Smart Marks 11.30.13: Seasons Beatings

Hello again, and welcome to another edition of Smart Marks. I’m Dino, and I’m still full from the Thanksgiving meal. So, let’s just break it down, and his this week’s marks for all the fun we’ve had in the world of wrestling!

To start off, I embarked on Week 2 of Mission: Get Back into Lucha. As I said last week, it’s been a little tough as the AAA programming I was used to has been replaced with CMLL during the time that I wasn’t paying any attention. So I’ve done my best to continue to watch and learn, and I definitely enjoyed this last week’s outing.

First off, I like the tag team champions, Rush and La Mascara. They work well together with high-energy offense, and the fans seem to really like them. The one thing that throws me off, however, is that the entrance music for Rush is the final theme that Chris Benoit used in his WWE career. Just hearing that theme leads my brain somewhere other than “Here comes our young, super popular face tag champion!” I don’t know, maybe it’s just some weird joke down there. I don’t want to trigger a Benoit discussion (… ever), but man is it weird hearing that music again.

On top of the champs, I’ve enjoyed the work of wrestlers El Terrible, Tamatonga, Morphosis, Titan, Maximo, who seems to be a bit of an “exotico” though not quite as overt as the others I’ve seen in my wrestling fan travels. Regardless, Maximo combines some funny spots with overall decent wrestling to keep the fans interested in everything he does. Seeing him treated as a face is also refreshing, as I can only imagine the chants he’d receive in, say, Chicago. Sorry, Chicago.

The only thing that can somewhat get old is the constant trios matches that take place. A two hour program can easily be comprised only of trios matches. I understand the significance and importance of said contests in the world of lucha, but it can be a bit tough for my American brain to get used to the fact that I’m not getting one on one matches all that often when I head south of the border for my wrestling fix.

Still, as I said, I’ve enjoyed my attempt to get back into lucha, and as I said last week, if any of my readers have any tips on who to look for, or any recent shows to track down, please feel free to hit me up below in the comments!

Meanwhile, in WWE…

The Super Powers of John Cena and Randy Orton were lined up to face each other at the upcoming TLC event, with a unification of the WWE and World Titles on the line!

Ugh.

First things first- the entire time Daniel Bryan and Orton were feuding regarding who was “the face” of WWE, the joke with me and my friends was that at any time, Cena would show up and be like “Uhh, guys? What the hell are you talking about?!” So, it was nice to see Cena and Orton set on a collision course as Crazy Orton’s obsession with being the face of WWE continued.

Make no mistake, John Cena is the face of WWE, and this isn’t something I’m saying to you as I think about how genius I am. This is the most obvious statement I’ve ever made. Even when he’s not the champ, Cena remains the focus of the company. He’s had like one feud not for a title in the last six years (where Kane tried to get him to embrace the hate), and now he’s leading the charge for one champion.

I just don’t like it. We can argue about the stupidity of the split rosters, or how the writers don’t pay attention to it, or how one belt is seen as more important, or… but to me, none of that matters. What matters is the guys on the roster, and if we go back to one champion, I see much less opportunities for some guys. Maybe I’m just a big crybaby when it comes to that, but I think of the guys who have gotten title shot opportunities that would never have come with just one champion. We’d have been watching the Orton/Cena/HHH/Show/Taker/Edge feud nonstop since 2005 if that was the case. Instead, we’ve been allowed to have other faces- Sheamus, Alberto del Rio, Mark Henry, Rey Misterio, Kane- to not only get title shots, but title reigns, as well.

I’m not saying keep the brand split alive; I’m just saying, maybe having two world champs isn’t the worst thing in the world. I mean, hell, it works decently enough for boxing, right?

What do you think of the unification that’s coming? Hit me in the comments!

Let’s make this easy: I loved the Thanksgiving edition of Impact.

From Rock Star Spud’s impressive re-debut as Dixie’s Chief of Staff (and doing well in a role practically created to get “It’s Brad Maddox!” gripes), to the funeral for Aces and Eights that had just the right amount of comedy and was ended with a very nice threat from Bully Ray, to the turkey suit match, to the Team Angle vs. Team Roode match, and finally, the big meal at the end, I thought it was a great show in the vein of an old WWF Prime Time episode.

Seeing the push for James Storm and Gunner to split continue got me somewhat angry, as it seems that Cowboy may get pushed as a crybaby in this split. I’m holding out hope that eventually it will be revealed that Gunner was just trying to hold Storm down on his own way up, but as it stands now, Cowboy just keeps losing and then griping to Gunner.

I’m also looking forward to next week’s semifinals matches, as Magnus faked an injury and will probably continue to do so in his match with Angle, which will lead to him finally getting his spot in the finals, where he can be revealed as Dixie’s hand-picked guy. I say it confidently because that’s my call. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. And with TNA, I’m usually wrong a lot. Swerve!

The Bobby Roode-Jeff Hardy match should be fun as well, and I’m seeing Angle and Roode losing, with Hardy being the sacrificial lamb to the Magnus-Dixie pact. Then we can have Angle and Roode settle things at Final Resolution, as well.

It wasn’t a substantial show, but it was a nice break from the usual chaos in TNA, so again, a great job to everyone involved.

That should do it for now. Until next time, enjoy your WWE, your TNA, your Lucha, your Puro, and your Indies!