Hello! I’m back here on SLTD, and since there’s nothing going on this weekend in terms of PPVs, I thought I’d just take a look back at the last week in terms of what’s going on in the WWE, TNA, New Japan and whatever else I can come up with. It’s always a busy time of year for me, but it’s fun to relax and look at some pro wrestling.
Raw this past week capped off with, well, Randy Orton vs John Cena. Again. For the ten millionth time. It’s almost comical that, prior to the match, John Cena talked about how this would be their last match – for reals. No foolin’.
It’s not that they have crappy matches. They had a really good one on Monday and despite the crappy reception it got at the Royal Rumble, their match there was pretty good as well. They work really well with each other and they always try to do something different every time they go out there. The problem is that the concept of John Cena and Randy Orton wrestling again is stale, regardless of how good their matches are. Geez…switch to a new program!
The build towards The Wyatts vs The Shield has been fantastic. The promos, the stare-downs…everything’s been top-notch. I hope you’re all noticing the subtle hints to a Roman Reigns turn though. It’s very clear that they have big plans for him. They might pull the trigger and break up The Shield at the Elimination Chamber, or at WrestleMania itself.
The 2/24 Raw looks to be a huge one. Why have I been so specific? That’s the episode of Raw that will see the WWE Network launch after its conclusion.
A few reputable websites have confirmed names like The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and yes, the Hulkster himself, are scheduled to appear. Since I don’t think any medic will clear him and WWE’s very stringent regarding health issues these days, he probably won’t be doing anything physical, but it’ll be cool to see Hulk Hogan back in the WWE. At least for a little while.
There’s been some odd name changes in the WWE over the past week or so. Antonio Cesaro is now known as just Cesaro, and Big E Langston has dropped his last name, so he’s now only going to be known as Big E.
The latter makes sense, the shorter name works for him, but why Cesaro no long has a last name, I don’t know. When I heard about it, all I could assume was that Vince McMahon woke up one morning and decided that Antonio wasn’t a Swiss name, so he decided to scrap it. It could be something as simple as that folks!
TNA continues to just fall off the rails. There was a time a few months ago where I really didn’t mind the product at all, but judging by the last few weeks of TV…something tells me that Vince Russo might be sneaking back into a creative role. If that had happened a few years ago, I’d be stunned, but at this point, is there really anything left for him to ruin?
There’s nothing going on in TNA. Nothing. The majority of the show is Dixie Carter being a heel and having the vast majority of airtime. It’s funny. Years ago, Vince Russo said he never wanted to have Dixie Carter as an on-air character, and now look – she’s the main star of Impact, just like The Authority are on Raw. It’s absurd.
I like wrestling because, for the most part, it’s about two dudes (or ladies) beating each other up to see who’s better. But…ever since 1998 rolled around, it’s become about who has the power in (insert promotion here). It was fine for a few years, because it was something new. Then they got rid of it before bringing it back and it’s been an on and off thing for a while, but since SummerSlam, it’s been the main focus of WWE, and TNA. It doesn’t interest me at this point.
I don’t care who controls Raw anymore. I don’t care who becomes the “face of WWE”. I don’t care about Dixieland. I don’t care about any of that shit. Just let the World Champion be the top guy in the promotion and make him look like a star. Making yourself the star just feeds your ego, and maybe that’s why things will remain the same for the time being.
Does anyone, even for two seconds, buy that Magnus or Randy Orton are the main bad guys on their respective shows? I don’t.
Two big New Japan shows aired this week – one on Sunday and the other on Tuesday. I haven’t watched Tuesday’s show yet (I’ll have my exclusive thoughts on that here the next time it’s not a PPV week), but I did catch Sunday’s show, and it was a good one.
To be fair though, the first half was pretty crappy. The NWA guys they brought in – Michael Tarver and Big Daddy Yum Yum) – aren’t all that great, and they were working against Hiroyoshi Tenzan (who can barely move) and Satoshi Kojima (who’s good, but can’t carry any of them).
Once that was over with, things heated up. We got a fun tag-team title match and a top-notch main-event between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. There were lots of near falls towards the end, and Tanahashi ended up retaining the Intercontinental Championship. They’ve really established that title as being something important, just like the original ECW did with their TV Championship.
New Japan are trying to split their big shows into two, and making each card just as important as the other. It’s a good idea, because this is the year that they want to expand and tour more, but for me personally, I don’t know if I like it.
Going from paying $25 a month to $50 is a bit excessive for my tastes. I used to buy New Japan cards just because they looked like fun New Japan cards, but now I have to be more careful. Maybe it’s just me being frugal, but with New Japan airing more shows with matches that just don’t mean as much, it’s tough to dish out so much money for cards that aren’t as stacked as they were last year.
That’ll do it for me this week. Tune in next week when I’ll be covering the Elimination Chamber PPV. It looks, and sounds like it’ll be a fun one. Until then…
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