The Palace of Wisdom

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Recent Thoughts-John Morrison Released and Growing out of the Rock

(I know I should be doing my data management, but I couldn't hold off on writing this. Besides, its been a while. I just got back in touch with my old friend Linnea and saw her blog....it inspired me to write this)

Alright, so, as you may know by now, John Morrison's release was made public knowledge, which was mentioned again and again on programming. The reason, although not explicitly stated, is believed to be because of his girlfriend telling him to snub Trish. Although I feel Melina was a decent performer, from what I've read (for a lack of better terms) she is a batshit crazy whore.

I don't like to use profane language, but I felt that was called for. So called for.

Anyways, John Morrison's release was only known to nerds (such as myself), crusing around the internet, until Zack Ryder posted an episode of his show of JoMo entering a car, only to have it blow up. I don't need to tell you this is fake..but it was symbolic of his fate in the WWE. Weeks later, The Miz destroyed him in a falls count anywhere match, and the 'E buried Morrison. He was apparently beat up so bad that John Laurinaitis, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, released him. Not only that, but Funkman felt the need to 'wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors' and according to his twitter, offered him the crappy t-shirt that's now available online at the WWE Shop.

Seriously?

I am a huge fan of Morrison. Always will be. I feel its tacky to just kick someone on the way out, but many people that I've talked to feel this is their way of saying "Hey, if you lost the 120 lb Banshee hanging off your neck, we'll have you back." I think that it's very possible that this is a work, like Daniel Bryan getting released, only to come back at Summerslam 2010.

Seriously though, get rid of Melina, John....for a fact, she cheated on you with Dave Batista. And Mike Knox, according to Val Venis.

(I have to gouge my eyes out because of a mental image)

There's no love. But, I know how hard it is. I know what its like to be in denial about someone you're with.

I also know what its like to be in denial about someone you once looked up to. Which brings me to my next point.

Growing out of the Rock.

It was only a few months ago in which I really couldn't grasp why my friend PsychoBlue didn't like him. After scratching my head for a while, I dismissed it as PB being nuts.

While he might have his own reasons, I can tell you why I don't like him anymore. The Rock is announced as the guest host for Wrestlemania 26 and as soon as I found out, I called one of my best friends Mark and belted out "IF YA SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL...."
And like a bunch of marks, we were pumped. I returned from a vacation in California and ordered the PPV with a few friends. They all stood up in his chant of "AND THE MILLIONS!" Long story short, aside from greeting everyone, a few backstage clips, he Rock-Bottomed John Cena and did the People's Elbow to the Miz. I was slightly disappointed, but after HHH vs Taker II stole the show, I wasn't going to complain. Besides, it was Paolo's birthday. We all had fun.

To be honest, sometime between The Rock's satellite promos and Wrestlemania, I started to lose faith. Only a little. The Rock and Cena had a back and forth battle of the wits, which I still feel Cena won. After Cena faced him 'like a man' and countered all of the Rock's arguments and jokes about Cena's lifestyle, all the Rock could retort with was that he was going to "Kick his Candy Ass" At this point, I was still in denial. After all, I quoted the Rock from time to time, told some relatives they "could grab all their friends, family that lived across the street, family from England, neighbors, their money and their luxury cars, roll it up into a nice ball, and shove it straight up their candy asses." At the age of nine, I told this kid who kept talking over me during an arts and crafts class at the local recreational center to know his role and to shut his mouth.

So I'll admit it. I loved him. Past tense.

This was before I realized he fed us lies. To 'The Millions', as he likes to call us, he claims to have never left, but he can't even promote his own rivalry for this year's Wrestlemania. RAW was going to get Rocked in Boston, and this guy appears for the last 15 minutes of a three-hour special to cut a promo on Cena and Survivor Series. Last year, I figured it was okay. If he was simply guest-hosting, he could be absent.

This year, he's supposed to be a serious threat to John Cena. A threat that never shows up. And apparently, according to CM Punk, when he does, he acts like a snob and doesn't say hi to anyone. He's made these 'returns' before, and trust me, its nothing special. He comes to endorse the next crappy movie we have to sit through, and then he's off, being a tooth fairy.

I'll admit, that at Survivor Series, he was very technically sound and the match was enjoyable. Comparing his technique to Cena that night would be like comparing Coffee from your local gas station to Starbucks. That's not to say Cena can't wrestle, its just saying that Cena could have put more into it. Money in the Bank anyone?

People say he should have turned heel, but I don't think he would have. I really would have liked it though if he did the Rock Bottom or the People's Elbow to his opponents though. That would have been hilarious to watch.

I'm not big on Cena, but I do admire his work ethic and what he does for the children.

Ask the Rock the last time he made a wish for a sick child. He'll probably respond Via Satellite.

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Have I got a post for you..

I got the honor of meeting Bret Hart. He really is a nice guy, although he seemed exhausted. My little brother and I woke up early and left the house around 8:30 to get there. We saw him and he autographed my History of the Intercontinental Championship DVD set (that I need to review), but seemed surprised that his match with Roddy Piper wasn't in it. He gave my little brother an autograph and we took pictures. I came back to get my sister an autograph. It was a five dollar donation per autograph but I think it was worth it since it was for the March Of Dimes, a charity that supports stroke victims. That's way better than William Shatner who (IIRC) was charging 80 bucks at Fan Expo, presumably for himself.

I've only ever met a few celebrities...I met Bea Arthur when I was eight...almost met Shatner..then my friend's girlfriend wanted to meet Tom Felton, but I didn't want her to be alone, nobody else was willing to go up with her to meet him in the food court of Fan Expo. His body guard declined.

So yeah, I didn't pay an arm and a leg to meet some has-been, but rather made a small donation towards a good cause and got to meet a Legend! I've met local tv stars from Royal Canadian Air Farce (show that spoofs politics through skits, kind of like SNL) and pretty much all of them were stuck up, except for one of them.

I should probably mention I've had the opportunities to meet both Ted Dibiase Jr and Bushwacker Luke...both whom I care very little about.

It was a good experience, so if you're a Hitman fan and he comes to your area, I encourage you to meet him. He's a down-to-earth, humble guy. If you're new to wrestling, I encourage you to check out some of his matches...especially against the British Bulldog and Mr. Perfect. These two matches in particular show you how well rounded the Hitman really is, though all his matches are something to marvel at.

Oh yeah, and the pictures;

Return...

Hey guys,

I'm really sorry about not updating this blog nearly as often as I should. I will focus more so on headlines in the wrestling community and write reviews on shows, although they probably won't be as detailed as the last post I made.

More coming soon!

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Good Times...JTite and the Library Incident

(So...remember when I said I'd write about personal things in this blog too. Well.. here's how you know when it's personal so if you're looking forward to a WWE related entry, you won't be disappointed. It'll be called Good Times... or Thinking Back... or maybe neither of those, but something very vague and not specific to the WWE.)

Haha..I just had to share this story...

Once upon a time, my friend Josh T., who happens to be one of the most quiet and intelligent guys I know, was in the school library. Josh, although very intelligent, happened to continue his never-ending journey on watching every single Youtube video known to man. He happened to be watching this video;

(WARNING: Not for young viewers)

Yeah...so he was watching it, and showing me this video, which I found to be a bit amusing, but little did I know that the funny part was yet to come. A teacher (and to this day, I'm not quite sure what she teaches) started barking at Josh and asked him why he was watching animal porn. WTF. LMAO.

To make matters worse (or better), another teacher came along and started going on about the same thing, asking Josh if he wanted to be suspended. He tried to explain that it was funny, to which this second teacher responded "Why don't you show it to the principal, and ask her if she thinks its funny?" Josh simply said "Okay."
Throughout this whole exchange, I was in the back, trying not to fall off my chair laughing. Lucky for Josh, he didn't get in trouble and to this day, we still laugh about this incident.

Review: The Top 50 Superstars of All Time DVD

If you recall, I'd been meaning to write about this DVD and my thoughts on it. I'll stick with writing about disc one, since the other discs contain matches, to which you can form your own conclusions about. This DVD is marketed as controversial, which means they know they've added some people they probably shouldn't have. Its a disc that contains probably two minutes about each wrestler and goes on from there. It is presented by Todd Grisham and the picks for the list were supposedly chosen by the locker room (which I'm having a hard time believing.) The segments for each wrestler do not contain enough information and overall, you simply feel ripped off. Personally, I would have rather preferred a book containing pictures.

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further adieu, here is the WWE's list of top 50 superstars;

1. Shawn Michaels
2. The Undertaker
3. Steve Austin
4. Bret Hart
5. The Rock
6. Harley Race
7. Ricky Steamboat
8. Andre the Giant
9. Rey Mysterio
10. Roddy Piper
11. Eddie Guerrero
12. Triple H
13. Gorgeous George
14. Randy Savage
15. Curt Hennig
16. John Cena
17. Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes (tied)
18. ?
19. Edge
20. Jerry Lawler
21. Lou Thesz
22. Terry Funk
23. Hulk Hogan
24. Bruno Sammartino
25. Chris Jericho
26. Ted DiBiase
27. Fabulous Moolah
28. Freddie Blassie
29. Randy Orton
30. Pat Patterson
31. The Iron Sheik
32. Jimmy Snuka
33. Mick Foley
34. Kurt Angle
35. Buddy Rogers
36. Gorilla Monsoon
37. Junkyard Dog
38. Billy Graham
39. Jake Roberts
40. Big Show
41. Jack Brisco
42. Sgt. Slaughter
43. Kane
44. Nick Bockwinkel
45. Jeff Hardy
46. Dory Funk Jr.
47. Bob Backlund
48. Rick Rude
49. Batista
50. Killer Kowalski

The list is here, and for your curiosity, a list of the other things found on this DVD set can be found on Amazon in the reviews section. I won't link to it simply because I refuse to endorse this product. I disagree with many of the picks on this list (Hulk Hogan is at 23!) so here is my own;

1. Shawn Michaels
2. The Undertaker
3. Steve Austin
4. Bret Hart
5. Hulk Hogan
6. The Rock
7. Ricky Steamboat
8. Andre the Giant
9. Randy Savage
10. Roddy Piper
11. Sting
12. Triple H
13. Gorgeous George
14. Ric Flair/Dusty Rhodes
15. Curt Hennig
16. John Cena
17. Edge
18. Stu Hart/Antonio Inoki
19. Terry Funk
20. Jerry Lawler
21. Rey Mysterio
22. Kevin Nash/Scott Hall
23. Lou Thesz
24. The Great Muta/Bruno Sammartino
25. Chris Jericho
26. Ted DiBiase
27. Lex Luger
28. Freddie Blassie
29. Rob Van Dam
30. Pat Patterson
31. The Iron Sheik
32. Jimmy Snuka
33. Mick Foley
34. Kurt Angle
35. Tajiri
36. Gorilla Monsoon
37. Junkyard Dog
38. Billy Graham
39. Jake Roberts
40. Big Show
41. Jack Brisco
42. Sgt. Slaughter
43. Kane
44. Jesse Ventura
45. Booker T.
46. Dory Funk Jr.
47. Chyna
48. Rick Rude
49. Sabu
50. Killer Kowalski
51. Ultimate Warrior

I tried to make a list based on cultural impact as well as wrestling talent. My recommendation is that you simply read the list I've provided from their DVD and then disagree with it. Do not waste your time watching it simply because the segments do not provide enough insight into these superstars' careers. Please, leave your thoughts on my review/my list, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to contact me..maybe we can write a list together.

Cover Photo: © 2010 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

Goodbye Edge-RAW 11/04/2011

(Now I won’t do play by play commentary, but I will note anything that I think has an impact on the match, or just looks amazing)

I apologize...I tuned into RAW about 15 minutes into it

A match card revealed...Jack Swagger (with Michael Cole in his corner) vs Jerry 'the King' Lawler (with Jim Ross in his corner). The match stipulation is that if Swagger defeats King, Cole can retire 'undefeated' and King can never challenge him again. If King wins, he not only gets to face Cole at Extreme Rules, he gets to choose the match type and stipulation.

Some creepy promo with what appears to be a man with braids holding a doll. The face is not visible. This person then flicks off the dolls head. Awesome Kong? Mark Henry heel turn? After all...he is retiring soon.

Divas Championship match....snore...
Although Eve wanting to mark one of the Bellas with a marker is pretty ingenious.

During this match, Cole makes a snide remark about family members to King. Disgusting..(if you recall, he had a mouthful to say about King's deceased mother)

It seemed like a subpar match. Eve used her standing moonsault attack and failed to get the cover. She also hung Brie Bella from the Tree of Woe and did a baseball slide. Those were probably the highlights of the match. However, with a distraction from Nikki and the referee finally noticing that it was the wrong twin, Brie does a sneak attack and wins once again with ‘Twin Magic’.

This is my legitimate beef with the women’s division. I don’t think that a championship that’s been merged with the Women’s one should be won through a gimmick. I’ll write about this another day though.

Sin Cara walks down a hallway in preparation for a match.

Backstage segment with Eve. Gail tries to show her sympathy and does Natalya, but Eve rejects them saying that they’re all the same and storms off as the two puzzled divas walk away.

We go back to the arena with Sin Cara and his new robe. He takes it off and then jumps over the top rope to face off against Primo, who is already inside the ring. Just because it’s Primo, I can already say this looks like a squash match. We quickly hear Sin Cara chants. It seems the crowd has quickly embraced this sensational luchador.

Consecutively, we see Sin Cara counter Primo by running up his chest, doing a monkey flip, drop kicking Primo out of the ring, and then diving over the ropes to do a Hurricarana. King happens to say that Sin Cara might be having a hard time with the competition in the WWE, a statement I find absolutely hilarious. The match continues and Primo looks to dive off the turnstyle, until he gets hit with a step up ezuigiri. Sin Cara then joins him at the top but Primo botches and Sin Cara falls outside the ring. He gets back into the ring to a perched primo, delivers another step up ezuigiri and then his finisher (which is a moonsault slam from the turnstyle)

New DX DVD =) I hope their merchandise comes available again in the WWE Shop.

Been hearing about the Main event and Edge’s Retirement. The Main event is a #1 Contenders Match for the WWE Championship. The match has John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, R-Truth, and Randy Orton. They keep showing this picture of Edge that says Retirement? right underneath. It seems possible-at a house show he hinted at his retirement in the near future.

A recap of the alliance between The Rock and John Cena last week on RAW as they took on the Corre. Nice to see fan service for all generations.

The Corre is now in the ring. Wade Barrett talks about their unsuccessful ambush on the aforementioned superstars. He escapes the blame by shifting it onto the other members of the group. An angry Justin Gabriel grabs the mike and talks about his 450 splash, leading to Slater saying that nobody is able to take away from the fact that he is a two-time tag team champion. Ezekiel Jackson talks about his dominance and how he put Corre on the map.

Santino’s music plays and interrupts the arguement. Santino introduces his team and swears to bring an end to the Corre with his group, the APPLE (Allied People Powered Loathing Everything [the Corre stands for]) in the name of Vladmir Kozolov. The Team consists of Evan Bourne Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan and Santino.

The Top 50 Superstars DVD is advertised. I’ll write my review on this another time and provide my own list.

The Corre is now man-handling Bryan in the corner. Slater has Bryan in a triangle chokehold and then delivers an Irish whip, to which Bryan counters in the corner. He escapes Slater’s unrelenting attacks and tags in Santino. Santino wastes little time to punch Gabriel off the apron After Santino dodges Slater’s running clothesline by doing the splits, he catches the rebounding Slater and does his arm throw. Santino tries to go in for the cover but Barrett and Jackson break the pin, resulting in an all out brawl. Santino tries to use his Cobra finisher (a throat thrust) on Slater, but a recovered Gabriel punches Santino in the back of the head, allowing Slater to get the cover and win the match.

J.R. comes down the ramp with Cole insulting him on his weight. He makes jokes about squeezing his own barbeque sauce all over him last week, which results in JR trying to get into the Cole Mine (the cubicle he has set up for himself), and manages to get a couple of slaps upside the head and rattles the Cole Mine. Cole and J.R. exchange insults back and forth while an amused King laughs. Attempting to surprise King, Jack Swagger bolts at him, but King is prepared and the two exchange blows. The referee starts the match.

After Swagger knocks King over, he does his taunt where he runs laps around the ring with his arms outstretched. King, however, finds the chance to ground Swagger and then imitate him by doing his taunt. Swagger soon gains dominance and gets the ankle lock on King, with an encouraging JR telling King to reach for the ropes. Swagger is forced to break the hold. Throughout this match, Cole shouts his many insults and ruins the match in a way only Cole can. Swagger continues dominating with his many submission holds. Having enough, King punches Swagger but soon loses control again. King is distracted by the Cole on the apron and gets a wicked clothesline by Swagger. JR pulls Cole off the apron and his face bounces off of it. Swagger tries to engage JR from inside the ring by pulling on his head but King gets a roll –up pin. King and JR celebrate together as a confused Swagger looks in disbelief.

Enraged, Cole runs into the ring and stars asking Swagger if he is an idiot and gets physical by poking his finger into his chest. He then slaps Swagger and quickly rolls out of the ring.

King decides to make their match a tag-team match with himself and J.R. vs. Michael Cole and ‘his former friend’ Jack Swagger.

Recap of WM 27 with ‘Taker vs HHH II. Simply put, one of the best matches I have ever seen.

Cena and Edge shake hands in an inaudible convo. Hype is being built for his announcement coming up.

Edge is introduced by Justin Roberts.

He seems like there is something on his mind. He asks the audience to bear with him for rambling. He says that although many people think the WWE is smoke and mirrors, it truly isn’t. He talks about breaking his neck, an injury that he sustained eight years ago and since then, he had been running on borrowed time. He passed pre-Wrestlemania tests but MRIs show that he has to retire. He is thankful that he does no have to be in a wheelchair. Edge is visibly upset as he tears up. He thanks the crowd and the crowd begins chants of “Thank you, Edge”. He talks about his best friend Christian and how he’s provided support. Wrestlemania VI was his inspiration as he saw the Ultimate Warrior take on Hulk Hogan and fast-forward on how he got to face Undertaker at Wrestlemania. May 10, 1996 was his first match and he says he’s learned a lot. He chronicles his career; being a part of the Brood, being goofy with Christian, becoming despised and doing it with Lita. Edge hopes that he earned everyone’s respect and that he’s going to miss all of it. He says that despite the many hardships he’s faced, he’d do it all over again. He thanks J.R. for discovering him. ‘We love you’ chants begin and a tearful Edge walks onto the ramp and holds his rock on sign with both hands with his back turned towards the crowd for the lasat time. I was honestly expecting an angle but this is legitimate and making me upset.

A sad Edge walks away through a hallway consisting of the entire locker room. Further affirmation that this is legitimate. Long-time rival Dolph Ziggler is the first to shake his hand, and everyone applauds Edge. He hugs Mark Henry, Natalya, and the Bellas and knuckle-bumps Khali as he walks out.

The Miz joins the commentators along with his associate, Alex Riley. The main event begins and Randy Orton is the first to come out followed by Ziggler. These two will square off first. After struggling in a triangle choke hold, Orton breaks out, does his clothesline and his scoop slam. Ziggler escapes the ring but Orton does his signature rope DDT. Orton is fully in control until the Nexus members David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty appear and distract Orton, allowing Ziggler to get the roll up. Ziggler leaves as the two Nexus members run in, with Orton successfully defending himself until he is greeted by a big boot from Mason Ryan. Punk is notably absent.

R-Truth is out now. Ziggler beats Truth in the corner and tosses him into the other corners. After an elbow he goes for the cover. Truth looks like he’s break out from a triangle chokehold but Ziggler does his leg-drop bulldog to him. He goes in for a cover but fails. Ziggler dominates but Truth lands his new finisher, the What’s Up (leaping reverse STO).

John Morrison comes out and has new gear which is all black along with a black leather jacket. With a determined look in his face…THEY CUT TO COMMERICAL!

J.Mo captivates with his high-flying style. After a wicked clothesline, J.Mo does a kip-up and then a windmill kick to a grounded R-Truth. Both men are now outside and it appears there will be a double countout, but they pull themselves together by eight. J.Mo is dominating after they both slide into the ring. He’s going to win! After a springboard kick, he drags Truth to the corner only to miss Starship Pain. Truth lands his finish and pins J.Mo. The Miz says that was J.Mo’s punishment for not cutting out the high-flying stuff. Cena comes out and does his entrance in the ring.

‘Cena Sucks!’ chants break out in the arena. Cena did a dropkick which is pretty unique. He can’t seem to put R-truth away until he resorts the Five Moves Of Doom. He does his leg drop from the turnstile. Truth slaps Cena but happens to fall down. We hear more ‘Cena Sucks!’ chants. Truth does a few clotheslines and this his spinning lariat. Truth stalks Cena, waiting for him to get up, but Cena counters with an irish whip and then grounds him with a shoulder block. He then does his 5-knuckle shuffle. Before landing the Attitude Adjustment, the Miz and Alex Riley attack both men. The referee rules the match as a double DQ. The Miz grabs a mike and talks about there being no number #1 contender. The Anonymous GM agrees but says there are now two contenders. Cena and Truth recuperate and attack the duo until they leave the ring. The two then have a staredown but shake hands. However Cena takes a pat on the back the wrong way and both men begin to slap each other on the back until an angry Cena shoves Truth. Truth appears to be confused at first but smirks, and bobs his head to his music as he exits.

My thoughts:

Sin Cara is a BEAST! Reading through the strategy guide for the WWE All-Stars game, they based the acrobatic class off of his moveset, and after tonight’s episode, I have no disagreements with that. The man preformed a combination of high-flying moves! I hope his talent is used properly and not for any silly storylines.

The inception of the APPLE group is witty. I look forward to what happens to them in the future. Its not something I’m dying to see, but the Corre needs to end. Well, actually, the Nexus needs to close up shop.

It can be established as fact to say that Cole has already overstepped all boundaries. He was almost fired for his homophobic remarks, so with him, what you see on TV..is what you get IRL. I hope that he gets released after Extreme Rules. We had an entire buildup up until WM and then King gets DQ’d. Cole needs to leave, seriously..

Back to what I was saying about the Nexus…seriously? Like…they got kicked in the head. Batista gets kicked in the head and comes back months later, and these fools come back in the matter of weeks.

Cena does not seem as enthusiastic as he did before WM. A possible heel turn?

JMO! God! What does this guy need to do to win the title. He did the single most amazing thing I have ever seen at a Royal Rumble. And then…he climbed the ceiling of the Elimination Chamber! He needs to win soon. I am a huge J.Mo fan as this website’s name would indicate.

Now...I tried to write my thoughts in order but I saved this one for last. Edge retiring. This almost had me in tears. You have your Hulk Hogans and your Rocks but Edge had to be my all time favourite. Maybe it took him leaving for me to realize that, but he really served as an inspiration over the years. He overcame the odds and didn’t go to fancy wrestling schools for training. His mom was a waitress and he was just some guy from Orangeville that was really dedicated. I thought for a while I grew out of wrestling but when I attended the house show in February…something came over me, and I felt the electricity throughout Ricoh Coliseum as soon as his theme music played. I joined in with the crowd chanting SPEAR…SPEAR…SPEAR.. as he prepared to land one onto to Dolph Ziggler. I tried to get an autograph for my little brother who couldn’t make it and braved the snow with my group of buddies as other superstars drove away, waiting for Edge to come out and sign my copy of his autobiography. Security informed me that Edge left, and I’d been meaning to write a letter to him since then explaining that I missed him but I’d really like to hear from him. I’d stand in the snow again if it meant I had a chance to meet him. A friend I happen to be having problems with berated me for my passion for pro-wrestling and said that the injuries were fake, which infuriated me, because Edge received spinal fusion surgery. There’s nothing fake about that. Edge was not only an icon, but someone real…more real than anyone I’ve ever seen in the business or will see in the business again. I intend on writing a letter to Edge soon, just to let him know how I feel.

Monday, 11 April 2011

Welcome to the Palace of Wisdom

Welcome to the Palace of Wisdom guys!

As you could guess from the title of this blog alone, I'm a huge WWE fan. On this blog..I'll try to keep my entries relevant to wrestling...reviews...recaps..etc. However, I have other interests too, and from time to time, I might slide in a few personal entries. My pledge to you as my readers is that I will keep my posts as original and relevant to pro-wrestling as I can.

Enjoy your stay!