What a week of wrestling it’s been. Raw hit 1000 episodes, and…did anything else happen? Well, yeah! So, here is the Front Gamer’s account of all things wrestling for last week. Come on, Marty, let’s go back in time.
Raw Is Nostalgia
I would bury the lead if we didn’t talk about the absurd amount of awesome cameos from the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw. When it was originally announced that Degeneration-X was going to be making a reunion, it was going to be Shawn Michaels and Triple H doing their usual schtick. However, with the addition of the Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and X-Pac, this cute reunion became an awesome moment. The moment was awesome, and was made better by the interaction with Smackdown’s Damien Sandow.
Was that not enough for you? What about Heath Slater’s interaction with a number of classic veterans? For almost a month, Heath Slater has been on thereceiving end of beatings from various classic wrestling personalities from Diamond Dallas Page, Rikishi, and the great Bob Backland.
Well, Raw 1000 wasn’t an exception. Slater took on everyone’s favorite Diva, Lita, in a no-disqualification match. Then it turned out that Lita had brought help: the APA, made up of WWE Hall of Famer, Ron Simmons and John Bradshaw Layfield. Then, as Slater decided that it would be better to leave, the Legends from the past came over and stopped him.
While there were a number of cool surprises (seriously, Dude Love? YES!), nothing will compare to the greatest cameo of all time.
Oh you don’t know who that is? Well….
http://youtu.be/gCpdBoqLJ68
Mae Young gave birth to a hand. Now the hand is an adult. Word of advise to Mark Henry, you might want to find out who the father is, because there is no way that’s your baby.
“Do I Have Your Attention Yet?”
CM Punk has been on a fantastic ride over the last year, ever since last year’s Money in the Bank. Punk, who was the guy questioning authority, gained control and became one of WWE’s top guys. He was doing interviews and media, making DVDs, and just trying to be THE guy. However, on Raw 1000, he just placed himself on the Mount Rushmore of this generation of wrestling superstars.
It started with him interacting with the Rock as he came in to interrupt Daniel Bryan, who we will get to later. The Rock announced that he was going get a shot for the WWE Championship at next year’s Royal Rumble, and CM Punk countered with him saying that he will be the one he will face at the Rumble.
Then, during his match versus John Cena for the WWE Championship, Punk just watched while the Big Show, who has been feuding with Cena, came in and attacked Cena while he had the STF locked on Punk, making Cena win, but allowing Punk to retain the title. Then, The Rock, who doesn’t like Cena, came out and saved him from the Big Show. However, as the Rock went to hit the Big Show, Punk came out of nowhere and attacked the Rock.
This, of course, is the best thing the happen to Punk. I don’t believe it will be a heel turn, based on his interaction with Bryan earlier in the night. I think it almost harkens to the original promo that Punk cut in Vegas almost a year ago. Cena and the Rock represent everything that Punk was railing against, and the fact that these two guys have been overshadowing Punk since he won the title would make anyone angry. So, if we see this edge to Punk going forward, it could mean more great things ahead.
I Hate Charlie Sheen
So this should be a whole thing about the awesomeness that was the Bryan/AJ wedding, which led to AJ becoming the General Manger of Raw. It was a great segment, making Bryan look like a goober, and AJ on top again. Also, while I’m not a fan of Slick, he was at least funny.
All of that, including Daniel’s breakdown was for one thing: to introduce segments between a SKYPING IN Charlie Sheen and Daniel Bryan. First, Skype? Are you kidding me, Charlie Sheen? You already quit Twitter, so you couldn’t be their social media administrator, but you couldn’t get in front of a camera? Or what about Tout? WWE was pushing the platform for weeks anyways, so why not have Sheen just Tout instead of Skype in. It sucked. SO bad.
Furthermore, I don’t want to see Charlie Sheen fight Bryan at Summerslam. Do not want. Daniel Bryan is a fantastic wrestler and would be better off fighting someone in the company. Instead, he’s going to fight an out-of-shape actor, which will be enjoyable to no one. I also have a feeling that Bryan will lose. I….just would rather watch Ryback and Tensai fight the whole roster of NXT. UGH, this just reeks of FAIL!
Aces and 8s? More Like NWLate….
So this week, Impact Wrestling had its own share of big news. Sting became the Interim GM of Impact Wrestling, while Hogan is off being repainted orange - I mean, recovering from the beating that Aces and 8s gave him. Chavo Guererro joined the roster and instantly linked up with Hernandez, because, you know, they are Hispanic. Also, the X-Division is being revitalized, which is a good thing.
However, this show has become the “What will the Aces and 8s do next” show, very reminiscent of the NWO, Aces and 8s constantly attacked everyone, ranging from Sting to Kurt Angle at the end of the show. I would warn Impact Wrestling: this is interesting, as was the first run of the NOW and the Nexus of 2010. However, if they don’t show some motive, it’s going to get old FAST. Don’t wait for Bound for Glory to reveal who these guys are. Just do it as soon as possible.
Smackdown! Bringing the…Meh
For Raw to be such a fantastic Raw, Smackdown was just a letdown. Antonio Cesaro beat Santino Marella, looking like it’s going to be those two going forward for Marella’s United States Championship. The Miz beat Christian to retain the Intercontinental Championship, which he won on Raw, and Alberto Del Rio became the number one contender again. Honestly, though, the show just fell flat. Maybe it is because it came off the last Raw, but nothing felt important. I do like seeing the under-champions in action, but for such an important week, I wish Smackdown would do more.
And Now for Something Completely Different:
So, while these posts are going to be Primarily WWE and Impact wrestling, I do want to talk about independent wrestling. This will be where we talk about guys who aren’t on the big show.
I want to highlight Adam Cole this week. I first saw Cole in ROH last year in a tag team with Kyle O’Reilly. I thought he looked OK, and was OK in the ring, but that’s about it. Then, Best in the World, in a match against O’Reilly, Cole had his two front teeth knocked out and mouth busted completely opened. Instead of being a normal human and just quitting, or stopping the match for a moment, he spit the blood in O’Reilly’s face and continue the match. Awesome stuff.
Now he has this promo for California’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle for Los Angles. These indy promos are very reminiscent of old school promos because they are mostly adlibbed, unlike the scripted promos of the bigger companies, but that could make it bad or good. Adam Cole’s promo is beyond fantastic, and you should go out of your way to see him in a match.
That’s our look at wrestling this week, folks. Stay tuned to next week for more looks back at the wacky world of wrestling.
