With the home invasion, violence against Stephanie and Flair's beat down at the hands of Jericho, why can't the rating go back up in Raw to TV-14?
Well, regardless, I have a few things to spice up the flagship show Raw...
Kane is the new Two-Face - A LOT of people want Kane to return with the mask on and this is the best way to do it...have him accidentally get caught up in pyro or a set up from Jericho and have him burned. Have updates and possibly interviews from the hospital with Kane all bandaged up. Have Jericho try to apologize in the ring and have Kane come out with the mask back on. He terrorizes Jericho for the better half of 2009 and maybe culminating in a Rumble win and Main Event Wrestlemania 26 as maybe his last run. Bring back the violent Kane, not the Emo Kane we have now.
CM Punk heel turn - if only Austin would still be around...straight edge against the beer drinker. Same with Sandman. CM Punk needs to turn and kind of be a Right to Censor-type member trying to maintain order and keep everyone on the straight edge. He could come out and preach about abstinance and being sober and could really get under certain cities' skin (LA, New York, Philly, Green Bay). A feud with Cena would be the culmination.
Undertaker takes on an apprentice - The Ministry returns with the Undertaker taking a Master with an Apprentice. The new blood will take over where the Ministry/Corporate Ministry took over. Dark, brooding, out of control. This will give the Undertaker a less active role in the ring and a slow transition out of the WWE when his time comes to hang it up.
ECW Take over - Jack Swagger leads a team that is "being disrepected because they are on the lesser show." They attack everyone. Swagger, DJ Gabriel, Dolph Ziggler, Paul Burchill w/Katie Lea.
Finlay returns as Bellfast Brawler - In a surprising turn of events, Finlay loses several times because of Hornswoggle which leads to him banishing him from ringside and maybe his life. He goes under the ring and never is heard from again. The heel Finlay comes back.
Tyson Kidd beats down Shawn Michaels because of past feud with Bret Hart for revenge. This will catapult Tyson into the main event or close to it. Add a run in with DH Smith and Natalya, this could be good.
Shelton Benjamin needs to truly BE the WWE version of Terrell Owens, Ron Artest, etc. . Harness everything there is about every cocky athlete and be him/them or they need to have Mark Henry, Shelton, MVP, R-Truth and Ezekel Jackson with Teddy Long be the new Nation of Domination.
DX hands over the title to The Brian Kendrick, The Miz and John Morrison and whatever Bella sister that it.
Okay, the more part was only one comment about my last blog. Most of my ideas for the Hall of Fame was actually from the Fan Axcess. I was shocked to see Smackdown and Wm25 covering most of what I thought should go into the HOF. I have never been to a Fan Axcess so it was cool to see that similarity between the two.
Now, on with the show...or wait...before the show...
Tag Titles - My father, brother in law and brother were looking forward to the match but when they announced the title matches up next, we freaked out that the Tag Match wasn't on the show? I had to go online quickly to see that the match was only a dark match to be on the DVD. Unify the titles and we don't get to see it? The Miz deserved to be on the show and the only tag team that I care about doesn't get to share the spotlight? They deserved it and they got nothing. On top of that, they lose. I bet this will split them up so John Morrison can make it to HBK status. Bad start. Bad, bad, bad.
MITB - CM Punk winning again was cool. My money was on MVP. I had no clue who would win this. I didn't think they would have Punk winning again. Why would they repeat it? No other wrestler would have been appropriate. Shelton Benjamin needs to get more props as does Kofi with the part when he went up the ladder with Mark Henry holding it folded. Very cool.
Kid Rock Performance- I liked it.
Diva Battle Royal - Totally wrong! Not that Santino won but the way they handled it. The Divas of old were not even highlighted. They needed to introduce them one by one instead of coming out all at once. I had no idea that some of these Divas were in the match until they were eliminated: Molly Holly, Miss Jackie, Joy Giovanni, Sunny, Trish Stratus and Torri Wilson. The match also started at the bell when the announcer was introducing the match with the rules. So far, not a good Wrestlemania.
JBL vs. Rey - Rey as the Joker was awesome. 21 seconds match, not awesome. The Intercontinental title was this year's ECW title match. With a title like that, it needed to be longer and we got nothing until JBL "QUIT." Retired? Going back to Smackdown's announce table? We'll see. So now we have the tag titles and IC belt disrespected...if this is going to happen, they need to get rid of them and just have the two world titles.
Y2J vs. Legends - Steamboat look phenominal. Did anyone watching see how vulgar Piper was with the language? TV-PG? I bet he got some flack for that and may not be seen again for a while. For a match that didn't have anything behind it Steamboat gave his all and looked good still. He could even be more of a player than he thought. Took Mickey Rourke long enough to finally "fight" Jericho. Yawn.
Undertaker vs. Michaels - WRESTLEMANIA SHOULD HAVE STARTED AND ENDED HERE. Since my father read the Bret Hart book, he's hated Shawn Michaels. I have been a Shawn fan since the turn on Marty Janetty at the Beefcake's Barber Shop. I wanted Michaels to break the streak and this match, I had no idea who would win. Great part was the kick out of the tombstone. Undertaker's face showed it all. Never had he focused on the streak before and now he was concerned about it breaking. 17-0 is amazing and a great reversal with the moonsault into the second tombstone. I thought Undertaker had been severly hurt with the dive on the cameraman. Eek! Best match and it stole the show because...
Show vs. Cena vs. Edge - Duh! Who else would have won this one? Edge was champ coming in to WM24 too and lost, why not keep it the same...is Edge becoming a transitional champion too? Would have been cooler to see Cena "Attitude Adjust" both of them at the same time but Edge would have been crushed. The torch (or beer, if you saw the HOF ceremony) has been passed to John Cena.
HHH vs. Orton - a clean match? No run-ins? No backstage interviews? Just a lot of staring. Orton to Legacy, Legacy to Orton, HHH to Vince/Shane, Shane/Vince to HHH and Crowd to HHH/Orton match. Intense entrance with HHH. During it, my Dad said, "Look how quiet the crowd is." A lot of boring spots and they both looked groggy and wrestled like they both were 45-50 years old and at the end of their careers. All that build up and that's the match we get?
Overall, not the best Wrestlemania but Undertaker vs. Michaels ranks up there with Steamboat/Savage, Michaels/Hart (Ironman) and Hogan/Andre.
With all of the talk of the WWE Hall of Fame, I was always wondering if they are planning to build an actual Hall of Fame that one could go and visit like going to the Football HOF in Canton, Ohio or Cooperstown to see the Baseball HOF. One would think the WWE Hall of Fame would be in Stamford, CT.
Outside they should do a Gruman's Chinese Theater walkway where the superstars cement their hands (past and present).
I think that the way they should represent each member is have a video wall of each superstar in the hall of fame like football has the bronze busts for each member. They would show highlights from their career.
Another room should have an entrance ramp for each of the shows and the patron could film their own entrance video coming out into the crowd. They could pick their own video on the Titan tron and even the theme music. A cool addition to this could be if there was a full size ring that they could enter to do mannerisms in the ring too. Of course this would all be for a fee and be monitored by trained staff members (because you know some people would try and wrestle).
Another area they could have for the universe is a promo area where they could film their own interview with Todd Grisham or whomever they choose.
A final fun thing they could do is record their own commentary to a classic match. I did this for the Cleveland Indians Winterfest with my Dad. It was a blast. I could see myself doing commentary for Steamboat/Savage at WM3.
They would have mementos from years past. Costumes/ring attire from past and present, a wing dedicated to the Divas and a Shopzone.
What do you think of my Hall of Fame Ideas? What would you add?
I am a little over 60 days away from hitting my 30th birthday. Looking back so far, I wanted to list my favorites of then and now just as a reflection of my life stemming from 1979-2009...
Favorite Movie: 1998's Out of Sight. Movie starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. This film is a fantastic adaption from Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name and Steven Soderbergh's first of many ventures with George Clooney. Great editing and acting, especially from the two leads in the trunk of a car and in a bar. Those represent the movie very well. Steve Zahn brings comedy to this film that can not be identified as a comedy, drama, action film. It is really all of the above. I remember seeing this film in the North Canton Tinseltown Cinemark after class and before football practice at Walsh University. Only movie to come close to knocking it out of first place is my number 2 (Finding Neverland) and 3 (American Beauty).
Favorite Television show: Big Bang Theory (Comedy) and ER (Drama). Throughout my life I have loved Mork and Mindy, Perfect Strangers and Mystery Science Theater 3000 and South Park (Comedies). Now that I am older, the drama has not fallen into place as of late. I was a HUGE fan of ER. It is the only drama to make me cry. When the cast decided to leave, I stopped watching when Carter went to Africa and the main characters were the handicapped doctor and the blad one that everyone hated. Since that time I have bounced between House, Bones, NCIS, CSI: Miami, The Mentalist and of course Raw and Smackdown. The wrestling shows aside, it has been hard to stick with one drama. One thing is certain: I miss the 90s "Must See TV" on NBC Thursdays (Friends, Fraiser, Seinfeld, ER).
Favorite Book: On the Road by Jack Kerouac. A novel that I read for a college class taught by my favorite professor TC Schmitzer. Loved how the main character was just a "professional bum" and traveled, hitchhiked, lived off the land and was very laid back about life and love. A very hard read to get through and slow at times, but this was a very enjoyable read. Now as a teacher (or soon to be again), my favorite books to teach are Tuck Everlasting, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Hatchet and Maniac Magee. If you ever have me as a teacher, look out, those are the books we are reding throughout the year.
Favorite Wrestler: When I was a kid through now...Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Hulk Hogan, "The Model" Rick Martel, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and now Randy Orton. WCW didn't really interest me that much but a favorites were always Sting and Flair. In wrestling history, why can't we match up Steamboat/Savage at WM3 against Flair/Funk (the match where Sting, The Great Muta all interfered). Those two matches define my wrestling experience. That and at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, OH, I saw a house show where the British Bulldogs and Hart Foundation wrestled in a cage where we saw the Hart Foundation win when Bret was escaping through the door and slammed it into Davey Boy Smith's Head. What a brutal match.
Favorite Actor (with my favorite movie they were in): Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive), George Clooney (Out of Sight), Jim Carrey (The Majestic).
Favorite Actress: Kate Winslet (Finding Neverland, Titanic, Revolutionary Road)
Favorite Sports teams: Saints (NFL), Aeros (Minor League Baseball), Indians (MLB), Cavaliers (NBA), Red Wings (NHL), Michigan State (college basketball), Ohio State (college football).
Favorite vacation spot: Disney World in Orlando, FL
Favorite place I'd like to visit: New Orleans, LA for a Saints game in the Superdome.
Favorite Memories: February 24th, 1988- my brother being born. Summer of 1992- Space Academy in Huntsville, AL. 1997- Making 2nd team all conference in football as a kicker/punter. Summer 2000- Visiting my cousins in California (still the only family member on my side to do that). August 2002- getting my first teaching job. Fall 2003- meeting my future wife. July 4th, 2004- Wedding. April 16th, 2005- my first daugher, Selina Rose, was born. January 16th, 2006- A surprise to all of us when Sophia Grace came into my life 3 months early at 4 lbs 10 oz. April 14th, 2009- the date I get my life back as a teacher.
This was stolen straight out of my local news. They have each broadcaster chose 8 fascinating facts about themselves that no one really knew...here's mine.
1. I loved the movie POPEYE when I was little, so much that I begged for my mom to buy me corncob pipes so I can strut around at home like the character.
2. I have 10 tattoos majority of which are movie or superhero in nature.
3. I attended Space Academy (Middle School version of Space Camp) between my 7th and 8th grade years.
4. The Riddler is my favorite Batman villain.
5. I have written over 14 screenplays, finished or in the works including a sequel to the Truman Show all for fun.
6. My WWE crushes are Beth Phoenix and John Morrison (I'm man enough to admit that).
7. I have never lost a game of Scene It (Movie Edition).
8. My oldest daughter is named after Catwoman (Selina Kyle). Selina will be four in April.
Feel free to comment or leave your own Fascinating Facts.
