NXT Please

I think we have just been Obamaed by the WWE. We were promised something new, something innovated, we were promised change. That's not what we got. Like Obama's reign, the WWE has lost some of its luster recently. Both have been hemorrhaging money and doing everything they can think of to find a new audience even if it means pissing all over the old one. They keep promising change and innovation but only to bring back old ideas in a new packaging while afraid of the very thing they promised. They stick to a rigid formula which is why both are in their rut in the first place .

What I thought we were going to get in NXT was a reality show along the lines of the Ultimate Fighter. Reality shows have been the it thing for the better part of a decade producing many of the celebrities of the last decade. UFC in particular owes much of its current success to The Ultimate Fighter. Reality TV opens a window in which we see at how people 'live" and is at it's most successful which over the top animated characters such as the Osbourne's and more recently the Hills.

These undoubtedly scripted shows presented as reality makes it a cousin of sorts to pro wrestling and I have long thought that by borrowing their cousins format would be an interesting new way to present wrestlers and add dimension to their characters. For the longest time we've only seen wrestlers either in the ring or backstage. We never see their day to day life, training and rarely giving a reason to build a connection with them.

One of the things NXT did that i like were the video packages introducing the talent, but that's too be expected from the WWE production team. I do feel they tried to introduce too many people at once. They should of had one video package introducing a NXT rookie every episode of ECW for the past few months.

The first episode of NXT should show the Mentors picking their students instead of them being randomly paired. Starting with the second episode, every episode should limit itself to focusing on two different rookies to ensure every rookie gets a chance to shine. Like the Ultimate fighter, they should focus mostly on developing the rookie's characters, their training and at the end of the episode have the two rookies facing off.

Another problem I feel with the show is the choice of mentors. I'm not saying these guys chosen aren't worthy but I think it would be more beneficial for ratings and promoting the rookies if they had main eventers train the rookies. Wouldn't Triple H, Cena, Orton, Batista, Rey make more sense as mentors then Carlito, R Truth and Matt Hardy. Christian and William Regal are both fine in the role even though they don't have the profile of the afore mentioned stars. They were the two top performers of ECW adding continuity between NXT and ECW and both are respected veterans. Chris Jericho and CM Punk are both main eventers so their good and I'm giving The Miz a pass because he's awesome, currently a triple crown champion and a former reality TV show star.

 

Edge's Return.

Growing up I was a WCW fan. I would always watch Nitro then turn to Raw during commercials, but I would always quickly flip back to make sure I didn't miss anything. However, there was always one thing that would keep me from turning back to Nitro. Edge and Christian. Edge has been my favorite wrestler since then and my favorite of all time.

Edge has just made his return in grand fashion. After a multi month injury he surprised everyone by returning to the Rumble and winning it. This was the most epic way for him to return that's to be sure but was it the best?

When he was injured he was one half of the tag team champions with Chris Jericho and after his injury he was kicked to the curb by Jericho who replaced him with the Big Show, who Edge was feuding with at the time. This was the perfect set up for an Edge vs Jericho feud when Edge returned, which we may still get if Jericho wins the Elimination Chamber.

Jerrishow was one of the highlights of the past year. Their reign with the belts helped restore credability to tag team wrestling in the WWE. They were on a role and really stood out. Then DX decided they wanted a run with the belts too. Jerrishow should have kept the belts till mania and dominated a few more teams along the way like a reformed Worlds Greatest Tag Team and a one off reunion of Morrison and the Miz. At the Rumble Edge should have returned but not in the rumble but as interference coting Jericho the match. Then Edge challenge Jerrishow at mania with his partner Christian.

E&C vs Jerrishow would be a major match. Granted, it would be a step down for Edge and potentially Jerricho to be in a tag title match when they could main event, but it would be better for the WWE, tag team wrestling and for the overall card at Mania.

Tag team wrestling in the WWE has seen a surge the past year and a lot of great new teams have come into being, but there's one problem. Most of them are heel teams. outside of DX the only two face teams are Crime Time and MVP Henry. If Edge and christian win the tag titles it would open up quite a few potential feuds.

E@C vs The Straight Edge Society- Punk and Edge started having a pretty decent feud before punk went heel and could now continue due to Edges quasi face statis. christian as well would match up nicely against Punk.

E&C vs The Hart Dynasty- Edge and christian got their start at the Hart Dungeon and would be a possibly career defining feud for the Hart Dynasty

E&C vs Legacy- This depends on if Legacy is doesn't brake up, but reunited Edge with his former Rated RKO partner Randy Orton and Dibiase and Rhodes are the most legit tag team in the WWE right now thanks to their feud with DX

E&C vs Regal/Jackson- Picking up where Christians with them ended. Christian and Regal had some of the best matches of the past year.

E&C vs Worlds Greatest Tag Team- Shelton and Christan had a fun latter match at TLC and both of these teams have been around for quite a while and are both really really good.

E@C vs The Briscoes- It's been reported that the WWE has been very interested in signing the best underground tag team of the decade and Edge and christian would be natural opponents.

The rebirth of the tag division isn't the only reason I was disappointed to see Edge win the Rumble. Edge has at this point pretty much has done everything there is too do in the WWE and there isn't much left he can do that would be interesting.

One thing that could keep Edge relevant for years is a long term storyline. I would have had Edge, when he returned, say he had a lot of time to think about his legacy and how he would be remembered and how it disgusted him. He just wanted to be the champion so bad he started taking short cuts and before he knew it he became a monster and that's not how he wants to be remembered. He wants to be remembered as a true champion not an opportunist. He wants to win the title this time by talent and hard work not politicking and cheating.

Of coarse, this is easier said then done. For this storyline to mean anything it would take time. Anywhere, between 1 and three years. There would also have to be obstacles that reflect his past transgressions. Maybe Vickie taking power again and making Edge's life a living hell. He would also have to face people he has wronged in the past such as Matt Hardy, Batista and The Undertaker and he would have to face coconspirators like Zac Ryder, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. After confronting his past sins, he would win The Royal Rumble and win the championship representing his redemption. Granted Vince McMahon would never go for a long storyline like that, but that's the reason the WWE is in the state that it's in.

The End of E.C.W.

We seem to be on the verge of a new era. The old institutions are being swept aside and new concepts are taking their place.The latest sign of the changing times is ECW 2.0's demise and it's replacement NXT.

While I'm sad to see ECW go it probably is about time. It was apparent from the beginning that this incarnation wasn't going to be anything like the original and lately wouldn't have any support from Vince. Even though it was abounded from the mother company ECW continued to put out great matches with Christian, Regal and Shelton Benjamin. I just wished they gave it a better ending.

The ECW homecoming was a great idea but was rushed and a lot of major former ECW stars who could have been involved weren't. It also would have been an epic way to end ECW. Imagine this.

Vince comes to ECW the first episode following the Royal Rumble and declares its demise and that after Wrestlemania it will be replaced by NXT. Then Tiffany and Christian announce the ECW homecoming a tournament where any former ECW star can compete and the winner gets the last ECW title shot at mania. The contestants would be Miz, Morrison ,Tommy Dreamer, Big show, Regal, Matt Hardy, Yoshi, Koslov, Shelton, CM Punk, Hurricane, Ryder, Mark Henry, Kane, Jack Swagger and if they can get him RVD. Big Zeke was excluded because he would be feuding with Christian during this time.

During this time they would announce the contestants for NXT like they did last night (btw where the hell was Kavil) except one a week and give them a short promo video saying who they were and why they wanted to be in the WWE. Also if they really wanted ratings wouldn't they have main eventers like Cena, HHH and Orton mentoring instead of people like R Truth, Carlito and Matt Hardy.Still, having The Miz mentor Danielson will be fun and not a horrible idea.
One last thing DOMINATION!

Missed Opportunities: Monday Night War 2 Part 2; The Oppostition speaks.

Let me start by saying that Monday night was the most fun I've had as a wrestling fan in a long time. The Hype, Nostalgia and the Surprises are the things I love about wrestling and Monday couldn't have possibly done more in those fronts.

On raw we saw a solid tag title match between the two highest profile WWE tag teams in a long time and the historic return of Bret Hart. However, for the first time since March 21st 2001 Monday Night belonged to another wrestling promotion.

I'm going to be honest that was a horrible effort TNA put on. The first hour especially X division match was an abortion. Most of the returns are people that will not only have zero positive effect but will actually probably hurt the promotion (Nasty Boys and Orlando Jordan whats up?) and none of the matches had enough time. TNA was advertising hogan on Raw instead of Jeff Hardy(you know the guy who was WWE champion last summer, selling more merc than any1 else on the WWE roster at the time, and who's defection even surprised Vince McMahn). That being said it was still a fun show. It was kinetic and had me wanting to see what was next. On raw there was literally history being made and i just wanted to flip back to Impact.

While fun and gaining an impressive rating(for TNA) they should be embarrassed. This was the most important show they have ever produced and they really needed to put their best foot forward instead they just showed all their weaknesses. Their ADD logically deprived booking, over reliance on has beens and just overall wasting the talent of some of the most gifted athletes in the world.

Let's start with their advertising campaign. While, probably the most aggressive one they've ever pulled off they only focused on Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan is a big deal but you can't build your promotion around him in 2009. They really needed to announce more matches before the show and hype the hell out of them, especially the world title match. Also they have a pay per view coming up that could use some building to as well. TNA has all the tools they could possibly need except the ability to think.


Next,the returns. Acquiring Jeff hardy is a big deal and Ric Flair adds prestige to any promotion he works for. Shanon Moore and the afore mentioned Nasty Boys and Orlando Jordan aren't as positive especially when their are much bigger stars they could set their sights on. Lita would have been a much better choice to bring in with Hardy than Moore. Ken Kennedy, RVD, the Briscos, A Train(he got better) and Mistico all would have been excellent additions to the TNA roster. The jury is still out on Val Venus. I like him but his best days are behind him. Still, he would make a good tag partner for Matt Morgan.

The first match is always the most or second most important match of any given show and that has never been more true then this one. This impact was an attempt to lure new viewers to TNA and those new fan's first impression of TNA is a bunch of talented guys that they have ever seen before going at it in a steel cage for 2 minutes before a dq. Bad TNA, bad!

I would have gone a different route. A fatal four way match for the #1 contendership at Genesis between Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Daniels and Desmond Wolfe. These are four guys TNA has been trying to build their promotion around and I think It would be a good idea to put them out first and for most so that new fans can identify TNA with these four guys, not blah. Kurt Angle is a household name and currently a face new fans shouldn't have too much a problem getting behind Especially, when overcoming the odds against these three very talented heels. It would also be a much bigger deal if Jeff may his debut saving Kurt Angle from a three on one beat down that could set up a potential feud with either of these three guys. I would also have AJ out on commentary and while that isn't his strong point the champ needs to be a focal point of this show and needs to be on camera every chance TNA gets.

When will wrestling promotions learn that if you can't give a match 10 minutes its best to just leave the match off the card. Matches like Matt Morgan/Hernandez vs Raven/Dr. Stevie, Samoa Joe vs Abyss, Steel Asylum, Dinerio vs Desmond Wolfe and Tara vs. ODB were just thrown together, not even given a chance to develop and won't lead anywhere. Instead of the steel asylum match I would have just had a one on one match between the Amazing Red and Homicide for the X division title where homicide would get the title win. Instead of the Hernandez/Morgan vs Raven/Dr. Stevie I would have had Hernandez/Morgan /Dinero/Abyss vs the World Elite with a screwy finish leading to hogan giving Abyss/Morgan a tag title shot at Genesis, Hernandez getting a shot at Eric Young's global championship and Dinerio a shot at Homicides x division championship. Tara and ODB should have been left to Genesis.

With Angle being moved to the opening match that would leave the world title match open. Bobby Lashley would have been a perfect replacement. He just recently won a tournament giving him a title shot, signed with strike force and being a former WWE star gives him name recognition enough to justify a title shot against A.J. Having Ric Flair come out was a good idea but they should have put him on commentary, it would create a big match atmosphere having one of the great legends on commentary putting these two guys over.

One last thing, if you want to unmask a masked assailant and swerve the audience you should do it on the live episode and not the taped episode the week later. Imagine this, the masked assailant attacks AJ, Bobby Lashley sets up a spear leading the audience to think he's going to help AJ, Bobby Lashley then tells the masked man to get out of the way and spears AJ going heel in the process. The two them beat up on AJ till Ric Flair pulls A.J. out of the ring. The masked man unmasks himself. The lights dim. A mic falls from the ceiling. He says "The Future of pro wrestling has arrived and his name is Anderson...Anderson!".

Missed Opportunities: Monday Night Wars 2 Part One; A Small Peace Found In Larger War.

Let me start by saying that Monday night was the most fun I've had as a wrestling fan in a long time. The Hype, Nostalgia and the Surprises are the things I love about wrestling and Monday couldn't have possibly done more in those fronts.

On Raw we saw the conclusion of a story that spanned not only kayfabe, but reality as well as two icons of the business, who have had one of the great rivalries in wrestling history and who's backstage hatred of each other is equally legendary, brought a conclusion to a story that noone though would or could ever end. Bret Hart is one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time. When Hogan and his friends left the wwe it was Bret Hart who picked up the torch and lead the wwf to survival and when the time came passed the torch to the most popular wrestler of all time Stone Cold Steve Austin and helped Austin get over by innovating a new kind of heel.

Austin was not Hart's greatest rival though, it was a man by the name of Shawn Michael's. What made this rivalry great is that neither Shawn or Hart were playing characters. They were being themselves. Bret Hart was raised basically wrestling royalty. His father was the legendary Stu Hart. Bret Hart's family owed everything to wrestling and he took the business very seriously. To Shawn wrestling was his second favorite game only after messing with people. Shawn by all accounts, including his own, was an asshole. He thrived on being the center of attention which had the twin effects of pushing him to be a show-stealer and pushing other people around. It's easy to see where the animosity comes from. They however, put on some of the best matches of all time.

Their final and most important match occurred Survivor Series 1997. Prior to this match Vince McMahon was unable to negotiate a deal to keep Bret Hart with the wwf and Bret was going to the wwf's main competitor the wcw. However, Vince and Bret had a short term deal where Bret wouldn't leave with till he lost the wwf championship. Bret offered to loose the belt to several people including Ken Shamrock, but due to personal animosity he didn't want to drop the belt to Shawn Michaels even though they had at survivor seris 97 coming up. Vince promised Bret that he wouldn't have to drop the belt to Shawn. Vince lied. Not only did he lie , he neglected to tell Bret. Instead he waited till the match was going on and when Shawn had Bret in Bret's signature submission hold, The Sharpshooter, Vince called for the ref to ring the bell. Let's just say Bret was pissed. This was the end of Bret and Shawn's storied in ring rivalry, the beginning of the real life feud between Vince and Bret and the birth of the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

Shortly after Bret left the wwf, his brother Owen Hart was killed in a stunt gone wrong and Bret faced had his career ended by injury where the down syndrome afflicted Goldberg f'ed up a mule kick resulting in Hart suffering a concussion and eventually a stroke. He would never wrestle again. Shawn Michaels also called it a career shortly after due to back problems, but he later found Jesus at rehab and returned a few years later.

Bret Hart was understandably bitter about the whole situation and never shied away from voicing his discontent to the media. Vince never shy himself had no problems in using the screwjob to elevate his character as possibly the greatest antagonist in wrestling history and has countless times repeated the screwjob in story-lines. Vince didn't stop there. After the success of the dvd The Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior Vince McMahon set his sights on a follow up which was to be called Screwed: The Bret Hart Story which obviously wasn't going to exactly be a positive look at Bret's career. After seeing a kid playing with a Bret Hart action figure at the dentist office Bret realized he didn't want to be remembered for the Montreal Screwjob so he came to an arrangement with Vince McMahon that he would work with Vince on the DVD.

Now that a working relationship established between the two Vince wanted to try his luck and inducted Bret Hart in the wwe hall of fame hoping he could rope Bret into a storyline at WrestleMania. Well, not a whole story just put an end to a story. Bring an end to what is probably Vince McMahon's favorite story. Bring an end to the Montreal Screwjob Story.

Shawn Michaels was set to face Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 22. In the lead up to the match Vince kept pressuring Shawn about the screwjob and Shawn said he just wanted to put it behind him which lead to a storyline which McMahon challenged Michaels conversion to Christianity. The plan was for Bret to return and help McMahon defeat Shawn at WrestleMania. Bret declined. While he may have forgiven McMahon, he still refused to work with Shawn Michaels. It wasn't a total bust though the match did become PWI match of the year and we got this...

After WrestleMaina 22 it became a forgone conclusion that we would never see a conclusion to montreal Screwjob. Bret couldn't get past Shawn Michaels actions in the past. Remember, the Montreal screwjob wasn't the start of their mutual ill will, it was just the exclamation point. Shawn politicized and tried to hold down Bret's protege The Rock while trying to elevate his own, HHH. There was also the afore mentioned personality clash and as afore mentioned Shawn Michaels was an ass.Bret also seemed to be weary of the wresting business.

The wwe's largest competitor TNA has recently announced not only the signing of Hulk Hogan but that Hogan would debut on a live 3hour Monday night special for the first time in the company's history going head to head with the wwe. Dixie Carter, tna's President, called this the "first shot" in a new Monday night war. The wwe's response was a special celebrity guest host. Bret Hart.

This is probably the longest post I've written on this site, but it's important to the know the story before you know the ending. Bret Hart was indeed the guest host Monday. The show opened with a video package showing the clip-notes version of Bret Hart's career. His music hit. He walked down to the ramp. He then called Shawn Michaels down to the ring. We saw something no one ever thought they would see again. Shawn and Bret were standing in the same ring. And they didn't kill each other. They shook hands. They hugged. They hugged!

Professional Wrestling isn't known for ending story-lines. Mainly because it rarely happens. Writers get bored, egos get in the way, injuries and other things prevent many if not most story-lines from reaching a resolution. Thats to be expected from a weekly tv show with the amount of physicality involved in wrestling. Most of these story-lines are forgotten. Not this one. There are few story-lines less likely of seeing resolution then this one. But it happened.Even more rarely is that ending two enemies finding coming to terms and even more rarely then that two real life enemies burying the hatchet. After 12 years of fermenting this long and winding journey has finally reached its destination.

Missed Opportunities:Bragging Rights

A ppv dedicated to WWEs 2 brands facing off is a good if not an obvious idea. Seriously, what took them this long. Wait, why don't they get it still?
Its simple you have the Champions of one brand face off against the equivalent title holder of the other brand. World vs World, US vs IC, Women's vs Divas tag vs-enn scratch that last one. It could be like a high school wrestling match you get so many points for a pin so many for a submission and to make it interesting winning brand gets three or so draft picks. This is something Ive wanted to see since the wcw vs wwf invasion angle though I always envisioned this take place at survivor series but hey its on ppv that works too. i thought they had it they even began to set it up in the multi man tag match at the smackdown 10 anniversary special then I herd john Cena challenge Randy Orton to an Ironman match.Wft!
Its not like I'm entirely against this match I'm just against it on a PPV about Raw vs.Smackdown. This could wait for Armageddon.
This is what Bragging Rights should look like.

Randy Orton vs Christian Cage with cage getting the win

Michelle McCool to face off against the only other women to hold both the Women's and Divas titles, Mickie James.

Mvp and Henry vs Jerrishow vs Batista and Rey Rey for the tag titles.

Undertaker vs Orton with orton getting the win.

John Morrison vs The Miz

Leagcy vs Crime Tyme vs Koslov and Zeke

Christian Undertaker with the Undertaker winning.

John Cena DX Borne and Kofi vs CM Punk, Ziggler Drew Mcentrye and the Hart Dynasty.

Then vince comes out and says he hates draws and announces one more match.

Undertaker vs Christian vs Orton in a winner takes all match won by Orton.

Missed Opportunities: Knockout Tag Team Championship.

When I first herd TNA were going to create a women's tag division I was a little excited. I've always liked woman's wrestling and tag wrestling so put the two together great combo. Add that TNA started out pretty well with the knockout divison but lately it has become a train wreck this would have been a good way to return it to its rightful place especially with the return Scott Demoore who first led it to greatness in the first place. However things didn't turn out as well as I hoped.
For starters they rushed the tournament so they could get the finals on the ppv before the biggest ppv of the year. Yes, the powers that be rushed the creation of the first women's tag championship in a major American promotion in a quarter century so they could squeeze it in on a minor wrestling show that takes place 1 month before their largest show of the year, where generally important things like the creation of new titles should happen. TNA also only had one established woman's tag team at the time(ok,maybe 2 if you count Kong and Saeed), and they didn't bother to make sure the visa of the main wrestler in the team had her visa shit worked out. That's a bitch move TNA. So their remedy they just throw a bunch of women together showing just how much they care about the division. In the final nail of the coffin the longest match in the tournament was 5 minutes.
What I would have done if I wanted to, you know, make the titles to mean something is give the tournament a little time. Have Dixie Carter make the announcement of the new division at hard justice 2 months before before bound or Glory with one tournament match a week on impact for six weeks with the finals at Bound for glory. While I would put some random people together I would have also brought in some outside talent like maybe a team from a Japanese promotion like TNA did with No Limit earlier in the year. I would have also done everything possible to hire Trish Stratus and Lita to at least a short term contract and bring them in as a team. These two are easly the two most popular woman's wrestlers of the decade and both are pretty good in the ring. By bringing in these two ladies it instantly adds credibility and brings attention to the titles. I would make it so in the finals are a three way match between Trish and Lita, Kong and Saeed and the beautiful people with the beautiful people winning by pinning Saeed then have Trish and Lita get another shot at the next ppv. the final ingredient I would add would be something TNA seems to be fond of at Bound For Glory's in the past is a special guest enforcer. A certain female athlete who just became the first womans champion in her sport in the first Womans MMA match to main event a PPV, Chris Santos Cyborg.