Hiding Behind A Mask

Hiding Behind A Mask

Would you like to share your thoughts on the match that just concluded?

..........

What is the future course of action you are planning to take?

..........

..........

..........

Why do you wear this mask?

..........

Errm....From when did you want to wear this mask?

...........

Errmm...well that’s all the time we have folks, signing off.....

From Ever.

Huh? Sorry...what did you say? You mean, you wanted to wear the mask from ever?

Yes.

From what we know, you started wearing the mask once you....

No....you know nothing.

Then would you like to share that knowledge with us?

Hmmmm....

This mask gives me power

What kind of power? Does it give you control over natural elements like fire?

No.

..........

It gives me power to become something I am not. It gives me power to undo all the wrongdoings that were caused upon me. It gives me power to overcome those odds that I hitherto could not, despite my best and honest attempts at it. This world will never budge from doing what they do best and that is to cause injustice and create an environment of inequality.

..........

It allows me to be me........ by becoming something I never portrayed myself as.....but in hindsight, was never anything but.

Could you please explain us.......all this.

..........

Could you please explain us what this mask allows you to be that you say you are not but may be you always were....

There is no may be.

..........

I always was an oddity, an anomaly. I was the strange one of the group, whichever one that I was part of. I was considered as the odd one out.

Why so?

I don’t know. Or perhaps, I do know.

Perhaps you may know? You are guessing at it aren’t you? Didn’t you just ask your friends or whoever they were, as to why they behaved with you the way they did?

No.

What conclusion did you come to? I mean, how did you reach to the conclusion that you were considered as the odd one out by your peers?

I was made fun of.

You were made fun of?

Yes.

How?

You see, I have this vibe of un-likeability about me.

What do you mean?

I was always the lesser liked. I didn’t get the open arms from people the way everyone else did. I got the shorter end of the stick more times than not. And that would have been okay in all the profits and perks that the commercial end of the life has to offer but it really hurts when even the people that you care for show nothing but ignorance at best and disliking at worst towards you. 

........

I am not accepted the way I am. I never was accepted in this society as an equal. They thought – and believed that I lacked something. They thought I was being treated the right way by the almighty because I was not putting in the efforts required to bring happiness to my life. They said that I was not interested in my progress and that I took life in a very casual way. They wanted me to change.

They wanted you to change? How?

It isn’t really important what they wanted me to change....or how. What is important is that they wanted me to change. They wanted me to become something that I never was. In first viewing, it may seem they wanted to change me for better. It may seem they wanted me to become a better person but by repeatedly calling me out on my habits and manners, they were in essence, questioning my very existence, shunning my very identity.

That’s.....that’s sad. How did you react to that?

I didn’t.

I couldn’t...react to their continuous berating of my self-esteem.

See, there is a problem in it. When someone who is not expected to overcome the odds manages to do so, he becomes an inspiration for others. But more than that – he becomes an example. An example to so called berate those others who couldn’t achieve the same goal, all in the name of encouragement.

...........

The odds that were stacked up against me may never seem big enough to you, as compared to say, odds faced by a person with disability and I understand that. But the very reason that no one else in this world even considers these odds as odds itself makes them bigger. Because what I am expected to deal with everyday in the most, easiest of manners is what I am not capable of pulling off. I am not capable to pull it off because it does not depend upon me. It depends on people. It depends on how they perceive it.

What are you talking?

What I am saying is, take for example this....this guy who is expected to headline the Wrestlemania season this year, this back stabber of a person, this ‘long-haired’, multi-time world champion. He was my brother. He was my best friend. When we were younger, he meant everything to me. But... but these comparisons between him and me, these praises that are bestowed upon him, this iconic status that he has achieved within this organisation has always seen by me with the glass of envy. I am envious, I am jealous because there really should not be any difference between us. I am a two time world champion and I have always been better than him, just not as motivated as him in going outside the box and just not as popular as him.

Does this suggest that you may break upon his festivities come Wrestlemania?

I am better than that.

See, I know him in and out. I can feel his breathing. And I, know for a fact, that he is no more the same man that he once was. He is no more that veteran who brought a mystifying aura with him. He is a dying man and I can see that in his walk. And everyone who saw him, knows that too.

I want to end all the.... all the venom that has been stored inside my heart towards him and let him shine in this, this last dance of his. I want to direct this anger towards....towards someone else.

In that case, where are you setting your eyes then?

World Heavyweight Champion – Daniel Bryan.

Woah!...where did that come from? Besides, Daniel Bryan is set to face Sheamus to defend his World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania. What makes you think that you can challenge the World Heavyweight Champion right off the bat?

Because,

I deserve

ONE MORE MATCH!

 

Wrestlemania and the debut of Tea Time Trash Talk

Coffee Table Thoughts {7} – Prediction and the debut of Tea Time Trash Talk

Wrestlemania Card

Wikipedia lists 8 matches on the card for Wrestlemania 27. However, the event probably managed to hold the least number of relevant matches. If you throw out the match involving divas, the blonde and the brunette guys and a hot horny.....girl; the match involving 8 superstars and their finishers totalling upto 2 minutes of action; and the announcers guild; there were only 5 relevant matches in the entire card. Following is the list of the matches on the card last year:  

1.       Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus.....ooops, sorry

1.       Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes

2.      CM Punk vs Randy Orton

3.       Edge vs Alberto I-hate-Miz Rio

4.      John Cena vs The Miz and

5.       Triple H vs Undertaker (Don’t tell anyone - II)

Which brings me to this year’s Wrestlemania. This year’s Wrestlemania card is yet to be shaped up clearly. One match had been set in stone already – John Cena vs The Rock. Triple H vs Undertaker III seems locked in too with perhaps an added factor of Shawn Michales as Special Guest Referee.

Apart from those two matches, we are expected to see two other matches involving the World and the WWE Championships. WWE Championship scene seems quite clear right now. CM Punk and Chris Jericho are the most likely candidates for the championship match and Dolph Ziggler is a distant third. I would love to see Dolph Ziggler added to the mix but I think it would be better if we get a one on one match because CM Punk deserves his Wrestlemania moment.

World Heavyweight Championship scene, on the other hand is wide open, or at least it seems so. Daniel Bryan is the current champion and even if he loses the title at Elimination Chamber event, there is a possibility that he will get his rematch at Wrestlemania. There are plethora of guys who are eligible to be involved in the World Championship match at Wrestlemania based on past year’s performance. You have Big Show, Randy Orton, Mark Henry (if heeled) and Christian (One More Match). Add in the Royal Rumble winner Sheamus to the mix and even two upper mid-carders in Cody Rhodes and Wade Barret.

Since the Smackdown main event scene is very cluttered up right now, let me throw in some thoughts to clear up the mess.

I will say Cody Rhodes and Wade Barret will have to wait a little longer for the big gold belt because adding any other name to the mix is going to make this title picture quite a train-wreck. And as much as I love Christian, he has a very long shot of being involved in this match. He has lost a lot of momentum by losing to Sheamus left, right and centre.

Based on the latest episode of Smackdown, I have a feeling that may be Big Show and Daniel Bryan will put the World Championship on the back burner and concentrate on their personal fight, assuming Shaq is not going to be a part of Wrestlemania. I will put Mark Henry in the Money in the Bank Ladder match instead of being interjected in the title picture itself because he seems to be out for a few weeks and may not be available for Wrestlemania build up after Elimination Chamber. Apart from that, It is safe to assume that Teddy Long won’t be too pleased to put Mark Henry in the Championship match right away.

Hence, I am predicting that Randy Orton will be defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Sheamus at Wrestlemania.

But............... news coming out from even more latest Smackdown tapings is that Randy Orton is injured and has been removed from the Smackdown Elimination Chamber. If he is not going to be in the Elimination Chamber match, the he is not going to win the World Heavyweight Championship and. And if he is not going to win the World Heavyweight Championship, he is surely not going to defend it at Wrestlemania. In that scenario, Daniel Bryan retaining the championship and going on to Wrestlemania to defend it is the best option.

Then who should Daniel Bryan defend his title against? I would personally like to see him defend the title against Big Show and continue their feud. But even Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan seems to be a good choice too. And knowing that their US Championship match was removed from the Wrestlemania 27 card, it is more of a Cinderella story.

This is what the card looks like –

1.       John Cena vs The Rock

2.      Triple H vs Undertaker

3.       CM Punk vs Chris Jericho

4.      Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus

5.       Money in the Bank match involving

Dolph Ziggler, Christian, Mark Henry(if healed) , Wade Barret, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Big Show, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth

This is exactly the same number of matches as the last year. But I don’t see them continuing with this trend this year and expect them to add up the card with a match or two (relevant ones).

The first choice for additional match is Zack Ryder vs TheMaskedKane. They have a good story going on right now which has been given fair amount of television time already. It would all be lost if it didn’t come to some kind of conclusion. And it has to happen this year only and WWE’s year ends at Wrestlemania. Besides, Zack Ryder has been one of the most influential stars of the WWE in the past year. He is a guy who has a ton of charisma and is a decent in-ring worker. He worked out a way to salvage his career on his own. And hence, I would like to see Zack Ryder get the chance to shine at the biggest dance.

And there is a major difference between him and all the other guys I mentioned above. All of the stars mentioned above are either top tier talent or upper mid-card talent. Whereas for Zack Ryder, even if he does get a huge Mania moment by avenging Kane for all the bullying, for using him to achieve some weird objective of forcing Cena to embrace the hate, and for making Eve turn on Cena (get it?), his status won’t come even close to Upper Mid-card. That’s the beauty about him. More on that later......

You see, back in 2010, when Shawn Michaels retired, Triple H and Undertaker got lost like ghosts, Batista quit the WWE, and Chris Jericho went on to do Twitter Trolling, WWE was in a problem. They needed big stars to keep earning the money that a global organisation listed on a stock exchange needs. Hence they elevated their talent. They tried to elevate one star. And then they tried to elevate one more, one more, and then one more. It didn’t matter whether the said talent was over or not. It didn’t matter whether the said talent was ready for the World Championship or not. It simply didn’t matter. WWE was on a hot mission to make 6 billion world champions by the end of this decade or whatever was going to be the population of the world by then (Except for John Morrison). They gave the shining chance to Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and to even long time veterans Christian and Mark Henry.

But going by the fact that they are planning to bring MITB back to Wrestlemania and the obvious implication that there will be only one MITB winner this year and that it may involve only the former world champions, I have a gut-feeling that the thirst of the WWE is finally over. I believe they have created enough main eventers that can take them through the entire 10’s decade with. I believe they will now settle down and the becoming World Champion is going to be made a difficult task again. And that leaves a small opportunity that a small room may be left for the undercard. Yeah yeah, seems far-fetched but there is a possibility.

And Zack Ryder is a perfect case of paradox. He is more over with the WWE Universe than most of the main eventers and yet he is not expected to win the feud against Kane let alone the World Championship. He can feud with Kane and go back to fighting for the US Championship and it won’t be questioned. It won’t be odd to look him in that position as compared to someone like, say Jack Swagger.

So I think it would be best if we got him squaring off against a veteran like Kane.

Other matches can be involving any of the participants of MITB. May be we can see Cosy Rhodes defend his Intercontinental Championship against Ted Dibiase (who seems to be quietly getting over). May be the tag team champions will defend their titles against the team of Brodus Clay and Drew McIntyre. May be Santino will take on Eve Torres for avenging his friend’s heart break– no no, that will be in the filler part.

Wait, what do you mean Santino Marrela can be the World Heavyweight Champion by the night of Elimination Chamber?

Anyways, I just hope they take their Wrestlemania card seriously and make it more of a balanced show.

 And now, it is time for some,

Tea Time Trash Talk:

Ø  And then there will be a Divas match which may or may not be compelling. I have stopped caring. Even if it turns out to be a good match, why does there have to be only one good match in an entire year? Why not every week? Surely Kharma is a great talent but it is not like WWE is currently lacking in the actual wrestler women department. You can have all three of Beth Phoenix, Natalya and Tamina feuding with each other for a whole year in various permutations and combinations. But alas, maybe we are set for better things going forward.

Ø  I don’t think whether counting out Jesse Sorensen was the initial plan of the TNA Pay Per View ‘Against All Odds’. Seeing that he was not making a move, may be the referee should have immediately gone on to check him? I am not aware of how the crisis management system works in the wrestling business but that seems a more proper move to me then continuing the kayfabe. It’s sad to see him injured and gone for a year with a full uncertainty on his future in the business. This incident just reminded me of the dangerous nature of this business that I so adore. Here’s hoping a speedy (relatively speaking) and full recovery to you Jesse J

Ø  “All of this........is going to be mine” – Triple H, dropping the first hints of a heel turn coming in a few months or years.

Ø  Eve Torres looked hot and seemed relevant in the Cena/Kane/Ryder storyline for the first time. I wish you a speedy and full recovery too, Zack Ryder, for a heart break is the worst. #PoorZack. Well, at least she still wants to be your friend J

Ø  I am not at all excited to see Chris Jericho vs CM Punk feud. Surely, the match between the two can certainly become a classic but the feud itself, I am not buying it. And it all falls on Chris Jericho. He is making everything boring with his trolling ways. Hope he gets something better to speak than ‘I am better than you’ and can say the same in a better way than a cheap imitation of Miz. Yes, Miz is in a bad place right now, yes he copied it from you but he did it better than you. The only saving grace in this feud is CM Punk. CM Punk may say ‘I am the best wrestler in the world’ far too often but at least it is interesting. And it is always better to look at a smiling face then a sick face. I am happy that Chris will be going back to his Fozzy shenanigans after Wrestlemania. Hope it is his last match. #TrollingWays

Ø  The match between Randy Orton and Big Show was very entertaining. Loved how Big Show was made to look good, at least in the initial few minutes and that DDT over the top rope was awesome. Speaking of the DDT from the ropes, it is heartening to see it being set up the way it is being set up now. I recall how in the early stages when the move was created, how the opponent would miraculously end up being on the other side of the ropes to stupidly take the DDT from Orton. If I remember correctly, it even happened at Wrestlemania 26 against Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase. But for at least past year, Orton himself throws the opponent outside the ropes and then delivers a DDT. And that is why when Big Show ended up being on the outer side of the ropes, it was miraculous but not stupid. And it looked like a coincidence when Big Show just fell on the ropes and Orton suddenly thought of delivering the DDT. Big props to the ropes for holding the pressure, btw.

Ø  I liked the opening Debate segment from Raw. Everyone got a chance to shine there. Miz might have messed up a sentence or two but he took good advantage of the opportunity. Kofi, I think, stood out with a simpler and shoot kind of promo. R-Truth was hilarious as ever and Dolph Ziggler continued to show that he has got no grooming teaching because he kept interfering in others’ promos with his snide remarks. Bad boy, you. CM Punk’s promo wasn’t that entertaining but decent enough. Whereas Chris Jericho’s arguments were solid but uninteresting.

The First Time

This is actually my very first wrestling column. I had written it somewhere in September - October last year. I had put it up in my earlier blog, now I am re-posting it for you fine folks. Hope you enjoy it :-)

The First Time

I still remember that first time! What an awe-inspiring feeling it was! That would make anyone feel jump up and down whenever that sensation went through their nerves!

I want to clarify first that I do not remember the eventful night picture-perfect, and I may as well miss on a few facts or present absolute wrong facts. Despite all this, it is still one of the most memorable moments of my life.

Before going into the actual experience, I would like to give you a bit of insight into my humanly conditions – mental status, social status etc. So bear with me.

Life: it was changing

During that particular period of time, a lot of changes were taking place in my life.

I had moved to a new school. This fact, on face value, may not seem as a big deal. But there is more to it than just that. In my old school, I had friends that are my best buddies to this day. They were the backbone of my life. Together, we had shared moments that were going to be cherished for the rest of our lives. I was a so-called leader of the group (No, not the whole school, not the whole class, just 6 of us). The school had to close down due to some governance issues. Every one of us moved on to another school; except for me. I had to go to another another school (for lack of a better word), completely alone.

The new school wasn’t helping a bit. From being a leader in the previous school I had come to being a punch-bag in the new school. Every time the bell rang, I had to run out of the class, just to keep breathing.

I wasn’t quite into friendship with the other guys in my locality, as I didn’t share a common interest. They were all the fans of the game called Cricket, while I simply hated that game. Trust me; there is nothing worse than to not like a commonly liked sport. It simply eliminates you from the social life.

And at home, my brother had moved out of our house to earn a living for himself. He’s 5 years older to me. He’s very close to me. And at that age, it felt like I was being thrown into a hostel. This was emotionally straining.

I was an introvert by nature and all these events just increased the intensity of my introversion.  

I needed new friends.

That fateful day

That fateful day, I was wandering through a place that is near my house and yet quite away from it. I always liked to wander through that area as it was an interesting colourful place, with lots of shops and other things. Wandering, I found a street that I had never previously been to. When I went in there, I felt it had a completely different vibe to it. Then I saw an assemblage of people witnessing something. That must be some ‘tamasha’ (Spectacle), I thought to myself. I decided to look up.

There were two guys in the middle of the crowd. They were much older than me but they were not old. One of them was having a beard and moustache while the other one was taller and had a long streak of hair on his face in both the sides. The taller one had more hair on his head as compared to the other even though he didn’t have any significant amount of hair to begin with.

They were simply looking at each other. Not speaking, not cursing, and just looking into the eyes of each other. This sight may not have amounted to anything for anyone else watching that. But it did, to me. So much so that I remember it picture-perfect even this day, a good 13-14 years after.

And even though I remember it picture-perfect, I still cannot fully explain what exactly the sight meant. The shorter guy (whom we will refer to as ‘Short Pants’ just for fun) was smiling, while the taller one (we will call him ‘Big Fellow’ because you know, he was the taller one) was more sceptical. However, that does not mean he was scared, he was just conscious of the other guy named Short Pants. And then there was this look on the face of Short Pants; that smile could have been as much near to a killing threat as it could be, yet it was not. There was a sense of competition between the two of them, and a sense of companionship. It was weird and amusing by the very meaning of the terms. And then there was this assemblage of people that were so interested in these two guys that they had left all their work and enjoying the confrontation-meeting between these guys. Then it struck me! They were the ‘Gundas’!!! (Goons/Thugs).

My elders had previously warned me about the presence of such thugs in this street/area. They were very notorious for engaging in tussles at any time and place. While I had never personally met any of them, I had heard about them and seen their posters depicting their physical attributes and other details by those who wanted to collect money in their name. 

I had heard about this one goon whose very name meant ‘assassin’. There were a lot of stories spread about his nature. He would not only fight on random occasions, but would enjoy beating his adversary, literally playing with his body. He would always try to injure his enemy and more so his leg. Then there was this other guy, a very tall guy (taller than Big Fellow), who was not so famous for his clashes as much as he was for his evil spirit. It is said that he couldn’t speak. And that he did not need to, because everyone would get scared just by looking at him! These two were considered the 2^nd and the 3^rd ranked in the criminal-world; based on their notoriety. The top-most goon however, was considered to be a man of good spirits, a friend of friends, who would always stand up for what is right. It was rumoured that he strongly believed in God and requested all to do the same. I had never seen them fight or seen them, period.

These two currently in front of my eyes (they had left by the time) though, I had never heard of them nor seen posters of them. Yet somehow, I knew they were goons. I came to know from several passers-by that Short Pants and Big Fellow were going to meet again that night, at the same place. It was intriguing. I wanted to know what would happen between them or what they were up to. I decided to go home, finish up my home-work and food, and come back there in the night.

The Journey Begins

I did not tell about my plans to my parents as otherwise they would not have allowed me to go. I was ready to go after just over an hour. When I reached back there in the night, with a little curiosity and a little fear as to my safety, the mob had already gathered. And short while later, Short Pants and Big Fellow joined too. The information that I couldn’t gather in the first sight of theirs was that they were both actually going to fight! I didn’t get that. Sure there was some sort of competitive feelings between the two, but it never gave an impression of being animosity. In fact, there seemed to be a genuine feeling of friendship – likeability between them.  

They started to brawl. And just few minutes into it, I felt that they were not giving their full into the fight. It almost felt like they were being forced to fight each other and not doing it by their own choice. In the middle of the fight, a few other people had also joined. They were standing closer to both the goons than everyone else. There were about three to four of them. One of them was different than others. If truth be told, he was different than anyone or anything I had seen in my whole life (And one another person along with him was also different, he would keep moving his head, so fast and violently, it actually created a pain in MY neck. I had not seen anyone or anything like that either, in my whole life). He was a monster in every sense of the word; a giant, no, A Giant. He was scary. I had seen in my class one student who had similar physical attributes, but this guy was a whole different level. 10 times what my class-mate was. I wondered what their purpose was.

It became clear after only a few minutes of their being there. They joined the fight. They started beating both Short Pants and Big Fellow. The Giant was so huge and fat, Big Fellow would voluntarily surrender his name, if he knew he was being called ‘Big Fellow’ in the first place. And then......the Giant jumped on a fallen Big Fellow. That Was Devastating. There was a sudden surge of fear, anxiety and rage flowing through my veins. I was worried about the Big Fellow and I wanted to tear apart the Giant for committing such an act of brutality. Sure the two goons fighting might have had a fair share of crimes of their own, but I somehow liked them. The Giant gang were beating on the two goons but shortly afterwards Big Fellow and Short Pants turned the tide and started beating the Giant gang. And in no time, did the Giant gang run away after just a bit of beating, the chickens. And when they ran away the whole crowd went nuts and cheered on both Short Pants and Big Fellow. That feeling was enormous. It almost passed the current-waves of electricity through my arms and head.

I needed new friends. I didn't find new friends. Instead, I found my heroes; or anti-heroes, for that matter.    

   

Figure 1 Short Pants > He is smiling, isn’t he? Big Fellow, more angry than sceptical

Figure 2 The Giant

What did you think of this column?

A 6-year old could have written better? Or is it worth a Nobel Prize on Literature? You did not see any connection between this and wrestling? Tell me your view of anything in between for this column in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

Coffee Table Thoughts: I couldn’t find a better name so I numbered it instead: 6

Welcome dear readers, yeah, all 4 of you! This time around, there is a bit of change in what I have written. Usually, I would select a few points on which to discuss. This time it is sort of Running Diary but without the track of time.

I am bringing you the Smackdown thoughts while I was watching the same on my cell-phone over a stolen wi-fi connection.

The opening segment saw Teddy Long giving away the Elimination Chamber participants. Being a Royal Rumble winner is such a curse. Since you are going to get the opportunity at Wrestlemania, you don’t get the chance to win the World Championship before that. That is why Sheamus is not in the match.

Mark Henry manages to be both heel-ish and funny at the same time. Last week, he said something about love-fest, hurt feelings and Napoleon Complex. This week, he is asking for being excluded from the Elimination Chamber and given the Championship match tonight only. Yeah, right. Sheamus makes the save for Teddy Long and then goes on to say that he has not decided about which championship he is after.

Lol@ Cody saying there is a parallel between Ultimate Warrior and Sheamus and also Teddy Long tonight because half the time he cannot understand what either one of them is saying. Cody put over himself and said that he was the MVP of the match, which the announcers agreed to.

Simple yet effective match between Cody and Sheamus. It wasn't anything more than hitting a few moves - didn't involve much of chemistry but was enjoyable. Cody's moon sault and the new finishing manouvre of Sheamus were enjoyable and a treat for the eyes. So was the kick by Cody to Sheamus in the outside.

I'm not looking forward to Randy Orton vs Wade Barret actually. Despite Wade Barret trying to make this feud important by talking about it every single time he gets the mike, I haven't been able to
get into this feud. But that may just be me. I'm not at all excited about this match. I sometime wonder how many feuds in the past year have been built with the same formula - match after match after match?

Cody's expressions of being delusional were a thing of beauty after he lost his match to Sheamus and still standing there.

Great Khali continues to be amusing with his disabilities. I seriously don't understand the hate towards him. It's not like Mason Ryan not wrestling well because he could if he tried. That is not the case with The Great Khali. The guy has serious physical disabilities in that he cannot move his giant self with a half-decent speed because his legs are hardly able to hold that weight. He is a special attraction. Don't know why they gave him the World Championship though, that could have been avoided. But he did become a big name in India after all.

I knew this Drew McIntyre storyline wasn't going to end in a bad way. So now, he needs to find another way of impressing Teddy Long. Interesting! What will he do? Find a tag team partner? Dance? Sing? Various possibilities!

Santino & Duggan stuff was hilarious. Teddy Long giving them a match against the tag champions so that they leave his office, haha! Nice video package about Iron Mike Tyson being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. That celebrity wing in the Hall just became that much more important.

Putting Santino Marrela on Smackdown is the best thing for him. He clearly seems misplaced on Raw but he is regaining his charm and the crowd response by appearing in Smackdown. Speed-Walking!

Absolutely love how Primo and Epico switch their roles while in a match. The person, who just tagged the other, goes out of the ring by jumping over the top rope while the person who was just tagged in gets into the ring by jumping over the top rope. Both at the same time. They are adding little bits to their tag team which the former champs Kofi and Evan were doing too. To a small extent, I remember that the now extinct tag team of David Otunga and Michael McGuillycutty doing some of their additions too. These little things can go a long way in building the tag division. But we all know that isn't going to be the case. There have been no visible steps taken to build the tag division even after the news broke out that the new man in power Triple H is interested in building the tag division back.

Santino Marrela should reduce the use of that running head-butt jump that he does. That thing can cause brutal consequences.

Michael Cole interviewing a not-yet-big-time heel Daniel Bryan? That's awkward. There is a possibility of the biggest double turn in the WWE since that Wrestlemania 13 Hart-Austin bloodbath thing.

No, it did not happen. Daniel Bryan simply told Cole to leave the ring after taking the mike in his hands. Then he went on to give a speech about why one should be a vegan.

Booker T – “Big Show trying to hold on to Bryan at the Royal Rumble event, but in the end, gravity prevailed.” Awesome!

Wow! That Daniel Bryan beating was satisfying. Big Show threw his body like a toy and I was enjoying every second of it.

Macho King had Miss Elizabeth. Daniel Bryan has AJ Lee. AJ Lee is face. Daniel Bryan is a heel. Is it really going that route? (Phrasing Shane)

And lol @ Daniel Bryan asking her if she's okay and that he will protect her. Yes sir, she is okay. Wouldn’t you ask her while she was still in the ring at the same time as Big Show and try to protect her at that time? No because you were too busy running away from Big Show. You sir, are a....I shall better not complete that sentence.

Randy Orton has been considered as not so good on mic and one of the most boring. But I haven't found him boring in any way. I don't find him entertaining either but he seems quite solid. He was asked whether his approach in the ring against Wade Barret going to be conservative. Now boring would be if he said he was going to avenge Wade Barret for what he did to him. But he says that he doesn't have problem with Wade Barret for throwing him on the stairs because if he had an opportunity, he would have done the same. What he does have a problem with is Wade Barret proclaiming that he has ended Randy Orton's character. He will not hold anything back in his match tonight. I recall one other time when he was asked whether he would go after the world championship. This was after he lost his match against Mark Henry. He said he is no Christian and is not going to keep begging for the opportunity for the world championship. But if he has
to go through the entire locker room to gain that opportunity, he will. He always comes up with something smart to say. It is much different than the usual angry in an instant reactions that we get
from so many other superstars. One particular gentleman that has been always involved in that state is Kane and I have largely disliked his work through out the 2000's where he seems to be after someone for no apparent reason. I don't feel his anger. I can not relate to his character. That anger seems forced. I can, however, identify with Randy Orton's character. He seems a person who has his legs on the ground. And that's why the anger that he shows in the ring is more believable. He gradually reaches that stage of madness. Even if he goes in that extra territory in first few minutes in the match, it is still a gradual progression. And now, I'm actually excited about the match between him and Wade Barret.

That was interesting slow beating that Randy Orton was lashing on Wade Barret and then he.......goes on to high-five a very young kid in the crowd? I love Orton!!!!

Orton had set up the table in the middle of the ring, to super plex Wade Barret over it. But it was he who got smashed onto it. Orton kicks out but he is in so much pain. Shit, that streching of Orton by Pole thing that Wade Barret did was wicked.

That was a very hard hitting and entertaining match.

Daniel Bryan coming to the ring and showing off while Orton was still celebrating was hilarious. The amused look on the face of Randy Orton was entertaining. Next week, we will be seeing Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan. If it continues to a feud, it could make Daniel Bryan. I could sense the excitement while Randy looked onto Daniel Bryan. Next week should be fun.

I would like to add a few words about Matt Striker. I think he is handling the backstage interview gig quite brilliantly and in a way that no other backstage interviewer has ever done. He phrases his questions in such a language that it all becomes very interesting and hard hitting instead of the usual ‘Your thoughts on the same’. He is creating quite a niche for himself as well as for the job itself.

That’s all, folks!

Mick Foley, Royal Rumble, Ring Ka King and much more!!

A Swerve Rant

(This was written before Royal Rumble)

I can’t understand the WWE’s love for the old-timers. Why does it keep bringing those who have retired for years? Why do they have to rely on the established stars to get the ratings hike? Why don’t they establish new stars instead of bringing in the old ones and giving them so much hype that the younger ones look dumb? To add insult to the injury, Mick Foley has now been added in the Royal Rumble match. The match that can give you a good enough rub by being there just for a second. He is there to take away one very important spot of the total 30 spots available. There are already rumoured returns of the stars that can actually wrestle but haven’t been wrestling the whole year long and now we have to deal with this. There are wrestlers over there in the WWE that work their asses of to earn whatever money they earn and suffer injuries without even being put on televised segments, let alone the televised matches. There are Superstars there that have been working hard every week to be seen on the internet by an audience much much smaller than even the TNA Impact Wrestlings’. This was their golden opportunity and now it is going to be taken up by Mick Foley. And what is he going to do with his Rumble spot anyways? Remember that last Rumble he participated in as a surprise entrant? He eliminated Randy Orton and along with Randy, he eliminated himself without even thinking for a second what was that he was giving up. That is the value of the Rumble spot in his eyes. Not even worth of a second thought – just throw it away like a good habit.

And all this for what? For letting his two children see him perform? Oh come on Foley, your career is a storied one, you can show them all the tapes of the wrestling events and vignettes you have been a part of and you can even get all of those videos for free from the WWE management. Hell, you can even force or persuade them to make a DVD for yourself, which can be a career DVD now that all the three organisations that were big part of your career are owned by them. Why do you want to kick someone’s stomach to be a star in your children’s’ eyes?

Why would anyone of the WWE Universe care for that? Why would they even anticipate your entry in the Rumble when it is known from the get go that you are not going to win this? I mean, sure, you are not going to win this, right? You will come in and just like that, go out of the Rumble.

“ No no that’s good, that’s good and you know what? That could happen. I could walk in, I could get thrown over the top rope, be eliminated and look at it as the biggest mistake of my life. That could happen. That’s one of the elements I love about the Rumble, you can’t predict it. There’s an element of danger, even....even magic in the air. But who’s to say that things may not turn out to be different? Who’s to say that I might not draw a number in my favour, who’s to say that the same magic that existed on three different occasions when I became the WWE Champion won’t be present on that night at the Royal Rumble? You see I do, I do want to perform in front of my two children. Mickey and Hughie would love to see Dad give his very best. But if you think I am only in there to participate and be one of the thirty members, you are looking at me in the wrong way. You see my aspirations are a little more than ambitious. I’m not just in the Royal Rumble to be in it, I’m in the Royal Rumble to win it.”

-       Early contender for the most underrated promo of the year

There is this intensity, intensity that he always brings out by going round and round and then gradually coming to the point he is trying to make. I don’t know whether the dialogues were written, but after this amazing shining promo of Mick, what did Dolph do? Did he gave the same level of intensity back? Did he fumble?

He didn’t do either of it, or in a better way, he did both of it. You see, that few seconds of silence that Dolph had after this rumbling from Mick Foley and then coming up with ‘That’s great Mick, that’s what every Superstar wishes and aims to do......’ .....don’t look at the words because they weren’t really that important. He understood that Mick had just turned the entire crowd on. He knew and understood that what Mick Foley said was indeed great, the emotions that he showed were right out of his heart. And he did the right thing to turn the pressure a few notches down - And then pumping it up big time by ending it with, ‘I’m going to explain you this as straight as I can, Mick. It’s over. Go home. Buy a new shirt, eat a salad and just GO AWAY.’

There were some great lines in there by Dolph. The comedy ones were really great. The stuff about, ‘Hope Daddy didn’t eat our lunch today’ was some stuff even your enemy would laugh at.

Mick Foley won this thing – this duel – but Dolph didn’t just lose out either. But I think there is still something lacking there, there is still some steps that are to be taken by Dolph towards perfection. May be a lot of what is lacking in him is just as a result of the WWE booking 101 where the person winning isn’t really winning it. May be he will get that once booked well or in other words, when booked as a face. I am not able to identify this, this...for lack of a better word, this imperfection that Dolph has that stops me from liking him that much, but I have a long guess that it may be that intensity – the one which he has shown, and did show here too, but still not pumped it up full time.

Coming back to Mick Foley – he is such an intense guy. It’s no secret that he is no longer a wrestler that he was (“Was never that good to begin with”) – his small fight that took place in the Raw proved that. But he still is the damn best promo guy that ever can be.

THE TNA SMALL BROTHER

This Saturday the first episode of the show ‘Ring ka King’ which is India based aired. I am excited to see this.

Last year one wrestling show of Indian background was shown on the same channel, ‘Colors’, but I had missed the show for the most part. Whatever I had seen, was very very phony. The show was based on the concept that an Indian team had gone on the tour of the Africa and had to wrestle against the opposition team. I wasn’t aware of the any of the wrestlers there and didn’t find the action to be crisp. Though, whatever action I had seen, wasn’t all that bad – just not crisp enough – looked too amateurish.

This year, it began with a bang. Harbhajan Singh, the Indian Cricketer and one of the finest bowlers in the world hosted the first show and introduced us to the various wrestlers and even introduced the ‘Ring Ka King’ World Championship.

There is something you need to know about the Sport that is Cricket and the importance of being an Indian Cricketer. This country – India – my country – literally eats, breathes and lives Cricket. That’s really the only sport where we have continuously excelled. Sure there are some other Sports and Sportsmen who have represented our country well and brought some championship – like Leander Paes recently and for a better part of the last decade, but they haven’t been loved as much as the Cricketers. Cricketers are the most loved people in this country.

And they are the most hated too. Damn, our Cricket team just got squashed in a 4 match series the worse way than Alex Riley got defeated by Brodus Clay. This appearance by Harbhajan Singh will surely get some much needed eyeballs for the show – but Man – would that guy have got some heavy beeps beeps by the whole load of Indian House Hold!

What is the most exciting thing about this Project is that they have added some really good names to their roster and it shows that they see a bright future in India for this business. The crowd at the stadium/auditorium was huge - 1000 or something which is high as compared to the Indian Standards when you take into consideration that Wrestling is not so popular in here.

The Roster

Chavo Guerrero – introduced as the nephew of Legendary Eddie Guerrero. There will be some exciting matches possible with this underrated performer.

Dr Nick Dinsemore – He had been one of my favourite wrestlers as ‘Eugene’. Here, he is a Doctor who was thrown out of the college because he always used to do some weird experiments in the lab. His trademark foreign object is going to be – an injection! He has some of those Eugene-ish characteristics and mannerisms. I liked his old school wrestling in the WWE back then, he didn’t seem to do much in the ring this night though.

Sonjay Dutt – I have heard a lot about him. I have heard that he is pretty good and was one of the important players of TNA. I am yet to see any of his work though - which remains the biggest of the crimes that I have committed so far in my life, apart from not studying well enough. His character and mannerisms are quite – silly, amusing and mad-ish.

Mahabali Veera – He is from Punjab. Punjab is sort of like Texas of US (from what I have seen from movies). Hot-headed people. It is also the place from where numerous war heroes of India have come from. Any one from Punjab is going to be well received and that is proved here as he instantly becomes a fan favourite. He wrestled Nick Dinsemore. His work isn’t all that great as the Powerbomb that he gave to Nick was sloppy. But some of the punches and the striking offence was quite impressive.

Scott Steiner – He was introduced as the biggest Badman on the earth. He cut his usual promo which I didn’t understand but enjoyed.

Matt Morgan – He was introduced as the most important part of the show, the seven footer. Harbhajan Singh even said that he is a fan of him.

Brutus Magnus – He instantly began the feud with Matt Morgan on Morgan being considered as the most likely winner of the Championship belt. Apparently, Magnus, Stenier and Sonjay Dutt are a stable and there is some ‘Boss’ too.

There was American Adonis too. With his Adonis Lock. You know, the Master Lock. His manager, ‘Shera’ seems well-built and may become a wrestler going forward.

I couldn’t continue watching this as my nephew decided that it was a good time to watch Mr Bean.

.

Royal Rumble Thoughts

In one word – Underwhelming.

The three announcers each getting a spot was a mistake. The stuff with the announcers has never been funny and WWE can’t seem to be on the same page with IWC on this. There were three precious spots that could have been used for some better workers. I liked the Jerry Lawler entry, it was a nice touch. Booker T stuff was okay. Michael Cole stuff was funny too. Individually, their performances were quite good but when you consider the overall effect that it had on the Rumble match, you can’t help but to get angry.

Jim Duggan stuff was nice and crowd seemed to be behind him.

I didn’t find the Mick Foley stuff interesting. (Swerve!!!)

The Miz wasn’t made in the 43+ minutes that he was in the ring. His initial promo was not a word different from what he has been saying for past two years. He wasn’t seen doing much of anything else in the Rumble match. I am disappointed in him. People had been berating Alberto Del Rio for the ‘Destiny’ promos where in fact he had stopped using that for months. Miz just completely underperformed in the match. I am wondering whether the spark that we had seen in him during last year and a probable future star – was a mistake?!

Cody Rhodes did some eventful things and was involved in the elimination of both Mick Foley and Jim Duggan – main eventers for the night. I think he utilised his time pretty well.

Dolph Ziggler was nice while he lasted and took that slam from Kharma like a Champ. But I didn’t like the fact that Big Show eliminated him so early – well not so early, but he should have been in the final four and final three.

The lack of John Cena, Kane, Zack Ryder hurt the match. Primo, Epico and Hunico needn’t be there in the Rumble either. They did some impressive moves here and there but there was no need of all the three being included there especially knowing that a certain Canadian Wrestler was ready to Rumble.

May be Miz could have shown some spark had he and Cody not been eliminated at the same time by the Big Show. It was just too anti-climatic.

The Final Four and Final Three lasted for a total of how many seconds? That was clearly a big big letdown. If there was anything more disappointing than this during the whole event – it was nothing. The match just lost the appeal by so many quick eliminations. Miz, Cody, Dolph, Big Show and Randy Orton in under a minute or two. Poor, poor booking.

Final Two was the highlight of the night. I loved how Chris Jericho’s legs came so close to the floor every time. It was almost as if he was deliberately doing the same. The near falls (You saw what I did there?) were very interesting. The exchange between the two of various moves was quite entertaining.

I think it’s a nice choice they made. Sheamus has been on a roll for over six months now and that too without doing much of anything. It will be exciting to see what path he chooses. I think we haven’t seen the scenario of the Royal Rumble winner changing brands for quite some time. I think it occurred in 2004 the last time and probably the only time? It would be quite different than the usual course we all are predicting. And maybe this is the risk that the WWE might take?

Dolph Ziggler is moving out of the title picture, clearly. If Chris Jericho is finalised as the person to face CM Punk, then I want Dolph Ziggler to be added in the too. I am sure both CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler can move upwards in popularity by feuding with each other the same way that The Rock and Austin did.

SmackDown Main Event

Three people are involved in the main event of the SmackDown as recently as today morning (Yesterday night for most of you). Add the returning Randy Orton. Now add the Royal Rumble winner Sheamus. Add Wade Barret even if you want to add Randy Orton. Now you add the person who made the summer of 2011 worth every dime that you spent on it – Christian. Now that Mark Henry is injured, subtract him. Since Randy Orton and Wade Barret are involved in a feud against each other, subtract them too. Add Shaq and now subtract both Shaq and Big Show. Let Sheamus be the one who has been sent on the search of ‘X’ and so he is subtracted too. What do we have? We have a Wrestlemania match! One can always dream!

Regardless of the wide gap between the permutations and combinations of the card for Wrestlemania between the optimists and the pessimists, and regardless of how underwhelming Royal Rumble was, the Elimination Chamber is surely going to be a great show. Especially with the Smackdown brand as there are indeed so many believable players right now and a title change can very well take place at that event and possibly any of the six men that will be involved in the Elimination Chamber match can walk out of the Chamber – either the World Heavyweight Champion or the Number 1 Contender for the same.

Tag Team Championship

When the USOs and the Hart Dynasty began feuding with each other, we thought the dark ages of the no meaning tag team championships have come to an end. The team of Santiono Marrela and Vladimir Kozlov also gave us the same hope. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. We lost all hopes.

Then after a long time, a tag team had been formed between Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne. It seemed like they were on the verge of making the tag titles relevant again. It became clear soon after, however, that they were not going to make the tag team wrestling relevant again. They had no damn competition. Even Awesome Truth could not make much of an impact. And then Evan Bourne did his thing. We lost all hopes.

Then Evan Bourne came back. There was a team of Colons and another team of Electric Bikers. And then a title change took place at a house show. We were all so excited and even Jim Ross mentioned that this is the next step in making the tag titles relevant again. May be that is how we can bring back the prestige to the titles by making every show count, by adding that element of surprise and unpredictability. Until we found out the reason for the title change. We lost all hopes.

There is another hope. SanToshi. Or YoshiTino. Whichever way you like. I know it is not within their capacity to make the whole division relevant again. But they can provide a much needed fresh air to the tag team scene. They won’t be putting on those five star classic matches as they will hardly be given any time. But whatever little time they get, can be utilised well as the Colons are great athletes. The Hunico Kapacho Team can also put on some moves. Yoshi has his kicks and Santino has his Cobra. USOs have their Haka. But the most important part is that Santino will always be in some sort of storyline. If not against others, may be among themselves. Whichever way it goes, it will be entertaining while it lasts.

And then the step towards greater good can be taken which is – either make some investment in the tag team storylines, add the Kings of Wrestling and other such tag teams to the roster and make them fight with passion – or let the tag titles take the same route the Criserweight Championship took. Go into oblivion, never to be found again. That is after it is won by Hornswoggle.

A Wild Guess

Finally, there is a wild guess that I want to make. It is concerning the ongoing feud between Kane and John Cena.

And my guess is – Zack Ryder will face Kane at Wrestlemania. Zack Ryder is not going to ask for a United States Title anytime soon. I am pretty sure that it is the revenge that he is going to opt for instead of the ‘Pretty much irrelevant’ Championship belt. And it all sets quite beautifully.