At the end of my usual column I always put an Unrelated Thought. Something that I’ve wanted to mention, but doesn’t merit an entire column to discuss it. Needless to say, because they are much shorter than columns Unrelated Thoughts are a lot easier to come up with. So much so in fact, that I often build such a backlog that I run the risk of some of the Unrelated Thoughts becoming out of date as storylines continue. When that happens, it’s time for a whole dump of them in a Series of Unrelated Thoughts.
So I was really excited for Mick Foley to be back. I mean really excited. Like more excited about that than The Rock being back excited. So his first segment back on Raw was less than stellar. Yea it was really rough to get through, I’m still excited that he’s back. But the question now is, what do we do with him. How much quality level wrestling does the guy have left in him? Surely he can still have at least one more quality feud that will end in a great PPV quality match. But should Foley’s swan song match be a hardcore match? It’s what he’s going to be remembered for, but when is the last time WWE had anything resembling a hardcore match? Who was the last guy to land on a pile of tacks?
Speaking on the topic of Wrestlers whose best matches are behind them, I’ve been talking with some friend about what approximant time in his career that a wrestler should retire. I know that there are far to many different factors to have any real coherent age someone is through, I though Edge still had quite a bit of time left, but it others will stick around so far past their prime they start to risk tainting their legacy. And what does a retired wrestler do with himself? Most wresters leave the business earlier than retirement age, so what then? And we’re talking about those that don’t go on to star in movies, or move to MMA. My favorite guy is Rickey Steamboat who is still involved in the business, but focuses on building up the next generation, but at the same time is still able to get in the ring on a special occasion.
Destroying the ring was probably the most impressive thing that could have happened in a Big Show vs. Mark Henry feud. So I don’t really expect any rematches that those two have to be worth getting invested in. That being said I hope that these two continue to have PPV matches, at least through Royal Rumble. With Orton so recently out of the title picture, there aren’t really any main event faces on Smackdown to compete for the belt. Plus a title match between them will keep them both out of the Rumble. It’s one of my least favorite parts every year when the rumble has to come to a standstill for everyone to work together and throw a giant out of the ring.
The week that the Muppets were hosting was the first time we were supposed to get the Michael Cole challenge. There were rumors that this was to allow a match to be called by Statler and Waldorf (the old guys in the balcony for those who aren’t up to snuff on their Muppets) What would have been a acceptable match only because of the Muppets involvement, ended up getting forced upon us a few weeks later in one of the most tedious segments to ever happen in ring. The only thing saving it was a kid in the crowd a few rows back, dancing his heart out every time he got on camera. It’s a shame he didn’t keep it up all night.
Speaking of Michael Cole, it’s been over a year since he interfered in Lawler’s match with The Miz causing him to lose the match for the WWE Championship. I remember thinking at the time, “This is it. Cole has gone full blown heel. There’s no way he can ever return to the announcer’s table now. At least not working with Lawler in any way.†Now here we are, a year later, Cole is still commentating matches and feuding with everyone else at the commentator’s table. While the feud has lost any interest back around WrestleMania it continues week after week. And What’s more, Cole’s feud with either Lawler or Booker T (whichever show you watch) is mentioned in every single match. As many complaints as I have about WWE, nothing on WWE TV is as far off the mark as this “feud.â€
Hasn’t it been officially announced that Zack Ryder is getting a U.S. Title match at Survivor Series? That would make this the second PPV in a row where Dolph Ziggler has more than one match? Not that I mind, Of the current crop of up-and-coming wrestlers, Dolph continues to be near the top of the list, if not my number one favorite. Of course the match was announced before Christian was taken off of Team Barrett. And because the match hasn’t been officially announced on WWE TV, maybe Ziggler being on Team Barrett is going to be instead of him and Ryder for the belt. Understandable. But I just want to say, more Dolph please.
What was the last really good match you saw on Raw or Smackdown? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Match of the Year contender. I don’t expect to see the MiTB Cena and Punk level of match on a weekly basis, but what is the last time there was a match on the regular show and thought “Man. What a great match.†Off the top of my head I remember really liking a match between John Morrison and the Miz last December, (or possibly early January) but other than that, I’m drawing a bit of a blank. Again, I’m not asking to be blown away on a regular basis, but I’m watching four plus hours of wrestling a week, and there should be more than one truly memorable match a year.
