High Road/Low Road 02.05.10: Edge Winning The Royal Rumble

Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!

A brief explanation of the column: Sat takes the High Road (positive view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related “stuff” while Chad Nevett takes the Low Road (negative view).

Results for Ken Anderson In TNA:

High Road: 20%
Low Road: 52%
Both Roads: 28%

Chad Nevett: I thought this would have been a bit more split. But, hey, I’m not too surprised to see Anderson being in TNA go over negatively so far.

Sat: I’m not too surprised with the low roads winning; it seems like people having been souring on Ken Anderson since his debut.

Edge Wins The Royal Rumble

High Road:

I’m writing this before the Royal Rumble and I think that this High Road really helps the winner. There are about five or six wrestlers that are being picked to win and the argument can be made for all of them. I think that whoever wins this Rumble is definitely going to get a huge boost because it means more when you have no idea who is going to win.

Low Road:

Out of the fix or six wrestlers being picked or even pushed by the WWE, how many are ones that people actually want to see win? The WWE was pushing John Cena, Batista, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels, all main eventers that don’t need to win the Royal Rumble to find themselves in the main event of WrestleMania and all of whom have previously won Rumbles. While there were many choices, not many of them were exciting or interesting.

High Road:

Having Edge win the Royal Rumble was a smart move because it gave Edge a major victory without him taking a shortcut. You look at all of Edge’s world title victories and he won them by taking shortcuts. Edge is now a baby face and baby face do not win by taking shortcuts. So, the Royal Rumble victory gives Edge a victory that he earned and it also helps him become more of a baby face.

Low Road:

Edge returning at number 29 to win the Rumble fits with his heel ‘Ultimate Opportunist’ persona more than a face persona. He was flanked on either side by Chris Jericho and Batista, both heels. Not only that, he didn’t do much in the Rumble itself, spending most of his time lying on the mat. While not necessarily heel behavior, it also wasn’t face behavior.

High Road:

Edge’s victory at the Royal Rumble makes the Elimination Chamber that much more intriguing. Edge facing either the Undertaker or Sheamus for their respective world titles does not seem like it will be a WrestleMania match. I think that people are going to be very interested in the Elimination Chamber because we are bound to see one or maybe both titles changing hands.

Low Road:

It makes Elimination Chamber less interesting, because it points to Chris Jericho walking out with the World Heavyweight Championship because the WWE (and everyone else in their right mind) wants to see Edge and Jericho at WrestleMania. It makes for a great WrestleMania match, but also makes Elimination Chamber obvious.

High Road:

Edge’s victory at the Royal Rumble has been compared to John Cena’s victory in 2008. While it is similar, there are differences between the two victories. First, we had no clue that John Cena was coming back, while there were rumblings that Edge might be coming back. Second, John Cena won from the 30th spot, while Edge won from the 29th spot. Third, and most important, was that John Cena cashed in his title shot early, while Edge is going to wait until WrestleMania.

Low Road:

There isn’t much of a difference between spot 29 and spot 30. Cena’s surprise return in 2008 is what made Edge returning seem plausible and why so many were predicting it to happen. Also, despite cashing in his shot early in 2008, Cena still main evented WrestleMania. The differences aren’t really there, or aren’t substantial, at least.

High Road:

The one rumor going around was that it was going to be Chris Jericho and Edge at WrestleMania. With Edge winning the Rumble, it is a possibility that they could face at Elimination Chamber and then Edge would go on to challenge one of the World Champions at WrestleMania.. Or another approach the WWE could take is to have Edge and Chris Jericho face each other for the World Title at WrestleMania.

Low Road:

While I love that idea, it means that outcome of Elimination Chamber is known. Somehow, they need to get Jericho and Edge in a match at WrestleMania and Edge winning the Rumble makes that more difficult. Had Edge just eliminated Jericho in the Rumble, that would have been enough to further their feud. By making a world belt a necessity, it takes some of the suspense out of the next two months.

High Road:

There have been rumors going around that the WWE wants to get Edge on RAW. I think having him win the Royal Rumble and then go to RAW is definitely better than just having him jump brands for no reason at all.

Low Road:

Raw is overloaded with main event talent and Edge still has unfinished business on Smackdown with Jericho. He, and the Undertaker, have been the faces of Smackdown for quite some time and given his in-ring talent, I would rather see him stick on the brand with more actual wrestling.

Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?

High Road
Low Road
Both Roads
OR

Simply write “High Road”, “Low Road”, or “Both Roads” in the comment section.

E-Mails:

These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.

Sat: The only email was from Terry who emailed just for voting. Let’s get on to the comments.

Comments:

Below are the comments for last week’s columns and our responses. Every comment will not be included because it makes our lives a lot easier. The comments section was last looked at on Tuesday Evening Pacific Time.

ROH Commish Writes:

High Road.

Kennedy is way more over as a heel than A.J. He is in decent shape and has been packaged quite well.

Fact is, Kennedy is gonna have to succeed in TNA. I don’t think WWE will take him back and I think he knows this.

Kennedy will be in title hunt as soon as A.J. loses the belt.

Sat: I think the reason Kennedy is more over as a heel is because the Orlando crowd does not want to boo AJ.

Chad Nevett: I’ll give Anderson more credit since he is a decent heel.

ajpunk Writes:

HIGH ROAD. This is the best wrestler Hogan brought to TNA. And even though some shit doesn’t make sense at all. During this weeks Impact, ANDERSON was SO entertaining.

Sat: Anderson has definitely been entertaining so far. The key for him is staying healthy.

Chad Nevett: He’s entertaining on the mic, less so in the ring.

Qwerty Writes:

I agree with low road but not every post-WWE TNA wrestler gets pushed big with no results. Yes, some have gone to TNA and not had that big of an impact but it’s arguable that Tyson Tomko, D’angelo Dinero, Christian, Matt Morgan, etc. all improved in one way or another while at TNA. Give Anderson time and we’ll see whether or not he was worth the hype after all.

Sat: Say what you will about TNA, but they have given wrestlers a chance that would not have gotten it in the WWE.

Chad Nevett: I would argue that Anderson is different from the others a little since he was pushed a few times and it didn’t work out ever. The others were mostly unappreciated or untested talent that TNA pushed and developed. That’s not to say that Anderson won’t work out, just that his circumstances are different from previous WWE-to-TNA wrestlers.

Guest#2563 Writes:

Low Road.

I don’t think the timing is right. Anderson would have been better off working the indy circuit for a while. (Hulkamania tour does not count.) It would have helped him regain any lost skills and it would have made him hungrier to succeed on the big stage.

Positives:
– Still in the prime years of his career.
– Great charisma.
– Potentially great wrestler.

Negatives:
– He’s rusty, so he needs to wrestle more. But if he wrestles a lot more, he’ll probably get hurt. If he gets hurt, he’ll need time off. If he gets time off, he’ll return rusty.
– Ultimately, Hogan wants TNA to be live every Monday, plus house shows. I’m not confident Anderson can remain healthy with that schedule.

Sat: Anderson has not been wrestling since he left the WWE, which I was kind of surprised with.

Chad Nevett: The lighter schedule will make his in-ring development a little slower than ideal. I think he avoided indie promotions for fear of injury. Or, maybe, they didn’t want him. Or some other reason. It is surprising since other guys, like Brian Kendrick, have been working the indie circuit once the no-compete clause with the WWE ended.

Anonymous Commentor Writes:

Next time I see Ken, I’m going to beat the shit out of him.

Posted By: Bob Holly (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 01:57 AM

Me too

Posted By: Randy Orton (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 05:44 AM

Sat: Not much to say about these comments and they definitely deserve to be included.

Chad Nevett: Well, they do seem to pop up in every article on the site. It wouldn’t be 411mania without them…

KanyonKreist Writes:

My instinct was to go Both, because of his underwhelming start… but since they at least had the sense to cast him as a heel – a role in which he has thrived – I’ll give it a tenuous High Road.

Sat: I think Anderson being a heel is definitely a good thing and we have the crowd to thank for that.

Chad Nevett: Anderson as a heel is the only way to go.

Low TRUTH Road Writes:

Can someone explain to me how Ken is at fault for Cena tearing his own pec after giving him a hip toss?

Sat: I don’t think Anderson is at fault for it either. I think the reason he is blamed for it is because Anderson is awkward in the ring and the feeling is that he took it kind of awkward.

Chad Nevett: It’s not his fault, but it does fit into a pattern of Anderson getting injured, his opponents getting injured, and him almost injuring his opponents by not executing moves smoothly. Taken alone, it’s not a big deal, but when you put it into the context of his career, it doesn’t reflect well on his in-ring safety.

HBK’s Smile Writes:

High road. I think that, due to his promo work, he is someone who might be able to draw in WWE viewers. He’s young enough that he doesn’t have the stigma of being over the hill. There are certainly risks, most notably injury, but there is enough potential to make those risks worth taking.

Sat: This basically is my view on the Ken Anderson situation.

Chad Nevett: I’d agree as well, but shift that to both roads.

lilwayne1 Writes:

Eh, Low Road, ultimately. Unlike a lot of others, I kinda like Anderson a bit. Hr’s got charisma and decent wrestling skills.

However, he’s just so injury prone and almost lives his gimmick by constantly sticking his foot in his mouth. Plus, I’m just generally tired of TNA becoming WWE Beta version.

Sat: I think we need to see how Anderson does in TNA before we say he is injury prone. If he gets injured in TNA within the year on a simple move, then I will concede the fact that he is injury prone.

Chad Nevett: TNA also doesn’t seem to mind people shooting their mouths off as much as the WWE, so Anderson shouldn’t have too many problems in that area.

M:-X Writes:

High Road.

The lighter schedule and less corporate environment should let his body heel up better than the WWE schedule.

The guy has character & charisma, and working with some of the guys in TNA could be really good for him.

People can talk about him being “injury prone” all they want, but remember: Angle was looked at as terribly fragile when he debuted and he’s actually done really well in TNA.

The whole “well he’s no Kurt Angle in the ring” is another argument all together. His body should hold up better in TNA. That just seems obvious.

Plus– fuck Orton. That guy has caused so much trouble and he is constantly whining and crying about shit ON CAMERA… look what he did to Kofi recently.

Sat: I’ll buy the Angle argument. The one thing that I want to say though is that Angle looked totally weird in the pre show interviews for Against All Odds. And yeah, Orton has been causing a lot of problems on camera lately.

Chad Nevett: Guys with injuries have turned it around. My worry about the lighter schedule is that Anderson’s in-ring work won’t come along quickly enough.

RyanRaze Writes:

Low Road:

Though this all very much depends on perspective. If we’re looking from the perspective of Ken Anderson, it’s obviously a “High Road”.
A) Friend with booker/head of house
B) Light work schedule
C) Paycheck
all of those things are great for Mr. Anderson. I believe the purpose of this is the High/Low Road for us, the wrestling fans.

This is as low on the road as you can possibly get. It’s difficult to add on every valid point that’s been mentioned, and one that I didn’t see if the fact that he will immediately take the place of a younger, more deserved wrestler. TNA’s true talent, the “home-grown” wrestlers are the ones who paid their dues during the difficult years in TNA. How are they now replayed when their hard work put the company on the map…they’ve been relinquished to lesser roles so WWE washouts (And yes, Ken Anderson is absolutely a washout). My undying hope is that all of these old “E” wrestlers have 3 months in the sun, and the TNA originals rise up and over take them.
Knowing this is Hogan, I’ve elected to continue breathing and not hold out for hope. Ken Anderson offers little more to TNA then solid mic skills, and even then his schtick is old. I watched last night with my girlfriend who said, “I feel like I’m watching a WWE show with all the B team guys”. This coming from a casual wrestling fan is NOT GOOD.
One can only hope Ken Anderson uses this time to put over the current talent.

Sat: I don’t know, but I don’t see the TNA originals being pushed over Ken Anderson. I think Hogan wants him to succeed and he is going to make sure that happens.

Chad Nevett: I think Anderson could fit in well with a lot of the TNA originals the way that D’Angelo Dinero has. I wonder if Anderson had debuted prior to Hogan if people would have the same views on him…

Skip Wellington Writes:

Epic Fail/Low Road.

Hated him in WWE. Hate him now. I’m glad he got canned. I always thought his gimmick was stupid. Repeated your name into a mic…. zzz

And this just gives me another reason to hate TNA. Val Venis and Mr. Anderson… bunch of washed up nobodies from yesteryear.

Wasn’t Mr. Anderson a character from Matrix?

Sat: I buy that argument that Val Venis should not be in TNA. I was expecting him to beat Wolfe and thankfully that did not happen.

Chad Nevett: Anderson isn’t washed up or from ‘yesteryear.’ Lumping him in with some of the other recent acquisitions doesn’t work. A better comparison is to D’Angelo Dinero who people don’t seem to have too many problems with currently.

The Great Captain Smooth Writes:

Both roads, leaning high. Low, because he does have a history of being in matches where people are hurt. High, because he has a great look, can work the stick, we get to see what he can do against non-WWE talent, and Randy Orton isn’t there.(Couldn’t resist.)

Sat: The one thing I am thinking is I don’t see him having any classic matches with most of the TNA roster. That will be a potential problem.

Chad Nevett: Yeah, definitely. His current in-ring skills don’t put him in the main event or delivering fantastic matches. Maybe he’ll improve in this different environment. I hope so, because… well, who doesn’t want to see great matches?

PK Writes:

Low Road – I have nothing against Ken Anderson and I do think he is pretty entertaining. However, he really is just another star on an incredibly bloated roster. When was the last time we saw Samoa Joe in a meaningful program on TV? Christopher Daniels? How long until Ken fades away again?

Sat: Samoa Joe has not had a meaningful program, but Daniels was in a great program with AJ Styles a few months back.

Chad Nevett: The roster at TNA is bloated and they need to do something about that. I would prefer not using the older guys who can’t go in the ring, but I fear that’s not what they will do.

JLAJRC Writes:

Both Roads.

It’s High because he can work off ring rust, improve his skills, maybe even become a main eventer there. He is very charasmatic. Maybe the WWE will hire him back again someday.

Low Road because of his injury prone status. Also, people seemed to be getting tired of the “Kennedy Kennedy” stuff near the end of his WWE tenure but he’s basically just doing it again only using his last name now. He needs to come up with a different character before it gets tiring again.

Sat: I think the Anderson Anderson thing is still okay, but I can understand if people are getting sick of it.

Chad Nevett: I find that part of his promos annoying, only because, when attending a Smackdown taping in 2008, some asshole a few rows up kept shouting “Miiiiiiiiiisteerrrrrrrrrr Kennedy! [Beat] Kennedy!” before the show began. Over and over again. And Kennedy was out injured at the time, I believe, and had been since earlier in the year. So, yeah, because of that one guy, I find the name repeating thing by Anderson annoying as hell.

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Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at [email protected] or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week’s column.