In August it will be five years of Inside Pulse, and my goal has always been to use Inside Pulse as an outlet to write. However through the controversies of the early years to the massive technical issues of the last few years, it has proven impossible for me to get into a routine of regular writing. Now that we have a stable server and layout, and with Rumblemania season upon us, I’ve decided to come back with a weekly column on Tuesday mornings each week from Royal Rumble through Wrestlemania 25.
For now I’m not sure what the format will end up being, and to start I’m going to jump around to a few current topics and speculate on what’s going on with WWE heading into No Way Out and then Wrestlemania. Maybe the Hot Seat will return someday soon as well…
Well, onto the latest…
Shane > Hunter
Hunter almost overcame all three of the members of Legacy to win the Royal Rumble, but that’s nothing compared with Shane O Mac, who returned at Raw and took down Orton and Legacy over and over and over. He just kept making his own comeback in a segment that the live crowd booed mercifully.
The segment was brutal. After a neverending talk-fest between Randy Orton’s grey-haired lawyer and Stephanie McMahon (acting like she should be getting face pops but rather getting apathy), Shane came running down. After Steph bails, Shane stares down Orton, blows by Rhodes and Dibiase and spears Orton. He beat them up making comeback after comeback. The Raw superstars had amassed on the stage as Orton gave his promo (he promised to sue WWE into canceling Wrestlemania), and when they tried to restrain Shane, he began attacking and beating THEM down.
Probably the main issue with the Orton/McMahons angle is that Orton is positioned as a mega-heel making the McMahons megafaces. However, Stephanie acts like a spoiled, entitled and mean GM who has mostly been a heel and will almost automatically be a heel with the WWE Universe unless special attention is paid. It’s possible that Orton and Steph are working together to get Vince and Shane out of the way of her power. Perhaps this will be when Hunter is revealed as being with Steph and they can revive the McMahon-Helmsley Regime across both shows.
Some other quick Raw thoughts…
Why was John Cena in a match for Elimination Chamber qualification? I realize it was only JBL’s slot was on the line, but in that reasoning, it would be HBK vs. someone else as a qualifier, then if HBK won he’d give up the slot. Why would JBL want HBK to fight Cena instead of a guy like Punk or Kofi (who actually won, which was cool).
The ECW promo was a generic spot for Matt Hardy, but as a plucky Hardy face, not the evil Hardy turncoat he turned out to be at the Rumble. I realize it’s a small thing, but I’m sure they had a Miz/Morrison or even a Jack Swagger promo that wouldn’t have been tone-deaf with the shocking Matt turn.
What about Christian?
As Matt Hardy is revealed as a heel behind the attacks on Jeff Hardy (in all likelihood) that leaves free agent Christian Cage without a clear role in WWE. Or does it?
Most assumed that Christian would rejoin WWE as part of Smackdown and reunite with Edge. But near the end of his WWE run, the last 2 years or so, Christian was much more closely associated with Chris Jericho, both as an ally and as an opponent. There is a natural fit on Raw for Christian, which would also work as a surprise on the live show, for Jericho and Christian to feud or unite.
It would be also interesting to see Jeff Hardy recruit Christian (who is still Edge’s storyline brother) to help in his attack of Matt Hardy and Edge, and go with that mixed up tag match in some fashion as a feud now or after Wrestlemania.
One has to wonder if Christian might be left off of Wrestlemania, as a way to avoid his first or nearly first match back being a huge money match that many others have worked for in WWE over the past few years.
Wrestlemania 25
With Shane’s neverending attack on Legacy, it appears that WWE might be building to an Orton vs. Shane match at Wrestlemania. Or perhaps something like Vince/Shane/Austin vs. Legacy.
With that notwithstanding, here is what the card is looking like as of today:
Raw Title
John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton
Smackdown Title
Edge (c) vs. Triple H
Money in the Bank
Chris Jericho vs. Mickey Rourke w/Ric Flair
AC/DC will be performing, which is an interesting choice, although they have long been friendly with WWE. I think back to Summerslam 98 with Steve Austin and Undertaker on the Highway to Hell.
Around the Pulse
Rumblemania season is in full force and we had over 2 dozen posts on Monday and tons more planned every day until Wrestlemania 25 and beyond.
For a full recap of last night’s raw check out Paul Marshall’s Raw Report
Victor Malar has an interesting 10 Thoughts on the Rumble
For the Rumble, Scott Keith is here with the first WWE PPV Rant of 2009 with the Smark Rant for 2009 Royal Rumble. Also check out PK’s Royal Rumble Report
Pulse Wrestling’s weekly podcast is up with the latest edition where the crew talks about everything going on in the world of wrestling. Check out the latest Rabblecast and listen every week.
In closing…
I should be around Tuesdays for the indefinite future with a weekly Widrospective with an evolving and varying format depending on time and what works. With things finally stable, I’m excited to get back to writing here on Pulse Wrestling as well as new features throughout the year.
In the meantime, check out our new twitter widget where you can add pulsewrestling on twitter for news, live coverage and more:
