Fantastic

What I will say RE: Cena critique, I used to hate Cena's matches, I still dislike the gimmick, but he's really fucking matured into a great big match wrestler. He brings it (more than The Rock did in his 2011 return), takes a hell of a lot of punishment working a brawling ace style reminiscent of 1990's AJPW (although heavily corrupted by the WWE tropes like the comebacks, etc, it's still on point). Cena's matches have amazing heat, and on the rare occasions that WWE book him to lose cleanly, it carries a lot of gravitas and Cena does (what he is allowed to do) to make it look like his opponent got over big (Bryan, Lesnar, etc). I can't believe I'm saying this, but if they toned down the invincible hero stuff, let him be more the wrestler he's dying to be, and keep him outside of the title picture, he'll probably never have to turn heel to freshen up.

I did get to watch the triple threat, that was an awesome match. I really don't want Lesnar to go back to MMA. He's easily in the top three workers (along with Cena and Bryan) in WWE and put on a hell of a performance last night, that being said, I can't see even the talents of Lesnar bringing out a ****+ match against Reigns. Not to discredit Reigns who has shown he can be good, but it's just not going to work methinks. Part of me wants Heyman to turn on Lesnar and for Rollins to cash in on Lesnar sometime between now and Fast Lane (maybe tonight on Raw?) and for Reigns to face Rollins at Mania for the belt with Lesnar getting Bryan. That's the only thing that could save the mess that was last night - Bryan being the one to end Lesnar's reign of terror (even if Rollins wins the title through nefarious means, which will be irrelevant because Bryan will win cleanly and fairly).

It's somewhat hilarious at how far they went for Reigns endorsement - paying The Rock to make an appearance - and the crowd still shits all over the fucking mess they created here. I didn't watch the show, I was unable to, but I'm surprised - actually scrap that, I'm not surprised, more bemused at how WWE can completely learn nothing from last year. They have not only ignored the audience (McMahon always says shit like: "At the end of the day, our audience makes the product"), but potentially fucked up Reigns too, people just aren't going to accept Reigns as the intended Mania headliner. He'll be booed out of the building against Lesnar and their will be "We Want Bryan" chants throughout the match.

That would be one of the GOAT RR moments, and a huge nod for Rusev. Unfortunately, there is no way it would happen, even if Rock wanted to do it, I doubt Vince would keen. I like the idea of Reigns turning heel and leading to a family battle between him and Rock at Mania. I doubt it will happen though, but it's certainly a possibility. Reigns getting a victory over The Rock at Mania would be a huge step in his career towards ultra stardom.

Me neither at this stage, but you had to admit, his presence at Mania would definitely enhance the current bleak lineup of names.

Dave is saying the following in the latest WON Radio that: That makes sense. They aren't going to pay Rock's mindblowing fee for a match against Rusev. No, it's probably going to be Brock (which means Brock will probably lose the title tonight), if indeed Rock has returned for a match against Mania. I can't see them doing Brock vs. Rock with the title on the line. So where does that leave everybody else? Does Bryan win the Rumble and Rollins wins the title for that match? Or do they just pass over Bryan again, have Reigns win the Rumble and take on Rollins for the title? Or does Cena win the title and face Reigns at Mania?

So, let the rumors commence! The Rock is in South Philadelphia

Announced Card - The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose - The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) vs. The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) - Paige and Natalya vs. The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) - The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) © vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow (WWE Tag Team Titles) - Brock Lesnar © vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Title) - 30-man Royal Rumble match

Great pick. Pillman never crossed my mind. His work in WCW was incredibly underrated, as not just a tag team wrestler but as a singles guy as well, he excelled in both roles, which is something of a rarity. WCW were never going to give him a push as a serious heavyweight though, I think that's what the biggest problem in that company was. The glass ceiling was firmly intact above his head with Bischoff and company. Still, even in his WWF run, I think had he been in good health (and not died as a result), they may have eventually had cause to push him as a main event talent. Certainly, Pillman would have been right at home during the Attitude era. Who knows, maybe he would have been so popular that he would have supplanted The Rock as Austin's career rival? Then again, you have to consider whether or not he would have left the WWF following the Montreal Screw Job, out of loyalty to the Hart Family (as a close friend and student of Stu's)? Would WCW even take him back? Probably, given the time frame and desire to pinch as many WWF names as they could, but then, he'd probably never amount to anything more than what Bulldog and Anvil did in WCW.

So, Cesaro took the most underrated gong in the WON awards this year. This got me thinking, as to the most underrated wrestler of all time, specifically somebody who was brilliant in ring, had the look, the mic skills, the total package, etc, but for whatever bizarre reason, never broke the glass ceiling. I'm really struggling to think of anybody who fits this criteria to a tee. Thoughts?

For Reigns or Bryan, You'd need a long build, a slow burn towards it, because inevitably, the talent ending the streak - if babyface - would probably have to turn heel, unless it's made clear that the Undertaker is retiring and wants one last match to defend the streak against the individual he considers the "best that the WWE has to offer". This is completely akin to Flair in 2008, where Michaels was chosen by Flair to wrestle his "retirement" match against, because he's "Mr Wrestlemania". Even then, HBK has dabbled with mini turns during his eternal babyface run from 2002-2010, inevitably the crowd just refuses to buy him as anything other than a face after he ends a program working as a pseudo-heel (Hogan in 05, Flair in 08, etc). Would the audience react similarly to Daniel Bryan? This is the guy after all, that got massively over during a heel run, to the point WWE had no choice but to turn him face again. Reigns has already been rejected in a fashion by the audience, he is still showing visible green patches and hasn't reached the level of popularity as a singles guy that he had as a member of The Shield.

Very good point. Only an established talent in a class of their own could have gone over Taker last year, narrowing it down, only three (active - thereby excluding Michaels) men on the roster could have ended the streak without it potentially negatively impacting upon them in years to come: Brock Lesnar (as it happened, a special attraction type with nothing left to prove or accomplish, just a guy with a huge name that shows up to deliver awesome special exhibition matches) John Cena (although this would make him an instant heel, something which WWE wants to avoid, it seems) Triple H (somewhat of an equivalent of Ric Flair in the late 1990's, in his formative wrestling years, with an awesome career legacy behind him. Although unlike Flair, Hunter is in a lot better shape, limits his wrestling appearances so they all become meaningful, and isn't so profoundaly affected by taking time away from the spotlight.)

Based on what Dave reported around the time , the feeling seemed to be that Vince looked at Taker and decided he wasn't "looking good". At the same time, Vince started to view Brock Lesnar as a "special attraction" of sorts and I guess he intended to transition Lesnar into Taker's role as a Wrestlemania special attraction when the time came for Taker to hang up the boots. Some quotes from the Observer: They also needed to put Lesnar over in a really big way, since seemingly, the intention had been since Summer 2013 for Brock to have a big title run in 2014. Being defeated by Undertaker at Wrestlemania would have somewhat diminished the build towards this title run. I mean think about it, Brock wins the series with Triple H 2-1, goes over CM Punk (arguably the most popular wrestler not named John Cena at the time) at Summerslam, beats the crap out of Mark Henry, demolishes Big Show and comes away looking unstoppable in the process... Only for him to all to Undertaker at Wrestlemania. What then? Brock comes back following a huge loss, gets a title shot without any reason and resumes his path of destruction beginning with Cena as it happened? No, that would suck, because the fact this trail of destruction was briefly postponed by a high profile loss to Taker would always be there. So in hindsight, even though Brock didn't need to end the streak (he could have taken on anybody at Wrestlemania, although it wouldn't have been as high profile, unless it was John Cena), he did need to win his match at Wrestlemania. Taker wanted to face Brock, Vince decided that the streak was going to end here, and Taker agreed to it. If things were different (and Bryan wasn't injured), I would have had Wyatt vs Taker with Taker winning to preserve the streak and Lesnar destroying John Cena at Wrestlemania. Then in the Summer, Bryan would fall to Lesnar like Cena did.

Revised Mania Predictions: WWE WHC: Seth Rollins (MITB cash in) vs. Daniel Bryan © WWE WHC: Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble winner) vs. Brock Lesnar © Sting, John Cena, and Roman Reigns vs. Triple H, Seth Rollins, and Big Show

It makes sense yeah, from a storyline perspective - Taker coming back to avenge the biggest defeat of his career, and the result being less-than-predictable. But, realistically, Taker cannot safely contend with Lesnar's in-ring style, he just isn't in the kind of shape that he once was. Brock isn't blatantly stiff, but he's incredibly physical, his big moves are all intense and require a lot of physicality and endurance from his opponents, mainly so they don't injure themselves (the Germans, the overhead belly to belly suplexes, etc), those things Taker just doesn't have that kind of endurance or fortitude anymore. He really fucked himself up last year with that concussion, to the point he had to be lead through the match and hospitalized at it's conclusion. To compare, At Summerslam, John Cena took nearly two dozen Germans from Brock, threw himself around the ring for over 20 minutes, took a number of stiff shots (probably on his own accord, like at the ER match) and was for all intents and purposes, fine to wrestle throughout the next week and suffered no injuries. But even then, I doubt even Cena could have absorbed all that and have wrestled competitively (had that been the intention) in the same match. Brock is on another planet, he can do mega bumps, not get gassed, perform insane feats of strength, and survive botches that may have killed or severely injured other wrestlers (see Mania XIX, and the dive at ER) and just keep going.

The only reason this match seems to be pencilled in is because of how much Taker's contract is costing WWE. They know physically, that he can only wrestle a couple of times a year at most, however, his contract downside is pretty large and has probably been in play since he was last a full time member of the roster. They aren't exactly going to release him from his contract, given who he is and his loyalty to WWE... Hypothetically, it makes the most sense for Taker to appear at Mania (or the post-Mania Raw) in a non-wrestling capacity to start a year long build to his official retirement at next year's Mania where he'll undoubtedly go into the HOF. A year gives them time to assemble a big time match with someone who can work and for Taker to get into the best shape he possibly can.

When Vince dies (which won't be for decades, given how invulnerable the man seems to be) and Hunter and Steph take over, I can't see Dunn lasting very long. I would speculate on a "JR retirement". Doubt Hall will succeed him though. Adding to my last post about Rusev (and a way to quietly retire the US title). How about this? Post-Rumble, RVD (on his way out again) somehow gets a US title shot against Rusev, Rusev destroys him and because RVD was the last recognised European Champion, Rusev claims he is now also the European Champion and brings back the belt. Rusev is now going around with both the US and Euro titles. At some point following Wrestlemania, Rusev also wins the IC title and declares that he's "unified the three titles representing all the world's continents (yeah, I know, butwho cares about the original intent of the IC title, let's just say it fills in the spaces outside of the US and Europe) into one and is now the true champion of the world and that the actual WWE World Heavyweight champion is illegitimate". So Rusev is now officially the IC champion (Euro title never actually re-activated, and US title quietly retired), but continues to carry all three belts around, because he's playing the hole "I'm really the champion of the world" card. So he gets a shot at the WWE champion after making his case about being the "true world champion" and wins the belt. At this point you have a multi person match for the IC title where Rusev loses his belt without being pinned or submitted (great opportunity for a new guy like Zayn or Neville who will be on the main roster, surely, at this point). This is how you get the secondary title of Rusev, with that gone, Rusev discards the Euro and US belts and states that "it doesn't matter, I am still the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and still undefeated". Then you have the big rub match where somebody finally defeats Rusev and wins the title.

If WWE has Rusev go over Lesnar, and continue undefeated and booked strongly over other big names throughout 2015, before winning the WWE World Heavyweight title, I will physically stand up and applaud them.

If Brock loses the title on Sunday, they might just go with the face turn. At least that's the thought I'm getting. Brock without the title going into Wrestlemania kinda doesn't really serve any purpose where the "rub" (somebody going over him.. FINALLY!) is concerned. I'd be happy to see Brock take on Rusev, provided Brock loses without getting pinned. An undefeated vs. undefeated match would be rather intriguing.

All of these are excellent choices. I can't believe that the 4/20/91 six-man tag team didn't cross my mind first, that was a stunning match, and one of Jumbo's last great matches.

Kobashi vs. Kawada - January 19th 1995, an epic 60 minute draw and *****

1992 - 2001 - 2004 Three way tie for me.

RE: The merch thing. It's John Cena, he's in a class of his own. I don't think it's fair to really expect that anybody will outsell him or outdraw an appearance by him for at least the near future, given how much of a household name he is. It's like Austin all over again, even when Austin was on the backburner in 2001, compared to his heyday, he was still drawing the most at house shows and his merch was selling more, despite the popularity of The Rock. As for TV ratings, that's just lame. Given the total content of Raw should be looked at, rather than a single prominent feature of somebody as the "star of the show". Ratings had dwindled for the last few years, mainly because 3 hours is overkill and quality greatly suffers with some of the shitty writing they've got going on to fill that third hour - no to mention the writing staff in general. Also, Russellmania is right, DB's merch sucked and was limited compared to Cena's. People like variety. - Put the title on Bryan at Mania. - Have him feud with a heel Rollins and The Authority until the Summer with the title in play. - He'll draw for sure. Meanwhile... - Have Cena play the early 90's WWF Hogan, albeit putting over more stars. - Cena gets the big time exhibition PPV matches, Bryan headlines of course, but Cena works on the card like Taker does at Mania. - Cena doesn't need another title reign.