Sunday, September 28, 2008

Relegation of Rey Rey


Rey Mysterio is the greatest high flier in the history of professional wrestling. There I said it and I believe it. He may not be the best pure wrestler who could be considered a high flier and he may not perform the most spectacular moves ever seen. But for what he has accomplished in this business he has to be considered the greatest. In fact long before he even won the World Championship I could argue a case for his all time stature.


Rey is so great that he is really the only high flier I can think of who had longevity. Such amazing longevity that we actually get to see something we have never witnessed in American wrestling. The aging cruiserweight. Usually when a wrestler the size of Rey (or close to it) shows even the slightest sign of losing an edge on those corkscrew moonsaults in America…they are gone. But not Rey.


Rey Mysterio in 2008 is nowhere near the high flier he was even 3-4 years ago. His matches aren’t even comparable. And yet news is being reported that Rey is about to sign a contract extension with the company for another 3 to 5 years. The main reason? Rey Mysterio is a merchandise machine. Regardless of how much his move set regresses children love buying anything with his picture on it. As long as he keeps making WWE money, he’ll keep collecting a pay check.


Now you may ask why I am picking on Rey Mysterio. Of course wrestlers aren’t the same as they once were, it’s called getting old. Kurt Angle isn’t the wrestler he was in 2003 either. Realize the point I am trying to make about Rey is, right now, he is in uncharted territory. Like I said before, in Mexico I’m sure high fliers grow old and people accept their new limitations as well as in Japan. But when has this been done in America? Eddie Guerrero can be considered more than a cruiserweight along with Jericho and Chavo.


Rey can’t.


Again, Rey Mysterio is the greatest high flier of all time. How interesting is it to watch the greatest high flier of all time perform with only one wing.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

In The News...

Sure he can be your world champion...just don't let him out of the ring!!


-Sabu is being advertised for a match against Steve Corino in Puerto Rico this weekend. It would be Sabu's first match in many months, as he had been on hiatus due to a variety of injuries to his back.



Amazingly enough, Sabu just keeps trucking along. He may blow more spots than ever with his age getting up there...but the guy obviously either needs the money or just loves working. More power to him either way. As for Corino, glad to see he's still active even though I wish he was in WWE. At the very least he could add to the ECW product. Actually about a year ago I heard Corino applied for WWE. Not as a wrestler but a booking/writers job. Guess he didn't get it!



- TMZ picked up the story today about Jeff Hardy not expected to have any sort of punishment from WWE for trying to board a flight while intoxicated.



Everytime you see Jeff Hardy on Television and listen to the crowd reaction I say to myself 'How can this guy not be World Champion?' Everytime I go on the internet and read shit about Jeff I say to myself 'How can this guy ever be World Champion?' Seriously, I think those very questions keep Vince McMahon up at night. In the ring, he can handle it. Outside of the ring? He ruins his case on a weekly basis.



-This week's edition of TNA Impact scored a 1.1 cable rating, the same as last week.



I sort of feel bad for TNA. They really can't use the ratings to gage how well or how bad their shows are doing. It's always around the same number regardless if Sting, Jeff Jarrett, and Kurt Angle have a top promo of 2008, or if...I now realize why TNA is so involved with the internet mostly being Youtube, it's the only real feedback they receive.



-With just weeks to go on his current deal, sources in TNA have confirmed that Kevin Nash has re-signed with the company. No details on the terms of the new deal at this time.



The only reason I can see this as being good news is they have invested a lot of time in the Joe/Nash relationship. If it doesn't have a pay off, it's been a waste of time for months. Other than that, Nash at this point is just nice to have around...but he really doesn't add that much unless he's on the stick.



- Kurt Angle has apparently filed for divorce from Karen. Bubba the Love Sponge reported this today, saying he heard it straight from Kurt, and Dave Meltzer has since confirmed it with people in TNA. Both Kurt and Karen are backstage in Orlando for the Impact taping though, and are getting along fine.



The Angle marriage has been rumored to be on the rocks since Kurt made it big in WWE. In fact I read that the only reason Karen was made an on air talent was so they could spend more time together...aka Karen could keep an eye on Kurt. Since they are both 'getting along fine' this shouldn't really even be wrestling news.



- Gail Kim still has not signed her contract with WWE, and even though the odds are small, there is a chance that she will return to TNA.



Gail Kim, when it comes to importance to a company, should stay with TNA. The womens division has been built around her there. When it comes to a pay check, sign with WWE. Just ask Chris Harris and Monty Brown. Borderline Main Eventers in TNA, WWE? You get the picture.



Raw's Main Event



I think it was necessary to put the World Title on Chris Jericho. It isn't a secret, the Y2J HBK storyline has been the most well thought out and well executed storyline in quite some time in WWE and all of wrestling. What this does is shit all over every other storyline going, including anything they could muster up for C.M Punk. So what do you do? You take that well executed and most well thought out storyline and you make THAT the focus of your show. The World Title is supposed to set the standard and the pace for everything else going on...and now it will. Plus I get to see a Shawn Michaels Chris Jericho ladder match out of it. I'll be marking out big time for that.



TNA's Main Event



Simply put the JJ/Sting/Angle promo was pure gold. The emotion involved was very real and the wrestlers involved had their A-games going. Probably the best promo ever cut by Jeff Jarrett, and this guy has been wrestling forever. The only thing I'm confused about is Mick Foley's involvement in the storyline.



At first I thought maybe Angle and Sting vs Foley and Jarrett, but that would be foolish. The whole point of the storyline is supposed to be the young guns getting handed the torch. And last time I checked, Mick Foley and Jarrett aren't young guns. True Foley and Jarrett are probably the only guys who can get Sting booed but the storyline is supposed to put over Joe and A.J. We'll see where they go with Foley but him and JJ becoming the focal point of the 'Respect' feud will just be hypocritical. You don't want to book against yourself here Russo!



Smackdown's Main Event



Smackdown has been doing a solid job of entering the rebuilding faze of the roster. With MVP, THEE Brian Kendrick, Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy all being looked at as top players it really makes you wonder how deep Smackdown will be once Taker, Edge and Kennedy come back. Triple H still looks like he is leaps and bounds better than everybody else but at least they are trying to build for the future. My only quesiton is, who will Triple H be building a feud with towards The Rumble and ultimately WrestleMania. None of the guys I mentioned before will cut it unless Hardy is given another monster push to blow, so who? My guess is Edge but I'm hoping it's Undertaker. That would be insane.