Welcome to the "Twitter is the best pushed superstar in WWE" edition of The Wrestling List. Actually have a List coming to you this week. Sorry that I don't get more of these posted but I am so crazy busy that I almost have to schedule myself down time sometimes. I had to comment though on Survivor Series and some of the latest happenings.
I did check out Survivor Series this weekend and the show was just kind of there for me. It had its good moments but overall I wasn't that crazy about it. One thing that helped the show tremendously was Madison Square Garden. I knew that was going to help the show bottom line. I love the Garden fans. They chant what they feel. They like who they like. They boo who they don't like. It's an amazing atmosphere and the crowd was ready for this show. I thought right away that CM Punk's pop would probably be around The Rock's pop and I thought it was. Punk returning to NYC is always fun and the Garden was ready for him. Huge reaction to when he won the title from Alberto Del Rio. Loved the crowd dive after the match and Punk is the only guy in the company that has people chanting his name during his walk to the ring and after the match. Just a great moment and seeing Punk get to win the title in the Garden was a great thing. The Rock got the huge pop that we all expected and Cena got the huge boos that we all expected. LOL. Wow, that was a hostile crowd toward John Cena. Boos rained down when his music hit but I did have to laugh at Cena's smile when he came out while saying to the camera, "New York's favorite son is home". There were all sorts of anti Cena chants from the Garden including them telling Rock at one point, "don't tag Cena". Rock looked solid in the ring and put on a good show. I do have to say this. Cena looked ridiculous in the post match celebration. Apparently, Cena was the only guy in the world that didn't see the Rock Bottom coming. Everyone in the building knew it was coming. Everyone at home knew it was coming. People that don't even follow wrestling that were working concession in the building probably knew it was coming. As far as the rest of the show, Big Show and Mark Henry started slow. Really slow. The Garden let them know it too. Funny how the commentators were pointing out every crowd chant except that one that said "boring". Then, when the match was starting to pick up steam, we get the lame DQ finish. I did like the Big Show elbow drop off the top rope followed by a Randy Savage chant from the crowd. Another Savage chant broke out later when Punk delivered his tribute big elbow against Del Rio. The 10 man tag was fun and I like the traditional style Survivor Series matches. The Sin Cara injury was a bad way to get things going. I loved the finish where we didn't get the expected. I figured that Randy Orton was going to steam roll through and win. Cody Rhodes was over huge at the Garden. They popped big when he eliminated Mason Ryan. Having Barrett get the surprise win on Orton was a good way to finish the match although I thought it was going to be Cody to get the win. The women's match had the awesome finish of the glam slam off the top rope from Beth Phoenix on to Eve. It looked nasty. Solid opener with Ziggler and Morrison. However, the attention of the match was the Garden chanting "we want Ryder" through the whole thing. These chants were rolling through the Garden before the show started. Ryder's music hit after the match and the Garden popped HUGE. Funny that after the show when Rock was doing his post match speech, the Garden had to get one more "we want Ryder" chant in. Cracked me up. That guy is over!
Last night's Raw was a solid show. The most that I've enjoyed Raw in several weeks. Second year in a row where I've liked Raw better than the previous night's Survivor Series. Punk's promo to open the show was great. Johnny Ace was….well, Johnny Ace. Good match with Ziggler and Punk. Good match with Kofi and Barrett. The promo that closed the show was kind of anti-climatic which featured the breakup of Awesome Truth.
Sin Cara is out for 6-9 months after suffering a ruptured patella tendon in the 10 man match at Survivor Series. He appeared to suffer the injury on the run before he got to the ropes so it appears to not be from the fall. It looked bad and you knew it was bad when you saw his reaction after he hit the floor.
Last night during Raw I noticed something kind of out of the ordinary that I wondered if many people caught. During one of the Twitter graphics being on the screen, it went to static noise while a You Tube address was barely seen in it. I figured it was a weird glitch until I saw it again in the show. That happening twice just didn't make much sense to me. The You Tube address links to this video which is pushing what sounds like a return on the first edition of Raw in 2012. Here is the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxGkXIphAHw&feature=player_embedded
I have to voice this. WWE's obsession with Twitter is WAY out of hand. It is all they talk about through the whole show. Who is trending? Who is tweeting online. WWE pushes Twitter more than anything else on the show. If they would push their young guys as much as they push Twitter, this product would be very different right now. We don't need graphics every five minutes telling us that superstars are trending on Twitter. It's just annoying more than anything.
Speaking of annoying, the commentary is right back in the hole again. We got a bit of a break for a few weeks with Jim Ross back on commentary. Although, JR wasn't his normal self but how can he be when Michael Cole is screaming every two seconds about something? The commentary is supposed to add to the product and not take away from the product. There is times that I miss things and quit paying attention because the commentary is so dominating. To sum this up, I heard this funny story yesterday. If you didn't know, WWE now offers headphones that you can purchase at live events now. Those headphones allow you to listen to the commentary on the show while you are sitting in the arena in case you want to know what is being said on TV. They ran an advertisement for this at the Garden as Survivor Series was about to start and the Garden crowd booed the ad. LOL. Very clear that the Garden crowd wanted no part of listening to that commentary. If I could at home, I'd turn it off the commentary to just listen to the live crowd noise. The commentary is bad. I can't really remember it ever being much worse.
CM Punk has been the bright spot for WWE. He is the reason that I get up on my seat every week. It's a bummer because he has lost some of that incredible momentum that he had back in the summer. It isn't any fault of his own. WWE just has that effect on everyone right now. When something gets some steam, it's watered back down in a matter of weeks. There was a recent comment from a member of the creative team that worked there at the time of the Punk summer angle. He basically said that they knew they weren't going to be able to follow it up. Punk is the best performer that they've got. I'm talking in ring and on the mic. He delivers every time and has for a LONG time now. Just thankful that he is now in the position of champion. Really hoping that him being on top will now let him get some momentum rollin again.
Speaking of WWE and creative, one thing that they can take NO credit for is Zack Ryder. That guy is over and he did it on his own. He was getting nowhere on TV so he started his own thing online. The videos and all reached him out to fans. They embraced him and started chanting for him. He got a lot of support from talent in the back that have been pushing for him. One of those being Steve Austin who posted on Twitter one night that he didn't understand why the company wasn't using Ryder when the fans are into him. He said something like give the kid a chance. Zack Ryder got himself over and the way that WWE is these days, that may be the only way to get over.
Last night on Raw, there was a promo which seemed to big time tease a return of Kane with the mask. I have been calling for this to happen for about two years or so. The Kane character is really stale for a while now. The retro looking Kane is something that fans will pop for and I love the idea of it. You can get another year or more out of Kane and make it entertaining. What more can you do with the unmasked Kane character?
If you have access to the syndicated Ring Of Honor shows, you need to be watching them. I've really enjoyed them but am behind on them. They are putting together some fun wrestling shows.
That is all that I have for tonight. Wishing all of you a great and very happy Thanksgiving!! Take care and God bless!!
