Tis the season for picking a fight.

Yes. Yes I said I was back about a month ago, and then poof! I was gone again. The short version is I had some personal stuff to deal with and writing of any kind was just about the furthest thing from my mind.

But, that doesn't change the fact that I am indeed back.

And what a time to get back into this. Really, is there any better time for a wrestling fan that Wrestlemania "season"? Let's face it, the storylines (generally) get better, the quality of matches goes up, and then in turn, other companies try to lift their game/s to keep people interested in their product. It's a win/win.

I thought I might just pick a couple of the bigger news items of late and give my insightful opinions and thoughts on them, as well as where Wrestlemania is headed as of right now.. and probably some other small things that have caught my attention lately.

So where to begin? Let's go with... the CM Punk/Chris Brown twitter thing.

As far as I could tell this whole thing just kinda came out of nowhere, and was started by Punk. Now, I don't mean that in a bad way.. from what I've read, he was answering a question about who he'd like to see fight, or who he'd like to fight at wrestlemania or something, and gave a joking response saying that he'd "love to curb stomp that turd at 'mania".

The "turd" being Chris Brown.

Now I'm about the furthest thing from a "popular" music fan, so it's fair to say I have no idea what Chris Brown has done in the last few years. But he won a grammy.. so I guess that shows where the current music scene is, and how bad it's gotten. Seriously, don't get me started on music, or we'll be here until Wrestlemania. I could start an entirely new blog about the decline of skill, talent, creativity, and originality in music.

Some might say the music industry and Pro-Wrestling have a lot in common.

But, let's get back on topic.

So Brown replies with some remark about Punk being on steroids (I can't remember it, and one of Chris Brown's "staff" has deleted all the tweets). Way to come up with something original in response Chris Brown.. Oh.. wait.. the music thing.. I get it, there isn't any originality anywhere inside Chris Brown.

I'm right in thinking he's one of those guys who dances EXACTLY like Michael Jackson and calls it his own style aren't I? ... Nuff said.

Anyway, he takes the most general, first thought response to a wrestler.. "you're on steroids". Anyone who knows anything about CM Punk, would know he's straight-edge. Also..umm.. take a look at the guy? If it was Triple H or John Cena that had opened this up, you could almost forgive the guy for jumping on the steroid bandwagon. But Punk kinda just looks like a regular (albeit solid and much bigger) guy.

So after the steroid thing, he starts on the whole "I don't even know who CM Punk is" stuff. You may not know who he is Chris Brown, but I am damn sure he's much more respected by the general public that DO know who he is, because he stands for something, and doesn't abuse people. I'm not going to go into my own version of Punk's video, but it's safe to say that I agree with CM Punk's side of things.

You never hit women. It's cowardly. It's weak. It's a lack of respect, and it's disgusting that someone would need to make himself feel powerful at the expense of someone who at that time, would have trusted and loved (I assume) him. And giving celebrities special treatment and relaxed punishment because they are in the public eye is also disgusting.

Anyway, I digress again. Punk posted a video response, and it was amazing. Not a "promo" as such, and definitely not a work. Just a clear message. And amazingly well delivered. Oh, and Chris Brown?.. It wasn't defensive. It's not defensive to say "I am straight edge. I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I don't hit women"..

In the end nothing is going to come from this really, it's just CM Punk standing up for what he believes in, and it just proves even more that Chris Brown is exactly what Punk said he was.

I definitely do NOT want to see a match in WWE with these two. Chris Brown deserves no publicity for these kinds of actions, and WWE would, I'm sure, not want to do business with someone who conducts themselves in the way Chris Brown does. So, I think it should be left to settle.

I'll get to the other big thing I wanted to talk about soon, but I thought i'd just stop and lighten things up for a minute with some short opinions or reviews on some stuff i've watched lately.

Elimination Chamber: Decent PPV, found it really strange that the namesake match of this Pay Per View wasn't the main event. Marked out for Santino's near fall. Ziggler took so many crazy falls on the steel.. that guy is the man. Thought the Cena win over Kane was too clean, but I understand it as a definitive end to that feud. 6/10

Undertaker/HHH at Mania
I could write an entire post on this. Undertaker wearing a wig... HHH kind of being put in the same position as Punk put him in (as in pushing his buttons until he makes a rash decision), the Shawn Michaels factor.. the Hell in a Cell, but for now I'll just say... 20-0 ! Also I can't wait to see bald 'Taker! Who's with me?

The Punk/Jericho Feud
Ok this has been added in after I first posted, so i'll make it really short and elaborate in my next post after RAW this week. I really like how this started, the It Begins videos were interesting, Jericho not talking was great, and now that he's started talking he's stepped it up again. Punk is just being Punk. Which is awesome. Going to be great.

Eve turning heel/Cena on RAW this past week
FINALLY! I'm talking about Cena with attitude, not Eve turning heel. It was too quick, and felt forced. But Cena's Skank juice/Skankapottamus lines.. and then that promo at the end of RAW .. simply amazing. I agree with a few others that i've heard/read lately.. Cena is the babyface in this.

Which leads me into the second big news item I wanted to talk about.

The Rock is not all that popular backstage apparently, and people are talking about how he's just taking up a main event spot, yet he's not a full-time guy.

Now, there's an argument to be made about the 3rd highest match on the card.. which involves two part-time guys (Taker/HHH) and how it's hypocritical not to have the same feelings towards these guys, but I think the difference is that Triple H has been around this year, not to mention it's gotta be safe to assume he's backstage most of the time, and Undertaker is Undertaker. 21.. going on 22 years in the WWE... he can show up once a year and no-one would have anything to say about it.

The other difference, is that Rock has been booked in the main event since the day after Wrestlemania last year. Yet he's been seen on what.. two different occasions, actually live in the ring? He came back on his birthday or something, and then he was back around Survivor Series. That's it.. right? Correct me if i'm wrong, please.

But we have 5 episodes of RAW left before mania. Only five.
John Cena has been at oh.. 44 or so more episodes of RAW than Rock.

But the biggest thing to me, as a fan now more than trying to look at the wrestler's opinions, is Rock saying "I'm back.. and I am never leaving again" .. and as John Cena said.. "and then you left.. again!" ..

It's a joke.

Rock should have been around more. He did some "live via satellite" things during the year, why not do a few more of those last month? Surely one night out of a month wouldn't have been too hard to make it to a RAW and come out and just cut a promo about Mania. I know Cena was in a feud with Kane and they probably didn't want to blur the two feuds, but the problem with building and booking this match for a year in advance, is that we knew that the Kane feud would end. It had to.

Here's an idea for what WWE could have done.. at Survivor Series.. Rock takes Cena out. And I mean (kayfabe) injures Cena. Cena is now focused on recovering and rehabbing himself to get to mania. Keep him off of TV (Punk's merchandise would cover the costs, seeing as how that would be a major concern over quality tv) but have him do interviews from home.. in a cast, in a wheelchair.. something. Have vignettes like they have had with the two training, but without Cena being focused on someone else.

Just a thought..

But i think that the other WWE wrestlers have every right to feel the way they do. Sure, Rock will draw money, and it does make sense to put him in a marquee match, but Rock hasn't made the effort, and I hope, I wish, I plead with WWE... make Rock the heel. It won't happen, he's going to come out on RAW this week, run down John Cena, the We hate Cena crowd will love it.. and we'll have this weird "both guys are faces and heels" situation.

Imagine how shocked some people will be if The Rock comes out and says something like (read this part in the Rock's voice for added effect) No no no no no no NO! The Rock would have come back earlier, but The Rock has had so many movie premieres, so many interviews, so many media appearances, that quite frankly, The Rock just could not bring himself to come here. In Hollywood, The Rock can hang with (Insert b grade celebrity here), be seen by the millions... no no, the real millions. But here.. all the Rock has is a bunch of fruity pebble yabba dabbas chanting You can't see me at The Rock! How could the Rock not see you? You all look like Rainbows!" Or something.  Just imagine that. (Of course Rock would be better than my small attempt at writing a Rock promo)

But you see where I'm going.. Rock the hollywood type heel... vs Cena.. the company guy. Picture it.

Ok, this is quite long now, so i'm going to finish up. But as always, leave me a comment, or let me know what you think on Twitter @TheOZMouthpiece  and follow me on there so you can get spammed whenever I write a new post.

So until next time, I am the Aussie Mouthpiece, and I come from a land Down Under.

I'm back babydolls!

Wow, I haven't written anything since Survivor Series. I'll admit, I kind of stopped caring about the wrestling stuff for a while there. Maybe it had something to do with Skyrim. Maybe it was because the product (with the exception of a few I'll mention in due course) sucked. Maybe a little of both.

Either way, I'm back! I find the new year so exciting, the "Road To Wrestlemania" is beginning, it feels like the WWE always lifts it's programming up a notch or two in these months. Wouldn't it be great if it held to that standard for a whole year... 

And then there's the returns. Wow.. so much to talk about. Where do I even begin... 

I guess like any good return, it begins (see what i did there) with an intro. For those of you reading my page for the first time, I am the Aussie Mouthpiece. There you go, intro done. 

Returns seem like a good place to start. Well, technically one return, and one re-imagining. I'm talking about Kane and *spoiler alert.. oh just go watch RAW already* Jericho.

So Kane first of all. I am a huge fan of "new Kane". I saw some people get all upset because he started talking and cut a long promo. Here's what I think about that. Kane is a great talker. Why would you want him not to use that to further storylines, and entertain you? What, just because he puts the mask on suddenly he's a mute again? He talked before he took his mask off in the first place. He also had facial hair. My point is, having him suddenly become silent again, would be a step backwards for his character.

The one thing that I think maybe needs to change (and this is just a purely aesthetic thing) is the design on his tights.. the bright yellow part of the flames and then everything else is red... it just looks a bit silly. A bit cartoony. Make it more subtle I think, because his character is coming across as a little unstable, and very dangerous and kind of psychotic. bright yellow does not reflect this image.

However the way Kane has been used since making his return has been great. The end of this week's RAW especially. I've always loved that slightly hokey, yet really "supernatural" style stuff that they've done with both he and Undertaker in the past. I hope they keep it up, and Kane gets a really good spot on the Wrestlemania card, and not just as part of a ladder match again.

And the other return. The one everyone's been talking about since that first It Begins video. The one everyone has speculated on.. is it Shane and Stephanie.. is it Y2J... is it Undertaker.. I think i saw that "is it Skip Sheffield"... Seriously? Skip Sheffield? I mean I've read this thing about this Ryback character.. but man.. I never really got it with that guy. Looked like a meathead, sounded like a meathead... but then Batista had a fairly good run with WWE so I guess that kind of person works for them.

But back to the It Begins clips. Amazing stuff. I was hooked from the first one. Trying to play them back in slow motion to get any kind of hint about who it might be. Part of me really didn't want it to be Jericho. Because it seemed so obvious. And that if it was him, the surprise would be lessened with the live crowd chanting his name and bringing signs. 

I wanted it to be Undertaker. I think he is due for a change in character, especially to wind down his career. But in the end, I'm really glad it was Jericho. 

Here's the rub though. How many people watched his return and felt like something was a little off, or hated it? Here comes the babyface Jericho and all he does for near 10 mins or something is pander to the crowd? 

I'll admit it, I was of that mindset until about 5 minutes into it. Then I (like a few other people I've noticed) figured it out. He's not pandering, he's showing how easy it is to lead the crowd, to have them follow him. To make them sheep essentially. He had that entire place eating out of the palm of his hand for 10 mins. Brilliant. 

And there were just a couple of subtle signs that he wasn't sincere. Don't get me wrong, the initial couple of minutes was all real as far as I can tell. Jericho has got to be happy to be back and get that kind of reaction. Who wouldn't want 15000 people cheering for them? But there were a couple of times where the smile faded, and you could see the "Best in the world at what he does" Jericho face. 

I had thought that it would have been amazing if the first thing he actually said was something like "And that's how easy it is to control you people... you sheep.. you "insert big long jericho style word here".. you really think I'm here to please you??" Etc. 

But I love the way this played out. The lack of talking makes people go .. "what...?" And more importantly, will make them tune in next week to see if he says anything. 

As with most other people, I think that this is leading into a Punk/Jericho feud. Which I am more than happy with.

So those were the returns. But we've got some more returns happening in the near future I dare say. The biggest one being Undertaker of course. Which will probably happen after the Rumble, maybe at the Rumble depending on who he will be facing at mania. I really hope they don't go with HHH again. It's a totally different situation to Taker and HBK. There's really nothing more they can add to what Taker and HHH did last year. I would love to see Taker and Kane, I think with Kane's resurrection, it could make for a really interesting story, and really, a good way for Taker to go out (if that's what he's planning to do). 20-0 seems an appropriate number to retire on I think. 

But really, it's still 3 months until Wrestlemania, and they have a ton of options.

Taker vs Sheamus (they would have to turn sheamus heel though)

Taker vs Cody Rhodes (doesn't make a lot of sense though, if Cody is still IC champ)

Taker vs Ziggler (I would like to see this as Ziggler rules, but I can't figure out the story behind it other than Ziggler saying "i can beat the streak".. and we've seen that a lot)

Taker vs CM Punk .. if they decide to go down a different road with Punk of course

And then by that logic, Taker vs Jericho. That would be an amazing match.

I'll even throw out there Taker vs HBK III ... So unlikely that it would happen, but it would still be amazing.

Ok I think i'll leave it there for now, I'm going to try to get back into this writing thing a lot more regularly. So I'll be back in a few days or a week or so to write about some of the other stuff that's been happening in the last few weeks. Like Cena still not turning heel. That's going to be a long blog.

Until then, follow me @TheOZMouthpiece on twitter and if you like what you've read, leave me a comment and check out my older posts. 

Done.