OVER THE LIMIT 2012 - SOMETHING'S COMING

So, here it is at last, your belated look back at WWE Over the Limit 2012. As I said before this would have been with you sooner had it not been for an internet that didn’t work. You pay for these things and they don’t work for you. Don’t know why we bother sometimes.

Instead of the customary look back with pictures and photos which you’ve probably all seen by now, I thought instead we’d look at the results and happenings and see if WWE could have done any better with them.

John Laurinaitis Defeated John Cena

John Cena and John Laurinaitis was never going to be a classic match. It’s not going to be a match that we look back on in twenty years an remember fondly. For me, it was a clumsy, poorly booked excuse for a main event. John Cena needed an opponent who could carry him and Johnny L will never reach his eighties peak ever again, as long as he lives. In the ring, Johnny L looked like a tired old man who had been mugged by a thug.

The outcome of the match was never in doubt. If Johnny L lost then he’d be fired and since this feud is booked to run and run, most probably until we’re all bored with it, then Cena had to lose. The problem was that WWE had to find a way to make Cena lose without making him look weak. To be pinned cleanly in the middle of ring by a far inferior opponent (yes, I can’t believe I just said that), would have damaged Cena beyond repair. I think by now that we all know the outcome.

I couldn’t think of a worse way than to re-introduce the Big Show than that. He hadn’t been gone long enough to miss him or for his heel turn (under duress) to be a surprise. In fact when he was fired on Raw and cried like a little bitch, then you could almost tell how the match at Over the Limit would end. The angle did nothing but make Big Show look weak and at this stage in his career, as he begins to wind down, that’s the last thing he needed.

The feud is going well into SummerSlam and Johnny L has life or death over Big Show’s job. Inevitably the Big Show will turn face again and turn on Johnny L. If that is where the story is going, then it’s a waste of talent and story on someone as useless as Show. There are far more eligible talent on the roster who could have done with the push this story brings than an aged Show. This just goes to prove my point, that WWE are reluctant to push any young talent and trust them with any huge angle. They think it much better to put a man in the role that can’t do shit.

It would have been more beneficial for Lord Tensai and some of Johnny L’s other cronies to decimate Cena in the closing moments. Just think how much better that would have looked for the superstar formerly known as Albert.

Still, now we’re stuck with John Cena vs the Big Show which, if you remember their soul draining feud of 2009, you’ll know that this will not be a match or feud worth watching. Cena can’t wrestle, Show can’t move, no one is interested in seeing this tat again. I can confidently predict that this main event at No Way Out 2012, will not draw huge numbers, even though the match will take inside a steel cage. This is going to be 20 minutes of a life we’re not getting back.

WWE Championship Match

C.M. Punk (Champion) Defeated Daniel Bryan

The problem with these matches are that you have two great wrestlers, each with an equal amount of great talent. Matches of these nature are usually fought on the mat. A real technical battle. And in these times, times in which the current WWE audience (half of which are children and haven’t seen the great technical battles of the times) don’t want technical. They want exciting, they want chairs and running around the ring. These fans are everything that’s wrong with wrestling today, they’re ruining the business.

C.M Punk left Over the Limit still Champion, correct choice for the character and story. I just worry what WWE will now do with Bryan. In two months Bryan has lost three main event type matches to two different champions. That isn’t great for a man of which huge things are predicted. If WWE don’t want Bryan to fall into the undercard shuffle, then they need to do something drastic and quickly. The character is too good to make just another lost opportunity.

I fear that this is another WWE ruse, to make talent sit up and take notice. They’re trying to say to the locker room, that this is the treatment you get, if you dare to step out of line and make something of yourself without WWE’S permission. Zack Ryder did it and look where he’s ended up. The who ‘Yes’ thing was totally Bryan. He came up with it on the spot without WWE’S permission and now that it’s caught on WWE realize that they cannot take credit for it. So it’s another WWE tantrum, and each one of them seems to keep a talent back for so long, people lose interest.

Of course this wouldn’t matter if WWE’S creative actually had some good ideas of its own. If they had brilliant ideas for Bryan and other talent, and weren’t so determined to make the new talent suffer on NXT and Superstars while they pushed wrestlers no one wants to see anymore (Big Show), then talent wouldn’t have to go into business for itself and get themselves over! They don’t ask the superstars what they want to do, they just release them when they can’t think of anything else for them do. If they just took the time to ask the wrestlers opinions, then maybe we’d have more stars and less cannon fodder.

That will never happen. Because if a wrestler comes up with their own material then WWE cannot take credit for it! And as we know, WWE likes to be in control at all time. It threw a tantrum when The Rock left for Hollywood instead of sticking with WWE associated films, even going as far as to not renew his contract and not bother to tell him. All because they could no longer take credit for the Rock’s success. If you think about it, it’s pathetic.

The champion is now running out of challengers. C.M Punks star has dipped in the weeks after Over the Limit and it seems he and WWE are running out of steam and ideas. I smell a title change coming and coming soon. Whoever Punk is pitted against at No Way Out, then I wouldn’t bank against a title change. The Straight Edge Superstar has been WWE Champion going on half a year now, depending on when you’re reading this then longer. WWE doesn’t usually stick with champions that long. I predict that as soon as the C.M. Punk’s DVD hits the shelf (which Punk was allowed to have input in), then he’ll no longer be WWE Champion. They’re only allowing him the success to sell the DVD (which should be awesome). On the flip side, WWE 13, this years offering of WWE gaming features C.M Punk as the cover star. So maybe WWE are planning to run with Punk until the tank is well and truly empty. Just bare in mind, that if this is the plan, then what can they do with him afterwards? If we’ve seen everything he has to offer in one title reign, then what else will he have to offer in the future?

On the other side, WWE could be planning to have Punk, a really likable face and a really hateful heel to be the epicentre of this revolution. Either way, Punk needs an injection of ideas and quickly.

Fatal Four Way Match

World Heavyweight Championship Match

Sheamus (Champion) Defeated Randy Orton, Chris Jericho & Alberto Del Rio

WWE face a major flaw with the Sheamus Champion avenue they seem to be currently strolling down. While ‘The Celtic Warrior’ is a skilful enough athlete to carry a main event, the problem lies when he’s pitted against a wrestler who is twice the talent he is. The Fatal Four Way was decent, WWE have not booked a match of this ruling in some years which hasn’t turned out to be at least watchable. Was it earth shattering? Not for me. Was it something I had to watch otherwise I’d have felt I missed something? Not really. It was a by the numbers fatal four way match, in which the outcome was never in doubt.

Back to the Sheamus point. The Irishman is a good wrestler. Yet he hasn’t had the baptism of fire that someone like Kurt Angle had or Randy Orton or any WWE Superstar pre 2004. The majority of the WWE Universe knows that Sheamus was selected to be the Royal Rumble winner and the Wrestlemania 28 Winner because of his association with Triple H. His other two Heavyweight Title reigns didn’t set the world alight and thus far this one hasn’t either. I can happily watch Sheamus, just not as a good guy. His grin is slightly scary and his in ring manner has heel written all over it.

Now, when put against someone from the undercard, the Celtic Warrior looks great. When put against a multi time World Champion, he looks slightly out of his depth. This is something WWE needs to strive to put right and quickly. Against Randy Orton and Chris Jericho in this match, Sheamus always looked like the least able. Alberto Del Rio is another of these wrestlers who when he made his debut was full of promise, until the WWE machine ground him down and made him just another face in a crowd.

It looks like WWE are booking a Sheamus vs Del Rio feud, going into No Way Out. Does this have legs? No. One match might be ok, but do WWE seriously think that a Sheamus vs Del Rio feud is going to sell SummerSlam? They might, but it won’t. SummerSlam is one of the big four pay per view events of the year, it needs a solid main event. If we hark back to the nineties, then SummerSlam always had a legendary main event. Bret Hart vs Undertaker (SummerSlam 1997) was a classic match, with some really good wrestling. Bret Hart vs British Bulldog (SummerSlam 1992) still stands out today as one of the greatest wrestling matches ever to have taken place. The Rock vs Triple H vs Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2000) was a lesson in how to get through a match professionally and safely, when one member of the trio is injured and the other two legitimately didn’t like each other. Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio will not be amongst these if WWE deem to book it on the big stage.

As for Randy Orton and Chris Jericho? Well, it seem Jericho is now stranded in the mid card and Randy Orton needs a decent opponent and quickly, if his star isn’t be put out a little. Maybe a Jericho / Orton feud is on the cards. Maybe WWE are planning an Orton heel turn and run in at Now Way Out to book Orton vs Sheamus for the next few months. Or maybe WWE have just run out ideas for the pair of them. Let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be the first time.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match

Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (Champions) Defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

If WWE bothered to listen to its audience, the people that put money into their pockets, then problems like the tag team division could have been sorted out a long time ago. There would have been no need to make the titles as irrelevant as they are now. It’s a simple fix.

 WWE took one step forward and two steps back with the Kingston and Truth Tag Team Championship win. The step forward was taking the titles off of Primo and Epico and giving them to two wrestlers who needed the association with championship gold. The two steps back are because WWE booked this on the free Raw after Extreme Rules 2012 and not on the event itself.

A Tag Team Championship victory, or a championship victory of any calibre should be done on pay per view to emphasise the importance of the titles in contention. Still, what’s done is done and now WWE must move this forward. Should WWE put the importance on the titles and not on the match then with the likes of Kingston and Truth, Epico and Primo, the Usos, Ziggler and Swagger, WWE could build a really strong and credible tag team division once more. In the past few years the division has been worthless. Yet with champions and challengers that lend credibility to the belts will do it a lot of good. Build more tag teams from the stragglers of the WWE roster, such as Tyson Kidd, Evan Bourne (when he returns), some of the guys from NXT, Justin Gabriel, put Ryback and Brodus Clay in a tag team, not necessarily with each other but with others. Build a must see tag team division and make it mean something again. Do not spilt teams up months after they have formed because you prefer singles wrestlers. WWE once had a shining tag team division with the likes of Legion of Doom, Money Inc, Natural Disasters, Beverley Brothers, Nasty Boys, Hart Foundation, High Energy, Smoking Guns, The Godwins, Body Donnas, Dudley Boys, Hardy Boys, British Bulldogs, Edge and Christian. Those were the days.

WWE has already proven it can build a decent tag team with Jericho and Big Show, two misfits who were going nowhere, suddenly gelled together. It can do it again and again. If WWE want to stress how important the tag team division is, it could dedicate a Raw to it, holding what WCW used to call a lethal lottery. Put twenty names of wrestlers who aren’t going anywhere into a hat and draw them out at random. Those drawn together would form a tag team. Regular tag matches on Raw and Smackdown, not Superstars which no one watches, would gradually convey to the watching masses how important the tag teams are.

I wonder why the creative department cannot see this simple fact that would add both interest and panache to their ailing tag division.

Still the match wasn’t half bad at all. Kingston and Ziggler proved they belong on the main event stage and Swagger got his point across about being better than just a Superstars curtain jerker. I’m still though, not sure about R-Truth. I can’t see what he has to offer the WWE. At this point in time I’m beginning to think WWE just shoved the tag title on him to give him some relevance. There were plenty more mid carders who could have done with the exposure, who also have more talent. I don’t want to get into the race issue, but it feels like they made Kingston and Truth the tag champions because they want to show the world they don’t mind giving two black men (one of which is very talented and deserves the gold) championship gold.

If this is the case, then we should be worried that WWE think it needs to make the effort to show its not racist, in a time when John Cena’s T-Shirts read ‘Rise Above Hate’.

WWE Divas Championship Match

Layla (Champion) Defeated Beth Phoenix

Like the tag team division, the Divas division has become just filler. It didn’t have to be this way, had WWE given it more time and effort. It’s still saveable over the course of a few months, if WWE were to invest more in women who can wrestle instead of women with massive tits, then the division can mean something again.

When Kharma returns to WWE, she needs women who can go. At the moment, all she has are opponents that can knock her out with their plastic tits and smother her with their awful tan jobs. That isn’t good enough. If WWE are insistent on hiring models who are pretty over wrestlers who can go in the ring then they might as well dump the division and give the little time they spend on it to undercard male talent or allocate more time to the tag team division.

However, once again, this is easily remedied. Sack the plastic sluts that litter the WWE Division and with that money hire women who have more brawn than looks. I’d rather see seven ugly bitches who can really mix it up in the ring, than seven pretty sluts who flash their tits at have a cute, if annoying giggle and can’t do shit. This is wrestling people, if you want a pretty face and good pair of hooters then buy a magazine. Where have the days of Alundra Blaze and Bull Nakano gone?

So, Layla and Beth Phoenix have to be given credit. The match didn’t light up the show, yet it was acceptable. The crowd didn’t give a damn, then again I didn’t expect it to. Both women are competent in the ring and can wrestle. Which begs the question, why did WWE give it so little time? Ask Ryback and Brodus Clay for the answer to that one.

Pre-Show Match

Kane Defeated Zack Ryder

If you haven’t started already then you may want to get your ‘Goodbye Zack Ryder’ banners made now. The outlook is bleak.

Ryder is suffering from the same diagnosis as Daniel Bryan, only Ryder did it first and is now being made an example of. What I’m talking about of course, is the ‘get yourself over without WWE’s help’ illness.

It looked promising for Ryder at the end of 2011, of course that was only build him up so WWE could knock him down and show the locker room what happens if you dare to try and stand on your own two feet. It’s pathetic and sad and a waste of a great young talent that could have been something someday. Yet, even being John Cena’s best friend (in reality) couldn’t save him. Losing to Kane, on the pre-show of a pay per view, was, I’m pretty confident to say a sign of things to come. To save himself anymore embarrassment, he’s had enough over the last five months, Ryder should ask for his contract release.

Maybe TNA will be interested in him, he’d make a good partner for Robbie E. But the fact remains that Ryder doesn’t have a future in WWE, if he did, then his rehabilitation would have come at Over the Limit, beating his tormentor and reclaiming some self pride. It did not.

Zack Ryder has to go into the top twenty list of ‘wasted opportunities’ that WWE have thrown away. And why? All because they can’t stand credit not being given to them.

Pathetic.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Christian Defeated Cody Rhodes (Champion)

It should tell you something, that WWE promoted the pre-show match a good deal of time before Over the Limit, yet the Intercontinental Championship match was an afterthought. The title that has been given great relevance in previous months by Cody Rhodes, in turn making him a bona fide star. What are you doing WWE?

Still, once Christian had won the battle royal (which also wasn’t promoted) then the stage was set for a very good match. And a good match it was. The result though, I’m in two minds about. Christian needed a lift after his injury and being kept out of Wrestlemania. The title win will do him and his character wonders, no doubt. He’ll also be a great champion. His other I.C title reigns have been entertaining and worthwhile, producing some really cracking matches. Then there’s Cody Rhodes, who came on leaps and bounds as champion and actually sis what others failed to do. Make the championship belt look important.

Rhodes defended against all comers, and for a heel, that’s saying something. He changed the title’s appearance from the modern day look back to the 1980’s / 1990’s look, which stated that he held the history of the championship in great stead. His matches, his promos made the I.C title seem and look vital to him and the WWE. The fact he retained the title by any means necessary made the gold look like a just have and must watch. Even his loss to the Big Show at Wrestlemania 28 and his dogged fight to get it back looked superb. The kid has talent, in spades. So was it the right thing to do taking the title off of him one month after he’d regained it? If WWE are planning to push Rhodes into the main event to take the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus, then yes. If they’re just planning to bury him, then what bunch of fuck wits they really are.

I’m hoping it won’t come to that. I’m hoping that even WWE know a great thing when they see one. And if that’s the case then Rhodes couldn’t have lost the title to a better wrestler than Christian. So let’s hope Christian can make the title even more important and continue the good work that Rhodes has done.

Brodus Clay Defeated The Miz

If you’re like me then you’ll be wondering around about now, why The Miz stays around WWE. He’s being jobbed out to the worst kind of wrestlers and for what? The guy is a great talent, he is genuinely awesome, gives his time more than any other superstar (except John Cena) to charities and public events to promote WWE, has been given the starring role in ‘The Marine 3’ instead of Randy Orton. Instead if promoting the guy within an inch of his life to sell the film, WWE job him out to an overweight talent who let’s be honest doesn’t have any.

‘The Funkasaurus’! Please someone wake me up from this nightmare. Look at him. He’s crap! And wouldn’t it be a good idea, if WWE want to get this guy and Ryback over, to stop putting the matches on last minute and actually promote them as part of the Pay Per View weeks in advance? At the moment, they look like an after thought.

Although saying that, to promote them weeks in advance, WWE would have to have faith in Ryback and Clay, it doesn’t. This is a company has no faith in two stars it is desperate to get over with the audience. Tells you all you need to know really.

Ryback Defeated Camacho

‘Of all the superstars who have made their debuts on both Raw and Smackdown over the last several months, none have made a thunderous impact like the authoritative Ryback. As soon as the WWE Universe hears his music, they know pure destruction is imminent.’

Or at least that’s what it says on WWE.Com. It’s not true, really, it’s not true. When the WWE Universe hears his music, all they think is ‘Oh god, here comes another waste of time’

WWE have become so insistent on booking Ryback and Brodus Clay, despite the fact that there is zero interest in either of them, that they’ve begun making up lies about the pair of them and then to top it all off stealing away valuable pay per view time from actual stars to promote them.

The latest on Ryback is that WWE are trying, get this, to compare the artists formerly known as Skip Sheffield, to...Goldberg! Yes, it has come to this. Goldberg was a powerhouse (even if he couldn’t actually wrestle), he will be remembered as one of WCW’s finest characters for his short matches and his awe inspiring presence. People packed the arenas to see Bill Goldberg, he is huge in Japan and respected by wrestlers all over the world (except anyone in WWE). Ryback, will never be any of these things, even if he stays around for the next twenty years. The best I can do here, is compare him with the Boogeyman. The disaster WWE booked us to sit through, presumably as a practical joke.

If WWE want to get Ryback over, then it might be a good idea to start having him attack people that matter, like Cena, Orton, Sheamus and leave alone the jobbers and curtain jerker’s. Until Over the Limit I forget that Camacho existed. One day WWE will get the message, that no one cares and you cannot build a star if all you’re going to book him to do is take out wrestlers who aren’t worth shit anyway.

Saying that though, if you want to make this guy huge, then keep him away from John ‘Career killer’ Cena.

So, that was WWE Over the Limit 2012. It wasn’t earth shattering, it wasn’t totally brilliant, if anything it was another by the numbers pay per view which was preparing for No Way Out. I’d go as far to add that WWE didn’t go Over the Limit to bring us anything of great consequence. I seriously doubt that No Way Out 2012 will bring any great shocks, maybe it will bring one or two new stars. With the exception of Ryback and Clay, then everyone on the Over the Limit 2012 card, could do a whole lot with the hand they’ve been played.

Onwards and Upwards...

BACK WITH A BANG !

First off, yes my good people I am back after a small abscence. My internet went down and I just couldn't get to you and for that I appologise.

Now I am back, on this sunny afternoon in England, I am back to save you from the tripe that other wrestling websites put out. I will resume my mission to inform you of the truth and only the turth behind the wrestling world, whilst taking an honest look at some of the things that have been going down.

If you logged on expecting to see an Over the Limit 2012 preview and or retrospective then I'm sorry there wasn't one. I had it written up, I just couldn't deliver it to you. So instead, sometime next week we'll look at the belated going downs at Over the Limit. That will take some time. Instead, let's have a small round up of the weeks events.

Although before we get started, I think that it's worth commending WWE (yes I am praising them) for having Cena lose at Over the Limit, and then we can condem them for bringing Big Show back so quickly (you didn't expect it to last did you?). There reall was no point to that little firing of his, apart to make it look like Big Show is a useless worthless crybaby who will turn his back on his fans and the WWE Universe to save his own, ample backside.

The build up is all about No Way Out 2012 now, an old PPV WWE ressurected. It's a good idea, the Now Way Out events were always an anticipated part of WWE for years, and of course the fondest memory was of Eddie Guerrero defeating Brock Lesnar at No Way Out 2004 to become the WWE Champion.

This year though, the emphasis on inportant main events has been dialuted so much, that WWE are relying on Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio to pull in the viewers. Sorry, they won't. WWE sabotaged Del Rio so much that no one is interested in seeing him lift the gold ever again and Sheamus is so far up Triple H's backside that he see what he had for breakfast yesterday. Incredibly WWE picked Del Rio as main candidate for the feud instead of turning Randy Orton heel and making him into the hateful prick that mad eus love him in the frist place. A face Sheamus would have had a real challenge then, instead he's just going to run through a meaningless line of faceless opponennts until the fans are bored and begin booing him.

WWE are in fact begining to repeat the Shawn Michaels 1996 WWE Championship run. Where HBK took on opponent after opponent and only one of them (British Bulldog) was worth their place in the main event. If WWE carry on like this then they're going to do to the World Heavyweight Championship what they've done the Tag Team and Divas Championships. It's a very rocky road they tread now, one slip could see them plummit off the edge.

So instead of a killer main event at Now Way Out, we're stuck with John Cena vs Big Show. Both men are awful, both are talentless and anyone who remembers their soul destroying feud in 2009 will know that we never need to see this match again. Still, WWE don't have anyone else because they don't think about the long term, so Big Show it is. Will it be entertaining? No! Will I be relishing watching it? No! Sometimes I wish the T.V had a snooze button. John Cena vs Big Show matches are why WWE DVD'S are worth buying instead of watching the events live: because they have a fast foward button on them.

Chirs Jericho has been suspended for thirty days for degrading the Brazilian flag in San Paulo. Is this a legit ban or is is staged so WWE can bring in some supposedly Brazilian wrestler to exact revenge? Or in fact did Chris Jericho breach WWE'S welness policy and was suspended for that? Only time will tell.

Speaking of violations to the drug policy, Rey Mysterio has been suspened for 60 days for his second failure. For a man who has had the career Rey has had, the success, a man who had two friends, directly or indirectly killed by drugs, then you'd have thought that Rey would have been a little more sensible. Maybe it's too many bumps to the head.

Onwards and Upwards...

A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME - AGAIN?

Before we get started I have to say that the Over the Limit 2012 preview will be up later this week, should my really crappy internet allow. So keep your eyes peeled, the PPV previews seem to be the most successful things on this blog. I would like to think that you good people read the other blogs I take time to write.

Something's Coming?

So, WWE seem to be going with the reveloution angle. Somthing coming to WWE to change it dramatically for good. How many times have we heard that? In 2002, Vince McMahon claimed that the NWO would rot the WWE to the core - it didn't. In 2001 WWE proclaimed that the doomed Invasion angle would rock WWE to it's very foundations - it didn't. We have a right to be scepticle until WWE delivers. And for the first time in a long time, I actually have no idea what this revolution could be. Let's just hope it really is something unmissable. It'll probably involve John Cena and a huge name retutning to the WWE. Apart from that I'm as intrigued as the rest of you.

A Familiar Face.

If any of you have taken a gander at WWE.COM in that past few days then you'll notice a familiar face, taking a look at some of WWE'S whackiest characters. WWE are billing the guy as Damien Sanders. Those of us with knowledge of WWE pre 2006 will recognize the man as the hated Muhamed Hassan! I just hope WWE do not intend to put Sandow / Hassan back on WWE T.V, the guy wouldn't stand a chance.

For those of you who are not familiar with what I am talking about then, Sandow - who portrayed an American hating terriorist muslim - under the name Muhamed Hassan in WWE in 2005, was so hated and was nightly greeted with the most hateful jeers, that he actually recieved deatn threats in real life, from American citizens. The irony was that Sandow as Hassan was an American citizen, born in the U.S.A. Stunts that Hassan pulled off, of course given the nod by WWE were to choke Undertaker with Pianowire and have his sympathizers attack WWE talent. The pianowire stunt was particularly tastless as it was aired on the night of the London bombings.

There is no way WWE could ever hope to pass Sanders off as just another wrestler. Too many people remember Sanders from 2005 and if WWE think they can repackage a wrestler who has to rank in the top five of 'dumb ass ideas ever', and expect fans to take to him, then they're even more deluded than we thought. I just hope Sandow does not have a part to play in this reveloution angle. Unless they stick him under a mask (which they haven't because his face is on WWE.COM) this can have no happy ending.

Tears of a Giant!

It may look like WWE have canned the Big Show, yet by doing it through old Johnny L, then you can almost guarentee that they're planning a huge fight back angle, ala the 2001 Invasion. My beliefs are that WWE are going to do this to a few more wrestlers on the good guy WE roster, for them to inevatably come to John Cena's (and a few more faces) aid later in the year, thus pitching Johnny L's minons against John Cena and his cronies. For this to happen though WWE (thanks to their stipulations at Over the Limits) need to book Johnny L to beat Cena at Over the Limit 2012, this feud cannot carry on if Johnny L is fired. And early No Way Out plans centre around John Cena vowing that Johnny L will have Now Way Out - so expect Johnny L to actually beat Cena at Over the Limit.

Though it was strangely satisfying to see the Big useless doorstop break down. The guy can't even act! And what is WWE thinking of? Having a good guy, a face, a man who will presumably return to help Cena later in the year, beg like a little bitch for his job? Wouldn't it have been a lot more noble for Big Show to have resigned of his own free will, chokeslam Johhny L and then walk out of WWE with his pride in tact? For some reason WWE thought it far more humiliating to make him look like a seven foot cry baby. When will they learn?

Wasting Opportunities.

Kane is rotten, we know that. It defies even my logic though, to push him in the main event and against Orton since January and then stick him in the pre-show at Over the Limit 2012. WWE haven't even given us an ending to the Kane / Orton storyline. The feud was tied on PPV at one each - how is that a satisfactory ending?

On top of that his opponent, Zack Ryder, could have really done with a huge PPV win over Kane to get his career back on track. Please can someone tell me how this is going to help anyone invloved? Madness!

Blueprints.

With the news that TNA are finsihed with Matt Morgan (who can blame them), I get a horrible feeling that the self proclaimed 'Blueprint' is heading back to WWE. The size of the guy would neccesitate what WWE looks for in a main event star and with this reveloution coming our way, could Morgan be at the helm? Keep them peeled.

Onwards and Upwards...

A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION

I've already stated that in my opinion the greatest wrestling magazine in the U.K is Power Slam magazine and I've collected it since the begining of its life. I've agreed with the opinions of the guy who writes it and owns it and on a few occasions even spoke to him. The latest issue, though brilliant, I couldn't help find myself, for the frist time ever, disagreeing with some of the stuff that was written. I've said that I wasn't going to broach this subject again, I'm sure it gets on people's nerves. For one time only though, I have to bring it back up. And that issue is The Rock defeating John Cena at Wrestlemania.

In the latest issue of Power Slam, the writer stated that John Cena should have beaten The Rock (just to point out Power Slam are as critical of John Cena as anyone) at Wrestlemania 28 because it would have been right for business. I disagree. Because what would have been achieved with John Cena beating The Rock? In a few bullet points here's why it made no difference and why the result on the night was correct.

1. John Cena wasn't harmed, in any way by the loss to The Rock. His image wasn't tarnished, his reputation wasn't damaged, if anything he looked better losing, thus telling the WWE Universe that he is willing to resepct and tip his cap to the legends of this business.
2. Despite the result, John Cena was always going to stay in the main even spot. A loss would never have meant that Cena would have dropped to the bottom of the ladder. There's no way Vince McMahon would ever bury someone like John Cena because even though he's so short on talent it's painful, Cena earns McMahon millions in merchandise sales alone.
3. Despite the result at Wrestlemania 28, John Cena was always going to be given the spot against Brock Lesnar and was always going to beat Lesnar at Extreme Rules 2012.
4. John Cena, win or lose at Wrestlemania 28 was always penned, I'm guessing, to enter the feud with John Laurientis and his stable of heels, which will of course be the feature feud of the summer.
5. Losing at Wrestlemania 28, John Cena would never have lost any fans. Reversing that, winning at Wrestlemania, John Cena wouldn't have gained any fans either. Those who hate him are not going to change their minds because he would have beaten The Rock. No one would have found him any less irritating whatever the result. All it would have meant is weeks of bragging and none of us need to listen to that.
6. If John Cena had have beaten The Rock, then the annoying, juvinile Cenation would always be convinced that John Cena, a man with no talent, was better than The Rock in every way. Everyone knows he isn't.
7. The  reason The Rock blew up so early in the match were due to a number of factors. The first is that WWE should have booked the contest at a half the length they did. Second, because it was his first singles match in 8 years. Thrid; his first singles match in 8 years was against a man with no talent or ability to be able to help The Rock in the biggest match of the year. A great wrestler, ring general, whatever you wish to call it my good people has the ability to take the spotlight, in a good way, from their opponent, whether they've never wrestled before or haven't wrestled one on one in 8 years can help cover up the fact that certain wrestler is tired, Cena couldn't. Had he been bothered to brush up his skills in the last 10 years, John Cena might have been able to help The Rock. Saying that, The Rock in the ring with anyone else, Triple H, Undertaker, Chris Jericho even C.M Punk might not have blown up so quickly or at all. A better standard of opponent, one who could wrestler might have put more effort in so The Rock didn't have to do most of the donkey work. Also, a great ring general and wrestler works for the match and for the audience. Cena works for no one but himself, that has been proven in 10 years. The Rock proved how good he is over the years in stunning matches with Austin, Undertaker, Angle, Triple H plus many more. Cena has had a handful of great matches that anyone would be happy to sit through again, most of them have been utter tat. The fact that Cena knows how to do none of the above (help another wrestler, elevate another wrestler, work for the match and audience) proves that the man doesn't deserve the main event spot he currently has.
8. The only harm the loss did Cena was to his massive ego.
9. It didn't hurt Cena to give back to the sport that he has taken so much from and given so little too, in the ring, with his awful attire and dull as dish water performances - to lose to a legend.
10. If Hulk Hogan can come back (2005, 2006) and not put anyone over without ridicule, then why are the rules differen't for The Rock?
11. WWE's attempt to pass John Cena off as an underdog at Wrestlemania 28, as done so by Machine Gun Kelly, were absolutley pathetic. No one believes John Cena is an underdog who isn't the favourite to win a fight. WWE audiences have been trained almost, to expect nothing but a Cena victory in every match.

I might be being picky here. You probably think so. I on the other hand think it important to get this out there. The result was right!

That was't the only thing I disagreed with. There were two other points. One was that no one needs to see a re-run of C.M Punk vs John Laurientis and the feud they had. I disagree. I'd rather sit through an unpredicatable feud with those two than a wholly predicatble one with Cena in the role of hard done by hero. Does anyone reading this think Cena will lose the feud? No, didn't think so. And exactly what is the use of booking John Cena vs John Laurientis at Over the Limit 2012? What a waste of time that is.

The last point that I had to pick up on and disagree with was of the TNA T.V Title. If you've been watching TNA recently then you'll know that the gold is to be defended every week on Impact. Power Slam said they couldn't see how this would elevate the title, I disagree. The belt is worthless at the moment, because the time and effort hasn't been put in to promote it. Take the belt off of Devon because he's awful, and put it onto someone who needs the exposure. Gunnar is a good choice! He has what it takes to carry the company and the title. It wouldn't work straight away, but a hefty run of say ten months with the TNA T.V title, defending it every week on Impact with a wrestler who has the skills of Gunnar would elevate the belt and the wrestler as two points which could be classed as 'must watch' television. The T.V title could be elevated to an important level if TNA got their heads out of their backsides.

You see? It's not all pointless T.V if someone puts the thought in. There are reasons for doing everythign in wrestling, you just have to find the best one.

I was surprised however, for the first time in ages, that WWE brought back Paul Heyman to WWE T.V. It might just be for a week, it might be for a while. The fact remains, that wherever Heyman goes, then he elevates whatever he touches with his presence.

Onwards and Upwards.

ON THE FLY

Wow, this blog now has over 300 readers, for which I have to say a huge thank you to you all. It's great writing for people not just in the U.K but also in the U.S.A, Russia and across the world. We're starting to make a real name for ourselves people, so keep on reading and passing the word. That said, don't expect me to cry with thanks anytime soon, if you do then you'll be sorely dissapointed.

Now, I've recently learnt that Extreme Rules 2012 was such a mess and disaster because it was booked on the fly. For those not in the know, this means that the results were changed last minute and even up the point where the wrestlers entered the ring. If you're booking on the fly then you make it up as you go along. So for all we know Brock Lesnar could have been booked to beat John Cena originally, and then some dick decided that it would be better to cut a story line which would have benefitted WWE in the long term, short and replce it with something which will have much less of an impact in three months time.

We're all aware that Raw is booked on the fly, you just have to watch it to know that the show is all over the place. There's no structure to it and that the people in charge do a bloody good impression of not knowing what they're doing. What other moron books matches with people like Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston in to last just three minutes, so they can then have a 20 minute segment which is just talking?

The reason behind the on the fly booking is that WWE, in recent years has prefered the television drama element. Vince and Kevin Dunn who is the Vice President of WWE actually prefer to make drama rather than wrestling. Which is why they hire former television writers (no joke) to write the storylines for the company. WWE insist that their writers must have years of T.V experience before they even hire them. It doesn't matter if they know nothing about wrestling, as long as they know how to write T.V drama. Can you believe it? That's like the American NFL hiring atheltes from other sports to play as long as they have experience in some form of athletics. Lunacy.

Of course this explains why the weekly Raw and Smackdown episodes are so dull and repetative. Maybe WWE and TNA for that matter should hire fans who know what they want to see and who know what needs to happen, to write for them. What would they lose?

I recently read a comment that made me laugh. It was on another wrestling website which shall remain nameless and if the person who wrote it is reading this, then what a moron you are. The comment read like this: "Why don't you just admit that WWE can surprise us instead of blaming on the fly booking for something that you said would happen that didn't." Absolute prick! Firstly, I believe the person who wrote this is another expamle of the breed of fan who cannot tell the difference between wrestling and entertainment and secondly, it has been a long while since WWE even came close to surprising its audience. In fact the only surprise we've had in the last year is how shallow and single minded the people in charge are.

I can this because I have been a wrestling fan for 22 years. I've seen the best and I've seen the worst. I've stuck with WWE through thick and thin and I can tell you that when WWE do things right then there's no better programme to watch. But when they do it wrong...what a balls up it is. There has been nothing on WWE T.V in the last year that has surprised me or delighted me. I'm not just having a cheap shot at WWE, because everytime I tune in I hope that WWE has corrected their mistakes and done something to prove to the world that the business hasn't just decended into a laughing stock for the rest of the world. Each time I see WWE just add fuel to that fire.

Now the moron who made the above comment obviously watches for the entertainment and I'm betting my money that he's a John Cena fan. The sort of person who thinks cartoon faces and shirts that belong on the front of cereal boxes pass for wrestling, instead of those of us who have been watching for years and can tell between entertaiment and wrestling. This all alludes to the point I made earlier. WWE prefers a television drama feel instead of a wrestling show feel. It's a widely known fact that Kevin Dunn knows very little about wrestling despite being VC for many, many years. The man can put a VT together like no one else, but you ask him about the actual wrestling side of things then you'll be waiting for an answer for about as long as we've been waiting for WWE to surprise us. Dunnis the man who insists on spending over half a million dollars on firework pyro at Wrestlemania and pushing the wrestling back for the singers and whatever other performers decide they need five minutes of exposure at the expense of wrestling. You know what's worse? Vince McMahon, the man who reveloutionized the business, allows him to do it. To make it even more damaging, they say that when Dunn steps down his son (who has been modeled into his father) will step into his shoes.

Over in TNA, I'm convinced they allow the wrestler to just make it up themselves. They don't, but for anyone who has seen Impact will tell you otherwise. They don't just have no structure, they have no writers capable of writing for wrestling. A name most of you may know is Vince Russo. Sacked from WWE, hand a hand (with his awful writing and storylines, and his penhance for pushing celebrities and personal friends instead of wrestlers) in the fall of WCW. Russon was hired as a close friend of Jeff Jarrett, to take the mantle of head writer when TNA started up. Russo has since been fired and I doubt you'll find a person in wrestling today, apart from the Russo family, who think that decision was wrong. He was responsible for angles such as the electrified cage stint which looked like something you'd find on CBBC (a childrens channel in the U.K) and of course the terrible storylines in the main events from 2002 - 2011. Enough said.

What really made me laugh though was what Russo is planning on doing next. Get this people. Vince Russo, who is hated in every wrestling company around the world. After writing a book about how wrestling did wrong by him and numerous shoot interviews on those who employed and then fired him, is planning to open up wrestling seminars and lessons on how to write for wrestling televsion. What the...? Does he not understand? He can't do it himself, how can he teach someone else to and where will the pupil go after the lesson are over? WWE insists their writers have years of mainstream T.V experience, TNA wouldn't employ someone who was trianed by Russo and if you mentioned the name Vince Russo in Ring of Honor then I'm not totally sure you'd get out of the building alive. Jim Cornette, who is a man I respect hugely, hates Russo (Russo made his life hell for years in WCW and WWE and tried to get an injunction against Cornette when Jim wrote him a letter which was less than flattering). Since Cornette is a big decider in ROH today then Russo and indeed anyone who chooses to listen and learn from him are walking into a dead end.

On the fly booking isn't all bad though. It can change a match or angle dramatically as long as long as it's used sparingly and in the right situation. It can prolong feuds, it can change the course of wrestling history (imagine if WWE had have booked the Lex Luger vs Yokozuna match at Wrestlemania 10 on the fly, changed the result and Lex Luger would have walked out of Wrestlemania 10 WWE Champion). WWE should use the on the fly booking again it could help them in the long run. TNA however should stick to a course and see it through. I'll save the recent TNA stuff for another time, let's just say that on the fly in TNA would consist of whoever is friends with Hulk Hogan getting whatever they want - even if the result is booked differently to begin with.

Onwards and upwards...

EXTREME RULES 2012 - BUSINESS AS USUAL

Wrestling is much like the Barclays Premier League (The highest tier of football in England for those who aren’t familiar with it – the team in which Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and whole load more teams play). It’s a results based business. Each result takes you through to the next week, the next big rivalry and you just never know if your team is going to exceed expectations or drop so far they’re in a battle to keep their status with those around them.

Extreme Rules 2012 was very much like the 2011 / 2012 Barclays Premier League Season. For my team, Manchester United, they were expected to win the league, at time of writing though, they are second behind local rivals Manchester City. It’s not lost, it’s just not won yet. And that was Extreme Rules 2012. It didn’t win when it should have, yet it didn’t lose on where it should have either, if that makes sense to you.

Yet the one thing WWE did was surprise in some sectors. Others were a total washout, predictable in the Extreme (pardon the pun). WWE didn’t do anything to dispel rumours that they were willing to take a risk to benefit the long term future, to that end, the show was a lot more entertaining than Wrestlemania 28 which took place just shy of four weeks before.

Extreme Rules Match

John Cena Defeated Brock Lesnar

I told you so. WWE are not willing to make John Cena look weak. Which is wrong! Because now, whoever is next for Cena isn’t going to stand a chance in the eyes of the viewing public.!If a monster like Brock Lesnar couldn’t defeat Cena (who did his very best Superman impression on the night – you know the one where he takes a pasting and then ta da, jumps back up like he’s never been hurt at all?) then what hope does someone like Tensai have? None at all.

The match was decent. John Cena allowed himself to take a beating at the hands of the superior Lesnar but he also reverted to his old, no sell, strategy. Which in truth looked absolutely awful! You just can’t take a beating like that and not sell it. No wonder Brock Lesnar was furious afterwards, I would have been as well.

But this night wasn’t about John Cena, it was about Brock Lesnar proving he still had what it took. Did he? To my mind, no! He punched and kicked like he was still in the Octagon. The man couldn’t even be bothered to wear proper wrestling attire, instead preferring to come decked out looking like and Ultimate Fighter. If this is WWE’s plan then please someone, scrap it now. WWE needs a wrestling monster, not an ultimate fighter. That is not going to work at all. The only thing it can do is promote UFC and drive even more fans away from the squared circle.

This match should have been great. It wasn’t. Just being decent in the main event is death for a wrestler and for a pay per view. Yes, John Cena bled (at last WWE have relaxed that ridiculous no blood rule – after all it was their brutal attitude towards the business, letting people bleed, say what they like and do what they like that won them the Monday night wars) and yes Brock Lesnar looked like a monster, and to their and WWE’s credit the match was brutal. It lacked that certain sting that it needed. Lesnar looked knackered by the end, Cena looked like he’d had enough of the business all together and the fans left the arena in the knowledge that the main event wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen before.

Brock Lesnar will now feud with Triple H after his attack on ‘The Game’ on the Raw show the night after Extreme Rules. It does beg the question why WWE even bothered to book Cena vs Lesnar feud, which of course they did so just for the revenue. It won’t continue and WWE have sold us down the river yet again, because now we won’t get to see Lesnar extract revenge. Should we have expected anything else? Not really. The angle was poorly booked. You can’t have Lesnar be the monster that loses first time around, what moron books that? Now Triple H will have to rectify this mistake in his feud with Lesnar (presuming there’s going to be one) and lose, otherwise that will be the end of the monster Lesnar and there will have been no point in rehiring him in the first place.

With John Cena, it’s a different kettle of fish. I’ve seen this before and I hope WWE are not going where I think they are. Namely, replacing C.M. Punk with Jon Cena in the feud with John Laurientis! Seeing as Punk will enter into a feud with Daniel Bryan now, and John Cena suffered a three on one attack at the hands of Laurientis, then I fear this is where WWE are going. Which is ridiculous! Does anyone believe that WWE will book Cena to lose a huge feud like this? Of course not! Punk could have carried off the underdog champion, Cena lacks the wrestling and acting skills. If this feud is carrying on with Cena in the title role, then that’s yet another perfectly great feud down the drain because WWE can’t let go of their Cena complex and the urge to push the talentless cash machine down everyone’s throats. I foresee a feud with Cena and Lord Tensai next, will it be thrilling? No! Will it be worth our money? No! Will WWE book it anyway? Yes! Because they really do believe they know best.

Chicago Street Fight

WWE Championship

C.M. Punk (Champion) Defeated Chris Jericho

This was meant to be a feud that would stretch. So what do WWE decide to go and do? Cut it short after only two matches. I won’t bang on about the match itself because you probably watched it, I just want to know why this feud has ended so suddenly. And the answer? John Cena. See above for details.

Punk has every right to be pissed off with WWE. Seemingly being cut out of the hottest storyline of the year and then having a perfectly good feud thrown away, what’s left for the biggest star of the year? The answer is Daniel Bryan. Now you might look at that feud as a waste of time, you will be wrong. Anyone who has seen Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) vs C.M. Punk matches from their Ring of Honor Days, will be able to attest that they can rock the house, much more than Punk can with Jericho. I don’t see WWE having the patience with the Bryan / Punk feud for long, especially when they see the matches are much better than anything Cena will be booked in.

I seriously doubt WWE will take the belt from Punk and give it to Bryan and now since both men have moved on drastically since ROH, Bryan will have to bring a whole new super hell to the table to deal with Punks, currently on fire, face champion. He has the tools to do it though and since both are great friends, Punk will have no hang-ups in giving Bryan all the momentum he many need.

What next for Jericho? I hear you cry. I hate to inform you people, but unless Jericho is scheduled to have a series with Cena (yes, again) then you can expect to see him fade into the under card spot and possibly take the United States Championship. I’m sure being on Laurientis’ side, WWE are planning for the feud to take the turn where the faction wins all the gold in WWE (which is why you can expect Jericho to take a title of some kind) before finally losing it to the good guys.

2 Out of 3 Falls Match

World Heavyweight Championship

Sheamus (Champion) Defeated Daniel Bryan

This match headlined a string of pointless matches. It was good, don’t get me wrong. There was just no call for it, apart from for Bryan to exact revenge for his humiliating Wrestlemania defeat. That didn’t happen though, so the whole thing was rendered pointless! The result was always going to be a win for Sheamus. WWE refuse to build up Triple H’s favourite wrestler at the moment just to cut him down a month later. So what is the best WWE hoped to achieve here?

The answer anyone? Yes! To kill air time! That is the soul reason this match and some others existed. What a waste of time! They might have well as booked Sheamus and C.M Punk vs Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho for the good that both matches did in the end.

I’ve already stated that Bryan will now head into a feud with Punk which will be great. Maybe WWE will take a risk and allow Bryan to take the title away from Punk before joining Laurientis. Maybe WWE will spunk this feud up the wall as well like it has done with many others. Just take a chance and see the results for yourself. Both Punk and Bryan can pull out great matches and this may be one feud that fans won’t get bored of seeing.

Sheamus is going from strength to strength. Apart from being labelled with the new nickname ‘The Great White’ (I didn’t realize whales were part of this business) I’m still sure that he’ll turn heel at some point in the summer, against who though is another matter. I look down the roster and I see no one ready to step into the shoes of challenger and serious challenge the Irishman for the gold. Maybe WWE will book a Triple Threat Match for the World Title at Over the Limit, which pitches Sheamus vs Randy Orton vs Kane. Giving the fact that Kane is dull and Randy Orton has already beaten Sheamus a ton of time, would that be a wise idea? Then again you have Rey Mysterio and Wade Barrett returning soon, Barrett needs more building so he’s out of the question and I’ve seen Mysterio in so many title bouts I tend to switch over when he comes on. So who does that leave that we haven’t seen before? If Christian were to recover in time then WWE could do worse than book Captain Charisma in a feud with Sheamus, that would be worth our time. They won’t though. I have a feeling it’s going to be Mark Henry or David Otunga, just before you hit the snooze button though, bare in mind that between now and SummerSlam Sheamus will do battle with Randy Orton after the Viper has despatched the big red bore.

Tables Match

WWE Intercontinental Championship

Cody Rhodes Defeated Big Show (Champion)

At last, this match was the first light at the end of the tunnel which said WWE were willing to think about their younger talent and their long term future. If Cody Rhodes had have lost this match then that would have been the end of his magical push. The fact they put Rhodes over on the night is encouraging and the rest of the young talent in the locker room can breathe a sigh of relief.

What wasn’t so encouraging though was the stipulation. It wasn’t added until the last minute. WWE had announced the match a week or so in advance of the pay per view but couldn’t for some reason be bothered to announce the stipulation. Fans who could have ordered this PPV just for this match wouldn’t have bothered because as far as they knew, they were just getting a rematch which Rhodes would probably lose. You see where WWE’s business sense falls down? If you don’t tell people it’s there they’re not going to come.

However the result on the night was right even though they made Rhodes look weak with hardly any offence. Rhodes needed this going into the rest of the year. The momentum is high and now he’s finally done away with Big Show, Rhodes can concentrate on the future which includes a run as WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Maybe Rhodes is the ideal foil for Sheamus in a Champion vs Champion feud.

For the Big Show, I predict yet more dull, pointless matches before he realizes that he’s done in this business. Let’s face it, he’s overweight, he can hardly walk, he has no talent, what more can a man like this possibly offer to the business? Maybe Vince will hire him to write the storylines.

Falls Count Anywhere Match

Randy Orton Defeated Kane

Ok, so it didn’t end with an RKO from the top of a truck or outside the arena. What this match did though was tie the feud and make us sit through one last encounter at Over the Limit. Please make it something special WWE, a steel cage match would be ideal, anything to mask Kane’s inability to wrestle. On the WWE website the company seem convinced that this feud has now come full circle, how can it when it is tied at one victory each?

I have to question Randy Orton, wrestling injured all this time, maybe he’s looking for something to hold against WWE in later years, most wrestlers have something. With the talent that Orton has, then WWE need to take the albatross of Kane from around his neck and book him in a truly dazzling storyline. Turn the guy heel again please, I’m begging you, he’s just pants as a face and a heel Orton is much more appealing. If WWE are going to book another Orton vs Sheamus feud then this needs to be done as quickly as possible. If the triple Threat Match was to take place at Over the Limit then Orton would need to be pinned by Sheamus and then again at the following pay view. Losing two matches on the bounce would not hurt Orton but could sew the seeds of jealously and bring out the Viper side again. Part from Sheamus, I don’t see anywhere for Orton to go. Who is left to feud with? Christian? Been done! Undertaker? Not around! Brock Lesnar? No appeal! WWE have booked Orton into a corner and now they need to get him out of it as soon as possible.

For the life of me I can’t think what WWE can do with Kane. He serves no purpose. He’s been around forever, he’s dome everything he can, he’ll be remembered as the most successful big man in the industry, doesn’t someone think it’s time for him to depart for shores anew? No one in the locker room wants to wrestle him because he’s clumsy, the guy could kill a career by just stepping in the ring. He’s out of shape and out of his time. Kane in 1997 – 1999 was fine, Kane in 2000 – 2004 started to wear and Kane now, is burning up his life. There has to be something better he put his mind to than this.

United States Championship Match

Santino Marella (Champion) Defeated The Miz

And so beings our short countdown of pointless tat on the card! This could be seen as no more than a comedy match. The Miz should have gone over, yet seeing as he’s taking Randy Orton’s place in ‘The Marine 3: Home front’, WWE decided to keep the class clown as Champion at great expense to the Miz.

Here, was another show of the stop start pushes that WWE have made us watch. You push the Miz as the winner of the twelve man tag match at Wrestlemania and then you bring him down here. If Miz had lost to someone like Dolph Ziggler or Randy Orton then it would have been fine, his image wouldn’t have been tarnished at all. To make him lose to Santino, I wonder if WWE are even bothering to plan for the Miz’s future.

And someone please tell me what appeal Miz will have as a movie star, when WWE seem intent on burying him in the ring? Sheer stupidity!

WWE Divas Championship Match

Layla Defeated Nikki Bella (Champion)

I’ll keep this short. WWE booked this match because the Bella Twins are now out of contract. They needed them to drop the gold so this was the result. It wasn’t worth watching, it wasn’t worth booking (WWE could have swapped matches and put R – Truth and Kofi Kingston’s tag team title match on the PPV and put this match on Raw).

At least one good thing came of it. The Bella Twins are now gone from WWE, some small mercies we can be thankful for. Maybe now they can actually eat something.

Brodus Clay Defeated Dolph Ziggler

Why oh why oh why, does WWE do this to itself. The match made a mockery of Ziggler after pushing him so hard as a main event player. This put him back to square one. Losing to a blubber beast like Clay has harmed the breakout star of the year immensely. We can’t take Ziggler seriously as a main event player now he’s lost to Clay. The other mess up that WWE has made is sidelining Jack Swagger with Dolph Ziggler, they’re two massive egos that can’t possibly get each other through to the promise land.

What makes me even more mad yet at the same time curious, is that WWE can’t actually see what they’re doing to their company. In their tiny mind s they think they’re doing the right thing by pushing Clay! In reality they’re damaging another wrestler who needed the exposure badly. They’re replacing one push with another, that’s not going to do any good at all, we’re just going around in circles. This match should never have been booked Ziggler didn’t need the damage this has now done. If WWE wanted to push Clay then why not make him run a gauntlet of WWE’s cannon fodder instead of feeding him a career that was starting to sparkle!

Ryback Defeated Local Athletes

This was an abomination! Period! Instead of making Ryback look strong it made him look like a cock. It was like WWE were trying to say ‘This guy isn’t good enough to fight proper wrestlers so here are some whimps instead!’

WWE could have booked Ryback vs Brodus Clay, even started a little feud that could have been something, even if it wasn’t much. Why do that when you can demolish careers instead?

If Extreme Rules was meant to end a feuds before they got started, end pushes that could have been special, bury careers that needed help to get going then Extreme Rules 2012 achieved everything it set out. If was meant for anything else then WWE failed on a grand scale. Apart from Cody Rhodes’ victory WWE showed no willingness to experiment or take a chance for their own benefit, they did what they’re used to doing, playing it safe at the expense of others. Only this time playing it safe may just cost them dearly.

The signs heading out of Extreme Rules aren’t wholly promising. The Miz will take a break to film Marine 3 (it won’t do business, WWE Films never do – they lose millions a year); Kofi Kingston and R- Truth have been sidelined with the tag team titles (a good idea, if there had been truly great tag teams to challenge them, and if R – Truth hadn’t have been sidelined on Superstars since Wrestlemania) which is meant to enhance them despite the fact WWE should have booked the title win at Extreme Rules and not on Raw – which just shouts out that WWE don’t think they’re important enough to put on PPV anymore (this match could have replaced, Ziggler vs Clay, the abomination of the Ryback match and the pointless Divas Title Match) the spotlight would have shined on Truth and Kingston, instead they were passed over for absolute shit; The future of WWE were embarrassed and shown up in a series of matches that should have been scrapped when they were pitched and the heavily built up main event and the hottest feud of the year both took significant damage because of WWE’s infatuation with making John Cena the star. In summation, Extreme Rules 2012 just papered over the cracks.

In other words, it was business as usual.

Onwards and Upwards.