wrestling / Columns
Ask 411 Wrestling 12.11.13: Ryback, Sweat, Tables, More!
Hiya. Welcome to Ask 411 Wrestling. I’m Mathew Sforcina, the guy who writes Ask 411 Wrestling. So that’s good. I’d hate to be a guy who was supposed to be doing something else right now and instead be doing this.
Well, there’s several things I could be doing instead of this. Sleep for one. Sitting in front of a fan going full bore would be good too. And wondering if WWE expected everyone to be going ‘CENA’S TURNING HEEL!’ after the end of Raw or not…
Anyway, you got a question for me? Email it to [email protected] and I’ll answer it.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, BANNERY GOODNESS!
Zeldas!
Check out my Drabble blog, 1/10 of a Picture! Winner of the ‘Massive Q Award Of Excellence’, so you know it’s good!
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Feedback Loop
99 Rumble Feedback: Crow backs me up on the reaction at the time.
The very fact that you refer to anyone watching in ’99 as an “old school” fan kind of bruises my ego, but nevertheless…
I liked your description of wrestling fan camps in that era. I was of the then-WWF camp, so I assumed when I saw that outcome that they would just fix it later (Obviously, Vince going for the title at Mania was not in the cards.) Lo and behold, the next night on RAW, Vince vacated his title shot, and a rather drunk “Commissioner” Michaels came on the tron and said that when he checked out, the runner-up (being Austin, who was drunk sitting next to Michaels) was checked in to the title match. We always knew it would be Rock/Austin at XV, so the outcome of the Rumble was kind of inconsequential. In fact, it usually is.
Sadly it’s almost 15 years old at this point. Considering that is older than WWE’s target demo as been alive, it’s Old School now. Dammit.
Mr McMahon’s birth: Yeah, the rough idea for the gimmick of Mr. McMahon did exist in USWA prior. But without Montreal, there is no launch pad for the gimmick, no basis for the casual fans to start booing him. And also, in a little side fact that is rarely brought up, the Screwjob caused a boost to the ratings as a bunch of people tuned in to find out what the hell was going on, and then discovering Austin, Rock, McMahon and so on and sticking around.
Mr. McMahon might have existed without Montreal, but not nearly as hot or as logical as he did.
The Trivia Crown
What am I? I’m a title that lasted under a decade. Twice I changed hands twice in a day, although both times the two changes aired on delayed TV shows. Only one man has held me more than twice, and yet he is only the 4th longest reigning champion in total days held. Around half of my holders also held a world title (of various levels of legitimacy). I was vacated three times, twice for legitimate injuries. I was never unified with another belt, but I was part, on more than one occasion, of a dual championship reign. A title that while never actually changing hands accidentally was booked to have had unexpected title changes, I am What?
As usual, Maravilloso has the answer, or at least 95% of it.
What am I?
I’m a title that lasted under a decade.
FROM 1992 TO 2001
Twice I changed hands twice in a day, although both times the two changes aired on delayed TV shows.
TAZ BEAT SABU AND JT SMITH BEAT TAZ ON MARCH 6, 1994, BUT THE MATCHES WERE AIRED MARCH 15 AND MARCH 22. 2 COLD SCORPIO BEAT JASON AND DEAN MALENKO BEAT SCORPIO ON NOVEMBER THE 4TH. THOSE MATCHES WERE AIRED ON NOVEMBER 22 AND 29 RESPECTIVELY.
Only one man has held me more than twice,
2 COLD SCORPIO
and yet he is only the 4th longest reigning champion in total days held.
RVD, SHANE DOUGLAS AND RHINO’S REIGNS WERE LONGER
Around half of my holders also held a world title (of various levels of legitimacy).
RVD, SHANE DOUGLAS, RHINO, TAZ, JIMMY SNUKA (SORT OF), EDDIE GUERRERO, SABU, TERRY FUNK, CHRIS JERICHO AMONG OTHERS WERE RECOGNIZED AS WORLD CHAMPIONS
I was vacated three times, twice for legitimate injuries.
JOHNNY HOT BODY AND ROB VAN DAM WERE THE ONES INJURED AND GLEN OSBOURNE WAS STRIPPED OF THE TITLE FOR UNKNOWN REASONS
I was never unified with another belt, but I was part, on more than one occasion, of a dual championship reign.
2 COLD SCORPIO AND RVD WERE ALSO ECW TAG TITLISTS
A title that while never actually changing hands accidentally was booked to have had unexpected title changes,
MIKEY WHIPWRECK WINNING IT FROM SCORPIO?
I am What?
ECW WORLD TV TITLE
The unexpected title change I was referring to was the RVD win, as bighustle pointed out.
Maravilloso has this week’s question also.
I am a wrestling name. I’ve been used by more than one wrestler and at least two different wrestling promotions. Between the men that have used me there are more than 20 World Tag Team championship reigns (in different promotions), more than ten world singles championships, eight Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards won and more than 25 Wrestling Observer awards won. One of those wrestlers also used a wrestling name which was also the title of an infamous song performed by a former wrestling manager and his most famous name came from a great musician. Two of the men who used me share these (but not necessarily the same two in each case): the same birthplace, a current wresting manager, female managers who has won a ladies’ world championship and ALL of them have used gimmicks or names related to hot things. What am I?
Getting Down To Business
Millard66 starts us off in the AWA.
Hey Man
I’ve been a long time reader of 411, particularly your column, and am a former columnist myself. Thanks for putting such long hours on this column every week. It’s a lot of work that doesn’t often get the appreciation it deserves.
I’ve got a few AWA questions I can’t find the answers to anywhere:
At the end of September 1985, why did Verne Gagne have Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal beat The Road Warriors for the tag team titles, and not the Freebirds? The Freebirds nearly beat the Road Warriors at Super Clash the night before the title switch. The next night at TV, Michael Hayes cost the LOD the titles to Garvin and Regal. I know that by the end of 1985 Gagne was paranoid about talent leaving him, and the Freebirds were also appearing for World Class at the time. However, Regal ended up bailing on Verne in January of 86. A fictional title change had to occur to get the belts on Curt Hennig and Scott Hall. Garvin headed to JCP a few weeks later. Why did Gagne not just go with the Freebirds at Super Clash? Did Verne think he had a better chance of keeping Garvin and Regal over the Freebirds, or did he have real heat with Hayes and company?
The Warriors and the Freebirds were both heel teams.
Sure, Warriors were getting face pops, and the Super Clash match was in Chicago so the Warriors were going to be cheered, but the fact is that Verne Gagne was very, very old school. Michael Hayes had the idea for the feud and he had to push and push for it because Verne was just so set against it, you couldn’t have two heel teams feuding! Despite the Warriors being face in all but name, Verne didn’t want to do this feud, and so he certainly wasn’t going to give the belts to the Freebirds out of it.
Yes, looking at it today, you’d probably put the belts on the Freebirds, but at the time, Verne was still very stuck to his old ways and that meant that heels shouldn’t be feuding, and they certainly shouldn’t be swapping titles.
Speaking of phantom title switches, in late 85 / early 86 Albuquerque, New Mexico seemed to be the go-to town for such fictions. Dusty Rhodes purportedly won the National title there from Buddy Landel when the later was fired in December 1985, and Hennig and Hall supposedly beat Garvin and Regal there in January 86. I know that NM didn’t get a lot of regular shows, but there were cards at the Tingley Coliseum. Was it so remote that the companies figured that no one would notice?
Actually, the Hennig/Hall title win actually DID occur there, according to some eyewitness accounts. I’m not sure if I believe them, but there are those who claim to have been there.
As for why New Mexico, there’s a few possible reasons, but only a couple that make sense. The town of Albuquerque was an ‘open’ town at the time, in that there was no company that ran there regularly enough to consider it home turf or at least in their territory. At various points it’s been part of Amarillo and the Funks, and Phoenix at others, but during the mid 80’s it wasn’t owned, so it was believable that the company could run there but also wouldn’t have to deal with fans who could know they were lying that much.
Plus it’s fun to say Albuquerque.
*1/1000 of a Chandler*
Seriously, if you’re going to have a phantom title change, there’s an unspoken rule that you make the location interesting and unusual, it should have an awesome name. Be it Albuquerque, Rio de Janeiro, Spokane, Egypt, wherever, if you say there’s a title change that didn’t happen, make it happen somewhere interesting sounding.
That’s probably why it got used.
Finally, did Sgt. Slaughter have an exceptional amount of heat on him in the mid-80s? He has been a loyal company man to the WWE for the last 15 years, but why did he suddenly leave the WWF in 85? Why did he leave the AWA as unexpectedly a year later? Why did Verne not put the belt on Slaughter? His association with G.I. Joe made him well known outside of wrestling, and such notoriety could only have helped the AWA. Verne was a strict traditionalist, and Slaughter was not the type of scientific wrestler he liked, but neither was Stan Hansen. On that same note, why didn’t VInce try to get the Sarge back? The G.I. Joe connection seems to be the type of thing that a late-80s Vince would love.
Sorry to be so long. Thanks so much. Keep up the good work.
Well, Sarge did do an acclaimed Shoot Interview in 2009 that goes into all this…
But I have not seen it, nor was I able to find a review/recap. So I’m going on scuttlebutt here.
Anyway, he left the WWF in 1985 due to a disagreement with Vince. That’s common(ish) knowledge. The reason/s? Not so much. I’ve heard that Sarge wanted some paid holiday days and Vince refused, I’ve heard that Vince wanted a cut of his GI Joe money he was about to get and Sarge refused, I’ve heard there was title demands, contract renewal issues, there’s been suggest reasons from the petty to the serious. Basically something business related came up between them and Sarge left because of it.
As for Sarge in AWA, the reason for his leaving for a bit is even less well known, or at least I don’t know. As for why he didn’t end up winning the world title, considering that he was one of the biggest draws they had, Verne probably felt that he didn’t need the title, that if he just kept running Sarge V Big Foreign Heel he’d get a combo as good as Sarge/Sheik. Why have one champ when you could have a World Champ and an America’s Champ? Plus, to be fair, he wasn’t in the greatest of shape at the time…
And Vince I’m sure would have liked Sarge to come back, but he almost certainly would have wanted a cut of the GI Joe money (which, for the record, is my suspicion as to why he left) and Sarge didn’t want to give him that until he had no option, and/or he negotiated it out.
But again, if anyone owns that shoot, do let me know. Until then, have… This.
Ace has just the one, despite what he says.
I always appreciate any time you answer my questions! I have 2 questions for you:
2) I’m sorry if you’ve answered this in the past, but could you please explain the Mr. Perfect disappearing act between 1993-1995? He was supposed to wrestle at Survivor Series 93, but didn’t & Macho Man took his place. Then he shows up at WMX, screws Luger out of the WWF Title, disappears again until he shows up at Survivor Series 95 as an announcer. Where did he go during this time? Was he collecting on his Lloyd’s of London disability insurance policy?
OK, before I get into niggling details, the short answer is that Hennig’s back was held together with duct tape and string, so all his periods away from the ring were due to his back needing recovery time. But then there’s the insurance policy everyone knows of. After all, Perfect was the guy who screwed Lloyd’s over so much they stopped covering wrestlers, and the policy being revoked when WWF let slip he was training for a comeback in 96 was a major reason he went to WCW supposedly. But I’m not 100% sure when he took the policy.
I’ve read he took it after his first major back injury, which would be logical, and that’s 1991. But then I’ve also seen it put at 1993 and 1994. Either way, for some of his time between the 93 KOTR and 1996 he drew a great deal of cash from Lloyds, as well as money from WWF to do commentary. I presume all of it, but again, sources disagree.
This is pop culture relevant, apparently.
Kevin asks a counting question I don’t have to count, thank goodness.
Hey Mathew,
You’re Q&A about Hogan and the different belts got me thinking about something else – Did Hogan have the longest time between winning the same championship title (in lineage, not name)? I’m guessing him or Blacklund, but I was sure you’d know.
You didn’t specify World title there. And thus, the answer is (unless you want to get unbelievably technical and say it’s Moolah) Terry Funk, who won the NWA United States Title in a tournament final against Paul Jones November 9th, 1975 and then won it again on September 22, 2000 nearly 25 years later.
(If you want World Titles only, then if you allow NWA/WCW cross over Sting had a 16 year gap, but failing that it’s either Backlund or Rock depending on how you count it.)
Secondly, why is there no King of The Ring? Would it really be the hard to use a tournament to put over one mid-carder each year? There’s no need to make a pay-per-view out of it. I would include the final match in a pay-per-view, though. You can spin-off countless angles from it. What gives?
The supposed logic is that tournaments aren’t draws. KOTR was always the weakest of the Big 5, and even playing it on free TV it ends up like Iron Man matches, the fanbase supposedly tunes out and just comes back for the payoff.
I LOVE tournaments, and KOTR is the first thing I bring back if I somehow end up in charge of WWE but also not also in charge of the world, since if I control the world I bring back Victoria to my bedroom.
But yeah, despite the WWE having a track record of KOTRs being very good for wrestlers (Austin, Angle, Booker) or at the least a mild benefit, and with only a few crap ones (you know) they should bring it back. We are overdue for one by a full year if WWE stuck to their once-every-two-years schedule. Especially as Damien Sandow is right fucking there!
…
But yeah, bring back KOTR please.
Finally, has a wrestling organization ever tried to run a pay-per-view on Super Bowl Sunday? It’s never happened to my knowledge, but I think you’d know for sure. I’m just surprised Vince’s ego never took a swing at it.
We’ve had WWF run special episodes of Heat during Halftime, Halftime Heat starting with the infamous Empty Arena match where Mankind won the WWF title from Rock.
And then the next year an interview with Austin. But an actual PPV that day, even if it was later… I can sorta kinda see some logic there, the same sort of logic that led to WCCW running shows Christmas Day, but the thing is, Christmas Day is a day you open presents and eat and then… You got not a lot. Superbowl? You watch a game for hours, eat, and then you spend the rest of the day celebrating/crying/discussing the game/discussing the ads/pretending you give a damn about American Football.
To my knowledge, no wrestling company has ever attempted to run a live PPV that day. An indy show, maybe, and an on demand video, sure, but not a PPV. Unless a reader can correct me on that…
Pete Gas Fan asks a counting question that isn’t really one.
Starting with the Tag Team title-switch fake-out in 1990, dropping the IC belt after steroid testing in ’93, dropping it again in ’95 after being beaten up by four-dozen Navy Seals, losing his smile and vacating the main belt in ’97, then getting it back the same year due to Hart’s contract disputes, has any other wrestler been involved in as many major company title changes due to ‘real world’ incidents as Shawn?
Well what constitutes a real world incident? Would Hogan politicking his way to getting the WWF title at Wrestlemania IX be a ‘real world’ incident? I mean, wrestling is a business that is mixed up with reality and fantasy and politics and belief and a whole lot of crap all mixed together, trying to separate one from the other is pretty hard.
That said… You include winning the Euro title from Bulldog, and then the tag titles… I don’t really see a better choice than Michaels for this thing. Maybe Hogan depending on how much of a douche bag you consider him, but Shawn has the rep for a reason, better or worse. I’m sure someone will disagree below.
Jake is all over the shop.
Okay so .. I have a few, and some of them might seem a bit weird and random .. but .. well yeah.
1. Did anyone ever figure out what it was that Edge shouted out during his entrance? It always seemed to be the same thing, but I have no idea what it was, the pyro and crowd always tended to cover it up, unlike Punk’s Clobberin Time.
… Uh, not sure. I suspect it’s something about the fans, but I am happy to be corrected. I couldn’t find any record of proof. He didn’t have the courtesy to scream like Punk…
2. Tables Ladders and Chairs. We’ve all seen these matches .. but can you explain to the average moron (me) how they take these shots? I mean, it doesn’t seem like the objects are made out of standard materials, because of how easily they dent and bend. Is it just that it’s really flimsy metal? I guess in this I’m speaking more of the WWE product, and TNA to a lesser degree. I’ve seen some ladders end up in some funky positions on WWE shows .. and having used a ladder, I can’t imagine taking something that sturdy, and throwing someone into it with enough force to twist the metal .. and have them not be dead.
Chairs are metal, but you get your hands up if the shot is at your head. Otherwise you just take the shot on as much body space as you can.
Tables are made of particle board, also known as chipboard or solid porridge as my Mother calls is. The stuff is pretty weak.
As for ladders, that depends. Nowadays in WWE they have different ladders for different purposes. If someone is going through it, it’s wood, but as for the ‘normal’ ladders they are either cheap thin metal or fibreglass. In either case they aren’t pleasant to be hit with or slam into, but likewise they have plenty of give and so it’s just unpleasant rather than severely dangerous. At least on the big leagues.
3. This is going to sound strange, but it’s been something I’ve been curious about for a while. So .. let’s just take WWE .. there’s some big ass dudes there .. and, well .. I’m a big ass dude as well. I know, that after half an hour or so of doing stuff, I get hot. Seeing how much they’re sweating, that seems to be the same for them as well. Now when I get hot, and I stay hot .. things tend to get a wee .. musty. So the question is this. Do they do anything special to combat that? Because .. damn. Wrestlers seems to spend a fair amount of time with faces in, or near other dudes crotches. So is there something they do to .. help with that? Or is it just a .. fuck it, we’re all dudes here and we’ve all got ball sweat, deal .. kind of thing?
It varies from guy to guy. Some guys smell, and smell bad, and you don’t like wrestling them. But you dress in layers, all of which are made of breathable material, and you wear deodorant, and keep your gear clean and that minimises it to some degree. There is a certain level of “fuck it, let’s just do this”, but you are expected to attempt to keep it down. I mean, I have three layers on when I wrestle and a lot of deodorant. But then I don’t do much crotch work so it evens out.
4. I saw a ROH show on TV a while ago. I don’t tend to watch ROH, but I saw Jay Lethal was going to be on it and I’ve missed him since he left TNA. Anyway, one of the matches had this guy .. Michael Elgin. He did a move on a dude, that reminded me of Goldberg’s Jackhammer (Sorry, I don’t know the proper term for the move) .. but he held the guy up FOREVER. I mean seriously, he was up there for a long, long, long time. That made me wonder. On a move like that, it looks like the guy who’s up in the air, is using his hands and arms to help keep himself up .. and obviously has to keep his legs straight. This begs the question .. if you’re going to be up there for a while .. who is this move harder on (specifically just the holding part, not the slam)? Is it harder to hold the guy up? Or be the guy being held up there and trying to hold yourself straight?
Elgin just do a tour down here with my company. Nice enough guy. Big too.
Anyway, in that sort of move it depends on the guy. What I mean by that is that some guys will find it easier to hold up a guy and some will find it easier to be held. They are slightly different skills, holding is balance and power, keeping the guy balanced while holding his weight, while the helding is balance and poise, as you have to try and stay as straight as possible for as long as possible. After all, if you go off kilter you risk injuring yourself by falling.
One isn’t so much harder than the other, although put a gun to my head… Being held is a little harder to train, holding you can do weights and stuff, being held is a little harder to train for.
I think. I can’t do either of them so this is all theroertical.
5. Lastly, my question is about rings. With a mat like WWE, or TNA .. how much does it really suck (hurt) to fall onto it? You see these guys falling from pretty decent heights at times .. and yet 5 seconds later, they’re right back up. Now, I know there’s give to the mat but I mean .. we’re talking some pretty outrageous moves here at times. I sprained my ankle in my bloody sleep once. How is it that after they fall from the top of a ladder straight on to the mat, they haven’t shattered every bone in their legs? Or outside the ring for that matter. It’s not like the ring is surrounded in fluffy pads and it just seems like they’re falling so awkwardly sometimes. Is there something we can’t really see under the floor or something to make it a little springier, or is everyone (aside from Ken Anderson) rebuilt with titanium laced bones upon becoming a pro wrestler?
Okay, I’m done. You guys have an awesome column that I’ve been following for a number of years now .. and it’s always been one of the better reads of any given week. Keep up the good work.
A wrestling ring is not a trampoline. But it’s also not concrete. The method of building is different with every ring, there’s many different ways to build a ring, but the basic idea is that there is a support scheme underneath with some give. Not a huge amount, some. Loose metal bars are the most common, held in place but allowed to bend and shift a little. You put wood and mats on top of that and you have a steardy enough floor that has some give.
But the real secret is to, despite what JR says, learning how to fall. You learn how to dissipate and absorb impact by having as much body contact at one moment to lessen the impact overall. You land with all your bodyweight on one arm, you break the arm. (Done that.) You roll head to toe rather than land flat, you hurt your foot. (Done that.) But you land with your back, arms and legs all hitting the mat at the same time, you are able to get up again. (Done that much more often.)
It’s never pleasant, landing in the ring is never sunshine and lollypops, but it can be made manageable easily enough.
Meow Cat Hippity Dippity WalrusFangs asks about a move.
Matitude-
Just curious as to why Steven/William Regal stop using the Regal Stretch upon entering WWE. I could be wrong, but I personally don’t recall him using it at all in WWE. Did he ever use it in the earlier part of his run w/WWE? When do you last recall him using it?
Love,
Skip to 5:50.
I will give you that William doesn’t use it THAT much, but he sure as hell does use it.
It’s just that WWE doesn’t tend to like submission victories unless they do like them this week, they prefer pinfalls. So William’s biggest pushes tend to come with stuff like the Power of the Punch and the like. The fact he’s kept it at all is because it allows for a good visual, you can see both faces. WWE HATES moves that don’t let you see facial expressions.
But while it wasn’t the most recent, it’s still my favorite one of all time, when Regal did it to Hornswoggle.
I could watch that all day…
One Man’s (Important) Opinion
Raza wants to talk about The Streak.
Thanks for letting me in your columns, my today’s questions is more of an observation regarding Undertaker’s streak and opponents particularly in the last four years. Untill WMXXV, it was Taker-Michaels-I, which was a great match and build up also fine. But afterwards, it was Michaels again (at WMXXVI), Triple H twice (at
XXVII & XXVIII) and CM Punk (WM29), which were all great matches though. But apparently Undertaker got injured at WMXXV and ever since he tried to avoid matches with a rookie or an athlete whom he can’t trust (at least that was I read and understand over the years). Its look as if he don’t want to wrestle after WMXXV at all but WWE creative thinking of making profit by continuing the steak so they offered him to continue wrestling the likes of Triple-H, Shawn Michaels or Kane at WM with whom he had congenial relation over the year and who he can atleast rely upon particularly not injuring him/botching any move. Again, I read that plans was for Taker-Michaels- III at XXVII or even Taker-Triple-H III at WM 29 but obviously same opponents every years would make things lack luster. WWE could have arranged for his worthy opponents at WMs after 2009 likes of Sheamus, Bryan, Ryback, Brock, Mysterio, Del Rio, Christian, Rock, Cena and even Sting for that matter, whom he never wrestled at the grand event. (for me he will be facing The Authority’s Kane at WM30)
He’s not so much injured as he is old and very much in the twilight of his career. In the old days he’d be a manager or an announcer or more likely a booker by now. He’d have stopped wrestling. But instead, he’s now wrestling once a year for a large sum of cash so that the WWE can make a large sum squared of cash off the match. I’m sure WWE would love to have Taker around more often, but if not having him for the year means he’s around for Wrestlemania, they’ll live with it.
As for who he’s gonna fight… Kane would make sense I suppose, but it’ll probably be either against or for Triple H’s chosen one. So while Kane would work, I wonder if they aren’t going to have Hunter force Taker to fight FOR the Authority against Vince’s chosen representative. Or, if they’re just gonna do Hunter V Vince directly, then it’s fairly wide open. The only time the Streak’s gonna be in danger is when Cena fights for it. Or maybe Bryan.
VegasVic follows up from MITB discussions last week.
The question about MITB storylines reminded me of one I thought of after Mr Kennedy was injured.
An injured case-holder could go on the shelf…and then is mentioned off and on with increasing frequency as the contract expiration date approaches. Let’s say Cody Rhodes grabs the case at next years edition and then gets injured or goes off to film a movie. The next edition roles around without a cash in, and everyone bemoans Rhodes’ lost opportunity.
At that show, a new winner, let’s say Sami Zhan attempts to cash in after a grueling title match. Just as Zahn is about to pin the champ, Cody races into the ring with his case! Dusty stands at the ramp and announces that Cody still has one day to cash in because of how our calendar works (The date of the PPV would fall on a Monday the next year) setting up a dual cash in Triple Threat match.
I can also see a scenario where you end up in a Triple Threat cash-in match if the Titles end up unified and both brands get a MITB match…
I also have a thought about the Survivior Series. You can have a traditional elimination match with the IC title on the line…if the champ doesn’t survive he loses the strap. This could in a ton of directions. Can the champ pick teammates who will watch his back? Would the belt change hands two or three times? Would a face challenger who has been chasing for months end up turning if his teammate gets the title first? Would a chickenshit heel champ, facing a 4on1 handicap, take the count out loss? Imagine if the tag titles were on the line, and they end up in the hands of a thrown together team like Diego Colon and Titus O’Neill…or 3 surviving teammates? I’m just imagining Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel & Big E Langston defending under Freebird Rules and I…like it.
I wouldn’t do a dual cash in, I’d do Cash in #1, win, pose, turn around, smack from case, Cash in #2, win, so that now you have the original champ and the 1 minute champ running after them…
As for the IC title Survivor Series match, there’s an idea that got used in the EWR on 411 thing wherein you have the belt switch between 8-10 guys in the weeks leading up to the show, every week someone new wins the belt, and so to stop the merry-go-round, you have a Survivor Series match, but where the winning team, if there’s more than one left, face off in an elimination match there and then to win the belt. I think that works a little better.
Andron gets to an actual question!
Good day just questions i wanted to ask,
my question is do you think Ryback made more impact as a face or as a heel?
do you think it was a good move on the wwe to turn him heel in the first place, or is it more the way they do it?
and lastly can you see Ryback making a successful face run in the future?
He made more of an impact as a face, no question. I mean, with the way he got booked as a heel it would be hard to argue that he did better giving up after a dropkick than squashing jobbers.
That said, it was mostly the fault of the booking. I mean, you can argue that if Ryback had the charisma of some hybrid Rock/Flair/Luger demon spawn then maybe he could have made it all work, but it’s the WWE’s current booking issues that ruined him. Every heel has emotional depth and is smart but a coward who should be mocked by the faces, who are all perfect dumb jocks who don’t care about losing so why should you?
Ryback as a heel should have been big, if he’d done the same thing as he’d been doing but targeting the people we liked rather than random jobbers. Instead he had to change everything about himself because that’s how heels act dammit!
And yeah, he could be a face again, sure. He’s huge and strong with a very impressive body type, he’ll get many chances to get over, and him as a face again, yeah, it could work. I can see it. It happening isn’t as clear cut, but it could happen…
But what about your opinion, dear readers? Is Ryback salvageable? Give your opinion about that, or anything we’ve discussed this week, below in the comment section, and I’ll be back next week with more Ask 411 Wrestling. Until then…
