Random thoughts Backlash!
TNA gave us an X-Division PPV, finally. Of course, though, they forgot to build it at all, keeping their whole focus on the heavyweights and, in the end, making it a card full of fun exhibition matches. Look, I like good wrestling as much or more than the next guy, but if you want the kind of money a PPV will cost, I’m going to need emotional investment, not another randomly thrown together card.
And look, Joe jobbed again. In the opener. I guess there’s a reason 2/3 of his name is in jobber.
Killing my emotional investment is really, really how WWE lost me with the new, almost awesome CM Punk angle. I took some heat for calling it ruined, but by involving the Cena’s fired crap again, after they ran it into the ground last year with the firing that didn’t last a week, they’ve just shown that, once more, they aren’t willing to commit to more than a cool moment. I know, I know – I should be more optimistic. But at what point of WWE letting me down with damn near every big angle does it stop being optimism and become wearing a “kick me†sign by choice?
I’ll get excited for The Rock vs. John Cena eventually, I’m sure, but for now, all it really does it make everything else feel unimportant. Punk broke through that for a brief shining moment, but now we’re back to this being filler. Cena’s going to be fired when he’s already booked in the Wrestlemania main event? Just stop.
I’m never home on Fridays and hate that that’s when Smackdown is on. The girlfriend works Thursdays, but I’m not in college anymore, for longer than I care to dwell on, so that’s not an out night for me, but Friday pretty much always is. I read Wheeler’s report though, and it just seems so much more fun than Raw, with an actual mid-card that gets to have real feuds. The Daniel Bryan – Legacy stuff seems fantastic, as does everything Christian does, and even the USOs little push.
That said, I’ve officially watched enough Sin Cara to declare him nothing special. He’s very similar to Jeff Hardy and Sabu in that he’s a spot-monkey who botches a lot and gets by on charisma. That’s fine, but we need to stop pretending he’s the next Rey Mysterio like, yesterday.
Note to Matt Harrack: Love the column, but it felt like your idea of who’s funny was vetted by Vince McMahon personally. Santino was hilarious as a heel, Eric Young is meant for 7-year-olds, and if Heenan was a comedy act, and this is an all time list, other managers and acts need to be here, most notably, Jim Cornette and Lanny Poffo.
A-Ry vs. Del Rio as a feud should really serve to establish Riley’s spot on the card. I hope they pull the trigger on this one.
Finally, my Money in the Bank winner picks:
On Raw, we have A-Ry, Del Rio, Bourne, Rey, Kofi, Miz, Swagger, Truth, and Bourne. A-Ry is high enough on the card for now, and, as seen above, should really feud with Del Rio. Of course, they could, instead do more A-Ry vs. Miz. Swagger and Bourne aren’t winning, as they have their little feud going – Bourne can cost Swagger and do cool spots to keep it going. Kofi has zero shot, as he’s just not that guy for the company. Rey’s not facing Cena, so he’s out. That leaves Miz, Del Rio and Truth. My basic guess is Rey, Del Rio, Miz and A-Ry somehow eliminate one another, leaving Truth. Truth still has an issue with Cena and it would be great for him to win and be able to “finally†get his shot.
On Smackdown, we have Cody, Sin Cara, Bryan, Wade, Slater and Gabriel of Corre, Sheamus, and Kane. I’m rooting extremely heavily for Cody here, as Cody vs. Orton seems fantastic and a just reward for how far Cody’s come… but with the Bryan feud, it seems unlikely. Corre have been looking like jobbers lately and will likely be annihilated by Kane before some sort of Mark Henry nonsense. Cara vs. Orton doesn’t work, especially given how poorly Orton handles botches. That leaves Sheamus. He may be the only guy on Smackdown sans Orton that WWE thinks of as a true main event star, and he’s not otherwise tied up. Root Cody, expect Sheamus.
That’s it for today, see you tomorrow with Raw thoughts. Check out the new blog with movies, sports, comics and other thoughts right here.
