Tossing Salt Presents: Wrestling Fact or Fiction
Decmember 28, 2011
Doug Maynard
Christmas is over and the New Year is nearly here and I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season. I'm Doug and I'm back once more, along with the baddest man on the planet, Mr. Russell Jackson. He's so bad that Chuck Norris calls him sir! And we're here to discuss and contemplate the ins and outs of the world's greatest sport, the true "King of Sports", professional wrestling with an end of the year edition of "Wrestling Fact or Fiction". Questions were sent out immediately after RAW early Tuesday morning. Let's get right to it...
1) WWE should create a new WWE Championship Title to replace the current "Spinner" title?
Doug: FACT - Everyone is tired of that belt. It was okay for when Cena was the Champ, but he's no longer the dominate figure with the WWE Championship. It's time to go back to a more traditional title belt for the more traditional wrestlers now in the title picture (CM Punk). I know that the WWE likes the "Spinner Belt" because it's a popular piece of merchandise and the copies sell well, but the kids and fans will still be buying the merchandise so long as its available for sale. As Cody Rhodes has proven with the return of the traditional Intercontinental Championship belt, old is new again and the old title belts are refreshing for the fans looking for change. They did it with the IC belt and it's time to replace the WWE Championship belt as well.
Russell: FACT - I have never been supportive of the WWE "Spinner" Championship Title since it's inception on April 11th, 2005. It's not much to look at, as it looks like a toy belt than anything else. WWE needs to go back in making a design of the WWE Championship that makes it look like a legitimate World Championship. Between the 2 championship titles (WWE Championship & World Heavyweight Championship), the World Heavyweight Championship looks like a legitimate World Title and the WWE took that title when they bought out the now defunct WCW. WWE needs to take notice and change to a new design for their Heavyweight Championship. Nuff said...
2) WWE announcers should call more play by play action rather than going completely on a different topic while a match is in progress?
Doug: FACT - I would love to see the WWE (and wrestling in general) return to a more traditional way of calling matches with the announcers calling play by play action as it occurs in the ring. It's what I grew up listening to with such men as Gordon Solie, Bob Caudle, Marc Lourence and even Jim Ross. It made the match more exciting and put emphasis on the wrestlers and the wrestling product. These days, and I understand that the announcers are just following the orders of Vince McMahon, the announcers are off and talking about anything and everything under the sun and it not only distracts from the in-ring action, but actually hurts the business. There's a place for characters and storyline development, but it shouldn't be during the matches at the expense of the wrestlers. It's unfair to them and annoying to the fans trying to listen and watch.
Russell: FACT - I'm gonna say this as simple as I can. I'm a huge pro wrestling fan and I love watching pro wrestling on tv, whether it's Raw, Smackdown or when I have the money to pay for it, WWE PPV's. What I don't like about WWE programming are the announcers, who I might add are SUPPOSED to be calling play by play action for a match that's in progress, they sit there & run their mouth about a completely different topic that has nothing to do with the match taking place If they want to talk about a different topic, let it be spoken in between matches (like matches happen very rarely in the first place). This primarily goes to the goof, Michael "Wedgie Boy" Cole, who shouldn't be sitting at the announce table to begin with in the first place. He bashes talents (usually the heroes) every chance he gets, picks arguments / fights with the other announcers he's teamed with, and has no business whatsoever being on the announce team. Here's an idea. If Wedgie Boy wants to bash talent, team him up with couple of "heel" talents on the roster & become a manager. He can get his ass kicked every chance he gets week after week PLUS it would cause the ratings to up instead of plummeting with him "announcing". It's a win / win scenario for all. IF (key word right there... IF) WWE were smart, they would make it happen & get that poor excuse of an announcer off the headset.
3) You're looking forward to the John Cena - Kane feud?
Doug: FICTION - I was actually looking forward to it at first, but then that big promo-fest on RAW last night just kind of killed it for me. Cena did his attempt of a serious promo and played off the Chicago audience and their dislike of him and it just bored me. Then Kane came out and used his "supernatural powers" to ignite the stage and then a very long and tedious speech about "hate" and by the time he had finished, I was just wishing someone would set me on fire. I don't want to see Cena anywhere near the WWE title picture and I guess a feud with Kane is as good as anything else, but if these promos are any indication, there's going to be a lot of nonsense and stupid "sports entertainment" going on instead of wrestling and I really don't want to see this.
Russell: FACT - I've given this question a lil' bit of thought & the reason I'm going fact to the question is that, as a fan, I want Kane to dominate in the feud with John Cena. Since Kane has made his presence felt on Raw a couple of weeks ago, he has a fresh look, like the fire is burning inside him and instead of going after the guy that put him outta action 4-5 months prior, Mark Henry, he's taking all the aggression out on John Cena. Well kudos to him and I hope he takes Cena out of the equation all together or at least leaves him in dangled form for the Rock to take care of the rest at WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1st. But it would be just my luck that Cena ends up dominating Kane in their feud to gain momentum for his match against The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII. But a wrestling fan can only dream that it doesn't end up happening.
4) CM Punk will eventually end up wrestling John Laurinaitis in a match?
Doug: FICTION - I'd love to see CM Punk and Johnny Ace step into the ring togther and watch Ace, who was actually a decent wrestler back in the day, attempt to work a match, but it's not going to happen. I expect we'll have plenty of teases of a match and we might even see some handicap matches booked with Punk taking on Ace and a partner (David Otunga), but so far as Ace stepping into the ring, wearing tights and boots, to wrestle, I just don't see it. But maybe if we're really good fans and wish really, really hard, we'll at least see Ace feel the effects of a "GTS" in his future. One can only hope.
Russell: FACT - I gotta go fact on this question. CM Punk KNOWS how to push the buttons on not just "Mr. No Charisma Johnny Ace", but any person, wrestler, authority figure that he comes in contact / has a problem with. Let's count the ways, shall we...
1) The WWE & in particular Vincent Kennedy McMahon, when he cut the unscripted promo on Raw leading up to his WWE Championship match against John Cena at MITB PPV. What happened at MITB was that Punk pinned Cena after making Cena go beddy bye from the GTS, then took the WWE Championship Title & bolted through the crowd & out of the building leading us to believe that he walked out of the WWE orginization after his contract ran out later that night as the WWE Champion. From the expression on Vinnie Mac's face after Punk bolted with the WWE Championship in hand, not only did Punk majorly push McMahon's buttons, but left McMahon scrambled brained and in total shock of where to go from there (& teary eyed at that... lol).
2) Triple H comes to mind at that since "Trips" was named COO of WWE, Punk would come out on Raw saying that it was a conspiracy, of Nash laying out Punk with a Jackknife Powerbomb after Punk became the Undisputed WWE Champion, only to have the Ricky Ricardo look alike, Alberto Del Rio, to cash in his MITB briefcase & pin Punk to become the WWE Champion and of Triple H & Kevin Nash not wanting CM Punk to be the WWE Champion. Punk even went so far as to push the buttons of / insult Triple H by bringing up Trip's wife, Stephanie McMahon, to Triple H's face on Raw. Instead of a match between CM Punk & Kevin Nash at Night of Champions PPV, Triple H booked himself to replace Kevin Nash against CM Punk.
Now we have Johnny Boy Ace Laurinaitis getting his buttons pushed by CM Punk week after week, ever since Laurinaitis became the Interim Raw GM. Give it a few more weeks with Punk bad mouthing Laurinaitis every chance he gets and there will be a match between Punk & Laurinaitis on either Raw or a PPV with the stipulations that if "No Charisma" Laurinaitis wins, then he becomes the WWE Champion (fat chance of that happening) and if Punk wins, then Laurinaitis gets booted off as the Interim Raw GM. My prediction is that Punk gives Johnny Ace a boot in the ass, makes Laurinaitis go beddy bye with the GTS, only to have him wake up, tapping and crying "Uncle" to the Anaconda Vice. Thank you! :-)
5) You are looking forward to seeing Brodus Clay debut next Monday on RAW?
Doug: FICTION - When they first started building towards the debut of Brodus as a monster, I was interested. I remembered him from his days as the associate of Alberto Del Rio and was curious to see what he was capable of as a solo star. But then they put the debut again and again and with each week, I went from strongly interested to sort of interested to remotely interested to yeah, okay to who gives a rats ass. Building suspense and intrigue is a good thing, but after so many delays and false starts, the bud is off the rose and all we've got now is a bunch of thorns. I want to see who "It Begins" will be next Monday night. I want to see Dolph Ziggler wrestle CM Punk in a title match. But so far as Brodus Clay goes, sounds like a bathroom break to me.
Russell: FICTION - With the way the WWE has been teasing for a month / month & a half about Brodus Clay debuting on Raw, only to find out week after week that he wasn't going to debut, I'm just plain burnt out of 1) hearing that he's going to finally debut and 2) seeing him finally debut on the show. Plain & simple, WWE are being nimrods about the tease of Brodus Clay debuting & that's going to bite both WWE & Brodus Clay right square in the ass cause people aren't gonna give 2 shizzzzz! Nuff said.
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6) You are glad to see R-Truth back on Monday Night Raw?
Russell: FACT - I'm glad that R-Truth came back on Raw to continue his feud with The Miz. It's about time that he starts going after championship titles as well. Maybe he'll give The Miz all that he can handle & even more now that he's back.
Doug: FACT - He still looks nasty, like he needs a good long hot shower and apparently, he's still as crazy as that fatal-attraction psycho pygmy I dated back in the early 90's (the stories I could tell you... Geez! I'm lucky to be alive!) But damn it all, I'm actually happy to see R-Truth back in action. I miss the talking to invisible friends. I miss the conspiracy theories and rants about those nasty, evil, disgusting spiders. And I miss all of the shout-out's to "Little Jimmy". Truth has really started to become a fun character to watch and I love the way he was able to play that juggling act between a comedy character and a serious whack-job who you really wouldn't want to be trapped with alone in a room. The feud with Miz, his former partner, has a lot of legs to it and with both men being good in the ring, as well as being able to to cut interesting promos, and it has the potential to be the dark-horse feud of the WWE over the next few months and repeatedly steal the show. So yes, I am happy to see R-Truth back after his brief vacation. And "Little Jimmy" is happy too. And that is the truth!
7) You like the current "youth movement" taking place in the WWE?
Russell: FACT - Fact...It's about time that an actual wrestling organization shows off the younger talent and is having them to show off their skills in the ring. It's really awesome that all the championships in the WWE are being held by younger wrestlers. Letting the new generation of wrestlers take the ball & run with it, brings a smile to my face. :-)
Doug: FACT - CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are the WWE and World Champions. Kofi and Evan Bourne are the tag champs. Cody Rhodes and Zack Ryder are the Intercontinental and United States Champions. Beth Phoenix as the Divas Champion. Never before in the history of the WWE has there been a time where every single champ is a "new face" and you know what. It's good. One of the big problems that the WWE has had for a while is not building new stars and going back to and depending upon the same faces and stars year after year. They did it with Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and most recently John Cena. And after a while, people get tired of the same old / same old. Now the WWE seems to have finally realized that while it's important to have their tried and true stars in the picture, they need to build the future stars too and mix in some new faces to keep the company going strong. So change is coming and change is here. And not only with the champs, but also stars like Miz, Sheamus, Del Rio, Wade Barrett, etc. The future is here and it's coming on strong. And it's a very good thing.
8) So far, TNA has done a good job with Robert Roode as the TNA World Champion?
Russell: FICTION - The major reason I don't watch TNA much anymore is that I'm not really into their product anymore. There was a time where I did enjoy the TNA product & TNA stood out on their own with the 6 sided ring and stood out on their own with the wrestlers they had. But since Hulk Hogan & Eric Bitchoff came in and took over, the whole TNA organization has completely been shot to hell. Even though it was good to see first James Storm win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Kurt Angle and then good to see Robert Roode win the championship from James Storm, I feel that TNA hasn't used Robert Roode right in being their World Heavyweight Champion, which is a shame. TNA could do a helluva lot better with their product.
Doug: FICTION - It's been okay, but definitely not great. There was so much excitement and potential in the air when Robert Roode defeated James Storm to win the TNA World Championship, but since then, the best reaction I can give is "yawn!" It's just not catching on and catching fire with the fans as we were all hoping. Roode, by being the World Champion, should be the center piece of the company, but he's not. It's Jeff Hardy and to a lesser extent, Kurt Angle who are the stars. So far, Roode just seems to be an after-thought. He has the title, but he's not the focus of the company and it's a disservice to the fans of TNA and to Roode himself, who deserves better. Maybe things will change, but unless it does, his much anticipated reign as TNA World Champion will be considered a major failure.
9) Samoa Joe should dump TNA and try to get a job with the WWE?
Russell: FACT - Samoa Joe is yet another example of how TNA wrestlers are lost in the shuffle in the TNA organization. I think Samoa Joe is one of TNA's finest and best wrestlers that TNA has and he's not even in the chase for any of their championships. He's been the TNA X-Division & the TNA World Heavyweight Champion before Hulk Hogan & Eric Bitchoff came along. Now, the only time we see him on TV is when he's getting his ass handed to him and losing matches. He needs to get away from TNA and go somewhere where he'd be better used including the WWE. I'm sure that ANY wrestling organization would treat him better than how TNA are treating him at the moment.
Doug: FACT - For the first part of his TNA career, Joe was pushed hard and strong and was the resident bad-ass, monster for TNA. He was so impressive as the "Samoan Submission Machine", that the WWE went out and found their own "Samoan Bulldozer" the late and great Umaga, to attempt to gloom off some of his heat. And then something happened and Joe went from being "the man" to "who's that man?" and became merely an occasional side dish to the TNA's featured meal of Legacy, Fortune and Anglemania. That just isn't right! I know that there might be a problem getting Joe in as part of the WWE since his body-style isn't sculptured and larger than life and he's not male model material (unless it's the cover of "Long Distance Ice Truckers Monthly"). A few years ago, despite his ability in the ring, he wouldn't stand a chance of being part of the WWE, but now, with the "Age of Punk and Bryan" dominating the top spots, a man like Samoa Joe would do well and could fit in nicely.
Joe has done everything there is for him to do in TNA and now it's time to move on. ROH or Japan would be easier for him, but the WWE is the "gold ring" of the wrestling business. He should reach out and see if there's an interest and as soon as he's contractly able, jump ship. It's obvious that TNA doesn't have anything for him. Maybe WWE would be different.
10) Much like his brother Jeff did a few months ago, Matt Hardy will return to wrestling within the next year or so?
Russell: FACT - That is if he continues / finishes his rehab that he's currently in. Matt Hardy is a great wrestler that let his demons get the best of him, plain and simple. Hopefully he gets back on track and gets back to what he does best. And that's wrestle.
Doug: FICTION - I don't even know why I put this question here, but I had Matt Hardy on my mind. He's got a lot of baggage with him right now, but I'm all for second chances and I would love to see Matt get his act together, get his head straight, get back in ring-shape, lay off the Twitter and YouTube, and come back to either TNA or the WWE and be the major star that he's always had the potential to be. It might happen at some point in the future, but to be honest, I think Matt has burned too many bridges and even if he does get his life in order, too many powers that be will never forget his antics of the past few years and he's got about as much chance to returning to the WWE or TNA as I have of being invited to a "Vote For Rick Santorum" election rally. If Matt has any future in this business, it'll be as a trainer and maybe one day, a backstage agent. But as far as ever being an on-air, wrestling talent again, I just don't see it. And it's a major shame. So much potential and so much waste. 'Nuff said!
And I guess that's it. We went 7 - 3 this week. Not quite as agreeable as last week, but still pretty much on the same track. Not too shabby at all. My thanks once again to my debate partner, the man, myth and legend Russell Jackson, for his help in formulating the questions and providing awesome debate on each topic. Any questions, comments or if you'd like to join in the fun and be part of the "Fact Or Fiction" debate squad, give me a holler at Doug28352@yahoo.com and let me know what's on your mind.
Until next week, I'm Doug and that's it for "Wrestling Fact or Fiction" for now. Dat is all de' people need to know!
Happy New Year...
Ubuntu!
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