This week in wrestling has been a so-so affair and due to the underwhelming response to the TNA poll, thanks to the one person who actually voted, I have decided not to comment on Total Nonstop Action’s product for now. However there will be another poll later in the year on which I would urge you all to cast your vote. So as we cast our eyes towards Extreme Rules and a new format for this blog, in that there will be no pay-per view review the day after the event, the preview will still be available before the event, in order to keep the DVD and Blu-Ray review fresh; what has this week in WWE given and or taught us?
The Cage of Un-desire
After their WrestleMania 29 encounter which wasn’t met with the enthusiasm it WWE hoped it would be, Triple H and Brock Lesnar have to be hoping their clash at Extreme Rules 2013, inside the Steel Cage will yield a much better emotional charge from the audience. The pair were sure their scarp which many thought would be the finale of their feud which began in the ring with their super heated SummerSlam 2012 clash, would blow the roof off of the MetLife Stadium, when instead it played out to mere silence baring the finale couple of minutes. Anyone, I don’t know, say with ears could hear the underwhelming response that Triple H and Brock Lesnar received on the Grandest Stage of Them All, and I’m sure it didn’t slip WWE’s attention either.
With that said and the dismal reaction the pair got, one would have thought that WWE would have pushed this match at Extreme Rules to the hilt. Pulled out every stop and inserted every distraction to make this match the must see encounter of the next pay-per view. After all, with only a fortnight left until the event and only three matches announced as of writing this, Triple vs Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules has to be the match WWE are pinning their hopes on of selling the event to the public. John Cena vs Ryback is going to be a total mess as expected and Dolph Ziggler, whilst World Heavyweight Champion has not recovered from burial he received in 2012 at the hands of John Cena and WWE. One has to believe that with so little time until the event takes place and no other matches being obviously rushed onto the card, Triple H vs Brock Lesnar will be the real main event even if it does not go on last.
The build up and hype for this match as of yet has been criminally bad and nonexistent. What is going on in Triple H’s head? I know he’s now all about the youth development, not that we’ve seen that much of it lately, but he really needs to turn his attention towards his own feud and the possibility of the dismal buy rate it may receive. Surely Triple H knows that his job now and will continue to entail the future of the business and the importance of pay-per view within WWE, which makes sure there is no excuse for the poor build up to this match. This is a subject that will be touched upon in our Extreme Rules preview, available the weekend of the event.
The last thing I will add on this is that Triple H vs Brock Lesnar may not have needed to take place had the Rock not been injured at WrestleMania 29. For anyone who knows the backstage working of WWE, the Rock was due to perform at Extreme Rules before his sickening injury took place at Mania 29. It was widely believed that the Rock would have begun a programme with Brock Lesnar which would have come to a head at WrestleMania 30 next year and possibly fought Lesnar to set up that match at Extreme Rules. Whilst we’ll never know what WWE’s true intentions were now, Triple H vs Brock Lesnar yet again could be a filler match and that’s something WWE really don’t need us to know or look upon the match as such.
Rocky Waters
The next subject is an interesting one and I can once again feel a tangent coming on as the soap box is slid under my feet once more. Since his return at the Royal Rumble in January the Rock has been a constant source of those who take to the interne tot vent their frustrations, of which I know I am one, how else can you explain this blog? The Rock’s Royal Rumble Match with C.M Punk didn’t live up to expectations and even though his match at Elimination Chamber with Punk was miles better, the WrestleMania 29 match with Cena still lacked in what was required for two top line stars. We now know this was mostly due to the injury which the Rock picked up during the match and sounded wholly disgusting to sustain, but other, including those backstage and higher up in Titan Towers are pointing the blame solely on the Rock.
The gripe most have with ‘The People’s Champion’ is that he supposedly didn’t do the company right during his last run. Interesting point, given. However, let’s take a look at the Rock’s run and then compare it with others who have come back solely for the payday and see if the Rock gave more or could have done more for the company whilst he was contracted for the three months he was with us this year.
Let’s start with the money point. Many have a real problem with the Rock because they say he only came back to the WWE for the payday. Bullshit. Okay, that’s the summation of point one. In 2011, when the Rock came back for WrestleMania 27 to host the show many pointed the finger at the Rock and the first word they said when he stepped through the curtain on Raw to be revealed was ‘Payday’. I can’t blame them my good people, because we’ve become so accustomed to old legends coming back for one more payday that anyone who decides to step back through the ropes in today’s society is usually there for the money. Mick Foley gave weight to this fact on his latest DVD and Blu-ray release. What those who did point the finger in 2011 forgot to realise however is that the difference between say the Rock and those who came back to perform on and prior to Raw’s 1,000 episode is that unlike the collection legends who gathered to destroy Heath Slater’s career, the Rock is a multi-millionaire. FYI people, he really didn’t need the money. The truth is, the Rock was asked by WWE to come back to the company for Mania 27 because they simply didn’t have the star power to sell the show on its own merit. The Miz vs John Cena was nowhere near the main event that WWE hoped for on such a show.
In 2012, the Rock returned to WWE to continue the feud with John Cena that he began at WrestleMania 27 by dropping Cena with the Rock Bottom on the main show. Again, the fingers came out and none were more vocal in their criticism of the Rock than John Cena and his fans. Or as I prefer to call them, the mentally disabled. Hey, they can’t help the way their brain is wired, which is why the next time you see one wearing the stupid little shirt and hat you should resist the urge to punch them in their gleaming little face and then stand over them, waving the hand and shouting in their face, “You didn’t see me!” We have to be understanding, it’s a disease. Anyway, I digress. The build up to the WrestleMania 28 feud was centred around Cena being this stand up guy, with a tiresome smirk, who was always there for the fans when the Rock supposedly walked out the WWE. What John Cena and his fans were basically saying was that the Rock had no right to see what else was out there for him and should have kept breaking his back for a third of what he made in Hollywood. What a pack of small minded c**ts. Let’s be honest, the only reason John Cena is still in WWE is because his film career bombed. You really think he wouldn’t have followed the Rock had he became hot property? The whole thing smells of jealousy.
Once again, for WrestleMania 28, the Rock was asked by WWE not the other way around. You see, the Rock could have turned WWE down for WrestleMania 27, 28 and 29 and signed himself on to four or five more movie projects for which he would have been handsomely paid. Then where would WWE have been? Who would have fought Cena then in a match we hadn’t seen before? The answer is no one. The Rock had the aura that WWE desperately needed. For WrestleMania 27, 28 and 29 it was estimated the Rock earned approximately three million per show which may sound a lot but is mere peanuts compared to what he would have earned per film during that time. Let’s not forget Survivor Series 2011, Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber 2013 either for which he received a sizable payout, still though not as much as he would have received on a film set. So for those saying the Rock came back just for the money when he could have earned triple what he did in Hollywood with his eyes closed need to know their roles and shut their mouths. WWE needed the Rock, the Rock most certainly did not need, WWE.
The next point is that the Rock took the spotlight from the younger talent on all, three shows and the led in to them. Again, fair point. Yes, the Rock did hog the spotlight, sometimes selfishly. The run in to Survivor Series 2011 was the pinnacle of this when Rock should have take the beating Cena wasn’t willing to in order to get The Miz and R-Truth over ahead of their Survivor Series main event clash. There’s no excuse for why he didn’t. Had McMahon told him that his job was to beat down Awesome Truth then Rock, wielding the power that he does could have easily rejected the idea and suggested that he was the one to receive the beating in order to hype the encounter. It is inexcusable that he didn’t. Then there was his WrestleMania 27 stint which people say he overshadowed the Miz. Well, true, but the Rock didn’t do anything that Cena hadn’t done first. WrestleMania 28 and 29 are a different beast.
WrestleMania 28 people complained that the Rock, a part time wrestler in 2012 and 2013 went over a well known that who could have benefitted from the victory. Not really. John Cena was inserted into a feud with Lesnar straight away and didn’t suffer and repercussions contrary to what the walking bullshit machine says. Unless he blames his divorce on the loss to the Rock at WrestleMania 28, Cena has no case. Had those people who complained the Rock won known of WWE’s plans to have the duo face off again one later, they may not have complained. Although, knowing Cena fans, they would have. They seem to believe Cena has a god given right to win every match.
The reaction was baffling at Royal Rumble 2013 when the Rock defeated C.M Punk for the WWE Championship. With John Cena winning the Royal Rumble Match beforehand and Punk on a collision course with Undertaker, it was common sense that the Rock would win the WWE Championship. Anyone who had bothered to take a look at Punk’s injury list would have known the outcome beforehand. Had the Rock not won then it would have meant either the Undertaker had to take the WWE Championship which at his age and condition he couldn’t have done or another C.M Punk vs John Cena match to headline WrestleMania 29, would anyone really have wanted that? By defeating C.M Punk for the WWE Championship, the Rock was destined to do the one thing people criticised him for and that was giving back.
You see, unlike people such as Hulk Hogan, who took everything from WWE and gave sod all back, such as his victory over Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2005 which he refused to repay at Unforgiven the next month and promptly walked out of the company before he was booked in a rematch. That is a selfish and something people can never accuse the Rock of being. The Rock, with a genuine dislike of John Cena actually dropped the WWE Championship to him at WrestleMania 29 and made the greatest sacrifice. Unlike others who took more than the Rock from this business and have yet to give back wholly despite what people think.
If the WWE aren’t happy with the Rock’s recent run in WWE then there is a simple answer. Induct the Rock into the Hall of Fame, allow him to wrestle a retirement match and then never ask him back again. It’s something WWE have done time and time again without blinking. Should his contribution have been that bad, which they weren’t, he did the company a huge favour by being here this year and WWE and the naysayers need to open their god damn eyes and see that! If it’s not good enough for Vince then there is a simple solution so he doesn’t have to keep relying on old hands to sell his yearly extravaganza. Create new stars. It’s not hard, yet its something that Vince McMahon has lost the ability to do.
Onwards and upwards...
