Friday Morning Backlash with WWE Hell in a Cell Preview (John Cena vs. Wade Barrett, Randy Orton vs. Sheamus)

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Now, before we get to Hell in a Cell, let’s open with our own Kyle K Sparks talking about Under-recognized talent in WWE, TNA, and ROH. That’s right Kyle, you get top billing over me for the week:

What some of my readers or some of my colleagues here at Inside Pulse may not know about me is that one of my hobbies—at least since I met my wife in 2007—has become acting. Having had decent sized parts, and bit parts as well as being in one of those ‘bit parts’ right now got me thinking about how this relates to wrestling as storytelling and promotions as ensemble casts for a production.

It’s not an incredibly difficult analogy to follow. You have your main eventers (stars), your midcarders, upper-midcarders and/or JTTS guys (supporting players), and then at the bottom of the ladder you’ve got guys who don’t get much screen time, don’t get much of a dedicated push, or in some cases are just flat out jobbers (what we call “walk-ons”). This last category doesn’t get a lot of lines, if any, and they don’t get a lot of focus—hell, sometimes their “characters” don’t even get names. But these are the people that fill out the chorus in musicals and allow for a more full, powerful sound, and these are the people that help fill out otherwise potentially static looking scenes. Without them, things just don’t seem quite right. It is in their honor that I attempt to look at the three major promotions in North America and list the guys who fill these roles for these companies.

Something to keep in mind before we begin. This is not a list of “who should get pushed,” or “who’s being misused,” though some may be a little underutilized. This is just meant to be a list of guys who don’t generally get recognized for what contributions they make to their promotion.

WWE
We’ll start with the biggest promotion in the world, naturally. Only 2 names spring to mind on the Raw brand right now with 2 other “possible” candidates. The first two names are William Regal and Goldust. Appropriately enough, these two have engaged in a mini-feud of sorts, predominantly on Superstars. These are two men who—especially in the case of Regal—have been consistently solid performers for years, and aside from a couple of Intercontinental Championship and Tag Team Championship reigns years ago have largely toiled in anonymity. Goldust in particular has been recognized somewhat by the IWC for his performances recently and Regal has always been a favorite of the Internet crowd, but to the vast majority of the wrestling public, these two are virtual nobodies. Despite that, they are men who WWE would not be the same without. The two “maybe” names on this list are Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder. Tatsu hasn’t been seen in a dog’s age and that (coupled with his youth) is what’s keeping him off this list. Ryder has proven he can be a solid commodity on ECW, but his angle with Edge might be something to elevate him somewhat, so for the time being, we’ll leave him off this list in hopes that he’s a budding midcarder.

SmackDown at this point is a roster that is devoid of these kinds of difference makers. Christian is as close to that role as anyone on the roster, but with him on the shelf for several months with the pectoral injury, as well as his solidly upper midcard status, it would likely be difficult to justify putting him here. He gets plenty of credit from both the mainstream wrestling fans as well as the IWC.

TNA
Compiling this list for TNA proved a little difficult if for no other reason than the fact that the roster on TNA’s website isn’t always updated as frequently as one might like. I mean for God’s sake, Shark Boy is still on there. That said, the vast majority of the names on the TNA roster are guys who would have been on this list a few years ago, but don’t generally fit it today due to a lack of working matches within the company. This list is populated by guys like Stevie Richards and Rhino. Then you have a guy like Eric Young who COULD have been a viable name for this list when he debuted, but has long since outstayed his welcome and/or usefulness. Finally, I do have a list of 2 guys who I feel like do fit the bill. The first name: Brian Kendrick. Kendrick is a guy who it seems like every company he’s ever worked for stateside is alternating hot and cold on him. He seems like he’s getting a little push, it’s pulled out from under him, lather, rinse, repeat. When properly motivated, Kendrick is as good a junior heavyweight as anybody in the United States. While it remains to be seen why he hasn’t connected, the fact remains he hasn’t. The second name I’m hesitant to include here because of his recent X-Title reign, but is Douglas Williams. Despite pushing 40 (Doug turned 38 on September 1), Williams remains one of the best workers on the TNA roster, with the size and unique style to be a legit main eventer. As it is, he would appear to be quite content to go out on a nightly basis and very quietly have one of the best matches on the card.

ROH
Only one name comes to mind in ROH, and naturally it is a former ROH Wrestling School student. That name is none other than “Addicted to Love” Rhett Titus. In the years since he first debuted on the main roster—long before he took the “Addicted to Love” gimmick—Titus has improved leaps and bounds in the ring, and the gimmick has given him an opportunity to connect a little bit more with the crowd. A lot of his development has been masked with comedy matches and by pairing him with another up and comer in Kenny King. King’s World Title shot during Tyler Black’s reign and his status as a favorite to win the TV Title tournament (even if he didn’t do so) is enough to keep him from appearing on this list, as he’s widely considered a future main eventer. Titus’s development in secret, plus the fact that when given an opportunity (generally on the live show circuit) he tends to have quite a solid match is definitely enough to peg him as an unsung talent that ROH would not be the same without.

As always, thanks for reading, don’t hesitate to leave your own “unsung heroes” in the comments, and please accept my apologies for my extended absence from my usual job of ROH recaps. As I said, acting is getting in the way a bit right now, and I will be back for the October 11th show. Scout’s honor.

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WWE Hell in a Cell Preview

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus for the WWE Title in a Hell in a Cell match – Sheamus held the title for months and had bragging rights after taking out Triple H, which the year prior, Orton proved unable to do. Orton, meanwhile, just kept coming after Sheamus, eventually winning the title in a 6-man elimination match, but he still hasn’t proved better than Sheamus one-on-one.

What should happen: Orton should go over strong here. His title run got off to a bad start, as what major face wins at Night of Champions in a 6-man match? It was a weak win, so a great match and big win are needed to salvage this run here.

What will happen: Orton will win, but Cena’s match is the story of the night so this won’t be as good as it could be. I wouldn’t be shocked for a Triple H return if Cena loses to keep the crowd happy and coming back Monday.

John Cena vs. Wade Barrett – Hell in a Cell, if Barrett wins, Cena joins Nexus, if Cena wins, Nexus Disbands – This is the big story of the WWE for the past several months. The former NXT rookies became Nexus and have been taking out the WWE’s top dog, John Cena. It’s beat ’em or join ’em time in this back and forth feud.

What should happen: Cena should absolutely lose, and, no, I don’t care if the Nexus have to distract him to make it happen. They’re heels. It’ll get heat for Cena’s eventual rebellion and revenge.

What will happen: Cena will very likely win, the Nexus having made their point. In WWE logic, it’s time to de-push Barrett to see if he retains heat. And they wonder why the ratings tank.

Kane vs. the Undertaker for the World Title – Kane, always jealous of Undertaker, beat and put Taker in a coma. Taker returned weakened to face World Champion Kane, but Kane was too strong. Paul Bearer recently returned Undertaker’s powers so he can have revenge.

What should happen: Undertaker should beat Kane, send him to hell and we should never mention this again.

What will happen: WWE will want Undertaker as champion with Smackdown on a new network to draw, so… what should, will.

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison in a Submissions Count Anywhere for the US Title – Daniel Bryan, despite being one of the more accomplished wrestlers in the world, was the NXT rookie of the Miz, not one of the more accomplished around and a guy who started on reality television. Hi-jinks ensued and when Bryan was chosen for Team WWE at Summerslam over Miz, Miz needed revenge and cost Daniel a big match. Daniel, however, has thus far had the final laugh, having taken Miz’s US title embarrassing him at every turn. John Morrison brawled with both on Raw and so was thrown into the match.

What should happen: Bryan should defeat Morrison here, leading to Morrison turning heel and joining the Miz. Miz can then move up the card while Morrison and Danielson can tear the house down in the mid-card.

What will happen: Morrison was added so the WWE didn’t have to have Miz job to Bryan again, so he’ll take the loss.

Wait? That’s it? Four matches? Well, see you all Monday with my Hell in a Cell report card, and, of course, keep it with Pulse Wrestling over the weekend for all your HiaC coverage needs.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.