WWE Is All In On Roman Reigns Ready Or Not

The only take away from Monday Night Raw was the simple fact that WWE is all in on Roman Reigns for better or worse it would appear. Any time the WWE has something with fan voting eyebrows will raise and results will be questioned. After all this is pre-determined entertainment are we suppose to believe their polls are on the level? When you look at the Slammy’s you can make the argument that Roman Reigns was not legitimately the Superstar of the year through some fan vote. The basis to make such a claim can be done simply based on crowd reaction. Compare him to the reaction that Dean Ambrose gets or a few other superstars that draw a larger reaction. In defense of legitimacy A.J Lee, winning Diva of the Year is clearly not an outcome the WWE wanted to happen. After all her husband has been in the news and said some terrible things about the company you might have heard. He also on Saturday joined the UFC with A.J Lee present at the show he made the announcement.

Regardless of polls and WWE altering opinions and trying to get the audience to buy what they are selling, Roman Reigns has been being sold as a big deal from the beginning. If anyone questioned his status as the WWE’s next Golden Boy, to be the eventual replacement to John Cena that fact would be confirmed by C.M Punk. In his famous interview, Punk talked about The Shield being his idea and him hand picking the guys that made up the group. He wanted his long-term rival on the independents Chris Hero as the third member. The WWE countered with Roman Reigns and Punk would agree feeling it wasn’t something worth fighting about. He also told the story of how people kept coming up to him before his match at TLC last year making sure that Punk was going to have Roman Reigns look strong even though he was winning the match.

The worst kept secret in wrestling has been that Roman Reigns is expected to face Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 and win the WWE Heavyweight Championship. That plan hit a major iceberg Reigns had emergency surgery to repair a damaged hernia. He is on the verge of returning and this was his first live appearance on Raw since the injury. The fact he was named Superstar of the year is proof of one thing or another depending on your point of view. If you believe the WWE alters these results it is proof that they are back on the major push to make Reigns the huge draw for Wrestlemania 31. If you believe the voting was legitimate, this might confirm the WWE is correct in pushing Reigns and building him to be the Cena successor.

Once it became obvious to the majority of fans that Reigns was this chosen one of sorts it was followed with critics. People questioning the in-ring work of Reigns that he had only a few moves and lacked the stamina to have long matches. They have also questioned his ability to talk on a microphone. This was something that was well hidden in his time with The Shield as Ambrose and Rollins have shown to be above average on the microphone.

Still it is hard to deny that Roman has this “It” quality of coming off as cool. Women clearly are attracted to him for his obvious looks. Guys still find him as that cool guy that could win a fight in a bar. In terms of the kids, they see him as this larger than life super hero like figure. That is the basic formula for a top babyface in wrestling for decades. It is hard to deny this and that he is the typical type of guy that Vince McMahon likes to have as a top star. Add in the fact he is related to The Rock it doesn’t hurt matters. He doesn’t have the same charisma or speaking skills that the Rock has though. Outside of wrestling in an interview setting, he can be a very engaging guy to talk with. Go seek out interviews he did with Sam Roberts and others as proof of that.

In the end, Reigns might be being rushed to the position that he eventually would have gotten too. The thing is will rushing him to that point create a backlash that will be hard to overcome. C.M Punk positioning him as this chosen one by the WWE management and Vince and Triple H doesn’t help either. He just confirmed what was obvious from the very beginning of The Shield. While all of The Shield has been protected very well from the start Reigns was treated on just another level. He was the mostly silent muscle of one of the best factions in wrestling in the last 5 years if not longer.

The one thing that is clear regardless of what you think about the various issues is that the WWE machine is fully behind Roman Reigns and the plan that most have thought for 6-9 months about Wrestlemania 31 will still likely happen. The fact it is predictable is not bad but the fact fans might not be ready for it is bad. Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Title was very obvious but still became a great moment. Roman Reigns is not in the same spot though as he is not anyone’s underdog even when you match him against Brock Lesnar.

WWE doesn’t need to create another polarizing top babyface as they have in John Cena. It is not a good move for an audience that has had a decade of Cena being shoved down their throat for the most part of that decade. I will defend the WWE on one thing they have been careful to keep Reigns somewhat distant from John Cena. It is something that if Reigns is to have any chance at success needs to happen. Sorry to break it to Dolph Ziggler fans being attached to Cena is a career killer not a career maker. Cena has a hard enough time getting over the people he faces let alone the people that are positioned as his buddies.

WWE is all in on Roman Reign…..Believe That! 

CM Punk Speaks On Everything Finally

C.M Punk has broken his silence and done it in true C.M Punk fashion appearing on his friend Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling Podcast. Before we get into all that was said it should be noted that C.M Punk could have earned a ton of money giving this exclusive interview to anyone. It is the most sought after wrestling interview in the last decade and possibly ever. He did it with his long time friend Colt Cabana for nothing and is going to address his fans and haters a like, taking questions next week on the same podcast. On this fact alone, it is commendable of Punk and kind of serves as proof that this is not about Punk profiting from his story. The things he does say while some are what many have speculated for months as reasons for his leaving have been validated. Some other things that have not seen the light of day until now are truly shocking. It is stated among these revelations the fact that Punk never really quit the company. The truth is he was suspended not long after he walked out the night after the Royal Rumble; he was eventually fired on what was his wedding day to WWE Diva A.J Lee.

To cover everything that was said in this interview would take far to long to write out and likely will be the most reported on interview in wrestling in decades. You really need to seek it out and listen to it yourself to hear it in context. It is almost two hours in length and is truly fascinating to hear how much C.M Punk was going through physically during his time since re-signing to join the company until now. Among them wrestling with concussions, that Punk claims the WWE was in full knowledge of him having. He wrestled in all forms of pain beyond that, from bad knees, to broken ribs among them.

The most shocking of all was Punk had develop a deposit on his back that he brought to the attention of WWE medical staff. He was told it was some form of calcium deposit, which was nothing to worry about moving forward. Despite Punk’s insistence to have it removed, the WWE doctor deemed it unnecessary and instead gave him antibiotics. Punk was asked if the deformity on his back hurt, when he claimed it did not they gave him this medication. It reached a point where it did begin to hurt months later and on the encouragement of his wife, Punk would see her doctor in Florida. This doctor quickly diagnosed that Punk had been walking around with a staph infection for months. This according to the doctor could have been fatal. It was removed and Punk who it should be noted in his life had a fractured skull and had tattoos done on many parts of his body called it worst pain he had ever experienced.

Punk also made it clear that he had been questioning the WWE about the Network based on how it would affect not just his income, but in addition all the other wresters, with no real answers given to him. He claims that he never was given one to the point that he left. This is consistent with an interview he gave to Ariel Helwani just days before his departure from the company. While Punk did have complaints about payoffs for Wrestlemania and other events, it was about simply being paid to the level of other stars that appeared on the shows on his level. He claims John Cena, The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar all made significantly more than he did on the last Wrestlemania he appeared on Wrestlemania 29.

There was a ton of stuff about booking that was brought up as well including Punk’s desire to make the Mania 29 main event a three-way match with himself, John Cena and The Rock. He also claims that The Shield was in fact his idea to build a faction around him when he was not granted that match and had conceded and agreed to face the Undertaker. Punk’s version of the Shield he pitched include Rollins Ambrose and Chris Hero who he had worked with a ton on independents long before coming to WWE. The WWE was not down with having Hero and wanted Roman Reigns to be the third to which Punk conceded. The plan was for Punk to work programs with each of the Shield coming out of his lose to the Undertaker. WWE changed directions and killed the idea of the Shield being paired with Punk. WWE wanted the Shield to be originally the Big Show, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins. Something Punk was not in agreement with and countered with the three names mentioned above.

There is many other stories including how Ryback injured Punk both times working with him. In the TLC match where a Punk and Ryback program was thrown together, he had his ribs broken from a kick from Ryback. When the two would later feud in the build up to Lesnar and Punk he would injury his hip on a table bump in which Ryback threw Punk missing the table entirely and hit the cement floor. Punk suggests that he feels both were deliberate on the part of Ryback and after the second injury, he confronted him and Ryback claimed stupidity rather than it being a deliberate attempt to injury him. 

This only scratches the surface of all that was told. Punk goes into detail on the infamous meeting that night in Cleveland when he walked out where as it had been reported only he, Vince McMahon and Triple H were in the room.

It is without a doubt the most spell binding 90 minutes plus you likely will have heard about his relationship with WWE. This is obviously his version of the story but there is a real truth to it when you go back and piece together what was going on at the various times.

WWE had tried to come to a settlement with Punk on money he was owed to restrict either side from talking about it. Punk denied this based on how he had already being characterized on WWE programming. He did in fact get all the money that he was entitled too and the matter has been settled.

Punk claims based on the way he was fired on his actual wedding day was the final straw on him ever working for the company again. After listening to all the Punk has to say it is hard to imagine why he would ever want to do so. Even if you only consider half of the things Punk claims as facts, it would be enough for many to never desire to work with WWE again. In a wrestling world that is so much based on never say never about people returning this might be the most compelling case to say something is never ever going to happen.

It seems that Punk really wanted to give his true fans an explanation for all that has gone on in the last year and beyond as to why he is gone from the company. If you ever considered yourself a C.M Punk fan and still do not understand why after all he laid out I would personal question if you ever cared about him at all or just loved the wrestling character he played.

The scary thing is there is a real sense of truth to everything that he said and it paints the WWE although he claims it was not his intention in a very negative light. It also casts a very scary picture of the inner workings of the company and makes you wonder if anyone will ever be able to succeed without the WWE’s backing. It puts a great deal of things into prospective.

Punk also briefly talks about the need for a union in wrestling to stand up for the talent something that Vince McMahon has fought long and hard against even dating back to the 80’s. Jessie Ventura at the time had attempted to create one only to be foiled by Hulk Hogan and Vince. Punk’s story is a tale that really cries out for the need for one. Maybe you’re not a C.M Punk fan and think he is a jerk. Still the things that happened to Punk could just as easily happen to your favorite superstar or diva. Which is what makes this story so compelling.

It was the most eye-opening interview I have listened to in 30 plus years of being a wrestling fan. Short of when you come to the realization that wrestling is not real this cuts almost as deep into the ugly business side of this company at the top of the wrestling world.

C.M Punk had the balls to tell the story because he feels he can afford to and doesn’t have to worry about money for the rest of his life. Love him or hate him C.M Punk has always been a guy both in and out of character to speak his mind. On Thanksgiving 2014 in the United States, he did just that.

As I have said consistently the thing I am most happy about is Punk seems truly content and happy with his life and as a fan of this guy that entertained me for years I am happy about that. To listen to all he endured physically and mentally to entertain me makes me love him even more.

So, thank you C.M Punk for everything and allowing your true fans to hear your side of the story. This is not to say that we were owed anything, but so we can now understand it and have some closure to it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers. Best wishes from our family to yours.

The Perfect Storm Creating WWE's Lack of Depth in 2014

 Everyone would readily admit the WWE is lacking depth at the time. This is in direct contrast to this belief that the WWE has perhaps their best crop of talent for the future in years. The WWE to their credit is not pressing the panic button and rushing people to the main stage. In reality, the WWE is kind of paying for their lack of protecting their mid-card talent. Guys like Dolph Ziggler, Csearo and others have been mismanaged to the point we can’t take them seriously as top talent. Which when all is going well is not a huge issue. When injures as those to Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns happen it becomes an issue.

Dean Ambrose as we noted on this past Raw has taken it as his opportunity. He is afforded that opportunity because all of the former members of The Shield have been protected fairly well since arriving in the WWE. They are likely at the top of that list of the future of the WWE. The recent special they did on the WWE Network leading into Summerslam based on Ambrose, Rollins and Roman Reigns. It outlined them as the future of this company that they very much have become and earned. In essence, they are the first products of Paul Lévesque guys out of developmental.

They have not been subject to the normal typical WWE booking of trading wins and becoming irrelevant to some extent. You can always tell what the WWE thinks of certain talents if they are exempted from the typical booking style. It is that booking style that leaves them looking very short handed in terms of top stars.

Injuries have really been the story of 2014, having had a huge impact on the WWE product, and influenced the direction of the company. It is easy to blame the WWE and they do deserve a lot of blame for some of the awful content they have produced. You have to wonder what things would be like if Daniel Bryan had not been injured. So much would likely be different.

Would Brock Lesnar be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion? How much more compelling would a Daniel Bryan loss to Lesnar have been followed by rematch had been? That was the assumed direction had Bryan remained healthy. Would we have such a microscope on Roman Reigns and rush to push him to be the next face of this company? Is Dean Ambrose even in the main event scene at all had both not been injured? This is probably not the case at all. In fact would we have even seen The Shield break-up happening at all by this point.

We still likely would have pointless Total Divas driven stories but likely, not with the major emphasis they have had as we do with this whole Bella vs. Bella feud. It all makes you wonder what might have been.

That is the thing though wrestling doesn’t always follow the intended path and we have many famous examples of it. One not based on injuries but a famous change of direction happened in the build-up to Wrestlemania 4. Randy Savage was going to regain the Intercontinental Championship and defeat the Honky Tonk Man. He was not willing to lose the belt to Savage. This would see Savage become the WWF Champion instead and defeat Ted DiBiase who was originally planned to win the title. No Mega Powers exploding the following year and perhaps the greatest year-long build to a match in wrestling history.

As much as we can be critical of the WWE’s lack of long-term vision these days, you can see why they might have a more liquid formula. Injuries can happen and things can be turned upside down in an instant. This is what has happened a lot in the WWE in 2014.

Still the WWE is growing a massive stable of talent it is just about making sure they use it all correctly. It is our lack of faith in them to do so that makes these times and situations times to feel a sense of panic. After all, we have a man in a bunny suit as now an excepted member of the main roster. What on earth kind of a WWE has this become.

Likely one searching for answers and in a desperate situation with their network, failing and their top talent depleted.

Here is another what if situation for you that led to the most successful wrestler in the company’s history emerging. If not for the MSG Curtain Call, it would have been Triple H and not Stone Cold Steve Austin winning the King of the Ring. Stone Cold never wins maybe never says Austin 3:16 and goes on from there to be the biggest star in the company.

This is not to say Dean Ambrose or anyone else could take this time to reach such levels. It is however a time where opportunity is clearly knocking and some guys like Ambrose, Ziggler and Cesaro are clearly aware of that and it is showing in their work going to an even higher level. Ambrose has the biggest canvas of the three to paint on given his position at this point.  It also makes you wonder if Bray Wyatt had been more successful in his runs with Cena and Jericho where he could have been positioned in this time period. Instead, he is kind of going back to square one to some degree.

These are interesting times despite the WWE struggling to come up with solutions for a lack of depth. This is the result of their poor booking and injuries coming together in this perfect storm. You have a Champion that only makes limited appearances in Lesnar. While John Cena by most reports is pretty banged up himself is now deemed as vital to keeping this ship a float even if he is over exposed and the crowd is tired of him.

These dark times for the WWE in the past have always been times we have seen new stars emerge and perhaps the same will be true of this time period when history looks back on it. Time will tell as we head down the road.

Can Roman Reigns Survive The Transition To Face Of WWE

No one is going to deny the fact  Roman Reigns really from the beginning of his career on the WWE main roster has been positioned to be the eventually successor to John Cena. He has been highly protected and made to come off as a huge superstar. He is portrayed as the coolest guy in the room currently. It is hard to remember and even harder to admit, but John Cena once was that guy.

People will have long debates on the success of Cena since that time as the “Face of the WWE” and how successful he really has been. I think it is fair to say that John Cena somewhere between then and now, he stopped being cool and became corporate. John Cena’s early rap persona really legitimately got over with the audience and still to this day when he brings back that persona it can get over with the audience.

The Shield when they were together and since they have separated still has that cool factor going for them in a major way. Roman Reigns at this point is the guy that keeps his words fairly short but they are more often than not having an impact. The most recent example was his response to “Cena Sucks” chants and he responded to the audience with “when Roman Reigns in the ring your damn right.” The audience reacted as you would expect with tremendous cheers.

WWE is already teasing the idea of Reigns taking over from Cena in the lead-up into the four-way for WWE Heavyweight World Championship at Battleground. It seems that it will be enviable that we see a John Cena vs. Roman Reigns Wrestlemania main event.

The danger is and perhaps the first mistake the WWE could make with Roman Reigns as they did with John Cena is to push him to the top to fast. Cena has been jammed down people throats for so long that company’s obsession in pushing him has become in effect an anti-push for him making him this weird Heel/Face that we know today. I have maintained this has been bad for business in the sense that he turns guys that are suppose to heels into faces far too soon. It is a major reason why the WWE is lacking true heels today.

While WWE fans want change and are hungry to see Reigns on top, is this not just the first step to heading towards what Cena has become? That is something that the WWE needs to avoid despite themselves. It is hard to think the WWE will learn from their mistakes. They don’t have a good track record at that. Maybe were not giving them enough credit, but we have a history of material to doubt them.

Maybe Roman Reigns will have the stroke to keep himself on the right path. He is after all related to The Rock who has always been able to stay cool for the most part with wrestling fans. The one thing Roman Reigns does lack is the ability to cut long involved promos. I think personally, I am ok with keeping Reigns as this man that says little and speaks more with his actions than his words. It would be a refreshing change from the WWE norm.

Another point to the positive is Reigns having come into the company as part of The Shield. He will always have these relationships to fall back on. It can always be something they can draw back on going forward. Similar to how the WWE has used groups like DX, Evolution and others. Let’s call this Roman Reigns safe place as we move forward it will always work if they do not over use it.

Cena for the most part has been a solo act and has never had anyone that really has been his legitimate friend in terms of storyline. Even Hogan had that year or so with Savage in which he had someone sharing the spotlight with him. Cena has the occasion casual person tied to him that he has failed to get over. Zack Ryder was the most obvious example of this where he had already gotten over and Cena came along and ruined that in a very quick fashion.

Reigns maybe the “chosen one” it has not impacted on the fact that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins also have gotten "over" along side him for the last couple years.

What Cena and Reigns share in common is female fan base in large part love them. It is primarily based on their looks and not much else. Where John Cena really lost his cool was when males stopped thinking he was cool and his primary fans were kids and women. Cena was cool when he was rapping and saying things that were to say the least not PG based. Reigns is just more respected as a legit “badass” by guys right now. This is something that can still work under the WWE’s PG world as they have been able to prove currently.

If the WWE is patient and does not change much about Reigns and evolve just the characteristics he already has things will be fine. If they attempt to turn him in to that John Cena corporate face of the company that will not be good for his long term. Roman Reigns can still do all the things Cena does but you don’t need to publicize them as much. Reigns with his character can say he doesn’t need people to know what he does as he is just doing what is the right thing.

It is hard to imagine Roman Reigns being thought of in the same light as John Cena. Still could we have imagined 10 years ago that Cena would be thought of as he is today? It is vital that someone realizes that John Cena ultimately has not been the complete success that company paints him out to be. Roman Reigns might be the right guy to realize that and has a guy who was legitimately the most successful person both in the WWE and beyond it combined in The Rock a phone call away.

It will be very interesting to see how the WWE handle this transition. The WWE has never really had to deal with this kind of transition as the face of the company. Hogan left for WCW, Stone Cold left because of injury, The Rock left for Hollywood and Triple H had the security of being part of the McMahon family. Cena clearly has no plans of leaving any time soon and thus this complex transition will have to take place. The WWE has never really had to deal with this kind of situation.

WWE fans have their fingers crossed they won’t screw this up.


 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 8pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

WWE's Uncertain Future Continues Heading To Summerslam

What a difference a few months can make in wrestling and in the WWE specifically. It was a long battle, but Daniel Bryan got his Wrestlemania moment. A bad program with Kane and neck injury and WWE in a sense was turned on its ear.

While it is easy to cast stones at the WWE you have to admit there has been a ton of turmoil surrounding this company. It started after the Royal Rumble where fans revolted and demanded Bryan to be placed in the title picture. At the same time CM Punk angry over a number of issues decides to go back to Chicago and call it a day. After months of silence he finally came out and declared himself retired. He was also getting married as we would learn to the top woman in company A.J Lee. She beat the odds only to lose the title the next night to Paige and fade away with Punk

First it was to move to Chicago to live with him, than an announcement of a wedding that took place somewhere in Chicago last weekend. The latest is the A.J is expecting and thus will not be back for sometime if at all. It will definitely not be before July in which C.M Punk’s deal is supposed to end if the pregnancy talk is true. Punk's deal coming to an end is even is in doubt with the WWE’s recent actions with Rey Mysterio’s contract, as they rolled it over stated that Rey owed the company time based on injuries. In theory with Punk walking out they could use the same clause to keep Punk under contract assuming this language was in his deal as well. It has all led to a lot of fans picking sides and some turning their back on Punk stating that he did the same to them. While others were just happy for a guy that seemed miserable when he left, finding some happiness since that time even if it didn’t include wrestling.  

There was recent speculation that WWE tried to get Punk to return for Payback in Chicago once they had learned of the injury to Bryan but were unsuccessful. Who knows and at this point who really cares. I am convinced that Punk will not make a move until his current deal expires so he can craft and entirely new deal from scratch.  There is also the off chance that Punk is serious about being retired and done with wrestling. He had always said he would be gone long before anyone expected him to be. About the only thing not on his resume that might interest him is a Wrestlemania Main Event. I could see that being something Punk might be interested in.

I maintain the Main Event for Wrestlemania 32 in Cowboy’s Stadium needs to be Austin vs. CM Punk. It’s a year and half away but this would be the WWE attempting to have the largest crowd in their history for this event should it be the venue for Wrestlemania 32 as it has long been speculated to be.

WWE have much more short term concerns to deal with. Mainly the lack of success for the WWE Network in the early stages, not drawing as big of numbers domestically as they would have hoped. In addition to losing staff over at the network, the WWE also fired their head writer in creative. In addition to the releases of talent last Thursday. Changes are happening all over the place it seems. From the outside looking in it looks like some organized chaos, but at the end of the day still chaos. This likely all sparked by the huge negative reaction to the WWE’s new T.V deal that was expected to double if not triple and even had a personal guarantee from Vince McMahon himself. It didn’t happen while the WWE did get a bump up it was not to the level promised. The low network numbers combined with this news sent the WWE Stock that once had climbed above 30 dollar mark down to below 10 before stabilizing slightly above that number. It closed this past Friday at 11.66 cents in U.S funds.

The one group that has so far seem to navigate all the land mines and benefit in this time of Chaos has been The Shield. They now have been broken up into 3 separate acts as individuals which given the WWE’s lack of people the crowd is invested in makes some great sense.

What originally was thought of has trying to put a band-aid on the situation of Daniel Bryan’s injury may not be anymore. WWE has pulled him from all shows in July and now they are hoping he can be back for Summerslam. Who ends up winning the WWE Title at Money in the Bank might tell you more about Daniel Bryan’s health status than anything.

If it is not one of the old guard and it is in fact a Roman Reigns, Cesaro or a Bray Wyatt it might be an indication that Bryan is not doing so well on his road to recovery. If the Belt were to go on Cena or Orton it might be a sign Bryan is looking on schedule to come back. Losing a title for ether at this stage of the game is not a big deal.

Brock Lesnar seems to be the "wildcard" in all of this, as he was suppose to be taking on the WWE World Champion at Summerslam and that was suppose to Daniel Bryan. Now what happens with Brock? Do they flip his dates around and we see him show up next Sunday? It is possible, but Brock’s original plan was to return for Summerslam and the PPV after that. Brock is very set in only doing his required dates and anything beyond that you are going to have to pay. Given the sweet deal that he already has who can really blame him.

If Roman Reigns were to become the Champion does he face Brock or does he face Triple H as the storyline has been leading us to believe? Cesaro seems the likely fit to face Brock in a feud with Heyman as his manger. It could be the launching point to turn Cesaro baby face finally. Some will say it is too soon and do you really want him to beat Brock which he almost has too in this situation if not at Summerslam definitely on the next PPV.

Bray Wyatt could be the best option as if Daniel Bryan is ready they have some history already and if not a final battle in an “I Quit Match” with Cena wouldn’t be a horrible option for the Title. This despite the two having a long feud, that we all have grown kinda sick of, but if Bray could make Cena quit in a title match that would be worth it. Although the chances we get that finish are probably slim.

In any case if you thought the road to Wrestlemania was a rocky bumpy and unpredictable ride, this one to Summerslam might be even more interesting. Having some lasting impact on the immediate future of the company in the short term and perhaps long term, depending on how it all shakes out.

It is ironic in the predetermined world that is pro wrestling, so many things that could not have been predetermined have impacted on this company in major ways in 2014. WWE has had to endure a lot of shots in 2014 the difference between them and everyone else in the wrestling business is they have more than enough money to take the shots and move forward.

It is not to say this isn’t a pretty vital time for the company because it really is as they are being stretched to their limits in a lot of ways.  

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

The Raw Notebook: June 9th, 2014

 The Raw Notebook is back after a Raw that love it or hate it you have to call it a significant Raw. First and foremost the obvious reason for that Daniel Bryan being officially stripped of the title. Outside of the storylines of WWE it is sad that Bryan is legitimately unable to compete and build off the great momentum he had coming off his wins at Wrestlemania 30. The question now becomes how he will be treated when he is ready to return to action.

The Future of the WWE Title:

So now the Money in the Bank match becomes for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This will feature seven superstars four of which have already been established at this point. Del Rio won the first qualifying match over Ziggler so he is in. Randy Orton was appointed to the match by the authority. While Sheamus got in defeating Bad News Barrett and Cesaro getting a win as well to get in as well. With only three spots left some people are going to be left out clearly. John Cena, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. That is five names that you clearly could see in the mix for the world title and only 3 will get into the match.

I would think we get a match with either Seth Rollins against Dean Ambrose or a match between Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns. Leaving the remaining three not involved in one of these match suggestions in the match for the Title. For what it is worth Reigns is working a house show here in my hometown of Hamilton against Bray Wyatt. It would make sense for Triple H and Rollins to screw Reigns out of a shot at the title. This was keeping the build alive to Triple H against Reigns at Summerslam. This has been the rumored match for sometime now.

The Shield Divided Are Standing Tall: 

As for the Shield divided I thought it came off pretty well. It was a great promo and explanation from Seth Rollins. Dean Ambrose also did a good promo talking about what he would like to do Seth Rollins. The little things that Ambrose does with reactions and movements are just brilliant. Reigns cut a decent promo as well for him and in terms of the storyline I am happy with where we are at.

The Shield having Cena make the save and tag with them is just the latest attempt to have John Cena tied to the most over baby faces not named John Cena. He is the Hulk Hogan of modern wrestling always trying to tie him to the hottest act that is getting over more than him. Hogan did this with so many guys most famously the “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Randy was one of the few guys that did not crumble and fall off with Hogan casting his shadow over him.

Some Minor Segments: 

The segment with Summer Rae and Layla was clearly not a “PG moment,” and was a little nod to fans still hanging around from the attitude era. It was fairly obvious to anyone that is over a certain age what they were going for there.

Paige continues to be booked terrible as she was over shadowed by Alicia Fox in her segment/match once again. It makes me wonder why they didn’t just put the belt on Alicia as Paige is getting nothing out of this run as Diva’s champion.

The silly gimmicks for Damien Sandow are getting over with me. He also got a reaction with a chant from fans as he was tagged with Fandango.  It may not be good for his long term future but I am enjoying him. I also give the guy a lot of credit for him giving his 100% with all of these silly gimmicks.

Other notes not of much note:

Zack Ryder bought new gear to get squashed with Rusev as WWE teases an Obama vs. Putin match or maybe not.  Ryback and Axel beat down Goldust and R-Truth as looks like Cody is setting up to be a heel again by picking terrible partners for Goldust. Eventually will get a Cody and Goldust match and this will be worth it.

Overall, I thought the show was decent and did a fairly good job continuing the angle with The Shield from last week. Perhaps they are slowly getting some momentum back as they head towards the summer and Summerslam in August. Daniel Bryan’s short term future decided allows the WWE to move forward instead of standing in place.It sucks for him but you honestly have to move forward if your WWE if you are not willing to have an interim WWE World Champion.

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

A Shield Divided WIll Still Stand The Test Of Time

The Shield has come to an end in dramatic fashion with Seth Rollins the first ever NXT Champion and least likely to join Evolution did just that at the end of Raw. When you look at things it makes sense for Rollins to remain in a group at this point. I see this as the start of the complete end of The Shield group for the short term.

Some have talked about a replacement for Rollins in The Shield I fail to see that and think we are building to a more splintered version of this feud that leads to Triple H vs. Reigns at Summerslam down the line.

When you consider the break-up of these three individuals, Ambrose of the three I think will be the easiest transition to being on his own eventually. Reigns has the look of being the chosen one to be the next big WWE mega star. He still has work to do with his skills on mic. But both are ready to be on their own at this point.

Rollins you could argue is as well but if there is one of the three that could use the push from an affiliation with Triple H he makes the most sense. This might not be done either as who is to say Ambrose doesn’t turn as well and joins with Rollins and Orton and becomes part of Evolution as a “Shield” to getting to Triple H allowing him to step back from in ring competition. That is a real possibility.

I feel over the years The Shield will always be brought back in various storylines if all three become the successes that most people expect them to be. Similar to how we have gone back to a group like DX over the years with various angles as opponents and reforming. It seems a logical root to go coming off how strong they were as babyfaces for the future.

Before Sami Zayn, Tyler Breese and Adrian Neville were the guys Triple H was hyping up, it was the group known as The Shield that were the first real stars to emerge from the development system once Triple H took control of it.

Of the three, the man that was picked to be the first ever NXT Champion was Rollins. So despite the shock and surprise of the moment last night after some time to think about this does make some sense. Triple H as I wrote in Between the Ropes today cares deeply for all he has created in NXT. These guys are the first three guys he put his faith in to deliver on the main roster and boy have they since their arrival a couple years ago.

In the reality the biggest believer in The Shield behind the scenes is no doubt Triple H himself. It is proven by how much he has worked with them and given them a main event push with this continuing storyline.

I have confidence that all three members are going to be big time players in the WWE for the next decade or more.

What was truly great about last night was this was one of those moments that we as an audience were taken by surprise and had one of those OMG type moments. That is what you live for as a wrestling fan. The best way to achieve that moment was to have Rollins be the guy to make the turn. It will need to be followed up on and develop some logical reason why he has but they have accomplished the goal of leaving us wanting more and wanting answers.

This is why wrestling sometime is called a male soap opera for elements and storylines like this. When done effectively like last night it makes for a magical moment.

Payback Leaves More Questions Than Answers

Most had low expectations heading into WWE Payback and the show was able to over achieve. It’s not to say the show was fantastic but both of the big matches delivered. Cena and Bray Wyatt came out of the last man standing match looking strong. The finish was somewhat cheesy trapping Bray through a box that he was smashed through by another box.

The Shield and Evolution once again delivered with a crazy match in which The Shield got the clean sweep. Daniel Bryan ends up keeping his title as his wife Bri quit and slapped the taste out of her month. For all of my thoughts on Payback as it happened I was covering the event for Between the Ropes.

Coming out of Payback there are far more questions than answers coming out of this show. Both major feuds could be done which makes us wonder what comes next for everyone.

A Luke Harper and Eric Rowan feud with the Usos seems the most obvious after the two battled teams battled during the Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena match. What remains to be seen is who and if Bray Wyatt moves on to someone else would be the major question to be answered. 

The Shield seems to still be united but with Money in the Bank around the corner could we see all three against each other in the Money in the Bank match? One thing is a safe bet that Reigns will be in that match and most likely gets screwed by Triple H. It seemed fairly obvious that we are heading to Triple H vs. Roman Reigns match at some point. It was expected to be at Summerslam but what and when Daniel Bryan reappears might impact on that.

Daniel Bryan based on tonight it seems like he will be back sooner rather than later. This could happen as soon as Money in the Bank is likely to soon. Maybe it isn’t will have a better idea after Raw tonight I am sure.

Where does John Cena go after this long program with Bray Wyatt if it is indeed over? I don’t have any good answers for that important question.

Cesaro seems the betting line favourite to win Money in the Bank. He looked dominate despite not winning the U.S Title against Sheamus. Maybe that is the program for John Cena to pair up with Cesaro and be part of the Money in the Bank Match and feud afterwards. Or perhaps Brock will help Cesaro win and you get another go of John Cena and Brock. I really have no idea at this point.

All this said the show of the week still took place on Thursday night wit NXT Takeover. Oh well at least we have a lot of questions heading into a Monday Night Raw.

Condo On Moon Podcast Ep 12- Madness and Rockets

This week might be the calm before the storm as fingers crossed we have a couple guests coming up from Ring Of Honor Wrestling That to look forward to we look back on a week that had some sad remembrances with Randy Savage passing away 3 years ago earlier in the week and today marks 15 years since the tragic death of Owen Hart. I wrote on both for Between the Ropes today on Owen and earlier in the week on Randy.  I hope I did both many justice by my words. But it is not all doom and gloom as we have fun talking about Chris Walder's ability or lack of ability to know how to talk to divas and women in general. We get into a conversation about ROH and the new the Kevin Steen is on his way to NXT and WWE Developmental.


So next week fingers crossed will have a great guest for you and announcement for another big guest the following week. If you new and you like what you hear please help us spread the word and if you don't already follow us @Condoonthemoon

If you aren't seeing the podcast on your device you are accessing the blog try this direct link to our podcast home and you can listen via I-Tunes from there. So click here for that.  

Still A BOliever in NXT System Producing Talent?

Is it time to re-evaluate how NXT is doing at producing talent on the next level? No one will question the earlier returns from the NXT system have been fantastic. The Shield and Wyatt’s are big players on the main roster. Daniel Bryan being on mend will mean either the Shield or Wyatt’s will be in the main event of this PPV.

Looking closer at more recent NXT call-ups you see nothing but trouble. Xavier Woods was paired with R-Truth his former tag partner once upon a time in TNA. He was given the music of Brodus Clay and been on a free fall to jobberville ever since. Can’t always hit a homer no worries the sassy little Aussie Emma will make people smile. Not exactly as she started as a fan in the crowd with signs and would be plucked from that by Santino. Her dance the 400 strong at NXT do each time she comes out does nothing for the WWE Universe. A teased romance with Santino and pink cobra later this poor girl is not over as much as the red head that can’t wrestle on Total Divas.

Time to call on the big guns as Paige has been long anticipated to make her way to the main roster. The strong Anti-Diva of NXT has become the weak lucky girl that some how got a fluke win on A.J Lee. Where is she? She is gone to watch the Blackhawks with CM Punk back in Chicago. Not doing much for Paige. Even little used Alicia Fox rubs Paige’s face in the mud verbally and physically despite not winning.

What now well let’s have a party with a man dressed in a bunny suit rumoured to be Zack Ryder and a bunch of other freaks from the back not working matches dressed in crazy costumes. All part of Adam Rose’s Exotic Express that has had two times to make us all rosebuds but instead Rose has been a dud. Sorry to be a lemon but this whole act is not ready for prime time.

What has gone wrong? Bolieve it or not NXT is on a heck of losing streak at debuts. That is right Bo Dallas you better “REALLY BOLIEVE,” because things are not going well up here at the big boys table. How long before Bo Dallas is the lead singer of 3MB singing don’t stop Bolieving?

You wonder how gimmicks like Tyler Breeze and Bailey will do in the big time on the main roster. It seems just because it works at NXT is no indication that it will get over on the main roster.

Sami Zayn and Charlotte Flair might be the two best chances left in NXT at the moment. This is at least in the immediate future.

Well someone from NXT has gotten over on main roster lately actually…..Lana. To bad the one they are trying to get over is, Alexander no more, just call me Rusev. Once the Bulgarian Brute now an illegal immigrant to Russia. Well maybe he is marrying Lana. They two actually do date and believe it or not that is a shoot. The most jumbled and confusing debut I can recall in the WWE in a long time.

Triple H’s baby of NXT is not having a great success rate in the last few months. No doubt he can’t be thrilled about that and it should have an impact on how fast they are to look at any other new stars. You can take that as bad or good news for current members of the NXT roster depending on how you look at it.

It maybe time to re-access how they are debuting these talents cause the care that was taken with The Shield and the Wyatt’s has not been afforded to these recent NXT call-ups.

Raw Notebook: May 6th 2014

Extreme Rules and Raw are in the books and we take a look back at some Extreme highs and lows coming out of this Special Event. We got it wrong as Daniel Bryan did in fact close the show on Extreme Rules. It was a pretty fun match that had a bit of an attitude era feel too it. That was the good news the bad news was this feud would continue on to Raw and it was terrible.

In fact not much good to say about Raw but before we get to that we need to touch on the PPV/Special Event.

Predictable comes to mind with this card but that doesn’t naturally always mean bad. The least predictable match produced the best match of this card. The Shield against Evolution was not booked as the main event but it did steal the show.  You had three established stars against 3 hungry lions and it showed in this match. It was a fantastic match that went all over the arena and features some crazy spots from Seth Rollins that we have not seen since Jeff Hardy’s days in WWE.

The feud continued on into Raw. Triple H booked Dean Ambrose into a battle royal for his U.S Title which he would lose and Sheamus would become the new U.S Champion. Triple H would come out after and announce that the Shield would face the Wyatt’s in the main event. Evolution would eventually get involved and cost them the match and go after them after the match complete with Batista delivering the triple power bomb with the help of the rest of Evolution.

Daniel Bryan on Raw was booked in a terrible horror movie angle that was briefly interrupted by a match with Alberto Del Rio. How you can book your World Champion as a coward against a performer that stopped being relevant a long time ago.

If the horror movie wasn’t your thing we had the antics of El Torito and Hornswaggle with Los Matadors and 3MB along for the ride. They had the Wee L C match at the PPV and than a Cinco De Mayo celebrations on Raw. 

In short there is a lot of campy stuff going on that isn’t exactly clicking. Speaking of campy we have a Little Wyatt named Johnny. He came out at the end of the PPV match and with a poltergeist type voice spooked John Cena into losing the match to Bray Wyatt. Many hated this finish it didn’t bother me much. Wyatt minus little Johnny cut a tremendous promo on Raw.

A PPV with thumbs in the middle and Raw with thumbs to the ground makes me roll my eyes.  It was a terrible follow up to an average PPV with really one match that kept it from being bad.

I am excited this week to go see ROH Global Wars in Toronto and independent show in Hamilton it comes at a perfect time where I am not exactly in love with the WWE at the moment.

Friday Means Podcast and Preview of Extreme Rules

We go from the board rooms to the ring this week on the Podcast. WWE Business to the next PPV and if it will be BEST FOR BUSINESS. An old favourite WWE Show coming back to WWE Network but should we really be that excited about it? Speaking of the Network still no way to LEGALLY get on board with the network outside of U.S till late 2014 or early 2015. We may not have the WHOLE WORLD IN OUR HANDS but we do have a twitter account @Condoonthemoon and facebook page. What we don't have is a guest this week but that is ok because James Borbath and Chris Walder had lots to talk about.



Thanks to all of you that already have followed us on Twitter please spread the word and let folks know about the Condo on The Moon. If your new to the Condo on the Moon welcome aboard. Our Podcast drops every Friday evening and great articles all week long. So freak out cause we are here and looking to build our own wrestling family with all of you.

Daniel Bryan Can Only Be As Strong A Champion As He Is Allowed To Be

I did not live in fear that Daniel Bryan would not get his much deserved moment at Wrestlemania 30. The simple fact was the WWE didn’t really have much choice given all the things that led up to that event. C.M Punk decision to go home to Chicago was one of those things. Mentioning him is where my concerns for Daniel Bryan begin. Before I go further about that it was also a direct result of fans passionate reaction to Bryan’s exclusion from the Royal Rumble match.  In the end the planned Batista vs. Randy Orton match for the WWE World Championship was doomed. The WWE over estimated the popularity of a returning Batista against the popularity of the incumbent wrestler on the roster Daniel Bryan.

So it was a bumpy and winding road from when Daniel Bryan first entered the title picture going against John Cena at Summerslam. The fact is the WWE got to the destination their audience demanded. This for me is all that matters to some extent. That is only half of the problem solved though at the end of the day. In traditional pro sports they say winning a championship is one thing but to defend that title is a whole different ballgame. In wrestling the company booking you to become the champion is one thing but how you are booked once you are the champion is another. This is where my fear for Daniel Bryan begins.

I was concerned that the WWE would not be as invested in the Daniel Bryan title run as this was not their idea to begin with. I also had a lot of concern with the lack of true heels on the roster to challenge him as the champion. A champion is only as good as the contenders that challenge him for that title. It is safe to say that Kane as his first challenger to the title is under whelming would be more than a fair statement. Let's face it, on the first PPV/Special Event it seems highly likely this match-up will be the main event.

That leads us back to the man now currently enjoying being Blackhawks and Cubs fan in Chicago. C.M Punk even as part of historic title run was not booked as being the main event all the time. The idea of the champion and not going on last is just not the way traditional fans have become accustom to seeing a champion treated. The only way Punk found his way to the main event was when he faced John Cena. He was the guy that went on last and not Punk. While Punk fans look at his 434 title reign as a great achievement, and it really was, for a majority of that he was not treated as he should be.

Bryan at least for the start of his title reign is starting off on that path. He is by far the most popular and loved WWE Superstar much in the same way C.M Punk was. This goes back further in history though and the first person to be treated in this fashion was Randy Savage. His match with Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 8 was not booked as the main event. Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice was the main event on that show. It set a wrong precedent that has lived on to today. I have said this many times in writing in this blog but for myself the title of a promotion is the most valuable resource your company has. I understand you still need stars for a company to be successful that is no secret. Still you can have someone get injured and if you have made that person bigger than the title you suddenly have a problem. That belt shows up for every show and is never going on the injured reserve list.

When you treat your title as not the most important this your company has it makes not just your champion lesser but his challenger as well. I think in a landscape where you live in a world with the legit combat sport of the UFC where titles mean everything you must follow suit in pro wrestling. When you choose not too it makes that "believability factor" that is vital for wrestling to work suffer.

What also makes it suffer is that someone is some how bigger than the title. The goal of every wrestler should always be to want to be the champion. In pro sports would you ever respect an athlete that doesn’t still have that desire to win another championship? You don’t want guys like that in your locker room. John Cena should want to beat the record of Ric Flair and become the greatest champion of all time. Cena has even had points where with in the context of the storyline he has flat of said he doesn’t need the title and once gave away a title match to someone else. That destroys the value of the championship and its importance.

Daniel Bryan and his journey did restore a lot of value in a title that suffered with a weakly booked heel champion Randy Orton. If you don’t build him legitimate challengers and treat those matches as the most important thing on these shows that becomes a real problem and takes the steam out of Bryan’s run as champion.

Cena in his promo on Raw this week talked about being excited about the future for when he eventually leaves. If he truly means that he should be the one pushing for that champion and championship to be treated as the biggest thing on a show and company he has helped build.

While it is great for The Shield to be in a main event program with Evolution it should not be bigger than the title and the champion. In a way it spits in the face of the 31 titles reigns that the three members of Evolution has. Not to mention every other man that has held that belt.

So let’s hope that things go a different route for Daniel Bryan. The reason I worry is unlike CM Punk it is not in Daniel Bryan’s nature is not to rock the boat. Maybe Bri will fight for him behind the scenes now that she has a vested interest as his wife. In any case the Bryan Title run is not off to a huge start heading into Extreme Rules this Sunday.

IWC Podcast 7: WWE To Down Your Street

This week on the IWC Podcast we talk from the Indie scene in Ontario to WWE this week. We run the gambit including a lot of talk about a big week for ROH. Ethan Page an independent wrestler featured on the Future of Honor show going down tonight in the U.S is our guest. Like me from Hamilton,Ontario Canada which we talk about our pride in that and a lot more.


Thanks to Ethan Page for joining us this week you can keep up with him on You-Tube and Twitter. You want to check out his moves here is a look via his You Tube Channel:



As for us like us on Facebook on The Condo on the Moon Page. If you enjoy the show tell a friend and spread the word.  

Raw Notebook: April 14th, 2014

Back to reality that another Wrestlemania has come and gone. Add in the fact the WWE wanted to do a tribute to the Ultimate Warrior and your New Word Champion is on his honeymoon it was a lot to deal with. It led to a show that tried but pretty much failed for the most part.

The one thing they didn’t fail at was the tribute to the Warrior that I felt that was not as over the top as I feared it could be. A nice tribute off the top of the show and a nice tribute by the Uso’s both wearing half of Warrior face paint in their match. Some video packages sprinkled through the show and a bit of some tacky promotion for “Warrior Week” on the WWE Network. I was a little uncomfortable personally with the use of the Warrior's speech from last week. I understand using it but I think for a lot of folks it had to be a little disturbing.

The other takeaways from the show included the most unique exchanges between two wrestlers in a long time. I thought the build to Bray Wyatt and John Cena was one of the best heading into Wrestlemania. The match itself did not get the live reaction that you would have thought. I still felt the match was good however despite that. Clearly this feud was set to continue and we got confirmation of that tonight.

Bray Wyatt would call out John Cena to the ring claiming to want to have fun. This came after proclaiming that John Cena was still lying to us all. Cena would come out and cut the most awful promo with terrible photo shopped props on the big screen. John Cena is not funny and when he tries to be funny it leads to some of the worst he has ever cut in his life. When he was the heel and cool rapper gimmick his humour was somewhat tolerable but in his current role it is just jokes that are made to make kids pop and I don’t even think the kids do. But Bray Wyatt to his credit called John out for his terrible comedy routine and this all would lead to the announcement of Steel Cage match between the two at Extreme Rules.

Daniel Bryan was not around so this show would focus around The Shield. Triple H said to Orton and Batista that they needed to focus on The Shield and take care of that problem. Orton and Batista failed to agree and later in the night would get swarm attacked by the Shield during a match with Usos. Triple H and Steph greeted the two backstage and basically Triple H said simply I told you so. Later in the night it would be announced against mystery opponents in the main event.  It turned into some sort of 11 on 3 farce of a match that would lead to Evolution reformed minus Ric Flair down to the ring to beat down The Shield. The Crowd reaction was for the most part muted and unimpressed by the return of Evolution. Reaction online seemed much more positive than the live audience.

Stephanie also did her best impression of dad and laid into Kane. The end result of this Corporate Kane is dead and masked Kane is coming back and looking to take out the New World Champion Daniel Bryan. This apparently is the first program for Daniel Bryan which if this is case is pretty damn brutal start for the Daniel Bryan title reign.

This Raw was a major step backwards and not something that gets fans all that encouraged for the post mania stretch .Will see if the return of Bryan can save this whole thing returning next week.

Oh I  forgot one major thing the WWE’s latest attempt to make you think the Intercontinental Title means something with #1 contenders tournament with 8 participants.  It produced the match of the night with Ziggler against Barrett with Barrett getting the win. Other winners were Cesaro over Mark Henry, Sheamus over  Swagger and RVD over Del Rio.  I don’t think this tournament along will get over the I-C belt or the Champion Big-E (Langston) so I would think winner of this will become the champion. If they want to really get that person over they should challenge Dean Ambrose and unify the U.S and I-C Title.

Other things that happened of little note….Paige had a match with Alicia Fox and we had more promos for both Bo Dallas and Adam Rose. I love men in bunny suits losing at hungry hippos. It is awesome…this edition of Raw was not.

Wrestlemania Thoughts: Change, Dreams and Respect

We clearly are at a point in wrestling where it feels like a transition is about on the verge of taking place. I touched on this on the IWC Podcast when talking with Jimmy Korderas. I think fans are ready for a changing of the guard, some out with the old and in with the new. As much as people love Daniel Bryan, the so called "Yes Movement" is more a movement for change. In a world that changes so fast wrestling has not in terms of the people that have been at the top of the food chain.

Wrestling is always thought to be a microcosm of society, or in simpler terms a reflection of it. Well when you look at pop culture today it doesn’t take a lot to be famous. People more than ever do not have to count on the tradition means of determining that fame either. Social media has a stronger and more powerful voice that weakens what traditional forms of media have had compared to the past.

You can truly get yourself noticed just on the internet and through all these various forms of social media. Zack Ryder a few years back proved how someone can take this and truly turn it into something real and tangible.  The problem was by the time he got to where he wanted to be he wasn’t ready for it and the fact he kind of forced his way in wasn’t going to leave much margin for error.

Daniel Bryan in a much more slow and methodical way has risen to the top of the largest wrestling company in the world. He always had the talent to back up the growing and growing base of fans that pushed for his success. Zack Ryder got a fan base that pushed for him but they had bought into the hype that lacked any real substance.

The level of competition to make it to the WWE and have a shot may never be greater than it is right now. You have 75-100 guys and gals at a performance center that are chomping at the bit to be one the WWE Main roster. You have already on that roster, guys like Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Cesaro and many others just waiting and hoping to get that ball to run with it.

 You have a group of established talent that does not wish to lose their spot or get pushed aside. The truth is very view guys are like CM Punk in the sense of having the courage or guts to just walk away. It is easy to be out of sight and out of mind in the wrestling business. Look at where Dolph Ziggler was a year ago compared to where he is now. He never left the company but he has been placed in such a poor position that he really has become an after thought. Sometimes you are given a moment and what happens in that moment can make or break your career. Punk took his moment and ran with it to the point that he doesn’t need to be concerned about certain things. He picked the right times to be aggressive in his desire to get to the top and once he got there made his career for life to some extent. Ziggler due to an unfortunate injury watched his moment pass him by while being able to do nothing about it. Who is to say he ever gets another one.

Outside of the WWE you have many talented and great performers like Kevin Steen, Adam Cole, and Mike Bennett all knocking on the door of being already established to make that next leap to the WWE. You have guys like A.J Styles, Chris Hero, Samoa Joe, Chris Daniels and others that once were the same and never walked through that door to be on WWE.

These are just names most wrestling fans have heard of there are hundreds if not thousands more working on little independent companies all with the same dream of one day being that big star on the biggest stage of a Wrestlemania. WWE is the ballgame now and TNA is more of an after thought, while ROH has become in a sense the WWE’s main minor league system outside of their own to draw from.

The truth is the odds to make the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL all are better than they are to be a professional wrestler on the highest level. The odds to be a champion on that level are greater as well.

The drive and determination it takes just to have a shot in the WWE let alone Main Event a Wrestlemania are staggeringly long. It is easy for us to sit back and say that this person sucks or that guy is full of himself. This other guy is washed up and should just quit and move on.

Very few people have the courage and are willing to make the sacrifices it takes to achieve their dreams. Even fewer actually get the breaks, luck and good fortune it takes to make those dreams a reality. If it was easy everyone would do it but it isn’t easy at all. You put your body through a meat grinder all for hoping it holds up and allows you to be healthy at that time you need it to be when your break comes your way.

I at the end of the day respect professional wrestlers for having the guts to do what they do and reach for their dreams. Wrestlemania is where a lot of those dreams begin as small children. The ones that actually take that childhood dream and run with it deserve respect no matter how far they get. For every guy that succeeds there are hundreds more like thousands that don’t.

Triple H talked about a reality era while as they say over in the UFC this is as real as it gets. The odds are long and road can be longer. This makes for a tremendous story that is far from fake when anyone reaches that magical moment like Daniel Bryan is likely to do on Sunday.

IWC Podcast Episode 4 The Rocky Road to Wrestlemania

We are back for another week with the normal cast of character myself and Chris Walder. We talk about the build or lack of build to Wrestlemania 30. Some thoughts on that as well as some thoughts on what ROH is doing right that TNA and WWE are not. Also some pretty cool booking ideas that I spitball for Mania and beyond.




Thanks for listening and please spread the word about the IWC podcast and the Condo on the Moon Blog.

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Wrestlemania Is Suppose To Be A Privilege Not A Right

I have some serious concerns with what the WWE has done with Wrestlemania and the card this year. What the hell happened to "Ruthless Aggression" and the idea of being on the biggest show of the year being a privilege and not some entitlement by simply being on the roster? Between the Andre The Giant Battle Royal and the Diva’s Invitational, I am left to think if you are not on this Wrestlemania card you should just quit now or accept you are never going to be on T.V again.

Yes wrestling is not a true sport and it doesn’t have playoffs or keep track of your win/lose record over a time period, but Wrestlemania is billed as the showcase of the immortals. Sorry to break the news that Zack Ryder, Rosa Mendez and a list of other jobber level talents are not immortals. They have no business at all being on the biggest show of the year.

The logic as to why they are is it allows people to get Wrestlemania Payoffs as a reward for the year of service. Which by the way has yet to be explained how those will work and likely is a reason that Zack Ryder is in Wrestlemania and C.M Punk is not? That issue aside Wrestlemania is suppose to be a show that you earn the right to be a part of. The plot line of Total Divas that saw the Bellas match get bumped showed how crushing it can be for a performer to be left off the show. You can debate if that was a real or scripted moment but it did drive home the fact that Wrestlemania is special and unlike all the other PPVS in a year.

The WWE has become PG and geared at kids and this idea of everyone getting on Wrestlemania is like every kid getting a trophy in a sports league. What kind of a world have we become honestly? This is a professional business and it isn’t about making everyone feel all warm and fuzzy, it is about putting on the best show possible regardless of the number of people that takes. If I get to see HHH and Daniel Bryan wrestle 10 more minutes and am not able to see a battle royal that means nothing I am all for that. If Bray Wyatt gets 5 more minutes with John Cena and the Divas Title match has to go on the pre-show that is the way it goes.

When exactly was the point the WWE lost it’s grapefruits about booking Wrestlemania 30 the way it should be? If you book it like this is there any motivation for talent to strive to make it to that next level? Just by giving them some manufactured meaningless moment is that suppose to be some carrot to drive them to want to be in bigger more meaningful matches?

Just because you do bust your ass is no guarantee of anything and history shows that. C.M Punk has never made it to the main event. He has surly earned it through his work over the years but he has been upstaged by former stars and even The Miz taking that spot from him. Aside from Daniel Bryan who initially was not going to be in the main event the guys that have had the best year in the WWE you can argue have been The Shield. Their reward for that is another 6 man tag match with lesser stars than the year prior. Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus are a step above a match with Kane and New Age Outlaws that have not been in a mania in like over a decade.

Is the Undertaker in a match with someone who is a regular on the roster that can benefit from challenging the streak….5 out of the last 6 years the answer has been no. Granted it has produced classic matches and the Undertaker at the end of the day has to sign off on his opponent but still can we not find someone worthy on this roster of that honor?

Wrestlemania is a brand that has been established for having the very best compete in matches that are meant to have a chance to stand the test of time. The more that concept is watered down the more the brand of Wrestlemania suffers for it. Maybe not next year or the year after but if you continue down this path eventually it stops being the showcase of the immortals, it stops being different from every other WWE PPV and in the end it stops being special.

This is the one show a year that draws even some of the most casual and past fans of the product to it. If your goal is to win those people back shouldn’t you be giving them the very best of what you have to offer? Isn’t that the point of a show like this?

Wrestlemania is starting to lose its magic and just like the age of the Undertaker the warts are starting to show through. Wrestlemania has now reached the number 30 and if it is to keep on rolling to 50 and higher numbers this can’t be the type of attitude that is going to take it there. At some point these new young stars need to take ownership of this event and make it into what it is suppose to be which is not a right but a privilege to be a part of. Signing a contract to be in the WWE should not be a ticket to being on the biggest show of the year. It should be an opportunity to earn the right to be on it.

Hell the Scooby Doo Movie that just came out was harder to be a part of than Wrestlemania. Making the WWE Video Game was harder too. According to the Bauer and Pollock show no less than 63 performers are booked for this Wrestlemania. That is insane and not necessary in any way shape or form. NXT Arrival was harder for the NXT Roster to get on than it was to be on Wrestlemania how screwed up is that logic?

If you want to call wrestling a sport it would never work like that. If you want to call it entertainment how many people are left out of movies and T.V shows on casting calls?

Wrestling is all about establishing some sense of credibility with its audience. Things like this make it hard to take any of this seriously in the slightest. The reason we love the C.M Punk’s and Daniel Bryan’s of this world is their long struggles to make it to this big stage but not just because they made it to the WWE. Once they got there they didn’t stop earning it, they progressed and became two of the biggest stars in the company.

Being handed things like appearances in Wrestlemania for whatever people say it does for moral of the roster is over shadowed by the damage it does to the credibility of the card and the special nature that Wrestlemania has come to represent. Kids that dream of getting into this business dream of being on this show and one day being in its main event. The boyhood dream of Shawn Micheals is as real as wrestling can get. Now you are starting to spit on what that represents by allowing talent that isn’t even good enough to be on Raw be allowed to be a part of the biggest show of the year.

It is just NOT what is BEST FOR BUSINESS in a REAL and significant way.

CM Punk Did Not Come To Save The Day

Raw came and left Chicago without CM Punk appearing but his influence on both the crowd and the WWE booking was all over the show. Word on street was WWE made an offer to CM Punk to return that he rejected. Some people are trying to make him look like the bad guy here. How on earth can they say that without knowing what exactly this offer was? Hell do we even know why exactly Punk left in the first place? We have all speculated and have our opinions but only CM Punk knows why he isn’t part of the WWE at the moment. I would venture to say even WWE might not know exactly what his concerns are fully if they couldn’t make this work for a big return in Chicago.

Who knows if CM Punk was watching the show but if he was he saw an amazing battle outside of the contests in the ring itself between the WWE and the fans of Chicago. The night started out with C.M Punk’s theme and out came not Punk but his former manager and real life friend Paul Heyman.

Heyman being the genius that he is some how walked into the minefield and didn’t step on any. He started cutting a promo talking about CM Punk and why he wasn’t there and wasn’t going to be tonight. Heyman being the perfect guy to deliver that message cause as he has pointed out he would lie to his own Grandmother if it benefited him. So even though as it turned out he told the truth fans were more than willing to assume he lied.

He talked about Punk losing to the Undertaker last year and he blamed him for Punk not being around anymore and than he blamed the fans as well for him not being around. He went on to say that he was going to make things right by having his client Brock Lesnar defeat the Undertaker. It is a little out there considering that Punk/Lesnar feuded at Summerslam and Heyman had taken a royal butt whipping from Punk. Still it was brilliant and the typical great work from Paul. Brock was handed the mic and did not have the same success.

We had the tag titles switch hands as the Uso’s defeated the New Age Outlaws. You had the Wyatt’s and Shield fight again and have Seth Rollins walk away from The Shield causing them to lose and increasing the build to that break up. Tease of Csearo Face turn as Jack Swagger interfered causing Csearo to lose to Big E again.

They packed as much crowd pleasing stuff into the first hour and fifteen minutes of this show it was insane. By CM Punk not being there he forced the WWE to do a smart and well though out booking plan. This was one of the things Punk has been on the record as it not being good and one of the reasons people think he has left.

The crowd was getting there CM Punk chants in mind you but WWE did a masterful job of keeping them somewhat under control. Even to the point the hi-jacking Raw that had made its way onto Social Media also made it into Daniel Bryan’s Promo. Bryan and his Yes Movement were taking over the show until he got an answer from HHH on his challenge for Wrestlemania.

The promo and exchanges with both Stephanie McMahon and HHH was honestly some of the best mic work Bryan has done in his WWE career. Stephanie was almost drowned out by the boos anytime she spoke. Hunter stuck to his guns and refused Bryan’s challenge for a match at Wrestlemania against him.    Kane would get called to the ring and Bryan would dive out and attack him leaving him laying.

Everything was well thought out all night long. Cena came out to cut a promo and refused to reference Punk by name. The fans who in this town truly hate Cena as the greatest rival to Punk let him have it. The Wyatt’s would cut a promo and it was done in a soft tone. At first annoying cause crowd was still hot at Cena and chanting CM Punk. They like Bray though and wanted to here what he had to say and so the quieted down.

Batista and Randy Orton were kept from cutting promos in front of the live crowd another wise move by WWE. There were some bumps in the road like a Christian vs. Sheamus match that not many seemed to care about. A Divas tag but with no A.J Lee involved as to keep the Punk noise down.

The Celebrity host came out with Ziggler who is popular with an audience like this. He helps Ziggler get the win distracting Alberto Del Rio.

The main event was Batista against Daniel Bryan. Randy Orton was at ringside the match would end via a DQ with a beat down with Kane HHH and Orton and Batista would all take their turned beating down Bryan. HHH would bend down to talk to a fallen Bryan and get a kick to the head for his troubles. Fans kept hoping for a heroic CM Punk to come save his Indy buddy Daniel Bryan but it never happened.

Just as we have seen far too many times, Bryan was laid out and the show ended.

Credit to all the performers that had a rough experience tonight dealing with a crowd that only wanted to see one guy and it wasn’t them. Well maybe a few they wanted to see but none more than CM Punk.

CM Punk indirectly minus a few things here and there including the finish that were not good by and large had far more thing that was good. Punk’s lack of appearance forced the WWE to careful construct a card that would allow them to make it through the night.

Punk not being on this show almost guarantees he will not be going to Wrestlemania. The longer he is away the more likely it is we may never see Punk again. I think Punk more than any other wrestler is capable of staying away.

Ironically enough Punk by leaving may have at least caused the change he was always searching for if only for one night. As much as people and WWE will try to turn this into CM Punk being selfish and not caring about the fans it is a load of crap. If Punk was that guy he would be hosting Wrestlemania as a past his prime joke. If he was that guy he would have come back and taken his Mania payoff and left in July when his contract was up. Punk is a guy with principles and a guy that has been smart enough to save his money along the way.

Punk represents a lot of the hope wrestling fans have for change and that hope has died a little with him gone. This is kind of sad at the end of the day. The future for the WWE should be bright and CM Punk has had a big influence on a lot of the young talent in this company.

The reality is setting in of a Wrestlemania that really on paper looks like it will be underwhelming.