Zak Fellows' Column
There are many ways that a wrestler can (and more often than not, needs to) get over with the fans. While many of you will probably agree that the two big factors that will determine a wrestler's reaction from the audience will be wrestling & talking, there are several other things that play a factor in whether or not a wrestler (or 'entertainer', for all you WWE fan twats) will manage to survive and possibly prosper in the brutal world that is professional wrestling. Sometimes natural charisma comes in, but one of the more important factors in my eyes is the entrance music of a wrestler. When a wrestler makes his/her debut (excluding jobbers, for very obvious reasons), the very first impression and introduction you will get to them will be through their entrance. When they come out to their music, the fans will immediately say either, 'Wow, this guy looks awesome' or 'Oh my god, this guy is going to be terrible. I would rather listen to some crappy grinding CM Punk promo'...or alternatively, they could just say, 'Meh', for those that want to completely fuck up the point I am trying to make, you cunts. Now, if you recall esteemed host Eric Santamaria and company did a show on the Best/Worst Entrance Music a couple of years ago, so I would suggest you go check it out so you are in the right frame of mind while reading this latest attempt to be intelligent from yours truly. I will be writing about a couple of the more important details of entrance music I feel are integral for them to last.
Back in the 'old days', not every single god damn wrestler was your generic no-character persona. Now a days, a character is considered 'unique' if they break kayfabe (thanks fucking a lot, Ziggler and Punk), but back in the wild 1980s and 1990s, you could have characters based on hillbillies, horror characters, and even fucking Golden Globes. And with these gimmicks, the entrance music should...no, MUST fit with their character. The Undertaker, for example. As we all know, he is a 'deadman' (and in a couple of years, that description will be literal. God, how morbid) and as such, his wrestling music is a version of the well-recognised Funeral March. As every single god damn wrestling fan on the internet should know (because they are on the internet), wrestlers are split into 3 types: babyfaces (The good guys), heels (The bad guys) and tweeners (in between, or the 'fucking up the filling system' guys). The music for all these types should be a reflective of their roles. In case you didn't fully understand what I meant by that, let me first say 'Ha Ha' and move on. What I mean is, babyface music should sound very high energy, generate adrenaline and enthusiasm. The heels should sound threatening and egotistical while generating hatred from the fans. The tweeners, on the other hand, can have their cake and eat it too depending on the type of tweener. For example, Randy Orton, whose character is a psychotic predator and is predominately a babyface. His entrance music 'Voices' literally screams 'heel' because of the amount of darkness in the lyrics, but fans cheer for him anyway. You could, however, credit this to the charisma factor, if you are one of the few who thinks Orton is charismatic. The actual wrestler's nationality can also play a factor, whether or not their nationality is played up deliberately. For instance, Roddy Piper (although not an actual Scottish person, mind you) has bagpipes in his music and William Regal(in his earlier WWE days) used music fitting for an English noblemen/gentleman.
There is normally a lot of excitement from the nerds of the IWC when one of their 'darlings' get their 'well deserved' push. But a new push or career opportunity often opens the door for a new entrance music. When a wrestler is in the middle of a major push, a changing with the theme is a subtle 'out with the old and in with the new' approach. For example, when John Cena was going for his first WWE Championship against JBL (another good example of the Career Changing Entrance Music and character-fitting entrance music, by the way) at WrestleMania 21, his entrance music changed from Basic Thuganomics - a stereotypical rap song that screamed mid carder, in my eyes - to The Time is Now, a fittingly straight forward title that harped on how John Cena's time as the literal franchise of WWE was about to begin. SURE ENOUGH, he won the title and has been the cash cow of WWE ever since. A more recent example of the music reflecting the push is Wade Barrett, who went from 'End Of Days' to 'Just Don't Care Anymore' in the middle of the Barrett Barrage Push, which, by the way, is another meaningful song.
Now this is a debate topic: Will fans react more to lyrical music or instrumental music? Admittedly, it doesn't really matter that much, because as long as the music is good, fitting and catchy, the fans could honestly care less whether or not somebody is singing. But the type of music a wrestler is given can reflect on the promotion's own personal opinion of that wrestler. For example, if a wrestler is given a brand new song with lyrics that the music producer made just for them, it demonstrates that the promotion is willing to spend their time and money in making something new. On the other side of that, the common thing that a company will do would be just to take a production theme that is shared by numerous organisations (both sport & beyond) and give it to the person with no alterations, which demonstrates that they could honestly care less about said person. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just shallow and lazy. The character also determines whether or not lyrics are used or even necessary. Say that you have a dark heel character that is a quiet, psychotic loner. His music would reflect this attitude and it would pretty much sound like the music that plays in a slasher movie as the killer is about to claim their next victim (like the Jaws theme, only not as unintentionally hilarious to listen to when you perform Silent Takedown's in Batman: Arkham City). Now, adding lyrics for that gimmick's entrance music would cross me as absolutely unnecessary and is a good way of completely fucking the gimmick up. If you have a gimmick like that, then the worst thing to do would be to put lyrics in to emphasize the characteristics should be a frightening unknown. But, if a wrestler is going to have a lyrical entrance theme, then the lyrics MUST be meaningful and fitting. If they are not fitting, then the entrance theme will generate a huge 'WTF' (or 'WTH' for those who want to follow PG guidelines) from the audience and fans. Let me give you three examples of songs with lyrics based on the wrestler's own characteristics:
Evan Bourne (A high flying, high energy and just plain high wrestler):
Some
are born to fight
Some
Are born to sin
I
was born to light the fire
All
that you fear
Some
are born to fight
I
was born, I was born to win!
Wade Barrett (A British, no-nonsense, magnificent bastard who cares about himself and money):
I
don't care what you think of me
I
don't care what you think you are
I
don't care if you think you're right and wrong
I
won't be what you want me to be
And
your life belongs to me!
James Storm (A creek-swimming, moonshine-sipping, deer-skinning, beer-drinking, Johnny Cash-listening Cowboy):
Well actually I pretty much just said the opening lyrics to Storm's song, so I'll just leave it there. Besides, nobody can produce a damn good lyrical page for the friggen song. These are examples of songs with meaningful lyrics. The lyrics in an entrance song should tell the audience a lot about the character and why they should either cheer or boo them.
One of the more important things to do in a entrance theme is the very start of it, because that is the moment when the fans should be at the peak of their interactions, aside from when the wrestler actually comes...out (God, that’s even worse!). If the very first sound made by the music is recognizable and appropriate, then the fans will immediately know who is coming out and get off of their asses. Let's take Stone Cold Steve Austin's glass shatter, the first thing we hear whenever he comes...out. As soon as people hear it, they immediately go ballistic. Now imagine Austin's theme without the glass shatter opening. His music would generic and unrecognizable. If the opening sound of the music is good and recognizable, then it will become just as much apart of the wrestler's act as their actual moveset, to the point where not having that opening sound would be a big 'something is missing here'. Examples of wrestlers who have had a consistent opening to their songs are The Rock with 'If you smell....', Edge with 'You think you know me?', Mick Foley's car crashing and Bret Hart's opening wailing guitar, among other good examples.
Many wrestling fans will recognize that the dominate type of music in terms of genre will be heavy rock due to the heavy beat that it can produce over the live speaker. But is rock the only good choice for the type of genre for most entrance music to be based on? Well, yes really, because for those wrestlers that do not have a unique characteristic or gimmick, rock is the best course to go due to its genericness; it is a more-expanded genre of wrestling music, which also turns up often in production libraries. However, rap and R&B also turn up, especially if it fits the character, like John Cena. One of the main appeals in rap is the really heavy beat that is generated from the 'beat box', or whatever the fuck rappers use to generate their music. Classical music is also a very popular choice because of how recognized it is and how 'epic' (I really hate what the internet has done to that word, by the way) it can make a wrestler and/or match - Randy Savage with Pomp & Circumstance, Ric Flair with whatever the hell the music to 2001: A Space Odyssey was, and more recently, Daniel Bryan with a recent rock remix Ride Of The Valkyries. I always thought techno music would work well in wrestling because the whole point of it is the heavy beat over a loud speaker, even if sometimes you had to try and figure out what the fuck is going on.
As I just mentioned with the inclusion of well known classical music, having mainstream songs can also produce a reaction of, 'Ha! That was a good song and it's great seeing my favourite wrestler using it'. That's not a window to include every single god damn new #1 track though, because we would be facing a magnitude of the crappy music I think pollutes the music industry these days. I guess because this is the Wrestling Roundtable, I have to get the obvious out of the way with Bryan Danielson's Final Countdown theme, which has become just as much a part of his character as his actual moveset. Because the song was mainstream, the crowd reacted to it, especially when they actually sung the lyrics during Danielson's entrance, which is why every single god damn fan on the god damn internet wants Danielson to use his god damn Final Countdown theme. I always thought 'Flawless' by George Michael and 'Power' by Kanye West would make good songs to be used for wrestling themes, not only because they are mainstream but also because they could be incredibly fitting for wrestlers who proclaim to be flawless (like me!)...and a rich black man, respectively. The main appeal with using a well known song from the mainstream is the amount of potential attention that the fans of said song/band/singer/alcoholic/junkie-scheduled-for-the-noose might give to said wrestler and maybe, by extension, the wrestling promotion(ex., like Mike Tyson during the build up to WrestleMania 14, but less likely to actually work).
However, one thing that the wrestler and the music creator needs to find out before they go ahead with the wrestlers entrance music is how it will sound over the loud speaker. I know this may sound like a weird thing to cover, so first let me just ask you to hear me out, fuckers: You see, it is important to notice the difference between hearing the music on a laptop/small sound generator and a loud speaker that is intended to be heard by a minimum of 100 people. These arena effects will normally see an echo and heavy beat of the song. You don't need to test it over the loud speaker to determine if the music will work well under arena effects. However, there is a simple solution. All you need is some music software like Audacity, then go on the internet to find some arena effect production instructions, follow them and you will be able to listen to the music with arena effects & be the judge yourselves. In fact, here's a challenge: Find the entrance music that you would use if you were a wrestler, find a decent set of arena effect instructions, then make it yourself and hear how it sounds. I DOUBLE DARE YOU!
Overall, entrance music is as important to a wrestlers success as promo skills and wrestling ability because of its almost instantaneous ability to create an impression and how it can make or break a wrestler. Thank you very much for taking a time out from your meaningless lives to look into another one of my latest ramblings. Just think about some things that I have said. For those who don't like it and disagree with my opinion to the point of trying to force your own opinion down my throat, let me use My Guy! W. Barrett's entrance music as a way of saying how I feel about that:
I
don't care what you think of me
I
don't care what you think you are
I
don't care if you think you're right and wrong
I
won't be what you want me to be
And
your life belongs to me!
[Zak Fellows really does care. Except not for you]
Wow! A whole entry without shamefully promoting my Blog 'The workings of my perfect mind'...oh shit
The Bound For Glory Series & How Its Shaping Up - 8/5/11
In my last column regarding TNA, I talked very briefly about TNA's build up to Bound For Glory and how the company was using a series of matches to determine who will main event the show for the World title. After some further research, I can now present the official rules for the series: 12 wrestlers are competing against one another from June to September in matches. The winner of these matches earns points based on how they won the match, which are listed below:
Special match Win(EG Ladder Match)=10 Points
Submission=10 Points
Pinfall=7 Points
Countout Win=5 Points
DQ Win=3 Points
Draw=2 Points
Loss=0 Points
DQ Loss=-10 Points
I do not know how many people will be in the finals of this series so I will write this column under the assumption there will be 4 finalists.
TNA has been doing this since the Impact after Slammiversary and it doesn't just apply to their TV shows, iMPACT! and Xplosion. It also has these matches during their live events, which means it's easy for a guy to have 0 Points on one iMPACT! and then have like 14 points on the next. Despite this method of having any and all matches between the participants count, I like the concept, especially the live event part because it gives TNA fans a reason to follow the live events to see who is gonna win to advance. The series will last for about one more month before the #1 Contender match between the top scores. So, in this little column I will be looking at all the people in the series, how they are doing so far, their possible futures leading up to BFG, win or lose, and some other stuff.
1st) CRIMSON (38 Points) :
Because Crimson is in the middle of his undefeated streak, it should come as no surprise that he is in the lead at the moment. Crimson has won most of his matches by pinfall, except in a live event match where he used a submission move. I don't see Crimson being beaten in this series and I think he will remain undefeated until a little bit after the series is over. That's not to say I think Crimson will win the whole thing: He still has some areas to improve upon before he can be true World Champion potential. In fact, right now I see him as more of a tag team wrestler and him teaming with Matt Morgan during this series only increased that perception. Since I do not see Crimson winning the series and becoming a World title contender(for now), I think he will go into BFG for a regular singles match. His opponent is going to be difficult to pick since Crimson has already beaten most of the people I would have picked for him, so I guess I will pick a member of Immortal to face him. Mr. Anderson or Gunner perhaps? Overall, Crimson is not (in my opinion) going to win this series but TNA are using it to showcase Crimson's potential, which he does have.
2nd) ROB VAN DAM (35 Points) :
Rob Van Dam is currently in 2nd place and if he beats Crimson this Sunday at HardCORE Justice(which is highly unlikely) through any means beside a draw, he will take the lead in the series. Rob Van Dam has actually had the fewest matches so far in this series with 6 matches and, if my math is correct(which it normally is), then that means he has won 5 matches by pinfall and lost one. Rob Van Dam should not win this series for a couple of reasons : First of all, he is an ex-WWE guy(which will earn TNA even more flak then it already does), he hasn't been trying hard over the last couple of months and, as evident by his WWE title reign, he is unreliable to keep off of his precious pot. That's not to say RVD should not do well in this tournament - in fact, if the finals at No Surrender is a 4-way, he should be in it, just not win it. RVD should also still be on the BFG card and, if it hadn't happened last year, I would say RVD should face Abyss in a Monsters Ball match. However, since that has already happened, I think RVD will face some ECW alumni that goes to TNA for one night only or something. RVD really should just be the ECW nostalgia act at this point, which will probably earn ME some flak.
3rd) JAMES STORM (33 Points) :
Oh, did I forget to mention that tag team matches are involved in this series as well? The person who gets the fall for the team will get the points. Storm has got most of his points in tag matches with Bobby Roode. As much as I like Storm (BEER! MONE...Sorry), he isn't going to be the one to win this series and he shouldn't be. James is a tag team wrestler; always has and always will be. Now, we all saw Storm's potential as a singles star in 2007-2008, and did he succeed? Depends on your definition of the word. TNA might as well stick with what works with James: He's the resident tag team pro, so have him be the tag team veteran in TNA. With his partner Bobby Roode's future looking good, the chances of Beer Money dropping their record-setting tag team titles(they have now held it both the longest and the most) to Mexican America (aka LAX 2.0) are pretty much a definite. As for Storm's match at BFG, I see Storm NOT being in the finals of the tournament and instead finding a new tag team partner to take on Mexican America. Yes, I realise I just opened up a possibility for the legendary Braden Walker, but stay with me folks; Storm's future is in tag teams and there ain't anything wrong with that.
Tied 4th) BOBBY ROODE (28 Points) :
Roode's made a pretty good comeback from having 0 points for like a month. Again, Roode could have earned more points in his tag team series matches with Storm but either Storm or their opponents were the ones who got the pin. Shouldn't Roode be showing some degree of frustration on allowing his partner to constantly take the decision and the points which determine who gets a shot at the World title? Whatever. Unlike Storm, Roode does have potential for a main event run, as evidenced in his 2007-2008 singles run, which included several wins over Booker T. I think Bobby could make the finals of the tournament but only if TNA wants to be extremely generous(and this is TNA we are talking about). I think Roode should get it: He's an underrated version of AJ Styles. Not in ability, but in his workrate - working his ass of with everybody he's had to face. Since I see Roode being split from Storm by BFG, his match really depends on what he does when he splits: If it's a respectable tag team split it will be against a heel, but if he turns on Storm and joins Immortal (god forbid), then I see Storm and Roode facing each other in a match like Storm/Harris at Sacrifice 2007. As much as I like Beer Money, I do recognize that it will have to end for Roode to reach his full potential.
Tied 4th) BULLY RAY (28 Points) :
Here we are: TNA's resident fat loud asshole. I have only seen one Series match from Ray since it started and that was a loss to Crimson 2 weeks ago. TNA is dedicating more time to dissension between him and Immortal member Mr. Anderson. This is because Ray has been acting like a coward recently when it comes to Sting Ledger & Kurt Angle, and has been making other Immortal members do his dirty work. Time to say something nice about the guy, I suppose ; He has been doing good...in fact, he's been doing great since splitting from Devon last year and, in April, I thought he would be the one Immortal would send after Sting when he was World Champion. Ray could be one of the guys in the finals at No Surrender serving as Immortal's representative in the match but I don't think Ray should be the one to win the whole thing due to an occasional legit bad attitude, especially when it comes to injuring younger stars. Bully Ray is definately going to be on BFG, no doubt doing something as a high ranking member of Immortal. Despite Bully Ray doing well for himself acting as an on screen asshole, he won't be doing anything special for the big show.
Tied 4th) DEVON (28 Points) :
And while we are on the subject of Bully Ray, after seeing Devon in action a couple of shows ago against Samoa Joe, I realised that people actually dig Devon(or maybe the TNA fans were so used to seeing Joe lose they started cheering for the person who would no doubt win). Despite suffering the initial setback of losing his more-over tag team partner, Devon has since got into the singles groove thanks in large part to the series. This series has also seen the emergence of a new storyline for Devon : Devon's wife and sons seem to be in attendance at every iMPACT! and D'Angelo Dinero has struck a friendship with the sons, which Devon disapproves of, seeing Dinero as a bad influence even though Dinero has helped out Devon on a dozen of occasions. That being said, Devon should not win the BFG series. Hell, he shouldn't even come close to the finals. I was going to say that Devon's likely BFG plans would be to fight Dinero in a conclusion to this current angle, but they are already scheduled to face each other at HardCORE Justice. They could still face each other at BFG but I wouldn't see the point. Devon is now doing pretty well on his own and I actually like the guy. Want proof? Just bought his 'Testify' shirt of TNA. TESTIFY MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!
Tied 4th) GUNNER (28 Points) :
Ok, now that I have had my revival sermon moment, let's move on to Gunner. I said in my last TNA column that Gunner could be the easy replacement for Jeff Hardy as Immortal's main eventer, but now that Mr. Anderson has joined the group that looks less likely. I understand that Gunner is very new to everybody but that's a good thing cause it means it will take just that little bit longer for us to get sick of him. That's about the only good thing I can say about Gunner(sorry, he's that new to me). Out of the 3 guys from Immortal in this series, I think Gunner should be the one to represent the group in the finals due to the simple fact that he is young and would be welcomed face in the main event scene...well, to some people anyway, me included. Gunner's been doing pretty good when you factor in he used to be a security guard and had a TV title reign that didn't feature more than three defences. In the event that Gunner does not win the series, I see him not doing anything special for BFG except one of two things: First is obviously represent Immortal in a match, or go after the TV title, which I believe he still has not had a rematch for against Eric Young. Gunner should be using this series the same way Crimson should: To get people into him and improve himself.
8th) AJ STYLES (21 Points) :
Ok. AJ has done pretty much every single thing in TNA that he can do. Every championship, every role(face and heel), every type of feud, dozens of factions and a lot of matches with most of the roster. Despite losing to Devon last Thursday, he didn't job to him: he is involved in an angle with Christopher Daniels and got distracted by the guy, which is leading to something. That is not to say that AJ shouldn't be on top of this entire series and in the top three, but since TNA is focusing on turning the real life best friends against one another (again), they can be excused. At this point, unless TNA pumps AJ with tons of wins over the next month, he ain't gonna make it to the finals of the series. But if he does and there are several young talents in the match like Crimson & Gunner, then, as much as I am gonna get MORE flak from you guys, then he should not win. Like I just said, AJ & Christopher Daniels are having some dissenssion issues and that builds to my predicted match at BFG for AJ Styles: an Ultimate X match against Christopher Daniels in a 'settle this the old fashion way' manner. AJ's lack of progress in this series can be excused due to a current storyline build up and him having already done everything that he can do in TNA.
9th) SCOTT STEINER (14 Points) :
And here we are, Immortal's third representative in the series and perhaps the one person NOBODY wants to get anywhere near No Surrender's finals. Scott does not have a good future, not just in TNA but in the entire sport, mostly because he is about as moveable as a...as the worlds fattest man. No, not Brodus Clay. In fact, you could say Scott Steiner, since returning in January, has been a complete failure. Now granted, that had mostly to do with Booker T and Kevin Nash not re-signing, making Steiner's return pointless. Joining Immortal hasn't done anything for Steiner either and he has just faded into the background in the group. Out of all three Immortal members in this series, Steiner not only should not win this series, he should not get into the finals. He should not even come close to getting into the finals and, hell, he shouldn't even be in the series. Now as for Steiner's BFG match, it is very difficult to say because Steiner is a walking mess. Of course, now, because of his new association with Immortal, that opens up a door to him representing the group in a match at the show, but Steiner really needs to be put out to pasture, cause he really is embarrassing himself. As for Steiner's chances in winning the series, let me sum it up like this : ''HA HA HA HA HA...Fuck Off''
10th) D'ANGELO DINERO (10 Points) :
Oh look, a guy everybody wants to be a main eventer in second-to0last place. Never seen that kind of thing before, eh? Like I said in the part about Devon, the series has provided Dinero with a new storyline and could be used as a springboard to get Dinero back as a face. Let's face it; Dinero's heel run from the beginning of this year hasn't produced results, which isn't his fault - it's mostly TNAs. If Dinero had actually won a PPV match against Samoa Joe during their feud, then his heel run might have actually worked. Dinero has had 11 matches in this tournament and has given wins to Devon to advance their storyline, won one match for 7 points in a live event and won the other 3 points after the match with Samoa Joe last Thursday where Joe was disqualified for not letting go of his Kokina Clutch after the match, so Dinero was used as a means to advance Joe's storyline as well. There is no way Dinero can reach the finals now in this position, as much as I would love to see Dinero in the finals. I think Dinero will end the feud with Devon at BFG, but if that doesn't happen, then there is a chance Dinero won't even be on the show. Dinero has not benefitted from this series and has been used to advance others. He's too talented a wrestler and personality for this.
11th) SAMOA JOE (-10 Points) :
Joe's career story can easily be called 'How The Mighty Fallen'. Since losing the World title 3 years ago, he has been going down & down and this series has only confirmed that. This losing streak really began when Joe lost the triple threat series match against the other two guys with 0 points: Bobby Roode and D'Angelo Dinero. Since then, the losing streak has become more obvious and it reached a boiling point last Thursday when he finally won a series match against Dinero by submission to get 10 points, but then was disqualified after he didn't release the hold, leaving him with -10 points. Joe is another one of those people showing complaints against TNA management on screen and I feel like this will lead to a heel turn against some beloved face. As for the series, if you think Joe can make a comeback at this point and get to the final 4 and win the whole thing, then you are delusional. As for Samoa Joe's BFG build up, since it seems like TNA tries to at least get Joe on PPV these days he will go into BFG, end this losing streak and begin the next year of build up with a clean slate and that beloved face I mentioned could be Kazarian, since he was the first one that came to mind. Joe's series run has been used for a losing streak angle, which has been known to produce results in the end.
So overall, this series has been a welcomed part of TNA for me. It's been used effectively as a way to improve newer stars and establishes possible new main eventers, as well as create new storylines and advance older ones. Who should win this series? Like I said in my last column, if they are good wrestlers, if they are charismatic, if they are reliable for the future and if they have the right attitude, then they should win the series and then the title at BFG. Only if a wrestler has all four of those qualities can they be a decent main eventer and win this series. Hope you enjoyed this recent read. This is Zak Fellows saying:
Wrestling Roundtable=Where Wrestling actually matters
TNA - Where The Hell Are They? - 6/25/11
TNA:Total Nonstop Action. Well, that's what they would like us to believe. Let's face it - TNA has been on an up and down elevator ever since it started 9 years ago. Sometimes they bring in the good and sometimes they bring in the bad. And since Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff arrived last year, people have been checking their watches while holding TNA's arm, waiting for them to lose a pulse and call it. Since I have taken an interest in TNA again (as I wear a Beer Money shirt), I write this column in order to give you guys a good idea on the current status of TNA (or Impact Wrestling, if you like) in several aspects that make a wrestling company. Remember that, McMahon?
ROSTER
Believe it or not, and as much as any WWE mark will try to dismiss, this TNA has a pretty decent roster. It's got a good mix of established names that older wrestling fans (namely WWE) remember, the TNA originals and a couple of established independent wrestlers. The main thing that the haters complain about in TNA is what they perceive to be a huge amount of ex-WWE wrestlers being utilized. Just because some wrestlers wrestled for the biggest wrestling company in the world doesn't mean they were made stars in the company; D'Angelo Dinero and Matt Morgan were much bigger stars in TNA than they ever were in WWE. The main problem TNA has is they tend to rely on some specific wrestlers too much and putting too much focus on them on their shows. The focus on them causes a great deal of wrestlers to be forgotten, such as Kiyoshi and Okada(both Japanese wrestlers. Curious when you consider TNA has had a lot of luck with pushing foreigners, namely British). 2011 has been no exception to this, with some people only having made very few appearance.
PUSHES
You have to love how some wrestling fans will never be satisfied no matter what. Oh wait, that completely PISSES ME OFF! TNA fans complain about them pushing the ex-WWE guys like Mr. Anderson, yet still complain when TNA actually does the right thing and pushes a new name. Apparently, if reports are to be believed, there are three wrestlers that TNA is aiming to push to main event status. Crimson is the new star that has received the biggest push thus far this year with this undefeated streak, and as sub-par as he is at the moment as a worker, with time & the right opponent(just like what Matt Morgan needed), he can become great. Second is Gunner, who can easily fill in the main event spot in Immortal that was opened by Jeff Hardy. Third is Bobby Roode, which would lead to the end of Beer Money. There is another guy who has been pushed this year and most people hate it because he is close to 40: Bully Ray. Now I don't like Ray in the slightest but at least it's something newer than the regular feuds Team 3D have been having for the last 5 years.
STORYLINES
TNA storylines are notorious for stinking of Vince Russo writing and not much has changed. Their have been several storylines since the year began, the most notable is the turf war between Immortal and Fortune. I, for one, am glad that Kevin Nash and Booker T did not return, which would have led to some reincarnation of the Main Event Mafia. Fortune just seems to fit the role of Immortal's opponents better as AJ Styles, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, James Storm & Booby Roode are incredibly likeable wrestlers and they have the 'TNA Original' banner, which means the smart marks in the iMPACT! Zone have every reason to like them. The second feud that has dominated TNA TV is Jeff Jarrett Vs. Kurt Angle, another example of the 'heavily-drawn-out-to-the-brink-of-extinction' feud. They have thrown everything into this feud: Jarrett claiming to be an MMA fighter, bringing in Karen Jarrett to rub it in Kurt's face, Kurt fighting to get custody over his kids, Kurt destroying the renewal of the Jarretts' vows with an axe, bringing in Chyna to take care of Karen, fighting to keep his gold medals from Jarrett's palm, fighting Jarrett again in the parking lot and forcing him to live up to his promise of going to Mexico, where he ultimately won the AAA Title, which means that this feud is far from over. Man, that was a mouthful. Aside from those two, not many storylines have been heavily featured, although a cartoon nature has - Winter controlling Angelina Love anyone?
MATCHES
Matches continue to be a mixed bag for TNA. On one side you get the great matches, and the other, the terrible matches. Unsurprisingly, the good matches are normally done by the younger talent, and the bad ones are the old guys. Since rebranding the company into Impact Wrestling, 'where Wrestling matters', apparently TNA has tried to put more focus on the matches. Has the formula worked? Sort of. They have been putting on some great stuff like Kurt Angle Vs. Jeff Jarrett in the 'Final Showdown' match at Slammiversary along with a recent triple threat on Impact involving Austin Aries, Kid Kash and Jimmy Rave. But at the same time, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot by putting talent that in no way can bring in the goods. Look at Matt Morgan/Scott Steiner from Slammiversary; Morgan did his best, but as Bill Treadway has said, Scott Steiner is beyond saving. That's right - Morgan could carry a drugged up Jeff Hardy but not Scott Steiner.
TV SHOW
The recent rebranding of TNA Impact to Impact Wrestling hasn't exactly been a subtle change. Since the rebranding, TNA has tried putting more focus on the wrestling that is involved with their shows. While still retaining some of the promos that we all know they love, the percentage between matches and promos has become about 50/50. That's fine, that's what it should be if you think about it long and hard enough. Since they have started this shift, the matches have been really good as I said earlier with Aries/Kash/Rave, and I'll throw Angle/RVD and Kendrick/Kazarian in there as well. Their show has definitely improved from a couple of months ago. I watched an Impact about 3 months ago waiting for a wrestling match and it took about 30 minutes until one actually happened; by that time, I had switched the channel. Last week, I watched the show to the very end.
PPV
Bill Treadway has already summed up all six PPVs that TNA has produced thus far this year: 4 have been terrible, 1 has been average and 1 has been good. PPVs have never really been a strong point since Hogan and Bischoff arrived. In fact, last year their leadership ended the three PPV streak that TNA was on because Bound For Glory, Turning Point and Final Resolution 2009 were all really good thanks to the great matches put on by then-Champion AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. Then Genesis 2010 (headlined by those two men) was not that good, as said by the hosts of the Roundtable. However, when TNA is good, they are good, and despite putting on what will probably win the 'worst PPV of the year' in Victory Road 2011, their Lockdown PPV was it's normal high standards, headlined by the Lethal Lockdown match between Fortune and Immortal. PPVs are the main way for TNA to expand and if they really want to do that, put on good PPVs with good matches with people that the fans want to see. Easy, right?
KNOCKOUT CHAMPIONSHIP
Look at the Knockouts division from 2007 and then the Knockouts division of now. My god what a difference. The Knockouts have not been featured much this year and it's title situation reflects this. Madison Rayne opened the year being your typical heel champion with a bodyguard until she lost it to Mickie James in what Bill Treadway says was a good, short match. Mickie is apparently still recovering from an injury, which has resulted in a shot in her performance lately. Surprisingly, I haven't heard much complaints about Mickie being Champion, so I guess when she loses the title someone will threaten to blow up Dixie Carter's house or something. Some of the original Knockouts like ODB & Jacqueline have returned recently in order to 'clean up' the division and restore it back to its original self. Good luck, Sassy Black Chick and Big Trailer Park Boobs.KNOCKOUT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
If you have two womens titles, then you're gonna have to dedicate a lot of time to the division. They should, but they don't. The Knockouts Tag Titles are easily the weakest set of tag titles in history(Yes, even more than the WWE Tag Team Titles). The big problem is that TNA only really had one legit team when they introduced these titles: The Beautiful People. Sarita & Taylor Wilde were a great team when they started off and when Awesome Kong & Hamada won the belts, they looked like they were gonna be good too. But thanks to a certain asshole who shall remain nameless(BUBBA!), the titles were stripped from this formidable pair, put on The Beautiful People(they were going to get them eventually), put on Hamada & Taylor Wilde, vacated when Hamada was released, put on Angelina Love & Winter, and now on Sarita & Rosita of Mexican America. Those belts can easily be melted down into a bullet to shoot the title history in the head and people wouldn't notice. If they really want the titles to mean something, stop throwing random women together, get some real women tag teams and actually have the champions regularly defend the titles or at least have them appear every week.
TV CHAMPIONSHIP
Oh look, another belt that isn't worth much. This title's original purpose was to be the belt for a specific faction aka when Booker T & Kevin Nash held it while they were in the Main Event Mafia, it was the Legends title, and when Eric Young & Rob Terry held it, it was the Global Championship. Not to say it hasn't produced some good matches - in fact, last year AJ Styles defended the title in a great technical match at Final Resolution against Douglas Williams. However, when Williams lost the title to Abyss at Genesis and then Gunner won it, the title was barely seen or defended. Which brings me to the Fingerpoke of Doom tribute last month with Eric Young winning the title. Eric had not appeared much since he restarted the comedy gimmick, so why - out of all the guys that could have possibly won it - did Eric Young win it? Maybe TNA was aiming to get Eric serious again since it worked well the first time, but I have not seen any difference since he won it. Have Eric defend the belt on a frequent basis and this title reign will work.
X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Even though the X Division has gone down an entire staircase as the years have gone by, they still remain one of TNA's highlights. The year kicked off with Jay Lethal losing the title to Fortune member Kazarian at Genesis, who would hold it till May when Abyss defeated. I know people hate this, but the ultimate payoff will be that Abyss will have to lose the title eventually(Kind of the same scenario as Samoa Joe in 2009 to Amazing Red). When Kazarian was champion, it actually gave the X Division title more screen time due to his association with Fortune. Kazarian held the title longer than anybody since Petey Williams' reign in 2008. The division still has some strong wrestlers with Kazarian, Brian Kendrick, the newly returned Austin Aries, etc. and with the upcoming Destination X, the X Division may be getting a boost. Having said that, I do have one complaint in regards to the upcoming PPV: The main event planned between Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. Yeah, I know it's the best match TNA has ever produced, but in an X Division-based PPV, if the actual X Division title isn't on the line, then it will be buried in my opinion. Oh yeah, champion is the 'Anti X Division'.
WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
This can qualify as TNA's biggest strength. The tag team division is, and has been for the last 3 years, really strong. If the Best of 5 series between the Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money, Inc. didn't entertain you, then I really have to question what you watch wrestling for. Beer Money has held the titles since Genesis and they have pretty much been relied on on multiple occasions to strike gold with bad situations since they formed. The division itself has some pretty decent teams aside from Beer Money and the Guns with Generation ME, Ink, Inc. on occasion and Yhe British Invasion. The current storyline with the titles involve Alex Shelley substituting for the injured Bobby Roode in teaming with James Storm in 'Gun Money' (I think it should be called 'Beer Gun' since he's teaming with Storm and not Roode. Besides, it gives them chance to bring a beer hose to the ring). I feel like there is not much I can say without this turning into a huge jerk off for Beer Money since I am wearing their merchandise and they are my favourite tag team in wrestling right now, so I will end this section with the obvious :
BEER!
MONEY!
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
The World title is and should be the most important piece of TNA. The World title scene this year has centered around four men, pretty much: Mr. Anderson, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Sting. Try and figure out what all these guys have in common. Unlike Jeff Hardy and Sting's title wins this year, current champion Mr. Anderson's title wins have been welcomed as he is one of the ex-WWE guys that they feel never got the proper chance in the big 'E(Answers the question I just asked you guys). However, he is still stale meat to all the guys that could be in the World title picture, which will be joined by Kurt Angle next month after Destination X. TNA realises this and is going to put Gunner in the scene as the fresh face, but they need to do A LOT of work to get Gunner over enough for this position. Here's an idea, TNA: Put AJ Styles, Matt Morgan and D'Angelo Dinero back in the scene. I think I speak for most, if not all of the Roundtable community, when I say that we don't mind seeing that.
BACKSTAGE EVENTS
Ah, the backstage news is the juicy material that most people like to read about wrestling. TNA backstage isn't the loving family that they want you to believe. In another attempt to throw the 'blame' around, Hogan & Bischoff have been blaming writer Vince Russo for the failures in TNA(or something along those lines). Jeff Jarrett is even on Hogan and friends' side on this stance. Um, Thunderlips, Russo was actually doing ok until you showed up. Russo, apparently, is still in TNA because Dixie Carter feels he's integral. Jeff Hardy's 'living in the moment' lifestyle got TNA in hot water again at Victory Road 2011 when he showed up so high it would put...I don't know, my cousin to shame, forcing the officials to make his match with Sting 90 seconds...in the main event...of a PPV...for the world title. Jeff really needs to get his act together or he will end up in the sad state of Scott Hall.
SIGNINGS AND FIRINGS
It wouldn't be TNA without some signing ex-WWE guys. Matt Hardy is the main ex-WWE guy to jump ship, and aside from his match with AJ Styles, he is boring and self important. Oh Matt, it's like you never changed! The legendary Braden Walker(Chris Harris) returned as well at Sacrifice for a one time deal, teaming with Matt Hardy against Beer Money, which, of course, included his former AMW partner James Storm. He was being planned to reunite with Storm until TNA realized Harris was not committed to lose weight. And so his downward spiral continues. Chyna also made a one time appearance at Sacrifice, teaming with Kurt Angle against Jeff & Karen Jarrett. She would then leave to continue her true calling: low grade pornography. Oh yeah, and returning our host Eric's calls, of course. On the fired list is Jay Lethal, Mick Foley and Tommy Dreamer(Thank God!) notably, while a couple of other names that returned were Austin Aries, Jacqueline and ODB among others.
BUILDING UP TO BOUND FOR GLORY
This is the most important thing that TNA has to do every single year. Right now, the plan is to do a series involving 12 wrestlers. The 12 wrestlers will, under a set amount of months(until No Surrender, most likely), be participating against each other to earn points, which are based on ways to win a match. Those with the most points will then compete in a #1 contenders match for the World title in the main event of Bound For Glory. Sounds good to me. The big thing here though, is that they have a lot of young stars in this series that could easily main event their biggest show of the year, which is why it is extremely important that TNA management is not blinded by past star power (And by that, I mean the past accomplishments of certain wrestlers) and look at what the wrestlers are like now. If they are good wrestlers, charismatic, reliable for the future and have the right attitude, then they should win the series and then win the title at Bound For Glory. Only if a wrestler has all four of those qualities can they be a decent main eventer.
FINAL THOUGHTS
People have been saying since Day 1 that TNA would not survive. Here we are 9 years later and they are still going. They are still running despite all the mistakes they have made. I feel like they can make it one more year before they really need to change their whole approach. That's not to say they should wait; They should get the changes going right now if they want to keep going. They have the young wrestlers, the established stars to give them the rub, they have fucking Hulk Hogan selling their company to the public pretty much, and yet they still are still missing something. They tried competing with WWE and they quickly abandoned the Monday Night ship before it sank(a smart move) and if they want to go for it again but be successful this time, they have to rethink their whole strategy. I wish them all the best, as I really want TNA to succeed. I hope you enjoyed this column and watch out for the next part of the TNA topic. Until then, this is Zak Fellows saying, if you don't watch Wrestling Roundtable, then sorry about your damn luck!
The Miz Is Ready For WrestleMania - 3/27/11
The Miz was one of the bigger wrestling success stories last year. After having one of the roughest starts that a wrestler could have, being considered a no-talent joke for years, he finally got his head in the game(forgive me for a reference to one of Disney's top income-bringers from the last decade), improved his wrestling skills, changed his attire and whole promo attitude to be taken more seriously. As a result, The Miz has become the newest main eventer of the Cena era. And so, as The Miz heads into the biggest and most important match of his career Sunday at WrestleMania against John Cena, I figured I would chronicle The Miz's rise from obscurity to the WWE Championship.
The Miz started his WWE career on a little segment called Tough Enough 4, the last TE before it was cancelled(It is scheduled to come back after WrestleMania this year). He would actually make it to the finals of the competition to face the winner, Daniel Puder(the guy famous for shooting on Kurt Angle on Smackdown), in a losing effort at Armageddon 2004. He didn't actually lose the match - the crowd cheered for Puder to win. However, as is often the case with WWE shows of this nature, Miz would be signed to a contract despite losing the contest and would spend some time in OVW to train. The Miz had gotten his name out to the public, now all that was left was to get the right spotlight.
The Miz would remain in OVW until March of 2006, when WWE began hyping for his Smackdown debut. Miz was originally going to be in a storyline with Palmer Canon, the "network executive", but the idea was scrapped when Canon was fired(As you probably know, Smackdown was moved to Friday nights on UPN in 2005 and the Canon character was a response to the whole Muhammed Hassan fiasco. He would constantly try to interfere with Theodore Long's authority, such as giving Eddie Guerrerro #1 contendership to then-Champion Batista instead of Rey Mysterio and introducing the short-lived Dicks tag team(don't ask) & the Boogeyman).This firing would postpone Miz' debut about a month until he made his official debut on Smackdown as it's 'host'; he was the guy who hyped the crowd and hosted bikini contests, as well as the 2006 Diva Search, won by Layoff(please!). The Miz was a face during his tenure as the host of Smackdown until after the Diva Search, when he would try to undermine Layoff(please!)'s win and make it all about him. He would make his in-ring debut the next week on Smackdown with a win over Tatanka(Tatanka was in the middle of a losing streak gimmick at the time). It was during this time that commentator JBL began to publicly display his hatred of The Miz due to Miz' reality TV exposure and not being 'qualified' to be a wrestler. On the flip side, Michael Cole started planting the seeds of his little crush on The Miz by constantly reminding us that The Miz was undefeated, even when the guy barely wrestled in the first three months of his career. The Miz would suffer his first loss(against The Boogeyman) at Armageddon 2006, the same event that The Miz started on two years earlier.
The Miz would get nothing over the first half of 2007, with losses to many wrestlers and barely any TV time. He was drafted to ECW in the middle of the year, where he would begin the next phase of his career. He would change his character into a 'chick magnet' and would gain Extreme Expose as valets. This would start a feud with Balls Mahoney, who Kelly Kelly(a member of Expose) had a crush on. Despite this, he become more involved with the show's title situation, getting voted over Big Daddy V(Viscera...only you can see his nipples) and John Morrison to face then-ECW Champion CM Punk for the belt at Cyber Sunday. The Miz performed well in this ok match, showing that with a little time and development he could be something.
Now it was time for Miz's biggest career stage. He would reluctantly team up with then-opponent John Morrison to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from the also reluctant team of MVP and Matt Hardy just two days before both men would challenge CM Punk for the ECW title at Survivor Series 2007. Both men would lose the match of course, but they were still the Tag Team champions. The whole 'Morrison and Miz not liking each other' thing was scrapped and the two were now portrayed as friends. With Morrison as his tag team partner, Miz was invigorated: he took instruction from the much more talented Morrison and would learn the art of tag team wrestling. After a year of being stepped on by JBL and other wrestlers, The Miz had found somebody to help him.
As The Miz and John Morrison entered 2008, they were given another rub: WWE.com were starting to include more exclusive content, and both men started hosting an internet show called the Dirt Sheet. The show frequently consisted of the two talking about the week's previous events, and ripping the roster relentlessly with putdowns & toilet humour. The show would end up being popular and even get some live TV time on more then one occasion. As this continued, the team continued to defend their titles against teams like Finlay & Hornswoggle, Jesse & Festus, Kane & CM Punk, along with others. The two would also continue their single careers, with Morrison getting a Money In The bank spot at WrestleMania 24, as well as a #1 contender Singapore cane match at One Night Stand 2008. Morrison would lose both matches. The two would lose their Tag titles at the Great American Bash to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, but they held the titles for a good 8 months.
Even though Miz and Morrison lost their titles, they remained relevant outside of ECW. They began a feud with Cryme Tyme over both teams' internet talk shows. Their match would be voted over Jamie Noble & Mickie James Vs. William Regal & Layoff(please!) AND a World Tag title match between CM Punk & Kofi Kingston Vs. then-Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase at Cyber Sunday 2008. When you consider that one of these three choices was a Tag title match featuring two very popular babyfaces while the winner was a regular tag team match between midcard teams, it is really a testament to how over WWE had gotten that feud. Miz and Morrison would win this good tag team match. In order to hype Raw's upcoming 800th show, Miz and Morrison challenged DX to a match. This was the ultimate rub that Miz and Morrison had been waiting for. Even though they lost, the fact that it was pretty much a competitive match really says a lot on how much WWE believed in the two.
As Miz and Morrison continued to appear on all three WWEshows(sometimes in the same week), they would win 2 Slammys(1 for Tag Team Of The Year, and 1 for Internet Show Of The Year), as well as the World Tag Team titles from CM Punk & Kofi Kingston on a house show the same week(Kingston & Punk won the titles from DiBiase & Rhodes after Cyber Sunday). Morrison and Miz would start a new feud with then-WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo initially over the Bella Twins, then the two sets of Tag Team titles. A unification lumberjack match was made for WrestleMania 25, but the match would be cut from the main show so Kid Rock could sing for 11 minutes. This was a real letdown as this tag match was one of the freshest matches on the show. Carlito and Primo won the match.
After WrestleMania 25, it was time for The Miz to go it alone. He would be drafted to Raw and would sever his partnership with Morrison. Miz's biggest feud came shortly after with the man he will face Sunday at WrestleMania 27: John Cena. In a storyline similiar to Goldberg/Chris Jericho from the 90s, Miz would claim 'victories' over John Cena whenever he could, which would last for 2 months until the two met officially at The Bash 2009. This was a chance for The Miz, but just like Goldberg/Jericho, it was not to be - Cena squashed Miz in 5 minutes and made The Miz look like a joke. Miz would face Cena again and would lose, resulting in him being banned from Raw.
With his credibility shot from his series with Cena, Miz needed to rebuild himself, and he did. Disguised as the 'Calgary Kid', he would win a contract-on-a-pole match over Eugene to return to Raw. Adopting more serious tights over his previous attires and adding the Skull Crushing Finale to his moveset, he would go after the United States Championship. After failing to win the title from Kofi Kingston at Breaking Point and Hell In A Cell, he would win the title the night after HITC in a good match. Now that he had the US Title, it was 'sink or swim' time for The Miz. With Bragging Rights 2009 approaching, Miz was scheduled to face his former partner and then-Intercontinental Champion, John Morrison. The naturally-expected winner was the then-red-hot John Morrison, who was just coming off of a great match with Rey Mysterio to win the title, as well as a brief run with brief World Champion Jeff Hardy. In a shocker, The Miz would beat his former partner cleanly in this great match. This and when Miz lead his Survivor Series team to victory over John Morrison's really showed who WWE was behind at the time. The Miz had rebuilt himself with just a title, some mic. time and his wrestling.
As 2010 began, The Miz had defended his title against most of the Raw midcard, but another opportunity was arising. Big Show's tag team with Chris Jericho had just ended and WWE wanted lightning to strike twice by giving Big Show another partner; The Miz was the chosen one for such a role. Miz & Show would win the Unified Tag titles from DX and The Straight Edge Society on Raw, making Miz a double Champion, holding two belts at once. While not the success that JeriShow was, ShoMiz was a temporary success. During this title reign, Miz would participate in his first televised WrestleMania match in the opener of WrestleMania 26, defending his tag titles against Morrison and R Truth. The match was short but sweet. The Miz and Big Show would lose their titles in a great match with the Hart Dynasty, and the team would immediately be broken up at the 2010 draft.
During this time, Miz was chosen as a WWE Pro for the first season of NXT. His rookie, Daniel Bryan(better known as Bryan Danielson), was an indy wrestling legend and many internet wrestling fans were outraged that a guy who had been wrestling for 10 years was going to be 'trained' by The Miz, who had barely been wrestling 5 years. However, this would serve as the angle that won the Wrestling Roundtable Message Board 2010 Feud Of The Year award. Miz would be so impressive as a NXT Pro that he was chosen to return in it's second season to train Alex Riley.
After losing the Tag Team titles, Miz would continue his feud with the Hart Dynasty and, by extension, the recently-returned WWE Hall Of Famer, Bret Hart, which would result in a title match on Raw where Miz would lose his US Title to the 50+, barely mobile Hart. However, this was only a minor setback, as Miz would regain the title four weeks later in a Fatal Fourway match. As the Nexus angle was picking up, Miz would enter what was at the time the biggest match and win of his career, as he was chosen to win the Raw MITB ladder match at the first MITB PPV. It seemed like Miz' WWE title reign was only a matter of time now.
As he held both a MITB briefcase and the US Championship, Miz would begin to be featured more frequently on Raw and was sought out by Team WWE for their match against The Nexus. Miz would accept the invitation for SummerSlam but was replaced by his former NXT rookie Daniel Bryan. Miz would still have an impact on the match outcome though, as he would cause Bryan's elimination, restarting the feud between the two. Miz would lose his US Title in a great match to Bryan at Night Of Champions and would become captain of Raw's Bragging Rights team. He would lose that as well, but this did not harm Miz in the slightest. Nothing could stop him now.
One night after Wade Barrett failed to win the WWE Title at Survivor Series, he would fail once again to beat Randy Orton, even with the help of The Nexus. But just as Orton looked like he was done for the night...,"AWESOME!" The Miz came out to cash in his MITB contract. Unlike most MITB cash-ins, this was a competitive match, making us worry if Miz would pull it off. Our hopes were realized when Miz beat Orton to become the new WWE Champion. The crowd was clearly into his win, as noticed with the Demon Girl's reaction.
Since winning the WWE Championship, Miz has been able to survive three PPV title matches with Orton and Hall Of Famer Jerry Lawler, thanks to a few underhanded tricks from both himself, Alex Riley, Michael Cole and other factors. Now Miz is alone to fight Cena for the WWE Championship. Is he ready? Yes he is. He has everything that a WWE main eventer needs, and whether he wins or loses at WrestleMania, The Miz is here to stay. He is AWESOME!
The Extreme Concept Of The Elimination Chamber - 2/19/11
Let's face it - The Elimination Chamber is one of those matches that seems like a pretty cool concept when you first hear about it. Eric Bischoff's description before the inaugural Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002 said it best: It's a combination of the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and War Games - Royal Rumble because of the entry system, Survivor Series for the elimination format, and War Games because of the cage, I guess. For the benefit of those who weren't aware of the rules of the match, I will explain for you. Don't worry, this isn't one of those matches that Vince Russo thinks up and has so many ridiculous rules it causes even the wrestlers to scratch their heads and shout, "Huh?". It is actually very simple:
-6 Participants.
-4 Start in Chamber pods while two wrestlers start in the ring.
-After a set amount of time(often 5 minutes), another wrestler at random enters, unless of course they won or are given the right to enter a certain position.
-Wrestlers are eliminated by pinfall or submission. Once they are eliminated, they have to leave the Chamber.
-Last man standing wins.
And because Elimination Chamber 2011 is tommorrow night, I will be giving a recap on the history of the match. Hope you enjoy.
The first Elimination Chamber took place at Survivor Series 2002 and was a creation by then-Raw GM Eric Bischoff as a method of one upmanship against Smackdown GM Stephanie McMahon. It was for the World Heavyweight Championship in order to feed Triple H's Oversized Ego. His opponents were Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Kane and Booker T. The match would eventually come down to former friends HHH and Michaels, having fun in their own way, which is often not fun for us. Michaels would win the World Title. Being the 1st ever Chamber match, fans naturally didn't know what to expect spot-wise or in the general atmosphere. Did it succeed? I guess it did, seeing as how the audience reacted well to Michaels' win(or maybe the confetti told them they need to cheer? I don't know), even though it would prove pointless when Michaels lost the title a month later.
The 2nd Chamber match was at SummerSlam 2003 with Triple H(again) defending his title against Michaels(again), Jericho(again)
The 3rd Chamber match at New Year's Revolution 2005 was a little different, as this time, the title was vacant because Triple H decided that he wanted to boost his credentials even more than he normally did. So the title was vacated after a double finish in a triple threat between HHH, He Who We Do Not Speak Of and Edge, who would end up becoming more title-credential-hungry than Triple H. I mean 11 World titles in 5 years?! That says alot doesn't it? Anyway, the other 3 participants were Jericho, Orton & Batista, and this would end up becoming part of the build up to WrestleMania 21. Triple H could of helped his teammate Batista from being eliminated by former protege Randy Orton, but didn't. The match also had Shawn Michaels as the referee, which would set up a short Edge/Michaels feud.
New Year's Revolution may have been a short lived PPV, but it was the first PPV to feature the Elimination Chamber as a main part of the show. You could say it was an Elimination Chamber gimmick PPV before WWE went crazy with those. The next year, New Year's Revolution 2006 featured John Cena during his first WWE Championship reign against Kurt Angle, Carlito, Chris Masters, Shawn Michaels(who, because of his feud with Mr. McMahon, had to enter first) and Kane(who won a Beat The Clock series to get the #6 entrant). John Cena would be dominated by the double team of Masters and Carlito(they were kind of a tag team back then), but John would barely get the win with a roll up on 'Lito while he was bloodied up(which definately helps the match). This Chamber match was overshadowed when Edge cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase(his first briefcase) and won the title in something that would set the stage for the MITB motif. Oh, by the way, New Year's Revolution would not feature the Chamber the next year and was then scrapped after 2007.
Next is the infamous December To Dismember PPV which would be ECW's first(and only) exclusive PPV. The PPV had only two matches announced: the tag match between the reuniting MNM and the Hardy's and the Elimination Chamber, but with a catch; it would be an 'Extreme' Elimination Chamber, where the same rules would apply, but each Chamber pod would have 1 weapon each(a chair, a crowbar, a table and a barbed wire baseball bat). Needless to say, in this Roundtable Recapper's opinion, it did not help change anything or make any part of the match unique, as it one of the most forgotten Chambers. The first problem the Chamber had was little promotion from outside of ECW, which is understandable as Survivor Series was the previous Sunday. The second was that Sabu was taken out of the match during the event and replaced by Hardcore Holly, who, along with Test and defending ECW Champion The Big Show, were Paul Heyman's storyline team. Anyway, the match featured those three along with Rob Van Dam, CM Punk and winner Bobby Lashley, which iIactually didn't have a problem with, because I like Lashley in the kind of the way I like Ezekiel Jackson now. After the failure of the PPV, it was scrapped and PPV's stopped being 'brand' exclusive.
The Chamber match would return at No Way Out 2008, which featured not one but two separate Chamber matches for both Raw and Smackdown, with the winners going to WrestleMania to challenge the brands' respective champions. The Smackdown chamber featured Batista, Finlay, The Great Khali, United States Champion MVP and the winner of the match, The Undertaker. There were really only 3/6 people that one could believe would win, but nonetheless, it was a good match. The Raw Chamber had Triple H, Michaels, Jericho, Jeff Hardy(the heavy favourite), Umaga(God Rest his soul) and JBL. This was during Jeff Hardy's teased main event push, which would be put on hold until the end of the year, when his 'My Life, My Rules' got in the way so Triple H would win. The Chamber match was a big draw for this PPV as it got 329,000 buys, 100,000 more than the previous No Way Out.
The success of the Chamber matches at the previous PPV meant that WWE would say, 'Hey, this worked once, maybe it will work again'. The big difference this event's Chambers had was that the titles were on the line, as the 2009 Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton was in the middle of a feud with the McMahon family, and therefore hadn't chosen what title he would challenge for at WrestleMania 25. The Smackdown WWE Championship Chamber match was between Champion Edge, Jeff Hardy, Vladimir Kozlov, The Undertaker, The Big Show and Triple H. Edge was shockingly eliminated during the first 5 minutes of the match by Jeff Hardy, guaranteeing a new Champion. The match would come down to a back and forth match between Triple H and Undertaker until HHH(shockingly!) won the title for the 13th time. This would not be the last we saw of Edge that evening though, as he would attack Kofi Kingston before he could enter the Raw Chamber and take his spot with World Heavyweight Champion John Cena, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Kane and Mike Knox(he was in a push against Rey Mysterio at the time. Shocking, I know). Edge would win, beating Rey last to win the World title. Even though the moment Edge took Kofi's place we all knew that he was gonna win, it didn't take away from the great action that both Chambers featured(more so in the Smackdown chamber). Yet Again, thanks to the Elimination Chamber, No Way Out was a success.
The next year, the Elimination Chamber PPV took No Way Out's place as WWE was getting more gimmick obsessed. The Raw Chamber featured WWE Champion Sheamus, John Cena, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison and Triple H for the title. John Cena would win the title, but that was immediately overshadowed, as he would then lose it to Batista in a hotshot title switch, which would set up their excellent feud for the next three PPVs. As for the Smackdown Chamber, that featured CM Punk on one of his straight edge preachings as he quickly eliminated R-Truth(as Eric said, "R-Truth is black, so he's out first"). The match featured good performances by Punk, John Morrison and Rey Mysterio, but it would come down to the Champion, The Undertaker, and Chris Jericho. Undertaker would lose because of Shawn Michaels' interference, setting up their WrestleMania rematch, with Jericho winning the title to set up the match against Royal Rumble winner, Edge. Elimination Chamber proved to be a slight dissapointment at it's inaugural event but it was good nonetheless.
The big problem that Elimination Chamber has produced(as Eric has made a point of already) is that it takes a lot of time off a show, with 20 minutes passing before all 6 entrants are in, and another 10-20 minutes of extra action, but in a way, that's what makes this match a favourite among the WWE Uni...sorry audience. I hope you enjoyed this retrospect of the Elimination Chamber match, and I hope those who watch the event tommorrow night enjoy it. Don't get too drunk. This is Zak Fellows saying, 'nothing better then a good dish of Scampi for Dinner'.
The Nexus & It's Wrestlers' Status Of Today - 1/26/11
The Nexus angle was probably WWE's biggest angle last year and I have to admit, it was moderately successful in my eyes. It introduced the fans to a dozen of new wrestlers under one super group, gaining them automatic crowd reactions due to the simple presence of the familiar yellow Nexus Symbol. It sold a ton of merchandise very similiar to nWo-mania from the 90's simply due to having the shirt makes 'you a part of the Nexus gang' and has freshened up the WWE Scene for the first time in a while. While you can complain that the storyline has lost tremendous steam since the summer due to losses(both in matches and frequent member changes), the Nexus is still over with the crowd and just seeing a wrestler with a Nexus armband triggers the thought in a fan's mind, "I'm supposed to boo this guy and I will do so'. You could see the Nexus as development for it's members: Give them automatic heat with the presence of one symbol, get them over enough by themselves, let them leave the group and go solo and see what happens. That being said, I am going to look at all the members of the Nexus past & present, give you my 2 cents on them, how they have benefitted from the gimmick and what I see in their future.
WADE BARRETT:
I think a lot of us can agree that Barrett has gotten the most out of the angle. He was already over with WWE due to his looks, good promo skills and slowly improving wrestling skills, which is one of the main reasons he won the 1st season of NXT, which was the basic origin of the Nexus. Hell, when he was in an 8 man tag match with 7 other WWE 'Pros', he fit right in. However, when WWE was thinking, 'How can we get this guy even more of a presence in our company?', one little creative writer said, 'Let's make him the leader of the group'. It would set the stage for Barrett's main event push. Of course, being the leader of Nexus put a lot of pressure on Wade's shoulders; If he didn't do well selling the group, then it's failure would be on his shoulders and the rest of the angle would not go well. Luckily though, not only did Barrett do well as the original leader of the group, he completely embraced the role. His promos became much better & he sold the group as the 'biggest threat in the company's history'. There was still a problem with his wrestling abilities as he wasn't exactly the best wrestler on his season of NXT(Daniel Bryan fills that role even if he wasn't sold like that), but once he was given time with the right opponent, he was able to improve greatly. Wade would go on to main event The Night Of Champions, Bragging Rights, Survivor Series and TLC PPVs along with, of course, the SummerSlam Nexus Vs. WWE match where he was the final man eliminated by John Cena. That's 5 PPV main events in 1 year - not bad at all for a newbie in WWE Fan's eyes. Wade should be commended because he was the one who sold the Nexus as a super group. However, it is debatable if he would of gotten his main event push if he wasn't a member and even the leader of the Nexus but it definately helped him get over just a little bit more. Now that Wade is on Smackdown as a member of The Corre, he seems to going even further up the WWE ladder, which is a lot easier on Smackdown. In fact, just like in the Nexus, Wade has taken upon himself to be the spokesmen for The Corre, a role which he excelled at when leader of the Nexus. Congratulations Wade, you along with The Miz are among WWE's newest Main Eventers and I look forward to seeing your progress in the future, which right now looks very bright. Especially when you consider he ISN'T AMERICAN!
JUSTIN GABRIEL:
I think that Justin may have ranked 2nd/3rd of the original Nexus members and has seen almost the same amount of matches with main eventers that Wade Barrett has. This could mostly be attributed to WWE being impressed with his 450 Splash and ONLY his 450 Splash but there's is also another rumour as to why WWE are high on him; rumors that Justin's relationship with WWE long-timer Kelly Kelly was causing some grief among the elder members of the locker room. However, Justin apparently didn't let it get to him, earning him praise from the higher ups. Justin was impressive in NXT as he opened eyes with great aerial skills which, in WWE and at his size, matters. WWE clearly likes Justin, which has been shown in numerous incidents: He was the 2nd-to-last member of Nexus eliminated in the SummerSlam main event, he was given wins over John Cena(which is HUGE!) and he is often given the final move in Nexus Beatdowns, which often leaves the lasting impression on audience eyes. This is a very good method of getting Gabriel over on his own while still keeping him under the Nexus banner. When it was time to give Nexus their 1st championships, Gabriel was chosen along with Heath Slater to get the Tag Team titles from fellow teammates David Otunga and temporary member John Cena. I am under the belief that the reason the titles changed hands the way it did was because Gabriel along with Slater and Otunga were the most liked members of Nexus among WWE creative and something had to be done to get all 3 of them credentials. Slater and Gabriel would show some chemistry as partners but would lose the titles to comedy team Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, which I was hoping would only be temporary so they could get the titles back. Justin had gotten over to the point that when CM Punk took over Nexus, WWE decided now was the time for Gabriel to leave the Nexus banner and go under his own colours. Gabriel would go to Smackdown and join the new Corre faction, which is sort of questionable when you consider that Gabriel is still a part of a faction with Wade Barrett & Slater. However, he would show great potential when he defeated World Champion Edge on his Smackdown debut, albeit from interference. Justin has a future that is attached to Heath Slater and he will eventually turn face purely because of his chosen wrestling styles.
HEATH SLATER:
Heath has been getting alot of attacks from PowerSlam and the Wrestling Roundtable community for being a bad wrestler(I wouldn't listen to PowerSlam though because this is a magazine that attacks John Cena on all fronts). But please listen guys - he isn't bad. Not great, but definately in the middle. Heath was given a strong start in NXT immediately with matches against his WWE Pro Christian's storyline brother(or now, best friend) Edge,a guy considered one of the most overrated wrestlers ever by Roundtable host, Eric Santamaria. He was even allowed to beat Chris Jericho in an upset victory on the show. However, Heath just looked very bland to me; not on the level of some of the other low levels of Nexus, but he was more of a midcard-looking guy than the main event persona of Wade Barrett. So you can see why Heath needed the Nexus banner more then Wade and Justin, because while those two looked, sounded and wrestled impressively, Heath didn't really have any standout stuff, other then a lack of a tan. However, he was the 3rd-to-last member of Nexus eliminated at SummerSlam, showing WWE's willingness to let Heath cook for a while until he was ready. Heath had gotten over with WWE management to the point that he was chosen as Justin Gabriel's partner to win the Tag Team titles the night after Bragging Rights. It's debatable on whether Heath was chosen as Justin's partner because they are very similiar in size and appearance with each other or that Heath was the best choice out of the Nexus members to be his partner(Not to say the best choice is always a good choice). However, Heath and Justin made a good team in the brief title reign. Slater and Gabriel's futures are very similiar to each other with Heath's only being slightly less bright due to a lack of big flashy move on his part. Even though Heath hadn't been developed as much as Gabriel, WWE decided it was good enough to remove him from the Nexus banner and move him to Smackdown. Heath's monikor of the "One Man Rock Band" is very questionable when you consider that he is supposed to be a heel and that sounds like too much of a face nickname, but he has gotten heat from his brief introduction on Smackdown as a member of The Corre by calling himself that...or maybe that's just the canned heat Smackdown uses often. Heath is obviously gonna turn heel and a regular tag team with Justin seems likely.
DAVID OTUNGA:
Now here is a guy who not only needs the Nexus Banner but MUST have the Nexus Banner in order to remain over. David's relationship with celebrity Jennifer Hudson is probably the only reason he has gotten as far as he has in the company. Despite being pretty poor as a wrestler, he has managed to make up for it with his promos, which are pretty good, but he could still improve it more when you consider how good Wade's promos are. David's promo skills are what got him the 2nd place position in NXT and during the season he was chosen to win the Battle Royal, which allowed him to become Guest Host of Raw for a night, where he teamed up with John Cena to face then-Tag Team Champions ShoMiz. This was a huge test for Otunga to see how he did and needless to say, he failed. As a member of the Nexus, Otunga has managed to remain consistent with the reaction that he previously got under his 'A Lister' persona despite the fact nobody had even heard of him before the contest. Otunga has been treated as a 2nd to Wade Barrett on several occasions, notably in the brief angle where he attempted to lead Nexus in an invasion of Smackdown while Barrett was absent. This led to dissention twice: The first time, Wade forced Otunga to lose his Tag Team title reign 1 day after it happened, and second, in a match where he would leave Nexus if he lost to Edge, which he won of course, because right now, there is no way David would be able to handle himself alone without the Nexus banner. Otunga did step up above the pack when he won the Tag titles with John Cena but it only lasted for a day so it wasn't really worth it. In WWE storyline terms, David is one of the main reasons why CM Punk is now the leader of Nexus and as he is the only original member of the Nexus still in the group, he should be getting more focus. The only reason Otunga is still in the Nexus unlike Barrett, Gabriel and Slater, is because he has not progressed the way WWE hoped he had and as such still needs the yellow to be over, which is shown through his lacking wrestling ability. Honestly, from the looks of it, the only way Otunga can get seperated from the Nexus is when WWE gives up on him and/or the angle all together.
DANIEL BRYAN:
I know that he was only a member of the group for about 5 days but he should still be included since he was still a member. Daniel Bryan was on a level above the other Nexus members before the angle began. Despite losing match after match and being mocked by The Miz & Michael Cole for various stupid, unrelated-to-wrestling reasons, the former Bryan Danielson was getting over with the audience even more than Wade Barrett(the guy WWE picked to be the winner) due to his likeable personality and wrestling ability. However, Bryan would get a minor setback in the form of a release from WWE thanks to Linda's destined-to-lose political campaign, which would immediately kick him out of the Nexus just as the angle started. The storyline reason for Bryan's absense was that he showed 'remorse' after the first Nexus beatdown which, despite being a very weak reason, was accepted. However, in a HUUGGEEE surprise, Bryan would return to the company at SummerSlam against the Nexus and would be the 2nd-to-last person eliminated in Team WWE and only because of interference from his former mentor, The Miz. Bryan would feud with The Miz and would win the United States Championship from him at Night Of Champions, which in turn made him the 1st NXT rookie to win a title, as well as the 1st Nexus member(past or present) to win a championship. It was clear from his return that Danielson didn't need the Nexus colours to help him get over. As he became more and more over with everybody except Michael Cole(which led to a colossal dickhead moment at the Old School Raw), he started to redeem his losses on NXT with win after win and great match after great match with The Miz, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Ted DiBiase, Jack Swagger and others. Currently, he is in a storyline with the Bella Twins and Gail Kim, which Roundtable fan Koriander has been heavily critical of. Despite how 'original' this angle, is it hasn't stopped Danielson's performance. Daniel Bryan, along with Wade Barrett, is the most successful of the Nexus, maybe even more successful than Barrett because he was only under the Nexus banner for a couple of days and he is doing better than most of the group.
DARREN YOUNG:
Darren Young is what i like to call 'The First Failure That The Nexus Produced', because since being kicked out of the group, he has barely appeared at all and if the Royal Rumble hadn't been upped to 40, there is no way he would be in the match. Darren Young was on a bad run from the very beginning as he was constantly placed last in NXT voting polls and rankings. Really, it seemed like the only role that he played in the Nexus was to fill the numbers and that did actually work. Just like in NXT, Darren Young was pretty much ranked last on the level of importance on the Nexus ladder as shown when he was eliminated by Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 0:42 seconds into the match. That may have been just to sell Daniel Bryan's return, but I doubt it. Anyway, Darren lost to John Cena the next night and was then immediately kicked out of the group. However, despite being treated like dead weight and being removed from the group quickly, Darren was still doing better in the Nexus, probably as a result of the group's initial domination. Since leaving the group, Young has appeared mostly on Superstars teaming up with Yoshi Tatsu, who is only doing slightly better then Darren is. Right now, the future ain't bright for this 'Black John Cena' and his forseeable future is being Future Endeavoured. To sum up, Darren needs the Nexus in order to be remotely over and have something to do.
MICHAEL TARVER:
Tarver is in the same situation that Darren is, only slightly better. Like Daniel Bryan, Michael Tarver got a huge losing streak; the only difference is that he actually got to end that streak before NXT season 1 ended. Tarver was eliminated from the competition for the same strange reason that Bryan was, i.e. due to a lack of confidence in themselves. Tarver did have some unique thing in the competition as he refused to participate in the challenges, which would become overpopulated by the 3rd season. Just like Darren Young, Tarver looked to only be in the group to fill out the numbers as he, like Young, was eliminated early in the SummerSlam elimination match. Tarver would remain in the group until he was attacked by new member John Cena after Hell In A Cell and then was kicked out by Wade Barrett when he claimed that he was planning on kicking him out anyway. Of course, this was to cover Tarver's injury but they didn't have to do that with Skip Sheffield, who is injured to this day. Michael Tarver has been seen several times over the last week in backstage segments on both Raw and Smackdown. In fact, I am going on record to say that Tarver is responsible for Teddy Long's injury last Friday, which would be the boost that Tarver needs. He may not have the Nexus banner on him which he needs, but he could use the association of The Corre to get back in the game.
SKIP SHEFFIELD:
It is a little unfair to judge Skippie seeing as how he has been injured for a while and yet hasn't been kicked out of the group yet, so either WWE is ignorant or they still have plans for the big guy. Skip Sheffield is the type of wrestler who can be sold purely for his looks & can also be called a 'bodybuilder' due to a lack of skills. Sheffield was treated like a powerhouse from Day 1, which is understandable considering he is physically impressive. Sheffield was treated well by WWE in the SummerSlam match, which was shown when he eliminated 2 members of Team WWE in quick succession(3 if you count Bret Hart disqualifying himself by hitting Skip with a chair). Only Heath Slater was able to do that as well. Skip was injured at a house show and hasn't been seen since but nobody has mentioned him so it can only be speculated he is still a member of the group. I honestly haven't seen much of Sheffield's wrestling to be able to know how good he is but WWE are apparently very high on him and even considers him to be capable of being equal to John Cena as a babyface. Now that is optimism, but I look forward to seeing them try. Physically, Skip is similiar to past main eventer Batista, which would go a long way in explaining what the company has in mind for him. Personally, I don't care who gets the spot as long as it's someone new and Sheffield fits the bill.
HUSKY HARRIS:
Husky is one of the two NXT Season 2 rookies that joined the Nexus. The stage was set for his induction to the group when he, along with Michael McGillicutty, helped Wade Barrett beat John Cena at Hell In A Cell. He would be inducted into the group after the next PPV, Bragging Rights. Husky along with three other NXT 2 Rookies were deemed 'good enough' to come up to the 2 main shows, Raw and Smackdown. Apart from McGillicutty, the other 2 were Alex Riley(who is caddying for The Miz) and winner Kaval, who would be released in December. Husky does look a little impressive look-wise, but apart from that, I don't see much. Adding to that, he hasn't exactly been given a chance to work much on Raw along with Michael and has instead only acted as beatdown support for the group, but seeing how he has been involved in the group, I guess he needs the Nexus Banner to be involved. Right now, it's best for Husky to remain with the Nexus in order to get face time until the Draft eventually seperates the group. He will probably end up as a monster heel. He's got the face for it! OH SNAP!
MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY:
Michael McGillicutty...screw it, I'm calling him Joe Hennig whether you like it or not. Joe came in 2nd place in NXT season 2 and along with Husky was chosen to be the 2 rookies to join the Nexus. However, it's a shame when you consider how talented Joe is but yet, like Husky, he has been relegated to beatdown support for Nexus. Both Joe and Husky have wrestling fathers(Joe, of course, the son of Curt Hennig aka Mr Perfect and Husky the son of Mike Rotunda aka IRS), so they could have easily been put into other personas similiar to their fathers', like Ted DiBiase J.r is going through now. Despite the relatively small role he seems to play in the Nexus' grand scheme, Joe has a very foreseeable future because of who's family he belongs to. Once the Nexus inevitably splits up, Joe will adopt a similiar persona to Curt did, which would lead to some good promos because based on his NXT promos, it seems he has potential. I see Joe having a good future because of his skills and family background but right now, like Husky, he is getting face time under the Nexus Banner.
MASON RYAN:
Now here's someone that is difficult to predict the future for but I'll try. I know Mason only debuted last week but he did make a good first impression by attacking John Cena. Mason is known for almost an uncanny resemblence to Batista and since he is almost the same size of Batista, I predict a similiar future. I think he will remain with Nexus until he is eventually over enough to allow him to leave the group and go solo. He will then become a monster heel. For some reason, I see him get the same push that WWE is planning for Skip Sheffield but as a heel, so good luck Batista Jr!
CM PUNK:
As the new leader of the Nexus, Punk has the chance to elevate his fellow members with his special brand of promo delivery. Punk didn't exactly have a good 2010 with him mostly being in an upper midcard feud with Rey Mysterio and only occasionaly being in a multi-man main event PPV matches. After his Straight Edge Society got squashed by Big Show and he himself got squashed on two consecutive PPVS (including one in his own hometown), Punk desperately needed a boost. Even after being traded to Raw for Edge, he still did not re-hit the stride he had in 2009 until 3 months later when he got involved in several confrontations with John Cena. After a couple of weeks, The Nexus would make him the new leader. Under Punk's leadership, the Nexus has become more like the Straight Edge Society, especially when you consider the Nexus's new T-shirts consist of a yellow Straight Edge Society Symbol. Some could consider CM Punk being made leader of the Nexus as a last resort to keep the Nexus angle going or something to get CM Punk back in the game since he hasn't been in it for months. Either way, this is helping both the Nexus & Punk himself. With the Nexus under Punk, he can get them over more than Wade Barrett could because the fans react more to Punk than Barrett. It's tough for me to admit that because I preferred Barrett as a leader; it felt more natural. Whether or not Punk needs the Nexus is debatable but he is definately going to keep the group and angle going.
And of course, I didn't recap John Cena since he only really needs himself, no strings attached, to be over and Ezkiel Jackson because he is a Corre member, not a Nexus member. Hope you guys found this insightful. This is Zak Fellows saying you're either Wrestling Roundtable, or Against Us. Didn't have to rhyme, did it?
