wrestling / Columns

The Wednesday Wrestling Week That Was 11.28.12: Issue #13

November 28, 2012 | Posted by Sam Smith

Welcome friends and neighbors to another weekly installment of the column you are currently reading, The Wednesday Wrestling Week That Was!

Remember to follow me on Twitter and read my blog!

Master of Hogans I’m pulling your strings, dropping the leg and smashing your dreams!

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– Survivor Series apparently only drew 8500 fans at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. WWE had to heavily paper the show with lots of free tickets given out a few days before to fill up the stands. 8500 tickets sold for a PPV is pretty tragic. Surely that’s the worst WWE PPV attendance in years? If anyone knows specifics, let me know.

I’m not one of these doom-sayers who claims WWE is only getting worse, but this must be a pretty sobering statistic for those in charge. If it’s just a one off and the TLC draw is better, I can see Vince shrugging it off as an aberration, which may well be right.

– Kaitlyn was arrested at the Smackdown taping last week. She was apparently taken into custody over an old unpaid speeding ticket. Soon after turning up the arena, police showed up with a warrant and took her to the station, where she was later released on a $315 bond.

You want mugshots? Brother, we got mugshots!

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I…. wow. That has to be the best looking mugshot of all time.

Kaitlyn issued a statement to internationally-respected news source TMZ, saying “During a previous visit to Michigan, I was cited for a traffic violation. I am fully cooperating with authorities to resolve the matter.”

As far as wrestlers getting arrested goes, this ranks pretty low on the controversy scale. If Cameron kept her job after that whole DUI fiasco a few months back, I think Kaitlyn is gonna be okay.

– Rumors continue to spread concerning the fate of the WWE title going into WrestleMania. One thing everyone is sure of by this point is CM Punk and The Rock facing off for the belt at the Royal Rumble, but after that, it’s anyone’s guess. Original plans, and what I was/am expecting, had Rocky beating Punk for the belt at the Rumble and then facing Cena in a rematch at WrestleMania.

However, word is now that WWE creative have been talking about a scenario where Punk beats Rock at the Rumble and goes on to defend the belt against the Undertaker at WM, while Rock/Cena goes ahead without the title. There are concerns that, if Rock wins the title, there would be no defenses on house shows for over two months.

Personally, I still think the initial plan is the most likely. A Rock/Cena rematch would make a lot more sense if the championship is involved. Plus, this whole build-up has been based around Rock’s desire to hold the belt one more time. Undertaker really doesn’t need another title run at this point, and I doubt he even wants to work the schedule involved.

– In related news, one apparent reason Punk has held the WWE Championship for so long is thanks to support from The Rock. Rocky agreed to face Punk at the Rumble months ago and it has been teased since the summer. Vince reportedly doesn’t want to upset The Rock by changing things last minute and derailing the plan already in motion.

I’m taking this one with a very large grain of salt. I’m sure this has been the plan for quite some time, but I’m also sure that Vince McMahon doesn’t give much of a damn about upsetting anyone, even Dwayne.

– In other related news, CM Punk has been WWE Champion for a very long time, overtaking Macho Man Randy Savage and moving up to the 7th longest reign of all time. You want lists? Brother, we got lists!

* Diesel – 358
* Hulk Hogan – 364
* Randy Savage – 371
* CM Punk – 374
* John Cena – 380
* Pedro Morales – 1,027
* Bruno Sammartino – 1,237
* Hulk Hogan – 1,474
* Bob Backlund – 2,135
* Bruno Sammartino – 2,809

I think it’s safe to say that Punk will overtake Cena next week, giving him the longest WWE Championship run in almost 20 years. Not bad for a guy considering taking a break a year and a half ago. As someone who has been a CM Punk fan for years, I always hoped to see him succeed, but never imagine he would to this extent. Good stuff.

– In even more related news, Mick Foley has put to bed the rumors that he might return for a match with CM Punk. Foley had the following to say on Twitter –

“Regarding that rumor about me wrestling @CMPunk : I might if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t.”

Probably for the best. I like seeing Mick happily retired, and wouldn’t want him to risk hurting himself again.

– In the weirdest piece of news this week, an anonymous YouTube user pretending to be Brad Maddox posed some video episodes of “The Brad Maddox Experience” that included what appeared to be a naked Rosa Mendes, as well as Kelly Kelly in a towel and Alicia Fox in her undies. Unsurprisingly, the videos turned out to be fake, splicing fabricated “locker room shots” into videos the real Maddox had posted months ago.

Rosa apparently didn’t figure this out herself, and posted on Twitter –

“@BradMaddoxIsWWE nice move to get more followers. You are a nobody and you will always be a nobody! If ur going make a fake video find someone hotter!! I look nothing like that!! You are such loser! You burned bridges with the wrong Diva!”

Welp, I think someone owes someone else an apology. Awkward. What do you think about all this, Nathan Fillion?

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Well said, Nathan Fillion. You raise many good points. Such a wise, learned man.

– WWE officials are said to have high hopes for the success of Fandango, aka Johnny Curtis. Eh, stranger things have happened.

– Cody Rhodes seems to be healing up nicely –

“Just peeked at my shoulder, genuinely quick healer. Be back before most of these big talkers on the list #healingfactor”

– There has been talk of adding a stipulation to the upcoming match at TLC between Dolph Ziggler and John Cena, such as Vickie’s job or Dolphie’s Money in the Bank contract. Go for it, I don’t care. Just let Dolph win the feud? Please? PLEASE?

– WWE was said to be very satisfied with the promos from Ryback and The Shield on Raw. The feeling regarding The Shield is that Dean Ambrose is the group’s best talker and Roman Reigns looks like a star, but Seth Rollins still needs to make improvements to his mic work. Sounds fair. I thought Rollins was good, but yes, there is always room for improvement. Reigns played the strong silent type well and it can’t be denied that he looks the part. And what more needs to be said about Ambrose? The guy oozes charisma and might be the most interesting new wrestler in WWE for years. I know he can go on to achieve greatness, and I hope he does.

– And finally, Triple H was in charge of Raw this week due to Vinny Mac being in the Middle East. There was said to be a more laid-back environment backstage, with fewer rewrites needed. Triple H gets a lot of flack from the internet, a lot of it utterly unjustified, but I look forward to seeing what happens to WWE when he takes control. The man is a veteran wrestler, and seems to have a good grasp of the industry. Good things could be coming.

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Ryback vs. Titus O’Neil

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Christ, the Clash of the Titus didn’t even get one? Commence people complaining about WWE killing the tag team division. Shut up, you people. You know nothing.

A decent promo from Ryback. It isn’t Shakespeare, but it doesn’t need to be. He is gradually adding words to his vocabulary, and it’s working well. It also helps if he doesn’t –

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No.

Alberto Del Rio vs. The Great Khali

The great Alberto Del Rio holding pattern continues.

Khali has to qualify for every “worst wrestler of all time” list. Just horrible to watch.

The Shield do a promo

As I said above, I thoroughly enjoyed this. The debut of these three is the most interesting part of WWE at the moment and I’m eager to see more. Ambrose and Rollins are fantastic wrestlers and I can’t wait to see them tear it up, and Reigns looks like a star in the making. If his ring work compliments his look, there could be huge things in his future.

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another one of these awful “AJ scandal” promos

end the pain

Kofi Kingston vs. Tensai

Hey, remember that time Tensai beat John Cena in a Raw main event?

Daniel Bryan vs. Rey Mysterio

A fine little match. Would have loved to see them get more time. And D-Bry winning would be nice too. Is Rey allowed to be called an underdog when he wins 99% of his matches?

Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena

A fantastic match with some great action. Lots of back and forth, and when Dolph countered the AA into a Zig-Zag I was daring to believe. But no, silly me. Cena hits the AA and wins, again.

I try to be positive, but I really have to call bullshit on this one. What is the point of spending a week building up Dolph to just have him lose, AGAIN, to Cena, clean in the middle of the ring. I’m not saying he should have won – if this is the start of a longer feud, some sort of screwy finish would have been good, or at least a way for Dolph to sneak out the win through cheating. Ziggler’s booking has been absolutely infuriating. WWE seem to think that Money in the Bank is a reset button, but that isn’t so. All these losses will follow Dolph and make it harder for fans to accept him as a legitimate main eventer.

Still, up until the end, a very good match.

Sheamus vs. Antonio Cesaro

Wow, another excellent match. These guys work STIFF, especially that European uppercut as Sheamus came off the top. Christ. I felt that in another country, 8 hours after it aired on television.

And this is smart booking. Sheamus gets the win, Cesaro doesn’t get pinned, everyone is happy cause they just saw a great match.

Damian Sandow vs. Zack Ryder

Hey, remember that time Zack Ryder won the US Championship for like a week?

CM Punk vs. Kane

A “nothing” match – nothing either good or bad to really speak of.

Lo and behold, here comes The Shield to kick some general ass. You know, I hope it turns out that they really aren’t aligned with Punk or Heyman, and have their own agenda. Totally isn’t going to happen though.

Another fine episode of Raw. Not the best, but there were two very good matches, and the beginnings of a third in D-Bry/Rey. Not bad.

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The good thing about doing this over the internet is I don’t need to talk to any of you dirty basement-dwellers in person. Reader comments!

Sergio Toro –

dont ever mention russo’s name again. and you hear kaitlyn got arrested? she is real gangsta now, lol. she got street cred.

Russo. Russo. Russo. RussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRussoRusso. RUSSO. RUSSOOOOOOOO

R J –

“Any predictions on who might get the boot? Leave a comment.”
JTG, Yoshi, Mason, Aksana, Curt Hawkins (healthy or not), MAYBE Tensai

All sensible picks. I really can’t see them getting rid of Tensai yet, or Aksana with the Divas division so thin. I think they might keep Yoshi and Hawkins around, but I can totally see JTG and Mason Ryan being wished well in their future endeavors in the near future.

Dr. Wiki –

Young to me is O’Neil’s stooge. I like the fact that they are considered equals in the ring with Young being acknowledged as the better wrestler but Titus considered the powerhouse of the group. I also feel that Young doesn’t have the voice to actually sound like a threat. He sounds good enough saying the catchphrases but if he actually starts cutting a promo his voice sounds goofy.The only other guy I can think of having this problem is Brock Lesnar as his voice just doesn’t match everything about him. Titus is better off as the voice of the group with Young being the stooge.

I was so surprised with Titus on commentary last week. Apparently WWE enjoyed it, as they had him do it again on Smackdown. Where did all this charisma come from? He could barely string a sentence together on NXT! Make it a win!

And yes, I know what you mean regarding D-Young’s voice. I’ve thought the same thing.

Billy Pilgrim –

My main concern with Ambrose/Rollins/Reigns is that they’re made to look second rate. My issue with NXT is it basically labels the guys as not being good enough to compete on the main roster, which is why there are so many former NXT guys languishing in the midcard. Remember when Foley came in as Mankind and was immediately put into a feud with The Undertaker? Even though he’s wrestled for ten years prior, that feud gave him a lot of credibility, especially in his new role. Give these guys credibility. Big storylines, big wins. Make them look good.

Understandable concerns. The track record of new guys being a big deal straight away isn’t great, at least recently. You could argue Ryback, but if he hadn’t been injured when he was in the Nexus, who knows where he would be now. It takes some time to really make a mark in WWE these days, but I know that these three can, and will, all make names for themselves eventually.

That does it for this week. Thanks for reading, and as always, Remember to follow me on Twitter and read my blog!

A treat for you all this week. It’s only about a month til Christmas, so what better way to celebrate than by watching Hulk Hogan’s 1996 masterpiece, “Santa with Muscles”!

Yep, this is the whole film. Enjoy. Or at least try to. Seriously, if you make it through this whole thing, you deserve a medal of some sort.

Anyway, thanks for reading another edition of The Wednesday Wrestling Week That Was! I’m Sam Smith, and I’ll be back next week. Laters, noobs!

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