Category Archives: Wrestling

Ten Ideal Brock Lesnar Opponents: Part 1 – 5 Possibilities

  By Franny | May 11, 2012 - 7:32 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Let’s face it: Whenever a big return happens, it’s a fantasy-booker’s dream. We all have an idea of how we could ‘do it better,’ and what happens on the screen isn’t always what we imagined in advance, for better or worse. When Brock Lesnar made his impactful re-debut in WWE, the wheels started turning in everyone’s minds.

Here are some hopeful (and completely possible) opponents for Brock Lesnar to plow through as he works through his $5 million deal.

The Rock

We’ll start with the painfully obvious. These two have a history, and if done carefully, this can (and probably will) be the big-money-match for WrestleMania 29. The Miami Raw after ‘Mania told us two things: The Rock wants the WWE Championship one more time, and Brock Lesnar is back, and pissed at the world. My prediction was that Lesnar would snag a title shot versus CM Punk at SummerSlam, and hold the belt straight through to WrestleMania, and drop it to the Royal Rumble winner, The Rock. It looks like they’re really behind ‘those internet guys,’ so my prediction’s a bit off, but I still think we’ll see Rock/Lesnar at Mania. More after the jump. (more…)

Paul Heyman is back in WWE…but to what extent?

  By Franny | May 9, 2012 - 4:53 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Paul Heyman

Everyone that doesn’t live in North Carolina was pretty excited to see Paul Heyman come back to WWE on Monday. Hold your horses, though. Many fans love Heyman as an on-screen managerial-mouthpiece, but a lot of fans respect him for his ‘creative’ side behind the scenes. I hate to break it to you all, but Heyman is back ONLY as an on-screen persona. He is not involved with creative decisions or writing. I’m hoping that will change, but for now, it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Brock Lesnar signed for a limited quantity of dates across 2012-2013, so Heyman was finally decided to be a good option as someone they can use to continue Lesnar’s storylines on dates where Lesnar isn’t booked. It’s genius, really. You pay $5 million to Lesnar for limited dates, but in a way, you still get him to be ‘represented’ on every single show, via Paul Heyman.

While CM Punk is a ‘Paul Heyman Guy,’ it appears Paul Heyman is a ‘CM Punk Guy,’ according to PWinsider: “While one of the reasons Heyman has returned is to work with close friend Lesnar, word is that he also returned to potentially work with CM Punk down the line. Heyman has much respect for Punk and will work with him on the upcoming Punk DVD release.”

Given that the working relationship is strong, MAYBE we’ll see him write again, but unless he is given free-range, don’t hold your breath. I’m content with him being an on-screen figure since he can talk his ass off. As long as they don’t try to revive ECW again, we’re fine and [El] dandy.

WWE still doing that whole ‘Extreme’ thing… now with more Brock Lesnar!

  By Franny | April 28, 2012 - 11:17 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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It’s that time of year, again, kids. Backlash!

Oh, wait, no. That’s right; Backlash is gone and the dying remnants of ECW are thrown at us in the form of a monthly gimmick pay-per-view. I hate to get all negative right off the bat, but you know it’s true. Gimmicks for the sake of having a gimmick don’t make much sense to me. However, somehow, the booking for this year’s Extreme Rules event WORKS for nearly all of the gimmick matches involved.

 First up, we’ve got Brock Lesnar returning for his first wrestling match in around seven years. A month after The Rock makes his big return to WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar’s back in the ring, too. (Speaking of which, I never wrote a WrestleMania article, and probably won’t. The whole show was forgettable. If you want me to complain about it, tell me to, and I’ll write up an article just for you.) Not only is it a return match, but Lesnar’s hot off the trails of UFC.

So how does a ‘real’ fighter transition back to ‘fake fighting?’ Well, you make your return and pop the face of the company in the mouth, busting his lip open. Whether this was intentional or accidental isn’t the point. The point is that something that LOOKED real happened. In a worked-shoot sort of way, Brock just may be correct in his claims of bringing ‘legitimacy’ back to WWE. So, his match with John Cena will be an ‘Extreme Rules’ match. I expect this to be brutal in a good way, but I do hope they don’t go too overboard. The hardcore gimmick will allow this match to be a brawl rather than a wrestling match, which will fit nicely for Lesnar, given his evolved ‘fighting’ background. My pick: Lesnar wins. (more…)

Flashback: WWE No Mercy 2005 featuring Eddie Guerrero’s final PPV appearance

  By Franny | January 29, 2012 - 12:42 am | Flashback, Wrestling
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No Mercy 2005

Thinking of killing some time while waiting for some video editing work to finish processing, I popped in a random WWE DVD. I can’t recall having seen this one before as I wasn’t following wrestling from 2003-2005 and just hadn’t gotten around to watching the actual DVD, even years later.

The show starts off with a now-chilling introduction video package featuring two feuds: Eddie Guerrero/Batista & Undertaker/Orton. Guerrero. Now, before I get into this, let me say that the one 2005 pay-per-view I have watched (other than WrestleMania & The Royal Rumble, of course) was ECW One Night Stand 2005. I always thought that Guerrero had a bit of a ‘vacant’ look about him, like he wasn’t himself and never would be again. Hindsight’s 20/20, and perhaps it was just the character he was trying to play. A few months later, though, this same look was present in this video package that turned out to serve as hype for what would be his final pay-per-view match. Coincidentally, this event was on Guerrero’s birthday.

In this video, a promo was referenced where Guerrero talked about his addictions and problems, which was probably as off-putting then as the Kevin Nash/Scott Hall match at Halloween Havoc was in 1998. Now, it’s even more uncomfortable to see. Shortly after this, the hype for the Undertaker/Randy Orton angle begins. Their match for this event was a casket match. Now WWE had no idea they’d be losing an active member of their roster within less than a month, and even if they did, I can’t say I’d expect them to not still hold a casket match. Afterall, they held THREE in 2008, less than a year after the Benoit Family died.

Anywho… Wrestling. Where was I? (more…)

My thoughts before the 2012 WWE Royal Rumble

  By Franny | January 27, 2012 - 8:14 am | Wrestling, WWE
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WWE Champion CM Punk & Raw GM John Laurinaitis

It’s finally every wrestling fan’s favorite time of the year, the beginning of the ‘Road to WrestleMania.’ I for one am especially looking forward to this year’s Royal Rumble for a few reasons. This year, WWE has announced that ‘every’ WWE wrestler is eligible for the Royal Rumble. Will this include existing champions? Could the WWE Champion hypothetically win a shot against the World Heavyweight Champion?

A lot of things seem to be revisited in some way this year. In the 2011 Royal Rumble, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan kicked things off right, exciting the crowd, one stiff move after another. William Regal added to the excitement, taking brutal kicks to the chest from Bryan, showing as always that Regal’s British balls are bigger than yours. Fast forward to 2012: CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are WWE’s main event titleholders and are in high-profile storylines, as they should be. The Miz, who was defending WWE Champion at the 2011 event, is now the #1 entrant. Dolph Ziggler reprises his role as a main event title contender, but this time for the WWE Championship.

I expect to see the rebuilding process start on Sunday for The Miz. Believe me, he’ll have a strong showing. He won’t win it, but I expect a good 20-25 minutes for him. His heat has fizzled out but there’s no way they won’t have a plan in mind for last year’s WrestleMania headliner at this year’s big show. (more…)

WWE TLC 2011: a trendsetter, a loser, & a Chicagoan walk into a bar…

  By Franny | December 19, 2011 - 8:25 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Congratulations, Zack.

I’ll start off by saying that TLC was pretty damn good. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it continued the recent trend of WWE putting out surprisingly good pay-per-view shows. The internet’s buzzing and gloating thinking that WWE is ‘booking for them,’ leaving John Cena off of the card and putting belts on the independent stars of yesterday. Wrong. Sources say that the million-time world champion was backstage but was not used because they are saving him for Raw so his program with Kane can start/continue. They used the opportunity to focus on other stars and remind WWE fans that Primo is still with the company.

They say the opening match is the 2nd-most important match of the night, and Zack Ryder’s title hunt came to an end to excite a hot crowd. The ‘internet sensation’ captured his first singles title and celebrated with his father, who was sitting in the front row, covered in ‘Broski’ gear, and couldn’t have looked happier if he tried. It was truly a great moment, whether you like Ryder or not. His ‘story’ is a remarkable one. (more…)

Speak to me, Warriors….A look back at Halloween Havoc 1998

  By Franny | October 31, 2011 - 4:32 pm | Flashback, Wrestling
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 It’s Halloween, woop-dee-doo. I don’t usually buy into holiday nonsense, but a post over at Feminine Smark inspired me. I didn’t realize it until now, but Halloween Havoc 1998 showcased a few of my absolute FAVORITE wrestling moments as a kid. Sting vs Bret Hart was a dream match for me (Sharpshooter vs Scorpion Deathlock?!) and the thought of it still gives me wrestling-mark-goosebumps. I recall Diamond Dallas Page vs Bill Goldberg being a huge deal as well. Face vs face, the people’s champ vs the unbeaten Goldberg. Diamond Dallas Page was the type to never quit or give up at any cost, and Goldberg was an unstoppable force. This match pretty much sold itself.

As if these two  marquee match-ups didn’t sell the event on their own, we also had “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan versus old rival The Ultimate Warrior. This match has since become a punchline and it’s the first thing people think of when Halloween Havoc 1998 is mentioned, sadly. I didn’t even realize Bret-Sting and DDP-Goldberg were on the same event, either! It’s hard to say who is to blame for that but it’s not really necessary to blame anyone. It was an attempt to cash in on something well-known, even if many years had passed. We all know Bischoff is known to do that from time to time. It’s hard to blame him for trying, and I don’t think it would be treated with such disregard had the flash-paper incident not happened. It was all a questionable storyline at best but I’m sure plenty of people bought the pay-per-view to see Warrior in action. I for one have never been a fan of Ultimate Warrior, and probably never will be. However, as much as I’d like to pin this train wreck on him, I just can’t.

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