First and foremost we would like to apologize to our loyal readers about the absence. What with the holidays and the lack of exciting things going on in wrestling and all that junk. So we are returning with our beginning of the year results predictions. The year 2008 went to me, Slammetie, and we can only assume that 2009 will be another year of the Slametie, starting with our Royal Rumble predictions. First we'll start off with the obvious candidates to vote for.
30-Man Royal Rumble winner This was a tough one. Part of me thinks that MVP is going to win, but it's just too our of control to think that so My vote is going for
Randy Orton
ECW Champion Jack Swagger vs Matt Hardy
I am a HUGE Matt Hardy fan, but it just isn't logical for Matt Hardy which is why my vote is for
The All American American Jack Swagger
Cena vs JBL I'm gonna have to go for JBL on this one, thus leading up to a Shawn Michaels/JBL Wrestlemania match for the championship.
Beth Phoenix vs Melina Who cares Yea, I hope Melina wins.
Yea
Jeff Hardy vs Edge There's going to be the not-so-shocking return of Christian, Edge is going to win and have a short feud with Edge saying that he took out Hardy not to help Edge, but so He could get his hands on Edge and take his title.... It may seem a little far fetched, so that's why I said it.
Now that's that but we have a little bit more. To make it a little bit more interesting we have added two more categories to the Roayl Rumble predictions.
The first two in the Rumble will be... and The final 4 will be...
The first two in the Rumble should be believed to put on the best show, and get the best pop for 2 minutes so I'm gonna go for the 2 time Slammy Award winning Miz and Morrison as the first two entrants.
The final 4 will be the 4 competitors getting the biggest push at the moment so my pick for the final 4 will be Randy Orton Chris Jericho Triple H MVP (it's about time for his push, this is going to be the beginning)
I also predict... off the records... that Umaga returns at the Royal Rumble.
Good Luck Ropes.
Thanks, Slamsie.
Royal Rumble Match I have to tell you, I have no freakin' clue who is gonna win the Royal Rumble. My gut instinct screams Triple H but part of me wants it not to be him because he has fought for a world title at Wrestlemania seven times. I also thought HHH would win last year, but no one saw Cena coming. Therefore, I'm going to say that Shawn Michaels is going to be a surprise entrant and win the whole damn thing.
Edge vs. WWE Champion Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship With Hardy being dumped on so much lately, I'm gonna say that he wins it and loses the title at No Way Out. I think his attacker will strike again, though, but won't be revealed until No Way Out as well.
JBL w/ Shawn Michaels vs. World Heavyweight Champion John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship I think JBL is going to win this one so that we'll see Cena vs. Michaels vs. JBL at Wrestlemania.
Melina vs. Women's Champion Beth Phoenix for the Women's Championship As much as this pains me to say, I think we are in for Phoenix defending the title against Double K at Wrestlemania, so sorry, Melina.
Matt Hardy vs. ECW Champion Matt Swagger for the ECW Championship It will only be a Hardy Pardy for Jeff. I'm hoping that Matt is the stalker of his younger brother, but with the Christian rumors circulating, there is a lot of room for doubt.
I accept that all of my picks are probably wrong and that I will have to eat cow testicles as a result of a poorly designed bet that was created during 2fers at Applebee's. God damn impaired judgment.
Tony Slammetie here, and I have a question for you all to ponder for a moment...
Are there too many PPVs? We're only going to talk about this in regards to WWE. This is because TNA absolutely HAS to have as many PPVs in order to keep up with WWE... they have no choice but to do so.
Royal Rumble
No Way Out
Wrestlemania
Backlash
Judgement Day
One Night Stand
Night of Champions
Great American Bash
SummerSlam
Unforgiven
No Mercy
Cyber Sunday
Survivor Series
Armageddon
14 ppvs... 14! That averages more than one PPV a month. This should be an easy question... of COURSE there are too many ppvs, if not 2 too many, then 8 too many.
I remember the days when there was just the big four; Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. I understand that the world of professional wrestling moves so fast and story lines culminate so quickly that ppvs need to be more frequent then they used to be. But I think that 6 would be enough.
The reason that they started running monthly ppvs, according to Hulk Hogan's book, was that WCW was running monthly PPVs. It started off with In Your Houses, and then each one got a special name. In Your House No Way Out... In Your House Unforgiven... and so on. Then once you start doing monthly PPVs, then it's hard to go back to not doing them. I understand the dilemma, and it sucks that Ted Turner found it necessary to do crappy monthly PPVs just so WWE could out do them, but such is life.
Now if I was running tings in WWE I would do it slightly differently... and here's how.
The year starts off with The Royal Rumble. The winner of the rumble gets a shot at any title they choose at Wrestlemania. Instead of having "No Way Out" we skip it and build up an even better story line to build up to Wrestlemania, which is the Pinnacle of sports entertainment. Now, there's a big gap between Wrestlemania and Summerslam, and something needs to be put there. In comes "The Night of Champions" Which I think is the best non-big-four ppv. Then Summerslam.
So we got
Royal Rumble
Wrestlemania
Night of Champions
SummerSlam
Then we need something to come in between SummerSlam and Survivor Series, and I think Cyber Sunday is the best one to put there. Having a ppv where the fans choose the stipulations make people who voted for it want to watch it even more. Then we end the year with Survivor Series. 6 PPVs.
Royal Rumble
Wrestlemania
Night Of Champions
SummerSlam
Cyber Sunday
Survivor Series.
If it averages one every 2 months, it gives the ability to build up some great story lines, and really give a chance for the stories to get over. And it also gives enough time to scrap a story that isn't getting over and go for a new angle and build that one up correctly. This would also force the WWE Championships to be defended on National Television more often (due to the "must defend at least once a month" rule) and make the fans happier.
I understand that something like this is NEVER going to happen, so I propose something else. If you REALLY want to differentiate between the brands, then give them their own PPV every other month, and have the big four be joint PPVs. Give Smackdown 3 ppvs, lets say Backlash, Great American Bash, and Unforgiven. Give Raw Judgement Day, No Mercy, and Armageddon. Make One Night Stand, and, create another one for in between SummerSlam and Survivor Series... let's call it Halloween Havoc (for argument's sake) purely ECW, and give those young guns a chance to shine on the big stage twice a year. This way you can have monthly PPVs, and still have time to build up programming.
I should run a wrestling promotion.
Ropes' View
Run a wrestling promotion? Try getting the facts straight first. There were no In Your Houses called Vengeance or Armageddon. The last In Your House was Backlash in 1999. I don't care what WWE Magazine says.(Slammetie's Editor Note... It takes a man to admit to a misake, but it takes an ass to react to it like Ropes did... the notes have been fixed, and Ropes is an ass) Remember, this is the same promotion that wanted you and I to believe in 2006 that Triple H and Ric Flair were best friends even though twelve months before HHH took a screwdriver to Naitch's head. Consistency has never been WWE's strongest trait.
Now that that's out of my system, here's my thoughts on the pay-per-view topic.
If it were 2005, 2006, or 2007 and someone asked if there were too many pay-per-views in the WWE, I would have responded with an emphatic, Stone Cold like “Hell yeah!” But it’s 2008, my Stone Cold impersonations have never been spot on, and my answer is no, there aren’t too many WWE pay-per-views.
From 2005-2007, the WWE ran fifteen pay-per-views, including New Year’s Revolution, ECW One Night Stand (“ECW” was dropped from the title in 2007) Taboo Tuesday, now known as Cyber Sunday. While Cyber Sunday was, is, and will always be unique because of its interactive format, New Year’s Revolution was the regular pay-per-view fodder. Its only redeeming quality its first two year was that it was headlined by Elimination Chamber matches (and, in 2006, the first ever use of the Money in the Bank privilege). The 2007 New Year’s Revolution was not headlined by an Elimination Chamber match and the pay-per-view became just another regular show.
One Night Stand was supposed to be a callback to the glory days of ECW. Though the 2005 show was a success, it was still a WWE production with Eric Bischoff at the center of the show’s main angle. One Night Stand 2006 was not as good as its predecessor. It featured a match with Kurt Angle, who almost sued ECW in the 90’s and was kayfabe trashing ECW the year before, a championship match between Sabu and Rey Mysterio that ended in a no contest (for real?), and a dragging WWE Championship main event between John Cena and Rob Van Dam with a terrible finish that WWE tried to play off as an ECW type finish (which apparently meant a total cluster).
In 2008, the WWE has found a pay-per-view formula that works. First, it dropped the dead weight of New Year’s Revolution. Secondly, it took One Night Stand out of the theatre and away from the potty mouthed fans and made it a WWE pay-per-view, not a WWE pay-per-view in ECW clothing. Some critics think that an all gimmick pay-per-view is corny, but I say not when it’s done in a smart and entertaining way, which I think WWE did with this year’s One Night Stand. I would rather watch a women’s “I Quit” match then a “Cuffed to a Cage” match. WWE has even added some unique ideas to its regular monthly pay-per-views. In this year alone, WWE had two Elimination Chamber matches at No Way Out, made Night of Champions its own pay-per-view (not just something to make Vengeance more interesting) and peppered Unforgiven with the Championship Scramble matches. All in all, WWE pay-per-views have piqued my interest this year without even having second thought on the number of them.
A national wrestling promotion needs to have one pay-per-view a month in order to stay competitive, even if the competition at this moment is TNA. As long as the extra pay-per-views are a break from the normal type of cards, I say fourteen is not too many.
Here are last night's Armageddon results, with the man who picked the winner in parentheses:
Jeff Hardy defeated Edge and Triple H to win the WWE Championship (None)
John Cena defeated Chris Jericho to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (Slammitie)
Batista defeated Randy Orton (Slammitie)
C.M. Punk defeated Rey Mysterio to become the #1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship (Both)
Finlay defeated Mark Henry in a Belfast Brawl (Slammitie)
Vladimir Kozlov defeated ECW Champion Matt Hardy (Slammitie)
The Face Divas defeated The Heel Divas in an Excuse for Tits and Ass Match...I mean Santa's Little Helpers Match (Ropes, since Slammitie never officially posted his pick on the blog)
That makes the final score Slammitie: 5, Ropes: 2
Ropes' Reaction: Why do I suck at this game? I'm on a losing streak of MVP proportions. That was too easy. Let me try again. I'm on a losing streak of Barry Horowitz proportions. I'll even go one further. I'm on a losing streak of MVP, Barry Horowitz, and S.D. "Special Delivery" Jones proportions. That's a lot of jobbing, folks. So Jeff Hardy won. Interesting. Watching Hardy chase the title was fun, but now that he's the champion, the only question I have is "What now?" Really, what else can WWE do to make Jeff Hardy compelling now that he is the champion? I doubt he'll be the WWE Champion going into Wrestlemania. The interest wouldn't be as great as him going into Wrestlemania as the challenger. Plus, we still don't know who jumped him in the hotel room. You can believe that the hotel room incident and the WWE title will cross paths in the coming weeks. For now, I'm just pissed I missed him win the title. Slammitie and I were at MSG when Hardy lost to Orton in January and I really wanted Hardy to win. Now I have to wait until the match comes out on the Armageddon DVD. I mean, YouTube. As for the rest of the results, I'm disappointed for the most part. There's no point in complaining about Cena still being champion because I'm sure there is a good angle down the road involving Cena as champion and I'll just end up thinking that Jericho not winning the title was a good thing. Punk was the obvious choice for his match. The rest didn't really affect me much, although I wish my picks had panned out. Now I have to shave Slammitie's back hair as per our Armageddon bet. Gross.
Slammitie's Reaction: Slammetie here, and my back is as smooth as Rope's behind (he did an awful job, but what can I expect from a man who grew his first facial hair at the age of 22?) As usual, I kicked butt in the prediction pool... okay, so not EVERYTHING I thought was going to happen did happen. I didn't even vote for the diva match, and "why" you ask? Because sometimes they try SO hard to make the divas look like legitimate wrestlers, and then sometimes they force them to dress like a bunch of hoochies and shake their asses for us instead of competing in a meaningful match. McCool vs Maria for the Diva's Championship? No, they'd rather complete a McCool heel turn that no one cares about in a way that was totally lost on the fans, but such is life. There's still a leprechaun running around under the ring rather than running around the rather large intestine of Mark Henry, and the Jeff Hardy angle I so expertly posed went down the toilet faster than the patches of hair that Ropes shaved off my back. But overall it seemed like a good show. Due to poor economic times, I opted not to pay the money to see it, and now I regret it, because I've been pulling for Jeff Hardy to win the Championship since he faced The Undertaker in a ladder match for the Undisputed Championship umpteen years ago.
This Sunday, Armageddon returns for its 2008 installment. Slammitie and I regularly make predictions on pay-per-views as a fun competition. As of today (December 11), there are only six matches on the card, which means that Slammitie and I could have a 3-3 tie. In instances such as this, we usually have some kind of tiebreaker. For Summerslam 2007, we wrestled in my backyard. I won. Actually, Slammitie got winded and told me to pin him. I took this as a come on and was going to just forfeit right there, but the sweet taste of victory was just too much for me to resist, so I swallowed my pride (and my manhood) and covered Slammitie. I quickly ran back inside my house and took a shower.
Anyway…
The card looks pretty good. It’s not as good as last year’s Armageddon, but there’s potential for this pay-per-view to be more exciting than November’s Survivor Series (thank God there are no casket matches this time).
Here are my picks:
John Cena vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship
This is my dark horse pick. I was disappointed that Jericho lost the title at Survivor Series and I want to see him go into Wrestlemania XXV as the World Heavyweight Champion, especially since the last time he main evented a Wrestlemania the hype was poor. Jericho needs the title more than Cena does. I say Jericho wins.
Edge vs. Triple H vs. “The Charismatic Mysterious Extreme Rainbow-Haired Warrior Pick A F$%#ing Nickname Already Enigma” Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship (Triple Threat Match)
I think Edge will hold the title until Wrestlemania, so I pick him to win. This will leave Triple H and Hardy to battle it out until Royal Rumble or No Way Out to see who will challenge Edge in Houston.
Batista vs. Randy Orton
I am a Randy Orton mark and I love watching Batista lose. The Legacy continues this Sunday.
"Don't mess up, don't mess up, don't mess up..."
Matt Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov
I was hoping this feud was going to happen. Regardless of the match Kozlov had with Triple H at the Series, WWE should continue with his push. Watching him these last few months reminds me of when Umaga first started out in the WWE, beating the ever living pee pee (the kids may be reading, you know) out of everybody. Kozlov is the classic indestructible mean dude. Plus, he hasn’t been pinned and he hasn’t been made to submit yet. Matt Hardy is the guy who can help keep the push going. Since this is a non-title match, it won’t be the last one between these two. Hardy will win by disqualification. Kozlov will either get frustrated and go ape doody on Hardy or he’ll beat Hardy in the corner of the ring mercilessly until the ref counts to five and calls for the bell.
Finlay vs. Mark Henry in a “Belfast Brawl”
I’m sorry, but can we stop calling a no disqualification/street fight type match featuring Finaly a “Belfast Brawl”? When I first heard this was going to happen last year between Kane and Finlay, I thought to myself “Ooo, how much blood will there be?” The answer was NONE. If you want to have a real Belfast brawl, add some guns and some Molotov Cocktails. What’s next, a “Trenchtown Riot” featuring Kofi Kingston? Whatever you want to call it, I liked the last “Belfast Brawl” from Wrestlemania XXIV, but I’m not quite sure Mark Henry can do as good a job in one as John “OH MY GOD! JOEY STYLES PUNCHED ME OUT” Layfield. That won’t matter because I see Mark Henry winning this match. Without the title, he needs a win to stay the top heel on ECW. Maybe it’s just me but every time I watch Finlay wrestle he loses.
"Michael, when you get punched out by a man 100 pounds lighter and a foot smaller than you, you feel like a big pussbag."
Rey Mysterio vs. C.M. Punk in the finals of the Intercontinental Title Tournament
Who called it? Who called it? That’s right, I did.
I thought this was going to happen on Raw, but I’m glad it’s on pay-per-view. It makes the Intercontinental Title look like a worthy title to be fighting for, especially with these guys in the finals. Like I said last week, Punk and Regal are going to feud, so I pick Punk to win. I’m wondering if Mike Knox will interfere to cause Mysterio a loss. At first it might seem stupid because Punk is a face, but if Punk goes heel in a few months like I want him to, a Knox interference might be a good, subtle place to start.
I need a win on Armageddon since I went 1-5 on the Series and had to wrestle the raccoon that lives outside of Slammitie’s house as per the condition of our bet. By the way, Slammitie, I went to the doctor the next day and he said I didn’t have rabies, but thanks anyway you weenie head.
Slammetie's Pix
Yes, I spell "pix" with an X... you can do things like this when you win the prediction bets that me and ropes have on almost a monthly basis. Instead of talking smack about my opponent this week, I'm just going to get down the the nitty gritty of it, and give my pix.
John Cena is going to win, and it's going to be the worst mistake made by the WWE this year. I agree that Jericho needs the title more than Cena, and that having Jericho win would be the logical scenario for any wrestling mark, but like I do with the Jets, I remain cautiously pessimistic. Cena=ratings=WWE has him keep the title.
Edge is going to beat HHH and Jeff Hardy and here's why. It may be a shot in the dark but let me give you the total scenario. Edge wins at Armageddon, then he beats someone at Royal Rumble. Jeff Hardy comes within inches of winning the Royal Rumble, but come up short after being thrown out by none other than HHH. Flash forward to Wrestlemania. Jeff Hardy wins MITB, and HHH pins Edge 1-2-3 in the middle of the ring. Cue Hardy's music, he comes out and steals the gold form that man who has been waving it in his face for such a long time now, and finally becomes WWE champion. What do ya think?
Batista will beat Randy Orton. Randy Orton just looks too good for him to win. It's classic WWE philosophy, build up the guy who's gonna lose to make the winner look that much better. Read Mick Foley's book, he says it right there in writing. And Batista will cry if he loses at a ppv, he always does.
Vlad the impaler will beat Matt Hardy, but it won't be a squash match. That's it. The feud will continue.
Mark Henry will lose the match, but he will win the war. Finlay may get the pin but Mark henry is going to EAT HORNSWAGGLE!...... or something else that takes Horny out of the equation.
CM Punk will beat Rey Rey, and feud with Regal, I've already predicted him to win the whole thing, and I'm not turning back now.
So let's recap
S /R Cena vs Jericho Cena/ Jericho
Triple Threat Match Edge /Edge
Belfast Brawl Finlay /Mark Henry
Batista vs Orton Batista /Orton
Hardy vs Vlad Vlad /Hardy
Rey vs Punk Punk /Punk
come one folks, let's place some wagers on who you think is going to be more right, Slammetie or Ropes.... leave comments.
*UPDATE 12-13-08*
Maybe we should have waited until after Smackdown to make our predictions, but no one's perfect except Mr. Perfect. The WWE added an 8 Diva Tag Match to the Armageddon card. I (Ropes) am picking the heel divas to win. Michelle McCool's bad attitude will cause her team to lose.
As you all may know: there is a HUGE #1 Contender's Tournament with the winner getting an Intercontinental title shot going on on RAW right now. As of now Kofi Kingston has advanced by defeating Kane, although via disqualification. Rey Mysterio handed The Miz his own butt on a silver platter and completely dismantled him with one arm... literally. John Morrison easily defeated Finlay, and CM Punk squeaked out a victory over Snitsky... and just when it looked like they were going to give him a push. Tournaments in wrestling has always been a favorite of mine. Since the Wrestlemania IV tourney when Macho Man Randy Savage won the Championship gold, to all of the King of the Rings, even to the ROH tourney that me and Ropes had the pleasure of seeing live this past year where Kevin Steen won the #1 contender spot for the World title. I'm very interested to see how THIS one is going to pan out. I'm going to start by first giving a little opinion of each wrestler left in the tournament.
First is Kofi "Jamaican Me Crazy" Kingston. Former Intercontinental Champion, he never officially lost the title. It was Mickey James' fault that he no longer holds the title. But he would have lost it eventually, and I don't think that it's his time to retrieve it. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the young blood in the WWE making a name for themselves and winning titles, but he's already Tag Team Champion, which I already think is being booked incredibly poorly, and if he wins the Intercontinental Championship, the Tag Titles or the Intercontinental Title will have less meaning. I feel that the booking for these titles is poor enough, and this would definitely push them over the edge of boredom.
Rey Rey Mysterio...... Mysterio. This man really personifies what an Intercontinental Champion should be. He's athletic, exciting to watch, and puts it all on the line every time. You know that he would be a fighting champion, and not just a paper champion. AND the Intercontinental Championship Title is one of the only ones that he hasn't held yet. All he needs to work on is his promo chops a little bit, but I think it would be great to see the title around his waist. He is sure to put on an epic showing for the remainder of his time in this tournament. Now, does that mean that I think that he will win the tournament, and ultimately win the championship? Just keep reading to find out what my predictions are.
John Morrison... wait... <---- Wrong John Morrison. (I found this while Google Image searching for John Morrison)
Here he is, Former ECW Champion... Former Tag Team Champion... Former Intercontinental Champion...The Shaman of Sexy, the Palace of Wisdom guy, the chick magnet... wait that's his tag partner The Miz. I firmly believe that John Morrison has the most potential to make a great champion out of all of these competitors. He's charismatic, he's athletic as heck, and he's innovative. He's also the type of guy that can cheat to win, but doesn't always do so, which garners a little bit more respect. He is the next Shawn Michaels, and those aren't small shoes to fill. After their short feud with DX, he really showed how he could be the next Shawn Michaels, specifically by stealing his move Sweet Chin Music. I would love to see this guy win the Championship and regain the Intercontinental Championship. However, it would leave his protege The Miz left in the dust. The Miz may have what it takes, but not yet, and under the tutelage of Nitro, The Miz can be a contender. Is the WWE really ready to give up on the Miz yet?
When you Google Image CM Punk, you are bound to find this image... at least a thousand times... the image of a man who lives a straight edge lifestyle with his arms crossed in order to prevent bad people from imposing their will upon him. CM Punk is a former ECW Champion, former WWE Champion, and current Tag Team Champion. He has all the makings of an Intercontinental Champion. The crowd would love it, but as I mentioned before, he is the current Tag Team Champion, and if he wins the Intercontinental gold, then either the singles title or the tag title will lose meaning, and neither of those titles can take it to lose any more meaning than the WWE has already taken from them. But will he win the gold?
Ladies and Gentlemen it's time for.........................
Tony Slammetie's Intercontinental # 1Contender Tournament Prediction!Kofi Kingston is going to pull of an upset victory over Rey Mysterio, and CM Punk is going to pull one out against John Morrison, leading to the much anticipated Kofi Kingston vs CM Punk battle, Tag Team Champions facing off against each other in a battle to see who the best really is. CM Punk is going to get the better of Kofi this time, but it won't be the last time that these two face off against each other, but for now it is. So my prediction for the winner of the #1 Contender for the Intercontinental tournament is... CM PUNK. But at the end of the day, when all is said and done ....
This guy will still be Champion.
I'm Tony Slammetie, and keep on Rollin'
And now for an intelligent point of view, it’s ROPES!
The WWE is trying to add some weight to the Intercontinental title with the new Intercontinental title DVD and this Intercontinental title tournament (I think the Honk-o-Meter helped a bit, too- no joke). Good for WWE. The IC title has had an uneven history as the #2 title in the company. Remember when Albert and The Godfather were IC champions? I rest my case. The glory that goes along with being IC champion will never be the same as when a man like Randy Savage held the title, but the WWE is trying to do the best it can to make the IC title a title worth having. William Regal is a great choice as champion because he is a great wrestler and he is a badass. Having a tournament to decide who can fight for the title gives the idea that it’s a title that’s incredibly desired by the WWE roster (or at least Raw’s roster). C.M. Punk and Rey Mysterio will fight in the finals of the tournament with Punk coming out on top. I think seniority is the key with the Kingston-Mysterio match, and since Rey is more senior, he will win. Punk and Morrison will be a nice callback to their 2007 feud, with Punk coming out on top because…
PUNK WILL WIN THE TOURNAMENT!
The prospect of Punk winning brings about a conundrum of sorts. When he does face William Regal, Regal will retain the belt. I can see fans thinking to themselves “What the heck was the point of the tournament if the winner of the tournament didn’t win the belt?” That’s a good question, especially since I thought of it. For one thing, Regal should have a nice long title reign. The guy might never be world champion, but he can certainly play a good supporting role to the world champion. Regal needs a win over Punk more than Punk needs a win over Regal. So if Punk loses to Regal, what direction will Punk’s character go in? Punk and Kingston are going to lose the tag team titles and Punk is going to go heel, which I think Punk’s character needs or else he will become a stale face. While you’re waiting to see who wins, though, I suggest you go to YouTube and look up some great IC matches from back in the day, including Savage vs. Steamboat, Perfect vs. Hart, Michaels vs. Ramon, and Jarrett vs. D-Lo Brown…..on second thought, forget that last one.
The question is; "The Icon" Sting; is he an icon; what makes you an icon; who else (if anyone) would you consider an icon from the past, or present?
Tony Slammetie here, and it's time for me to give my thoughts on this topic. I've thought feverishly to give you the best possible point of view on it, so enough beating around the bush.
First of all, to answer this question, we need to first establish what makes an "Icon." According to "Slammetie's" Dictionary: The highest authority of wrestling definitions, 3 things are needed to make a wrestler an "Icon."
Maintain a high level of deserved popularity for over a baker's dozen years. (13 for you non-bakers) This is subjective, but still valid. There are some wrestlers out there who are popular and don't deserve it, and the greatest wrestling minds in the game will agree for the most part on who these wrestlers are... but that's for a different time.
Be able to silence the crowd by simply picking up the microphone. It's easy to establish yourself as a face and have the fans cheer whenever you pick up the mic. It's even easier to establish yourself as a heel and have people boo at the sight of you holding a microphone... heck, even Vicki Guerrero can do it. But it takes an "Icon" to command the full and utter attention from the audience
Every time you enter the ring, you put it all on the line, every time. Many older wrestlers go out there, and just go through the motions, or even younger wrestlers for that matter. They go out there, hit their spots and exit. It takes an "Icon" to continue telling a story with each match, every time.
And remember, this comes from the highest authorities, and is where I get all of my information from. And slightly off the matter, just comment on this or any other blog if you have questions about anything wrestling... I'll confer "Slammetie's" Dictionary, and we'll find out the answer lickety split.
But I digress.
Many people consider Sting to be "The Icon" and by the end of this blog I intend to prove my point to you. I agree and disagree with these people. Sting is indeed an icon in wrestling. He has maintained his well deserved popularity for well over a baker's dozen years. From his Warrior face paint, hard working, strong monster of a wrestler; to his dark, Crow reincarnation, bat wielding, psychopathic son of a gun, he has been around and garnered a boatload of respect as both incarnations. He commands respect on the microphone, and will go down as one of the best promo men in the history of the business. Turn on TNA any Thursday night, and you will see the crowd hush as he raises the microphone to his lips. Even as a heel, they respect his skills. But most importantly, he tells a story with each match. Meaning that he has a beginning, a middle, and incredible climax, and a finish. These are the main components in a story, and are the main components in making a match memorable. Sure, he hits the stinger splash, the revers DDT, and on occasion the Scorpion deathlock, but what makes him different from people that people may consider icons... like Bret Hart for example... he will use them only to enhance the story of the match, and not to enhance himself. That being said, it is clear to see that Sting IS and icon.
(I only mention Hart because he has a new book coming out, and though many may consider him one of the best of all times, he is not an "Icon" which is what this article is about.)
But is Sting THE Icon. This to to assume that he is the only icon in wrestling history, and to say this would be ABSOLUTELY FALSE!
The Undertaker may be the only "Phenom"...a word they had to make up just for this man. The Hulkster and his legacy is certainly deserving of the title "Immortal." But can we honestly say that the Stinger is the only icon, thus deserving to be called "THE ICON." Off the top of my head I can think of two men that can be considered Icons. Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. These men absolutely deserve (or deserved in Flair's case) their popularity for well over 2 decades, and both clearly command(ed) respect on the mic. And they go (went) out there each and every and put on the greatest show they could, and always try to top the last one. Their match together I believe can be called Iconic.
To me, the Stinger is a first ballot hall of famer. He is a man of men, a champion of champions. Sting is truly... an ICON!
Hey folks out there in reading land to me. I'm Tony Slammetie, and me and my good friend Cliff Ropes are going to be entertaining, educating, and just plain exciting you with a fresh new outlook on the exciting world of sports entertainment. We will be discussing all the national promotions including WWE (Smackdown, Raw, AND ECW), TNA, and ROH. We will look into the past and discuss the greatest and worst of all times. We will look into the future and discuss the current path that each promotion is taking. And we will look to the present and talk about the upcoming PPVs, and give our predictions for each one. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the blog. There will be loads more to come.
We intend on giving a good view of both sides to any argument. The right one given by me, Slammetie, and a less intelligent one given by Ropes (but he tries hard, so lets not be too hard on him.)
This week's topic will be a great one for sure, from the world of TNA... "The Icon" Sting; is he an icon; what makes you an icon; who else (if anyone) would you consider an icon from the past, or present?
For the thousands in attendance, and the MILLIONS reading around the world... LET'S GET READY TO BLOG!!!!!
Yea, I hope Melina wins.
