Wrestling
From JHawk's Beak: Bits and Pieces
By Jared "JHawk" Hawkins
Dec 13, 2005, 08:30

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

And you don't care, I know.

Anyway, I won't make any excuses for my lack of updates the last two months. Honestly, the motivation to recap the shows hasn't been there since the JR storyline essentially turned me off to ever caring about Raw again. I actually did have something ready to go the day Eddie Guerrero died, but it's never felt right posting it.

At any rate, just so I can get myself back into the swing of things, let's take a look at some things.

Potential WrestleMania main events

Rumors have the two title matches being John Cena vs. Triple and Randy Orton vs. Batista. Honestly, I think they're trying to make me avoid buying the PPV. I can handle Cena vs. Triple H since it's a fresh matchup, but we've seen Orton vs. Batista before and they haven't exactly been classic WrestleMania quality matches.

My choice for the WrestleMania 22 main event? Batista vs. Undertaker. You have the man who has been the World Heavyweight Champion for a full year taking on the man who has never lost at WrestleMania. Which one is going to give? In all honesty, there is more intrigue in that one scenario than there has been in any WrestleMania main event in years. Hell, that's one where nobody would have any idea who would win unless someone on the booking committee spilled the beans.

The state of TNA

One step forward, two steps back for TNA.

One month after signing Christian Cage and beginning to seem like they're ready to turn the corner, they've begun to go backwards by bringing in Sting. Hey, Sting was a big name during the Monday Night War, and I'm sure his name still has some value among casual fans who maybe don't follow wrestling as much these days. But it's only a good investment short-term. Long term? Nothing much can come out of this.

I did not see the Turning Point pay-per-view, but the booking actually seemed pretty good for the most part. In particular, Raven vs. Larry Zbyszko has become the most intriguing authority figure vs. wrestler storyline to come out in months, and the fact that Zbyszko is the one snapping at this point makes Raven come off like he's winning the mind games, which is hugely important for the Raven character.

Also, I love what they've done with Samoa Joe. Undefeated, destroying everybody in his path... this is absolute brillance. The only problem: Joe's got to lose the X Division Title before he moves into the World Title picture, and he's been dominant so long that the loss might hurt him more than it helps him.

My major gripes with TNA right now:

1. Jeff Jarrett as World Champion. Hell, I'm in the minority in actually liking Jeff Jarrett. Above average worker when motivated, and a nice guy to boot, but I don't get "I want to see him get beat" vibe as champion. I get the "I want him off my TV" vibe instead. Where Ric Flair always made himself successful as champion was he could make you believe he was going to lose the title at any time. Hell, that's what made The Honky Tonk Man's Intercontinental Title reign such a success, as I couldn't even tell you a match of his that hit three stars. But with Jarrett, you just know America's Most Wanted will interfere, followed up by a guitar shot.

2. The aborted elevation of Monty Brown. Say what you will about Brown as an in-ring competitor, but the guy's got charisma coming out his ears. The fans want Brown to win the NWA World Title. I don't mind the slow build, but by bringing in Sting and having Brown lose to Christian, it's almost like they're trying to sign guys just to force the slow build. At some point, the match has to happen, and they might need to pull the trigger quickly before Jarrett holds the title too long for people to care.

The NFL

Wow, there were some great games on Sunday, weren't there? My Browns came *this close* to upsetting the red hot Bengals, and if not for a couple of penalties late probably would have. Then you had the Giants vs. Eagles and Chiefs vs. Cowboys being decided late...I still can't believe the Chiefs screwed up the last-second field goal.

The intrigue going into the final three weeks of the season isn't so much which of the bubble teams will make the playoffs. It's whether the Colts can finish the season undefeated. And that's for two reasons.

1. The Colts have two tough games coming up, taking on a good San Diego team and a real good Seattle team. They finish up with a bad Arizona team and should get the win if they get that far. Should?

2. Yes, should. Because if the Colts are smart, they'll sit their starters for most of that last game. What's more important, finishing the regular season 16-0 or having everybody healthy for the playoffs? If the Colts end up undefeated but Peyton Manning gets hurt in that last game, the undefeated season means nothing.

Other quick notes

A few random observations.

1. Just because you're too stupid to do your Christmas shopping before the final two weeks doesn't make it my fault we don't have any iPod Nanos in stock.

2. How the hell are those iPod Nanos selling so fast, anyway?

3. Cherish the baseball off-season while you can if you're a Marlins fan, because you're not going to have good to talk about once the season starts.

4. As much as I enjoy the SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 PS2 game, would it have killed them to not only have more storylines involved to add playability to it, but to have something for you to do if you didn't win the Royal Rumble? You lose the Royal Rumble and the season just ends. So WrestleMania has no undercard?

5. The greatest Christmas present a wrestling fan can receive is a DVD recorder. Hint hint.

OK, that's all for me this week. I'll be around a whole hell of a lot more than I have the last two months. In fact, I've got an article I've been researching that I'm going to try to put up next week.

Until then, you can click this link and send me some feedback.

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