The Happy-Go-Sucky Wrestling Report 01.28.09

Posted by Steve Sullivan on 01.28.2009

Ring of Honor finally lands a major TV deal, Orton wins the Rumble, RVD returns (for a one time only deal), Matt Hardy's betrayal and a nostalgia match at Wrestlemania!

Live from the Great White North of Central Kentucky. I've always wanted to say that for some reason. Unfortunately, when I left home Monday, I had no idea that I wouldn't be returning anytime soon. This past Monday morning, I went to work like I normally do. Got to the radio station only to find out that the White Death was upon us. Hoardes of people were already flocking to the market, causing bread and milk shortages all over the place. And for the first time in my career, I asked myself why I ever chose to work in radio.

You see, I don't get snow days like the rest of you. Businesses can close. Schools can close. But radio stations never close. We're like your local postman, only friendlier and nerdier. So as I sit here writing this column, the ice is pouring, and any second now, the power will probably go out across the entire city. Which case, I will officially initialize "Oh Shit" mode.

So while I await my impending doom, let's see if I can get your wrestling report up this week! And I'll be honest, I probably would have asked someone else to do it, if it weren't for the fact that for the first time, I get to introduce to you the greatest banner that ever existed.



Big thanks go out to Jerrod Westerfeld for the banner hookup! Now, let's rassle!

News: ROH has landed a weekly television show with HDNet.

Happy: Let me star this one out on a selfish note. When I heard that Ring of Honor was trying to land a TV deal, I thought to myself, oh great, another daily wrestling show that I'll miss out on, just like friggin Smackdown. I haven't been home to check yet, but I did my homework on the HDNet webpage and discovered that I, in fact, DO have HDnet! So this alone is cause for celebration!

Now, with that being said, the news couldn't be better for ROH and ROH fans. This has been a long time coming for a company that has the respect of both major brands in the United States.

Now before you call me a ROH fanboy, note that my history and experience of Ring of Honor is 2 pay-per-views, and that was well over a year ago. But the one thing that really turned me off about ROH was the video quality. Obviously, at the time, ROH was a simple indy fed who was trying to make it to the big leagues. When you're in that situation, you have to work with what you got, and ROH made it work. They formed a cult following and earned the respect of wrestling fans all across the world. All with crappy, hand-me-down camera equipment.

The big news here is that Ring of Honor will now not only have HDNet helping with production, ROH will be in HD. That is going to make the world of difference when ROH makes its debut to a nation that has no clue what Ring of Honor is or who any of the wrestlers are. Because I can tell you right now, if ROH came onto TV with the production quality they have now, then their TV fate would be similar to that of Wrestling Society X. It's almost like watching TNA's birth all over again.

Speaking of TNA, I've already read a lot of talk of ROH overtaking TNA. I seriously don't see that happening anytime soon. And especially while ROH is on HDnet. Spike reaches way more TV's than HDnet, not to mention that TNA does have some solid names on its rosters that gives the most clueless wrestling fan a reason to tune in for curiosity's sake. However, I do believe that Ring of Honor is going to give TNA a reason to up its game.

Right now, TNA seemingly is concentrating on catching up to the WWE, which we all know isn't going to happen anytime soon. But with Ring of Honor possibly nipping at their heels, TNA may be forced to change its strategy and focus on staying in front of Ring of Honor. This of course will hopefully make not only the TNA product better, but ROH's as well. Who needs to compete with the WWE when we can all have fun watching TNA and ROH go at each other?

Go Sucky: It's hard to find the bad in this news item when you're a wrestling fan, because that's one more show you get to see on a weekly basis and one more reason to be an avid wrestling fan. But for the sake of Go Sucky, I'll dig deep.

First, being on HDnet is not going to get them outstanding ratings. Sure it's on in a lot of markets, but it's not on in EVERY market like USA and Spike. However, progress is progress, no matter how small a step it may be.

Secondly, can ROH live up to the standards it set for itself in the beginning? With the recent release of Gabe Sapolsky, the hiring of Adam Pearce, and the change in direction that ROH is planning on taking, can ROH really bring the audience it once had in Pay-Per-View and DVD sales to a major TV network? I've not watched a ROH show since Gabe was let go, so I haven't a clue what changed, but from all sources that I've read, ROH is not the high flying, action packed wrestling event it was a couple years ago when ROH Driven was sweeping the IWC by storm. But again, just like TNA's loyal fanbase, I believe that those who are going to watch ROH, will watch it every week devoutly. Notice how TNA's rating rarely goes down? ROH's will likely do the same, with the occasional increase from a publicity push. But I honestly believe that we as the IWC will keep ROH afloat the same way TNA has been kept afloat for the past 4 years.


News: Randy Orton won the 2009 Royal Rumble.

Happy: Not a big shocker here. But it's a pleasant non-shocker. Last week, I had fully expected to see Shawn Michaels become a surprise entrant in the rumble and win it all. Which would have made for some interesting storylines, but would have made the Randy Orton/Vince McMahon angle pointless. Now however, I am reminded of a time when a "bad guy" bullied authority and did as he pleased while beating the crap outta the boss. (Ring a bell?) I also sense the atmosphere for wrestling fans that a storyline like that is bringing. You see, no matter how big of a heel Randy Orton tries to be, the crowd is pulling for him. And that's what makes wrestling fun. Fans turned Steve Austin into a legend and turned Edge into the greatest heel of this century.

On top of that, Shane is now involved. And I look for a great pay-per-view matchup featuring Shane vs. Orton at No Way Out. And by having a feud between the two of those, you realize what's missing from your typical No Way Out card that's been played to death each and every year??

The Main Event At Wrestlemania shot on the line match.

That match annoys me so freakin' much. If you win the Royal Rumble, you shouldn't have to defend that honor. You should just go straight to Wrestlemania. But nowadays, you have to fill in 2 months worth of programming AND a pay-per-view prior to Wrestlemania, so I understand why they do it. But it was getting kind of predictable. This week, it looks like the Royal Rumble winner will be in a different type of storyline than we normally see heading into Wrestlemania, and that's refreshing.

Go Sucky: My only gripe with Orton winning is, does Orton really need the extra push? He's already the top heel on Raw and is now working on sketching out an awesome stable. He won the main event at last year's Wrestlemania in what everyone saw as a major shocker. He's beaten some of the company's best. Does he really need it?

By the way, totally off topic but just an interesting tidbit of information that was brought to my attention. Think about Evolution. Every member of that legendary stable has now been a World Champion. Every member of that stable has now won a Royal Rumble. And, most importantly, every member of that stable has lost to The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Pretty cool stuff if that holds true.

News: Matt Hardy turned on Jeff Hardy.

Happy: Say what you will about the other surprises that came with The Royal Rumble pay-per-view. This by far was the biggest and refreshing shocker of the night. When I started writing for 411mania back in 2005, do you remember what the biggest story was? The Matt Hardy/Edge/Lita real life love triangle. Now, suddenly, Matt Hardy helps Edge win the title in what has to be one of the best swerves in the history of professional wrestling. How many of you can honestly say you saw that coming?

I'll be honest, I had a hunch that Matt Hardy was about to switch ships after he suddenly lost the ECW Title to Jack Swagger. And I figured he would head over to Smackdown. But I wasn't sure what he was going to do when he got there. Now I can see clearly that Wrestlemania is going to have a brotherly feud like none other. Hopefully involving steel cages, ladders, and bruised bodies. That alone is enough for me to be excited about Wrestlemania this year. And that's something that was tough for me to come by last year.

Here's another idea, as apparently the trickling ice outside is stimulating my brain. Is Matt Hardy officially on Edge's side now? Like is he part of The Family? So now you have Edge & Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy. Jeff needs a partner. Ta-pow! Enter Christian! Now, 10 years later, you suddenly have instead of the Hardys vs. Edge & Christian, you have Matt Hardy & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Christian! That my friends, would be fun to watch.

Go Sucky: The only bad part about this is my hopes for a Hardy Boys vs. Edge & Christan TLC match at Wrestlemania has been destroyed!

News: Rob Van Dam returned to the Royal Rumble for a one time only deal.

Happy: So if you read last week's report, you might have noticed the part where I mentioned that RVD might be a suprirse entrant. Well it's no surprise to me that I was right! :) That's what makes this one just a little bit happier for me than it does for all you RVD commenters.

Anyway, I didn't get to watch the Rumble but I read it. I'm pretty sure we all knew that RVD wasn't going to be back permanently. I remember a few years back when The Honkeytonk Man suddenly returned for a one shot only at the Royal Rumble. The Rumble is notorious for putting a piece of nostalgia in the mix. And it was nice to see RVD in good form.

The positive we can all take from this is the fact that RVD continues to have an open door policy. The WWE gave him the chance to be in the match, give him and his fans a nice pat on the back, and send him back on his way and remind him that when he's ready to come back, he can. If he had as much fun as we did watching him on Sunday, hopefully he'll come back soon.

News: Mickey Rourke announced that he will wrestle Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania.

Happy: You know how Vince and the WWE just HAS to have some kind of celebrity influence at Wrestlemania. Last year it was Floyd Mayweather. In years past it's been Mike Tyson, Lawrence Taylor. The list goes on and on. But I have to say, if there was EVER a good opportunity for the WWE to bring in a celebrity at Wrestlemania this has to be it.

I've not seen the movie yet but I plan to. From all accounts I've read, the movie is fantastic, not just for wrestling fans. The fact that it's garnering Academy Awards makes it that much bigger. Can you imagine? A wrestling movie earning an Academy Award? That'd be like David Arquette winning Best Actor and Diamond Dallas Page winning Best Supporting Actor.

With all the Oscar buzz that Mickey Rourke is bringing around, you can't help but to feel that the media will follow the hell out of this and give the WWE a TON of publicity. And hopefully the aftermath of the movie itself will give the national audience a positive perspective of our favorite sport.

News: THQ's Legends of Wrestlemania video game is the official sponsor of the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame special. There is talk of doing a "nostalgia" bout at WrestleMania XXV as a tie in to the video game.

I didn't bring this bit in here to debate whether or not it's Happy or Go Sucky but basically kind of dream up what the WWE might be considering. In order to figure that out, I had to do some research on who is actually slated to be in the game.

From the game cover, we can see that Andre The Giant is in it. Obviously he won't be wrestling. Unless Vince plans on returning "God" to the ring and bringing Andre as His manager. Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Stone Cold Steve Austin are also on the cover.

The Ultimate Warrior (surprisingly), Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels are all on board as well. JR also confirmed that Jerry Lawler and The Honkeytonk Man will be in the game as well. So there are a TON of possibilities here.

First, with Stone Cold heading into the Hall of Fame this year, he would be my favorite to show up in the ring and face someone. Obviously, the big favorite here would be Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan. But that would be a little much just to promote a video game. Not to mention that Hulk Hogan isn't on Vince's good side with his Celebrity Championship Wrestling TV show, and all the negative media that's been following him around after his divorce.

With all the junk that the Ultimate Warrior did with wrestling back late last year, it'd be interesting to see him get back into the ring again. Perhaps we could have a rematch between The Ultimate Warrior and The Honkey Tonk Man where the Warrior ended Honkey's legendary Intercontinental Championship reign in just mere seconds.

Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart would have been a lot of fun. A rematch from their classic battle at Wrestlemania 8. And The Rock facing anyone would just be fantastic. Plus, with the current storyline, it's highly doubtful Shawn Michaels would be involved in a goofy match like this.

Unfortunately, I can't believe that the WWE is going to put a huge classic like Stone Cold vs. Hogan or The Rock vs. Stone Cold or Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior to promote the video game. My mostly like candidate with the current selection at hand would probably be Roddy Piper vs. The Honkey Tonk Man.





Rapid Fire

News: The Brian Kendrick is forming a bad reputation for not listening backstage, hence his early exit from the Royal Rumble.

When your first name is "The", you learn to tune out sentences that aren't of matter to you.

News: One Night Stand has officially been renamed "Extreme Rules" due to the new PG content.

Besides, it wasn't much of a One Night Stand anymore. It was more like ECW Booty Call.

Anyway, that's going to do it. The ice is coming down so I'm going to retreat to my hotel room! Until next week, may this freakin ice melt, and may your lives be Happy…or Go Sucky!