That Wrestling Podcast Episode 24

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 24 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

Over the years my feelings of Kane have changed almost as frequently as he has. When I first got into wrestling I found him slow and boring. After a year or two I started to appreciate him as his costume started changing and he started toying with comedy. Then I went off him again as he became overexposed, predictable and dull. And then I liked him again when he lost his mask and was revealed to have lied about his fire-damaged past.

And so on. You get the idea. I’ve swung both ways on the Kane scale.

Nothing shows power like ripping off a cage door

This time last year I wrote about how I felt that it was time for ‘The Big Red Machine’ to be written off TV as a regular character. My argument was that he’d become boring again and there was nothing left for him to do.

I was wrong. He went on to form a very popular team with Daniel Bryan (which has been quietly forgotten by WWE now) and has recently been repackaged as Corporate Kane. In my defence the Corporate gimmick is not a million miles away from what I suggested for the character when I said he should go part time. It’s just the suit, tie and office job trappings that I didn’t think of.

As you may have picked up by now, Kane is the subject of this episode. We talk about the character’s history and journey to where he is now. That includes his relationship with his “brother” The Undertaker, some of the many tag teams he’s been in over the years, and the original plan for ‘Taker at WrestleMania XIV.

Mind Versus Matter

On Monday I said it's possible WWE may be gearing up for a reinvigoration of the Intercontinental championship. RAW provided more evidence that this is the case. Damien Sandow defeated Dolph Ziggler to become the number one contender to the title.

That a former two time World Heavyweight champion and a man who just a month ago gave his mission in life as defeating John Cena were facing off over a secondary (technically tertiary) trinket was not, on the surface, a particularly great state of affairs. It looked like a comedown for both men. Ziggler, as a former WHC, should not be interested in a mid-card prize. He should be expending all his time and energy on regaining a world title.

On the other hand Sandow’s involvement is unquestionably great. No, it’s not the targeting of Cena we were promised but it’s showing that Sandow has focus and interest in a title. That’s what wrestlers are supposed to do most of the time. They’re supposed to want titles because it shows they’re amongst the elite in the sport and earns them more money (or at least it would if wrestling were real).

I'm not lying, he really does have a personality. He just seems to have lost it...

‘The Intellectual Saviour’ is a great opponent for the Big E Langston character. Langston demonstrated that he’s capable on the microphone in NXT but that’s not really come across since he got moved up to the main roster. Being excellent on the mic and well-suited to verbiage heavy segments himself Sandow strikes me as the sort of performer who will be able to help bring these skills out in Big E.

The best thing here is that even if Langston continues to fail at providing the good mic work he’s capable of Sandow will help mask it. Sandow can carry segments with boasts about the mind triumphing over the body, his plans to outwit the champ and so on. I don’t really need to go into the possibilities, do I? You should all be familiar enough with how good at condescension Sandow is to know that he’d ace any sort of promo segment with Langston without making his foe look worthless.

With the supposed Cena feud coming to nothing (to the surprise of no long-term WWE fan) a programme for the Intercontinental championship is about the best thing Sandow could hope for right now. It’s something meaningful for him to do, something that gives him the chance to show how valuable a member of the crew he can be. It’s good for Big E too. There are few people on the roster that will be able to have good matches, good segments, and possess the ability to make people care. If the Intercontinental championship is about to regain its rightful place as the number two title this is one of the best feuds WWE could kick off with.

B Plus Storyline

Before Survivor Series I expressed the hope that the teaming of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan was the start of a long term plan. I didn't have a specific idea in mind but a second PPV against the Wyatt Family at TLC seemed likely and seeing the pair of them as the final two in the Royal Rumble wouldn't have been hugely surprising. In fact I would have only been partially shocked if one had turned on the other (at, say, Elimination Chamber) to setup a singles match between them at WrestleMania XXX.

Will the universe implode if Daniel Bryan teams with a man in a goat mask?

With so many options available I predicted a win for the tandem. My reasoning was that if they were building to anything together that involved their period as a team being taken as meaningful they had to have experienced success, otherwise there would be no logic for them staying together. Beyond setting up a match between them of course, but in storyline terms that wasn't something we could point to.

When the Wyatt Family duo of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan fell to Punk and Bryan I assumed I was right and that WWE had plans that stretched a significant distance into the future. And then the November 25^th RAW happened.

On that show Bryan and Punk were beaten up by the Wyatt boys. Nothing wrong with that, you might think. And you'd be right. The heel beat down is an integral part of the modern pro wrestling landscape.

The trouble is that it didn't end with a mere duffing up. The Wyatt Fanily also kidnapped Bryan. This was followed a few days later on SmackDown with Bray Wyatt informing the world that he's going to turn Daniel Bryan into a monster.

And so it has come to this. Daniel Bryan, the hottest WWE wrestler of 2013, has been placed into a brainwashing angle. There are few things more synonymous with the mid-card than this sort of story.

In fairness it's possible WWE will surprise us (well, me at least) by having Bryan return to RAW completely normal, perhaps throwing in the enjoyable touch than his boundless positivity (Yes! Yes! Yes!) helped him resist Bray's wiles. More likely is that Bryan will become a fully-fledged member of the Wyatt Family and face Punk at TLC. Potentially we'll get both: Bryan returning to a big pop in his normal outfit on RAW before swerve-turning and aiding the Wyatts, followed by him tugging on some saggy dungarees on SmackDown.

Nothing about Bryan joining the Wyatt Family would be positive. If you think it giving us Punk v Bryan justifies it you're wrong. Those two have wrestled many times before and will wrestle again without this storyline involvement. It's just being done to give 'The Dazzler' something to do because WWE have already done everything they can think of with him besides letting him hang out in the main event continuously, and the reason that's not happened is that the "B plus" shtick you've heard Helmsley spout isn't solely a part of the show. It runs the risk of harming Bryan. Why should we rally behind and support him if he's shown to be the kind of man who's easily corrupted by a sinister Floridian swamp preacher?

The Punk and Bryan team had long term potential. Both in regards to the tag division and as the starting point of a future rivalry. The Wyatt Family made great opponents. But allies to the most popular man in the promotion? No. No. No.

Unification

The big news on last Mondays RAW was that WWE champion Randy Orton and World Heavyweight champion John Cena will face off at TLC. In a tables, ladders and chairs match. And both titles belts will be hanging above the ring.

 

Is this belt near retirement?

Cena v Orton may be one of the most played out matches on the roster but this match still manages to be of interest. On a basic level the two men have never clashed in a TLC setting, so there's something fresh there. There's obviously the far more noteworthy title versus title aspect too. While WWE have so far refrained from referring to this as a unification match (going out of their way to avoid that specific word) it's hard to see it as anything else. It's hard to see one man leaving the pay-per-view with both titles and defending them separately, although the option of the belts being switched (Orton taking the WHC and Cena becoming WWE champ) remains an option. A depressing one too.

 

I’m currently leaning towards one man having both belts. It's tough to imagine Orton defeating Cena cleanly especially as he wasn't even allowed an unsullied win over Daniel Bryan in their recent feud. That his Survivor Series match with Big Show ended with a musical cue distraction didn't make 'The Viper' look especially strong either. Basically the last few months have made it clear that even he is not on Cena’s level.

 

While it's easy to imagine Cena defeating Orton, because Cena beats everyone, that result seems too obvious. Would WWE announce a title versus title match involving Cena just like that and then have him win, also just like that? The match itself has come completely out of nowhere after years of doggedly sticking to the two world straps system. Whacking both titles on Cena on a B-show with only a month's build seems too easy. A bout of this importance could net WWE a decent buy rate if handled correctly. Rushing it seems entirely the current house style but isn't, ahem, what's best for business.

 

The TLC stipulation-slash-gimmick is an interesting one. Obviously it's been chosen because the title match will be going on last at a show of the same name as opposed to there being a genuine necessity to use it. It brings with it both freedoms and restrictions. The writing team can pile as much interference and other assorted nonsense into the match as they like without booking themselves into a corner. The gimmick is designed with that in mind, and this is a rare occasion when getting more bodies into the ring would probably improve the match quality considerably. But this also would also work against WWE: they have to book a decisive finish or come up with what will almost certainly be one of the wackiest finishes in company history.

 

A title unification feels like it should take place on a big show like WrestleMania or SummerSlam. That it’s not indicates to me that WWE wants its world title scene cleared up by 'Mania XXX next year (assuming this isn’t the start of a longer story which culminates with the real unification at ‘mania, which I doubt). Being the thirtieth instalment of their biggest annual show I think it's entirely possible the decision's been made to have the WWE championship in a clear position of prominence.

 

Personally I'm happy about the likelihood of WWE decluttering the world title picture. I've been saying for years that unifying the belts would make the remaining one, and by extension the man that holds it, mean more. I'd hoped that Cena getting the world title would lead to it but I hadn't thought it actually would. WWE seemed comfortable with the established setup.

 

Lovely ring gear, no?

Longer term the move raises questions about future storylines and the secondary titles. For starters this could be the beginning of what ultimately turns out to be a Cena heel turn. Survivor Series and RAW showed his first interactions with The Authority as The Authority and he seemed on decent enough terms with them. It's not hard to see him being selected as the new 'Face of WWE' because in reality he's had that spot for years. If WWE does get rid of one world belt (and it's still not definite that they will remember) it could see a swift return to prominence of the Intercontinental championship. It's notable that that championship has recently been given to Big E Langston, a man who's said to have the archetypal WWE headliner physique  and the not insignificant backstage support of John Cena. If the IC strap suddenly returns to being the company's undisputed number two and star-making title it should, in theory, raise Langston's profile by association. Not only that but it would be done in a pretty smooth manner.

 

It's possible there are plans for a rerun of the Ultimate Warrior-Hulk Hogan WrestleMania VI plot. Intercontinental champ Big E could win the Royal Rumble and go on to challenge for the WWE championship at 'Mania. Obviously that could work next year, but personally I think it's a bit soon. The Intercontinental title is currently as good as meaningless. Rebuilding its prestige over the next year with good matches and extended programmes between wrestlers that matter, which would demonstrate that guys care about it as something worth winning, would make it a bigger deal when the man that holds it goes for the world title. There's no reason that can't be Big E. 'Mania VI worked fine (storyline-wise at any rate) and Warrior had lost and regained the gold during the previous year.

 

The other possibility is that WWE intend to unify the Intercontinental belt and the WWE belt at WrestleMania XXX. Which would still give us Cena v Langston. That's a match I can see WWE wanting to do at a WrestleMania. The championships would just add to it. Is it a match I want to see? No. But I can imagine it’s one WWE are saving for a special occasion.

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 23

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 23 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

Greatest tag team ever?

If you had to list your top five tag teams ever who would you select? That’s the question we pose in this episode of That Wrestling Podcast. Will the Prime Time Players make either of our lists? How about the Real Americans? The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock? The Rockers? The Midnight Express? The Fabulous Freebirds? Mark Henry and D’Lo Brown? Kai En Tai? Los Conquistadores? Steven or William Regal and Dave Taylor? Los Guerreros? There are so many options, and only five slots!

Also discussed are the names of WWE’s secondary pay-per-views. The likes of Fully Loaded and Armageddon. Basically it’s a focus on how ridiculous wrestling names can get even in the world’s most mainstream company.