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Lee Charleton – @Leeleemu
The Rock being a douche, trending worldwide, or at least it should be. His promo was lacklustre and I don’t think I am the only one getting fed up of his pathetic insults. “Lady Parts”, “Kung Pow Bitch”, all this Twitter Innovator crap, I honestly don’t care. I won’t open up on this segment as I know the other guys have.
Jericho and Punk stole the show, they showed up Dwayne, they showed how to put each other over and still build towards what should be a classic match at Wrestlemania 28. This is still the match I am looking most forward to and these guys added to that Monday night.
Did I hear Mr Exciting book a match in advance, finally the WWE are promoting matches for the week after, finally they are giving us something to look forward to, it’s just a shame its Kane v Aksana. One thing on Smackdown which highly irritated me was the fact Dolph was beaten by Sheamus, fine build Sheamus strong but have him defeat Dolph, not defeat Dolph even with assistance from Swagger and Vickie.
Now for me, it’s quite clear what the WWE are doing for this year’s Wrestlemania, we have heard The Undertaker, HHH and now Chris Jericho claim they are the last of a dying breed and therefore to me it is clear they are having some sort of Dying Breed vs. New Breed or Attitude Era vs. Present Era PPV. They are clearly brining older stars back in to try and bring older viewers in to see them in the hope they will connect to the younger stars from this era.
The Rock (AE) vs. John Cena (PE)
Chris Jericho (AE) vs. CM Punk (PE)
Kane (AE) vs. Randy Orton (PE)
Big Show (AE) vs. Cody Rhodes (PE)
To be honest, I am underwhelmed by the middle card currently and I am not a keen supporter of Sheamus so right now, I am only really invested into the Jericho/Punk, Taker/HHH and Rock/Cena match. I feel the Show/Rhodes and Kane/Orton matches are going to be woeful due to the lack of mobility of Kane and Show. They already have the big names in the Main Events so I much rather would have seen Cody Rhodes take on someone where they could have put a great match on.
Team Excitement vs. Team Long should be good and I am hoping it will be in a Team Ladder match. I am enjoying the little segments Teddy and Johnny are having on both Smackdown and Raw and if anything, this storyline has just been written as well as the others.
My last thought which myself and James discussed on our podcast, how are they going to set the Hell in a Cell up at Mania, it’s an open roof stadium so they can’t exactly have it hanging for the whole show?
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James Partridge – @GoofyVillain
The big talking point this week has been the promo that ended Raw between The Rock and John Cena. Now, this may not be a popular comment but…..I was starting to get a bit bored by The Rock’s promo. It just seemed to drag on and on for me, and I felt glad to see Cena interrupt. I’ve seen comments saying the writing on Rock’s wrist was “planned to try to get fans on Cena’s side”. Whether it was or not, it did seem suspicious. After all the years Rocky’s been cutting promos, now he suddenly has words on his wrist for his promo? He did seem a bit rattled by Cena though, just by the expression on his face, stumbled a few lines, and the curse word uttered after his promo. Let’s see how it continues on the next Raw.
Re-wind to the start of the show, where CM Punk and Chris Jericho had their own war of words. This one I really enjoyed, both getting in good verbal jabs at each other. Punk’s comments about Jericho inventing Canada made me smirk. This feud has got me hooked, and I’m always looking forward to these two appearing on Raw, just to see how this develops. It’s probably the match I am looking forward to seeing the most at Wrestlemania.
Randy Orton returned on Smackdown, and it kinda felt a flat return to be fair. There didn’t seem to be a usual fanfare from WWE about his return. At least I don’t remember seeing one on social media or WWE.com. Also, was it just me or did he look like he wasn’t as tanned as the Viper usually is?
As mentioned on this website recently, I really dislike the current Natalya storyline. I find it insulting to give a talented wrestler like Natalya, being used as a joke. And what made it worse, was having both Michael Cole and Booker T making not only a mockery of the Dynasty Diva, but also Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart. This storyline stinks, in more ways than one!
Big Show vs Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania, a match I never expected at the start of the year. Their feud on Smackdown is enjoyable, and I like Cody taunting the giant. I really do think they can put on a good match, and expect Cody to pick up a 2nd consecutive win on the biggest stage of them all.
News recently broke out that Wade Barrett will be out of action for 3-4 months. It’s a shame to read that, especially as he’ll miss Wrestlemania. Many were hoping he’d have a good match this time round, considering the failure of a match Wade was in last year. Maybe Wrestlemania 29, he’ll get his chance, and in a title match.
Speaking of Wade and Wrestlemania, he was expected to be part of a Money in the Bank match at the event. Not only that, he was expected to win the match and be the holder of that special briefcase which has brought Titles to the likes of Edge, CM Punk, Jack Swagger and Daniel Bryan for the first time. Rumours are that the match has been removed from the card, due to Wade’s injury. If true, I find it a bit strange. Injuries often change plans, but surely they could have given it to someone else? Maybe even have Wade return and challenge the holder, as injury took his chance away, and have the Englishman steal the briefcase.
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Simon Iles – @Simon_TTR
Oooh, was that a little bit of tension I saw at the end of Monday Night Raw this week? In what I am going to call ‘wristgate’, it seems as if John Cena caught Rock red-handed (or should that be red-wristed?) with promo notes scrawled on his arm. Whether or not Cena was scripted to say that or not, Rock seemed genuinely flustered, blowing the end of his promo with a stumble and a stutter. Some people have suggested that it’s all a work to try and get Cena some more support (at this rate he’s going to get a worse reaction than most dictators would), but I don’t think The Rock is THAT good of an actor. I mean, have you seen him in The Tooth Fairy?! I get the feeling that, as these guys apparently really don’t have that much time for one another, Cena threw that in as a shoot. If I’m wrong, then I think Dwayne deserves to be in the running for an Oscar next year…
In any case, the tense climax to this week’s show certainly turned up the heat on a feud which has obviously lost steam due to The Rock not being around much, and to the fact that the match was announced a year ago. What I found really interesting was the fact that The Rock spent some time addressing what he really meant when he said that he was never going away again. He got some boos at the start of his explanation, but what was even more telling is that after that little blip, he had everyone in that arena eating out of the palm of his hand. Well, every male over the age of 12. Quite what comparing John Cena to an item on a Chinese takeaway menu achieved, I don’t know (to be fair, there were a few things in the promo which didn’t make complete sense), but he got the Portland crowd chanting pretty much everything he called John Cena during the lengthy promo, summing up the attitude of, seemingly, most of the WWE Universe.
And then, out came Cena, pulling off another strong performance on the stick to back up last week’s promo where he really laid into The Rock. He made some good points about The Rock (not that we haven’t heard his points before) but, then again, so did the target of his jibes. The WWE are trying to build this up as a 50-50 thing, and it will certainly split some elements of the crowd. However, the vast majority are going to be on Rocky’s side come ‘Mania (not least of all because of the event’s location) and so I think the WWE faces ‘Mania going off the air to a chorus of boos, as Cena surely has to win…. doesn’t he?
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Lee – To me, the idea of Rock and Cena was to make Rock look like a douche this week, so at least Rock fans will respect Cena. None the less, Cena will still get booed out of the building, but at least he’ll be respected. The WWE sold that promo well, and it’s changing fans mind about the Rock. Don’t forget, Rock has to reply another time, Rock put Cena over in that promo.
James – The promo rubbed off on you too, that’s exactly what the WWE wanted to approach you with IMO. They want you to respect Cena more, by making Rock look like a douche. WWE know the Rock isn’t going to be there all year round, they know Cena will be…so to me, they’re just showing that Cena is pretty good at talking.
Simon – He may not be THAT good of an actor, but hey, he still is an actor and it’s what he does 8 months practically during the year, making movies.
I may be strong willed about Rock and Cena and may of come across as an asshole commenting there but that’s honestly how I feel and see regarding this topic.
I think Jericho-Punk is more interesting at the moment. Jericho-Punk is just like you’d rather just enjoy it rather than analyzing it as much as Rock and Cena.
Great work guys!
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You do make a good point, and it’s one I’ve been seeing said on numerous sites. With both guys due at Raw tonight, I’m intrigued to see how they will continue this.
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I kinda want Wade to come back as a face and get revenge on a newly-turned-heel Big Show.
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That’d be interesting. I’d watch that.
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I want Barrett to get a 1980’s British New Wave music gimmick. He just looks like the type you’d would see in those old videos.
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I like the sound of that. Maybe have Big Show lose his cool after Mania (and a possible loss to Cody), turning him heel?
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Yeah, it could just be too much.
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Lee- I like your take on the Attitude Era vs. Present Era thing. The Team Excitement vs. Team Long will probably be for the control of WWE shows.
James- It should’ve been Goldust vs. Cody for the IC title at WM. I hope the MITB comes back this year.
Simon- Of course Rock had the fans eating out of the palm of his hands. He’s one of the greatest promo guys in Wrestling.
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Goldust v Cody was the match I expected to happen. Seems a bit strange having Goldust appear during Cody’s feud with Booker T…then just disappearing :S
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Nice work guys!
Lee, I like how you actually put it right there for us, showing Attitude Era vs. Present Era. It seems HHH forgot about the other veterans in WWE right now. I also have to agree about the under card. In no way am I excited to see Kane/Orton or Big Show/Rhodes.
James, I have to say that to me that was one of The Rock’s weaker promos I’ve seen. They might have done that on purpose, who knows, but it seemed to have brought down the momentum a bit for me. I want to see these guys start to exchange blows soon and have to be torn off each other. Punk vs. Jericho is my Mania match I’m most excited for.
Simon, “wristgate” is the best, and I want to see Cena start to get the upper hand the next few weeks, then have Rock just plain out attack him. I think these two should take it to the next level soon and get the fans really involved. Totally not sure about the writing on the wrist either, but hey, maybe The Rock has been taking a few acting lessons.
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That’s kind of how I felt, and blows will come. I think they may hold back to them coming to blows at the go home show personally. Have them tease a Rock Bottom and/or AA before hand though.
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James, interesting news on Wade, I had not heard, and if it is true then I am honestly disappointed for him, he has the ability to be a top guy in the company and am in no doubt that he will be WH/WWE champ at some point this year on his return. More disappointing though would be the potential loss of MiTB from the Mania card, I love these matches and do honestly feel there should only be the one of them every year featuring guys from both rosters. I mean they have to be giving Dolph something to do on the show right? So why not have him become the briefcase holder and win the title at some point in the year, which I am sure we all fully expect to happen at some point.
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Great idea! It would be good if they did with Dolph, what they did with Edge wen he won it, hold it for months, tease a few times and you’d get an enjoyable storyline out of it. Also it would put pressure on WWE from fully pushing Ziggler. It’d come naturally with the briefcase/contract!
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Oh bugger, who let you on?! 😛
Exactly, if the MITB being scrapped is true, it’s a strange move. Ziggler is good enough to take it on, and would be ready to cash it in at some point becoming champion. I really do like Ray’s idea of Dolph doing it like Edge did, think that would be great to see.
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Ha, I am everywhere, helping keep things interesting! Nah you know me, like to mull in with my opinion, and this seems like a fine site to chat with like minded people! Hopefully tonight’s Raw will give us some ideas at how some of the other guys will be featured at the grandest stage of them all.
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WWE’s whole “make Cena look good, by making Rock look bad” is beyond imbecilic.
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Not really, like they want to make Rock look like a Douche and Cena to actually be a good guy…since he gets booed out of the building when Rock is involved.
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It all won’t work. It’s more proof that the fans have changed more than the actual product has.
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I know it isn’t going to work, but I just think WWE wants us to feel this way about the Rock at least until tonight before he responds properly to Cena’s comments.
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It’s like the story has all these twists and turns! Who’s the father? Did Ryder kill Eve? Why does Hornswoggle’s beard smell funny?
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