Wrestling Fact Or Fiction - December 20, 2011

Tossing Salt Presents: Wrestling Fact or Fiction
December 20, 2011
Doug Maynard

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and how the heck are you? It's Doug and I'm back again with another fun filled edition of the still new, still fresh, still soft as a baby's bottom, second most eclectic wrestling column alive today, it just has to be "Tossing Salt Presents: Wrestling Fact Or Fiction". And once more, I am joined by the man, the myth, the legend, a man so cool that his mere presence causes ice crystals to form and polar bears to put on extra jackets and fuzzy hats, Mr. Russell Jackson. It's just a two man deal as no one else seems to want to come out and play with us in tackling ten hot topics from the WWE and TNA and making the ultimate decision in that are these statements Fact or Fiction? It's all good though cause we've got it going on and know how to raise the roof, rock the crowd and make some noise up in de' house!! (And I have no idea what that actually means, but it sounds good!) These questions were sent out on Sunday night before Monday Night RAW aired, so keep that in consideration with our answers. Let's do this...

Daniel Bryan Deserves To Be WWE Champion?

Russell: FACT...Even though he has been making claims on cashing in the MITB briefcase at this years WrestleMania since winning the MITB match for the Smackdown brand, I feel it was the right call to cash the briefcase under the circumstances after the Big Show/Mark Henry match for the World Heavywight Championship at the TLC PPV. The only downfall with that was Big Show just pinned Mark Henry to finally win the World Title after 9 long years of not holding a World Title on either brand and then Mark Henry jumping Big Show after the match & laying out "The World's Largest Athlete". None the less, Daniel Bryan seized the opportunity, cashed in the MITB briefcase on a fallen Big Show & we have a new World Heavyweight Champion. It will be real interestin now if there's a new feud between Big Show & Daniel Bryan in the works and who will turn on who in a quest for the World Heavyweight Championship. Michael "Wedgie Boy" Cole, eat your heart out!... lol

Doug: FACT... Daniel Bryan has long been one of the top Indy and International stars of wrestling. Heck, I remember covering him, wrestling as "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson for several years while he worked in Japan and I was doing International Reports for the late and much missed WrestlingInformer.net website back in 2002 - 2003. He's been underated and under-pushed since coming to the WWE mainly due to his size and despite being one of the best pure wrestlers alive today. But it looks as if things might be changing in the WWE as of late and the talented wrestlers who can actually work (Punk, Bryan, Dolph) are getting more and more popular and much more appreciation by the fans and the company. Bryan is a former Ring of Honor World Champion and based on his ability and the length of his career, there are few that deserve that title more. I'm not sure just how long Bryan will remain Champion. I think the original plans were to wait until Wrestlemania and have him cash in the Money In The Bank contract at the WWE's biggest event, but due to injuries to Mark Henry (reported pulled groin muscles), a decision was made to go ahead and give Bryan his opportunity to take the ball and run with it. If the fans get behind him, I suspect he'll do very well.

Both CM Punk and Daniel Bryan will still be Champions at Wrestlemania?

Russell: FACT... I'm going out on a limb here & saying fact on this question right here. The only thing that raises doubts with this question for me is if the fans will welcome Daniel Bryan as bein the World Heavyweight Champion. Bryan, to me, has been perceived as the "underdog" in all of his matches just like Rey Misterio's first reign as World Heavyweight Champion. I feel Bryan will keep the "underdog" character in defending / retaining the World Title up til WrestleMania gets here. On to CM Punk. I have been on the CM Punk band wagon since he did the un-scripted interview on Raw leading to his WWE Title Match victory against John Cena at the MITB PPV earlier this year. He calls a spade a spade and he tells it like it is. My opinion on Punk is that he gains momentum leading to a match especially in a WWE Title defense whether on Raw or on a PPV, it's gonna be real hard to keep Punk down. If WWE upper management has any brains, they should keep the WWE Championship on Punk leading to & beyond WrestleMania as Punk has been grasping a hold of the ball & running with it.

Doug: FACT... This is kind of going out on a limb since there are a good almost four months to go between now and Wrestlemania and we're not sure exactly how the fans and the company are going to get behind Daniel Bryan as the new World Champion yet. I'm suspecting and hoping that they give him a chance to really take the title and run with it as the ultimate underdog champion leading up to the WWE's biggest show, but with both the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber pay per views taking place between now and April, the odds are against him. But I think Bryan can do it and keep the title, by hook and by crook (and occasionally just dumb luck) to the big show. I'm hoping so. I'm not very worried about Punk and the WWE Championship because I think that the WWE is firmly behind him and committed to making this reign a long and fruitful one and so long as the merchandise sells and ratings stay stable, he should be safe as the WWE Champ.

The WWE TLC pay per view was a good show?

Russell: FACT... I didn't watch the TLC PPV, but from what I've read of the TLC PPV results, I'd say that it was good show. WWE has finally listened to the fans & let Zack Ryder finally pin Dolph "The So Call Show Off" Ziggler & become the new United States Champion. Air Boom retaining the WWE Tag Team Titles against Primo & Epico. Randy Orton put "The Barrett Barrage" Wade Barrett through a table and winning "The Tables Match". Beth Phoenix over Kelly Kelly to retain the precious Divas Championship (who cares). Cody Rhodes retainin the I.C. Championship over Booker T. Which would've been nice for Booker to win the gold. Triple H over Kevin Nash in the ladder/sledgehammer match from what I read about it was "a great match with all things considered". I may have to check that match out if it's actually worth watching. Sheamus over Jack Swagger. Big Show over Mark Henry to win the World Heavyweight Championship in a "Chairs Match", only for Daniel Bryan to cash in the MITB brief case on a fallen Big Show to become the new World Heavyweight Champion (again Michael "Wedgie Boy" Cole - eat your heart out), and finally CM Punk retaining his WWE Championship in the Triple Threat/TLC Match for the WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio & The Miz. I have to correct myself. Given that 3 outta 10 matches, I could have cared less about the outcome (The Tag Title Match, The Divas Championship & The I.C. Championship) - I thought that it was a pretty good show


Doug: FACT... I have to admit it here. I was wrong. I assumed that since it was a B-show pay per view and stuck just a week behind Christmas, that no one would bother to buy the show and that the WWE would just throw out a token by-the-numbers event to pass the time. I watched a DVD copy of the event that my friend recorded for me (thanks Al) on Monday morning and it appears that instead of just phoning it in, the WWE decided to go the other route and pull a "let's make these people happy" event. A new U.S. Champion. A new World Champion. CM Punk, Miz and Del Rio blew the roof off the place and had a great match. Orton and Wade Barrett had a good match. Hell, even the Nash / HHH match was fairly decent. I still wouldn't pay $55 for it, but the WWE pulled out the stops and put on a show for the ages. And for the fans who did tune in and watch, they were justly rewarded for their loyalty.

You Missed Seeing John Cena At The TLC PPV?

Russell: FICTION... I wish I had the money to get the TLC PPV just to see John Cena not being there. About damn time that the WWE produced a PPV that John Cena wasn't involved in. Way over due... nuff said!

Doug: FICTION... It was kind of nice and refreshing to not see John Cena at the show for a change. I think that the WWE is starting to realize that there are more wrestlers out there than John Cena and although he's long been the company's "Superman", it's time to allow some of the other WWE Superstars to carry some of the load. It'll expand Cena's shelf life overall and limit his over-exposure, plus it gives the WWE other options just in case something was to ever happen to Cena and he was unable to perform. Cena got a night off and Punk / Bryan / Ryder got the chance to carry the load and the show turned out pretty damn well. It's a win-all for everyone.

You are excited about Kane's return to WWE RAW?

Russell: FACT... After being put on the shelf by Mark Henry 5 months ago, Kane came back on the 3 hour, December 12th edition of Raw, interfering in the John Cena / Mark Henry match by delivering a Chokeslam From Hell on John Cena. Personally, I was waiting for Kane to continue his feud with the guy that put him out 5 months ago, Mark Henry. Instead, he did the next best thing in laying out Cena with a Chokeslam From Hell. Kane looked re-energized & displaying 2 new masks & a full set of hair. Can't wait to see what the future holds for Kane in the next few weeks / months.
Doug: FACT... I'm always glad to see Kane perform and the bonus addition of the mask and the mean streak makes it even better. And his target of choice is John Cena, which keeps Cena away from the WWE title picture and will keep him busy until the Rock is ready to come out and play leading up to Wrestlemania. Kane is a good choice for this and the feud looks like it could be fun to watch.

<--- SWITCHEROO --->

The Triple H - Kevin Nash feud is thankfully over?

Doug: FACT... This feud with Kevin Nash and Triple H has never really felt right since the beginning. It's been bad promos, awkward ring performances and just, dare I say, boring as hell. It never made sense from the start and then just got more and more confusing as time went on. Nash is a great talker when he's allowed to talk, but this scripted promo style that the WWE uses just cut the (bad knees) right out from under Big Sexy at the start. And while HHH is a great performer, there was just not very much to work with. So we ended up with Nash putting HHH out for six weeks. Then HHH put Nash out at the pay per view last night for approximately six weeks. And next time we see Nash in a WWE ring, probably around Wrestlemania time, we'll hear the story about how he and Hunter talked during Nash's "recovery" and they worked out their differences. Long live the Kliq! Maybe if they had brought HBK or X-Pac (who's working occasionally for them at WWE Developmental) in to help the storyline along, it might have meant something, but it was just Hunter and Kevin and the whole thing just failed miserably. I'm very glad that it's over.

Russell: FACT... The reason I'm going with this answer is that the feud would have been better if all of the Kliq members would have been in the storyline & that wasn't gonna happen with Scott Hall bein in the state of mind of trying to get sober from alcohol. Plus add in the equation that both Trips' & "Big Sexy's" careers are coming down to a close, with Trips being "The COO" of the WWE and working behind the scenes & "Big Sexy's" knees keeping him from wrestling at a full capacity. I'm glad in a way that the feud is finally over.

Sting Made The Right Call In Firing BOTH Karen and Jeff Jarrett?

Doug: FACT... I almost said fiction because Jeff is an amazing worker and leader for the TNA lockerroom and his absence at the TNA shows will be sorely missed, but I read the spoilers and behind the scene's activities and Jeff is needed to over-see the TNA - India project now filming in India. So he needed to be written out of the show for a while to handle this huge international venture. So with that in mind, as much as I hate it, Sting was correct to "fire" Jeff Jarrett. As for Karen, she has no reason to be in a TNA ring or on our television sets at all. She's Kurt Angle's ex-wife and Jef Jarrett's current wife. But what kind of wrestling credentials does she have? Except for having Debra McMichael Austin syndrome and going from wrestler to wrestler in the bedroom and screwing up their lives, she has nothing to offer TNA. She's an attractive woman to be sure, but there are millions of attractive women out there and if they need someone to play a whiney, sniveling, manipulative bitch, I know many of them and they cost far less. Jeff will be missed during his time away. Karen? Not so much. But Sting did the right call. 'Nuff said!

Russell: FICTION: Sting firing Jeff Jarrett wasn't a good idea from the get go. Even though Jeff can be an ass on camera a lot of times, he's a valuable asset to the TNA brand. It's not a good move. Karen Jarrett on the other hand & I'll say this up front - even though she's married to Jeff Jarrett, she has NO business being in the wrestling business, let alone be in charge of the Knockouts Division. She's a complete joke & a waste of time of being involved with TNA. Nuff said!

TNA Impact! Wrestling has been better without Hogan or Flair?

Doug: FACT... No thirty minute promos by guys who can't wrestle and stars like Roode, Storm, AJ Styles, Aries, Kid Kash, etc. getting TV time for a change. How can anyone argue with that. Ric and Hulk had their day in the sun and are true icons and legends. And being the admitted Flair mark that I long have been, I don't even mind seeing Ric occasionally pop up to cut a promo backstage where he's interacting with the other wrestlers in the role of a "veteran advisor". BUT neither Hulk or Ric belong in the ring or in physical confrontations with the other wrestlers. It's boring, unrealistic and given their ages and physical conditions, actually kind of disturbing. I hate seeing Ric try to wrestle and getting his ass kicked. I hate to hear Hulk cut the long, rambling promo about how big and bad he is when we all know that at this point, he's nothing but talk. Everytime they appear on TV these days, it just destroys their legacies just a little bit more and makes me sad. I don't like being sad. So keep them at home where they belong and off of Impact!

Russell: FACT... It'll be even better without Eric Bitchoff, if by chance it were to happen. Lets face it, both Hogan & Flair were outstanding wrestlers back in the 80s & early to mid 90s. Both were World Champions in both the WWE & WCW ( and in Ric Flair's case, also in the NWA), but times have changed & they are way past their prime to the point of extinction. It's time to move on for the both of them. TNA's worst mistake was to allow both Hogan & Bitchoff to come in & take over. The both of them took a promising wrestlin company & made it a complete joke with no direction. They (Hogan & Bitchoff) can't stay away from the spotlight, ALWAYS having to be in charge and have complete power. Flair on the other hand, as long as he stays in a managerial role, guiding the younger talent, then I'd be all set with that. As for him wrestling any matches, give it a rest "Naitch". It was a wonderful ride when you were in your prime, but your prime is all but just a memory, let it be and give it a rest!


Giving Jeff Hardy the TNA Championship Main Event match at TNA Genesis Is A Good Idea?

Doug: FICTION... I talked about this in my last "Tossing Salt" column and I'll repeat it here. I'm happy that Jeff seems to be getting his life straight and is on good behavior. And I know that Jeff is TNA's biggest merchandise seller and the fans love him. But given the way that he screwed up during his last run with the company, not to mention his personal issues over the past few years, it's far too early and soon for Jeff to be thrust into the main event and headlining a TNA pay per view. I'm all for second chances, but TNA is rewarding a man who majorly screwed over the company and at the expense of stars like Robert Roode, AJ Styles, James Storm, Samoa Joe, etc, who have busted their asses and been there, day and night, sacrificing everything for TNA. It seems like good behavior and being model employees is ignored while bad behavior (like Jeff Hardy's and Kurt Angle's for two examples) is constantly rewarded. That's not the way to run a business and Jeff should have to work his way back up and pay his dues before being put into the World Championship picture. There are many others who deserve that honor first.

Russell: FICTION... With all of the legal problems Jeff's been through from the drug bust at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, plus the incident that happened at the Victory Road PPV in the rematch against Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship that lasted all but 90 seconds, the last thing I would have expected is for him to still have a job with TNA, let alone be in the TNA World Heavyweight Championship main event match at Genesis. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for second chances & it seems to be that "The Charismatic Enigma" has his head on straight since returning to TNA on August 25th, but putting him in a World Championship match is way too soon. He needs to prove himself, being put in other feuds, making sure his head is on straight for a while before going for the World Title. Have the other talents, that have busted their asses from the get go have a shot at the World Title first. Yet again, a stupid move by the upper brass in TNA.

You'd Be Willing To Pay $20,000 For A Weekend With Chyna?

Doug: FICTION... I'll be the first to admit that I've been involved with some weird and crazy things during my life and I'd been involved with some people who would fit in better at a carnival than in the real world, but when it comes to Chyna, even I'm not that freakin' sick or crazy. Let's put it this way. I'm a red-blooded man. I like porn, as most men do. I watched "One Night In China" starring Chyna and X-Pac. And well, I never thought that there was such a thing as bad porn. I was wrong. It scarred me for many years. And then (stupidly) I had the chance to recently watch Chyna's most recent classic (I wonder if she'll win an Oscar... or probably just do Oscar... lol) called "Backdoor To Chyna". I'm throwing up in my mouth just thinking about it. And if just thinking about her image on video has that effect, can you just imagine how it would be to spend money and be with her in person? I have nothing personal against Chyna and would actually like to see her make an appearance in the WWE just to watch her interact with HHH and Stephanie on live TV. That would be epic. But so far as her personal company or porn-star activities and her paid escort services, I'd prefer to pass. Or as the voices in my mind keep saying repeatedly, "Hell No!". Now if it was Lisa "Ivory" Moretti or the sexiest Jalepeno alive, Juventud Guerrera, I might consider it. But Chyna? I'd rather do X-Pac first.

Russell: FICTION... As the new United States Champion, Zack Ryder would say, "Are you serious, bro?" I'd rather be willing to pay $20,000 to wrestle an alligator or better yet, pay $20,000 to sit completely nakedd next to a king cobra. With Chyna now in the Adult Porn Business, she's basically a shell of her former self. Whatever floats her boat, it's not my thing. Nuff said!

And there you go. We scored an amazing nine agreements and only one disagreement. I'll bet that doesn't happen again for a long time, but for this week, myself and the Sultan Of Swag, Russel J. are on the same wavelength. Big kudos to us!

And I guess that'll do it for this week. If you think you'd be interested in joining the fun and taking part in this weekly adventure or if you have any comments or questions, feel free to contact me at Doug28352@yahoo.com and we'd be glad to sign you up and welcome you aboard.

Again, my thanks to Russell for taking some time and joining me in this discussion of the true "King of Sports" that we all love, Wrestling Fact or Fiction. I should be back within a couple of days with a new "Tossing Salt - Worldwide News" column so look for that and "Fact or Fiction" will return next week. I'll be here and Russell will be here. Will you? Thank you once more to everyone for reading this stuff and for your support over the past many years. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

I'm Doug and "dat is all de' people need to know!". I'm gone for now.