I hope he gets another match in this year before the title shot at the Rumble.

The final moments of the show saw CM Punk clothesline Rock to break up the People’s Elbow (by the way, Rock– holy oversell!) followed up by nailing the Go To Sleep. A lot of people are calling it a heel turn, but that’s not how I took it. Obviously the crowd booing Punk coupled with his less-than-enthusiastic exit helped it to come off that way, but my initial thought was that The Rock called Punk out earlier in the evening and Punk has a target on his back so he decided that he would fire the first shot physically. Why does that make him a heel? We will have to wait until next week to see what he has to say about it, but if it is a turn it is a but upsetting to me. The crowd has been absolutely on fire for him in each and every city and he’s been playing his part perfectly. Obviously we know what he can do as a heel, but I was (selfish as it may be) loving the absolute adoration he has received from the crowd for the past year.

Surely next week there will be more wrestling. It was more of a TV special event than a Monday night wrestling show (moreso than usual, I mean) and I didn’t honestly expect a ton of wrestling even with the extra hour. Overall it was an okay show without any boring downtime, which is always worse than something that just outright sucks.

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Free Pro Wrestling: PROGRESS Wrestling and Dragon Gate USA

El Ligero v. Noam Dar || PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter One – March 25, 2012
From TJ Hawke: “This was a semi-final match in an eight person tournament to crown the first PROGRESS Wrestling Champion (on the promotion’s debut show). This was a really fun match between two guys that I had never seen before. They both have some kinks to work out, but they both showed a lot of potential.”

Masato Yoshino v. Sami Callihan || Dragon Gate USA Mercury Rising 2011 – April 2, 2011
From TJ Hawke: “This was Callihan’s first big singles test in DGUSA, as this was only his second weekend of being on the main show of DGUSA. This was an important match for Callihan, and he clearly delivered. It seemed like a huge styles clash on paper, but they definitely made it work.”

For More, Please Visit FreeProWrestling.com

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That’s all I have in me this week. It’s a process. I’ll be back in full force whenever. Check me out this week in Fact or Fiction and then check me back here next week…

Next week: TNA talk? Ring of Honor frustrations? Excited chitter chatter about the new Adam Sandler Movie?

– Nicholas A. Marsico