![[a case of the blog]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SY-CjpYjN_U/VF0vl6CNPjI/AAAAAAAAEOo/kQO_lGphFIs/s1600/newblogheader19.gif)
11:20 - To all of those people complaining about Miz being overlooked in the midst of this Cena/Rock feud, I feel the need to point out that this is the strongest any heel has been pushed going into WrestleMania in recent memory. As it had been pointed out throughout the segment, Miz has gotten the upper hand on Cena every time they've come face to face since the match has been announced.
11:14 - The Miz has been pretending to be The Rock for 8 years....what's one more segment?
10:57 - These Sin Cara videos are constant reminders of how extremely talented WWE's audio visual department is. These guys are the best in the business.
10:52 - So John Morrison went from one of the hottest stars on either of the rosters to being booked for an intergender match for WrestleMania, in which both of his partners will be featured more prominently than him?
10:43 - More curious booking -- in one night we have two matches in which somebody has to win a match to keep their job.
10:34 - Note to people like Seth Rogen and Drew Carrey - People who become famous when they're chubby but suddenly become very thin are creepy looking.
10:22 - In response to Kyle's comments: I think we're in agreement that Sheamus/Bryan should have waited for WrestleMania. Along with the reasons we've both already stated, I think it would have been easier to book as well. By having Sheamus win (like he did tonight), they both come out of the match looking fine. But by having the match tonight, and the rematch at Mania, where do we go from here? Bryan doesn't look all that good if he loses to Sheamus again (given his lack of momentum), but if Bryan wins it feels like we needlessly tampered with his nice little United States title reign. Seems like a waste.
10:21 - I'm guessing that Mason Ryan makes the cut and manages to beat Orton in order to be the sole Nexus member to appear in Punk's corner. Also, is there any chance that WWE will give Edge and Christian the tag straps this Friday? Cuz that would be, ya' know, epic.
10:13 - That was a rather curious segment that, overall, I have to say worked. It was uncomfortable during the Brian Christopher/Lawler portion, because nobody came off particularly well. I was glad that Lawler didn't become that blubbering dad figure where he apologized for neglecting his son, but by not explaining how Christopher was such a disappointment, he just looked like a jerk. However, the segment was absolutely saved by the surprise appearance of Jim Ross. The crowd (and I daresay viewing audience) really ate into that. Not to mention the fact that JR looks great! He's slimmed down significantly, good for him.
My biggest issue with piece, though, was that nobody came to Ross' rescue when he was about to get pummeled by Swagger. From a character perspective, JR is this highly revered and respected, but ultimately defenseless, veteran. Am I to believe nobody would come to his rescue? Especially when it did escalate to a violent level.
9:59 - Wow, Brian Christopher looks awful.
9:53 - I can't say I'm all too surprised to see Sheamus win the United States Championship. For one, if they were going to with the fired storyline, I think they would have saved the match for WrestleMania (although, truth be told, Title vs. Career could have been pushed as a Mania match in and of itself). Secondly, like I noted below, they created a new storyline (with the king curse) that wouldn't have been properly resolved unless he won the match. I expect to see a rematch at WrestleMania.
9:45 - I find it curious that the announcers are bringing up this King of the Ring curse for the first time tonight. That connection was yet to be made before tonight.
9:32 - Is it me, or does the sight of Triple H with a Poland Springs bottle in his hand immediately take away any sense of intimidation?
9:26 - How far we've come. A couple of months ago WWE was avoiding the sight of blood at all costs (even stopping matches for a trickle). Now they're zooming in on a few drops that easily could have been missed. And who's the secret person from King's past? I say the Honky Tonk Man, who (if I'm not mistaken) is Lawler's cousin -- and the two don't get along.
9:10 - That was a great opening segment from The Rock. Unlike his last promo, he didn't come across as irrationally angry and didn't simply regurgitate what he had previously said. This was something different, and toning down his anger went an awfully far way. I could have gone without the background music when he called out Miz, but overall it was a great way of continuing the tension between Rock and Cena. Oh, and Cole's announcing cage is downright awesome.
12 comments:
On Sheamus: I agree we'll see a rematch, I just feel like it would have made more sense to save this for Wrestlemania. A rematch doesn't have the oomph of a first time, title VS career match. This is just a "Hey, you know that free match we just saw on Raw? It's that guy who lost getting his rematch".
Agreed on Rock. I also thought it was interesting that he was all jokey with Cena but got serious about Miz. I appreciated that considering how Miz has been treating it, getting jokey with him too would have hurt Miz.
I was going to suggest Grandmasta Sexay but obviously this post is coming in too late. ;)
Can I just clarify here?
Did they go with Brian Christopher saying "You're a deadbeat dad" and Lawler responding with "Yup, cause you sucked as a son so I didn't feel like raising you" to get sympathy for Lawler? Cause like, I would like Lawler less now.
The roof would have blown off if Austin's music had hit.
But I do agree, someone should have come out, but ah well. It was a well done segment. Someone could have gotten a boost from saving them and then had a match with Swagger next week or something, but it's not a huge deal.
Wow I really want to see this match now. Punk vs an invincible guy who can't lose under any circumstances! And now Punk who can't win without help lately has no help! Yeah! I totally think Randy has a chance at losing! Sigh.
Oh and good, thanks for wasting our time calling up Mason Ryan to do nothing!
I cannot stand Orton as he's booked now. Absolutely cannot stand him.
Re Orton/Punk - I have to agree. Why are they stacking the decks against the heel? A heel they never make look particularly strong, either. Despite being the hottest heel in the entire company, has he EVER come out of a feud on top since he turned heel? Only possible exception is Jeff Hardy.
He really hasn't and it's insane. The problem to me is that both Orton and Cena (but lately, Orton to an even greater extent than Cena) are booked as way above everyone else on the Raw roster. They have no equals. Orton routinely kicks out of finishers, no sells, pops up, hits RKO, poses like he was uneffected, then puts guys out for months with little to no effort on his part. Last week he was beaten in the back for an extended period, took Punks finisher on the concrete, took Otunga's finisher, kicked out, RKOed Otunga, won, was then jumped by Ryan, no sold, RKOed HIM, then punted Otunga and acted unhurt and uneffected.
Why would anyone pay money to see a match with him? Even though guys are capable of winning against him (ONLY via massive cheating or outside interference), going into the PPV, there is absolutely no reason to think he would lose. Would you pay money to see Mohammed Ali or Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield face "some guy we found at a gym who hasn't won a match in awhile and is clearly not in their league"? I sure as hell wouldn't even if I was the biggest Holyfield fan in the world, because who cares? You already know who'll win. And that's how I feel about every Orton match ever. I know EXACTLY how the ending will go. 99% of the time Orton will win (sometimes by DQ or countout if a title is on the line and they don't want him to win it, but a win nonetheless), and if he doesn't, then you know it was because of outside interference or massive cheating, because unless his opponent is HHH or Cena, he obviously isn't in the same league as Orton is.
And people wonder why they're having trouble finding matches people care about? Because it's never, ever, ever a battle of equals if Orton (and to a lesser extent Cena, but let's be honest, does anyone remember the last time Cena lost clean in a 1 on 1 match that wasn't some special stipulation like a tables match where he slipped and "oops, fell through a table"?) is involved.
I'd rather see Ziggler VS Morrison, but if they're insistent on involving the girls, Snooki's a much better idea than Kelly. Kelly's hot but not a very good wrestler and she would make it just another match. At least the media will have a field day with this one and it might grab some extra buys from the Jersey Shore crowd (and hey, maybe even help Morrison/Ziggler when the media mentions what the match is).
I'm a bit surprised they're not doing something bigger with Morrison. Or Ziggler, for that matter. I understand not including a Money in the Bank match, but how about a traditional #1 Contender's match? The PPV after WM has a reputation for just repeating all of the big matches, so why not mix things up a bit by guaranteeing a somewhat fresh match?
So do you think Del Rio will win at Wrestlemania?
I used to think he would since he's getting megapushed and I expect Cena to walk out as champ so they'd have one heel. But I'm actually expecting Del Rio to get drafted to Raw. He's here ALL THE TIME and it's where they put their top guys (save for leaving a couple on Smackdown as a necessity). But why give him the title then have him lose it a month later? And Cena won't get sent to Smackdown to even it out. I'm not sure.
I waver between whether I think he'll win the World Heavyweight Championship or if he'll be drafted to Raw.
I don't see both happening, because I don't think they'll put Cena or Miz (the conceivable WWE Champions) on Smackdown at this time.
Well, I think Miz WAS overlooked the first couple weeks. First the Rock made an offhand comment about the Miz then really went after Cena, then Cena went after Rock. The tag title thing was whatever, it felt like it was just keeping Miz relevant, not actually making it about him.
The last two weeks Miz has very much been made to look strong and not overlooked at all. It's why I was thrilled to see Rock not only address him but get very serious about it after being jokey about Cena.
Now if Miz had ever been booked as anything other than the "vulnerable heel type" I might really buy that he had a chance. Say what you will about Mick Foley, but Miz could use a brutal hardcore bout with Miz winning cleanly like Foley gave to Edge and Orton to make them look like badasses capable of winning on their own merits (even if they end up cheating).
It's a distinction WWE forgets about sometimes. Vulnerable heels can draw and can work, but the ones who do have been shown at some time to still be CAPABLE. Ric Flair, one of the greatest examples of the vulnerable heel, would wrestle 60 minute draws giving everything he had and taking everything he'd get. He would beat guys cleanly in long matches (or at least survive a long match and win with the tights or the feet on the ropes). WWE heels typically don't get booked like that anymore when they're supposed to be "vulnerable champions" and I think it hurts. The Morrison/Bryan wins help but those guys aren't top guys right now. Closer than R-Truth, but still.
Not to say I think they're doing poorly with Miz right now. I don't. I just wish they'd really get behind a heel and have him, say, beat Randy Orton clean on PPV to build up to facing Cena at Wrestlemania. Then I'd totally buy he could win, and seriously, one loss wouldn't even effect Orton in the slightest. But they're so afraid to ever let someone get one up on Orton or Cena without lots of help or weapons, usually. The last couple weeks has been about as clean as it gets. One thing I liked about tonight was Cena fighting back and getting Miz up for the AA. It made me think "Look, Miz is beating Cena", and not "Look, Del Rio and Brodus beat up Cena and Miz is hitting his destroyed corpse".
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