“Happy people have no history.†– Leo Tolstoy
The Opening Chapter
Somehow another year has gone by and it is Christmas time. So that means it is time for my annual wish list for what I want to see in the wrestling world. In addition to making wishes for the coming year let’s take a look back at what I wished for last year and whether any of it came true.
What I Wish For…in 2010
~ one more Bret Hart appearance on RAW
~ a renewed success for Ring of Honor
~ the return of Paul London to wrestling
~ main event level pushes for WWE’s young stars not named Sheamus (especially Miz, Morrison, Dolph and Jack)
~ TNA to get their act together and have a clear concise vision
~ a re-ignition of the Monday Night Wars, if only to light a fire under Vince McMahon’s ass
~ less Hornswoggle on my television
~ a definitive end to the guest host gimmick so RAW regain a clear focus
~ Ric Flair to stop embarrassing his legacy
~ continued awesomeness from WWE DVD and on demand services
~ Bryan Danielson to get a fair shake in WWE
~ the WWE and World Titles to stop changing hands at an alarming rate
~ the return of a fully healthy Edge
~ an Edge and Christian reunion
~ Jeff Hardy to return to action; clean, healthy and sober
~ the return of the mysterious Matt Classic
~ Demolition in the WWE Hall of Fame (alongside The Road Warriors, Ultimate Warrior, Ted DiBiase, Jake “The Snake†Roberts & Bruno Sammartino)
~ the continued growth of Tyler Black and Davey Richards
~ the continued love for second and third generation stars
~ one more time out for The Rock
~ the Mid-South territory’s video library to be shown worldwide
~ Hulk Hogan to stay out of the ring as a wrestler
~ a full recovery of Brock Lesnar
~ the continued excellence of Shawn Michaels in big-time matches
What I Wished For…in 2009
~ the return of Christian to WWE (woo hoo! That one happened!)
~ …thus a subsequent reunion of Christian and Edge (still waiting…)
~ …and thus a revival of feuds between any and all combinations of Christian, Edge, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy (eh…Edge and Jeff tore it up pretty good this past summer)
~ the return of Paul London to the wrestling world (still waiting…)
~ and the continual WWE employment and push of London’s old running buddy The Brian Kendrick (nope…but at least ROH and Dragon Gate will still take him)
~ the continual WWE employment and push of fellow Ring of Honor alums Evan Bourne (the push kind of stalled but at least he’s still getting air time on the flagship show)
~ at least one on-screen pairing on WWE TV of CM Punk and Scotty Goldman (nope…not even close)
~ live Ring of Honor pay per views…seriously three month old pay per view events just don’t do it (well at least they got rid of them altogether)
~ while I’m on that subject, the continual presence of Ring of Honor…period (looks like they came out of their financial drought and are regaining momentum)
~ the return of Christopher Daniels to TNA (yep…a return and a push…)
~ …and thus Daniels, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe emerging as the founding fathers and cornerstones of TNA (they even got to main event another show against each other and reminded everyone they still had it)
~ more continued awesomeness on WWE 24/7 (I know that one will for come true) (for sure…)
~ Ric Flair to continue to uphold his promise to Shawn Michaels to stay out of a wrestling ring (looks like he reneged on that one)
~ a second season of Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling…it’s the most entertaining I’ve ever seen Hogan (instead of CMT I guess Hogan is coming back the “real†thing)
~ a much needed and well-deserved heel turn for John Cena (nope…same spot as last year)
~ the return of the Cruiserweight Championship to WWE television (still wishing)
~ one more appearance of Bret Hart on WWE TV (I think it’s gonna happen finally)
~ the continued love for second and third generation wrestlers (so far so good)
~ Reid Flair not succumbing to the insane pressure of being Ric Flair’s son, and surviving the wrestling business (he’s been pretty MIA all year)
~ the continued presence of worthy independent promotions like CHIKARA, FIP, OVW and PWG so young wrestlers have places to learn how to work successfully (and it is only getting better thanks to Dragon Gate USA and Evolve)
~ WWE to expand their developmental system so as to avoid the McDonald’s like cookie-cutter talent that may arise from Florida (nope, but they should really look into it)
~ Lance Storm on my television screens again (Ring of Honor was as close as I got)
~ a WrestleMania moment to replace the unfortunately damaged WrestleMania XX confetti celebration (still waiting to get THE moment again)
~ the continued success of Brock Lesnar in the MMA world (get well Brock!)
~ Kelly Kelly in the pages of Playboy (damn TV-PG)
The Perspective
Eh…there you go…have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Warm Kwanza and Fun Festivus…
For this week the vault is closed…
Linked to the Pulse
Skvarla has an awesome piece up about the meaning of being a mark in today’s wrestling climate.
Andy breaks down TNA Final Resolution the only way he knows how.
For more relevant wrestling information from your truly, check out my g gig over at Examiner.com.
