Blog Archives
The 2014 WWE Hall of Fame Rings are Real and They’re Spectacular
Great Lincoln’s beard these are awesome. I can honestly say that I would pick a WWE Hall of Fame ring over any championship ring from a major sport. There are so many guys who get a world series or Superbowl ring and they had nothing to do with helping the team win, but a WWE Hall of Fame ring is something earned by the individual. It just oozes class. Vince McMahon has outdone himself again.
– Ryan
Monster Blog Wednesday: Favorite WrestleMania Match
WrestleMania XXX is only 5 days away, so there’s really no other topic to dedicate this week’s monster blog too. Over the last 29 WrestleMania’s, hundreds of matches have been on the card, but only 29 have been the main event, and even fewer “stole the show”. Here are our picks for our favorite WrestleMania match of all-time.
Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle – WrestleMania 21
The cool thing about WrestleMania is that a lot of times the match that sticks with people the most isn’t the main event. Steamboat/Savage, Undertaker/HBK I, and my personal favorite, HBK vs. Kurt Angle. No title was on the line here. Just two guys having one hell of a wrestling match. It’s no coincidence that at 27:25, this was the longest match of the night: Angle was in his wrestling prime, and Shawn Michaels kinds of defies logic because he never got out of his prime. A lot of people rank HBK/Undertaker I as the best WrestleMania match ever, and I’m not here to dispute that, but I always enjoyed HBK’s matches with smaller guys more than the Undertakers of the wrestling world. He matched up well with everyone, but people of similar stature, especially submission specialists, always brought out the best in HBK, who was an underrated mat worker. After HBK’s slap this match gets moving and never slows down, pretty much taking the air out of the crowd for the remaining two title matches. You can virtually insert HBK vs. anyone onto this list, but I’m going with the Olympic gold medalist here. It’s true. Its’ DAMN true.
– Ryan
The Rock vs. Stone Cold – WrestleMania 17
First, how awesome was this promo? Probably the best of all time. Kudos to Limp Bizkit for the killer track that will forever be related to this match and promo. Legend…….wait for it…….
…..DARY.
Heyman says it best: “This is the match that both men need to win, and neither man can afford to lose” and that pretty much sums it up doesn’t it? Two of the biggest superstars of their generation, in their prime, going head to head in their second of three Wrestlemania matches. This was one of those good old fashion brawl matches. Both guys were absolutely out for blood and it show with every punch, suplex, and bell shot. Bonus alert: who doesn’t love a match where Vince interferes.
-Matt
Arnold Schwarzenegger Had One Hell of a Night Last Night
66 years old and still kicking ass. New York City to tape The Tonight Show, Brooklyn for Monday Night Raw. All in a days work when you’re the Governator. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took a helicopter to get to Raw, just because he could. If Arnold actually worked for QVC and sold vegetable choppers I think I’d throw away all my kitchen ware and primarily eat chopped vegetables. Just a monster of a salesmen. Now I NEED to see Sabotage. If movies stuiods were smart they would just send Arnold out to various talks shows and live events and have him charm peoples asses off. Guaranteed box office success.
P.S. Nobody backhands like Arnold backhands.
Best finisher ever or best finisher ever? #RAW #Arnold https://t.co/7gHV4VJrk4
— The Average Nobodies (@AverageNobodies) March 25, 2014
-Ryan
CM Punk Took a Nose Dive On My Favorite Wrestlers List
For those of you not up on recent WWE happenings, CM Punk, the self proclaimed “best in the world”, has up and quit the WWE. Just straight walked out on operations the day after the Royal Rumble. Took his ball and went home, ala Stone Cold. No reason for it and, publicly, nobody has heard from him since. Past issues with Punk leads me to believe that he wasn’t happy with how the company was using him, and you know what, Punk? If that is the reason then you need to seriously reevaluate your situation. Between 2012 and 2013 nobody, and I mean nobody, was bigger in the WWE than CM Punk and his loud mouth manager, Paul Heyman. CM Punk owned the squared 
circle. Girls wanted him and guys wanted to be him. Somehow he thought that changed in the past few months. Got news for ya, it didn’t. Go ahead and replay any WWE event since Punk’s departure. “CM Punk” chants can be heard throughout the night, and to be honest it is ruining some of the best programming WWE has put on in years. Fans need to realize this is the fault of the WWE. WWE didn’t show Punk the door, neither did they want to, Punk walked out all on his own. Say what you will about Batista’s win at the Rumble, but HHH and Vince, like always, have a pulse on whats going on with the WWE Universe.
From what is rumored, Vince has been meeting with Punk. Which is gracious on his part. I would have told Punk to go fuck himself. Punk fell way off my list after this stunt.
-Matt
PS- What are you going to do? Go wrestle for TNA? Only a matter of time before you shoot a funeral home promo. That’s when you know you’ve hit pro-wrestling rock bottom.
Trouble in Paradise: Is This the End for CM Punk?
Source – CM Punk has been pulled from all advertising of WWE live events going forward after a meeting with WWE management at Monday ‘s WWE Raw tapings. Punk is under contract until July, but the feeling right now is that he is no longer factored into the company ‘s plans moving forward. The plan was to work towards a CM Punk vs. Triple H match at WrestleMania 30, but not it seems as if WWE may slide Daniel Bryan into that slot.
Some sources have stated that the original script for Monday’s Raw called for Punk to wrestle Antonio Cesaro and lose after Kane interfered in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying match . Other sources claim that he was not scheduled to wrestle, but instead say he was booked to do a promo that would follow up on Kane causing his elimination from the Rumble. Either way Punk was booked for Raw, but was not backstage for the show or at Smackdown.
The feeling is that the late re-writes for the show on Monday were because Punk had informed the company he was going home and wouldn’t be back. Word is that this is not an injury situation, but instead a case of burnout and unhappiness with the overall direction of the company. Punk had been very vocal in the past about the usage of returning and “part time ” stars being pushed beyond wrestlers who were working full-time for the company.
During a recent interview with Ariel Hewani , Punk spoke about working the crazy WWE schedule, and only ever taking time off for injuries . Punk worked over 50-minutes in Sunday’s Royal Rumble match , and was described as being “pissy” backstage. But some has said that this is not unusual for him.
Another source noted that Punk ‘s last goal was to work a WrestleMania main event, and that it may be a situation where Punk realized it wasn’t going to happen this year and with his WWE deal expiring and him being so goal oriented, it may have weighed him down when he realized it would not happen.
Also during the Ariel Hewani interview, Punk was asked about WWE killing his momentum at times and why such things happen and stated that he’d like to think they don’t make those decisions on purpose and it’s more they wanted to go in another decision and that it was a different era.
I’ve followed WWE and wrestling in general for far too long to blindly believe anything based on the initial reports. According to numerous wrestling websites, CM Punk, a la Stone Cold in 2002, has taken his ball and gone home. We’ve all made the Stone Cold/CM Punk comparisons in the past, but I doubt anyone saw Punk mirroring this part of Austin’s career. Punk was mysteriously absent from this weeks Raw, and initial reports (there are those words again) suggested he didn’t appear on screen to further the storyline from Sunday’s Royal Rumble, in which he was choke slammed through a table by Kane. Now it’s come out that Punk is frustrated with the current direction of the company, including the inclusion of part time wrestlers Brock Lesnar and Batista in main event spots, so he went home. Is this part of a storyline, or this the end for CM Punk? I say the latter, and here’s why.
They did this exact storyline the last time Punk’s contact was up, so repeating the same angle without the help of that incredible Chicago crowd at Money in the Bank would be stupid. If I had to bet on one scenario, it would be that Punk is really gone. WWE has a lot of good storylines going on right now between The Shield, Wyatt’s, Daniel Bryan, Lesnar, the Authority and the eventual return of the Undertaker. It makes no sense to make this a storyline. Punk going through Kane at Elimination Chamber then finally getting his hands on HHH at WrestleMania would have been great. Now it looks like he’ll be sitting on his couch for the biggest event of the year. This isn’t a storyline. Will Punk return? Possibly, but that doesn’t mean it’s part of the story, It means he’s smartened up and agreed to fulfill the rest of his contract.
I’ve always been confused as to why people like Punk get upset when part timers come back for WrestleMania season. Batista’s return last week was the highest rated Raw in months. Lesnar’s return after last years WrestleMania got mainstream coverage. The Rock made WrestleMania 29 one of the most bought PPV’s in history. If these guys came back and didn’t make the WWE more money, which also means more eyes watching guys like Punk, then they wouldn’t be back. If you have the choice between 100 people watching your show or 500 people watching your show, wouldn’t you take the 500? And wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to get those 500 people watching? I love Punk, and guys like Ziggler and Daniel Bryan. They put on great matches. They get the crowd behind them like no one else in the industry. But without those top tier guys, they’d be performing for a drastically smaller audience, and that’s not good for anybody.
Hopefully Punk comes back and furthers the Authority storyline like he should, which would ensure Daniel Bryan would stay in his current spot in the Elimination Chamber, win the title and fight in the main event at WrestleMania. If he doesn’t come back, then I hope we never see him again. I’d hate to see him turn into one of those part timers he despises so much.
– Ryan
Farewell Houston Astrodome, Home of the Greatest Wrestlemania in History
(Source) “HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astrodome was a technological marvel when it opened in 1965. Dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” it was the first domed and air-conditioned stadium and became Houston’s defining landmark, a symbol of the city’s can-do spirit.
But eventually, bigger and sleeker stadiums took its place, leaving the iconic structure that once hosted both professional baseball and football games empty and dilapidated, its future in limbo.
After Texas voters on Tuesday rejected a referendum that would have authorized up to $217 million in bonds to turn the Astrodome into a giant convention and event center, the stadium is likely to be demolished.
“We can’t allow the once-proud Astrodome to sit like a rusting ship in the middle of a parking lot. This was the best effort (to revamp the stadium), and voters have turned it down,” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said. Fifty-three percent voted against the referendum.
Emmett said a final decision on what happens to the Astrodome will be up to the commissioners court, the group of local officials who manage the county. But he said the stadium’s future was pretty much sealed with the referendum’s failure. He said a decision would have to be made quickly but didn’t say exactly when that would happen.”
The Houston Astrodome was home to many events over the past 48 years, but nothing compares to the event it held on April Fools Day, 2001. That was the night the Astrodome hosted Wrestlemania XVII, the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. WWE was in it’s heyday; the roster was stacked, and everyone who competed that night had one goal in mind: to steal the show.
Check out this ridiculous card:
Shane McMahon vs. Vince McMahon in a street fight, with Mick Foley as the special guest referee.
Hardys vs. Dudleyz vs. Edge & Christian in a TLC match for the tag team titles.
Undertaker vs HHH.
The main event: Stone Cold vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship.
You could live three lifetimes and never see a wrestling card with that much star power. If you get a chance, watch some of those matches. Every single one delivers in a big way.
Thanks for the memories Astrodome, and thanks for the greatest Wrestlemania of all time.
– Ryan
P.S. It also gave us the greatest wrestling promo of all time.
