Future Endeavors 9/1 Power Poll: The Game Is King

Green Ant and Tadasuke tangling from King of Trios '10. They tangled again last week and both got rankings.

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 Sergei Bo-Bro-vsky PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. Triple H (Last Week: NR)
2. CM Punk (4)
3. Randy Orton (3)
4. John Cena (5)
5. Mark Henry (2)
6. Shemus (NR)
7. The Ghan-Am Connection (Kofi Kingston/Evan Bourne) (6)
8. Kevin Nash (9)
9. Sin Cara (NR)
10. The Awesome Truth (The Miz/R-Truth) (10)

NOTE: I refuse to use the name Air Boom. Brandon Stroud (who got the name actually from Dave Shoemaker and someone named @sweatingmullets... don't ask) had it right the first time.

And now, my ballot:

1. Tadasuke - For winning the Young Lions Cup and continuing to piss off the small, lonely people who have nothing better to do than populate Internet message boards and complain about wrestling in all its forms.

2. Mark Henry - Mark Henry, splitter of wigs, destroyer of worlds. My dream WrestleMania match is now Mark Henry vs. Galactus, which I'm sure Henry would win via World's Strongest Slam and the Death from Above Splash. BECAUSE HE'S FUCKING AWESOME THAT'S WHY SHUT UP.

3. CM Punk - Okay, so he did his best work of the week AFTER the ballot deadline. BFD. He should get ranked in perpetuity.

4. The Miz - Why just Miz and not Miz and R-Truth? Well, to be fair, Truth only came out to get mollywopped by CM Punk post-match.

5. Green Ant - Four wins in five matches, plus he got himself an article written about him by me. What do you mean circular logic?

6. Icarus - How could I vote for Icarus over Randy Orton? Because I can.

7. Sheamus - Fella.

8. John Cena - Y'know what I'd like to see? Cena vs. Icarus. Why? Fuck you, that's why.

9. Daniel Bryan - Stock Daniel Bryan ranking.

10. Drew McIntyre - Yeah, he lost his Superstars match against Bryan, but it was good. Plus, I feel bad for poor Drew. His improvement is inversely proportional to his push.

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

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 17: Butch Rosser and Ken Borsuk

Pictured: Ken Borsuk (not really)

Mellow Goldust

For the first time, The Wrestling Podcast has two guests the whole way through. Butch Rosser and Ken Borsuk stop by and we talk everything about the current WWE direction. We eulogize Todd Grisham's career and lavish great praise on The Miz, Alberto del Rio and CM Punk/ Also, we totally get into the tag team division, wax nostalgic about WWECW and even parse the English language. In the coup de grace, we fantasy cast a WWE Films remake of Blazing Saddles. It's a must listen.

Direct link for your downloading pleasure

Instant Feedback: EAT SHIT LOGAN

So, did anyone else catch the not-so-PG sign in the crowd during the Alberto del Rio/John Morrison match? It made me giggle.

Anyway, yeah, the main event stuff tonight was hit or miss for me. Punk seemed off on his promo game tonight, but at the same time, you can't expect a guy to spit each week at the highest level. That being said, Punk at B+ is better than a lot of guys at their A+++ material, so it's okay. Here's what I liked about the main event angle. I loved the Cena/Punk match, up to the finish. I liked that Nash pulled a slick outsmarting move to get Triple H out of the building. What I didn't like? I didn't like the segment in the middle where Nash and Trips confronted each other. I didn't like the finish of the main event. It's not that Cena won at all. I think it's par for the course. Neither guy can seem to put the other away without help. I think it sets the stage for the ultimate showdown, maybe at Hell in the Cell. What I didn't like was the tired "distract the loser" finish with Nash distracting Punk. I feel like they do this too much. I'm in the middle on the opening segment. So yeah, there's that.

I also almost (and probably should have) fast forwarded through the Divas match completely (I started late because I was putting together a crib... FUN!). Also, Morrison has the worst strikes ever, really. He fooled me against Sheamus last year, but mostly because all he was doing were punches. Break anything else out and he sucks. Those lariats... good God, Stan Hansen in 2080 is rolling over in his grave every time Morrison breaks one of those out. And the Jack Swagger/Alex Riley match was subpar.

That being said, a lot of what went down tonight was fucking awesome. The Tag Pennies match was pretty good. Yes, I'm pretty high on the Nexus as a tag team, although I'm psyched that Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston have them the belts. Aside from the actual match, I'm excited about the prospect of either an alliance between Swagger and Dolph Ziggler or, where I want it to go, a feud where we'll get fucking awesome matches with a lot of amateur influence and great counters and I have to stop writing about it because I'll start fantasy booking and I don't want to do that right now because I'm tired.

The Miz/R-Truth dual promo was so, so, SO FUCKING AWESOME that I couldn't stop smiling. Both men proved they could hang with Punk in the blurring of the edge, and both guys just delivered. They're a perfect duo, with Truth bringing the absurdity and Miz being the intense straight man. Man, I want to see more of these guys.

So yeah, there were a few really big spots on RAW tonight, but it was an overall uneven episode. That being said, the main event narrative can't be awesome every week, but overall, I'm still on board.

Future Endeavors 8/12 Power Poll: Punk. Cena. YEAH.

1, 2 and two corporate goons
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 Bro-dongo, PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. CM Punk (Last Week: 1)
2. John Cena (2)
3. Christian (3)
4. R-Truth (8)
5. The Miz (9)
6. Daniel Bryan (NR)
7. Sheamus (4)
8. Randy Orton (5)
9. Mark Henry (NR)
10. Kurt Angle (NR)

And now, my ballot:

1. CM Punk - Duh.

2. John Cena - Double duh.

3. The Miz - Channeling Bruiser Brody, the Tasmanian Devil and Jeff Gilooly, Miz set out to rid the world of Rey Mysterio, and he did, at least for Monday night. If wrestling were real, then I'd probably hire Miz to go and take out my foes. At least I'd know the job would get done right.

4. R-Truth - Little Jimmy origin story. Your argument is invalid.

5. Kurt Angle - Winning the Impact Wrestling World Championship and looking like the crazy dude who led the Heaven's Gate cult in the process got him here. If he ends up getting Bischoff, Russo, Dixie and Jarrett to drink some Kool-Aid and "head up on the spaceship", he'd get #1.

6. Mercedes Martinez - She went 73 minutes with Lexus, thus taking that phrase back from lesbian porn.

7. Brian Kendrick - He retained his X-Division Championship at Hardcore Justice. Sadly, I have no sarcastic entry for him.

8. Daniel Bryan - Stock Daniel Bryan ranking

9. Sheamus - I'm amped for his HOSS FIGHT at SummerSlam tomorrow. That doesn't explain why I ranked him, but yeah, I just thought I'd pass that along.

10. Lexus - The other competitor in that 73 minute match. In other news, I'm not sure that the combined time for WWE's Diva matches this year approaches 73 minutes yet, and she and Mercedes topped that in one match. Imagine that.

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.

Your Favorite Wrestlers Ever: K. Sawyer Paul

Now that my own favorites list is out of the way, I posed the question to some of my colleagues in the fan/writer community. Who are your favorite five wrestlers?

Next up in the favorites queue is my Fair to Flair colleague K. Sawyer Paul, who curates International Object on Tumblr. He has a very different way of looking at wrestling than most of us, so while his list may include a lot of the same guys others would, his reasonings for them are different.

And I like different.

---

Holzerman asked me to give him my top 5 wrestlers, but failed to mention criteria. Top 5 best wrestlers? Best talkers? Best money makers? Best choke slammers? The field was wide open. I went instead with my top 5 wrestlers as great examples of wrestlers as people, as influencers of wrestlers and people, as examples to us all how to make it in the workplace of wrestling.

1. Bret Hart - Bret never took a sick day, never took time off, and never asked for a vacation from the day he signed in WWE to Wrestlemania 12. After that, his record gets spottier, but some of his best work was still to come. Let that be a lesson to you: work your ass off, then be a diva. Bret is still my childhood hero, and I’m proud to say those values he extolled to his fan base still hold up to this day. Also, wear a steel chest plate and you will win the day, every time.

Number 1 and number 2 on a recent RAW
Photo Credit: WWE.com

2. CM Punk - Great wrestlers stick very, very close to their principles, and whether you love them or hate them depend largely on what you think of those principles. CM Punk believes in his friends, his straight edge ethos, saying what’s on his mind, rarely smiling in pictures and taking delight in the moral failings of others. Because Punk has wrestled almost entirely in the age of social media, we can actually trace his steps from 2003 to today, through several different wrestling companies, and confirm these things. Be true to yourself despite popular opinion, career opportunities, and making the people around you happy. Be true to yourself despite yourself. Things will work out in the end.

3. The Miz - The Miz’s rise to the top of WWE is one of the great hard-working stories of our time. Though he’s a villain, he simply loves wrestling so much you can’t really help but root for the guy. God knows, there was a long time where the only person who believed he would make it was himself. The lesson the Miz gives us? If you want something, never, ever give up. You’ll one day get to pin John Cena at Wrestlemania.

4. Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan/"Bridey" - Sense of humour does a lot to endear me to a person. For instance, I honestly had no interest in the career of Brian Danielson until I saw his sense of humour. WWE gets a lot of things wrong. God knows, they’ve ruined as many careers as they’ve made. But I honestly believe that letting Bridey’s sense of humour shine has been the turning point of his career. He was a great professional wrestler. He was always going to go down in history as one of the best technicians in the art. But he’s becoming a fuller character.

What’s the lesson learned from Bridey? Show your heart, your humour, and your love at all corners, especially when burying people.

5. Kevin Nash - Surely I’ve gone crazy. Nash has a reputation as a lazy worker, a backstabbing politician, and a turncoat professional. Why is he on this list? The wink. Professional wrestling is a deep, difficult, and nearly-impenetrable form (just listen to an argument about art vs sport if you want to get a headache), but I honestly believe Nash understands the business and the practice better than almost anyone. Nash has winked at the camera more than anyone, because he wants the audience to get it like he gets it. He doesn’t want you to suspend your belief: he wants to realize what you’re watching is a farce. There’s beauty in farce, of course. Wrestling is nothing if not a beautiful depiction of ugly people. Nash wants us to get to that level, to realize that underneath the pomp and circumstance, we’re all manner of scum and villainy — and that’s okay.

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.

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.

The Best Moves Ever: Slingshot Sitdown Powerbomb

You ever see something and go "DAMN, that's one of the best things I've ever seen" right away? I had one of those moments Monday night. During the EXCELLENT Miz/Mysterio match, there was one spot that jumped out at me right away as one of the top moves I've ever seen. A slingshot sitdown powerbomb, executed perfectly, bumped perfectly... just AAAAAAWESOME.

My Favorite Wrestlers Ever: #20 through #11

Since I missed posting this yesterday, a DOUBLE ENTRY.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

20. The Miz

The Miz is like the main eventer that I watched grow up. He was always in John Morrison's shadow, but just by looking at both guys, I knew Miz was the much better guy. I mean, he talked better. He worked better (I was never fooled by the flipz). The only thing he didn't have going for him was the "stink" from being on the Real World, but seriously? You were going to hate on him because he got famous on MTV? Christ, if that's the case, then your priorities are out of whack.

From the point where he really arrived, no, not the Chicken Crumbs promo, the moment where I started marking for him hard was when he shot Hornswoggle in the dick with that t-shirt gun. Seriously, you didn't know how much I hated that midget. From there, he just kept building and building on that resume until he came out at WrestleMania through the "AWESOME" blow-up for his match against Cena. He was my guy. I feel so proud of the tyke.


19. Ted DiBiase

Photo Credit: WWE.com

This is more of a retroactive fandom. When he was around, I booed the shit out of him, but of course I did. I was a kid that booed the heels and cheered the faces. It's how kids watch. And to be fair, DiBiase was one of the best at what he did. He mistreated the black guy, stuffed dollar bills in people's mouths, bought and sold wrestlers like cattle and had one of the BEST evil laughs in wrestling history. Plus, what a boss theme song, the best in wrestling history for my money:



EVERYBODY'S GOT A PRICE

Later on in life, I grew to appreciate him as an ace performer, as a guy who could bring it in the ring and a guy who played his role so well, maybe a little too well. Any time he comes back to WWE programming, it's a welcome sight, even though he's more of a good guy now. Kind of a waste for the best villain in the Rock 'n Wrestling Era (THERE, I SAID IT), but still, I'm not even sure I wanna boo Ted anymore.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

18. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

Like I booed DiBiase because he was a heel, I cheered the shit out of Hacksaw because he was a good guy. Unlike DiBiase, I never stopped giving my positive reactions to Duggan, mainly because HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE HACKSAW? It'd be un-American. I mean yeah, I should by all rights hate the guy, because he was a pandering gimmick who couldn't really work. But you know what? Wrestling isn't about adhering to roles, it's about what makes you feel good inside. Watching Hacksaw makes me feel good.

I think a lot of it has to do with his new fake Twitter account too. It's not really Hacksaw, but it's such an exaggerated version of him that it puts what he really was in perspective... which is that Duggan was always goofy, silly but at heart, endearing. That's why after all these years, I still mark for Hacksaw, tough guy. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling Wikia

17. Stevie Richards

Stevie Richards, the lackey who made good. Starting out as Raven's ne'er-do-well henchman, Richards slowly but surely climbed up the ranks to lead his nWo-knockoff group, the Blue World Order. Something strange happened along the way though. The bWo, not to be confused with the clothing line that was the New World Order (one of the greatest veiled slams in wrestling commentary history, courtesy of Vince McMahon), turned out to be the better faction in wrestling history. Seriously, while the nWo kept adding members, the bWo stayed with three, never going more than four or five, and always had a great sense of humor. Meanie and Nova both were great members, but it really was all about Stevie, whose rise from comedic foil to unlikely hero was really my favorite ECW storyline ever. Christ, it got to the point where I was pissed when he didn't win the chance to take out Raven at Barely Legal. Yeah, they wanted me to pull for Terry Funk, but my fandom belonged to Big Stevie Cool.

Along the line, companies did their best to try and dilute him and marginalize him. WWE thought that making him head of Right to Censor was a good idea. It only served to give Vince his jollies at getting vicarious "revenge" against the Parent Television Council. TNA thought that giving him a therapist gimmick would make good feud fodder with Abyss. Yeah, no. Yet, no matter where he goes or what he does, he still puts in 100 percent. It's evident by the way he keeps himself in shape.

He's also a really nice guy. True story, when I was living with my parents while I was in college, around the RTC time, Richards lived right up the block from me. Imagine that, a true-blue WWF wrestler lived five or six rowhomes away from me in Northeast Philadelphia. I saw him all the time, coming back from the corner deli with hoagies wrapped in white paper, or whatever. One day, I stopped him on my way home from school and talked to him, asking him about being in WWF and all. He was happy to talk to me. He didn't have to, but he did. That's not the reason why he's on here, but it definitely shows that he's one of the cool ones.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

16. The Road Warriors

It might be cliche to name the Roadies as your favorite tag team ever, but you know what? I really don't care. They're really popular for a reason, and it's because fuck man, they were the best tag team ever. Two guys that just exuded bad-ass from every pore, from their appearance (aped by the WWF when they couldn't sign them with Demolition) to their gruff voices to their roughneck style. I got legit chills when Hawk would gutturally rumble "OOOOOH WHAT A RUSH!"

And really, they stand as the last of the great tag teams. I used to bemoan that Hawk never got a singles run, but y'know what? Maybe it was better that way. Given how every other great tag team of the last 20 years has split up and gone solo with great success for at least one member - even Team 3D/the Dudleys have now produced at least a critically acclaimed singles star in Impact with Bully Ray - it could be knee jerk to treat a tag division as a place where people temporarily go before they break out as a singles star. The Roadies though were a force as a team, something completely missing from wrestling nowadays, at least on the mainstream level.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

15. Rowdy Roddy Piper

Unless you stopped watching wrestling around 1985 as a small child infected with Hulkamania, I think it's impossible to be a wrestling fan and not love the shit out of the Rowdy Scot. There was just something so manic and so unpredictable when watching him on the mic. Even when he was bad, he was so charming that you couldn't help but at least fight the smile when you were supposed to dislike him.

He also made it outside of wrestling. Yeah, Rock and Hogan were both the megastars, but Piper has actually appeared in stuff that's actually good rather than just moneymaking. I mean, how many wrestling fans are going to go out and enjoy The Tooth Fairy? How many people, fans or not, thought No Holds Barred was actually good? Piper though? From They Live to even his appearance in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, he brought the goods in projects that weren't totally shitty.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

14. Christian

Christian running with the World Heavyweight Championship right now is great. It is, and I'm glad he's getting the ball. A lot of people look at what he is right now and moan because he's being "made to look weak" or is fodder for Orton. I see it as the glass-half-full. I'd much rather see Christian as a babyface performer too, but he's taking this opportunity and running with it, having excellent matches and doing some good promo and character work too. He's proving everyone who naysaid him wrong.

And obviously, I'm a huge fan of good in-ring work, which Christian for whatever reason always had over Edge, and recently, over 95% of all the workers in America, really. Watching him wrestle is just a treat, whether it's in a highly technical affair against Chris Jericho or a trash-brawl against Tommy Dreamer. He may justifiably be Captain Charisma, but he's got a hell of a lot of talent in the ring too.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

13. Davey Boy Smith

I was too young for the British Bulldogs, so this was all solo, or at least his team-ups with Owen Hart and the new Hart Foundation. I always found something endearing about the Bulldog. I guess I blame the build to SummerSlam '92. It was so well-done that I was rooting for Davey Boy over Bret Hart, and Hart was one of my favorite wrestlers at the time.

It was funny too because he didn't really have a lot of promo talent. However, he was still very much a likable character. Plus his powerslam was tight. I guess it was his smile, and the way he carried himself. But yeah, I always dug the Bulldog.

Photo Credit:
Scott Finkelstein

12. Claudio Castagnoli

Talk about a guy who has embraced social media as a way to interact with his fans. Claudio is all over Twitter, and he's very good at responding to fans sending him messages. Plus, he's embraced Youtube with Claudio's Cafe.

But there are other guys who are all over social media and not this high on this list. Claudio is an awesome worker, a big guy among the smaller guys on the indie scene. Whenever he puts up the Big Swing, it's a sight to behold. He's got amazing tag chemistry with Chris Hero as well.

Photo Credit: Slam Canoe

11. Tommy Dreamer

I always loved ECW, but looking back on it, there weren't a lot of guys that I really liked enough to call them my favorites. It was a great show with very few great characters. Shane Douglas was annoying, Raven scuzzy, Sandman low-rent, RVD falsely bombastic. Together though, they all made for good television. But aside from the bWo and the tag scene, there was one guy who embodied ECW and whom I loved. That was Tommy Dreamer.

He was the living spirit of Extreme. He was the Innovator of Violence, yeah, but he also was the eternal underdog, a guy who was popular for putting everyone over but doing it in a way where he showed tenacity and fight. He was blue collar. He was ECW, because ECW was always fighting a losing battle with the WWF and WCW, trying to gain a market share while having them poach their best talent.

So when Dreamer won the ECW Championship from Taz, it was amazing... until I read that he dropped it to Justin Credible. The fucking asshat who used to wear a jockstrap on his head. Ugh. WWE made it right 10 years later by giving him their version of the ECW Championship, but that's just not the same. But yeah, even if he was never the biggest guy, he was alwas the most tenacious. That's why I love Tommy Dreamer, and still do.

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?

Daniel Bryan Has Made It

Daniel Bryan! *clap clap clapclapclap*
Photo Credit: WWE.com

At this time last year, Bryan Danielson was gearing up to appear for EVOLVE and DGUSA. After getting fired from WWE for using Justin Roberts' apparel against him in a manner deemed to be too real for the company's sponsors. There were those who thought that it marked the end of an experiment that was doomed to fail from jump. How could the best wrestler in the world make it in a company that was further distancing itself from that word?

Little did they know that a month later, he'd return as Daniel Bryan to the company, a conquering hero, helping John Cena put down the group that Bryan had helped form, only kept from surviving due to a jealous Miz. The next year or so was spent building up the small guy from the indies as a guy who deserved to be on the big stage. It was eminently clear during the first half of his reign as United States Champion. Sure, he spent the second half of it and every moment between losing the strap to Sheamus and getting his feud-starting win over Cody Rhodes languishing a bit, but name any WWE wrestler who hasn't gotten lost in the shuffle in the last couple of years whose name isn't John Cena or Randy Orton. You really can't.

So it's with this moment that Bryan was pegged, was marked for stardom if you will. The cacophony of Michael Cole calling him a nerd was just that, background noise (and how soon do we all forget that it was Cole's antagonism that got Bryan over in the first place), because the fucking American Dragon held a briefcase in his hands, one that guaranteed him a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, and one that we were reminded all night long, had never been cashed-in for a loss.

I'd like to think that the timing of the decision was just right. On a night when CM Punk was given his biggest stage to shine, a night when Christian was able to outsmart Orton, maybe it wasn't happenstance that Bryan was chosen as the wrestler to tackle the briefcase. Maybe the winds of change weren't just a device that Wade Barrett used to get himself over during NXT's first season. Maybe they really are blowing.

And you know what? That's a win not just for us nerds, but for everyone. People have attached themselves to Bryan in the past, and they will in the future. Still, he's one of us, he's our guy. And I can't help but feel that last night, he made it. I couldn't be any prouder.

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.

Future Endeavors 7/7 Power Poll: Cena Is Beloved by the Net, Down Is Now Up

Was I the only guy to vote for McMahon?
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 Bilbro Baggins, PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. John Cena (Last Week: 8)
2. CM Punk (1)
3. Randy Orton (4)
4. Alberto Del Rio (7)
5. Sheamus (NR)
6. Christian (9)
7. Mark Henry (2)
8. R-Truth (5)
9. Alex Riley (NR)
10. Zack Ryder (NR)

And now, my ballot:

1. John Cena
2. Vince McMahon - I'm not sure that final segment works the way it does if one of these two guys is missing. They totally made up for Punk not being on the telecast "live", and it was great TV, especially from Cena.

3. Daniel Bryan - Guys, I think they really believe in Daniel Bryan. The next person who says they don't emphasize him despite the fact he's in a prominent feud is getting my e-foot up their cyber-ass.

4. Sheamus - He ruined a contract signing and turned it into a fellabration by putting his real boot up the corporeal asses of both Randy Orton and Christian. This gets four thumbs up from Wrestling Fan Goro.

5. Alex Riley - BACKSLIDE~!

6. Christian - I'd say being the first guy to beat Sin Cara is worthy of getting on my ballot.

7. The Miz - He basically teabagged Riley after their match was over. Is there anyone better in WWE at doing the post-match beatdown than Miz right now?

8. Alberto del Rio - He got a big win on RAW that meant nothing in the long run. But hey, a clean win over Rey Mysterio with the cross armbreaker is no joke.

9. R-Truth - He saved 15% on his car insurance by switching to Geico despite the fact he was talking to Flo the whole time. That's impressive!

10. Zack Ryder - Yeah, I voted for him just for coming out and fist-pumping for a minute. So what, want to fight about it?

Instant Feedback: John Cena, a Real American Hero

Usually, whenever they tape two RAWs at the same time, the second show is flat, the crowd sucks and nothing really ever happens. Reading some of the spoilers for this show, my hopes weren't high. But that's the thing about spoilers; usually, they only tell part of the story. Verily, tonight's RAW was awesome from top to bottom. How fitting that in this year of upside-down and inside-out that the show that was taped after one two-hour show was among the best of the year, eh?

A lot of that comes from John Cena. He is counted on as WWE's workhorse and their top star, but sometimes, he can come off as trite or insincere. When he does, it makes for bad television. Tonight, he sounded sincere. His promo to kick the show off was about as good as I remember him being. When he's out there, standing up for Hustle, Loyalty and Respect, he is a tremendous, must-see character. Him standing up for his rival, for free speech and for the integrity of the match was riveting and the perfect way to kick off RAW. Even more stunning was his faceoff with Vince McMahon at the end of the show. Let's not get it twisted. McMahon was good in that segment, but Cena carried it. So much forceful emotion... when he feels genuine, I see why he's the top guy in WWE. IT didn't matter to me that they teased another firing, even if they teased and followed through with it to rushed results (even if I thought the story they told with him and Nexus/Wade Barrett was good in theory). The tension of the segment would have sold me on the PPV if I wasn't already sold on it before any match was announced.

And the bookends weren't the only things that sold this show on me. The wrestling was good, even if it wasn't spectacular. The segment with Evan Bourne, Sgt. Slaughter and Jack SWAGGAH~! was epic, especially with Swagger bringing up Sarge's early '90s defection to Iraq. R-Truth on the phone with Flo and plugging the wrong insurance company was epic. Alex Riley winning with a backslide and then Miz doing everything but teabagging him was fitting. Hell, even the Divas got time and had a decent match, which for them was akin to Savage/Steamboat from WM III.

And hey... ZACK RYDER SIGHTING! Here's hoping he and Curt Hawkins, or Chris Masters, or even his father get a shot at the Tag Pennies and more exposure on my RAW program.

For whatever reason, RAW clicked tonight, all 125 minutes of it. Looks like summer is heating up for WWE.

Wrestling Oddsmakers: RAW's Money in the Bank Match

Will del Rio accessorize his cars with a briefcase?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's that time of the year again, wrestling fans! Money in the Bank is a scant two-and-a-half weeks away, and the lineup for the RAW match was announced this past Monday. Here it is, as follows:

• Alberto del Rio
• Alex Riley
• Evan Bourne
• Jack SWAGGAH~!
• Kofi Kingston
• The Miz
• R-Truth
• Rey Mysterio

That's a very interesting lineup, one that will provide some MitB experience, some fresh faces, a gallery of guys who, with the exception of Miz and maybe Mysterio, would feel fresh in the title scene and with Bourne, Kingston and Rey, guys who know how to bring fireworks to a match like this. While I have little doubt this match will deliver, I'm not sure who's going to win. There are a few good choices, but rather than just singling those guys out, why not give odds for everyone, starting with the longest shot and going down to the favorite? Here goes:

Alex Riley
Odds: 500-1

I think WWE likes A-Ry. I really do. He wouldn't be getting this full-faith push if they didn't. I like him too. I think he's got great character chops and if he gets a polish on his ring work, he'll be a good fit for the main event. However, I'll be utterly shocked if he walks away with the briefcase here. It's too soon, and I think they realize it too. Yeah, they're giving him a lot of heat in his feud with Miz, but at the same time, that kind of thing can be a red herring. I mean, look at Kofi after his feud where we all thought he was "made" against Randy Orton. Again, Riley's awesome right now, and he'll get his time in the sun. That time just isn't now.

Evan Bourne
Odds: 250-1

This match is why Bourne is on the roster and probably will remain on the roster. He'll always get prominently featured in it, thanks mostly to the urging of his friends in WWE like John Cena and Randy Orton, but once it's over, management goes back to having him bump for big guys and do his Air Bourne on Superstars. It's a shame, because much like Mysterio, Bourne is fucking exciting to watch, man. While I'll be rooting my hardest for him to win this match, I think those cries will end up being in vain.

Kofi Kingston
Odds: 75-1

If this Money in the Bank were held in December of 2009, then I'd be all-in on Kofi winning. But much like I mentioned before, he's lost his mojo and hasn't really gotten it back, unless being in a perpetual feud with Dolph Ziggler that seems to be personal hell of one Brandon Stroud counts as mojo (hint: it doesn't). Then again, what other face on the RAW side than Cena and Mysterio get the kind of pops that Kofi even still gets? Not John Morrison, he's hurt anyway. I mean, I don't see him winning, but at the same time, I thought that Swagger didn't have a chance in hell in the last WM MitB match, did I?

Jack Swagger
Odds: 40-1

Speaking of SWAGGAH BOMBU~!, this is his first MitB match since that aforementioned briefcase snagging at WrestleMania XXVI. That led to him not being in Smackdown's match last year because he was trying to regain the World Championship from Rey Mysterio. I'm hesitant to say he has a great shot because he's been jobbing to Bourne a lot lately, but then again, they seem to like to break guys down before giving them the briefcase, don't they? Plus, he still has that broken association with Michael Cole going for him, which would segue nice into an angle. He's middling at best, but I give him a better than 50-1 chance because hey, I've been burned once before.

R-Truth
Odds: 25-1

You would think that Truth would be a favorite for this match, given that he's fresh off a WWE Championship opportunity, right? Well no, I'm not sure if that's the case, given that WWE and I seem to be on a similar wavelength as to how to keep Truf fresh and interesting. Sure, Money in the Bank would be a great way to circumvent a conspiracy theory against him, but at the same time, why not have circumstance "screw" Truth here like it did at Capitol Punishment, when he done got got by Little Jimmy? At the same time though, he is a prior contender with a beef with Cena, so he's still more viable than the bottom half of the odds sheet.

Rey Mysterio
Odds: 10-1

Mysterio is always hurt, begging for vacation or if you believe the nebulous sources within WWE, is ready to either retire or take a break. So why give him these kinds of odds? Well, he's probably the most over guy in the match, face or heel, for one. Two, him winning gives them the option of realistically having a cash-in be predetermined because hey, he's an honorable face... stop snickering! Faces still act honor... okay, you win. Still, any match where he's in, he's gotta be a favorite to win.

The Miz
Odds: 5-1

It would be old hat, but in a way, it's a propos, right? Miz has the preeminent experience given his big win last year with a better field (or at least one that had Orton in it), plus WWE is known to do a repeat result. They did it with CM Punk directly, and with Edge, I'm sure they were wishing they'd have had him win two briefcases in a row in the MitB match rather than having to beat Mr. Glass Kennedy for his second one. Also, it sets up an intriguing story where Miz is the first to fail at cashing in, be it clean or through A-Ry-generated shenanigans.

Alberto del Rio
Odds: Even Money

It's his DESTINY. Well, we all thought it was his destiny after winning the Royal Rumble, but he was struck by a Smooth Criminal Rated R Superstar in what turned out to be his last match ever. Such is life. However, you don't get to win the Royal Rumble and not be high on their list, so an ADR title reign is inevitable, right? Plus, he's got Cena at SummerSlam, or at least that's the plan according to an interview he did. There are many different ways this could be set up, but I'm thinking a rematch clause after del Rio takes out Cena, who would have just taken out CM Punk, at that very show, would be the most logical one...

...baaaaht... chu already knew that. *wink*

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 8: Josh "PUNTE" Zerkle

Episode 8: Yankem Hotel Foxtrot

PUNTE IS GOJIRA
Photo Credit: @PUNTE

Episode 8 welcomes Josh "PUNTE" Zerkle onto the show. Josh was the man who got me started in podcasting by having me on his House of PUNTE show, and he has presence on the web at Kissing Suzy Kolber and With Leather. We talk about blogging, free speech, Ryan Dunn, football and of course, wrestling, mainly through the eyes of a casual fan. Wrestling topics include why Bret Hart, the differences between then and now and why Randy Orton is boring and terrible.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!