I’ve never really been too good at introductions… all I can say is that I am happy to return to The Balrog’s Lair website and to write about wrestling again. It has been a little over two years since I last wrote here, and I am going on two years since I wrote a wrestling column all together. My overall interest in wrestling has diminished a lot in the last two years, but nevertheless, I intend on having fun with this column.
Since I haven’t written a column in such a long time, I felt that for this first column, I need to get back in the groove by commenting on certain storylines and news that currently is taking place.
I made a real effort to watch Raw last night. Last night was the first entire show in which I got to listen to the three man announce team of JR, King, and the Coach. I have read a lot of negative comments having a three man announce team, and I can understand those remarks to a certain extent. Overall, I enjoyed Coach’s contribution to the broadcast. I think the three of them are still adjusting to the situation, but Coach’s presence at least freshens the broadcast, which to me got very stale with just JR and the King by themselves.
The entire Matt Hardy and Edge storyline is pitiful. Why the hell does WWE think there is money in this match? Assuming that this started as a non-work, and Lita really did cheat on Matt with Edge, why the hell would I care what happens to them in the ring, when the outcome is predetermined? In real life, Matt Hardy probably wants to beat the living shit out of Edge, and that is normal. But at Summerslam, the match itself will be predetermined, not real, a false ending to what began as a real situation.
On the bright side, Edge’s promo in the locker room was fantastic. The intensity was felt and regardless of where that comes from, you feel Edge’s hatred for Edge. I think that so far, this entire storyline was all about Matt’s anger at both Edge and Lita. But at least last night, we were introduced to that idea of Edge hating Matt, and that really helped bring out the heel side in Edge. I still think the storyline is a mess, but it seems that Edge and Matt are doing what they can with it, considering that WWE’s creative fucked it up pretty bad.
How many times is Kurt Angle going to threaten to break his opponent’s ankle? I’m thinking along the lines of two or three years now, right? And through that time, how many times has Angle broken someone’s ankle? The whole ankle breaking line was effective a few years ago, when he started using the ankle lock as his finisher, but it isn’t anymore to me. I’m not saying the ankle lock itself isn’t effective, because it most certainly is. A lot of his opponents have tapped out to the ankle lock, but none of them miss time because of a broken ankle. So if he doesn’t ever break anyone’s ankle then I think it’s time for Angle to stop using that as a threat.
Speaking of Angle, why is he being wasted on Eugene? The entire Eugene storyline is past overdue. A storyline such as Eugene should only last for a few months (I believe it began in the spring of 2004). After he got hurt, that should have been the end of his character. What I would love to see is a Eugene heel turn, only to find out that his being mentally challenged was an act. Imagine the backlash following that one.
It’s been months since I have seen Shelton Benjamin, but I was aware he lost the Intercontinental Title to Carlito. Man is Benjamin getting burried badly, especially after losing to Gene Snitsky on last night’s show. I remember when Benjamin first became a singles wrestler after he and Charlie Haas separated. Benjamin was so over and instead of using that to their advantage, WWE fucked that up (just like they did with RVD and Jericho in the past). Now Benjamin appears to be on his way to mid-card quick sand, and he won’t be getting out of that anytime soon. That is rather sad.
Speaking of Jericho, if I were him, I would have taken a risk and gone to TNA after my WWE contract expired. Though I am not Jericho, and maybe it just isn’t worth leaving that cushy paycheck to go to an unknown situation with TNA. But I do think Jericho would be just the superstar that TNA needs to really make a splash when they debut on Spike TV this fall.
Anybody wonder if Matt Hardy now regrets returning to WWE instead of trying TNA?
The Divas segment was a complete waste of time. Damn, you know the writers ran out of ideas when they resort to such a lame segment with the pie throwing just to cause a distraction. How pathetic. If I were to vote, I’d probably vote for Ashley.
I fast forwarded through the John Cena video. What a complete waste of time that is. I read there was a band showdown between Fozzy and Cena a few weeks ago. Why waste more time now and air a freakin’ music video? Oh that’s right, the writers don’t know what else to use that time for.
And finally, the Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan segment was allright. I am rather sick of Hogan, however, but it was worth listening to Michaels tear him apart. Listening to Hogan say how he is “there” for the fans is complete bullshit. We all know why Hogan is back on TV, and as soon as the hype for his reality TV show is over, he will be off WWE TV as well.
Overall, the problem is, there isn’t anything on Raw that makes me want to come back the following week. I haven’t watched Smackdown in over a year now, so I can’t speak much for that brand. The idea of wrestling is that after you watch one show, you are suppose to want to watch it again next week to see what happens. In all honesty, I really have no care in the world what happens with Edge/Hardy or Hogan/Michaels.
Other news and tidbits that deserve mention…
So I guess Triple H and Ric Flair both won’t return until Raw starts up on USA Network now. It’s a good move, obviously, because the fans are tired of Triple H’s continued dominance. But what happens after he returns? Can you see him not being involved in the main event title picture? Cena will probably have the belt and HHH will come back and fight Cena for it. After two weeks of that, it will seem like HHH never left. So what is the point of this current hiatus?
At least those who were 100% behind the idea that WWE sucked today because of HHH’s presence, at least now can be proved wrong. WWE still sucks without Triple H! While HHH, I believe contributes to the lackluster performances the last few years, the main problem continues to be the writers. I won’t pretend I know the backstage situation, but if all rumors are true that Stephanie McMahon has a lot of pull backstage as far as storylines go, then I don’t see the product getting much better in the near future.
That’s all I got this time. I want to thank Eddie and Joe for giving me the chance to do this again. My first run with TBL was some of the most fun I ever had, and I know things will workout nicely this time around. It was rather fun to do this again, and I look forward to writing more columns as time goes by. I hope that things pick up and that I won’t have to be so negative and bitter in future columns, because it certainly would be a lot more fun to write about positive happenings, when you know the stuff your watching on TV is actually fun to watch.
– E-mail feedback to martinondemand@hotmail.com
