Long time Wrestling fans. We give you reviews of the WWE shows and backstage news. We are also expressing our opinions concerning the WWE-promotion. Enjoy and follow!
Hello there again. This is my first article in along time, so I thought I would write about one of my favorite wrestlers.
Since the beginning of 2012, rumors has been flying around on the internet that Randy would go back to "the dark side". But fast foreword 18 months, and that has yet happened. Many hardcore Orton fans (including myself) has been praying for a heel turn for a long time, but now we have to wander, is Orton ever going rogue again? WWE knows that Orton is the second biggest draw behind Cena in the targeted audience between 5-20 years old fans. Is this the reason they will not let him do a heel turn? Lets go analyze the situation with some notes:
1) Randy has said many of times that he likes playing a heel better and wants to go heel again because he is sick of being a "face" but unfortunately WWE doesn't want to give him what he wants.
2) Lately there has been a lot of faces that has taken a heel turn, but none of them has been Randy Orton. There has been CM Punk (who now is making another turn), Ryback, Alberto Del Rio, and now most likely Daniel Bryan is going rogue to. But why not Orton?
3) But after last night many of us Orton fans got a tiny hope that his long waited heel turn might happen in the near future after all. Last night Cm Punk took a face-turn again after being attacked by Brock Lesnar. Considering the fact that Punk was considered to be WWE's top heel, this means that they would have to replace him with another top-draw. Who could possibly fill that gap again? This is where Orton comes in. Randy Orton was the top heel for WWE for along time. He plays that role so well. He has the moves, the eyes, the look and better mic skills when he is a heel, and personally I think there no better man to replace Cm Punk.
I am a big fan of a heel Orton, but I don't like the the face Orton because he is just stale and boring. I was even trying to get a hashtag "#WeWantHeelOrton" trending and tweeting it to WWE, Triple H, and MR. McMahon. If you want to help out with that just use the hashtag #WeWantHeelOrton. Give an explanation to what you like about Randy being a heel, or just send a simple tweet with the hashtag #WeWantHeelOrton
Tell us what you think about this, by leaving a comment in the section below.
You can also follow and tweet us on twitter: @Dylan_Corcoran_ and @Hjo_4life
Paul Heyman's newest client is none other than Joe Hennig, son of the late legend Curt Hennig (Known as Mr Perfect). Heyman is known for backing up underrated stars and using his excellent managing skills to help put them over. On his path Heyman has helped stars such as Brock Lesnar, Rob Van Dam, Cm Punk and Big Show both on and off-screen. Just to give you an example of what I am talking about: Heyman is one of few guys within WWE that saw the potential Cm Punk had, and if Heyman hadn't taken him under his wing during his time as "manager" of ECW, Punk would most likely have been fired by WWE back then. But fast foreword seven years, and Cm Punk is the companies second biggest star only behind John Cena. He did pretty much the same thing with Brock Lesnar, only this time he used his excellent promo skills to put him over with the fans. But his newest client is more of a question mark! Only hardcore fans knew who Curtis Axel (Joe Hennig) was before he debuted with his new gimmick. But what does Heyman see in this guy? Let me give you a breakdown of Hennig's potential and grading each breackdown:
1) In-ring abilities
Axel's in ring abilities has yet to be tested after his debut. He has already been in some great matches, but he has yet not been given the chance to show us how great he really is in the ring. His father is known as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time, which puts a lot of pressure on Axel. As the hardcore wrestling fan that I am, I know a lot about Axel's in-ring abilities. Just to give you an example. The Rock and Brock Lesnar needed a training-partner that could help them before their big matches both at Wrestlemania and their matches before that. Curtis Axel was sent to help them both. But he ended up being more than a training-partner, he ended up being an "instructor" for both of them. Both Rock and Lesnar has praised Axel for the help he gave the during training-camps, even revealing that Axel was learning them a lot new and more modern moves so that they would be improved wrestlers before their matches. It is not many people in the world that can say that they have learned guys like Rock and Lesnar more about in-ring performing than they already knew.
Anyway, Axel has a great form of move-set, which is combined with everything from power-moves to ground-moves and to high risk moves. He has great agility, awareness, orientation and ground-skills which helps making him a pretty much amazing in-ring performer. He has it all in the ring, and he is in his best condition ever. Just like his father, Axel could easily go out there and perform in a high-paced match for 40 minutes straight. Most likely he will be given the opportunity to prove how good he is in the ring in the near future.
Grade A
2) Charisma
Many people thinks that Axel lacks a lot of charisma. But that is not the case! The only problem now is that his character is supposed to be this "slimy corporate robot kind of guy", which is the main reason he has not been flying around and screaming like a mad man. But he is billed as a tough guy that never backs down from a challenge, but as far as it goes with charisma, he is currently portraying a character that isn't supposed to show any form of emotions. But that will all change down the road, just give it some time.
Grade
C+
3) Crowd connection
Axel had a great connection with the Chicago crowd, but other than that he has a lot to prove on this area. Some superstars such as Cena, Punk, Jericho and Bryan knows how to connect with the crowd, but this is something Axel has not shown us yet. You could blame it on the character he is portraying, but I think that his connection with crowd will be better down the line when we get to know him better.
GradeC-
4) Promo-abilities
Axel is a decent talker, but not a great one! But this is where Paul Heyman comes in and saves the day. Axel has done some talking himself, but usually Heyman is the one that cuts the promos. Not all wrestlers are great at the promo-part, but thankfully that is what managers are for. But don't get me wrong, Axel could easily cut promos by himself, but Heyman is there to make those decent promos into excellent promos, which helps putting him more over with the crowd.
Grade C
5) Potential
Personally I think that Axel has a great potential. He is already the IC-champion only a month after his debut, and he has a 8-0 winning record so far. This proves to me that WWE also believes in him. Now he needs a decent feud with some high profile star, so that he can prove to us that he has main-event potential. I think if Axel's character gets a little more "freedom", the kid can go out there and show us what a natural talent he is. I think his "corporate wrestler" kind of character is holding him a bit down, but though it is also helping him a lot considering all those wrestlers he has faced after his debut.
If Axel can show more than his "corporate wrestler" side, and find a way to connect with the crowd, he has no limits to how far he can get up the food chain within WWE.
Grade A-
What do you think of Curtis Axel? Tell us in the comment section below.
As usual, enjoy another great classical WWE-match:
Contact or follow us on twitter: @Hjo_4life and @Dylan_Corcoran_
After last night's epic Payback, which was a Wrestlemania-quality ppv if you ask me (and a many others), what will happen when we head for the two major summer ppv's? We are only less than four weeks away from Money In The Bank, and after last night's big announcement that Rob Van Dam will return, you can safely say that people are eager to see this years edition of MITB. But how does the future look for WWE's high profile stars? It is safe to say that Vince is going all in for a replay of the amazing summer within WWE that they had in 2011, so how can he make this one equally as good? Let's analyze the possible future and summer development for some high profile wrestlers within the WWE and see what I think:
1) Sheamus
The Celtic Warrior has been stuck in the Mid-card for a long time now. Most likely he will not be fighting for any titles this summer, but expect him to either continue his feud with Damion Sandow, or move on to a bigger treat before Summerslam. Many stars wants to see him go face to face with non other than Brock Lesnar, and who knows, maybe that will be the case heading in to Summerslam? Sheamus is still considered to be the third biggest full-time star within WWE, so at one point he will return to the WHC or WWE title picture again.
2) Alberto Del Rio
It is safe to say that Vince truly loves Del Rio, giving the fact that he has held four Heavyweight-titles the past 24 months, which is more title-reigns than Cena and Punk has had combined these two years (Though Punk held the title for 434 days). But last night Del Rio won the title from Dolph Ziggler, in a memorable match which most likely gave us a double turn to. Del Rio found back to his old aggressive self. The rough Chicago crowd turned on Del Rio during the match, when Del Rio would not stop going after Ziggler's already injured head (Ziggler is fully recovered, the concussion is only a story-lined injury now). Anyway Del Rio secured his title, but his character took another turn. But Del Rio has secured himself a title-match at MITB and another one at Summerslam, so it's safe to say that his summer looks bright for him. But personally I think that Del Rio is to stale both as a face and as a heel, and he does not deserve to be in the top-card. But clearly Vince and those in the back loves him a lot!
3) Dolph Ziggler
The "Show Off" had a big fan-base before his first title-defense last night, but after his impressive show of heart last night it is sure to say that even more people fell in love with him. The match started with Del Rio as a face and Ziggler as a heel, but ended with their roles reversed. Del Rio gave Ziggler everything he had, but Ziggler would not stay down. This made Del Rio more and more furious as the match developed, which ended with Del Rio going all out on Ziggler. After a total of 12 different head-kicks and countless different moves, Del Rio managed to score the win by pinfall. But his victory did not fell in good taste with the fans, which ended up with Del Rio being booed out of the arena. Ziggler on the other hand got a massive pop from the fans after his match when he managed to get up on his feet again.
After last night's impressive "storytelling" by Del Rio and Ziggler, it is safe to say that Ziggler is finally doing a face turn. This is about damn time, thinking about the fact that he always gets a big pop when he enters an arena. Ziggler will continues his feud during the summer with Del Rio, but I really believe that creatives has something big planned for "The Show Off" this summer. Even though he lost his first title-defense, it is safe to say that his future has never looked better.
4) Ryback
The last one I want to talk about is Ryback. Since he received his massive push last year, Ryback has yet to win a high-profile match. A lot of fans is starting to get sick of this, including myself. Ryback has time to time proved "non-believers" wrong, and it is safe to say that he has main-event caliber skills. His match last night against Cena was not as good as their first one, but it was still a decent match. Sadly enough Ryback fell short once again. Only this time he actually scored a pinfall against Cena, which is a rare case now a days. Not many stars has done that the past couple of years, so it was not an all out black night for Ryback. But no one will remember that since Ryback lost the next two stages. Though his future still looks bright, even though he has been buried time after time by creatives.
This summer Ryback will most likely move out of the title-picture and in to some "non-title" feuds with high profile wrestlers like Sheamus or Randy Orton. This will be a great opportunity for Ryback to gain some momentum before he goes on to chase the WHC or WWE title again, and it will help him on his journey to "rebuild" his monster gimmick again. There is one a limited amount of times a monster can fall before it loses its credibility for good if you ask me. Ryback will not main-event ppv's the next six months, but he will be in high profile feuds, you can count on that!
How do you think these wrestlers future looks like? Tell us in the comment section below.
And as always enjoy tonight's recommended wrestling classic:
Contact or follow us on twitter: @Hjo_4life and @Dylan_Corcoran_
Hello there. WWE-Fanblog returns after a long absence because of account-issues. What better day to return on, than the day WWE presents us a brand new themed ppv named Payback. The name of this PPV says it all. Wrestlers revisits old feuds, or continue/ends on going feuds, which makes this ppv interesting. Most likely this ppv will end 4 or 5 feuds, which gives us the possibility of a fresh start for the summer.
This time I will give you my predictions of each match tonight. Use the comment-section or twitter to tell us your predictions.
@Hjo_4life's predictions
(Pre-Show) Damion Sandow vs Sheamus (Non-title match)
Good to see Sandow getting a more high-profile feud. Though Sandow has won most of his matches lately, I could not see Sheamus lose this one. The truth is that WWE want's to build Sheamus as a possible contender for The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Then he can't lose matches like this. Though I think its going to be a short match that ends with a brogue kick.
Winner
Sheamus
1) Kaitlyn vs AJ Lee (Divas-title match)
This feud could have been better, but it is good to see that WWE is trying to make the divas division more relevant again. The past couple months they have given the divas more spotlight on Raw and Smackdown, and coming this July E! presents a brand new "Totally Divas" reality show, which will give them more spotlight. This match is tricky, but I think AJ Lee will score a dirty win. Kaitlyn has been stale as the champ, and she is missing the passion she showed before she won the title.
Winner
AJ Lee
2) Dean Ambrose vs Kane (US-title match)
These two competitors has a long history together. This was the only way WWE could split up Team Hell No, by giving each one of them different title-shots. Though this is going to be a good match, I think that Dean Ambrose will regain his title either by DQ-decision or a dirty win.
Winner
Kane wins by DQ (Ambrose keeps his title)
3) The Shield vs Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan (Tag-team titles match)
Orton and Bryan has something going on against each other. This match is only a part of a bigger storyline where either Daniel Bryan or Randy Orton makes a heel-turn. Expect this match to be one of the best matches of the night, but don't think for a second that The Shield will lose their titles.
Winner
The Shield
4) Wade Barrett vs The Miz vs Curtis Axel (IC-title match)
This match was put together only a week ago. Originally Fandango was supposed to be in this feud, but his concussion put an end for that. Though Curtis Axel has the abilities to make up for his loss. Expect this to be a really solid 12 min triple-treat match where the rising star Axel takes home the win. Axel is 7-0 so far in his career, and I believe he will continue his undefeated streak for a while.
Winner
Curtis Axel
5) Dolph Ziggler vs Alberto Del Rio (WHC-title match)
Ziggler returned from an injury this Monday on Raw. After finally getting the main-event spot that he has deserved for a long time now, Ziggler got unlucky and suffered a concussion by the hands of Jack Swagger. Though the fact that Ziggler still holds the title after being away for 5 weeks, tells us that WWE has faith in him. This match could go two different directions. The first direction is that Ziggler retains his title by DQ or a count-out, which will set up yet another match against Del Rio at Money In The Bank. Or the other direction of this match is that Ziggler takes home a dirty win by pinfall, which takes Del Rio out of the title-picture for a while. Hopefully WWE decides to go with direction number two, because personally I feel that Del Rio has become a stale babyface lately, and I think he has been in the title-picture for to long now. Give the shot to someone else, and give the champ a fresh and entertaining feud for the summer.
Winner
Dolph Ziggler
6) Cm Punk vs Chris Jericho (Non-title match)
This is the match I am most excited about tonight. Yes we have seen these two battling it out a lot of times before, but not under these conditions. At Extreme Rules in 2012 these two had an epic match in the same arena that they are competing in tonight. Yes this is not the first time Cm Punk battles Chris Jericho in front of his home crowd. But this time Cm Punk returns from a 9 week absence, which makes it so exciting for us fans. We now that the Chicago crowd is one of the best crowds in the world, which they proved at Money In The Bank 2011, when Cm Punk fought John Cena in one of WWE's greatest matches of all time. This match will steal the show, and it will be remembered for a long time. The atmosphere will go trough the roof when Cm Punk makes his epic return in front of his lovely home crowd.
Winner
Cm Punk
7) John Cena vs Ryback (WWE-title match)
These two stole the show at Extreme Rules after an epic 24 minute last man standing battle. All those who doubted in Ryback as main-event material was proven wrong at Extreme Rules. This time they will battle it out in a 3-stages of hell match. I expect this one to be as good as the last one, but sadly enough Ryback will lose yet another PPV-match. There is no way that WWE will strip Cena for the title so early in his run. I actually believe that Cena will hold on to the title for almost a year or so. But expect Ryback to come out as a strong loser. This is the only way he will not lose any credibility. But also expect Ryback to be cheered in this match, considering that Cena is known to get a hostile reaction from the Chicago crowd.
Winner
John Cena
Conclusion
This show will be solid. You have some high profile matches, but most importantly a lot of rising stars get their shot to shine in the spotlight in front of a great Chicago crowd. Expect Cm Punk and Chris Jericho to steal the show.
Anyway, enjoy this epic Cm Punk match as a way to build your excitement for his return tonight:
Follow or contact us on twitter: @Hjo_4life and @Dylan_Corcoran_
Leave a comment in the section below and tell us what you think.
Lately I have not been expressing a lot of my own opinions, but now I feel its time to talk about the rising superstar known as Ryback. The former Skip Sheffield from Nexus broke his ankle on a live show in a Hawaii. Amazingly enough he actually finished that tag team match with his ankle broken. Though his pride and mindset (not to quit) made his ankle injury go even worse, which ended with Ryback (Ryan Reeves) being out of action for 12 months.
But it was his passion and never surrender attitude which made him so popular within the WWE. Vince McMahon and Triple H was so impressed with the fact that Ryback didn't lay down even though he broke his ankle. Even though doctors said his career was over, Reeves had no intentions of quitting. He trained harder than ever and managed to return only a year after his brutal injury, but this time he returned with a new gimmick and attitude. Skip Sheffield was billed as a redneck who made jokes but still knew how to get the job done, while Ryback was billed as a machine who wanted to fight his way to the top of the food-chain.
Even though Ryback was pushed to the main event scene only 6-months after his return, he was never truly being pushed (if you know what I mean). Cena's injury in September 2012 was the reason Ryback was pushed so fast, but WWE never gave him a big win. Ryback has yet to win a PPV-match in 2013. He lost the rumble-match, he lost at elimination chamber and he lost at Wrestlemania, but he is still in the main-event scene. The only difference now is that Ryback plays a heel, and he has his eyes set on top-star John Cena.
Their match at Extreme Rules feels rushed because of the fact that Ryback has yet to prove how good he really is, but still many fans are looking foreword to their main-event match at Extreme Rules.
This is the match that will tell us if Ryback can become a true top star for the WWE. Here is some reasons why:
1) His In-Ring abilities
Just like John Cena, many hardcore fans feel that Ryback is not a good enough in-ring performer. Many say his move-set is to limited and that he can't sell his opponents moves. Though Ryback has been in some great matches both at Raw and in PPV's. At Raw he had an epic match with Antonio Cesaro which many though was his greatest so far. He also delivered at Hell In A Cell against Cm Punk, and in the triple-treat match at Survivor Series with Punk and Cena. But in my mind his best match so far was his title-match against Cm Punk at Raw earlier this year. This was a brutal ladder match where Ryback proved how good he really is.
Though this time he faces John Cena who has been known as a man who needs other great performers to make a good match (I don't think that is the case though, Cena is a great wrestler). Now its time for Ryback to prove why he should be a top star for the WWE.
2) His charisma and energy
Many feels that Ryback has shown lack of energy and charisma both in matches and on the mic. It wasn't until his promo with Mick Foley that we got to see what Ryback has to deliver for us. This promo was so great, and Foley brought the best out of Ryback. Unlike other promos before, Ryback showed a lot of charisma and passion for what he does. Can he do this in his match with Cena? Can he manage to show emotions that makes us believe this is a real and true feud?
3) His promo skills
Ryback is known as a machine not a talker. But in his feud with Cena, Ryback needs to prove that he can deliver on the mic. He did so when he cut a promo with Mick Foley, and he has been great after that. Can he keep this up, and shut up those who believes he can't talk? Time will show!
4) Can he deliver in a 20 to 30 minute long match?
This has yet to be proven. Yes Ryback has done plenty of 10 to 17 minutes matches lately, but can he deliver a great and entertaining 20 to 30 minutes match? I guess we will find out at Extreme Rules!!
I think Ryback can become a top star, he has convinced me that he can! What do you think? Express yourself with leaving a comment in the section below.
Contact or follow us on Twitter: @Hjo_4life and @Dylan_4life
The night before Monday Night Raw WWE announced on their homepage that John Cena suffered an injury in his ankle. Rumors went quickly that Cena's ankle injury was pretty serious. Though next night on Raw he competed in a 6-man tag team match. Even though Cena competed in the match, rumors kept going around that his injury was serious. After all Cena was just having 2 minutes of in ring action during the match. So here is the latest update on his injury:
Report Last night doctors concluded with the fact that Cena was not injured in his ankle, but in his heel. Nothing was torn or serious, he only had a serious swelling. This means that Cena will be able to compete further down the game, but WWE will continue using his "ankle" injury as a part of the ongoing story line with Ryback.
Cena only needs to rest up for a while, and then he is back to 100% again, which is great news for the business since they already lack a lot of star power (Cm Punk resting, Undertaker done for a while and Y2J is just doing part time jobs for the company).
What do you think of this? Leave a comment.
Contact or follow us on twitter: @Hjo_4life and @Dylan_4life
