Royal Rumble 2012 Results

The Road to Wrestlemania is officially underway with a bit of an underwhelming Royal Rumble. There were a few high notes, but just as many lows, let's do this.

Daniel Bryan def Mark Henry & The Big Show by Escaping the Steel Cage.
6/10 Great match to start the night, a little short, but it had a great finish.

The Bella's, Beth Phoenix & Natalia def Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Eve & Tamina vis Pin
2.5/10 One of the things that really sucks about doing this blog is that (on PPV's at least) I has to watch the Diva's match. This was another example of the Diva's running around not making any sense out of the match, and executing sloppy moves. And what took Kelly Kelly so long to jump off the top rope, that was one of the worst telegraphed moves I've ever seen because all the girls are just standing there, waiting for her to jump for like 30 seconds, it was ludicrous.

John Cena & Kane Fight to a Double Count Out
6.5/10 This match was a little more to my liking then the average John Cena fair. It was bare bones and hard hitting. I should have gone with my gut when I was predicting matches, oh well.

Brodus Clay def Drew McIntyre via Pin
3/10 One of the things I hate most is when the entrances take longer then the match itself, this is especially true with this match for two reasons: 1. The Brodus Clay entrance it the most embarrassing thing the WWE has put on television since Snooki pinning Michelle McCool at last years Wrestlemania. and 2. Drew McIntyre is supposed to be The Chosen One, and he's getting squashed by someone called The Funkasaurus. That's just sad.

CM Punk def Dolph Ziggler via Pin

7/10 As you may recall, this was the singles match I was most looking forward to as the two have very similar styles and are in such great condition that it could go on for hours, and they're so skilled at what they do, it would be compelling to watch them for hours. What we got instead was still a good match, but not as good as it could have been. The story line involving John Laurinaitis as guest referee overshadowed the story of the two men in the ring. Ziggler's quick comeback countering Punk's GTS with a rocker dropper had me thinking he might pull out a win, But Punk prevailed after a second GTS.

Sheamus wins the 2012 Royal Rumble match

Final Four: Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton & The Big Show.

8.5/10 I am disappointed that Jericho didn't win, I'm sure he will at some point, maybe next year, that's really the only thing he has left to do in the WWE. I am overall pleased with how everything went down. The Miz did a great job lasting over 45 minutes being eliminated #23. Cody Rhodes also shinned, coming in at #4 and getting eliminated at #24. I'm not a particularly big fan of The Big Show, so to see him come in and knock out three of my favorite guys back to back to back was a little hard to watch, especially after they'd lasted as long as they had. As for the surprise entrants, it was kind of a mixed bag. actually, no it wasn't. I like seeing Road Dogg again, and Kharma coming back as only the third women to ever compete in the Rumble was cool. I didn't care to see Khali back, hopefully he won't be back full time. Nor did I like seeing Jim Duggan back, his return in 07-08 was the saddest thing I'd seen in a long time. I kinda liked seeing all three of the announcers getting in on the match, but all those slots could have gone to more deserving guys in the back, like Mason Ryan, Johnny Curtis or Michael McGillicutty. Another ting I really enjoyed was Mr. Socko vs The Cobra, that was hilarious. Also I liked Kofi's Riddler themed outfit and his unique way of staying in the match, since Morrison started that last year I think we'll be seeing something along those lines at each Rumble.

All in all it was decent show, but it still only gets a score of :

5.75/10 Not the best way to start the year in wrestling, but not the worst.

Royal Rumble Preview

Well, it's that time of year, again. The holiday's are over, everyone has already given up on their New Years Resolutions and the NFL Post season is in full swing. Which means the Road to Wrestlemania is underway. This Sunday St. Louis plays host to one of the biggest pay per views of the year, the Royal Rumble.

I'm going to make this a quick post about the event, along with my predictions because today is a very big day for me, tonight is the premier of a movie I wrote called The Housewife Slasher ( I know, I know, I didn't come up with the title so please don't hold it against me.) The previews and predictions are something I tried and meant to do last year, but to be honest a lot of the time I forgot there was a PPV until the night of, so I will try to be more on top of these things in the future.

Up first we has Daniel Bryan taking on The Big Show and Mark Henry in a Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan's slow heel turn has been working well for him in my opinion, and I expect his trend of finding a sneaky way out of losing the title will continue tonight.
D Bryan retains World Heavyweight Championship by Escaping the Cage. He'll probably sneak out while Show and Henry are going at it and neither one notices he's gone till it's too late.

Up next we're looking at Kane taking on John Cena. Cena's full of rage against Kane, and I half expect this one to end in a No Contest or a DQ with Cena beating Kane all the way to the backstage area. If That happens I would then say that Kane will get the last word throwing Cena into a car windshield or doing something to mess him up.  However, I'm going with my gut and calling it for Cena in the ring.
John Cena def Kane via Pin.


The final singles match on the card is the one I'm looking forward to the most, as Dolph Ziggler goes one on one with the Straight Edged One CM Punk. They had an amazing match last year on Raw after TLC and I fully expect this match to top that one. This will be the second year in a row that Ziggler has fought for a World title at the Royal Rumble, last year again Edge was #9 on the Top 10 Matches of the Year, I expect this one to be even higher on the list. Sadly though, even though I'm pulling for Ziggler, I think this one's going to go to Punk to retain. A lot of this ties in with my Rumble winner pick, but I also don't see them giving the title to Ziggler right before Wrestlemania. I think Ziggler/Punk will be like Rock/Mankind in '99 where Mankind just served to get The Rock over till his match with Austin at Wrestlemania.
CM Punk def Dolph Ziggler via Pin


As I said that was the last scheduled singles match, but with only 4 matches on the card, I wouldn't be surprised if there is another impromptu match maybe a Diva's match or an Intercontinental Title match, maybe Rhodes will take on Gabriel again.

Finally, the Main Event, the Royal Rumble match. Last year they had a 40 Man Rumble, this year they dropped it back down to 30, I don't know why, I liked the extra 10 guys, it means that someone who lost in the title match earlier, could enter the Rumble later that evening. But this year they are saying that it is open to any WWE Superstar. I don't know what that means other then maybe it's their way of explaining having no Royal Rumble Qualifying matched on Raw or Smackdown, IDK. I have yet to find a list of entrants, and maybe that's the idea. I'm sure we will see a good amount of surprise returns, probably Taker will come back. I'm really hoping that The Miz has a great showing seeing as he's entering at #1, it would be great for him to last to the Final Four. I expect Mick Foley to have one, maybe two eliminations and stay in for a good ten minutes before getting thrown out. So my Final Four are Randy Orton, Sheamus, The Miz & Chris Jericho. With Jericho winning the Rumble. And heading to Wrestlemania  to face CM Punk in an epic match for the WWE Championship.

Well there you have it, these are my predictions, lets play a little game. You post your predictions in the comments, winner, and way on winning, one point for each item you get right. We'll keep track of points and the winner at the end of the year will win an awesome prize of awesomeness... that I have yet to come up with. So post your predictions and get your friends to do the same and I'll have all the Royal Rumble results waiting on Monday morning like always.

An Open Letter To Jack Swagger

Dear Jack Swagger,

I'd like to start this off by stating that I am a huge fan. I think of just about every wrestler in the WWE right now, you have the most potential. With your background as an All-American wrestler, your size, and your age, there is no limit to how far you can go with the company. You've already proven that you have what it takes, winning your first World Championship after being in the WWE for only 4 months. You were the first Florida Heavyweight Champion, holding the title for 216 day, the longest reign since the title was introduced. When you held the World Heavyweight Championship, you defeated Edge, Jericho, Randy Orton and The Big Show. You have what it takes to be huge, and you've shown it.

So why am I writing this letter? I'm just going to come out and say it. As of late, you look a little lost in the ring. I know you have a lot on your mind, your wife just gave birth to your first son, congratulations by the way, I'm sure it's tough being on the road all the time with a three month old at home, but you're better then this.

I'm happy to say that your match with CM Punk last Monday was the highlight of the show, but let's be honest, that wasn't your best match. You need to be more aggressive in the ring, and I don't mean throw more punches, you need to tie people up with your amateur moves, make them hurt. What you need is a string of submission wins, just dominate a few people, establish yourself as someone with whom you do not mess. Look at Daniel Bryan, one of the smallest guys in the company right now, but he's holding the World Heavyweight Championship, going toe to toe with The Big Show, and you believe it, because ever since he got the the WWE he's been ruthlessly aggressive. That could be you, that should be you. That should be your fighting D Bryan for the title.

I love that they put you with Vickie, because she is a star maker. That means they know the potential you posses and they are ready to push you when you're ready. So come on, get your head in the game, and lets do this thing!!!

Sincerely, A True Fan,
                                  Mike

Raw Recap: Raw is Jericho Once Again.

Well the first Raw of the new year has come and gone, with varying degrees of success. Here's a quick rundown of my thoughts on the show.

Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes. Champion vs Champion. I was looking forward to this match as the two have met before with great results. I felt like this wasn't their best match, even though it was pretty well put together, the ending seemed to come to suddenly.

Barrett vs Marella wasn't worth watching, nor was The Miz getting beat down by R-Truth when he could have had a great match and gotten beat down by Sheamus.

Next up was the match i was really looking forward to, CM Punk vs my new fav Dolph Ziggler. The match they had a few weeks back on Raw was fantastic and I had really high hopes for this one as well. And while it was a great match, it did fail to live up to the hype I had built up in my own head. I did like seeing Dolph leave with the belt, even though he didn't win it. I have no doubt that their match at the Rumble will be amazing, this will be Dolph's second World Championship Match at a Rumble in as many years, last years match was voted one the top 10 matches of the year.

The divas match was next, I don't know what happened because I fast forwarded right through that bitch.

Finally the moment we've all been waiting for, the return of...Jericho!!!

After a 15 month absence from the WWE, Jericho is finally back where he belongs doing what he does best. He didn't need to say a word, but it would have been nice if he had. Now we only have to wait until he makes the inevitable heel turn, because lets face it, that's the Jericho we all want to see.

The main event was pointless, I was a little hopeful when it came down to Cena & Ryder vs Swagger, I thought, oh, maybe they're going to give Swagger a little push, if he holds his own, maybe even eliminates one of them, and then I remembered that the WWE seems to be doing everything in their power to keep him down, which is not to say that he is blameless in all this, but i digress.

All in all it was a satisfying show, mostly because of Jericho's return despite all the evidence that it would be the Undertaker coming back.

P.S. With Ziggler now in a Championship match and out of the Rumble (unless they do another 40 man rumble) I am having to reconsider my pick. I'm eyeing Jericho, although I don't know who he would face. What are your thoughts?

TLC 2011 Results

From Baltimore MD, the WWE brings us the last PPV of the year, and it's sans John Cena!! This was a PPV I was really looking forward to, a lot of great matches set up, and it turned out to have some big highs, and some very low lows. 


Zack Ryder def Dolph Ziggler via Pin
6.7/ 10 What a great opening match, full of fast paced action and last minute counters. The crowd was really into this match, and deservedly so. In the end, I hate to see Ziggler lose the belt, but I hope this means he will be moving on ti bigger and better things, Royal Rumble anyone? 


Air Boom def Primo & Epico via Pin
5.5/10  Oh that's right, we do have Tag Team Champions. A Decent match, both teams seemed to work well together, not a whole lot more to say about this match that was added at the last minute. 


Randy Orton def Wade Barrett by RKOing him through a Table
7/10  This was a pretty good tables match, a lot of close calls, and some pretty unique attempts. The finish is really what gave this match the high score, Randy's laying on a table and as Barrett comes down off the top rope, Orton pops up and hits the RKO in midair, amazing. 


Beth Phoenix def Kelly Kelly via Pin
2/10 A lot of people think I'm too harsh on the Divas, to those people I say sit through this match, then say that to my face. This was on of if not the, worst match I've very seen. The start of the match is just complete, unrealistic crap, then the crowd is so quite, we can actually hear Beth yelling at Kelly when she misses her ques for a roll up and a counter. The fact that someone as talented as Phoenix has to get in there and babysit some one as hapless as Kelly Kelly is just sad. They better give me Phoenix vs Natty at WM28, they owe me after this match.


Triple H def Kevin Nash via Pin
7.8/10 This was one of the most brutal ladder matches I've ever seen, which was how we all knew it would go down, although you can't really compare this to other ladder matches, because the ladders were mostly used for beat downs. No one even attempted to climb a ladder for at least 10 minutes. The ending was sledge-tastic, yeah that's right, sledge-tastic. 


Sheamus def Jack Swagger via Pin
6/10 This was another last minute addition to the show and a pretty standard Sheamus match, which is in no way a bad thing. I would have liked to see Swagger get a win, since a loss wouldn't really hurt Sheamus, where as another loss keeps pushing Swagger down.


Big Show def Mark Henry via Pin
5.5/10  A pretty short match, and not the worst offering between the two men, I'm looking at you Survivor Series. Show hits a WMD pins Henry and wins his first World Championship in 9 years. Henry gets up, beats Show with a chair, then lands a DDT onto a pile of chairs which leads to.


Daniel Bryan def Big Show via Pin
N/A I wish I could rate this, because I liked it, and it would add to the overall score of the PPV, and while technically it was a match, there wasn't a single move applied, other then a pin. it was a good pin, should I rate the pin? IDK let me know in the comments.


So Daniel Bryan is our new World Heavyweight Champion. I really would have liked to see him wait and cash the MITB at Wrestlemania, but i am glad to see him have the belt.


Cody Rhodes def Booker T via Pin
6.5/10  They kept teasing us that this match might not happen, and I'm very glad it did as this is one of the matches i was really looking forward to. It was a good match and Booker T looked pretty good up until the end when he looked very winded and even had a hard time finishing the spin-a-rooni. In the end, Rhodes puts away a veteran as he takes one more step up the ladder and Booker T has a great one final match.


CM Punk def The Miz & Alberto Del Rio in a Triple Threat TLC Match
8.3/10  This was the best ladder match of the year. A ton of action, very innovative offence with the weapons, and has the best use of handcuffs in a match, ever. The ending is pulse pounding and works very well. 


6.14/10 All in all this was a really good show, that had just one really bad element that took it down. With 9 matches it's one of the fullest booked shows of the year. The crowd started hot but it seems like the got burned out after the opening match because they were very quiet throughout the rest of the show till the main event when they came back to life. 

Required Viewing #1

This is a new feature I've been thinking about doing for a little while now, it's all about documentaries, and older PPV's that should not be missed by any wrestling fan.

THE UNREAL STORY OF PRO WRESTLING - 1998


This is a documentary that aired in 1998 on A&E. It is narrated by Steve Allen and covers wrestling beginnings all the way up to the Monday Night Wars. Much of the current footage was shot in 1997 from both WWF and WCW.

It talks about wrestling as a legitimate sport post Civil War, but controversy and long match times killed it, only to be replaced with performers, who used to wrestle on the road in carnivals.  The carnival operators carved out territories for themselves and became promoters. In The 1920's The Gold Dust Trio of wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis, manager Bill Sandow and promoter "Toots" Mondt formed and they made wrestling what it is today, putting multiple, shorter, more exciting matches on one card. Mondt developed an array of flashy crowd pleasing moves, many of which are still used today. But it's popularity didn't last long when a scorned promoter spilled the beans about it being fake. But the late 40's saw wrestling's rebirth when it came to television.

There are so many legends talking about the old days, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, "Killer" Kowalski, Verne Gagne, Classy Freddie Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, everyone in this. And they talk about the careers of some of the greats, like Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George, Buddy Rodgers, they ever talk about a man named Handsome Jim Londos, who wasn't very talented in the ring but was still able to get over with the fans, especially the women because of his good looks, now who does that sound like?

This is a great documentary and should not be missed, it is available on Netflix.

Goodbye John Morrison

In case you weren't already aware, John Morrison's WWE Contract expires Wednesday, which means Miz beating him down on Raw and 'injuring' him, will likely be the last we see of him for a while. I for one am not surprised that is came to this, I am disappointed in Morrison for several reasons. Here's the situation.

From what I've heard the issues surrounding Morrison started at Wrestlemania 27, when he blatantly snubbed Trish Stratus after their victory, she goes in for a hug, he subtly moves away. Rumor has it this was spawned by Melina who is dating Morrison, feeling snubbed by WWE because they picked Stratus instead of her. But you really can't blame them, because Melina is a talent-less hack, with a horse face, and Trish is a 7 time women's champion.

Right after the WM incident it comes out that Vince has no respect for Morrison because of the way he handled a situation in which Melina is said to have cheated on Morrison with Batista. Vince is said to have said that a real man would have fought Batista and ended it with Melina, Morrison did neither,

Morrison was also criticized for the way he wrestles, which looks more like he's performing and less like he's fighting, although I must say his match with Miz looked like a fight. It was said that Morrison would not win the WWE title, because of these things. And what did Morrison do? Did he stay and eat shit and work his way up from the bottom, like Triple H in 1996? No, left the company, most likely to join TNA where he'll probably become Champion within a year.

I'm not going to get into what I think about TNA, needless to say I have no respect for a company that would even allow someone to go out and compete in the condition Jeff Hardy was at Victory Road 2011.

I am just really disappointed in Morrison's character, or lack there of, to be so ungrateful of everything the WWE has done for him, and to still be with that skank, who blames everyone else for everything wrong in their lives. It's sad.

What are your thoughts on the situation? Where do you think Morrison will go next?