Survivor Series 2011 review, thoughts and a prediction for John Cena's future

Another pay per view, another review from yours truly. In spite of the current state of the Raw brand, WWE has managed to put on some top quality pay per view’s this year. 2011 has seen consistently solid PPV matches and in some cases (Money In The Bank + Summerslam) fantastic spectacles. It’s November and time for the last of the ‘big four’… lets see what we got.

Dolph Ziggler vs John Morrison for the United States Championship

Speaking of consistency, Dolph Ziggler can do no wrong at the minute. He has seemingly upped his entire game in recent months. Subtle tweaks to his character and a bigger presence on the microphone have got people begging for him to get a shot at the upper echelon of the card once again. Ziggler’s in-ring work is always fun to watch, whoever the opponent. As far as the match is concerned, it was decent. It served its purpose as an opening bout. However, the question on everyone’s lips is - Why wasn’t Zack Ryder in the match?

For weeks, John Morrison has been booked to lose. On the other hand, Zack Ryder has pinned Ziggler on multiple occasions. As evidenced by the incredibly loud and constant ‘We Want Ryder’ chants, this match should be viewed as a sign of the company not knowing what the fans want. Granted, Madison Square Garden is one of the smarkiest arenas in the world and they’ll constantly go ‘against the grain.’ Despite that fact, it was extremely clear Ryder was the guy who should have got the title shot here. I mean did you HEAR that pop he got when he entered? By far one of the biggest pops this year, maybe even the last few years. Wake up and join the Ryder Revolution, Vinnie Mac.

Winner and STILL United States Champion: Dolph Ziggler

**

Beth Phoenix vs Eve in a lumberjill match for the pink sparkly butterfly belt

To be honest, I’m just waiting for the day that Natalya and Beth Phoenix start feuding. Then, and only then, can we hope for a good Divas match. To be fair though, Eve is a much sharper in ring competitor than Kelly Kelly who brings new meanings to the word ‘bimbo.’ Anywho, that top rope Glam Slam was pretty cool though, huh?

Winner and STILL pink sparkly butterfly champion: Beth Phoenix

* ½

In what can only be described as a moment of sheer horror, CM Punk and David Otunga are shown backstage discussing how Punk should apologise to Michael Cole for his attack on Raw. I swear to god, if they start a feud between Michael Cole and CM Punk, I may have to take a shit in an envelope and deliver it to WWE headquarters.

Backstage again and The Rock delivers a nice promo, discussing his history with MSG and Survivor Series. It harkened back to The Rock’s promos of old where it was just him and the camera, which was a nice touch.

Team Orton vs Team Barrett in a traditional Survivor Series elimination tag match.

A really solid, entertaining match that got a nice chunk of time to work with. One of the main talking points has to be Sin Cara’s seemingly botched suicide dive to the outside. The result? 6-9 months out due to surgery and rehab on a ruptured patella tendon. This is the guy who was the absolute top draw in Mexican wrestling for years. He caused a media stir when he jumped ship to the WWE. Hell, Mistico even had a comic book back in his home country. WWE spent week’s hyping him, I mean, REALLY hyping him. When he debut’s he botches his entrance, he frequently botches in his matches, he fails a wellness test and gets 30 days suspension and now blows the heavily rumoured ‘big money match’ with Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania. Holy fuck. I’d be extremely shocked if we ever saw him return to the company at this point.

After some nice action from Kofi Kingston and Cody Rhodes (who was over as all hell with the MSG Crowd) it came down to Randy Orton as the sole survivor of his team against Barrett and Cody Rhodes. In the end, the right team won. Having Orton win would have been a damn shame, because he doesn’t need it. Barrett and Rhodes, however, are on the verge of becoming legit main event players on the Smackdown roster and this win only solidifies their rise.

Winner’s: Team Barrett

***

Big Show vs Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship

A slow match which lost the crowd at various points. The last effort from these two far exceeded expectations but unfortunately the same can’t be said for this match. It’s a shame because this has been a nicely built up feud that has lasted longer than the lightening quick flash in the pan feuds we are used to seeing nowadays. There were two saving graces for the match. Firstly, that top rope elbow drop from Big Show was a sweet spot. Seeing that gargantuan flying through the air will be on his highlight reel for years to come. Kudos on that. Secondly, the ‘Daniel Bryan’ chants that filled the air from that amazing MSG crowd, once again letting the company KNOW what they want. Mark Henry was booked like a monster once again, kicking out of that elbow drop and a superkick from Big Show. My guess is he holds on to the title till Wrestlemania. As for the here and now, an inconclusive finish means that we’re probably going to see a rematch at TLC. I’m going to predict a table match, however, the incident with Big Show injuring Henry with the chair at the end might foreshadow a chair match… we’ll see.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Mark Henry

* ¾

CM Punk vs Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship

Very nice touch at the beginning of the match to allow Howard Finkel to be CM Punk’s special ring announcer. It’s a shame Michael Cole ruined it by talking and laughing over half of it though. Fucking idiot. The MSG crowd showed a ton of respect which made ‘The Fink’ come over all emotional. N’aww. CM Punk continues to be the most over name on the entire roster as he got a huge reaction and bellowing chants. What followed was a really good match. Punk put in some great work and meshed well with Del Rio to push him to one of his best matches in his time with WWE. It came as a pleasant surprise considering the slide Del Rio has been on recently.

The right man won. Del Rio’s character has become so stale in such a short amount of time that fans don’t care about him anymore. There is something missing in terms of his connection with the live crowd, for any wrestler that’s bad news, but for the WWE Champion that’s just unacceptable. What the company now have is an opportunity to make up for their fuck up with CM Punk earlier in the year when he was champion. Let Punk run amock, let him cause trouble, drop pipe bomb’s and deliver some good matches. That’s what the fan’s want and Punk can deliver. After all, he aims to make the WWE title ‘exciting again.’

Winner and NEW WWE Champion: CM Punk

*** ¾

The Rock and John Cena vs The Miz and R-Truth

I haven’t been the biggest fan of The Rock’s return it has to be said. His promos (except his initial return) have all been repetitious, lethargic and legacy damaging. His promise that ‘he’ll never leave again’ before disappearing again for months was ridiculously hyperbolic. His stance for his feud with Cena is concerned mostly with the colour of shirts. Additionally, the WWE are so up Dwayne’s ass that they let him take up a shit load of time at Wrestlemania to do next to nothing. Despite the sour taste The Rock’s return has given me, I was still excited to see him return to in-ring action at Survivor Series.

One of my concerns heading into the match was possible ring rust for The Rock. Well, The Rock opened up a can of WD-40 on my ass (wrong superstar, I know, but it seemed relevant) and looked as sharp as ever. Sure, he only hit his signature moves more or less and Cena carried most of the work yet, The Rock didn’t look like someone who last performed 7 years ago.

I’m not going to review this match based on a glossy eyed view because The Rock returned to action. Sure, it was something special and memorable but the match itself was rather disappointing. Wrestling matches are so much better when they’re back and forth, but whoever booked the match wanted The Rock to look DOMINANT. Cena played the ‘face in peril’ role for such a large percentage of the match it brought the entire affair down. I can only remember The Rock taking three bumps. The clothesline shot on the outside leading into a barrier shot, and taking R-Truth’s finisher. The entire feud has been too lop-sided in The Rock’s favour, I feel. Rocky not only cleaned house and picked up the win, but laid Cena out once again with a rock bottom. With The Rock not scheduled to be on WWE programming for the foreseeable future, where is Cena’s chance for revenge? Are they really going to continue with such a lop-sided build for the match?…

Winner’s: The Rock and John Cena

***

When thinking about this, the cogs in my mind began creaking. It has been called for time and time again recently… but… what if all this is leading to a Cena heel turn? Think about. Cena’s reactions are heavy boo’s whenever The Rock is around… doubly so at MSG. It’s always a mixed reaction otherwise. Cena’s (legit) argument against The Rock is that he is constantly in WWE day in and day out, whereas The Rock trundles off to Hollywood and brings it ‘via satellite.’ Now, look at Cena’s new shirt ‘Rise Above Hate.’ What if Cena can no longer rise above it? What if Cena snaps? The fans would rather cheer for someone who breaks promises, who disappears for months than Cena who works his ass off for the WWE and does it all for the fans. WWE have always been scared to pull the trigger on a Cena heel turn because there was no other guy close to being the draw he is. Well, with CM Punks meteoric face turn, they now have another huge draw… maybe now is the time? It certainly won’t be difficult to pull off and will not only rejuvenate Cena’s character but will in turn freshen the landscape of WWE. You heard it from me first! ©

In all, Survivor Series was a good show. We have some memorable moments to take away from the 2011 edition and a lot to think about as we move towards the final PPV of the year Tables, Ladders and Chairs.

On an entirely unrelated note, I had a little (incredibly sad) fun while watching Smackdown a couple of week’s ago. We all must have noticed that Booker T is so bad at commentary that it’s funny! He has a few different phrases that he seems to repeat over and over… I took a tally.

Are you kidding me!?!? 111111

WHAT DA HALE !?!? 111

WAIT A MINUTE! 11111

YOU GOTTA LOVE IT 111

WITH THE GREATEST OF EASE 1 1

WOAHHHH 1111111

BEAUTIFUL 1111111

Oh my goodness 111111

Wow 111111111111

Let me tell you 111111111111111111111

BIZNISS 111

MAYYNNN 1111

Check this out 1111

WE COMIN’ FOR YOU N***A!

Thanks a lot for reading :)

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Lets Talk Wrestling - Attending live show's... what did I get from them?

Writer’s note – I’m writing this half drunk and late at night. I’ve had a lot of Uni work recently so haven’t had chance to type a blog recently… so here’s a short one.

WWE’s bi-annual tour of the UK rolled around almost two weeks ago now. I attended two shows. One was a house show, the other a tv taping. A few interesting things popped up.

CM Punk is OVER. When I say over, I’m talking chants for him all the way through the show regardless of what was happening in the ring. Obviously, it was apparent how over Punk was already BUT until you’ve attended a house show, you’re unable to scope just HOW much fans love him. A sea of shirts, chants galore, the stars have aligned for Punk. In addition, it seems WWE is pushing him as THE guy. Punk not only main evented the Manchester house show but closed the show as well. John Cena looked like the ‘right hand man’ to the Punk show… is this a new direction WWE are looking to take? With Cena’s feud with The Rock currently taking precedence, it seems perhaps not. What does the future hold? We play the waiting game.

Who else is over? Long Island Iced Z-Zack Ryder. Are you serious, bro? I am serious, bro. A myriad of ‘We Want Ryder’ chants, broski shirts and headbands selling out AND a main event Raw match in which he was more over than Cena? Wow. Zack Ryder is a true success story. When he was floating around in the ether, Ryder didn’t lay down. When it came to Z True Long Island Story, it was either get noticed or get fired. Ryder’s show put him on the map and not only is he now a top merchandise seller but, arguably, is the third biggest face on Raw. If WWE can stop the inconsistent booking of Ryder, they honestly have a star on their hands.

I’ve mentioned John Cena a few times in this blog already, but he’s worth mentioning again. Cena receives a mixed reception in the US but in the UK…shit, it seemed to be a significant swing towards absolute hatred. How do I know this? Well, for my university dissertation I’m writing on WWE and the media. While attending the shows, I was looking for emails to conduct some qualitative analysis with genuine wrestling fans. As I approached a female wrestling fan and explained my research to her, she declined my request for an email conversation. Why? She couldn’t stand John Cena. Excuse me, what? That was her genuine answer. She wouldn’t answer some questions because she disliked Cena… What in the blue hell? She claimed that Cena was destroying the show and moreover, his fans were ruining her enjoyment. Really? WWE and Cena have to be either stupid or genius to instill that much hatred in an apparent babyface. Do people really hate Cena that much? The guy works his ass off for the company and is a great performer. It seems people have smokescreen in front of their eyes when it comes to Cena. Is it cool to boo him? Maybe. Does he take a lot of time on Raw and get shoved down our throats? Sometimes. But is he the top draw and most recognisable name in the WWE? Yes, and WWE are going to continue to take advantage of that until he can no longer compete. WWE is a business and do you know what businesses want to do? Make money. Cena is money. He’s absolutely no different to Hogan, Austin and The Rock. They were shoved down our throats too. Honestly watch some old episodes of Raw and Smackdown. The Rock competed in multiple matches on Smackdown quite a few times. I guess I just don’t understand the gripe sometimes.

The show’s overall were good. I’ve always gone to TV tapings so to go to a house show was fun for a change. Nice lengthy matches and a lot more theatre is how I’d describe a house show. Unfortunately, the atmosphere seemed to be lacklustre this year… maybe its just the state of the product, I don’t know. Having never attended a Smackdown event, I think I’m definitely going to one next year! If you haven’t been to a live show, I highly recommend getting your ass to one because it’s great to see the tv stars you know and love live and in person. A guy sat behind me in Manchester described it as ‘enthralling.’ I think I’d agree.

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