The Mercy Side: Attitude Adjustment

Here's my first wrestling article in nearly eight months. Enjoy.

I've been thinking of writing this article for over a week. And with an epic 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw occurring yesterday, I thought that I'd forget writing this article due to the state of wrestling changing so quickly on a weekly basis, it may not have been relevant. But after the events of the milestone episode, it's actually done the opposite. It's made this article even more relevant.

What I want to talk to you about today is this chap you might know if you watch wrestling called John Cena. What a career he has had. 35 years old, he's already a 12 time world champion and he doesn't look like he's losing steam any time soon. He's sold more merchandise in the 2000s than any wrestler, he's attracted more fans to the product more than any other wrestler. Since the days of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, no one has come really close to the value of John Cena.

People are divided in opinion on John Cena. He's stale, he doesn't sell moves very well, or for very long, his moveset is repetitive and overdone. He's superman, never letting people get over. But he still works his absolute ass off to give as entertaining a product he can possibly give. He cares about wrestling, he cares about the WWE and the fans. There's no denying that. I have a huge amount of respect for the man, despite how certain smarter fans feel about him.

Despite all that John Cena has accomplished, there's just one thing that the man has lacked in his career, in my eyes anyway. And that's a true rivalry. Now before you drop your cereal out of your mouth (or doughnut, hamburger, or any other food you're obviously eating right now, don't deny it), there's someone you might have thought about already - Edge. There's no denying that if there's one man that John Cena can call a rival throughout his career, it's that man.

John Cena and Edge had a long term rivalry from around 2005 to 2010.

They did have some good matches, that's true. The best probably being the TLC Match at Unforgiven 2006. They helped each other become as big stars as they are; John Cena as previously mentioned was the star attraction of the naughties and Edge was one of the finer wrestlers of that decade. They both put each other over many times and had some great segments. Both Edge and John Cena have said in interviews that the other person is their greatest rival in their careers.

So why am I saying Edge isn't the true rival of John Cena? It's hard to explain in some ways. Some key points for me are, for the most part, I don't feel Edge has ever been John Cena's equal. While they did have some very good matches, they had some duds as well. And not only that, but they wrestled each other so often it, similar to Cena's career in some ways, became stale. To have a great rivalry both wrestlers need to be on equal footing in most ways, and I never felt that Edge and Cena really were. Edge was always a step below Cena for most of his career.

What is a true rivalry then? Well the most obvious one to me is Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. While it's well documented that the top star of the Attitude Era was Stone Cold, The Rock was right up there with him. Did The Rock sell as much merchandise or PPVs as Stone Cold? No, I suppose not, although his star power for last year's Wrestlemania was a true shot in that direction. But there is no denying that there were two men that were on top of the Attitude Era and that was those two guys. And they always had amazing matches. Always. Their matches are legendary in the WWE. There's no denying that.

Arguably the greatest wrestling feud in WWE history.

And one thing there is no denying is they were booked quite equally. Sure, Stone Cold didn't put The Rock over until their last match, but the feud, the promos, and the actual wrestling in itself, was equal. The line was drawn very finely; it felt that the only reason why The Rock could not beat Stone Cold was through bad luck, rather than being the inferior wrestler. And the fact that they didn't wrestle against each other very often is another reason why I think it works. John Cena and Edge had countless matches it was boring. I can only think of three or four matches of the top of my head that The Rock and Stone Cold had. I'm sure they may have had more, but it definitely wasn't as many as Edge/Cena.

Which brings me to answer your question of who I think, long term, could be John Cena's truest rival. My answer is simply CM Punk.

There are so many similarities between John Cena and CM Punk and The Rock and Stone Cold. Neither sets of wrestlers wrestled each other often. Cena and The Rock were brought into the WWE by failing at something else first, Cena with bodybuilding and The Rock with American football. CM Punk and Stone Cold had to claw their way to the top of the wrestling ladder; CM Punk had to go through Ring of Honor and had to wait until last year's Summer of Punk before he was finally given the platform to really show what he can do. Stone Cold had failed at WCW and was only brought to the WWE because he was a good technical wrestler, he was never going to be more than an enhancement talent until the amazing 3:16 promo occurred.

The Rock and Stone Cold had fluid matches; they oozed quality for upto half an hour. John Cena and Edge doesn't compare in quality to the Rock/Stone Cold series, not consistently anyway. The Rock, as good a wrestler as he was has a similar problem that John Cena has, in that he had to have the right opponent to have a true quality match. The Rock is a better wrestler overall, at least in my opinion, but still he had that same problem. Where as Stone Cold and CM Punk can have great matches with a variety of opponents. Most importantly, The Rock drove Stone Cold to having world class matches he drove him further than anyone else did in his entire career. I believe John Cena does that with CM Punk. I don't feel Edge did.

CM Punk could be Cena's true rival.

You know what made me think about this? I was so excited to hear about CM Punk vs John Cena last week. Really excited. I loved their two matches last year, at Money in the Bank and at Summerslam. They were the best matches of the year in my opinion, they were so fluid, so special, and you honestly didn't know who was going to win either match. And in the end, CM Punk won both matches. CM Punk walked away champion yesterday as well. Another thing that Stone Cold and CM Punk have in common with their rivals. You get the feeling CM Punk is the bogey wrestler to John Cena that Stone Cold was to The Rock. The Rock has said it himself many times, he didn't feel like he truly was 'the man' until he finally beat Stone Cold. I think it could make a great story to keep CM Punk as Cena's bogey wrestler.

Last night CM Punk turned heel again. At first I was thinking this was a bad move. Why? Because CM Punk is so hot right now in the WWE. He's the first wrestler to finally knock John Cena off merchandise. Sure John Cena is still king of selling the product, but CM Punk is catching up. And shirt sales going in CM Punk's favour is a sign of that. CM Punk, unlike John Cena, is cool with all ages and genders of viewership. It feels inevitable long term that CM Punk might finally be the true top guy in the WWE. The WWE definitely have him as their #2 guy now, finally knocking Randy Orton out of that position. I still feel it may be a bad move, in the respect that CM Punk might be too over to be truly booed. The smarter fans will definitely cheer for him, especially if he does go for this rematch against Cena at Summerslam, which feels inevitable.

But the heel turn, despite of my mixed feelings, means one thing. We should get another, great CM Punk and John Cena match. I don't want Cena/Punk shoved down my throat over the course of the autumn though. One match at Summerslam, and then separate them again. I want John Cena and CM Punk to be the new Rock/Stone Cold. It has truly can be. CM Punk's heel turn, the adjustment in his attitude, makes him opposite Cena again. And of course, it makes him opposite The Rock again, which is another match I desperately want to see at the Royal Rumble. CM Punk/Rock could be great as well.

I'm really looking forward to wrestling again now. John Cena vs CM Punk, Brock Lesnar vs Triple H and Chris Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler seem set for Summerslam. That's an awesome trilogy of matches. I just hope the WWE don't make Cena/Punk stale long term, it has all the ingredients for greatness.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 8

Hey there, welcome to my newest Q&A session. Before I get to that I want to plug once again the fact that I was on TV last week, you can see my appearance in the top right of this page if you haven't already. Also at the top right of this page is a link to my epic 31,000 word article on my amazing journey to appearing on TV to do Winter Wipeout. If you didn't know that already and are interested, definitely check it out. My article has been well received universally, although people have said it was too long and they're not wrong!

In other news, I've hit a new site record this month, it's possible I could hit 6000 pageviews by the end of the month tomorrow, which will be a first. Thank you all so much for all the support you give me, I love doing this and the more support I get the more likely it is I could actually do this as a job one day. We can all dream.

Back to the actual topic at hand, Q&A Part 8. I do these every month and as always, these questions are all taken off my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. Enjoy!

Q: What is your favorite cartoon character?

A: Difficult, I'd probably go with Captain Caveman, or Dick Dastardly. Both very old school, retro cartoon characters.

Q: How much TV do you usually watch in a day?

A: Not that much anymore, if video games count then maybe three or four hours. If we're talking watching television then it's extremely rare now. I spend more time on the computer than watching TV.

Q: Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

A: I don't believe in ghosts, it's difficult to explain why, I just think very scientifically, and don't think it has a place in science. I know that people say "science can't explain everything" but I disagree, I just think we don't understand certain things yet.

Q: If you could live in any house you wanted to, what would it look like?

A: Difficult question, the possibilities are endless! I've always wanted a big gaming room, and a pool. I've wanted to collect fantasy swords too so probably a room for that. There's probably more but I can't think of them at the moment.

Q: What's more important - who you know or what you know?

A: It depends, if it's work related, who you know. Anything else I'd say what you know.

Q: If you had a day to volunteer, where would you volunteer?

A: I'd volunteer as creative writer for WWE, and hope that my day volunteering got me a permanent job there with my "amazing" ideas.

Q: What things do you do to stay healthy?

A: I don't try that hard, it's not as important to me as it is to other people. I try to eat fruit every day.

Q: Best wrestling match whose story wasn't told inside the ring?

A: The CM Punk/John Cena storyline, otherwise known as "The Summer of Punk" was a great one recently. I'm also really enjoying Daniel Bryan's slow heel turn, which is a better story out of the ring than in it.

Q: When you're lost, are you more likely to ask for directions or find your way without help?

A: It depends on the scenario, I usually try to find a place on my own but if I'm really stuck, I'm not afraid to ask.

Q: Olof Mellberg is what would result if Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Chuck Norris had a love child. Agree?

A: Odd question but definitely. Although the image of Olof Mellberg even though he hasn't been in the Premier League for a few years now still scares me.

Q: Would you rather watch a movie in the theatre or at home?

A: At home as I can get comfortable easily, but watching a movie in the cinema is a great experience as well.

Q: What are you most excited about today?

A: I'm about to put on the Royal Rumble, my favourite PPV of the year. Excited!

Q: What's your favorite kind of snack to eat?

A: Chocolate.

Q: What do you think the world will be like in 50 years?

A: I think the world won't change much in terms of advancements in technology in 50 years time, as time moves on less impact is happening. Same applies to science. England probably still not winning the World Cup is still a high possibility.

Q: What movie are you most looking forward to seeing?

A: The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, although I might not be able to afford to see it.

Q: What's your favorite clothing brand?

A: Primark? I really, REALLY don't care for brands of clothing.

Q: What's the biggest risk you've ever taken? Are you glad you took it or do you regret it?

A: Meeting my wife. I travelled as a sixteen year old over 300 miles down the country on the train, on a nine hour ride. And fuck yes it was worth it.

Q: What qualities do you look for when you're dating someone?

A: Honesty and to be able to tolerate me and my extremely set ways. I will do the same in return.

Q: What's the first thing you check when you turn on your computer?

A: Like most people, Facebook

Q: What would you do if you won the lottery?

A: So many things. Most importantly, make every person I love unconditionally financially secure and have something that they love.

And that's my latest Formspring update. Once again if you want to follow me on Formspring you can do so here. I'll be back on Wednesday for my 1993 in Music review. Have a good night.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Mixtape: Best of WWE Wrestler Entrance Themes (Licenced)

Hello and welcome to another Mixtape entry. Here's the second of three Mixtapes in three days. Missed yesterday's Mixtape? Click here. In that I celebrate my favourite non-licensed WWE wrestler entrance themes.

Naturally that means today I move onto my favourite licensed themes. Licensed themes are an ever increasing thing in the WWE lately, as it pulls bands that fans might be familiar with, while the music quality is (usually) better too, although you could argue that the non-licensed themes are usually more memorable.

Not familiar with my Mixtapes? Here are the rules.

A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids, downloading is wrong! 

So here are my favourite licensed WWE wrestler entrance themes! Enjoy!

1. Basic Thuganomics - John Cena (John Cena)
2. Here Comes the Money - Naughty by Nature (Shane McMahon)
3. American Bad Ass - Kid Rock (The Undertaker)
4. Get On Your Knees - Age Against the Machine (Jack Swagger)
5. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Hulk Hogan)
6. Ain't No Make Believe - Stonefree Experience (John Morrison)
7. Broken Dreams - Shaman's Harvest (Drew McIntyre)
8. One of a Kind - Breaking Point (Rob Van Dam)
9. Burn in My Light - Mercy Drive (Randy Orton)
10. I Walk Alone - Saliva (Batista)
11. Live for the Moment - Monster Magnet (Matt Hardy)
12. Whatever - Our Lady Peace (Chris Benoit)
13. Slow Chemical - Finger Eleven (Kane)
14. Never Gonna Stop - Rob Zombie (Edge)
15. Glass Shatters - Disturbed (Stone Cold Steve Austin)
16. Bombshell - Powerman 5000 (Dudley Boyz)
17. Enter Sandman - Metallica (The Sandman)
18. The Game - Motorhead (Triple H)
19. Cult of Personality - Living Colour (CM Punk)

Don't like some of these? Give these five a try...

1. I Came to Play - Downstait (The Miz)
2. No More Words - Endeverafter (Jeff Hardy)
3. Booyaka 619 - P.O.D. (Rey Mysterio)
4. I'm Comin' - Silkk the Shocker (Montel Vontavious Porter)
5. Crank the Walls Down - Maylene and the Sons of Disaster (JeriShow)

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this list. I'll be back tomorrow then, with my favourite PPV and TV programme themes. That's it from me today, have a good night.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

WWE World Champion Knockout Game - Round 4: The Quarter Finals

Hello again and welcome back to my WWE World Champion Knockout Game. Round 3 came to an end today. For the last week I've been asking for your votes on who make the best World Champions and I've had tallies going on this site, and two other forums. I can now reveal the results.

The Pedigree Bracket

(1) Triple H vs (6) Chris Benoit - Triple H wins 18 votes to 4.

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket 
(1) John Cena vs (2) Shawn Michaels - Shawn Michaels wins 16 votes to 6.

The Jackhammer Bracket

(1) Edge vs (3) Jeff Hardy - Edge wins 19 votes to 3.

The Brogue Kick Bracket

(1) The Rock vs (2) Bret Hart - The Rock wins 13 votes to 9.

The Chokeslam Bracket

(2) CM Punk vs (4) Booker T - CM Punk wins 20 votes to 2.

The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket

(1) The Undertaker (3) Kane - The Undertaker wins 21 votes to 1.

The Codebreaker Bracket

(1) Hulk Hogan vs (2) Chris Jericho - Chris Jericho wins 14 votes to 8. 

The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket

(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (2) Kurt Angle - Stone Cold Steve Austin wins 18 votes to 4.

No major shocks in Round 3, some #2 seeds beat #1 seeds but that's about it. And we have a winner for each bracket, 8 wrestlers are left and they will be paired off like this, as explained in the Round 1 post:

Just a reminder, that picture above is who is pairing off against who, the bracket number they have and the total amount of titles they have won.

To vote, vote or comment below, or message me on my Facebook page, my Twitter, or email me. 

Now that mumbo jumbo is out of the way, here's The Quarter Finals! Round 5, the Semi Finals, will be posted on Friday 13th January. 

Round 4: The Quarter Finals

*Voting Closed*


The Pedigree Bracket vs The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket
(1) Triple H vs (1) Stone Cold Steve Austin

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket vs The Codebreaker Bracket
(2) Chris Jericho vs (2) Shawn Michaels

The Jackhammer Bracket vs The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket
(1) Edge vs (1) The Undertaker

The Brogue Kick Bracket vs The Chokeslam Bracket
(1) The Rock vs (2) CM Punk

*Voting Closed*

To summarise, to vote, you can list your preferred champions in the polls above. But I can also accept votes elsewhere, you can vote on my Facebook, my Twitter or via email. Votes will be tallied and Round 5, The Semi Finals will be posted on Friday 13th January. Happy voting!

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

WWE World Champion Knockout Game - Round 3

Hey there I hope you had a good Christmas. Round 2 for my WWE World Champion Knockout Game came to an end today. For the last week I've been asking for your votes on who make the best World Champions and I've had tallies going on this site, and two other forums. I can now reveal the results.

The Pedigree Bracket

(1) Triple H vs (4) Vince McMahon - Triple H wins 19 votes to 2.
(2) Christian vs (6) Chris Benoit - Chris Benoit wins 10 votes to 8.

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket

(1) John Cena vs (4) Rob Van Dam - John Cena wins 13 votes to 8.
(2) Shawn Michaels vs (6) Eddie Guerrero - Shawn Michaels wins 17 votes to 4.

The Jackhammer Bracket

(1) Edge vs (4) Alberto Del Rio - Edge wins 20 votes to 1.
(2) Bob Backlund (3) Jeff Hardy - Jeff Hardy wins 13 votes to 8.

The Brogue Kick Bracket

(1) The Rock vs (4) Sheamus - The Rock wins 20 votes to 1.
(2) Bret Hart vs (3) Rey Mysterio - Bret Hart wins 17 votes to 4.

The Chokeslam Bracket

(1) Randy Orton vs (4) Booker T - Booker T wins 16 votes to 5.
(2) CM Punk vs (3) Big Show - CM Punk wins 18 votes to 3.

The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket

(1) The Undertaker vs (4) Sycho Sid - The Undertaker wins 19 votes to 2.
(2) Batista vs (3) Kane - Kane wins 12 votes to 9.

The Codebreaker Bracket

(1) Hulk Hogan vs (5) The Iron Shiek - Hulk Hogan wins 16 votes to 5.
(2) Chris Jericho vs (6) Andre the Giant - Chris Jericho wins 17 votes to 4.

The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket

(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (4) Ric Flair - Stone Cold Steve Austin wins 20 votes to 1.
(2) Kurt Angle vs (3) Randy Savage - Kurt Angle wins 11 votes to 10.

The biggest shock of the round when it comes to seeding are the eliminations of Christian, a #2 seed which lost to #6 seed Chris Benoit. We also have our first #1 seed elimination, with Randy Orton losing to #4 seed Booker T.

Just a reminder, that picture above is who is pairing off against who, the bracket number they have and the total amount of titles they have won.

To vote, vote or comment below, or message me on my Facebook page, my Twitter, or email me. 

Now that mumbo jumbo is out of the way, here's Round 3! Round 4, the Quarter Finals, will be posted on Friday 6th January. 

Round 3

*Voting Closed* 


The Pedigree Bracket 
(1) Triple H vs (6) Chris Benoit 


The Sweet Chin Music Bracket 
(1) John Cena vs (2) Shawn Michaels 


The Jackhammer Bracket 
(1) Edge vs (3) Jeff Hardy 


The Brogue Kick Bracket 
(1) The Rock vs (2) Bret Hart 


The Chokeslam Bracket 
(2) CM Punk vs (4) Booker T 


The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket 
(1) The Undertaker vs (3) Kane 


The Codebreaker Bracket 
(1) Hulk Hogan vs (2) Chris Jericho 


The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket 
(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (2) Kurt Angle

*Voting Closed* 

To summarise, to vote, you can list your preferred champions in the polls above. But I can also accept votes elsewhere, you can vote on my Facebook, my Twitter or via email. Votes will be tallied and Round 4, The Quarter Finals will be posted on Friday 6th January. Happy voting!

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

WWE World Champion Knockout Game - Round 2

Hey there, welcome back to my WWE World Champion Knockout Game. For the last week I've been asking for your votes on who make the best World Champions and I've had tallies going on this site, and two other forums. I can now reveal the results.

The Pedigree Bracket

(1) Triple H vs (8) Montel Vontavious Porter - Triple H wins 29 votes to 0.
(4) Vince McMahon vs (5) Jack Swagger - Vince McMahon wins 15 votes to 11.
(2) Christian vs (7) John "Bradshaw" Layfield - Christian wins 15 votes to 10.
(3) Mankind vs (6) Chris Benoit - Chris Benoit wins 14 votes to 12.

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket

(1) John Cena vs (8) Drew McIntyre - John Cena wins 18 votes to 6.
(4) Rob Van Dam vs (5) Mark Henry - Rob Van Dam wins 21 votes to 4.
(2) Shawn Michaels vs (7) The Great Khali - Shawn Michaels wins 25 votes to 0.
(3) Brock Lesnar vs (6) Eddie Guerrero - Eddie Guerrero wins 14 votes to 10.

The Jackhammer Bracket

(1) Edge vs (8) R-Truth - Edge wins 24 votes to 0.
(4) Alberto Del Rio vs (5) Bobby Lashley - Alberto Del Rio wins 18 votes to 5.
(2) Bob Backlund vs (7) The Miz - Draw, 12 votes each. By default of seeding, Bob Backlund goes through.
(3) Jeff Hardy vs (6) Goldberg - Jeff Hardy wins 13 votes to 10.

The Brogue Kick Bracket

(1) The Rock vs (8) Daniel Bryan - The Rock wins 19 votes to 3.
(4) Sheamus vs (5) Buddy Rodgers - Sheamus wins 19 votes to 3.
(2) Bret Hart vs (7) Dolph Ziggler - Bret Hart wins 16 votes to 6.
(3) Rey Mysterio vs (6) Diesel - Rey Mysterio wins 14 votes to 8.

The Chokeslam Bracket

(1) Randy Orton vs (8) Wade Barrett - Randy Orton wins 18 votes to 4.
(4) Booker T vs (5) Ivan Koloff - Booker T wins 22 votes to 0.
(2) CM Punk vs (7) Ezekiel Jackson - CM Punk wins 22 votes to 0.
(3) Big Show vs (6) Sgt. Slaughter - Big Show wins 15 votes to 7.

The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket

(1) The Undertaker vs (8) Kofi Kingston - The Undertaker wins 22 votes to 0.
(4) Sycho Sid vs (5) Pedro Morales - Sycho Sid wins 19 votes to 5.
(2) Batista vs (7) Tommy Dreamer - Batista wins 19 votes to 5.
(3) Kane vs (6) The Ultimate Warrior - Kane wins 16 votes to 7.

The Codebreaker Bracket

(1) Hulk Hogan vs (8) Cody Rhodes - Hulk Hogan wins 16 votes to 7.
(4) Yokozuna vs (5) The Iron Shiek - The Iron Shiek wins 15 votes to 8.
(2) Chris Jericho vs (7) Matt Hardy - Chris Jericho wins 20 votes to 2.
(3) Bruno Sammartino (6) Andre the Giant - Andre the Giant wins 14 votes to 8.

The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket

(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (8) John Morrison - Stone Cold Steve Austin wins 22 votes to 1.
(4) Ric Flair vs (5) Stan Stasiak - Ric Flair wins 22 votes to 1.
(2) Kurt Angle vs (7) Chavo Guerrero - Kurt Angle wins 21 votes to 0.
(3) Randy Savage vs (6) Billy Graham - Randy Savage wins 21 votes to 1.

All the 'non-champions' have been eliminated out of the game. I suppose the "shocks" of the round when it comes to seeding are the eliminations of Mankind, Brock Lesnar and Bruno Sammartino, who were all #3 seeds and lost to #6 seeds. So with all that out of the way, the brackets now look like this:

Just a reminder, that picture above is who is pairing off against who, the bracket number they have and the total amount of titles they have won.

To vote, vote or comment below, or message me on my Facebook page, my Twitter, or email me. 

Now that mumbo jumbo is out of the way, here's Round 2! Round 3 will be posted on Friday 30th December. 

Round 2

*Voting Closed*

 The Pedigree Bracket

(1) Triple H vs (4) Vince McMahon
(2) Christian vs (6) Chris Benoit

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket

(1) John Cena vs (4) Rob Van Dam
(2) Shawn Michaels vs (6) Eddie Guerrero

The Jackhammer Bracket

(1) Edge vs (4) Alberto Del Rio
(2) Bob Backlund (3) Jeff Hardy

The Brogue Kick Bracket

(1) The Rock vs (4) Sheamus
(2) Bret Hart vs (3) Rey Mysterio

The Chokeslam Bracket

(1) Randy Orton vs (4) Booker T
(2) CM Punk vs (3) Big Show

The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket

(1) The Undertaker vs (4) Sycho Sid
(2) Batista vs (3) Kane

The Codebreaker Bracket

(1) Hulk Hogan vs (5) The Iron Shiek
(2) Chris Jericho vs (6) Andre the Giant

The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket

(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (4) Ric Flair
(2) Kurt Angle vs (3) Randy Savage

*Voting Closed*

To summarise, to vote, you can list your preferred champions in the polls above. But I can also accept votes elsewhere, you can vote on my Facebook, my Twitter or via email. Votes will be tallied and Round 3 will be posted on Friday 30th December. Happy voting!

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

The Mercy Side: King Booker

Hey everyone, it’s been over a month since I’ve last wrote a full article about wrestling. There are a few reasons for that, like focusing a lot on the football (soccer) recently, wanting to do some music reviews and  paying homage to Guitar Hero. But the most honest reason is that I had a bit of writers block when it came to wrestling. That is partly my fault, but it’s also because wrestling had a big high a few months back, and it’s kinda gone back to old ways recently. Or has it?

Now this article isn’t about King Booker, or Booker T although I really am enjoying his commentary, he’s got a really unauthentic style that contrasts everyone else and I mean that positively. He’s started to develop his own phrases (“DBry is in my Fav Five dawg”, “wut da hayel?!” and “oh my goodness!”) This article is about the booking team. See what I did there with the name of the article huh? Haha. Okay. Not so funny. Moving on…

Basically I want to start a round of applause for the booking team in this article. Why? Because I think they’ve done a decent job recently, that’s why! I read a lot of wrestling articles, mainly The John Report, but some other sources too, and I can’t really say I’ve seen anyone praising the booking team. Yes, they’re not perfect and they do things that sometimes still make us scratch our heads, but for the most part they seem to be more on alert recently and they’re paying a lot of attention to story continuation. You still don’t think they deserve praise? If not, let me see if I can convince you.

Now, when I say I’m praising the booking team it’s not because they’re pushing my favourite wrestlers. That’s one thing that pisses me off about the Internet Wrestling Community. They have their favourites, and if they’re booked badly, it’s the booking team’s fault. “It’s bad booking!” This isn’t what this article is about. I’m not going to get into the politics about who deserves a push, or who is pushed up our asses and doesn’t deserve it. My favourite wrestler might be someone you don’t like, and vice versa. While the IWC tend to agree on certain wrestlers being better than others (like CM Punk and Christian being great, and The Great Khali being awful), it doesn’t matter. What this article is about is to raise the fact that the WWE think certain wrestlers deserve a push, and others may not. And it’s obvious from the booking recently, who these people are. That’s GOOD booking. Don’t get confused between good and bad booking. If you want to see bad booking look at TNA, who for most Impact shows can’t get through one episode without fucking it up.

The best example in terms of a certain period of time where the booking was perfect was actually last week’s Raw (dated 26/9/11, or 9/26/11 for you weird North Americans who believe the month should be displayed before the day), where the first 20 minutes was booked fantastically well. Don’t you remember? Didn’t you notice? Well let me jog your memory.

The show stated with Triple H explaining his decision to fire The Miz and R-Truth last week. Pause for a second. The hook ending of last week was those two being fired. People wanted to know why they got fired, and had to wait a week to find out. They then find out at the start of the episode. Good booking.

Continuing on, he continues before Dolph Ziggler and Vicky Guerrero interrupt, and raise their grievances over Hugh Jackman ‘breaking Ziggler’s jaw’ last week. We then got further interruptions from Cody Rhodes, who complained about his attack from Randy Orton on last week’s Smackdown, then we got Christian complaining about Sheamus attacking him in the middle of his match, ‘costing him the’ title.

Triple H sorts each person out individually, by telling Dolph Ziggler he’ll defend his title against Zack Ryder, who beat him last week. Pause. Good booking here too, Zack Ryder did indeed beat the champion last week, and deserves his rematch. As Christian did his ‘one more match’ chant again, Triple H gave him ‘one more match’ against Sheamus at Hell in a Cell instead. As for Cody Rhodes, he told him he can have the night off, before Rhodes backchatted. In the end for his multiple interruptions it ended up with Triple H putting Cody Rhodes in a 10 man over the top rope Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Title.

The aftermath of this 10 man Battle Royal was Cody Rhodes retaining the title. But it was more than that. This 10 man Battle Royal continued many feuds and many storylines. Evil Sin Cara took out the original Sin Cara in the match and replaced him, furthering their feud. Good booking. Sheamus was in the match and Christian interfered to help him get eliminated, furthering their feud. Good booking. And Cody retaining for me was a good move, as he’s continuing to establish himself as a very good Intercontinental champion.

This was around 20 minutes long in total. Not a long time, but it was seamless, it answered questions that were left hanging from last week and it raised some more questions that would be answered at Hell in a Cell, like will Sheamus get his revenge against Christian, and pretty much the same thing with the Sin Caras.

It was almost perfect, the only bad thing I can say really was the ‘on the spot’ booking of Cody Rhodes at both Raw and Hell in a Cell. He had just come out a match with Ted DiBiase only a week ago and Ted DiBiase could have had more of a chance to continue that feud by maybe being left as the last man standing, only to lose to Rhodes last minute. They then could have had a match at HIAC. That would be better booking than DiBiase basically being ignored in the Battle Royal, and the ‘spontaneous’ decision to make John Morrison be the #1 contender on the actual PPV and lose was used instead. That wasn’t the best booking decision, but nearly everything else was perfect.

Now that was a long winded example of what booking a wrestling should be like, in my opinion. It’s not about your favourite guys getting (or not getting) the right push that makes the booking bad. That’s just personal taste. What makes booking bad or good is creating storylines and continuing them until they lose steam. It’s about creating interest and then maintaining it. And for the most part, the WWE booking has been just that.

I’m not going to go in too much depth now but they pretty much continued that streak at Hell in a Cell, and then on Raw last night. At Hell in a Cell, for the most part, the booking was top notch. Starting the show with The Miz and R-Truth as fans at ringside with tickets, and then getting kicked out was good. They then tried to get backstage and got kicked out. In the end of the PPV they came through the crowd and slid under the ring while the cell lowered and beat the crap into all the main eventers and referees. The cage was down, and all the ‘employed’ wrestlers tried and failed to break into the cage to get them out. Eventually the cage was broken by bolt cutters and then they got arrested. Not only visually was it a great scene, but it continued the storyline further about what those two are going to do next. What are the WWE going to do? It was fantastic booking.

Now going into the main event I just talked about, I didn’t expect Alberto Del Rio to come out victorious. But in an interview before the match, Del Rio told everyone that we’ll see a different side of him tonight. And good booking was that he delivered. Tactically using Ricardo Rodriguez to take the keys from the referee and for them both to assist in getting Cena out of the cage, locked, was indeed that ‘different side’ we were told to look out for. But more emphatically, was his display in the match. He was fucking aggressive. One of the main criticisms of Del Rio was that he was talented in the ring and on the mic, but if you’re to be a world champion you need a certain level of aggression. He lacked that. But on Sunday, he really was vicious. They booked him very strong in the match, equal to Cena and Punk. And that was a first. He always looked to be one step behind the other two competitors, on both a verbal and physical battle. But he stuck it to them, and beat Punk clean with the use of an iron pipe. It was great booking.

I could go on about the other matches but this article is getting a bit long now, but they’ve continued the ‘chaotic’ ending of the PPV onto Raw last night. In fact the cliffhanger for Raw was excellent, and I can’t remember any visual like that being done ever in the WWE. For weeks and months Triple H has slowly been losing the trust of the locker room, with multiple heels complaining of unjustice and faces being beaten up by the heels. Mark Henry’s excellent dominance and brutal beatings on certain wrestlers has also contributed to this. So Triple H was put on the spot for the fact that he wasn’t controlling these chaotic scenes; the ending of the PPV, Mark Henry, and just the general dissatisfaction of the job the COO has been doing. So they all vote ‘no confidence’ about Triple H’s job, and then one by one everyone leaves. Not just the wrestlers, EVERYONE. The cameramen went, the commentators went, and the rest of the staff went. Everyone. The only people left in theory were the fans, the main cameraman and Triple H in the ring. It was excellent. And it’s great booking. It’s great booking because this story has unfolded other a matter of months and it came to a brilliant climax last night. It also leaves people wondering what on earth can happen next week on Raw, when there could potentially be no staff to help Triple H run the show. People are going to tune into this broadcast next week. It’s just incredible booking.

I don’t want to kiss the booking team’s ass too much. The booking has been bad in parts. But it’s better than it has been long term in the past, and it’s more consistently positive. What’s the bad booking then? Well for me, the bad booking of late really was in Beth Phoenix looking dominant against Kelly Kelly for weeks and weeks, only to lose every time they were wrestling for the title. That was bad booking, but it may be rectified now that Beth Phoenix won on Sunday. That being said, for Natalya to interfere in the match still made Phoenix look a little weaker than she should have been. The other big piece of bad booking is Daniel Bryan’s continued losing streak, despite pretty much being a certainty to wrestle in the main event at Wrestlemania. That for me is bad booking.

So next time you criticise the booking team and are unhappy with a certain push or a lack of push from a certain wrestler, think about the bigger picture. Think about the fact that basically, the booking team is given a blueprint to work to, to get a certain wrestler over. It may not be your favourite, but it doesn’t matter. And this wrestler has to be streamlined through a storyline that will keep audiences intrigued about its climax and finale. In many cases recently, the booking team have done just that. Thanks for your time.

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The Mercy Side: Triple H – COO or No?

On Monday we found out who CM Punk’s opponent was going to be. All the build up so far pointed towards it being Kevin Nash, who Jackknife Powerbombed the ex champion into the mat at Summerslam. Two weeks of decent promos and altercations between the two seemed to solidify this belief amongst most fans. However in CM Punk’s ever so not discrete way, he has been making digs at Triple H week after week after week. It was inevitable that Punk and Hunter would face each other - it was never in doubt. But I don’t think many people expected them to face each other so soon, at Night of Champions, in just under three weeks.

Now feelings on this matter are mixed but edging towards unsatisfied with the change of opponent. Why? Well let’s look at the pros and cons of the situation. Being the optimist I am, I’ll start with the pros. The change of opponent is good in the respect that Triple H is a much better wrestler and worker than Kevin Nash is. Hell, Triple H has always been a better worker than Nash. Another positive is that a lot of the new generation of wrestling fans haven’t the foggiest who Kevin Nash is, where as Triple H is a huge name is wrestling, and has been for a good 12 years consistently. This on its own brings a bigger market, the PPV will sell more for having Hunter’s name on the card than Nash’s. Another? The two guys haven’t wrestled a hectic schedule for a good eighteen months, both guys that is. Nash was with TNA eighteen months ago, where as Hunter was on tour with WWE around that time. In the eighteen months that have passed, Nash left TNA and barely wrestled, where as Hunter had a few injuries and pretty much did the build up to Wrestlemania but nothing before or since. What’s my point? Well neither have wrestled a great deal, yet Triple H proved at Wrestlemania that despite not being on the road for long periods of time wrestling, he can fucking go in an instant of notice. His match against The Undertaker was a classic. It’s my personal favourite Triple H match, and he was 41, slightly passed his prime. Nash? Well he hasn’t had many great matches in his entire career, and he was 41 back in 2000, at the demise of WCW.

So in brief, the pros are Triple H is a better worker than Nash, a better wrestler than Nash, gets ‘more asses in seats’ than Nash, can work a great match despite long term absence in the ring than Nash and is 10 years younger. The cons? Well, a big con is that despite all those pros, we were lead into a storyline where Kevin Nash came back to the squared circle and laid out CM Punk at Summerslam. He made a big impact. For two weeks, there has been bickering between Punk and Nash. And yes, while Triple H has been part of the storyline, his bickering with Punk has been part of the scenery, the background. The main hook, in the fore, was Punk/Nash. Nash for two weeks managed to get his hands on Punk, while Punk has so far tried and failed to get his revenge. It was a nice little story going on. And while Hunter/Punk had their problems, they seemed to be only niggling issues at present, not issues that were blown into proportion. So from a storyline perspective, what happens to Nash now that Triple H basically knocked him off the card and took his place? It’s bad booking to build something for two weeks only for it to be completely irrelevant. You can make an argument that next week on Raw we’ll find out that Nash is actually relevant but he’s not the main man anymore. He’s now been pushed back and regardless of his input, seems pretty useless now. So that’s one con. Another? CM Punk and Triple H was bound to happen. It was never in doubt. It felt like it was going to be dragged on for months before Hunter would have enough of Punk’s pipebomb bullshit and just take his anger out on him. It was a scene I’d love to have seen done in around half a year’s time, maybe in time for Wrestlemania. All in time, Hunter would try to ignore and block CM Punk’s provocations and try to maintain his professionalism. It was being written for itself and would make fantastic television over the next few months, seeing CM Punk slowly chip through Triple H’s armour before The Game just rips him to pieces, turning heel at the same time. So now that Triple H has decided to put himself in the match only five weeks after Punk was starting to bug him. A potential feud of the year candidate has now disintegrated, as it will all come to a premature head in just over two weeks time.

But the main con with this change of direction for WWE in terms of CM Punk’s opponent at Night of Champions is actually its affect on Triple H’s role going forward. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand and in certain ways agree with the opponent change. You can see why above. But if Triple H is the on-screen successor to Vince McMahon, the CEO of old, he needs to step away from in ring action. Yes, Triple H was, ahem, is, a wrestler and Vince wasn’t. But it doesn’t matter. Triple H, the COO of the WWE, needs to act like the man in charge. The man in charge does not take part in matches, he books them. He fires people. He sets the record straight. Yes he has an ego, but he tries to control it, for ‘the good of the business’. It doesn’t matter if it’s a storyline or kayfabe, he is the boss.

One of the main reasons Vince McMahon’s character worked so well for so long was because he rarely got involved in the ring. When Vince McMahon, le grande fromage, got in the ring shit was about to go down. Stone Cold’s feuds with Vince McMahon are legendary. But that’s because of the bickering, the bitching, and the excellent mic work. It wasn’t because of five star classics. And yes, Triple H can wrestle while Vince couldn’t, but that it doesn’t matter.

Okay, let’s look at it from a different angle. Forget wrestling is worked for a second. YOU, yes you there with the half eaten pastry in your mouth looking at my site, YOU are now the COO of the WWE. As I said forget wrestling is worked, you are in control. You’re the boss. You book the matches and sort out feuding wrestling angles. You fire the people who ‘deserve’ to get fired. What would you do if you were also a wrestler? You’d put yourself in world title matches of course! You wouldn’t go after Punk, you’d go after Alberto Del Rio who has the title. You’d book the match so it would be difficult for Del Rio to win, and take the title. Hell you’d strip him from the title and give it to yourself and then never defend it. Okay maybe this idea is a little farfetched, I mean it is YOU that would be champion. If it was me it’d make a little more sense after all, I am an incredible (yet humble and discreet) wrestler.

Okay all jokes aside; if Triple H is a wrestler AND the COO, it just doesn’t work. You can’t be both. You can’t be an active wrestler and book matches. It just doesn’t make sense. It was only four weeks ago when we were looking at a promo with CM Punk and Triple H and HHH said that he took the COO job for the fans, and with that job comes certain rules and responsibilities. He never factually said he would not compete again but he most certainly insinuated that he wouldn’t. Being a guy that can still go at a more than acceptable rate it was inevitable that Hunter would wrestle again. But as I said, it needs to be impactful. It needs to have a purpose. And with the direction it was heading in, say in six months, if Triple H was to patiently wait until that amount of pressure was built and tensions with Punk would increase on a weekly basis for that long, it would have had just that. Impact. It would have meant something. “Triple H returns! For one night only to stand up for his wife against the man with the pipebomb CM Punk!” It’s a money maker. Or it was. Now that Triple H is returning to the ring, only two months after being announced as the new COO, it’s meaningless. It lacks the edge it would have had around six months from now.

So to conclude, there are pros and cons for this change of opponent for CM Punk. The pros are Hunter is a better wrestler, worker, is better business for the company, younger and more capable of wrestling at a hands notice than Nash. The cons are it potentially makes the Nash/Punk storyline completely insignificant, it was a storyline rushed forward incredibly prematurely and the main reason, it devalues Triple H as the COO of the company. Where do I stand in this situation? I’m sure you’ve figured it out, I’m against this idea. Sure Nash won’t be able to wrestle a great match with Punk, but it’s not about a five star classic. It’s about putting CM Punk over, and believe it or not, Nash does have a certain value for Punk. Nash is a six time world heavyweight champion, and is 6’11. The match would have simply been booked for long periods of a beatdown for Punk while he overcomes the odds and bullishly defeats Nash clean with the Go to Sleep. It would have boosted Punk’s credibility amongst the marks (although the smarks are more than aware that Punk is gold at the moment and has been for sometime, some of the marks are still not convinced). It makes Punk look stronger. So there would have been value in that match.

As for Triple H, I say he can’t be an active wrestler too often (rare matches are fine, as long as they are that, rare) and be the COO of the company. So it has to be one or the other. COO or no? I say COO. Thanks for reading.