Alberto del Rio Is Only Telling You Things You Already Knew

Baaaaaht... chu already knew that
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Hey, did any of those backstage segments with Alberto del Rio look familiar to you last night? Y'know, the ones where he was going up to Christian and Wade Barrett and Dolph Ziggler and trying to get them to do his dirty work against John Cena? If they didn't, let me introduce you to Sean O'Haire...





In case you missed it for that short time back in the early Aughts, O'Haire was telling people what they already knew, much like del Rio did last night. He was an Internet favorite who really didn't get the juice that other guys at the time were getting, and his character (and eventually job) was scrapped. Shame, because it could have been something. Then again, was he doomed to fail from start? He was saying things that would have made him very popular with crowds, but what was his endgame? He really wasn't programmed with anyone to start, and no one had a real reason to like or dislike him other than the stuff he was saying. Having interesting things to say is good in wrestling, but I think emotional attachment is needed, and in wrestling, conflict equals attachment.

That's where I thought WWE succeeded with del Rio. If you remember back to his debut vignettes, they had somewhat of a similar vibe to them. However, when he debuted, instead of just talking to people without really getting any kind of conflict going, bam, he attacked Rey Mysterio. Simple, to the point and right there, the crowds started to attach themselves to del Rio as someone they hated rather than some guy who was persuasive with no real conflict attached. Furthermore, when del Rio was going around playing the devil's advocate to Christian, Barrett and Ziggler, it wasn't just for jollies like when he convinced Dawn Marie to flash or Brian Kendrick to streak. It was to further his own agenda, to have minions of sorts to soften up John Cena for Night of Champions.

To that end, WWE finally got that character archetype right. While Sean O'Haire was telling people things that they already knew for no apparent reason other than hey, he found it amusing, del Rio is using that manipulation to further his rep as an evil genius. Conflict is key, and storyline progression, even if it's entertaining, is only going to be effective if there's an endgame. While it may have screwed over O'Haire back in 2003, at least another intriguing character type has now been proven effective and can provide some sort of variety to the cast of characters in a company that needs to have it to reach its full potential.

Rey's Out, Give Hunico a Shot!

Hunico wants YOU to support his full-time move to the RAW roster
Photo Credit: FCW Wrestling.com

So, news came down today that Rey Mysterio's knee injury was a lot more serious than first suspected. He tweeted the news of his surgery, and reports are saying that it'll be 4-6 months before he comes back. It's a shame, given how much of a good verve he's had with both Miz and Alberto del Rio lately, but the man's health is paramount, so yeah, he needs to get on the shelf (and probably needed to do so BEFORE working at SummerSlam). That all being said, his absence leaves a huge hole on the RAW roster, both in fan reaction power and in match quality. While both John Cena and CM Punk bring home the bacon in terms of both of those things, well, having a main event with only two heroes, especially when one is tied up with Kevin Nash and Triple H, can be pretty stale.

The obvious answer would be to toss the ball to either John Morrison or Kofi Kingston (read, throw the ball to Kingston because he doesn't suck and his girlfriend isn't prone to allegedly get him in trouble all the time). I'd throw Evan Bourne into that equation because fuck you, Evan Bourne rules. Alex Riley's another option, if you're braindead and really haven't seen that outside of his first couple of weeks, he hasn't shown anything remotely close to a sign of him showing readiness for anything more than a Superstars main event (wow that was fucking wordy even by my standards). That being said, when one of those guys gets the call to be elevated, that leaves another spot open for a fresh face to come in...

Enter Hunico.

Who is Hunico? You've seen him the last two weeks, only not under his FCW-given name. He's been playing the role of Sin Cara for the last two weeks, and while Mistico will resume that role this week, the developmental luchador has turned some heads in a positive manner. While he wasn't as flashy as Mistico was in the Sin Cara role, let's face it, he looked a lot cleaner and didn't mess as much stuff up. That isn't to say he wasn't exciting either. In fact, I'm more impressed with what he's done because he was able to mix the excitement of being Sin Cara while actually looking able to be a WWE employee.

It's not like he was just some guy they just picked up and threw in the Cara mask either. He's been toiling in FCW for a bit now. He had a match with Seth "Tyler Black" Rollins that got a lot of pub recently, and he's been waiting for a shot to get a callup.

How do you bring him in? Well, you can do it one of two ways. The first way would be to debut him against the RAW job squad on RAW rather than on Superstars. Again, he's looking to be a long-term replacement for Rey Mysterio, a high profile spot as it is. There's a demand for masked luchadors who do cool high-flying stuff. So, you give him a debut match against Primo, work to the next week against Drew McIntyre and then maybe after that, who knows.

The second option would be to debut him in a tag team. As we've been seeing on RAW, the rumors of Triple H wanting to reestablish a tag division are beginning to come to fruition, and Hunico isn't just a singles wrestler down in Tampa. He's actually part of a regular tag team called Los Aviadores with another masked guy known as Epico. You want a real, homegrown tag team that'll bump like crazy for the incoming Kings of Wrestling or even for the underrated Nexus team? These guys are your tandem. It would give Hunico something to do to establish himself, and hey, maybe even Epico is good too, and you've got two future luchador stars, y'know, just in case Mistico flames out eventually.

Either way, the guy deserves a shot on the big stage with his own identity. It's hard to fill in for a guy like Mistico, and Hunico proved that he capable of impersonating someone as a stopgap. So, why not let him be himself and begin to craft his own legacy? I know my curiosity is piqued, and even if fans don't realize he was the replacement Sin Cara, I doubt they'd have a problem gravitating to someone exciting as a replacement for when Mysterio eventually has to retire.

Weekend Wrap-Up: ¡OLÈ!

Winner of BOLA '11

- El Generico took home this year's Battle of Los Angeles tournament title. The Generic Luchador bested PWG World Champion and bitter rival Kevin Steen in the finals of the SoCal indie's big single elimination fray. Finlay as advertised made his appearance, losing to Steen in the first round. Willie Mack scored the upset of the tournament, besting Chris Hero in the first round. Also on the card, the the Dynasty of Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky defeated the RockNES Monsters to earn a Tag Team Championship shot at the Young Bucks at a later date.

- AAW also ran a show Saturday night, and the highlight was a hard-hitting match between Arik Cannon and Steve Corino. Cannon won with his Glimmering Warlock (think the move that Alberto del Rio used to beat CM Punk for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam). Also on the card, Silas Young retained his AAW Championship over Gregory Iron, and MsChif made her return to wrestling, defeating Sassy Stephanie.

- ACW had a show last night, attended by With Leather's Brandon Stroud (who, hopefully, will be writing a detailed report, wink wink nudge nudge please write one PLEASE). It saw the ACW return of Jerry Lynn, who found some time to make it somewhere else besides Orlando and did something else besides costing RVD matches. He was defeated in the four-way main event for the Televised Championship by Shawn Vexx. Former Champion Rachel Summerlyn was eliminated first, oddly enough. Also on the card, Lillie Mae defeated Portia Perez, pouring a slop bucket on her head in the process. Ah, Texas.

- Finally, it's not Wednesday, but I'm linking you to some stories chronicling WWE being a soulless corporate entity. First up, Cageside Seats raises an awfully good point in how the fuck do you let a guy with torn ligaments wrestle two straight days and claim to have a "Wellness" Policy? Secondly, Harry Smith isn't exactly thrilled with his former employers after they treated personal effects that belonged to his father and his uncle Owen with very little regard for their integrity. Finally, Lisa Wright, a member of the Council of Unity, wrote a scathing letter to the Be A Star alliance, asking them to remove WWE from their site in response to the constant fat-shaming of a totally-not-fat Vickie Guerrero. In response, she got "intelligent feedback" from WWE fans and has rescinded that complaint, even though her complaint was completely valid. Hm, no, it was definitely the fans who pressured her and not corporate interests. Remember those stories the next time WWE asks you to stand up for it or some other pedantic bullshit request.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Mysterio Blew Out His Knee Monday Night

Photo Credit: WWE.com

Via Cageside Seats via the Observer Paysite

Rey Mysterio is going to be getting that vacation he's needed for the last year so. Too bad it's coming involuntarily, as he blew out his knee Monday night in his main event match for the WWE Championship against Alberto del Rio. Mysterio said he heard his knee tear on a baseball slide spot, and apparently, he couldn't even walk when he got backstage.

Obviously, this is a major blow to WWE, as Mysterio is one of their most popular wrestlers and best workers. Think this might end up being a lesson to the company that maybe they should give their ailing stars a month off here or there so that they remain fresh in the long term? Nah, probably not.

Designed Hypocrisy: Does Cena's Promo at the End of RAW Have Deeper Meaning?

Was Cena's lack of perspective intentional Monday?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The final scene on RAW was indelible to say the least. Alberto del Rio locked his rival, Rey Mysterio, in the cross armbreaker after his successful title defense, and he would not let go. John Cena came to Mysterio's aid and then cut the angriest promo I've seen from him in the three years that I've been back watching. He looked pissed off, not because del Rio wronged him, but because del Rio wronged the Championship. He preyed on CM Punk moments after a hard fought victory and a sneak attack from Kevin Nash, and he didn't act honorably. On the surface, without any context, this makes sense. Cena's character is about hustle, loyalty and respect, and del Rio showed none.

The truth is, neither did Cena.

Go back to the RAW where Justin Roberts proclaimed "JEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHN CENA" as the new WWE Champion after defeating Mysterio. The diminutive San Diegan was wrestling in his fourth match in two weeks. He had wrestled a grueling match against The Miz, a former Champion himself, earlier in the program. The major difference between the two is that del Rio seized his own opportunity, while Cena had it handed to him by Triple H.

That may make all the difference in the world, but at the same time, refusing a title shot isn't really out of the realm of character for someone if the storyline called for it. Hell, CM Punk, the guy who was "wronged" by del Rio, forewent his rematch to chase Kevin Nash and try to uncover conspiracies that would keep him from attaining his deserved prize as "Best in the World". So, why couldn't Cena forego his title shot for one more week to get Mysterio at his best if that's the way he'd conveniently feel after seeing Punk get jobbed out of the title?

Some may point to internal inconsistencies, and I agree that with WWE Creative, as well as they've been doing lately, that's always a possibility. That being said, WWE Creative is doing pretty well for themselves lately, at least on the main event level, so maybe they do deserve some benefit of the doubt here. Maybe Cena's reaction was carefully planned to foreshadow a change in alignment.

Yes, the ultimate white whale of the Internet fan is a John Cena heel turn. Ever since he became a fan favorite, the cries have come it seems, and it always has seemed like a bad idea. He sold too much merch. He's too much of a house show draw. He gets too loud a reaction from the children, whereas no one else but the increasingly fragile Rey Mysterio would get. Plain and simple, it would have been bad business, even if it would have been better TV for folks who make up a small portion of the audience.

That being said, the appearance of Punk, and possibly even Miz, as suitors to the role of top hero make Cena as a bad guy increasingly tempting and viable. Of course, neither Miz nor Punk appeal to a family-oriented crowd as they stand right now, which to me would still call into question the wisdom of turning Cena heel. Having one kind of top hero, or appealing to only one audience, can be a good plan of action if you can clean up in that one area. That being said, if you can have versatility in direction, then why not try to aim for more than one demographic? Pixar has been doing this for years, loading up its movies with clever, adult-oriented humor that was well-hidden within the aimed-for-children stories and trappings.

But I'm not really here to judge whether it's a good idea, just to speculate as to whether this could be a deliberate shift in direction for Cena. One of the great parts about programming right now is that it's unpredictable. Just when you think you have the answers, they change the questions. Whether we'll see the same ol' Cena going forward or not is now more than ever not certain, and I think the promo on Monday, whether it telegraphs a change in character or not for Cena, was intentionally crafted that way to cause doubt, to bring more than just Cena, Punk and the McMahon-Helmsley ruling house into the, as David Shoemaker terms it, The Reality Era.

Instant Feedback: OMG Kevin Nash WTF I Thought He Was Dead LOL

After Kevin Nash cost CM Punk the Undisputed WWE Championship last night, I know I was looking forward to the promo confrontation tonight. It had to happen. Nash was one of the savviest talkers in this sort of environment, and Punk, well, Punk's been proving it every week save one for the last two months. So yeah, I was a bit disappointed with the way Nash didn't show up. Punk ran circles around him, which is okay given that Punk makes everything alright, y'know?

That being said, I liked the way the segment played out. While Nash's delivery was rusty and his "shooty" material felt the most Russo-ish of the insider stuff, I thought nearly everything else surrounding it was interesting. Johnny Ace and Nash as cohorts was a wrinkle that I saw coming, but still welcomed. Stephanie's continued existence is troubling a bit, since I'm still unsure whether she can keep her raging ego in check, but it makes sense.

However, the undisputed star of this show was Alberto del Rio. His promo at the beginning (after shooing Triple H from the ring after a record low seven minutes of promo time) was amazing. People like to knock him for being one-dimensional or "comedic" or whatever, but he's a swarthy, cocky dickhead who just fulfilled his destiny. That gave his promo so much weight, and it was mollified by his awesome facial expressions and body language. One-dimensional? If he's like this in August 2012 or '13, maybe, but right now, he's still technically in his rookie year. It's his first act, and what a first act it's been.

His match with Rey Mysterio was great too. Man, those two don't have bad matches with each other. They really played up Mysterio's title history, and it really put an air of uncertainty on the match. Mysterio took a big bump across the guardrail, and then del Rio said "Heeeeeyy, I can do better!" and leaped out of the ring on a spill of his own. The finish was utter brilliance too. Mysterio landed a 619, making everyone think he was going to win, and then the counter to the Tadpole Splash (lol, love that call) was just the best way to end the match. Seriously, anyone who says WWE doesn't give you wrestling is full of shit.

The post-match stuff worked for me too. John Cena, although many could say that he was hypocritically (although could that be the point?), spat fire, and it was intense and effective.

Of course, RAW wasn't all peaches and cream. Specifically, the Riley/Swagger match segment was dreadful. Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler bickering didn't click for me (although I appreciated where it was going). Dumping on JR was lame. The match sucked, and yeah, Riley clearly sandbagged Swagger at the end. Credit to Swagger for handling it like a pro and still coming out looking all beast mode, but still, Riley is either a dick (not likely) or just showing how green he is still (more likely). I will say this; the finish of that match made me appreciate that they're maybe going for a Swagger/Ziggler feud in the near future with Swagger moving in on Vickie in the next segment.

All in all, a solid if unspectacular show. They still kept me interested, and the main event was boss though, so yeah, it was more win than loss for me.

The Miz: Master of the Beatdown

Miz, doing one of the things he does exceedingly well
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The Miz doesn't really get high marks across the board when it comes to his wrestling in the ring. I think he's above average, but at the same time, he's behind probably ten workers in WWE when it comes to being an elite wrestler. That's not really a knock on him, seeing as the WWE right now is loaded with so many good workers. I won't really say it's unprecedented, because I'm sure there's a point in the '80s where they had a lot of really good in-ring guys, but that's not the point.

There is an area of physicality where I feel Miz is the best in the WWE and possibly the whole industry. Whenever he's called upon to beat someone down in a sneak attack, you know it's going to be a vicious, effective segment. We saw this a lot during the feud with Jerry Lawler. He'd come out of the crowd, burst out of nowhere and just waylay the King, laying hard-looking punches and forearms, throwing him into the rail, stomping him, just brutalizing him.

That came into play again Monday night, when he beat down Rey Mysterio before their scheduled match. Again, Miz came off looking like a feral animal, charging after Mysterio like he owed him money. A lot of that was Mysterio bumping and making Miz look like a million bucks, but you can't tell me that the look in Miz's eyes when he charged in and stomped Mysterio's head against with all the force of a thousand Clydesdales didn't convey pure hatred. Much like commenter uconngary7 said on the Instant Feedback post Monday night, Miz "looked like he wanted to end Rey's life". That's not really something you can teach. It's dedication to the craft. It's surrendering yourself to the character and performing at a high level whether you're main eventing WrestleMania or you're doing basic storyline stuff that in effect takes your rumored match off the card of the second or third biggest event on the calendar.

You people rag on me for my Miz praise all the time (you people, what do you mean you people?), but it's stuff like his knack for really going the extra mile when he has to go out and beat the crap out of someone in a sneak attack, the facial expressions, the vigor at which he performs the most basic-seeming stomps that add to my admiration for him. He's a rare example of a guy who has natural talent and who tries hard to make sure that every time he's on screen, you remember him. Personally, I think he does a damn good job at it.

Instant Feedback: Triple H Is Solar Powered

Any momentum that was lost last week from the main angle was regained. Why did we have any doubt? Did we think the soul-sucking WWE machine could take CM Punk and rob him of his ability to entrance crowds? Turns out the answer to that is now. Punk, who got loud reactions from an iffy crowd all night, a crowd that faded in and out all night long, showed that he can curry interest for a wrestling match by opening his mouth, not by holding a belt up to new theme music.

And let's not take credit away from Cena. He went meta at one point, mentioning workrate in his nerdy voice, and that was great from a different standpoint, but the rest of his delivery showed him at his best. He needs to be the strong, moral, lawful good voice that counterbalances the Punk who's chaotic good persona draws in the male fans who like people who like to watch the world burn. The WWE could really be onto something if they cultivate a split fanbase and start exploring the fact that different wrestlers appeal to different demographics.

They'd also be wise to have Triple H play as much of a background role as possible. Of course, his forced star turn tonight couldn't come at a worse time in terms of selfish reasons, as I'm planning a bunch of entries that look to reconcile my past as a wrestling fan re: Trips, and if I end up coming to a conclusion that forgives him and he ends up fucking up SummerSlam? Yeah, I don't even want to imagine that. Triple H as a forefront character for this angle is bad. As someone in the background, he works, especially if he lets Funkhauser, err, I mean Super Dave Osbourne, err, I mean John Laryngitis... err, Laurinitis become the real lightning rod proxy. It also helps that Mr. Ace has a puro education, because I doubt that flash kick from Punk was the last bump he'll be taking.

Of course, the perfect contract signing wasn't the only thing going on here. A lot of stuff happened on RAW tonight, including two potential SummerSlam matches being taken off the card. The first saw Miz continue Rey Mysterio's injury angle with a STELLAR beatdown. Again, he shows why he's the best at the Pearl Harbor, bar none. Obviously, since Rey will be back next week for his rematch, it lends credence to the report that his injury is just a "tweak". The other match taken off the books potentially has been R-Truth/John Morrison. Some have been speculating that it's a warning shot to go along with Melina's firing. It makes sense to me, but again, no primary source, no reporting as fact. That being said, with those two matches being moved off the card ostensibly, is it too much to ask to see Miz and Truf win the Tag Pennies and become JeriShow 2K11 at SummerSlam? Please?

This was a banner night for promos. Alberto del Rio's spot before his match with Punk was pretty good. Truf was hilarious as always. Punk's line of "Triple H needing the spotlight so much that he's solar powered" was GOLD, JERRY, GOLD. Of course, the wrestling was good for the most part too. Cena/Swagger was good. Kofi/Truth was deceptively excellent. After a week where they may have taken off, RAW bounced back with a strong show, one that gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, they won't fuck up SummerSlam.

Weekend Wrap-Up: Iron Women, Hardly Hardcore and Hollywood Ouster

New Champion, New Heel?
Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com

- So, is an event really hardcore if there's only one hardcore spot in the whole thing? I'm not sure people would have cared if Impact Wrestling gave them a good show in Hardcore Justice, but the consensus seems to be that they failed to deliver. Two new Champions were crowned last night, Kurt Angle the new World Champion (after, in many people's view, pointlessly turning heel) and Winter dethroned Mickie James to become the Knockouts Champion. I can get behind the latter because Winter, nee Katie Lea Burchill, is pretty awesome, but the former just sounds more like bad Russo writing. Also on the card, Crimson defeated Rob Van Dam in a Bound for Glory Series match to continue his undefeated streak. Anyone else get the feeling that he's going to main event their signature PPV, only to lose via shenanigans? After the match, Jerry Lynn appeared again and got in RVD's grill, meaning more RVD/Lynn rematches in the future.

- Rey Mysterio apparently hurt his knee at a house show this past weekend, with it being so severe that they ran an injury angle the next night to shorten his match against Alberto del Rio. Some reports are calling it a "tweak", but with his knees, a tweak can still be serious business. He's expected to work around the injury and appear at SummerSlam, which afterwards, hopefully he'll get a fucking vacation. The man needs to just go home, sip margaritas with his wife and relax for a bit so he can come back before the end of the year, refreshed, recharged and ready for the Internet to find new ways to slur him because they don't like his finishing move.

- Speaking of injuries, Daizee Haze has been listed as "out indefinitely" on the official Chikara message board. Circumstantially, it's because of the injuries suffered at the hands of Mima Shimoda and Claudio Castagnoli at Chikarasaurus Rex, Night 2. It leads me to believe it's all kayfabe, but at the same time, if it is legit, here's to a speedy recovery.

- In better news, Sunday's best show arguably took place in Cleveland, OH, with PWO putting on Wrestlelution 4. I really want to give you some results here, but for the life of me, I can't find them on the Internet anywhere. Bummer. However, what I can say is that according to TWB superfan and friend of the blog Jarret Aubry, the Josh Prohibition vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Matt Cross match was SUPER AWESOME. The man knows good wrestling, so take his word for it.

- JSCW's kickoff event was Saturday night free of charge on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Judging from the picture posted in the results post, they did alright for themselves. The main crux of the show was the Tag Team Championship tournament, which had four first round matches headlined by a tilt between the SAT and All Money Is Legal, won by the latter team. Also on the card, Dan Maff defeated Apollo Star,

- Mercedes Martinez and Lexus set a modern women's wrestling record by going 73 minutes at the WSU tapings Saturday night. Martinez, who already has one superlative in the longest current Championship tenure under her belt (and may be the longest continuously defended women's title reign ever, given that Fabulous Moolah's 27 year reign was very much sparsely defended), now has another big record under her belt. The match was stopped as a 60 minute time limit draw, but the match was demanded restarted, and 13 minutes later, Martinez won with a fisherman's buster. Also at the tapings, Roxie Cotton made her redebut as Gabby Gilbert, taking two matches. The second taping ended with a WarGames match announced for the next iPPV between the newly formed Midwest Militia of Sassy Stephanie, Jessica Havok and Allison Kay and Team WSU, comprising of Martinez, Alicia and Brittney Savage.

- NWA Hollywood got a big shakeup as Joey Ryan was ousted as the head booker AND a contracted talent. I don't know what's going on that caused the coup, but it's a shocker to me. It's also very disappointing as Ryan has been embroiled in a pretty decent feud with Colt Cabana over the last couple of months. It especially sucks given that now, the only place you can find Ryan is on PWG, and that's only once a month. Granted, one show of Ryan a month is better than none, but at the same time, I can't help but feel that Hollywood is dropping the ball here by at least not keeping him on as a wrestler, even if they want to go a different direction behind the scenes.

- Ending on a happy note, according to the PWG message boards (a lot of message board news today, eh?), not only is Finlay scheduled to appear at Battle of Los Angeles this year in the tournament itself, but TJ Perkins and the Super Smash Bros. will appear at their next card after Battle of Los Angeles. Super psyched to see the SSB get some dates outside of the East Coast and Quebec, because they're a really fun tag team. Not surprising to see them touch down in SoCal though, as PWG has been really good about importing guys from Quebec, as seen with their thrusting of El Generico and Kevin Steen into the mainstream. Looking VERY much forward to this.

I Want Miz vs. Mysterio

Pictured: Potentially a great in-ring feud
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Rey Mysterio is one of the best workers in the world. This has been repeated and repeated ad nauseam by some folks, including myself, but I really don't feel like he works a bad match ever. Simultaneously, The Miz, I feel, is highly underrated as a worker. He's still got kinks to work out, and he's not perfect, but he can at least hold his own in there with someone who isn't way worse than he is. So, with that in mind, I wasn't surprised when the two had a tremendous match on RAW in the sham tournament finals two weeks ago, and then were the star workers in a solid tag match on RAW this past week. Mind you, last year when Miz was WWE Champion and visited Smackdown he had at least one really good match with Mysterio then too.

I think we've come to the point where we can say that Miz and Mysterio have good in-ring chemistry with each other. That might be a cop out term at worst and an intangible at the very best, but hey, when two guys click in the ring, they click, and they should be featured against each other as much as possible without going into overkill mode (see, Ziggler, Dolph v. Kingston, Kofi). Steamboat and Savage had chemistry. Michaels and Hart did. So did Rocky and Austin. As do Cena and Punk. All of them produced a ton of great matches in WWF/E history, and I feel like the next pairing are Rey and Miz.

The thing is that a prolonged feud between the two will only serve to make Miz stronger and more well-rounded. Miz is already at a point where I think from a character standpoint, he can carry a feud. He needs to go to finishing school in terms of being a complete main event-level worker. That's where Mysterio comes in. He doesn't have bad matches with anyone, and he has a lot of really good habits that translate well into a WWE ring, e.g. his big time bumping, knowledge of how to set up big spots and where in a match to perform spots to pop the crowd.

I also feel like a good worker will learn things from other good workers. Miz has spent a career busting his ass to make sure that he is THE guy WWE goes to when they need a big performance, whether it's representing them in media events, coming through with a big promo, being the best guy in the company at garnering heat through attacking people in out-of-match situations or carrying himself as a WrestleMania main eventer. You can't tell me that he won't be learning things from multiple meetings in the ring from Mysterio and applying them to his own game between the ropes?

I don't know about you, but if I'm in the WWE's front office, I'm probably half-way to a mental home right now because I can't really take the kind of horrors that the writers are reputed to go through then I'm booking a long term, main event-level feud that may or may not involve the Championship belt between Miz and Mysterio. Forget the fact that Mysterio as a sympathetic babyface is one of the most effective characters in the company, and Miz's arrogance actually plays well against someone like Rey. I believe that I'd end up with a string of classic matches that would go down as one of the best in-ring feuds in WWE history. You can call me crazy, but from what I've seen, it would be one of the surest things in WWE right now.

Your Midweek Links: Chikara and Kate Upton... Best Links Dump Ever?

This isn't from the WL shoot, but
I'm sure you don't care.
Photo found by Mat Harrell

It's hump day, so here are some links to get you through the rest of the week:

Self-Shilling:

- I rarely link back to earlier posts on here that aren't podcasts, but I really feel strongly about this Chikara review. Read it. Love it. Experience it. And then buy their DVD from Smart Mark. If any promotion in this country is worthy of your money, it's Chikara Pro Wrestling. [Sara del Rey and a World of Sport: Chikarasaurus Rex 2011 Review]

- And if you couldn't get enough Chikara talk, I wrote something for Fair to Flair about the match the English Johnnies had on Saturday. [Your Match of the Week, 7/25-7/31]

- Me and the mysterious but intriguing flubby from Kissing Suzy Kolber talk about football, bourbon and Memphis wrestling. Talk about a manly triad. Also, I insult his profession, and we talk about Nnamdi Asomugha like he wasn't going to the Eagles (because he hadn't signed there yet). [Episode 13: Jar of Superflies]

- Another FtF piece from me, this time using super-nerdy calculus terms to describe why we need people like me and Trey Irby of Wrestling Theory FJMing the shit out of bad wrestling journalism. [Differentiation and Integration]

- Where I call people out for dishonest criticism of Rey Mysterio. [A Preemptive Requiem for Rey Mysterio]

Wrestling Links:

- Another Chikarasaurus Rex review from DDS, a more concise one than mine as well as one with a lot of really awesome pictures. [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- Colt Cabana gets an AWESOME write-up in a local Chicago magazine. Must-read. [Chicago Reader]

- The Best and Worst of Monday Night RAW, 8/1, or, Get to 200 Comments and We Get Prizes (Maybe), or, Tell Brandon Stroud He Totes Should Do a Podcast and Have Me on as His First Guest [With Leather]

- Kenny Omega wrestles a 9-year old girl... no, he's not a pederast either. [I Want Wrestling]

- Eric Gargiulo looks at a WWF MSG show from 1984. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- K. Sawyer Paul and Garcian Smith discuss sexuality in wrestling and Sting's run in Impact among others. Guess which one I found to be more controversial? If you said the former, you don't know me very well, do you? [International Object]

- Razor's Smackdown review [Fair to Flair]

- And hey, he has thoughts on RAW too! [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- An interspecies match that may be better than "Dogface Gremlin" Rick Steiner vs. Ernest "The Cat" Miller [Youtube]

- Why am I linking Cracked in the wrestling links section? Because this list has an entry hitting the nail on the head why pro wrestlers have a pretty rough job. [Cracked]

- So, how good is Derrick Bateman? [Musings of a Mark]

- In the interest of fairness, a missive from an unbeliever in the power of Y2J [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- John Morrison is not at 100%... I can't see this ending well for him or for WWE [Cageside Seats]

- Cris Cyborg to WWE? It was closer than you thought at one point. [Diva Dirt]

- Your CMLL TV report, featuring the most impressive application of the Last Chancery ever [Luchablog]

- Jason Mann and Bill Baconhill discuss the Lex Express SummerSlam. [Wrestlespective Radio]

- All Charlie wants is a dang retweet, dangit [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- And he's STILL not on a damn collector's cup... [Kentucky Fried Rasslin]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

NO new interviews this week

Non-Wrestling Links:

- Spencer Hall is on The Wrestling Podcast tonight. Here is his take on Les Miles' foraging habits, because making fun of Les Miles is never not funny. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Kate Upton is without a doubt the hottest woman on the planet. Here's a gallery of her with barnyard animals. [With Leather]

- Justin Henry checks in with the best arrests from this lockout-addled offseason in the NFL! [Camel Clutch Blog]

- 20 of the best 66 movie tag lines from the last 30 years... that's a lot of numbers! [Pajiba]

- Being a good Samaritan... you're doin' it wrong [Jalopnik]

- Guy Fieri crowns the best cheesesteak in Philly at the AC Wine and Food Festival. You may think he's a douchejuice (Buzz Bissinger ®), but the guy knows food. [Food Network]

- The Emo Eagle responds to his team's flurry of free agent moves [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Vlad Putin tries to restart the Cold War by calling us parasites... okay maybe he's not trying to restart the Cold War, but hey, I figured I'd try my hand at sensationalist journalism, okay? [Foreign Policy]

- Shark Week in a nutshell [Internet Cocaine]

- More sharks, the 10 biggest species in the world [Buzz Feed]

- At least Christopher Meloni has a sense of humor about the whole thing [Videogumblr]

- Anyone who tells you that Libertarians are anywhere remotely close to Republicans needs to get bitchslapped [Coyote Blog]

- Amazon looking to get into social gaming? [20th Level Marketing]

- A travelogue of a local Philly sports blogger exploring the Northern West Coast [Flyers Goal Scored By]

- The ultimate in cameo [Unreality Mag]

- On changing brands and being fickle [Aggressive Art]

- The definitive guide to booger growth [Deadspin]

- Gabrielle Giffords is either really courageous or she's biting off way more than she can chew aiming for a 2012 reelection bid [The Atlantic Wire]

- Five animals we should be eating, or, mmm... endangered, aaaahhhh [Cracked]

- Batman's new origin story! [Ironph]

- Everyone calm down, the three-boobed hooker will be in the Total Recall remake. [Film Drunk]

- For those who care (and judging by ratings, a whole shitload of you do), Charlie Sheen's character in Two and a Half Men is getting killed off. [Warming Glow]

- 75 songs that TSS has enjoyed so far in 2011. Prepare for a lot of hip-hop and some Adele. [The Smoking Section]

- A review of the book, The Swinger, which sadly, isn't about indiscriminate groupsex. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Handheld Gamecube? Handheld Gamecube. [Gamma Squad]

- Donovan McNabb on Eagles' signings: "WHY THE FUCK COULDN'T THEY DO THAT WHILE I WAS HERE?" [The 700 Level]

- Hooray, gambling! [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- Why'd Cowboys and Aliens bomb? Well, you can start with, as my wife pointed out, the title which was seemingly created after a focus group with 10-year old boys [Grantland]

- We love you, Charlie Kelly [Skull Swap]

- A bunch of Photoshops celebrating Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. I dunno, I only thing this'll stand to make him MORE smug. [I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay]

- The new Ultimate Spider-man is black. Guys, I think you were a little late on making it happen since they already didn't cast Donald Glover in the new movie. [Topless Robot]

- Alison Brie doesn't like when people ask for her underwear over Twitter. In other news, NO SHIT. Seriously folks, this is why we can't have nice things. [Screen Junkies]

- I know this is for a game that's been over for about 12 hours now, but I just wanted to link to the sweet Photoshop of Kyle Kendrick's head on Brian Kendrick's body [The Fightins]

- Woman goes into labor during bar exam, finishes it regardless. I'd like to think of this as a makeup link for flubby and all my lawyer listeners out there from the podcast. [Mental Floss]

- "Exhaustion", Kings of Leon? Ooookay... [Uproxx]

- Penn State's season forecast... I'll take 8-4 this year, I suppose. [Dr. Saturday]

- Paul Kukla's hockey guilty pleasures [Puck Daddy]

- David Stern doesn't like basketball. Okay, I know this is satire, but it's entirely possible this is the case, right? [Sports Pickle]

- The top pizza moments in cinema history [Doughboys]

Instant Feedback: Skinny Fat Asses

Well, that was interesting. For the first time in over a month, RAW, especially the ending, felt flat. The first hour was good, and the wrestling was pretty awesome, well, at least the two headline matches. The tag match, despite having R-Truth, who's passable as a worker and John Morrison who's average on his best night, was really good. Shows how good both Miz and especially Rey Mysterio are. I want to see a prolonged feud between those two guys. It'll produce some really keen matches, and it'll definitely help Miz develop as a prime worker. Alberto del Rio and Evan Bourne also had a really fun, albeit predictably finished, match, baaaaaht chu already knew that.

The out of ring stuff dominated, and it went from good to lame over the course of two-plus hours. There were sparks in the first segment, as Trips and Punk definitely have a decent rapport in promos, despite the fact that Trips had the non-sequitur flub of all flubs. "Skinny fat-ass?" That's this year's SummerFest. The only difference is that you expect that from a douche like Piven. From Triple H? Wait, don't answer that... Anyway, I wasn't a fan of Trips going all "NBD" later on when asked about Punk talking shit about his wife. Funny Hunter treads a fine line for me, but when he goes from mocking to no-selling, I think that's where the line exists. It was a big reason why Shawn Michaels really didn't resonate with me in character all the time, because unless it was against Trips or Ric Flair or Undertaker, he was all "NBD". I mean, selling isn't just something you do in the wrestling ring. If this is the tone Trips is going to take all the time, then his goodwill with me in character is going to run out, like halfway through the next telecast of Smackdown.

And don't even get me started on that final segment. For as much as I defended last week's segment (and I still will, at least as a standalone), they really dropped the ball on it this week. They have two weeks until SummerSlam, and their build into a big unification match is dueling theme music and title raising? No thanks. That was beyond lame. I swear, if they end up with Punk fulfilling every pessimistic smark prophecy and ending up as just another WWE wrestler, I will start kicking people in the nuts. They have two weeks to salvage this. Granted, it was one bad week in the last two months, so I'm not going to totally kill them, but we've been down this road before.

I will say this though; I really enjoyed seeing Beth Phoenix killify the Bella Twins and then Kelly Kelly. I also liked Miz all night long, not just in the ring. Just the main angle felt so flat after that first segment. There've been better weeks.

Future Endeavors 7/30 Power Poll: We Rushed Punk... Back to the Top of the Power Poll

Problem?
Photo Credit: WWE.com; manipulation: unknown

Welcome to yet another edition of the Future Endeavors Power Poll, a poll ranking wrestlers on a weekly basis based on how awesomely they performed or were portrayed on a Tuesday-to-Monday cycle. It is voted by a who's-who of wrestling bloggers, including my blogging Daniel Bro-yan, PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. CM Punk (1)
2. John Cena (6)
3. Rey Mysterio (7)
4. Alberto Del Rio (3)
5. Christian (4)
6. Daniel Bryan (2)
7. Dolph Ziggler (NR)
8. The Miz (8)
9. Mark Henry (5)
10. Zack Ryder (NR)

And now, my ballot:

1. CM Punk - OH NOES THEY RUSHED HIM BACK HURRRR

2. Kevin Steen - Three matches at PWG EIGHT, three wins, including taking home the World Championship. If it weren't for CM Punk, Steen would be the hottest property in wrestling right now, I think.

3. Gregory Iron - Yeah, he lost his match at AAW, but he got a rub from Punk that every other wrestler in the world would kill for.

4. Rey Mysterio - He may have been Champion for only 90 minutes, but what a 90 minutes it was!

5. John Cena - Yeah, he got shown up by Punk, but hey, that match with Mysterio was awesome.

6. Daniel Bryan - He's cashing in at WrestleMania! It's a long way off, and a lot could happen, but, *sniff*, our boy is growing up.

7. Dolph Ziggler - Hey guys? Dolph Ziggler's pretty good.

8. Christian - He's a sneaky fella, fella. Wait, that was supposed to be Sheamus related. This is Christian. Oh well, be that as it may, Christian is still tearing it up on Fridays.

9. The Miz - The match between him and Mysterio was a seriously good tilt. His ring work is catching up with his character.

10. Jim Ross - BAH GAWD. BAH GAWD. BAH GAWD. Yeah he's not a wrestler. No, I don't give a shit. It was good hearing JR again.

Instant Feedback: Like Mussolini, and Kennedy

I'm getting the feeling that I got back in 1998, like RAW was going to be an event. Only I'm not. You see, would we have gotten three PPV quality matches on the show in 1998? Miz/Rey, Dolph/Bourne and Rey/Cena were all fucking amazing matches. del Rio/Kofi wasn't bad, although Kofi was a bit sloppy. Still, regardless of the execution, the intent was there to have a show jam packed with great wrestling. In that regard, there were no qualms, and it was way better than what we'd get in the Attitude Era.

That being said, there's a buzz around the show like there was back in that era. They seem to be hitting on all cylinders again with the strong character work and hooks that leave people astounded. I mean, there have been great shows in the last couple of years, but only one moment before 6/27 has left me with the feeling I've been having regularly in the last month. That was the Nexus' debut. Since then, you have CM Punk, John Cena, Vince McMahon, Triple H, Jim Ross, Michael Cole, R-Truth and now Zack Ryder giving me these moments. It's great.

The Triple H state of the WWE address was as well-done as anything he's done in the last three years. I know some people can't palate his comedy, but that's when I really get him best. He's naturally funny to me, and his interplay with Truth was outstanding. I think it helped that Truth is just the funniest guy out there right now. And hey, how about the Ryder cameo? It's almost like everything about this show was geared towards sending some section of the fans home happy.

That includes the end. Is the WWE running a bit too fast with Punk's return? Maybe they are, but conversely, Punk's iron is hot right now. I can understand wanting to capitalize on having the hottest property in pro wrestling on my program, whether he's been away for too long or not long enough. And to me, it doesn't matter when or where he comes back, it matters the execution. Tonight, it was executed perfectly. Cena winning the paper title, "Cult of Personality" blaring over the speakers, Punk coming out with a new Titantron, wearing his eBay hot property tee? Christ, I got goosebumps.

So yeah, if this is a taste of how things are going to run with Trips in charge, then I'm all aboard. IF we can get to a return of buzzworthy wrestling without the impetus of another company pushing them, then fuck, I love it. Tonight was a special show, another in a line of three or four in the last month.

Future Endeavors 7/22 Power Poll: NERDS

Yep.
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Welcome to yet another edition of the Future Endeavors Power Poll, a poll ranking wrestlers on a weekly basis based on how awesomely they performed or were portrayed on a Tuesday-to-Monday cycle. It is voted by a who's-who of wrestling bloggers, including my blogging Red Oct-bro-ber, PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. CM Punk (Last week: 1)
2. Daniel Bryan (NR)
3. Alberto Del Rio (7)
4. Christian (9)
5. Mark Henry (5)
6. John Cena (2)
7. Rey Mysterio (NR)
8. The Miz (NR)
9. Sheamus (8)
10. Kofi Kingston (NR)

And now, my ballot!

1. CM Punk
2. Daniel Bryan
3. Alberto del Rio
4. Christian - I'm pretty sure if I have to explain any four of these votes to you, you're probably legally braindead.

5. Mark Henry - For the splitting of wigs that occurred at Money in the Bank.

6. John Cena - Honestly, I don't feel I need to explain this vote either, but there will probably still be those who say "JOHN CENA? YUCK" There's no convincing those people, so my rebuttal to them is NEENER NEENER NEENER IT'S MY BLOG AND MY BALLOT. I hope you find that retort to be mature and tasteful.

7. Sheamus - He powerbombed Sin Cara through that ladder so hard that it made the former Mistico fail a drug test in the past.

8. The Miz - All that was missing was him sacking the Georgia Tech quarterback and being carried off the field by his bros while Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn cheered from the stands.

9. Rey Mysterio - He lost his mask, con. But Vince McMahon remembered his name before he shooed him to the back on RAW Monday, pro!

10. Zack Ryder - This week's "Stock Daniel Bryan ranking" is now a stock Zack Ryder ranking. Deal with it.

Instant Feedback: Dixie Carter Is Calling Vince McMahon's Cell AS WE SPEAK

So, when everyone was wondering where CM Punk would be tonight, he took in his hometown Cubs beating my Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. In the mean time, WWE put out a deliciously understated, nuanced show full of wrestling with a surreal ending. Coming off the most emotionally charged, action-packed PPV event in the company's history perhaps, well, it caught me a little off-guard. That being said, I dug RAW tonight.

For one, there was some good wrestling. Ziggler/Mysterio was a really, really good match, but is anyone surprised? They're two of the best workers in the world. Hell, I love tournaments on the whole, so even with some of the matches being duds, I liked the stories involved. Miz being portrayed as an underdog to me was the ballsiest one of those stories, and they're treading a fine line, but hey, it could be something interesting.

Then again, not everything worked. The Divas being cattle-chuted out just to stand around while Beth Phoenix did moves to Rosa Mendes was lame. And the tournament final being switched to next week felt like somewhat of a bait and switch to me. Then again, they have another week to build, and hey, the segment that followed was what made the show so damn intriguing. Yeah, we didn't get Punk. We got John Cena dodge firing, but it was through Triple H firing Vince McMahon. Yes, Vince McMahon got fired.

I can see where the show would have taken some off guard, but I thought it was decent. I'm intrigued to see where all this goes, but we got wrestling and story advancement tonight. That's a pretty good recipe for RAW, right?

BEST. PPV. EVER: WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Review

Peace out, Vince
Photo Credit: WWE.com

So, what happens when you order a WWE PPV, and you're basically satisfied with every match? What happens when the opening match gives you your favorite wrestler banking a shot at becoming the top guy on his brand? What happens when giants get their wigs split, seven men jostle for position on top of several ladders, grabbing for a briefcase? What happens when they have the balls to strap a guy who may or may not be leaving the company? What happens when you order a WWE event, and you're left thinking it's their best PPV event ever, better than In Your House: Canadian Stampede, better than WrestleMania X-7?

You get Money in the Bank 2011.

First thing's first, both nominal matches kicked major ass. Let's start with the Smackdown match. I mean, first up, how about the ladder power bomb? Sin Cara showed major cajones taking that move, because man, it looked fucking brutal. I also loved the Road Warrior tribute with Sheamus and Kane doing the Doomsday Device on Daniel Bryan. Bryan took a beating during this match, but I had a feeling that once it was he, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett on the ladder at the end that he might have a chance. Then, he knocked RED BELLY off the ladder, and boom. He grabbed it, and my house erupted. I hadn't been as excited to see a match result since... well, uh, I don't know, when Bryan beat The Miz for the United State Championship at Night of Champions last year? Maybe I do have a problem.

Then there was the RAW match, which some are saying may be the best MitB match ever. I'd be very hard-pressed to disagree with them. Each contestant lining up to create one massive Mexican standoff with all the ladders was a brilliant way to start. From there, it was spot after spot after spot. It bordered on overload at one point, when Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston jumped from the top to the floor, and then Evan Bourne moments later saw the crowd milling about, was like, "Pfft, nbd" and shooting star pressed as an effective form of riot control. Calling all 5'8" beanpoles who can do flips? You've got jobs in your local police departments. There was a spot in the match where I got legitimately concerned for Miz's health, as when Alberto del Rio knocked him and Bourne off the ladder, Miz was assisted out, limping and hobbling. Keep that in mind.

The spots just kept coming and coming. Kofi bouncing around like a pinball. 619s all around. del Rio trying to be a high-flyer and whiffing. Then, maybe the most magnificent sight I've ever seen in a MitB ladder match ever. The seven remaining men in the match all started to climb ladders. At its apogee, you had all of the men alternately reaching for the briefcase and trying to push the others down. It was a clusterfuck, but it was a breathtaking clusterfuck. One by one, the wrestlers fell like dominoes until no one was left. When the heel crowd roared for Miz's limp-race down to the ring, it sealed the deal for me. This match didn't have to finish to be the best Money match ever. But it did, and Alberto del Rio claimed the briefcase after claiming Mysterio's mask...

...baaaaaht, chu already knew that.

There were two other non-title, non-ladder matches on the card. The Divas match, to me, was inoffensive, which made it the best a match between Kelly Kelly and Brie Bella could be. At least right now. Remember, when Trish Stratus started out, she was kinda terrible too. However, Mark Henry and Big Show? That was a tremendous big man vs. giant brawl. Wigs were split, and we were pleased. I think Henry getting air and dropkicking the steps was my favorite part of the match, just because it was so unexpected. You know, if they had gotten this right with the World's Strongest Man in 1996 instead of just 2011, we'd be talking an all-time great here, but hey, we're getting it now, and I'm happy for the lug. The finishing flurry at the end was a nice touch, like Henry couldn't believe one World's Strongest Slam couldn't finish Show off. So he did it again. And again. And then a couple of Death from Above splashes. He looks just as good decimating a giant as he does tossing around the Christians and Trent Barettas of the world. That's the sign of a good wrestler.

The two World Championship matches had me the most worried about this event, but both delivered in ways that were different but still satisfying. The World Heavyweight Championship match was more a character study than it was a wrestling match. It was basically Christian, right from start, trying to goad Randy Orton into losing his temper. It pretty much redeemed a month of lackluster build in one match, because it was so masterfully crafted. To his credit, Orton did what he had to do and then some. And how about the Viper going all ROH-midcarder with his offensive outburst? I kinda dug it, especially the Canadian backbreaker into the neckbreaker. But the finish, my God, it just showed how much of a master Christian is at match psychology and how well Orton plays (is?) the guy who flies off the handle. The post-match beatdown worked almost too well. I expected Bryan to come down and effectively kill me of wrestling fan euphoria. But then again, he's way too noble to cash in that way.

In a related note, if Friday comes and Bryan announces he's cashing it at WrestleMania, then I will lose my shit.

But all of the above described? That was just the appetizer. A tasty appetizer, but the thing that we all looked forward to most was Punk and Cena. And in a rare moment, one that was a throwback to the old days, when the main event almost always felt like a big deal after the match, not just before it, this match delivered in ways that I can't even describe. There were so many elements at play here. The crowd was so instrumental in creating the atmosphere, and they were hot almost the entire match. Hell, I'll give the kids and skirts credit here too. The ones that audibly chanted "Let's go Cena!"? Yeah, you get a million points from me. Totally provided a light contrast to the vast majority of people there screaming for Cena's blood every time Punk went in for the kill.

And before the elephant overshadows everyone else in the room, yes, I saw more than a few botches in the match. But as I've said before, if it's handled right, it's alright. Here, they handled it better than correctly. And in a way, it was a perfect contrast. You had Punk, who in front of his hometown wrestled with such passion, emotion, a classic babyface. Then there was Cena, whose ring savvy allowed him to be cold, almost emotionless (at least until the end), going about his duty with a business-like attitude that in a way exemplified the "dynastic Yankee" label Punk put on him in Boston. It almost felt ironic in a sense.

Then, despite what the fans chanted, there was the wrestling, brought by both men. I mean really, how could you say Cena couldn't wrestle when he dropped Punk (and himself) on the canvas with that faux-superplex to the outside, RIGHT in front of Punk's mom and his two best friends in Colt Cabana and Ace Steel. Christ, that was such a subtle dick heel move. I loved it. I also loved the segue from the STF into the Anaconda Vice. That submission exchange was probably the best spot of pure chain wrestling that you'll find in the States all year with the exception of what Johnnies Saint and Kidd will provide in a couple of weeks.

Then the finish. Vince McMahon's paranoia, Cena clocking Johnny Ace, the attempt at the Chicago Screwjob, Go to Sleep, New Champion. New Champion. They followed through on CM Punk potentially leaving WWE with the title. And then what was better, McMahon got on the headset and called for del Rio to come out. And there he came, look of steely determination on his face, like he was going to cross armbreaker his way into the heart of his boss, but BOOM. Holy shit, Punk kicked him in the back of the head like it was no big deal. If I were Alberto del Rio? I'd have thrown up my arms when I regained consciousness, said "I ain't even mad" and just applauded because that was maybe the most perfectly executed flash kick I've ever seen. And then the picture, that I have posted above. Punk blowing a kiss goodbye to McMahon and heading through the crowd. Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

It was the perfect end to a perfect pay-per-view. The WWE gets ragged on a lot, but even the coldest, blackest, darkest heart had to have been warmed tonight by what they put on. Their PPV has always been a strong point, but until tonight, they hadn't come close to perfect since maybe the second One Night Stand. This event stands in rarefied air right now. I would be hard pressed to come up with an argument against it being one of the best, if not the best WWE PPV of all-time.

And it's all because they took a chance and let CM Punk escape with the title. Well-played, gentlemen. Well-played.

Your Midweek Links: The People's Republic of North Dakota?

A state, territory or THUNDERDOME?

It's hump day, so here are some links to help get you through the week:

Self-Shilling:

- Episode 10 of The Wrestling Podcast. Me and Justin Henry talk shop about Money in the Bank, Destination X and other things. [Tyler Black Sabbath]

Wrestling Links:

- Introducing Cameron Riley's new blog! [Musings of a Mark]

- The Laurinitis boys... this is badass. [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- DDS interviews Kenny Omega [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- WWE misleading someone (in this case GLAAD)? No, get out! [Cageside Seats]

- Andre Harrison looks at Destination X. [The Harrison Analysis]

- Rey Mysterio clotheslining a woman. Your ar... ah, you know what comes next. [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- K Sawyer Paul talks to Rachel Davies of Wrestlegasm about blogging, CM Punk and why she could be the only fan of Stephanie McMahon on the planet other than Stephanie herself or Triple H. [Aggressive Art]

- John Cena is untouchable [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Scumbag wrestling promoter reaches new, new low. [With Leather]

- Scott Bowden talks about Jerry Jarrett's new biography. [Kentucky Fried 'Rasslin']

- Dear Vince, this is what we want. [I Want Wrestling]

- Women's wrestling mid-year report card. [Diva Dirt]

- Razor's stream of consciousness, scribed-in-real-time thoughts about RAW. [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- Impact review in handy-dandy Woo!/Boo! format [Fair to Flair]

- All about Talk Like Randy Savage Day [The Goozle]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

- Axl Rage

Non-Wrestling Links:

- North Dakota may not be a state thanks to loophole in their constitution. Inb4 the Tea Party invades and makes the secession official. [Newser]

- Patton Oswald makes really good five-second movies. [FilmDrunk]

- Comcast fucks over a dude over data caps, causing some salient inquiries into net neutrality. [Kotaku]

- Who gives a fuck, it's not ginger ale. [The Oatmeal]

- Florida's media guide looks like it was designed by a 12 year old. No, scratch that, I think pre-teens can work Photoshop better than that. Make that designed by a 62 year old then. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- This Week in Fuck You: You. Yes, you. Shut up about Netflix, you fucksticks. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Would you kill a stranger to save football? That, and other questions answered by Drew Magary in the Funbag this week. [Deadspin]

- The Critic, ahead of its time for more than just its humor. 10 things it almost perfectly nailed. [Warming Glow]

- Those Zorblaxians had it coming, bastards. [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- The top 20 minor Harry Potter characters, preemptive withdrawal treatment for youse guys. [Buzz Feed]

- Larry F'n Bowa's midseason report card. Related: Mike Meech of The Fightins will be the guest on The Wrestling Podcast tomorrow. [The Fightins]

- Mind-blowing map of the known Universe, just in case you want to feel insignificant. [Unreality Mag]

- Texting in 1911? TIME TRAVEL EXISTS! [How to Be a Retronaut]

- Teaster poster for The Dark Knight Rises! [Blast-o-Rama]

- Breaking news, the Philadelphia 76ers have been sold. [CBS Philly]

- The Song of Ice and Fire series (read: Game of Thrones) is one wordy-ass novel serial. [Gamma Squad]

- Rutgers football player paralyzed in a game is now walking. Heartwarming story. [Dr. Saturday]

- If the world ran off medieval technology today... [Cracked]

- Want to read some good X-Men trades? Here are 11 essential ones. [Topless Robot]

- Boring NASCAR race plagued by bad traffic. A double whammy. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Tyler Myers breaks the glass retorting to a Flyers fan taunting him. I ain't even mad. [Puck Daddy]

- Diablo Cody is writing the next Evil Dead movie. Nerd boners DEFLATE [AV Club]

- A song for departed Flyers rental forward Kris Versteeg. This isn't homoerotic in the slightest, by the way. At all. Not that there'd be anything wrong with it if it were. Just sayin'. [Flyers Goal Scored By]

- The 25 least valuable players in NFL. Somehow, there are no representatives from the Eagles offensive line here. [Grantland]

- The most unfair video game characters ever. Good list, although I would have put "cheating online assholes who call you a n00b on PSN..." oh wait, they're not characters, they're unfortunately real. [The Smoking Section]

- Did Tom Green invent planking? If so, I think flogging is the appropriate punishment. [Uproxx]

- Charlie Manuel tries to add Wilson Valdez to the NL All-Star roster. Hilarity ensues. [I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay]

- Handy flowchart on what to expect in a Little League at-bat. [Sports Pickle]

- Is Brandon Graham's injury more serious than thought? [The 700 Level]

- Fear Itself teaser [Comic Books and Whatever]

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 10: Justin Henry

Photo Credit:
Justin Henry's Twitter

Episode 10: Tyler Black Sabbath

Tenth episode! Justin Henry and I talk about, of course, CM Punk, as well as Destination X, Eddie Guerrero exploitation, Mark Henry, why Jerry Lawler might not be at fault for his cracks about Vickie Guerrero and a few other things. We also delve into his gig writing at WrestleCrap. Give it a listen.

Direct link for straight download

One Last Dream Match: John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio

Cena's last dream match is against... Rey?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you don't know, I tend to live-Tweet RAW every Monday. I'm not the only one. There's a live cast of Twitter-characters on display, from guys talking about the show for realsies like Sugar Dunkerton to the outright trolls like Typical ROH Fan. OF course, my Fair to Flair cohorts tweet RAW from time to time, the most active being Razor of Kick-Out!! Blog. Last night, during the show, Razor had this observation during the three-way for a replacement Number One Contender among R-Truth, Alberto del Rio and Rey Mysterio:

I have a feeling this match is just a distraction, but the idea of John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio is very intriguing to me.

It's intriguing to me. As we'd find out later that night, the last time the two had faced off one-on-one was in 2003, before Cena turned face. The closest we've gotten since both guys hit the main event was last year at Viewer's Choice, when Rey was up for vote to face Cena in the main event. We all know how that turned out; CM Punk won the vote and he and his Straight Edge Society were offered up to slaughter for the Nexus' epic debut.

It's almost inarguable that these two guys are the biggest draws in WWE right now. Randy Orton may be anchoring Smackdown, but I still feel like he's a work in progress. Besides, we've seen Orton/Mysterio and Orton/Cena a whole lot. But Cena/Mysterio would be pretty magical, or at the very least fresh. I'd even say this is one of three dream matches left in WWE. One is Cena/Rock, and we're getting that at WrestleMania next year. The other is Cena/Undertaker, a match we'll probably never get because it's a WrestleMania-main event-caliber match, and next year will more than likely be Taker's last run.

The thing is, the window for Rey/Cena is closing as well. Rey is also not a spring chicken. Although he's not reached his 40th birthday yet, his knees are notoriously in bad shape to the point where if he retired next year, next month or next week, it wouldn't be surprising. They can't pull the trigger on it now because I feel like it's a WrestleMania main event, or at the very least something to headline SummerSlam. Cena's got a dream match in his sights, so he needs to stay occupied with temporary hurdles, be they del Rio, The Miz, Punk, Truth or even a returning Batista or Chris Jericho.

But if they do tangle? It would definitely be an intriguing match. Both guys are solid workers, although in different ways. Mysterio, although limited by his bad knees, is still a high-flyer and a hard bumper. Cena is a powerhouse whose big moves pop crowds. There's one more very interesting dynamic that would come into play here. Cena rarely ever works against guys who are smaller than, say, The Miz. WWE doesn't grow heels as small as Rey, and usually, if you're that small, you're typecast into a scrappy underdog role₁. I'd be very keen on seeing how Cena plays the big bully role.

An even more intriguing scenario would be heel Rey taking on Cena. It might seem incomprehensible now, but one of the more popular fantasy booking has Rey turning heel after growing jealous of Sin Cara. Everyone would assume that if this wasn't a face/face match that Cena would be the heel, but unless someone comes along who usurps Cena in popularity, I don't see him ever changing alignments. Rey though? I feel like he gets taken for granted more than Cena does. That's a situation that's so new to me that I can barely begin to process it.

Still, it goes to prove that there are many different possibilities for this dream match if it ever happens. I hope it does, because it could be a really cool thing to watch. Even for a jaded fan trying to reclaim his past innocence (futilely maybe), it would be a dream match come true.

1 - It's a big reason why I think Austin Aries remains unsigned by WWE, not just because of his size, but because of a combination of his size and his natural heel proclivities.