Money In The Bank Predictions

Money in the Bank is quickly becoming many people's favorite payperview. With a guaranteed title shot on the line, and how low level the stakes of Survivor Series seem these days, many even declare it part of a new big 4 of WWE shows, alongside Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, and Summerslam. It is disappointing to see that this year's show is a Smackdown Live exclusive, but on the bright side, we get the first ever women's Money in the Bank match.

The women's Money in the Bank match, according to the WWE's social media presence features six women, though only Carmella, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Tamina have been announced. Current rumors say that Maria Kanellis will be the sixth entrant. If that is the case, she's my pick. If it was just a typo, I've got Carmella winning. Becky and Charlotte don't need the briefcase to be considered title contenders, and I imagine creative lives the idea of James Ellsworth carrying around the case for Carmella.

Two tag team matches will be featured on the card, starting with the Fashion Police taking on the Colons. The backstage segments with the Fashion Police have been hilarious, their matches have been fun, and the crowd seems to really love this team of talented young NXT vets. While the win helps the Colons more, I see the Fashion Police winning, possibly injecting themselves right back into the title scene.

The previously mentioned tag title scene is currently filled with the New Day and the Usos. Either team could win this match, as the Usos have had a great heel run. The New Day, on the other hand, are the New Day. They're gold on the mic, great in the ring, and their most recent tag title run has proven they are the measuring stick. I've got the New Day capturing the gold.

The women's title is on the line as well at Money in the Bank, when Lana challenges Naomi. I'm interested to see how Lana will be in the ring. Looking at the talent in the two women's matches though, I just can't drive myself to be excited for his one. I'll take Lana winning, just for the surprise factor.

The men's Money in the Bank match features Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and Shinsuke Nakamura. This has to be WWE's match of the year, no? A great combination of talent will be in the ring, in one of the best gimmick matches possible. I expect KO and Sami to destroy each other and AJ to pull off a spot like his old TNA days where he essentially eliminates himself by doing something so incredible he can't recover. Nakamura is in an awkward limbo spot where he's arguably too new to get this win, but also doesn't need the briefcase to be relevant or appear in the title picture. Been there done that with Ziggler, and for me, it wasn't that great. This leaves Baron Corbin. The Lone Wolf would look like such a badass with the briefcase, and I think he and the briefcase can do wonders to make each other feel more important.

Lastly, Jinder Mahal defends his word heavyweight championship against Randy Orton. Jinder has to get the win here in my eyes. Randy doesn't need the title, and you just gave Jinder the ball, might as well let him run with it. You don't hinder the Modern Day Maharaja a month into his reign. I expect an okay match from the two but, depending on how Lana has improved, quite possibly the worst match on the card. Perhaps some sort of shenanigans or a big return will make this a bit better (I'm looking at you, Rusev).

Pro Wrestling & Sexuality: Where Does Sports Entertainment Stand in 2017?

At the time of writing this entry, it is Pride month in 2017. With how far sexuality identity has come in mainstream society, I thought it would be interesting to look at how this issues has progressed in professional wrestling.

Throughout history, professional wrestling has been notorious for creating villains out of people because of their differences, it is no surprise that the industry has had some difficulty portraying LGBT characters well. For the sake of brevity, I will be looking at from the year 2000 through today.

The earliest notable characters we will be looking at are Billy and Chuck. Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo became a tag team after Chuck Palumbo was kicked out of the Alliance. As the team progressed, the two began to become affectionate towards one another. As the affection became more frequent and forward, Billy and Chuck had essentially become a homosexual couple. Eventually, there was a proposal, and the two would have a commitment ceremony on Smackdown. GLAAD even publicly supported the team and the ceremony. Until the ceremony happened. The ceremony included moments like the duo dancing in the ring to "It's Raining Men," a pimp coming to the ring to convince the two to become straight again, and eventually, when the ceremony was about to become official, Billy shouting that the entire thing has been a publicity stunt. The crowd erupted in cheers, after generally trashing the entire segment. The two continued as a tag team for a bit longer, though immediately dropped all aspects of the gimmick that made the team appear as stereotypical homosexuals.

While Billy and Chuck were developing their relationship, they hired a personal stylist. Rico made his debut in March of 2002, and continued with the character, becoming more and more flamboyant and ambiguous until 2004, when he was released from the company. One of the biggest exotico characters in mainstream wrestling, Rico was definitely one of the most memorable gimmicks of the period.

As recently as October of 2006 the WWE had run bra and panties matches - matches where the winner was the competitor who removed all of the opponents clothing, aside from the previously mentioned garments. Female talent was more likely to be found from swimsuit magazines than wrestling schools. TNA, on the other hand, had what most would consider a more talented women's roster (or Knockouts, as the company referred to them), the fact that the talent was treated as legitimate competitors certainly helped the female talent seem much more serious. When TNA signed Orlando Jordan in 2010, who was released by WWE shortly after pitching a bisexual character (which is how he identifies himself), we would see what they would do with sexual orientation.

At the beginning of Jordan's run with the company, he would find himself accompanied by both a male and female valet who were portrayed as love interests. With an overly sexualized gimmick, he started a feud with Rob Terry, where the two battled for the global championship. Using mind games to taunt the overly macho Terry, Jordan almost started to become similar to an early Goldust. Eventually, however, Jordan would quickly find himself becoming aa stereotypical homosexual character in the world of professional wrestling. Still, the early work of this character was interesting, and it was nice to see TNA running with the gimmick that the WWE originally rejected.

Another notable character, in 2011 Joey Ryan performed under the name Chase Walker in the Wrestling Retribution Project. Walker performed without any of the stereotypes that had been traditionally associated with homosexual characters. Heel rivals began to threaten to out his character to the audience, and eventually did. The following week, Walker came to the ring and came out publicly to the audience and continued to perform as an openly gay character. This was an incredibly progressive storyline, and it was nice to see that he wasn't treated any differently than other performers by fans.

On the current WWE roster, Darren Young is a member of the Raw brand. While he is openly gay in real life, his character really doesn't have any sort of leanings or love interest angles. I appreciate this approach, as there are tons of performers who never have any sort of romance angles. Some have raised issue with the fact that his on air persona doesn't have his orientation referenced at all. Regardless of where you stand on the argument, I felt that he was an important person to include. I am curious to see if his sexual orientation is something that is ever brought up on screen.

While the world of professional wrestling still has quite a way to go in terms of equality, I do believe progress is being made in the way the LGBT community is presented. The four examples above show how far we have come just since the turn of the century. 

Okada vs Omega

In January, at Wrestle Kingdom 11, Kazuchika Okada successfully defended his IWGP heavyweight championship against Kenny Omega. At the time, this match was getting praise as the greatest pro wrestling match in decades. Dave Meltzer, one of the most well-respected writers in professional wrestling, if not all of sports journalism, gave the match six stars on a five star system. Okada and Omega clearly tore down the Tokyo Dome. 

Fast forward five months and travel about 500KM to Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan. Kenny Omega left Tokyo a broken man, but has been called out by Okada, who arrogantly wants to prove that his victory at Wrestle Kingdom wasn't a fluke. With his second chance before him, Omega accepted this challenge, claiming that Okada needed the victory to justify his reign. What happened from there was what the world has almost unanimously called an even better match. The reaction to this match is an absolute justification for giving NJPW your $10 a month, even just to check out Dominion. I know it worked for me.

Marty Scurll Sums Up Wrestling in One Tweet

"The Villain" Marty Scurll generated quite a bit of conversation with a tweet he sent out asking "If fans moan about selling & lack of psychology today can wrestlers moan of 10 chants and fans acting like numpties in general?" I had to Google what a numpty is, but after finding a definition, I realized that this is the perfect summation of the current state of the wrestling industry. In a time of unparalleled access through a combination of dirt sheets and social media, it has become more and more difficult for the modern fan to understand or perform their role in modern wrestling without disturbing the show.

When Hogan joined the NWO, the ring began to fill with trash thrown from the audience. Viewed as an impressive visual, WCW began to encourage the fans to continue with this act. ECW included the crowd filling the squared circle with steel chairs in the opening video for their weekly television series. At times, they would have matches where fans were encouraged to bring weapons from home. Slowly but surely, we would see the crowd become a bigger and bigger part of the show. While fans would often finish the catchphrases of their favorite wrestlers, things seemed to be all in good fun until Stone Cold Steve Austin introduced his "what" catchphrase. To this day, you will still see some talent become noticeably thrown off by the fans answering every sentence of a promo with "what?" It was starting to become questionable whether the audience was at the event to have fun or to get themselves over on television.

Why do we, as fans, try to damage the thing that we've paid to enjoy? These fans spend so much time and effort to get themselves over, that they can't see the irony of what they're doing to the performers. For me, one of the most drastic examples of fans damaging the ability of someone to get over is a character that actually overcame the chants. Leading up to the debut of the Wyatt Family (which I discuss in the following entry: http://figurefourwritersblock.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-curious-case-of-bray-wyatt.html), the vignettes were unlike any we had seen in quite some time. They built intrigue, they developed character, and they made the Wyatts seem downright creepy. When the Wyatts finally hit the ring, a small portion of the crowd insists on chanting "Husky Harris," a reference to Bray's character prior to being repackaged who never got over with the crowd. This adds nothing to the show, and only assists in taking people out of the moment. It is something that only happened once to my memory, which is probably why it did no true harm to the character, but had it been louder or more frequent, the chant could have caused irreparable damage.

To the point of fans and critics citing a lack of psychology, I would argue they are watching the product incorrectly. The world of professional wrestling is a world of super human feats. Competitors no longer pretend that they were incapacitated by a shoulder tackle because later in the match they will be taking dives off the top rope and suplexes that throw them clear across the ring. As the moves have become more complex, I accept the kayfabe-based argument that these performers are expected to be more resilient and have a stronger fighting spirit to keep up. Kicking out of the Attitude Adjustment doesn't make John Cena or his finisher look weak, it just shows how badly his opponent needs the victory. Those same modern conveniences mentioned above make it so the average fan has seen everything before. This means the performers need to go even bigger to get a reaction. While I'm certainly concerned for the health of the athletes in the ring, I absolutely enjoy the higher risk style and enjoy how wrestling has evolved.

At the end of the day, the world of professional wrestling is as wide as you want it to be. If you long for the days where a sleeper hold was seen as one of the most legitimate and deadly finishers in the game, you can easily seek that out on YouTube or the WWE Network. If you like the way wrestling seems to be moving, you can find that through many on demand streaming options, or at many wrestling shows throughout the country. Attend one in person, it's a great time. Just be mindful of the rest of the crowd, and respect the talent putting their body on the line each and every night for your enjoyment.

The Young Bucks: My Excuse To Try To Make the Term Metakayfabe A Thing

On February 10th, 1989, Vince McMahon told the New Jersey State Senate that was "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest." In this context, McMahon was looking to avoid taxes, fees, and regulations that he would have to face from various athletic commissions, much like legitimate combat sports. Those within the community knew of this case, and many were upset about Vince peeling back the curtain a bit, but for McMahon (and the industry as a whole), this was a smart business decision. On December 15th, 1997, things got even more exposed as Vince McMahon opened Raw with a prerecorded statement. The promo he cut basically declared that Raw and the WWF as a whole borrow more from soap operas than from legitimate sports, and that promotions that do not acknowledge this are insulting the intelligence of their audience. Kayfabe had been killed on one of the biggest stages possible.

Fast forward to 2017, and we've found wrestling going even further into a post-kayfabe world than that fateful night twenty years ago. Two of the biggest stars in the world are Matt and Nick Jackson, and their gimmick could best be described as the most on the nose parody of 1990's wrestling possible. They're members of a massive faction known as the Bullet Club. They throw up "Too Sweet"s to every BC member they see and they give DX crop chops while shouting "suck it". Aerial acrobatics are their specialty, second only to their superkicks, which they throw en masse in every match. They're like DX, the NWO, and WCW's cruiserweight division had a wild night together, and based on some of the stories that have surfaced about the way things were during that era, I wouldn't be surprised if such a night existed.

The Young Bucks, the more common moniker of the Jacksons, take this gimmick and have created a world of metakayfabe. While the industry as a whole has a problem with taking itself too seriously, the Bucks make a living off of turning every match into a "Superkick Party." The team will perform a couple flips just to hit their opponent with a simple backrake. Using a finisher called the "Meltzer Driver," which is a modified version of the "indytaker," these two point to the fact that what they are doing is a performance, rather than a competition, and that they are here to entertain you... or at least Dave Meltzer. Meltzer is one of the most well respected writers in the industry of professional wrestling, and has been reviewing matches all over the world for decades. Meltzer's Wrestling Observer has been giving people an insider's view of the industry since issue one. Unsurprisingly, he has been vocal about how much he enjoys the matches of the Bucks, even giving them a 5-star rating for their six man tag match with Adam Cole against Will Ospreay, Ricochet, and Matt Sydal. With their YouTube series "Being The Elite" (also starring Kenny Omega), the Young Bucks have now begun to build storylines into a documentary-style look at their lives, further blurring the line between work and shoot. The series did most of the work in building Adam Cole being fired from the Bullet Club and his replacement, Marty Scurll, joining the group.

Certainly everyone isn't a fan of the team. Jim Cornette is probably the loudest voice against them, but many of the industry's old guard think they are killing the business (something they have proudly turned into many merch designs). By exposing that wrestling isn't a legitimate competition between opponents, but rather, to use that Vince McMahon quote again, "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators," Cornette would argue that this is somehow taking money out of the pockets of people who still try to act like the industry is a true combat sport. Others would argue that the Young Bucks are nihilists, deciding that nothing matters at a show, and rejecting the traditions of kayfabe, ruining the entire industry. Others still think that they are terrible at telling in-ring stories, which is why they must constantly fill the ring with high spots.

For those critics, I'd like to offer the idea that they are viewing a theatrical performance of an athletic contest, through the lens of, for all intents and purposes, a variety show. The story they are telling in the ring is certainly there, if you're willing to look deep enough. It is a story of how the industry has changed. Living in the past won't get you very far, and these two will gladly pull you into the future of professional wrestling. Looking at the sheer amount of merch they produce (and move), clearly this point isn't lost on the majority. For those of you unfamiliar with their work, I highly recommend looking them up on the internet. Enjoy the Superkick Party.

Extreme Rules Review

Extreme Rules 2017 is in the books and the Raw roster is heading into Great Balls of Fire after what felt like a pretty average card. Let's get right into my thoughts on the night.

The preshow saw Apollo Crews take on Kalisto. If it weren't for the final couple matches this easily would have ran away with match of the night. These two really compliment each other well, and while I don't necessarily want to see the feud continue, this was probably my favorite preshow match I've seen, other than the first Aries vs Neville match. Titus O'Neil playing the role of overly-excited-AAU-coach/dad was hilarious and added a really great element to the bout that might have suffered from a lack of psychology without this aspect to it. Overall, this was a really entertaining match.

The first match on the main card was the IC title showdown between Ambrose and Miz... again. With the added stipulation of the title changing hands via DQ, I'm glad the teases of a disqualification were relatively limited, while still playing a major role in the outcome of the match. Throwing Maryse out and having an actual pinfall victory was a nice twist that I didn't see coming, at least in the moment. In retrospect, it was pretty obvious booking, but as an entertainment spectacle, it certainly worked for me. The Miz getting the victory was absolutely the right move here, as Ambrose does nothing for the title, and The Miz brings it to heights that it seems no one else can. His promo on Raw Talk after was a great addition to the night, and I'm looking forward to see how The Miz's Intercontinental Title Reunion Tour goes.

The next match was the mixed tag team battle with Alicia Fox and Noam Dar competing against Sasha Banks and Rich Swann. This match was overall just okay. Alicia still isn't the best in the ring, and at the end of the day, I didn't really find much reason to care. Sasha's top rope double knees to Dar on the outside was a pretty cool spot that I wasn't expecting. The faces get the victory and dance their way into a camera fade to commercials. A simple match that was just kind of there.

Elias Samson drifts his way into the ring and sings a song. People seem to really enjoy hating this guy. I can definitely get behind this guy being used as a midcard heat magnet to get faces over.

The women's title was on the line in a kendo stick on a pole match. Bayley name dropped Steve Blackman in her pre-match promo. This is the most positive thing I can mention about this feud and match. Alexa Bliss is serviceable on the mic and in the ring, but for some reason the internet has coronated her as the female love-child of The Rock and Stone Cold. The creative team has no idea what they're doing with Bayley. The sad thing about how she was booked tonight is that overall, if you were to just read a summary of the match, it plays to her character very well. The lovable hugger showed hesitation about using a kendo stick on her opponent. The problem is, not only is it inconsistent with how she's been booked on the main roster. Is she cool with people helping her win titles, or is she so moralistically strong, she won't use a weapon in a match revolving around said weapon? Overall, the match just felt weak. Bliss retains in what was the lowlight of the night, much like most interactions between the two.

Cesaro and Sheamus challenged the Hardy Boyz (shame on spellcheck for not having an issue with "Boyz") for the tag team titles in a steel cage match. I like that they went with the old-school cage rules where you can only win by escape. This match felt the most extreme of all the matches up to this point. It was also the start of the quality of matches starting to ramp back up. I loved the angle of Matt having to fight off both Sheamus and Cesaro because Jeff had escaped. Jeff's desperation move to save the team was one of the most memorable spots of the night, but turns out it was all for not, as the tandem of Sheamus and Cesaro escaped the cage just a second before the Hardys. I imagine this feud will continue as the Hardy Boyz should have a rematch in their future, but I could also see them rushing a split here. The motivation for a Matt heel turn would be that he could have finished the match without Jeff having to come to save him, and Jeff was the one who didn't have his feet on the floor before their opponents.

Our last match before the main event was a submission match between Austin Aries and Neville for Neville's cruiserweight title. This was my favorite singles match of the night, and if it weren't for the next match, it would have been my favorite of the entire evening. This match had highflying, it had submissions, it had brawling. There were plenty of moments where I thought we were going to see the finish, just for the challenger or champion to escape or shift the momentum. The red arrow immediately into the rings of Saturn is a great finishing combo that looks particularly vicious, I wouldn't mind seeing this get busted out in matches where Neville is having difficulty finishing off a particularly resilient challenger. While this was one of my two favorite matches of the night, I have to feel for Austin Aries and wonder where he goes from here. The weird smile thing made a lot of people assume a heel turn, and certainly something will need to be done to make us forget about his three failed attempts to capture the title.

The main event of the evening was a Fatal 5 Way to determine the number 1 contender for the universal title. The match featured everyone on the Raw roster that you could see in the current title picture, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, and Samoa Joe. A few interesting themes ran through the match, including the alliance between Wyatt and Joe, and Roman Reigns doing his best superman act. Seth Rollins continued his perpetually injured leg thing (insert joke about Crossfit and injuries here). Finn had a great showing here, and after the injury setback he had, I felt like this was his night where he truly cemented himself into the main event scene amongst these other talents. Along those same lines, who saw Samoa Joe winning this match? I've been a huge Samoa Joe fan ever since I first saw him in TNA, and a showdown between him and Brock is something I always have loved the idea of, but never thought I'd see. It looks like we'll be getting exactly that at Great Balls of Fire. A lot of people are questioning the idea of him being in a title match this early in his main roster run, but I like it in this context. As part of a B-show, we get to see what he can do when given the ball, let's just hope Brock decides to play. Either way, all involved in this match came out looking like a million bucks and like legitimate contenders for the next shot after Great Balls of Fire.

Extreme Rules Predictions

Now that Pay Per Views happen every two weeks, we are closing on yet another big show, with Extreme Rules happening this Sunday. No wonder people are becoming fatigued with the programming. Add in the fact that many of these matches are rematches on Sunday, and it is becoming harder and harder to become excited for these shows. With that said, I could easily see Sunday's main event being a contender for match of the year if given the proper time.

Extreme Rules features a continuation of the storyline with Noam Dar and Alicia Fox. On Sunday, they will be teaming up to face Sasha Banks and Rich Swann. As this match will most likely be relegated to the preshow, I have to assume the faces go over to keep the crowd happy. Even though this match is taking place in Swann's hometown, I'm cautiously predicting that he and Banks get the win.

Sticking in the cruiserweight division, we have Neville taking on Austin Aries yet again. This is the third major show in a row where these two will face off, this time in a submission match. I have to imagine Aries locks on Last Chancery for the win, or else what is the point in this feud continuing for so long? Aries has looked great in all of the matches up until this point, but at some point he has to win or it just becomes too redundant. Here's to hoping that Sunday is the night for The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, A Double. Iv'e got Aries capturing his first cruiserweight title.

With the women's title on the line, Bayley challenges Alexa Bliss in a kendo stick on a pole match. I've never been a fan of "on a pole" matches, and I'm even less of a fan of how they've been treating Bayley. While they've been building her to look like an underdog, I believe they've gone way too far in the other direction, and they've just made her look pathetic. Sadly, I don't expect this to change Sunday, and predict that Bliss will retain.

The tag titles are on the line in a steel cage match, as the Hardys (are they still the Hardy Boyz?) defend against Sheamus and Cesaro. This is the perfect match I would imagine for Sheamus and Cesaro to recapture the titles. They've been firing on all cylinders lately, the stipulation, although chosen by the Hardys seems to favor the brutal style of Sheamus and Cesaro than the high-flying attack of Matt and Jeff. I do expect a crazy spot off the top of the cage, but Sheamus and Cesaro really do deserve this victory. I don't think the Hardys holding the titles necessarily hurts the tag teams on Raw, but I see their opponents doing more to elevate the division.

Our last title match is for the intercontinental championship. Dean Ambrose is defending the title against the Miz, in a match where the title will change hands via disqualification. From the reactions I have seen, a lot of fans seem to have issue with this stipulation at Extreme Rules. I think it is a great move for that exact reason. In a previous post, I mentioned how much I enjoy the Miz as a heel. This is the ultimate heel move. He adds a stipulation that the fans will hate, while simultaneously stacking the deck in his favor. The Miz does a great job of making the IC title feel important and Dean Ambrose doesn't really need a title to stay over with the crowd. I imagine the Miz captures the title on Sunday as his title reign will certainly elevate the title once again, and Ambrose will probably inject himself into a feud slightly higher on the card.

The main event of Extreme Rules is a Fatal Five Way to determine the number one contender for the universal title. Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, and Samoa Joe will all enter the ring looking to earn a shot to take down Brock Lesnar. It seems like a foregone conclusion that Finn Balor will win the match, but I'm curious to see how the match itself goes down. Balor getting his title shot at a smaller card like Great Balls of Fire makes sense, as you can hold off on the inevitable showdown between Reigns and Lesnar for a bigger card, most likely Wrestlemania. The other option I could see is Lesnar coming down and screwing everyone over, leading to another massive multi-man match so you can take the title off of him without weakening his character. Otherwise, I don't see how you can have him hold the belt for an entire year. If I have to pick one person as a winner, I'm going with Balor (potentially officially becoming a Paul Heyman guy?), but I wouldn't be surprised to see a no-contest.

So there you have it, my predictions for Extreme Rules. Who do you have winning? Let me know in the comments, and until next time, stay (too) sweet!

Top 10 Worst Champions

With the coronation of the Modern Day Maharaja as WWE champion, a lot of people have been making claims that this is going to be one of the worst title reigns of all time. Beyond that people are considering him one of the most undeserving champions ever. If you had told me a year ago that Jinder Mahal would be WWE champion today, I would laugh in your face. Keeping that in mind, I'm willing to wait and see where this goes. Will he be one of the worst champions ever? Possibly. But I bet he won't even crack my top 10.

10) Mikey Whipwreck Wins the ECW World Heavyweight Title - This is probably the most controversial choice for this list. I mostly include him out of my own retroactive fantasy booking. In my version of ECW, Whipwreck gets in an offensive move once every several months. Similar to how he was initially booked, winning through shenanigans, always being scared of his opponent, and then, when he finally hits something, the crowd explodes. In my book, this can keep him in the tag title picture, sure, but never really entering into the world title picture.

9) Chavo Classic (Accidentally) Wins the WWE Cruiserweight Title - With all due respect to the recently passed Chavo Guerrero Sr., his title reign in 2004 was a joke. He literally won the title by accident (in kayfabe anyway). With the history his family has with the industry, this did more to tarnish his legacy for me than it did to serve as some sort of tribute or honor.

8) Hornswoggle Retires the WWE Cruiserweight Title - When the WWE purchased the WCW, a lot of WCW traditions were treated as jokes. Add to that Vince's obsession with muscle-bound monsters of men, and it is no wonder that, even with their recent resurgence, the cruiserweights have never really gotten a fair shake. The fact that he not only captured the title, but was the last holder of it until recently sums up everything you need to know about how Mr. McMahon views cruiserweights.

7) One of The Godfather's Hoes Briefly Holds the WWF Hardcore Title - That is the most Attitude Era thing I have ever written. In an era when the hardcore title was defended 24/7/365, it isn't surprising that you'll see some questionable names on the list of champions, but to my knowledge, this character never received a name, and held the title for literally 15 seconds.

6) Eric Bischoff Captures the WCW Hardcore Title - When Eric Bischoff captured the hardcore title, it was nothing more than a move to stroke the man's ego. This same sentence could be said for everything he did as an on-screen character.

5) Vince Russo Wins the WCW World Heavyweight Title - See entry 6, then multiply it by 100.

4) Vince McMahon Has Held Both the WWF World Heavyweight Title and the ECW World Title - I went back and forth several times on the order of Russo and McMahon. While McMahon, definitely played a stronger character, he also held two major titles, not just one. While the reboot of ECW was doomed from the start, having Vince hold the title certainly didn't help anything.

3) Eric Young Becomes One Half of the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions - EY has had some terrible gimmicks in his time with TNA. From portraying Super Eric to competing in bikini contests, he was given garbage on many occasions, but he always did his best to turn it into gold. When he was partnered up with ODB, I bought in. Whatever, it was a fun pairing right? When they were given the Knockout Tag Titles, I took issue with it. One thing TNA had always done better than WWE was their women's division. This reign was a major step  back for both the division, and for Eric Young.

2) David Arquette Wins the WCW World Heavyweight Title - In a move that screams Russo booking, David Arquette won the WCW title. While promoting a film he starred in titled "Ready To Rumble," he captured the biggest prize the company had to offer. While this certainly brought more eyes to the product, it really just made the company look bad in most people's eyes, and inevitably did more harm than good. While there have been many celebrity appearances in the past, no one else has ever captured a title. Well, almost no one.

1) Pacman Jones Sort of Helps Win the TNA Tag Titles - Pacman Jones announced that he was going to be on TNA Wrestling. He didn't tell the Tennessee Titans. The Tennessee Titans file a restraining order against TNA to keep him out of the ring. The two parties eventually reach a deal stating that Pacman will appear in a non-physical role. Sounds like the perfect candidate for a tag title reign right? While there was more at play, the story looks extra ridiculous when you factor in that he won it with Ron "The Truth" Killings over Sting and Kurt Angle. Remember when I said that entry 7 was the most Attitude Era thing I had ever written? This is the most TNA thing I've written... So far...

1 Month Anniversary of the Blog

Today is the one month anniversary of Figure Four Writer's Block, and I want to take a moment to thank each and everyone of you who has taken the time to read what I have to say. At just a bit over 400 views, I'd love to hear what you guys have enjoyed, what you've disliked, and what you'd like to see in the future.

We're just starting out here and with your continued support we will continue to learn and grow and hopefully create more content that you enjoy. Based on what viewership looks like on post entries, we will be doing away with Flashback Fridays, and you'll be seeing a lot more character profiles. How else would you like to see things change?

Let me know in the comments, and until next time

Stay too sweet!

The Curious Case Of Bray Wyatt

The Bray Wyatt gimmick debuted in FCW in April of 2012. With over five years behind the character and four on the main roster, the internet seems to have soured a bit on Bray, and in some respects, I can't blame them. It always seems like when the big match rolls around, he chokes. The WWE Universe has started to see him as all talk. Today we're going to take a look at why I still enjoy the character, just as much as when he debuted.

When I first started seeing promos on WWE programming teasing the appearance of the Wyatt Family, I wasn't quite sure what to make of what I was seeing. The pieces took on a weird Max Cady meets Charles Manson vibe. From the very beginning, Wyatt declared himself to be a "monster" and an "eater of worlds" but he also stated that he was the man you relied on to "solve the mysteries of your mind." The Wyatt Family clearly was meant to look like a cult, using Bray as the savior for the fallen and lost souls. While the Undertaker and Kane were built as oh-so-spooky in a very cartoonish way, there is something legitimately frightening about cults and their leaders, as they are characters significantly more based in reality.

When the Wyatts debut on the main roster, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are portrayed as Bray's personal attack dogs. We don't see Bray in a singles match until he competes against Kane in an inferno match, or as it is known in this particular situation, a "Ring of Fire" match. Even in a match where the ring is surrounded by fire, Harper and Rowan find a way to get into the ring to protect their leader. From the very beginning, a precedent is set that Bray will get his hands dirty if he absolutely must, but his army of followers will be more than happy to get involved to keep him safe.

From"Ring of Fire" to "House of Horrors," Bray has often been associated with matches that have some sort of mystical feel to them. This once again begs for him to be compared to Undertaker and Kane. He also feuded with both of these characters on multiple occasions, and is currently calling out Finn Balor, another character with a demon living inside of him. He has even at one point claimed to have captured the powers of the Undertaker and Kane. While he seems to have an obsession with others who have powers beyond those of a mere mortal man, I don't believe that he himself has powers beyond the realm of normal humans. This is what drives his feuds with these characters, and his desire to compete in matches that are outside of the traditional rules. He is jealous of their abilities and looks to find ways to get others to believe that he also exists in the world of the supernatural.

Another example of his jealousy comes from his feud with John Cena. Cena has been booked in a way that has resulted in many fans, especially the more-jaded ones, referring to him as "super-Cena." Completely untouchable, for the longest time, it looked like he was playing the game of professional wrestling in god-mode. Calling Cena's reign as the hero of the WWE as an "era of lies," Wyatt was trying to expose Cena as a fraud, but more importantly, he was trying to position himself as the new hero to the masses. In one match during the feud, he notably summoned an army of children in sheep masks (a recurring theme for members of the cult) to sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" at him. I assure you it was much creepier than it reads.

This feud served to simultaneously recruit others and destroy what he has seen as others who would get in the way of him reaching out to new members. While Harper and Rowan, along with Braun Strowman have been the members of the family who have lasted the longest, one would be remissed to not mention other performers who have either joined or teased joining the backwoods cult. Heavily recruited, Daniel Bryan resisted joining the Wyatt Family for as long as he could before losing a match that forced him to become a Wyatt. In a storyline we have seen many times in the past (even as recently as Rey Mysterio and the Straight Edge Society and John Cena and the Nexus), things didn't go quite as Bray hoped and the two parties eventually parted ways, with no real lasting effect to the characters. This really just feels like a brief weird little tangent to the stories of all involved, something to briefly make you think "huh, that was a weird time."

During one of my favorite feuds for both the New Day and the Wyatt Family it was heavily teased that Xavier Woods was under a spell of sorts. While many fans thought that this was something of a literal spell, I always thought it was fairly obvious that it was more likely that Woods was simply frightened by the Wyatts and the compound they called home. While I never thought Woods was leaving the New Day to become a new Wyatt Family member, many did, and we also got a closer glimpse into how deep the Wyatts go through the lense of Xavier Woods' and the New Day's fear.

This brings us to one of the biggest storylines of Bray's career, and one that people seem pretty torn on. In 2016, Randy Orton decided that if he couldn't beat the Wyatts, he would join them, becoming the latest member of the family. Without changing his wardrobe, he did certainly change his character quite a bit. During his run with the family, Orton did everything he could to protect Bray. An interesting feud began during this time between Luke Harper and Randy Orton, eventually leading to Harper leaving the family. An interesting little feud between the two ensued until the moment where Randy finally turned his back on Wyatt. While burning down the compound, Randy claimed his plan all along was to infiltrate the Wyatt Family, screwing them over by destroying them from the inside. A decent percentage of the audience seems to believe that this made Bray look stupid. While I don't agree that he looked stupid, I think it did point to the biggest flaw the character has.

Bray didn't believe Randy would turn on him because Bray buys into his own hype. And why wouldn't he? He has been able to consistently keep his stable relevant for five years. Over those same five years, he has remained more relevant to the title picture than anyone not named John Cena, Randy Orton, or from The Shield. His fireflies show up at every live where he makes an appearance. As much as people protest that he's all talk, and that he doesn't wind up backing it up, we all still tune in. We all still light the entrance ramp with our cell phones. And that's because, just like he claims, he's got the whole world eating of the palm of his hands.

Top 10: Entrances

A wrestler having a memorable entrance is one of the most important parts of building a total character. In the first few minutes we see a performer, we should be able to know what he or she is all about. This is conveyed through music, the performer's physical cues,  and if there are announcers, what is being said about him or her. Some of the performers on this list might not be the greatest in the ring, but they have an entrance and an air about them that supersedes the need to put on five star matches. You become invested in their stories even before they hit the ring. Here are my ten favorite entrances of all time.

10) The Sandman - Many of the current crop of superstars suffer from too similar sounding of an entrance song, and not much individuality to their movements. Compare that to the ECW legend, The Sandman, who was nothing but an entrance. Although on the WWE Network it has been dubbed over, The Sandman would come to the ring to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. It was very on the nose.  A true man of the people, the Sandman would stumble through the crowd, pounding back beers while posing with his signature Singapore cane raised into the air. Other than cane shots and his Russian leg sweep, I don't remember much about the guy's in ring ability, but he had the crowd eating out of his hand from the initial guitar lick.

9) John Cena - From the second the horns hit, the crowd erupts. Whether it's more cheers or boos tends to depend on the city, but the volume is undeniable. The salute and run down the ramp, throwing the Kerch to the crowd, everything about John Cena's entrance is memorable. Whether you think it is a cool entrance or a tacky one is probably a pretty accurate description of how you feel about the character, a huge part of why he cannot be omitted from this list.

8) Goldberg - Goldberg entrances were so intense that you had to buy into the character. From the ominous march blaring through the speakers, to the team of security escorting him to the ring, to even his pyro effects, every Goldberg match came with a big fight feel. That all starts with, and many would argue ends with, his entrance.

7) The Rock - Starting with his most popular catch phrase, The Rock's theme alone is one of the most iconic of all time. Then, when he hits the stage, no energy is wasted. Every movement has meaning. The energy coursing through everyone's veins becomes sheer electricity, and you feel like he can take down the world. This is why he will be our next president. Compare that to all of Donald Trump's entrances on WWE programming and there's no contest, we all know which one of them will be laying the Smackdown.

6) Shinsuke Nakamura - Shinsuke Nakamura simply oozes charisma. His song is great, and his movements are just so interesting. It is hard to capture in words how charismatic and engaging a Shinsuke performance is, and it gets no better than his entrance.

5) Stone Cold Steve Austin - Stone Cold had such a simple entrance. Glass shatters, generic crunchy distorted riff plays, and he speed walks to the ring to open up a can of whoopass, running his mouth the entire time. It fit so perfectly with his no nonsense gimmick.

4) Finn Balor - Finn Balor benefits from having two separate entrances. His normal entrance is fine for what it is, but what everyone really wants to see is The Demon. When Finn has to channel his inner demon, it is meant as literally as possible. He gets an extended mix on his entrance, crawling on all fours down to the ring. The lighting and fog take you to a completely different place, and the special paint that he wears really stand out on a roster filled with sports entertainers moreso than true characters. Normal Finn might feel like any other guy, but when he has to dig deep, everyone is in for a treat.

3) Hulk Hogan - Hogan is the king of miming. All of his movements feel so big, it doesn't matter if you're in the front row or the nose bleeds, when the Hulkster's music hits, you felt like a part of something huge. And that's what Hulkamania is all about.

2) Triple H - When those distorted chords hit and ring out, you know business is about to pick up. Now a mainstay at professional sports games, Motörhead performed one of the greatest entrance songs of all time. Adding killer lighting, an action figure's physique, and the iconic water spit, Triple H is a no brainer for this list.

1) The Undertaker - The Undertaker may be the greatest character the WWE has ever seen. Such a surreal character only works if the audience is fully immersed from the get go. The gong hit, the dark lighting, the fog, The Undertaker has one of the most visually stunning spectacles in the world of sports entertainment. As a child, I remember the chill cutting through the arena when he entered. Whether as a child, an adult, or otherwise, I've never had as unique of an experience in the world of professional wrestling as watching The Undertaker making his way to the ring.