The Goodness 02.07.07: A Star Is Born

Posted by  on 02.07.2007

Forget Umaga, Cena or HBK. At this year's Royal Rumble, it was Mr. Kennedy that stole the show and signaled his arrival as a true player in the WWE for many years to come.

Well for the first time since the 2004 Royal Rumble, I ended up ordering and paying for a non-WrestleMania WWE pay-per-view. And I must admit, it was a good purchase. The boring Test/Lashley ECW Title match was the only down spot in the show and, because I was watching the show On Demand, that got the fast-forward treatment. Everything else was either good or great. The opening tag match was very, very good. The Cena/Umaga match, which has been praised elsewhere, certainly exceeded expectations though the crowd seemed a little spent by the STFU submission end. And the Rumble itself almost always delivers and this year was no exception. I was actually surprised by some of the criticism about the beginning and middle of the match, I thought it had good pacing and built up to a really fantastic ending. But these matches didn't steal the show for me...

The Goodness 02.07.07: A Star Is Born

My schedule and, honestly, my life don't allow me to catch SmackDown too often. I'm 24 years old, I'm usually not staying in the night after a long workweek and if I am, it's usually because I'm with my girlfriend. I'm a big fan of happy hour. But on those rare occasions I do watch the show, or it's pre-empted to Saturday, the allure for me has been Mr. Kennedy. He just seemed to me like a breakout star from the beginning. He had the cool intro. He had the neat character. I thought he had the goods in the ring. But despite some high-profile matches, angles and feuds, it seemed like there was just something missing from Kennedy. He hadn't made that breakout yet, he didn't have a scintiliating performance on the big stage. Well, save for WrestleMania, it doesn't get any bigger than the Royal Rumble.

The World Heavyweight Title match between Batista and Kennedy has been received nicely on the Internet and by fans but nothing spectacular. No one's giving it four stars like the Cena match got. It's not an instant classic. However, it could prove to be an important tipping point when we look back years from now on the career of Mr. Kennedy.

Most wrestling superstars have one big match that vaults them into the stratosphere: Austin at WrestleMania 13, Bret Hart beating Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan winning that first WWF Title spring to mind. But before there can be that moment, there has to be another, less remembered moment, that signals to the wrestling world that the wrestling is for real, if you will. For Austin, his moment came at the 1996 Survivor Series. He went to toe-to-toe with Bret Hart and put on one of the greatest matches in pro wrestling history. By WrestleMania 13, if was a matter of when, not if, he became a main eventer.

Kennedy didn't have the luxury of working with Bret Hart. In fact, he was working with a Batista that has been chastised for his shotty ring work as of late. Well let me assure Batista more then held up his end at the Rumble, selling his leg injury appropriately and making Kennedy look like a star. But it was Kennedy that carried the match. From the opening bell, it was the younger, less experienced Kennedy that was dragging Batista to a match that captured the crowd's attention and won over the fans.

The beauty of Kennedy's work in the Royal Rumble was how old-school it was. Kennedy isn't a star because of his physique. In the real world, Kennedy's jacked. In the pumped up world of pro wrestling, Kennedy almost seems scrawny compared to guys like Batista and Lashley. But what Kennedy lacks in physique, he makes up for in technical ability. Like Bret Hart, Kennedy is a consummate pro with intricate knowledge of what to do and how to do it inside a wrestling ring.

The strategy employed by Kennedy to win the title was straight out of Pro Wrestling 101, a strategy that clearly won over JBL in the announce booth. He attacked the leg, attacked it some more and busted out any submission move he could think of to target the leg. It was a clinic in how to suspend the belief of the crowd. You felt like Kennedy had spent hours backstage devising a strategy to win the belt and then carried it out. It had a sporting feel to it, a feel that is so rare to achieve in this "flip-flop" era of pro wrestling. Kennedy didn't bust out a moonsault or the Flying Space Tiger Drop, but he won over the crowd. Big time.

It is still rare, though less uncommon, for a full-fledged heel to come out and win the crowd over. It's even rarer when the opponent is a face the magnitude of Batista. Batista's not Hulk Hogan but he's certainly over with crowd. However, the crowd had turned by the end of the match. It wasn't against Batista, it was for Kennedy. They fell for the guy. How could they not? He had worked his ass off leading into the match with fantastic promos and an excellent portrayal of his smarmy character. During the match, he did everything. Kennedy brought the heat. Kennedy brought the excitement. Kennedy brought the storyline.

In the end, Batista won and is heading to WrestleMania to face the Undertaker. I don't think anyone is surprised by that and no one is complaining, yet, that Kennedy is being held down despite his abilities. The WWE braintrust has clearly seen his potential and he's already gone back to squashing people on SmackDown to build himself back up.

I guarantee you this. Mr. Kennedy will be the World Champion by the end of the year, if not by SummerSlam. I also guarantee that he will, if his character is not altered or changed, become a truly big star by the end of the year. And I guarantee you that we will look back at his Royal Rumble performance as only the tip of the iceberg and a foreshadowing of greatness to come.

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