A great feud is like a great rock album

Okay I’m back and I’m excited. I’m not big on gimmick pay per views but TLC worked for me. That was an awesome pay per view, minus the Cena vs. Barrett match and the tag title match. The Cena/Barrett finish was one of the dumbest finishes I’ve ever seen. Not just because it was stupid that Cena put a table over someone then decided to drop a dozen chairs on him. While that was stupid it was the reaction of the announce team that really sold me on just how dumb the whole ending was. They made it seem like Cena just threw Barrett off Hell in a Cell. The WWE actually thought so little of our intelligence that we were to believe that the table rather than shielding Barrett from the chairs; which it did; that instead of that it actually enhanced the fall of the chairs on Wade. Okay now I’ve seen and heard everything thanks again to the WWE creative team for making me feel a little dumber for watching. The only good thing to come out of that match is that on Raw apparently Cena’s ‘brutal’ actions have caused CM Punk to come back into the ring for a feud with Cena. While I love Punk as a commentator he is one of the best in ring performers in the business and it’s good to see him back in the squared circle. A Punk vs. Cena feud will be the first Cena feud I’ve been excited for…actually I don’t think I’ve ever been excited for a Cena feud.

The tag title match was a disgrace again. You will never sell me on the abomination of a tag team that is Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. You know you are a crappy tag team when Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater are the best team in the match. I did enjoy the beat down the tag champs got though and I normally hate when Nexus gets involved in matches. I would like to also point out that I was happy to not see Nexus on Raw. I think the Nexus angle has run its course, of course I’ve been thinking that for months now but hey we’ll take what we can get. Not that I think the WWE creative team is done with this story line. No, we’ll be subjected to it for a few more months at least. If we are to believe the rumors that Nexus will now turn its focus on The Undertaker when he returns so Wade Barrett can attempt to end The Undertaker’s streak. I think that might actually be entertaining, and if done right could really make Wrestlemania worth buying this year. The Streak vs. Nexus; while it’s not The Streak vs. Career it certainly has potential. Of course any angle with The Undertaker is almost guaranteed to be a good one the man is one of the best in ring match psychologist the business has ever seen, and Wade Barrett does have some in ring potential.

If you take the two matches I just mentioned out of TLC then the WWE finally had a quality pay per view for the first time in a long time. The Sheamus vs. Morrison match was the match of the night; it stole the show the way I knew it would. Morrison is going to be an amazing champion one day and that match just proved it. Those two just bring the best out of each other. Great feuds are like really great rock albums; they have to be organic, they have to pummel you while not overwhelming you, and they have to finish strong. Too many good albums and feuds start out with the best songs/matches right there at the beginning and then they get old and stale towards the end until your skipping ahead or tuning out. A truly great album/feud starts out slow and creeps up on you until your half way through it and you just can’t wait for more. They have to finish strong and I couldn’t think of a better way to end this feud. That match was amazing and they couldn’t possibly top it. My only hope is the WWE doesn’t keep it going; let it end there at that ladder match.

My three favorite feuds that were like my favorite albums:
3: The Undertaker vs. Mankind/ Master of Puppets by Metallica
If you want to talk about the most physical feud and pummeling album of all time this is it. Undertaker and Mankind didn’t screw around; this feud gave us one of the greatest moments in wrestling history with Mankind being thrown from the top of the Cell and Metallica busting out arguably the greatest metal song of all time with Master of Puppets. In my opinion you will never be able to top this feud for shear brutality and you will not be able to top Master of Puppets in its speed, complexity, and straight pummeling sound.

2. Stone Cold vs. Vince McMahon/ Green Day American Idiot
Stone Cold and Vince were already famous but they took things to new heights never before seen or seen since. Green Day was already a big band but American Idiot took them from 10,000 seat venues to Arenas. The SC/VM feud created two distinct characters we had never seen before from them, the trash talking, beer swigging, middle finger waving Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon the brash, screw you over, billionaire who likes nothing more than to destroy people. American Idiot saw Green Day go from juvenile ‘dookie’ song writers into serious song writers who could pull on heart strings and still write insanely catchy music.
1. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels/ Californication Red Hot Chili Peppers
Undertaker and Shawn Michaels put on two of the greatest matches of all time and their feud will go down as one of the greatest of all time. It had drama, it kept coming at you, and you were constantly left on the edge of your seat. For my money Californication may be the greatest rock album of all time. It has my favorite song of all time in Californication and it never lets up; from the slow build of Scar Tissue, to the weird and funky Around the World, to the best song ever written Californication. These two share many similarities; both were established greats in their respected businesses. Both had already had some of the greatest feuds/ albums ever. Yet both seemed to put everything into their work on these two. For its money Californication is the best 15 songs money can buy, and the combined hundred dollars I laid down to see Shawn take on Taker was well worth it.

Okay back to TLC and Monday’s Raw. The Miz winning the way he won was perfect; just when you think he couldn’t be any more of a weasel he one ups himself. The WWE creative team couldn’t have put any more heat on The Miz unless they had him light Brett Hart on fire in the middle of the ring. The creative team takes a few hits and well deserved but their handling of The Miz has been nothing short of spectacular. I appreciate really good ideas and really well written ideas and having The Miz being the biggest weasel champion in WWE history has been fun to watch. I haven’t seen a bigger cheater, or a worse defending champion in WWE history and I mean that in a good way. My hats off to the creative team on this one it has been nothing short of perfect. Raw’s Mizmas Carol was awesome; from Miz’s defense of his actions, to Michael Cole’s over the top acting, King’s hatred of the whole thing, and C.M. Punk’s commentary was funny and entertaining. I rarely like segments like that but this one was really good. The fans hated it more and more as it went on until Morrison came out to the biggest pop I’ve ever heard him get.

I can’t tell you enough how excited I am for a Morrison/ Miz feud; that is if the WWE actually lets us see a one on one feud between the two. There is a good chance they will screw it up by making Shamus or Orton be a part of it. This is a feud that I’ve been waiting to come back around for a while now and I think if they are allowed show us what they have they will blow many nonbelievers away. If the WWE is serious about selling us on new talent then this feud needs to happen the right way. They already have a built in hatred for each other, former tag team champions, Morrison was called the more talented of the to, The Miz has had more success outside of the tag team, and The Miz has called Morrison Mary Jannetty. Which on a quick side note does anyone else feel terrible for Marty Jannetty? The guy was a talented wrestler who had a chance to be really great but missed out after the WWE pushed Michaels over him. Now his name will be synonymous with being the dead weight in a tag team. The only other guy I feel worse for is Gary Anderson the old Vikings field goal kicker. You can’t say his name around Vikings fans without their eyes twitching a little bit as they have a flash back of him missing the field goal that would have sent the Vikings to the super bowl. Never mind that he made the most consecutive field goals in NFL history; that one miss will define a twenty two year career. By the way I still hate Gary Anderson for missing that field goal. My point is that Miz vs. Morrison feud could go a long way in defining the future of the WWE, and that the writing team needs in a big way not to screw it up.

Well that’s all for this week. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, concerns, or hate you may have. As always you can email me at jjg672@hotmail.com

P.S. I just got done watching The Town and if you love heist movies you’ll love this movie. One of the best movies of the year and I highly recommend it.