The Happy-Go-Sucky Wrestling Report 12.26.07: Santino, Angle, Hornswaggle, Jericho, Flair, & More

Posted by Steve Sullivan on 12.26.2007

Santino Marella becomes one of the greatest heels on Raw, Angle wears all the gold, Hornwaggle is a Little Bastard and Jericho comes to Save_Us!

I trust everyone had a Merry christmas and if you're an atheist, I hope that you had fun trying staying inside all day with nothing better to do.

Anyway, welcome to the final edition of The Happy Go Sucky Wrestling report of 2007! We kind of got started late this year since I ended up taking a few months hiatus from wrestling. The events that happened in the second half of 2007 drew me back to writing again, and hence the birth of this fun little column.


July 2007

News: Santino Marella begins his massive heel push, despite barely wrestling.

Happy: Santino Marella has come a long way since the "Milan Miracle" and I have to say that his run as a heel has been the best thing for him and Raw. He was best working as a heel in OVW so it's not a real big surprise for me. When I did an interview with him a couple of years ago while writing the Crystal Ball, I knew this guy had a passion to make a name for himself, even if it took talking to nerdy internet writers like me. Watching Santino rise to the top, even without winning wrestling matches, has been a different type of push many wrestling fans are used to. Looking at other various websites, many people are selecting Santino Marella as their "Rookie of the Year". Think about that for a minute. A wrestler, who rarely wrestles or wins, has been named the Rookie of The Year. That is just how great a job the WWE has done at pushing this guy over the edge and how great an entertainer Santino Marella is. Santino has quickly become one of my favorite wrestlers and my very favorite heel.

Go Sucky: The only thing that has sucked about the push of Santino Marella is the simple fact that he rarely wrestles. This whole angle with Carlito could turn out to be interesting since it seems as though Santino will actually be wrestling and maybe even winning. That's been the problem with a lot of this however. If the WWE really is planning to push Santino over the edge and build him into the future of this company, they have to push him in the ring rather than the mic. Once they do that, then the WWE will have its most entertaining heel champion since The Rock.


August 2007

News: Kurt Angle wins every TNA Title.

Happy: There wasn't much good out of this. I guess the idea that one person held every single title was different.l

Go Sucky: What the hell was TNA thinking here? This has been the horrible cancer that is slowly killing TNA. TNA takes every single one of their titles and puts them on Kurt Angle. Kurt did not need any of those titles to get over. Kurt did not help build this company and to put every single prize on his greedy, steroid ridden waist was just moronic. If there were a trophy to be given for the Worst Idea ever, Dixie Carter would get first, second, third, and honorable mention for allowing this to happen. PUSH SOMETHING ORIGINAL DIXIE!


September 2007

News: Hornwaggle is named Vince McMahon's bastard son.

Happy: Ok I know a lot of people hated this, and at first, so did I. But I have to admit that Hornswaggle has turned into a fun character and has risen to the size of his push. This guy has more charisma and more character than more than half of the WWE's current roster. And he has helped set up some of the best sketches and ideas of Raw this year. I know that the whole idea was to push Mr. Kennedy over, but when lemons won't make lemonade, make Irish Cream, or something like that.

Go Sucky: Mr. Kennedy shot himself in the foot when he opened his mouth about steroids, then took them himself. This angle had the potential to be one of the best, longest running angles in the WWE in a long time with a huge buildup toward Wrestlemania. Now, it's just a comedy routine that has no point for anything anymore. This whole storyline is a waste now and it could have been used to push someone further into the future. What a shame.

October 2007

News: The SaveUs.222 campaign gets underway for Chris Jericho's return.

Happy: This was a lot of fun at first. Watching many people in the 411 forums cracking the codes and searching for the answer created one of the biggest buzz's around here in a long time. Many of us knew it was Chris Jericho before it was supposed to but it was still fun to see the campaign. To the average wrestling fan, and by average I mean people who do not read sites like 411mania, this was probably really exciting. I'll admit, I don't think I would have figured this out on my own until the very end of the hints had I not been writing here.

Anyway, Chris Jericho was a much needed boost for Raw given a ton of its top guys have been bit by the injury bug. Many of us had been waiting to see him wrestle again after waiting for over 2 years. Now that he's back, well. I dunno, but he's back and that's good.

Go Sucky: I think the extended amount of time and teasing may have ruined this comeback plan. People were getting frustrated and antsy to get Jericho back on TV. There were 3 PPV's he was supposed to return on, but it was constantly postponed. People bought No Mercy to see the return of Jericho, only to see another viral video. This was pretty shady to do to the fans.


November 2007

News: Ric Flair begins his final run as a wrestler.

Happy: It's really good to see Flair back in the ring. There was a point where many people had figured that Ric Flair had wrestled his last match. When he returned to defeat Randy Orton that night in Charlotte to continue his career, it was a true markout moment, even if it did get the ole cliche ending with Jericho costing Orton the match. Regardless, I love this idea of having "Flair's last match" every week as he claws his way back to the top in what could be a chance to wrestle in the main event at Wrestlemania. This is a good story for the WWE and a well deserved send off for Ric Flair.

Go Sucky: I just hope we don't continue to see endings where other wrestlers come in to help Ric Flair win. Let's see Flair win on his own and be the man that everyone needs to beat to be. If this truly is the proper sendoff for Ric Flair, let him have his glory and no screw job endings.

December 2007

News: Raw celebrates its 15th Anniversary with a 3 hour Raw that many believe was one of the best of the year.

Happy: This show truly reminded me why I watch wrestling. It was a fun show and was fun to watch from beginning to end, which is something that many of us wrestling fans have not had in awhile. There was not a whole lot of wrestling for a 3 hour show but what wrestling there was, it was decent and of course it was fun to see Hardcore Holly win a title! It was good to see some of the older guys back from Raw's early days from everyone from Steve Austin to the Repo Man. This truly was a celebration of the show, and not just Vince McMahon.

Go Sucky: Speaking of Vince, the only thing that sucked about this show was the predictability of Vince naming himself Raw's Greatest Superstar. I had really hoped to see someone we hadn't seen in a long time, like Bret Hart or The Rock show up and be the Greastest Superstar, not one of the guys like Steve Austin or Mick Foley who tend to show up off and on every other pay per view. I think that was the only thing that kept this show from being a true 100% classic.

And with that, we have finished up 2007. Enjoy the rest of what's left of this year and I hope that 2008 is an even better year. I won't be in next week. I will on my honeymoon! Yes it just goes to show that an internet wrestling writer can find a girl and get married and get the Go Sucky Sucky. Until 2 weeks from now.

May your life, and your new year, be Happy or Go Sucky!