Wrestling 9/12

Zmans Wrestling Top Ten for 9/12

1. Title changes abound this week. Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy are now both champions of their respective brands. Hate to see Punk lose the belt, but they did it in the best case scenario with him not having to do the job to lose it. I see this as a way of WWE rewarding people for the hard work, Jericho with the Michaels feud and Hardy for being a reliable employee. Kudos to both of them and I am excited to see the Jericho-Punk cage match on RAW.

2. And now the second generation stable is becoming exactly that, a stable. This is from the addition of Manu, or Afa Jr as I mentioned last week. I think he is an interesting asset to the team. He has a nice new finisher, but change your tights please. I liked the ones he wore on the PPV, these ones he had on RAW remind me of a less intimidating Umaga. But glad the groups coming together and I expect big things out of them for the rest of the year.

3. Rumor of the week is that Smackdown people are not too happy with HHH for making his opponents look bad during in ring segments. They are also worried he'll be the one to break the Undertaker's undefeated streak. I hope they hold off Jeff Hardy for a little bit and let him face HHH for the belt at Wrestlemania, but that is a long off time away. I'm just interested to hear what will come of this situation on Smackdown.

4. Who okayed the nickname, "The All American American"? As opposed to the Canadian American? I like Jack Swagger's look, his name is kinda cool, and he can wrestle as seen by a sweet Blue Thunder Bomb. But do something with the name, music, and plain black tights. Hopefully all changes that come over time.

5. Speaking of Swagger, will the last one in FCW please turn off the lights. In the last two months, they have lost Primo Colon (Eddie Colon), Manu (Afa Jr.), Gavin Spears (Shawn Spears), Ryan Braddock (Jay Bradley), Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana), the Bella Twins, and Jack Swagger (Jake Hager). These were all names I heard of in FCW, and it looks like the time has come for a new crop of stars to invade the developmental ranks. Lets see what you can do here Dusty.

6. What I like about Santino's new gimmick is that it allows for older superstars to be brought up on RAW. It's always good to give the viewer some knowledge about the past, and I popped when he brought up the Mountie, Mantaur from a while back, and the Honk-a-meter. Wonder who he's gonna get next?

7. I don't know where they are going with the Rey Mysterio - Kane feud. All I'm hoping though is that they let Rey keep his mask. It's his trademark and the fans all love it. Perhaps have Kane try to rip it off on Raw, only for Rey to get away. Make a match then for No Mercy, a Mask vs Mask match where if Kane loses he needs to keep wearing the mask, or something like that.

8. Glad to hear about all the press for 'The Wrestler'. This buisness needs the press and a Best Male Oscar nod for Rourke for his role in the movie could be just what it takes to revive some interest in the company again.

9. No Surrender predictions - Booker T is the new heavyweight champion. Lethal-Dutt ladder match should be cool, but who cares bout the outcome. I'll go Creed as the new X div champ, with Petey turning face and destroying the former Daivari post match. Angelina Love as the new Knockout champ, just for the fact Taylor Wilde is so...blah. Lets go with Trigg over AJ in his debut, and Curry, Shark, and Super Eric over the Rock and Ravers.

10. A new segment on the list is the YouTube video of the week. I spend hours a day scouring the net for cool wrestling videos and heres my first. It took place about a week ago in an indy event called the NWF. I made fun of him before, but what happened to the former Braden Walker could be made into a decent angle for an indy company. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwkJHpdJnNs