Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Wrestlers I Have Met Edition

If you haven't already, definitely check out Club Kayfabe, a great wrestling podcast.

I have been lucky to have met quite a few wrestlers over the years. I've met one Hall of Famer, and a few that will be in the Hall of Fame one day. So I guess I can't complain. For the most part they have been very nice people, with one glaring exception. But we will be getting to him in a minute.

Starting back in 1995 I went to a Wrestlemania Fan Fest at the Hartford Civic Center. The Fan Fests back then were much smaller then they are now. Autograph sessions were free and there was quite a bit going on. It was there that I met people like Doink, Dink, Kevin Nash, Kama the Supreme Fighting Machine, Hillbilly Jim and Paul Bearer. Only Kevin Nash and Paul Bearer were seated signing autographs. The rest were wandering around the floor meeting fans. My encounter with Kama was exceptionally awesome. There was a chance to call a famous WWE match with a wrestler, for a fee of course. You did get to take home a copy of the match with your commentary on it on VHS (tells you how long ago it was). I just had to do it! So myself and another fan called the Bret Hart Vs Yokozuna match with Rowdy Roddy Piper as the special referee from Wrestlemania X. And we got to record with Kama, later known as The Godfather. He was in character as Kama the entire time. I admit that I said some things that I shouldn't have said, especially with someone named the Supreme Fighting Machine next to me. I kept making jokes about Yokozuna's weight, which he took exception to. Obviously I made it out okay! But there were times I wasn't sure that would happen.

Flash forward many years later and I am now living in Orlando, Florida. For three different book signings I got a chance to meet Chris Jericho, Batista and Bret Hart. Not together, mind you, because that would all sorts of awesome. Chris Jericho entered Virgin MegaStore as only he could. It was before his flashing jacket, but it would be an awesome complement to his entrance that day. He grabbed the microphone and delivered a promo for his fans. He was very cordial to everyone when it was their turn to meet him. It definitely seemed to me that the Chris Jericho you see on TV is what he is really like. Which is a good thing.

Meeting him was not a let down... unlike Dave Batista. He was there for a book signing right before Wrestlemania 24 vs Umaga. The word douchebag comes to mind. He wouldn't pose for any pictures with the fans. In fact I even got yelled at for taking his picture after I had met him. When I wished him "Good Luck" in his match, I barely got a grunt in return. He never even took off his sunglasses. He was the one and only negative wrestler I have ever met. I was never a huge fan of his, but I lost what respect I had for him that day. Yes, I know everyone has bad days. But from everything I have read about him, this was more the norm.

Then I met Bret Hart in the same building. It was an amazing experience to meet him. He hadn't yet returned to the WWE at this point. We hadn't seen him on television in a WWE ring since the Montreal Screw Job. So it was very cool to have a few minutes to talk to him. He was very nice and posed for several pictures. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy.

And then this past weekend I added another name to the list. My fiancée and I got a chance to meet former Tag Team, United States, and Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston. He has been out with an injury for over a month. We were hoping something he said was said with a wink wink, nudge nudge and that that he would return at Money In The Bank. He did! At least during the pre-show any way. He was also very nice. The smiling person you see on television was the same man that was there.

Meanwhile last week I made my predictions for Money In The Bank. And I missed only one. The only one I missed was the World Heavyweight Money In The Bank Ladder Match. I was relatively close. A Damien Sandow win is as good as a Cody Rhodes win, because it will hopefully push both men into the Main Event.

Once again I would like to thank my wonderful fiancée who is also my editor.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Money In The Bank 2013 Predictions

Welcome everyone to the Money In The Bank 2013 predictions here at Inside the Wrestling Ring. Before I start, once again if you are a fan of wrestling, and because you are here on this page I assume you are, check out our partner Club Kayfabe Podcast for more wrestling news and opinions.

All right, so here we go. I will get started with the pre-show match for the WWE Tag Team Titles. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will defend against Jey and Jimmy Uso. I think it's a safe bet to say that the Shield will retain. It should be a good match, but The Shield retain (even though the Usos deserve it).

Curtis Axel defends his Intercontinental Title against The Miz. I have a feeling this won't be as good of a match. But Axel will also retain his title.

Ryback vs. Chris Jericho is pretty much on the card for two reasons. One, Ryback needs a win on Pay Per View. He hasn't won since his days of squashing people. Two, Chris Jericho is getting ready to go back on tour with Fozzy so don't be surprised to see an injury angle take place to explain his absence. Again, I have a feeling that it will not be a quality match. I expect Vickie Guerrero to be involved somehow as well.

The Diva's championship will be defended when AJ Lee goes against former tag team partner Kaitlyn. These two have done more to make the Divas relevant again then any one has in many years. I think AJ retains in a very good, quality match.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler for the World title should be a decent match. Some days I really like Del Rio, though not really since his recent heel turn. I do think he retains though, which I think is a shame. But I am not completely sold that he will retain, I am about 50.1 % sure, so that tells you something. I would like to see Dolph win, but I think he will win it again sooner rather then later

John Cena vs. Mark Henry will be better than most people expect it to be. But in the end, Superman John Cena will retain as always. It's a shame. I want Mark Henry to win, he just won't.

They aren't calling the World Title Money In The Bank match a futures match, but they should because everyone (with the exception of Jack Swagger) is looking to get into the Main Event for the first time. This is a very hard match to predict. I think that there are six of the seven who could possibly win it. No disrespect to Faaaandaaaangoooo, but I just don't see that happening. I will go with who I want to win it. Cody Rhodes has been on the door step of main eventing for years now, and this could be the chance. Plus it will allow them to break up Rhodes Scholars when Damien Sandow gets jealous of Cody's win.

And finally the Money In The Bank All-Stars match. This is equally hard to predict in the fact we don't know if it will be a six man match now thanks to the "injury" to Kane or will he be replaced by someone like Kofi Kingston or Big Show (Wishful thinking on my part for either of them!). But I think it will be either Randy Orton or Daniel Bryan. Orton has done everything in his career except win Money On The Bank but it's hard to ignore the push that Bryan has gotten. I will go with Randy Orton though, because Daniel Bryan has won it before.

There you have it. Check in next week to see how many I got right. Special thanks once again to my wonderful editor

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Ricardo Rodriquez vs Jack Swagger Edition

Before we get started, don't forget to check out Club Kayfabe podcast, available on PodOmatic, an awesome new partner of Inside the Wrestling Ring.

I think the biggest story of the week had nothing to do with what actually takes place in the ring. Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriquez was suspended for 30 days this past week for violating the Wellness Policy. The rumor is that he was using fat burning vitamins he got from a store like GNC. I have a huge issue with this suspension.

Jack Swagger was recently arrested and found guilty in the court of law for marijuana use just days after he won the Elimination Chamber match. Was he suspended for that? No. In fact, one might even say he was rewarded for it. In fact, he is still being rewarded as he is one of the fourteen people scheduled for two Money In The Bank ladder matches in two weeks. Is the difference that the WWE weren't the ones who caught him as opposed to Rodriguez? I read a statement from the arresting officer that said Swagger was so high when asked for his license, he handed him his credit card instead. I would be willing to bet that there is nothing even remotely close to that with Rodriquez

I did a TMZ search for Ricardo Rodriguez. Do you know what came up? Nothing on this story. Because it's not worthy of a story. Because it's not even a story. It certainly doesn't deserve a thirty day suspension.

Now of course, I could be wrong and he could have tested positive for something a lot worse then Fat Burners. We may never know. But now we have to go without Ricardo's awesome Mexican Bow Ties and his bucket. Which is sad if you think about it.

In other news, this week we found out that the Wyatt Family will debut next week on Raw. There is quite a bit of buzz on them from the wrestling internet community. Hopefully it will go a long way in erasing our memories of Husky Harris. I know I am hoping for a lot from them. Hopefully they will not disappoint.

Until next time when I give my Money In The Bank Predictions. Special thanks as always to my wonderful fiancé and great editor