Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Shaken or Stirred?

Did Vince "shake things up" with the WWE Draft this year?

Raw gained:
Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger, Kelly Kelly, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Curt Hawkins, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston, Tyler Reks and Beth Phoenix.

Smackdown gained:
Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Sin Cara, Daniel Bryan, Khali, Jimmy Uso, Alicia Fox, William Regal, Yoshi Tatsu, Natalya, Jey Uso, Ted DiBiase, Tyson Kidd, Tamina, Alex Riley and Sheamus.

My opinion? Stirred.

The most unexpected thing was Cena getting drafted to Smackdown, but by the end of the show he was drafted back, which was sort of expected. We knew Smackdown would need a face to fill Edge's shoes, and Orton will do just that.

What else?

- Rivalries: CM Punk lost Randy Orton to torment. Alberto Del Rio won't get a rematch with Christian after Extreme Rules. Rey won't have to worry about Cody Rhodes. Other than those three, everyone is free to continue as they were.

- Family Oriented: Raw may be the big dog, but Smackdown airs at a time when the youngest fans can watch. Moving to Smackdown should give Yoshi Tatsu a push, since he is already a kiddie fan favorite. Meanwhile, Superstars like Sheamus and Sin Cara can build lasting power by winning over the youngest fans.

- Family Affair: With the moves made, a majority of second- and third-generation Superstars are now on Smackdown. In fact, the only ones on Raw are the ones we haven't exactly seen too much of lately-- DH Smith, Husky Harris and and Michael McGillicutty. With Smackdown being the more family-friendly show, having the members of wrestling families can foster discussions between the generations within families watching the programs about their memories.

- Diva Harm: With Kharma (Awesome Kong) on her way, she needs some doll-like Divas to, um, harm. So, that's why Kelly Kelly was moved to Raw. Beth Phoenix will be the only one who can hang with her. Or we are all wrong about which show she'll steamroll through, and LayCool will have something to worry about besides each other.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Getting Tough

Tough Enough is back. Really back. Just the way I remember it, except someone bigger and balder is running things.

The show that launched the career of John Morrison (who I picked from Day 1 as winning it all way back when) and a few others (Maven, Chris Nowinski and Jackie Gayda-Haas, notably) who had great, yet temporary, runs.

Yes, The Miz will tell you he was on Tough Enough, but he was on a watered-down version on Smackdown which resembled NXT more than Tough Enough.

(FYI- Announcer Josh Mathews was also on Tough Enough, runner-up to Maven and Nidia on the first season.)

I don't know about you, but I was so excited after seeing the premiere of Tough Enough, I downloaded the app for my phone. The app doesn't even give me the names of the contestants with their photos, but it's pretty sweet to have Stone Cold in some way on my phone... But, I'm sidetracking...

Let's first talk about the first elimination. If I was one of those kids in the ring with Stone Cold talking to me the way he was, I'd either laugh and get in more trouble, or bleeped my pants (as Stone Cold revealed he did in a match with Yokozuma). Arianne did deserve to leave, especially if she wasn't acting. Seriously, Alicia Fox and Melina? Even if you just started watching and are only interested in Divas, there were definitely better matches to list. I don't know how you get into a competition like this and don't prepare yourself by researching and watching.

Which brings me to the other two. I don't know how you get into a competition like this and don't prepare yourself physically.

I think if Michelle had described her "11 years experience" better, perhaps everyone wouldn't have been so hard on her. (Of course, if she mentioned during that time she was a contestant on America's Next Top Model, it probably wouldn't have helped...) But, if you are a little rusty, don't you think you should find a way to chip off some of that rust before being filmed for national television?

And, Eric... Eric, Eric, Eric... if he doesn't prove his heart is in it tonight through his actions, I fear he is in danger of going home.

My favorites right now are Luke, Andy, Christina and Ivelisse. Luke is definitely the most impressive right now. That doesn't mean someone with less experience than these four will learn quickly and impress us all, or that Luke's partying will catch up to him...

Don't forget Tough Enough moves to its regular time tonight-- 8 pm, just before Raw on USA.

Monday, April 4, 2011

WrestleMania: The Day After

Should the Raw after WrestleMania be a better production than the 4-hour you paid for the night before? It usually is a pretty good episode, but it has the potential of stealing the show from the night before...

What messed up the biggest event in sports entertainment?

- The Rock. Yes, The Rock. He restarted the WWE Championship match only to end it by his own hands faster than it took him to tell the Raw GM it didn't matter what he thought.

- The 8-Man Tag match was about, oh, 8 seconds in length. Why was Kofi even put in to replace Kozlov if that going to happen anyway?

- No one was put over. In fact, if anything, the results and the way they happened, only hurt the guys' credibility.

- The "stars" at the end of the night- The Rock, The Undertaker and Snooki- aren't regulars.

- The US Championship match became a dark match, and eventually turned into a match in which the title wasn't contested.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad. So, what went right?

- Jim Ross came back to announce for one night only. JR tweeted he was asked to perform on Saturday. We're glad he was in town for Axxess, because it was nice hearing JR teamed with Jerry Lawler calling the matches (at least the last few matches).

- Taker's streak is still alive. And, as expected, the match was the highlight of the night.

- The second best match was the World Heavyweight Championship match. Unfortunately, this match was the opening match.

Match Results:
Edge def. Alberto Del Rio, retaining World Heavyweight Championship
Cody Rhodes def. Rey Mysterio
Big Show, Kane, Santino and Kofi Kingston def. The Corre
Randy Orton def. CM Punk
Jerry Lawler def. Michael Cole, but Raw GM changed results to Cole winning by DQ
The Undertaker def. Triple H
The Miz def. John Cena

Don't forget tonight is WWE night on USA. Hall of Fame Ceremony is at 8 pm. Raw, featuring The Rock and the debut of Sin Cara, starts at 9 pm. Then, following Raw at (or sometime after) 11 pm, is the premiere of Tough Enough with Host Stone Cold Austin and Trainers Trish Stratus, Booker T and Bill Demott.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

WrestleMania: Golden One

Alberto Del Rio will be the World Heavyweight Champion, but you already knew that...

He lived up to his hype and is now a top heel in company. He won the Royal Rumble, giving him this main event match at WrestleMania. The odds are good for him winning the title.

And, if the WWE wants to give Sin Cara as big of push, perhaps Del Rio already has a challenger to interrupt his next fiesta on Smackdown...

(yes, I do know that Sin Cara performed at a Raw house show this week, and he is scheduled in a match against CM Punk on Superstars next week, and he is debuting Monday night on Raw. However, it is the Raw after WrestleMania, and what better place to promote Smackdown. Oh, and Del Rio's debut match was against Rey Mysterio.)

Don't worry about Edge. He'll end up in sort of entertaining angle involving Christian...

Will The Miz be awesome tomorrow? That's actually one I'm not sure about...

See, I have two scenarios...

The Miz wins, proving he shouldn't have been ignored.

John Cena wins, but, wait-- what's that we smell? It's The Rock, abusing his hosting duties to give Cena his first title defense... and he's the challenger! (Afterall, this is the match being promoted...) Rock Bottom... 1... 2... 3... Finally, the Tooth Fairy, ahem, I mean, The Rock is back as WWE Champ!

Friday, April 1, 2011

WrestleMania: American Dragon and the Celtic Warrior

Going by their nicknames, this sounds like a pretty awesome match for the US Championship.

Sheamus, the Celtic Warrior, even told an Irish news source that he plans to steal the show at WrestleMania in his match against Daniel Bryan.

The problem is, after saying that, he also says Bryan is the one who has the "need" to win.

True, I guess, since he is the challenger, but shouldn't Sheamus have a huge "want" to retain the title?

I hope so, because he's the one who makes this match entertaining.

Don't get me wrong-- Bryan is a very talented wrestler. The problem is talent lies in submission moves, which don't exactly get the crowd going.

Fortunately for Sheamus, Bryan has no problem with taking beating. As long as Sheamus stays in control through a majority of the match, it will be a great match.

Sorry, Sheamus, but even though you need to steal the show (let's face it, the guy was WWE Champion just over a year ago and lost to Triple H at WrestleMania last year), it will be pretty hard to considering the other matches booked.

Even though I want Sheamus to control the match and that usually means when up against a submission specialist you're tapping out, I'm going with Sheamus retaining the title.

Why? Because while Sheamus was battling Triple H and Cena last year, Bryan was wasn't exactly winning on NXT...