Money In Bank: Entertaining Despite Being Predictable

It has fairly easy for Money in the Bank to exceed my expectations because heading in they were very low. Daniel Bryan had some bad news for his recovery and basically admitted some of the things that had been reported about his recovery. He stated he had no idea when he would return and even implied he may require another surgery. Bo Dallas would come out and interrupt and give Daniel some cheesy inspiration to which Daniel responded that Bo was acting like a Bonner and he told Bo that on behalf of himself and fans he suggested BoLeave. Speaking of Bad News that would be for Wade Barrett whose injury on Smackdown was confirmed and the fact he would not participate in the Money in the Bank match. There would be no replacement but after that match took place no one would be complaining.

So here is a rundown of the show with thoughts on each match.

Usos vs. Wyatts: This was the opening match and it was really tremendous. I didn’t give the Usos much chance to win this match but they surprised me. It was a wild match that featured all kinds of crazy dived ever from Luke Harper. The Usos finished this match off with back to back splashes from the top rope that looked real cool and gave them the three counts and win to retain their titles. I would hope this feud continues but with a clean win not sure how it would be justified in storyline. It was all you would expect from an opening match.

Divas Title: Paige vs. Naomi: Rare we get a women’s match in this spot but with two female matches on the card these ladies got a chance to be in a good spot. The match was fairly entertaining and it really showed the athletic ability of Naomi. Paige really was being as usual booked as the underdog which I fail to understand. Paige did get some spots to shine in this match and did eventually get the win. Cameron was on the outside and the story was she was totally disinterested and almost wanted Naomi to win. She did go to check on Naomi after the match acting like she did care.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: The match started with Dean Ambrose charging the ring and going right after Seth Rollins they brawled to the floor and Ambrose took him right into the time keeper area. There were tons of unique spots in this match far too many to mention but one that needs to be noted is Kofi Kingston. He was climbing the ladder and I don’t remember who send him off the ladder but what happened after was amazing. Kofi landed on the top rope and sprung off the rope and dove on the four other competitors that were on the floor.

Dean Ambrose would sell a shoulder injury and the doctor would come out and rule Ambrose out of the match and we were down to 5 competitors in the match. If you thought the injury was legit it would be proven later it likely was not. Ambrose would return and stop Rollins from getting the case. Ambrose would have his chance to get the belt and Kane would come out and lay waste to Ambrose leaving the path clear for Rollins. Seth would win the match as expected but what a match it was.

In general I loved how this match was booked with a real urgency on behalf of all the competitors to get to the briefcase. There were many spots with 3 or more on people on the ladder this was true in the WWE World Championship match later. It felt like this match had a new agent booking it or some influence that has not been there in the past. I liked the logic and psychology of both ladder matches.

Dean Ambrose showed his brilliant ability to sell in this match and I think he has become the number one guy at this aspect in the company. He was the most over superstar on this show and that is saying a lot as it was set up for Roman Reigns to be that guy. Reigns would get huge reactions later in the other ladder match but not to the level of Ambrose.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match: Heading into the match all signs pointed to John Cena winning this match which he eventually did but they did a good job of teasing he would not. If the truth is told the Money in the Bank match kind of overshadowed this match. It kind of speaks to the hungry of guys still trying to climb to the main event level and guys who were already there.

Randy Orton took a ladder shot to the head off a fall that split him open. He would have doctors take a look at the cut and did something to stop the bleeding for the moment. The one thing that stood out in this match was a huge run by Roman Reigns where he basically took out 5 or 6 of the competitors in succession. Reigns would make a push for the belt but Orton would climb ladder on same side. Reigns smashed Orton into the ladder opening up the cut from earlier. Wrestling Observer website would later report that Orton needed to have 11 or 12 staples to his head to close the gash. Reigns would be cut off by Kane. Just like in the Rollins match earlier Kane was there to make sure that Orton won.

However as Randy Orton was attempting to climb John Cena would take out Kane holding the ladder an Attitude Adjustment and than drag Orton down and give him the same and climb the ladder to grab the titles and win the match. Some of the crowd did pop even though Cena was booed loudly a few times earlier in the night. So if fans are forced to have Cena or Orton as champion some would prefer Orton. Anyway the expected finish and John Cena is now a 15 time Champion and if that wasn’t enough to make you puke Michael Cole in selling the win declared John Cena the greatest champion of all-time.

Other Matches: Big E took the loss to Rusev as expected and Big E continued the same preacher gimmick in a promo prior to this. The match was decent but still did little for Big E and continued building Rusev. Stardust and Goldust had a match with Ryback and Axel and got the uneventful win. The only note from this was Axel is wearing a singlet like Ryback that looks stupid. Summer Rae and Layla went at it with Fandango was the ref. His ref shirt was awesome, Summer Rae’s acting ability after she ended up losing was so bad I am convince Marine 4 has a chance to be the worst move ever. A bonus match with Adam Rose that saw him paired Damien Sandow. Sandow was funny and lost.

Only other thing of note was Bri Bella and Stephanie had an interaction in the back teasing the idea of a Bri vs. Stephanie down the line.

In general this show went much as I suspected it would in terms of results but I enjoyed it. I had low expectations heading in which included knowing John Cena would win. I am truly amazed that these guys still have ways to invent new spots in these ladder matches. I always feel like we have seen it all and than we get a ton of new stuff in matches like this.

What this means for Battleground in 3 weeks remains to be seen. It was about as good as you could have hoped for heading towards Summerslam given the cards they have been dealt.  I found it amusing the strong push for the WWE Network where the majority of the audience on PPV is foreign and not domestic. Is the WWE telling me to break the law and buy the network? If I am going to break the law to watch the show that might not be the choice I would make.

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

WWE Money In The Bank: Some Final Thoughts

Some final thoughts as we get ready for Money in the Bank. I admit, as I said on our podcast this week (which you can find a link to at the bottom of this post) that I am not that excited for this pay-per-view. I base this on my lack of faith in the WWE taking a major risk on this show. So anything that likely doesn’t go to how I expect the script to play out tonight will have more impact. It always seems having low expectations gives you a better chance of enjoying a WWE Pay-Per-View or Raw. That might be a very negative way to look at it but it also is an honest one, especially in this post Wrestlemania funk the company has been in not all of their doing.


Here are some things that I feel we need, will or should get some answers to on this PPV:

Maybe more important than any match is some clue as to where Daniel Bryan’s health status is at currently. It is likely the biggest factor in how the WWE has chosen to move forward from here. Is he going to be back sooner or later and has the WWE regardless of that lost any faith in his ability to be a top guy coming back. They may not be as keen after fighting all the way to put the title on him in the first place and now seem him as a high risk in a main event program?

The Shield will have their real first opportunity on a large stage to come off as individuals now that the group is basically split apart for the future in the short term. All three have their positives and negatives as individuals and those will now been easier to point out and evaluate as they are separated. Reigns has always been the chosen one in the eyes of fans by the WWE. That will still be the case even if he is not the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at the end of the night. Rollins needs to establish he is a player and validate his choice to be on his own. While Dean Ambrose seems to have the least support in terms of storyline but still is perhaps the most complete product of the three. While some may see that as a negative for Ambrose it might be a show of faith by WWE that he doesn’t need as much support from his storylines to get over. Just give the man a microphone and he will take care of that on his own. People marvel at the selling ability of Dolph Ziggler. I maintain that best guy at selling in the WWE is Dean Ambrose he just goes about it in a much safer way. That might not be the case tonight but in general he sells with his expressions and movements without having to take crazy bumps like a Ziggler.

As for the former Shield members future their matches for Battleground have already leaked out as we reported this morning. 

State of Wyatt Family will be a little clearer perhaps by the end of the night. It seems that the WWE would like to create some distance between Bray Wyatt and his followers Harper and Rowan. If all walked away with WWE Gold tonight they could easily get right back to the tight unit they have been and hold all the power in the WWE in a sense with all being champions. I see this more as a way to see what they want to do with Bray. He is starting to seem more and more like a baby face as each day passes.

Can Paige honestly be able to get out of the funk her booking as created? She is booked as one of the weakest and most insignificant Diva’s Champion in a long time. That is saying a lot too give that the title has rarely had meaning in the last 5 years or so with the exception of A.J Lee’s run as champion. She is not expected to return anytime soon and may in fact be having a child with he new husband CM Punk. In any case on paper this seems like another time where the Champion will be an after thought and all the heat will be on the angle with the challenger Naomi.

Rusev will continue to crush you would assume. This makes you seriously wonder about Big E’s future in the short and long term.

Fandango a chance to perhaps build some momentum out of being in the middle of this cat fight and get a fresh coat of paint and another layer added to his character. I think a womanizer Fandango is a perfect kind of gimmick for him. The idea of making him this bad boy temperamental artist, which goes through women like he goes through a dance routine, is a good route to go. 

What is the status of Wade Barrett and if it is “Bad News” who steps into his spot and will they offer a surprise and are a factor in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

Will we see shocking Cash in on the winner of Money in the Bank resulting in a re-match at Battleground? It is an option and if Cena wins one that might be a way to avoid the negative reaction that is likely to happen if he wins. Which by the way is pretty sad to say given this PPV is his home town of Boston. It is the total opposite of what happened in Chicago when CM Punk won and took the title home to his fridge in Chicago. That still remains the best match in the history of Money in the Bank for me.

Those are some of the main things I have on my mind entering this PPV. So let me know what your thinking as it goes on tonight. Give us follow on Twitter, a like on Facebook and please when you have the time check out our weekly podcast that has a ton of work put into it every week. Links for all are below. Thanks to everyone for helping the site continue to grow with more people coming to the site this month as we continue to trend in a positive direction. Still we can do better and that happens with all of you not just coming here as you have now but, telling others how much you like. If you have issues let us know those too, we may not be able to solve them but always want to hear from you.

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

Three Ex-Shield Members Booked For Battleground

We haven't got Money in the Bank over with and already news of two matches being adverted for Battleground. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins will be in a match at Battleground the next WWE PPV. The two are part of the Money in the Bank ladder match tonight so this could be a match based on them costing each other the briefcase. It also could be a match for the case with one of them as the holder after tonight. Will have some answers on that in 24 hours.

The second match being advertised is Roman Reigns against Randy Orton which makes sense if they are sticking to the plan of a reigns against Triple H match at Summerslam. How the title is or isn't involved in this match remains to be seen. If the title is involved that might suggest the Triple H match at Summerslam could be pushed back to Night of Champions which was a rumour but at this point who knows. It has been the thought that Cena would win the title and go on through Battleground to face Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

Reports confirming these matches has been mention by Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer on his podcast.

Money in the Bank goes down tonight at 8pm and I made my picks in both our weekly podcast that you can find a link to below. In addition gave my thoughts and picks along with the rest of the staff at Between the Ropes.

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

Remembering Saturday Night's When It Was THE MAIN EVENT

One of the things that is missing in wrestling today is the big event feel that we had back in the 1980’s there are lots of reasons it is gone. It begins with the amount of television time dedicated to wrestling today. When I was a kid wrestling consisted of basically two hours a week that both happened on a Saturday. It was WWE Superstars in the afternoon and at 7pm we had WWE Wrestling on CHCH a local broadcaster here in Hamilton that would feature one of the matches from Maple Leaf Gardens or Copps Coliseum.

Every once in awhile there was a special Saturday that I could stay up late and watch this show called Saturday Night’s Main Event. It was used by NBC as a fill in instead of airing a re-run of Saturday Night Live every couple of months. It began back in May of 1985 and ran through 1992. It also produced The Main Event which was broadcast a couple of times on Friday that served as the lead up to both Wrestle Mania 4 and 5. Wrestling in prime time on broadcast television not cable was unheard of and really had not happened since the 1950’s.

What made Saturday Night’s Main Event so great was it featured matches that we had never seen and often feature World Title matches that back in those days were rarely if every on T.V. You needed to go to your local house show if you wanted to see Hulk Hogan as the WWE Champion. Any time he appeared on T.V it was a massively big deal. This is a big change from modern times, where the Champion can be seen every Monday and most of the time is wrestling in a match but is definitely featured on the show.

There was not the access of information like today either so even if these matches had happened at house shows most of the time if we saw a match on Saturday Night’s Main Event it was something that for the majority of the audience was a fresh and new match they had never seen. It had some strange matches like the time Randy “Macho Man” Savage would defend his intercontinental title against Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Both at the time were considered heels and it made for something unique and bizarre for that time in wrestling. In reality it was the WWE floating the idea of making Jake “the Snake” Roberts a good guy. WWE would go back to this feud with Savage as a face and Roberts as a heel years later.

It was a show that in the early years was built around Hulk Hogan and he would have his title defenses against the guys he current would have feuds with or be the starts to feuds for him. Matches against guys like Volkoff, Hercules, Mr. Wonderful, Sika and insert the next bad guy for Hulk Hogan to defeat here. The show as time moved on became a vehicle to set up things for big pay-per-view events or closed circuit events prior to the days of PPV.

It set up Bundy against Hogan in Wrestlemania 2 as Bundy came out and with the help of Don Muraco laid waste to the Champion. Wrestlemania 3 was built on having Hogan and Andre in a Battle Royal and having the Giant easily eliminate Hogan. The Main Event shows I mentioned earlier saw Hogan lose to Andre in the re-match of their Wrestlemania 3 match as their were two refs (The Hebner Brothers) that looked like twins and the evil thinner one counted Hogan out after he had clearly kicked out. Andre would surrender the title to Ted Dibiase how back in December the year prior had tried to buy the WWF Title from Hogan unsuccessfully. This was his plan B to have Andre win the belt for him and give him the title. It would be ruled that you could not in fact buy the title (News to fans these days with replica belts) and Jack Tunney created the tournament that would headline Wrestlemania 4. The next year the show would feature the break-up of the Mega-Powers leading to the Savage vs. Hogan Wrestlemania 5 main event.

To my knowledge it has yet to appear on the WWE Network of yet. If I am guessing it is because some deal would need to be worked out with NBC perhaps. It may just be content they are holding back that they have the full rights too. When it does pop up and if you’re younger and going back to check it out I am not sure if you’ll understand just how big every match on those shows felt in the present time period they occurred. It was something that once Monday Night Raw came around took away from what was unique and special about the show. It was rare back in those days to see any featured performers face off in a match against on another. It was mostly Randy Savage against some generic jobber. Some of the job guys in WWE stood out but for the most part it was some star you knew against so guy you had never heard of. The result was obvious but it was still entertaining. Saturday Night’s Main Event sometimes it would be obvious too but not as much when you had top guys squaring off with perhaps the exception of Hogan. He was always going to win and it is why Andre winning the Belt on that Main Event show, was more or as shocking back than for fans, as it was to see the Streak of the Undertaker being beaten in modern times was.

The WWE attempted to recreate the magic in 2005 and bring back Saturday Night’s Main Event but it just wasn’t the same as we get to see these types of matches every week on Raw. To an extent it is the same issue the WWE has trying to make pay-per-views seem special when they really can’t avoid having wrestlers in feuds interacting with each other in a physical way before the big money matches.

I miss what it felt like to get ready for a Saturday Night’s Main Event. Staying up way past my bedtime eating things that no one should be at that late hour it made it feel special. It was a unique piece of my childhood that I will never forget.

NXT is supposed to be this window to the future for the WWE and it is in some senses. In others it is a throwback to the old 80’s style of pro wrestling with just one hour of T.V a week and the ability to keep guys away from each other prior to a big match. Great example comes from this past NXT with Tyler Breeze being on commentary during Adrian Neville’s match with RVD. They also have started having big shows every few months that are treated as Special Events. They have a feel much like a cross between a traditional pay-per-view and a Saturday Night’s Main Event. It goes two hours which is 30 minutes longer than the old Saturday Night’s Main Events and has no commercials. It does however fall just about hour shy of the traditional WWE pay-per-view.

It is the closest thing I will get to do short of  remembering fondly my childhood memories until the WWE Network gets to Canada and they get Saturday Night’s Main Event on the WWE Network.

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

Condo On The Moon 17: Double Feature

 We are back for another week of podcasting as we have two guests in addition to reviewing the ROH pay-per-view debut did it live up to Adam Cole's word on this podcast that it would not disappoint? We share are thoughts on a historic moment for ROH debuting on live pay-per-view for the first time.

Michael Elgin won the ROH World Title defeating Adam Cole in the main event. We have a guy he helped train on the program in Ethan Page who since last appearing on our podcast has had a lot of big events in his world as well. Including being one half of a wrestling video that vent viral and he has had some other cool stuff happening for him including his debut on ROH television. We get his thoughts on Elgin winning the title and his thoughts on the Best In The World PPV. Also promoting a show locally here in the Southern Ontario Area for Alpha-1 Wrestling. The made a Power Rangers inspired promo video for the event that is worth having a look at




 We also welcome Chris Harrington who is a number crunching wrestling fan who is perhaps one of the world's only experts in "Wrestlenomics" it is nothing like "thugonomics" as it involves a lot of math and research. Who better to help us understand what a potential battle between TNA and ROH for the number two spot in wrestling has any viability. He also gets into where and why the WWE might be heading towards a Cena vs Lesnar title match at Summerslam and the impact MMA stars not named Brock Lesnar could have on the WWE. Chris writes for a number of websites including WhatCulture.com. He also has a podcast and is writing a book titled of course Wrestlenomics. You can find a link to his twitter in the link above. Bottom line he makes every wrestling fan seem a little smarter by being one of us.

Oh and Chris Walder is out of sick bay so we dread or is it look forward to Money In the Bank:


If you are unable to listen to the podcast through our site or would like to listen to via I-Tunes please head over to our Podcast hosts Podomatic.

Thanks to both are guests and as we mentioned if you would like to support Ethan and get a T-Shirt head over to Pro Wrestling Tees to his page and order a shirt. I have used them before and their service is excellent and first rate. Or an even better idea if you live in the Southern Ontario area come to the Alpha-1 show and save the shipping and handling. I have no shirts to sell but if you want to say hello ore even better buy me a beer I plan to be at the show on July 6th. Tickets are sold at the door so come on down. If my picks in audio former were not good enough check them out along with the rest of the staff over at Between The Ropes for Money in the Bank.

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

It's Your Right To Chant CM Punk If You Want Too!

 Paul Heyman was on Chris Jericho’s Podcast and it was recorded quite awhile ago and offered some interesting insights into CM Punk’s departure from the WWE. Heyman stated when he was asked if he was surprised when CM Punk left he said that Punk had been struggling for about year. So, it would not have surprised him if at any point in that year leading up to his leaving after the Royal Rumble if he had would have left. It seems he was really beaten up and frustrated for that time period. Heyman also suggested that he doesn’t see Punk returning anytime soon.

There really hasn’t been much said by Punk about his departure from the WWE other than the fact he considers himself retired from WWE. In the appearances we have seen Punk, he honestly looks better than we have seen him in a long time. It gets to a deeper question of if people are truly fans of CM Punk and care about the person behind the wrestler. In terms of his life he seems very happy and as at peace as he can be. He recently married A.J Lee and her status with the WWE is as up in the air as Punk’s recently. The rumors that she is expecting just don’t seem to be going away.

The two were caught on camera jogging in Hawaii where they were on their honeymoon. Punk seems to be unable to avoid being a favorite of people stalking him with cameras to some extent. As seen above he can't even go for a cup of coffee with his now wife in peace apparently. It is very clear that he likely is one of the most famous wrestlers in the main stream world in the last 10 years without question.

Recently someone chastised fans for still chanting CM Punk at WWE events. I have a huge issue with anyone telling fans what to do not just in wrestling but in any form. In fact, I was on The Wrestling Experience with Josh Lopez based in Chicago where he reads this article and later in the show I give my reaction too it earlier this week.  I feel that as long as fans are with in good taste you have the right to do whatever you want. The example from my former world of the NBA and covering the Toronto Raptors was fans booing of Vince Carter. Many of my media colleagues did the same thing chastising fans telling them to move on. This is basically what this wrestling writer said in terms of Punk. He went on to blame the fans for the issues in WWE and how fans should just get with the program. That is not your job, your only job is to pay your hard earned money and be entertained. If you are not entertained what you choose to do is up to you. If in pro sports event fans decide to boo the home side for playing poorly that is their right to do so.  

He in the same breath went on offer his own opinion that CM Punk turned his back on the fans. He if not stated out right, it was implied clearly, that Punk did not deserve those chants. Punk did at the end of the day what is best for him, but also prior to leaving made a point to make it clear that not just him but all of the WWE have been left in the dark on how they will be compensated for the WWE Network. That was not a selfish act, in fact it brought to light a serious issue that to my knowledge has yet to be addressed with talent to this day from what we know. It speaks more to what Punk represented to the fans that he was the guy that stood up for them and represented the change that they wanted. Punk will always be a beloved figure to a certain portion of the WWE fan base. Can you think of any other person on this roster who with doing next to nothing to encourage it would still have fans chanting his name on a regular basis nearly 6 months after he left T.V and company? I honestly can’t think of who that person would be off the top of my head.

This same writer went on to again lay the wood to fans who by the way are the people that are supporting this guys coverage of wrestling which he might have wanted to consider. In any case that we as fan base were not fair to John Cena and he sung the praises of Cena and commanded or demanded that we no longer boo him. Again where does this guy get off telling you or me what to do as fans? He also went on to say that if fans did not watch Ring of Honor or New Japan Pro Wrestling they were somehow lesser fans based on this fact. I recently have went out of my way to talk about Ring of Honor and I love their product and would encourage you to give it a try if you haven’t. If you choose not to do so that does not make you any less of a fan of wrestling than I am or this writer is. You just for your own reasons do not like that form of wrestling or entertainment which you are more than entitled to do. I rarely have seen New Japan Wrestling and I am not going to apologize for that fact. Did I enjoy when they teamed with Ring of Honor and did a couple shows together, sure I did. Did that make me go running to watch the next New Japan show... not really. I find personally that commentary is a big part of my wrestling experience and the simple fact that New Japan at this point does not offer English commentary makes it not for me. If you love New Japan and the Bullet Club and watch it all that’s great and enjoy it. I sneak in a Young Bucks match here and there as well, but I am not down for a whole show of having no idea what is being said about it.

I am not here to tell you who to like, or what to watch, or demand that you have the same opinion as me in order to be on my level as a fan or a journalist. I am here to simply take what I know and love about wrestling and share my thoughts and opinions with you. Not to change your opinions but to merely present some things for you to think about or spark you into expressing your own opinion.

That is what makes wrestling fun at the end of the day. C.M Punk above anyone is someone that understood that simple fact, that at the end of the day wrestling fans just want the show to fun. What we all consider to be fun can be as different as what we all would have on a pizza. Still some items on that pizza are easier to build a consensus on than others. Wrestling is never going to please 100 percent of the audience, but the closer you can get to that the better it is likely to be.

As far as CM Punk goes, I am a fan and obviously and quite selfishly would like to see him return at some point. If he doesn’t and never returns I will still respect and love him for all of the great things he has done to entertain me. If he wants to ride off into the sunset with his new bride A.J and be happy away from wrestling who am I to be bitter about that? If I truly am a fan of the person that is Phil Brooks who Punk himself would say I have no idea who that is, I can still want that guy to have a happy life.

If you are one of the people that buys that CM Punk has turned his back on you, I am not going to be able or even try to change your mind. I just can’t agree with you is all and personally would wonder how much you truly love Punk or any wrestler truly for that matter. Still some people don’t think any deeper than what they feel about the character that they see on their T.V screen. Which is part of what wrestling is for everyone a form of escaping from our real lives and for the performers a way to be someone that is someone that is either a turned up version of themselves, or the chance to play someone totally against who they are as people.

 The simple fact is as Punk himself said in his famous promo that he understood that WWE is bigger than any one individual and the wheel will keep turning with or without him. Proven by myself who started as Randy Savage fan and moved on to being a Shawn Michaels fan and going on and on to present day. But once you’re a James Borbath guy that is something that lasts for my lifetime. So no writer or the WWE is going to tell me different. That is my right just as it is yours to support whoever you choose too.

In terms of Punk he is always going to be talked about until the true story from both his side and the WWE’s side is told that will remain the case. In terms of wrestling sites the simple fact is people will read opinions on Punk and rumours on him because he truly is one of the most fascinating personalities to roll through wrestling in quite sometime. Punk, be it on screen or off of it is clearly one of the most fascinating people in the business today. Well he is retired but the problem is not even CM Punk can convince wrestling fans that he is truly retired. Wrestling history has been filled with both real and scripted retirements coming to end. Even Shawn Michaels who has made it pretty clear he has no intention to ever wrestle again yet many still think he might have one more match.

If we truly have seen Punk’s last match that is a shame in a way but if it means he will be happy and have a great life and be healthy and happy that should be all that matters for his true fans.

Later tonight come back to the site for the weekly podcast as we have Independent Wrestler Ethan Page page back on the program and Chris Harrrington who is a smart writer that has coined this world he writes about as "wrestlenomics" breaking down wrestling business with numbers and match beyond my mind. All this and Walder is healthy and back so will have out PPV Predictions as well. 


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

Top Ten Foreign Bad Guys Of All Time In WWE

In honor of the WWE finally sort of getting the Rusev gimmick right it got me thinking of all the bad foreign heels that caused fans to chant U.S.A. It was some of the cheapest heat you can get in wrestling but it works there is no denying it So in WWE what foreign acts got you mad as heck?


10. Dino Bravo: He was brought in as the French Canadian strong man who replaced Brutus Beefcake in the “Dream Team” after that he would move on to singles career with a new manager Frenchy Martin. He would try to set the bench press record on what would turn out to be the first ever Royal Rumble in Hamilton, Ontario my hometown. Jessie Ventura assisted and the record lift would be disputed. 

 9. Sika: You might know his son Roman Reigns. But old school wrestling fans remember the Wild Samoans and were a three-time tag-team Champion. He also had a run leading up to a match with Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event. He was known at the time for eating live animals. This was a real old school crazy savage gimmick that in 2014 would never pass the politically correct test.

8. Muhammad Hassan: Technically speaking Hassan was an American and should not be on such a list. However in the post 9/11 world this was a gimmick that perhaps touched way to close to home on many levels. Hassan was a Muslim American that claimed he was mistreated by America in a post 9/11 world. It was a very edgy gimmick when it started but by the end of it became a comic foil for an aging Hulk Hogan. This was an angle that really was one of the more edgy things WWE did since the Slaughter angle during the Iraq war.

7. Mr Fuji: He managed a host of both people from outside of the U.S as well as American’s as well. Fuji was also a foreign bad guy himself in the ring in his younger days. He was always the man with the cane and Master Fuji loved to watch his men’s opposition suffer. Outside of his character in WWE he was known as being one of the bigger backstage jokesters.

6. The Mountie: We could have gone with both Jacques and Raymond as the Rougeau brothers. But honestly The Mountie was that campy 80’s heel long after that had gone out of fashion. It would lead to former a tag-team called the Quebecers as well managed by Johnny Polo who later would be known to the world as Raven. The most famous Mountie Moments were him losing the I-C Title to Roddy Piper for his only title run in WWE. He also lost a jailhouse match to the Big Boss Man in which the loser would have to spend the night in jail. He lost and the fun of what happened after showed how funny Jacques could be. Jacques also was the first trainer for one Kevin Steen who is on his way to WWE soon.

5. Yokozuna: A former WWE Champion and one of the biggest men to ever be in a WWE Ring. He never said much and had mangers like Fuji who during this run forgot how to speak English and Jim Cornette to back up the massive man. He really didn’t need the help. He was used in the angle to try and get Lex Luger over by having him slam him on a U.S Warship on July the fourth. It didn’t work and WWE decided to keep the belt on Yokozuna even with the plan originally being him losing at Summerslam that year. He also was a winner of the Royal Rumble and holds a rare win over Hulk Hogan in WWE.

4. Sergeant Slaughter Iraqi Sympathizer: WWE had an idea to cash in on the tension between Iraq and world as a whole in the 90’s. They just never expected things in real life to escalate as fast as they did. Sergeant Slaughter turned his back on America calling the nation weak and he now followed a new leader Saddam Hassan. He would beat the Warrior with some help from Randy Savage and become the WWF World Champion. Around the same time the real war with U.S and Iraq had broken out in real life. It caused the WWF to change plans for Wrestlemania. Slaughter was getting legit death threats and that is not a work it was very much real. Hogan would save America and win the title at Wrestlmania and feud would go on to Summerslam and go far to long as the War ended before this feud leading to some awkwardness and a low point for WWF.

3. Bret Hart: Yes for most of his career he was a beloved baby face. It did for a period of time become very clear that he was from Canada. He became a Canadian Hero and one of the most hated people in the U.S. It was one of the most interesting times in wrestling where a wrestler being heel or face was literally based on what country the show was in.

2. Nikolai Volkoff: He was the tag-team partner of the Iron Sheik and his singing of the Russian National Anthem is one of the most memorable gimmicks in the history of wrestling. If Rusev could get over half as well as Volkoff WWE should be thrilled. He didn’t have a hot blonde with him he had the legendary Classy Freddie Blassie as his manger. He would later be paired with the doctor of style Slick.

1. Iron Sheik: Ask him on twitter he will tell you he is a legend. I am not going to argue with him so he will want to make me humble. He truly is the classic 80’s foreign heel. He said every single time what he thought of the U.S and more importantly for me Canada. He was the heel champion that launched Hulk-a-Mania. He has become a social media icon in modern times and started to reclaim his fame with appearance on the Howard Stern Show. But perhaps his best moment was winning the Gimmick Battle Royal based on the simple face he could not take the bump to go out of the ring. Fans loved the result though and booed Slaughter for putting him in the Cobra Clutch.

So how did we do? There is a long list of guys you could include. One name I considered was Andre the Giant but it was never really played up the fact he was from France as much as the fact he turned his back on the fans. Killer Kahn, Orient Express, Akeem the African Dream, Kamala we could go on for days. Hope you enjoyed the list.


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

Raw Notebook: June 23rd Washington D.C

It was a Raw that offered a few highs and a lot of head shaking moments. It started with a bang so much so that my mom was hooked to want to watch something. Mom is not a wrestling and rarely watches. Still the idea of Stephanie McMahon in a match was enough to hook her into wanting to watch. How this came about was Steph was about to fire Vicky and instead gave here the option to have a match against her.

The tease of Stephanie wrestling has been used in the storyline with Daniel Bryan as well as they have been teasing a match with her and Bri Bella. I think come Summerslam we may get that match or we at least should. As for last night I was not buying the fact Stephanie would wrestle something she hasn’t done in over a decade at least. I would be proven right as Stephanie would come out and send three random divas led by Alicia Fox. The match would not be in the ring but it would have pool of mud or muck and whoever would be thrown in it would be the loser. If that was Vicky she would be fired.

Vicky would manage to get all three divas thrown in the muck but Stephanie in high heels went for a Harley Race Knee sort of missed it and just shoved Vicky in the muck. She was fired but than would take Steph and throw her in and right before she did Steph would have a funny line about thinking about Vicky’s retirement. Great stuff and cool send off for Vicky who came out to them music of her husband Eddie Guerrero.

Funny that was the angle in the show I liked best and it had nothing to do with Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View this Sunday.

Bo Dallas streak continues with a win over Titus and he is now 9 and Bo and has a Bolack Eye not sure how that happened.

As much as I knew he wasn’t going to win the match with Dolph and Bad News Barrett was the best thing that happened in the ring all night long. Ziggler to his credit always gives his all no matter what spot he finds himself in. For that he deserves a ton of credit.

In that same vain Damien Sandow is goes full into whatever horrible thing they have him do. On this night it was Abe Lincoln. It was still terrible but he does invest 100% into it.

Paige continues to fail to get over and is booked terrible. There was a minor tease to her turning heel as she is taking on Naomi. I think at this stage turning her heel might be a good idea and give her a fresh re-do or re-start at this stage.

Luke Harper and Eric Rowan getting their own theme music and they look primed to win the Tag-Team titles from the USO’s. If you are familiar with their work on NXT they held the tag team titles their and had a solid run with belts despite little competition. Think it is time to give them the ball.

Stardust is just not a gimmick that works. For a cheap pop last week it was funny but long term it is stupid. Why do we have to constantly stick gimmicks on Cody? What is wrong with being a young guy with legacy in the business and a really good wrestler? What a concept isn’t it? If this leads to a Goldust vs. Cody match I willing to endure it but this gimmick is so awful. Cody as he always has is giving his 100% to it so it isn’t a knock on him.

Big E Langston on the other hand just can’t seem to catch a break. A flag waving America is greatest country in the world preacher is not his thing. He tried really hard to make it comfortable.

Good Rusev and Lana promo where they were out in Washington and preached Russian superiority and in the show they saved us from the Big E promo that has gone off the rails. They finally have got this charter in a good place.

After having the field revealed for Money in the Bank Ladder Match I maintain this is a mistake and down grading the gimmick. Kofi, Dolph, Swagger, Rollins, RVD, Ambrose and Barrett make up the 7 in this match. I am sorry but I can’t buy a single member of this match being considered a real threat to be WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Which is the point to the match it may well be a fine interesting match but the point of the match is massively flawed. 
Rollins was in a match with RVD and Ambrose crashed the party and attacked Rollins which led to Rollins demanding that he was put in the match above. Triple H agreed but said if it backfired it would be on Rollins. Great crazy man promo by Dean and good match for Rollins with RVD.

As for the title match itself as I wrote about in the blog I fear this will end up with Cena winning the title. I have little faith or hope they will take a risk and go with anyone new at this point. It really is a shame that this company is unwilling to take major risks. They added Kane to the match but that adds nothing to this match.
Daniel Bryan is doing an interview on the pre-show which really doesn’t have me all that excited unless we get some clear idea of when he is going to be back. Having him cut promos is not something that I really want to see. If this was CM Punk in the same position and unable to wrestle let him talk all night long have him on commentary. Bryan on the other hand can be decent but gets over from his work in the ring.

Last week I was excited to watch ROH get a chance to be on PPV for the first time ever live. It was exciting and thrilling and compelling. This WWE PPV has none of that feeling and just seems like another typical WWE Pay-Per-View despite the promise of a new champion as a guarantee. I just am not all that excited for this event I am more fearful of what might happen.

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

John Cena Champion Again....Please For The Love Of Ric Flair! No!

 Heading towards Money in the Bank there is lots of theories on what could happen. They all sound cool and when explained, somewhat logical in nature, but the grim reality is the WWE will likely go with devil they know in John Cena. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is just one of many people covering wrestling that I have heard by default expect Cena to be the Champion after this is all said and done.

This comes on the heels of  the WWE doing some market research about Summerslam asking who people would like to see face Brock Lesnar in the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Lesnar and Cena had a fantastic match right after Brock made his initial return from the UFC. It was a match that Cena won coming off a loss to the Rock at Wrestlemania the month prior.

It was perhaps the best match Cena has had in the last five years with the lone exception being his match with CM Punk at Money in the Bank in I believe it was 2011? The one where Punk wins takes the title and drives home and puts it in his fridge. Two very different styles of matches as the Lesnar vs. Cena match was a war and brawl.

What also might be alarming especially seeing as this could be a very short title run if Brock is set to win the title at Summerslam. Lesnar is booked the following month so many have speculated he will win the title and drop it on the next PPV. Not that this is what is even rumored to happen at this stage but just for a moment let’s say both of those matches are with Cena.

If this plays out I believe that makes John Cena a 16-time World Champion tied with the legendary Ric Flair. Am I the only one that the thought of John Cena some day surpassing Ric Flair’s historic record of title reigns makes me ill?

It is not like John Cena on surface is not a better human being than Flair in many respects. It is no secret the many things not so great that Ric Flair done over the years. In fact at this time you feel a little sorry for Flair to be honest. The idea that John Cena the corporate face of WWE would beat the record of the legendary Ric Flair just seems so wrong to any long-time wrestling fan.

We all probably should respect Cena but for whatever reason we don’t. I think there are a lot of reasons why we don’t. It begins with the loss of "Kayfabe" in our world and thus it is not hidden that Cena is the company’s choice to be its face. Hulk Hogan while he clearly was favored by WWE it was through storylines and the in-character President of the World Wrestling Federation Jack Tunney. It was not nearly as obvious.

The fact that he fails to admit or accept that he is not over with a large and growing portion of the WWE Audience is annoying to say the least.  It is a fact that under his era of wrestling the audience has taken a massive free fall in terms of ratings.  Yes all shows do not get the ratings they once did but Cena was the face of generation after the Attitude Era and the Business has in some ways suffered as a result.

It is kind of like Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire breaking the home run record. It just feels wrong in some way and not natural. This isn’t making some accusation about what Cena may use or not use to look the way he does. It is not a comment on his amazing Superman like recovery power either. We will leave those types of questions for you to decide.

It is more that putting John Cena next to a legend although on paper he has the resume he just doesn’t feel like he belongs in their class or company. I have heard many of these legends try and put John Cena over and I am still not buying it. John works hard I get this but I question the results he gets based on that work. I also question how many other guys he has damaged that could have easily passed him by on the way to taking his top spot.

I could have lived with Triple H beating Ric Flair’s record of title wins because I know how much Paul Lévesque the man truly respects Ric Flair. I know how much that would mean to him to surpass that standard. I look at it in a way of how much respect and love Emmitt Smith had for a Walter Payton when beating is all-time rushing record.

John Cena for me comes off as plastic and corporate and I really don’t believe he cares about anything other than himself and doing what is best for him and in addition his employer the WWE. Maybe it has been jammed down my throat so much all of John Cena’s good deeds and the fact he grew up a wrestling fan it all rings fairly hollow at this point.

I just don’t believe that John Cena deserves to beat a record that is held by Ric Flair. The sad reality is that sooner or later it is likely to happen with Cena not looking like he plans on going anywhere any time soon.

So not just because it is the wrong thing to do right now for the WWE, but for the sake of history I really hope that we don’t see John Cena at the top of a ladder holding two title belts. He is not the legend that Ric Flair is and never will be.


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

Is Adam Cole "Best For Business" As The Champion?

Let me say that I have all the respect in the world for Michael Elgin. If by the end of this day he is the only the 20th man to calm he has held the ROH World Title it will be well deserved. All of the build up seems to suggest that is what we are going to see. Cole cut Elgin’s hair and than made him watch as he put his wife in a figure-four leg lock. Predictability is not a horrible thing as we learned at Wrestlemania 30 this year. It was fairly obvious that Daniel Bryan was going to be the star of the show. The stage seems to be set for Elgin to do the same.

I just wonder if this is the route to go because while Adam Cole is a complete and utter jerk in character in ROH. In real life he is a very charming and engaging person that has done the majority if not all the promotion for the PPV. He was even a guest with us here on Condo on the Moon all the way to being on Sam Roberts show and all points in between.

Adam Cole is what people thing a wrestling champion should be in many ways. He is young, charming and can talk well and is someone that I would imagine females would be into. Elgin is more a prototypical kind of throwback of a wrestler. In the ring and in a gym the man is a complete beast and is without question one of the better wrestlers in the world today.

I still can’t help but think from a pure business point of view and not a storyline one that it makes sense for Adam Cole to remain as champion. Is it possible you could continue this to Final Battle in which Cole’s contract and future with ROH will be in some doubt? Cole seems like a guy that just is screaming to be one of these next stars that ROH has produced that goes on to success in that company. Steen is already on his way their and Sami Zayn once known as El Generico is a stand out on NXT.

Maybe Adam Cole remaining champion is what is “best for business” for ROH. I will say though I think Elgin has never really been given the chance to talk and show his personality off to fans. If you watch what he does in PWG he is a little looser working in that promotion often tag-teaming with Brian Cage who is an even more jacked version of Elgin at least in body type.

Storyline wise there is a little debate that this should be Elgin\s moment. It needs to be the take away from this PPV. Which will not be easy when it could feature Kevin Steen’s last match in ROH and tag-team match with Daniels and Kazarian the former TNA’s Bad Influence vs. ROH’s ReDRagon. It is going to be a lot of guys fired up to put on a show tonight.

In any case ROH should be pleased as least on Social Media their seems to be some buzz for the show despite what seemed like not as much advertising as you would suspect for such a big event for the company.

We shall see how things go and if Elgin is able to become Champion and what that will mean for him and company going forward.


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

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

Michael Bennett & Court Bauer Check in To Condo On Moon

We promised you a big show and we have delivered the goods. I sat down this week with both Michael Bennett and Court Bauer to talk about all that is going on with ROH Wrestling as they are on the verge of heading to Live PPV from Nashville this Sunday at 8pm and also on I-PPV in areas is not available

If you want to check it out here is a link to the list of Cable Providers for this Sunday.

Mike Bennett gives his thoughts on what is going on with his tag-team partner on Sunday and we talk alot about his time in ROH and some of his influences that include Kevin Steen his rival at the end 2013 in a tremendous feud. The feud ended at Final Battle this last December which is when Court Bauer joined the company as a consultant. We talk about how Court got involved in the company. He also helps me preview the big card on Sunday. This is only scratching the surface as both Court and Mike were talk with me for over 40 minutes a piece. So have a listen and enjoy.


So we have done are best to get some of the stars from Ring Of Honor to talk with us and to all of you with their pitches for this Sunday. Having talked to everyone it is hard not to feel the excitement that is happening within that company. We at Condo on the Moon wish them luck and look forward to working with ROH in the future as they will be back north of the border in September.

If your having any trouble accessing the Podcast through our site go use this link and listen form our Podcast host directly. 

Oh and as I promised my colleagues at Between The Ropes as talked with both Roderick Strong and Jay Lethal. He still has not accepted my "Macho Man" Off Challenge. He probably hasn't heard about it yet.One day it will happen. It has been a pleasure working with all these folks from ROH over the last month or so.

Follow our guests : @CourtBauer @RealMikeBennett


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

ROH vs TNA Could Be "Best For Business"

Most people point to the time period of the Monday Night Wars as the most exciting time in wrestling. You had a viable challenger to the standard WWF/F in WCW. Ted Turner had money to burn on WCW and he did just that. He purchased pretty much every star that Vince McMahon created and still it ended up in failure. As much as we like to roll our eyes at the WWE at times it has been and will be the standard for wrestling likely for our lifetime. Anyone that can honestly think WWE will have a serious competitor at this stage is fooling themselves. Their competition is now more with the UFC and entertainment in general these days.

What the WWF/E was able to do better than WCW was create stars something they still can do today. Do they have more misses than hits? Probably, but that is par for the course with all business’ trying to cater to an ever changing society. Think of how your own life has changed in the last ten years. In this age of technology we are all growing at different rates. So if you think the WWE Network will not eventually be a success you are most likely wrong. Vince McMahon sometimes gets painted as a crazy old man these days and that might be true in some senses. It is not like you or I get to hangout with Vince and he has become far less visible in the last few years. Make no mistake though he has spent by some reports 110 million dollars on the network. It is going to succeed it just might take time for people to get into 2014 technology wise.

WWE thrived with competition and they used the clear advantage they had by being allowed to create a much more edgy program that their competition WCW was not able to do under the Turner corporate banner and even more so once the Time Warner merger happened. In fact despite the huge ratings that WCW did draw it was the red headed stepchild for Time Warner. Maybe like TNA is for Spike-TV? Not exactly as Spike is not exactly knocking it out of the park even with the MMA promotion they own Bellator.

Actually all of the build up was to get to the real point I am getting at which is the race for being the alternative to the WWE. It is not as sexy as Ted Turner offering top talents huge money to jump to WCW and Eric Bishoff bragging about kicking Vince’s butt. However a new wrestling war is starting and it should be good assuming TNA is able to stay in business and stay on Spike-TV.

Ring of Honor as we have been focusing on here in Condo on the Moon is heading to live pay-per-view thanks in part to the void left by the WWE turning their attention to promoting their events on the WWE Network. TNA actually had a decent show for their latest pay-per-view offering despite interest level heading into being at an all-time low.

Ring of Honor in contrast has been riding a huge high in 2014 as you have heard from guests on our podcast like Matt Taven and ROH Champion Adam Cole. They made a successful return to I-PPV with their shows featuring their new partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling with Global Wars and War of the Worlds. They have replaced TNA for an annual summer event at a minor league baseball stadium in New York City. This has been a strong market for ROH.

The two companies are heading into each others backyards quite literally. The ROH PPV is taking place literally in the birthplace of TNA at the Nashville fairgrounds. It is also the city that TNA has its headquarters. While TNA is heading to New York City and going into the same venue that ROH hold’s it’s version of Wrestlemania that is “Final Battle” held in December. They are in the same building but in a smaller part of it. TNA will be in the place where the WWE first taped Monday Night Raw.

Adding to the intrigue of all this is a former WWE star Matt Hardy who has worked with ROH over the past few years and is scheduled to appear on PPV this Sunday. However, it was announced on Twitter that he in fact will be in competition at the TNA tapings in New York City. He will re-unite with his brother Jeff who of late has been playing his alter ego of Willow in TNA.

This comes after TNA had approached ROH talent’s that under contract to them. Some of the names that have been out there include Jay Lethal who spent time in TNA and ReDragon the current ROH Tag-Team Champions. Hardy was apparently not under contract. This is not the first time TNA has done this to ROH as they stole Kenny King when he was one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions. King is still in TNA and also is or was, a Chippendale’s dancer when he is not in the ring. Does he make more in tips from that than in TNA only he knows for sure?

This is what we have been missing in wrestling is a good old fashion war between rival promotions. It might not be as sexy or involve the big dollars that were being thrown around in the Monday Night Wars but it is a fight. We have picked a side in this fight and obviously it is ROH.

The reasons why are pretty simple it comes down to the product. While TNA seems determined to be WWE light that is so far from what ROH is trying to be it isn’t funny. In addition to this fact, who is the company that is producing the talent that goes on to WWE that would be Ring of Honor. If anyone wants to make the argument that TNA can produce anyone that is going to be in the WWE that hasn’t been their already they are crazy. A.J Styles was the biggest star TNA produced themselves, well not exactly he did start in ROH but people associate him with TNA. He has stated himself that no offer came his way from WWE. He instead has come back home to ROH and is working for New Japan Pro Wrestling and is the first North American since Brock Lesnar to hold the IWGP Championship.

Similar Bad Influence who will be taking on the aforementioned ReDragon on the PPV Sunday. Daniels is returning to his home of Ring of Honor along with Frankie Kazarian who made up the “Bad Influence” in TNA. They did not get an offer from WWE either we can safely assume. The talent that ROH has put in the WWE is a long and growing list. The latest is rumored to Kevin Steen who may be fighting his last match for Ring of Honor on this Sunday at the pay-per-view.

If you like competition and miss the fun of the Monday Night Wars this may be as close as we get to seeing it. So enjoy the competition and hopefully it makes both companies worked harder and creates an even better product for the fans of wrestling. That was what made the WWE it’s best being pushed to produce by a rival. This is not exactly an even fight, but close enough to be interesting in terms of the resources and money these competitors are willing to spend. So let the games begin.

It also is good for wrestlers as competition can lead to better deals and at least having options which is problem for people in WWE. The amount of money is certainly not to the same level anywhere else is not going to happen in the modern wrestling landscape.

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

Dean Ambrose Is Starting to Realize His Potential

I first remember hearing about Dean Ambrose was him having a match with CM Punk down in FCW. That was the former developmental prior to NXT. I watched the match and was blown away by this guy wrestling Punk who at the time was at the height of his popularity and the WWE Champion.

I was so intrigued, I did my research and found out this guy was John Moxley on the independent scene. The promos this guy was cutting for independent promotions that I had never heard of were amazing. They were dark and had a real edge to them. Bray Wyatt in current WWE draws comparison Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Which are valid but Ambrose was cutting promos of a similar nature back at this time and they were all very good and stood out. There is a short list of great talkers you find in the independent scene as the opportunities to cut promos are far less.

Ambrose when The Shield first started was billed by most hardcore fans as the big potential star when they first arrived. It was well deserved and you could understand why. Dean Ambrose for me still is the most complete package for money as we see The Shield clearly going their separate ways.

Set Rollins is the first ever NXT Champion and has shown the ability to cut a promo and has always has the skills in the ring. I was not following ROH closely during his time as Tyler Black to be honest but he is always mentioned as one of the guys talked about. The follow up to his turning on The Shield has lacked any real big build to it. He is heading towards a match with Ambrose which should be a heck of a match. They have been working the house show circuit and did go at it Hamilton where I call home. I was not at the show but heard the reviews from folks that were as very positive.

Roman Reigns is thought of as the WWE’s Golden Boy and could be thought of as a guy that eventually replaces Cena by the company. I can see the reasons for them thinking along those lines. He is big which has always been a positive in the WWE based on history. He has been getting better and better in the ring and is advancing quickly. His work on the mic and in segments is also getting better as the weeks go on.

Ambrose though sells everything so well and is already in my mind a master at his craft. The thing most remember about the Rollins turn was the reaction of Dean Ambrose which was just perfect. He sells everything so well as this half crazy maniac. Another guy beyond a Jake “The Snake” Roberts that he reminds me of is “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Piper was always a guy that was one short step away from losing his mind at any point. That is something Ambrose does so very well and when he snaps he is a "wild man" much like a Piper was back in the day.

The fact I am comparing Ambrose to long-time WWE Legends is not out of place praise it is well deserved and earned. They say that you need to be your character from the moment you hit the stage to moment you go back behind the curtain. Dean Ambrose embodies this concept and is brilliant at it. Every movement of Dean Ambrose means something and that is top level work by a professional wrestling in any era.

People love Dolph Ziggler and they question why he is where he is at given his obvious talent. I would say compare Ziggler to Dean Ambrose and you have at least part of the answer as to why. Ambrose is just as good at selling things as Ziggler but he goes about it in a much safer way. WWE especially based on recent events with lots of injuries happening has to always be concerned with the longevity of their top talent and be able to count on them to perform. Once in awhile there is a time to take risks as we saw in the feud with The Shield and Evolution. Still you want those moments to mean something and the rest of the time you want guys to choose the safe route. Dean Ambrose can sell with his face as good as he can with his body. He knows when it is appropriate to use both skills. Dolph clearly struggles in this regard.

Dean Ambrose is off to a great start to his singles path and for fans that are missing CM Punk this is a guy that offers a different kind of unpredictability that Punk offered on weekly basis. Punk was a huge fan of Ambrose and was a guy that was an advocate for him advancing in the WWE System. You can see why and can see that many of the same people that loved Punk are the same people that should and are supporting Ambrose now. He will always be a favorite for the hardcore audience that is looking for people to get behind.

I believe in Dean Ambrose and he gives me more and more reasons to believe on a weekly basis these days.

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

Choosing The New WWE World Champion Is Not As Easy As It Seems

The biggest issue facing the WWE is who to make Champion with Daniel Bryan out of the mix. The fans point to names like Cesaro, Bray Wyatt or members of The Shield. The trouble in that is would any of those suggestions avoid being labelled as transitional Champion. It is one of the worst things to be tagged with for a wrestler still making his way up the ladder.

It isn’t a death blow as someone like Chris Jericho proved as some would label his first reign as Undisputed Champion as a “Transitional Reign” to get the belts to the returning Triple H at Wrestlemania. Jericho became the third character in a story of Triple H and Stephanie breaking apart and her trying to deny him winning the title. So much so that she would pair with a former hated rival in Chris Jericho. Sometimes it is all in how you sell it as Jericho just focuses on two points about that title reign. One the fact he beat Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock in the same night. Two he was the first ever Undisputed World Wrestling Federation Champion. Well at least with two belts as Randy Savage winning the tournament in Wrestlemania 4 was referenced as the “Undisputed Champion” as well. 

Many feel the WWE will go a safe route and put the belt on John Cena or Randy Orton and wait it out for Bryan to return. There seems to be a lot of speculation on when exactly that will be. It may or should have an impact on who wins this match coming up at “Money in the Bank” in the Ladder Match.

What also seems up in the air as we debated in the Podcast this week is if we will have an actual “Money in the Bank” match for the briefcase. I maintain it is a mistake to have one. I say delay it till Battleground or Summerslam. If not how about you just give the case to Seth Rollins as some form of motivation for why he has aligned with “The Authority” and “|Evolution” as a logical step in that story. If Reigns was planned to win the case in the first place you could have a match for the case at “Battleground” and the case ends up where it was suppose to go. The other name was Cesaro linked to possibly winning the case but that would not be as easy a transition of ownership of the case.

In any case the WWE has a ton of ground to cover with only two weeks to the Money in the Bank event. This is a card that is pretty much unknown at this point to a large degree. It has really been a mess for a variety of reasons since Wrestlemania as things have not gone as planned in a number of cases for a number of various reasons. All with the backdrop on the WWE Stock going into a freefall give this sense the WWE is struggling to some degree. Perhaps, they are in fact facing in short term at the moment for a variety of reasons.  Daniel Bryan’s injury clearly was not in the cards for what the WWE had planned to do and direction they were going. In the end will never know what that title reign was suppose to be or planned to be long term.

While the WWE can afford to enter an event like Money in the Bank a little disorganized they can not for Summerslam. Last year the WWE’S second biggest event in their view, was summarized by Vince McMahon as a “Swing and a miss,” which was a show headlined by Daniel Bryan and John Cena. Many have speculated that this card will be headlined by Brock Lesnar in the WWE Title Match. If this is true and Bryan isn’t ready does that score as a point in favour of putting the belt on Cesaro to get the Brock vs. Cesaro match that many have said is a matter of when not if it happens.

Lesnar is scheduled on the next PPV as well so in theory Brock winning the title is not out of the question. If he did though not sure how great it will be as he likely would drop the belt the next month based on his lack of appearances based on his contract. If they were cool with having a WWE Champion not around and not on house shows for a time than they would have just left the Championship on Bryan.

In the WWE’s view the belief is, the championship and the champion are legitimate draws for not just Raw and Pay-Per-Views, but live events.

This is a big time of transition for the company and how they handle any rising talents is very important it is highly unlikely winning the title in two weeks will make anyone’s career at this point but if handled wrong it could really break somebody’s career as a main event star. Ask Jack Swagger what can happen to you if you get the title to soon. Fans were not ready for Swagger as a champion and you can argue he has suffered from that misread ever since.

So if the WWE World Championship does end up in the hands of John Cena or Randy Orton we all may hate it but it could be good in a couple ways. It would likely be an admission or least a strong hope that Bryan will be back sooner than later. It also would protect some rising stars from getting labelled with the tag of being a “Transitional Champion,” WWE needs to protect any stars they have at this point.

Short term pain for long term gain might be the answer for Money in the Bank at the end of the day.

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