Prophet

From the booking sense, as in preparing the match, I totally understand it. Big dominating figure who is used in small spurts to "anchor" the team. I just meant in the flow of the story. Everyone else has a reason that we, on the outside, have seen. Some more obvious than others, but everyone has some semblance of legitimacy. Whereas Khali just appeared. That's why I mentioned alternatives. Although with Truth in the group, maybe Bourne will go for the US title, which wouldn't be a bad thing. Henry could've still been used, there's other names that Barrett could've underestimated weight wise and almost spiked into the ring apron. Khali just seems an awkward fit, since the week prior, his big thing was making out with Mama Brady. (Of which I envy, `cause even now, Florence Henderson looks good.)

Here's my question on the whole team Cena thing ... why Khali? Bret Hart, I understand, the Nexus cost him a job. Edge and Jericho make sense, due to earlier that evening (so Cena wasn't working as hard as he'd have you believe.) Morrison has been beaten from pillar to post for weeks by the crew, so he makes sense. Even as a stretch, Truth coached Otunga, so he makes some sense, albeit not a whole lot. That leaves out Mark Henry who was beaten by the Nexus, and almost killed by Wade. Yoshi Tatsu who was decimated by the Nexus. Or, I dunno, maybe Evan Bourne, who was the first to run to Cena's aid when they started "fighting back" and was abused for it. I don't recall ever seeing Khali in the same frame as any Nexus member, and can't for the life of me figure out why he's there, unless they're mirroring. Like Cena to Barrett, Morrison to Gabriel, Edge to Sheffield, etc. Just think there's a better choice than the Punjabi Playboy.

Man, when Orton was reaching for that case, I got scared that Raw went ... with what they usually do. And Miz came to save the day. And I got excited. (`cause I'll admit it, I like the Miz. Have for ages.) Then Michael Cole opened his mouth, and ruined it. "I totally think the Miz is the greatest thing ever, even if I was happy Mark Henry abused him for what he did Monday night." *Blink* Overall, I thought the show wasn't too bad. Just hate validating that Josh Matthews should be working the show, and Michael Cole should be ... locked in a basement.

Thing is that all the bad stuff he did was public, was usually his own voice, whereas the good stuff he did, he did privately. I saw a quote earlier, where he said something to the extent of "my father once told me that if you do something for someone, and two or more people know about it, you did it for the wrong reason." I may not have always agreed with the man's decisions, and some of the choices he made in life weren't the best by any measure, but what he's done for the pinstripes, for baseball, and for the communities in New York and Tampa can't be ignored. Gonna miss the Boss.

After the show, 3 thoughts came to me. The SS/RKO was cool. I kinda hope that header that Henry took means there's a question mark on the card again. For some reason, Henry + ladder doesn't seem to equal blockbuster match to me. And most importantly ... what's the deal with erasing JR from the opening? I thought they gave him a new position within the company, ergo he's still an employee, thus allowing me a small, yet enjoyable moment where matches were called properly by someone who didn't giggle like a 7 year old watching Showtime! *kicks the dirt* Stoopid WWE!

I can see that, what with the Norse link that it brings, but of the 3 spellings, I've always preferred the way ER alum (and Soul-Glo endorsee) Eriq La Salle spelled it. Maybe it's simply the unusual nature of it.

I can, theoretically, see why it could've happen. If someone outside the `E voiced concern, said it was "way over the line" or whatever, to protect the stock hit, they may have actually done it. That said, the reasoning is goofy. Children's influence shouldn't be a factor at 11 PM at night. And it could've been removed from replays and such, as it has been. Any child who is watching wrestling at 11 PM, and sees a tie choking as a "fun" thing to do, has bigger problems in his/her life. However, this digresses into a separate discussion, that is probably best left outside this thread. Gotta wait 90 days to post.

I will say this ... if, if, this is part of a bigger scheme, storyline wise, you do realize that this simply gives the NXT crew more reason to do what they did. I think it could be used to build more momentum, and keeping Danielson off television for a bit, allowing Barrett to rail against how the powers that be continue to disrespect the new class of athlete is a viable next step. It also takes away the need for a "mastermind" ... the buzz of this, the added reason for doing what they did, it's enough of a statement to fuel the upcoming Barrett vs. Cena feud. Also, Riley sneezing because he's allergic to Stryker? Awesome. lol

The only part of that whole sequence that makes me sad is missing the Punch Line. At one point, just after Sheffield flipped the announce table, I think, Cena had staggered to his feet, and Tarver laid him out in 1.9 second flat. He finally unleashed the ko punch, and we missed it.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="dvdWarrior" data-cite="dvdWarrior" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Pretty sure that was ring announcer Justin Roberts getting choked out, but it was an awesome angle all around. Michael Cole ran for the hills at the outset. An edited video is up on WWE.com.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Man, poor Justin Roberts. I thought they were gonna break that little guy. lol</p><p> </p><p> The ending was awesome. I saw Barrett, and remembered the earlier promo about "asking again next week" and thought "huh, Barrett's going for Cena off the bat? All right, I guess." Then Cole did his panicked little girl routine, and they quick-shot Tarver, and I got a little giddy. The total decimation of the flagship show was really well done.</p><p> </p><p> And Barrett does seem to be the head of the crew, but my guess is there will be a mastermind. Is it Cole? Possible, since he seemed to run off before anything went down, leaving King to be beaten down. </p><p> </p><p> Is it McMahon? Also possible, since they did destroy Bret Hart's show, after last week's speech about "tough decisions."</p><p> </p><p> My hope? It's Jim Ross. It's an angry, embittered veteran on the mic, tired of the status quo, sick of being used and pushed to the side, a man so filled with rage that his spot was taken by some second class announcer, that he did something about it. He appealed to Barrett's love of money, and these kids who showed flashes of brilliance, telling them about seizing opportunity. And somehow Otunga overheard, and jumped onboard. <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Is it the most sensible explanation? No. Does it give JR a chance to resume his role on the mic? Yes, and that's what I want. lol I'd also accept Josh Matthews doing it, tired of Cole running his mouth about things he doesn't understand, and holding him down.</p>

Think they're gonna pair him up with Rotunda? Greatest tag team ever! [TV Voiceover Guy] One is a straight lace cop who goes by the book! [Commish, off-screen]: McGillicuty, get in here! You got a case! The other only knows one set of rules ... his own! McGillicuty: Harris, you're eating again? Harris: They don't call me Husky for nothing, ya know ... [canned laughter] Together, they're the baddest detective force to ever patrol the mean streets of Wichita, Kansas ... they are ... [gunshot sounds and squealing tires] McGillicuty & Harris! They can even expand it ... turn Percy Watson into Huggy Bear!

Not only does he have an awesome name, but he (along with Darren Young) par-tay! Young lost that early in the show, I really hope Percy keeps it. And given mic time, does his giggle, which amuses me no end for some reason. lol In the sense that Joe didn't want to give the `E permission to trademark his name? Or that the Henning family owns the rights to the name and lineage?

I haven't watched the NXT finale yet, but already sneak-peeked the new cast. Little surprised Titus got the call, as the little I've seen of him, he's struck me as clumsy in the ring. And Johnny Prime or whatever 70's monikor he's working under now, has been a black void of charisma, in my opinion. Maybe the spotlight will change that, but I don't think so. And as excited I am to see Low Ki and Joe Henning (who will remain Joe Henning forever and ever, darn it!) I'm real excited to see Riley. If he plays his Varsity Villian gimmick, calls himself the Rare Breed, and falls into the anti-Danielson role with the Miz, I think he's got this show locked up.

Think he took great steps once he broke away from Reality TV Miz, and built his new persona. And even now, his egotistical, better than everyone character has a new spin to it. Think he's grown by leaps and bounds, personally. Also, to anyone worried about Daniel Bryan, he was on SNL last night, playing with the Heartbreakers, so I think he'll be okay. (Not really, but I was stunned how similar he looks to current look Tom Petty when Petty's wearing sunglasses. lol)

If that's the case, though, then if it's on Smackdown, they should edit the piece out that shows any semblance of blood, and on Raw, they should switch camera views. Instead they make a big deal out of stopping the match to show the bleedie being cleaned up, thus still showing blood. That's why it baffles me.

The only thing about the PG rating that truly irritates me is the whole stance on blood. When they grayed out replays where someone bled, that was one thing, but to now stop a match because someone has a trickle of blood ... it baffles me. They spent so long trying to play up that this is a "contact event" to avoid words like sport and competition, and in instances of contact, sometimes people bleed. And if you want to eliminate purposeful blading, that's your call, and I can understand why you'd want to do that, but why did the match with Jack Swagger a couple of weeks ago need to be stopped? He wasn't gushing blood by any stretch. I can't make heads or tails of it.

I enjoyed it, just not so much as to justify the price tag hung on it. The tag match was weak, and felt more like filler than anything. Could've left this match off, and given other matches more time. The triple threat ... pointless? Yay, Randy won ... now what? Although I will always enjoy that serpentine way he drops for the RKO set up. The MiTB was a clusterfuddle, as I said. Too many people. And it took Swagger ten minutes to pull the briefcase down, and 9 other guys were out? MVP was still suffering from a shot 5 minutes earlier? HHH vs. Sheamus served it's purpose, I think. It was slow to start, but by the end, a small part of me could see (hoped) Sheamus winning. I also think the whole "rookie mistake" costing him the match saved SoS from kicking out of a pedigree to legitimize himself, but that's probably just me. Rey/Punk was all right, but without knowing the future, think it's a squandered ending. I was expecting a run in from the newest SES member to help win the match for Punk, causing another couple of months of the interesting dynamic they'd built up. The Hart vs. McMahon match was what I expected, but I got bored with it. Yeah, yeah, I'm all for vendetta matches, but 10 minutes of chairshots to a 60 someodd year old man? I could find an old folks home to watch that. I liked Edge vs. Jericho. I felt the ebb and flow of it was good. Not a career highlight match, maybe, but still good. And the table to table spear was all right, but I figured it was setting up an "injured" Jericho (due to his DNA bragging), allowing for Swagger to cash in. The woman's match ... happened. So there's that. I winced a few times watching Cena/Batista. Especially the AA, where he tried to lawn dart someone who doesn't exactly scream "great bumper" ... the only match I felt myself go totally internet wrestling community throughout too. (Case in point - what the hell were they talking about for 2 1/2 minutes before Batista tapped?) But I digress. The final match was cool. It was a story. It was great to see them back and forth, to see `taker "injured" early, giving the illusion that it was really HBK's time. Could've done without the defiant moment, but again, may just be me. And the end was cool. Little weird to see `taker welling up, but being the two warhorses of the company, can't really blame the guy. So all in all, it was all right. I definitely enjoyed parts of it. Could've lived without some others, though. And for the love of all things holy, will someone at the `E realize that big pink pantied Vicki in the ring is not a good idea ... EVER!

It was too much a clusterfuddle. Shock win, though. Definitely not one I would've pegged to walk away with the briefcase.

Part of why I wasn't completely sold. Tenure has probably ruined the chances of a full fledged `taker turn. If done with him as a face, though, yeah, I'd vote Miz. The major difference between Punk and Miz at this point, in my opinion, and the reason I think Punk doesn't "need" this, is that he's a lot like Jericho and Michaels, and even HHH now. CM doesn't need a belt to make a feud more interesting. At this point, Miz does. If Miz beat `taker for the belt, after cashing in MiTB, he could ride that for years. lol

You already won the gold in hockey ... now ya gotta take Wrestlemania too? When it comes to the streak ... man, I don't know. I lean towards it ending intact, simply because I don't trust the brain trust at the `E to handle it's end properly. I say this as someone who doesn't claim to be a storyline writer, but I have a feeling that if someone was adamant about ending the streak, they'd build it up with some flimsy storyline with someone who doesn't deserve the opportunity to even get in the ring with`taker. For example - Big Zeke shows up on television again, after being missing for 4 months, because he's forgotten on the bloated roster of Smackdown. Someone says "I have an idea" and the story begins where Zeke claims to be the most dominant force in wrestling, blah-blah-blippity-blah. Says something about wanting to prove it against the benchmark, to succeed where others have failed, do the impossible. Zeke begins his run, crushing R-Truth, crushing Rey-Rey, crushing Morrison, as he builds momentum to take on `taker, who keeps scoffing at the notion of this nobody challenging the hallowed record. Flimsy story, but maybe passable. Zeke becomes a thorn, belittles and mocks `taker, `taker finally blows his stack, we progress to WM with these two essentially beating on each other every show. The actual match happens, and it's back and forth, and before you know it, big Zeke's in the tombstone ... except he wiggles out, drops to his knees, and clips `taker between the legs, school boys him, and blammo! The most hallowed record in WM is wiped away with a cheap finish. And that bothers me. If I were to end the streak, it wouldn't be to Punk, because I don't think Punk "needs" it. And Miz would work perfectly, except that the way I'd do it, he wouldn't fit. If I was gonna have `taker drop the streak, I'd have him do it as a heel. To whomever was going to assume Cena's role pushing forward. Someone like a Kofi Kingston (although probably not actually Kofi Kingston.) I'd have `taker heel turn in November and build from there. At the Rumble, they face off in the Rumble match, where `taker decimates him. Pillar to post. Someone else enters, `taker pauses long enough to throw them out, before returning to the beaten face. I may mirror the Rumble with `taker and Maven to an extent, except go the Piper/Bad News route of eliminating (both go over, and `taker beats him to the back.) We head into No Way Out with the face being involved in the chamber with `taker, and 4 other guys, with `taker being obsessed with regaining the gold, and ignoring the challenges by our loveable face, calling him a worthless pissant or whatever. NWO happens, and after some back and forth, `taker eliminates the face. He pauses to gloat about his victory, and the kid takes the chance to distract `taker long enough for him to walk into a Codebreaker/Spear/619/Future Shock/etc ... whatever happens to be there at the time. `taker's pinned, and for the second straight ppv, we see these two fight to the back. `taker's so flustered and frustrated by this annoyance that he poses the challenge, to which the kid accepts. I give them a good chunk of time at the event, `taker fights through finishers, while the kid barely kicks out of brutal moves to show the heart of a champion. And in the end, after a strong sequence, the kid hits a rolling sunset off the top rope, the suddenness of it stuns `taker, we get a 1-2-3, and the streak ends on a flash pinfall, building this kid to a mega-star. `taker stands, shocked, as replays of the abuse this kid has endured is shown on the big screen, and he extends his hand in a sign of respect. The kid accepts, they shake, and the kid ducks out, clapping with 78 bajillion people, as `taker takes a long walk back. Not sure I even like that ending a whole lot, though ... so I'd probably just leave it intact. lol

Especially with that parchment video opening? And the guy is genuinely nice, which just makes it all the better. I dug the idea of him going off after losing to Kane and Hardy is surprise moments. Like the loss of the streak had loosened his grip on reality, maybe making him a more vicious wrestler. But the loss to `taker doesn't enhance that in any way. Seems to detract it. The others I could live with, `cause they were flukish. This one was just a decimation of a cool character, I thought.

You do something one time, and you're labelled for ... Wait, you're not talking about me? Oh, carry on then.

I thought the 90 day clause only applied to companies with exposure? I believe London, Colt, and Chris Harris all made appearances with other companies soon after their releases, without complication due to the lack of tv exposure ... I could be wrong on the circumstance, though.

Primo's become a Superstars jobber, hasn't he? Comes out, flashes some skill, inevitably is beaten by whomever he faces. He's Evan Bourne without the occasional Raw appearance.

So I'm popping around different sites, and ended up on the Rajah, which I occasionally glance at. And something caught my eye. Something that made me chuckle in that "wow, I know it's kind of wrong, but I love that someone thought this" kind of way. Now I preface this by saying I knew who Danielson was before his first appearance on NXT or even FCW. I appreciate Danielson. But this is still awesome to me, for some reason. [Credit to Rajah, via Wrestling Observer newsletter, through however they obtained the info]