A Punk walks into a (steel) bar…
It’s only fitting with a tweener PPV like Hell in the Cell that the WWE is juggling several mid-act storylines this week.
Hope.
Having Booker-T replace Jerry the King Lawler at the announce table only confirms (to me) the return of the “Nation of Domination”…ok, albeit a bit of a stretch. For those of you who balk at the idea of a return, I ask you to think about how easily everything came together for Mark Henry to be a champion once his “angry, oppressed (not in the way you are thinking, more corporate than racial) man” gimmick came together? Once this clicked, it seemed like he should have had a run like this years ago. His being “held back” by the WWE is squarely accepted by all the fans who want change in the organization, those same fans who are tired of the same T-shirt (selling) champions being recycled over and over again. Still don’t agree with bringing back the “Nation”? Ask yourself this: Is there anything similar going on in our current society? Say with a certain individual trying to be re-elected? Haven’t some of the best storylines coming from the WWE blur the lines of reality and fantasy to the point of outrage? Everyone wishes they could treat their boss like Stone Cold treated Vince, or had the Rock’s mic skills in casual conversation, yet we all settle for feeling like that a few hours a week through the television set. The WWE has a chance to be controversial and, more importantly, relevant with launching a New Nation in this post-racial society we are attempting to live in. More on this later.
Random
I have to give credit where credit is due. The WWE production team has been on point since Wrestlemania with their character pieces, fully capturing the absolute essence of the characters, through masterful editing, carefully selected music and uncanny timing.
Hope...part 2
It is wise to make an “angry man” even angrier? Sure, go ahead and fine Mark Henry 250K…
HHH cubed
As we are getting a full dose of HHH these days, it’s only fair that we make an assessment of his performance as COO, and to do this justice we MUST compare him to the former COO, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Can HHH reign be graded completely as of yet? No. In my opinion, it’s a bit too early to judge his reign, yet certain components of his “style” need to be discussed. They are as follows:
1.
1. Hair Trigger. I have to say I like this impulsive, somewhat bitter HHH. His (seemingly) rash decisions lead to intriguing plot lines where we are left guessing, and guessing wrong. Consider the Miz/R-Truth firings as exhibit A in the argument. Now, Vince was way more calculating and methodical as exhibited in his long drawn out speeches or advertised “blow-ups”.
2. Remembers the past. Another important element to his reign deals with his excellent memory, especially with past storylines where he, or his family were the focal point. Again, for me, this works because it is in direct contrast with Vince’s adherence to business as the bottom line. This lack of business polish keeps us guessing as we are getting used to a more “personal” COO in charge. When Vince came out, you knew his prime directive was to settle things in favor of what was better for the business (even though this always didn’t work out for him). For now, HHH is out for some payback, a good thing considering the mind games it creates for us fans, causing us to engage, even more than usual, in remembering each and every negative (or positive) interaction HHH has had with his current and past (Nash) roster. The only thing HHH needs to be concerned with is consistency. Case in point: Randy Orton. If HHH has a long reign as COO, Orton should be his “Stone Cold” as the two have a rich history that is ripe with “fuzzy” conflict, depending on how you revise history. Orton and HHH had a run where they both went over the to and attacked family and they also have had a mentor/student relationship with Evolution that needs to be exploited during his COO run. Of course this would require Orton to step up his mic skills (but who doesn’t want to see that anyway).
“I am potential”
The WWE and Ziggler need to get off this holding pattern they are in. DEFINE Ziggler now and let us decide if we like him or hate him. Right now everything he does is manufactured and he’s coming off as a tweener, narcissistic whiner. A neutered Ric Flair with a “cheap heat” manager. All of this creates a “potential” filter but not something worthy of my time. Take the training wheels off and tweak him as you like, after.
Rhode Rules!
Cody Rhodes continues to be one of the best things going in the WWE. While at times his gimmick is a bit over the top, he seems to relish the role and, for that alone, I am good with it. See what I mean by letting the kid loose?
Born Again, Christian
Christian needs to be in high profile matches and similar mic spots. I can’t think of many on the roster who have actually earned this type of respect in both areas of wrestling as well as being over in both organizations (WWE and TNA). This type of “across-the-board” talent is lacking on the roster and needs to be used. Don’t make us regret losing Christian like we did Jericho (PLEASE COME BACK!!!). I know the WWE is hurting for heels these days (yet they fire Miz and R-Truth), but Christian rules as a face, especially a funny one. When Jericho comes back, give Christian a chance as a face and I bet, with the right push, he can sell some T-shirts as well.
Sheam-on-us
Sheamus is being booked strong, but I think he needs a title to put him over the top as a face. His run as a heel was defined by having the title and he did it so well that he doesn’t need another title run to be a good villain (he does need to complete his feud with HHH, but that’s another story). However, as a face, he needs the title to help make the point, mostly because he is such a great heel and not being booked ala Orton, as a heel-face.
Cole Mining
Anal Bleeding. Really? Really?!? Booker-T’s reaction was priceless.
Law Offices of David Otunga or Hope Part 3
More evidence of the return of the Nation!!!!
We’ll completely skip the “overnight” transformation because they are trying things out on him and sometimes they have to do this on the fly (but it does cause dissonance and this in turn can be responsible for hesitation in “buying-in” on some characters). Sidenote: It would have been more compelling for him to wonder why he became a wrestler while having the Harvard Law degree and set him on a series of defeats that brought this point home for him. Have him go from hot stuff out of NXT, to a nice run on Nexus, to going solo, where he just gets smashed week in and week out (and I mean beat like a rag doll), leading him to some serious injuries and having to settle for using his “Harvard brain” as a manager, ending up with his solo wrestling return, one with more character and depth that just a shallow Harvard grad cum wrestler. Giving us fans multiple points to invest in David Otunga. I am not opposed to him being the counsel for the New Nation.
Diva Divide
Work needs to be done in this division. Give the girls compelling storylines, rotate the entire roster, beef up their characters and let the public decide. Current TV appearances mean nothing other than getting wider exposure in Men’s magazines or grooming women to date George Clooney, NOT the female empowerment you want us to believe. You have the women to do it, NOW GO DO IT. Let the fans decide if its worth it or not.
Kelly Kelly point: She needs to be the Brother Runt of the Divas, we all know she has wrestling potential but she needs that killer move that can put anyone out, ala Brother Runt and his giant killing abilities. Of course this means she will have to take beatings during the matches, but it will only help to get the public (who want to like her) even more on her side and will only help the heel she is facing to get more “heat”, a win-win in my book.
Geek side-note: Eve Torres looks like Star-Fire with her hair down. She should be the next Wonder Woman if the comics/Hollywood are looking to do a re-boot.
Stop…Cena-Time
Love him or hate him, John Cena does what 95% of the roster cannot do and that is why he is the #1 man in the company. It is not a valid point to compare Cena to great wrestlers of the past because they did not have to deal with the PG era. How good would The Rock or Stone Cold have been if they had to deal with such guidelines? The stars of the “Attitude Era” should have an asterisk next to them as they were allowed the benefits of having no-rules and were encouraged to push the envelope to the max. Cena-haters should be thinking is this: “Man, imagine what Cena would have done in the non-PG attitude era?” I guarantee you he would have been right up at the top with The Rock and Stone Cold.
Punk-y Brewster
How do you make the “fringe” popular and mainstream while maintaining its fringe status? If you asked the company most famous for doing this, Apple, the answer you would get is: Marketing. The “shoot heard around the world” took Punk out of his fringe status and place him firmly in the mainstream of the WWE universe, his title win solidified his outlier as champion status and created this PR/marketing challenge.
A couple of points threaten to damage his run as a top guy in the company and leave him in a precarious position as a fan favorite.
1. Brought back too fast after winning the title and quitting.
2. Pipe bombs can blow up in your face. CM Punk is a product and the WWE needs to make sure we don’t realize this (think Apple selling design and performance not computers). Giving him a “pipe-bomb” and asking him to work his “shoot magic” can backfire if the message is always the same. I loved his “straight-edge” heel gimmick and lauded his mic skills during that time, but now that he is shooting from the hip and not working the straight edge mind-set I am a bit lost in my feelings for him. His actions, not just his words need to bring change to the WWE or the pipe-bomb will blow up in his face. What’s the harm in letting him beat HHH at Night Of Champions with a “change” stipulation other than his personal feud with Hunter. If he wins, he gets Zack Ryder a 6 match Raw series contract, where Ryder must have a televised match on Raw. This would allow more room for HHH to destroy Ryder with booking (if the WWE wanted to go that route with HHH’s COO run) or have Punk help out the new talent he wants to “change” the company with (and showing us that he actually does have a plan to change the company). Constantly having him out there talking change will not mean anything until we see his actions (not just words) bring about change.
Ryder Rough
Gotta give the man props on his arrival. He made it happen. He has a certain I want to be a WWE star quality that needs to be exploited, (think Robert De Niro’s character in Goodfellas. No, not his actual character, more context: Not being full Italian, he could never be a “made man”). It will give him the depth he needs to be a real star in the WWE.
Random
Who doesn’t like Teddy Long? Except Vickie G., of course.
So long, farewell…
An obvious, but well executed finish to Raw last night.
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