411 Fact Or Fiction 09.14.06: Waltman, The Rock, ECW, More

Posted by Ashish on 09.14.2006

It's week NINETY EIGHT of Fact or Fiction with Steve Cook, Ronny Sarnecky, and whether CM Punk will one day be ECW Champion...

Welcome back to another week of Fact or Fiction! This week 411's Steve Cook takes on 411's Ronny Sarnecky!


1. WWE should bring back Sean Waltman.

Ronny Sarnecky: FICTION. While he is a solid worker, I feel that Sean wouldn't add anything to either show right now. The only spot for him would be as a member of DX. While that would be fun for a little while, DX is fastly running out of steam. It would be cool if he came back with Road Dogg and Billy Gunn to do a full blown DX reunion. I recently heard a rumor that Waltman and Scott Hall want to come back to do a DX vs. nWo feud. While that would be cool if the sides were Hogan/Hall/Nash vs. Michaels/HHH/Waltman, once again, it wouldn't last long enough for the WWE to have a solid reason to bring him back. From a long-term creative standpoint, it makes no sense. That being said, I didn't even mention his "demons."

Steve Cook: FICTION. Sarnecky speaks the truth on this one, though I disagree with him on one key point...I don't really give a rat's ass about a DX vs. NWO feud. I would have cared back in 1998, but last I checked it was 2006. It's about goddamn time WWE moved on to something new, they don't need to keep bringing back nostalgia acts and acting like it's the late 1990s again. Waltman can be a good worker at times, but as TNA has found out, he's just not very reliable. If you're going to be building a big program around him, you better get ready to replace him because he could literally disappear just like that. Why would WWE want to bother with that?

Score: 1 for 1


2. Chris Kanyon is reaching the elite Warrior Warrior/Chyna/Randy Savage status in terms of being an idiot.

Ronny Sarnecky: FICTION. I wouldn't say he's reaching "idiot" status. Warrior/Chyna/Randy Savage aren't idiots. Crazy, insane, lunatics, YES! Idiots, NO! From what I read, it sounds like Kanyon is just trying to get attention, and keep himself in the news. After all, if he didn't say he was gay, and the WWE got rid of him because of it, would anybody even talk about him? That's not being an idiot, it's called being smart. He knows by being controversial, he stays in the public eye. By being in the public eye, he may be able to get a job with TNA or even back with the WWE since Vince hires back EVERYBODY who leaves on bad terms.

Steve Cook: FACT. Chris Kanyon is a complete and utter idiot. I was writing a little something about this for the news column, which you can read today RIGHT HERE AT 411MANIA.COM *thumbs up and cheap pop*, so I'll kinda restate it here. It's fine if this guy wants to get back into WWE, I won't fault him for that. Getting paid sure beats the hell out of not getting paid. But if you've read some of his posts on his MySpace blog, or kept up with his recent actions...it's a little obvious that the guy isn't all there. And quite frankly, pretending to be gay and claiming a company fired you because of that isn't going to get you a job with another company unless they're complete idiots. Showing up at WWE events and holding up signs isn't going to get you re-hired with them either. So basically Kanyon's making a complete and utter asshole of himself like the people that Ashish listed do on a regular basis. He just needs to keep this up for a couple more years to be on their level, but I think he's got a great start.

Score: 1 for 2


3. The McMahons are taking up way too much of the spotlight on RAW right now.

Ronny Sarnecky: FACT. I can't remember the last time a McMahon WASN'T on RAW! I long for the days of Eric Bischoff as RAW's GM. At least he was hated, and you knew he wasn't going to dominate the WWE Superstars. Vince is 60 yrs old! How does it make HHH, Shawn Michaels, and the rest of the WWE Superstars look when Vince is able to keep up with them in the ring? It just stupid. If Vince wants to be on TV, he should take on a Jack Tunney type role, where he's the figurehead "WWE President," and only comes on to make big rulings. If he has to be on every week, then he can just introduce all of the matches at the start of the show. However, I don't see this happening, because if you watched the McMahon DVD, they said that he gets a kick out of seeing his family on WWE-TV.

Steve Cook: FACT. What Sarnecky said. Mostly. As one of Dunn's recent teasers said, "I have had it with these motherfuckin McMahons on my motherfuckin TV!". And I've been talking for weeks about how boring the DX/McMahons feud is, even comparing the never-ending saga of Csonka vs. Randle in this column to it. Bischoff was much more tolerable as Raw's GM...whatever happened to them hiring a new one of those anyway? I'll even take Dusty Fucking Rhodes over more McMahon bullshit. Here's hoping that Vince, Shane, Stephanie, Linda, and whoever the hell else is in that family take a hint and get the hell off of television sooner rather than later. Not that I actually expect it to happen, but it certainly would be a breath of fresh air for a company that desperately needs one.

Score: 2 for 3


---SWITCHAROO!!!---


4. The Rock will never wrestle for WWE again.

Steve Cook: FACT. I would love to see it, the millions.....and millions of Rock's fans would love to see it, and it'd be a big fucking deal for WWE. With that being said...it's just not going to happen. Rocky's making too much bank doing his movies to ever consider stepping into the wrestling ring again. Even if his movies aren't all that great, he's making a killing doing them.

He has nothing to prove in wrestling, and quite honestly, going back there would do more to hurt his career than it would to help it. He's already been injured and missed time while acting, how happy do you think his bosses would be if he got injured in a wrestling ring? That'd go over about as well as a fart in church. And even if his movie career goes south, he's made enough money to retire and do absolutely nothing if he wants to...certainly nothing that could cause him physical harm.

Besides, looking at him lately, if he was to come back it would have to be as a Cruiserweight.

Ronny Sarnecky: FACT. I totally agree with Steve. The Rock has nothing to prove, and has made even money in the movies where he doesn't need to return to the WWE. However, there is another reason why I don't see The Rock coming back to the WWE, and that would be time. Sometimes you are on the set for 12-14 hours a day. Then after the movie is "in the can," the promotional tour starts with the film festivals, and talk show appearances. That doesn't even take into account if he is filming another movie at the same time. Would I like to see The Rock back in the WWE? Absolutely! Do I see it happening? Not likely.

Score: 3 for 4


5. CM Punk will eventually win the ECW World Title.

Steve Cook: FACT. Everybody knows I'm not a CM Punk fan. I discussed it in the shoot interview a few weeks ago, I'm not going to discuss it again. But, he will be the ECW World Champion for one simple reason...who the fuck else is there? The talent pool in ECW isn't all that deep yet, and eventually they're going to need somebody that isn't a Titan creation or an ECW retread to fill the role. Somebody that will be the first true "WWECW" star. Right now, as much as I don't like to admit it, CM Punk is in the best position to be that man.

Ronny Sarnecky: FACT. The only thing that will hold CM Punk back is if he gets moved to RAW or SmackDown! before he has a chance to win the ECW title. Unlike Steve, I am a CM Punk fan. Besides the WWE guys in ECW and Sabu, Punk is the most over wrestler in WWECW. He also has the most potential out of anyone in the WWECW brand. Now, if they would only allow him to do the Pepsi Plunge.

Score: 4 for 5


6. It is time for ECW to bring back their other titles.

Steve Cook: FICTION. Not quite yet, Ashish. ECW is still only on TV for one hour a week. Ask TNA how easy it is to have 3 different championships covered in one hour of television a week. It isn't. WWE already has plenty of belts that don't mean a damn, why should they add two more? I used to be a big mark for championships when I believed that wrestling was a sport, but since I realized its entertainment, and that the promoters only care about the one big title...they don't need to have the other ones. A tag team title might be useful, but ECW needs to have some regularly appearing tag teams first.

Ronny Sarnecky: FICTION. At first, I thought that they should bring back the other titles, but I changed my mind. If they had the World, TV, and Tag Titles, then every match on the show would be a title match. With a one hour show, they usually only have 3 matches. You wouldn't be able to build up stars/contenders for the belts. Once again, I agree with Steve. Wait until they get a two hour show, then bring back the other belts.

Score: 5 for 6


These two finish 5 for 6! Join us next week for MORE Fact or Fiction!