Welcome, dearest sticky minions, to another edition of The Rager. My name is Chris and I will be you gondolier, as always, to guide you through my ragey thoughts. Lets dive right in (yes, I know that doesn’t fit with the boating metaphor, just roll with it, yes? Yes).
Ryder Revisited
A couple months or weeks or however-long-it-was ago, I gave my verdict on Zack Ryder and basically denounced him as a possible serious top draw. I don’t necessarily retract all of that just yet but I will say that WWE video production did him a ginormous favor on Raw this past week. Granted, the vast majority of the credit goes to Ryder because it was all from his show but still, the fact that WWE spent the time to put it together and use air time to show it during a duel branded Raw that does nothing but feature the top carders. Granted if this was suppose to be a big stepping stone, I would’ve liked to have seen him actually look impressive in the match instead of getting beat up, having Lawler take control and essentially do all the work and THEN take care of what was left of their opponents. It also doesn’t help much that he was so scared of Mark Henry at Smackdown and getting beat up once again. I think this past week was just another tease to the internet community but I wouldn’t look too much into a legit push just yet. But that’s just me, I’ve been wrong before (but not much…just sayin’).
Nash Nonsense
Last week on Raw, we opened with Nash getting canned and then we got the super-legit future endeavored message on the website. Everyone that I spoke with on the issue, as well as myself, had the initial reaction that it was a work and tried to make their story line look legit. However, after that initial reaction, a lot of people had a second thought that this might be the real deal given the reportings that questioned the health of Nash that led to WWE changing his match with CM Punk. HOWEVER, I stick with my initial reaction and here are my reasons:
If there were concerns on Nash, whether it be physical or whatever, it doesn’t make sense for WWE to tease a Punk vs. Nash match only to change it that same night. I know they used the whole “Its personal now” thing with HHH but still, I don’t get that call.
ALSO, if there were health concerns then why did things get pretty physical that next night at Smackdown when Nash interrupted the contract signing?
Yeah, Nash tweeted that the main concerns of his release was not meeting an agreement on the terms of the contract from a financial standpoint. WWE being the company that they are would not sign a guy and put him on television BEFORE reaching an agreement of all conditions of the contract. So I’m not buying that (pun intended?).
Plus lets not forget the brief video of Johnny Ace getting into the limo with Nash after he was fired, I’m sure there’s gonna be something going on about that. And lets add to consideration the fact that the new stipulation of the match is if HHH loses, he’s no longer the COO. All those things pretty much guarantees some sort of interrupting in the match, whether its Nash ensuring his friend keeps his job or its Nash getting his revenge on HHH, its gonna happen.
In Response to Your Response
Last week, I asked for suggestions for the upcoming psychological analysis of WWE Superstars and I got a ton of responses and I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I’ve spoken with my expert that I mentioned last week and we are getting together soon to put all that together. From the sounds of it, it might end up being a series of articles spread out over time but nevertheless, its happening! So make sure you’re on the lookout for that!
Shameless Self-Promoting
I’ve never really been one to do a whole lot of self-promoting but last week I forgot to add in something that I’m really quite proud of. Last summer, a rag-tag group of film dorks and theater students put together a team to participate in the Greensboro 48 Hour Film Festival. Those unfamiliar with that kind of thing, we basically had 48 hours to make a 7 1/2 minute film after pulling a genre out of a hat. I can’t take a whole lot of credit for this and although we left empty handed in the competition, I’m very proud of the outcome and hopefully our group gets together on our own and works on another project soon. So here it is, our entry! (I’m the awesome dead guy, btw).
Well this is pretty much it for me this week. Again, be on the lookout for the upcoming series sometime soon! I’m not exactly sure if I’m going to be able to watch Raw live tonight so Live Rager is kinda up in the air at the moment. Regardless, I might do a belated Live Rager as I watch it later. Be sure to check back on Pulse Wrestling throughout the week for the latest in news and columns by an amazing staff of Insiders.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Chris
The Answer is: Huzzah Huzzah Huzzah, the Bears won, Huzzah!
