I didn’t make it, but I sure as hell support it
Greetings conversationalists all across the fruited plain it is I your personal harvester of sorrow the one and only Phantom Lord and this is my Rant Of The Week. As always I am coming to you from my bunker in the urban hell hole that is Brooklyn, New York and I think I might be the only person in the free world who hasn’t seen The Dark Knight. The movie pulled in something like a quarter of a billion dollars here in the states. Then again with movie tickets being over $10.50 (well at least here in New York) it’s no wonder it made so much. Honestly I hate going to the movies. Mostly because there usually isn’t anything that makes me say I GOTTA SEE THAT.
But The Dark Knight appears to be one of those movies I must see I will eventually see it. Seeing how its going to pull almost another $80 Million this weekend I don’t think they have to worry if I don’t see it quite yet. As it is, The Dark Knight trounced Iron Man in 10 days so at least the media hype worked for it.
Speaking of The Dark Knight, I encourage you all to check out this video my friend Aurora did as an early petition to make sure Heath Ledger gets an Oscar nomination for his role as The Joker.
The Last Laugh: Heath Ledger For The Oscar
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AFhcPkseihg
So yeah watch that and send it to your friends and tell them to send it to their friends and so on and so forth. I want this viral video to spread across the internet so do your part.
Moving along to the wrestling stuff, there was a lot that happened between my last column and as I’m typing this right now.
We ordered The Great American Bash and for the most part I enjoyed the show. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho is easily the best feud in wrestling right now and for those who doubted Chris Jericho, I urge you watch the stuff from this feud because he is on fire. The match was everything a wrestling fan could hope and want to see. It had emotion, hatred, and overall great story telling.
It’s a shame Shawn Michaels for what ever reason hasn’t been given a title run since the end of 2002. But I think the story goes Shawn doesn’t want the ball on that level anymore but he enjoys his current role. Personally I believe he would fit in much better on Smackdown, but working Tuesday would make him miss church on Wednesday morning. Either way Shawn always delivers in his woe is me role as the baby face in peril. Whether it’s his bad back, his shot knees, or in this case a detached retina Shawn is delivering in the role.
Chris Jericho to his credit also delivered as he did everything he could think of to end Shawn’s career at the Bash and his post match speech about doing that was icing on the cake. I also love the part of the angle where Chris is beating on younger guys for the path they are traveling in their career. You can take the high road and be like Chris Jericho or you can take the low road and be a back stabbing snake in the grass like Shawn Michaels. Religious overtones aside it’s amazing stuff and it blows away everything else on RAW.
A lot of people figure there will be a blow off match at Summerslam to end the feud. Me personally if I were booking this, I would wait a while before doing a blow off to such a hate filled feud. I mean for starters if you have an eye injury your not gonna come back with in a month no matter what. I would milk this for at least two or three more months maybe culminating it at The Survivor Series. Shawn comes back once again like he did in 2002 and puts on a gutsy performance in a blood filled brutal match. Last man standing seems appropriate, but I would personally go for an I Quit match with the stipulation after the match the loser would have to tell the winner they respect them. It worked for Flair and Funk in 89 so it could work here to.
On RAW last night it was good to see Jericho continue his transformation as he had what was his final highlight reel and said that Chris Jericho is gone because no longer would be there to entertain the fans at his expense.
Lance Cade said he was forever grateful to Jericho for saving him, but judging by the crickets in the crowd no one really seemed to care as Cade is just that guy who’s coming out with Jericho for some reason. Next week Shawn will make his 175th comeback from a career threatening injury as he will muster up the courage to fight Chris Jericho despite his injuries.
Of course we could always get I lost my smile version two next week so who knows. I’m convinced nothing is planned out in detail anymore. They just see what mood Vince is in and work around it.
I say that because RAW this week seemed like everything was thrown together at the last minute. In the past few weeks the randomness was a good thing, but this week it seemed like they really didn’t know what to do.
The big problem I see with RAW is CM Punk the World Champion, the guy who they should be building the show around at the moment is lost in the shuffle with everyone else. Honestly if he didn’t have the world title he would probably be that guy with the Pepsi tattoo on the show. Basically they are building the world title feuds with out actually involving the champion since he’s not on the level of everyone else involved.
The WWE wants to have Batista and Cena as the top two guys. Cena as the dependable wanna be jar head and Batista as the destructive muscle bound monster. Playing supporting roles will be JBL, Kane, and who ever else is in line for a push that no one cares about. It’s a shame because JBL and Kane would be much better choices for main events then the same boring Cena/Batista match they are building to.
It’s funny how the main event for Wrestlemania 25 is to be Cena and Batista as they see that as one of their last major money matches. But after tonight it appears they are giving it away at Summerslam.
I say appears because I suspect what they are going to do is what has been rumored for a while and that’s do a 6 pack challenge for the title. Whether or not the Hell in a Cell is involved is up for debate. But you got Cena, Batista, JBL, Kane, and now Chris Jericho all wanting title shots.
The smartest thing to do would be for Punk to cut a promo and say you know what, I can settle this the easy way. At Summerslam…I’LL TAKE ON ALL OF YOU. That’s how they should really be pushing Punk. Instead of having him be the champion who constantly has to prove himself, have him be the champion who knows he’s better then everyone else. Turn him heel if you have to just stop having him be the fifth wheel. The champion should be on the top, not on the bottom or off to the side. Heel and faces be damned have him take on everyone as the cocky prick we all know Punk is.
I often wonder what’s going through the collective process of the creative team as they put this stuff together. As I said and as it’s been said elsewhere, creative’s only real purpose is to book the show around Vince and what makes him happy…not what makes sense or would work. Sometimes it does and we get some good shows, but most of the time it doesn’t and we get one like last night where it’s like who the hell wrote this crap.
But on the other hand sometimes stuff that shouldn’t work ends up working so brilliantly you can’t help but applaud its greatness.
As you know Santino Marella is one of my favorites and now they have him in this relationship with Beth Phoenix. Last week they kissed for some reason after his match but had the looks of what did we just do. This week they agree to keep it strictly professional and after Santino wins their match and does his awesome marching band pose, they have some tension as Santino wants to make a move but Beth keeps scaring him. Finally he’s about to leave and she grabs him and plants one on him and all while this was going on me and Phantom Classic were laughing our asses off. It was so damn funny. It’s easily the best random pairing the WWE has ever done and it can only get better.
I personally believe Santino can be the new Roddy Piper, but even if he’s just a comedy act the guy is pure gold. He makes what should not work end up working better then anyone can imagine. Beth and Santino will be Chyna and Eddie for a new generation.
Speaking of Beth, how could you not mark out when she pressed D-Lo Brown? As much as I love Mickie James, Beth needs the belt back for an extended run with her just running rough shot over everyone as Santino swoons over her.
Now the big story as everyone knows by now (at least I would hope so if not SPOILER ALERT) is Mike Adamle is now the GM of RAW.
I like Mike Adamle. He’s actually been doing a much better job of commentating then people would ever give him credit for. I’m convinced the oblivious idiot thing is one of the best gimmicks they’ve ever come up with and now Adamle is the GM of RAW.
Only problem was it was so anti climatic the whole crowd was like WTF? It honestly seemed like when Shane came back out at the end of the show he picked someone at random to be the general manager. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a whole bunch of people who were in line to be the GM, but Vince kept changing his mind finally settling on Mike Adamle.
Personally I think it’s going to be a good choice in the long run. Adamle as a heel has so much potential. For starters with his new sense of power he can seek revenge on everyone who he feels wronged him in some way. When Michael Cole was put into the match with Lawler against Cody and Dibiase, it was because the RAW GM ordered it. Michael Cole and the other announcers always interrupted Adamle and railed on him for getting stuff wrong. Well as they say, payback is a bitch.
As I said there is so much potential for what Adamle can do. Over on DVDVR one of the posters jokingly said wouldn’t it be great if he’s sort of like Mayor Adam West. Throw in Nitro and Laser from American Gladiators and a role for Larry Csonka and it would be the greatest thing ever.
I think the one thing forget about Adamle is he is a former running back in the NFL and despite being almost 60, the guy is in good shape. So odds are at some point we will see Mike Adamle in the ring and depending on how its done it could easily turn into a bonanza for him. Someone described all of this as basically Mike Adamle will be the male Vickie Guerrero. Vickie Guerrero is by far the best heel in wrestling right now (yes I am being serious when I say that). If Adamle can even be half the evil gm that she is, no one will be complaining about this.
All I know is ratings are on the rise for RAW and to Vince that’s all that matters. The randomness of it all is making the show hit or miss. When it hits then it’s great, but when it misses you get something like this past Monday night. But having said all of that I’m still convinced most of the time they just use the old throw it against the wall and what ever sticks use it theory to booking.
Now something I meant to get to last time around but I forgot is something that has been annoying me for years when it comes to the WWE. Anytime you get a new wrestler or someone with a new gimmick they just throw them out to the wolves so to speak.
Brian Kendrick now that he is on Smackdown has changed his persona to be a cocky pretty boy with a big black bodyguard. So far I’m enjoying what he’s doing, but a few promos as to why he suddenly changed would have been nice. I remember as I’ve said before in this column how back in the old days (before attitude era for some of you readers) they used to shoot promo videos for everyone. I mean Mantaur got like a month of hype before his debut.
How hard is it really to shoot a cheap promo video to at least give you an idea of who this person is? I really like Brian Kendrick. He has so much potential despite the WWE not being keen on pushing anyone not at least 6’2 and 250 lbs. Jim Ross hit it on the head when he said he reminded him of Brian Pillman. Personally I think he is more Shawn Michaels after he super kicked Marty through the Barber shop window but I can see the comparison to Pillman.
I just hope Kendrick is able to win the crowds over because it appears right now while he’s out there, the crowds are dead. And as we know when there are dead crowds the WWE tends to give up and the next thing you know you’re being wished well in future endeavors.
Speaking of Smackdown, seemingly what is the only reason I watch Smackdown anymore…Vladimir Kozlov continues to impress the hell out of me. I just love seeing him maul people especially with that punting headbutt of his. Last week on Smackdown after he had a good match with Stevie Richards, he went over to Jim Ross and Mick Foley and after yelling at them in Russian he said I WANT COMPETITION. I sure hope we see something come of this.
I think there are a couple of money matches that can be done here and that are Kozlov vs. Umaga and Kozlov vs. The Big Show. It doesn’t really matter if Umaga and Kozlov are heels. Just have them meet face to face in the ring after one of them destroys a jobber. It would be an epic encounter. I also believe to an extent if Kozlov feuded with The Big Show we could easily see some of the kind of matches The Big Show and Brock Lesnar had. Granted he won’t probably be flinging The Big Show around like Lesnar did, but still the unbeatable Russian vs. The biggest America has to offer…its something they would have killed for in the 80’s. Well in a sense they had that with Hogan and Nicholai but lets face facts, Volkoff was never a serious threat to Hogan.
But it’s like I said, the potential for Kozlov to be a huge heel is immense especially considering the current state of the world. Russia is rebuilding it self to its cold war levels so why not have Kozlov represent the old Soviet style of factories that would churn out superior athletes. I don’t know how old he is, but it’s not out of the question to say he was one of the last super athletes trained before the iron curtain fell.
I still say he needs a mouth piece. Find someone to be a renegade Russian general and your set.
The randomness continues as another bit of weird news came out as it was announced that actor Freddie Prinze Jr. has joined the WWE Creative team.
Source: WrestlingObserver.com
To follow up on the story regarding Hollywood star Freddie Prinze Jr. joining the WWE creative team, Vince and Stephanie McMahon are hoping that it will open more doors to Hollywood. WWE would also love the chance to have access to Sarah Michelle Geller who is Freddie Prinze’s wife for an angle at some point.
Prinze Jr. is a huge WWE fan however he hasn’t necessarily have the historical knowledge to understand what has and has not been successful in the past.
He was introduced to everyone at last night’s WWE Raw and Saturday Night’s Main Event tapings. According to sources he impressed people in the company with all of his excitement and wiliness to contribute to the company.
Freddy is a big WWE fan so I guess it helps that they hired someone who ACTUALLY WATCHES THE PRODUCT. The WWE has been notorious for hiring people for creative who have never actually watched wrestling.
I still laugh at the news bit from a couple years ago when one of the writers went up to JBL and asked him how does the blood look so real and keep flowing.
I don’t know how much of an impact Freddy will have on them because there’s plenty of stories about how if you like wrestling to much then you’re branded a mark by people like Stephanie. On the other hand everyone seems to hate the Hollywood writers since they don’t have a clue about how wrestling works. I guess it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
I don’t know why they would want Sarah Michelle Geller though. I mean I don’t think her career is that dead yet, but I guess she could easily play the love interest for John Cena in what ever the next movie is for him after 12 Rounds comes out.
All I know is (and I left this message on Freddy’s Fan Nation page), Freddy if you do anything…if they plan to rip off any movies as the basis for angles please let them at least be from this decade.
Now before I go, I have to get this out of my system.
The new ECW Title belt…who ever designed it should never design a title belt ever again. I thought the Diva’s title was horrible, but this one makes that one seem good in comparison.
Of course I got all conspiratorial when the new belt was unveiled in Philadelphia and the fact it says World Wrestling Entertainment over the ECW…all I know is would it have killed them to put a little color into the belt?
It honestly looks like it was made from a giant piece of tin foil so that’s why I’m gonna call it the WWECW Reynolds Wrap Championship.
Now this picture was posted in the ECW forum of the WWE Fan Nations Board and if the belt looked like this perhaps I wouldn’t have had such a problem with it.
I mean a title belt should have some sort of color to it. But at the most it should have a decent leather strap to it. The one on this belt makes the ones on replica ones look genuine. Hell I was at a ghetto wrestling show on July 5th where everyone on the card seemed to have a title belt and all those belts had better straps then this one. Then again it could just be a temporary one for Mark Henry. He doesn’t exactly fit the standard 44 inch models.
Well on that note I am done for this week because I am fried beyond belief. Hopefully I’ll be back next week as I’m sure the Adamle GM angle will have people talking both good and bad and still wondering what the hell they are thinking.
Until next time take care and remember someone has to give you this information and it DAMN well has got to be me.
You can click here to send me any and all feedback at phantomlordnyc@yahoo.com or leave me some feedback in my Live Journal at phantomlord-lop.livejournal.com
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