Mission Accomplished!: How Zack Ryder Became a DIY Huge Star

Zack Ryder, searching for this week's Broski of the Week?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Zack Ryder finally arrived last night.

After months and months of rallying the WWE fans to put pressure on the company to give the man more of a platform to shine, Ryder got his ultimate reward in a video package, a spotlight position in a tag match as Jerry Lawler's partner against the Newish Nexus, badgering from Michael Cole and the pinfall victory with his finisher. Unlike other darlings of the Internet, Ryder did all this to massive applause. Those cheers have been there since the Long Island RAW where Ryder wasn't to be seen anywhere but on Superstars, and finally the attention from the front office has caught up to the fan reaction.

The biggest thing that this proves is that maybe, just maybe, WWE is wising up to the fact that it's not just "their" vision that creates stars. Ryder was unhappy with the amount of time on TV he had and the lack of merchandise that was being made for him, so he made a Youtube show and built a grassroots rapport with fans who already were supporting him from having watched him on ECW. Those fans spread the word, and Ryder himself found his coworkers who already liked him and what he was doing becoming more and more vocal about him needing more time to shine. Suddenly, Ryder had a groundswell of emotional investment that manifested itself through Dolph Ziggler after he did not appear on the main RAW telecast in his hometown. The "boys" and the fans have been two groups of people whose opinions really only seemed to matter when they fell in line with what WWE wanted to present recently. While there seems to be a sea change in that kind of thinking that has manifested itself through CM Punk, the Divas of Doom, Christian and even Mark Henry, Ryder still stands out as the starkest example of how DIY can work in WWE.

Don't make any mistakes either judging his rise, because it was as do-it-yourself as you could get in the corporate machine of WWE nowadays. I think that's what makes his rise the most satisfying out of anyone's right now. He saw an opportunity to innovate how one builds character in WWE, seized it, and now, his hard work is paying off. Because of my own biases, my two favorite moments in WWE this year were both at Money in the Bank, when Daniel Bryan won his briefcase and CM Punk kissed Vince McMahon goodbye, but I think a solid third for me was last night, when Ryder got the pin with the Rough Ryder, got the crowd to explode and then got to stand with Lawler as victorious. It's a testament to how well Ryder has done for himself. He proved that the party line passed down by Steve Austin on Tough Enough and repeated by Warrior in his Randy Savage tribute as what used to be "back in the day" still works, no matter how much evidence there is right now to the contrary. If you make your own way, you will be rewarded.

For WWE to survive, I think that credo needs to be adopted by more than just Long Island Ice Z. Churning out mass-produced, dime-a-dozen bland bodybuilders isn't going to create new stars for fans to latch onto. Having guys show their creativity and get people to support them? Yeah, that's going to work. Granted, not everyone can be Ryder, but you won't know who the Ryders of the world are going to be until you give guys the platform to shine independent of the writing staff. Maybe this might mean that a guy like Johnny Curtis will be able to improv a bit instead of doing those lame visual pun segments. Maybe it means Dolph Ziggler will be able to express himself more than just through deferring to Vickie Guerrero. Maybe it means Colt Cabana gets a second chance with the company to right the wrong of his first run as Scotty Goldman. Who knows at this point.

But what I do know is that last night, Ryder finally was made and finally at least earned his spot with the company for as long as they'll have him. WWE could do something stupid like not feature him ever again, but at this point, why would they? The guy can be a huge star for them, and I think the treatment he got last night was indicative of the fact that they know he can be huge for them.

And that makes his run last night the most satisfying thing to happen on the entire telecast. I think it's safe to say that Zack Ryder has finally made it, and I couldn't be happier.

Instant Feedback: Bearded Giraffes

I didn't expect anything major to happen tonight, being that holiday RAWs rarely ever do anything. I was somewhat wrong, at least towards the beginning of the show, although the end reinforced the notion that nothing ever happens except for standard "faces win out" on these kinds of shows. I guess that's why I could palate John Cena standing tall over both Jack SWAGGAH and Alberto del Rio here. There would be plenty of time next week when more people presumably are watching to give del Rio some shine. Plus, the context surrounding the Swagger counter and tap was pretty good. In the main event, they managed to further one of my favorite stories, Dolph Ziggler and SWAGGAH's rivalry for the affections of Vickie Guerrero. del Rio, who was the other star of the show through his Sean O'Haire-esque backstage segments trying to rally troops to do his bidding for him, played into that as well, planting seeds into Ziggler's head about what Swagger's true intentions for Vickie were. Lost in the trailers for shitty movies and the Triple H/Kevin Nash/CM Punk top storyline spinning wheels, there's a really good midcard angle going on here.

That being said, when one top storyline is glossed over and the other gets the standard SuperCena Über Alles ending, it might seem like a terrible RAW. Let's look at the former now. The show started off with a lacking start, even though Punk did his best to save it. I thought he was much better actually wrestling, which people seem to discount because of the whole PIPEBOMB shtick. We know he's great on the mic, but when he gets people to care about a match with R-Truth that doesn't have a whole lot of context around it other than "Hey, he wrestled his tag partner last week", then that's mastery. I do like Punk's paranoia here concerning Trips' intentions towards Nash, but I think a lot of the peripheral stuff has come off pretty badly. One, the narrative still has Punk coming off as, well, a punk to some of the audience. Two, Trips putting his COO position on the line so soon into the narrative? Maybe I can dig it, but it feels too soon for me, even if I feel like the match itself isn't too soon. Third, if Nash is really gone (and with him getting in Funkhauser's limo in the second segment means he's not, more than likely), then it's been spinning wheels since his reintroduction at SummerSlam. Four, there is no four, only Zuul. Finally, the payoff that Nash was the one who sent the text was lame. Like, beyond lame. It pretty much insisted that he's a main player when he's not, and really, no one watching the show for the last three months buys that Trips, if he's a fair arbiter (and to their credit, he has been portrayed as such), is going to choose a guy who showed up, waltzed in and gave an ultimatum over the guy who has sold out a shit-ton of t-shirts and gotten Trips a lot of positive press, if we can blur the lines between kayfabe and "real" for a moment.

Also, I couldn't help but smile at the video package for Zack Ryder, and letting him get the win to a deafening pop was proof enough for me that the guy has arrived and that the fans do have a voice. When Michael Cole is ripping on a guy, you know they've arrived. Ryder's exuberance with Cena afterwards was really cool too, almost like it was as real as it was supposed to be part of the narrative. I really like a good success story. That being said, the pretense behind the match, that Lawler doesn't like David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty because they have "no charisma", is starting to grate on me. I think I see what all these people who think that "personality" is a funny thing to kayfabe feud over.

Also, the sooner they get Eve out of an active wrestler role, the better. Beth Phoenix may have flubbed the Glama-Slam, but she at least looks like a pro wrestler in there. Eve does not. I do find it funny though that they're using that Katie Raymond article as a talking point on TV. Again, K. Sawyer Paul is a guru at this kind of thing. Speaking of people who shouldn't be on camera? Jinder Mahal and Great Khali suck out loud in the ring. Not even Evan Bourne's masterful bumping could make them look good. Also, when Heath Slater and Randy Orton is a RAW match? Well, let's backtrack on that. It was a decent match. And I get the reasoning for it. However, it's something that might have been better suited for Superstars. Then again, what match would replace it? A Mark Henry squash? No better. Eh, I guess I can't complain, especially since Orton, I feel, has started becoming more comfortable wrestling as a good guy. I really like that he's actually setting up spots, especially his stump DDT, rather than, oops, guy's on the apron, let's drag him in and DDT him. Forcing the setup just looks cool.

But if we're going back to the wrestling, the main event tag match was as good a wrestling match as you'll get on a RAW main event. Just excellent pacing and storytelling all around. I liked the interplay between Ziggler and Swagger, the fact that Swagger got to attain beast mode early on, Sheamus taking out centuries of Irish frustration on the proxy for English oppression, Wade Barrett, and especially the spot where Christian's slap enraged Sheamus so much that it got both of them counted out. Really solid action for a show that was actually better than the impression I gave off on Twitter tonight. It was very much a holiday RAW, but it was a somewhat well-executed holiday RAW. It had its flaws, but I enjoyed it for the most part.

Wrestling Six Packs: WWE Tag Teams I Want to See

Is there a reunion in order?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

So, WWE wants to build a tag team division, eh? It seems like they're heading in that direction, giving the Tag Team Championships to the team of Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston. Meanwhile, The Miz and R-Truth seem to have sprouted up an alliance. There are other teams they can put together to build a good division along with the Nexus, the Usos and any team that's incoming, whether it be Los Aviadores, the Rotundo Boys, the Kings of Wrestling or whoever is coming in as a team. Here are six teams I'd like to see, using the current roster.

1. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins

Is it cheating to put these two together? Who cares? We're talking tag teams, so why not reunite the Edgeheads and start off ahead of the curve? Yeah, Ryder's kind of a good guy, and Hawkins, back when he was actually seen on TV last, was a heel, but hey, I'm sure Hawkins would get residual cheers just being associated with his broski.

2. Tyson Kidd and Skip Sheffield

They had a good idea by putting Kidd with a big dude as a "bodyguard", but the execution of it was terrible. Jackson Andrews? Really? Skip Sheffield, when he finally fully heals, is a hoss who is actually really good and won't end up getting shipped off within two weeks. Kidd playing cat and mouse, taunting the babyfaces only to have them run into the meaty hambone of a fist of Sheffield.

3. Drew McIntyre and Jack Swagger, f/ Vickie Guerrero

They're clearly building tension between Swagger and Dolph Ziggler after RAW, but why not build a stable? Let Ziggler run as a singles guy, and have Swagger team with McIntyre. Here you have a team where you have a guy in Swagger who is awesome at the nuts and bolts of wrestling in the ring and a guy in McIntyre who's a master at using the ring itself as a weapon. It's a dual threat villain tag team.

4. Ezekiel Jackson and Yoshi Tatsu

The tried and true good guy tag team formula rests with the Rock 'n Roll Express. You have a Ricky Morton taking massive amounts of damage and then he tags in Robert Gibson who cleans house. So yeah, it's obvious that you have Yoshi making hot tags to Big Zeke, and the Guyanese Goliath comes and bodyslams the shit out of the bad guys. Of course, Yoshi is no slack himself with his big kicks. I'd imagine their finisher to have Zeke putting the victim in the torture rack and Yoshi rocking his dome with a big kick.

5. William Regal and Dean Ambrose

Is this cheating if I use a guy from FCW? Again, it's my blog, so fuck you. Regal has been gushing about the former Jon Moxley in the FCW broadcast booth, so why not have him be the devious mentor for the diabolical mastermind in the bigs? I imagine the beatings would be a brutal combo of mental and physical, and it would be entertaining as fuck.

6. Ricardo Rodriguez and Primo Colon

Again, Rodriguez is in developmental, but he is in WWE's family. I'd rather stick another Mexican under Alberto del Rio, but who else is on the roster who'd fit? Unless you wanted to split Los Aviadores or turn Sin Cara heel. Neither one is as appealing to me, and Primo's a really, really good worker. Would it ruin part of del Rio's mystique if Rodriguez actually wrestled? Nah, I don't think so, especially since del Rio needs to evolve. Having Ricardo split off and do more than just announce for del Rio would be a start.

This Week in DVR: Common Barbarism

COMMON BARBARISM, TEDDY
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I watched what I couldn't watch live this week on my DVR or online. Here's what stood out:

Matches

The RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma and Johnny Goodtime) vs. Erik Watts and Joey Ryan on NWA Hollywood - Neat little tag match. It started to catch my eye early on, when Goodtime was doing the back leapfrog spot over Ryan. Ryan tried to catch him, but Goodtime used momentum to throw Ryan back into the turnbuckles with his legs. The follow up was pretty good too, using the corner as a weapon effectively. Watts got a "You can't wrestle!" chant, but it wasn't deserved. He was serviceable here. Good team synergy by both squads here.

Scorpio Sky vs. SoCal Crazy, NWA Be the Star Television Championship Tournament Finals, NWA Hollywood - Really good good guy vs. good guy main event. It was very much a formula match, with mat wrestling and simple submissions to start into a quickening into teasing bad blood going into the big finish. A lot of really cool moves here, even if some of the selling was a bit questionable. I liked the knee twist/seated ab stretch that Crazy busted out, and that snapmare driver that Sky broke out was slick. Good cap to a very notable tournament.

Wade Barrett vs. Trent Barretta, Superstars - Fun little pseudo squash match. Barrett came off his best match with another strong performance, playing the bully role, while Barretta did what he always does well, bumping, flying and bouncing around. That corkscrew senton thing he did off the guardrail was pretty epic. Good little opener.

Santino Marella vs. Primo Colon, Superstars - This match served as the palate cleanser from the two squash-type matches into the main part of the show, and it worked well in that regard. Again, Santino showed why it's not just all about workrate or MOVEZ. I loved the sequence of hip toss blocks. Primo snuck in some really, really good psych there by working the Cobra arm over after Santino showed his hand mid match. Solid stuff.

Zack Ryder vs. Drew McIntyre, Superstars - This one started out a bit slowly, but they started dropping bombs on each other, and the finishing flurry was pretty epic. Around where McIntyre used a spinebuster to acquaint Ryder's back with the ring apron is where it picked up for me. I also loved Drew Mac's counter of the Rough Ryder into a powerbomb. More than any other match on Superstars this week, this one felt like it could have been on PPV, or at least as a RAW main event.

Mark Haskins vs. Alex Shelley vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Tony Nese vs. Kid Kash vs. Austin Aries, X-Division Gauntlet, Impact - Pure junk food. A little bit of sloppiness, and no one was really able to get their oeuvre going except Sorensen and Aries, but it was a pretty good sampler platter. Aries coming in at the end after Kash took out Sorensen was a really good touch.

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Ezekiel Jackson, Intercontinental Championship Match, Smackdown - Shortish match, but it had quite a few really good nuggets. I really liked Rhodes exiting the ring, and the incensed Zeke following him out, which lead to Rhodes dropkicking the ring steps into Zeke's leg. I might have liked it more if it went a couple more minutes, but it was decent. Don't sleep on Zeke as a wrestler.

Justin Gabriel vs. Tyson Kidd, Smackdown - Again, it could have used a few more minutes, but Kidd is becoming that sort of high level squash-but-not-squashed opponent for guys they've got high hopes for. He had a good match with Daniel Bryan two weeks ago, and this was a nice display too. Gabriel's going to be an exciting guy to watch in singles. Love his 450.

Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto del Rio, non-title match, Smackdown - Wow, the chemistry between these two is amazing. They told a really good story surrounding Bryan's arm and his determination to defeat the Champion. del Rio's arm work combined with Bryan's selling set a strong overtone for the match that didn't falter and went to the very end. Despite that, Bryan showed his moxie and his determination. I think the best part of that trope was Bryan countering the back superplex into a mega press. The finish worked, and despite the increasingly lazy announcing by Cole, with his almost magic switch from NERRRRRRRRRRRRRD to "o hai guise, bryan is bringin it lol", it was a mostly pleasing experience.

Shows

NWA Hollywood - Really good show this week. I wasn't crazy about the beginning, even if the brawling on the outside limited Buggy's greenness and provided as something INFINITELY better than the last time I saw them, which was in a never-a-good-idea blindfold match. I guess I didn't like it because it meant this feud was going to continue, but hey, as long as people keep bringing "BUGGY IS HOT" signs to the Showcase, she'll keep getting pushed. Because being hot is all that matters for women wrestlers, amirite guise? The matches after that were pretty decent, although it bums me out that I just watched perhaps the last Joey Ryan NWA Hollywood match ever. Place is going to suffer without him. Hell, they're losing Ryan, they lost Austin Aries and if the rumblings turn out to be correct, they'll be without Colt Cabana before long too. But hey, at least they have Scrap Iron and Scorpio Sky, and I'm not saying that with any twinge of sarcasm. I swear.

Superstars - I really do sound like a broken record when I do this little paragraph. "Wrestling is good. Hate replay of RAW's main event. Lather, rinse, repeat." But yeah, it was more of the same. Again, I'm not sure if the overlap between Superstars audience and RAW's is less than 100% (at least on Superstars' end), but it's still tiring to have to fast forward through wholesale replays, especially when they just released at least one guy that could have given me a pretty good match instead of rehashing what I saw Monday.

Impact - Slow episode, I don't know, the idea of Sting/Flair in 2011 doesn't appeal to me. The idea of Crimson/Angle would be a better-constructed heat source if not for two things. One, Crimson is too green for his push, I think. He's not as bad as the meme says he is, but at the same time, you can tell he can't even spar with serious Kurt Angle (who isn't nearly as good as goofy Angle was back in the day). Two, the shooty stuff here is badly executed. WWE has shown us that blurring the line isn't bad if it's done right, but the difference between Punk and Angle is the difference between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers right now. I'd have repurposed it to have Angle state that he was tired of the young guys being fed to him so that they'd eventually replace him, rather than being fed to him so he could make them look good. One has an element of reality but still works within a wrestling angle. The other is ham-handed way of trying to be edgy that sounds, at least to me, cringeworthy. I dunno.

Smackdown - When Cody Rhodes came out at the beginning of the show, I got a distinct Chris Jericho vibe, because he was clearly sent to save us from ol' Peanut Head Teddy Long and Randy Orton, whose promos are still a registered controlled substance as a depressant in several states. I loved his scathingly true appraisal of Orton's win over Christian at SummerSlam. "Common barbarism"... it's effective because it's true. I thought Smackdown was a winner this week for the most part. The wrestling was good as shown by the honor roll. The battle royale at the end wasn't the best one they've ever done, but I liked a lot of what Henry was doing during it. The apron jousting between Sheamus and Wade Barrett at the end was a really cool visual as well. del Rio's promo here was really good too, almost as good as Monday's. I love how happy he gets when talking about destroying Mysterio. It's great.

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.

CM Punk Is Zack Ryder's Biggest Fan

Photo Manipulation: 420chan-/woo/ user Jimmy Wang Yang (not the wrestler)

This is how you win at life, people.

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.

My Favorite Wrestlers Ever: Announcement and Honorable Mention

He frightens small children, and for that, I own his shirt

For those who don't keep track, this is post number #2,500 for The Wrestling Blog. In honor of reaching that plateau, I'm going to roll out a top 25 list of my favorite wrestlers of all-time. I did this for my then-current favorites last year, but that was all in one post. This list will be rolled out in the style that I did the Wrestler of the Decade posts back in Aught-Nine.

The list will be compiled by my own arbitrary standards, because DUH, it's a favorite wrestlers list. If I had objective criteria, then it wouldn't be a "favorite" list now, would it? I will say that the standing on this list will be geared not towards how I feel about the person now completely, but towards my admiration of their work and how I felt about them at certain times in my life.

So, without further ado, here are the ten wrestlers/entities who didn't make it but almost did. My honorable mentions:

- Sara del Rey is the first one I'd like to mention. She's also the only woman to appear here, so that means she's my favorite female in wrestling history. That's more a reflection on how poorly women have been treated in wrestling than it is my fandom of the artform. Still, the Queen of Wrestling kicks major ass.

- The Eliminators, Perry Saturn and John Kronus, were an ECW staple for me. ECW had a lot of really good tag teams with their own unique flair, and the low-down, dirty ass-kicking of these two really exemplified that for me. Plus, TOTAL ELIMINATION.

- Ric Flair is in this category, most likely because I wasn't exposed to his greatness all that much until the mid-'90s. Hey, I was a WWF kid growing up. Don't shoot me!

- One of my favorite current wrestlers is the high-flying Evan Bourne, a guy who wows me every time he's in the ring nowadays. This is true even if he's not doing a high spot. The guy knows how to sell and be enthusiastic. Those are two great qualities.

- Chuck Taylor frightens little kids and throws grenades. Plus I own his t-shirt. How could he not be at least in the honorable mentions?

- This is a really old school guy who is listed for stuff he did in the later years of his career. Bob Backlund's clean cut, white bread babyface run was way before my time, but when he came back in the early '90s as the kooky old-man psychopath, he had me hooked. Plus I'm a mark for the crossface chicken wing.

- As a fan of comedic wrestling and podcasting, Colt Cabana sates my needs for both. He's awesome at both, and he's a cool dude to boot.

- Mr. Perfect was always a guy I liked for what he could do in the ring, even if I was compelled to root against him as a young fan. He and Bret Hart were guys who made me the fan I am today in some respects. Plus, I always wanted to pull for him, so that run against Shawn Michaels in 1993 was certainly a high point in my life as a fan.

- The Osirian Portal, the time-traveling Egyptian tag team, is on here mainly because they're a time-traveling Egyptian tag team. Very fun tag team who always worked entertaining matches and were able to weave dancing into the foray. I'm gonna miss Amasis a whole lot.

- Finally, the Woo Woo Woo Kid himself, Zack Ryder, rounds this honorable mention section out. I hate to pull the wrestling hipster card on all y'all, but I liked him even before he blew up Youtube. WWWYKI.

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

This Week in DVR: Scrap Iron, Conquering Hero

Ireland getting revenge on England for years of dickery?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I watched what I couldn't watch live on my DVR or on the Internet. Here's what stood out:

Matches

Scorpio Sky vs. "Pretty" Peter Avalon, First Round Match in the "Be the Star" Television Championship Tournament on NWA Hollywood - A lot of really good counters here, both by Avalon and Sky. That was the story for this match, which may have run a bit too long but was more than serviceable. I liked Avalon's stall tactics to begin the match, and Sky's high-energy face offense is very crisp. I love his finish. Sky executes the TKO with such flair and exuberance. Good stuff.

Drew McIntyre vs. Zack Ryder on Superstars - These guys are two of my favorites to watch lately for different reasons. Ryder is so emotive, so spry and game, McIntyre so methodical, deliberate, vicious. It made for a really hot opener to Superstars. A lot of high spots here, first with Ryder going to the outside on a plancha. Then was the sequence of the match for me. McIntyre retreated to the outside with the ref restraining Ryder, and then Ryder went to the apron, only to get tripped up. McIntyre then wrangled the Woo Woo Woo Kid and nailed him with a sideslam onto the apron. HOLY SHIT. A huge bump can make a good match great, and that was about as big a bump as you could get without any extra trappings. The rest of the match flowed well from there. I really liked how Ryder looked like he was making a comeback and then McIntyre just put two boots to his face like it was no big deal. The finish worked for me too. Love countering moves into flash pins. Hopefully we get an extended series out of this.

Alicia Fox vs. Nattie Neidhart on Superstars - Yeah, you read that right, Alicia Fox made the honor roll this week. Seriously, Nattie did a lot of heavy lifting this week, but even with her training wheels on, Fox did some serious work. I'll admit, a big reason why I enjoyed this match was because of the banter between the two about Fox's weave. Great shit-talking during the match can enhance it so much. A big reason why I love Ryder, going back to the previous match, is because he'll pop up, look in either his opponent's eyes or right at the ref and go "You serious, bro?" It's that kind of thing that adds to the story. That isn't to say the actual nuts-and-bolts work was bad. Fox definitely was working the old "feeble woman" archetype from before SHIMMER and other serious forms of women's wrestling made headway in America, but the way she was working it, putting oomph behind her slaps and hairpulls, made it work. This was an actively good match. I'm as shocked as you.

Crimson vs. Bobby Roode, BFG Series Match, on Impact - Fun little match here. Crimson is still limited, but good thing for him, he's in there with one of the four best workers in Impact. I thought they sold the shoulder well during the match, both on attacking and on the pretense of injury. I also liked that Roode went for submissions during the match, playing up the increased point total for tap out victories.

Jesse Sorenson vs. Jack Evans vs. Tony Nese, Destination X Qualifier, on Impact - The last time I saw Jack Evans, it was on PWG Sells Out. He was in there against Christopher Daniels. His psychology sucked. His timing and pacing sucked. His character sucked. Everything about him sucked. Seeing him on Impact this time, and it was like he was a whole different character, a whole different worker. It was like his experience working abroad served to hone his high spots into something more than just acrobatics. Nese served as a great counterpoint with his stiffness and his bullying during the match (not surprisingly since his pedigree is from the NYWC). I liked in the beginning when he was trying to take both Evans and Sorenson on. I know that all the matches for the contract qualifying have been three ways, but I think this might have been way better if it were just Nese and Evans. Sorenson looked really green and I thought his finisher, the Cross-Rhodes type move, looked a bit on the wrong side of stiff into reckless. However, Evans and Nese were both the real deal. Love the 630 Senton. I'll readily admit I was wrong about Jack Evans, well, at least about him not being able to change.

Daniel Bryan and Ezekiel Jackson vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes on Smackdown - Fun little tag match. Bryan and Zeke make a surprisingly good tag team, as we all know how good the former Legacy are together. Zeke on the apron, trying to get the hot tag? Holy shit, he got into that. He's a more natural babyface worker than I gave him credit for. I loved the spot in the corner too, where Rhodes countered the knee by Bryan into the Alabama Slam. Good stuff, but considering the four guys involved, it's not surprising.

Tamina vs. AJ on Smackdown - This was a nice little bit of Diva exposition. I'm still not a fan of the way WWE does feuds outside of the main event, but hey, if the matches are good, then I'm cool with it. AJ's athleticism sets her apart from the pack, and it was on display here. I'm kinda over the shining wizard being used by half the WWE roster, but AJ's looks good.

The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) vs. Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater on Smackdown - Speaking of feuds that the WWE advanced solely by having match overload each week, these two teams have developed a really good chemistry. This week was another fun match. I especially liked their new take on the double knockdown. Rather than clotheslining each other, Gabriel and one of the Usos (still can't tell them apart) did a double yakuza kick spot. It was really slick. I like the Usos finisher too, the superplex/Superfly Splash combo.

Sheamus vs. Randy Orton on Smackdown - Schmozz DQ finish aside, it was a pretty decent match. Orton's been working well as a babyface this year, but then again, look at his opponents - Punk, Christian and now Sheamus. Sheamus actually broke out some cool stuff in this match. The top rope shoulder block was okay, although you can tell he's not used to going that high, as there was some apprehension. These two have had some chemistry problems in the past, but I think they're developing more and more of a rapport. DQ finish worked in this situation.

Shows

NWA Hollywood - Decent show. The bizarro feud between the Tribe and Natural Selection is entertaining in a perverse way. It's almost like a competition as to which team can use tried and true heel tactics the best. I love it, even if I'm not enamored with the Tribe as actual workers. The main event, as noted above, was really good too. Still not buying Buggy as someone I really want to watch wrestle, but hey, nothing's perfect. However, the best part of the show was the middle segment, where Joey Ryan joined the Family Stone, only to be chased out of the ring by Adam Pearce, who to that point was doing a really bang-up job on commentary. Ryan/James Morgan vs. Pearce/Colt Cabana should be a really good top feud for the show.

Superstars - Ugh, I absolutely hate when they "main event" Superstars with warmed over repeats of the RAW final segment, especially when it's an interview one. I mean c'mon now, I can almost guarantee that if there was a Venn diagram showing viewership between RAW and Superstars, the circle for Superstars would be almost entirely engulfed by RAW's. Either way, the three matches before the end were all decent to good. The squash of the local talent by Wade Barrett was fun for what it was. Solid show.

Impact - The wrestling action, save the main event, was good enough. It was really awesome to start, but it started to peter out until your garden variety, let's screw the babyfaces main event. Yeah, no. I'm also really not feeling Joker Sting. It's almost like a bad caricature of a terrible Joker impersonation. It's like he realizes he's not really being serious about anything. It's bad. I will say that there were a few non-wrestling-match-related things that I enjoyed, which is rare for Impact anymore. One was Brian Kendrick cutting a promo that was in a character and not a pseudo-shoot. Two, was that finally, Kurt Angle's doing something other than feuding with Jeff Jarrett. Thank fucking Christ. But yeah, it was an alright episode for once.

Smackdown - Up until the end, this show was all about Sheamus. That's not a bad thing, fella. Him clearing out the ring to start was a great open to the show, although I was pretty enthralled by what Bryan, Rhodes and Wade Barrett all had to say. His promo backstage where he said "It's an Irish t'ing, you wouldn't understand" was so awesomely delivered. Him getting laid out at the end felt anti-climactic, but yeah, it's just another week, plus he is technically still a heel. I continue to enjoy how they're building up Mark Henry, although Teddy Long putting his stink all over him isn't promising.

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?

Suddenly... Zack Ryder!

WWWYKI or lolwut?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Hey guys, Zack Ryder finally made an appearance on RAW this week. If you blinked though, you may have missed it. AT the end of the Tag Team Championship match, Ryder's music hit, he came out and... well in a minute they had cut to something else. It was great to see Ryder, and even better to hear the crowd pop for his music, but it was surreal just to see him standing there.

Of course, there were two extreme reactions to this, and for a moment I fell into one of them. The camp I was in was that this was the start of a program with the Tag Champs and Ryder is going to team with Chris Masters or Curt Hawkins or EVEN JOHN CENA AND IT'S THE REIGN OF RYDER AND THE TAG DIVISION AND THE KINGS OF WRESTLING AND then my brain broke. The other reaction was one of dismay over his featuring for a moment, that it wasn't any better than him not being on RAW at all or just slapping hands with John Cena or whatever. Us Internets are a pretty reactionary lot, aren't we?

When I calmed down and stopped acting like a child who had crystal meth accidentally laced into his Pixie Stix, I realized that the answer was most likely somewhere in between. His placement in the show was curious, and hey, if you're going to stick Ryder anywhere, it should be against the Tag Champs, right? Unless his Internet Championship is going to become a real thing, which I kinda hope it doesn't. Save it for the house shows and let him put some big boy pants for when he starts working on RAW, whether it's in a Santino comedy role or in a seriously-pushed role. Either one's fine for me.

I just don't know what's funnier though, that WWE thought that sending him out to wave to the audience for a minute was worthy of putting on the main show, or that such a short segment caused that much of a reaction amongst fans. Even though I kinda flipped out when I saw it, I think we need to step back off the ledge with Ryder, at least for now. He's on TV, which is a start, but I think we have to let them start building him up. If it's after Money in the Bank and he's not on the program or just making non-sequitur cameos, then maybe we start complaining about the yo-yo treatment.

Double Tape RAWs and You

A big reason why last night's RAW worked
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I wasn't looking forward to RAW this week. I really wasn't. Usually, when they tape two episodes, the crowd dies for the second one (if it was even alive for the first two hours of taping anyway), the wrestlers look tired and the show is chock full of filler that makes it drag. So imagine my surprise when it was 11:05 PM, EDT last night and I sat in amazement of the full telecast. It wasn't just that the episode was good, but it was maybe the best one all year.

I have to give a lot of credit to that Las Vegas crowd. While Sin City is known for a lot of things, hot wrestling crowds aren't one of them. Furthermore, asking them to sit through another two hours of taping after experiencing the epic CM Punk rant live? I can see why a crowd might be burnt out after that, but to their credit, they reacted to things and kept the background noise going. The most telling thing was their reactions to Zack Ryder's theme music coming on. He got an audible, organic pop when his music cued up. For a guy who gets no TV time, that's a pretty amazing reaction for a nearly-spent crowd.

I think a lot of credit has to go to John Cena and Vince McMahon as well. Cena came out after the Punk promo to open up the second episode of RAW and delivered a forcefully genuine plea to Vince about letting a guy speak his mind. It was a total HLR Cena move, and as a guy who's more a fan of lawful good Marine Cena than I am of snarky wannabe Cena, I appreciated it. The closing segment was just as good. Say what you want about them potentially rehashing the Survivor Series angle from last year where Cena might get fired, but I thought that the execution of the segment, from beginning to end, was tremendous. Vince was at his Mr. McMahon best, and Cena did some of the best promo work he's done since that back and forth with Batista last year leading up to WrestleMania.

That begs the question why these double tape RAWs can't always be like this. Maybe there's a hot story needed. Maybe the crowd has to be right. For that last point, it severely limits the choice of crowd to the Pacific Time Zone, seeing as you wouldn't be getting out of the arena on the East Coast until 2 AM at the earliest. Vegas proved to be a great crowd for this. We know Sacramento would be an awesome crowd as well. What other crowds would do the trick? Maybe Seattle/Vancouver? Portland? Not many California crowds fit the bill. Or hey, maybe they could do Honolulu, especially if the next jumping off point for the RAW roster is Australia. Either way, if they could find the right formula, it might make double tape RAWs in the future more feasible and then make them a bit more common to give guys a night off here or there.

Regardless, last night's show worked. It might be the exception, but it's a welcome one.

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.

Weekend Wrap-Up: RIP Ryze

WWWYKI
Screen Grab Credit: LongIslandIceZ Youtube Page

Not really a whole lot to report for wrestling this weekend. No PPVs, no indie shows that I can really find that would be of interest to you guys, I think. So, here's what I've got:

- Ryze Woo, a Florida indie worker whose real name was Justin Honeycutt, died in a freak accident over the weekend. He was working at his day job, at an amusement park in Orlando, working 90 feet in the air and fell six feet, hanging by his safety harnesses. Usually those things should be able to save your life by absorbing the shock of falling. I'm not sure what the issue was, but regardless, a young man is dead, which is terrible. My sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues.

- Zack Ryder was announced as the WWE Internet Champion and successfully defended his title against Primo at a house show in Melbourne. I honestly don't know if this is a house show rib or whether it's a test run for the big shows, but hey, at least they're doing something for him with a live crowd.

- Today is International Talk Like Randy Savage Day. It was created by Trey Irby of Wrestling Theory and Bill Baconhill, and it's gained a lot of steam. Now, why have it on Independence Day? Well, Savage is an American hero. DIG IT. Anyway, you can participate by talking like Macho. If you want to film yourself doing it, then put it on Youtube or post it directly on the event's wall. OOOH YEAH.

This Week in DVR: Woo Woo Woo, You Know It

WOO WOO WOO YOU KNOW IT
Screen Grab Credit: WWE.com

I watched what I couldn't watch live on DVR and the Internet. Here's what stood out:

Matches

Los Luchas (Zokre and Phoenix Star) vs. Ricky Mandell and Hector Canales on NWA Hollywood - This was an extremely fun tag match, featuring some really choice heel antics by Mandell and Canales as well as some really unique lucha offense by the face team. Early on in the match, Zokre busted out this really unique submission hold, basically bending Canales' knees, spreading his legs apart and sitting on them. You kinda have to see it to really appreciate what I'm describing here. Canales was really on point mocking Los Luchas as well. My only real gripe with this match was that the crowd didn't react to Zokre's hot tag to Phoenix Star, but that's more disappointment with the crowd rather than anything to do with the match. Highly recommended to seek this one out.

Joey Ryan vs. Brandon Parker, Qualifying Match for the "Be the Star" Television Championship Tournament, on NWA Hollywood - This was a classic David/Goliath match up, although Ryan as Goliath might seem hilarious to most. Then again, have you seen how small Parker is? Ryan played the bully well, and they really told the story of them having a former student/teacher relationship throughout the match with the counters and such. Parker had great fire. About the only thing that was mildly disappointing to me was that they teased the Moustache Ride. I love that move. I wanted to see it, dammit!

Natural Selection (Brien Cage and Shawn Ricker) (c) vs. The Tribe (Hawaiian Lion and Navajo Warrior), NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship Match, on NWA Hollywood - A very rare heel vs. heel match here. I kinda dug it. It was funny to see a tag match without any of the babyface tag team tropes in play. My favorite spot here was when Rickers was working over Navajo's arm, and then he went for a hammerlock body slam. He hit it, obviously, but then he pulled up with his back lame, playing up the size disadvantage. I liked the DQ finish, with both teams trying to cheat, but the Tribe being the ones caught. Very good fish out of water affair.

Zack Ryder vs. Primo on Superstars - This was an almost pitch-perfect match. It had a hot crowd. It had a pre-match promo. It had Primo heeling it up during the match and Ryder hitting some big babyface spots. Hell, it even had a story behind it, well, as much of a story as a Superstars curtain-jerker could have. Ryder played a surprisingly good babyface during this match. Maybe that's where his future lies, especially since he has fan support? Anyway, really cool, WWE-main event style match (weird because again, it jerked the curtain of the C-show) with a really good finish, going from the Backstabber attempt into the Ruff Ryder for the pin. Man, Zack Ryder really is over, isn't he? Shame he's wasting away off RAW because McMahon reputedly hates the Internet...

Drew McIntyre vs. Vladimir Kozlov on Superstars - A fun brawl. McIntyre spent a good portion of the match working over Kozlov's arm and then another portion just bumping his ass off for Kozlov's cyborg-style offense. Drew Mac did his best to make Kozlov look really good here.

Austin Aries vs. Kid Kash vs. Jimmy Rave, Destination X Tournament, on Impact - All three guys were good here, but the biggest star of this match was Aries. His test of strength antics at the start put the match on a good tone. His execution on his moves was crisp. He took the biggest bump, the STO on the apron from Rave. Basically, if this was a tryout to show his worth for something more than peanuts from Impact or a real live contract from WWE, then I'd say he passed with flying colors. Him getting a further tryout at the PPV is the right call.

Samoa Joe vs. Rob Van Dam, Bound for Glory Series, on Impact - Samoa Joe is a miracle worker. Seriously, there's only one guy in the whole world who consistently gets good matches out of RVD, and that person is Joe. I don't know whether Joe has a calming influence over him, but he's not sloppy. And even his contrived spots, like his step-through kick, look better when Joe takes them. This was a very fitting opener for the BfG Series, which is a cool idea. It's a tone-setter, and hopefully, it's not a tone that they'll screw up.

Christian vs. Sheamus, Spot in the Capitol Punishment Main Event on the Line, on Smackdown - Was it me, or did they just run a feeler for Sheamus as a babyface worker in this match? Well, up until the end, that is when they went into the finishing sequence. Anyway, this was a worthy main event, but you knew that was going to happen when it was announced. Two of the best workers alive right now going at it with a bunch of TV time to ply their trade. A well-worked size mismatch with a really cool finish. The sequence was great right from the start when Sheamus knocked Christian off his perch and then went to work with knee scrapes. That wasn't even the best part, with them jostling position into Christian giving Sheamus a modified stun gun by leaping from the top to the outside into the pin. Great improvised finish that really put a punctuation mark on the match.

Shows

NWA Hollywood - Very solid show this week. All four matches were enjoyable on their own level, and there was some good promo work. The sit-down with Adam Pearce was well done for the most part, although they should have maybe had more volume on Pearce's mic. The end of the show being similar to last week's (although not as crazy) was probably intentional. It seems like the start of an interesting story, where every tag team really hates each other and we start getting something like Tag Team Thunderdome going on. I can dig that. I also dug that Excalibur made mention at the start of the show that criminal charges would not be pressed against either the Cutlers or the RockNES Monsters. It's the little things like that that can turn a good show into a great one.

Superstars - Decent show with four okay-to-great matches on it. However, I did have a couple of issues with it. One, Ryder/Primo should have been the main event. I don't care if Kane was in one of the matches, Ryder's match had the hotter crowd and arguably the most over wrestler of the whole show on it. Two, I'm really over this whole manager-search angle for Tyson Kidd. I mean, what good is a manager when that manager is not going to get involved in any of his matches? It shows a fundamental lack of understanding as to what the role of a heel manager should be while the action's taking place in the ring. But then again, I guess that would require the failed TV writers to actually know something about wrestling, wouldn't it? Three, Matt Striker has become really bad lately. I know I've defended him on here, but there really is no defending him lately. Between his "dead air" problem seemingly getting worse and then this week, him saying "Revenge belongs to Kane" after he beat Kidd. Really, Matt? What revenge did Kane owe Kidd? Nothing. And if beating the top heel on the C-show is revenge for Alberto del Rio taking out Big Show, then man, I want to live in Striker's world, because I'd have so much easier times doling out retribution for my wrongs.

That being said, it still was an enjoyable show. Like I said at the top, the matches were mostly good. I liked that they gave promo time not only to Ryder but to McIntyre. This was his first WWE promo that I heard where he showed flashes of the charisma he had in that infamous ICW promo that I've linked on here a couple of times. I can dig him as "The Great American Nightmare". He finally has some character to catch up with his excellent ring work. The star of the show unquestionably was Zack Ryder though. Seriously, he owned the first part of the show, and he's showing everyone that it's not just a Youtube show and pedantic smark bitching that's part of his allure. He's actually an awesome performer.

Impact - Hit or miss show this week. A lot of people online have been raving about the Sting/Hogan segment, but again, it speaks to my problem of them bringing too much outside bullshit into it. Also, Sting was so fucking over the top, I couldn't tell if he was really pissed at Hogan or just trolling the shit out of him. I don't know. What I do know is that there were a few really good nuggets on this show, moreso than maybe the last month of Impacts combined. The two matches that were on the honor roll deserve to be there and then some. Then you had the Eric Young/Jason Hervey "match" segment. It was definitely funny, just how serious EY was treating it. To me though, Aries made the segment, just through his bewildered reactions to everything and his reluctant counting of the sham pinfall.

The Angle/Jarrett stuff though... I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, ending on a pseudo-cliffhanger where Jarrett's intentions of leaving the country if he lost the brawl feels so fucking cheap to me. On the other, my guess is that he is gone, and I'm just happy to see Angle get closure to this feud finally and move on. This really hasn't been a feud that I felt should have continued for as long as it has, despite the fact that it's gone 8 months (8 months? That's insane, especially for Impact). I don't know, I'm ready for it to end and for Angle to get on with his title shot.

Speaking of which, I'm a huge fan of the Bound for Glory Series. While I really fucking hate that they play it up like nobody else thought of doing it when Chikara is doing a 12-man round robin tournament, I like the idea of them making this the lead-in to their biggest PPV's main event. It's part of building an identity. And if they can make this a vehicle to have good matches, like RVD/Joe or start stories like they're potentially doing with Scott Steiner and Bully Ray? Sign me up.

Smackdown - This was a really flat show. Nearly everything about it annoyed me, from Alberto del Rio pressing charges (my least favored of the storyline tropes) to making a big deal out of concussions (although in this case, them treating it more like a bad kayfabed injury rather than making it JUST LIKE the out-of-character debate over them made it more palatable to me) to Teddy Long being all over the show to the super-botched finish to the six-man tag match to bullshit parity booking with the Divas to Orton punting the shit out Sheamus (because I'm over the punt more than anything else).

I say nearly though because the main event match saved this show from being a total dud to me. Just a phenomenal match. Too bad there was really nothing else going for it. However, I will say this. The fact that that they pretty much destroyed Mark Henry and Sheamus during this show speaks volumes as to their faith in Christian to carry Smackdown as the top heel. That is encouraging to me.

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!

Zack Ryder Vs. Convention... Convention Wins

Woo woo woo... where was he?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Vince McMahon is a Luddite, if you believe Bryan Alvarez, that is. While I've had some well-documented issues with Alvarez recently, I understand it's pretty difficult trying to break news in the wrestling industry. When he says that Vince McMahon "hates the Internet" according to a source within the company, I take him at face value. Why?

Because there's no other reason than that for Zack Ryder not appearing on RAW.


We all know the following Ryder has amassed amongst the Internet. We all want him to have a bigger role. That want has spread, at least in his home area of Long Island. While he hasn't latched on in other areas, he was popular on the Island. He got several chants. And what did he get? A broken promise to appear on RAW. Another rib. Great job. The last rib that McMahon pulled off pissed off only one wrestler and paying customers. It was a stupid gambit, and now, he went and pissed off his employees too. Dolph Ziggler came with the boldest of the backlash:

You didnt rib 'the kid' tonight, you ribbed the fans, Long Island & the boys in the back! AND kicked him in the nuts! #RyderOrRiot

Seriously, more than just Ryder are presumably pissed at this.

Again, it goes without saying that Alvarez could be getting worked here. The circumstantial evidence is there, but again, it's circumstantial, and it would be inadmissible in court if this were a trial by law. Still, it's baffling why Vince would refuse to put a star over who made himself. I mean, isn't this the mantra from every single "old-time" star? Didn't Warrior spend a good sidebar on his Randy Savage tribute talking about how in the old days, guys made their own way? Didn't Steve Austin spend a good amount of Tough Enough telling guys that they wouldn't have their hands held? Brandon Stroud actually had a rant from his latest Best and Worst of RAW column about that:

Raw on Long Island comes and goes for the second time without an appearance from Zack Ryder, more or less proving that WWE doesn’t give a ripe shit how hard you work to get yourself over, and all that stuff Austin says on Tough Enough about making your own chances is a horse’s anus. Hey Austin, you know how you keep telling people how when you first got to WWE you were the Ringmaster and how terrible that was? Guess what? You spent the five f**king years before that on television having awesome matches with Brian Pillman and Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes and being part of the Dangerous Alliance, which is unarguably the best thing in the history of wrestling. You were a multiple-time champion, and you got fired just in time to show up in ECW during that one time period when getting fired and showing up in ECW was the coolest thing you could do. Then they made you King of the Ring and put you in a feud with Bret Hart.

How many of those things happened to Big Andy? How many of them happened to Matt Cross? F**king none of them. Andy got put on a wrestling reality show. Matt Cross spent five years wrestling Josh f**king Abercrombie. You didn’t make your chances, Austin, WCW and the WWF did. You just happened to be extremely talented at pro wrestling. Funny how that turned out, right?

Yep. Co-sign all of that.

This isn't some pedantic plea to get a guy more airtime. Not at all. Ryder is legitimately talented and has legitimately connected with a significant portion of the fanbase. This isn't 1998 anymore. It's 2011. The Internet matters, or else the WWE wouldn't mandate its wrestlers, announcers and air personnel be on Twitter or create a bunch of Facebook like pages or pimp the Internet achievements in their bullshit fluff "Did You Know" segments. Now, are the stereotypical "Internet" fans a majority group now? No, but there's gotta be a higher percentage of the audience that is plugged in the way we've always been in the last ten years. Ryder has become an especial star in this era of Internet. Sixteen of seventeen of his Z! True Long Island Story videos have garnered over 100K views. He has 37K+ subscribers. He has 123K+ followers on Twitter. As a reference, he's only 20K behind the current United States Champion. He has more than the challenger to that US Championship. More than the guy challenging for the WWE Championship. More than Rey Mysterio, i.e., arguably the company's second biggest draw.

Despite that success with the new media, Ryder remains ignored. Why? Whether it's because Vince hates the Internet like Alvarez's nebulous source says or because he didn't get over because of the Vince hype machine or because Vince just doesn't understand the new media, I'm not sure. I'm not sure I care either. It's bad not to even explore whether Ryder can make some kind of dent. No matter what the reason is.

Admittedly, I did come off nonchalant about the whole thing after the show. I didn't need Ryder to enjoy the show, as it was a good RAW. Plus, he probably got more of a chance to shine, albeit on a smaller stage, in a more meaningful way. That being said, this was something that meant a lot to Ryder. It meant a lot to his colleagues. It meant a lot to his fans. And yeah, if he did appear on RAW, I probably would have marked out too. No, scratch that. I know I would have marked out.

So yeah, here we sit, for whatever reason, Vince McMahon wants to continue to ignore a guy who has made himself. So when Ezekiel Jackson, he of almost no heat, wins the Intercontinental Championship on Sunday to absolutely no crowd reaction (and I like Big Zeke, but let's not sugarcoat this, the crowd is dead for him), and he wonders why, well, I hope he at least starts to get it.

I doubt it though.

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!

Instant Feedback: WE WANT RYDER

In the grand tradition of fucking with a guy in his hometown, there were three hours on RAW, and Zack Ryder appeared on none of them. None. This pissed off a certain contingent of my fellow Internet fans, but it doesn't bother me. Why? He probably got a much better exposition on Superstars. Yep, Superstars, you know, that show that moved to online-exclusivity, the one that usually has the great wrestling? Yeah, I don't care where I see him, as long as I get to see him. Novel concept, I know.

Don't tell that to the crowd, as they popped off SEVERAL "WE WANT RYDER" chants. The crowd was hot all night, popping for Ryder, continuing the momentum for Alex Riley, creating dueling chants not only for John Cena but for Christian as well (CHRISTIAN IS RIGHT PEOPLE! FUCK THE POWER! FUCK TEDDY LONG!). For as weird and mediocre as RAW was tonight, it didn't seem as bad because the crowd was so damn hot.

But yeah, RAW was hit or miss tonight. Everything Steve Austin did, ESPECIALLY his interactions with CM Punk, was really good, I thought. Christian and Randy Orton had another strong segment against each other. The wrestling, for the most part, especially the main event, was great. Cena and Punk have such amazing chemistry together that it's not even funny. Christian and Rey Mysterio had potential, but they went castigo excesivo on it, which would have been great if they didn't do the exact same finish in the first match of the evening between Alberto del Rio and Kane.

But that boner wasn't the only one of the evening. For one, what the hell was the GM's role in the Christian/Orton segment all about? I mean really, do we need to insert concussions into the storyline here? It made no sense, even without considering the aforementioned concussion. Then we had Divas-a-go-go just for them to do the unsexiest kickline in the history of kicklines?

Still, there was a lot of good on RAW tonight. And hey, CM Punk got a cleanish win over John Cena. SO yeah, there's that. I think a lot of what made RAW palatable tonight though was the crowd. Hopefully, next week's crowd is game because it's yet ANOTHER three hour RAW.

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!

Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston: Bringing the US Championship Back?

Talkin' title... I like it
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I know a lot among us were mesmerized by the fact that Zack Ryder had a match on RAW this past week, and you might have missed some other things going on. (speaking of Zack... cool montage, bro) One, Dolph Ziggler got behind the mic in the broadcast booth along with his business associate Vickie Guerrero to commentate a match that his rival, United States Champion Kofi Kingston was wrestling in. In a shocking twist, Ziggler spent most of the match letting Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole how much he wants to be United States Champion...

*record scratch*

...what? Wrestlers in 2011 WWE, focusing in on a secondary title belt? This is madness! Surely they made a mistake, or there wasn't someone in Ziggler's ear telling him to think of other ways to slander Kofi, because I thought no one cared about the secondary titles. Regardless of reasoning though, I'm glad to hear that there's a new focus on the US Championship, even if it's just been put in this week.

The best part of a vibrant, memorable midcard is when the guys have something to fight for. Would the WWF have been as indelibly marked in our minds if Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart fought over, I dunno, spilled coffee or some other inane reason? Maybe, maybe not, but I venture a guess that the fact that they had the Intercontinental Championship as a prize, or as a MacGuffin as KSP and Jason Mann call it, made it stand out. People say titles aren't important anymore, but when was the last time either the US or IC title were treated with respect for more than one feud at a time? When a title is important, it enhances the feud and can make even the most mundane, hackneyed traditional wrestling build feel important, because hey, they're fighting for something.

So that's why I was genuinely happy to hear Ziggler talk about the United States Championship in commentary like it was something to strive for, something to earn. The key is keeping that narrative going through Capitol Punishment and throughout the rest of the year.

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!

Ryder Fans Rejoice

Visual evidence of someone other than Santino or Yoshi Tatsu selling for Ryder
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Zack Ryder was on RAW last night. Not for a second like he usually is, but he actually got to wrestle an honest-to-God match where the other guy sold for him. Really! It was the United States Champion too. It was great. Usually, Ryder's awesomeness is contained to Superstars or his virally popular web-show, but we got to see it last night as well.

Some people might have seen this as a jobbing, getting all pissy that they saw the Woo Woo Woo Kid on RAW only to serve as enhancement talent. Hello? Of course he was jobbing. Kofi's in a feud with Dolph Ziggler. Ryder never appears on RAW. The result was academic from first bell, unless they were going to have Ziggler interfere.

Those fans rock
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Instead, let's look for the silver lining. Ryder was chosen to be the opponent, and he was given a lot of offense. Kofi had to sell for him. It was a time for us to bask in the fluorescent tanning bed light of a Z! True Long Island Story come to life on the main show. Could this mean that the WWE is finally seeing the light? That they'll feature him more and get him more opportunities for the crowd to react to him? Maybe even let Scott Stanford be the special color commentator for his matches? Okay, maybe that last one's a bit excessive. Baby steps.

Whether it happens or not, well, at least we'll have last night. It was pretty awesome to see Ryder on RAW, and hey, it's better than having to watch him on the Internet show, right?

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!