wrestling / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction 09.13.12: The Show Must Go On, Hardy Stuff, Team Anger Management, More

September 13, 2012 | Posted by Steve Cook

Hi, hello & welcome to 411 Fact or Fiction! I’m Steve Cook, and it’s been an eventful week in the world of pro wrestling. Friday night’s Smackdown featured the banning of the Brogue Kick, meaning that Sheamus will have to use another of his thirty-six finishing moves to win matches. Monday night’s Raw had Bret Hart returning to the site of the Montreal Screwjob while Daniel Bryan & Kane took the next step in managing their anger by forming a tag team. Jeff Hardy had a good night at TNA’s No Surrender PPV, as he defeated Samoa Joe & Bully Ray to win the Bound For Glory Series. His brother Matt will be appearing at Ring of Honor’s next iPPV event, and speaking of ROH returns the fans at the show in Charlotte Saturday night got to see the return of Davey Richards. Up in Pennsylvania, fans are getting excited for CHIKARA’s King of Trios event, which will feature tons of talented folks not mentioned in this paragraph.

While these are all interesting topics, I must say they are a bit overshadowed by the unfortunate event involving Jerry “The King” Lawler on Monday night. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his friends & family as we present this week’s edition of wrestling discussion, and we’re happy that the King’s condition is improving.

Answering the questions this week are two 411 contributors. One is our lucha libre expert, the other is probably the man that’s put the most words on this website that’s never actually written a column. Give it up for Francisco Ramirez & Manu Bumb!

  • Questions were sent out Monday.
  • Participants were told to expect wrestling-related questions.

    1. WWE did the right thing in continuing Raw after Jerry Lawler’s health emergency.

    Francisco Ramirez: FACT. I know how messed up this is going to sound, I apologize beforehand, but Owen Hart fucking died, again died, and the show had to go on. Regardless of ethics at the end of the night the show must go on or refunds will have to be handed out, or at the very least some sort of compensation for fans. Not to mention any issues it may cause with the USA Network. WWE handled this situation as respectful as possible. Cole gave us the updates, stressed the severity of the situation, and out of respect as they say, left the remainder of Raw without any commentary. To have scrapped the rest of the show might have been a little drastic.

    Manu Bumb: FACT. First of all, let me say my thoughts are with Jerry Lawler and his loved ones.

    There’s no right answer here. They had a show to put on, and I appreciated that they killed commentary for the rest of the show. Commentary is a big part of what distinguishes wrestling from “sports entertainment”, especially heel Cole. If they had ended the show, they probably would’ve been chastised for doing it for Lawler, but not for Owen. I’m just glad this happened during a Raw broadcast, and not an indie show, or, god forbid, while he was alone in a hotel room.

    Score: 1 for 1

    2. Daniel Bryan & Kane will be WWE Tag Team Champions after Night of Champions.

    Francisco Ramirez: FACT. The angle has to go on and this seems to be the logical next step. Kane and Daniel Bryan will continue to tag together, they won’t always get along, comedic moments will ensue, and they will continue to defend the tag straps until Rey and Sin Cara dethone them. Oh and did I mention their team name will be Anger Management?

    Manu Bumb: FACT. Tag teams still don’t matter in WWE, and the pairing of Danielson and Kane is much more entertaining than any of the current tag teams. Their anger management sessions were some of the best parts of the Raws they were featured on. Of course, it could be said that the other tag teams might be more interesting if given a chance to do something, but….the PTP sing and dance, and Truth has Little Jimmy, and neither are more interesting than Kane and Danielson.

    Score: 2 for 2

    3. Sheamus’s Brogue Kick should be banned.

    Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Banned permanently, just so Antonio Cesaro can use his pump kick that visually, is far superior and looks even more brutal than the Brogue Kick. Aside from my favoritism I really don’t care, he has the Brogue Kick, the Celtic Cross/Razors Edge, and now the Clover Leaf, variety is the spice of life. This isn’t the first move to be banned storyline wise, and won’t be the last. Aside from Kayfabe though, if the WWE is doing away with moves that hit the head or neck it makes all the sense in the world to ban the Brogue Kick.

    Manu Bumb: FICTION. His top rope shoulder-block should be banned. That move looks like $4!+, at least the brogue kick looks good.

    Score: 2 for 3

    4. Bret Hart is the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.

    Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Of course he is, that’s his “slogan”! He’s as much “the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be”, as Burger King is “the home of the whopper”, Bounty is “the quicker picker upper”, and Randy Orton is “the Legend Killer”. All kidding aside, Bret fills the mold, I’m certain he feels that way about himself, and there are many that will support that claim. Others might argue that Flair, Austin or Michaels are better fitted as the “best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be”. They might be right, but as far as I know, Bret made that claim first so he wins it on a technicality, and if Orton can be “the Legend Killer” without actually killing a legend, I’m all for Bret being the “best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be”, regardless of there being someone better.

    Manu Bumb: FACTION. I’m a big Bret Hart fan, I’m on his side with regards to Montreal (or at least, I don’t buy the most common arguments among fans who think he should’ve “done business”), but no one is the best there ever will be. Not Bret, not HBK, not Undertaker, not even Daniel Bryan.

    On the other hand, yes, that is what they called him, so the statement is a fact, just like Lex Luger was the total package, and HHH is the bathroom break.

    Score: 2 for 4


    SWITCH!

    5. Jeff Hardy was the right choice to win the Bound For Glory series.

    Manu Bumb: FICTION. I have no problem with him winning, just that he didn’t need it. He’s Jeff Hardy. Any of the other 3 needed it more. If they’re serious about Belly Ray being a main event guy, he could’ve benefited from winning the BFGS. Samoa Joe has been treated better recently than he has in years, but TNA has done so much to hurt his credibility that fans have a hard time believing in him – winning the BFGS could’ve been a step in the right direction towards regaining the fans’ trust. James Storm has had one helluva year, but he’s also had a somewhat flaccid year – he’s moved up to the next level for sure, but his title reign was short, and he hasn’t really done anything big since then, so winning the BFGS could’ve meant the difference between continuing his rise and falling back down the ladder.

    Francisco Ramirez: FICTION. I can understand a good redemption story, but really, of the top 4 on the BFG series, Jeff Hardy was the least popular choice. Austin Aries facing Samoa Joe was every smark’s choice for the main event. Aries versus James Storm made perfect sense, seeing as Storm was the heavy favorite to win it. They could have easily built an interesting face vs. face match. A Double and Bully Ray would also have worked. Bully Ray has reinvented himself, and made himself credible as a singles star. Saying he deserves a run with the belt would be an understatement. Finally we get to Hardy, I’ll give the devil his due, he hasn’t screwed up. I am a firm believer though, that his ship has sailed. I have no interest in seeing Hardy vs. Aries at Impact, even less to see it headline BFG. The only thing that will really piss me off more is if Hardy beats Aries for the belt.

    Score: 3 for 5

    6. Ring of Honor made the right move bringing Davey Richards back to their company last weekend.

    Manu Bumb: FACT. I’m biased, because I was in Charlotte, and it was a great surprise for me. As for the right thing for the company…..again, fact. Doing stuff like this at house shows is what people tell their friends about. Right after he came out, I texted my friend who normally goes with me to tell him Davey Richards just made an appearance!!! If they had saved it for the iPPV, I would’ve just told my friend about the crazy storm I drove through on the way to Charlotte, and he would’ve been glad he didn’t go.

    Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Regardless of the issues with APW, Davey is still a big name in the indies. ROH is a fragment of what it used to be, let’s be honest ROH needs all the names they can get. Sure it seemed like he was gone from the company, comments made in his shoot interview gave a greater insight into his dislike with the current ROH product. All that aside, Davey needs a paycheck, hell if he’s allegedly stealing $350 he must! ROH pays the bills at the Richards dojo, and while he can’t have a World title shot as long as Steen holds the belt, there is hope for an American Wolves reunion.

    Score: 4 for 6

    7. Matt Hardy will be a good addition to Ring of Honor.

    Manu Bumb: FACTION. If he’s gotten his life in order, he could be a good addition. I saw him recently at a food establishment in Durham, and he wasn’t filming himself doing stupid shit, so that’s a good sign. He hasn’t been making headlines on 411 for doing stupid things in a while (and y’all will report on ANYTHING), so that’s also a good sign. Unfortunately, we won’t really know how good an addition he’ll be til he gets there and proves himself, because the last year of his time in WWE/TNA was a trainwreck, and was enough to make a big Matt Hardy fan not care anymore. So he has to prove himself before I’ll believe he’ll be a good addition to RoH.

    Francisco Ramirez: FICTION. Fiction for now. Matt was supposed to be the stable and trustworthy Hardy, I don’t know what happened after he was dropped from TNA, but all signs pointed to him being on a downward spiral. Hopefully he’s recovered, word is Hardy has done some indy shows, and now has been “invited” to the ROH IPPV. People have hinted at Hardy immediately working with Steen. If this is true, this screams desperation on ROH’s part. Sure, Matt Hardy has some name recognition, unfortunately for him the Hardy name has been heavily tarnished. Unless Hardy works his way up and proves he can be trusted, Matt Hardy will not be a good addition to ROH.

    Score: 4 for 7

    8. You are interested in CHIKARA’s King of Trios tournament this weekend in Easton, Pennsylvania.

    Manu Bumb: FICTION. I like CHIKARA, and go their shows whenever they come to NC (got one coming up in October), but I don’t keep up with them, so I had no clue King of Trios was this weekend.

    Francisco Ramirez: FACT. I can’t believe what I’m about to say, but I am hyped to see the return of the “Portuguese Man of War” Aldo Montoya! I’m serious, Montoya teams with Tatanka and the 123 Kid as Team WWF, how badass is that? Chikara’s annual trios tournament is usually a fun show and I don’t see any reason why it won’t be this year.

    Final Score: 4 for 8

    The boys finish 50/50, which I guess makes sense as Manu couldn’t make up his mind on two of them. I admit that I’ve used the wish-washy “Faction” answer before, but using it twice in one outing is like using two mulligans in a round of golf. You can do it, but it isn’t looked on favorably.

    (And I know he only answered Faction on Number 7 because he doesn’t want Matt’s girlfriend mad at him. Girl does hold a grudge, that‘s for sure.)

    What do you guys think about these topics? Did WWE do the right thing on Monday? Should the Hardys & Davey Richards get second/third/fourth chances? Should we start a No Faction Policy? Discuss down in the comment section! Thanks to Francisco & Manu for participating, and we’ll be back next week with more Fact or Fiction!

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