What do you think about the pairing of R-Truth and The Miz? Future tag team champions, decent stop gap solution until bigger/better things open up for them, is it a waste of talent or do you not really care for one / both of them?
Jeremy M: I think it’s an interesting pairing. I’d say it’s more beneficial for Truth because he’s getting inserted in Main Event level scenarios now and growing as a superstar through his association with Miz.
Nathan: Wasn’t really a fan at first, but the idea is growing on me. They have a common goal in their perceived ‘burial’ if you will and they’re consistently put that out as a reason for their actions. The fact that the audience can understand their motivation, even if they disagree with it, gets them much more invested in the pairing. They’re hated for what they did to Cena/Punk/HHH so it works. Not sure about their future as a team, but they do have a name, ‘Awesome Truth’ and aren’t just refered to as ‘Miz and Truth’
Patterson: Awesoem Truth is awesome, and that’s the truth. It keeps them in main event storylines though i think it’s short term. After Mania Miz will be back in title contention and R-truth will go to Smackdown.
LunaCrip: I definately think a Tag Team Title reign is not out of the question, given the recent suspension of Evan Bourne. Both are better suited, however, for singles stardom. I don’t really see this as a waste of talent, because without the pairing of them together, they may in fact have just been lost in the shuffle over on Raw. This shows that WWE is interested in using them, keeping them high profile, and sees something in both men.
Andrew Crow: I could see them holding the WWE Tag belts, sure. Right now? I like them as a concept, two guys that are both good at generating heat but lack that certain je ne sais quoi to REALLY make it all work (though they’re damn good at it, and I’d say Miz is probably the best non-Punk/Jericho heel the E has had in years), but the execution leaves something to be desired. Namely because John Cena has no problem beating them. Ever.
What’s the outcome going to be when The Rock & John Cena partner up at Survivor Series less than two weeks from now to face R-Truth and The Miz?
Jeremy M: I foresee Cena & The Rock not being able to cooperate for very long (to sell that huge Wrestlemania match in the future) and as I result I think Awesome Truth will pick up the upset victory.
Nathan: If there was ever any time to turn Cena heel, this is that chance. Face Cena vs Face Rock would work but wouldn’t be nearly as interesting as Heel Cena vs Face Rock. Punk outsells Cena in merchandise so that reason for keeping Superman face is gone. Towards the end of the match, Cena could turn on Rock, thus giving the win to Awesome Truth. He doesn’t necessarily have to align himself with those two right then and there, he could just be on his own before perhaps joining them and Nash in the rumored reformation of the nWo.
Patterson: Cena/Rock either lsoe due to a mis-comunication, or if they win have a stare down and one hits their finisher on the other.
LunaCrip: We’re getting close to Wrestlemania. I’m sure a lot of people will predict that Rock and Cena win, clean, no questions asked. My opinion? Not gonna happen. Cena repays Rock for costing him the WWE title at WM 27, adding more fuel to the fire.
Andrew Crow: If Awesome Truth wins then it’ll be because Rock turns on Cena and costs them the match to add more heat to their WM28 encounter. Otherwise? Rock/Cena all the way, and it’ll be pretty squash-y.
Apparently WWE is doing at least one traditional Survivor Series elimination match on the event. What do you think about those types of matches? Do they use them enough? Is it an out-dated concept?
Jeremy M: I always enjoy these. They’re classics, and they group together guys who might not ever interact if not for the random teams.
Nathan: It doesn’t really have the lustre it used to because nowadays teams are thrown together a few weeks before and they consist of guys who are feuding with someone on the opposing team, but not everyone. Back in the day, there were actual ‘teams’ that had names and they were actively recruited for. It is a staple of the event, so it should be interesting, but it’s just a way to get more people on the card.
Patterson: I’m all for at least one Survivor series elimination tag as long as they do it a way that further feuds and tell a story.
LunaCrip: It’s the basis for the entire Pay Per View! Who is going to survive? Next to the Royal Rumble, the Survivor Series is my favorite type of match in WWE. Pity that they are moving away from the whole concept, and I don’t feel that it has a whole lot of time left.
Andrew Crow: I LOVE these types of matches. They’re great ways to get lesser known workers over more via a good and/or strong showing (unless their name is Tyler Reks, because fuck Tyler Reks), there’s a lot of wiggle room in how they can be booked, and they’re almost always exciting to some degree. In my eyes (as I said last time)? Tag team wrestling isn’t used enough on a proper basis in the E, and that can be said even more for larger team matches.
John Morrison got a victory over Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Is this the start of bigger / better things for Morrison, whom the announcers claim hasn’t won a match dating back to August?
Jeremy M: I’m going to assume that WWE will start tentatively pushing him again. Personally I think Morrision is an incredible athlete, but his mic skills are still severely lacking. Whenever he interacts with someone on the mic his mannerisms seem robotic…
Nathan: It’s just one match, so we can’t really say for sure. The win might be a way to placate him a bit. His character is getting stale so maybe this is the start of something new.
Patterson: J-Mo will continue to job to the bigger names but needs a win here or there to keep him relevant. Dolph just lost to Ryder to, Ryder is getting a bigger push than J-Mo.
LunaCrip: Job Morrison got a win. Let’s see if he can keep it going before we can predict what’s going to happen. Personally, as entertaining as he can be in the ring, the guy does nothing for me, and there are others on the roster, most specifically Zack Ryder, who has worked a helluva lot harder to get himself over and get the spot that I’m sure Morrison feels he deserves.
Andrew Crow: If I remember reading things correctly, Morrison’s on his way out. They may just be giving him the title shot to get him to sign a new deal, or they may be doing it to really put Ziggler over since Morrison is still pretty over with the crowd. If Johnny Nitro (aside: I actually preferred that name over Morrison since it sounded a little more gawdy and self-absorbed) wins the US title then he’s signed back on, and if he loses? Expect him gone fairly soon.
How far up the ladder do you think Morrison is going to ascend in WWE?
Jeremy M: I think we’ll see him in Main Event territory sooner or later.
Nathan: Not farther then he is now. Never really been a fan of him and as long as he doesn’t improve his mic skills, he’ll remain in the midcard.
Patterson: Where he’s been as an upper mid card face is probably his max out.
LunaCrip: That depends on where his character is going. If he stays how he is, he’ll be the new Shelton Benjamin. Semi-dependable mid-card talent, good for Royal Rumbles and Money in the Bank matches, but not good enough to carry a brand himself.
Is John Morrison likely to be one of those guys who heads over to TNA wrestling, rejuvenates his career, then comes back and has some success (Jeff Hardy, Christian, R-Truth)?
Jeremy M: I doubt it, but you never know.
Patterson: If J-Mo goes to TNA it will be with Melina also which I think will lead to the same current issues he has backstage, and will come back to WWE but still be upper mid ccard at best.
LunaCrip: I wouldn’t say that their time in TNA really helped rejuvinate either of the examples careers. All three had to work to get to a spot where they were either World Champion or fighting for the World Championship. Had they captured the World or WWE title within their first year back in the company, I’d agree, but they didn’t, so I can’t. All three, Truth included, were over with the crowds, putting on good matches, and needed that extra push to be considered to be World Champion material. As for Morrison? Meh. I don’t think having anything to do with TNA is going to help his career, or TNA itself for that matter. Sinking ships will not keep men afloat. Maybe working for a lesser promotion such as Ring of Honor would be better for him, and make him realize that he needs to work his ass off to get back to where he used to be. Regardless, I could care less if he “makes it” or not.
Andrew Crow: Should he go to TNA, I could see him getting pushed to the moon for a brief while, but the big differences between he and other WWE cast-off’s who ended up doing fairly well for themselves in TNA is astounding. Jeff Hardy killed himself on a nightly basis in the early part of the last decade to remain perpetually over, criminal record and all; Christian just grew and grew as a worker, utilizing TNA’s more lenient in-ring style to show what he could really do; Ron “The Truth” Killings dropped the rapper schtick to focus on racism in the wrestling business back in ’02, which got him a lot of respect with hardcore fans and even a run with the NWA World title (pfft, like that matters anymore); and Mr. Anderson can at least talk on the mic without having to censor himself for the Nick Jr. audience that the E wants. Morrison has highspots that are done better by virtually everybody in the X-Division. He’d need a public speaking coach and a refresher course in how to work a longer and more interesting match (see: his WWECW series with CM Punk in the summer of ’08 for proof that he CAN work good matches that are more than just a few cool highspots) if he’d ever dream of being more than a waste of a roster spot (see: Rob Van Dam, mostly).
Should Mason Ryan be a WWE World Champion in 2012?
Jeremy M: Hell no. Mason Ryan is one of the most boring, repetitive, charisma-lacking individuals I have ever seen. He’s the poor man’s Batista, and he’s really forcing it with the “intensity.”
Nathan: Maybe in 2013, but not 2012. He’s still raw and could use an actual feud for one, but an extended run in the mid-card would help immensely. I see WWE doing with him what they’re doing with Rhodes, giving him time with a mid-card title and if he passes, then they move him up to the main event.
Patterson: Mason Ryan is still green and shouldn’t be in World title feuds, i’d buid him up at the IC title level and see what happens. We don’t need more basterdized world/wwe title reigns like Swagger’s run and Dolph 45 minute reign.
LunaCrip: Absolutely not. I don’t even think he should be US Champion in 2012. They tried to force Ezekiel Jackson down my throat, and I wasn’t buying it, and it didn’t help things that he was put over a vastly more talented Wade Barrett, and then he did absolutely nothing with the IC strap. Ryan needs to be built up more. My main complaint is that in the rush to make new stars, they hotshot the wrong people to the wrong spots. If Mason Ryan is WWE champ in 2012, and guys like Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes are not, I may start questioning my fandom.
Andrew Crow: No. When he was brought to TV at first, he went on record as saying he wasn’t ready. That was within the past year. He’s still sloppy as shit. I’d rather see Brodus Clay, who’s at least shown competence and personality in the brief time he was on TV pre-injury, nab it next year if we need a rookie powerhouse as champion (hint: we don’t).
Did you buy the logic Nash was giving as to why he attacked Triple H? Did he really say that he smashed a guy with a sledgehammer for not returning his call?
Jeremy M: Honestly I thought the entire Nash promo was a snoozefest. Nash is another guy that bores me to absolute tears on the mic. He stumbles over his words and he just doesn’t know how to cut an interesting promo. Plus one phrase he used was something like “I treated HHH like a kid and took advantage of him with a sledgehammer.” Creepy pedophile-ish thing to say….
Patterson: I might be showing my age a bit and my love for old 80’s wrestling, but one of the biggest angles of the mid-80’s was the Paul Odrndorff heel turn and feud with Hulk Hogan which was based off of Hogan not returning Orndorff’ss phone calls. It made them tons of money back then and actually broke records for attendance and ticket sales at the time. Now over 25 years later the angle seems kind of silly, but it really depends how it plays out.
LunaCrip: I bought it as much as I bought Owen Hart kicking Bret’s leg out of his leg. What’s he going to do when Triple H comes back and goes after him (like you know he will)? SHOOT him?
Andrew Crow: See, Nash’s entire thing is that he’ll do anything for the right amount of money. It was a big part of his TNA character towards the end (which actually won over a lot of smarky TNA fans for how clever a take on his real-life personality it was), and it should be a part of his current WWE character. The writing’s right there: John Laurinatis paid Kevin Nash to take HHH out. All Nash had to say was “it was nothing personal, Hunter, it was just business, but I won’t lie and say I didn’t get some pleasure out of it.” BOOM! Convincing reason for why he did what he did. Money is the root of all evil, yadda yadda, etc.
It took Jack Swagger roughly 3 minutes to beat Santino. Are you okay with that?
Jeremy M: Nah. I enjoy Santino’s humor, and I’d like to see him win more matches. I’ve never been a big mark for Swagger though.
Patterson: Santino has been pushed as a comedy character for years he can get squashed every week and still get cheered. What disappoints me is the talent Santino has that is bein wasted on a comedy character when he showed tons of wrestling ability when he was in developmental.
Andrew Crow: Absolutely. Santino’s a great comedy relief character, so it’s not like he’ll be less over by losing matches when he can just make a joke and get everybody back on his side. Plus? He’s a horrendous wrestler, which is why it’s great that he’s as funny as he is.
Kelly Kelly got the cover of MAXIM magazine. Does that make you want to buy it? Would you buy it anyway? Are there any other Divas you’d prefer to see in there?
Jeremy M: I could care less about Kelly Kelly on Maxim to be honest. Not big on the innocent Barbie Doll look. If I could choose a substitute, it would be Kaitlyn. She’s hot as shit AND she has curves like a real woman should.
Patterson: Don’t care about Divas.
Andrew Crow: Nah. Why would I buy PG-13 pseudo-porn when I have the internet at my fingertips? That, and Kelly Kelly is a generic hot blonde. She’s smokin’ by wrestling standards (though I’d take Beth Phoenix, Daffney, and Christina Von Eerie over her any day of the week), but pretty tame by comparison to plenty of other (pseudo)famous women.
It has taken me two weeks to get to the point where I can talk about it, but how terrible was it that WWE decided to get rid of Maryse? Whether she wanted to leave not withstanding.
Jeremy M: It was horrible. I loved Maryse. She was smoking hot, and she had a fiery personality. She’s another girl I’d like to see on the cover of Maxim. :p
Nathan: It was pretty bad, she could have been brought back as a face to oppose DoD. I’d rather watch her on RAW or Smackdown then Eve.
Patterson: Don’t care about Divas.
LunaCrip: Not as terrible as when they released Mickie James. And besides, rumor is she’s going to pose for Playboy. That should make you feel a little better, right?
Andrew Crow: Meh. She was a great heel and has a certain sex appeal to her, but other than that? Meh. It was her decision, after all.
Over on Smackdown, Cody Rhodes lost to Randy Orton in a falls count anywhere / no holds barred style match which saw Cody Rhodes’ signature mask get broken. Will the match which consumed the first 30 minutes of Smackdown be the end of the feud between Orton and Rhodes, at least for now?
Jeremy M: I REALLY hope not. I’m going to put this out there right now: Cody Rhodes is one of the primary reasons I watch Smackdown. He’s taken this disturbed/tortured soul gimmick and made it absolutely enthralling. His promos are masterful, and he’s quick and brutal in the ring. He’s the perfect mix of an awesome gimmick and raw talent to make that gimmick his own. The Viper is another favorite of mine, so these two could feud until the end of time for all I care. One small note though: I want to see Cody win more matches, especially against the big-time players like Orton and other main eventers.
Nathan: It seemed to since Rhodes isn’t cpataining the team opposing Randal’s at Survivr Series. I actually liked the Orton-Rhodes feud and think it could go on for longer. The breaking of the mask did seem pretty symbolic.
Patterson: I expect this to be the end of the feud for now, but not for good as I expect these two to feud off and on for years if their heel/face alignment allows.
LunaCrip: Seemingly so. Looks like they are moving towards Orton vs Barrett, which should disappoint anyone. Rhodes should move on to someone else.
Andrew Crow: I hope not! That match was awesome and did wonders for Cody getting over even more than he already is. Think about it: the majority of the match was controlled by Cody Rhodes, who avoided one RKO and, luckily for Orton, he slipped up enough on the outside for him to hit the Hanging DDT onto the floor before nailing him with the RKO for the win. Cody scouted Orton and that’s how it came across. It’s just a matter of time before Rhodes beats Orton and, if I were booking, I’d have Cody come closer and closer each time over the span of 3 or 4 matches (including one tag match) before ultimately winning big time after proving that he’s scouted everything Orton can do. Keep Rhodes dominant of Orton for a while after that, playing up the “Cody knows Randy Orton better than he knows himself” angle, and force Randy to switch up his game just slightly to get the win again.
Ted DiBiase got a win over Tyson Kidd. Could this mean the start of a resurgence for Ted, and if so, would that be a good thing? How far can this guy rise in WWE?
Jeremy M: I feel that Ted will always be in the shadow of his father. He needs a legitimately interesting gimmick like Cody Rhodes has right now, something to draw the fans in, a gimmick all his OWN. And if a change like that doesn’t happen, he’s always gonna scrape for crumbs at the very bottom of the card.
Patterson: Ted Jr. has been building up some wins on Superstars over the past few weeks. Ted is a solid mid-carder. His biggest issue is he doesn’t have a quarter of the charisma his father had. A second/third generation star will always be compared to their father and has to have something that makes them different Ted Jr. hasn’t shown that.
LunaCrip: He’ll never match what his father meant to wrestling, that’s for sure. He doesn’t have Ted Sr.’s charisma or ability. Not saying he doesn’t have talent, but he’s got a pretty big shadow to escape from.
Andrew Crow: It’s not a resurgence for Ted until the man learns how to work a halfway decent match or cut a promo that doesn’t bore people to tears. Until he does that? He’s stuck in the lower-midcard and deserves to be there.
Who deserves another WWE Championship match more, Christian or Big Show?
Jeremy M: Big Show. It’s fun to see the veteran Show get a chance at the big gold again, it’s been quite awhile anyways. Christian’s had enough chances already and to be honest I’m glad he didn’t hold onto the title because I just can’t see him being an entertaining/believable World Champion or WWE Champion for very long.
Nathan: Trick question. Wade Barrett is the answer.
Patterson: One more match has become Christian’s gimmick. Big Show should get the rematch, then a three way at TLC in December with Kane returning after Henry retains to set up Kane/Henry at Rumble.
LunaCrip: I’d like to see Christian get another shot down the line, sure. We’re getting another Big Show/Henry match at Survivor Series. My question now is “Where is Kane?”
Andrew Crow: Christian. The “one more shot” bit is fantastic, especially his constant justification of it.
Who do you prefer, the “good” blue-masked Sin Cara or the guy who formerly wore the black mask under the Sin Cara name, the heel competitor now known as Huncio?
Jeremy M: I liked Silver & Black Sin Cara when he still had his mask. I doubt I’ll like Huncio though because ever since losing the mask they seem to be turning his gimmick into just a generic mexican thug. (Been done, LAX, Mexicools, etc etc.)
Nathan: I liked Hunico as Sin Cara because he was more aggressive and had a nice array of moves. Not sure if he’ll keep the same style or not, but I’m interested to see where they go with his character.
Patterson: Hunico has mor experience in the WWE style as he has been in developmental for awhile. I prefer Sin Cara Azul (blue) but in his Mistico gimmick.
LunaCrip: C. None of the above.
Andrew Crow: Meh to the both of them. The idea of two rival Sin Caras was something I actually liked, but then we run into the inherent problem of lucha libre, and that is that the offense is often unbelievable (in the bad sense) and botched spots are so common that they don’t even bother trying to cover them up. Botch this, botch that, so you know? Botch off.
The latest in the string of WWE Films is Reunion, which involves a John Cena portrayed character joining up with his “siblings” to be private detectives or bounty hunters or whatever they are. Are you familiar with the previews, and is there any chance you’re going to see it?
Jeremy M: I avoid any and all John Cena movies. I caught half of one on tv awhile back, and it was atrocious. I would love to see a sequel to See No Evil though. ;]
Nathan: I’d rather watch the LSU-Bama game again then see Reunion.
Patterson: I’ve seen the trailer as WWE shoves it down your throat, but I won’t be watching. I am interested in the recent Triple H movie once it stops being a WalMArt exclusive which all WWE films are for 90 days.
LunaCrip: Didn’t see any of his other movies, not going out of my way to see this one.
Andrew Crow: Should it come on TV? Yeah, I’ll probably catch it, but I’m not going to pay money for it.
