Wrestling Wednesday... on a Thursday - Bits & Pieces around the Wrestling World

Wrestling Wednesday… on a Thursday

Bits and Pieces around the Wrestling World…

Dear Bully Ray and TNA, I was wrong…

Over the last few weeks, the wrestling world has been relatively quiet and yet full of news too. Apparently, the majority of eyes are around some event in New Jersey. Yeah, I do not know what it is either unless fans are talking about Supercard of Honor or the TNA event on Friday night. In mentioning TNA, that is where I would like to start.

The last time I addressed TNA was shortly after the Lockdown pay-per-view in March. I hated the revelation of Bully Ray as the leader of the Aces and Eights faction because it was about eight months too late for my tastes. However, in the three weeks after the heel turn and revelation of Bully Ray as the leader, I have only one thing to say – “I WAS WRONG.” Yes, take note because it does not happen often but I am admitting I was wrong about hating the Bully Ray / Aces and Eights revelation.



Two weeks into the angle with Bully Ray as the leader of Aces and Eights, the man I formerly called “the best heel in the business” had brought a new vibe and fresh life into the Aces and Eights angle I did not believe to be possible. Bully Ray laid out the entire history of the Aces and Eights angle with his role finally revealed from the beginning and it was terrific. More important for me, it actually made sense. Bully Ray’s explanation even made the ill-received face turn and marriage to Brooke Hogan make sense in the grand scheme of things. I was wrong about judging the Bully Ray revelation too soon. If anything, this angle is finally going somewhere after nine months.

Masters is a hero…

On March 21st, Chris Masters became a real-life superhero when the Masterpiece saved his mother from a burning house. Trapped inside her home after a crazed neighbor deliberately set it on fire, Masters jumped into action and uprooted a tree with his bare hands to break out windows and help his mother escape the flames. Not only did the story earn Masters fans for life in Momma’s Boys worldwide, it also garnered him national attention including interviews on Good Morning America and CNN. The only thing I believe Masters still deserves from this awesome story is a job with either TNA Wrestling or Ring of Honor Wrestling. I have always enjoyed Masters’ in-ring work and believed him to be a lot better than the pushes he has received. Coming of this incident of real-life heroism, Masters has never deserved a massive push more in his career. 

His bronco got busted…

After a relationship with Chyna, you would think Sean “X-Pac” Waltman would be used to hard objects pummeling his ass. However, on March 23rd, Waltman botched a Bronco Buster at any independent wrestling show in Minneanapolis, Minnesota and suffered a ripped anus. The real story to come from this injury was how Waltman said this was the third time he had suffered the same injury. You would think Waltman would stop performing the move, especially since it is a lame move in the first place, the first time a turnbuckle fisted his ass. Then again, after a relationship with Chyna, I am sure Waltman figured his backdoor could handle anything.

The fine line between human decency and justifying anything because “I Luv Punk”…

WrestleMania 29 is this Sunday in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium. As much as I do not care about World Wrestling Entertainment or plan on watching even a second of the farce passing itself off as the grandest stage of them all, I would be remised without acknowledging the final build-up on RAW for the only match at WrestleMania to have any interest for it – The Undertaker vs. CM Punk. 

Ever since the passing of William Moody, known in WWE circles as Paul Bearer, the build-up for The Undertaker vs. CM Punk has surrounded Punk’s mockery of the memory of Bearer. Even more than a quest to end The Undertaker’s 20-0 WrestleMania win streak, this feud has centered on Punk mocking the memory of The Undertaker’s long-time manager. The final moment building this rivalry occurred on Monday night when Punk used Paul Heyman in Paul Bearer make-up to distract The Undertaker so the Straight Edge Superstar could attack the Phenom. The vicious attack ended with Punk emptying the urn and Paul Bearer’s symbolic ashes all over the fallen Undertaker in a scene more disgusting than any of the previously disgusting antics of this feud were.





In the aftermath of the scene, I read where many fans justified this scene. They compared it to things witnessed during the much-beloved and often-referenced Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s. I lived in the Attitude Era and watched every week. I did not watch the Attitude Era on WWE-produced DVDs a decade after the fact. Therefore, I know what I am saying when I say the Attitude Era was NOT as good as everybody wants to make it out to be. In addition, I know what I am saying when I say that Punk’s scene was unlike anything in the Attitude Era. I don't remember any time though in the Attitude Era where someone died and their death was used to push an angle before the body was cold. I mean, when Big Bossman mocked Big Show over the passing of his father, Show's father really died almost five years earlier. That is the closest example to anything from that era resembling what Punk is doing in this feud. 

I guess I missed where someone taunted Jeff Jarrett about the passing of his friend by bouncing a basketball off the floor and calling the ball "Owen." Oh, wait. Nobody mocked Owen Hart's death to push an angle. 

I never heard anyone support the 2006 exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's untimely death - labeled "Eddie-sploitation." Nobody supported it because the angles were tasteless, crude, and wrong. In fact, many called it among the worst angles ever performed in World Wrestling Entertainment history. Yet, seven years later, the Internet Wrestling Community's creator of the wettest of wet dreams does something just as horrible and CM Punk's defenders cannot stop tripping over their tongues to defend this garbage. 

I am not yearning for the Attitude Era to return. Far from it actually. I am not a fan of today's current PG Era either and view this angle as too harsh for the PG movement. I hate this angle because it's morbid, crude, and tasteless. It's not an Attitude Era or a PG Era thing. It's a matter of human decency and respect. Of course, that is a lost cause in every aspect of life in 2013 -- not just the wrestling business.

Big A Recommends… 

While I am a fan of shameless self-promotion, I tend to keep my promotion of others to a bare minimum. When I give out a plug, I am promoting something awesome. I am promoting two great viewpoints of the wrestling game in this edition of The Highlight Reel.

First, check out the International Wrestling Podcast. Currently located at their YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/IWPC316), the IWPC crew bring about interesting viewpoints on the world of professional wrestling and other matters of pop culture multiple times throughout the week. Brian McNail reviews RAW and is joined by Roy Zambrano on TNA reviews and Gerald Murphy on entertainment editions. 

Second, check out the enigmatic Steak Sauce’s new podcast located at Ringside Academy (www.ringsideacademy.com). Named Off the Grill, Steak Sauce brings a very unique viewpoint on everything happening in the world of professional wrestling (or, at least on RAW) with each installment. Plus, the artwork for the podcast is quite impressive. Check it out.