BEARcast - WrestleCast 3/12/2014

BEARcast - WrestleCast 2014-03-12 with Fred "The Oracle"


In today’s BEARcast, the weekly WrestleCast almost implodes on itself when Fred drops a theory that can only be described with three letters NWO!  We review RAW from 3/10/2014, go over the World’s Best Power Rankings and discuss the major story lines leading up to WrestleMania 30.

Please enjoy and share with Friends and Family.

The direct iTunes link is https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-of-bear/id828777439?mt=2

I just have three simple words for you, SUB-SCR-IBE.  That's "subscribe" for those of you who don't get really funny jokes from 20-30 years ago.

Thanks,
WK
@wkbear on Twitter

WWE Power Rankings, RAW 3/10/2013

Coming at you from Memphis, and I have a feeling in my bones that this week’s RAW will be a wild one.  First I have to thank everyone who clicked to, listened and subscribed to the BEARcast last week.  We have the BEST weekly wrestling podcast and I really appreciate everyone’s support and comments.

Last week, CM Punk rumors were swarming and the Chicago crowd was rabid.  It’s going to be hard for this week to top the enormous energy of last week’s audience.  The CM Punk rumor mill hasn’t stopped.  Next week, Puck is scheduled to be on the after show to Walking Dead, Talking Dead (where you can hear Chris Hardwick talk about himself while falling head over heels for whatever guest the producers can procure), which only leads to more speculation.  He’s either going to make an appearance on tonight’s RAW or he’s gone for good or the mystery of CM Punk will continue forever.  This will break the complete “radio silence” of Punk since his departure.  While he’s a fan of The Walking Dead and comic books, I can’t imagine this show being where we get a definite answer to the Punk question.  Although, it will be telling how they introduce Punk.  Either “current” or “former” WWE Superstar will tell you all you need to know.  Either way, the WWE and Punk will finally show their hand next Sunday.  Or of course, maybe not?  The beauty of Kayfabe is still alive and well, even in the era of twitter and 24/7 information.

Enough about Punk.  We need to focus on the fact that WM30 is just weeks away.  These are normally when you get some great RAWs because they need to set up the entire card for WrestleMania.  Unlike other PPVs, the WWE can’t have a mystery about who is on the card.  For the casual, or financially strapped wrestling fan, this could be the one PPV they buy per year so the WWE needs to have a fully fleshed out card and every match usually means something significant.  WM is the end of the WWE’s year and where 90% of all story lines are wrapped up.  By the end of WM, no matter how it fleshes out, we’ll have a definite WWE World Heavyweight champion (regardless of how unexcited the WWE Universe is about the current participants) and the next day is the beginning to a new storyline.  The same goes for the IC, Tag belts (probably not the US belt because Ambrose might be involved in other Shield situations and rumor has it that during the next year, there will be some sort of unification of the IC and US belt) and all other current story lines which are normally resolved at WM.  Everything is SUPPOSED to culminate at WM30.  It’s what makes ‘Mania so good and sells so many tickets, PPV buys and now WWE Network subscriptions.  The next few weeks is all about getting each storyline to the peak of anticipation so that we’re ready for their conclusion at WM30.

Also, seeing how last week’s crowd in Chicago went crazy for its native son CM Punk, you’ve got to think Jerry “The King” Lawler will have something special to do for the Memphis audience.  The King might be seen as more of a goof these days but there was no one bigger than Jerry Lawler in “southern” wrestling.  And nowhere was The King bigger than in Memphis.  Yet another reminder that it’s a shame that the late great Andy Kaufman is no longer with us.

So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 3/10/2014…

1. Daniel Bryan (7) – There you go, we just figured out how they’re going to spice up the Main Event at WM30.  I give Bryan a ton credit for being the conductor of “occupy RAW.”  It was a great visual and the WWE pulled off the trick of slipping Bryan into the CM Punk slot at WM30.  HHH and Bryan should put on one hell of a match and I instantly got excited.  Then the WWE and Bryan had to take it to the next step.  If he wins at WM vs HHH, he’ll be included later that night in the main event between Batista and RKO.  You know that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it?”  I think that’s the cast with Bryan.  Not only did he get his match against HHH to prove that he’s worthy of…a…um, what was he gaining by fighting HHH?  That he deserved a “fair” shot at the title or being the “Face of the WWE” or was he fighting for all the fans?  I’m a little lost and the WWE is depending on Bryan’s popularity and maybe not building a strong support system for the Daniel Bryan YES train.  They needed to get Bryan into the Batista / RKO main event but was this the best way?  I can’t imagine that HHH comes back to action just to simply loose to Bryan in order for him to enter the main event.  They had a number of chances to put Bryan into the main event that didn’t consist of HHH jobbing to Bryan.  (BTW, when was the last time HHH simply jobbed to anyone?)  With a simple win against HHH, Bryan could have legitimized himself and then over the next few months, maybe until Summer Slam or even next year’s WM Bryan could still be chasing the WWE strap with a real chance of winning it.  What’d it take Dusty Rhodes to be champ?  Seven years?  I know we’re in a different time and seven months is equivalent to seven years back then.  The WWE probably fears loosing Bryan’s heat and instead, they want WM30 to end with the entire Superdome doing the YES YES YES chant.  
   
2. The Shield (4) – ‘Just when I think they’re out, they pull me back in!’  At this point, if the Shield turned to the camera and said, “It’s been nice, but we’re splitting up.”  I wouldn’t believe them.  I’ve been fooled too many times.  Once again, Rollins amazes me with a move I’ve never seen before.  His backflip while Cody yanks him out from the corner was amazing.  Really, I don’t know how to explain it.  You’ve got to watch the show to understand how outstanding Rollins has been each week.  Reigns has really gotten down his “samoan leap.”  The WWE has managed to let each member of the Shield grow individually while still keeping The Shield together.  If we’re lucky, and as some have speculated, The Shield may stay together which makes them versatile in the singles and tag divisions. 
   
3. Goldust and Cody Rhodes (N/A) – Goldust continues to amaze, not just because he’s old as dirt but because he more than holds his own against Rollins and Reigns.  When Cody joined in on the action by doing a springboard leap off the top turnbuckle while Goldust flips off the ring apron it was a thing of beauty.  The Rhodes Brothers vs The Shield was definitely the “match of the night.”  It’s a shame that someone had to loose that match and tonight it was the Rhodes that took the fall.  Story-wise, The Shield needed the win and it could help the Cody vs Goldust story down the line if need be but there’s no sign that we’re going to get the much anticipated brother vs brother match at WM30.  But as I’ve said, just tell me the night prior and I’ll be ready for Cody vs Goldust.  Having said that, maybe this isn’t the time we get Brother vs Brother.  The WWE could very well stretch that out and include Dusty Rhodes and make whole production out of it.  Maybe that’s a big storyline that flows until Summer Slam?  I’m OK with that too.  The Rhodes boys are really working well no matter the capacity.
4. The Usos (5) – Straight up destroyed the human Lunesta duo known as Ryb-Axel. If aliens are watching the feed of RAW in deep space, they might actually think that Ryb-Axel put on a good match.  That’s how awesome the Usos are.  The Usos proved that they were well deserved to winning the championship straps last week but it’s still a shock that the WWE didn’t wait until WM30 to have them win them.  Their feud with the NAO seemingly not over, I hope we get a mega championship defense at WM30.  Throw the kitchen sink at the Usos and let them reign supreme.  That should make up for the early championship win and give the Usos and their fans a great match and a WM moment.
5. The Wyatt Family (6) – Before we get started, a special shout out to WWE production, it’s been a nice touch that they’ve recorded a new intro for each city they’re in the last few weeks.  I hope they keep it up, it’s all about the details.  For the third week in a row, Bray has killed his promo.  I wasn’t particularly excited about a Rowan / Cena match.  Out of the three Wyatts, Rowan is the stiffest / least refined wrestler.  The match was over quick enough and they were able to move the story forward.  I’m starting to get geared up for what should be a good Bray / Cena fight at WM30.  I'm a tad bit disappointed because I’d still love to see another Wyatt / Shield match but since it seems that everyone is pulling double and triple duty at WM this year, can I still hold out hope for a super sized Wyatt / Shield match?  I won’t hold my breath.
   
6. HHH and Stephanie (1) – Is it possible to give Stephanie an Emmy nomination?  At least a daytime enemy, who gives a shit about those?  Maybe a Cable ACE or Blockbuster award?  Give this woman something because she’s been killing it each week with her promos / shoots.  Even Vince, in all his Mr. McMahon strutting glory, never delivered like Stephanie has been.  Evil Vince was just mean for the most part.  It almost seems like Stephanie cares but then pulls the rug out from underneath you.  Stephanie is the kind of character that tells her fat friend, “You have such a pretty face if you’d just loose the weight you’d be gorgeous.”  Then, once the friend looses the weight, Stephanie says, “Ooooh, my bad.  I guess it wasn’t the weight after all…”  The YES movement / occupy RAW was quit the scene that the WWE put together.  It’s another example of how we need to remember that WWE creative can change direction on a dime if need be.  I’ll get into the Bryan side of things on his section but I worry that the WWE is doubling-down on Bryan.  I’ve already stated that the WWE should be careful not to mistake Bryan for CM Punk.  Now the powers-that-be feel that it’s necessary to not only place Bryan in Punk’s match against HHH but also give him a push to the championship match as well.  As an unabashed HHH fan and who’d love nothing more than HHH to destroy Bryan, it’s more important to fix the Main Event at WM30 so I’ll assume by hook or by crook, Bryan will defeat HHH.  This now leaves a ton of conspiracies and fantasy bookings.  Wrestling is always better when We, the audience, doesn’t know what’s happening next (which I guess is true in most story telling).
   
7. John Cena (8) – Hey, you gotta give it up to Cena for holding his own against Bray on the mic.  Not that Cena has any problems being on mic but he’s usually not going one-on-one with an over the top character such as Bray Wyatt.  It’s a thin line to walk when a “real” character in Cena is goofing on aspects of the Bray Wyatt “character.”  It might work as a one time pop for Cena but if they’re not careful, they can undercut the Bray mystique.  Although we know Bray isn’t really the next embodiment of The Yellow King making home rape movies in Carcosa but the audience has to vaguely believe that Bray is more than just a drunk Parrothead wearing a Hawaiian t-shirt.  Luckily for all sides, Bray was able to keep his creepy aura.  But enough of promo / shoot theory.  It’s official, Bray Wyatt vs John Cena at WM30.  I’m surprisingly excited to see if Bray and bring out the best in Cena.  They definitely matched up the two characters whose fan bases are very much distinctive.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that the same people who boo Cena are very much Bray fans and vice versa.  Should be a hot crowd for this matchup.  
   
8. Randy Orton (10) – I’m normally not one for the gimmick of teaming up opponents as a tag team but this one with RKO and Batista intrigues me.  RKO’s first in-ring work in a few weeks was good to see.  He looks ready for a great WM30 performance.  Assuming Bryan makes his way into the main event, it’ll be interesting to see RKO have to work with Boo-tista to beat down Bryan because if they don’t find a way to stop Bryan, he’ll squeak out the win for the championship.  Listen to what I just said.  RKO and Boo-tista are going to need to work together to keep Bryan from winning the WWE title (which is assuming he first defeats HHH, and probably Kane in some fashion as well).  From now until WM30 I’ll be praying before I go to bed each night, “Please God, let RKO retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt.”  C’mon, say it with me…
9. Batista (16) – If you listened to the BEARcast last week (and I don’t know why you haven’t) you’ll hear how Dustin “Tha Doctor” is now on the Batista bandwagon.  I may not agree with him, and I haven’t yet had him committed on a 51/50, but I can almost see his point.  Assuming the Boo-tista / RKO Main Event is going to be much more interesting with Bryan included, we still need more.  Everyone might be expecting a big YES YES YES ending but if Boo-tista can make a big heel turn, take out Bryan before he grabs the win and Boo-tista walks out the champion, which would trump all the negativity leading up to the match, I might have to jump on the Batista bandwagon as well.  There’s a lot of “if’s” in this theory but, What If??? 
10. The Undertaker (N/A) – It’s safe to assume ‘Taker is a huge Game of Thrones fan.  Just look at his new outfit.  It’s a mix of every executioner from each house of Westeros.  The protectors of the Great Wall, The Night’s Watch, could only dream about having outfits so cool.  Look, we know it’s Brock vs ‘Taker at WM30.  It should be a good-to-great match but does anyone really think Lesnar is the one to break Undertaker’s streak?
    
11. Heyman, Brock Lesnar’s advocate (2) – I hate to be flippant about Heyman, especially since he gave a fantastic shoot in Chicago but there was no way he was going to capture the same type of heat like last week’s RAW.  I bow to the altar of Paul Heyman but this week was somewhat lacking.  It’s impossible to hit a home run each night, especially if Brock isn’t there doing anything.
12. Big E (13) – Another week closer to WM30 and another week that we still don’t know what roll Big E is going to have at WM30.  The last two weeks, he’s been used more to tell the story of The Real Americans than to further his own storyline.  If there isn’t any sort of setup for Big E at WM30, I’d give him a big shot at winning the 30-man Battle Royal.
13. Jack Swagger w/ Zeb and Cesaro (12) – This trio seems to be one of the few traditional setups leading to a WM30 fight and conclusion.  Members of a tag team at odds with each other and their manager stuck in the middle.  Classic.  Each week Zeb has to work harder and harder to keep the Real Americans together but it seems inevitable that Swagger and Cesaro will fight at WM30 and Zeb will have to choose a side.  If this was real sport, I’d jump on the Cesaro train.  That looks like a speeding bullet to the top.  If I was a WWE writer, I’d try to keep Swagger with Zeb because Cesaro will probably be fine on his own chasing a championship in 2014.  Also, storytelling-wise, the story well is deeper with Zeb and Swagger than with Zeb and Cesaro.  Cesaro is so good in the ring, he only needs to be passable on the mic (which he showed he could be against Cena a week or two ago) to get a big push.  Let’s put it this way, who says “no” to swapping Cesaro and Batista right now?  Anyone?  Any-one?  I didn’t think so.  I’d love to see what RKO vs Cesaro would be like in a Championship match.
    
14. Damien Sandow (N/A) – Yet another case of a deserving wrestler finally gets some airtime on RAW.  Here’s the $64,000 question; when you’re belittled and shown to be a fool, does it really help to be on RAW?  As the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.  How about, instead of a Battle Royal, we have a match of buried great wrestlers.  Sandow, Ziggler, Kofi and ADR in a fatal 4-way?  You know you’d watch that!  Besides, the WWE has to fill 4 hours.  
15. Sheamus vs Christian (19) – First off, we now safely assume the voting is rigged on these online votes.  A Memphis street fight?  Who wants to see that?  Not even the people of Memphis.  I’ve been to Memphis and if you want to see a street fight just go down to Beale Street and eventually there’ll be a street fight.  The WWE might be a little full of itself with the recent success of the WWE Network because now they think they can sell snow cones to Eskimos.  Other than musician, the second most popular profession in Memphis is street fighter (little known fact).  Secondly, couldn’t there have been a choice D = Skip this match and let us fast forward to the next segment.  Why couldn’t daylight savings happen during the second hour of RAW so we could have missed this bullshit matchup?  The worst part is that these guys are really working hard.  It’s unfortunate because I don’t care about the characters.  I don’t care about the feud.  Both gentlemen are obviously putting in great effort, although they’re not putting on a technically superior match which would make up for the lack of the previous items, but I still don’t care.  A good technical match can make up for a poor feud.  Watch the Cesaro / Sami Zayn match from the NXT PPV and you’ll see that you don’t even need a lead up storyline to have a compelling fight.  Jump on the WWE Network and watch half the classic ECW matches. There was no back story or build up.  Just good old fashion in-ring storytelling.  Tanaka vs Mike Awesome or RVD / Sabu vs Hayabusa / Jinsei Shinzaki or any 3-way-dance with Little Guido / Super Crazy / Tajiri, are all examples of five star matches that I had no idea who the contestants were or the back story (most of the time there wasn’t one).
16. The New Age Outlaws (15) – Road Dogg has been a backstage booker for a few years and with all his talent on the mic, I’m surprised that the WWE hasn’t turned him into more of a vocal presence on screen.  The NAO sat ringside for commentary during the Usos match and the Road Dogg did most of the speaking, naturally.  I’m not sure if I caught who will be fighting the Usos at WM30 but I’ll suspect the NAO will play a big role in that match. 
    
17. Korporate Kane (HM) – What are we doing, buddy?  I had such high hopes for Kane when he took the mask off and declared himself an instrument of destruction for Stephanie and HHH.  Now that he continues to wrestle in his Korporate uniform, it’s taken away the anticipation for the time when the mask goes missing and the Big Red Machine comes in to wreck shop.  Currently he’s just Brad Maddox 2.0 with less personnel skills and if my math is correct; Kane, Maddox and I have the same amount of wins over the past few months.
    
18. Big Show (N/A) – Face it, Bryan has become too big (ironically) to be included with Show.  I joked the other week that Bryan was Super-Cena Jr.  It seemed absurd at the time but now look at the WWE landscape.  In all likelihood Bryan is going to go through the seven realms of hell at WM30 and win the championship.  If going through HHH, Kane, RKO, Batista and maybe The Hounds of Justice (don’t forget The Shield has done the bidding of The Authority before) wouldn't that make for a pretty super heroic persona?  Wasn’t this post supposed to be about the Big Show?  Who cares unless maybe Show is someone who helps Bryan down the line.  I thought that Kane was going to be the big twist to help Bryan out but that looks less and less likely.  
19. Ryback and Curtis Axel (N/A) – Oh goody, Ryb-Axel are back.  It gives me just enough time to go make a sandwich. 
20. Divas match : AJ Lee & Tamina vs The Bellas (N/A) – It’s that time again.  The WWE has to book to incorporate the Total Divas show cast members.  The show is horrible and I’ll give my, now annual, dissertation why it’s so bad another time.  But I can’t stop watching it and the second season starts this weekend, so get ready for a long run of subpar Divas matches staring the Total Divas members.  Saying this, AJ looks great and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that she can continue her record title run.  The hottest she’s been is when she was dropping her own pipe bombs on the Total Divas crew. 

Honorable Mentions

Hulk Hogan – Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man and Andre The Giant… These are the WrestleMania matches the Hulkster has been in.  Is there any doubt who’s had the greatest impact on wrestling.  I wish he was a little less, Hulkamania in his latest return to the WWE but that’s his character.  It’s been sad to his silly incarnations on TNA, that is of course if you could ever find TNA.  I’m usually searching for porn in the 500 block of DirecTV channels and all of the sudden I’ll find TNA playing.  I have a feeling TIVO doesn’t understand the subtle difference between TNA and T’nA.

30-man Andre The Giant memorial over the top Battle Royal – Can we lock down that Cena is wining this no matter what?  It does seem odd to throw in a truncated version of the Royal Rumble into WrestleMania.  While I’ve debunked my own thoughts that the WWE roster was too thin, it’s certainly not big enough to have a 30 man match AND then have half their Superstars wrestle later than night.  I assume this Battle Royal will be the opening match to allow the competitors time to rest before their main matches.  This may end up causing so serious issues if wrestlers are double and / or triple booking the show.  Cena, who’s supposedly somewhat to totally injured, could be in the ring twice?  What if he accidentally gets hurt due this Battle Royal?  Maybe for WM, the WWE hits the Bat-signal and wrestlers from all over, old and new, are entering and I’m overacting to this possible over booking of the show.

LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell –  LL was just hosting the Grammys and now he’s shilling in the front row of RAW in Memphis for reruns of CSI-NCIS-ISIS-Whatever.  Chris O’Donnell, well, he’s just happy to have out lived the stench of nippled-Robin.

Alexander Rusev w/ Lana – I’m telling you, it’s something deep in my DNA but Lana turns me on more and more each week.  She’s not even that hot but there’s something in my eastern European roots that draws me too her.  You know, like black people to fried chicken or Asians to running laundry mats.  I want to be sexually humiliated by a woman with a heavy accent who just finished waiting in line for six hours for a potato to make grain alcohol, a loaf of bread and a roll of toilet paper.

Side Note(s)

Nothing struck me as particularly sticking out for side notes.  Oh, expect this fantastic pic from last week when Fred “The Oracle” met Scott Hall!!!  From first hand accounts, Hall is doing well, looks great and could possibly make an appearance in TV at some point.  Fingers crossed because if you saw him on the ESPN or HBO special not long ago, things were not looking good for Razor Ramon.  Great work by Freddy for getting this exclusive.

Until next week…

Shameless plug for www.worldofbear.com and the iTunes link for the BEARcast

BEARcast - ShowCast 3/06/2014

BEARcast - ShowCast 3/06/2014 with Ethan

Welcome to a very special BEARcast as we have our first all entertainment ShowCast.  I'm joined by Ethan "(censored)" to discuss sports, movies, comics, previews and so much more!  To find out why Ethan's nickname is censored, you'll have to listen.

The show was a lot of fun and we hope you enjoy it.  Please listen and share with friends, family and fans.

www.worldofbear.com

You can find the BEARcast on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-of-bear/id828777439?mt=2

Please remember to SUBSCRIBE.


Thank You,
Willie Kinoshita
@wkbear on twitter

BEARcast - WrestleCast 3/05/3014

BEARcast - WrestleCast 3/05/3014 w/ Fred "The Oracle" and special appearance by Dustin

In today's BEARcast, Fred and I do our weekly WrestleCast and discuss RAW from 3/03/2014.  At the end, I'm joined by Dustin for his surprising "hot take" that nearly broke the show.

Please enjoy and share with friends and fans.

The direct iTunes link is https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-of-bear/id828777439?mt=2

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!

Thanks,

WK

@wkbear on twitter

WWE Power Rankings, RAW 3/03/2014

“BUT, what if Punk doesn’t show up???” - Willie Kinoshita, my words, which can be heard on the BEARcast podcast recorded sunday night prior to RAW (iTunes and www.worldofbear.com).

Coming at you from Chicago, and my expectations for this show couldn’t be higher.  The BEARcast podcast is up and running (shameless plug, be prepared for more) on which Fred “The Oracle” and I talked about the rumors of tonight being the return of CM Punk!  If true, because they’re still just rumors until I watch the show, his reappearance (in his hometown) could literally bring down the house AND shuffle the deck of most of the WWE story lines.  Punk’s departure after the Royal Rumble forced the WWE to quickly change its plans with almost all the main event matches and, if he’s truly back, it will force them to rearrange them again.  One might think that these changes would be bad but in this particular case, change is exactly what the WWE needs.  I’m on record last week saying this is the worst WrestleMania card, maybe ever (which is untrue and unfair).  It’s crazy to think that one character could affect so many other characters but step back and look at what could happen.  Even if the expected storyline of Punk vs HHH is the result of his return, where does that put Daniel Bryan (who was forced into Punk’s slot vs HHH)?  With a freed up Bryan does that mean he’s added to the Batista vs RKO feud?  Bryan was originally rumored to square off against Sheamus in a WM rematch, but Sheamus seems to be on a collision course with Christian, so does that stay the same?  With as much heat as Bryan has, I can’t see him dropping down to fight Sheamus?  All the ripple effects are too crazy to get into, besides we don’t even know IF Punk will show up and what role he has to play.  This is one of those times where I’ll be happy to sit back and watch.

A similar butterfly affect could be going on with John Cena.  Depending on how injured Cena truly is will dictate the fates of Bray Wyatt, The Wyatt Family and The Shield.  Also, regardless of Cena’s health, if the WWE really wants to service their audience, a Wyatt / Shield rematch is something no fan is going to complain about.  Maybe they string that feud out for a WM30 conclusion and that would leave Cena to be inserted into the Batista / RKO / (possibly) Bryan mix if the WWE is hearing the crickets when it comes to their Championship Main Event?

All of these questions and we haven’t even gotten to the tag teams, IC belt or undercard matches / second tier wrestlers yet.  When rumors, confusion and speculation collide, it makes for a perfect storm in the world of the WWE.  Let’s not waste anymore time.  So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 3/03/2014…

OK, this is why I love wrestling!!!  Right out of the box, Living Color! CM PUNK’s entrance music!!!  The WWE knows, if they tried to string this out until some at-the-end surprise, every match would be an endless C-M-Punk chant.  Brilliant.  Sorry, let’s get back to the show…

NO, THIS IS WHY I LOVE WRESTLING!!!!!!!!  No CM Punk, instead we get Heyman!?!?  Forget about their stupid feud last year, who better than to speak on behalf of CM Punk (real life Paul Heyman guy) and give the WWE the middle finger than Paul “E. Dangerously” Heyman.  Again, I’m sorry, back to the show…  (FYI, we’re barely 2 min into RAW, not a word spoken and I’m already giving a solo standing ovation in my living room)

1. HHH and Stephanie (N/A) –  Absent or downgraded on these Power Rankings for the past few months, HHH and Stephanie haven’t had meaningful spot like this, which reminded me why I love them so much, in a long time.  I couldn’t tell who had the better promo?  Knowing that he was going to get the full force of the Chicago crowd’s anger and energy, HHH was practically glowing at being the King of Kings.  The smile he gave before he stepped into the ring was priceless.  When I thought that they had said their piece and put Bryan in his place, that’s when Stephanie brought out the big guns.  I would like every wrestler and fan in the world, especially those who think that the WWE is just some easily throw together show and any body could do it if they just had a few lucky breaks and a lot of money.  To the layman, Stephanie’s shoot was just some Authority business ramblings but to marks, other promoters and to the wrestlers backstage, sitting at home or around the world; every word Stephanie spoke was 100% truth.  The WWE is a star making machine.  Some ideas work and others don’t but that’s not the machine’s fault.  It was a magnificent shoot.  By the end, HHH had showed off what we’ve all been suspecting, he’s in fighting shape.  How and who he might be fighting may be in flux but it seems the likely candidate is Bryan, no matter how much he says, “It takes more than a B talent to get him to fight again.”  The most impressive performance was that HHH was able to keep his lines straight when even through the TV, the crowd was so loud that you could barely hear what was being said into the mic. 
   
2. Heyman (10) – Who knows how to play a crowd better?  “I believe he deserves better than that.” Said to a Chicago crowd about their hometown hero?  You don’t hear hotter crowds.  The ultimate proof of his greatness, Heyman (and the WWE creative team) flip the script and pointed the finger at the Chicago attendees.  If you thought this was just some sort of simple twist on the audience, than you don’t know Paul Heyman.  With a series of carefully crafted sentences, Heyman turns this CM Punk shoot into a shoot to get Brock Lesnar over on ‘Taker!  They should be setting up cones and flashing lights around Heyman with a warning, “Brilliance at Work.” 
3. CM Punk (retired) – This goes against one of my main rules, you must be on the show to be on this list but if anyone is going to break the rules, it’s CM Punk.  Besides, Punk might as well have been at the show.  The crowd chanted C-M-Punk the entire night.  Halfway through the HHH / Stephanie shoot, something hit me!  Punk should come out on the side of HHH and take down Bryan in a version of “I’m tired of fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves.  I stand alone, always have.  No one gave me anything.  I’m gonna do what’s best for me.  I like it at the top and I’m going to do whatever it takes to stay at the top.”  With that, he turns on Bryan and stand as the new de facto “Face of the WWE.”  Now he takes out Bryan at WM30 and sets himself up to be the biggest heel who is positioned to take on the winner of the Batista or RKO Main Event at WM30.  That’s just a bit of fantasy booking.  Regardless of what may happen, I’m more sure than ever that CM Punk will be back.  Other than Heyman and Cole, at the beginning of the show, no one else said Punk’s name.  They referred to him and did everything except say the words CM Punk, but no one actually said it.  Not even Cena, who you’d think can do anything he wants.  BUT, no one really stopped the crowd from chanting and if they wanted to ignore the Punk issue, they wouldn’t pause to indulge the audience.  Of course, the question is always, how would you control the rabid Chicago audience anyway, but there are ways.  Look at what the Usos did to temper the CM Punk chants.
4. The Shield (5) – It seems, IT SEEMS, that we’re finally headed to the breakup of The Shield.  I feel like a broken record at this point.  When the match is set for WM30 and I see all three of them in a ring, set to face off and the bell rings; then I’ll know this is when The Shield is breaking up.  And if tomorrow, they want to put on another match with The Wyatt Family, I’ve got no problems.  Each match has been great.  How many times does Rollins need to “steal the match” before he gets proper respect?  Rollins flies over the top rope, takes out a Wyatt and lands on his feet, not once but twice and follows it up with a kick in the head to the third Wyatt.  It was the most amazing 30 seconds, which even Reigns seemed to be in disbelief watching.  Then you’ve got Ambrose who screws everyone up.  He’s a Tasmanian devil.  While running around, acting like a lunatic and pissing his teammates off, he’s still pulling off awesome technical moves like a ferocious DDT and a better figure-4 than The Miz could ever hope for.  The Shield are so good that Reigns pulled off one of his best Superman punches, leaping kicks (partly thanks to a good sell job by Harper) and spears to send Rowan over the announce table but he was still third if you want to rank Shield member performances.  It’s embarrassing how much of a mark I am for the Shield.  Rollins leaving was handled great and even the Ambrose / Reigns 2-on-3 was solid.
   
5. The Usos (10) – This is classic wrestling storytelling.  The up and coming generation wins the tag team belts from the older wrestlers who lay down and pass the torch. I was shocked that the Usos won their first belts cleanly on a random raw.  I was willing to bet everything that the Usos were going to win the titles at WM30.  Maybe there’s more to this?  There is a rematch already scheduled.  The other reason for possibly putting the Usos over in Chicago was that the win was able to snap the crowd out of their CM Punk chants (if only temporarily).
   
6. The Wyatt Family (1) – “Follow the Buzzards”  In the midst of chaos all around, The Wyatts are the team that stays composed and together to get the win.  While they don’t have the overall talent that each member of The Shield has, they’re able to hang and make The Shield look good.  If not for The Shield, would we be saying that The Wyatt Family is the best group right now?  For the second week in a row, Bray has a great promo.  Focused and to the point.  I get what he’s setting up with Cena.  My two questions are; 1) what’s the severity of Cena’s injury because he and Bray should put on a good match if healthy, and 2) if it’s Cena vs Bray, what are the other two Wyatts going to do?  Now that the Usos have the tag belts, go after them?  Or does Bray need all the help he can get if he expects to overcome Super Cena at WM30?
7. Daniel Bryan (8) – I know I didn’t like the billy goat YES shirt.  I’m not sure how I feel about the Che Guevara YES shirt.  Not that I’m offended for some political reason.  I can’t tell if it’s cool or if it’s too hipster and the coolness swings around to be a hipster’s wardrobe staple?  It was cool when you and Zack de la Rocha were the only people wearing it but then when you could pick up half a dozen at Hot Topic and no one wearing the shirt could tell you who the picture was of, that’s when it became uncool.  And you know me, I’ve got to be cool.  Fortunately wrestling shirts are never not cool.  The older and more dated a wrestling shirt is, the more coveted it gets.  Therefore, it has been decided.  The Che Bryan YES shirt is cool.  Now we can move on to more important business.  As discussed, Bryan was slipped into the CM Punk vs HHH spot.  I can’t say this enough but Daniel Bryan is not the same as CM Punk and the WWE would be wise to keep that in mind.  Just check out this sign which has #NoMovement.  It might just be one in a sea of thousands of YES shirts, chants and signs but be careful WWE.  You’ve got an extremely hot character and gimmick, you don’t want to misuse the character and waste the phenomenon that is Daniel Bryan.  Otherwise you’ll start seeing a lot more No Movement signs.  
   
8. John Cena (6) – Cena’s either selling the crap out of his knee injury or can really “play with pain!”  Just as we did not get any definite answer on CM Punk, I’m still not clear on whether Cena is working us or putting in work?  I like the “change will go through me” gimmick.  Bray is playing the other side very well.  If Cena is not really that injured, I expect an above average match between the two.  I only worry if Cena is trying to gut out a performance so he can be a part of the WM push.  If hurt, I’d rather see him do these promos and let the Wyatt / Shield rematch happen, then when he’s ready continue his feud with Bray.  Again, Monday brought no clarity to the situation.  Special shout out for Cena’s promo as well.  He really has had a long strange relationship with Chicago.  Every time I think about Cena in Chicago it makes me remember one of the greatest matches of the 2010’s decade (which we’re not even halfway through).  Big props for him to allude to it and being able to play with the mostly anti-Cena Chicago crowd. 
9. Brock Lesnar (10) – Yesterday, I gave Lesnar no chance at beating Undertaker at WM30.  Now I at least will entertain the thought and give it a 1% chance.  Let’s see if they can continue to build Lesnar up.  Both Heyman and Lesnar did a solid job of building tension for the match.  It’s not easy with two part time wrestlers, no matter the strength and popularity of the characters.  The beauty of the Undertaker streak isn’t that he’s 21-0 but over the past few years, the WWE has made me think that the Undertaker might loose.  F5-ing Mark Henry through the announce table will make you reevaluate the chances that Brock has.  Great spot.  I still don’t believe Lesnar will win but… Look at this guy.  If anyone is going to make an old wrestler crap his spandex, it’s going to be this guy.
   
10. Randy Orton (7) – Almost an afterthought on RAW.  As I get into on the fantastic BEARcast podcast (which can be found on iTunes or directly at www.worldofbear.com), RKO is working his role in the WM30 Main Event perfectly.  RKO is not the problem with the match, its Batista and all the surrounding elements that are causing the biggest issues.  By just sitting quietly, waiting, for the match and not making any waves, he’s gaining steam to the point that I want RKO to win (not that I didn’t want him to win anyway, but the rest of the fans are starting to shift towards RKO).  RKO isn’t screwing up this match.  In fact, last week he did everything he could to give Batista the heel torch but Batista screwed that up, not RKO.  This picture of him lurking in the shadows is all you need to know.   
    
11. Dolph Ziggler (N/A) – My feelings about the Ziggler / ADR match was very much akin to Sofie’s Choice.  On one hand, you’ve got one of my favorite wrestlers in Ziggler, who has been buried over the past year, finally getting a nice push by being teamed up with a big time film / TV star (which you know the WWE covets these stars more than anything).  On the other hand, it comes at the expense of another wrestler in ADR, who was a top tier Superstar just months ago but is now being used as fodder for a returning Batista and jobbing to other wrestlers who are by far his inferior.  Mixed emotions.  If it’s true that ADR is going to retire (a rumor I don’t believe) then I’m all in for any push for Ziggler no matter at who’s expense.  Ziggler IS ONE OF THE TOP FIVE PERFORMERS TODAY.  Feel free to challenge me.  
12. Cesaro w/ Swagger and Zeb (4) – Cesaro is quickly becoming a breakout star.  Even without a solid gimmick, his in-ring skills are outstanding.  Cesaro put on one of the greatest matches to start off the NXT PPV on the Network against Sami Zayn.  It was one of those matches which you show friends that don’t like wrestling or understand the appeal.  They don’t need to know the wrestler’s backgrounds or history with each other, it’s just an awesome wrestling match.  I encourage everyone to check it out on the Network.  He’s certainly worthy of the push he’s getting.  I’d love to see a Cesaro / Big E feud.  Unfortunately, instead of more Cesaro / Big E matches, we’ll probably have to suffer through a Real American feud.
    
13. Big E (N/A) – When running down the WM30 card, I completely forgot about Big E.  He’s the IC champ and has been putting on some quality matches.  It doesn’t matter if he defends the belt against Cesaro or one of the many other second tier wrestlers (Ziggler, Kofi, Sandow, etc.) I’ll be happy.  On RAW, Big E was used mainly as a set piece for the Real American feud.  I hope they figure out his opponent and let them build a nice feud leading up to WM30.
    
14. Mark Henry (N/A) – If this was any other time, I’d feel bad for Henry having to come out and job to someone.  This wasn’t a cheap job, this was jobbing for a purpose.  A great piece of booking from the WWE to put over Lesnar.  It was so well planned that this will have no affect on Henry’s long term future.  Why would Henry complain?  His character isn’t getting buried or destroyed by a multitude of opponents, just Brock.  It keeps giving Henry a break.
15. The New Age Outlaws (10) –  It’s nice to see veteran heels from the last generation set up and put over the young faces of the next generation.  Keep in mind, both the NAO are backstage bookers / managers that were doing what’s best for the company.  They don’t have to fear that without the belts they’ll have to be two old men running the indy-circuit.  The WM30 jerseys definitely had me believe the feud with the Usos was going to continue until ‘Mania.  Who knows, it still might?
16. Batista (12) – If anyone else but Batista put on that shoot interview, it would have been amazing.  NOT for the guy who’s playing a fucking superhero in a Marvel movie in three months!  Now maybe I’m getting worked but I’ll base my opinion off history.  History shows Batista has NO personality.  Just like Bryan isn’t Punk, Batista isn’t Cena who can play both sides of the crowd and embrace the cheers with the boos. 
17. SAN-TIN-OOOOO / Emma vs Fandango / Summer Rae (HM) – Now that I’ve got the WWE Network and can check out this Emma chick, it seems we may have something.  The gimmick is goofy but it’s supposed to be.  The fact is, she can wrestle.  I’m always willing to see new talented wrestlers come up.  Unfortunately for Santino, this isn’t the first time he’s been told to go out and make a fool of himself for the betterment of a Diva’s career.  But you know what, look who’s still in the WWE and who’s doing soft-core porn?  Speaking of which, if there's ever a Santino / Emma leaked sex tape, I must see it.  It’s bound to be the most awkward porn I’ll have ever seen, aside from that summer that I was really into “blind porn” (no joke, everyone must check out pornfortheblind.org).   
18. Alberto Del Rio (11) – How the mighty have fallen.  Things couldn’t get worse for ADR.  He’s become a high priced jobber.  They took his announcer away.  They took his title away.  And now, they even took his silly car gimmick away!  What’s next, Batista is going to start wearing a white silk / satin scarf?  Blasphemy.  I’m sorry Del Rio.  I’m sorry.      
19. Sheamus vs Christian (13/14) –Sheamus got the win.  Christian got the loss.  I fell asleep.  Wake me up when we get to Christian’s “last match” or whenever this feud is finished.
20. Bella Twins vs Alicia Fox and Aksana (N/A) – maybe it’s the outfit but D-cup-Bella looks like she’s um … more endowed in the chest-al region?  Sad that that’s the only thing I take away from the match.  I hate to come off as a hater, so one positive take away is that  Alicia Fox is a human spring.  Whenever she’s hit or thrown, she’s tumbling and bouncing around like crazy.  You can disparage some of the Diva wrestling but Alicia sells those bumps.  

Honorable Mentions

The Chicago Crowd – If you ever need an example of a hot crowd, Chicago was it.  There was extra motivation due to the Punk rumors but even without Punk, the crowd was great.  There was an awesome “We want Ziggler” chant during the Santino / Fandango match, their YES YES YES chants were on point, Boo-tista came in loud and clear and they even had a well timed “asshole” chant.  I’ve got to give kudos to the Windy City for a great night.   

Aaron Paul – Look, we all love Jesse Pinkman.  He’ll always have a special, strung-out place in our hearts but who’s lining up to buy stock in Aaron Paul the movie superstar?  I’m not a “car guy” and I was never much of a Need for Speed video game player so clearly I’m not hitting the demographic that this movie is aimed for.  Aaron Paul seems to be the last member of the Breaking Bad cast that’s smoking up every last crumb of blue meth he can find.  Again, who can blame him?  If you’re the second lead to The Best TV show in history (at least top 3), wound’t that be on your business card for life.  I still tell people I was the captain of my high school basketball team, and we sucked, but captain none-the-less.  

Paul Bearer – Posthumously and long deservedly is going to be in the Hall of Fame this year.  Part of me hopes a family member or Mick Foley will induct him because sometimes you just don’t want your favorite on screen characters to break but I can make an exception if the Undertaker wants to drop the dead man bit and have Mark Calaway  give the induction speech.  I want to hear Mark Calaway give his first hand take on how there would be no Undertaker without Paul Bearer.  Other than Bobby the Brain, he’s the most memorable manager from my youth and probably caused me to have the most nightmares.

Alexander Rusev w/ Lana – At least he’s getting closer to the ring each RAW.  One day he might make it all the way to the ring for a match.

Korporate Kane / ADR – Alls I can do is put my head in my hands and shake vigorously.  I feel bad for both characters because they’re being marginalized so badly and both have so much more potential, especially ADR.

Side Note(s)

Pulling a “Jack Swagger” – The King made an inadvertent reference to Swagger running in and DQ-ing the match for his tag team partner as pulling a “Jack Swagger.”  That’s a great name for it.  It rolls off the tongue and I’m going to use it now.  “Ambrose just Jack-Swagger’d Reigns.”  or “I foresee the Rhodes brothers breaking up after one of them Jack-Swagger’s the other.”  Maybe it needs some fine tuning but it’s no worse than a “Dusty Finish” or the litany of wrestling terms named after people.

The commercials for the Titan Fall video game looks so awesome, but as my girlfriend points out, I’m too old.  The graphics look awesome.  You can run around jumping from building to building.  You can hop inside Mechs and take out players or other Mechs!  Everything you’d want.  Or as my girlfriend said, “You’re going to last two-seconds before some little kid kills you and talks shit to you.  All you’re going to do is get depressed.”  The sad part is that she’s right.  I’m too old.  I can’t play these online multi-player games.  I suck and am too slow.  By the time I figure out where I am, some kid is going to sniper my head off.  If I do get lucky enough to make it into one of the big mechs, I’ll be so lost trying to figure out how to control the metal beast that, again, I’ll get blown up by some 10 year old with nothing to do but play Titan Fall all day long.  Getting old sucks.  When did I become the old lady tacking up pictures on her living room wall thinking that’s how Facebook works in the E-surance commercial (“that’s not how any of this works,” is tied with the 60 second version of the crazy mom song in the Old Spice commercial).  

Check out The BEARcast on iTunes or check out worldofbear.com

Until next week…