WWE
Wrestling has no personality anymore
by Handel on Jun.03, 2010, under TNA, WWE, Wrestling
Here at My Take Radio, we are all about individual opinions, hence the name. Fellow staff writer Bryan wrote an article similar to this one in late 2009 and this is just going to be my two cents on the issue of wrestling. His article was great and I hope you enjoy mine as well because the state of wrestling has just been bothering me lately.
If you are one of the fans that gets to tune in every Thursday night, or even one of the downloaders, you know that the second segment in the show handles wrestling. We even had an “impromptu guest” call in late during last week’s show to share his passion for wrestling with us. The wrestling segment rarely goes over five minutes and is usually more like two. That is not so cool on a show that has a one hundred and fifty minute time slot. Host Rich has himself debated dropping the segment from the show and it only still exists because listeners like myself voted against it.
My Take On: The John Cena Enigma
by Rich on Apr.02, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling

In an era where the WWE has gone the PG route and shed the “attitude” that made them a phenomenon, one constant has remained — and that is the love/hate relationship between the WWE universe and John Cena. From the freestyling, throwback-wearing street soldier, to a modern-day Hulk Hogan, John Cena has had a very interesting journey. Since he burst on the scene as the blue chipper that pushed Kurt Angle to the limit, Cena has always had a unique following. Most feel his Hip-Hop persona was his best run, while others feel that his work as “Prototype” and web-maniac “Brubaker” are what he should be doing.
Vince McMahon knows that the best way to separate money from fans is through the kids, and looking at the current crop of WWE superstars, the most mainstream guy really is John Cena. Many feel that Rey is the one that kids flock to — but kids can relate to the GI Joe-esque, positive message throwing Cena a whole lot more. Not to mention the ladies like him as well, and that is a demographic the WWE is trying to gain favor with. If the moms and the kids like Cena then they will gladly drop dough on his merchandise. The brash WWE presentation, while awesome during the 90’s and better part of 2000, has run it’s course and America has become more pussy-whipped and soft, so WWE was forced to adapt.
The End Of The Heartbreak Era
by Rich on Mar.30, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling
On March 28, 2010, the world got to see the “last match” in the legendary career of Shawn Michaels. As a wrestling fan, I truly feel old watching it all unfold. I’ve been watching wrestling since I was a kid and I remember The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation, Michaels turning on Jannetty, his first WWF title win, Montreal and many other memories. To watch it all end, while unfortunate, is the right thing since it now allows a “new face’” to move up the rung.
Shawn Michael’s last match was against The Undertaker, whom he faced for the second time after losing to him at Wrestlemania 25. Their previous match was awesome from start to finish and quite frankly, is the measuring stick of in-ring storytelling. Their second match was more of the same, but this match had “the career” of HBK and “the streak” of the ‘Taker on the line. Both guys delivered what will be remembered as one of the best matches in recent memory.
Here is a video package capturing some of HBK’s best moments, as well as highlights from this past weekend’s Wrestlemania 26.
Who do you think has the right combination of talent and athleticism to carry on the HBK legacy?
Putting The “Sport” Back In Sports Entertainment
by Josh on Mar.01, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling
Growing up I watched a lot of wrestling. Over the past ten years or so I’d drift in and out of it, watching for several weeks in a row and then not, mostly because the product was not consistent. Clearly, different people watch wrestling for different reasons. Some watch for a certain wrestler, others love the amazing high-risk moves, and people like me enjoy a good story mixed with good performances.
Rest In Peace ECW
by Rich on Feb.17, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling

ECW broadcast it’s last show tonight, and while I was saddened at the end of an era for extreme wrestling, I was glad to see it end. ECW was the antithesis of WWE and WCW. ECW gave us some very memorable and historic moments - such as invading WWF the first time, Shane Douglas tossing the NWA belt in the trash, The Mass Transit incident and many others. ECW also introduced many of the iconic and legendary superstars of today. Superstars like Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Tazz, Mike Awesome, Raven, Sandman, Sabu and of course The “Whole Fuckin’ Show” Rob Van Dam. But after ECW went under, many of these superstars went to the remaining 2 promotions. Some flourished and others didn’t get far enough to make significant impact. However, their matches and memories lived on as the various promotions heard that iconic chant “E-C-Dub, E-C-Dub,E-C-Dub” in every arena- keeping ECW alive amongst fans.
The summer of 2005 saw a resurgence of ECW, thanks in part to WWE creating the One Night Stand PPV, which besides bringing nostalgia to fans showed WWE that ECW was still alive but with a faint pulse. WWE saw dollar signs and in June of 2006 decided to hold another One Night Stand, but this time, it would lead to the rebirth of ECW on the SciFi channel. Former ECW owner Paul Heyman was put in charge of this new/old upstart brand and with that WWE’s version of ECW was born. Coming off the his victory over John Cena at One Night Stand 2, it was a no brainer that The “Whole Dam Show” Rob Van Dam would be the re-launched brands’ Champion. Alas, the magic of One Night Stand slowly faded and WWECW became more and more prevalent with each passing week. Slowly but surely ECW Originals quit or were released, and the memories and superstars of old were replaced with young WWE newcomers that needed a place to hone their craft. This was by many considered the end, but to me this paved the way for a new generation of wrestlers such as Monty Brown, Elijah Burke, Evan Bourne, CM Punk, Zack Ryder and Ezekiel Jackson that would carry the flag of ECW in it’s final days with Tommy Dreamer still there as the last soldier fighting the good fight. Tommy Dreamer recently left the WWE and while he did say his goodbyes, the fans knew that Tommy couldn’t carry this torch any further.
To me, ECW should have ended with Tommy Dreamer winning the belt one last time and retiring with the belt to put a happy ending on this legendary brand. But sadly that was wishful thinking. ECW ended with it’s last champion Christian being defeated by Ezekiel Jackson in an “extreme rules” match leaving Ezekiel as your last ECW champion. I believe ECW died the day Tommy Dreamer left the WWE and what ended tonight was just another WWE brand.
Shed no tears for ECW wrestling fans, because the memories we have can never be taken away. You can change the logo, the style and the wrestlers, but at the end of the day there was and will always be one ECW. The ECW that was owned by Paul Heyman and had wrestlers like Dreamer, Sandman, Funk, Cactus Jack, New Jack, Raven, Sabu and many others bleeding and wrestling for our entertainment.
Rest In Peace ECW.
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Arm Chair Booker: WWE
by Rich on Jan.26, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling
Too often I complain about the things I dislike in professional wrestling, but instead of ranting and raving about these things, I decided to write about how I would fix some things. Some of you may agree or disagree with my scenarios and are welcome to comment.
Welcome to the first column of The Armchair Booker!
Let’s start with the number one WWE show:
RAW
- Do away with the guest hosting and either introduce a GM or some authority figure to run the show.
- John Cena-Needs a heel turn to freshen up his character. Bring back the freestyles and street swag. Fans will enjoy the turn I’m sure. I would have also aligned him with Cryme Tyme for a solid faction.
- Bret Hart– Should have had the Hart Dynasty with him when he appeared on Raw and align DX with Vince. Would have elevated The Hart Dynasty and taken advantage of existing beef between Bret,HBK & HHH.
- Bring in the other Dibiase brother and make a Tag Team in Legacy. That way you could have the Dibiase brothers for the tag belts, Cody for IC/US title, and Orton for the World Title. I’d call the Dibiase brothers Money Inc. as an homage to their dad.
- Reunite the Colon Boithers, Carlito & Primo, since solo they are struggling.
- Elevate Evan Bourne into a stronger mid-card feud with Swagger and MVP as your core guys.
- No more Hornswoggle!
- Would make Santino a legit threat and capitalize on his popularity by putting him in the IC/US title hunt as well.
Smackdown
- Create a stable with Finlay,Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. Have a veteran work with both of these young talents and also create a tag team as well.
- Push Edge as your number one heel.
- Continue building CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society.
- Move Khali to an enforcer role and limit his ring work.
- Build you Women’s Division around Beth Phoenix.
- Make Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison and Matt Hardy your main mid-card guys for the US title, but elevate them into the main event often. This will allow you to both gauge crowd response and inject new blood into the main event scene.
- Chris Jericho & Rey Mysterio need to feud at the main event level.
- Keep and Kane & The Undertaker together and have them be the center of your Tag Team Division.
ECW
- Bring back the Hardcore Matches.
- Introduce a TV Title to give the mid-card guys a title to feud over.
- Shelton Benjamin needs some sort of mouth piece that can help him get over as a heel. I’d go with him, Zeke and Regal.
- Koslov needs to work on not looking so robotic in the ring.
- Align Baretta & Croft with Zack Ryder.
- Christian needs to leave ECW in the Draft. Bring in a new veteran to carry the brand.
- I would move Charlie Haas to ECW.
- Continue pushing Yoshi Tatsu.
- Use ECW to build new talent and keep calling up new roster members to keep the brand fresh.
This is just a sampling of how I’d change things. I am sure many of you will have thoughts and suggestions of your own. Feel free to share them.
My Take On: WWE Heroes
by Rich on Jan.25, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling
As much as I love wrestling and their spin-off products, there are times that you really need to go “What The Fuck”!!!! My dear readers - this is one of those times. WWE has decided to launch a series of comic books entitled “WWE Heroes” which centers around the WWE roster and their adventures. The backstory for the series centers around an age-old feud between “The Shadow King” and “The King Of Kings” (which probably means HHH and The Undertaker or something along those lines).
While I appreciate creativity and innovation, WWE Heroes to me is just another WWE attempt to cash in on a new medium. Not to be a total douche but are any comic fans really reading this? Do they even care?
I admire what WWE is trying to do but I feel that they are spreading themselves thin with so many projects. Between films and comics and poor attempts at mainstreaming (Raw guest hosts I am looking at you), WWE is providing varied products but none are particularly innovative or engaging. I think that the most successful thing that they have done thus far in terms of new projects was the flick “See No Evil” and while it was original, at least used a genuine scary lead character in the form of Kane.
I really would like WWE to reach that pinnacle of popularity, but with all these hokey attempts at mainstreaming they are taking three steps back instead of moving forward. That’s my take! What’s yours?
1st Impression:Best Of Raw 2009 DVD Trailer
by Rich on Jan.13, 2010, under WWE, Wrestling
WWE has decided to release a DVD with some of the best moments from RAW in 2009. As a lifelong WWE fan I will always have good and bad things to say about the direction of their flagship show. This DVD looks like a solid collection of great raw moments but I feel that these releases need to be available in Hi-Def simply because USA is in HD and Raw is taped in HD as well.
I am not going to use this post to vent about my displeasure regarding the current state of RAW. On the contrary I will instead post some of my favorite 2009 Raw Moments
- CM Punk winning the IC Belt from William Regal in Chicago
- Orton and Triple H Feud– Orton attacking Stephanie McMahon elevated that feud from good to great in fell swoop
- Ricky Steamboat wrestling better than most of the RAW roster
- Kofi Kingston getting a solid push
- Batista turning on Rey Mysterio
- Trish Stratus returning to Monday Night RAW
- CM Punk’s World & Heavyweight Champ title reigns
- Santino Marella– Almost every segment he was in was fucking gold
- RAW Being commercial free-I did not enjoy all the Trump BS
I am sure I left out tons of other moments. I hope WWE does with all their flagship shows and hopefully transitions to HD in the near future.
Enjoy the trailer
Wrestling, then and now.… by Bryan Bronx
by Bryan on Dec.17, 2009, under WWE, Wrestling
Sometimes, people ask me if I like sports, and to be honest, I don’t, for the most part, unless that sport consists of fighting sans gloves.
I’ve always been into martial arts, but watching martial arts (before all this MMA and UFC stuff) has always been a snore fest.
Matches consisted of two numbnuts kicking each other in terrible fashion while a referee stops the action with every clean hit as the fighters score points.
Wasn’t a true test of skill or ability, just a few clean hits landed being tallied until someone kicked you in the chest enough times to become the winner.
Watching boxing was a man hugging fest unless cruiserweights were fighting, and even then, it was mainly boring, long, drawn out fights that went all the way to 12 rounds.
So what could provide all the fun of sports and the entertainment value of an interesting storyline as in movies, theater and TV shows?
Wrestling!
I’ve been a fan of wrestling since as far back as I can recall, though I was on and off during my later teen years, I’ve been a die-hard fan of Wrestling, mainly WWE , since Hogan was the man, through the Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels days, and now when guys like John Cena and Triple H are the top dogs and wrestling is way more entertaining than sports.
I’ve seen wrestling go through its ups and downs throughout the years from storylines and episodes as boring as lifetime movies to epic matches and shows as exciting as big Hollywood blockbusters.
The point of this little column, for lack of a better word, is to just point out a few comparisons between the wrestling when we were kids, and the wrestling we see on TV now and start-up a point of discussion on them.
To begin, I’ll point out some bigger issues right off the bat.
One of the problems back then, in the 80’s, early 90’s, was under exposure, decent wrestlers were always knocked off air time in favor of less talented, big name wrestlers, for example, Ricky Steamboat was 10 times the performer Hogan was, but also 10 times worse on the mic and charisma scale. Let’s keep it real, Hogan sold tickets, despite the fact that he really had the worst wrestling moves ever.
Steamboat probably couldn’t carry the show as well in that regard.
There were also less shows aired back then, Before RAW, I think on Saturday nights they had the main event, and on Saturday morning they’d air WWF Superstars which was mainly generic wrestlers getting beaten up by mid to low card performers.
You’d never see a major player there and no one cared for the “real” wrestlers, any of them that were really standing out didn’t really get much air time on the bigger shows, so they’d be off the radar faster than anything.
Now one of the main things that pisses me off is overexposure of programming and writers still under utilizing real talent.
But it’s not as bad as it could be, I guess….
With the programming, it’s ridiculous, on my last count, there are like four WWE shows a week, RAW, Smackdown, ECW and AM RAW on Saturday mornings, not to mention that there’s a PPV at least once a month, some months two PPV’s, such as January and April.
It’s nuts.
It used to be that there was only five big PPV’s in a year, and those were HUGE events, not just beefed up episodes of their regular weekly episodic programming shit.
There was the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, and Survivor series, and these events were where titles changed hands, rivalries were begun, ended and managed, and exciting moments were the norm.
Now it’s just a venue to exchange titles when needed, at the massive and frequent costs of paying customers.
I’ll have you know, titles used to be exchanged every now and then on episodes of RAW, I haven’t seen that in ages, last time was when RVD lost it to Edge after winning it from Cena at ECW One night stand quite a few years ago.
Now , never.
In the case of under utilizing talent, it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but you’ll notice that obviously, the major players are the main focus, guys like Evan Bourne show up for a 3 minute match and that’s the end of it for the next 1–2 weeks, no real push from the writers, despite the stellar performance.
Guys like Randy Orton, Cena and Edge, while they do put on great shows, aren’t taking the risks that the newer talent is, and therefore, are becoming tiresome to watch.
I do feel Wrestling has evolved, it still has it’s boring shows as well as it’s great ones, and though there’s not much to watch in terms of brand name since WWE owns everything, and it’s either WWE or TNA, no more WCW, ECW, etc, just one or the other, it’s still good stuff , and has recently been getting a lot better in comparison to a few months ago.
I do wish they’d cut the damn PPV’s down, since you waste 40–50 bucks each month (or more) only to be disappointed at how shitty the event was.
Aside from that, at least now there are tons of top guys, totally not like the handful as in the old days, now we have top dog heels as well as top dog faces, so you aren’t limited to either Hogan or Ultimate Warrior (Face) or whoever their enemy was at the time.
Remember the divas back then?
My god, now they are actually hot, before they were pretty damn average at best, if not downright ghastly.
I also remember for a time, all the main eventers were lard asses like Yokozuna, Mabel, Tugboat, Earthquake, now it’s all about the jacked bodies.
I couldn’t get through an episode of raw without having man tits jiggled in my face for half the show and winning the WWE title only depended on how fat and heavy a superstar was and whether or not the top Face can lit his fat ass, or be squashed under his weight.
It kind of sucked for a time during the 90’s because of that disgusting shit.
Getting down to the meat of it all though, I would definitely say it’s better today than yesterday, but a few things need to be changed, as I pointed out above , and with that in place, wrestling can become even greater than ever.
That’s my take.
What’s the general consensus from the crowd, what sign are you holding up on this subject?
My Take On: Future Rise of Current WWE Stars
by Rich on Dec.09, 2009, under WWE, Wrestling
Every few years, a group of talented athletes rise through the ranks of the WWE farm system or are brought in from other promotions that are all destined for greatness. While I have not been impressed with the overall WWE product as of late I do see wrestlers that will be major players in the next few years. This will be the first of many MTR posts that will examine breakthrough performers from various promotions.
10. Cody Rhodes - Current Legacy member, former Tag Team Champion, 3rd generation performer. Cody Rhodes currently is the default member of Legacy that eats pinfalls and plays second fiddle to Randy Orton and Ted Dibiase Jr., but he does have flashes of brilliance. I think that once Legacy runs it’s course, Cody will be a great US/IC Title contender. With the pressure of being a 3rd gen star resting on his back, I am sure the son of “The Dream” will be around for along time.
9. Ezekiel Jackson - Big Zeke got his start as a bodyguard to the talented yet under-utilized Brian Kendrick, but after seeing him in action during tag matches and the overall viciousness of his persona I knew a solo push wasn’t far off. My only gripe with Zeke is that his voice does not match his size and he’s seems tentative on the mic. His time paired with Regal and Koslov has done him well because has allowed his ability to shine in the ring without the pressures of mic work. He reminds me of how Batista was in Evolution and we all know how successful Batista became once he went solo. I see the same success for Zeke as well.
8. Yoshi Tatsu- Even though Yoshi has the typical (and stereotypical) martial arts gimmick, I see that he has tons of potential and is great combo of high flying abilty and solid striking. I see shades of Tajiri in Yoshi Tatsu due to the popularity he is gaining with the ECW audience. His music is kind of catchy too.
7. Dolph Ziggler- Former Spirit Squad member and Mr. Perfect replica. DZ exploded on the scene with a semi-cheesy gimmick where he introduced himself to everyone during various broadcasts. I considered him a comedy character but I have to admit that his matches with John Morrison have been classic. His gimmick now is pretty close to the late Curt Hennig, which may not be the intention, however, that isn’t a bad performer to take inspiration from. He seems to be in limbo regarding his current storyline. Rumors are that he may be paired with Vicky Guerrero since Eric Escobar hasn’t proven as popular as they expected. If that proves true, we’ll see if Mr. Ziggles can make the most of this pairing.
6. Kaval aka Low Ki– ROH & TNA legend Low Ki has signed with WWE and while I was saddened by his departure from TNA, I know that he would be a great addition to any roster. Low Ki has great presence and awesome kicks & strikes. His foot stomp finisher is awesome and I hope they let him use it. Rumors are pointing towards a masked gimmick that will have him feud with Rey Mysterio. If utilized correctly I can guarantee Kaval will be a major player.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VsSzs4ATho]
5. American Dragon Bryan Danielson– Former ROH Champion and one of the best technical wrestlers in the game today. As a fan of the late Chris Benoit, it’s great to see another technical master follow in his footsteps. Bryan Danielson gets a lot of shit for his mic work but much like Benoit, his talent does the talking for him. Besides, I personally feel his promos are intense and suit him. I look forward to some 5-star classics from the former ROH champion.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtL3mtHoMDI]
4.Ted Dibiase Jr. –Current Legacy member, former Tag Team Champion, 3rd generation performer. Much like Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase is also playing second fiddle to Randy Orton. WWE seems to really have big plans for Ted, given the many times he’s been put at odds with Orton and the slow burn that’s leading to a clash between these two superstars. With his acting debut in The Marine 2, a face turn is imminent and should allow the fans to see the other of side of Dibiase. We’ll see if a face turn will prove successful or if he’s destined to be a bad guy forever like his dad.
3. Hart Dynasty– Now I could have given all three superstars their own seperate entries but I feel that this faction together has tons of potential given their storied backgrounds. I honestly thought they would have been added to Legacy and later Orton and crew would turn on the Harts. Sadly right now they seem to also be in limbo. With the power of DH Smith and the quickness of Tyson Kidd, not to mention the techical prowess of Natalya Neidhart, I see this tag team doing major things in the coming year. (WWE are you listening?)
2. Kofi Kingston– I am sure many of you expected Kofi at Number One on my list. Kofi has started on the path towards superstardom. With an active program going on with Orton and a ton of good matches under his belt, Mr. S.O.S is skyrocketing to the top. Kofi has a marketable personality and tons of athletic ability. I do feel his mic work is a bit suspect, but I am sure that in feuding with some of the major players he’ll learn a thing or two.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpIf6_ADj-I]
1. Matt Sydal aka Evan Bourne– With one of the most beautiful finishers in the Airbourne Shooting Star Press and years of action under his belt, this Raw superstar has star written all over him. His matches with Rey Mysterio, Tyson Kidd and Kofi were all classics. He is currently being jobbed out on Monday nights, but I think that this kid has the tools to be champion. Sadly I see him being kept away from World Titles due to his size which is unfortunate. I hope the bias toward smaller performers changes sooner rather than later because Bourne is way too popular to go unnoticed.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdlb3TeBD4g]
Honorable Mentions:
- MVP
- Christian Cage
- Zack Ryder
- Santino Marella
- John Morrison
- The Miz
- Sheamus
- Matt Hardy
- Drew McIntyre
- The Ripper — Paul Burchill








