BEARcast - WrestleCast 5/14/2014

BEARcast - WrestleCast 2014-05-14 w/ Fred "The Oracle"

The soundtrack to this week’s BEARcast - WrestleCast went to some dark places only because of the sad news of Daniel Bryan’s injury and the ripples it will cause.  Overall, Fred and I were much happier with this Monday's RAW.  At the end, there’s a special tribute to the 20th anniversary to Weezer’s BLUE album (damn, we’re old).


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Thanks,
WK
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Contact Fred on Twitter @FreddyD15

WWE Power Rankings, RAW 1/06/2014

Coming at you from Baltimore, after watching the second greatest BCS Championship (nothing can top the USC / Texas game, don’t try to fight me on that) and then curling up for what promised to be an exciting RAW, it was a long night for this old Bear.  With a good night’s sleep, I’m ready to christen in the New Year and the beginning of the 2014 Power Rankings!  Old School RAW was appropriately titled.  It had the look and flavor of an Old School WWF/E event.  Even my girlfriend commented on the cool retro look of the WWE signage.  The only problem was it was much more of a “show pony” than actual good show.  I’ll never say NO to seeing former greats come out and give the show an added boost, but we still have a Royal Rumble just a few weeks away and the story must go on.  The other small complaint, which I’ll get into later, is that some of the former stars that were from the Attitude era, can’t really be Attitude-y on todays WWE’s PG shows.  This is how we get The Godfather leading a stable of old guys out to the stage instead of his usual flock of hookers & hoes.  By the time Wade Barrett got done with his schtick, you could see the former Superstars wondering, “Is this what we came back here for?  I better run to the bank to make sure this check cashes.”  But by the end, the WWE was able to shine by putting on some really solid matches and bringing out the biggest reclamation of Superstardom in Jake “The Snake” Roberts.  Anyone who’s read the dirt sheets and watched Beyond the Mat will tell you the likelihood of ever seeing The Snake on WWE television, or even alive for that matter, was slim to none.  He’s rehabbed himself with the help of DDP and it was great to see him back out there looking well.  Having said all that, facts and matches about the upcoming Royal Rumble were just being flung at the audience like a Jameis Winston 2-yrd TD game winning TD pass (see what I did there).  Info like Batista entering into the RR, which would usually have a little pomp and circumstance, was just tossed at us.  Over and over and over and over again.  BTW, did you hear Batista was entering into the RR?  Even with screen time being precious, the WWE was able to get in some quality matches and move forward their main story lines.  So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 1/06/2013…

FYI, no (previous) rankings apply because 1) it’s new year and 2) the last two weeks were throw aways; both things add up to a fresh start:

1. CM Punk – Other than winning a championship, could anyone have had a better night than Punk?  Basically called a living legend by a living legend (Piper).  Piper was throwing “pipe-bombs” when they were coconuts.  Introduced by one of the best hype men ever in wrestling (regardless if you liked Road Dogg the wrestler, he knows how to work a mic) and thrown together with two of the few Old Schoolers, that can actually move faster than a snail’s pace, The New Age Outlaws and Punk made some key entrances AND Punk put on one of the best matches of the night.  Punk and the other two members of The Shield, Ambrose and Rollins, have been great.  I was a little worried at first because his match with Reigns got off to a slow start but by the end, it was full speed ahead which ended in a Punk loss (albeit predicable).
   
2. Daniel “Bryatt” Bryan – I’m not sure if the Bryan is really the number 2 ranked wrestler this week because his overall performance wasn’t the best we’ve seen, especially recently, but his story has been the few to carry through the holiday season and is getting more screen time than any other (besides The Shield).  Visually, he’s a perfect fit for the Wyatts.  They gave him a shrunk blue version of Rowan’s mechanics jumpsuit and it worked fine.  The match they were in was fine but not great.  The best part of the night for Bryan was when he and the other Wyatts cut a promo backstage and we learned that Bryan and Bray would be teaming up next week.  I haven’t yet consulted “The Oracle” but everything feels like a huge flip / revenge turn by Bryan on the Wyatts at Royal Rumble.  I don’t know where either would go afterwards if that were to happen but I also don’t see where this “Bryatt” gimmick goes after a few weeks either.  The whole thing is just odd because Bryan was such a huge fan favorite and was destroying audiences every week.  It’s rare for the WWE to slam the breaks on an “over” star / gimmick before its popularity wanes.  Yet another reason I’m guessing that a big double cross against the Wyatts would pop big and is what the WWE is building towards.
   
3. The Shield – Blatantly playing up the “cracks in The Shield” story.  Not too many performers could pull off such obvious storytelling and We as an audience would put up with it but Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns have been so spectacular in executing their rolls that I’m totally fine with it.  Am I happy about The Shield eventually breaking up? NO.  But everything has its time and while all three members have shown to be strong individual wrestlers, I’m sure The Shield will always get back together from time to time.  Look at DX or The Four Horsemen.  The WWE has done a good job of slow burning the breakup of The Shield.  Even with Reigns victory over Punk last night, the other members could say he only won because of the distraction that the Ambrose and Rollins caused.  As always, the story will continue.
4. Goldust and Cody Rhodes – I’ll make this short.  Can anyone believe how good Goldust looks and is wrestling?  If this was any other sport, people would want him tested for steroids and HGH like Barry Bonds in 2001.  But this is wrestling so I assume everyone is doing some sort of steroid or HGH.  At one point JBL mentioned that Goldust IS Old School.  He’s right!  Goldust was on the scene before The New Age Outlaws, Rikishi and Too Cools of the world.  Between the four wrestlers involved, Goldust / Cody / Swagger / Cesaro, Goldust was hands down the best performer in-ring.  (And would be the best performer on mic if they ever gave him the chance.)
5. RKO – This is where I have to throw in the current Face and Heel of the WWE.  They didn’t do much but they came out and were, well…the Face and Heel of the WWE.  RKO gets the spot above Cena because RKO is the current champ.  He was truly boring but was spot on for his character.  He came out.  He whined.  He brought back memories of Evolution (What, WWE, you couldn’t have worked the timing out so that Flair, HHH, RKO and Batista were all back on the same show?  Would that have been too hard?).  I’m not going to even bother complaining about the how’s or why’s RKO vs Cena part 2 at RR is lame because it is what it is.  That’s the championship match and to be honest, the RR isn’t about the championship match.  When you’re watching the Rumble, THAT’s where the focus is.  Unless you’re in an unbelievable feud, which is rare, you almost don't want to be the champ at RR.  You’d much rather win or put on a great performance at the Rumble.  
6. John Cena – Right behind RKO because he’s the challenger.  This RKO / Cena match is being so downplayed that it definitely feels like it’s going to be Part 2 of a trilogy.  If Cena pulls off this win, we could be set up for a final face off at the PPV between The Rumble and WM30.  Lord knows it wouldn’t surprise me if Cena stacks his WM30 deck and also comes out to win The Rumble match but I think even for the WWE, that would be too much.  I’ll give Cena props.  The promo between Flair and RKO needed a little Cena thrown in to pick the energy back up.  Flair is a legend but he’s also ancient.  He was definitely petering out by the end and RKO can only do so much load lifting.  
7. Brock Lesnar w/ Heyman – I know Lesnar isn’t going to say anything, just as I know Heyman isn’t going to wrestle.  What better duo is there?  They are perfect for each other.  I’m even more happy to have Heyman back than Brock.  Maybe it’s because I know Lesnar is only obligated to a few matches per year while Heyman can turn any turd of a wrestler into someone I want to watch (look no further than Ryback & Axel).  This is not to diminish Lesnar.  Let me be clear, LESNAR IS A BEAST.  He looks like he’s in great shape.  He’s always been an underrated wrestler.  If the WWE feels they need to build him back up after match ups against Punk and HHH in the recent past, what better way than to have him take out Mark Henry “The World’s Strongest Man” and the WWE’s “Giant” The Big Show.  Knowing that Lesnar only has a few matches per year, I wonder what the end game is.  Rumors are he’ll be facing the Undertaker at WM30, so to build him up as someone that can take out the biggest and strongest makes sense.  You won’t hear much complaining from me when Lesnar and Heyman come out.  
8. The Usos – If you’ve read previous rankings you’d know that I love the Usos and want their roles to grow and grow.  They are in line to being the next (or soon to be next) Tag Champs.  Having said that, last night was probably their weakest performance in months.  Granted, they’ve been stellar just about every time we’ve seen them and an off night by the Usos is usually better than other tag teams “A” games, I’m just saying tonight they weren’t the best.  Maybe because they had to carry the corpse of Rey Mysterio around or because they were fighting a tag team in The Wyatts that have other things on their minds.  Whatever the reason was, their match didn’t blow me away like usual.  
9. Big E Langston – He’s a beast.  He’s agile and has a ton of potential.  I guess his next feud will be with Ryback?  Yet another WTF pairing but assuming Big E staves off the might of Ryback, that will propel Big E’s status.  He’s handled smaller, more agile opponents but to now add a heavyweight in Ryback would just prove his worthiness.  If he can pull out a few good matches against Ryback, he’ll shoot up the list of top wrestlers. 
10. Mark Henry – If jobbing to Lesnar is what the WWE feels they need to push Lesnar’s star, I get it.  But on RAW, Lesnar “broke” Henry’s arm which would make be believe he’s going to be out for some time.  The problem is Henry just came back, is on fire whether alone or teaming up with Big E and I haven’t heard of any real reason he needs time off?  I went on to the WWE website and noticed that now they’re calling Henry’s injury a dislocation instead of a break.  In wrestling terms, that means he’ll be back to normal by next week.  Maybe I’m blowing this “injury” out of proportion?  I hope so because Henry was really making waves over the past month.  I’d hate to see that end.
11. The Big Show – So we’ve got angry Big Show again.  This is the best type of Big Show.  Actually, the best type of Big Show comes in small doses, which is what we got as well.  This Lesnar / Henry / Show triad is not going to be show stopping, especially if it ends up being a Lesnar vs Big Show 20 minute match.  That doesn’t mean it can’t be a good match.  If somehow Lesnar takes on both Big Show and Henry in a fairly quick / powerful match, then I could be sold.
12. Alberto Del Rio – Welcome back ADR.  It’s been a few weeks since we last saw you on TV.  We’ve picked up were we left off.  He’s been feuding with Sin Cara for the past few matches.  They both have the ability to put on strong matches.  There’s not much to say other than they have put on good matches but there doesn’t seem to be a payoff.  I still think that there’s some gold (maybe not gold but enough turquoise stone for a Phillip Rivers bolo tie) to be mined in the “I’m the better Mexican while Sin Cara is the illegal disrespectful unworthy Mexican wrestler?”  Pair him up with Zeb and / or The Real Americans and see if it sticks as a heel role.  It’s not my first choice but it’s something.  It could push the boundaries of insensitive gimmicks but there’s certainly been worse.  Ask any wrestler what’s worse, a slightly racist / bigoted character with a paycheck or a gimmick that is never seen and you’re holding a ticket to the developmental territories?  ADR is too talented of a performer to not have a spot on the roster.  The creative staff has gone too long without developing a character for ADR.
13. The Real Americans w/ Zeb – Give props to Zeb and his signage.  Every good villainous manager needs a prop.  Whether it’s a megaphone, whistle, cane, tennis racket, etc. all evil managers seem to have something.  As usual, Cesaro was the standout performer of The Real Americans.  Luckily we weren’t subjected to watching him swing his opponent around with that stupid move because it was during a commercial break…oh wait!  We were because even though you could “only see this amazing move using the WWE app,” somehow they replayed it during the telecast.  Once again, proving the app to be unnecessary.  This all might change on Wednesday’s new’s conference, see below for my theory.  Back to the wrestlers.  Surprisingly, The Real Americans have stayed around.  They’re serviceable as high end jobbers.  
14. Sin Cara – This guy is about one flip off the top rope from being knocked off the Power Rankings.  His wrestling ability is there (or at least each person who’s worn the Sin Cara mask can wrestle) but at this point, that’s all there is.  He’s a guy in a mask who can put on some cool moves.  If he’s got a comic book about his, it’s got to be one of the most boring comic books.  This guy doesn’t have a bad gimmick or personality, he has NO gimmick or personality.  He’s a show.  He’s a solid in-ring performer.  That’s it.  Fortunately or unfortunately, who ever’s played Sin Cara keeps getting hurt.  The WWE has never had to deal with how they build his character.  It looks like they’re going to have to if they plan on keeping him around.
15. Rey Mysterio – Look, I don’t know how much Mysterio has left in the tank.  I can’t tell if he’s working his way back into wrestling shape or just doing his last lap to thank the fans before he retires.
16. Damien Sandow – Yet another wrestler that seems trapped.  Fortunately, Sandow has the tools to create things out of nowhere.  The well of “I’m smarter than you…” is deep and has been drawn on by wrestlers for 100 years.  I don’t know if it’s an honor to be the guy who has to job to Sargent Slaughter each year but someone has to do it.  I suppose it’s a step up from playing “Evil Santa” a few weeks ago.  As far as the action on RAW, OOOHHHHHH how excited did I get when it was announce we were having a rematch of the Sandow / Khali hostilities! (my goal for the new year is pick a way of conveying sarcasm in text) 
17. Ryback – Didn’t nearly disappoint like Axel did but then again, he only had to talk (which for some can be even more disastrous).  Ryback did an “OK” job on the mic as guest announcer.  He was in character and went along with the program, the problem is that his character sucks.  So do I blame Ryback 100% for being bad?  HE, the man playing Ryback was fine.  It’s the gimmick, or lack there of, that sucks.
18. Curtis Axel – Can you hear that?  It’s the death nails being hammered into the casket of Curtis Axel.  They can literally bury him next to his father.  Too far?  Maybe, now I feel bad.  Notice how I didn’t delete it though…  Mr. Curtis Axel, only you have the power the change my perception.  Ziggler and Sandow loose all the time but they still put on a worthy showing.  Replace Axel with a sack of potatoes and I would be able to tell the difference.  
19. 3MB – I don’t even remember how or why Slater was off the show a week or two ago, which left 3MB as just 2MB.  That’s how little I care.  Do I find it disrespectful that they’re the ones chosen to job to The Old Schoolers (Rikishi and Too Cool)?  NO.  They’re jobbers.  You go out and put over whomever the WWE tells you to.  KCC (Keep Cashing Checks) is the name of the game.  Just the same as I look down on a girl who’ll blow three guys at a random party but I respect a whore who gets paid to blow 20 guys in a day.  “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” – Joker, TDK
20. Diva’s match – The Bellas vs Oksana / Alicia Fox wasn’t the worst wrestling I’ve ever seen.  These girls are at least trying.  I’ve watched PPV matches where you just know the wrestlers are counting down the seconds until the pin fall.  I can say that Alicia Fox sure does do a lot of high energy flipping when performing her moves.  B-cup-Bella is above average.  Although I have no idea what the purpose for this match was and why we wasted our time with it when there’s wrestlers like Brodus Clay that I want to know what’s happening with?  All I know is that I’ll never get back the 20 minutes of life that I wasted between the Old School six-man tag match and this Divas match.  As I get older, I realize that I don’t have that much time left on this planet to waste on such things.  

Honorable Mentions

Ric Flair – Wooooooooooooooooo!  Greatness.  (Life tip = Just say NO if you find yourself in any sort of financial setting with the Nature Boy.)  Other than that, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Too bad they didn’t work just a little bit more of the Four Horsemen in when Arn Anderson

Did you hear the rumor Batista was coming back?

Rowdy Roddy “Hot Rod” Piper – A hero to all of us who love the villain.  Now he’s become the king of anti-heroes, the original Walter White of wrestling.  It’s hard for someone who’s made his career being the bad guy, now being cheered by the fans, to keep the back guy persona going.  Luckily we have an up-and-coming slimy heel that could one day be the next great heel in Dean Ambrose.  Ambrose has the greasy hair, the slurred speech and sour puss that is required of all great heels.  It was great to have so many “bad guys” in one ring.  By the end you had Piper, Punk, The New Age Outlaws and The Shield all together.  30 years and counting of great heels.

Batista is coming back.

        My hero, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase

Rikishi – Would it have been so hard to figure out a way to put the Usos and Rikishi in the same match?  I know Rikishi was part of an Old School tag match and he was wearing his son’s t-shirt but put the old man out there with his kids.

Did you hear Batista is coming back AND has entered the Royal Rumble?

Scotty 2 Hotty – Dude is ripped!  They said he’s become a firefighter since leaving wrestling.  I can tell you that he was never in such good shape while he was a wrestler.  Good for you Mr. 2 Hotty.  To my recollection, Scotty 2 Hotty was the leader of the WORM dance movement which we now see everyone doing / trying to do.  I can’t tell you how much I hated the worm then and how much I hate the worm now.  Nothing is less attractive than a hot chick trying to do the worm.  No matter how many fires Mr. 2 Hotty puts out or kittens he saves from trees, I’ll never forgive him for being a forefather of The Worm dance is in pop culture.  

Small under announced bit of news came out.  Batista is coming back to the WWE.  I didn’t know if anyone was going to announce it.

Grand Master Sexay – First off, I’m convinced that Jerry “The King” Lawler is a practicer of the dark arts.  Don’t feed me this line of crap, that The King had a stomach virus on the same day that his “son” GM Sexay was to appear on camera.  We all know The Kings affinity for facial reconstruction when he showed up on RAW 2002 with his facelift scars still showing.  Now he’s taken it to a new level.  I’m convinced that he’s transferred his soul / conscience into his next of kin.  The King has found a way to cheat death!  The end of days is nigh!

The Godfather’s new “PG” flock…

Lastly, hot off the presses…Batista is coming back!  And he’s entered into the Royal Rumble!  Shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone. 

Side Note(s)

Will we see the much anticipated Shield vs Wyatt Family battle?  It’s clear the fans want it.  The problem is that both teams are on such opposites sides of the field and on such different planes, I just don’t see how they can get the two of them thrown together, with the right kind of hype, for an epic showdown at WM30?  Stranger things have happened and if the night before WM30 comes and the two teams are thrown into a 6-man tag match, I won’t complain.  But I would like to see a few shows of feuding before that match happens.  If it ever does?

The biggest news, potentially, is this announcement on WWE.com Wednesday.  What will it be?  I don’t know.  I try to stay away from the dirt sheets and rumors as much as possible to keep the Ranking’s pure.  But if I were a betting man, I’d say this will have something to do with either the long rumored WWE channel or a WWE / Netflix-like venture.  A monthly subscription service that will allow you to watch all the various WWE content (which includes all the ECW, WCW and everything else they’ve bought up) and show the smaller PPVs.  This can cut down on the frequency of the PPVs, cut down on the overall cost to fans (the Providers take 50% of the PPV fees) and let the WWE control almost all its content.  I’d still suspect that they’ll have RAW on cable each week because thats how most of the world keeps up with the WWE and I suspect that the major PPVs will still be on standard provider based platforms.  WM, Summer Slam, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series (maybe one or two more) are still big enough draws that you’d want them to be able to reach as many eyes as possible.  Netflix is growing but it still isn’t accessible or is accessed by as many people who have cable or satellite already in their homes and hooked up to their TVs.  They’re bringing in some heavy players on the corporate side and the wrestling side so it will be interesting what this announcement is.  Would I pay for a Netflix-style WWE service for $10-15 per month in lieu of eight PPVs at $40 bucks a pop?  Yup and happily.  Especially if you get all the past content and bonus content and DVD specials.  

And who doesn’t love an appearance by Mean Gene?  It takes me back to Saturday mornings.

Until next week…

WWE Power Rankings (New Year's Edition), RAW 12/30/2013

Coming at you live from Richmond, it’s the final RAW of the year.  The WWE is closing out the year with episode 1,075! 

First and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who has read and supported this blog.  I appreciate everyone who’s taken the time to read the insanity that spews from my brain each week.  Something that was just a goofy writing exercise turned into a fun, challenging and exciting way for me to reconnect with something that I’ve loved for over 25 years.  

As with everyone and everything, time changes all…

We grow up.  We get jobs.  We quit jobs.  We make money.  We loose money.  Kids are born.  People die.  Friends come and go.  Relationships blossom and fade.  But every Monday, there’s always Wrestling.  Even in the world of wrestling there are good eras and bad.  Mondays that you have to watch just to see what’s going to happen next and other Mondays that you’ll be lucky to still be awake by the main event.

Sometimes I’ll goof on the lengths that the WWE will go to in order to insure a “new” show every Monday but the truth is, the “streak” is the best attribute the WWE has.  The WWE, come hell or high water, will give you a new show every Monday night.  I’m sure they’ll admit, not every week is a grand slam home run.  But there is never a question that from the guy sweeping up the floor to Vince McMahon himself they aren’t trying to entertain their audience.  

What other entertainment is on 52 weeks a year?  No sport, no movie, no television show can hold up to what the WWE provides.  There’s no harder working athletes / performers than the wrestlers.  The writers and crew that create, travel and put on the show have got to be the unsung heroes of the WWE Universe.  It’s amazing that week after week the show goes on without complete disaster.  The old saying of, “When you don’t notice them, they’re doing their jobs well,” is no better applied.  

This is all just to say that I love wrestling.  I wouldn’t bother nor would I be able to write 4,000 - 5,000+ words each Monday night / Tuesday morning if it wasn’t something that holds a deep place in my heart.  

2013 was a great start for this blog and I hope everyone will join me in 2014.  I’ll take a page from the WWE and always try new things and mix stuff up a little.  I’d love nothing more than to hear feedback and responses from anyone who reads this.  Tweet @wkbear or email me or leave comments. I know, you’re probably thinking that a big time A-list celebrity such as myself would never read or pay attention to anything you send and you’d just be wasting your time.  I assure you, it’s not like that.  I’ll always have the time for a fellow wrestling fan.  The Pope, Lady Gaga, LeBron James or Barak Obama might not reply to your messages but I am far greater than all of those people combined.  I care (maybe not “care” so much as I am willing to read) your thoughts and respond to them.  I genuinely respect and appreciate anyone who puts the time into reading eight pages of where each greased up, nearly naked men (and a few women) who throw each other around a squared-circle rank on a scale from 1 - 20 each week.  

Each week the audience grows and I can’t thank you enough.  The fact that even one person reads this blog, thrills and amazes me.  I’m truly grateful.  Please help me spread the word and share this with anyone else who may enjoy it.  

With that, I thank you all again.  I’m looking forward to a great wrestling year of 2014.  Let’s get into why we’re all here…

Once again, we’re all still pretty much on winter break.  I’m going to put aside the normal Power Rankings until next week.  Lest anyone think there won’t be rankings, oh…there will be rankings!  I actually did some thinking while pretending to enjoy the holidays with my friends and family.  I took some notes down to create a Top 5 Things I’d Change in Wrestling for 2014. 

1. Cut back the PPVs by at least THREE.  I know I’m not the first person to bring this up but it’s no doubt the easiest solution to fixing WWE storytelling.  At the same time, this is probably the hardest thing to do.  Why is it hard, simple my dear boy… MONEY!  While it’s easy for me to sit here and write, “There are too many PPVs,” let’s not forget why there are so many.  Money!  As we all know, the money decision will reign king above all else.  Even a lack luster PPV makes the WWE more money than the average Sunday “house” show they would be performing anyway.  The biggest gorilla in the room are the Cable and Satellite provider, who take home approximately 50% of the PPV.  That’s 50%, off the top.  This is a cash cow for the Providers.  I won’t belabor the in’s and out’s of business here but I’m sure all sides decided to go for this PPV schedule.  It wasn’t until later when the WWE production staff started to be handcuffed by writing towards a “major” show every three weeks, that the WWE is probably wishing they could cut back.  Again, it’s not like the WWE doesn’t want to make PPV money but it’s hard to establish characters and build up story lines when you only have three week cycles to tell your story and build said characters.  The short money maker is to put on more PPVs.  The long term money maker is to have characters and story lines that more of your audience will want to pay for, and at possibly a higher price.  Forget all the creative / story stuff for a second.  Each PPV is now $40-50 and is too expensive for the average fan to order one every three weeks.  Especially when the WM’s or Summer Slam’s are $60-70.  I’d be much more inclined to order every PPV at $50 or more if I knew I was getting a great PPV that’s been hyped properly and was every 5 to 6 weeks.  All this could be mute because of the potential WWE channel or Netflix-like distribution.  If the WWE could cut out (or down) the Provider costs and deals in exchange for a $10 - 20 per month subscription service where you get all the past, present and future shows on demand with behind the scenes, DVD’s, special features and throw in a half dozen of the smaller PPVs, then it wouldn’t be crazy to spend an additional $50 on WM, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble and Summer Slam (the big 4) on the standard Provider PPV.  2014 might be big for the WWE on and off camera if this is the year they actually move forward with their long purposed “WWE Channel.”  I’m sure we’ll be talking more about this as the year goes on.
2. Bring back a King of the Ring / Tournament to decide something big or to be the catalyst for a wrestler’s push.  One of my all-time favorite, and all-time worst, PPV memory was when Chris Jericho beat The Rock AND Stone Cold to become the first unified world champion.  I’m a Jericho fan but there’s no way, on God’s green earth, does Chris fucking Jericho beat The Rock and Stone Cold at their peaks.  No way!  If you can step back from the outcome, a case can be made that that was the best ending BECAUSE it got people so infuriated or solidified Jericho’s ability and whichever end of the spectrum you cheered for it’s a job well done by the writers to get you to the either end.  That being said, I’m still pissed.  But what’s done is done.  My point is, a one night / multiple match tournament can be awesome.  The matches leading up to the semi-final and final rounds can involve current story lines and more often give birth to new story lines.  These earlier rounds can even be played out weeks prior and set up other matches on the same PPV as the final round(s).  Even better, have the winner of the tournament go on to fight the current champion.  This is getting me pumped up right now!  Secondly, here’s the list of names who have been “King of the Ring”; Don Muraco, Harley Race, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, Tito Santana, Bret Hart (twice), Owen Hart, Mabel, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Ken Shamrock, Billy Gunn, Kurt Angle, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, William Regal, Sheamus.  Not a bad list to be on.  I’m not going to say the current writing feels stale because there’s good stuff happening but we don’t have a major event that can take over the WWE like King of the Ring or a championship tournament.  It’s always nice to mix it up once a year, which is probably why the Royal Rumble has lasted so long and is so beloved no matter what state the WWE is in.  Every event feels set in stone and the writing needs to dance around it.  For instance, everything needs to build to WM.  Then it’s a little dead but we have Money in the Bank and eventually things build to Summer Slam.  It’s a mad dash for Survivor Series and Royal Rumble and then back to the Road to WM.  King of the Ring or a tournament could fall anywhere on the calendar.  You could even incorporate the finals into a PPV theme.  For instance, the finals this year could have easily culminated at Hell in a Cell or TLC match.  Boom!  I just made two boring PPVs into something you’d have to watch.
3. Bring back the #1 contender.  I went on a huge diatribe recently on how much I’ve hated matches that end with a champion cleanly being defeated by a challenger YET the championship doesn’t change hands.  The simplest reason is that there is no Number 1 contender.  The main culprit was because you had two “championship” belts (the WWE and the World) but in fact, the WWE was the top tier champ while the World acted as the second tier champ.  You had to win the World before you could go on to fight for the WWE (generally).  This has been unconsciously been fixed by the recent unification.  I got into an argument regarding these clean wins with “The Oracle” Freddie D., who didn’t mind the clean wins and saw that as the right of passage to declare the person fit for an actual championship match.  I chalk it up to the lack of depth of the WWE roster and with two championships there’s not a lot of space for #1 contender matches.  “Back in my day…” you had to earn your championship match by beating all the other contenders.  Then you could make a case to fight the champion.  It involved multi-level story telling.  The champ could be in one feud while the challenger was rising the ranks against other wrestlers.  When the champs current feud was over, it would transition easily into the #1 contender matchup.  If the writers wanted that feud it was ready or the #1 contender could hang around and always be in play at a moment’s notice.  We’ll have to see how this new Unified Championship that RKO is walking around with plays out through WM.  
4. Make the Slammy Awards its own special show.  I talked about this on the 12/09/2013 RAW Power Rankings.  The WWE is always looking for the next best way to promote itself and The Slammys are just as self promoting as the MTV Music / Movie awards or how the Oscars are a four hour commercial for seeing movies.  NBC just had one of their special WWE shows, A Tribute to the Troops.  WWE and NBC have a few shows per year and I don’t see why the Slammys could be treated like a real awards show and show extend clip packages of the best of the year instead of putting on new matches.  NBC will take the audience and get to re-air known top quality wrestling programming (just highlights from the “match of the year” nominees could fill an hour) and the WWE gets a piece of major network time.  Neither one having to put in a lot of money or risk.  Seems like a win-win to me.
5. Tweak Total Divas.  That’s right, I’m coming out in favor of Total Divas.  Just not the way it’s presented now.  Seeing the moderate success of Total Divas and having watched every episode myself, I can tell you right now how to fix Total Divas (or even add to it) which will satisfy the non wrestling audience the WWE is looking to capture on E! and include the current weekly wrestling audience it gets on Monday night.  The best part of Total Divas is the few honest moments we get to see with the male wrestlers.  It’s because the “Divas” portions are the standard produced reality TV, while the interactions with the Superstars are genuine moments, for the most part.  The Daniel Bryan proposal was a little produced but I’ll let that slide because of the fact it’s a wedding proposal and if Bryan wants to use the production available to him to do something big, who am I to say no to love?  Whether it’s the small moments between Bryan and his Bella or the time one of the Funkadactyls needed to get real life advice from Brodus Clay or even the few times we see of Fandango, those are the moments I’ll put up with 55 minutes of crap to get the 5 minutes of actual reality.  Even seeing Cena kinda being a douche but really just being a guy who has been totally screwed over by women, is a great insight and the behind the scenes that true wrestling fans want to see.  I understand the basis of the show is to push the Divas.  If that part is truly necessary, keep the show as is but add 15 to 30 minutes of the Divas interacting with the male superstars.  You don’t even need the cutaway scenes when you get the persons re-telling or commenting on whatever event just happened because that’s the fake / over produced stuff.  Just include more dinners, car rides and at home alone moments where the wrestlers are loose and are talking about matches or their day or their lives.  The person that comes off best on Total Divas is the Uso brother (I think it’s Jay?).  He seems like a cool, fun loving guy who’s a little over protective of his fiancé but who wouldn’t be when you know the history of relationships in the WWE.  That’s the most speaking time any Uso has received in their tenure at the WWE.  Along with incredible in-ring work, Jay’s personality on Total Divas that has propelled the Usos on regular WWE programming.  While it would be great to have real commentary from the Superstars, that’s too much “pulling back the curtain” and they’ll more likely to bundle that onto a DVD which they’ll sell rather than give it away on E!.

Back on RAW for 12/30/2013, we actually had some stuff go down.  A lot of good wrestling and only a bit of story telling.  It’s interesting that the story that’s been dragged along these past few shows is the Daniel Bryan / Wyatt Family feud.  I guess I was wrong last week, when I thought that Bryan was going into another direction.  Just as I was wrong when I got an emergency text to watch Smackdown for the Sheild’s individual matches against Big E, Mark Henry and John Cena.  I thought that this was a sign that The Shield was going to stick together a bit longer because they’ve been pushing this “Year of the Shield,” but on RAW we got more cracks in The Shield stuff.  

If I was doing the traditional power rankings this week, I’d have the hardest time figuring out what to do with The Shield.  Together they’re awesome.  Between last week’s Smackdown and tonight’s RAW, they’ve been equally awesome in singles action.  Major props to the WWE for showcasing Seth Rollins as a singles wrestler.  His talent is undeniable but he had the biggest question mark to whether he’d make it on his own.  He answered that bell twice with a FANTASTIC match against Cena on Smackdown and a solid match with Punk on RAW.  Over the next few months, while the WWE walks the tightrope with breaking up The Shield, it’s going to be hard to go back and forth in ranking The Shield as a unit or individually.  Depending on how they succeed over time as individuals, and reunite from time to time, The Shield may go down as the best tag teams ever.  It’s way to early to make such proclamations but they’ve proven they had go against anyone in the ring and they’re proving their mic skills (especially Ambrose) and soon as individuals.  

Back to Bryan and The Wyatt Family.  The WWE are no fools and they wouldn’t submarine a crowd exploding favorite like Bryan just to be a role player as part of the Wyatts.  My guess is that this will play on and eventually Bryan will exact his revenge on Bray Wyatt.  It’s not rocket science.  With the revelation that we’ll see Cena vs RKO once again at Royal Rumble, Bryan wasn’t getting included into that mix so the WWE will have him toil in this odd feud with The Wyatts until, I’m guessing, Cena walks away with the Unified belt.  Then it will be time to get Bryan back into the mix.  This is another time when I’m best to consult The Oracle because I’m horrible at predicting the future of such things.  

Meanwhile Ziggler might have finally been freed from his year long punishment because he finally got a well deserved win, albeit against the walking corpse of Curtis Axel but hey, i’m sure he’s take the win.  I’ll predict 2014 is a much better year for Ziggler.  Especially if he gets into a feud with his former protege, Big E Langston.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that would be an incredible feud.  

Evil Gerald Butler AKA #BadNewsBarrett AKA Wade Barrett was slightly more entertaining this week by popping up and putting the kibosh on the New Year’s spinnaroonie (sp?).  Yet another wrestler on my top 5 that need a push in 2014 but that’s only going to happen if he gets his ass in the ring and wrestles.  

Brock Lesnar is back.  More intriguingly, Heyman is back.  So that’s a thing…I guess?  Lesnar is a spectacle and does put on solid matches but he’s no Undertaker or even The Rock were time stops just because he’s back for 3 months of paychecks.  I’d be interested in seeing Lesnar vs Henry but I have a feeling that what we saw on RAW was just to prove how strong Lesnar is instead of setting up a feud between the two. 

Who’d have thought that Fandango would prove to be a force to reckon with in-ring.  Stupid gimmick aside, Fandango brings in.  He’s a character to watch in 2014 because he’s going to be standout in-ring but god knows what they’re going to do with his character.  Shitty gimmicks only have so high a ceiling no matter how good a wrestler someone is.

Speaking of breaking free from shit gimmicks, Brodus Clay is going into full monster form.  By the end, when Xavier Wood / R-Truth / The Funkadactyls were all dancing in the ring, all I wanted was to see Clay go back and wreck shop on each and everyone in that ring.  Add Sweet-Tensai to the mix too.  I don’t care.  Let the beast loose!  

Well while we’re at it, let’s do another list…

Wrestlers that should have a great / transformative 2014:

1. The Shield members – I know 2013 was the Year of The Shield but 2014 should see how they’ll each do individually.  With Rollins’ recent showcase, there’s nothing holding each member back from doing great things in 2014.  Don’t forget, they’ll still be fighting together as The Shield for in the beginning of the year too.  There’s nothing wrong with that.
2. Dolph Ziggler – He’s been buried and humiliated all year.  From Champ to chump.  He’s jobbed to everyone the WWE has put in front of him and he’s done it like a pro.  Even in his worst defeats, he’s gone out and put on a great show and put each wrestler he jobs to over splendidly.  If he’s out of the dog house, he should be someone to watch.
3. Big E Langston – Big E has already gotten a huge push but he’s got the size and skill that the WWE likes to have in their main events.  I don’t know if the audience is quite ready for him to become a main event-er but by teaming him up with Cena and tagging him up with Mark Henry, it looks like they’re trying to continue a massive push.
4. Brodus Clay – Finally becoming a heavyweight beast.  Is there anyone, over the age of 9 - 12, that doesn’t want to see Clay become a heel?  He should be a destructive force in the WWE this year.
5. Cody Rhodes – If we are to have a brother vs brother match between Cody and Goldust, I’ll put my money on Cody winning.  He’s the better long-term investment for the WWE (even though you won’t find a bigger mark for Goldust than me).  They’ve been great as tag champs but eventually they’ll break up.  It’s uncertain how long Goldust will keep going but Cody is in his prime.  Once he enters the singles game, assuming he comes off a great feud with his brother, it will be interesting what direction he goes in.
6. The Usos – This is my bonus pick.  The Usos have been great but as I keep mentioning, they haven’t been given too much to do as far as character development.  To last in wrestling, you not only have be outstanding in-ring but the crowd has to want to see you each week.  The Real Americans might not be the best tag team but with Zeb doing the talking, they can be put into various feuds because they can always be a villain.  It’ll be hard for the Usos to stay as faces if they never talk.

Alright y’all.  That should do it for me this year.  I’m so excited for 2014.  I think we’re on the presuppose of the next great era for wrestling.  It has been a while since the WWE has been really great.  Things were looking bleak but CM Punk’s “pipe bomb shoot” light the fuse for a new direction.  While nothing exploded onto the scene like Punk did in throughout 2012, 2013 saw the rise of some really solid characters and wrestlers.  Wrestling’s pot has been sitting on the stove and all the ingredients have been added and we’re just about to start boiling.  

What better way to start 2014 than with an “Old School RAW” which we’ve been teased to have Ric Flair make an appearance, WHOOOOOOOOO!  Don’t forget we’re just weeks away from the Royal Rumble, which is always fun.

Until next time…

Welcome to the Inaugural WWE Power Rankings, as of 8-26-2013 RAW

Welcome to my first on-going segment.  Under the traditional Power Ranking format, each entry is based on his, her or their individual performance(s).  

1. HHH – He’s been able to make the transition to the “Vince” character and done it well.  He’s always been a great heel and now he’s an even better heel that doesn’t need to wrestle.  Also, he’s still in shape where if he wanted to mix it up, I’m all in to see a HHH match.  What also helps to put him at the top of this list is the new mix of his theme music (I can be a sucker for new sparkly shiny things).  
2. Randy Orton – Finally he’s the heel we want to see.  None of this nonsense with him being crazy or snapping due to some mental issue.  He’s the epidemy of the “traditional WWE champ” and to play this up is perfect.  He easily falls into place as the jock who’s just better than the rest of you.  Without having a match, he’s become the champ, risen to #2 on this list and gets booed with barely a word spoken.  He’s the perfect example / use of nepotistic entitlement.  He’s a perfect heel for HHH just because of looks and heritage, and let’s not forget he has the ability to put on solid matches (check out his hardcore match with Foley early on as proof that he’s got talent or at least balls).  Less is certainly more with RKO right now.
3. Daniel Bryan – You’d have to say he’s the top face in the company right now.  I was worried about how long he could play this underdog card.  I’m sorry for any wrestler who has a real injury but it really played out perfectly for the WWE to have Cena go down at this moment.  The Cena / Bryan feud was starting to get old (and came out of nowhere, thanks to Totally Divas).  This was a perfect way to keep up, make sense of and push Bryan’s underdog story.  This could and most certainly will last through Royal Rumble and into ‘Mania.  Where can I bet on a Daniel Bryan Rumble win?
4. Dolph Ziggler – The hardest working man in the biz.  “He who can put anyone over, will be doomed to the mid-card.”  His in ring skills almost work against his status in the company.  He makes everyone else look so good, it’s hard for the WWE to let him win consistently.  Has a horrible outfit, horrible gimmick (at this point, what is the gimmick?) and he still is the best wrestler in the ring.  I’ll watch any match he’s in right now.   
5. The Shield – Collectively and separately they’re really coming into their own.  They’re not ready to split just yet.  They still have a while to go and things to do.  Ambrose is doing great but to have the Shield together and all with belts AND being HHH’s “private security team” works for all parties.  Groups like DX or NWO were never hurt by staying together.  It’s usually better for these groups or cliques (I had to) to stay together too long than to cut the group off too soon.
6. CM Punk – Normally would be higher on this list but it tells you two things; 1) there’s a lot of quality going on in the WWE writing and wrestling right now and 2) we need Punk to quickly transition back to heel / outsider.  I’ve enjoyed the Paul Heyman plot but I don’t want it to end as Punk being a face and being stuck as a good guy.  If he is, he’s got to be the Austin-like face where he’s the rebel you cheer for.  I’d have rather seen him submit to Heyman and go back under his “wing”.  Let Paul do gloat-y Paul things.  Have CM Punk rise the ranks and right before his “big win” (whatever that turns out to be) double cross Paul and get his ultimate revenge.  Have the student become the master. 
7. Paul Heyman – Doing Paul Heyman-y things.  For sure I thought he was bringing out Brock to destroy CM Punk monday night as Punk was tied up.  It all still worked out in the end and Heyman once again proves to be the greatest professional agitator.  Even the smart fans who will always love Heyman for ECW, can’t help but boo him.  They boo out of respect.
8. Wyatt Family – Should be higher but didn’t wrestle on RAW.  Is there anyone who does not want to see the eventual Wyatt Family vs Shield run?  They’re on opposite ends of the show right now and so far from even crossing paths right now but WWE has to figure that out before they break up the Shield.
9. Rob Van Dam – RVD is back.  He’s doing RVD type of things.  He’s the whole fucking show.  Maybe he’s too high (which in RVD’s case that can mean a few things) but I’m still basking in his return.  
10. Alberto Del Rio – Falling into place and picked a good opponent to grow his heel character.  Abandoning his valet.  Winning the Smackdown belt.  Putting on solid matches.  He’s never going to be the good guy against a returning RVD.  So again, WWE is working it perfectly to strengthen his heel persona.  He’s one or two good promos or matches away from shooting up this list.
11. AJ Lee – I can’t believe I’m putting a woman, other than a McMahon, in the top 20 but that promo by AJ on RAW was as good as any.  Not on the level of CM Punk’s “pipe bomb” shoot a few years ago but very good.  Now she has to do something with it.  If I have to suffer through Totally Divas but get a work by AJ like this, it might just be worth it.
12. Christian – Working the “I’ve been there / done that / I’m good because I’m still here” is fine for now.  It seems like he and Y2J just swap scripts.  Are we sure they’re not the same person?  I don’t think we’ve seen the two of them in the same room for the past 5 years.
13. Curtis Axel – Don’t let this midland rank fool you.  He’s young and we’re not 6 months into this gimmick / character for him.  He needs a little bit of refining on the mic.  Great job to put him with Heyman (and in turn Brock if need be).  He could be in the 10 – 20 range for a while but that’s fine as he gets better and really fleshes out his character in and out of the ring.
14. Fan-Dan-Go – I’m not going to lie, I don’t understand his popularity any longer.  It was cute for the night after WM but now I’m confused to what I’m supposed to think of him.  Are we supposed to like the arrogant jerk or dislike the vicious wrestler with a bad gimmick (the hot Kelly Kelly look-a-like doesn’t hurt)?
15. Prime Time Players – I like that the WWE hasn’t made Darren Young’s revelation that he’s gay part of their gimmick.  Nothing good would come of it.  The WWE is not known for it’s tact regarding social commentary so playing it like everything is normal is probably the best.  Besides, they’re working their way up the ladder.  Titus O’Neil is a beast (while you’d have to say Young is the better wrestler).  
16. The Miz – He should be grateful to be back in the ring.  This was a headliner and the heir to the figure-4-leg-lock who up until last week hadn’t wrestled a meaningful match in months.
17. Zeb and the Americans – I can’t tell if Zeb Colter is overshadowing Zack Swagger and AC or if they’re underperforming?  Either way, I’m fascinated to see how far the WWE goes (or let’s the leash out) with Zeb’s promos.  I’m amazed he hasn’t crossed a line at some point.  Credit a good writing staff and performer who walks the tightrope of a Tea Party crazy. 
18. Kane – Always getting the top spot but loosing for the betterment of the WWE.  It must be his vacation time.  His head being “smashed” by the triangular steps was one of the worse stunts in a while. 
19. Mark Henry – Second biggest jobber to Kane.  He’s on here because even though he’s lost a lot lately, he’s been a beast in the ring and the new camera angle when he comes out makes him look like a mountain.  I’m not too big to give “cool points” on this list.
20. Funkasaurus and Sweet-T – I might be the only adult who likes the Funkasaurus’ song and dance.  I only put up with it because I can sing…Somebody call Byrd’s momma (my cat’s name).  

      Honorable Mention

Sandow and Rhodes – These two are poised to have a long feud.  It seems like it’s going to run on Smackdown, which means less people will see it.  I already know their matches will be brought up to me the next time my Wrestling Crew gets together for a PPV and someone will tell me how great their matches have been and that I’m missing out.  I don’t see why Rhodes had to shave the mustache?  I’m too lazy to jump on Tout to find out why.  

Side note - out of all the good things that WWE is doing, they still don’t know how to cut and run from financial failures.  Is there any question that WWE has some sort of stake in Tout and is financial vested in it’s continued existence?  The WWE is to Tout, as what Mexicans and sexual predators are to MySpace.  They’ve already embraced Twitter, have a YouTube channel and have their own app.  Ditch Tout and let us bury it with Beniot’s championship records.

That’s all for the first installment.  Let’s hope I can keep this up.  I also hope to add a few surprises to this.  We’ll see...

Thanks and feel free to leave your ranking opinions