The 411 Wrestling Hot or Not 08.28.11: Hardy, Flair, Smackdown and Samoa Joe

Hello and welcome to the 411 Wrestling Hot or Not! My name is Seán Reid, and at times I love wrestling. I love the in ring action, the over the top characters and the drama it brings. But I hate when they get things wrong. I hate when egos ruin the product, when guys don’t bring it in the ring and when they make me scream “Who is booking this crap?!?”

And that’s what this column is all about. I look at the things that I enjoyed this week and the things that made me want to rip the hair out of my head. So without further ado, welcome to…

Some serious contenders in the comment section last week for both titles, but there were two that stood head and shoulders above the rest. Let’s look at this weeks:

Broski of the Week
“I don’t regularly follow the WWE, which is why I rarely comment about them (something I wish more people on these comments would follow, but whatever).

However, I was watching the Nash/Punk thing, and had a question — are these fuckers still doing the “What?” thing? From damn near 10 years ago? Really?

People get on TNA fans for chanting during matches (and I agree in many respects), but this is ridiculous. Something that was vaguely interesting a bunch of years ago now isn’t even retro enough to be cool — it’s just stupid.

[/pointless rant]”

Posted By: Jimbob Jones (Guest) on August 21, 2011 at 02:00 AM

No Jimbob that was not a pointless rant. It is actually something I agree with 100% and is something that really grinds my gears. The “What?” chant is by far the most annoying one out there, even more than “This is awesome.” And from looking at the comment section I’m not alone. So for making an excellent point about something that annoys the hell out of a lot of us, you are my Broski of the Week!

Troll of the Week

“I have to be candid,but Bret Hart is better than the Rock, Austin and FLair.why? Bret’s persona is alot cooler, he’s like a rebel, a JAmes Dean in wrestling,his attire was awesome pink with black and a leather jacket, his promos from 1997 to 2000 were awesome, he was a true rebel. His babyface promos were good, hey at least they r better to plenty of current TNA and WWE stars. Austin had verbal skills but when he wrestled he flounder, he flopped I laugh at him plenty on he wrestled, the rock also a lethal tongue but same he floundered plenty, Ric is a Better wrestler than AUstin and rock but not better than Bret. Geez how many of u peoPle think u. R Better than ur coworkers, but they get the recognition and u don’t, so stop complaining about the man and stop going to BRet’s articles”

Posted By: Rebel (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 07:37 PM

Austin floundered when wrestling? I think I have been watching a different product than you! Steve was a great wrestler; you don’t need to be a Chris Benoit or Jushin Liger to be one. He told a story better than almost anyone else, did more than just five moves and had one of the best finishers of all time. The Rock may not have been a brilliant technical wrestler, but he was still better at the game than half the roster. Combine these points with how quickly your grammar and spelling deteriorated and it’s clear that you need to get back to protecting your bridge from those goats. You are the Troll of the Week!

HOT

1) It’s Official, Punk Can Draw: The buy rates for this years Money in the Bank came out this week, and CM Punk has ever reason to feel smug after looking at the numbers. The man who was told he would never be a main event draw upon arriving in the WWE headlined a PPV that brought 185,000 buys. Not only is this number huge for this year, but it’s also an increase of a whopping 20,000 buys from last years Money in the Bank PPV (Which was headlined by Sheamus vs. Cena).

This is the final stamp of approval that Punk needs to silence his critics. Of course there will be those who will still find away to turn this into a negative, but it’s hard to argue against the rise in numbers. The buy rates for Summerslam will give us a perfect indication of how well Punk is doing in the main event. But it is safe to say that things are looking good for the Second City Saint: His t-shirt keeps selling out, he has brought wrestling back to the attention of the mainstream and both he and Cena have cemented this years Money in the Bank’s status as one of the best PPVs in the WWE’s history.

2) The Plot Thickens…: Speaking of CM Punk, the “who text Nash?” story grew more this week on Raw. HHH trying to be the professional and restraining himself from attacking Punk has brought a whole new level to him and is very refreshing to see. Nash is doing a perfect job of trying to be a cocky asshole and was a lot more focused on the mic this week. Where this ends I don’t know, but there are so many different avenues it could take. Maybe CM Punk is right and Steph used HHH’s phone. Maybe Johnny Ace was behind the whole thing and is trying to act on behalf of Vince McMahon. Or maybe it is someone completely different from Punk’s past. As long as this feud leads to a HHH vs. CM Punk match after a long build then I’ll be happy with whatever avenue they go down. It has become the highlight of Raw each week and I cannot wait to see where this goes next.

3) Smackdown Keeps Growing: Each week I try to pull highlights and low points from each of the main shows (Raw, Smackdown and Impact) to talk about, but for the second time since this column begun, Smackdown has made that task impossible to do. This weeks show continued the trend of Smackdown returning to its glory days and was excellent viewing from start to finish (Just ignore that Sin Cara- Heath Slater match). Let’s look at the show highlights:

– Christian and Daniel Bryan had a fantastic match.
– Wade Barrett uses his short time on this weeks show to create an interesting twist on his character.
– Randy Orton and Ted Dibiase had a fun match while Cody Rhodes displayed again why he is one of the best guys on the show.
– Big Zeke beat The Great Khali CLEAN!!!
– Sheamus and Mark Henry topped their Summerslam match.

Next week Smackdown will be live and it looks like it could be their best episode of the year. With Alberto Del Rio taking on Huni…Sin Cara, Orton putting his feud with Christian to bed in a cage match, and a rumoured CM Punk vs. John Cena IV, this weeks Smackdown will be a show not to be missed.

4) Samoa Joe On The Up: Samoa Joe this week continued his quest to ruin the Bound For Glory series. It’s an interesting avenue for Joe to go down and makes you wonder what will happen if Joe injures everyone involved with the tournament? This is the best way TNA can make Samoa Joe look like a wrestling machine again. Joe looks like he has a new fire in his eyes and hopefully this continues with each week. Combine this with the teasing of another match between himself and Kurt Angle and TNA could be onto a winner. Let’s just hope they put an end to the Sting-Hogan-Flair programme soon because it’s sucking the life out of the show.

5) Punk and Austin Tease: CM Punk and Stone Cold Steve Austin began talking trash to one another on Twitter again. The tweets, also involving Ryder, Jericho, Regal and Joey Styles went like this:

Ryder – @SteveAustinBSR I won’t drink BLL tonight. What do you recommend?
Austin – @ZackRyder just go with regular Bud Light. Good beer. You’ll thank me tomorrow….and it’s cooler than BLL.
Ryder – @SteveAustinBSR Can I put a lime in the Bud Light?
Austin – @ZackRyder why HELL NO you can’t put a lime in the damn beer!!!
Punk (responding to above tweet) – To make it not taste like piss. It’s still poison.
Austin – @CMPunk you oughta mind your own business…stay focused on Nash and leave the beer drinking to me…Punk.
Punk – @SteveAustinBSR focus is my middle name…Steven.
Austin – @CMPunk my middle name is Whoop Ass…now go about your business before you step in a big pile of what did I get myself into now??
Jericho – “It’s so cute reading @CMPunk and @SteveAustinBSR ‘s lil cyber bitch
Punk – @IAmJericho Yeah. Way more entertaining than you and Miz.
Styles – @CMPunk and @SteveAustinBSR can we move this twitter war to a slightly larger stage? Perhaps WrestleMania?
Regal – @SteveAustinBSR and @CMPunk Please just fight and get it over with.

I think I speak for every fan when I say that we all want to see these two go at it. Their characters are made for each other and could create fantastic television. There are so many different avenues that the two could go down and could be an even bigger match than Cena vs. Rock. The question of whether or not the two will have a match at a future Wrestlemania comes up time and time again, but hopefully these little moments are a sign that the match will happen.

European You Need To Know

Justin Shape: My fellow Irish man is easily one of the most entertaining wrestling on the scene. Justin’s gimmick is one that we have seen before but he makes it his own and not a case of “Been there, done that.” Shape is also one of the trainers at Fight Factory Pro Wrestling, one of the must successful gyms in Europe that has brought us Fergal Devitt and latest Zero 1 signing Jordan Devlin. He is a guy that deserves your attention this week, so check out the videos below:

NOT

1) Matt Hardy Needs Help: You would have to be living under a rock this week to not have heard about the troubles of Matt Hardy. Seven days ago he crashed his car and was arrested for a DUI and charged with reckless driving. TNA fired him instantly. Then, he posted several Twitter posts claiming that he was being haunted and that the car crash made him become reborn. He then posted a video onto YouTube looking seriously disturbed after trashing his house and blaming a ghost for the damage. That evening he was rushed to hospital.

It is very easy for us to turn around and call Matt an attention seeking idiot who is pissing his reputation away. But this whole story has been incredibly shocking. Never has someone suffered such a rapid fall of grace in wrestling. Matt is in serous need of help. It is very clear to his fans, critics and loved ones that Hardy is very troubled at the moment and needs to sort himself out.

It’s crazy to think about how good of a performer Matt was up to the end of his time with the WWE. His programme with MVP was very entertaining and showed that Hardy had charisma and was a damn good wrestler. But in the blink of an eye he became public enemy number one after looking to be released from the WWE and make his way to TNA to be with his brother again. Matt acted very oddly on his YouTube videos and became someone who blamed all his problems on the rest of the world except himself.

Now he is posting that he is born again and, to be completely honest, in posting all this as if it was a wrestling angle. Matt Hardy is suffering some something that Ric Flair struggles through (Which I’ll talk about later) and that is learning the difference between Hardy in the ring and Hardy at home. The only way he can get the help that he desperately needs is if he gets off YouTube and Twitter (Because even those negative comments will encourage him to continue since he possibly believes that he is just getting over as a heel type character) and spent some time away from the spot light. Then he needs to get to a doctor and work towards getting his head straight. He needs to stop pumping his body with what ever substance he is putting into his system and hopefully he can return to his old self. If he can do this then perhaps he can act as a role model to his younger brother and get his life back on track also.

2) Místico Falls Further: This week on Smackdown, Sin Cara wrestled Heath Slater, twice. This was the match was full of so many botches the first time that the two were made wrestle again. But later in the week, a further piece of the story broke. It turns out that, once again, Místico was not wearing the mask. Hunico was sent out to perform instead after WWE sent Místico home. After weeks of rumours, it appears that he is done with the WWE. Management became more and more dissatisfied with his in ring performances, his suspension and how he spoke to the media about it. But the WWE has invested so much time and money into the Sin Cara character that they are going to keep him on TV with Hunico donning the mask from this point forward. From a business view this makes perfect sense since Sin Cara sells a lot of merch and has a huge appeal from the Mexican market which the WWE is looking to grow.

It’s a huge shame that this has happened to Místico as he is an extremely talented wrestler, but his stint in the WWE showcased the importance of sending wrestlers to FCW to learn the WWE style before being brought onto the main roster. If Místico has of spent a few months working in FCW then maybe he would have had better matches in the WWE. But the fact remains that very few guys on the roster can work a match with him while he wrestles a lucha style.

The next few weeks should be interesting for both Místico and Hunico. No doubt Místico will find himself back in Mexico which could do damage to the WWEs attempt to win over the area as they realise that the man wrestling as Sin Cara is no longer Místico. Hunico on the other hand could see himself make it bigger as Sin Cara than if he came up wrestling as himself. While some guys on the roster may be peeved that he is essentially making it on the work that Místico did, but he needs to bring his a-game if he wants it to work. At least he has more experience working the WWE style thus giving him a bigger chance than Místico had.

3) Ric Flair Uncovered: Shane Ryan at Grantland.com published a brilliant and shocking look at the life of Ric Flair. We have all been aware of the problems that The Nature Boy has encountered over the years, especially his money problems, but never before has every single detail been laid out for you to read. It really hammers home just how large of a problem Ric has had, and the most depressing part is that you can see how easy it was to prevent it all from happening. But Flair lives for his gimmick, and clearly has a hard time telling when Ric Flair end and Richard Fliehr begins.

Every wrestler should make it their business to read Ryan’s piece as it is an important tale of how easy it can be to loose it all and become a slave to debt. Flair has already claimed that he will be considering a lawsuit in response to the piece claiming that he suffers from alcoholic caridomyopathy. However Flair himself admits that he does indeed have the condition in his WWE published autobiography
>‘To Be The Man’

Hopefully Ric uses the story to wake up and do something more to get his life back on track financially. He can make a lot of money easily from appearances and performances, he just needs to use that money a lot more wisely.

4) CHIKARA Forced to Cancel Show: Due to the hurricane making its way towards New York, CHIKARA were forced to cancel one of the biggest shows of their calendar tonight and move as many of the matches to last night’s show. As this column’s deadline is after bell time, the reschedule show should be interesting and a long day of wrestling (Bell time has been pushed forward to 5pm and will continue for as long as it takes) but CHIKARA should be able to make the best out of this unusual situation. Ring of Honor has had quite a few shows that have had to be completely redone thanks to weather problems and the results can be both brilliant or just ok. The biggest example of course being when CM Punk made a one night return to the company after a snow storm caused some wrestlers to miss the show.

5) NXT Just Keeps Going: Joey Styles tweeted something about NXT this week that has really opened a few eyes:

“Next week, Season 5 of NXT reaches week 26, twice as long as every other season. Can we just give Titus and Darren WWE contracts and move on?”

It really has been 26 weeks since the show started. Does Vince or Steph even watch it anymore? It’s amazing to see a show that started off with so much hype and critical acclaim become a massive after thought. The show is worth checking out for William Regales commentary and the matches themselves can be worth checking out. Remember when season 5 began? The wrestlers were competing for a spot on season 6. Now you have to wonder if there will even be a season 6 or will this show just keep on going with no end in sight.

That’s me for this week, if you have any stories that you feel should make it into next week’s list then fire me an email or leave a comment below. Take it easy and I’ll see you next week!

– Listen to the latest edition of the 411 on Wrestling podcast! On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by co-host Steve Cook to discuss Matt Hardy, Ric Flair, Shane Helms, IMPACT, Smackdown, the great Steve Cook shoot interview and more!

You can listen to the show on the player below, or you can download the show here.

The show is also available on iTunes!

Listen to internet radio with Larry Csonka on Blog Talk Radio