Ask 411 06.19.13: Goldberg vs. Undertaker, WWE App, Dirt Sheets, More!

I’m the brand new “Ask 411 Wrestling Guy.” That may not have the same ring as “Paul Heyman Guy,” but it works. Most of you know the concept by now. Questions are thrown my way, and I answer them. Pretty simple, huh? At the advice of the former host to this column, the first few editions will be opinion based for everybody to get a feel of my likes, dislikes, and personality. Before we begin, there are a few important notes to make:

I want to be very clear with this. Nobody is ‘replacing’ Mathew Sforcina, nor pretending to. He is no longer writing this column but will never be forgotten. His work was incredible, and his shoes will be impossible to fill. However, if I can do even half as good a job he did, we will all be okay.

That being said, I have asked for permission to use a couple of his creations. He has graciously given me full reign to do as I please. Thus, do not be surprised to see a few things that may look familiar! Speaking of…

BANNER!

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Backtalking

Nothing

Your Turn, Smart Guy…

The weekly game of trivia will live on! All I ask is that everybody is fair and honest. Don’t rush off to Youtube for the answer. Don’t hit up Google in an instant. Use your brain power. Actually challenge your wrestling knowledge. Have some pride! Test yourself and see how you do. Since it is my first week, let’s start with a simple question…

Sheamus debuted for WWE in June 2009. Who was the first man to pin him on television?

Questions, Questions, Who’s Got The Questions?

No rain kicks things off with a popular topic about CM Punk and finishers:

1. When Punk gave his infamous pipe bomb promo he insulted Cena and Rock badly. He called them a$$ kissers. I know Punk had to take permission from Vince for that promo, but did he take permission from Cena or Rock before insulting them?

For Cena, I’m sure he knew what was coming. He is the face of the company and was about to embark on a big time feud with CM Punk. Obviously, he knew the script for the end of Raw. Now, did he know every single remark or comment? Probably not. Nor would it really matter. All that needed to happen was Punk throw out a few ‘insider’ terms, take a few shots at people not in the company and have his mic cut. The rest didn’t need to be ironed out. As for The Rock caring? I doubt it. The man had nothing to do with the program and could not care less what CM Punk said two years ago. During their feud in early 2013 – yes, he likely knew ahead of time that the promos would be like. Back in the summer of 2011 on Raw? No.

2. Before Punk came to WWE, he used the Pepsi Plunge as his finisher in ROH. But when he came to WWE, he stopped using it. Why? He can use it as a big match finisher. He can at least try that it at WrestleMania vs. Taker. But he didn’t. Why? Same question goes for Bryan’s cattle mutilation.

Probably his knees. At some point in your life, you start to worry about your long-term health. Doing moves off the top rope can be fun on the indy scene. Once you hit WWE and know you can hit the main event scene, you tend to slow down a little bit. That is why I currently fear for Fandango and those huge leg drops. Eventually, his finisher will have to change. His body can’t take that every single night for years on end. Or even Dolph Ziggler ‘selling’ so much! We all live his in-ring ability, but the man is just asking for a serious injury with bumping around so much. Back to Punk, the popular theory online is Triple H has rights to the Pedigree, so the Pepsi Plunge is out. Punk has denied this before, and I believe him. About Daniel Bryan? He recently mentioned this in an interview. The reason he stopped doing it was the lack of crowd noise. It’s actually funny. Bryan DID use the move a few times but was met with silence. At that point, he knew it was great for the hardcore fans but not the casual fan base watching WWE nowadays.

Joshua keeps us rolling on with a question about The Wyatt Family:

Hey guy, so as of writing this the WWE just aired the promo for the arrival of The Wyatt Family. I just question why the WWE is having another 3 man team debut when The Shield hasn’t even been there for a year yet (not to mention 3MB). Do you think the WWE would ever consider having a Six Man Tag Team Championship? It worked in pro wrestling before.

What is this, TNA?

In my opinion, that would have disaster written all over it. Stables can work in many forms. That is the beauty of a pro wrestling group getting together to cause chaos. I am not even counting the 3MB in this discussion. They are a lower card comedy trio that only got on television because the three friends came up with the idea and pitched it to the Creative Team. Lucky for them, they agreed. I know comparisons are popular, but The Wyatt Family is not going to be anything like The Shield. Obviously. Thus, a six man title is just not worth it. For one team to have? That makes about as much sense as the Knockouts tag team titles on Impact. Remember those? Currently held by a male wrestler? Not enough depth. You are already seeing the separation of The Shield. Dean Ambrose has been given the solo gold, had high profile single’s matches and is the United States Champion. I may not be a rocket scientist, but it sure seems like WWE wants him to be the break out star. All the while, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins carry the tag straps. When the Wyatt Family comes in, the act will be ALL about Bray Wyatt. They will not be ‘three equals.’ It will be a bunch of people worshipping Bray.

We continue on with everyone’s favorite WWE App!

My memory is not too great on this, but I seem to remember many years ago the WWE had a thing were you could go to WWE.com during RAW commercial breaks and watch what was happening. Then I read that USA (or maybe it was TNN or Spike at that point) got upset with WWE because WWE was encouraging their viewers to not watch the commercials. WWE stopped doing the website thing shortly after. Now WWE has an App and is encouraging fans to watch the app during the commercial breaks. Could this potentially upset USA or WWE advertisers for the same reason?

Not according to PWinsider.

They recently had a story up about this. Apparently, the USA Network is fine with it because WWE agreed to go three hours. Back then, you are right. Telling your viewers to not pay attention to commercials doesn’t sound very logical. However, the business world goes round and rough based off give and take. WWE *finally* gave in to USA Network after years of goading and moved to three hour Raw shows each week. Now, WWE is simply getting a little something back. I don’t care for the App at all, but the ‘Did you know?’ facts tell me a lot of fans do. We can trust those, right? RIGHT?!

Night Wolf is next asking about Smackdown and the current crop of stars:

Smackdown sucks, we all know this. What would you do to make Smackdown as exciting as Monday Night Raw?

Not much.

To be honest, I enjoy Smackdown a lot more than Raw some weeks. The first is obvious – it’s only two hours. The second is about the in-ring work. However, the Red Brand has been delivering in that department as of late. After that, it just comes down to talent. John Cena rarely works Smackdown. Right off the bat, before ANYTHING even happens, his fans have no reason to watch. Then you can all but eliminate Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Triple H, and others. A cameo once in a blue moon may still happen, but the ‘good stuff’ still happens on Monday night. Outside of complaints, Smackdown is fairly good nowadays. WWE just has to give it some more attention. Featuring Sheamus and Randy Orton is great, but where does that ever go? Right now, I would ride Daniel Bryan to the fullest (no jokes please). If there is no room for him on Raw, make Smackdown his show! Then spruce up some of the mid-card stuff and make fans tune in. If nothing ever happens on Friday nights though, nobody will care. That is the problem. The show may be good each week, but *nothing” ever takes place. I know it seems obvious, but it holds true. Give viewers a reason to watch, and they will.

Let’s say for all intents and purposes that: Kurt Angle, RVD, Bobby and Batista stayed in the WWE, and Eddie Guerrero didn’t die, do you think WWE would suck as bad?

Interesting.

If the product sucks so bad, why still follow it? That is my question. Having complaints and suggestions to better the product is fine. Just blasting it and STILL watching it week after week, month after month, and year after year? For what? This goes for WWE, TNA, sitcoms, music, etc. I never understood infatuation with following something, yet constantly hating on it. Seems pointless. As for the actual topic, I am sure all of those guys would find useful spots. The only issue is timing. Kurt Angle is beyond banged up nowadays and should be eyeing up retirement. Therefore, his usefulness in 2013 is like Chris Jericho – good for mini-runs and putting over the young guys but nothing more. RVD had his chance in 2006 and blew it. With a full Wellness policy in order, he wouldn’t last long. Bobby Lashley (I assume you mean) disappointed in every way imaginable and flamed out of the business. Batista started the business old and is even older in 2013. A part-time deal? Sure. Also, Eddie Guerrero would have probably been retired by now or working backstage. Again, the man would be well past 40 and be used like Christian in recent years – helping out new guys coming up. All of them are good in their own right, but trying to plug them into the 2013 scene is not as easy as it would seem on paper.

Speaking of near impossibilities, A.G Awesome brings up a crazy topic:

Supposing this is possible, I’d like to know a percentage or “odds” of a person winning a title in their career in WWE, WCW, TNA, and ECW. Mathematically, I guess it would be something like a complete history of the roster count divided by how many champions they’ve had. For example, if someone brand new started in WWE today, I’d like to know that they have, say a 1/500 chance of becoming a IC champion someday. Something like that.

Sure, seems easy enough…

Or not. To be honest with you, I posted this for two reason. First, I read through all the comments last week for Ask 411 Wrestling. I wanted to know what I was getting myself into. Well, your comment stood out. You really wanted your question(s) to be answered. Secondly, I actually did start to map out a roster and begin thinking mathematically about this. After about five minutes, I stopped. It is not possible and even the smartest man in the world couldn’t give odds on this stuff. The wrestling industry has always been about bucking the system and going against the grains. There is no ‘set’ game plan or chances used. Things just sort of…happen. If anybody in the comment section wants to help out and actually give this a try, go right ahead. be my guest!

Dan gets us back on track with a nice ‘What If?’ feud:

Goldberg & Undertaker. This seemed like such a logical money match especially with Vince knowing Goldberg was leaving at WM XX. Why not push Goldberg as the heel and have Taker return to go after him at Mania?

A few things.

1. Believe it or not, WWE still took the brand extension seriously in 2003/2004. That was probably the prime of having two different rosters. Smackdown was Smackdown. Raw was Raw. Outside of very rare occasions, you barely knew what another even existed. Bill Goldberg was signed to Raw. The Undertaker was over on Smackdown.

2. Trust the ‘dirt sheets’ or not; that is your choice. There were a few stories around that time about Goldberg coming in. Some say he was stiff and wouldn’t protect guys with the Jackhammer. Others had his outright refusing to lose against certain guys (Triple H being one guy ironically). Another story stated he had certain limit on dates and would not budge, even when WWE really needed him to step up on a live event tour. I don’t know about you, but my guess is Taker didn’t respect any of this. The two may be buddies out of the locker room, but this kind of behavior is why one year, very expensive deals like Goldberg got are so rare.

3. This goes back to the previous point. Taker likes to work with guys he trusts. In 2002, Brock Lesnar earned that, so working together again in 2003 was no issue. Same with Big Show and A-Train. They are big men that can work *with” Taker out there. John Cena may be the exception to this rule. Regardless, Kane always has been the ideal opponent for The Dead Man. Both guys trust each other and know their history.

4. Finally, you said it best. Vince McMahon knew Goldberg was gone after one year. I think both sides wanted to get out of that deal real quickly. To me, the WMXX money match was Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg. From the moment Goldberg debuted in WWE, that seemed like the best fit. I was ecstatic when they came face to face at Survivor Series 2003! We were actually going to see it. Now, Lesnar leaving as well threw that feud into a mess, but that is using hindsight. For Taker, he was returning to his old Dead Man gimmick. That was the plan. As mentioned before, there is only one guy who could help that transition – Kane! Add in a Paul Bearer return, and the setting was just too perfect.

Jeremy switches gears on us and brings up video games:

What are some of your favorite custom story DLC from WWE 12? What is your favorite wrestling video game of all time? Mine is either No Mercy because of the Shop or SVR 2009.

Good! I am glad this was archived as an old questions

I am not a gamer at all. Outside of Super Mario, video games are not my thing. I know, I know. Bring the negative comments! As a child, it was certainly a part of growing up. Now, as I sit here in 2013, I hardly even bother. Therefore, my opinion means nothing on WWE 12. I never played it and likely won’t ever bother. About my favorite wrestling video game? I am with you. No Mercy for the N64 was great. In fact, it is one of the couple I still own and play on occasion. The Shop feature was very cool and probably ahead of its time. Either way, it was enjoyable. The option to make your own champions was always a war with friends/family playing. All in all though, it was just controls and game play that got me hooked. You could play for hours and never think twice about the time. That is what makes a classic video game.

Now, in one of the worst transitions ever, Michael wants to discuss Big Johnny!

A few months back on Raw, Big Johnny clocked Mick Foley in the head with the mic at the end of the show. Then, if memory serves, nothing happened between the two after this. Was anything supposed to happen Foley and Big Johnny or was it supposed to be a one time deal to get John some heat? Used to be if someone got attacked, there would be retribution or at least some sort of follow up. This just kind of happened with no real conclusion. He just punched him and everyone moved on. Foley to his “feud” with Dean Ambrose and Big Johnny moved on to bigger things. So, was there supposed to be some sort of follow up or did it happen and I missed it?

P.S. I know typing “Big Johnny” makes him sound like a porn star but it’s easier than me trying to spell his last name.

Well, that’s not weird. Nope. Not at all…

Actually, I am with you. Typing out John Laurihippomotgitis was always a chore. Big Johnny is fine by me. About the story, the answer is yes and no. Mick Foley just wanted to enter into the Royal Rumble. For one last shot at glory, if you will. Big Johnny was having none of it, and their mini-feud started up. Foley did eventually get in the Rumble. Remember the face off with Santino Marella, while Big Johnny was the guest referee for the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler. I have no idea what the potential Dean Ambrose follow up. That was all dropped before it really began. Maybe Big Johnny was set to play a role there against Foley? I guess we will never know. Outside of that, everything did just carry on as usual…

Matthew B brings up a topic that I don’t like to discuss but will for today:

Here’s an opinion question for you because those are also fun I guess. In your opinion, who are the top 5 stiffest in ring wrestlers (who consistently worked like that, not wrestlers who had a few moments of stiff shoots in the ring) of the past 30 years. (I really don’t want to hear about the old shooters from the 50’s and 60’s.)

5. Bradshaw
4. Dr. Death
3. Kobashi
2. Vader
1. Stan Hansen

I suppose somebody like Hardcore Holly should be in there as well for the current time period. Maybe Brock Lesnar by today’s standards? I don’t know. To me, being ‘stiff’ in the ring never did much. Bret Hart said it best. Pro wrestling is an art form that is crafted when guys make it look like they are hurting each other without ever harming one another. It’s one of my turn offs from Ring of Honor. Wrestlers just openly kicking their opponents in the head is not my cup of tea. if I wanted to watch that, I would turn on MMA. Now, breaking somebody in and teaching them the ropes is bound to get physical. I understand that, but working your career by hurting guys legitimately? No thanks.

Aqua has a question about the infamous Matt/Jeff Hardy feud in 2009:

Was there ever any long term plans for Matt and Jeff Hardy to continue their feud after Wrestlemania a few years ago? I remember thinking for years that if handled right (and it wasn’t) that this could have been an amazing multi pay-per-view feud. If I remember correctly, the feud ended right at WrestleMania. Why did it end so quickly?

Just before, let me break this down into a few points:

1. According to various reports online, this was never going to be a long-term feud. The fact that their first meeting (at WrestleMania 25) was an Extreme Rules match pretty much tells you that. Feuds do not start with a gimmick match, if they are set to last for months.

2. To back track a little, I’ve always been of the opinion that Matt Hardy was always going to be the person behind all the attacks on Jeff. The popular theory is that Christian would come back and feud with Hardy around the Royal Rumble event. For me, I never bought into all that hype. Christian vs. Jeff Hardy at WM25? Really? That was the master plan. Sorry, I can’t see WWE setting up a Christian/Jeff showdown. A brother vs. brother battle, though, carried drama and excitement not seen in years.

3. The feud did last one more pay-per-view. Jeff Hardy defeated Matt Hardy in an I Quit match Backlash 2009. The two had other matches on Smackdown, but very few recall those. During their last PPV match, the face overcame his ‘evil’ brother and went on to bigger and better things.

4. That brings me to why it was never going to be a long-term story line. Matt Hardy is Matt Hardy. Jeff Hardy is Jeff Hardy. One man was on the roll of his life time. The other…was Matt Hardy. WWE wanted Jeff in the main event picture as soon as humanly possible. After feuding with his brother, he did just that – headlining the next four PPVs in a row. Not just headlining, I mean actually CLOSING the show. As in, ending a PPV. That is amazing, when you consider Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Triple H, John Cena, Batista, and others were still on these cards.

At Judgment Day 2009, he lost to Edge in the main event (thanks to Matt Hardy).

The next month, he won the World Title in a ladder match versus Edge during the main event. CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase afterwards.

In July, he won his World Title back against CM Punk in the final match of the evening.

At Summerslam, he (once again) closed the PPV – this time facing Punk in a TLC match but losing.

Then he left WWE a few days later. As you can see, WWE wanted to get as much as possible out of Jeff before his contract expired. Feuding with Matt Hardy was a nice idea to do for a couple shows. After that though? The man earned that main event spot, and the live crowd was right there with him. Along with DX and John Cena, Jeff was the most over star in the entire industry four years ago. Sadly, Matt Hardy was nowhere near that level.

Up next, Jase mentions another talent who never reached the main event level…

What the heck has happened to Drew McIntyre? I know there was some backstage nonsense to do with someone he was seeing, but is he basically on the ‘punishment list’ from now until eternity? They seemed on the verge of turning him face with the Kelly Kelly stuff, when he was trying to be a better man for her, and when he hurled Mysterio through the chamber glass a couple of years back, it really felt like he was on the verge of something bigger. Is it all politics?

According to a few folks who cover wrestling over at PWTorch, Drew may be stuck with the ‘boring’ label. I don’t think that is entirely true, but that word (boring) has been floated around recently about others. As for messy relationship (we all know the story) a few years ago, I am sure that did hurt hum in the locker room for a long time. As the girl is now in another company, I am guessing any ‘heat’ involved there is gone. Water under the bridge, so to speak. The story line with Kelly Kelly was actually intriguing there. My guess is Kelly started hinting at leaving WWE, so everything was pushed aside. Creative changes in wrestling? No way! The other thing to note is Drew, Jinder Mahal, and specifically Heath Slater all came up with the 3MB idea. What you see on television is THEIR baby. I brought this up earlier, but they were all doing nothing and wanted any way to get on Raw/Smackdown. For that, I commend them. It does make you wonder though if they are all 100 percent happy with being comedy characters.

To end things this week, STD Steve asks about The Undertaker’s WM undefeated streak:

There was a rumor I read that Kane was supposed to defeat Undertaker at WM20, with Taker suggesting it. Is this true, because that doesn’t seem to make sense at all.

Ah, rumors.

Don’t you love them? Was tis source the same guy reporting RVD was returning on Raw a few weeks back? Or that Carlito and Shelton Benjamin were ‘confirmed’ to be at the Royal Rumble in 2013? I could go on and on. We all love the nature of reading online reports and getting a peak behind the curtain. It is great and can become apart of our daily routines. However, just keep it all into perspective. Most of the stuff you read is false. Another percentage is information purposely leaked to mislead you. Remember how Bob Barker or Justin Bieber would host WrestleMania 27 in 2011? Yeah, perfect red herring to stir everybody up…only for The Rock return live on Raw. A small, small portion of stories you read are true. No doubt. However, you have to sift through the garbage pile to find them.

About Taker losing to Kane? No. I don’t buy it. Not one bit. He was never going to lose with Bearer by his side and returning to his Dead Man persona. Somebody clearly wanted to web hits that day for traffic and riled up fans. This story comes up every single year. Taker wants to lose at Mania. The guy will lay down for the right situation. He doesn’t care about The Streak anymore. Blah, blah, blah…

My Darn Opinion

You know what really grinds my gears?

This is going to be a little bit different from the usual feature. Instead of questions, I will simply state an opinion of mind that is not shared by others. Consider it being contrarian or playing devil’s advocate for the sake of discussion. Regardless, it is my belief and likely wont be shared with others reading this. Without any more stalling, here it is:

WWE is doing a good job at creating new stars.

There, I said it.

A few years ago, nobody knew who Alberto Del Rio was. A few years ago, nobody knew who Sheamus was. A few years ago, nobody even knew who Wade Barrett was. Or Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Darren Young or other Nexus members. Daniel Bryan was not known by the casual fan base just over three years ago. Over a year ago, Ryback and Antonio Cesaro were virtual unknowns to the wrestling world. Last November, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns were nobodies to the WWE Universe. Now, they are a dominant heel stable. Earlier this year, everybody thought Michael McGillicutty was done. Now, as Curtis Axel, he has wins over Chris Jericho, John Cena, and Triple H. Next up will be The Wyatt Family…

I know it is very easy to get wrapped until into weekly win-loss records. It’s even more ridiculous to announce someone is BURIED after every single loss on television. That stuff, in the grand scheme of things, means next to nothing. While WWE has yet to strike it big with a Superstar caliber talent in terms of mainstream appeal, they are awfully close. From the top to bottom, the roster is there. The days of Undertaker, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Edge and Triple H wrestling are coming to an end. Right in front of your eyes, Vince McMahon and company have made a bunch of new stars…and you didn’t even realize it.

Self-Promoting Finale

Now, let’s get some “ME!” plugs out there for all of you…

Top 5 Attitude Era Mistakes
Daniel Bryan: The Future Is Now
RVD Returns To WWE & What It Means
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