Ruthless Roundtable: WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions

“It’s time, once again, for everybody to come aboard” The Ruthless Roundtable…

Borrowing just a little bit from The Godfather, we all know how that quote is supposed to end…and if you don’t, you didn’t live through the Attitude Era…

Tonight is the 2012 Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View, with out a doubt my favorite PPV of the year. But I’m going to happily miss this years viewings because we were out last night celebrating my 30th birthday. So, while the actual event is going on, I might just be asleep.

I got myself up out of a nap just to finish this thing up. And I have to be honest with you, my explanations might not be that thorough. But not to worry, there are plenty of others on the list that either explained their thoughts or like me, just kind of answered the question.

WWE Royal Rumble 2012 card (as of today), matches are subjected to be added:

30-Man Royal Rumble Match Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII
Note: The Miz (due to losing a match to R-Truth) will be the #1 entry.

CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee. Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside.

John Cena vs. Kane Singles match

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Anyway, here we go!

Cos’s Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions:

Again, this is the short version:

30-Man Royal Rumble Match Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII
Note: The Miz (due to losing a match to R-Truth) will be the #1 entry.

2012 Royal Rumble winner: Chris Jericho

CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee. VickieGuerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside.

Winner and Still WWE Champion: CM Punk
John Cena vs. Kane Singles match

Winner: Kane

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Daniel Bryan

Mother Brain’s Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions
By Mother Brain

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship

I see Bryan skating by on this one. He’s got the size advantage against the much larger Henry and Big Show. Plus there’s a tremendous amount of drama with Bryan’s slow heel turn which has made his World Heavyweight Title run more interesting. Expect him to go over against these giants and carry the title into Elimination Chamber.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

John Cena vs. Kane

Many of us still want the Cena heel turn to happen. But all I’m seeing is a wuss company man finally growing some balls and embracing “the hate”. With a lack of momentum and a series of losses in the past few PPV’s, Cena has to go over and get his revenge against Kane.

Winner: John Cena

CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee (Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside)

The real story of this match is whether or not Johnny Ace will screw Punk in the match. I get the feeling there will be a ton of moments where he’ll tease it. But he’ll ultimately have to make the right call so he can save his job. No Y2J or Triple H run ins. Punk wins clean over Ziggler.

Winner: CM Punk

30-Man Royal Rumble Match Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII (Note: The Miz (due to losing a match to R-Truth) will be the #1 entry)

Only 3 possibilities I can see winning the Rumble this year: Y2J, Randy Orton, or Triple H. Jericho has not ever won a Rumble match and many signs point to a serious feud with CM Punk very soon. Orton has the St. Louis hometown advantage and the fact that a babyface is due to win this year. Triple H is my wildcard pick because he’s rumored to face Punk instead of Undertaker at Wrestlemania. For now, I place my bets on Jericho.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Ato’s Royal Rumble Predictions:

30-Man Royal Rumble Match Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII
Note: The Miz (due to losing a match to R-Truth) will be the #1 entry.

Winner: Y2J Chris Jericho

CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee. Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside.

Winner: CM Punk
John Cena vs. Kane Singles match

Winner: Kane

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Winner: CM Punk

Chosen 1′s Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions:

Biggest Surprise entrant – Rey Mysterio (return from injury)

JJJ’s Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions:

30-Man Royal Rumble Match Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII
Note: The Miz (due to losing a match to R-Truth) will be the #1 entry.

Winner: Wade Barrett

CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee. Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside.

Winner: CM Punk

John Cena vs. Kane Singles match

Winner: Kane

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Justice’s Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions:

Triple threat world title match: Winner: Daniel Bryan- I have a feeling Bryan doesn’t go to Wrestlemania as champion but I don’t see him losing here. I think he’ll lose at Elimination Chamber to either Barrett or Orton

John Cena vs. Kane: Kane will look so weak losing to Cena here so thats Why I see Cena winning. Eventually we all want to see Cena turn heel and while this may be a catalyst to a turn,don’t expect to see it yet.

Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk: Even with Laurinitis trying to screw him, CM Punk wins and rides a wave of momentum all the way to Wrestlemania. I expect this to be a great match-of-the-year candidate.

Royal Rumble match: I see Orton being one of the last 2 competitors but I don’t see him winning. There’s the new “everyone is eligible” rule so I see some sort of swerve going on but I predict Jericho

Smark Central’s Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions

30-Man Royal Rumble Match Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII
Note: The Miz (due to losing a match to R-Truth) will be the #1 entry.
What I want to see: I think it’d be interesting to see one of the title holders or challengers (not henry or show) to win this thing. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. I mean that “everyone is eligible to enter” stipulation is there for a reason so while it may not be a lock, its certainly something to keep in mind.
What will happen: Usually the logical choice usually takes it. If you look back over the years the winner is obvious. With that said, I’d look for Jericho, Barrett, or Orton to take it.

CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee. Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside.
What I want to see: This is a tough one. I mean you literally have the two BEST wrestlers in the business today vying for the title (what a concept). I want Punk to win only because if Ziggler wins, his reign will not last. Punk would without a doubt, win it back before mania. Dolph deserved better than a 1 month chump change reign.
What will happen: Punk wins

John Cena vs. Kane Singles match
What I want to see: This feud has been good, but it’s borderlined on cheesy at times (as all Cena and Kane storylines tend to do). However, the intrigue has been there despite most people with a brain knowing that Cena will never turn heel (psst…constipation faces into the camera don’t count). I don’t care who wins. I just don’t want Kane to miss the Rumble because of Cena and his phony anger routine.
What we will see: Cena wins, Kane jobs (haven’t you been watching for the past 7 years?)

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship
What I want to see: Bryan is really coming into his heel persona. It’d be a shame to cut him off at the legs now. I really hope Vince knows how good this guy is.
What will happen: I don’t see any of these guys making it to Mania as champ, but Bryan will win it here.

The Mother Brain Files: Red Tails Movie Review
By Mother Brain

Before I dive right into my review, I want to quickly share my initial reaction after seeing the George Lucas-produced historical war drama Red Tails. I wrote a comment on Facebook about how refreshing it was to finally see some heroic African-American role models who can inspire the young people of our generation. There’s no surprise that some of my friends would respectfully counter my point when they reference today’s African-American movie stars like Will Smith and Denzel Washington who often play heroic characters of color. While they’ve had their own struggles in their careers, they’ve also grown to a level of super-stardom in which they can play larger than life characters. The difference between them and the young actors in Red Tails, however, has less to do with star status and more to do with depicting real life heroes who don’t always have the answers and are not afraid to show vulnerability.

As reported in the press recently, Red Tails took over 20 years for George Lucas to get produced into a feature film. Despite Lucas’ massive success with the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, no studio in Hollywood was willing to risk bankrolling on an all-black, action-adventure film; especially when it’s a period piece requiring lots of special effects.  As a result, Lucas covered the production and marketing costs himself and hired television director Anthony Hemingway of HBO’s The Wire to helm the project with a screenplay by former comedy writer John Ridley.

The story is set in 1944 near the end of World War II with the African-American pilots of the Tuskegee program are not only battling the Nazis in the air but also having to battle racial discrimination within the military. But even by having to deal with hand-me-down fighter planes, simplistic missions, and the threat of their program being shut down, the Tuskegee pilots ultimately prove their worth on the most dangerous missions ever given to any American fighter pilots period.

There were many aspects to the film that stood out to me. One of them was nice cinematic comebacks of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrance Howard. Gooding’s once promising career following an Oscar win for Jerry Maguire in 1996 was tarnished with humiliation following a string of box office flops in the comedy genre while Howard’s negative attitude on film sets had cost him major roles. The performances of Gooding as the tough Tuskegee base Major and Howard as the supporting Colonel tackling the military politics back at home reminded me of why they were so talented to begin with. They show growth as actors as well as a sense of pride and defiance in their respective scenes.

The film also had a plethora of up and coming black actors in the roles of the pilots themselves. Although everyone had their special moments, it had to be David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Nate Parker (The Great Debaters) who were truly the heart and soul of the film. A lot of critics whose reviews I’ve read panned their individual subplots for being uninspired. But they completely miss the context of the characters’ relationship. As Lucas stated in a recent New York Times interview, Parker’s role as “Easy” was a metaphor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in that he “respects the army brass and plays by the rules”; Oyelowo’s role as “Lightning”, however, was a metaphor of Malcolm X in that he “bristles at authority and blows up German warships when he chooses.” But of the two stand-out performances, Oyelowo made the most impression to me. After having played a sinister corporate antagonist in last summer’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Oyelowo turned on the charm and winning personality that I’d say many in the audience identified with.

Finally, there was the amazing cinematography of John Aronson. As many people know, there was a good amount of sets and locations that were CGI with the actors working around a green screen setup which was the case in making the Star Wars prequels. But it never took me away from the story. I found myself mesmerized by the classical look of the Tuskegee base and the way in which the pilots are photographed beautifully just like the great photographic works of the late African-American photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks. The dogfights in the air were also a spectacular sight to see. One could understand what inspired Lucas’ spectacular space battles in the Star Wars films after seeing how skilled and courageous these pilots really were. The folks at Industrial Light & Magic carefully studied the remaining real war footage to get the details down to create some amazing aerial feats. You have to see it to believe it.

It’s hard for me to discuss the things that didn’t work in Red Tails. A lot of people complained about some of the cheesy dialogue and the lack of stand out performances due to director Hemingway’s lack of film experience. I’ll be bias in saying that none of these criticisms mattered to me whatsoever. Much of this bias had to do with the film reminding me of my grandfather who fought in the war and whose stories were shared with me by my dad. I don’t think the film necessarily holds a candle to the more realistic and stylish aerial combat sequences in Top Gun. But to me, the real experience of seeing Red Tails was to watch a story about young African-American boys who became men in the midst of combat. Men who were incredibly daring and courageous even in the face of fear and adversity. I believe it is truly an inspiring story for everyone no matter what your nationality is.

It is also a timely story that I hope will help young African-American men of our generation realize that true to life heroes don’t brag about their fame and fortune or get overpaid because of their talents in music, sports, or entertainment in general. Real heroes never get held down by adversity or fear. Red Tails gave me a reason to believe that there are heroes of color who still exist in the world.

The Mother Brain Files: The Robocop Series

By Mother Brain

The year was 1987. My wonderful grandmother took my cousin and I to a local supermarket in Brooklyn to do food shopping. I remember passing by a bus stop with a large poster of a man in metal stepping out of his car. It was an image that was etched in my mind for over a year until one night when I snuck into my parents bedroom where they had cable. They were watching a movie on HBO called Robocop and it starred the very character I saw on that poster just a year earlier.

Like many young boys born in the 80s, I saw Robocop as a live action superhero. The story about a slain Detroit cop named Alex Murphy who gets resurrected into a law enforcement cyborg by a major corporation called OCP reminded me of all the comic books I read at the time. Robocop was just as much of a childhood fad as Ghostbusters and Batman. But it was in my adult years, however, when I learned to appreciate the film’s underling story about the evils of capitalism and the character serving as a Christ metaphor. The combination of memorable characters, storytelling with substance, and over the top violence with a purpose puts Robocop next to Ghostbusters as one of my all time favorite films.

As I had done previously with Beverly Hills Cop, I’ll be looking back at the Robocop films as well as his live action television incarnations. While the sequels and TV shows never measured up to the original, they each had some positive aspects. But for the most part, they were really just “glitches”.

Robocop (1987)

So where do I begin? While screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner laid out the groundwork for this corporate crazy world where law enforcement is privatized and American capitalism is satirized in parody commercials, it was Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven who set a tone that no other filmmaker had been able to match successfully. His use of excessive violence was not only entertainment value for action junkies but it also revealed how absurd the people the world are. The horror of ED-209 blasting an young OCP executive into hamburger meat was minimal compared to the sight of other executives pushing him out of their way and the Old Man character’s lack of remorse when he utters the line “Dick, I’m very disappointed.” When it comes to the actors, Robocop was undoubtedly Peter Weller’s signature role. Over the years, I’ve learned to appreciate Weller’s efforts while suffering in a fiberglass suit and using mime techniques to get the proper movements down. More importantly, the audience feels pain when the character himself is vulnerable and Weller captures such pain in moments like when he sees his reflection after removing his helmet for the first time. This character trait along with his ability to see memories of his previous life make Robocop unique character in that he is less of a superhero and more of a mentally tortured man struggling to regain his humanity. Something that studio executives would ignore later on.

Almost everyone in this movie gives a memorable performance including Kurtwood Smith playing Clarance Boddicker as the villain everyone loves to hate, Miguel Ferrer as the charming asshole executive who forms the Robocop project, and Ronny Cox ditching his good guy image to play the ruthless corporate baddie, Dick Jones. On the technical side, Phil Tippett’s stop motion puppetry work with ED-209 reminded people of Ray Harryhausen’s greatness with stop motion monsters in Jason and the Argonauts. Rob Bottin, who was responsible for the terrifying alien transformation effects and makeup in John Carpenter’s The Thing, compliments Verehoven’s manic style not only creating Robocop suit and makeup but also the shocking makeup work on one of Boddicker’s goons who gets drenched in toxic. Finally, the memorable original score by Basil Poledouris has to be up in the ranks as John Williams’ scores for Star Wars and Superman. Having watched it again recently on cable, the original still holds up in the digital age. Ironically enough, however, its themes and messages about the evils of capitalism are even more relevant now than they were in 1987.

Robocop 2 (1990)

I remember seeing the first sequel the day it opened that summer. By then, I had collected the Kenner action figures as well as owning the NES video game based on the original film. While I liked Robocop 2 at the time, I quickly found myself hating it a year after it was released. The story moves forward as Robocop takes on a new drug epidemic on the streets of Detroit called Nuke and it’s being manufactured by the psychotic Cain (Tom Noonan). At the same time, OCP continues their plans to foreclose on the city as well as develop a newly advanced Robocop who is bigger, badder, and doesn’t elicit emotion.

All the original cast members return. Unfortunately, Verehoeven was busy filming Total Recall. So Irving Kershner, the director of The Empire Strikes Back, took the director’s chair. With all due respect to the late director’s past work, Kershner completely missed the mark on Robocop 2. He unsuccessfully attempted to mimic Verehoeven’s manic style while ditching the Dutchman’s gritty direction and fancy camerawork for a more polished, traditional sci-fi actioneer. The great comic writer Frank Miller was also hired as the screenwriter only to find his work getting butchered by studio rewrites. The resulting film was filled with good ideas without a conclusion (i.e. OCP forcing Robocop to tell Murphy’s wife that her husband bit the dust) and bad ideas that were just plain silly (i.e. Hob the adolescent foul mouth drug dealer). Even Leonard Rosenman’s score is atrocious with the choir chanting Robocop’s name in the overture. The film’s true saving grace had to be Phil Tippett who put together an incredible climax between the two Robocops at OCP headquarters. It was an insane, brutal battle taking place in elevator shafts, rooftops, and the streets of Detroit. Too bad the rest of the film couldn’t be as good.

Robocop 3 (1993)

This is where things got bizarre. I was 9 in 1992 when there was a flood of video games and comic book tie-ins for the new Robocop film; however, there was no announcement of a release. All I knew was that he turns against OCP when they go after homeless Detroit citizens, befriends a little girl, gets a new machine gun attachment and a freakin’ jet pack. As it turned out later on, the studio behind the franchise was going bankrupt and their slate of films sat on the shelf for a year. Like the 2nd film, Robocop 3 made me stand up and cheer in it’s initial release. Today, I believe this is the weakest film of all.

So what went wrong? First, the edginess of the previous films was toned down for a PG-13 rating. At this point, kids were the only Robocop fans that the studio would cater to. Peter Weller decided that the suit and lack of story direction were good reasons to leave the series and had to be replaced by a lookalike actor named Robert John Burke. The hard-working New York actor and real life fireman managed to succeed Weller fine despite the change in voice and appearance. But he lacked the sense of pain in the character that only Weller portrayed best. Old supporting character favorites like Robo’s kick ass chick partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) and the Old Man were either ditched or killed off in favor of a series of new characters played by many future stars. They included Crossing Jordan’s Jill Hennessy as Robo’s personal scientist, CCH Pounder from The Shield as the leader of a Detroit resistance against OCP’s armed force group, future alcoholic jailbird and Men in Black boss Rip Torn as the new head of OCP, and Bradley Whitford of The West Wing as an asshole OCP executive.

Fred Dekker of the cult classic The Monster Squad took the director’s chair in the 3rd Robocop outing. He did a better job at incorporating important elements of the first film (the Christ metaphor, the Poledouris score, etc) and tried a fresh approach to the material by having OCP merge with a Japanese corporation with their own martial arts cyborg sent to destroy Robocop. But Dekker’s cartoonish ideas with the gun attachment and jet pack only did more harm to the character than good. Robocop is supposed to be a gunslinger no different from Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry. By this film, he’s just a walking swiss army knife. The sad attempt at bringing the character down to Transformers and Spider-Man territory did nothing to save the franchise and it would be the last Robocop movie released theatrically to date.

Robocop: The Series (1994)

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Orion Pictures sells the TV licensing rights to a Canadian production company called Skyvision. They produce an hour long, weekly syndicated series following the further adventures of Robocop despite the fact that all the supporting characters were altered due to copyright reasons and the sequels were completely ignored. Like the 3rd film, the series was made to be kid friendly and even that got worse. The character kills no one on screen, gets equipped with excessive gadgetry, and has too many friends including the OCP Chairman and a dead scientist who’s resurrected into a ghost trapped inside Detroit’s power lines! WTF?!

The performances are downright bad. In addition to hiring Canadian actors to fill the main roles, the title character would be played by soap actor Richard Eden. Let’s just say he looked like a leukemia patient without his helmet on. The villains were just plain terrible and that goes for the Freddy Kruger-looking gangster Pudface Morgan.

Interestingly enough, the pilot episode adapted an unproduced draft of Robocop 2 written by the original creators and Rowdy Roddy Piper guest starred as a comic book creator-turned-vigilante. None of this saved this bastard child.

Robocop: Prime Directives (2001)

In hopes of resurrecting the franchise, another Canadian company produced a 4 part mini-series designed to be the definitive Robocop follow-up, picking up 10 years following the events of the first film. The new story follows an older Robocop confronting Alex Murphy’s old parter John Cable who also gets killed and resurrected into a new, badass Robocop while a mad scientist tries to use a bio-tech virus to wipe out all life on earth.

The mini-series director, Julian Grant, wanted to return to the dark and gritty tone of the first film while modernizing the themes at a time prior to 9/11. He cast Page Fletcher from HBO’s The Hitchhiker in the title role and dropped all the original characters except for Murphy’s son who is now a major OCP executive. The initial buzz was promising. But when it aired in America on the Sci-Fi Channel that summer, Robocop fans were left disappointed. Everything from action scenes to special effects suffered due to the low budget. A budget so low that stock footage from Robocop: The Series had to be utilized. The scripts for the mini-series were unpolished, repetitive, and downright silly. Its poor ratings were the final punishing blow to the franchise.

The Future

Fans of the original Robocop came to terms with one consensus: Robocop is a stand-alone film that never needed sequels. If and when you see the film, the story is open and closed. Everything else after should have been left up for interpretation. When Sony Pictures bought out the MGM library which had the Robocop rights, they announced plans for a remake rather than producing a 4th entry. Black Swan’s Darren Aronofsky was slated to direct until conflicts with the studio over making film in 3D forced him to quit. As of this date, Brazilian director Jose Padilha is attached to direct the remake and the search is on for a leading actor. Only time will tell if audiences overwhelmed with superhero and alien invasion flicks in today’s cinema will embrace Robocop’s return to the big screen. As for Frank Miller’s Robocop Vs. Terminator in live action form, let’s just say I’ll buy that for a dollar on opening day!

If you liked reading this, see my earlier blog about the possible Robocop statue in Detroit.

Mother Brain’s Top 10 Movie Franchise-Killing Sequels
By Mother Brain

With a new year just getting started, the world of cinema will be manifested by more sequels and prequels. Nearly dozens of successful franchises including Batman, Alien, G.I. Joe, and James Bond will return to the screen either to revive their respective series or to mark the end of a successful run. But when there’s hype, there’s always the likelihood of disappointment.

In my first new blog for 2012, I’ll be looking back at those not so successful installments to popular film franchises that were killed or almost killed by that one terrible installment.  While there’s plenty of films to discuss, my top 10 consists of the ones that stand out the most to me. Rounding out the top 10:

10. Terminator Salvation (2009)

The first Terminator from 1984 was an indie film classic that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name and James Cameron into an a-list director. 1991’s T2 was not only a bigger success but it was also groundbreaking for its special effects, setting a new standard for the way action films are made today. Things were not quite the same when Cameron chose not to return for T3 in 2003 and the resulting film felt more like a rehash of the previous film despite director Jonathan Mostow’s best efforts. But Terminator Salvation was a good example of how a logical idea can go bad. At this point, Arnold was out governating California and the film’s producers decided to focus on the future war between the human resistance and Skynet. The signs were already bad when Charlie’s Angels director McG was hired to direct. The soulless director basically made the film without the deeper substance of T1 and T2 and the writers put emphasis on new characters we didn’t care for. If you ask someone what the film was about, they’ll tell you it’s about how John Connor became resistance leader, met his future father, and got a scar. Beyond that, it’s just PG-13 popcorn fun.

9. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

While the first X-Men movie by Bryan Singer paved the way for Marvel Comics to bring their characters to the big screen properly, X2 proved that a summer movie can still have a compelling story. Fans got their geek on with the sequel’s big cliffhanger involving Jean Grey’s transformation into the Phoenix and eagerly awaited seeing her in full form in X3. But when a pre-occupied Singer and Fox had disagreements over rushing the film into theaters, Singer dropped out and the studio hired the Rush Hour hack himself, Brett Ratner. I won’t go as far as saying Last Stand was a terrible movie; however, there was a great deal of disappointment over the number of big character deaths as well as the Phoenix storyline being degraded to a terrible subplot. Most of all, the cerebral tone of X2 was dropped in favor of a more light-hearted feel due to Ratner’s direction. The franchise would suffer harsh criticism with the Wolverine spin-off in 2009 before redeeming itself with last year’s X-Men: First Class.

8. Another Stakeout (1993)

1987’s Stakeout was the big sleeper hit of the summer and had made more money than the first Lethal Weapon. The film was a buddy cop/romantic comedy hybrid with Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez playing Seattle detectives staking out Madeline Stowe’s place so they can nab her prison escapee ex-boyfriend. 6 years would pass before the sequel hit screens and boy was it a stinker. While it retained the same cast and crew, the romantic story with Dreyfuss and Stowe was out and Rosie O’Donnell was in as the Joe Pesci of the movie. The jokes fell flat and so did this picture.

7. Rocky V (1990)

No matter how many flops Sylvester Stallone would suffer, he could always rely on the Italian Stallion to win his fans back. By 1990, however, Stallone found himself in a dark period of his life and career, blaming the Rocky character for his lack of success outside the franchise (except for Rambo of course). He re-teamed with Rocky 1 director John Avildsen for what was the final installment of the series which focused on a brain damaged Rocky losing his riches and moving back to the old Philly neighborhood to start over. Rather than returning to the ring against another vicious opponent, he manages the unseasoned Tommy Gunn who winds up seduced by the seedy side of boxing. To see Rocky so broken down mentally turned off audiences. Stallone originally intended for Rocky to die in the street fight before studio execs said otherwise. Since its release, Stallone blamed his lack of career focus on the film’s failure and eventually made it up to the fans when he made his triumphant return in 2006’s Rocky Balboa.

6. License to Kill (1989)

This was the 2nd and ultimately last James Bond film starring Timothy Dalton. Unlike previous Bond films with fantastical locations, comic book villains, and hi-tech gadgetry, License attempted to return to the gritty roots of the Ian Flemming novels. This time, Bond pursues a Columbian drug lord to Mexico so he can avenge the attack on his CIA buddy Felix Leiter. Rather than make a traditional Bond film, the producers tried to cash in on Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Miami Vice in hopes of making Bond relevant in the late 80s. Unfortunately, the summer sequel bloodbath of ’89 proved to be too much competition for 007 and the franchise disappeared from cinemas for 6 years until Pierce Brosnan donned the tux for Goldeneye.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

The comedy-driven Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home worked out so well that Paramount Pictures demanded more humor for what was to be the last installment with the original Enterprise crew. William Shatner himself took the director’s chair for the story about Spock’s half-brother Sybok taking over the ship and manipulating the crew into finding God on a distant planet. Shatner intended on making the story relevant to the rise of televangelists in the late 80s. But everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong: Sean Connery turned the Sybok role down, ILM wasn’t available for special effects work as they did previously, and the script was downright problematic. The end result was another summer sequel bloodbath casualty. Fortunately, the original crew got one last successful swan song with 1991’s The Undiscovered Country.

4. Robocop 3 (1993)

When I asked myself why the Robocop franchise suffered, I found the answer from the director of this pile of poop Fred Dekker: Robocop 1 was an open and closed story. The truth is by the end of Robocop, Alex Murphy begins to regain his humanity. That’s what the story was about. But of course toys, cartoons, comic, and video games followed and sequels were more than inevitable. 1990’s Robocop 2 just didn’t have match up to the violent absurdity and evil capitalism themes injected by Paul Verhoeven from the first film. By Robocop 3, the folks at Orion Pictures felt that the character only appealed to kids and chose to make it more kid-friendly. It was essentially the Return of the Jedi entry of the Robocop trilogy where the character sides with homeless Detroit citizens to fight back against OCP and their Rehab soldiers. While it was cool to see Robo get a machine gun arm attachment and a jet pack, everything that made the first film so special was gone including Peter Weller who passed on the role citing frustration wearing the suit. To make matters worse, the film was delayed for an entire year due to studio bankruptcy and the storyline would be spoiled in video game and comic book adaptations released prior to the film.

3. Superman III (1983)

Most people will argue The Quest for Peace killed Superman. I say go one movie back and just watch the fiasco known as Superman III. Producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind had already made bad decisions with the franchise when they fired Richard Donner from finishing Superman II and hiring Richard Lester, disgusting series stars Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman. That final film was a mix between Donner’s more respectful approach to the material and Lester’s injection of slapstick comedy. Superman III would become the true vision of its producers: Corny jokes, lame villains, and useless celebrity casting. The latter was proven true with the inclusion of the legendary Richard Pryor being cast as a computer programer who gets caught up  in a Lex Luthor wanna-be’s plan to kill the Man of Steel with a supercomputer. The film’s only saving grace: The Superman Vs. Superman fight in the junkyard. Besides that, truth, justice, and the American way was shit on by greed.

2. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

No one could imagine this series going wrong after the creative high of Spider-Man 2. Once again, Sam Raimi proved he could make an exciting blockbuster film with a great deal of character depth and emotion. That would not be the case, however, with Spider-Man 3. The initial idea by Raimi and star Tobey Maguire was for the web-slinger to face the Sandman and Harry Osborn as the New Goblin. But studio execs at Sony wanted the more popular Venom character in the mix because the fans demanded him. Raimi had no interest in the character because of his lack of interest in the comics post-1984 when the symbiote suit storyline came about. He eventually gave in and that was just the beginning of the problems. Too many characters, one too many villains, and dorky humor made Spidey fans angry. To this day, they cannot forgive Raimi for the infamous emo-Peter Parker strutting down NYC like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Whether or not the upcoming Mark Webb-directed reboot saves the franchise remains to be seen.

1. Batman & Robin (1997)

I refuse to describe this in sentences. So I’ll do with using just a few words: Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Batgirl, Bane, nipples of Batsuit, too many vehicles, too much color in Gotham City, Batcard, and Clooney as Batman. All this plus excessive merchandising equals a 90 minute gay joke. Thankfully, Christopher Nolan came along with the superpower to erase this bastard child from our memories.

A little late, but better late then never. Here are the Ruthless Roundtable’s 2011 Year End Wrestling Awards!

We actually have a huge panel of people giving their picks for 2011′s wrestling awards.

In my opinion this was a hot and cold year, from the lukewarm beginning to the fiery hot summer to the cold end, with some sprinkles of hope with Punk, Bryan and Ryder as our new champions; along with Rhodes, Kingston & Bourne, Beth Phoenix. All of these fresh faces at the top makes most of us feel good about the future of professional wrestling.

Anyway, here are the generic topics that most of us will be talking about; same as last year:

Match of the Year:
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:
Feud of the Year:
Worst Feud of the Year:
Tag Team of the Year:
Most Improved:
Rookie of the Year:
Most Overrated:
Most Underrated:
Best Gimmick:
Worst Gimmick:
Best Babyface:
Best Heel:
Worst Tag Team:
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:
Best Return:

Some of our panel (myself (Cos), Mother Brain, Ato, Chosen 1, Smark Central, JJJ, and Justice added their own to this list. Also, it is quite refreshing seeing that this list doesn’t just have WWE on it, but TNA/Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor. I am happy to admit that it feels good to see more than just WWE on this list.

Let us know what you think and if you agree or disagree. Leave your 2011 Year End Wrestling Awards below!

Cos’ Year End Wrestling Awards

Match of the Year: CM Punk vs John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank

This one was obvious from the build to the match to the fact that, Punk, not only won the match but walked out of the WWE afterward. We all cheered when he hit the Go To Sleep on Cena, won and then literally walked out of the arena.

I will say, I’ve always felt as if they should have allowed Punk to have wandered around with the WWE Championship for a little bit longer than 3 weeks. They should have allowed Rey Mysterio (even though I’m not a fan of his) to have had a much lengthier reign then an hour! They could have built up SummerSlam around the fact that Cena and Mysterio have never faced each other and then have Punk come out at the very end. That would have gotten a lot of people talking about watching Raw the next night.

But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. And I for one still think Punk vs Cena and Money in the Bank was the match of the year.

Runner Up: John Morrison vs The Miz for the WWE Championship on the first Raw of 2011

Most Outstanding Wrestler: CM Punk

Punk did a complete 180 from being the leader of the failed New Nexus to the Agent of Change from this past summer. I for one think that he is the face of the company as it stands right now and they need to let him ride for a bit.

He needs to be built up big time. And I for one will back him up 100%. I still want his t-shirt!

Most Outstanding Female Wrestler: Beth Phoenix

If Kharma had remained, this probably would have been her. Women’s wrestling has being sorely lacking in both WWE and TNA/Impact Wrestling. Beth Phoenix is the stand out of the year.

Feud of the Year: Summer of Punk (CM Punk vs John Cena/WWE/Triple H/Kevin Nash)

I can’t, 100% , say that Punk vs Cena was the feud of the year. But anything involving Punk has been entertaining. Which is why I added all of the above to the “Summer of Punk” (also known as, Summer of Punk 2—part 1 took place in Ring of Honor). I would have even enjoyed seeing Nash vs Punk at Night of Champions…

Worst Feud of the Year: Fall of “H” (Triple H vs CM Punk/WWE/John Laurenitis/Kevin Nash)

I figured if the summer feud was called “Summer of Punk” then right around when Triple H carjacked the entire thing became what I call the “Fall of H”. Triple H took what was the most interesting and compelling storyline with CM Punk and spearheaded it into a ladder match with Kevin Nash.

We no longer hear about any conspiracies. Triple H no longer wants to fight John Laurinaitis. No one is even questioning who Laurinaitis is texting. The appeal was completely gone!

Tag Team of the Year: Awesome Truth

The Tag Team division started out with a decent little resurgence and then came Awesome Truth, which I assumed would have gone on longer had R-Truth not been busted for a wellness violation. But in the few months that they a team they were fantastic!

Probably the best make-shift tag team in a long time in the WWE. I had actually wanted to do a Roundtable about the best make-shift tag teams around the time that Awesome Truth broke up. Didn’t pan out, it was at the wrong time I guess, holiday season. But I’ll post my top five right here; mind you, I’ve been a fan of wrestling since late 1998, so this is my list. I’m sure there are a bunch of people that would disagree. But, again, my blog, my opinion.

This list does not include Awesome Truth, but was inspired by them:

1. Rock and Sock Connection-The Rock and Mankind
2. Rated RKO- Edge and Randy Orton
3. Kane and X-pac
4. The Two Man Power Trip- Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H
5. Jerishow- Chris Jericho and The Big Show

Let me know what your favorite makeshift tag team.

Also, I can only hope for a revival of Awesome Truth sometime in 2012.

Most Improved: Wade Barrett

At the end of 2010, Wade Barrett was on the beating side of a tables match with John Cena. He would be banished to Raw where he would put together the group known as The Corre (that’s right, with two “R’s” ) which ended up failing big time. And we all figured that was it with Barrett. Then came the Barrett Barrage, and he has been tearing it up on Smackdown ever since. I see big things for Barrett in the new year.

Rookie of the Year: Zack Ryder

Zack Ryder stands out to me this year because he started the year off with nothing and ended up becoming the United States Champion simply by sheer perseverance. He created a youtube show that has garnered a lot of followers, so much so that for months people would chant for Zack Ryder at WWE shows.

Maybe Rookie of the Year is a bit harsh for someone who has been wrestling for years, but this is his breakout year and for that I give him the title Rookie of the Year.

Most Overrated: Alberto Del Rio

Last year I was very high on Alberto Del Rio. I thought that after weeks of video packages about him, he was going to fall flat on his face, like Kizarny; or any other video packaged superstar. He ended up being entertaining. But this year has been a lot of misses for Del Rio. He won the Royal Rumble only to lose at Wrestlemania in what would become Edge’s final match and he would win the Money in the Bank ladder match and cash in on CM Punk at SummerSlam, only to lose the Championship a month later to Cena. He would win it back at Hell in a Cell only to lose it to Punk at Survivor Series. For all the wins he has had in what should be a great year, Del Rio has been very bland. What appealed to me at first, his old school style bad guy feel, I’ve grown weary of and now I’m simply bored by his Mexican JBL type of character.

Come to think of it, I would love to see what John “Bradshaw” Layfield would do in a (dream) match against Alberto Del Rio. Book it!

Most Underrated: Daniel Bryan

I feel as if the WWE needs to back up who they place as champion in order for the audience to be able to back them up. They haven’t been doing that with Daniel Bryan. He needs to get the type of treatment that every other champion that was worthy of holding a world championship has earned. He’s made it to the top and they need to give him a good reign.

Best Gimmick: Cody Rhodes

Here is someone who has had three different character changes or evolutions in the past year. He went from being Dashing to the slow talking, masked Cody Rhodes to now being a combination of the two of them. He has become a very entertaining character. One I can see becoming a world champion this year.

If you would have told me that during the time in Legacy, that Cody Rhodes would be the one to come out with a better gimmick then Ted DiBiasi I would have laughed at you.

Worst Gimmick: Ezekiel Jackson

Runner up: Mason Ryan

Best Babyface: Alex Riley

While he was still being pushed. They could have totally made a new superstar out of him.

Best Heel:  R-Truth

If you had told me that R-Truth would have made himself entertaining a year ago, I would have laughed in your face. With the exception of the fact that he has returned and he is now a baby face, I enjoyed watching Truth as a heel. Especially when he was paired up with The Miz.

Runner up: Mark Henry I know, not the person to put on here, I’ve never spoken highly of Mark Henry, but I’ve always thought he could be (and should only be) a heel. This was his year to shine. They gave him a “Kane” reign with the World Heavyweight Championship. Let’s see what happens from here.

Worst Tag Team: David Otunga and Michael McGullicutty

Seriously, these two were tag team champions from May 23^rd to August 22^nd. No wonder no one really cares about tag team wrestling. If there was ever a time where the championships were put on someone just so they could disappear, it was while they were on these two.

Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Sin Cara

I wanted to really like Sin Cara, but I spent most of my time watching it, cringing that he wouldn’t botch his next move. I was at Surivivor Series at The Garden when he did his move that would ultimately put him out of action for the remainder of the year and so far we don’t know if he’ll ever come back.

Runner up: Crimson from TNA/Impact Wrestling

Best Return: The Rock

Seriously, this thing had a lot of people talking. Even a friend of mine who is not a wrestling fan was asking me about it when The Rock returned.

Mother Brain’s 2011 Wrestling Awards
By Mother Brain

Match of the Year: John Cena vs. CM Punk for WWE Championship @ Money in the Bank

While the early part of the year was driven by the announcement of Cena vs. Rock match for Wrestlemania 28, no one could imagine that the most talked about matchup would take place on a 2nd tier PPV. The title match between Cena and Punk was originally part of Cena’s cliched runs with monster heel superstars and Punk was on his way out from the company. But the historic shoot-style promo which took place a few weeks before the event helped to make to most realistic wrestling story angle in years. As for the match itself, it truly did feel controversial with Punk having the hometown advantage over Cena and the suspense hanging around our heads as to whether or not Punk would truly leave WWE with the championship. Also to give credit, it was without a doubt one of Cena’s better in-ring performances.

Most Outstanding Wrestler: CM Punk

I can’t say much that I’ve already said. Punk made wrestling relevant again and brought a new edge to a stale product. Although many will argue he’s regressed as a character since that time, he’s still the man who can run with the ball no matter what he’s handed to him (i.e. Straight Edge Society, New Nexus, NXT commentator, etc).

Most Outstanding Female Wrestler: Beth Phoenix

Had the year gone differently, this award would have belonged to Kharma. But impending motherhood put her out of action. So I’ll have to go with Beth on default since the rest of the Divas division (except Natalya) is crap.

Feud of the Year: John Cena vs. CM Punk

It was truly Superman vs. Batman. Nuff said.

Worst Feud of the Year: Triple H vs. Kevin Nash

This had the potential to work… in 2003. Let’s face it folks. This feud was born out of a conspiracy angle with no structure and went absolutely nowhere. It was inconsistent due to Nash’s sporadic appearances on television. By the time the match went down at TLC, I completely forgot the match was even booked. Nash is as done as his quads and the Game is an office manager.

Tag Team of the Year: Air Boom

There was some brief hope of the tag team division making a comeback in 2011. It didn’t exactly return to the glory days but it was a little bit better than the last couple of years and it only makes sense that the team with the longer title reign this year should get this award.

Most Improved: Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler had always been talented. Problem was he couldn’t generate a crowd reaction. Pairing him with Vickie Gurrerro helped out a lot; however, Ziggler proved how much of a beast he can be not only in the ring but also on the mic this year. He’s now more like Mr. Perfect than Mr. Perfect’s own son. I guarantee he’ll be a main eventer in 2012.

Rookie of the Year: Kharma

Her stint on TV was short as I mentioned above. But there really were not that many rookies who made a big impact in wrestling period. The fact is Kharma was built up the right way with the old school video packages and she got over from the very moment she stepped into a WWE ring to squash multiple divas. I hope her character doesn’t get butchered when she returns.

Most Overrated: Randy Orton

I’ve always said Orton worked best as a heel. To be honest, I have a hard time seeing why people like him outside of his rKo finisher. He’s had uninteresting feuds with CM Punk and Wade Barrett, won the World Heavyweight Championship as soon as he got drafted to Smackdown, and he’s still dull on the mic. Don’t even get me started with his issues regarding the Spanish announce table.

Most Underrated: Cody Rhodes

I’d put him in a tie with Dolph Ziggler for most improved. Here’s a guy who toned down his Rick Rude-like gimmick to become more of a disturbing menace. On top of that, he made the Intercontinental Title important again by bringing the old generation era belt back. He’s another superstar ready for a main event push in 2012.

Best Gimmick: Zack Ryder

The fact that WWE never took advantage of his Jersey Shore-like image is beyond me. Ryder got himself over like CM Punk: WITHOUT CREATIVE’S IMPUT. He took it to the public via Twitter and YouTube, causing his fan-base to grow in a matter of months. Today, it has paid off with a US Title run.

Worst Gimmick: The New Nexus

The old Nexus with Wade Barrett crashed and burned by the end of 2010. Then WWE decided to revive it with CM Punk as the leader and splitting the group with Wade Barrett’s The Corre on Smackdown. The whole revival was pointless and didn’t help anyone’s career. It also lacked the initial impact of Nexus’ debut the previous summer and died very quietly when Punk turned babyface.

Best Babyface: Daniel Bryan

I couldn’t name anyone else who was equally hated (Cena) or sort of a tweener (Punk). So I had to go with the guy who I truly believe is the company underdog. For someone who had to defy the obstacles of losing countless matches and condescending comments from Michael Cole, Daniel Bryan is the ultimate babyface. Now can he step up his game in the new year as World Heavyweight Champion?

Best Heel: John Lauranitis

Road Warrior Animal’s skateboard riding, mullet haired brother calls the shots and we all despise him. Period.

Worst Tag Team: David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty

……..

Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Sin Cara

A perfect example of something promising that doesn’t live up to the hype. He a walking botchamania moment with big merchandise sales and that’s it. Blue lights? Sin Cara Negro? Big injuries sustained at 2 PPVs this year? I couldn’t trust this guy if he was mowing my lawn.

Best Return: The Rock

So what if Cena complains about him leaving and returning? It’s the Rock. He has very little left to prove to a mediocre roster in a stale product. Like Punk, Rocky made wrestling interesting again. Who gets the mainstream talking about Wrestlemania more? Exactly my point.

Ato’s year end awards:

Match of the Year:

Cena vs. Punk at MITB
Most Outstanding Wrestler:

CM Punk
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:

Beth Phoenix
Feud of the Year:

WWE Management vs. CM Punk (does that work)
Worst Feud of the Year:

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole
Most Unnecessary Feud of the Year:

Kevin Nash vs. Triple H
Tag Team of the Year:

Awesome Truth
Most Improved:

R Truth (character wise)
Rookie of the Year:

Nobody
Most Overrated:

John Cena or Triple H (close tie)
Most Underrated:

Satino Marella (they need to stop making him a joke character)
Best Gimmick:

Zack Ryder
Worst Gimmick:

Michael Cole being knighted by the Queen
Best Babyface:

Satino Marella (sure why not)
Best Heel:

Michael Cole
Worst Tag Team:

The Rock and John Cena (it just should never happen, period)
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:

Sin Cara
Best Return:

The Rock
Worst Return:

TIE:

Triple H right after the Undertaker made his return on Raw
Kevin Nash returns (not the Royal Rumble return)

Chosen 1′s Year End Awards:

Match of the Year:

John Cena vs. CM punk Money in the bank Punks lead up to this match was some of the greatest mic work ever and the fact that he took out Super Cena to walk out of his home town with championship and “away” from the WWE was a classic moment in sports entertainment history. The match itself was great and one that didn’t disappoint. I don’t think anybody truly believed Punk would leave the WWE but the fact that Vince allowed him to beat Super Cena and have the opportunity to walk out was classic
Most Outstanding Wrestler:

CM PUNK- The guy just has the whole package. Great mic skills tremendous in ring ability will make anybody look 10 times better then they actually are. And anybody who raises the chances to bring back the WWE Ice cream bars has to shoot strait to the top

Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:

Mickie James – A lot of people are going to go strait to Beth Pheonix here but I feel that Mickie did everything the WWE ever asked her to do and then took her talents to Orlando. With a more respected division of female fighters in TNA she still continues to bring it every match. She proves the grass isn’t always greener in the WWE.

Feud of the Year:

Christian vs. Randy Orton these 2 had some of the greatest matches of the year in a feud that lasted the better part of Christian’s 2011. I feel over the last year Randy has grown so incredibly much and I have to think a part of that is thanks to Christian.
Worst Feud of the Year: Big Show vs. Mark Henry – There was absolutely nothing positive I can say about this feud.
Tag Team of the Year:

Awesome Truth- Miz is an absolute beast in this business. He was able to elevate R-truth to a much higher level then I think he deserves to be. But these two had some great tag matches and worked real well with each other on the mic. I have to believe that if Truth doesn’t get suspended they would have carried it strait through next year.
Most Improved:

Cody Rhodes- I really feel that Cody has improved leaps and bounds from his days as the member of Legacy everybody thought was lease likely to succeed. I am looking for him to hit the main event in 2012 for the better part of the year.
Rookie of the Year:

Crimson – Hasn’t lost a match in 2011 came into TNA billed as Amazing Red’s younger brother he blew right past that angle and was a serious power house beating opponent after opponent. He feuded with the likes of Abyss, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle. He had a commanding lead in TNA’s Bound for Glory Tourney before being “injured” at the hands of Samoa Joe.
Most Overrated:

John Cena- Even he I believe is starting to lose the hype of himself. Despite being the voice of the WWE (makes all the “major” announcements) during house shows and such he agreed to the WWE to start selling Cena Sucks shirts. We can all just hope that the shelf-life on Super Cena is running out.
Most Underrated:

Michael McGillicutty – One of the top standouts from NXT but not being used at all. He is a great wrestler and with a little practice on the mic could be just as “Perfect” as his dad.

Best Gimmick:

Kharma – They built her up great I was really interested in seeing what her deal was. She should be back soon and hope they can reboot her character.

Worst Gimmick:

good sin cara vs. evil sin cara- not only a stupid gimmick but it didnt make any sense. The WWE was down on Sin Cara after bringing him in. He botched entrances botched spots suspensions, he was a train wreck so lets bring in another one and have them battle it out to see who the real Sin Cara is… AWFUL
Best Babyface:

Zack Ryder- nobody else in professional wrestling has ever shown his ability to use social media to bring their career to a new highs. He used his fan status to make his character and it has brought him into a new light.
Best Heel:

Christian – He had the best turn of the year. We have seen Christian on both sides many times, but he is such a better heel. He is able to raise the bar every match and will say whatever he has to say to make his character work.

Worst Tag Team:

The Uso’s- Its not even their fault. The WWE takes one of their only teams that consists of an actual team and not two singles wrestlers they just threw together and have them job out of their minds and to do it after such a “bad-ass” war dance…

Most Embarrassing Wrestler:

Sin Cara – Huge disappointment. He was built up so much and then sucked in the ring sucked out of the ring then gets suspended then sucks again then finishes the year out of wrestling with a dislocated knee.
Best Return:

The best return of the year was the Rock followed closely by CM Punk as “The best in the world”. But you gotta give the nod to the Rock. It still makes your spine tingle when its quiet and you start hearing the fans cheer Rocky Rocky Rocky Rocky and then you there it “DO YOU SMELLLLLLL WHAT THE ROCK ….. IS COOKING”

Smark Central’s Year End Awards:

Match of the Year: CM Punk Vs John Cena – MITB

I know there were probably a few matches that were more technically sound, but the excitement, atmosphere, and intrigue of this match blew all the others completely away.  We may not get excited about a single match like this again for awhile.

Money in the Bank PPV: $50 Snacks for Friends: $25 Marking Out: Priceless

Most Outstanding Wrestler: CM Punk

As if it could be anyone else.  Punk broke out this year with his outstanding shoot promo and hasn’t looked back since.

All Hail the new King

Most Outstanding Female Wrestler: Beth Phoenix

She is just amazing.  Her and Nataylia continue to carry the weak women’s division on their (very broad) shoulders.  It’s just such a shame that despite being the champion she still has to job to the likes of Kelly Kelly and Eve on a weekly basis.  Hopefully better things are in store for 2012.  A feud with Awesome Kong would probably help.

Feud of the Year: Randy Orton Vs Christian

I was thinking about Punk-Cena, but based on the overall body of work, I thought this one was just a hair better.  This feud really lead the way on Smackdown with two pros going at it every week and it rarely disappointed.

Worst Feud of the Year: HHH Vs Kevin Nash

Really WWE?  Really?  This was the best you could do?  A feud between two guys whose combined age is 91?  Or is it just another grim sign of how things will run with HHH in charge?  I didn’t want to see this feud in 2003, I certainly want nothing to do with it now.
Tag Team of the Year: Awesome Truth

No, they didn’t win the tag titles, they won like one match on RAW(I think), and they were “fired” for a month and YET they were STILL the best team this year.  I try not to put too much stock in somebody’s “entertainment value”, but these guys just made for a lot of fun TV.  With the exception of their rapping, this team was just plain AWWWWSOOOME!

“Wake up sleepy head”

Most Improved: Zack Ryder

Maybe Ryder didn’t improve much in the ring, but certainly his standing in the company improved dramatically thanks to his youtube show: Z! True Long Island story.  I’ve never seen someone go from the brink of a pink slip to U.S. champion in such a short period of time.  The Ryder revolution is in full swing and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon.
Rookie of the Year: No one from NXT and no one who came up to the main rosters really showed me anything either so this one’s a wash for 2011.
Most Overrated: Sin Cara

This guy bombed in a hurry.  WWE hasn’t has a flop this big in awhile.  They rush down to Mexico to sign this guy, he comes to the main roster right away, botches every match he has (thus giving Botchamania another star), within a few months he gets busted for a wellness violation, comes back and has a terrible Good Sin Cara Vs Evil Sin Cara feud, then gets injured and is out for 6 months.  In fact, that may be the WORST flop WWE has ever had.  It’s going to be tough for anyone (past or present) to top.

and somehow it gets worse

“EEK, A PENIS!”

Most Underrated: Tyson Kidd

This kid would be the perfect centerpiece for any cruiserweight division.  Unfortunately, WWE doesn’t have one.  They just have a bunch of small guys with nothing to do except wallow on Superstars which is only shown on WWE.com.  Doesn’t get any more underrated than Superstars folks.  I know Vince is a size queen, but this guy is too good a hand to be relegated to a show that only gets like 30,000 views a week.  I think if he could get a little exposure and some mic time, he could have some great feuds and matches.  He just needs a chance.  Come on, WWE have a little Hart.

Best Gimmick: Cody Rhodes – Phantom of the Opera-esque deformed freak

2011 saw some people really tank it badly and some rose to the occasion thus making the future of the WWE a little clearer. We’re starting to see who the future main eventers are and Cody Rhodes is going to be one of them.  Yes, this gimmick was over the top, but it worked.  I didn’t see Cody as evil, but he had me convinced at times that there was something truly wrong with him.  The only thing wrong with it was the overuse of the paper bag gimmick which would have been better as a one off thing, but this is the WWE. If something works, they find a way to beat it into the ground.  However, I thought bringing back the classic I.C. title from the mid-90’s was a REAL nice touch.  Now if only they’d do something about that awful WWE title.

Worst Gimmick: Ted DiBiase – Generic Smiley Babyface with cutesy name for his fans (all 3 of them)

The sad thing about this is I think he won this award from me last year for doing a horrible impersonation of his father.  The guy is a very good wrestler, very well trained, but I’m sorry he has no fucking charisma NONE.  I am simply amazed that he came from the Million Dollar Man’s genitals.  He, Joe Hennig, and Harry Smith have been major major let downs.  It doesn’t help that the WWE has basically given them jack shit to work with, but you can’t fake personality.  Some guys have it, some don’t.  Teddy is a sinking ship right now and this DiBiase Posse crap is definitely not helping.

One of these guys is a future World champion and the other will be on a flyer for a Indy wrestling show which will be hanging in a bagel shop window

Best Return: The Rock

Nothing really needs to be said, but I will say that I was genuinely surprised on February 15^th to find out that the Rock had indeed returned after seven years.  With the return we got some classic Rock promos and a pretty fun tag match at Survivor Series.  Not to mention a Rock-Cena showdown set for WrestleMania XXVIII.  Not even a terrible show like WrestleMania XXVII could ruin the Rock’s latest (and possibly final) run with the WWE.

JJJ’s Year End Wrestling Awards:

Most Outstanding Wrestler:

CM Punk
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:

Beth Pheonix
Feud of the Year:

Cena vs Punk
Worst Feud of the Year:

Cole and JR
Tag Team of the Year:

Awesome Truth
Most Improved:

Wade Barrett
Rookie of the Year:

unofficially Daniel Bryan
Most Overrated:

Triple H
Most Underrated:

Dolph Ziggler
Best Gimmick:

Zack Ryder
Worst Gimmick:

Sin Cara / Sin Cara Negro
Best Babyface:

The Rock
Best Heel:

John Lauranitis
Worst Tag Team:

??????????? Too many to name
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:

Sin Cara
Best Return:

Punk on Raw after Cena won the title
honorable mention for best return Cody with the white IC title

Justice’s Year End Awards:

Match of the Year:

Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards ROH Final Battle: Witnessing it in person made me feel a part of something special
Most Outstanding Wrestler:

CM Punk- Really, is there anyone else?
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:

Beth Phoenix: one of the best in the business
Breakout Star of the Year:

Cody Rhodes- Went from bland to one of the best in a year. One of the only reasons to watch Smackdown.
Feud of the Year:

Christian vs. Randy Orton- Brought out the best in each other
Worst Feud of the Year:

Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara: BORING! And lackluster
Tag Team of the Year:

AirBoom- Redefining the tag team division
Most Improved:

Zack Ryder- From almost future endeavored to a US title run, one of the best stories of the year
Rookie of the Year:

Alex Riley- This is by default. Who else is there? I ,mean he did beat the Miz
Most Overrated:

Mark Henry- same boring guy but now with a World title
Most Underrated:

Dolph Ziggler- How it took him a full year to become a main eventer is way beyond my comprehension (Honorable Mention: Daniel Bryan)
Best Gimmick:

Wade Barrett’s Barrett Barrage- The guy became a bulldozer once the Barrett Barrage got started. It solidified him as a main eventer.

Honorable Mention: All 3 Cody Rhodes gimmicks
Worst Gimmick:

Hunico- He went from a fake Sin Cara to a stereotype. Either way, bad, bad gimmick
Best Babyface:

Daniel Bryan- He’s Vegan, not annoying, a great wrestler and a World Champion. Top face in the company
Best Heel:

Dolph Ziggler/Christian (tie)- Both guys had stellar years and showed how to be a top heel
Worst Tag Team:

David Otunga and Michael McGuillitcutty
Most Embarassing Wrestler:

Eric Young- Every time I see him I feel bad for the poor guy, it actually upsets me
Best Return:

The Rock- Seeing his return to the ring live was simply electrifying

Blood Spatter Review

A Review of Dexter Season 6 Episode 12

By Mother Brain


Another season of Dexter has finally come and gone. The season 6 finale was full of intensity, suspense, new questions left unanswered, and shocking game changers that will serve as the driving force of the next (and possibly final) two seasons. For me, it was overall the most satisfying year unlike the dreariness of season 5.

Continuing off from my previous review post-episode 6, Dexter’s will to bring light to his dark passenger was briefly thrown off-course with the reappearance of Brian Moser aka the Ice Truck Killer as he located the Trinity Killer’s son Jonah, suspected of murdering his family in Nebraska where they relocated after season 4. The dead Moser served as Dexter’s evil conscience who wanted him to drop the code and become a ruthless killer. But ultimately the wisdom of the late Brother Sam helped Dexter overcome the evil and put him back in course to seek out the Doomsday Killers.

As for the big subplots, Debra begins to see a police psychologist while in the midst of not only adapting to her Lieutenant duties but also learning the disturbing truth about a dead call girl who had a fling with Chief Matthews the night she died. Despite all of her emotional strain, Deb finds herself wanting to become more attached to Dexter which leads to the unbelievable truth that her failed relationships were a result of her inner romantic feelings for her adopted brother. More on this later.

Fast forwarding to the finale, we’ve learned that Professor Gellar has long since been dead and what we saw was Travis Marshall’s own dark passenger at work. Now he takes full command of his doomsday mission by manipulating two religious nuts to help carry out his final killings as Dexter gets closer. But after foiling the plans and failing to kill Travis at the marina, Dexter is nearly blown to bits off the Miami coast. Fortunately, he survives and gets back to shore so he can continue the pursuit. Travis; however, learns of Dexter’s son, Harrison, and kidnaps him which leads to the final showdown atop the Transcorp building where Dex fakes his own injection to stop Travis from sacrificing his son.

Then came the final 5 minutes of the episode. Feeling down that she didn’t catch Travis, Deb comes to terms with her love for Dexter. Dex gets sloppy in telling Batista’s sister, Jamie, that he’s going out to work at the crime scene of the Doomsday Killers while she babysits Harrison. Presumably, Deb finds out and tracks Dex to the abandoned church where to her horrifying surprise she discovers the real truth about her brother in the act of impaling Travis on the plastic covered table. It was right about time that this happened after spending the last 5 years teasing this moment. Both characters are now in a place where they can evolve and grow toward a new direction and only time can tell how Deb will stomach the disturbing truth differently from the books. As for the brother-sister romance, I find it troubling personally even though they’re not biologically related. Then again, when we’re introduced to Deb in the pilot episode, Dexter does say if there was anyone he would have feelings for that it would be her. But will Lumen resurface and turn this into a complicated love triangle?

On the unanswered questions department, what’s the real deal with Louis the lab intern? He has a strange obsession for Dexter, feels like shit when he disapproves a serial killer game he made on his computer, and mails him the severed hand from the ITK case. I’ve heard a number of theories thus far including Louis being ITK’s son, Louis working undercover for the FBI to get Dexter, and just simply the idea that he’s trying to impress him. Whatever the truth is, we’ll find out in the next 2 years since he begged Masuka to stay on as his assistant.

Have we also seen the last of Joey Quinn? Since breaking up with Deb, Quinn has been a total mess and unreliable as Batista’s partner. Although Quinn saved his life from a burning house, Batista still tries to get him transferred out of the department. So he fakes alcoholism to go to rehab so he’s not transferable. To me, I think Quinn is done altogether (I also feel the same about LaGuerta) unless the writers find big plans for him. But you gotta love the weed smoking scene earlier in the season between him and Batista. Only on cable can you get away with such priceless moments.

All and all, it was an incredible and momentous year for our favorite blood splatter analyst. He got sloppy at points. But it didn’t matter to me. Dexter is still one of the best written shows on television today. The only downside: No more Brother Sam. Such a sweet guy. Rest in peace good sir.

Ruthless Rountable: WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Charis 2011 Predictions:

Today is the WWE’s final Pay-Per-View of the year. They aren’t expecting high buy rates for this one, and why should they, they haven’t been booking the PPVs all that well recently. But I will say, if history shows, the TLC PPV is usually the a pretty good one and the matches are usually above the norm of the matches seen on other shows.

This month we have a guest who will be posting there predictions. Seeing that they are a huge CM Punk fan, I figured I’d just use CM Punk’s logo as their icon:

Also, they will be called JJJ. I didn’t get a chance to ask them for a nick name or anything. Hopefully, that’s cool!

I hope that this PPV ends some feuds and really starts some strong ones heading into the Rumble (my personal favorite of all the PPVs) and ultimately into Wrestlemania.

Anyway, here is the match listing that we will all be working off of:

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Sledgehammer Ladder match
(A sledgehammer will be hung above the ring and can be used as a weapon once a participant grabs it. The winner will be decided by pinfall or submission.)

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
Tables match

Cody Rhodes (c) vs Booker T
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

CM Punk (c) vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship

Cos’ Predictions:

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Seeing how poorly Mark Henry has been booked recently, I just have a feeling his feel good run as World Heavyweight Champion (WHC) is over. Essentially ending his “Kane” WHC reign is coming to an end (if you have been sleeping under a rock, the WWE gave Kane the WHC last year and his reign ended at TLC last year) and I have a huge feeling he will be loosing his championship over to Big Show (despite no one wanting to see this), and as far as I’m concerned, Big Show will simply be the transitional champion who will ultimately loose it (probably at Elimination Chamber in February) to Wade Barrett; who will probably face Randy Orton (currently my prediction for Rumble winner for 2012) at Wrestlemania.

Winner and New World Heavyweight Champion: The Big Show

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Sledgehammer Ladder match
(A sledgehammer will be hung above the ring and can be used as a weapon once a participant grabs it. The winner will be decided by pinfall or submission.)

Was I the only one who mildly cringed when Kevin Nash had his 45 second match the other week against Santino and won? Mind you, I am a huge fan of Kevin Nash and I want him to do well, especially in his “last” run in the WWE. But out of all the people to be in ladder matches why, WHY, Triple H and Kevin Nash. I mean, Triple H has been in his share of ladder matches. But I just don’t see this ending well.

Seeing that no one else wants to see this continue, I’m pretty sure this is the first and most likely last match between these two (although personally, I can see them both entering the Rumble next month and continuing their feud further).

Winner: Triple H

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

The only match on the card that has an actual story behind it. Although I think it would have been much bigger if they were able to wait until Wrestlemania for this title change, I think it is about damn time they give this one over to Ryder.

Winner and NEW United States Champion: Zack Ryder

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
Tables match

Barrett and his Barrage have been on a freaking role recently. Barrett isn’t like Cody Rhodes, he needs a strong win against Orton. And seeing that this is a tables match and isn’t a real pin, I can see Barrett winning this one easily.

Winner: Wade Barrett

Cody Rhodes (c) vs Booker T
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Unlike most people, I would love to see Booker T walk away from this one the WWE Intercontinental Champion. Booker only won the Intercontinental Championship only once (to my shock and awe–he is more remember for his multiple United States Championship reigns in both WCW and WWE) and I think it is about time he have it again. Besides, what better way to get Cody Rhodes over than to give him a strong win against the legend of Booker T at either the Royal Rumble, a Raw show or the Elimination Chamber match.

Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Booker T

CM Punk (c) vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship

I have to say, I’ve missed The Miz. I didn’t realize how great he was as a main eventer and he entertains me. I was on the Alberto Del Rio bang wagon at the beginning of this year but now I’m bored (they honestly should have given him the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania) . But there isn’t any reason to get the Championship off of Punk just yet.
Should be a bad ass match.

Winner and still WWE Champion: CM Punk

Mother Brain’s WWE TLC 2011 Predictions
By Mother Brain

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Judging by the lack of crowd reaction at Survivor Series, this is the match that blows off this lackluster feud. With the World’s Strongest Man nursing a few injuries, expect Big Show to go over and win the title… only to become a transitional champion who loses the title to Wade Barrett before Wrestlemania.

Winner and new World Heavyweight Champ: Big Show

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Sledgehammer Ladder match
(A sledgehammer will be hung above the ring and can be used as a weapon once a participant grabs it. The winner will be decided by pinfall or submission.)

Another lackluster feud with poor booking and inconsistency. In fact as I witnessed Triple H’s return on Raw last monday, I completely forgot that this match was happening. It’s an obvious bust with the Game destroying Nash and gearing up for Undertaker.

Winner: Triple H

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

How long will this keep going on for? If Ryder loses, then he’s just another Brutus Beefcake. But I don’t see it. It’s time to push Ziggler to the main event scene in 2012 and it’s time for Ryder to solidify his popularity. Ryder becomes the new US champ.

Winner and new US Champ: Zack Ryder

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
Tables match

Why are they feuding again? Who cares? Orton wins clean.

Winner: Randy Orton

Cody Rhodes (c) vs Booker T
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

I think this match will be much better than people expect. Rhodes has been on a roll and facing Booker T will only help to elevate him more than Miz with the Jerry Lawler feud from last year. Rhodes retains.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

CM Punk (c) vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship

The odds are becoming more stacked against the best in the world. But there’s no way the company will put the title back on either one of his opponents anytime soon. Unless a major Johnny Ace screwjob comes into effect, I expect Punk to retain and have the Santa Claus ending to the PPV like Bret Hart and Lex Luger had at Survivor Series ’92 & ’93… until Santa whacks him from behind and reveals himself as CHRIS JERICHO! Just wishful thinking.

Smark Central’s Predictions:

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship

What I want to see: Two other people feuding for the WHC.  Honestly, this feud should have been over by now.  When you have guys like Cody and Sheamus stuck in the mid-card there is something wrong.  Like the past two months, I’d take Henry over Show any day

What will happen: WWE has the habit of booking themselves into a corner and this feud is no different.  They pretty much HAVE to give Big Show the title.  I doubt it would last longer than a month, but still why de-rail a good title run just so the good guy gets the last word?

 “Is it cold in here?”

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Sledgehammer Ladder match
(A sledgehammer will be hung above the ring and can be used as a weapon once a participant grabs it. The winner will be decided by pinfall or submission.)

What I want to see: This match shouldn’t even be happening.  No one cares about it and combined these two are 91 years old.  That’s way too high to be wrestling a high profile match on PPV.  It was nice seeing Nash at the Rumble and even him costing Punk was kind of interesting, but since then Nash has been complete dead weight.  It’s also sad to see how little has changed with HHH booking himself and his friends ahead of younger and more deserving talent.  Hopefully HHH destroys Nash and the feud ends before they turn an annoyance into a full blown rage-a-thon.

What will happen: HHH wins

 It’s not nice to laugh at old people when they fall down

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

What I want to see: I want to see the same thing I’ve wanted to see for months, the thing that should have happened at Survivor Series and that is Zack Ryder becoming U.S. champ (WOO WOO WOO, you know it!).  It needs to happen now because if it doesn’t people are just going to give up on the guy and stop caring.

What will happen: WWE never envisioned this happening a year ago and they’ve done everything they could to stop it, but the Ryder revolution has forced their hand and I believe they will finally pull the trigger on Zack’s U.S. title reign.

#Adamantium Punch

Randy Orton Vs Wade Barrett
Tables match

What I want to see: I have no preference.  I know I usually pick youth over experience, but I don’t think a loss here would hurt Barrett.  Not being pinned helps that a lot.  Plus who the hell doesn’t want to see an RKO through a table?

What will happen: If their smart Barrett goes over, but this is WWE and 90% of the time they make the wrong choice so probably Orton.

Probably hates tables too.  Along with Holiday Inns, duffel bags, and random drug testing

CM Punk (c) vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship

What I want to see: I honestly don’t think Miz or Berto deserves the title right now.  Punk is still the hottest thing going (with Ryder being a close second) there’s no logical sense to anyone but Punk walking out with the belt here.  Punk winning from here till mania would be ideal.

What will happen: Punks wins a close one

 Speaks for itself

Cody Rhodes (c) vs Booker T
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

What I want to see: Another veteran taking up a spot that a younger guy should be in.  I love Booker T, but the guy needs to stay behind the desk (also toning down the jive talk would nice).  I’d like to see Cody go over clean.

What will happen: Cody wins by taking a shortcut.

“Is it my birthday?”

Chosen 1′s Predictions:

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship
It looks like they aren’t quite done with this crap.  It will get about 7 minutes. I think there might be another appearance of Kane taking out Big Show this time. I mean come on whats the purple kool aid with out big red? All kidding aside I have to believe that they have stuck with him this far without losing to anybody other then the likes of a Cena or there bouts I think Henry will retain the title up to the rumble.

Winner and still champ Mark Henry.
Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Sledgehammer Ladder match
(A sledgehammer will be hung above the ring and can be used as a weapon once a participant grabs it. The winner will be decided by pinfall or submission.)
HHH will get his ass kicked for a better part of the match only to take advantage of some scenario that sees Nash hurt himself and HHH get the Sledgehammer and send Nash out with a loss.

Winner: HHH
Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

Dolph is ready for a big time push needs to drop the US title sooner or later. I think this would be it sending him towards the Rumble in order to gain his title shot?

Winner and New champion Zack Ryder
Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
Tables match
Wade Barrett going for another push I think this one breaks down into a brawl and gets double DQs and gets a stipulation added to it and restarted as a no DQ of some sort. Barrett comes out on top regardless. Looks like Randy is starting to do some jobbing… Not a bad thing its about time for him to heel turn again. Right about the time we see who is coming back on January 2…

Winner: Wade Barrett

CM Punk (c) vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship
They have already announced that these guys plus John Cena will main event Raw the following night here in Philly. Look for Punk to get the doop with some sorta help from Super Cena… Should be a hell of a match none the less.
Cody Rhodes (c) vs Booker T
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Not a chance in the world Cody Rhodes drops the title to Booker T. Cody ends it quick with the cross rhodes ….

Best match of the night: WWE championship TLC

Biggest spot: Something from Punk in the TLC match GTS off the ladder through a table?

Biggest pop: Cena coming out to make the save for PUNK

hmmmmm might as well just allow the WWE championship match to go for the length of the PPV cause thats about the only decent match on the card other then Orton and Barrett…

JJJ’s Predictions:

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Mark Henry def Big Show

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Sledgehammer Ladder match
(A sledgehammer will be hung above the ring and can be used as a weapon once a participant grabs it. The winner will be decided by pinfall or submission.)

Nash def. HHH

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

Ryder def. Ziggler

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
Tables match

Barrett def. Orton

Cody Rhodes (c) vs Booker T
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Cody def. Booker T

CM Punk (c) vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship

CM Punk def. Miz and Del Rio

We’ve Cena Nuff

By Mother Brain

As many of you have read in my previous wrestling-related blogs and PPV match predictions, I am not a fan of John Cena and the Cena Nation (or Chain Gang or whatever he calls it now). While I do admire his passion for the wrestling business, the fatal combination of limited in-ring ability and Superman-esque booking has done more harm than good for WWE. Obviously he’s not the first superstar to be built up this way (i.e. Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, etc). But unlike his predecessors who were constantly protected by the WWE machine, this past year alone has proven how badly Cena needs a change in his character, preferably a bad guy turn.

To give a little back-story on the rise of this man who dresses up like a 12 year old boy, Cena first made his mark in WWE just a few months after his arrival in 2002. He worked as an Eminem-type white rapper who nicknamed himself the ‘Doctor of Thuganomics’ and the gimmick consisted of Cena dissing his opponents before his matches. This gimmick ultimately got him over with the fans and by 2004, Cena became a full-blown babyface.

The following year, a void was sorely missing in WWE. Stone Cold Steve Austin had retired from active performing, The Rock was out making movies, Shawn Michaels refused to work full-time, and Brock Lesnar gave up the business for an ill-faded stint in the NFL. The time was right for younger stars to earn the main event spot in WWE. Wrestlemania 21 in Los Angeles would be the night in which Cena defeated JBL for the WWE championship and would make the jump from Smackdown to Monday Night Raw  as it returned to the USA Network after a 5 year absence. He became the official face of the company without any torch-passing from previous WWE superstars.

Over the course of the next 6 years, Cena would be loved by mostly women and children while hated by adult men and the so-called ‘marks’ in the internet wrestling community. Those who loved him felt he was a clean-cut hero like Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart who preached the values of “hustle, loyalty, respect.” Those who hated him felt that dropping the rapper gimmick made him a phony and the Superman image he displayed in the ring was just too played out for the post-Attitude era. Never before did any top star of the company get such a mixed reaction from the fans and had to acknowledge it on television. But under no circumstance would the WWE attempt to change Cena’s image. He sold more merchandise than anyone in the roster, headlined major movies produced by the company, and represented the company in a respectful manner at charity organizations and media outlets.

Fast forward to early 2011. Cena still remains the top WWE star and multiple time champion despite the rise of his contemporaries (i.e. Randy Orton and The Miz); however, ratings are stagnant, business is down across the board, and fans tune out little by little. In a desperate attempt to pick business back up again, WWE lures The Rock back to host Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta. While the main event was Cena vs. Miz for the WWE championship, the real feud being built up was Cena and Rock as they traded back and forth jabs in promos every week leading to the event. Rock attacked Cena for his babyface image while Cena attacked Rock for turning his back on the company for movies. Once Wrestlemania ended, Rock challenged Cena to a match at Wrestlemania 28 in Miami which was just one year away.

Following the bombshell announcement, Cena went on to beat The Miz for his 9th championship title win at Over the Limit, a PPV that scored the lowest buyrate in WWE history. Lower than the disastrous turkey known as ECW December to Dismember. Ratings fell even more with Cena in second rate feuds on Raw. But then came the rise of a disgruntled CM Punk who let loose on WWE’s problems and within a month became WWE champion and made the company relevant again with his realistic but controversial promos. Yet, as soon as Cena went back after the title against Alberto Del Rio in the fall, ratings fell down again and only picked back up as Survivor Series was coming around with Rock’s in-ring return being advertised.

The idea that Cena desperately needs a change in character became more clear in the past couple of weeks. First he was booed in his home state on Monday Night Raw. Even Mick Foley hosting a “John Cena: This is Your Life” segment could not sway the Cena haters. Then the Cena/Rock vs. Awesome Truth main event at Survivor Series went down. I watched it live at Madison Square Garden when the Rock’s presence alone drew more of a hugely positive fan reaction than Cena. In the end, Cena getting booed and Rockbottomed in the world’s most famous arena made him look weaker than ever. But instead of turning heel that night, Cena tweets on Twitter about not being Mr. Nice Guy anymore and then cuts a promo on Raw in which he respects Rocky by saying how Rocky never lost it. Really Cena? Pardon my ebonics when I say YOUR PUNK-ASS GOT GOT AT MSG LAST NIGHT! It’s like getting jumped in the schoolyard and then coming back to school the next day thanking the bullies for the beatdown! Could you imagine Randy Savage praising Hulk Hogan the night after Wrestlemania V when he lost his title and his woman to Hogan?

The excuses for keeping Cena as a babyface do not work anymore. For years, WWE management worried that without Cena, there was no one else on the roster with his merchandise drawing power. Today, however, guys like Randy Orton, CM Punk, Sheamus, and Zack Ryder draw bigger fan reaction and merchandise sales than Cena. CM Punk, Rock, and Miz are bringing mainstream media outlets to WWE’s attention when they do something major like win a title or appear on a late night show. Randy Orton is on the cover of the new WWE ’12 video game. All this is happening and yet Raw is lacking in major heel performers. To put Cena back into the title picture as a babyface will just be the same old crap. Why not turn against the Little Jimmies in frustration for the lack of respect he gets? They have plenty of top babyfaces to turn to now.

I also believe that he’s not exactly winning his arguments against the Rock for leaving WWE. If it were not for Rock pursuing his film career or Brock Lesnar going to NFL and then UFC, would Cena really have his current spot? Does Rock have to prove himself against younger guys who are being held back by WWE management and creative? Does WWE’s decision to bring Rock back mean that deep down they lack faith in Cena carrying the company the same way they brought Hogan back in 1993 to lure fans back in the Bret Hart/New Generation era? Above all else for a Cena heel turn to work, he has to make it clear that he NEEDS to beat Rock in order to be taken more seriously by the fans as well as giving credibility to his legacy. Though no matter what, Rock will go into Wrestlemania as the fan favorite with Cena facing the most heat from fans in Miami.

Thanks to Mother Brain for this one:

Ruthless Roundtable: Survivor Series 2011

We are back with another round of predictions, this time for the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series, with the main event involving The Rock!

I guess I should say it now, but I will be at Survivor Series, and dispite the fact that we will be in the nose bleed section of the newly referbished Madison Square Garden, it should be a pretty good show. In 2011,  I never would have thought that I’d be going to see a WWE event featuring the in-ring return of The Rock!

The last time I saw The Rock was at a Raw show back in December of 2000 when the WWE was at Continental Airlines Arena (now known as The Izod Center) where he (Rock), Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker all came out and did their finishing moves on Mr. McMahon; this was right before Armageddon and the six man Hell in a Cell match. This was also the Raw where The Rock mocked all of the participants in the match in a pre-taped interview:

Below are the matches, as of this morning, for WWE Survivor Series 2011:

Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve
Lumberjill match for the WWE Divas Championship

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. John Morrison
Singles match for the WWE US Championship

Team Barrett
(Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Hunico & Dolph Ziggler)
vs.
Team Orton
(Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston & Sin Cara)
Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk
Singles match for the WWE Championship

The Miz and R-Truth vs. John Cena and The Rock
Tag team match

Here are the Roundtable’s predictions below; agree or disagree, leave comments below:

Cos’ WWE Survivor Series 2011 Predictions:

Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve
Lumberjill match for the WWE Divas Championship

Starting with the least interesting match, I highly doubt the WWE will even start with this match. I, like many others call this one a bathroom break.

Winner and Still Divas Champion: Beth Pheonix

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. John Morrison
Singles match for the WWE US Championship

This one is the biggest surprise, for most of the month Zack Ryder (from Long Island, NY–not too far from The Garden) has been working on an on-line petition to get him a match at Survivor Series. I wouldn’t be surprised if Teddy Long adds Ryder at the actual event.

But, we’ll go with what we have right in front of us. I feel WWE is trying to keep Morrison in the company and may just give him the United States Championship (even though he is more than ready to be in the main event and by vying for the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship).

Winner and NEW United States Champion: John Morrison

Team Barrett
(Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Hunico & Dolph Ziggler)
vs.
Team Orton
(Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston & Sin Cara)
Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match

I don’t really understand where this feud came from, I feel like they needed to get a whole bunch of people onto the card, I can actually see the WWE starting with this match, Orton’s “I hear voices” opening the Pay-Per-View…am I alone in thinking that?

Don’t really care about this match…

Winners: Team Barrett

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship

While I feel like Mark Henry has been on a role recently, I feel like this may be the last championship that the WWE will ever give The Big Show, and his first two WWE Championships were both won at Survivor Series (’99 and ’02–and thee ’02 PPV was at The Garden as well) I can see Show getting the World Heavyweight Championship, even for only the month and loosing it in a tables match next month at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs.

Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: The Big Show

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk
Singles match for the WWE Championship

I think that along with the main event Rock/Cena vs Awesome Truth, I feel that this is also a money match. These two have had great matches against each other this past summer and I feel that this will be a fantastic match. I feel like not putting the belt on Punk now would be a mistake, I feel like the WWE should back the Punk horse 100% and milk it all the way until Wrestlemania.

Winner and NEW WWE Champion: CM Punk

The Miz and R-Truth vs. John Cena and The Rock
Tag team match

Here is the main event. I don’t think there is much to the actual match, I have a feeling it’ll be a pretty good tag team match, I feel like the WWE should pull the trigger on Awesome Truth and give them the WWE Tag Team Championship from Air Boom and we’ll have to wait until next month to see if they even do that. But I have a feeling shenanigans will occur and one of the two faces (Cena and Rock) will turn on each other. Do I think it would be a heel turn? No. I just have a feeling that one will fall to Awesome Truth and we’ll leave the arena with one of them lying in the middle of the ring.

Winners: Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth)

Possible suprise appereances:

Kevin Nash

Triple H

The Undertaker

Mother Brain’s WWE Survivor Series 2011 Predictions

Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve
Lumberjill match for the WWE Divas Championship

I hate to say it but if there’s one potential title change that night, it could well be this one. Now that the match is full of lumberjills, I can see most of all of them ganging up on Beth and Natalya, costing Beth the match and making Eve the new Divas champ.

Winner and new Divas champion: Eve

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. John Morrison
Singles match for the WWE US Championship

I’m still very pissed off over Zack Ryder being bumped off the match due to backstage politics; however, the fact that it’s worked into the storyline and it is MSG could bring him back into the fold. But if it does go down as currently advertised, there’s no way in hell Morrison will win the title if he’s not renewing his contract afterwords.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Team Barrett
(Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Hunico & Dolph Ziggler)
vs.
Team Orton
(Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston & Sin Cara)
Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match

If this is definitely the only traditional Survivor Series match on the card, expect to see Orton end up as sole survivor and he’ll beat Cody Rhodes to pull it off.

Winner: Team Orton

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Even with the World’s Strongest Man’s push as a monster heel in the past few months, feuding with Big Show is just making his momentum go stale. Yeah they destroyed the ring at the last PPV but that’s not anything new. Let the champ turn his attention back to Sheamus who has more of a chance of carrying Smackdown at this point.

Winner: Mark Henry

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk
Singles match for the WWE Championship

What I want to see happen is what I think everyone wants to see: CM Punk walks out of MSG as the WWE Champion. But feels too soon to have that happen and the conspiracy storyline will only continue on following this event. As long as Johnny Ace himself is in charge, expect to see every possible swerve in the book as well as another Kevin Nash run-in to spoil Punk’s moment again.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

The Miz and R-Truth vs. John Cena and The Rock
Tag team match

The winning team should be fairly obvious. The real question is who walks out the heel when it’s over? I’m going to be bold and say for a mediocre Survivor Series card at MSG, a major shocking moment will go down at it will be the heel turn of John Cena. I won’t explain more than that. Just a hunch.

Winners: John Cena and The Rock

Smark Central’s WWE Survivor Series 2011 Predictions

 
Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve
Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship

What I want to see: Ugh.
This Division is probably the worst thing going right now.  NONE of the face divas are worthy of being champion and that’s why Beth needs to keep it

United States Championship
Dolph Ziggler Vs John Morrison

What I want to see: I would love it if Ryder got added on to make it a triple threat or Morrison to get replaced somehow.  Anything else, will get a total non-reaction from me.

What will happen: I could see this being Morrrison’s curtain call with the company since neither side is really interested in keeping him
around so he probably loses (if he even gets to the ring).  If Ryder gets involved and doesn’t win the title, I will extremely pissed.

Team Barrett
(Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Hunico & Dolph Ziggler)
vs.
Team Orton
(Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston & Sin Cara)
Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match

What I want to see: Every year, I used to come out and say “I think there should be more of these matches”, but after the last few years of lackluster promotion or effort put into them, maybe it’s better to stick with the one.  As far as a winner, I think the heels need this match a lot more than the faces do.

Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship

What I want to see: I can’t believe I’m going to say these words, but I want Mark Henry to keep the belt.  I’m still not his biggest fan, but I don’t like Show at all and if I have to pick between the two, I pick Henry

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk
Singles match for the WWE ChampionshipWhat I want to see: I always want Punk to win, but in this case I REALLY want to see him win.  I’m sorry, but I am totally over ADR.  He is so bland on the mic and boring to watch in the ring that it drives me nuts.  For a mid-carder his skills are fine, but he’s not worthy of being WWE champ.What will happen: I could see WWE dragging this feud out by letting “Berto” keep it for another PPV or two with Punk eventually grabbing it.

The Miz and R-Truth vs. John Cena and The Rock
Tag team matchWhat I want to see: In a dream World Cena would turn on Rock and go full heel, but it’s most likely not happening so if I can’t get that I’ll take Rock/Cena winning with Rock giving Cena a Rock bottom and a people’s elbow to end the show.What will happen: I’m not sure.  I could see Miz/Truth winning because Rock and Cena fight or I could see Rock and Cena kicking ass and winning.  All I know is, it will be entertaining and the crowd is going to go nuts.