Rankings (That don’t really matter)
1.) Aaron Rodgers, Super Bowl Hero- The Green Bay Packer quarterback entered a very exclusive club on Super Bowl Sunday when he was presented with a World Championship belt. That’s something many, many legends still can’t say. Somewhere the Hot Rod is stewing…
2.) AJ Styles, Fortunate Face- Whether it was “Plan B” or not, Fortune has turned on Immortal and AJ Styles has once again been given the ball and told to run with it. Will this be the angle that finally launches Styles into that “next” level of superstar? If it doesn’t work this time…
3.) Jerry Lawler, your Grandpa’s favorite grappler- I wanted to take him off the list, but how can you? The Memphis legend continues to shine with solid matches and promos on route to a pay-per-view title match. If this were an Indy show, the smarks would have no choice but to chant “You still got it” and someone tuning into Raw for the first time ever would just naturally assume that The King is one of the top dogs. Now, we can only hope Andy Kaufman makes a return at Elimination Chamber!
4.) Christopher Daniels, Curry lover- The owner of the Best Moonsault Ever (No, really, catch it live.) finally captured a ROH singles title with a great match against Eddie Edwards to take the ROH World television title and now he’s back in TNA under the Suicide mask. Good stretch for a great wrestler and a better man.
5.) Eric Bischoff, Controversial Cashier- With Kevin Nash’s surprise hot shot appearance at Rumble still one of the top water cooler topics, Easy E didn’t ignore it. He addressed the topic by “blessing” it and telling Nash that it was a smart idea to dye his hair, get a new action figure, and ride off into the sunset… and not so subtly inferring that TNA could do without the old, immobile object. Sometimes it’s better to ignore things, other times you have to address the elephant in the room to keep what is left of your credibility.
The “Why you should really love Indy Wrestling” award of the week:
Thunderkitty!!!
A welcome regular on the SoCal Indy scene, Thunderkitty has made her mark in many promotions such as NWA Hollywood, Empire Wrestling Federation, and Millennium Pro Wrestling while also holding the WILD world women’s championship. Thunderkitty employs on old time gimmick, a call back to the days of Moolah, with a modern twist and it is an interesting and welcome change from the Diva-clones populating the universe. You won’t find the likes of Thunderkitty in front of the big boy’s cameras… yet. Until then, you can catch Thunderkitty working the ropes in SoCal while hoping that one day she can smash Kelly Kelly right in her Barbie Blank.
The “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone” R.O.H. TV award of the week:
The eight man tag team main event featuring The Kings of Wrestling & The All Night Express vs The Briscoes & The World’s Greatest Tag Team on the February 7th edition of ROH on HDnet was not the best match ever and it seemed to go a tad too long, but it was great to watch a promotion continue to put so much faith and time into the fading art of tag team wrestling. The promos leading up the this match and the forthcoming matches between these teams only added to the big event feel. The Kings and the Briscoes have to be in the discussion for best tag teams around and Haas and Benjamin are not a nostalgia act. (TNA? Hello, hello…) The All Night Express are on the rise. If you even WANTED to do this match in the WWE, you couldn’t. There are no longer four actual tag teams in the fed to pull this off!
Fast Count…
The way I see it… Alberto Del Rio has to hold the World Heavyweight Championship for at least a year once he gets his hands on it. They have built him up so much… the vignettes, the car, the ring announcer, the Royal Rumble… that it would be a colossal disappointment if he had a Swagger-like run. If he is going to be Big (WWE.com wouldn’t lie, right?), then he needs to hold that Title (Belt!) for a long, long time; fending off challenger after challenger in heelish ways until the whole Universe can no longer wait until it is ripped away from him. Probably by Cena in Miami at WM 28, but still…
I would totally love it if… Ring of Honor invaded TNA. Yeah, out of left field and not even a remote chance of happening, but just think how fun it would be if the ROH stars showed up to the Impact zone and declared war. Every invasion angle outside of the initial NWO shocker has failed, so there is no reason to have faith that TNA could pull this off. Yet the day dream thought of Davey Richards kicking Mr. Anderson in his concussion riddled head, the Briscoes doomsdaying Beer Money, and Jim Cornette suckerpunching Eric Bischoff is a great way to pass that time at work in which you stare at your computer tricking your co-workers into thinking you actually care about that spreadsheet.
I gotta think… even the Dudleys themselves expected more heat on their mano y mano feud. After all these years their fight is lacking something. It’s not bad. It’s just… too late. The whole program reminds me of those times in which a great player leaves his long time team to go play for the Royals, Wizards, or Rams. I’d rather just see Jeter go the distance as a Yankee and I’d rather the Dudleys stay… well… the Dudleys.
I must confess… I like what TNA TRIES to do with the Knockout division. Yeah it’s still about titillation and fantasy appeal, but there is a clear effort to add importance to their title and their matches. Not having Lacey around helps, too.
Come on, admit it… if they had sold Man Mountain Rock tye-died pajamas you totally would have bought them as a college freshman… errrr…. kid.
Sure… it was a total accident, but that rather bloody broken nose added some gritty and needed depth to the CM Punk/ Orton show opener. Punk was a pro… soaking in the moment, letting the blood flow, and using it all to his advantage to tell a great story.
Quick… how close did R-Truth push himself toward “future endeavored” status after confusing Green Bay for Milwaukee, botching an opening spot, and unintentionally turning Mason Ryan into a Milwaukee hero?
Ken Napzok is a writer, comedian, and pro wrestling manager living in Los Angeles. he sometimes hums Mr. Perfect’s theme to himself when he enters a store. He can followed online at twitter.com/kozpan and twitter.com/TexTunney or contacted at wzkennapzok@gmail.com.
