RIP Paul Bearer

Hello folks, it's me, it's me, it's ... Dave. Also known as the Aussie Mouthpiece, and I'm back with a special post.

As we all now know, William unfortunately passed away today, at only 58. This news seemed so shocking to me, and completely out of the blue. I found out probably the same as most people, through a status update on facebook. It really is the age of social media.

So I thought today that I would write about what Paul Bearer meant to me, and some of my favourite memories involving him, both on, and off TV.


When I first started watching WWE wrestling, it was 2003. Undertaker was coming to the ring on a bike, and had short hair. Regardless, something drew me to his character, and I started renting old VHS tapes from my local video store. I remember clearly, the first one that I rented was Wrestlemania XII. Undertaker vs Diesel. (Incidentally I was drawn to Wrestlemania XII because of Kevin Nash being a part of it, and me being a big WCW fan when I was a kid).

This was the first time I'd seen the "Deadman" Undertaker, and of course, his manager Paul Bearer. And what a match it was. And, what a pair they made. Over the next few years, as I completely fell in love with pro wrestling, I started watching as much as I could, and more specifically, learned all I could about the history of The Undertaker. I read all about Paul Bearer and Undertaker, from Ted DiBiase introducing Paul as Undertaker's manager after Brother Love wasn't working out, through to the Undertaker vs Undertaker, and of course, Paul Bearer betraying Undertaker and aligning himself with Mankind, and Vader among others.

And of course, how could I forget, Kane.

So fast forward a few months, and it's March 2004. It's Wrestlemania XX. The Undertaker is returning, and more importantly, The "Deadman" is returning.

Now, this was before I had Cable TV. I had to read about the results of Wrestlemania 20, but I do definitely remember downloading two very small, very bad quality clips of Undertaker's match. One being his entrance, and the other being the finish of the match. (I also remember them taking forever to download.. ahh, the days of dial up internet). But the first video began with Paul Bearer holding his urn up, and that familiar tolling of the bell. I must have watched them at least 50 times.

In the ensuing years, I picked up a lot of dvds, including the Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble Anthologies, so I got to see a lot of Undertaker matches, along with the Undertaker dvds that were released by the WWE.

I think the thing that drew me to The Undertaker and Paul Bearer was that they were completely unique characters. Everything about them was totally different to everything else going on in the WWF, even after the introduction of Kane. They were much darker, a great contrast to the over the top, cartoon like characters, and the Hulk Hogans and Ultimate Warriors of the early 90's. Paul Bearer's eerie voice, cutting through all the yelling and over the top shouting most characters would do, became iconic to me. And it complemented Undertaker's seemingly "death rattle" like voice, when he chose to utter a sentence or two.

I think something that we need to remember though, is that William Moody has been involved in wrestling for a lot longer than the Paul Bearer character has been in existence for. Before coming to the WWF in 1991, William was known as Percy Pringle III, and worked in the NWA territories, managing Rick Rude, Steve Austin, and even a certain wrestler who later on became The Undertaker. Also prior to arriving in the WWF, he did in fact complete a degree in mortuary science, and was certified as a funeral director and embalmer, something which would be instrumental in devising the Paul Bearer character. So, while a lot of us younger fans may know this man simply as Paul Bearer, we have to remember that William Moody put 44 years of his life into wrestling, and he should be remembered as such.


Now let's fast forward to June 2011, which is when I started writing my first wrestling blogs. I also started using twitter around the same time. After getting used to how things work on twitter and gaining a few followers, I decided to try my luck and tweet Paul Bearer. And to my delight, I got a reply back. This was, at least in recent years, my favourite thing about him. Just about every single time I would send him a tweet, be it something as simple as "have a nice day" or a specific question about some match I was watching at the time, or a general question, he always took the time to reply to me. Now I know that it really only takes a couple of seconds to reply to a tweet, but it's something I will never forget, and am greatly appreciative of.

It reminds me of a quote from Rob Zombie (which I will completely paraphrase). He was telling a story about people asking for autographs, and he said basically that he, as the celebrity won't remember the kid asking for him to sign something a week later, but that kid will remember the time he met Rob Zombie forever. So if he was a jerk, the kid would never forget that. And in the end it takes no time really to be a nice guy, and sign something.

And it's the same with tweeting. Every time I've ever gotten a tweet back from someone I look up to, or even just a favourite or a re-tweet, it makes me feel amazing, as I'm sure it does you too. I feel lucky that some of my favourite wrestlers have given a little piece of their time to respond to something I had to say. Wrestlers like Raven, and Road Dogg, even Dolph Ziggler. But my favourite replies always came from Paul Bearer. Like the one time I told him watching his shoot interview DVD's had really made me want to be a wrestling manager, and he replied with a witty "all that glitters, is not always gold". Or the time I said that the Undertaker/Kane program in 1998 would not have had the same impact if Paul wasn't a part of it, and he replied with a very humble "I disagree, but thank you", the man always took the time.

And Paul, I have to disagree with your "disagree", you sir, did make that program what it was. After now having watched the episodes of raw in their entirety, and seeing all the promos Paul cut after the burn incident, I can say that without a shadow of a doubt, it was Paul Bearer that made that story amazing, and epic, and wonderful to watch.

Now, one last thing. I've already seen some talk today on the interwebs about whether WWE will, should, or can incorporate this tragic news into the current story with Undertaker and CM Punk.

My thoughts are this: Firstly, Undertaker would have to sign off, and I'm sure he wouldn't go near it without Paul Bearer's family's permission. Secondly, if anyone can do it, it's CM Punk. Look at how well he did with the touchy subject of Jerry Lawler's heart attack. It could push the storyline into something a little more epic, but I do think it would completely 100% guarantee an Undertaker win (not that it's not already guaranteed, but still).

However... I don't know that it's the right way to go, but having said that, I'd like to think Paul Bearer would be ok with it if they do go down that road.

My theory on what should happen, and I really hope this is the way they go, or at least something like this. They should let The Undertaker come out to the ring next week on Raw, and talk. He doesn't necessarily need to break character, but at this point it really doesn't matter if he does. I feel like he should be given the opportunity, and Paul Bearer should be given the respect he deserves, and a proper send off.

Maybe they do that and then Punk interrupts (think of the heat!). Maybe they just let Undertaker speak, maybe even a tribute video. I think Paul Bearer should be acknowledged, and time should be allocated to give him a small, public goodbye.

Whatever happens, this Wrestlemania will be just a little less bright, knowing that Paul Bearer isn't around to see it.

So thank you Paul, thank you for all the memories, for all the amazing promos, for taking the time to reply to a no-name wrestling blogger, and for giving us so many years of your life, just to entertain us. Thank you for everything. You will be missed.

RIP.

Once In a lifetime at the end of an era.

Wow.

If someone asked me to describe Wrestlemania 28 in one word, it would be exactly that. Wow. In every sense of the word.

From the opening joke of a match, to the epic Hell in a Cell, to the somewhat subpar main event, Wow seems to sum it up perfectly.

It had everything. So it seems right to talk about everything.

Lets start with the dark match. I didn't see much of it, but I know that Epico and Primo retained their titles. I guess that's a good thing right?

I have to say, I was quietly very excited about this Wrestlemania. Maybe it was the 3 main events, but I just had this feeling it was going to be one of the best, at least of the last 10 years. For me, my favourite Wrestlemania is 19, probably because it was the first one I saw, but there were so many big feel matches. Angle/Lesnar, McMahon/Hogan, Rock/Austin, Michaels/Jericho. Wrestlemania 28 had the same feel.

And for the most part, it really didn't disappoint. Yes, there were bad parts, which we'll get to when I run through the matches and segments, but the good definitely outweighed the bad.

And from a personal point of view, I picked 7 out of the 8 matches correctly. Not a bad effort.

Ok so let's get down to business and go through the card.

So first up we had the World Heavyweight Title match between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan, with AJ at ringside. And, in less time than it takes for Undertaker to walk out of the entranceway, the match is over.
I literally looked away for 3 seconds, and I missed the finish.

My first reaction, like a lot of people I would imagine, was just .. "what?" And from there, it morphed into a "what the f**k?" .. I mean come on. Apparently the WWE wanted to break the record set by Chavo and Kane back at Wrestlemania 24. And failed. So instead of being able to use the "record" angle as part of the story to soften the blow, we got an 18 second title match. Way to make the World Heavyweight Championship seem about as important as the Tag titles.

It was a joke. Plain and simple. We got commercials for next year's Wrestlemania, a Diva's commercial, a spot promoting deadliest catch that were longer than the first match. Couldn't we have done without the mimed musical performances, and had an actual match instead? It is called WRESTLEmania after all.

 However, I don't think it made Daniel Bryan look as bad as most people think. It's the Honky Tonk Man principle. Ultimate Warrior defeated Honky in 30 seconds or so to win the Intercontinental title, and it didn't hurt Honky, because it was a surprise. He could claim he wasn't ready, wasn't prepared etc.

In the same vein, Daniel Bryan can now say that Sheamus took advantage of him while his back was turned. Not 100% true, but as a heel he can get away with bending the truth. So if there's one saving grace, at least the storyline in the next month or so will be a little interesting.

I'm not really sure how to score this match out of 10.. on one hand we got ripped off because we didn't get to see a good match, but for what it was, and what it could be, it's not the worst thing ever.

So, for what it was, i'll give it 7/10, but for what it could have been, it's a 2/10.

After a quick backstage segment with Team Johnny, next up was Randy Orton vs Kane. I really wasn't sure about this match, I felt like it had no reason to be happening, and there wasn't really any reason that I should care about it.
They talked about how Kane was trying to shake of the last of his humanity I guess? And Orton was responsible for some of that humanity? I'm not sure.

It was however, a really solid match. Not amazing, but it definitely didn't suck. I think on first viewing it looked worse than it was, because of what happened with the opening match. People were still shocked. I know I was.

The problem was though, this match lacked any kind of "big fight" feel. It may have had to do with it still being daylight. Seeing wrestling in natural light is still a little strange. But I think really it was just the lack of story behind the match.

We got the usual spots from Orton and Kane, but the finish was at least a little special, with Kane hitting a chokeslam from the ropes.

A decent match, but could have been better with more build up. 5.5/10

Next up was another backstage segment with Santino, Mick Foley, and eventually Ron Simmons. Very funny stuff, especially Mick's pirate voice. Oh and there was some guy from some discovery channel show they were trying to pimp.. I mean advertise. And of course, we got Ron Simmons delivering a perfect "damn".

Following on from that we got the Intercontinental Title match between Cody Rhodes and Big Show.
I had a feeling this might have been one of those "dark horse" matches that could end up being really, really good. And Show and Rhodes did not disappoint.
Great action to start off, and Big Show's chops to the chest sounded extra brutal. In fact, a lot of the impacts sounded more violent tonight. Maybe it was that everyone was working a little stiffer, maybe the WWE used different microphones because it was an outdoor event. Either way it was great.

The only thing was that the match to me was a little short. But it worked.

I originally thought that Show needed to win, but Cody should retain his title. I was going with this line of thinking because I had figured Cody was going to be an IC champion with a long title reign, as in a record setting title reign. That way, Big Show got his revenge, but Cody could still stay champion.

But that wasn't to be. Big Show loaded up his KO punch and nailed Cody, pinning him for the 1, 2, 3, and becoming the new Intercontinental Champion. And also a grand slam champion. Which is an awesome effort.
You could tell that it really did mean something to Big Show. I've always liked that about him, he shows real emotion when he wins titles. It happened for that 45 seconds at TLC when he won the world title, and again at Mania. It makes it feel real, and it shows that he's not just there to be there.

So I've been thinking about what happens to Cody Rhodes now. I would imagine he has a rematch at Extreme Rules, but over the next few months I would expect to see him starting to get into the World Title hunt, whether it be on Smackdown, or RAW.

So overall I think that this match was right up there in the top few of the night, and Big Show deserved the win. 7/10

This tag line that has been used this year.. the "end of an era".. It's not only about the Hell in a Cell match, which i'll get to in just a minute. It feels like that was the overriding theme of the night. Not "Once in a lifetime". That was strictly for The Rock and Cena. (And possibly a TNA contracted wrestler appearing on camera at Wrestlemania as well, but hey.. it's Naitch!).

Think about it. Sheamus decimated Daniel Bryan and became World Heavyweight Champ for the first time. Big Show achieved the honor of becoming a grand slam champion. The fact that he was so emotional.. maybe that was his last Wrestlemania match.
There was the embrace after the Hell in a Cell match, almost like Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn were saying goodbye (I'll get to it in more detail later).
Jericho (the veteran) put Punk over.
Rock one his Once in a Lifetime match.  Everything has this "end of an era" feel about it, like RAW tomorrow (or today depending on where you are in the world) is going to be the start of a new day in the WWE, with a lot of the veterans stepping away. I have a feeling we might see Triple H, Undertaker, Big Show on raw, but we might not see them much after that.

I did notice that the first 3 matches were all done and dusted with only 45 minutes of the pay per view gone,
which did seem a bit fast. But we found out at the end that they needed all that time. I think it ended with only a few minutes to spare. So the timing was well done this year. It certainly didn't look like anything had to be cut down. So well done to the WWE for that.

So next up was a 3 or 4 minute video package about all the Divas. .. I don't know what point that served.

And now it's time for the Diva's tag team match. It was better than I expected, but to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. Beth carried the match (as usual), although Kelly Kelly did surprise me (and in a good way too) hitting a Molly Go Round (you know that's what it's called) on Beth.

What I didn't like is that damn finish. Maria Menounos took longer than a world heavyweight title match (Yup, that's going to become a thing) to climb the turnbuckles, selling the fact that she could hardly move. Yet she had the strength to hold Beth down with her entire body (including her apparently injured ribs) for a 3 count? A wrestler I could buy being able to do that, but a celebrity? She shouldn't have sold so hard. And if it was a legitimate injury and she really couldn't move that fast, she could have kept up the selling when going for the school boy(girl). Also, don't wear white pants when wrestling girls with fake tan on.
Overall it wasn't the worst divas match ever, but it was nowhere near as good as a one on one match with Beth and Natalya would have been. 4/10


Next up, somewhat surprisingly at first, is the End of an Era Hell in a Cell match. Undertaker vs Triple H, with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee. So many expectations. Would Shawn screw over one of the combatants? Would the match live up to the hype? And most importantly.. What would Undertaker's hair look like?

Before I get to the match, let me just say it was great to have Jim Ross call this match. Moreover, it was fitting. This match signified the last act of the attitude era. Jim Ross was the voice of the attitude era. In a perfect world, Cole would have left the commentary table for this match, but at least we got JR.

Shawn makes his entrance, and then that thundering open Eb Chord (yes, i know my music) hits, and Triple H makes his entrance, out of some kind of stage prop, that looked very cool, very metal, and very Triple H. He's been taking on this Viking style King of Kings character for his Mania entrances, and this one was right up there.

And then there's Undertaker. As you all know I'm a bit of an Undertaker mark, so his matches are always a special thing for me. As are his entrances. And this year he did not disappoint. That coat... yes it had a little bit of a Super Shredder vibe about it, but it was amazing. Somewhere between that ministry outfit, and his monk-like hooded robe/jacket.

The "hair reveal" almost had as much hype as the match itself. We'd all read the reports that he would be bald, but, in another surprise, Taker removed his hood and revealed a low mohawk. If you can, watch that part again, but watch the faces of the people in shot behind him. It's priceless.
It's certainly a different look for him, but it worked. Jim Ross's commentary once again made this moment so much more epic. Just a simple.. "My god".. Michael Cole really should pay attention to when the greatest of all time is speaking.

I'm not going to go through the match move by move, because let's face it, this is already long, and I've still got 3 more matches after this one to run through. Favourite parts though included the Spinebuster on the steps, which amazed me. Undertaker doesn't need to take bumps like that, but he still does. Amazing.

The brutal chair shots. All of them. Like I said before with Big Show's chops, the impact of the chair shots sounded different, more brutal.

The "DX finisher combo" on Undertaker had me going. No-one has ever kicked out of that combo of moves. Not that I've seen anyway. It's things like that which remind me how much I love pro wrestling. Even though every fibre of my being knows that Undertaker will win, because of the Streak, I still mark out for those near falls.

I liked the finish as well, but it was really the only part of the match that I felt like had been done before. We'd seen it with Shawn a couple of years earlier, only this year there was a sledgehammer. But it worked. It made sense. It was right.

What made this match so good though, was the story. And you can thank Shawn Michaels for making it as good as it was. Even in a refereeing only capacity, he is Mr Wrestlemania. Watch his reactions to the chair shots, the sledgehammer shots, the kickouts.. That was why Shawn was a part of this match. Look at the final Sledge shot from Taker to Triple H. The camera cuts back and it shows that Shawn can't even look. That says so much. And then after the pinfall.. Shawn looked like he genuinely had tears in his eyes.

All in all this was an amazing match, and an amazing finale to this 4 year journey of Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels/Undertaker vs Triple H, and an amazing final act of the Attitude Era. And the way that Undertaker, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels left the arena was.. it was perfect. Sure, people can say that Taker's character would never have done that, but this wasn't Undertaker the character. Since his return he's basically been I would say, as close to himself as he's ever been, without riding to the ring on a motorcycle. These three men have been a part of something that none of us as fans will ever truly understand. They clearly have a bond that goes beyond their gimmicks, and deserve all the accolades they have, and will ever get.

Before I move on from this match, let me posit a theory. Undertaker, and possibly Triple H, will come out on Raw tomorrow, and retire. Undertaker has reached 20-0. He's beaten every big name over the last 22 years. There's nothing else for him to do. 20-0 seems a fitting time to me, and if you watch the final couple of shots of Taker, Shawn and Hunter, it almost looks like a "goodbye" look from them. And I'm just going to go ahead and say it. That was a beautiful moment.

Ok so overall did this match live up to the hype? I think that yes, it did. It gave us everything we wanted (even accidental blood).. and brought to an end this amazing rivalry. 9.5/10


How does anyone follow that? The easy answer is that they don't, which is why a 12 man tag went on afterwards. That way the responsibility wasn't just on one or two people.

Just quickly, Edge choking up when he was announced in the hall of fame segment, same as Big Show, is one of those things that makes this feel even more special, and more real. It's really weird to see him with short hair though.

Heath Slater got slammed into that wall hard. Somebody tell that Flo Rida dude it's meant to be a work!

So next up is Team Johnny vs Team Teddy.

I really don't have a lot to say about this match, I thought it was as good as it could be. Dolph did indeed steal the spotlight as I thought he would. His sell of that monkey flip was insane. Best spot has to go to the Triple front flip rope dive though. Great timing by everyone, and everyone was caught safely.

It was an interesting finish, with Eve showing her true colours (again). But it was good that Miz got the pinfall. Going from main eventing Wrestlemania to being part of a 12 man tag match mustn't have been easy.

A decent match overall, but really nothing all that special. 6/10

Punk and Jericho came next, with the freshly added stipulation that if Punk got DQ'd, he'd lose the title. This was a really good decision, because it made the story of the match so much more intense. Punk had to keep his cool, and Jericho would try to make Punk snap time after time. A really smart booking decision. Well done.

Jericho's jacket now comes with a 2nd colour. But he still can't get it all to flash at once.

I think this match was going to have a hard time just because of it's place on the card. People were still reeling from the Hell in a Cell match. But I think that if people watch this match on replay, once they've already seen Wrestlemania once, they'll realise just how good this match is. It was what they both said it would be. The best wrestling match on the card.

Punk took a really hard fall from that suplex off of the apron, it looked brutal. But having said that, Jericho took a few fairly stiff looking knees from Punk when he said "how's your father?"

Speaking of those barbs, I thought that was a really original, and really well executed idea. Jericho verbally goading Punk into snapping, and letting us hear it through the camera (i'm not sure if it got picked up for the live crowd) was a great touch. And Jericho's facial expressions were perfect too.

What else can I say about this match? It was great. Pure pro wrestling. Back and forth pinfall attemps and submission attempts, reversals, and most importantly, a great story was told. I think it was right that Cm Punk won this match, and it solidifies him as a top guy. He defended the title, at Wrestlemania. That's a big deal.
8.5/10

We got a dance number instead of a world heavyweight title match. But.. plus side is we saw the Dactyl! .. I'm happy for Brodus getting a fairly unique Wrestlemania moment to say the least, but I think the time could have been better used for the opening match.

And last but not least, the main event. The once in a lifetime match. John Cena vs The Rock. Would it live up to the hype? Would The Rock become the best ever? Or would Cena finally shut Rocky up?

First of all, I'm just going to say one thing about the musical "performances". Lip-Syncing. Terrible.

One saving grace, I thought that Machine Gun Kelly guy performed really well. And I liked his little speech too. It seemed like he was really grateful to get the opportunity. Too bad whoever the female "singer" was performed so badly. But the dude was like a heat magnet. Cleveland jersey in Miami, and saying Cena would beat Rock. Well done.

But let's forget about all that, and focus on what's important. Which is the match.

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed with this match. There seemed to be a lack of chemistry and timing between the two. Rock looked like he was half a step slower than Cena, and there were at least 2 times I saw Cena having to wait for Rock to get in the right position for the next move.
And Rock seemed less .. well less like "The Rock".

Also from a Cena fan point of view, I was a little disappointed that he went back to the jean shorts and coloured shirts. The black was a little more aggressive, but maybe with Rocky being associated with wearing the black tights and shirts, they wanted to give a visual indication of how different the two guys are.

The match reminded me a lot of Rock/Hogan from Wrestlemania 18. I mean the difference here is that both guys were still in their prime, but still it had the same feeling. Both guys hitting their big moves only to have the guy kick out at 2.

I'll admit, I was almost sure that Cena was going to win when he finally hit the AA. Rocky kicked out so late it was almost 3 for real. And then Cena kind of changed a little, got a bit of an attitude.. got a little angry, and disrespectful. It was kind of interesting. Trying to hit a people's elbow on The Rock, in Miami, at Wrestlemania. Very ballsy.

Now I've been sure of a Cena heel turn before and it's not happened, so I'm not going to sit here and say "Cena's turning heel on Raw!" But it felt .. interesting. I can't wait to see what happens. Maybe there will be a Rock/Cena II, maybe at Summerslam. If there is Cena has to win that one. But a heel Cena vs a Babyface Rock would make the rematch more appealing, because it would be different.

If you read my Wrestlemania predictions, you'd know that I picked Cena to win. In retrospect, that was .. stupid.  It's The Rock's hometown, he talked about wanting to be the best ever, and honestly, it makes sense. And Cena is a stand up guy to be good with that and do the job.

So Rock wins, and it's fitting. It made sense. Overall this match wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be, but it really had a lot of hype to live up to. John Cena and The Rock did a really good job though, and it was a great way to finish the night. 8/10

So overall what did I think of the show? I thought that it was one of the best Wrestlemania's in recent memory. I'm trying to think of what I'd thought the best was before today. Possibly Wrestlmania 23. Undertaker/batista.. Shawn/Cena, That epic MiTB match with both Hardy boys. And the battle of the billionaires. This card had a similar amount of epic matches, and overall, it lived up to the hype.

Yes, the WHC match was ridiculous, but it opens up an interesting storyline moving forward. Yes, the Rock and Cena wasn't as good as it could have been, but it was still great. And we got a better Cell match than I think a lot of people were expecting.

So overall I would give Wrestlemania 28 a 7 out of 10.

So that's all for now, I'll be back in a few days with the next edition of Home Schooling, talking about the fallout from Wrestlemania and Monday Night Raw. Until then, follow me on twitter if you're not already @TheOZMouthpiece and leave me a comment on here or twitter to let me know what you think.

Business concluded.

Home Schooling No.7

It's time for another dose of home schooling from me, the Aussie Mouthpiece. So get set for my weekly round-up of what's interested me, both the good, and the bad.

It's been another big week for wrestling, with the "Road to Wrestlemania" taking more twists and turns as we get closer to the big day. So this week I will be talking once again about the main storylines on RAW and Smackdown, but as an extra added bonus, I want to talk about one small part of TNA this week as well. And, if there's time and I don't forget, a slight ROH mention too.

So let's get down to business.

This week's episode of Raw was billed as the Cena Rap/Rock Concert (or something), therefore I'll start off this week talking about them.

Now this might not be popular opinion, but John Cena "won" again. I don't know if it's scripted that way, or if (at least to me) what Cena is saying, or his side makes more sense to me than The Rock's, but as far as I'm concerned, John Cena is winning the verbal battle.

You can hear it even just from the crowd reactions. Sure, The Rock will always get cheered by most of the people. But in the last couple of weeks, Cena has been getting a solid cheer for his efforts. And that's more than has been happening in about 4 or 5 years.

So let's talk about Cena first. And this isn't fruity pebble Cena, or Rise Above Cena, this was old school Cena, the Cena that used to get cheered by just about everyone. Seriously, go back and watch Smackdown in 2004 after he won the US title, or even just watch Wrestlemania 20's opening match. No dog tags and camo shorts this week, we get basketball jersey and chain and padlock Cena. And I for one, was really happy and excited for that.

I've seen comments like "now he's just trying to be a rapper again"... isn't the Rock still using the same gimmick from oh.. what 15 years ago? You use what works. John Cena was (and probably still is) into rap and hip hop in "real life", he got over with his rapper gimmick, and then slowly toned it down when the WWE was changing eras. But there's no doubt that even though this is a different side of Cena, it's not anything that he's pretending to be.

Best of all, he did what the Rock couldn't do, and he didn't take 20 minutes and other people's music to do it. Cena was in the ring for about 3 and a half minutes. Listen to the crowd after each of his "rhymes". Listen especially to when he walked out of the ring. Everyone who has ever said "we want cena to turn heel" or something like it, well.. you just got it.

I'm not saying he's "heel" now, but what I am saying is that, at least on screen, John Cena's attitude has changed. This week there was no pandering to the children, no talking to the cameraman on the stage, no salute, and we got swearing and innuendo. But it probably won't be enough for those people either.

I have a feeling though, that it may not be a permanent change, that this may have been a once off. But, even if it is, it was worth it just for the "boobies" lines.

So on the other side of things, we have The Rock.

Now, I could write an entire blog about why I think The Rock isn't all he's cracked up to be, and I probably will eventually get around to it as well, but for now, let's talk about this week specifically.

First of all, this is the 2nd time in what.. 3 weeks that we've had a 20 minute plus Rock segment to end Raw.Yes, i know that the first one (which was 2 weeks ago) was interrupted by Cena, but still, at least this week I thought the two segments (Cena's Rap and the "Rock" concert) should have been put closer together.
Also, the way it was advertised seemed like the rapping and singing would be happening in the same segment, like a battle. Maybe WWE was afraid Cena would get cheered louder than the Rock.

Rock took longer to say one word, than Cena's entire promo ran for. Yeah, he's The Great One, but still.
And then one of the first things he talked about was how Cena had been "running around here for 8 years, looking like vanilla ice banged a tellytubby"... So somebody forgot to mention to the Rock, that, even before he left the first time, Cena was doing the rapper gimmick, wearing basically what he wore this week on RAW? Wasn't Rock on smackdown at the start of 2003?

Something else that really gets to me, is the Rock's flashy hollywood grin. It worked when he was a heel, but now it looks condescending or something. Ok that's not really a big deal, but I have a lot of problems with the way the Rock is going about attacking Cena.

See, the way I see it, The Rock is essentially a schoolyard bully. I think i said this last week, but he's attacking what somebody else wears, has interest in, and basically just picking on someone because he's different to the Rock.
We get constant references to Cena being a bitch, or having no balls, having "ladyparts".. oh and this week some kind of inference about being gay. Be a star huh WWE? So don't bully people unless you're The Rock. That's the message apparently.

Ok now we're at the part that has really pissed me off.  So... Rock. You're not a "real man" if you are a fan of John Cena, or Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings? And anyone who is, must be a virgin? You sir, are an asshole. You're a bully, you're just some jock who tries to be cool by making fun of people who have different interests to you.

Ok i'm done ranting, that part just really pissed me off. But on the flipside, before I get to the complete trashing of a classic Queen song, the verse about Eve and Cena was really good. See if that kinda stuff was the main part of Rock's promos I would probably be leaning towards him for who i'd want to win at mania. It was on a different level to the "kung pow bitch" crap.

Ok and just quickly about the We Will Rock You .. um.. "cover".. Awful. That's it. Just plain bad. And full of the same kind of repetition that Rock talks about Cena using.

Right, time to move on!

Let's quickly talk about Dolph Ziggler. The fact that this guy doesn't have a match at Mania yet is a damn shame. I hope he doesn't just get put into the Laurinitis/Long tag match, because he deserves a much bigger spot than that. Unfortunatlely, with Santino being in said tag match, and Cody Rhodes wrestling the Big Show for the IC title (why?) There's not really a lot they can do with him, other than maybe a Tag Title match, with he and Swagger teaming up. But that probably won't happen because Swagger is who Santino beat for the US title, so Swagger will want on the Laurinitis team.

But more likely than not, he (Ziggler) will do something memorable during the match, and I get the feeling that this time next year we might be seeing him in a title match.

I'm not really going to talk about the Laurinitis/Long tag match, because I really don't care right now. They've got two more weeks to make me care.

Funkasaurus was back on Raw! .. Different finisher though. Maybe a splash is safer than a cross-body.

Jericho and Punk got a lot more interesting this week. Now there's that personal .. thing, that is going to make CM Punk care more about this match than any other match he's had in a while. It was so well done, and a lot of that credit I think must go to Punk. I remember seeing an interview about the Austin/McMahon rivalry, and whoever it was, was talking about how without McMahon's visual reactions to Austin's actions, that rivalry wouldn't have gotten as hot as it did.

Punk's reaction was exactly what it needed to be. We haven't seen Punk look that way before. Something finally got to him. He's not the carefree guy who will drop a pipebomb now and then. Suddenly he's dealing with something he's (storyline wise at least) tried to forget about.

But let's not forget Chris Jericho.

That was one of the better promos I've seen in a long time. At first, I thought the "i'm going to make you drink" was a bit off, a little odd, but thinking about it a bit more, because of CM Punk's beliefs, saying that would be like saying "i'm going to destroy everything you believe in" to him. So it makes sense.

All in all, this promo has me excited for this match again, after a couple of weeks of just coasting.

Ok lastly let's talk about Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H.

I didn't love the whole segment this week. So far, it feels like Triple H is the third wheel. Shawn and 'Taker's battle seems like the focus right now, and it really shouldn't be like that. It gives the impression that it doesn't matter what Triple H does in the match, because Shawn is basically the more important factor. And it really shouldn't be like that.

The promos were really good this week. However, Undertaker sometimes is a bit of a mystery. He looks all demonic and kind of "ministry-esque" with the hood, yet he's talking more like Big Evil. Also Undertaker's eyes tell a lot of the story I think, and it's hard to see them with that hood covering up his baldness.

So what's going to happen? Well, if you take what you saw at the end of the segment at face value, Shawn and Triple H are back on the same page, and Shawn is going to "screw" Undertaker. Of course, this is WWE, so the more likely option would appear to be that Shawn will swerve Triple H. Why? Who knows. But what I think will happen, is Shawn will call it down the middle. Which kind of begs the question.. why do we need him there at all?

I'm not complaining that we get to see Shawn Michaels in the ring again, don't get me wrong. I just don't think this match NEEDS him to be a part of it. You've already got 20-0 on the horizon, which should be a really big deal. You've got the rematch aspect, the fact that last year they did the "Taker on a stretcher" bit after the match, and the Hell in a Cell. Adding Shawn seems like overkill. I just hope it doesn't take away from the match.

Oh and you also have this whole "end of an era" thing. Which intrigues me. Does this mean that it will be an attitude era style match? I still think we're going to see blood in this match. Obviously we're not going to see anyone fall off of the cell, not unless Mick Foley does a run in of course..

And yes, Taker said the wrong date. People make mistakes. CM Punk fumbled his words during his promo with Jericho a couple of weeks ago. Rock fumbled his words this week, last week, the week before. Nobody is perfect.

I really like Shawn's angle in this though, even though it could be overkill. I like his line about it being ironic that he could still "be the guy to possibly end the streak". He's not saying he's going to screw Undertaker. He said possibly. Undertaker's reply was just as strong. "If you don't do the right thing, I will officially end.. you". Awesome. 22 years on, and the guy can still garner as strong a reaction as ever. Maybe not the best ever, but definitely the best character ever.

I would have liked to see Triple H go down to the ring to confront Undertaker, but as I was watching it, I just thought to myself.. What are they going to say to each other? There's really not much more to be said. Maybe that's why Shawn was brought in. I have a feeling next week, we might get a solo Undertaker promo. I hope so. I really liked the couple he's done in the past few years.

This match will obviously be good, probably great. Just hopefully all of the different aspects of the match don't weaken the match as a whole.

Another long one this week folks, but I'm done for now. So until next time, leave me a comment to let me know what you think, follow me on twitter @TheOZMouthpiece and until then, business is done.

PS. I know i didn't get around to the TNA or ROH stuff, so really REALLY quickly. TNA: Joseph Parks =  awesome. ROH: Kevin Steen = awesome. there you go.

Home Schooling No. 6

Right, it's been a long time between drinks (or diet sodas), but it's finally time for another dose of home schooling, from me, The Aussie Mouthpiece.

So we're getting into the meat of the Road to Wrestlemania, so this installment will be focused purely on what's happening on Raw, and to a lesser extent, Smackdown as well. Also, I haven't really been watching TNA so .. there's not a lot I can say about it.

So let's talk about the major storylines going on at the moment.

This year's Wrestlemania, for me at least, seems bigger than the last few years. In fact, I'm struggling to remember what the title matches were for Wrestlemania 25 and 26. 27 was only one year ago so I do remember those. But for Mania 25 and 26, the first, and really only thing that comes into my head is Undertaker and Michaels.

This year seems bigger though as I said. There's the year long build of Rock/Cena (which I will get to in great length I'm sure), Undertaker/HHH (and HBK now I guess) and Punk/Jericho. It's almost a shame that the World Heavyweight Title doesn't seem that important, but I guess maybe it can open the show like it did last year.

So before I get to the big 3, let's talk about the other parts of RAW, and what else is happening this year.

Santino Marella. That guy put on one hell of a performance at the Elimination Chamber last month. I, like a lot of people I'm sure, was nearly convinced he was going to win the title. I'll admit, I marked out when he hit the Cobra, as ridiculous a move as it is.

But it seems that somebody took notice, because this week he won the US championship.

Now don't get me wrong, that's probably the title with the least amount of prestige at the moment. Ziggler and Ryder made it interesting, but once Swagger got it I pretty much lost interest. On a side note, check out Back to the Future, and tell me Swagger isn't Biff's identical twin. Seriously.

But it's still a pat on the back for Santino. Hopefully he gets to hold it until after Wrestlemania at least.
I have a feeling though, that this is actually leading to a match between Swagger and Ziggler for Wrestlemania. I'm not sure how they'll get there, one of them would have to switch, but Ziggler calls himself the #Heel, and Swagger I don't think is over enough. And plus, people don't want to hear him talk.

Santino is going to be a part of the Laurinitis/Long thing, with Otunga. So who knows. Maybe Swagger and Ziggler won't feud, but instead go for the Tag Title belts. Maybe this was a way to get the singles title away from Swagger, and focus he and Ziggler as a tag team more.

The GM story is kind of interesting as well, but I'm worried that we're going to get Mr Excitement shoved down our throats way too much. Sure it's fun to boo him, but unless he's tripping on his words and fumbling sentences on purpose (which would be an amazing work if he was), it's going to get to the point, if it hasn't already, where people don't boo because he's a bad guy, they boo because they don't want to see him.

I have a feeling that this might end up with Triple H as the GM, because let's face it, he's really the only person suited for it, unless good guy Vince wants to make a comeback, or Stephanie McMahon returns to Tv. But I don't see either of those things happening. Triple H makes sense.

Zack Ryder.
Really? Eve kisses him and he's suddenly love struck again like he's in a crappy teen movie? Only thing I can think of is he starts defending her to other people and becomes a heel? but, why would they do that? I am assuming here that the merch the WWE makes of Heel wrestlers doesn't sell as well as the babyfaces. That makes sense right?

Hopefully this gets back onto a decent track, even if it's just Eve and _________ vs Zack and Kelly Kelly or something. Or hell, even Zack and Beth Phoenix, seeing as how it's what, 4 weeks away from Mania and there's been nothing done with the women's title?

Miz.
Wow. How far one man can fall in one year. If it's because they lump Survivor Series on his shoulders, that's completely ridiculous. Blame the guy who's the biggest name if you're going to blame anyone. Oh you can't, he doesn't really work for you. Say what you will about some of the other part time guys, but at least they re-invent themselves, or at least refresh themselves a little. Rock is the same Rock, spouting the same old crap. But I'll get to that soon. I hope Miz gets some kind of spot at Wrestlemania. He's not my favourite guy, but considering where he was last year, he deserves a spot.

Big Show/Cody Rhodes.
Huh? Why is Show getting a shot at the IC title, at this stage in his career? That title is about giving a younger guy the opportunity to show he can be a top guy. I don't get this at all. That's really all i'm going to say about it. Not a fan at all.

Ok, so that's the undercard stuff I guess, so let's move on to the main events. And also from this point i'm going to be talking about last week's RAW as well, seeing as how I didn't post anything last week.

Let's start with Punk/Jericho.

"Screw your stupid, Light-brite jacket". Brilliant.

Ok to elaborate, these two guys can obviously talk. Punk hasn't really been given as good of a foil lately, as opposed to 4 or 5 months ago, but now with Chris Jericho, he's got someone who he can really go toe-to-toe verbally with. I really liked that they got to talk for as long as they did, and you could clearly tell it wasn't a script, maybe just some notes (but not written on their bodies anywhere..but i'll get to that) but for the most part, it was on the fly. The way it SHOULD be done.

It looks as if Jericho is getting ahead on the one-upsmanship for now, but that's ok. Punk doesn't look worse for it at all, because we all know what he can do. I'm hoping they go for the sort of "Punk is the champion but still the underdog" kind of thing, because I always enjoyed the matches where the guy chasing the title wins at Mania, and really, Punk will win at Mania because he's, as he said "the man right now".

Undertaker/HHH/HBK
OK, I've said it before, Undertaker is my favourite wrestler, so I'm probably biased here, because HBK is 2nd on my favourites list.
But I really like where this is going. The special referee thing is a little odd, because Shawn isn't going to come out of retirement for a 'payback' match, so I don't see him really turning on either guy. In fact, the only way I could see that, is if he caused 'Taker to lose the match, therefore ending the streak, and also therefore 'Taker would be retired I guess, so there wouldn't be any payback.

But that won't happen. 20-0 looks and sounds too good.

It's strange, but even now, Triple H looks kind of like the third wheel in this whole thing. Maybe that's intentional, a part of the "Shawn is better than you" thing. Maybe it's just because of how things have gone for the last couple of weeks, with Shawn's "phone interview" on the WWE website, and with next week the advertisement being "Undertaker returns, and HBK will be there to see what he says".. but it's odd that the opponent for 'Taker isn't the focus right now.

I really like the idea of the Hell In a Cell, and honestly, I couldn't care less about all of this "how will they set it up" stuff. It doesn't matter, it's about the match. And plus, it's the WWE. They'll find a way.

I would expect to see a really brutal match, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was even some blood. Because of the history of these 3, and also because of who they are within the company. It's not some young guy trying to make a name for himself. It's not outlandish to imagine that inside this cage, with the weapons available etc, that someone would get cut open. If this is the "reality era", then blood is a possiblity in this match, because it would be realistic.

Obviously Undertaker will win though. Unless he's announced as going into the hall of fame, which won't happen. Also, I hope he takes his damn hood off at least once before 'Mania, and they bring the cutting of the hair into the storyline.

Ok onto the main event. John Cena and The Rock.

Well. There's certainly a lot to cover. I hope your eyes aren't too tired to read all of this. Cena's promo 2 weeks ago (best of his career indeed), the Rock's return last week (complete with cheat sheet on his wrist) and then this week with the Rock's history lessons... yawn.

Honestly, is anyone else getting bored with the Rock? He comes out every week (well.. not every week because he's not there every week) but whenever he comes out, it's the same old stuff. Making fun of the way Cena dresses. Saying he has no balls/ladyparts/pink parts. Calling him a bitch. I mean, to me that just sounds like a schoolyard bully picking on someone because they're different to themselves. Which is a jerk move.

And it's stale and boring. And also seems like a lot of PR crap. Trying to get things trending on twitter. Like twitter is what the entire world is actually talking about. Isn't it only a small percentage of WWE fans that are on twitter?

I know that Rock's biggest catchphrases are obviously something he would say every time he's around, but for over a year not, he's been spouting on about Cena being less than a man, because he wears coloured shirts or something. So much for the anti-bullying campaign right?

Anyway,  so last week we get a twenty minute Rock promo/twitter advertisement, and the Rock has notes on his arm? Now I for one don't believe that was done intentionally, nor do I believe that Rock knew Cena would bring it up. But I'm really glad he did, because, if you paid close attention to this week's Cena/Rock stuff (live in the ring i mean) there were smatterings, and sometimes halfway decent Rocky Sucks chants going on. And more to the point, Cena was absolutely spot on. Rock got shaken up.

After Cena left the ring last week, Rock repeated himself, stumbled over words (which I can never remember him doing) and then reverted to the catchphrases he made so famous 14 years ago. Wait, didn't he accuse Cena of saying the same old .. "hot garbage".. last year? Talk about your hypocrites.

Anyway, Cena is, on purpose or not (and my vote is for not) looking so much better than Rock right now. As far as I'm concerned, Rock is the heel in this situation. He's a bully, he's overbearing, and Cena is standing up for himself.

But regardless of whatever people think of either guy, this feud is heating up in a big way, and has the makings of being one of the biggest matches ever, and really, that can only be good for everyone. Even if you don't like Cena, or don't like the Rock, or don't like the match, it's going to bring more people in to watch the shows. And, probably more importantly, it's going to get the other guys to lift their game to try and get into those kinds of spots down the line.

I could go on and on about Rock, and Undertaker, and HBK, but my fingers are about to fall off from typing so much, so until next time, remember to leave me a comment, cut a promo on me if you don't like what i've said, and if you're not doing so already, follow me on twitter @TheOZMouthpiece and remember, I come from a land down where? Down UNDER!

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.

Let me tell ya something...

It's me again, the armchair mouthpiece, back to sling you some more written truthfacts from the couch of creativeness.

Ok so I did say my next post would not be about the whole CM Punk/Cena/McMahon situation, and I meant it. So what I thought i'd do is give you a little history lesson, namely how I became a fan, and why I feel like I can actually write this blog, and not come off like some huckster, who doesn't know what he's talking about.

I also thought I might start doing some random top 10 lists, a few ideas I have include the obvious top 10 wrestlers and top 10 matches.. but I thought some things like top 10 sick bumps, top 10 fails, maybe top 10 one liners could be interesting as well. So if anyone wants to comment on wether or not that would be good, or not, please feel free.

So, as far as my history goes, I mentioned this in my first post, so forgive me for repeating myself. I started watching wrestling right around 1997-98. I can't remember exactly when, could have been slightly earlier in fact. One of the first matches I can remember seeing involved Sting, but it was before the "Crow" transformation, he still had his blonde hair and coloured face-paint, however it could have been a highlight package or something. I used to visit my father every couple of months or so, and at the time he had Optus Cable TV, which carried TNT, and therefore WCW Monday Nitro. So originally, as a teenager, I was a WCW guy. I saw a little WWF stuff late at night on tv, I even remember thinking "this is stupid, why is he bleeding?"... Oh to be young again..

Anyway the first main story I remember, as many who watched WCW around that time was the NWO, and in turn the NWO wolfpack. I became a big fan of Kevin Nash, Sting, Juventud Guerrera, Raven, and I remember the commentary of Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan especially. I remember watching Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Alex Wright, Glacier(!), Ric Flair.. Also i remember disliking Eric Bischoff right from the get go. Not much has changed in 13 years. But, I was still under the impression this was all completely "real", and was just a fan of the matches, i suppose not really a "smark" or whatever we're supposed to be called.

I got a bit older, my father moved to a different place and didn't have cable, so from 1999 or so onwards, no more wrestling for me. That is until 2003. I don't remember exactly why I did this, but I was in a local video rental store, and they had a bunch of WWE and WWF videos. not dvds, videos. The first ones I hired were Wrestlemania XII, and Judgement Day 2003. So it must have been around July/August 2003. I watched Wrestlemania XII, and immediately I was hooked again. Undertaker vs. Diesel, Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart, even Ultimate Warrior vs HHH (clearly i still wasn't that knowledgable)... Instantly I was a Shawn Michaels fan. I liked Undertaker, but didn't know a lot about him. That would change very quickly.

Then I popped in Judgement Day 2003, I can remember watching that video so vividly.. The banter between Austin and Bischoff (who i recognised of course) was amazing. I think what drew me to hiring that particular video was the 2 main event matches, HHH vs Kevin Nash, and Big Show (or, as i knew him.. The Giant) vs Brock Lesnar in a stretcher match. Nash powerbombing HHH through the announcer's table is still one of my favourite memories.

So that was where my current love of wrestling began. I hired just about every single video they had there, they had some pay per views from 1998, Unforgiven i think was one, with the Inferno Match between Undertaker and Kane.. seeing that side of Undertaker was what got me really interested in him, and it was around the same time that he'd been buried alive at the survivor series of 2003, and there were all those signs of his return as the Deadman.

So that was 2003/2004. I started buying dvds, reading histories, learning as much as I could about everything to do with wrestling, the backstage stuff (as much as you can really), watching Shawn Michaels interviews helped, all the interviews I've seen him give on dvd's and such, he speaks truthfully, talking about "we talked about what we could do with the cell".. basically no kayfabe with him.

I got cable tv in 2005, in october.. about a month before Eddie died. I feel really lucky that I got it when I did, because I was able to see Eddie's last televised match.. and the tribute RAW.

So since then, i've wathced a lot of ECW, and then a couple of years ago when Foxtel started broadcasting Impact, started watching TNA. And that in turn led to buying a whole bunch of TNA dvds from overseas, namely the older ones not available here in australia. Watching AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, Sabin, Shelley, Petey Williams.. That was a whole extra level of amazing ability that i'd not seen before. And it was something different, and especially in the early days, i think something better than "the norm".

And that's about it as far as watching history.. as far as why I feel like I have valid opinions, why my opinions should be read by others.. well, whenever i get passionate about something, I learn as much about it as I can.. a "student of the game" without being in the game, if you will. A few years ago i bought the Anthologies that the WWE released, the wrestlmanias, the summerslams, the Royal Rumbles (my favourite event by the way).. and watching all of those, which I have done.. in order even, has really helped me see the change in style from the mid 80s to today, from the new generation, the attitude era.. and things like being able to see legends like Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker arrive, and mature and mould and shape their characters, and constantly change.. it's all education. I'm not saying i'm an expert, I like to think I know a bit about what makes a match good, who's good, who's overrated.. and most importantly, I have an opinion that is my own, I don't just jump on someone else's bandwagon.. like the "cena sucks" bandwagon, Cena does not suck. You watch his early matches, before he became the Rapper. Watch his work from MITB (i know, i'm talking about it again).. Watch Wrestlemania 22 and 23.

So that's about it. Nothing much else to say, i kinda like this catchphrase I used last time, I think i'll stick with it, as it's kind of appropriate for my life. I hope this wasn't too boring or anything.. in the meantime, I can't wait for RAW tomorrow. Expect postings.

What's it like to be me? You will never, ever know!