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"Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success."
- Swami Sivananda
Owens and Jericho celebrating during one of the not-so-highlights of Clash of Champions
My Second Thoughts on Clash of Champions...
To say I was underwhelmed by RAW's inaugural solo PPV last night might be a stretch, but I wasn't blown away by it either.
There were some matches (Cesaro-Sheamus, Perkins-Kendrick) I found to be quite riveting and exciting, others just kind of there (Reigns-Rusev, Jericho-Zayn), and the rest, which would've seemed better suited for short and/or screwy TV matches. Overall, it was a middle-of-the-road installment for WWE RAW, much like Smackdown and Backlash.
There were some matches (Cesaro-Sheamus, Perkins-Kendrick) I found to be quite riveting and exciting, others just kind of there (Reigns-Rusev, Jericho-Zayn), and the rest, which would've seemed better suited for short and/or screwy TV matches. Overall, it was a middle-of-the-road installment for WWE RAW, much like Smackdown and Backlash.
A happy belated Father's day to my pappy David Hill and step-pappy Bobby Pespisa!
...ahem...
The fallout from Money in the Bank 2016 has produced a number of shocking highs and lows, none higher than a surprising new champion in Dean Ambrose and none lower than the surreal 30-day Wellness "vacation" handed down to WWE's poster boy Roman Reigns...
On June 11th...
- 2007: A special "Draft Lottery" edition of RAW was broadcast from the Wachovia Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. While the Draft Lottery had its surprising moments, including the draft of ECW Champion Bobby Lashely to RAW, the big story was the surreal, shocking end to the show...
The show that night was also "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night." In an effort to pick up his spirits following his ECW Championship loss, Vince invited guests and stars from WWE's past and present to give their "fondest" memories of the Chairman. Safe to say it didn't go so well. After being harangued and roasted by WWE's finest, a depressed, despondent McMahon trudged to his limo and closed the door, only for the limo and himself to be engulfed in a fiery explosion, seemingly "killing" Vince McMahon.
In reality, it was a shock-factor wrestling angle that would've led into a "Whodunit?" storyline, which in turn would've led to a meteoric push for then-WWE Superstar Mr. Kennedy. The angle itself seemed to play out perfectly; fans were reporting the incident to local police, news outlets were covering the story, and WWE.com even acknowledged the explosion and McMahon's subsequent demise as "legitimate."
However, details concerning the angle had been kept far too close to the vest by those within the company; business partners were confused by the "incident", WWE's stock took a surprisingly large drop, and wrestling pundits drove up a public outcry against the angle, particularly following a WWE press release, in which WWE essentially used its owner's "death" as a vehicle to push the next, "exciting" episode of RAW.
While those were criticial factors in sweeping the angle under the rug, it was ultimately nixed two weeks later following the tragedy of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel.
#ThisDayInProWrestling #June11 #GetKennected
"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." - Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)
Considered the greatest boxer ever to step between the ropes, Muhammad Ali will be missed dearly, not only for the legend he built as a pugilist or being one of the most quotable athletes of his generation, but the indelible mark he left on the world of professional wrestling.
Ali faced Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in a cross-promotion match on June 26, 1976. While the match itself is mired in confusion and controversy and remains much-debated to this day, it paved the way for Inoki and Ali's fire-forged friendship and efforts towards peace through sportsmanship and athleticism.
Ali would also take part in the very first WrestleMania in WWE's history, acting as the special referee for the historical show's main event, a tag team grudge match with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T facing off against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr, Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.
To Muhammad Ali, may he forever float and sting, until the end of time...
Ali faced Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in a cross-promotion match on June 26, 1976. While the match itself is mired in confusion and controversy and remains much-debated to this day, it paved the way for Inoki and Ali's fire-forged friendship and efforts towards peace through sportsmanship and athleticism.
Ali would also take part in the very first WrestleMania in WWE's history, acting as the special referee for the historical show's main event, a tag team grudge match with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T facing off against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr, Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.
To Muhammad Ali, may he forever float and sting, until the end of time...
#GetKennected #MuhammadAli
On June 6th...
- 2005: The first man drafted in WWE's newly-formatted Draft Lottery (5 picks for RAW, 5 for SmackDown) was none other than then-WWE Champion John Cena coming over to RAW, fresh off his feud with JBL. It would also be the first time since the initial brand split that both the WWE (Cena) and World Heavyweight (Batista) champions were on the same show, before Batista was moved over to SmackDown. Cena's remained a staple of RAW to this day, going on 11 years!
- 1998: Wrestlepalooza '97, presented by ECW, was headlined by the ECW Heavyweight champion Terry Funk retaining his title against Chris Candido, a surprise appearance by Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Tommy Dreamer picking up his first (televised) victory over longtime nemesis Raven in a "Loser Leaves ECW" match.
- 1993: At a WWF live event in Albany, New York, Shawn Michaels defeated Marty Jannetty to win the Intercontinental Championship in what would be the 2nd in a series of three matches for the IC Title between the former Rockers. This would also be the match where Kevin Nash made his official WWF debut as HBK's bodyguard, Diesel.
Credit to cagesideseat.com for the history lesson!
#GetKennected #ThisDayInProWrestling
Goldberg has "hatched!"...Is A Return to the ring "Next?"
Hmmmmm...
My bad.
In all honestly, I really should've known. I even said in the previous post the #Hatch hints would probably lead to something stupid like a WWE Films trailer piece, but even then I was only half right. Isaac Asimov once said, "Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them every once in a while, or the light won't come in"...or in more layman's terms, makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me."
That being said, Goldberg's trailer would probably imply that he's, in some shape or form, returning to the WWE fold. We're looking at either a simple Hall of Fame induction, or Vince may try to entice him further into making an actual in-ring return. Given Goldberg's past remarks about Vince as a person and a businessman, I'm not too keen on the latter, but it would be a fascinating prospect.
The WWE and its video monkeys have been bringing up Goldberg more in recent weeks, even during a video speculating what could go down at WrestleMania 33, one of those possibilities being Goldberg returning to face off with Roman Reigns, which even Goldberg himself said he'd want to do if given the chance, as well as renew his rivalry with Brock Lesnar.
So if Vince and WWE went all out to get Goldberg for at least one more match, the question would be: Who would Goldberg face off with? Here are three possibilities...
What's "Hatching" on May 30th?
Speculation has run rampant in the IWC about the cryptic images (seen above) posted on WWE's Twitter account in the last few days, implying that something or someone "big" is about to "hatch" on to the 'New Era' of WWE.
Rumors of who or what the "hatchling" could be have run the gamut of obvious to shocking to downright ridiculous, although given the WWE and Vince's propensity for screwing with fans' minds, it could very well just be an overblown premise for the latest WWE Films straight-to-DVD disaster....
Joking aside, with the upcoming draft and Smackdown going live on Tuesdays in July, whatever is "hatching" could very well prove to be the on-screen catalyst for the brand split, such as whatever it was in the "strongbox" Shane hinted at. It could be a brand new superstar, the return of a long-lost performer like Bray Wyatt or Randy Orton, or even a certain relic from Smackdown's past brought back to symbolize the resurgence of the blue brand's separate identity from RAW...
Rumors of who or what the "hatchling" could be have run the gamut of obvious to shocking to downright ridiculous, although given the WWE and Vince's propensity for screwing with fans' minds, it could very well just be an overblown premise for the latest WWE Films straight-to-DVD disaster....
Joking aside, with the upcoming draft and Smackdown going live on Tuesdays in July, whatever is "hatching" could very well prove to be the on-screen catalyst for the brand split, such as whatever it was in the "strongbox" Shane hinted at. It could be a brand new superstar, the return of a long-lost performer like Bray Wyatt or Randy Orton, or even a certain relic from Smackdown's past brought back to symbolize the resurgence of the blue brand's separate identity from RAW...
No one truly knows. Having looked across several wrestling news sites and scanning through hundreds of comments from speculative fans, I've compiled a small list of the most-heavily rumored people/objects of focus that could be the ones to be #Hatched tomorrow night on Raw...
On May 29th...
- 2014: The very first NXT: Takeover special was broadcasted from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. It featured the Ascension (Viktor & Konnor) in the midst of their record-setting reign as NXT Tag Team Champions. Also, there was Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) overcoming Natalya (w/Bret Hart) in the finals to determine a new NXT Women's Champion, after then-champion Paige had relinquished it to focus on her recently-won Divas Championship. Finally, in the main event, Adrian Neville successfully retained his NXT Championship in a grueling match-up against Tyson Kidd.
- 2008: The late Chris Benoit's personal physician, Dr. Phil Astin, wound up with a 175-count indictment, having allegedly written thousands of illegal subscriptions to seventeen different patients (many of them on the then-current WWE roster, like William Regal, Rey Mysterio, and Edge). Coupled with an earlier seven-count indictment on over-prescribing painkillers/drugs, Astin faced a cumulative 300 years in prison and up to $175 million in fines. He would plead guilty to all charges in January 2009, and was sentenced four months later to 10 years in prison.
- 2000: On a episode of WCW Nitro emanating from Salt Lake City, Utah, Kevin Nash relinquished his recently-won WCW Championship and awarded it to Ric Flair, who'd been stripped of the title a week prior. Nash stated on-air that Flair shouldn't have been stripped of it to begin with and was the rightful champion. This notion would ring hollow later in the night, though, when Flair defended his newly-won title against Jeff Jarrett and lost, marking it not only as the shortest of Flair's record 16 championship reigns, but also his last.
Thanks goes out to cagesideseats.com for today's history lesson!
#GetKennected #ThisDayInProWrestling #NXTTakeover
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THE "MIND" OF THE STRONGHOLD,
Ken Hill!
OPEN YOUR MINDS AND
"KENNECT" WITH ME!
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