The night after Wrestlemania. The debut of Mankind, Brock Lesnar. The season premiere that will begin the story that will climax at Wrestlemania 29. It begins tonight.
Johnny Ace begins begins with a new era. He sets up a match for Santino vs. Ziggler vs. Swagger. Punk smarts off to him and heckles Ace. Ace puts him in a match against Mark Henry. The new theme in his era is Power People.
Rock came out. The crowd was electric chanting “Boots to Asses” & “You still have it.” Rock came out and did his thing. It was everything it needed to be.
The first match was Ziggler vs. Swagger vs. Santino. This match was just kind of there for me. But Santino beat both. As Swagger and Ziggler beat on Santino after the match, Santino ran up the ramp and was saved by Brodus Clay. Ziggler charged Brodus Clay and took a crazy bump on the ramp. Ziggler is the most underrated wrestler in the business.
We had the debut of Lord Tensai. The crowd chanted A-Train at the top of their lungs. I was hoping they would chant “Hip Hop Hippo.” Alex Riley began his Future Endeavored Tour. I liked the debut of the Tensai character. And of course, Larry Stanley died when he saw “The Claw.” It reminded me of a early 90’s monster. Let’s see where they go with him.
So Punk-Henry was not the same match he had with Daniel Bryan. It was as good a match as Mark Henry is capable of having. This was such a good match. Both guys really brought it. It ended in a countout. I love the booking as this sets up Mark Henry as credible again. Jericho comes out of the crowd and says that after that beating, he and Punk need a drink. What happened to them has to be seen to be believed.
Sheamus came out to celebrate and then Alberto del Rio’s music hit. Ricardo Rodriguez started up and the crowd went nuts. For Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and Alberto del Rio delivered their lines and went through their motions all the while ignoring that the crowd was cheering someone else. Rock, Austin, Foley, Flair, Piper, those men would have never let a crowd get away with that.
We came back to get Cody vs. Kofi. Big Show came out to show Cody losing. I thought the story they told was very entertaining. Kofi got a nice win.
Abraham Washington gave Mark Henry his card. I’m not sure it was him or Teddy Long in a timewarp.
Eve cut a promo that was not horrible.
The main event was Miz vs. Ryder.
John Cena came out cut a promo on The Rock. The crowd was chanting for Lesnar at the top of their lungs. And then they got him. F5 on John Cena.
I have been watching Raw for the past year pretty much consecutively. This has been the best Raw in ages. 90% of that was the crowd. But the work was great. Lesnar coming back was perhaps one of the most electric things I’ve ever seen.
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That’s right folks! We’re on the cusp of the culmination of the Celebration of Professional Wrestling Week here at Bored Wrestling Fan and Wonderpod Online… and the Grand Daddy of them all, WrestleMania 28, is only a few hours away! Needless to say, we’re all excited and pumped to watch the PPV tonight. ThinkSoJoE, JT, and myself gathered around our microphones to talk about what to expect on tonight’s show in relation to RAW, Smackdown, and various news and rumors that have occurred since last Sunday’s official prediction podcast. There’s a couple particular notable ex-WWE stars in Miami over the weekend, and the WWE has announced that one of next years WrestleMania matches will be announced on Monday… or perhaps even teased tonight. What might happen? So as you count the hours down, what better a way to get even MORE pumped up than to check out our pregame show?
With quite a lot going on in the wrestling world as we head towards the end of the year and into the annual “Wrestlemania Season”, you fine readers may well see a lot more of the “Mat Musings” concept. This is simply because there is a hell of a lot to talk about this time of year, specifically when it comes to World Wrestling Entertainment. Having said that, one of the topics in this article has absolutely nothing to do with the biggest company in all of the wrestling kingdom! With that said, on with the topics!
Scottish Wrestler to Appear on TNA Maximum iMPACT! Tour..
I have no clue how familiar many (or indeed any) of you are with the wrestling scene here in the UK. As it happens, it’s going through quite the boom period in regards to talent – which will be obvious to any of you who regularly tune into WWE or TNA television. The amount of British-born grappler’s currently making headlines in the major promotions is at an all-time high. This obviously bodes well for my local scene as the bigwigs at WWE and TNA seem to be on the lookout on this side of the water.
Recently, none other than Jeff Jarrett was flown in at the expense of TNA wrestling to hold a seminar with the young students of The “Scottish Pro Wrestling Academy” and the hard-working roster members of “Premier British Wrestling”. PBW has recently joined up with the “British Wrestling Council” (an institution put in place to improve the safety and working conditions for all those involved in the British wrestling scene, be they wrestler, manager, announcer, referee or ring crew) and this marks a clear statement of intent from TNA to sweep the shores of the UK for talent.
Adrian McCallum, who goes by the ring name “Lionheart”, was the man chosen by Jarrett at these training sessions to show the biggest amount of potential. Lionheart has long been a local favourite in Scotland, specifically Glasgow, and there is a fantastic buzz and excitement over him being given this opportunity. Having had the chance to see him wrestle a number of times, I can tell you that he reminds me of a younger AJ Styles and will no doubt thrive in front of a huge crowd at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow. Go get ’em buddy!
A special mention must be given to Ross Watson and his gang over at PBW too, for all the hard work they have put in removing the stigma and overall ‘cheapness’ of the British product. Their live shows are regularly jam-packed full of wrestling-hungry spectators and it wouldn’t be stretching the truth to say that nobody leaves a show feeling disappointed. This writer is in no way associated with PBW but feels that credit is due for all their efforts! It’s exciting to think, for somebody like me who is trying to break into the British wrestling scene, that someday I could perhaps be a part of all this. You just never know!
Vince McMahon Banking on Brock Lesnar..
When WWE announcers start mentioning something heavily on TV at the direct request of their boss, it’s a good indication that the company and its owner are fairly confident said thing will come to fruition. The undoubted largest company in professional wrestling have always been very careful when it comes to things like this. Mr. McMahon really does like to follow through on things and doesn’t often leave things to chance, with his wrestling promotion at least.
There is still a lot of talk regarding the possible appearance of UFC performer and ex-WWE superstar, Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania this coming spring. Personally, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it all. I find it very difficult to imagine that Dana White, the owner of UFC, would allow one of his contracted fighters to show up on a WWE show for any reason. WWE and UFC may be two different monsters but they are in the business of ratings and trying to secure a bigger audience than the other, on the face of it. On the flip side, Lesnar appearing at the most-watched wrestling show of the year could be seen as the perfect advert for UFC. The chance of grabbing some new viewers could be a clever move, with WWE receiving the “cool” rub of being associated with mixed martial arts. Perhaps there is something in it for both sides afterall.
From a purely personal standpoint, I would love to see Brock back in a WWE ring. The chances of him ever returning full-time are extremely slim, which I realise, but a one-off appearance would only heighten my anticipation for the event. By far one of my favourite superstars from the past decade, “The Next Big Thing” became a world class main event level wrestler very fast – learning off peers such as Kurt Angle and The Undertaker with superlative quickness. With his intimidating size and impressive agility, I’d be a liar if I said I wouldn’t “mark out with my mark out” if the master of the “F5” showed up with his game face on.
Yours truly can recall being mega-disappointed with the way the man’s wrestling career ended. Coming to a close in complete and utter insouciance, his match with fellow-leaver Goldberg was treated with disdain by those in attendance at Madison Square Garden. It was a sorry end for the man in whom Vince McMahon saw great things. It would be entirely fair to say that Lesnar would still be a huge star in the land of the WWE had he not decided to pursue an American Football career, tired of the long roads he had to travel with the industry.
The only thing for us fans to do, is play the waiting game. It’ll certainly be an interesting watch to see if WWE ramp up their interest in their former champion. Or perhaps they already know something the rest of us do not..
I’d love to hear YOUR opinion on the topics discussed here. Quite frankly, they’re as important as mine. Sometimes even more so! The banter and chatter amongst fans is truly what makes pro wrestling such an amazing form of entertainment. Almost everybody has something to say. I love that. You can leave a comment below or send a quickfire email my way – jamiekennedy@live.com I’ll be sure to respond to anything and everything. Quite frankly, I just love talking to people about the wild and wacky world of wrasslin’! TAKE IT HOME!
Tonight on ECW, Evan Bourne returns to action after missing several months with an ankle injury – and since it’s St. Patrick’s Day, I’d venture to guess that Finlay and Hornswoggle will be featured in some way.
