The End Of The Streak Edition

Welcome back to Inside The Wrestling Ring. As always if you haven't had a chance to check out our partners at Club Kayfabe check them out. I highly recommend it!

 

This past Sunday we had WrestleMania XXX and of course the biggest news coming out of New Orleans was the fact that Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker, ending the greatest streak in pro wrestling history. A lot of people are complaining about it, but here is what I think.

 

If Undertaker wanted to lose, then he deserves to lose. It's what he wanted. He is a legend that has earned the right to say if he wins or loses a match like this. I had read that he was getting tired of the streak and wanted to lose. My only issue with it is that Brock has already done all he could have done. Former Royal Rumble winner, King Of The Ring, World Title. Lesnar has done it. For someone to beat the streak, it should have been someone who needed it to push their career. It's not like Brock Lesnar is going to come back full time.

 

The other thing I didn't like was just how it occurred. Because Lesnar's music didn't start right away, it felt like there was an error, like it wasn't supposed to happen, but most reports are saying it was meant to be. I say most because there is at least one "website" claiming Brock forced the referee to change the ending of the match in his favor. I will not link the website or even mention it by name. But it is not true. The ending that we saw was supposed to be ending of the match.

 

I asked my friend Jason to come and comment on the end of the Streak. He isn't exactly a wrestling fan. And by that I mean he doesn't watch wrestling at all. So welcome Inside The Wrestling Ring at this time the host of the Peverett Phile.

 

Hi Jason, let me welcome you to Inside the Wrestling Ring. I wanted to bring you on to guest blog for all the times I appear on your blog The Peverett Phile. Thanks for coming on.

Jason: Hey, Jeff, it's great to be here.

 

How have you been?

 

Jason: I'm doing okay considering the Phile is on hiatus. By the way, if it ever comes back I'll have you and Lori back on, and we'll talk about the Super Bowl that happened years ago. Lol

I was wondering your thoughts about The Undertaker losing at WrestleMania?

Jason:  I don't know what to say about The Undertaker losing WrestleMania. Does he win most of the time?

Yes, Undertaker normally wins at WrestleMania. Let's just put it this way. He has competed at 22 of 30 WrestleManias. Sunday was the first time he lost... That's why I was asking! I wanted to see if non wrestling fans had heard of "The Streak." Thank you for your time, Jason. I hope to see the triumphant return of the Peverett Phile soon!

Regardless of how you feel about the end of the streak, the one thing we can all agree on is that we will never see anything like it again in the world of professional wrestling. The Undertaker defeated Hall Of Famers, up and comers, former world champions, and Giant Gonzalez. It became an entity on its own.

With Miz losing during the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal (though I don't think it should count) it looks like Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns are the closest thing to a streak that we have with 2-0 each.

Special thanks to my wonderful editor for making these words readable.

32

Ultimate Warrior Special Edition

In the ultimate case of here one day, gone the next, The Ultimate Warrior died last night. Wrestling fans had seen him on their televisions three nights in a row. He was inducted into the Hall Of Fame on Saturday Night, he appeared at WrestleMania on Sunday with the rest of the inductees of this year's class, and then on Monday he appeared live in the middle of the ring on Raw.

 Then Tuesday he died. Upon leaving a hotel in Arizona, he collapsed. Hours later he was dead.

I admit that I wasn't a huge Ultimate Warrior fan as an adult. I had heard the stories of his unprofessionalism and I was swayed by what I heard. But as a child, I admit to being a fan. I even had an Ultimate Warrior wrestling buddy. I mean what kid wouldn't want the Warrior watching over him at night?
 

 The night he was announced to go into the Hall of Fame there was a part of me that marked out. Who could forget the night he beat Hulk Hogan and became the first man to wear both the WWE Title and Intercontinental Title? His promos were just so bizarre that you had to laugh at them as you asked "What did that even mean?"

 Ultimate Warrior's story is one of redemption though. From being ostracized and mocked by the community that made him a star to being immortalized, forgiven and allowed to tell his side of the story.

 When he appeared at The Hall Of Fame Induction ceremony, he was led to the stage by his young daughters. He said something along the lines "Of all the things I have done. the most important thing is that I will always be your father." Kind of chilling words if you think about it now. But even more chilling was what he said on Raw: "Every man's heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe a final breath. And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others, and makes them bleed deeper, and something larger than life, then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized. By the storytellers, by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him and make the running the man did live forever."

 

 Clearly he knew something was wrong with his health. Hopefully in the next week or two we will find out as well.

 Our thoughts go out to the Ultimate Warrior's wife and two young daughters as they grieve at this time.

 The Ultimate Warrior wasn't always a great man, but honestly who can say that about themselves? I am just glad that he was able to be redeemed in his life. He saw it happen. And so did we.

 Thank you, Ultimate Warrior. For the memories. For being a part of so many of our childhoods that you will never know. Rest in Peace, Warrior

Special thanks to my wonderful Editor and more wonderful fiancée for helping me with my blogs

Wrestlemania XXX Predictions Edition

As always welcome back to Inside the Wrestling Ring. Be sure to check out our partners at Club Kayfabe Podcast for more news and reviews of the world of Professional Wrestling.

It's that time, ladies and gentlemen to talk about the Showcase Of The Immortals. It's WrestleMania season. In fact, we are just days away from WrestleMania XXX, which sounds like a terrible porno movie. But instead, it's the biggest Pay Per View Of the Year.

I thought about just posting my predictions about this year's WrestleMania, but I thought that this would be a good chance to get some of my friends that are also wrestling fans to get their voice heard as well. So it is my pleasure to introduce Steven Joseph. He has been a wrestling fan for most of his life. The difference between him and I is that he has actually stepped in the ring before. So he knows a thing or two about life inside the wrestling ring. See what I just did there?

Welcome, Steven. Glad to have you here. Let us get started.

The Pre-Show Match for Sunday is a fatal four tag team match for the Tag Team Titles. We will see the champions The Usos defend against the Real Americans, Los Matadores, and Rybaxel. I think that we waited too long for the Jimmy and Jey Uso to win the titles for them to lose them so soon, so the Usos will defend. Steven? What do you say?

Steven: The Usos.

What about The Shield Vs Kane and the New Age Outlaws? I think that the Shield will win this match. I think it will be a pretty brutal match up, but I think it will be a classic match up fans will be talking about.

Steven:  I think the shield loses in a clutsy finish and they break up.

The Andre The Giant Battle Royal can be won by just about anyone really. Except for any member of 3MB or Brad Maddox, I think we can all agree with that. I am going to say that the WWE is going to use this opportunity to make up for Royal Rumble and pick someone that they can build the future around. So I will predict that the Intercontinental Champion Big E. will win this match.

Lori: Excuse me but I think you are wrong. Big Show will win.

Thank you, Lori. And Steven? Who is your pick for the Battle Royal?

Steven: Cesaro.

Both are good choices, if you ask me. I am not sure it will be an annual match, but I wouldn't complain if it were to become one.

Who do you think will win the Diva's championship match? It is 14 women in the match and a one fall to the finish match. There is no way that AJ Lee will retain. I think that Tamina will win the match.

Steven: I can see the company taking the belt off AJ as a f*ck you to CM Punk, I have no prediction, but I'd love to see Natalya, but one of the Bellas getting it wouldn't surprise me.

I think the match the match that will steal the show (and anyone who knows me knows how hard it is for me to say this) will be John Cena vs Bray Wyatt. I look at Wyatt's match with Daniel Bryan at the Royal Rumble. I think the same result will happen. Bray Wyatt will have the biggest win of his career.

Steven: Cena, what else is new?

I think that Daniel Bryan will defeat Triple H and earn his way into the WWE World Title Match . Steven? What do you think will be the end result?

Steven: They go to a draw or a double DQ or something along those lines and the main event becomes fatal 4 way .

And then there is the Beast Vs The Streak. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker. There isn't much to say here other then the streak will live on. Do you agree, Steven?

Steven: Do I bother?

Well, I guess then you are picking Brock? Just kidding. And our last match is the main event for the WWE World Title. Maybe I am overly optimistic that the WWE will give what most of the fans want to see. Except Lori. She has confirmed with me that she is part of the No Movement, not the Yes Movement. But I think WrestleMania XXX will end with Daniel Bryan holding up both championships as your new WWE World Champion. Is that your pick, Steven?

Steven: HHH will win the fatal four way, and (Daniel) Bryan gets it the next month at Extreme Rules.

Well there you have. A couple of predictions for WrestleMania XXX. It should be an interesting event where everyone from CM Punk to Steve Austin and now rumors of Shane McMahon will be appearing backstage. Right now there are three spots open for the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. I would even say four as Christian will probably not be medically cleared. Who do you think will get those spots? There is a solid rumor that Rob Van Dam will. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Alexander Rusev or possibly even another NXT superstar showing up. The other thing I am beginning to question is this. 14 divas in a match just seems like an odd number (despite the fact 14 is indeed an even number). Can you imagine the pop if say Paige were in the match as well. Sunday is not that far off. I guess we will see.

A special thanks to Steven Joseph and Lori for their contribution to this week's blog. Check back next week and we will see how we did. If any of my readers would like to contribute to the blog for future editions, please contact me and we will make it happen!


30

Ranking the 2014 Hall Of Fame Edition

Welcome to the first of two Inside The Wrestling Ring blogs of the week. First we will take a look at this year's inductees into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Coming up later in the week I will give my WrestleMania XXX predictions. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet.

Before we get started, once again if you haven't checked out our partners over at Club Kayfabe podcast for your weekly wrestling reviews and thoughts.

And on with the countdown!

7. I am not a fan of the Celebrity Hall Of Fame, especially for someone who really has only appeared once or twice on WWE TV. Some people deserve it a little more, like Donald Trump who has made several memorable appearances in the company. But someone like Mr. T, who appeared at WrestleMania 1 and 2 to me is not a deserving man. Especially when you consider both of his matches are far from classics.

6. Every year there is one person whose career is not really tied to the WWE. So it's unfair for me to really judge someone like Carlos Colon. He appeared in one Royal Rumble and has his own wrestling promotion named the World Wrestling Council. His family has more connections to the WWE though, thanks to sons Carlito and Primo and his nephew Epico have all won tag team gold within the WWE.

5. I know I am going to some serious slack for this. But I am prepared for it. To me, the Ultimate Warrior is the fifth most deserving member of this Hall Of Fame. My biggest concern was how limited he was in the ring, first. But more importantly, I don't consider a run of four years to be a Hall Of Fame worthy career. Ultimate Warrior was big in the WWE for 1987-1991. To me that is not long enough. Yes, he returned in 1996 and squashed a then unknown Hunter Hearst Helmsley at a WrestleMania. Plus who can forget his forgetful time in WCW. But compare that to guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels or the Undertaker. Those are lengthy and more importantly worthy of being inducted.

4. Another questionable call for me is Razor Ramon. I am not against him going into the Hall Of Fame, however I think there are people more deserving of the honor right now. People close to Razor, as a matter of fact. Razor Ramon was cool. I was a fan of his. I think a major strike against him is that he never won the World Title. Granted that isn't the only thing that should be a factor of going into the Hall Of Fame. And to me another strike against him is that it's only Razor Ramon being inducted, not Scott Hall. Hall was partially responsible for one of the biggest storylines of all time. I am of course referring to the New World Order. But I can understand the WWE wanted to showcase their creation of Razor Ramon.

3. Now to the three members of this year's class that to me are most deserving. Like I said, it's not mandatory that someone wins the World Title to be worthy of the Hall Of Fame. Jake Roberts never won the big one. That doesn't matter to me though. His promos were Hall Of Fame caliber, no matter the match. No one understood ring psychology like Roberts did. His matches were always great, regardless of where on the card they fell. Plus Jake Roberts did a move that no one in the history of pro wrestling had done, but now everyone does it. I am of course referring to the DDT. For being a ground breaking performer, Jake Roberts deserves this recognition.

2. Last year I was excited when Trish Stratus was inducted into the Hall Of Fame. She is by far my favorite Diva of all time. The second best Diva as far as ring skills goes (and in some ways, she is even better) is going in this year. I am talking about Lita. Before Lita, you never saw a Diva climbing the top rope. Lita helped redefine the position of Diva with her move set that was so different then any other Diva we had seen before. She wasn't the Barbie Girl type with her red hair and tattoos either. I think that's what helped set her apart. Plus she was just such a fierce competitor.

1. And finally, the most deserving member of this year's Hall Of Fame is Paul Bearer. A world class manager that helped lead Undertaker, Kane, Mankind and a handful of other wrestlers. He was a former mortician, so he really lived the part. I met him many years ago. I shared the picture the week that he died, but I will share it again. Paul Bearer was just so spooky and was a perfect fit to manage the legendary Undertaker.

Check back on Wednesday for my predictions for this year's WrestleMania XXX previews!


29

Mid card Edition

Welcome back to Inside The Wrestling Ring. Don't forget to check out our partners at Club Kayfabe Podcast for more wrestling news and opinions.

Today I will take a look at what to do about the mid card titles in the WWE. Since they unified the World Title and the WWE titles in December there have been rumors that a similar unification would happen to the United States Title and the Intercontinental Title. I completely disagree with that idea and there is one simple reason why it shouldn't happen. There are more people in the mid card then there are in the main event. Thus, it makes more sense to have more options and more belts.

Let's face it. Both titles have been diminishing in value over the past few years. But what can be done about this? I personally love the Intercontinental Title. I grew up in a time when it was valued and I still value both titles.

 

My biggest idea to re-establish the values of both belts is to make sure they are defended monthly, maybe not always on a pay-per-view, but always defended every month. Remember back in the day there was a rule that stated, "If the champion doesn't defend the title every thirty days he or she would be stripped of the title?" I do. Dean Ambrose went from September to February without defending the United States Championship. In that time, his PPV matches were Shield matches and I understand that, but making him defend the title on Raw, Smackdown, or even Main Event once a month will help bring prestige back to the belt. I can't remember the last time Big E defended his title either. So it's not just Ambrose, but at least he defended it on this past week's episode of Main Event.

Another thing to do is make sure the champion wins more non-title matches than he loses. It will make him a viable champion. I am not one of those people who thinks every champion should win every non-title match. For every match we watch, we have to believe anyone can beat anyone else; it makes for a better match. But the champion needs to win.

In the case of a heel champion (like Ambrose) make sure he wins some of his matches cleanly. Again, this doesn't just help the prestige of the belt, but it helps the prestige of the wrestler as well. I hate to see title matches ending in either count-out, or worse, disqualification. Yes, it will happen from time to time. I get that. But Ambrose had quite a few matches that ended with Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns causing a disqualification.

Another way to help is longer, more meaningful title reigns. The mid card titles should not be passed around like a hot potato. They have been better in the past year with that, but in years past they struggled to maintain a good championship run.

You want the titles to mean something? How about ending Raw or Smackdown with an Intercontinental Title or United States Title match for once instead of the same four or five guys always around at the conclusion of a broadcast?

What do you think? What are your suggestions for how to make the US and Intercontinental Titles more relevant and add to the prestige?