wrestling / Columns

Ask 411 Wrestling 02.08.12: The Streak, Milestones, Politics, More!

February 8, 2012 | Posted by Mathew Sforcina

Hello, and welcome to the only column hoping for the Triple H puppet from Are You Serious? to be sold soon so that someone can run an angle on the indys where they are insane and they think they are getting groomed by Triple H to take over the wrestling world, Ask 411 Wrestling! I am your author, Mathew Sforcina, and here’s hoping this week is filled with facts, fun and… fun!

It would appear that The Tom Tom Club, as it exists now, is no more. However, phoenix like, it will rise again on Wild Talk Radio, starting next week. And live and everything! YAY! More info once I get it. Until then, go listen to 411mania’s podcasts and the Wrestling PodClash, why don’t you.

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Backtalking

Revealing Yourself By Donning A Mask: Billzilla says that Kanyon once did this as Mortis. Now, I’m not disproving that because it does fit in with the character and story during the transition between Mortis and Kanyon, but I don’t recall that ever happening. Readers?

Chris Hero: May actually be heading to WWE now. But the music probably won’t follow him.

Rick Rolling: The worst thing? I actually LIKE the damn song…

The Alien Match: Lots of good choices. I won’t pass judgement, just offer a few ideas, in that I wouldn’t go with a match with interference from a ‘good guy’, or for that matter any match involving more than two sides. A straight up single or tag team match is much easier to explain, good guys V bad guys. The 92 Rumble, as much as I LOVE that match, is too complicated to explain. Likewise any match with Benoit in it… Too much time explaining that. I mean, Angle/Benoit? Angle/Benoit V Edge/Mysterio? Both ‘good’ choices, both out of the running. But it’s a question that can lead to debate. Which is good.

Your Turn, Smart Guy…

Who am I? I once beat The Funkasaurus on TV. I’m a Triple Crown Champion in WWE. I was involved in a famous series of skits involving a yellow suit. Of the three men I’ve held tag titles with, 2 are retired. I’ve twice won WWE titles off-camera (although only one of those two was at an actual house show). I’ve pinned a woman to win a title and win a tag match. Who am I?

And there I was thinking this one would be hard. And yet, it was really easy. And led to some rather bizarre comments in various places. But nick had it first in the comment section fully. Sort of.

You are Christian!

Beat Brodus around this time last year during the feud with Del Rio.

Has held the WHC, IC, and tag belts.

Skits were when E&C were disguised as Uno and Dos of the Conquistadores.

Held the tag belts with Edge, Storm and Jericho, with only Jericho being active.

Beat Booker at a live event for the IC belt in 2003, and I believe he beat Bradshaw for the Euro belt in an untelevised SD! match in 2001 (but not positive).

He pinned Molly to win the Hardcore title at WM X-8, and of course beat Lita/Trish in a match with Jericho as his partner at Armageddon in 2003.

But as others said, the yellow suit, I had intended to refer to this…

Who am I? I’m currently part of a ‘major’ American Indy or two, although I’m better known for my time in the big leagues. During that time, I was involved in a major angle that helped begin the Attitude Era, while during it my interviews were often a highlight thanks to insults and taunts. I’ve worked as a manager, and done some backstage work as well. I was involved in the internet early on in the WWF’s time on there, and I don’t use my real name. Who am I?

Questions, Questions, Who’s Got The Questions?

John Galt (Who?) starts us off.

Why are so many of the questions you receive full of paragraphs of the questioner’s opinion?

It varies. The idea should be to provide background and context for their question. Some questions are justified in that the opinion is what they are asking about, if I agree or disagree. Some people just want to vent, and since I publish stuff mostly unedited, they view me as a cheap soap box. Some people have great ideas they want to share, or at least they think they do.

But mostly it’s because I write this column based on length, and by leaving in the long, rambling needless paragraphs I get there so much quicker. Because I’m a lazy bitch.

…

No Chandler? Alright then, moving on.

Matt wants to talk water breaks, as we discussed last week.

Hi, Mathew,

As far as water breaks, Austin makes a joke on the one of the commentary tracks of his new DVD that one of his trademark moves was to sneak drinks (water, soda, beer) as a part of the match, but also to refresh himself. I think at Mania 13, he grabbed a fan’s soda, swigged it, and then tossed it on Bret. Guys do that kind of thing a lot these days (R-Truth being the most notable, but it goes on a lot if you watch), and it kind of does bug me a bit. Never saw Flair or Steamboat needing a drink during their hour-long matches, and these days, no one even goes an hour.

The Rey RR ’06 swig does kind of take away from it, I think (plus, you can see him actually spit it out, leaving a big wet spot on the mat. At least swallow it and dispose of the evidence, man.) Rumor was they weren’t even sure he could pull it off, which is why the match was in the middle of the card, and so they could do the Undertaker return angle. So, they probably had the water handy to help Rey along. But if they weren’t sure that he could pull it off, why not just give him #18 or 20? I know it was the Eddie angle, but if you don’t have faith in the guy, why give him the ball? . Plus, they had just done the Benoit coast-to-coast story two years before? If you watch it, Rey spends most of the first half just lying around, anyway. Probably the lamest marathon Rumble appearance ever. Rey himself did better in ’09 as number one.

Maybe I’m just too old-school and cynical.

I believe it wasn’t so much that they weren’t sure he could last an hour, it was more that they weren’t sure he could wrestle an hour and then do the spots needed at the end. See, it’s all and good for a guy who’s mostly ground based and who doesn’t flip about to go out there and work a rumble, but a guy like Mysterio, they were worried that when it came time for the final segments, he’d slip and fall. Probably the closest we’ve had to a ‘back up winner’, in that since Orton was the end goal anyway, it didn’t matter so much who won.

Because that was the reason for the hour long deal. They really wanted Orton to be hated, so the idea was always to build up Rey as this hope story and the impossible dream so that when Orton beat him at No Way Out to get the title shot he’d be thought of as worse than Hitler, and then go on to wrestle Batista Angle at WM. Rey entering at a late number wouldn’t have been as big a sob story.

Steven asks about pay.

I don’t understand from a business standpoint how independent promotions can afford to pay their wrestlers. I can fathom how comedy clubs can afford to pay stand up comedians, because that’s one guy (stand up comedians are very similar to wrestlers in a way aren’t they). But at any given wrestling show, there are at least 16 people working when you factor in managers, announcers, plants, etc. So i’m asking an independent wrestler…how the fuck do they do it? Are you promised a percentage of the gate or is it a fixed rate and they just have to hope that enough people show up? Please help me on this one.

Oh so many stories and jokes I could tell but won’t since I don’t want to get blackballed. But let’s discuss a totally theoretical and fake company, say, PW3.0, and how they run.

First of all, 16’s a low number. Add in lights and sound, refs and security, hangers on, there is normally 20-30 people involved in a running a high end show. So how can you afford to pay them all? Well you don’t.

Any company that runs lots of shows will probably have a school either built in or attached. And with a school comes trainees. And trainees are free labor. Most of the boring jobs, setting the ring up, running the stalls, music and so on, will be done by trainees. It’s part work experience, part paying dues. But you don’t pay them a damn thing. So most of PW3.0’s boring jobs are done by students from the Beta Academy, say.

You then have the exact opposite end, the high end guys. The names. If it’s a big show, you may well have one or two huge names coming in. The big names will get big up front money, plus a percentage of the gate, plus travel and accommodation. And they get to run their own stall. Maybe, depends on how well you know the guy and how far it is. A show down the road for a good friend will probably cost a lot less than a show for an unknown on the other side of the world, for instance.

Those in the middle, it varies in cost, but they don’t get percentages. They’ll get a flat rate, ranging from a few bucks to cover gas for the up and coming jobbers to maybe a couple hundred for a moderate star. They’ll also be allowed to sell their own merch, perhaps with a percentage taken out, perhaps not, depends on the promoter and the relationships involved.

Now, if the show is run by the promoter and not enough people turn up (as opposed to a show bought by the venue in which case the promoter gets a flat fee up front) then yes, he has a shortfall. Some promoters will pay up anyway and hope the next show does better. Others might go to the boys and say that the show didn’t draw, and reduce pay accordingly, perhaps with a promise to make it up to them later. Again, it depends on the relationships involved.

So, overall, unless you’re a big name, you’re not getting enough at a show to make a living. You need a day job. But the promoters have merch, and DVDs, and so they tend to break even. If they don’t, then they don’t stick around too long.

And hopefully I’m not blackballed still, so let’s move onto Kevin who I can and can’t answer.

Here are a couple of questions that I had from watching WWE Classics on Demand:

When did the WWF start bringing their own ring to every show and not relying on the rings that were provided by that arenas? I noticed from watching a lot of the shows that the rings are different and the only common piece is the WWE turnbuckle covers.

I really tried, but I couldn’t find any sources on this, beyond maybe mid to late 80’s as a guess. Readers?

When did the WWF starting creating sets for their shows and ppvs? I am not talking about just the play by play area and interview area but actually sets.

It depends on what you consider a set. In the early 90’s, WWF did create a flashy light show, as seen here in the walkway on the very first Raw in 1993.

1995 was when WWF brought in the giant RAW letters for Raw, which would be the first true set dressing, the A being a giant video bank. 1997 was when the WWF brought in the Titantron. 1995 was also the year that saw the introduction of the In Your House PPVs, and with it the IYH set that many remember.

But one show with a memorable set was Wrestlemania IX, and the roman themed entrance.

But the flashy lights set was in place in 1992 at WM, while at the Rumble they just had the big WWF symbol which isn’t really a set, per say.

So depending on what you consider a set, 1993 or 1995. Or some answer below, I’m sure.

Greg asks if Eric Bischoff really was after Vince.

I have a few questions I’m hoping you can shed some light on. Keep up the phenominal work.

I know Vince McMahon is full of shit 99.9% of the time, but he and others have said on more than one occasion that Eric Bischoff and WCW wanted to put him out of business. I don’t doubt Bischoff said as much since he seems prone to hyperbole, but going head to head on Monday night and offering wrestlers more money to work for WCW does not in my mind constitute trying to put a competitor out of business. It’s just the normal competition of the marketplace. Am I missing something else Bischoff did to try and kill the WWF? Did he ever try to run a free Clash up against a WWF PPV like Crockett? Did he ever try to get exclusivity deals with arenas or PPV providers? After all, if Bischoff had all the resources of the Turner empire behind him as McMahon seems to believe, I would think WCW could’ve squeezed the WWF even harder than they actually did.

Yes, you can argue that broadcasting in a timeslot that has a proven track record of having wrestling fans tune in to watch wrestling is just smart business. Hiring wrestlers for more money is also, arguably, good business. But when you actively give away the results of your competitor’s programming live on air? That’s clearly you going after them.

You don’t see CSI pause in the middle of their action to say “Don’t change the channel, turns out on that other show that the father did it because he’s gay” or something. Bischoff would give away results when he could, and would denigrate the competition when he could. Of course, WWF did the same thing as well, they were just a little more subtle about it (“This match won’t end in 30 seconds with a bunch of run ins) or far more blatant about it (Billionaire Ted), but they don’t mention that.

Bischoff couldn’t put on a Clash the same time as a PPV because the PPV companies told both companies off the last time, the two (and later three) companies had to keep themselves separate and not compete against each other or else the PPV companies would toss them both off. Likewise any attempt to force WWF out of a arena, he’d get sued.

And while Vince may have thought he was up against Ted Turner, and he certainly paints the picture that way, Bischoff did not have the whole of Ted Turner’s empire behind him. He had Turner’s support, yes, but there was still a large business with many voices, few of them friendly. Bischoff couldn’t do anything and everything, he had some restrictions, more as he went along.

But Bischoff did want to kill the WWF. He’s admitted it since, he was talking about it at the time, and that did appear to be his goal. The evilness of this has been played up by some (WWE), but it was clearly his intention. Some of his moves were flat out anti WWF, but most of them were just good business moves, yes. So it’s a mix of both.

BOTCHAMANIA 200! BE EXCITED!

I only just found this one. Don’t judge me.

Bryan continues the WCW theme.

My question has to do with Ole Anderson as a booker in WCW. If the product in 1989 NWA/WCW was so good with Cornette, Flair and Sullivan was so great, why even change it in 1990? and if Ole having the book was so horrible, why did WCW give the book to Bill Watts in 92, isn’t his style of booking almost the same as Anderson’s?

Yes, 1989 was a superb year for the NWA/WCW in terms of storylines, as Herd was bought in and he put Flair in charge of the booking. He focused on acquiring talent, as he hired a whole lot of new, young talent to guaranteed contracts, Herd’s thinking that it would pay off in the long run.

As 1990 began, the booking committee was revamped slightly, and there was 5 man committee answering to Jim Herd. Ric Flair, Jim Cornette, and Kevin Sullivan were in charge of the angles and matches while Jim Ross and Terry Funk ran the TV production side, while Herd focused on the talent acquisition, and was actually pretty good at it, as he got a whole lot of young talent. But then again, he couldn’t keep Steamboat around…

But anyway, that only lasted a couple of months, thanks to one word.

Politics.

Flair being on the committee was causing problems, as wrestlers were beginning to grumble that maybe Flair was booking himself too strong, that he was making himself look too good. Instead of facing a revolt, Flair resigned from the booking committee in early March. Jim Herd brought in Jim Barnett, and took control of the booking committee, adding in Wahoo McDaniel, Jody Hamilton and Jim Crockett as well. Sullivan and Cornette’s power dropped quickly, given that they were Flair allies.

But then Herd needed to appoint a new head of the committee, and since Ole Anderson had been taken off TV at the start of the year, he was chosen, as he had experience at booking. His hatred of the contract system was well known, and he began to book as if it was 6 years prior in Georgia Championship Wrestling. He jobbed out the young guys hoping they’d quit so he could bring in older stars loyal to him for less money.

This didn’t work, and the company tanked. Ole was eventually fired, and was replaced for the short term by the ad hoc group of Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Kevin Sullivan, and Ric Flair, who held the fort until Herd could find a new head booker.

But between Ole and Watts was Dusty Rhodes, who booked in 1991. When he came in, it was hoped by the boys that since he wasn’t wrestling, he couldn’t book himself strong. Instead, he was “Goodwill Ambassador for WCW” and was mentioned in almost every segment by everyone. He also changed the booking committee to his buddies and pals (with Sullivan the only guy to remain from the ad hoc group). Dusty runs the show… Badly, and then Herd loses Flair in the middle of 1991.

Herd tried for a few more months, but then quit. Herd had tried to bring in a more corporate structure to the company, but the problem was that he didn’t get the politics, as every young, huge up-side potential wrestler he put on contract would get buried by the old hands that the bookers would hire. Or, alternatively, Herd would give stupid contracts to untested workers while veteran stars could be gotten much cheaper. Either way, he gave up and quit in early 1992. Kip Frye was there for a couple months. And then he brought in Bill Watts.

Now then, at the time, this DID make sense. Bill Watts had been an option a year ago, but he had wanted too much control for Turner’s suits. This time, he and Frye did reach an agreement. Now, yes, the last time Watts booked was in the mid 80’s, when he booked the Mid South/UWF territory. At the time, it was the most cutting edge promotion in the country. So, naturally, he would still be cutting edge now, right?

Nope, like Ole and Dusty before him, he was still caught in what he thought worked, and hadn’t changed with the times. His booking ideas, while all based on a solid enough idea (we’re real, not like the flashy WWF crap), infuriated the fans too much, plus his backstage moves were out of step. Part of the problem was that he got paid on how much he cut costs, so he cut costs.

But that’s another issue. The fact is, at the time, Watts’ track record was for cutting edge, they just assumed he’d kept up with wrestling in his time off. He hadn’t.

Justin continues the WCW trip, albeit Invasion WCW…

hey matt,
just a quick question that i was reminded of by watching an InVasion video. toward the end of the WCW/ECW InVasion the hardyz won the wcw tag team title. as you can see in this video

at around the 12:42 mark the belts look totally different from the tag team championships at the end of WCW and beginning of the InVasion. they look like unpainted WWE Tag Team titles from that time period. any idea on what’s up with that? i’ve researched a bit but cant find anything.

thanks for taking the time to read this!

Hmm. Interesting.

Here’s the match intro, albiet reversed and with a stupid filter.

I… Are…

The Dudleyz are the WWF champions. The Hardys are the WCW champions. But I believe that, on that night, they have the wrong titles. The Dudleys look to me to have the WCW titles, and the Hardys the WWF ones.

I’m willing for someone to correct me here, but I believe that the two teams had the belts of their ‘sides’ rather than the titles they should have had.

Am I insane readers?

Wait, don’t answer that. Am I right or wrong here?

My Damn Opinion

Quickoffice gets this section off and running in a big way.

Great column read it every week yada yada yada

1. While watching the True Story of WrestleMania on Netflix I’m seeing the story of how Hogan and Flair were in the WWF/E at the same time and that this was suppose to be a dream match of some sorts. So the story goes that the fans (WWF/E) were not too accepting of Flair and that was why they went with Flair/Savage instead at Mania 8. My question is was this actually a blessing in disguise because in my opinion Flair/Savage had better chemistry than Flair/Hogan and the storyline was so much better. I mean Hogan/Flair on paper sounds good but Flair/Savage was a wrestling enthusiasts dream as far as storyline goes.

Storyline? Workrate yes, but while the Flair/Savage “She Was Mine First!” angle did win awards and was popular, a wrestling enthusiast’s wet dream was clearly more Flair/Hogan. Flair/Savage was great, yes, but Hogan V Flair was THE match your ‘true’ wrestling fan debated about over and over again in the 80’s. The two world champions, one the slimy heel, the other the heroic babyface, the man who was the default WWF champion vs. the guy who never really lost the NWA Title… That’s a purist’s dream match right there.

But the WWF fans weren’t wrestling purists on the whole, it seems. And/or the purists knew that Hogan Always Wins. So the house show run they did didn’t work, and they went with Plan B. Yes, Plan B worked out very well for them, especially given Hogan’s time off. But Plan A was still the ‘preferred’ option, from a snob purist’s view.

2. I have asked a similar questin like this before and I pretty much asked whether or not Vince was getting soft however the more I watch of these WWE DvD’s and hear stories it seems like Vince is really just a nice guy. I mean from him giving many wrestlers second chances and doing things like helping wrestlers out and paying for wrestlers medical bills and rehab. What I would like to kow is is this a bad thing for Vince to actually show that he does have a heart and that he is similar too but is not 100% MR. MCMAHON?

Not really, because they may need Mr McMahon again. I mean, the character is so established as being pure evil in the company that even when they make him face, it’s still bubbling under the surface. DVDs and books and the like are fine to show that, you know, he’s actually a great guy. But on air? You need to protect the character a little, since it’s so strong a character, if they get desperate, bring in Mr. McMahon. He’s always good for a reaction and a feud.

Showing Vince kissing puppydogs and petting babies on air just ruins the Mr McMahon character too much. Occasional pats on the back is fine, but any long term ‘Vince is nice’ crusades would just ruin the character.

3. When it came to ring announcers Howard Finkle just has that it factor because of the way he would always pause between …The winner of the match…and ..NEWW!!! , was this always planned for him to announce like this or was it coincidance? Secondly does he train the new ring announcers too?

He should be training people but apparently WWE doesn’t want that or he can’t teach them or something… I dunno why he can’t teach people, but then, he’s taken years to develop his skill.

But the pause, which is part of the reason why he’s the single greatest wrestling ring announcer ever, (seriously, where’s that Youtube collection video? Finkle’s calls?) was learnt through years of announcing. The pause, which puts more emphasis on the word and thus the result, and therefore gets the best reaction from the crowd, as if history has just taken place, was a skill he learnt after a couple of years at the job. But by 1981, if you look at footage from the time, he had the tone down pat.

It’s just the skill at being an announcer that he learnt. So it was ‘deliberate’, I suppose.

4. Getting back to the Story of WrestleMania, I remember Lawrence Taylor vs Bam Bam Bigelow and looing at it now, Taylor did pretty well for himself. I would like to know if he (Taylor ) was ever offered a contract to become a full time wrestler?

I never heard of Taylor getting a contract offer from anyone. He was a marketing ploy, and the quality of the match was shocking, but he’s far too wild and over the top to control on a regular basis. Plus he’d probably demand far too much money. I can’t prove that he didn’t, but I’d be shocked if he did.

5. The last time that I asked this question I really was not satisfied with the response I got but I understood however it pops up again because of recent events. I previously wrote in and asked how come CM Punk and pretty much copied Jericho’s gimmick at the time Punk was doing the SES and he was the Saviour and I remember Jericho also being a Saviour for the E and the response I got was that although angles were similar they were not the same. Since you guys know more than I do about these things I let it go until recently I keep hearing Punk say that he is the best wrestler in the world. Again this is a copy of Jericho saying that He is the best in the world at what he does. Why does know one see that Punk is nothing more than a Jericho 3.0 (he can’t be 2.0 b/c Jericho in a suit was 2.0)?

Well, Jericho certainly does so now, at least in character. I still don’t think that ‘hypocrites and parasites’ Jericho was the same as SES Punk. The characters were different. Of course, now Jericho does have a point. He has been ‘robbed’ from, in that Jericho’s gimmick that he stole from Javier Bardem he created was influential, and many people have taken from that. Like any successful gimmick, others will take parts from it and use it themselves.

Admittedly, as I said elsewhere during the week, I had hoped they’d go a slightly different direction, or at least, had an idea of how to go elsewhere. See, someone had pointed out that the huge build up to Jericho’s return was ‘wasted’. But, see, you don’t have to look at the 10 weeks of build up, you have to go back to the Summer of Punk ’11 to explain it. Remember that brief time when CM Punk was the talk of the wrestling world? How he said some things you don’t normally say? How he shocked the world by leaving the WWE and taking the WWE title with him? We all remember that, right? Then what happened?

Punk came back the next week. He missed one taping.

Now sure, it’s worked out well for Punk, he’s the WWE Champ, he’s got the power, he’s comfortable now. But that wasn’t what he wanted. CM Punk said he wanted to change the world, force the WWE to adapt and change. What happened?

He let HHH, a guy Jericho knows all too well, turn him into the very thing he hated. Sure, he still cracks jokes, still wears nicer T-Shirts than Cena, but he’s still just been turned into another Cena wannabe.

So Jericho saw this happening and has to step in. He has to show Punk what he’s done, how he wasted all that build up to become just another wrestler. He’s parodied Punk’s long build up, in such a way that Punk wouldn’t get suspicious. He then reappeared and did the exact opposite of Punk, proving that the fans would cheer no words at all, so why should he think Punk’s words are truly having an effect? He came back to prove Punk a fraud, that Punk was noting but another hypocrite using the fans to get what he wanted.

But instead he just trolled us. Which is fine, I guess…

But as to why Punk isn’t seen as a Jericho rip off, it’s because, to be fair, Punk’s been doing similar stuff for years. His work in the independent scene is pretty close to what he’s doing now, just a matter of scale and experience. If you rip someone off early enough and do it long enough, eventually the two will diverge and you become ‘original’. Punk is not seen as a Jericho clone for the same reason Cena’s not a Hogan clone, or Flair wasn’t a Rodgers clone. Wrestlers influence each other all the time. Sometimes it’s a blatant rip off, yes. But the subtle stuff is part of wrestling.

6. One of the worst acting jobs that I have ever seen was when Mark Henry superplexed the Big Show and the ring broke. The move itself was ok and the ring falling apart was acceptable given the size of these two men. However what was not acceptable was the horrible acting job by the referee in that match if you watch closely (honestly you don’t even have to really observe because it is so obvious) the ref over dramatizes his fall and he even flops before the ring. When things like that happen do the refs get an earful backstage from VKM? or are they Fired?

Sure, if a ref fucks up or makes a mistake or acts stupidly, he’ll get chewed out. If it’s big enough or constant enough, he’ll get fired. Ask Wes Adams, who got fired for counting John Morrison’s shoulders to the mat.

But let’s watch the reversed-so-WWE-won’t-find-it tape.

And for comparison, the last time this happened.

Well, it’s pretty similar. And I don’t really see a problem there. Having been in a ring, it’s not a stable surface. There’s give in it, which you learn to adjust to. But occasionally even a vet will be a little off on his feet if there’s a lot of people in there jumping around. Now, you have the ring collapse on you, you’re going to try and keep your balance, and that means look odd. I agree it’s not the greatest acting job in the history of WWE, but it’s hardly fire-worthy, at least from this side of the computer screen.

Mike has a ‘quick’ question that is anything but.

Just a quick question for your damn opinion:

How would you book the end on the career of The Undertaker? Does he win at a Wrestlemania and just never reappear? Lose at Wrestlemania? Kane finally does him in? Some new up and comer takes him out? Paul Bearer has something to do with it? HHH? I would imagine that it has to be something “big.”

Thanks for all you do,

It depends a great deal on what he has left to give. Did he just need a year off and he’s now back full time? Is he only here for a few more WMs? Is he on the last legs?

I mean, I have put out on twitter a simple idea. WM28, Taker retires HHH. WM29, Taker retires Kane. WM30, Cena retires Taker.

And I think Taker V Cena is the end goal, regardless. It’s just a matter of how you get there. If you have time, then you can go that route, or at least have Taker V some other young kid next year (Barrett or Cody Rhodes or someone)…

(All right, I gotta toss this in: I, while writing this, just spoke with my mother about a family function tomorrow via the wonders of wireless communication, and she asked what I was writing about. I explain in brief the streak. Her: “So who can beat him?” Me: “No-one so far, it’s 19-0…” Her: “Oh have a girl beat him.” Me: “…” Her: “There’s girls there, right? Have them gang up on him.”

My mother ladies and gentlemen, apparently she’s Vince Russo. SWERVE!)

Anyway, given that this year is 20-0, it just depends on how long Taker has left. If they kept him as solely a WM thing, and he could go, I’d probably hold off till he gets to 24-0, THEN do Cena-Taker. Otherwise, if he’s on last legs, have him Tombstone Cena after Cena beats Rock and do it next year.

And for the result…

I pick Cena because he’s pretty much the only guy on the roster who logically could beat Taker. Anyone already established doesn’t really need it (Orton, Jericho) while a young kid is a HUGE gamble, in that yes, beating Taker is instantly a superstar making moment, but then who on the roster can you GUARANTEE will not leave? Cena’s the closest to sure you have, outside of Triple H and his daughters.

And yes, before anyone says anything, I know Cena really doesn’t need it. But he’s the only guy left who you could believe could win. And beating Taker would be, possibly, the thing that officially makes him THE man of the new era. But then, isn’t he that already?

Again, it depends on Taker’s schedule. If he can go once a year, use him once a year. If he can go more, use him more. If he’s barely walking, Cena next year. And… Have Taker retire undefeated. He might come back, even after his retirement, for one more WM match. I think the Streak is too big to fail, in a way. It’s built up so much it’s just impossible to blow.

But Cena’s the only guy I can see doing it. Or me, of course. That would work too.

But what of you reader, what do you think? Discuss/insult me below, and we’ll be back next week to work it all out. Until then!

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Mathew Sforcina

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