Capitol Punishment preview

I’d like to start this preview by talking about the job WWE have done of hyping Sunday’s Capitol Punishment show. Several years ago the company was known for doing a solid job when it came to promoting its pay-per-view events on television but in the last few months they have become noticeably lacklustre. Extreme Rules and Over the Limit were given just token mentions on both RAW and SmackDown each week, which has apparently resulted in one of the lowest buy rates in company history (for Over the Limit).

Instead of talking about the announced matches and trying to create some interest in the show the tactic for Capitol Punishment has been to air weekly videos featuring stock footage of Barrack Obama answering questions intercut with actors pretending to be journalists asking about WWE’s pay-per-view. The goal is for them to be funny. They aren’t, and they certainly wouldn’t make me want to pay forty dollars to watch the show.

At a time when the wrestling business in general is struggling with television ratings and live attendance WWE really needs to put a far greater focus on creating must-see cards and hyping them sufficiently. I hope the low figures for Over the Limit serve as a warning to the group and they make the necessary changes.

All that said the Capitol Punishment card looks pretty good. Part of the reason for that is that there are no gimmick matches announced. I have said several times before that gimmick matches should be used sparingly otherwise they run the risk of becoming devalued. I think the lack of such bouts on the announced card is a smart move and one that should be employed more often.

The match that probably has the most potential to entertain viewers is CM Punk v Rey Mysterio. They’ve had two very good matches on RAW in the last three weeks, and are two of the company’s best workers. It will take a very sharp match to beat these two to the match of the night spot. As far as a winner goes, I’ll pick Punk because of the non-title victory he got over Cena on RAW. That and the interaction with Austin make me think there are long term plans in mind for him (and the rumours about his general unhappiness at the way the company has used him lately make a win seem likely too).

The biggest threat to the match of the night crown Punk and Mysterio have is the Christian v Randy Orton match. This feud has been very well paced and is a good example of how the SmackDown writing team generally come up with a more enjoyable, consistent show than their colleagues on RAW. I did originally think Christian should be kept face as Orton works better as a bad guy, and while I stand by that I do think Orton has improved in his current role since moving to the blue brand. Christian’s a better natural face but he does his best work as a heel. I think we’ve got a very good situation with this feud.

The result could go either way, but I suspect Orton will win. Christian should win the title by cheating though. That would keep the feud alive until Money in the Bank in July and allow both men to look strong: Christian would be able to brag about being champion while Orton would be seen as the rightful champion as Christian cheated. I like this feud and want it to continue. That could happen if Orton retains again, but it would be tougher to maintain the current momentum.

A match I don’t expect to be quite as enjoyable is Alberto Del Rio v Big Show. This has been a ludicrous waste of a man who was such an essential part of SmackDown just two months ago. If this is the best he is going to get on RAW he should be moved straight back to Friday nights. The quicker this match is the better. Hopefully it will turn out to have just been a diversion for Del Rio until Cena becomes free for a title feud.

I have a lot more time for the Intercontinental championship match between Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson than I do Big Show v Del Rio. Neither man has ever shown the potential that ADR has and so it’s less frustrating to see them lower down the card. It’s also been a more enjoyable feud than I expected, thanks partly to the pleasantly surprising reactions to Big ’Zeke since he left the Corre. It won’t blow anyone away, but it should keep the crowd pretty responsive. Jackson to win.

Miz v Alex Riley is another match that has featured pleasantly surprising crowd reactions. Two months ago I wouldn’t have considered A-Ry as a prospective babyface. He seemed too bland and generic, but he’s been accepted by the fans very quickly. The key to it is that he’s not been overexposed and audiences are pleased to see someone trying to shut The Miz up. I have a feeling it’s been a case of “right place, right time” for Riley’s success, but he and WWE deserve credit for capitalising on it.

Their recent brawls on RAW have been popular and had solid crowd responses so I expect the Capitol Punishment match to start in a similar fashion and not go too long. Miz winning wouldn’t be hugely surprising (I’m used to WWE messing up when it comes to the building of new stars) but I’ll assume they’re going to keep getting this right and predict Riley as the winner.

Ziggler v Kingston has, unfortunately, been announced for the event with very little reason and is clearly there as filler. If the two men (and Vickie Guerrero) had been granted a little more time over the last three weeks this match (and the United States title) could mean something. But that’s not the world we live in. I think the match will be very enjoyable as the two men work very well with one another, but it won’t be especially memorable. As far as a winner goes... Kofi? Ziggler won a non-title match a few weeks ago, which (according to WWE’s Big Book of Predictable Writing) makes it Kofi’s turn on Sunday.

The main event of R-Truth challenging John Cena for the WWE championship is something that intrigues me. Will Cena blow through Truth with his regular routine and pin him within ten minutes or will Truth be permitted to look competitive and be perceived as a genuine threat to the title? I’m hoping that they go with the latter considering the time and energy spent establishing him as such a great heel.

I’d have no problems with Truth winning the WWE championship: he may not be the company’s best wrestler but he’s certainly better than Cena and it would be a sign that WWE is trying something new. I’m expecting Cena to retain though: he’s a safe pair of hands and there’s a planned feud with Alberto Del Rio waiting for him.

Capitol Punishment appeals to me far more than Extreme Rules or Over the Limit did. I hope the available time is allocated wisely and the right people win. As long as Cena v Truth doesn’t get twenty-five minutes and a load of needless gimmicks don’t get added to half the matches I think there’s a very good chance that this could be a really good show. As ever with WWE PPVs, it’s now just a case of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

That RAW Recap 13.06.11

I thought this week’s episode of RAW was good. The use of guest General Manager ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and R-Truth, the continued build of the Miz/Riley feud, and the Punk v Cena main event all stand out as particular highlights. There were some bad points too, but I’ll get to them. On the whole I consider this a Good Episode, and I feel it’s important to start off by saying that (it being a positive statement and everything).

The opening segment was one of the best WWE has produced this year. Miz came out in one of his lovely suits, covered in fake tan, and did a good job of getting the audience to boo him. He played up to the crowds “What?” chants very nicely (“That was cool in 2001”), called Alex Riley a fraud, and then focused his attention on the stars of the Attitude Era, claiming that Austin and The Rock are jealous of him and keep returning to steal his spotlight. As far as heel logic goes it was fine.

Miz “called out” Austin, who entered to the most thunderous pop of the night. As heartening as Austin’s reaction was it underlines what I said last week: there are no current WWE stars that can provoke that sort of reaction on a weekly basis. Cena (on a good week, with the right crowd, the right opponent, and the right alignment of stars) and Orton get solid reactions, but they do not come close to rivalling Austin’s popularity. This is a problem because WWE cannot keep relying on stars of yesteryear for ratings boosts: sooner or later a new batch of stars is going to have to be built if the company is to keep running on its current scale.

Austin’s interaction with The Miz was great. He did most of the talking and showed that he still has “it”. When announcing a Piper’s Pit segment for later on the show Austin did a great job of putting over Alex Riley, saying that he could give and take an “ass-whoopin’” and cut a good promo. Perhaps WWE are starting to do what I suggested in the paragraph above after all.

Miz ended up leaving having been threatened (indirectly) with a Stunner. At this point I was expecting the first ad break but instead we got Alberto Del Rio driving out. He began talking about his destiny but ‘The Rattlesnake’ cut him off and said his destiny would be to take a beating if he didn’t shut up. It was great to see Del Rio sharing screen time with Austin but he didn’t get to look as strong as The Miz. With his treatment in recent weeks this came as no surprise.

Kane was announced as ADR’s opponent and the two men had a painfully average match. You can’t really expect much more from Kane in 2011. The match lasted a few minutes before Del Rio locked in his arm breaker submission and Big Show ran in for the save. He ended up punching Ricardo in the face over and over again as Del Rio ran off. This lead to some faintly homoerotic bellowing from Kane and some heaving panting from Show. The thing I remember most about all of this is that Big Show was wearing a yellow glove on his right hand that was not acknowledged by the announce team and didn’t seem to have any reason to be there. That glove carried the entire post-match beating segment.

The second match on offer was Wade Barrett (still Intercontinental champion, for anyone still interested in such things), Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase losing to Ezekiel Jackson, Bryan ‘Daniel Bryan’ Danielson and Sin Cara. It was a decent affair but was never going to be anything more because it simply didn’t get the time. The decision to pair Sin Cara with Daniel Bryan is a smart one: Bryan can work the majority of their matches with his fellow English-speakers, tagging Cara in for his trademark high spots. It’s good for Bryan too: Sin Cara’s push will ensure he keeps getting television time.

As far as the lighting effect for Sin Cara’s matches goes: I understand they’re doing it to help him stand out, but it really should be toned down. It seemed far too murky this week. On the plus side I enjoyed Cole noting during the opening moments of the match that ‘King’ really likes Sin Cara. Perhaps it’s because Cara would have been such a natural fit in Memphis...

An ad break was followed by R-Truth kicking Hornswoggle in the face. WWE clearly hoped this would make Truth an even bigger heel, but it just made me like him even more. I find Hornswoggle an irritating, unsympathetic and unnecessary character so I’m naturally going to enjoy him getting mercilessly beaten by a heel. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. Truth’s facial expressions during this segment were very good and managed to keep things on the right side of comedic.

After another break we saw four (yes four) referees carrying Hornswoggle to the back. One could have managed it easily. A Santino v Sheamus match then played to a mixture of apathy and loud “We want Ryder” chants. Sheamus took the massively predictable win with a Texas Cloverleaf.

This seems as good a point as any to address the non-appearance of Zack Ryder. It was a huge mistake not to utilise him. He is one of the most over people on the entire WWE roster: by refusing to use him WWE is doing itself, its fans, and a hard working, talented guy a great disservice. The chants from his hometown (or is that home island?) crowd throughout the evening prove that Ryder would have been given a warm reception. Had he been used intelligently, maybe gaining a surprise upset victory over someone like Sheamus, then it could have started a push that could have lead to a reliable new act that people are willing to pay to see.

The trouble Zack Ryder has is that WWE sees him as enhancement talent. They didn’t hire him to be one of their featured guys and so it’s incredibly unlikely that they will ever reward him with the push he deserves. Ten years ago Ryder’s hard work would have been given at least a token push, while now it looks as though Vince McMahon and his writers see Ryder as stepping out of line. Yes, it’s a case of cutting off the nose to spite the face, but Vince would rather do that than push someone who hasn’t been hand-picked for a push by him.

Back to RAW: a Christian and Orton segment was well received by the fans and shows WWE made the right call in turning Christian heel. He does his best work as an antagonist, and while I originally thought it would be best to have Randy turn I’m happy to see that the feud is working out as well as it is.

Because Randy was suffering from a traumatic storyline concussion (the very worst kind of concussion) the RAW GM emailed in to say that Orton would be stripped of the title if he got into a physical confrontation with Christian. I don’t think we’re meant to ask the obvious questions of “How would the RAW GM strip a SmackDown wrestler of a SmackDown championship?” and “Isn’t Austin in charge?” ‘The Rattlesnake’ appeared and announced Mysterio v Christian. Despite having an extra hour to play with the match was kept short and so wasn’t as good as it could have been.

After the match CM Punk came out with the Nexus and Mason Ryan smashed Rey into a ring post. Christian then hit the Killswitch (which I miss calling the Unprettier) on Rey and made the traditional “belt around the waist” motion that all challengers are contractually obligated to make before they challenge for a world title.

Next was the evening’s worst segment involving Austin. Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero went to his office to ask for a US title match at Capitol Punishment. Austin said he’d make the match if Dolph fired Vickie as his manager. Dolph agreed only for Austin to reveal he’d been joking and walk off, leaving Dolph to deal with a furious Vickie. This segment could have been funny, but it was poorly directed, so it wasn’t.

R-Truth came out for a match with John Morrison, who had returned in a backstage video with Austin earlier in the evening. Morrison’s music played and he didn’t come out. This happened several times as Truth took a microphone and said that earlier Morrison had acted like Billy Bad, and that Morrison was right to be scared because Truth is scared of himself. It was yet another example of Truth being the best new heel in WWE this year.

With Morrison still not in the ring Truth went backstage to find him. It was quickly made apparent that Morrison was lying unconscious on the ground, having been attacked by Truth earlier. In what was probably an unintentional nod to the hardcore matches of the early 2000s Truth slammed a steel box on wheels into Morrison. I’ve never been a fan of daft backstage injury angles, but I’ve seen worse than this, and Truth’s facial expressions helped to soften the blow and make it all enjoyable.

A tag match pitting Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston against Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler failed to excite the crowd. It was just there to fill time, which raises the question of why WWE felt it necessary to make this a three hour broadcast if they didn’t have three hours worth of material. It also reminds you that all four of these men should be in much more prominent positions and receiving better responses from the crowd.

The Piper’s Pit segment with Miz and Riley was next. That’s at least one feud that’s getting booked correctly: Miz has done everything possible to make Riley look like his equal. It’s paid off because Riley has heard cheers every week since he turned on Miz and if he keeps getting treated this way he should be a credible name performer within a few months. I hope WWE realise this and continue to build this program with the care and attention it has received up until now.

The Pit segment quickly deteriorated into a boasting contest before Miz and Piper agreed to have a match (at Riley’s suggestion, once again giving him the opportunity to get the pop). Austin made it official and added Riley as the official. The bout that followed saw Miz lose to Piper (while wearing his lovely suit) having been punched into a schoolboy by A-Ry. All three men did a good job.

Following a truly atrocious fourteen women tag match that never stood a chance of being taken seriously we saw this, the best segment on RAW:

What’s not to enjoy about this? Punk v Austin is one of the most natural feuds ever. I’m pleased WWE did something with the two of them together, because it means they are at least considering this match for a future event. Personally I think the ideal place for a Punk v Austin match would be SummerSlam in August, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see whether WWE agrees. Whether it happens or not, this was still a show stealing segment.

Austin came out to the ring to announce that next week’s RAW will be another three hour show (remember what I said above about having enough material for a three hour show?), but not just any three hour show: a fans’ choice three hour show! The common assumption is that it will be like the Cyber Sunday pay-per-views that saw fans vote on who would get title shots, the stipulations of certain matches and various other things. If some thought goes into the show it could be a good one, but it strikes me as a desperate attempt to get a few extra ratings points with a minimum of effort.

Finally it was main event time. After weeks of enjoying solid babyface reactions the world returned to normal and Cena got some serious hatred from the fans. CM Punk got a solid pop. There were duelling chants throughout what turned out to be a surprisingly watchable contest. Punk did some pretty big moves to the outside which should have got him booed but were all met with cheers by the vocal adult male portion of the audience. Cena’s used to it all by now, I’m sure.

Towards the end of the bout Truth appeared in the audience and stole a child’s hat. It’s hardly a more heinous act that kicking a midget in the face is it? Nevertheless Cena feigned concern from the ring (he wasn’t bothered enough to actually leave and go to help the child – though in fairness the kid’s parents didn’t do anything either) which allowed Punk to sneak in from behind and connect with the Go To Sleep. I love that finisher, but Cena always manages to take it poorly. This bout was no exception. Punk still got the win, despite Cena’s inability to fall convincingly (every week I am astonished by the basics of wrestling Cena still hasn’t mastered – watch him lock up at the start of his next match).

Punk left the ring to celebrate as Truth came in and smacked the champion with a water bottle. Predictably Cena oversold that. Truth hit his jumping STO finisher and posed with the title over Cena before leaving the ring, still with the belt, as the show went off the air to chants of “Little Jimmy”.

There may not have been much in the way of hype for Capitol Punishment and Alberto Del Rio is still not being used for anything meaningful, but the inclusion of Austin and several enjoyable (if short) matches helped to counterbalance that. I do think the hyping of pay-per-views needs to be addressed though: when a show six days away is barely mentioned throughout a three hour broadcast something, somewhere, isn’t right. I’ll be discussing that more in my preview of Capitol Punishment. For now, treat yourself to another watch of the Austin and Punk backstage meeting again. You’ve earned it.

Warrior v Hogan III

If you’re reading this then I’d say there’s a good chance that you’re already aware of the Ultimate Warrior and his late-‘80s slash early-‘90s heyday, back when he was the WWF’s number two babyface behind Hulk Hogan. Until recently he was probably best remembered for his nonsensical promos and limited matches. But that was before he released a series of bizarre YouTube videos verbally attacking on Hulk Hogan.

If you haven’t already seen them (or you have and just want to refresh your memory and or have a laugh) here are the videos:

Warrior has apparently taken issue with Terry ‘Hulk Hogan’ Bollea failing to be a good enough role model to children, young adults and wrestling fans in general, claiming he’s a manipulative scoundrel that abuses drugs, pimps his wife to fellow wrestlers and lies, amongst other things. It seems to stem from an interview Hogan gave shortly after the death of ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage (snippets of which appear in the third “trailer” video above). Knowing Hogan’s propensity to stretch the truth and use media interviews as a means to inflate his own ego, there’s probably something to Warrior’s claim that not everything said during that interview was true.

The trouble is that Warrior is one of the few people with a reputation as bad as Hogan’s, just for different reasons. Hogan is known for playing politics and rampantly exaggerating even the most meaningless of facts. Warrior is known for being (genuinely) mentally unstable. Watch any of his promos from his original WWF run: even by wrestling standards they are not the product of a healthy mind. Both men have been linked to steroid abuse rumours for years now. Hogan has admitted that he used them routinely throughout the ‘80s to maintain his superhuman physique while Warrior, as far as I’m aware, has never admitted to anything.

At first glance it appears to be a case of “six of one, half a dozen of the other” (is that expression even in common parlance anymore?). Basically, they’re both as bad as each other.

At least that’s what you think at first at any rate. Warrior is accusing Hogan of not being a good role model, because he lies, breaks laws, and excludes people from Twitter parties (this last reason is fairly baffling, but it’s all there in the videos). Some or all of his accusations against ‘The Hulkster’ may be true. What is definitely true is that Hogan worked extensively with the Make a Wish Foundation for many years, giving terminally ill children the chance to meet their hero. Whether he’d just come from an cocaine-fuelled orgy at which he and Vince agreed to kill the career of a promising young talent just to satisfy Hogan’s ego (after ‘roiding themselves senseless) is neither here nor there: he went out of his way to do it, unpaid, and gave those children a happy memory.

Warrior has never been known to do any such work and if Bret Hart’s autobiography is to be believed actually avoided meeting a sick child and their family on at least one occasion. Is Warrior really in a position to knock Hogan? Neither is a saint, but Hogan has done something positive with his celebrity status. As far as I’m concerned that makes Hogan the better man in this argument.

I think the most ludicrous part of the above videos is Warrior’s accusation that Hogan doesn’t know where Terry Bollea ends and Hulk Hogan begins. Frankly I think that’s understandable: Bollea has been known professionally as Hogan for thirty years and the first ten of those were spent fronting the biggest expansion in the history of the wrestling business. He is one of the most recognisable men on the planet. I’m not saying his attitude towards the Hogan character is healthy, but I’d say he’s in a better position than Warrior as their respective wrestling personalities are concerned. Don’t forget, Warrior legally changed his name from James Hellwig to Warrior. Yes, Warrior is his actual name. Does that sound like a man who knows how to disassociate from his character? And I've not even mentioned the fact that these videos have all the hallmarks of a modern wrestling promo.

This Friday will see the release of a one-hour video that Warrior promises will “reveal the truth” about Terry ‘Hulk Hogan’ Bollea. I suspect it would be more accurate to say that it will reveal elements of truth as Warrior views them. Whether factually accurate or not the video should be very entertaining.

In Your House

British wrestling should be bigger than it is.

Over the years the British indy scene has produced dozens of wrestlers that have found great success overseas. The likes of Doug Williams, Nigel McGuinness, William Regal, Davey Boy Smith, Brutus Magnus, Sheamus, Prince Devitt, and Winter all started out plying their trade in the various wrestling promotions of Britain but left for better pay and brighter prospects. It’s understandable: there’s nothing for wrestlers based in Britain but low-paying (sometimes even no-paying) dates in small venues.

But what if that wasn’t the case? With the ratings WWE (and even TNA) receive it’s surprising a prominent broadcaster hasn’t tried to replicate the success on a far smaller scale. An enterprising broadcaster like Five, Channel 4 or one of the countless channels that have sprung up on the Freeview service in the last few years could easily produce a wrestling show on a low budget and get decent ratings for it.

Why haven’t they? It’s probably a combination of having no one in place to organise such a venture and a concern over whether such a show would get enough viewers to be worthwhile. The first problem isn’t really something I know enough about to comment on at great length, but I’m sure there are British promoters that would readily accept a job attempting to create a watchable British wrestling product. Most channels have experience broadcasting some form of sport: couldn’t someone with experience of producing, say, a boxing broadcast be offered the job of producing a wrestling show? As far as television production is concerned the two sports are fairly similar.

The second problem is the one that I imagine really presents an issue. Would anybody watch a British wrestling show? I think yes. That so many small promotions are able to continue operatings proves that there are loyal fans out there willing to support the business in Britain. Of course they’d watch the television product. There are probably even more people who watch WWE and TNA that have never even considered attending a British indy show, but would gladly watch it on TV because they enjoy the sport.

If a British product was produced well enough, with compelling characters and storylines, then it would flourish. Why? Because there’s very little wrestling on television in Britain. WWE, the market leader, is embarrassed to admit that it’s a wrestling promotion, and even if it weren’t their output has been patchy for years. TNA has all the tools needed to make itself a very successful company (primarily a television deal and a very talented roster) but they don’t have a clue how to operate effectively.  

If a British wrestling show was given a regular spot on television schedules (something like 11 o’clock on a mid-week evening on E4, More 4, 5 Star, or one of the plethora of secondary ITV channels) and afforded a decent amount of promotion I think they’d get a get a good regular viewership. All the channels I’ve suggested are part of networks that could run adverts throughout the week to advertise such a show. A launch marketing campaign focusing on lads’ mags, billboards and bus stop ads wouldn’t break the bank, surely?

There are more than enough wrestlers working in the country for someone who knows what they’re doing to be able to construct a talented and media-friendly roster. With popular wrestling venues in cities and towns all across the country there would be no shortage of locations to promote shows either.

I know how unlikely it is that such a TV show will ever come to pass. Hopefully I’ve made some of you reading this more open to the idea though. Surely being able to turn on a TV at ten or eleven at night to see an hour of wrestling sounds more appealing than yet another insipid game show fronted by an autocue-reading clown pandering to a gaggle of “celebrities” you’ve never heard of? It does to me.

Foley Is Good

Back in 2008 Mick Foley left WWE, the company he had worked for on and off for over a decade. Disgruntled by the way he was treated by Vince McMahon during his short but enjoyable run as SmackDown’s colour commentator, Mick’s plan was to join TNA and help to establish them as an alternative to WWE.

Sadly, that didn’t happen.

As is always the case with TNA there was no long term plan in place when Foley was hired. Instead of using him, as the established star, to give their home grown stars a boost, it was decided the best use for him was to feud with Kane clone Abyss (who will never gain mainstream credibility, be the company’s top star or its top worker). This was followed a few months later by a program with Ric Flair (a man who benefitted even less from working with Foley) and a stint as an on-screen authority figure, neither of which achieved anything of note.

TNA just didn’t know how to use Foley or his skills effectively. It’s not a unique case though. The truth is that nobody, no matter their background or how good they may be in the ring, gets used properly by the promotion. Foley was just the latest in a long line of squandered opportunities.

WWE, for all its faults, does still sometimes gets things right. That bodes well for his inevitable return. It’s clearly coming: ever since Michael Cole plugged Countdown to Lockdown (Foley’s latest, non-WWE book) on RAW last year it’s been all too apparent in interviews and on his Twitter profile that he’s itching to return to McMahonland. That he requested an early release from his contact (originally set to expire in September this year) came as no surprise. The sporadic use of him during the Hogan and Bischoff era meant it was equally unsurprising when the request was granted.

What is there for Foley to do in WWE in 2011? While his old commentary spot has been satisfactorily filled by Booker T he could still be used as a manager or an on-screen authority figure. In fact there’s a certain authority position on RAW that is becoming stale due to the tedious anonymity gimmick, perhaps Foley could be of use there?

While there hasn’t been talk about revealing the RAW General Manager’s identity for a while it’s a subject that has arisen numerous times in the past year. Foley has the necessary on-screen presence and charisma, verbal skills and name value to be revealed as the GM without it being an anti-climax, and would do a sterling job of interacting with the current crop of WWE stars. His time as WWF commissioner a decade ago provided some great moments and allowed Foley to contribute to the product without risking his health: all we need is more of that.

Whether he turns out to be the GM or not I imagine he will be wrestling on a part time basis. At this point that can only be a good thing for WWE: they’re desperate for star power and new talent. Foley is not the star he was several years ago but he can still help improve the company’s flagging ratings. Perhaps more importantly, he’s been known throughout his career as a man happy to put others over and do everything he can to build new acts. Feuds with the likes of Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and R-Truth would be welcome, but the program I have my heart set on is Foley versus CM Punk. The matches would be good, but the promos would be amazing.

With this week’s RAW coming from Long Island (Foley’s place of birth) and it being promoted as an “All Star” episode there would be no better time for ‘The Hardcore Legend’ to return to WWE television. Joining WWE so soon after his release from TNA may not be possible, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed: WWE and its television product desperately need someone of Mick Foley’s calibre right now.