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| Part of a great year in WWE Photo Credit: WWE.com |
First up, @KillFriskey asks if this year is the best I've seen in WWE since I've been a fan.
This year has been quite the whirlwind, hasn't it? My knee-jerk reaction would be to say no, because of the way the company has jerked around Daniel Bryan in favor of telling a story that so far has ended in apparent unification of the titles between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. However, personally speaking only, if I were to judge WWE's quality by how they booked my favorite wrestler, then I would be praising 1997 highly. To be quite honest, 1997 didn't hold a candle overall to what this past year has beheld. Sure, they got Steve Austin right (in spite of themselves), but they screwed Bret Hart out of the company, Shawn Michaels got packed in mothballs for eventual repair, the wrestling on TV was short and marred with awful finishes, and the gimmick roll was still pretty embarrassing.
Brandon on the podcast this week relayed that WWE just isn't good at following through on stories, and they never have been traditionally. With that in mind, is their failure with Bryan enough to cancel out the rise of The Shield, the ancillary Rhodes Boys Tag Team Championship run, the actual treatment of Bryan as a big fuckin' deal, and most importantly, the absolute treasure trove of excellent matches on both free TV and pay-per-view? I'd say no, it's not. For my money, the last year in WWE has been the best since I've started following it.
Next up, @GayWrestlingFan asks if Claudio Castagnoli was ever a babyface on the indies, and how I think he could work in WWE as one.
Sure he has! Most notably, he was a downtrodden, servile, reluctant member of the Kings of Wrestling stable in Chikara, but that was before my time. More recently, he was a regular white hat type character, teaming with Bryan Danielson, and waging war against the mean and rude, rough and tumble Eddie Kingston in 2009. Of course, at Three Fisted Tales, he was revealed to be one of the members of the BDK, and thus pulled off a double turn that shaped Chikara for the next two years.
In WWE, all he has to do is start giant swinging people more often to get crowds behind him, which would then lead to a rift with Jack Swagger, which could then lead to a singles feud, or even a tag team feud with Miz taking his place in the Real Americans and Kas... err, someone coming to Cesaro's aid. Fuckin' WWE.
@sallen_87 wants to know whom I think can beat Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship while keeping both guys looking good afterwards.
Real talk: ANYONE could defeat Ambrose and allow both competitors to look strong if they told a good story around both challenger and Champion. For example, having Wrestler X defeat Ambrose in a bunch of non-title matches? No, not a good story.
Anyway, with that in mind, the question now becomes "Whom would I like to see defeat Ambrose for the title?" I personally would like to see Big E Langston unify the secondary titles, to be quite honest. Maybe an economy of title hardware will make the writers pay better attention to the ones they have? I don't know.
The crew of Irresistible vs. Immovable has doubled up on questions. First, Scott T. Holland asks whether unification is happening too soon, too late, or just right, and if the Big Gold Belt is forever second?
I think the timing's kinda right. I don't know if I would call it "just right," as I would probably have unified the titles the SummerSlam or Survivor Series after RAW went to three hours and branded itself as the "SuperShow," thus eliminating the brand split for all intents and purposes. But then again, moving out of one epoch into another takes time, so I'm fine with unification happening in the immediate future, be it at TLC or WrestleMania.
As for the World Heavyweight Championship being forever second, I don't think that was always the case, and John Cena winning the belt seemed to signify a need for that title to look on equal footing to the WWE Championship. I don't know whether that reason was for unification or just to carry two tours, but I have to wonder whether the shedding of the briefcase from Damien Sandow and the current run by Cena with that belt is part of its rehab.
Second, David Kincannon asks if I really think unification's happening at TLC or whether they'll just trade belts.
I can't read that situation either way, actually. The moment that Triple H announced both belts would be hanging above the ring, everyone seemed to jump to the same "they're going to trade titles" conclusion. Because that "swerve" felt so crushingly obvious, it immediately felt in doubt in my mind. I can see that scenario playing out. I can see both guys retaining their respective titles. I can see a third party creeping in and sneaking out with the titles, a la Chris Jericho defeating The Rock and Steve Austin IN THE SAME NIGHT in a similar unification scenario, and I can see either Orton, or more accurately, Cena actually unifying the titles.
I've seen the argument that unification has to happen at WrestleMania. I don't agree with that premise at all. For one, unless Cena or Orton won the Royal Rumble, then we'd have to suffer through yet another three way match on top. I don't know about any of you, but I am sick and tired of three way singles matches in general. They're rarely ever pulled off well, and the wrestler who turns out to be the third wheel ends up winning the match in unsatisfying fashion. Of course, exceptions to the rule exist, most notably WrestleMania XX, but would you want Daniel Bryan's big WrestleMania moment feel like an afterthought?
@Parlett316 wants to know if I've ever had a little girl scream TOMMY DREAMER in my ear over and over.
No, but I have heard Tommy Dreamer cuss at a Chikara show, and the crowd chide him in unison for his act. FUN!
@ray_fuck asks how I'm doin', buddy.
"NOT GREAT, BOB!"
Nah, I just wanted to drop that quote. I'm actually doin' really fine, thanks for asking, man.
@hakimdropsball asks if I think TNA could still become a legitimate #2 promotion in America.
Yes, but I think they need a lot of work to get there. For one, they need to get this sale to Billy Corgan or whomever they're going to sell to done and over with. Two, Corgan/purchaser X has to treat TNA like an actual business instead of a real life EWR that is used to mimic everything WWE did only translated a year or two in time. Three, whoever purchases TNA needs to have some contacts in the mainstream and have a better marketing department in mind. WWE isn't a sports entertainment juggernaut because they have the best wrestling product, but because they market themselves really well. Four, they need to disabuse themselves of any thought that WWE is WWE because of specific stories. They need an identity, one that presents them as an alternative, not a junior promotion.
Finally, Rich Thomas of the Sad Salvation Podcast asks which Slammy I'd give out this year.
And the Slammy for Least Annoying New Character Paired Up with Two Incredibly Weak Other New Characters goes to... EL TORITO!!