Should Cena be threatened by Orton?

Since the build towards this past year’s WrestleMania, Randy Orton has undeniably exploded with popularity, which has left many wondering whether or not posterboy John Cena is still the undisputed “top face.” Some are even proposing that Cena should turn heel. Not only do I think a heel turn is extreme, but I actually don’t think Cena even has to worry about losing his coveted “top spot.”

The fact of the matter is, there’s a reason why John Cena is at the top. His merchandising sales are a huge reason, but that’s not it (although I do think people underestimate how over this guy actually is – and not just with the little kiddies). The truth is that he’s extremely reliable and “safe.” He’s a public company’s dream employ…..independent contractor. Aside from injuries to his pec and neck, each of which took him out for a few months, he hasn’t shown to be susceptible to injury. This is actually what sets him apart from virtually every other main event talent (aside from Chris Jericho). Superstars like Triple H, Edge, Randy Orton, The Undertaker, Batista, and even Rey Mysterio seem to have to take extended breaks due to injury every year or so. But Cena, for the most part, has remained injury free. While Orton has been lucky the past couple of years, he has nagging shoulder problems that may make the company weary of hitching their horse to his wagon.

While these standards might not be fair, Cena’s promotional work outside of the ring is incomparable. He’s constantly making signing appearances or attending charitable functions. He’s also represented the company on a number of non-wrestling television shows, such as various Kids and Teen Choice Awards, and Late Night programs.

And this may be a personal bias, but I find John Cena far better on the mic and more interesting in the ring. As far as mic skills go, I find Orton boring and by-the-numbers, with little emotion or personality. And I don’t find him particularly sympathetic, which make the “face in peril” segment of his matches (which tends to be the most significant part) difficult to get into (also why Triple H, in my view, is an unsuccessful face). Sure, the reaction tends to be split, but the audience is ALWAYS lively during a John Cena match. I have witnessed quiet crowds while Orton is in the ring with the wrong opponent. And while many online fans are tired of this supposed “Super Cena,” I think there’s something to be said for one of the few genuine good guys (I’m talking character here) overcoming the odds and succeeding.

Perhaps the biggest difference between these two – and the strongest reason why Cena should feel secure in his spot – is their public image. Again, while Orton has seemingly behaved himself the past few years, he has had severe behavioral issues during his tenure with WWE. He also has at least one Wellness Policy violation against him. These issues have resulted in suspensions from the company and even trouble with the law. John Cena, meanwhile, was able to represent the company – quite eloquently and respectfully, I might add – during their greatest PR nightmare, when WWE contracted Superstar Chris Benoit murdered his wife and seven year old son before taking his own life. Cena came across as intelligent, level headed, and sensible – an image they desperately needed to portray given the circumstances. I honestly do not believe they would feel comfortable putting Randy Orton in that sort of position. Between their PG image, their business relationship with family-friendly Mattel, and Linda’s possible Senate seat election, I think the company feels much, much safer branding themselves with John Cena’s likeness.

Quite simply, John Cena is a safe, reliable, money making machine. And until that’s no longer true, he’ll ALWAYS be the #1 face in the company. Like him or not, from a business perspective, he’s a smart decision.

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A friendly forewarning....

Just wanted to let everybody know that my reviews for The Vampire Diaries and Smallville will be a bit late. I'm actually staying at my sister's place this week, which means my TV availability is pretty limited (there's five of us there this week, including one two-year old who controls at least one television). And tomorrow I have a work event as it is. Hopefully I'll get around to watching Vampire Diaries on Friday, and Smallville most likely on Sunday. I'll get them posted ASAP. Keep those comments coming!

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-1

I say this every finale and premiere, but Smallville puts together some of the absolute best “Previously On…” video compilations. Another observation: Is this the shortest cast lineup they’ve ever had for their opening credits? There were only five actors who made the cut. And I don’t think Allison Mack is even appearing for the full season.

And here we are, the final season of Smallville. Who could have possibly conceived that this clever little show would have lasted an entire decade? Is it the only show that remains from the WB/UPN merge into the CW?

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-1"....

I actually really, really enjoyed the structure of this episode. The first quarter resolved the loose strings from the finale. Did Clark survive? Who abducted Oliver? What happened to Tess? What were the repercussions of Lois knowing Clark’s secret? What’s the follow up to Clark receiving the new Superman suit? It didn’t prolong these issues, but it didn’t completely ignore them either. Much of the remainder of the episode was devoted to the Lex story arc (which I will discuss later), while the final segment began preparing us for the season ahead. As most anticipated and predicted, the big bad this year is probably the ultimate villain in the DC universe, Darkseid. And it appears that he’ll look like a monster, and not like, well, Davis Bloome.

I’m a tad torn on the Lex thing. On the one hand, it was a bit criminal having ANYBODY play an adult Lex other than the absolutely brilliant Michael Rosenbaum. Then again, this is the exact way I imagined Lex “returning.” We’d discover that he was cloning himself (which isn’t out of the blue, as he had cloned Lana years earlier), and the either one of his clone was killed in that car bomb, or that the clones retained his memories. That’s essentially what we saw here. And I do suspect we’ll see this storyline revisited by the finale.

Oh, and I loved the way Clark got transported to the Fortress and immediately says, “I defeated Lex,” sounding like a 10 year old kid who wants a cookie as a reward. I was really excited that Jor-El had returned, but was disappointed that he reverted back to his asshole ways. I’ve really enjoyed the way Jor-El developed into a supportive figure in Clark’s life, to the extent that Clark would actually refer to him as “Father.” They had managed to create a bond – a bond I hoped would be strengthened following Clark’s introduction to his father’s clone. But, sadly, it seems that Jor-El is either revisiting the Christian Shephard school of parenting, or is simply unleashing some excessively tough love.

It also seems like he’s depriving us of seeing Clark don the Superman costume – however, I actually understand this decision. The fact of the matter is, at this point in time, Clark was planning on putting on the costume for the wrong reasons. It was all about ego and vanity. I do believe Jor-El will return the costume to Clark, when he’s ready to wear it for the right reasons. I do hope that that moment isn’t the finale, though. I think it’d be wise to not save every single “big” Superman moment for the last episode. It would just spread themselves thin, which would result in each individual moment not achieving the impact it deserves. Which brings me to this old song and dance – Clark should fly within the first few episodes of this season. I actually thought we’d officially see him fly when he caught the Daily Planet globe, but I still think that fell into “leap” territory.

And was it a bit surreal for anybody else seeing John Schneider reprising his role as Jonathan Kent? After seeing him play these twisted, abusive characters on Nip/Tuck and 90210, it was a bit jarring seeing him playing the wise, loving father again. But I’ve missed him, and it’s great seeing him back!

I love how Fate’s helmet asked Chloe if she was willing to sacrifice her sanity for its power, and then enveloped her before she even had an opportunity to answer. Real nice.

As an aside, I thought it was cute the way Lois very obviously found ways to distract herself so that Clark could use his abilities in front of her. At first I didn’t know how this was going to play out – whether or not it’d be out in the open – but I think this is a fine way. Actually, during the scene in which Lois told Clark about the Blur’s kiss, I thought that they would both realize that the other knows, but wouldn’t admit it as a form of flirtation. Hey, maybe it will take that route later on.

So, what did you all think of the final season premiere of Smallville?

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-3

I believe it was last season’s “Bloodlines” that I originally made this observation, but I really enjoy the episodes that mix up the pairings we’ve grown accustomed to. Sure, Elena shares a number of scenes with Damon in any typical episode, but for the most part she’s paired up with Stefan. Yet this episode, we saw Elena grouped with Rick and Damon, while Stefan was coupled with Caroline. And it was a fun departure from what we’re used to.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-3"....

This episode also started to delve into a matter I criticized in the season premiere, which is that Elena and Katherine are just a bit too identical. I’m glad that the show is acknowledging this anomaly. The fact that they’re making it a story point is an added bonus.

One of the highlights of last week’s episode was the tender bathroom scene (wow, that sounded bad) between Stefan and Caroline. I really enjoyed their interactions this week as well. In an odd way, Stefan’s personality really shines when he’s not sharing scenes with Elena. When he’s with her, he’s all sweet and romantic – which is fine – but when he’s talking with other people he’s a lot looser and free. I also appreciated the explanation that vampires aren’t inherently evil, their personalities as humans are just intensified.

While I sympathize and understand Damon’s emotional pain, I have to say that his anger towards Elena for “using” him is a bit of a stretch. I mean, the primary purpose of their mission was to find out about the werewolves, which Damon was just as interested in as anybody else. Attaining information on Katherine seemed like a byproduct. And this intel doesn’t solely benefit Elena, either. So, no, I don’t think she out-and-out used Damon. And even if she did, it certainly wasn’t to anything Katherine had done. Yes, I know that we’re not supposed to see it Damon’s way – he was hurt and irrational – but it seemed like a stretch even for him.

Having said that, I did appreciate the fact that he was honest with Elena, and I do always enjoy his brief moments of humanity. I’ll repeat what I said last season: Who knew that Boone was so charismatic and personable?

By the episode’s conclusion, we received confirmation that Tyler’s uncle – and presumably Tyler – is a werewolf. I was a bit surprised to see that they, too, took the True Blood route by using an actual wolf (or, at the very least, the appearance of an actual wolf) instead of a wolfman hybrid. And I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I never once made the connection between vampires/werewolves and the sun/moon. I’d never heard that interpretation on the werewolf/vampire legend, but I thought it was pretty clever.

As a side note, I’m glad that this Rick/Jenna thing is a go. When they had their kinda/sorta let’s put this on hold moment at the beginning of the episode, and then had Isobel’s old assistant flirt with Rick, I thought, “Great, Jenna’s not even going to get her shot.” But I was glad that Rick was able to put his past behind him, and chose the proper future. But now the sister of Elena’s adoptive mother is dating the husband of Elena’s birth mother. Well, I guess that’s still not as bad as the fact that the sister of Elena’s adoptive mother slept with Elena’s biological father, who is the brother to Elena’s adoptive father. Right?

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The Matt Hardy Situation

It’s a bit of a paradox, really. There are so many things I’d like to discuss on my blog, that I find them canceling each other out, so I don’t end up discussing any of them. I want to do a season review of Louie. I’d like to do the same for True Blood, and Futurama as well. At the same time, there are a lot of the things on the wrestling front I’d like to express my feelings on. What’s going to happen to Nexus? Were they properly used? Should John Cena be worried about losing his top spot to Randy Orton? And, of course, there’s the ongoing Matt Hardy saga.

So, which do I discuss? What gets my attention?

Since I’ve been making snide remarks for the past few weeks about the guy, I think I’ll begin with Matt Hardy. Let me preface this post by saying that it’s important to keep in mind that Matt Hardy is a real human being, and every human being deserves health and happiness. So don’t misinterpret this – I genuinely do hope that he finds true happiness and that he lives a long and healthy life. I also don’t pretend to fully understand his “condition.” Was he taken off of the road because of legitimate health issues, or is he suffering from a drug problem? I honestly don’t really know. But I do know that this guy does not seem to be acting rationally. And quite honestly, he doesn’t seem well. And with that in mind, I hope he does find whatever help he needs.

Okay, now the scathing part. As a wrestling fan, I don’t particularly like Matt Hardy. There have been various times that I found him entertaining (most notably with his Version 1.0 character), but for the most part I think that he’s only a recognizable name and he’s only lasted so long because of the people that have surrounded him. Quite honestly, while he’s a solid performer, Matt Hardy is nowhere near the most technical wrestler. He couldn’t hold a candle to guys like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, or even Triple H. And if those standards are unfair, I think he’s notches below people in his own classification, like Edge, Christian, CM Punk, and Hurricane Helms. Actually, I don’t think he’s really much more technically sound than Jeff. Jeff was never a poor performer, he just looks incredibly sloppy.

And like I said, the only reason he stands out is because of those around him. I don’t want to minimize Matt’s contribution to the team (which was no doubt significant), but the only reason the Hardy Boyz became superstars is because of the insane risks Jeff took. And a big reason why Matt was able to branch out on his own was because of his alliance with Lita (his Version 1.0 stint notwithstanding). And his feud with Edge should have made Hardy into a megastar….but really, it only had that impact on Edge, who completely carried that feud. Sure, Edge’s mic skills are vastly superior, but it just felt like Edge understood his character much better (and they were both beginning to play new characters at this point). Even though Matt’s emotions were real (and he did not deserve what happened to him in real life), I never quite bought that he hated Edge (even though, at the time, he surely did). I totally believed Edge’s rage, though.

And as far as mic skills go, I think he’s pretty bad, to be honest. Again, the only time he was entertaining was when he was basically a parody. He speaks too fast and his accent makes him sound like a doofus. And worst of all, he always sounds like he’s cutting a wrestling promo. There’s absolutely no believability whatsoever. And even though I don’t like him, that’s why I find him hard to like as a person. Whenever I see him do out-of-character interviews – or hell, even watch his recent YouTube videos – he sounds like he’s cutting a promo. And it’s humiliating. The guy sounds like he’s buying his own hype, and THAT’S why people criticize him for being his own biggest mark. I mean, when somebody in his position talks about protecting his “brand,” he sounds completely full of himself, and a bit delusional as well. It sounds harsh, but I think he’s significantly overestimating his worth.

And then there’s his appearance. Yes, he got fat, and he looked terrible. The fact that he had to switch his ring gear because he looked too chubby in traditional wrestling tights (which I thought looked cool), as the rumor says, is pretty hilarious. But if that’s due to a legitimate health issue, fine, I won’t even harp on that. But how about the times that he gets those ridiculous fake tans? The ones that are patchy and florescent orange? THAT’S not because of your intestines exploding. And how about the fact that he seems to be balding, but still has ratty, discussing looking long hair? It really doesn’t even look like he washes that nest anymore.

His behavior right now is downright shameful. If he’s trying to get fired, he should take notes from George Costanza. Because when George did it, it was hilarious. When Matt Hardy does it, it’s embarrassing. I mean, how infantile he’s been acting – stirring the pot and begging his online audience to RT and Follow and Like all of the things he says. Not to mention the constant videos talking about how fantastic is life is, how incredibly happy he is, and bringing up the fact that another wrestler died and John Cena’s movie bombed to dispute what came down to an issue of semantics. And he just sounds silly speaking out against the youth movement – a movement he fully supported when he fell into the benefiting age range.

And Matt, don’t delude yourself into thinking that people care about you because they take the time to write about you. The fact of the matter is that you have made such an incredible ass of yourself the past few weeks that people can’t help but rip you apart. It’s not because they care or secretly like you, it’s because you’re a fool in their eyes. And I’m sorry, but not all publicity is good publicity. Otherwise there’d be a statue of Chris Benoit outside of Titan Tower.

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Night of Champions predictions

I'm in DC for the weekend, but I thought I'd offer a quick blog post on my predictions for tonight's PPV.

WWE Championship Match - My instinct says Sheamus retains. Honestly I just don't see any of the other five becoming champion at this point, from a story perspective. I could see them pulling a big time swerve and having Wade Barrett win.

World Heavyweight Championship Match - Kane retains.

Intercontinental Championship Match - Kofi reclaims the title.

United States Championship Match - Surprisingly tough to call. I see them wanting to get the US title off of Miz so he can move onto bigger and better things, but considering Bryan has been so dominant in this feud, I wouldn't be surprised to see Miz retain and holding off the switch until next month. So I'm going to go against the grain and say Miz retains.

Women's/Divas Championship Unification Match - Another tough one. I could see Michelle winning so that she can physically carry the Divas title while Layla holds the Women's title. But since I see the Divas title as the belt that sticks around (the female competitors are called "Divas," it's a flashier belt, and it's not cracked in two at the moment), I'm going to say that Melina wins.

Tag Team Championship Match - I assume it'll be Hart Dynasty vs. Cody and Drew, and since the Harts aren't really doing anything with the belts, and they're not appearing on both shows, I'll go with Cody and Drew.

CM Punk vs. Big Show - Since Big Show has COMPLETELY dominated this feud, Punk HAS to win.

Well there you have it. Am I missing any matches? If we see Christian vs. Del Rio, I'll go with Alberto.

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-2

So I officially got tired of waiting for Inside Pulse to post my review, so here you are blog readers!

Geez, remind me to never work at a high school carnival.

So the second episode of the series’ sophomore season had Elena attempting to live the life of an ordinary teenage girl, while the lives of those around her transformed into anything but that. Caroline woke up to discover she is a vampire, Tyler was slowly discovering that there’s something unnatural about him, Jeremy learned the ins and outs on how to kill a vampire, and Bonnie visited her vengeful side when confronted with a difficult realization.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-2"....

In a lot of ways, that pretty much sums up the episode. This is by no means a criticism, but for the most part not a whole lot happened. This was clearly an episode intended to set us up for what’s to come throughout the season. Yes, Caroline being turned into a vampire is a pretty big deal, and I’m very curious to see how they’ll handle it. Will Bonnie conjure up a magical ring so that she can walk around in daylight? Will Stefan feel guilty and offer his ring? If neither of those scenarios transpire, how long will she be able to continue this charade?

If nothing else, I really enjoyed the scene between her and Stefan in the bathroom. Actually, I thought Stefan was pretty likable throughout, and it made me realize that while his dark turn at the end of last season was a lot of fun, overall he’s a far better character as the perennial good guy. And am I mistaken, but does this leave Matt as the only regular character who isn’t supernatural and doesn’t know about the existence of vampires (that is, if you don’t count Jenna as a regular)?

Another thing I found interesting: The fact that Stefan and Damon aren’t aware of the existence of werewolves. You’d think after being alive so long, and being fully aware of witches, they’d have heard about werewolves. Or at least seen True Blood. Or….sigh…..Twilight. Hell, even Buffy! I mean, I would’ve been surprised if werewolves didn’t exist.

If I had one complaint about this show, it’s that Elena is far too forgiving when it comes to Damon. I understand that they’re supposed to have a love/hate relationship, and that there’s supposed to be suppressed sexual tension between them, but Damon essentially brutally murdered Elena’s innocent little brother with pure malice, and Elena is treating it like he read her diary.

Other than that minor quibble, I really did enjoy this episode. The characters continue to grow and I’m interested in seeing where the various stories are going. This may have been a “filler” in many ways, but it was a fun hour nonetheless.

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Feedback, please

I'd like your feedback on a review matter.

As part of the Inside Pulse relaunch, instead of columns getting posted immediately, they're being held until an hour in which traffic is optimal, in order to maximize hits. So, for example, if a show I watch airs at 8, and I begin my column around 9:00 when it ends, and don't finish until 10:30, it probably won't be posted until early the next morning (around 8:00 am, let's say).

Aside from my Lost columns, as a courtesy to Inside Pulse, I typically wait until the column is posted before featuring it on my blog (at which point I'll provide a link so that they get the hit), but to be honest part of the allure of that was that my columns were more or less posted immediately.

So, my question: Would you like me to post my TV reviews immediately on my blog, or do you typically not read my reviews until the next morning anyway (in which case I should just continue waiting until Inside Pulse posts it)? This is actually a decision I've been struggling with, so please do take a moment to let me know. Thanks!

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If Facebook existed years ago....

Here's a fun little graphic that an old work friend sent me. Check it out if you need a hump day laugh. It theorizes what it would be like if historical figures used Facebook. Click the link to view the graphic.

If Facebook existed years ago...

As a side note, I get a real kick out of the fact that there's such a long period of time between the apple falling on Sir Isaac Newton's head, and him realizing that there's something significant about that.

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-1

Welcome to my first review of The Vampire Diaries. With 24 and Lost both calling it quits last season, leaving Smallville as my lone assignment, I thought I’d add this CW hit show to my line up. While season one got off to a slightly slow start, once it found its footing and the actors became comfortable with their characters, it quickly became one of my two favorite new shows of the season (the other being Modern Family). And it was actually one of the strongest finales of the year. Not to mention that I pegged Nina Dobrev as one of the hottest girls on television when she was a minor character on Degrassi.

Anyway, onto the premiere.

http://insidepulse.com/2010/09/10/the-vampire-diaries-episode-2-1-review/

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An interesting article from Mick Foley

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few weeks, but with the TV season returning, activity should pick up around here (for what it's worth, I am going to start reviewing The Vampire Diaries, which premieres tonight. However, I don't know if I'll be able to watch it "Live," so you might have to wait a bit for the review. Not off to the best start!)

Anyway, over at Mick Foley's blog, the former WWE Champion posted an interesting column on the lack of respect and research that goes into articles about professional wrestling, even if the publication is well respected. The column discusses Linda McMahon's Senate race, early deaths in pro wrestling, and the debate between health insurance and being an independent contractor. Give it a read:

http://mickfoley.typepad.com/mickfoley/2010/09/that-time-i-metrachel-maddow.html

For what it's worth, Foley has a new book coming out shortly. I am going to purchase it, although I'm a little skeptical, especially since it says "A Hardcore Journal" at the top. I LOVED Foley's first two books -- probably in my top 5 of all autobiographies I've read, ever. But I was exceptionally disappointed with his last book, The Hardcore Diaries. Overall I found the book uninteresting and borderline lazy. Many of the chapters were literally just copied and pasted from columns he had written for WWE.com, verbatim.

Making matters worse was that his WWE.com column had promised some insight into his relationship and reconciliation with Flair (including an awkward instance where they had to sit next to each other on a plane), which was never touched upon with any more depth than he had written about on WWE.com. And his booking suggestions were borderline ludicrous, showing that he had just as much of an ego as all of the people he had criticized (honestly, making Terry Funk the center of the promotion in place of the highly anticipated first DX reunion?)

It really just seemed like he was writing the book for a payday. I do wonder if he'll touch upon that in his new book (considering how critical he can be of other people's shortcomings). I may also have the opportunity to attend one of his book signings, which I hope to take advantage of.

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RIP Robert Schimmel

I was saddened to learn this morning that Robert Schimmel had passed away. Over the past few years I've become a pretty avid fan of stand up comedy (which is funny, since I've only seen it live, like, once), and Robert Schimmel is absolutely one of the comics on the top of my "must see" list. I remember the first time I saw him on television, he made some joke about black people not tipping and making noise in the movie theater, and I thought, "Wow, you rarely see white comedians taking such blatant race-related shots." And I quickly came to appreciate his "no person and no subject is off limits" style, reminiscent of comedians such as Larry David.

Schimmel was apparently in a severe car accident last week (his daughter was driving), and he died today from injuries he had sustained (thankfully his daughter and son, who was also in the car, will be fine). I suggest you check out some of his stand up routines on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robert+schimmel&aq=f

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Not Xactly Tolerable

Wow, were those closing moments of last night’s NXT atrocious or what?

Let me preface this (likely scathing) post by saying that I really enjoy NXT. There’s a certain air of it being off the radar of the WWE brass, so everybody involved is a lot freer to loosen up and act natural. While everything on Raw and Smackdown feels so incredibly scripted, NXT – especially in its inaugural season – felt spontaneous and unrehearsed.

This was especially apparent with Chris Jericho. On the main shows, he’s been playing this scowling, bad mannered, monotone speaking heel. But on NXT, he was cracking jokes, acting like his old Y2J self. I’ll never forget him yelling at the announcers for not mentioning something Wade Barrett did, and when Cole responded that they were just talking about that, Chris yells, “Say it again!” Or when he told the announcers he was going to vote for Barrett, and when he was corrected and told he can’t vote for his rookie, Jericho nonchalantly tells them that they’ll do what he wants.

Season one of NXT also did a wonderful job of allowing CM Punk to display the subtle nuances of his heel character. Whether it was blowing off Darren Young on the entrance stage, or moving his chair slightly away from Christian before sitting down, Punk exhibited brilliance in refining his heel character. This season, Cody Rhodes filled that role.

And I will also state that the commentating team of Michael Cole and Josh Matthews is blowing away every other tandem we’re being offered right now. Their chemistry is natural, and their characters really do feel like extensions of their actual personalities. And I wouldn’t categorize Cole as a full blown heel. Instead, I see him as antagonizing. In my view, his work on NXT improved his performance on Raw. And Matthews works off of him wonderfully.

I’ll also say that this season of NXT seemed slightly more focused than last season. You could tell that the show debuted before the powers that be truly knew how they wanted to format it. Going into this season, there was already a design, which had been refined slightly (with fan voting). They also had an idea of what challenges worked, and which ones didn’t (chugging soda). My one qualm about this season’s challenges, though: WAY too many “Talk the Talk” challenges. It seemed like we had one every other week and for the most part we saw the same performance over and over. Kaval was the only one who seemed to show any improvement in that department.

Oh, and it was this season that Matt Striker, for me, crossed the line into becoming obnoxious and intolerable. I understand that he has the tough responsibility of guiding and maintaining segments on live TV with a bunch of rookies, but it absolutely drives me crazy when he tries to look tough at the expense of people who are supposed to be marketable talents. How many times did we see him shove away Alex Riley? And how often did he tell these rookies not to touch him? This show is about making them look good, not him look tough.

Anyway, about the finale. I didn’t really have any problems with it, at all, until when the winner was announced. I’m thrilled Kaval won, because he’s not only the most talented, but if handled right, I think he may be the most marketable as well. But the segment absolutely died when Michael McGillicutty cut his promo. It was, in a word, painful. Here’s the transcript:

Unfortunately, I got eliminated today. And I lost my guaranteed shot at a title. But that is not gonna stop me from becoming a future World Heavyweight Champion. See, I am the future of this company. I am gonna be a big time player in this machine called WWE. I am the next big thing. I am the next generation. And starting this moment, from now…from this moment on, this will be the moment, starting now, of the genesis of McGillicutty.

First off, how many times did he say “moment” there? “Starting this moment, from now, from this moment on, this will be the moment starting now.” He sounds like a cartoon character. Speaking of which, “McGillicutty” is such a ridiculous last name, that attempting to use it in an intimidating and threatening fashion is laughable. Honestly, this “I’ve snapped” moment was begging for him to disown this silly moniker so that he can go by his given name, Joe Hennig. Massively blown opportunity.

Then instead of getting to enjoy his moment, Kaval is jumped by the rest of the season two rookies. And the beat down was so weak and pathetic looking that everybody involved looked foolish. The moves were sloppy, the punches and kicks were weak, and it simply looked terrible. But oh, it got worse…

The face WWE Pros run in to save Kaval (which makes sense). The refs then run in, MAKE THE PROS LEAVE, but allow the rookies to continue their assault. The referees then stand in the aisle, effectively blocking anybody from helping, while obliviously watching on as Kaval is attacked by 5 other people. Even Cole and Matthews were confused by this, asking why nobody is doing anything to help. But fret not, kind readers, it gets worse….

Alex Riley and McGillicutty run down to join in on the fun. And what does Riley do after laying in a few shots at Kaval? He proceeds to begin attacking Percy Watson, who is part of the attack that Riley himself is joining in on. Instead of selling Riley’s offense, Watson tries to wrestle away from him, as if saying, “What the hell are you doing you dumb moron?” But no, Riley continues punching and kicking Watson, clearly having no clue as to what the hell he’s supposed to be doing. He proceeds to body slam Watson and even throws him out of the ring. Confused, Watson stands out there for a few minutes before coming back into the ring and HELPING RILEY IN HIS ATTACK ON KAVAL. Yes, all of that actually happened. It was an awful mess.

To be perfectly honest, I hope we don’t see the second coming of Nexus with the rejected season two rookies. This attack showed that these guys are NOT ready to be on television and that they desperately need more seasoning. Along with that, having all of the rookies end up with contracts immediately following the show, both seasons, really discredits the competition. Otherwise, why not just award all of them contracts, and have the competition be about getting that guaranteed PPV title shot?

So I wish Kaval the best. Hopefully he won’t get weighed down by that atrocious ending.

Oh, and an All Diva season is a terrible idea.

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