Wrestling Fact Or Fiction - March 17, 2012

Wrestling Fact Or Fiction
March 17, 2012
Doug & Russell

Greetings and salutations from the dark, moldy basement of Tossing Salt Media, Inc. I'm Doug and I have a brand new cat named "Goldy", short for Goldust. She's a hoot! And I also have another series of Fact or Fiction questions for myself and the baddest man on the planet, he's so cool that even Donald Trump wouldn't fire him, Mr. Russell Jackson. The questions are about WWE, TNA and all sorts of wrestling stuff. Let's do this...

1) The "John Cena Rap" and "Rock Show" were great ways to promote the Cena versus Rock match at Wrestlemania XXVIII?

Doug - FICTION: To be totally honest, I'm getting bored as hell with the Rock and John Cena stuff. Cena is going back and forth between being serious and being a goof more often than Zack Ryder's push and The Rock keeps coming out and "bringing it", hit and misses about even, and reminding us of a day long gone when wrestlers had personality, catch-phrases and didn't mind pushing the envelope. The Rock is "The Rock" and that's okay, but he just seems stuck in neutral and can't get "the most electrifying promos in sports entertainment" going as I would like to see them. And Cena... well, he's Cena. Time for talk is over and it's time to just get into the ring and beat the holy hell out of each other. I appreciate and enjoy a long build for a match, but this has gone on too long. Let's just wrestle already and get it over with.

Russell - FICTION: All talk, no action from both The Rock & John Cena for the past several weeks...Just like the Kane/John Cena feud last month, The Rock/John Cena feud is gettin sick'n'tired to watch, gettin boring as hell...Here's an idea...HOW BOUT A PHYSICAL CONFRONTATION FROM ONE TO THE OTHER INSTEAD OF TALKIN SMACK TIL THEY CLASH AT WM?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR??????? MORE ACTION/WRESTLING/BEAT DOWN, LESS TALKING...IT'S THAT SIMPLE...JJJJEEEEEZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!

(1-0) - Starting off strong. Rock and Cena just need to get it on already...

2) It was a dirty shot for Chris Jericho to bring up CM Punk's father's alcoholism?

Doug - FACT: Of course it's a dirty shot, but Jericho is a heel and that's what he does. Play the mind games and screw with Punk's head. I'm not sure how true this new addition is, but from what I understand, Punk used a variation of this angle during his Ring of Honor days and is okay with it. It's a brutal shot and really adds a degree of seriousness to the tensions between Jericho and Punk. And truthfully, I'm looking forward to seeing how Punk responds to Jericho's charges on RAW Monday night. They've really picked it up a notch now and I'm looking forward to seeing where Jericho and Punk go with this.

Russell - FACT: Jericho definately hit a low blow by insertin CM Punk's father's alcoholism into their feud this past Monday Night's Raw...I expect CM Punk to legitably hurt Jericho in their WM WWE Championship match, if not b4...

(2-0) - Jericho is the master of the mind games and it is getting very personal now.

3) AJ wil end up turning on Daniel Bryan and costing him the World Championship against Sheamus at WM XXVIII?

Doug - FACT: If this was twenty or even ten years ago, they would stretch out the AJ / Bryan love affair and really build upon it and turn Bryan and AJ into the next Macho Man / Elizabeth. But this is the WWE where they have no patience and love to rush angles, so I'm expecting that, just as things are really starting to get good, WWE Creative will go ahead and shoot their load and have AJ turn on Daniel Bryan. And since the biggest stage is Wrestlemania, why not go ahead and do it there? What I'd like to see is, if Bryan loses the title at Wrestlemania, he "blames" AJ on RAW Monday night and tries to make it her fault. Really build and turn this into an angle worth watching, That's what I'd like to see. But knowing the WWE as we all do, AJ screws up at Wrestlemania and Bryan loses the title. He blames her and we never hear from her again.

Russell - FACT: Like Sheamus needs any outside help on his quest to dethroning Daniel Bryan to become the new World Heavyweight Champion...I could see AJ turnin on Daniel Bryan & costin him the World Heavyweight Championship after Daniel Bryan has insulted & bullied (YEA, I SAID IT!!!!!) AJ the past several weeks, it's only fitting that she finally does that to Bryan at WM...

(3-0) - Hell hath no fury like a pissed off female so it's just a matter of time.

4) The Miz will not be in a match at Wrestlemania?

Doug - FACT: I don't know who Miz pissed off, but it's pretty obvious that someone high up on the WWE food chain is not happy with the "most must see former WWE Champion of all time". He's jobbing to everyone and their mama on TV and in the house shows and they even made it into an angle that he won't be a part of Wrestlemania, even though he was in the main event last year and defeated the "golden boy" John Cena. I guess it could be worse and Miz could have been "Alex Riley'ed" (taken off TV entirely), but for someone who has done as much for WWE as the Miz (a work ethic and travel schedule doing promotional stuff next only to John Cena), it's a shame. I'm hoping that cooler heads prevail and we end up seeing Miz make an appearance at WM XXVIII and do something to make a major impact. He deserves it and that's a fact, Jack!

Russell - FACT: Considerin the reports that's been comin out of The Miz playin a role at the WM PPV, he's not in any matches that's been listed as bein on the PPV event...It sucks in a way that at last year's WM, he main evented the event, retained the WWE Championship against John Cena but this year's WM, he's not in any wrestling matches that's been advertised for the event...He must've really pissed off the WWE Officials more than what has been talked about recently...What a shame...

(4-0) Miz deserves better because he's... (wait for it)... AWESOME!

5) Evan Bourne's suspension ends on 3/18. He deserves to be brought back to the WWE?

Doug - FICTION: I like Evan Bourne as a performer, but two suspensions in less than six months? He's gone from the WWE and deserves it. And he has only himself to blame. If the WWE brings him back, he'll only be used as a jobber because there is no way in hell they can give him any kind of push or put any gold on him now. What if he violates the Wellness policy again? He's on strike three and with the next violation, he's gone for good. Not a good scenario to be in at all. The best thing to do right now is just cut the losses and let Evan go back out into the world of TNA, ROH and Independent wrestling. And maybe in a few years, they can slide him back in under the radar and give him another chance. But for now, there's too much to lose for the company and they need to just let him go.

Russell - FACT: Given that Evan Bourne is bout to end his 2nd suspension due to failin the WWE Wellness Program a 2nd time, he should be given 1 more chance to compete in the WWE...BUT (and I do mean BUT) he does not deserve to be in a feud with Jack Swagger over the United States Championship, he does not deserve to be in a spot on Teddy Long's team at this year's WM, hell, he doesn't even deserve to be on the WrestleMania PPV card period...Let this be a lesson to not only Bourne but to any WWE WRESTLER that takes drugs (synthetic or not) & thinks they can pass the WWE Wellness Program with flyin colors...The WWE oughta send that dumb ass to a drug rehab center so he can be totally clean from drugs b4 bein brought back to the WWE...1 more strike against the Wellness Program & he's gone from the company, no ifs or buts bout it...

(4-1) - Word is still out if he'll be brought back, but even if he is, he's going to be walking on eggs for a long time to come.

<< -- SWITCHEROO -- >>

6) You're looking forward to the TNA Victory Road pay per view this upcoming weekend?

Russell - FICTION: TNA is f'n lame...Specially when there's not even a TNA World Championship match on the TNA Victory Road PPV...Not worth watchin...May not even be worth readin the Victory Road PPV results...Such a sad sad case to be in TNA...

Doug - FICTION: On paper, it looks like it will be a good card and most likely, it will be hot and the crowd will be jakked and the matches will be great. But TNA seems to always have good pay per view cards that in the overall picture of things, don't mean a damn thing. I've been trying to watch TNA a bit more often as of late rather than just relying on spoilers all the time and while the shows are okay, nothing jumps out as "must-see" or makes me want to spend my $35 on the pay per views. And this show is just the same. We'll see the same matches by watching Impact! wrestling and I won't lose any sleep by not buying the pay per view. TNA makes great matches, but they rarely have any story behind them or anything to make them special. It's just another show to me.

(5-1) - So much potential in TNA and no one even cares.

7) The WWE Network will be available in 40 million homes by the time it debuts?

Russell - FICTION: I find it hard to grasp that the WWE Network will be available in 40 million homes by the time it debuts when I heard here recently that they haven't even signed a single cable or satellite deal with providers to carry the Network...They need to get on a roll if they want the WWE Network to be launched by the fall season later this year...

Doug - FACT: If they don't have at least that much clearance, they may as well not even bother debuting the network. It's that simple. I think that after Wrestlemania is finished and in the books, we'll see Vince and the McMahon family really kick it into gear about selling the netowrk and making some major deals with companies like Comcast, Time Warner, Dish Network and DirecTV to ensure that as many homes as possible are getting the network when it debuts. It's a big venture that's make or break for the WWE, but so far, with everything else going on, it hasn't been the top priority for the WWE yet. That's fixing to change and when all is said and done, I think we should expect to see the WWE Network in at least 80 - 100 million homes within six months of it's debut.

(5-2) - WWE needs to get busy...

8) Zema Ion will get over as a heel by taking credit for Jesse Sorenson's injury?

Russell - FACT: I look for this to happen after what happened to Jesse Sorensen at the last TNA PPV...TNA would be completely stupid not to run a program with Zema Ion takin credit for Jesse Sorensen's injury...

Doug - FACT: The injury was totally accidential, but so what? Sorenson is out of action for a year (at least) and he was wrestling Ion when he got injured. If Zema (and TNA) doesn't take advantage of this situation, they're crazy. Chris Benoit accidentially broke Sabu's neck in a match and thus, he became "The Crippler". Greg Valentine (kayfabe) broke Wahoo McDaniel's leg in the late 70's and still milks the publicity from that feud with a t-shirt he still wears thirty years later that says, "I Broke Wahoo's Leg". Ion's persona thus far has been a cocky little ass-clown with a helluva lot of raw ability. And now, he can put "crippler" or "dangerous" on his character's reume and be even more of a strong persona and character. Sorenson thinks he's coming back. Doctors think he's coming back. So Ion needs to take advantage, play the injury (and his role in it) up, and thus when Jesse does come back, you've got a "blood feud a year in the making" with Jesse looking to get some revenge. It's money waiting to be made and will put those butts in the seats. This could be really big for all parties involved - they just need to play it up correctly and go for the gold.

(6-2) - There's money to be made here - they need to run with it.

9) Jim Ross will be called in to do some of the announcing at Wrestlemania XXVIII?

Russell - FACT: I look for Jim Ross to be called in to do some of the announcing at WrestleMania XXVIII, specially to do the announcing for the "Hell In The Cell" "End of an Era Match" Triple H vs The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as the Special Referee...It would be completely clueless & stupid for him not to call that match considerin Jim Ross was the lead announcer durin that era...We shall see if he will or not...

Doug - FICTION: He should be there to do all the announcing, but it won't happen. I'd love to see Ross call the Undertaker - HHH match since it's being billed as the "end of an era" and Ross was the man who's called the majority of matches for both HHH and Taker during their careers. But Vince McMahon likes Michael Cole as his lead announcer and that's pretty much the bottom line and all that matters in the WWE, so unless one of the three participants in the Hell In A Cell match (HHH, Taker, HBK) speaks up, I don't think we'll be seeing much of "Good Old J.R." on Wrestlemania weekend. He'll be there to do the promotional events for the week, but unless we get really lucky and Michael Cole gets an ingrown toenail or a bad case of the cruds, Jim Ross won't be on the TV screen. And it's really, truly a major shame!

(6-3) - Let's all hope that J.R. gets to call the action. He deserves it and so do we.

10) Eric Bischoff was correct when he called Jeremy Borash "a low rent bit player who should be fortunate he has a job"?

Russell - FICTION: Eric Bitchoff had no reason at all to call Jeremy Borash that, despite what was bein told to Bitchoff bout Jeremy Borash's claim...Bitchoff has no respect for other people & for him to run his mouth when he made the Twitter remark, he needs to be let go of the TNA Organization by Dixie Carter all together...

Doug - FICTION: Eric Bischoff is an ass-clown and he's the one at TNA who should be glad to have a job. Jeremy Borash has been with TNA since even before Day 1 and he's done anything and everything he can to help make TNA bigger and better, from promotional stuff to setting up websites to social media to ring announcing to commentary to probably even setting up chairs in the arenas. Jeremy is the consumate TNA "go to" guy for anything that needs to be done. And for Eric Bischoff, who only has the consulting job with TNA as a favor to Hulk Hogan, to go off and trash Borash as he did on his twitter page is beyond childish and insulting. I could really go off on a long rant right here about who's done more for the company, but I'll suffice it to say that Eric owes Borash a huge public apology and if it doesn't happen soon, Dixie Carter needs to step in and take action. Eric really put his foot in his mouth this time and something really needs to be done. 'Nuff said!

(7-3) - Eric Bischoff is a douche!

And there you go. We agreed far more than we disagreed and even when we disagreed, I think we actually were in agreement in the end. (Try saying that three times really fast... lol). That'll do it for another edition of Wrestling Fact or Fiction for this week. I want to thank once more the "Insane Icon" Russell Jackson for helping me out with this stuff each and every week. And if you'd like to join us and be a part of the "Tossing Salt Media, Inc" family, just drop me a line at Doug28352@yahoo.com and we'd be glad to have you join us and participate with the "Fact or Fiction" column. Cheap Plug Time: Go read my blog-site for all things Dougie at www.tsfiction.blogspot.com. And if you just like fiction stories, I've got an account set up at FanFiction.net at http://www.fanfiction.net/~tsfiction19.

And I guess that will do it for this week. We'll be back next week. I'm Doug and until then, always remember that wrestling is real. It's life that's fake. Have a great week.

Ubuntu!