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http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-outsiders-edge-qa-session/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-outsiders-edge-qa-session/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:00:01 +0000 B+ Players CH Podcast Humor John Cena Jokes Laughter Movies Music Pro Wrestling TNA Undertaker Wrestlemania wrestling WWE WWE Network WWE Podcast WWE Universe http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=13885 If you have trouble with the media player – CLICK HERE – We’re also available on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, and YourListen! If you’re using an iPhone, copy the following text into Safari and it’ll redirect you to our home at iTunes: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:145952091/sounds.rss The Outsider’s Edge is BACK! Mark Haggerty of DailyWrestlingNews.com, James Thorpey of “It’s […]

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The Outsider’s Edge is BACK! Mark Haggerty of DailyWrestlingNews.com, James Thorpey of “It’s Still REEL to Me,” and pop culture savant “PG” Matt S are responding to YOUR questions and comments! We asked fans across all forms of social media for assistance, and were blown away by the response. Remember to follow the B+ Players on Facebook at Facebook.com/BPlusPlayers, subscribe on iTunes, and catch up on our back catalog at Cheap-Heat.com!

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http://www.cheap-heat.com/and-im-like-reviewing-raw-august-25th-2015/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/and-im-like-reviewing-raw-august-25th-2015/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:39:31 +0000 Jake Drury Blogs Other Blogs Other Reviews Reviews and I'm like Big E Big Show Bo Dallas Braun Stowman Bray Wyatt Brock Lesnar Byron Saxton Dean Ambrose Dolph Ziggler JBL John Cena Jon Stewart Kevin Owens Kofi Kingston Lana Luke Harper Michael Cole Miz New Day Paul Heyman RAW Ric Flair Roman Reigns Ryback Seth Rollins Sheamus Undertaker WWE Wyatt Family Xavier Woods http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=13788 What is with Tuesdays? I was at the restaurant today, like everyday, and today beat the daily total of Saturday which is our normal busiest day. I happened to have a former WWF Tag Team champion come in today, but I was so busy I didn’t get a chance to talk wrestling!!! Maybe next time […]

What is with Tuesdays? I was at the restaurant today, like everyday, and today beat the daily total of Saturday which is our normal busiest day. I happened to have a former WWF Tag Team champion come in today, but I was so busy I didn’t get a chance to talk wrestling!!! Maybe next time right?

This weekend sure felt like a marathon. The more I thought about it though, the more I think the production crew of WWE is happy. They had the same arena for 3 nights in a row! That has got to be a lighter workload than normal. Season 1 of the Waltons is on while I queue up the DVR, this famous actress needed the Walton’s to help her put on a show so she can afford a train ticket to New York.. Enough chatting onto Monday Night Raw!!

Show Opening- В We start off in WWE Headquarters with HHH getting ready to present Seth Rollins with a statue in his honor. “Seth your not the future of WWE, you are the man”- HHH. We see statues of Bruno Sammartino, Ultimate Warrior, and Andre The Giant.

And I’m Like… wondering what the statue criteria is?

Show opens with its typical crappy song intro, I can’t wait until tonight is the night we change this song. We go over highlights of Summerslam, but not NXT!?!? and then

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman-

• As Brock walks out, I notice the Suplex City sign on his shirt says south. I’m not trying to throw snow here, but shouldn’t it be north? Maybe the suplex brings you down so thats why its south?
• “Suplex City” chants from the crowd as we look at a battered Brock Lesnar.
• Brock is very subdued, its way scarier to me than when he is all bouncy.
• This finish really grinds my gears, cause like, when has the time keeper ever rang the bell without command? Even during Montreal ’97 Vince had to say ring the damn bell like 4 times. I’ll take a wait and see approach, but how can we interview the referee and not the time keeper?
• Brock does not blame the referee or the time keeper, because they understood that when Undertaker was tapping, ‘Taker knew his arm was gonna break off.
• Paul Heyman brings up Undertaker collapsed again, he said he has enough material to last all 3 hours of Raw and the crowd Yes!’s?
• Undertaker got that dick kick on lock though, that is Brock’s kryptonite. By the way, I personally still don’t know who gave me that head of cabbage from a few Raw’s back..
• Paul Heyman said Undertaker looks likeВ The Gunslinger , he also says Brock challenges him to a fight tonight
• BO DALLAS’ music hits!!! Quick side bar here again.. I have a regular named Danny that is a wrestling fan, he will come in everyday and do wrestling catchphrases. He will do them call and response style like this, “It’s Simply Positively..” and I’ll go “A New Day” he says “all you gotta do is..” I say “Bo-Lieve”. Sometimes he does Paul Heyman promos, he always tries to do the Million Dollar Dance with my server too. Bo just reminded me of Danny so I thought I would throw that in there.
• Bo told Brock he had good and bad news. Bad news is he passed out, Good news is he woke up and had a dream he actually beat Undertaker. Bo said Brocks dreams can come true if he Bo-Lieves!!
• Brock laughs and then DECIMATES Bo Dalls with suplexes from Germany. The crowd chants one more time, Brock adheres to them. They chant it again as he is leaving, he does it again. He tries to leave again and Paul says “an F5 just for me!!?” Brock goes back in and yup F-5.

And I’m Like… That was the main story going into tonight, having Brock just kick someones ass really cleanses the palate of what happened last night. I don’t know where the story is headed, it might be over who knows. That segment was fun though.

В

Lucha Dragons vs. New Day

• Holy Shit!!! New Day is gaining so much crowd support, they are so creative too. This is fun
• Xavier Woods playing background music to New Day inspired lyrics to “New York, New York” is something I never knew I needed!!!
• Can you cover all the songs New Day?!?! I Love this JBL says “Xavier was trained by Chief Jay Strongbow” Y’all KILLED IT NEW DAY!!! KILLED IT!!
• NEW DAYROCKS NEW DAYROCKS!!!
• The fun thing about New Day is they are entertaining wrestlers, and their gimmick is still MAD ENTERTAINING you know? Everything you see seems to be amazing, they are even putting Titus in his place while Prime Time Players are on commentary.
• How long is Kalisto going to be in a tag? He should be lighting the world on fire with lucha moves soon right?
• As the New Day hits their finishing move Xavier Woods does amazing work playingВ Military Taps

And I’m Like… Surprised that the Prime Time Players were not as entertaining as the New Day. That’s how the tag division should be, put the straps on whoever is making the most entertainment with theВ allottedВ time. As I say that THE DUDLEY BOYZ come back!! That is pretty crazy, I don’t think they are needed as full-time tag regulars though, just saw all their signature moves, what more do we need? Tables? Just saw that too! These guys should go do that NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic or whatever. It doesn’t matter, this shit was fun, the whole segment.

That Make-a-Wish video had me in tears.. Bayley/Sasha at Takeover tears… fucking Connor The Crusher tears. For real this shit is so cool. People suffer so much you know, they just go through shit all day. They eat a bowl of shit for breakfast and once it’s done it’s breakfast time.It’s amazing that WWE has the power to make children forget about breakfast and escape the hell that is the hospital, John Cena legit can not turn heel, those kids need him, they really do. They need a super-hero, cause some times, real life is not enough to get you by. Wrestling is great.

HHH and Stephanie- They are in the back looking at Seth’s statue, I wouldn’t comment on this but Seth said something important. “This place is just better with you running it” SEEDS PLANTED, where is ourВ 70 year old farmer ?

Summerslam Rematch: Wyatts vs. Shield

• LOL! Last night this was my smoke break match… now we are having it again… WWE will make me watch this no matter what huh? What is really funny is, there is one of those anti-smoking commercials right when they cut to break mid Shield entrance.
• There are so many “suicide dives” to the outside in WWE recently, its like become a necessity to dive at someone when they go outside at least once in a match.
• Good thing they had that match last night to settle the score right? If they didn’t then this match would no consequences or story, we would watch this match for the sake of wrestling.
• Let’s remember this whole feud started cause Bray pushed a ladder that Roman was on over, in a match Wyatt wasn’t in, 3 months ago…. You know how many damn matches have happened since then? I don’t but we both know its alot, yet Roman is still super peeved about that ONE NIGHT!!!
• Roman doing fake drinking beer taunts is the Frattiest thing…
• JBL says “superkick party” he must watchВ The Young Bucks
• A NEW WYATT SHOWS UP!?!? He has a black mask on too!! Please don’t mean Minnesota’s own Erick Rowan is out the family now.. Let’s hope Harper is the mid-card act, Bray is the main act, and the sheep tag.
• Since this is the first non-NXT debut in a while, it’s weird to hear the crowd just murmur or be quiet.
• New Wyatt is no selling all the offense, he is choking out the Shield while Luke and Bray smile.

And I’m Like… If this doesn’t bring Sting into this feud or at least add a little flavor to this, it will get old fast. This was new fresh and exciting, I hope it doesn’t just happen for four weeks until another turn of events.

There will be a special with Brock in Madison Square Garden on the night of my baby shower!! Guess what I’ll try and make the family watch??!?

Miz TV- PCB

• I kept wondering why PCB was such a familiar acronym, turns out I noticed it on my Fish Oil container.В PCB В is a probable human carcinogen… I LOVE IT
• I am not into PCB they are the fakes of the division. Bellas are bitches and veterans and they know it and brag. Team B.A.D. seem real when they speak.
• Bella’s come out and all we hear is WE WANT SASHA!!! It’s Daniel Bryan chants all over again.
• Alicia Fox says she has been here for 9 years and seen em all come and go. It’s true, Becky quit trying to be crazy, just break arms. Charlotte quit leaning on Flair for everything WE KNOW HE WAS IN THE HORSEMEN! and Paige, not everybody wants everything sexualized.
• For a Divas revolution, Miz getting cheers when he says “When my hand goes up your mouth goes shut” It does show how we as viewers receive these Diva’s compared to NXT’s women. It sucks that when they made the jump to the main show, they lost all their qualities that made them respectable women.
• There is a six diva brawl that is leading to a six diva tag match… Sasha Banks is not in the mix, yet all the crowd says is WE WANT SASHA!!

And I’m Like… If WWE wanted me to not like six women and like three more, they did a great job. What’s bad is that the six I don’t like were on the screen making me not like them more. I am a Charlotte fan when she is real, when she is nerdy and awkward, not when she tries to be cool. Charlotte is tall and lanky, Becky is weird and annoyingly bubbly, Paige is immature. Paige was trying to get Team Freakshow over before PCB stuck, and I’m starting to lean on her side with that name. That would have added a dynamic this 3 team feud needs. The hot bunch (Bella’s) The bad bunch (team B.A.D.) and instead of the “wrestlers? other hot bunch? what is PCB anyways?” they could have been the misfit bunch.В

As I was And I’m Liking the Miz TV segment a Six Diva Tag match started… The crowd was the fun part… They wanted SASHA they did want this match.. I didn’t want this match. What I had to say was said up above. Give us stories that we can relate to please. Team Bella won if you care! Alicia fox looked like she was in pain or mad f’d up…

It was supposed to be Stardust and Cosmic King Barrett teaming but Stardust beat up The Cosmic King. Neville came out and the ref bailed as the brawl started… Neville went for Red Arrow, Stardust ran away.

В

And I’m Like… WHAAAAT???

Jon Stewart Promo-

• His Theme song is the Daily Show theme song haha. That is so not his character for wrestling, just a happy bouncy guitar riff.
• Stewart is showered in “Thank You Stewart” chants
• Stewart said he apparently upset some people, to those parents who comforted their children, I’ll tell you why I did that.
• Jon Stewart said in his heart, he could not let John Cena tie Ric Flair. The crowd was What’ing him until he said he did it for Flair, instacheers. “NOT ON MY WATCH”-Jon Stewart
• Flair then styles and profiles his way to the ring, my buddy sent a text last night “I Fuckin Love Jon Stewart” I think I know why now!
• Flair tells Stewart he was pulling for John Cena, Stewart sells shock…..
• Ric Flair says the record will be broken sooner than later, he wants it to be from someone he respects. “Don’t forget Gods in the house tonight” – Ric Flair He tells people you don’t gotta like it, you gotta love it cause it is coming out of my mouth,
• Flair told Stewart he messed up everything… like it was some giant plan that Flair had Cena beat his record…. Stewart is as confused as we are…
• John Cena tells Stewart they need to talk, he said “What do you wanna talk about? and *you can’t see me’s him”
• The crowd chants Ce NaSUCKS and Cena did something I found interesting, he was talking to either Stewart or Flair and he said “no let them get it out”. Cena has been in front of loud unrespectful crowds for over a decade. It’s amazing what he has learned in crowd control, every crowd will fatigue of any chant, if he let’s them ride it out he will be more impactful in his words when they are spoken.
• Cena says that Stewart ended the ability to let new stars shine… That is crazy!!! Why would he think that having a late twenties superstar winning the title ends the ability for new stars? Man is a narcissistic sociopath.
• He hits Jon Stewart with an AA too, John said I understand that that’s what you have to do and then just beat him up, that’s some Bully type shit.

And I’m Like… I’m with Stewart, he helped the future. Rollins was right Cena IS a disease. You could tell from Flairs face he felt that the segment fell flat… Oh well, Jon Stewart is totally gonna be in the WWE Hall of Fame Celebrity wing.

В

Ziggler, Orton, Ryback, Cesaro vs. Owens, Sheamus, Big Show, Rusev

• This could be a match, like 5 years from now, we look back on like “WOW they had some stars in that match this should be fun!”, or we could look at it like we do now, “WOW they have some stars in this match, I’ve seen everyone wrestle everyone a bunch this summer, glad its all packed in this eight man instead of an hour of Raw”
• Byron says Cesaro is “like the Chuck Norris of Raw” that is beauty.
• Ziggler is wearing tights!! He has his Sherri Martel now in Lana, his transformation to Shawn Michael’s complete. I compared Ziggler to Ricky Steamboat and Lana to George “The Animal” Steel last week, maybe this comparing thing is a trend?
• Big Show on his Mark Henry Trash Talk game real hard tonight. I’ve grown to re-appreciate Big Show, he will be gone soon, might as well enjoy him while he is on TV.
• As Ziggler gets his ass kicked by every guy on the other team, I am really digging his new tights.
• A commercial for Subway??? Too Soon you guys.. Too Soon.
• My mind is made up on Lana.. She ain’t good. She stands there emotionless, she smiles when she does offense, her character is crap. She is forced as hell like Byrons excitement for Cesaro’s “Uppercut TRAAIINN!!”
• The Ryback/Owens match-up seems real fun.. yeah GIVE OWENS THE INTERCONTINENTAL BELT!!! He is Canadian, they know how to represent that belt best!
• All the good guys notice Show is all alone so they decide to pick on him.

And I’m Like… The bad guys beat up Big Show, they left Sheamus. The good guys beat up Big Show, they left Sheamus. That’s funny. This meant nothing I’m sure, unless Owens and Rusev team up, they both beat on Show and looked damn good doing it!

Bray Wyatt is in his dark room cutting promos. When Bray rolls his eyes and says heart, his voice dragged and it sounded so eerie, I love his cadence. Bray introduces Braun Strowman the “Black Sheep of Sister Abigail”

The Authority is talking to John Cena about how he is a sore loser and that it is trending, then Security throws him out of the building.

Seth Rollins Statue Presentation-

• I just feel like something is in that box besides the statue!!
• Steph calls out that Vince turned 70 during Raw and she gets all cry baby like. They sing Happy Birthday shittly too but it was great, which makes me think… Is Happy Birthday allowed to be sung without paying copyright?
• I seriously zone out when HHH talks, plus there are two cops talking to my caretaker right now and I’m super nosy… My wife went to investigate, but I’m all wondering what is going on.
• I hear something about the Mount Rushmore of wrestling and I am like… what is going on outside my patio? Both squad cars drove away.
• ok so I paused it, found out what the deal was, some guy down on the other end of the complex broke into an apartment and the caretaker caught him running out. When I was on my smoke break earlier, I picked some weeds by the apartment and instead of throwing them away, I threw them into the parking lot. She went into the parking lot a bit later to throw the weeds away and saw the guy. So good thing I’m lazy huh??
• Rollins is spouting stuff about being the cure, he puts over the fact the for a decade Cena was the man, he then said that ended last night,
• Rollins dropped the “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.” Then told ‘Trips’ to unveil the statue
• He just keeps talking, THERE HAS GOT TO BE SOMEONE IN THERE!!!
• They are taking too long, I almost lost interest….. drum roll…. and STING!!
• That is pretty dope.. HAHA I just jumped cause I was startled because my caretaker just opened the door and said some woman broke the window in the bar a quarter mile away, haha this heightened my mood, Sting held the belt up too the WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP!
• Stings music hit and everyone went crazy, that was really cool, plus WHERE DID STING PUT THE STATUE?!??

And I’m Like… What the hell, that was very fun for me, with the craziness outside my house and on my television, Raw next week will be fun I hope!! Thank you for reading

Y’all have a good one.

-Jake

http://www.cheap-heat.com/a-history-of-surprise-appearances-by-the-phenom/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/a-history-of-surprise-appearances-by-the-phenom/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2015 19:32:27 +0000 Mark Adam Haggerty Blogs Other Blogs Battleground Brock Lesnar The Undertaker Undertaker wrestling WWE Wwe Raw WWF http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=13107 The Undertaker recently returned to the WWE, and I figured it might be fun to take a tour of the Dead Man’s most prolific returns. Let’s start with his debut in 1990, and work our way to this past weekend at Battleground. Debut of the Dead Man – November 22, 1990 – Survivor Series Up […]

The Undertaker recently returned to the WWE, and I figured it might be fun to take a tour of the Dead Man’s most prolific returns. Let’s start with his debut in 1990, and work our way to this past weekend at Battleground.

Debut of the Dead Man – November 22, 1990 – Survivor Series
Up first we have the debut of the Dead Man! The WWE Universe met the Undertaker in the autumn of 1990 when he teamed with Ted DiBiase, Greg Valentine, and the Honky Tonk Man at the fourth annual Survivor Series.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Undertaker versus Undertaker – August 29, 1994 – Summerslam
The Undertaker was well on his way to a second world title when he challenged Yokozuna to a Casket Match at the Royal Rumble in 1994. But Yokozuna brought backup, and the Phenom was "buried" for more than half the year. When he returned, he battled a mirror image of himself—another Undertaker introduced by Ted DiBiase.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The American Badass – May 22, 2000 – Judgement Day
The Undertaker hasn't missed many Wrestlemania's since debuting in 1990, but he was absent for �Mania 2000. He left the WWE due to injury while he was still the Leader of the "Ministry of Darkness." When he returned to television in the Spring of 2000, he was a completely different character. "The American Badass" was born.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Return of the Phenom – March 14, 2004 – Wrestlemania XX
The �Taker continued to wear blue jeans and bandanas for several years, until he was once again buried—this time by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The American Badass disappeared, and the Phenom resurfaced in time to wrestle his "Baby Brother Kane" at Wrestlemania XX.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Retribution for Randy Orton – November 27, 2005 – Survivor Series
The Undertaker goes away and comes back quite frequently, so it's hard to decide what's worth including. After defeating the "Legend Killer" at WrestleMania 21, the Dead Man went about his own business, and subsequently faded from television. Later that year, he would return at a most inopportune time for Randy Orton.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It's Time to Play the Game – January 30, 2012 – Monday Night Raw
Nowadays Wrestlemania season almost always includes a surprise return from the Undertaker. One of the most memorable also included the "Proprietor of People Power," Johnny "Ace" Laurenitis. Note: There are better quality videos of this moment available, but they're literally 20 minutes long.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Revenge of the �Taker – July 19, 2015 – Battleground
The Undertaker made yet another surprise return this past weekend at Battleground, when he attacked Brock Lesnar with a vengeance, and thus costing him the WWE world heavyweight title.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Until next time, please LIKE "The B+ Players Podcast" on Facebook , and FOLLOW me on Twitter for all the latest and greatest updates courtesy of Cheap-Heat , Gutbusters , and Daily Wrestling News !

http://www.cheap-heat.com/magicians-and-monsters-13-supernatural-superstars/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/magicians-and-monsters-13-supernatural-superstars/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2015 17:10:27 +0000 Mark Adam Haggerty Top Lists Abyss Adam Bomb ECW Kane Mil Muertes Sci-Fi Supernatural TNA Undertaker WCW wrestling WWE http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=12837 Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the 20th installment of the most consistent wrestling countdown series on the interweb—this is "Lucky Thirteen." This week we're taking a look at the most Superhuman Sports Entertainers to ever enter the squared circle. Rather than write a couple hundred words and attach some random photographs, I decided to do […]

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the 20 ^th installment of the most consistent wrestling countdown series on the interweb—this is "Lucky Thirteen." This week we're taking a look at the most Superhuman Sports Entertainers to ever enter the squared circle. Rather than write a couple hundred words and attach some random photographs, I decided to do a VIDEO entry! Below you'll find some of the most bizarre things you're likely to come across within the WWE Universe and beyond! Some of these videos are gross, others are hilarious, and some are downright scary! My name is Mark Adam Haggerty from Cheap-Heat, Daily Wrestling News, Gutbusters, and the B+ Players and you've stumbled across "Magicians and Monsters: The Most Supernatural Wrestling Stars."

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Until next time, please LIKE "The B+ Players Podcast" on Facebook , and FOLLOW me on Twitter for all the latest and greatest updates courtesy of Cheap-Heat and Daily Wrestling News !

http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-night-the-igloo-was-set-ablaze-mankind-vs-undertaker/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-night-the-igloo-was-set-ablaze-mankind-vs-undertaker/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2015 02:21:50 +0000 Gregory Iron Blogs Wrestler Blogs King of the Ring Mankind Undertaker http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=12721 This past weekend marked 17 years since Mankind vs. The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell. The following is my recollection of that match:   I didn’t watch the WWF’s annual King of The Ring live on June 28th, 1998. I didn’t get to witness the aftermath on Raw Is War the next evening either. […]

This past weekend marked 17 years since Mankind vs. The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell. The following is my recollection of that match:

I didn’t watch the WWF’s annual King of The Ring live on June 28th, 1998. I didn’t get to witness the aftermath on Raw Is War the next evening either. В I didn’t have cable. Even worse, Raw was live in Cleveland that night, my home city. Nobody would buy me tickets to go. I was very upset about all of this.

On that Tuesday, I got all the details from my buddy of mine that lived down the street from me, who not only watched King of the Ring live on pay per view, but was fortunate enough to go see Raw live at the Gund Arena. Lucky bastard.

He kept rambling about how cool it was to see Steve Austin beat Kane in person to regain the WWF Championship, the title that he had lost less than 24 hours earlier at the King of the Ring event in Pittsburgh. But as sweet as that was, he assured me that nothing was cooler than Undertaker and Mankind battling it out in the Hell In A Cell match.

I begged him to let me borrow the VHS tape of the PPV, but he told me that he never recorded the events. I look at him lIke he was nuts. Big ppv’s like King of the Ring sold at a price of $29.99. Anytime my grandparents ordered me one, for that price, I always made sure I had a blank tape on hand to capture the event on film to view again and again. He apologized, but described to me the whole match. The blood. The chairs. The thumbtacks. The fall.

I had to see it. Unfortunately, I had to wait three months for WWF Home Video to release it. Three months felt like an eternity, but as soon as it came out, I was at Best Buy to purchase it.

I wish I could tell you how it felt watching it live, but even watching it twelve weeks after it had been recorded, something felt different about the event. Perhaps it was a mental thing, because I knew of the events that were set to unfold, but I got this instinct that I couldn’t shake. Listening to the crowd, they were rabid throughout the night. When the Cell lowered before the confrontation between Foley and Undertaker, you got the feeling that the crowd sensed something different in the air of Pittsburgh’s famed Igloo that evening.

Mankind scaled the cage, and Undertaker followed his lead. IВ knewВ what was coming. As soon as it happens, I can feel my eyeballs protruding out of my skull.

The fall…

Even knowing it’s going to happen, I was still thinking, “No. He’s not going to just toss him off. No…”

That’s exactly what occurs, though. After a few shots, The Undertaker grabs Mankind by the collar of his button down shirt, walks him to the edge of the top of the cage, and launches him towards the ground below.

After falling sixteen feet (twenty two feet, actually, if you count the distance that he was thrown out) to the ground, Mankind crashed with his arm and back through the announce table below– narrowly escaping cracking his head on the television monitors.

“Good God! Good God! They killed him,” screamed Jim Ross on commentary. “…he’s broken in half!” I sat there in awe as they played the fall over and over, while Mankind laid on the floor nearly lifeless. I remember thinking to myself, ‘What if he would have actually died, they didn’t know it at the time, and they just played video footage of a man dying repeatedly?”

Doctors, agents, Mick’s long time mentor Terry Funk, and even Vince McMahon himself surrounded the ring, as medical staff put Mankind on a stretcher, ready to cart him off to the local medical facility. The camera switched to a shot of ‘Taker, standing on top of the Cell, gazing around at the crowd as they broke into a deafening “UN-DER-TAK-ER!” chant. Back on commentary, though it had been a much anticipated match, J.R. apologized for the premature ending to the bout.

Except it wasn’t over.

The crowd panned down the aisle. Pushing his way through the WWF staff, Mankind emerged. The crowd became unglued. Despite it’s incredible realism, I had this moment whwre I thought, “Oh, I guess this was all planned. Maybe he wasn’t that hurt from the fall. But– how could he not be?” I knew the 17,000 plus in The Igloo were thinking the same thing.

With his left arm dangling from his shoulder, Mankind began scaling the cage once again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I think we know what happens next. Regardless, Come back tomorrow for part two tomorrow!

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-Greg

http://www.cheap-heat.com/hunchamania-wrestlemania-31/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/hunchamania-wrestlemania-31/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2015 17:04:15 +0000 Gary Mastriano Blogs Other Blogs AJ Lee Bad News Barrett Bella Twins BNB Bray Wyatt Brie Bella Brock Lesnar Cesaro Daniel Bryan Dean Ambrose Dolph Ziggler HHH John Cena Lana Los Matadores Luke Harper Nikki Bella Paige R-Truth Randy Orton Roman Reigns Rusev Seth Rollins Stardust Sting The New Day Triple H Tyson Kidd Undertaker Usos Wrestlemania WWE http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=10783 HUNCHAMANIA: WRESTLEMANIA 31 Guys…. Guys… GUYS! It's Mania Eve! The second best Eve of the year (although it seriously challenges Christmas and John McMclane). There is a feeling of joy in the air, of hope, of dreams. My head is spinning with thoughts of the promising matches we will see in 24 hours. No matter […]

HUNCHAMANIA: WRESTLEMANIA 31

Guys…. Guys… GUYS! It's Mania Eve! The second best Eve of the year (although it seriously challenges Christmas and John McMclane). There is a feeling of joy in the air, of hope, of dreams. My head is spinning with thoughts of the promising matches we will see in 24 hours. No matter how much we may lament the card beforehand, when the time is upon, you can't help but be excited. This is the best time to be a wrestling fan. And while all eyes of the wrestling world are set upon California, here in New Jersey I am preparing for my Mania party. The Pin the Tail on the Cena has been hung, and the food WWE balloons are being inflated.

WrestleMania this year is shaping up to have tons of memorable moments. The great thing about this card is how hard it is to predict the winners of each match. Aside from the Sting-HHH match I have had an incredibly difficult time figuring who was going to win each match. Kudos to the much maligned WWE booking team for actually setting up an intriguing show, with implications that could be felt in the WWE for years to come. SO…LET'S GET TO THE PREDICTIONS!!! (Seriously though… I have a pin the tail on John Cena).

4 way tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Titles- Kidd/Cesaro (champs) vs Usos vs Matadors vs New Day
I refuse to acknowledge that this a pre-show match. With the advent of the WWE Network there really is no difference between the main show and the preshow. They should just advertise WrestleMania as a 6 hour event. These 4 teams, particularly the Usos and Kidd/Cesaro, have worked hard over the past year to build up the tag team division. The tag titles deserve to be highlighted, and being on the preshow may be the best possible way to showcase them. I assume they will be given more time than if they were actually on the main card. I have heard rumors that New Day may win to bring back the Freebird rule to the tag titles. While that would be really cool, I don't see it happening quite yet. I think Kidd/Cesaro have a long run with the tag titles coming, so I suspect that they retain.

Andre the Giant Battle Royal
As of me writing this the announced participants are: The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, Big Show, Kane, Erick Rowan, Damien Mizdow, Sin Cara, Goldust, Heath Slater, Mark Henry, Konnor, Viktor, and Hideo Itami. Barring a surprise entrance, that's 20 total participants. After the way Cesaro was handled after his win last year, it is really difficult to determine who will/should win. In theory the winner should go on to have a solid upper mid card run, at the very least. So I will assume that the outcome will lead to big things for whoever wins. So who can benefit the most from a victory? Really the choice for me comes down to 3 guys: The Miz, Ryback, and Curtis Axel. The Miz is always teetering on the edge of the main event, and I really like to think he can break through the main event scene at any time. Once he splits with Mizdow (which will FINALLY be cemented in this match) there is little direction for The Miz. The main event scene could always use another snarky heel. Speaking of guys that are on the edge of the main event- Ryback has always flirted with superstardom. Every time he seems to be on the brink of breaking through, the booking takes a weird turn. He is way over with the crowd. He has the look of a top star. He has had moments where he cut potential career defining promos. Time is short on him to finally break through to the main event, so why not now? As for Curtis Axel, he is the long shot, but sentimental favorite. Axel has been one of the most over performers on the roster since turning his Rumble misfortune into a gimmick. A win for Axel could be the push he needs to get back into the midcard scene. With that being said- I think Ryback takes the win.

Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship- Bad News Barrett (champion) vs Daniel Bryan vs R-Truth vs Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler vs Stardust vs Luke Harper
I have tried to stay positive about this match. I really have. All signs point to this being a great match. But…man is there a bad vibe surrounding this one. WWE was telling a great IC story with Dean Ambrose and Bad News Barrett, which would have paid off perfectly at WrestleMania. WWE was telling a great story with Goldust and Stardust, which would have paid off perfectly at WrestleMania. WWE was telling a great story with Daniel Bryan that would have…oh wait…they weren't telling any story with Daniel Bryan. At all. He was just kind of around, being the most popular guy on the roster. Now I have no problem with a midcarder being the most over guy, but Daniel Bryan is not a midcarder. I also have no problem with Daniel Bryan NOT being in the main event. But WWE had literally NOTHING planned for him. Like they forgot about him and just used him. Even up until a few weeks ago he wasn't even confirmed for this match. It was like they were waiting for something/someone else to come around to feud with him. Was Sheamus not available? I guess we will never know. Also everything I just said, switch Bryan out with Ziggler.

As for the match itself, the participants themselves will make this a great match I'm sure. Everyone in this match (even R Truth) can produce a great match, so I expect the work rate to be there. I have no doubt this will be a fun bout. I don't see Harper, Stardust, Truth, or Ziggler walking away with the IC title. Ambrose has a legit claim to it and he would elevate the belt for sure. I have heard that the title may be put on Bryan so he can help elevate the title. I am choosing to ignore that theory. Therefore I think it will be Barrett walking away with his title intact. He hasn't actually been in possession of his title during the hot potato storyline in the past few months, so I assume he will ultimately retain.

Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton
I have really enjoyed the build towards this match. Orton's return and subsequent slow burn turn on Rollins was a fresh new build towards this grudge match. This is my pick for show stealer of the night. Orton can always put on a great match when he is motivated, and Rollins has proven in the past year that he will steal every show for the next decade. A loss for Rollins doesn't hurt his character in the slightest. Rollins will continue to be the main focus of WWE programming for the foreseeable future. Orton is hot as a face right now, and an inevitable match with Lesnar is on the horizon. Orton gets the victory here, but this is not the last we see of Mr. Rollins tonight…

The Bella Twins vs AJ Lee and Paige
With all the uproar online about 2 matches being moved to the "pre-show", I have been looking on the bright side. The fact that there are only 7 matches on the main card means that each match will hopefully get a decent amount of time. The recent #givedivasachance movement has seemed to catch on, with longer TV matches in the past few weeks. These ladies are the 4 top performers in the Divas division and certainly can put together a great match if the time is give. The Bellas will continue to be the focus of the Divas division, with AJ and Paige chasing the title until Charlotte makes her main roster debut. Therefore the Bellas pick up the win here, and continue their Diva dominance.

US Title Match- John Cena vs Rusev (champ)
Man this is a hard match to predict. On one hand you John Cena- who is defending America against the big bad evil foreigner. A Cena victory would be a victory for America. On the other hand you have Rusev- who is the latest superstar to have the "winning streak monster" push. Rusev has had a phenomenal rise to this position. Wrestling Cena at his first WrestleMania is a pretty big deal, whether he wins or not. Looking ahead at the remainder of 2015 and beyond, it would seem that Rusev would need the win more. Cena will always be at the top of the card. He selectively puts people over when the time is right. Does Rusev deserve that rub? I think so. I have seen people stating that Cena will carry the US Title back to prominence. And while it would be radical to see Cena in the mid card, I just don't think it'll happen. Rusev gets the win with some kind of shenanigans in another potential show stealer.

Bray Wyatt vs the Undertaker
I have said it before, but I have no problem saying it again. I do NOT want to ever see the Undertaker wrestler…. Ever. Again. Ever. To quote a great man (Hunter Hearst Helmsley) �All you have is the streak. When it dies. You die.' And I completely believe it. The Undertaker has nothing to prove anymore. It is time to move on from the Undertaker era of WrestleMania. Hopefully that is what we will get this year. Wyatt is clearly going to be filling the creepy scary guy for the foreseeable future, so why not use this match as a passing of the torch? At the same time can you see the Undertaker losing two years in a row? I for cannot. I think he wins this year, setting up the rematch/retirement next year.

Sting vs Triple H
One of my first Cheap Heat articles was dissecting why Sting HAD to fight Triple Hat WrestleMania this year. It is really the only match Sting could've had this year. WWE has done a stellar job building towards this epic confrontation. Sting has been treated with nothing but respect by the WWE. I don't think the ending of this match is up for any debate- Sting wins his first WWE match.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match- Brock Lesnar (champion) vs Roman Reigns
Good job WWE. Seriously, you turned a match that I was dreading last summer when the rumors arose, into a legitimately intriguing matchup. Lesnar vs Reigns is probably the most interesting WrestleMania main event we have had in over a decade. Prior to this week, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Brock would be dropping the title to the Samoan Superman this Sunday…but then WWE conveniently announces Brock Lesnar has resigned with the company. Congrats WWE, you pulled a fast one on us by making us wonder if Brock was staying. I always thought he was staying, in fact I think the past few weeks of speculation was drawn up by WWE to gain interest in their main event. The WWE is nothing if not their own biggest promoters, and Vince and Co know how to gather extreme interest in their product. Prior to this week, this seemed like a cookie cutter passing of the torch moment, but now with the announcement that Lesnar is staying for an additional 3 years, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he walks out of Mania with the championship. We can all seem to agree that Reigns is fine to be the next face of the company, but he is clearly not ready for that position. Maybe a loss to Lesnar gains additional fan support, and makes the eventual Reigns win even more. WWE is not known to take risks at WresleMania, especially with their potential main eventers, but this seems to be a great time for them to take that risk. Don't give Reigns the title WWE. Not yet. Lesnar wins in after an extremely hard fought and valiant effort by Reigns. HOWEVER…. I do not think Lesnar or Reigns walk out with the WWE Championship… I predict the Money in the Bank contract is cashed in at WrestleMania for the first time ever, and Seth Rollins ends the night with the WWE title around his waist.

Man that's a lot of intrigue going into this year's WrestleMania. So many match outcomes are up in the air, and WWE is really firing on all cylinders right now. To paraphrase Max Landis "when it's good, it's fucking incredible." I cannot help but agree. The wrestling world is in for a night of great storytelling all around. Buckle up gang!

http://www.cheap-heat.com/hall-of-fame-hopefuls-part-five-headliners/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/hall-of-fame-hopefuls-part-five-headliners/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2015 21:44:45 +0000 Mark Adam Haggerty Blogs Other Blogs Bill Goldberg Chris Jericho Goldberg Hall of Fame HHH HOF JBL John Bradshaw Layfield Kurt Angle Owen Hart Sting The Rock Triple H Undertaker Vince McMahon Wrestlemania WWE http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=10727 Hall of Fame Hopefuls Part Five: Headliners Written by Mark Adam Haggerty Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the fifth and final chapter of "Hall of Fame Hopefuls," exclusively available at Cheap-Heat.com. My name is Mark Adam Haggerty and over the past month I've had the chance to chat about some of the most iconic talents […]

Hall of Fame Hopefuls
Part Five: Headliners
Written by Mark Adam Haggerty

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the fifth and final chapter of "Hall of Fame Hopefuls," exclusively available at Cheap-Heat.com. My name is Mark Adam Haggerty and over the past month I've had the chance to chat about some of the most iconic talents to ever be featured in-or-around a professional wrestling ring. We began with tag teams, moved on to the celebrity wing, then to managers and broadcasters, and last week I named the most deserving Divas whom I believe belong in the WWE Hall of Fame. For this ultimate edition, we're listing ten possible headliners for future Hall of Fame classes. These are the men who will fill the same sort of role as Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, the Ultimate Warrior, and of course the "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Let's kick things off with the only Olympic Gold Medalist on the countdown.

Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle is among the greatest technicians in the history of professional wrestling, and might be the greatest active competitor inside a squared—or six-sided—circle. After taking home top honors at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Kurt Angle was at a loss for how to continue his athletic career. After much soul-searching he decided to try his hand at professional wrestling and made his in-ring debut for the National Wrestling Alliance on October 24, 1998. Angle was spotted by the WWE immediately and first appeared for the �Federation at the Survivor Series the following year. Angle enjoyed a dominant winning streak lasting over two months and made history when he won the WWE Championship from the Rock at No Mercy 2000, just eleven months after debuting. A former King of the Ring, Kurt went on to achieve unprecedented honors including the WWE, WCW, and World heavyweight championships—in addition to secondary belts like the U.S., Intercontinental, European, Hardcore, and tag team titles. Although the "Wrestling Machine" has been absent from World Wrestling Entertainment for nearly a decade, it's safe to assume his seat will always be ready, should he decide to take his place amongst the "Immortals."

Triple H
The man that would one day become Triple H started his career in 1992 after training with the legendary Killer Kowalski. He debuted for World Championship Wrestling in 1994 as Terra Ryzing, but was soon repackaged as "Jean-Paul Levesque"—a French nobleman with a finishing maneuver known as the "Pedigree." He signed with the WWE in 1995 and brought his aristocratic act to a whole new audience as the "Connecticut Blue Blood" Hunter Hearst-Helmsley. Triple H teamed with Shawn Michaels in 1997 to form D-Generation X, which Hunter continued to lead clear into the new millennium. Triple H won his first world title on an episode of Raw following Summerslam 1999 and has since become one of the most decorated performers in WWE history. A 13-time world heavyweight champion, Triple H is also a former King of the Ring, Royal Rumble winner, and a member of BOTH the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame and the International Sports Hall of Fame.Triple H has scaled back on in-ring competition since taking a job in Titan Towers in 2010, where his main focus has been on creative and talent relations. Triple H is a lock for the WWE Hall of Fame—the only uncertainly is when we might see it happen.

The Rock
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been igniting the box office for 15 years, but got his start in entertainment by "electrifying millions—and millions" of people around the world. The Rock debuted for the WWE in 1996 at the Survivor Series as "Rocky Maivia"—a name created by combining Rocky Johnson with Peter Maivia—in honor of his father and grandfather. Audiences didn't take to the Jerri-curled babyface and soon began to greet the future "Great One" with chants of "Rocky Sucks" and "Die, Rocky, Die." The Rock found himself in the driver's seat of the Nation of Domination after ejecting their former leader Farooq, and by 1998 was well on his way to world heavyweight title. The Rock became the WWE champion at the Survivor Series that year when he "screwed" Mick Foley in the "Deadly Games Tournament." The Rock held numerous championships during his time with the WWE, but made his greatest mark in ways that no previous Superstar could have imagined. The December 1998 pay-per-view—Rock Bottom—was named for the champ, but that was only the beginning. In 1999 the WWE debuted Smackdown—a phrase made popular by the Rock—which led to an enormously popular video game series by the same name. The Rock returned to the WWE in 2011 to host Wrestlemania XXVII, and went on to win the WWE championship for an 8th time at the Royal Rumble in 2013. If the Rock isn't worthy of the WWE Hall of Fame—then why does it exist?

Sting
Steve Borden began his wrestling career much the same as fellow Hall of Famers Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels—as part of a tag team. Borden was originally one-half of the Blade Runners with the man who would one-day be known as the Ultimate Warrior. Originally referred to as "Blade Runner Flash," Borden would ultimately change his name to Sting. He debuted for Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987 and quickly engaged in a heated rivalry with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen. Sting won his first world title on July 7, 1990 from the "Nature Boy," and by 1991 was considered the "Franchise" of World Championship Wrestling. When the New World Order started to take over WCW during the summer of �96, Sting went into hiding and returned in the rafters where he proceeded to watch the events of �97 unfold. Sting finally met "Hollywood" Hogan for the WCW championship at Starrcade 1997, where he defeated the former Hulkster and regained the title on behalf of WCW. Over the next several years, Sting's character would evolve and alternate allegiances, even aligning with Kevin Nash and the NWO Wolf Pac. Sting had the privilege of performing in the main event of the final Monday Nitro in March of 2001 against his longtime nemesis, Ric Flair. When the company closed, Borden opted not to join the competition and instead signed with the WWE alternative Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003. Sting's induction seems all-but-imminent now that the "Vigilante" has signed with the WWE—14 years removed from the Monday Night War. Sting is also a longtime resident of the "Lone-Star State"—the site of next year's potential record-breaking Wrestlemania—so now seems like a perfect time to consider him for the WWE Hall of Fame.

Chris Jericho
The self-professed "Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla" is one of the most diverse performers to ever lace-up a pair of wrestling boots. Chris Jericho started his journey toward the WWE Hall of Fame in 1990 when he began training under the highly-acclaimed Hart Brothers. Jericho traveled the world and learned various nuances of the business during his time in Mexico and Japan, and eventually debuted stateside for Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995. It wasn't long before national promotions started to take notice of young "Lionheart" and in 1997, Chris Jericho signed with WCW. He achieved mild-success while employed by Turner, engaging in memorable rivalries with high profile talents such as Dean Malenko and even Bill Goldberg. Jericho joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1999 and made his long-awaited debut by interrupting the Rock on Monday Night Raw. Chris Jericho holds the record for most intercontinental title reigns at nine, and is further renowned for being the very first Undisputed Champion in WWE history. Jericho is the WWE's 4th Grand Slam Champion, coming in just behind Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, as well as current "Authority Figures" Triple H and Kane. Chris Jericho has been able to withstand the test of time by reinventing himself and relying on the number one rule of showmanship—"always leave them wanting more." Chris is an aspiring actor, a successful podcast host, and most notably—he is the lead singer for the hit heavy metal band FOZZY. Hopefully Y2J will "save us" from boring speeches when he inevitably accepts the honor of being added to the WWE Hall of Fame.

John "Bradshaw" Layfield
John "Bradshaw" Layfield signed with the WWE in 1995 and has remained involved with the company to some degree ever since. He began as the Texas roughneck Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, an homage to clichéd Sports Entertainment cowboys such as Stan Hansen and Black Bart. Bradshaw found much of his early success in the tag team ranks, both with Barry Windham as the "New Blackjacks," and later with his longtime partner Ron Simmons in the APA. Bradshaw and Simmons won the WWE tag titles on three separate occasions before finally separating in 2004. By this time, Bradshaw's real-life role on Wall Street started to seep into the storyline, and the JBL character was born. John "Bradshaw" Layfield formed his "Cabinet" and took the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero in a bloody Bull Rope Match at the Great American Bash. His record-breaking streak as champion came to an end at Wrestlemania 21 when he dropped the coveted title to John Cena. JBL remained adamant about regaining his gold, but failed to do so, instead choosing to focus on secondary singles titles such as the United States and Intercontinental Championships. Today Bradshaw is a color commentator on Monday Night Raw and hosts a daily radio segment with Michael Cole. If Jerry Lawler and Booker T are going to flash their Hall of Fame jewelry at ringside, then so too should John "Bradshaw" Layfield.

Goldberg
Bill Goldberg was an Atlanta Falcon who entered the world of professional wrestling in 1997 after training at WCW's Power Plant. Goldberg immediately turned heads with a physical presence unlike anything wrestling fans had ever seen. His matches might have been short, but they added up to an astounding 173-0 winning streak lasting until Starrcade 1998. Goldberg lost the title but maintained his winning edge, only losing to a select few individuals such as Kevin Nash and Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Goldberg was loyal to World Championship Wrestling until its dying day, and opted to sit-out the remainder of his contract, rather than sign with World Wrestling Entertainment. Goldberg made his WWE debut on the Monday Night Raw following Wrestlemania XIX in Seattle, where the former-Falcon warned the Rock: "You're Next!" Goldberg was featured prominently on the WWE's Raw brand during his year with the company, and won the world heavyweight championship from Triple H in a "Title vs. Career Match" at Unforgiven 2003. Goldberg's final match with the company would be a polarizing affair featuring Brock Lesnar with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the guest referee. While the match left a lot to be desired, Bill Goldberg walked away victorious and even shared a ceremonial beer with the "Rattlesnake" before getting 'Stunned himself. Goldberg might not have been the most technically proficient superstar in wrestling history, but he sold tickets and remains a household name almost 20 years after his debut.

Owen Hart
There are a variety of reasons why Owen Hart has yet to be added to the WWE Hall of Fame; his widow Martha is adamant that he not be included, although his brother Bret seeks closure and continues to pressure Martha into changing her mind. The logistics of the situation aside, Owen Hart is one of the most deserving professional wrestlers who's yet to receive a WWE Hall of Fame acknowledgment. Owen began learning his craft under the tutelage of his famed father Stu Hart. His wrestling career was hindered as his debut in 1983 came during a time that Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation was acquiring Stu's Stampede territory. Owen wasn't afforded the chance to learn on his family's home turf and instead made a name for himself on the independent circuit before being signed to the WWE in 1988. Owen competed as the Blue Blazer and was even featured at Wrestlemania V against Mr. Perfect. Owen left the WWE and spent time back at home in Calgary, as well as in WCW, before returning to the �Federation in 1993. Beginning in the autumn of '93, Owen entered into what would become a defining program in his career—a bitter year-long rivalry with his older brother Bret. The two first met at �Mania X where Owen got the best of Bret, and then again at Summerslam in a 5-star championship cage match wherein the "Hitman" emerged victorious. Owen became a celebrated tag team specialist alongside partners like Yokozuna, the British Bulldog, and Jeff Jarrett. In addition to numerous tag team accolades, Owen is a former intercontinental champion, European champion, King of the Ring, and 3-time Slammy Award Winner. Sadly however, Owen lost his life in a tragic accident at the Kemper Arena on May 23rd, 1999; Owen Hart was a world-class performer who most certainly deserves one final "Wrestlemania Moment" as his memory is honored in the WWE Hall of Fame.

The Undertaker
Mark Calaway stood nearly seven feet tall and was originally brought to the mainstream by WCW in 1989 as "Mean Mark Callous." He replaced Sid Vicious as one-half of Teddy Long's "Skyscrapers" along with Dan Spivey, but soon embarked on a singles career that would introduce him to a wider audience. Calaway signed with the WWE in 1990, leaving wrestling fans flabbergasted when Ted DiBiase introduced his otherworldly team mate at the Survivor Series. The Undertaker was a sinister heel during his first two years in the �Federation, and captured the WWE Championship from Hulk Hogan one year after his debut at the �Series in �91. By the time the "New Generation" was taking over from the "Old Guard," the Undertaker transitioned from fearsome freak to beloved babyface. He introduced the "Casket Match" to the WWE Universe against Kamala and later the world champion Yokozuna. He regained the WWE belt at Wrestlemania 13 against the man he originally replaced in WCW— Psycho Sid—and started down a championship path that would ultimately include 7 world titles. The Undertaker's contributions to the WWE are innumerable and impossible to list in one paragraph, but include match types such as "Buried Alive," the "Last Ride Match," and "Hell in a Cell." The Undertaker's Kayfabe brother Kane was introduced to compliment the �Taker character, but has since gone on to achieve a mythical status of his own. The Undertaker is one of the most inventive Superstars in the history of the WWE; whether he's the Phenom of the World Wrestling Federation or the American Badass, it's hard to argue with success. I think it's safe to say the Undertaker is a guaranteed future-Hall of Famer, so I'll stop here and patiently await next year's Wrestlemania in the Dead Man's home state of Texas.

Vince McMahon
The WWE Hall of Fame would cease to be had it not been for the vision of one global entrepreneur. Vince McMahon took his father's New York-based wrestling promotion and developed it into a worldwide entertainment conglomerate, currently trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Vince became a focal point on �Federation broadcasts beginning in the early 1970s, and by the end of the decade would be the driving force within his father's company. Vince's distribution outfit—Titan Sports—acquired the World Wrestling Federation in 1982, just a few years shy of Hulk Hogan and the advent of Wrestlemania. Vince remained dedicated to the announce desk throughout the 1980s and �90s, forming lasting bonds with color commentators such as Jess "The Body" Ventura and Jerry "The King" Lawler. In 1997 Vince stepped outside his comfort zone and into the spotlight, where he would become the diabolical "Mr. McMahon" character that audiences love-to-hate. McMahon feuded with main event talents from numerous generations including Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Triple H, and most famously "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. In addition to his countless honors outside of professional wrestling, Vince is a 2-time world champion—having held both the WWE and ECW world heavyweight championships. Vincent J.—Mr. McMahon's father—was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996, so there's certainly room for more McMahons should the opportunity someday arise. Vince McMahon has received his share of criticism throughout the years from both industry insiders and outsiders alike, but few can debate whether Vince McMahon belongs in his OWN Hall of Fame.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to read "Hall of Fame Hopefuls." This was a fun way to highlight some of the biggest names in wrestling history that haven't yet found their place in the "Pantheon of the Immortals." In five weeks I've named sixty different Superstars from various eras and countless generations, all of whom deserve recognition for their contributions to the industry. Until next time, this has been Mark Adam Haggerty reminding you to keep checking out Cheap-Heat and to follow me on Facebook by LIKING "The B+ Players."

http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-over-under-wrestlemania-xxxi-odds-part-2-the-main-events/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-over-under-wrestlemania-xxxi-odds-part-2-the-main-events/#comments Sun, 22 Mar 2015 02:56:57 +0000 Scott Hayes Blogs Other Blogs Bray Wyatt Brock Lesnar HHH John Cena Roman Reigns Rusev Sting Triple H Undertaker Wrestlemania WWE http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=10571 And… We're… BACK! No longer writing from the floor of an Atlantic City casino. I come to you like from SPRING! … wait… We got five inches of snow last night? That's NOT SPRING, NATURE! But the only season that REALLY matters? Boom! We have four more matches to break down. The Main Events heading […]

And…

We're…

BACK!

No longer writing from the floor of an Atlantic City casino. I come to you like from SPRING! … wait… We got five inches of snow last night? That's NOT SPRING, NATURE! But the only season that REALLY matters?

Boom! We have four more matches to break down. The Main Events heading into Wrestlemania 31, or XXXI, or Press Play.

OVERVIEW!

Coming out of the Royal Rumble, John Cena and Rusev crossed paths. They set off on a feud. They had US Title match at Fastlane. Rusev won that, by locking Cena into the Accolade. Cena "Never Gives Up"… I mean it IS on all his shirts. So? His body did for him. He passed out. Rusev won. A HUGE win for Rusev. Something they SHOULD have done last year at Mania with Bray… Anyway, now we're all set for the rematch. Initially Rusev was like, "Nah, Captain America… I broke you. You get no rematch." Eventually super angry Cena erupted and whooped Rusev which led to this here rematch. The United States Championship has had a much higher profile during Rusev's reign. He's been booked super strong, and has yet to be pinned/submitted on WWE TV/PPV. Cena is Cena. He is the Face of the WWE. He's had an insane run at the top, and his presence with the US Title only serves to elevate that title. Him winning it only elevates it further. I look forward to this match, hopefully building on the good match they had at Fastlane.

Favorite!

John Cena: -300. I see John Cena walking out of Mania with the US Championship. I hope like hell this doesn't bring the return of the US spinner belt… But no matter what the Dr. of Thugonomics does with it? I see Cena being our next US Champion.

Underdog!

Rusev: +150. Its not impossible to see Rusev win here, but I mean… I… WE know better. It'll be interesting to see how WWE handles this for Rusev moving forward. Hopefully they learned from how they handled Bray coming out from this feud last year. I think him winning at Fastlane was already a step in a better direction. Still. Even in defeat here, he SHOULD come out a bigger star. The US Championship WILL come out more prestigious.

Prop Bets of the Match!

Over/Under: Total # of Attitude Adjustments: 2.5

Cena's Shorts: Jorts -200. Camo Cargo -100. Khaki Cargo Even Money. Apollo Creed's Red White and Blue Boxing Shorts +500 (But it'd be awesome though)

Over/Under: Captain America references: 4.5

OVERVIEW!

So we haven't seen Taker since LAST Wrestlemania. Rumors abound on whether or not he would wrestle at this Mania, and even doubt on if he'd compete ever again. Starting before Fastlane Bray Wyatt began cutting cryptic promos, not exactly out of the ordinary for Bray, but stood out was Bray was CLEARLY talking about someone. Quickly he began hinting at speaking about the Deadman. He began cutting promos where he was constructing something, which turned out to be a casket. Fastlane, the Deadman's Gong hit, cue druids, and a casket, and up sat Bray Wyatt. Wyatt wanted to face the man he was afraid of as a child, but no longer fears. Bray is the new face of fear in the WWE. Big kudos to Bray Wyatt who was tagged with selling and building this match by himself. When they're focused on SOMETHING his promos are some of the best in the bidness. Entrances for this should be awesome. After that? Well… we'll see what kind of shape Taker will be in. On the plus side this match doesn't need to be more than 10-12 minutes bell to bell. For whichever story they want to tell. And that's where some confusion sets in.

Favorite!

Bray Wyatt: -100. This is essentially a pick �em. I can see it going either way. They like Bray Wyatt a lot. But… then again… Its TAKER. Can I see the Undertaker losing consecutive Wrestlemania matches?

Can Bray REALLY lose another match like this? Especially considering how things went "post Cena" for him, where they ended up rebooting him.

So… yeah…

Underdog!

The Undertaker: +100. The margin is small on this one. It doesn't make sense for Taker to win, but still… Taker is the man in WWE.

Prop Bets of the Match!

Whose Entrance is Longer: Undertaker -250. Bray Wyatt +200.

Do we see THIS spot: Bray hanging upside down from the top rope, and Taker sits up. Yes: -150. No: +300

Taker's Hairstyle: Dark Mohawk -400. Grey Mohawk -150. Grey Stubble even money. Long +Eleventy Billion.

OVERVIEW!

Back at Survivor Series the Authority was battling for their existence. It was Ziggler versus the world. he eliminated some people and it then the Authority got worried. Triple H jumped in and was set to destroy Ziggler to ensure his squad could stay in power, BUT-BUT-BUT… Crows squawked. Lights went out, and sting made his way to the ring. He took out Triple H. Rolled Ziggler onto Rollins. Three count later AND… DING DONG… THE AUTHORITY WAS GONE! (For like… 3 weeks) … Once the Authority was put back in power, Triple H needed ANSWERS. So he challenged Sting to a FACE OFF at Fastlane. Faces were offed. We get this match. Sting still hasn't spoken LIVE on Television, but has said something on the WWE Network after coming to the ring to save Randy Orton from the Authority's wrath. For this match you don't really need much. You have Sting in a WWE ring, and having his FIRST, possibly LAST Wrestlemania match. You have Triple H who is a hall of fame performer and a very good ring worker, and one of WWE's most hated baddies. Simply for the atmosphere this match is must see.

Favorite!

Sting: -500. Sting is going to his first WWE match at Wrestlemania. Who knows how many matches the Franchise of WCW gets inside a WWE ring, and maybe he loses one, but not THIS one. Stinger Splash. Scorpion Deathdrop. Scorpion Deathlock. Ballgame.

Underdog!

Triple H: +400. Sure there is a chance if this is all part of a longer arcing story that Triple H will weasel a win for the Authority. The X-Factor in all this-

No. Not YOU guys. The potential question mark for all this? We don't really know what Sting's deal is. Will there be future matches? Will he continue to torment the Authority and hopefully rid us of their tedious villainy? Maybe if there is more to the plan Triple H wins, but its a long shot for sure.

Prop bets of the Match!

Better Entrance: Sting -250. Triple H +100.

Over/Under: 3.5 Run ins.

Vince Gets Involved: No -100. Yes +200.

Over/Under: Sting's Facepaint lasts 12 minutes.

OVERVIEW!

Brock Lesnar… if you've heard of him… Is quite the athlete. He's won the UFC Heavyweight Championship. He's been Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He's been King of the Ring. Won a Royal Rumble. He even got runner up in a 2nd grade spelling bee Sure he's a beast, and conquerer, but can he spell incarnate? – He dismantled John Cena at Summerslam, and there was much rejoicing. He has defended championship twice, and this will be his third defense since August… BUT you could read a lot more about Brock as I've done 2 parts of a 3 part dissection for Cheap-Heat. Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble, and there was MUCH less rejoicing. Reigns' return from injury, "Superstar of the Year", and Royal Rumble win did NOT go over well. They had him face off with the "People's Champion", Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. An excellent match that Reigns won. They undid some of the mess they created, but their "Next Big Thing" is still dealing with a moderately negative to hostile crowd especially on TV. Will this match crown a new champion and enter us into a era and establish a Roman Empire? Or will the Beast Incarnate lay waste to the Roman Empire, leaving it in ruins?

Favorite!

Roman Reigns: -200. I think Reigns is winning the match. Though they've done a lot to knock this number down. After Fastlane I would have put this at -500+. If Lesnar IS staying around? There is a damn good chance he could walk out STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Do the crowd reactions impact what creative's plan for Roman are/were? It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, and REALLY interesting to see the reaction if Reigns IS victorious.

Underdog!

Brock Lesnar: +100. Not often Brock is put in the role of underdog. Well he's not really i the underdog ROLE, but just for the gambling. He is a beast and has been handled as such. The Heyman promos blatantly speaking on leaving stink of two things: They really want to get Reigns cheered. AND Lesnar is probably closer to staying than he is to leaving. But the tenor of the promos now about them OWNING the title and doing with it what they want, basically holding it hostage… THAT to me is about a long term story. A story that Roman Reigns could STILL be the man who dethrones Lesnar, just not on this night. Man… I'm nearly talking myself into switching Lesnar to a favorite, but… I WON'T. My own personal fantasy booking shouldn't impact my handicapping.

Prop Bets of the Match!

Over/Under: Lesnar Suplexes on Reigns: 8.5.

Which move happens first: F-5 -300. Spear -200.

Lesnar's Sweat Quotient: Sweatier than most, but not disgusting -250. Oh…My… I didn't think that was humanly possible -100. Puddles on the Mat Even Money.

If Reigns Win We Riot: No -300. Yes +200.

Rollins Cashes In: Yes -50. No +200.

Who Celebrates with Reigns: The Rock -400. The Usos -200. Dean Ambrose: Even Money. The Whole Face Roster +200. The Authority +1000.

Alright Gamblers! You have been armed with the necessary information to go out and make horrible HORRIBLE decisions with your tax returns. May the Force be With You… wait… no. May the Odds be EVER in your Favor. Nah. Probably not the best one to use. Good luck and goodnight. Close enough.

http://www.cheap-heat.com/ring-dissection-ring-dissection-brock-lesnar-2-0-year-2/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/ring-dissection-ring-dissection-brock-lesnar-2-0-year-2/#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2015 22:24:59 +0000 Scott Hayes Blogs Other Blogs Big Show Brock Lesnar CM Punk Extreme Rules HHH MMA Paul Heyman Ric Flair Royal Rumble SummerSlam Triple H UFC Undertaker Wrestlemania WWE http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=10440 Welcome back to the Lab. Where we slice and dice all things pro wrestling. This is another installment of the "Lesnar Dissection". For those of you curious you can see the dissection of "Year 1" right here: Just a reminder I am taking my scalpel to closer examine Lesnar's 3 year run since returning to […]

Welcome back to the Lab. Where we slice and dice all things pro wrestling. This is another installment of the "Lesnar Dissection". For those of you curious you can see the dissection of "Year 1" right here:

Just a reminder I am taking my scalpel to closer examine Lesnar's 3 year run since returning to the WWE the night after Wrestlemania 28. A quick overview. Lesnar came back. Crowd went crazy. F-5'd Cena. Lost the big PPV match. Broke HHH's arm. Won that big PPV match. Lost that PPV rematch at Mania… which leads us to?

The build to this saw a ramp up of some intensity. The story being Brock had made HHH tap out, at Summerslam. Hunter had KO'd Lesnar at Mania with a pedigree on the steps. Lesnar destroyed Trips office at WWE headquarters. The two brawled in a cage on Raw, too. So this is to settle it. A rubber match.

Lesnar came out first, but before he could finish entering, HHH attacked. Driving him into the cage. Hunter dominated the early going, until Brock went for a flying knee, but HHH got out of the way and Brock's knee crashed into the cage which became a focal point for the match. Brock complaining about the knee to Paul. It buckling during an F-5 attempt midway through the match. HHH hitting chop blocks, and using a chair against it… oh yeah… Paul slid a chair into the ring at the behest of the Beast. See… Brock had hit an F-5 and Hunter kicked out. So? They needed to up the ante, so to speak. Back to the action, Hunter continued to work that knee. Again I notice the crowd really isn't into this match… HHH's working of the knee and Brock's selling is great during the middle section of this match. Of course Trips locks in a figure four. Because…

Brock isn't tapping… Hunter is now punching the knee while he has the Figure Four in… BRILLIANT! Lesnar eventually turns it over. Hold gets broke. Brock gets up. Goes to climb out. Gets AAAAAALMOST there and Triple H hits the wounded knee with a chair. Ouchtown: Population, YOU, Brock. In that corner Triple H had hid a sledge up at the top of the cage. Spray painted silver! Lesnar is able to thwart that attempt and gets the sledge in HIS possession, that also goes poorly and Brock ends up in a Sharpshooter. Paul ends up in the ring trying to break it up, and eats a Pedigree! Lesnar also eats a Pedigree and kicks out at Two… PLUS! Heyman low blows Triple H. Lesnar regroups and then nails HHH with the sledgehammer. Hits the F-5 which was just a formality, and scores the pinfall. He places the sledge next to HHH for a little symbolism and limps his way to the back. Easily their best of the three matches. Good story and action throughout. From a booking standpoint I feel they leaned too much on Paul being involved physically and interfering. Heyman slammed the cage door into HHH's head, low blowed him, and was very involved in distracting HHH. Still… brought Brock's record to an even 2-2 since his return.

Brock's next match was to be one for the ages. The story starts with CM Punk and Paul Heyman. Their friendship over the years and Paul managing Punk during his 434 day reign as WWE Champion. At Money in the Bank that year, Paul Heyman turned on Punk (Side note, I was there! Four rows behind the announce table… LOOK FOR ME, in a Cesaro shirt and with a Switzerland Soccer Scarf.) So Punk fought his way through the Heyman Guy B-Team. Axel and Ryback. Working like crazy to get his hands on Paul. Eventually Paul yells "ITS CLOBBERIN' TIME", and we set off for this match at Summerslam.

Hype video for this match was amazing. The match was made No DQ, which they announced on the pre show. That's a head scratcher. Why not hype that up more? Lesnar out first. Punk out second and crowd going CRAZY. I miss "Cult of Personality" as an entrance song. Already this crowd is more live and hype than the three HHH/Lesnar matches COMBINED. Punk tries to come out firing, but gets thrown into the corner and eats shoulders and stomps. Early story was Punk trying to come out hard. Being tenacious, but it not working as Lesnar just manhandling Punk. Eventually Punk hits a big kick and a couple knees and a suicide dive to get some momentum. Punk tried to use the top half of the entrance steps, but Lesnar just shoulder tackles them into Punk… side note: WHY when a HUGE dude snatches up the ring steps the announcers freak out about "THEIR POWER AND STRENGTH", and yet Punk grabs them with relative ease and now one says a word? Don't answer that, it was rhetorical.

Punk dominates on the outside. Hits a diving clothesline off the table, and then notices Heyman. He stalks Heyman, and gets run over by the Beast for his troubles. Lesnar rag dolls Punk across the Spanish Announce Table. Then over the main table… his back hit awkwardly on one of the monitors. Brock overhead belly to belly's Punk, before this match final gets back in the ring. Lesnar clobbers. Punk tries to rally, before Lesnar snuffs it out. Punk's back is bleeding due to the early spot on the announce tables. Lesnar lots of trash talk during this match is great. Him calling himself the Best int he World, and dismissively yelling out to the crowd, "THIS IS YOUR BOY, HUH?"

This match is physical. Brock's knees to the ribs, or Punk's forearm smashes. Lesnar bear hugs Punk and I would immediately tap out at that move… not because of the pain, though I'm sure it could hurt like hell… but cuz Lesnar is so sweaty. I'd just tap out and yell "GET IT OFF ME!" Punk goes for an axe handle smash off the top. Gets caught… clearly Brock forgot his NFL training because nary a fair catch signal was made! Huge fall away slam. Punk fights out and ends up biting Lesnar. Then starts in with kicks galore. Forearms get Lesnar wobbly, and Punk hits a flying knee off the top rope. Then his trademark running high knee into the corner x2… NOPE! x3 – caught by Lesnar – but Punk hits a head kick, and the Macho Man elbow, which was really more splash than elbow. That got a 2… PLUS! Punk signals for the GTS. Lesnar gets out, hoists Punk for the F-5, but Punk gets out and hits a head kick. More great counter wrestling. As Punk again hoists him for the GTS, but Lesnar reverses THAT into the Kimura. Punk tuns that into an arm bar, and eventually gets Lesnar into a triangle. That becomes a deadlift power bomb, but Punk keeps the triangle on. SECOND deadlift, and then running power bomb. "This is Awesome" chant is well deserved. Lesnar hits the Three Amigos. Or… ya know… his version. Which is more raw brute power less smooth when rolling to keep it going.

Lesnar goes to the outside to get a chair. Punk climbs to the top rope and dives onto chair/Lesnar. That one hurt both of them. Chair then used across the brick wall that is Lesnar's back. Match back inside the ropes, Lesnar gets the chair, but then eats a low blow. Punk does a chair assisted elbow drop off the top. I was sure that was it the first time I saw it. Three Minus as Lesnar BARELY kicked out in time. Punk wears out that chair on Lesnar's back some more, UNTIL? Heyman snatches it from him. Now Punk is able to grab Heyaman, but again Lesnar makes the save. Lesnar hoists Punk up, but Punk has Heyman's tie. Which led to a great exchange between Heyman and Lesnar with Lesnar telling Paul to "LET GO!" Punk hit the GTS on Lesnar, but between Paul breaking it up and Lesnar kicking out the match CONTINUES. Punk reversed the F-5 into a DDT, and then locked in the Anaconda Vice. Heyman slid in with a chair, but is cut off. Punk punches Paul and then locks in the Vice. Paul tapping away frantically then a SUPER high velocity chair shot to Punk breaks that up. Nasty shots. Then an F-5 onto that chair puts an end to a spectacular match.

EASILY Lesnar's best match since his return. Great match. Great story. No surprise this was on many a "Year End" list that year.

So then Lesnar went away… for a while. A… LONG… WHILE. Lesnar did a couple appearances leading into Royal Rumble "dislocating" Mark Henry's elbow. Lesnar also started calling himself, or Heyman called him the #1 contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Anyway, back to him and Show. At the time Henry and Big Show were besties. This being Big Show's "face" season… cuz Big Show turns like the seasons. So Big Show wanted revenge for his buddy. Lesnar being physically dominated in the run ins with Show leading to:

Lesnar attacks before the bell. Takes Show down. Gets a chair, cuz what is a Lesnar match without weaponry? So he sets off in destroying Show. To give a play by play: Chair shot. Chair shot. Chair shot. Chair shot. Chair Shot. Chair shot. etc. etc. etc. Heyman actually goes to give Brock a NEW chair because the original has taken too much of a beating. Bell finally rings. Lesnar charges in for another chair shot and eats the KO Punch. Each man stumbles around on the outside. Show works the body. Crowd okay for this… clearly they were about to be crazy loud with the insanity that followed in the Rumble. Lesnar ends up F-5ing show… though it was more F-U styled. Quick match. Just a beat down squash type match. Post match Lesnar continued to destroy Show with chair shots. He breaks another chair over Big Show, and Heyman tosses him a THIRD chair. Clearly this was setting up to make Lesnar look as dangerous as possible for his Mania match.

You know I didn't know if we would get to a second Wrestlemania match with Lesnar. Clearly this second year of Lesnar has gone a lot better than the first. Going into Wrestlemania he was on a three match winning streak. Had a Match of the Year contender under his belt, and finally we were lined up to get the match that had been rumored and talked about since Lesnar and Taker crossed paths in an arena at a UFC show. The story for Taker's Mania matches have pretty much been the same for the last 6 or 7 years. "Wrestler X" wants to break the Undertaker's streak. WHAT is the "Undertaker's Streak", you ask? Going into the match the Undertaker had never been defeated at Wrestlemania. He was 21-0. As impressive as that is… that they never had him lose a random match? What's MORE impressive is the Deadman's longevity. This would be his 22nd appearance at the Grandaddy of them all. When it would take 14 Mania's without a Taker appearance to be able to say "Taker appeared at half of all Wrestlemanias?" That's saying something.

Ultimately Lesnar and Heyman were moving forward saying that Lesnar was the Number One Contender. McMahonagement was like, sorry Brock. Here you can have a contract for a match of ANYONE of your choosing. Brock and Heyman were very sad panda'd about this. So they were content to not fight at Mania, but Taker returned. Choke slammed him through a table and boom.

Hype video for this match was stellar, but if there is ONE Thing the WWE does consistently well its these video packages. Heyman saying "He IS the �ONE'"… "All good things DO come to an END." He's more prophet than advocate there. JBL actually mentioned Lesnar's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Can't remember THAT One being mentioned before.

Entrances end… man that was LLLLLLONG. I love Taker's entrance, but that one felt so long. Brawling to begin. Lesnar overhead belly to belly's the Deadman. Brock clothesline Taker over the top rope, but Taker lands on his feet. Little more brawling. Taker focusing on Brock's shoulder. Slow start with Taker controlling. VINTAGE leg drop on the apron! [/Michael Cole] Snake eyes. Taker goes for a chokeslam, but Lesnar gets out, hoists for the F-5. Taker gets out. Taker misses a running big boot into the corner, and gets hung up on the top rope. Giving Lesnar a body part to work. I notice the crowd is pretty dead for this. I'm guessing its because everyone thought this was a foregone conclusion. Lesnar dominates this for a while. Methodical destruction. Taker turns the tide with a big DDT. He gets rolling. Big running corner splash. Snake eyes. Big Boot. Taker calling for the chokeslam. GREAT chokeslam. Lesnar jumped outta his shoes on that one. TWO… PLUS!

Taker goes for the Tombstone… Brock out F-5! Taker kicks out. Brock stares in disbelief. Crowd starts to come to life. Taker can't get up, but lures in Lesnar and locks in the Hell's Gate. Deadlift power bomb. Not a full lift, but Taker is a big dude. Still impressive. Back to the Hell's Gate. ANOTHER deadlift power bomb. This one Lesnar gets him up. JBL makes a good point. Taker has been on his back for five minutes of this match. Locked in two Hell's Gates, but hasn't been off the mat. Lesnar locks in the kimura. Taker reverses it and locks in a kimura of his own. They battle in the corner after the ring break. Taker goes for old school. Lesnar pulls him down onto his shoulder. F-5… the sequel! Taker kicks out. Lesnar goes into German mode. Hits two. Mounted punches in the corner for Lesnar means Brock is about to go for a LAST RIDE! Taker collapses. Rewatching this Taker legit looks out of it. Tombstone! Cross armed cover… THREE – MINUS!!! Taker sits up. Crowd meekly reacts. Signals for another Tombstone. Hoists him, Lesnar counters that, and gets Taker into F-5 position. That was impressive. Lets make it F-5 the trilogy! And… cue… THIS:

Crowd was stunned. Total disbelief, then grumbling. Booing. A decent "bullshit" chant. No ONE saw this coming. Match was affected by Taker's concussion. It was good, not great, but that finish was so memorable. Also the first match that wasn't filled with weapons or Paul running in, or distracting. The huge standing ovation at the end was touching. Legit concern for if this was the Undertaker's last match especially as the reports filed in about him spending the night in the hospital. Whether or not the finish was called on the fly. Even the ref count felt weird when I watched it live. Watching it THIS time, it was normal. They just booked it so there was no reaction. Bell didn't ring, Brock's music didn't start. They even took a few beats before announcing a winner. They sold the shock so well people at first were thinking someone screwed up. But the production with the crowd shots right after, and the graphic say otherwise.

In Review!

What a difference a year makes. Year one saw Brock's return and was super underwhelming. Year two? Whoa. The best of the Brock vs. Triple H trilogy. A Match of the Year contender with CM Punk at Summerslam. A pretty forgetful, throw away "match" with Big Show, which served its final purpose which was building up to a huge clash against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. I can't imagine many people were up on thinking Lesnar would end the streak. Hell… I can't recall anyone thinking Lesnar hand any kind of shot. He capped this year in the WWE with a win that trumps any WWE World Championship win. He did something no one thought would happen and most didn't want to happen. The WWE really solidified Lesnar in this campaign. They had a plan for him. They built him well and executed that incredibly well. He was able to put on memorable matches and really cemented himself. I was very on the fence about him returning. I'm not a fan of the part timers. Even if its a "heavier" schedule like Lesnar does, than say when the Rock was around leading into Mania 29. This year helped bring me around. At the very least you have the opportunity to book enthralling matches and have this once in a generation attraction. A legitimate fighter and a great pro wrestler who really found his groove melding those worlds together during this year. They course corrected after year one and came out with a bigger star and box office draw. I look forward to taking a look to his third year. Where we know he had bigger and better things in store!

Scalpels down.

…To Be…CONCLUDED!

http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-highlight-of-the-night-the-top-moments-from-raw-5/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-highlight-of-the-night-the-top-moments-from-raw-5/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:54:34 +0000 Mark Adam Haggerty Other Reviews Reviews Top Lists Alundra Blayze Andre the Giant Axelmania Bad News Barrett Batista BNB Booker T Bray Wyatt British Bulldogs Brock Lesnar Bushwhackers CM Punk Curtis Axel Daily Show Daniel Bryan Dolph Ziggler Hart Foundation HHH J&J Security John Cena Jon Stewert Lana Luke Harper Macho Man Madusa NWA R-Truth Randy Orton RAW Rey Mysterio Rikishi Roman Reigns Rusev Seth Rollins Smackdown Stephanie McMahon Sting Strike Force Superstars TNA Triple H Undertaker Wade Barrett WCW Wrestlemania WWE http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=10176 The Highlight of the Night The Top Moments from Raw Written by Mark Adam Haggerty Wrestlemania is only four weeks away, and tonight's episode of Monday Night Raw emanated from my home—the GARDEN STATE of New Jersey! Of course now I live on the West Coast and was in Las Vegas for Ring of Honor […]

The Highlight of the Night
The Top Moments from Raw
Written by Mark Adam Haggerty

Wrestlemania is only four weeks away, and tonight's episode of Monday Night Raw emanated from my home—the GARDEN STATE of New Jersey! Of course now I live on the West Coast and was in Las Vegas for Ring of Honor when all of my friends were heading to the Prudential Center, but I dare say this was the best episode of Raw since the start of the New Year. I'm certainly apprehensive about the upcoming "Grand Daddy of Them All," but if the next three weeks follow tonight's lead, I think we'll be in good shape by the time the "Road to Wrestlemania" ends right here in California. New Jersey has always been a hotbed for independent wrestling, and I think this episode was staggered in a way so that it appealed to the die-hard fans in Newark. My name is Mark Adam Haggerty, with you as always to deliver my "Highlight of the Night"—The Top Moments from Raw. Let's get started with a very special HONORABLE MENTION …

Honorable Mention
Aside from the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, this year's Hall of Fame class leaves quite a bit to be desired. Arnold Schwarzenegger is being advertised based on his one-night appearance on Smackdown in 1999, rather than his close relationship with Superstar Billy Graham and other WWWF Superstars during the 1970s and �80s. The Bushwhackers will always hold a special place in my heart, but can't compare to the British Bulldogs, Strike Force, the Hart Foundation or any number of other teams from that era, who are not in the Hall. Rikishi most certainly deserves the honor, and I'm happy his sons have been tasked with inducted him, but is Rikishi really a big enough name to be the second biggest induction of the year? Tonight the WWE announced another name for this year's class of 2015—a woman who not only belongs in the Hall of Fame, but probably should have gone in long before Trish Stratus and Lita. Of course I'm talking about Madusa AKA Alundra Blayze. I honestly thought that she was blacklisted by the WWE, but I guess that's not the case. Congratulations to the former 3-time WWF Women's champion—I can't wait to see who inducts her in Santa Clara.

5. Bray's Burning Casket
Cheap-Heat's Gary Mastriano is a very talented wrestling journalist, who also happens to be one of my oldest friends—but Gary and I are divided as to how this year's Undertaker storyline is set to play out. When Bray Wyatt appeared in the Undertaker's casket at Fastlane, I received a text from Gary that read: "So am I supposed to be excited by the Undertaker?" Meanwhile, I'm marking out just as much as my first name might suggest. I think this could be a really cool program, however I can certainly understand why Gary has his reservations. The Undertaker has had consistent contests at every Wrestlemania from 23 with Batista, up until 29 against CM Punk. Unfortunately, the "Dead Man's" last outing was such a disappointment that hundreds upon thousands of self-proclaimed "Creatures of the Night" are now turning on the idea of "one more match." Regardless of whether you're excited to see the "Phenom" square off against the "Eater of Worlds," Wyatt has been highly impressive since starting down this path, especially tonight when he set fire to the casket he constructed in honor of the Undertaker. Might we get some sort of stipulation, such as a Casket Match? Will we see the Undertaker before Wrestlemania, or will he save his return for Levi Stadium? Bray's character is so much more defined than the rest of the roster, which could come easier for Superstars playing specific roles, such as a backwoods cult leader in a rocking chair. I'm excited to see how the next three weeks of Raw will go now that Bray Wyatt has already torched one of the Undertaker's signature symbols, and look forward to their meeting on March 29th.

4. The IC Title Belt
Various historians will suggest that the Intercontinental Championship is the most prestigious singles title in the WWE, and while that might have been true once-upon-a-time, the current state of the belt is questionable at best . I remember a six-year period lasting from 2003 until 2008, where the IC championship wasn't defended at Wrestlemania. That's ridiculous—especially when research uncovers an eleven-year streak of defenses broken only by the "Hollywood Backlot Brawl" at Wrestlemania 12. I think it was probably the influx of WCW championships, such as the Cruiserweight and U.S. titles, that watered down the IC belt. When the roster was split, I imagine pushing the Intercontinental Champion as a main eventer might have been the better route to take, rather than introducing a SECOND world championship. All that being said, I think we COULD be on the verge of a new era for the white leather IC belt. Just because the title wasn't defended at one third of all Wrestlemanias, doesn't mean there haven't been an enormity of stellar champions since, including Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, and even Dolph Ziggler. The shenanigans revolving around the "stolen" title belt aside, the opening matchup between Ambrose and Barrett did more than just offer a comedic outlet for R Truth, it introduced each of the key players going forward. I think everyone involved, including the former NWA world champion R Truth, has a good shot at becoming the next champion. I don't want Ambrose to win, as I feel both he and Barrett are the kind of unestablished talent that's tainted the title, especially as Wade has held the belt what—FOUR times, already? Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper are both incredibly talented workers, either of whom I would be happy to see walk out of Santa Clara holding the championship title high. But truth be told, as much as I love Ron Killings, there's no plausible finish that doesn't include Daniel Bryan wearing the belt, leading 70,000 fans in a "Yes" chant. If the WWE plans to build the U.S. championship with John Cena, then who better to bring back a level of dignity to another historic title belt than Daniel Bryan? I also imagine the WWE isn't interested in another mutiny should Bryan fail to win a big match, particularly at Wrestlemania 31. The intercontinental championship might be a consolation prize for now, but I predict exponential growth for the title and its future holders, mainly due to the countless number of NXT stars set to break through to the main roster.

3. Axelmania!
I pick a lot of my moments based on what they represent, or what they might lead to later on—but this was truly a must-see moment that I dare say isn't going to lead anywhere. John Cena came out and addressed the Newark audience, talking about how he wants to wrestle Rusev at �Mania, but will instead enter his name in the "Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal." This doesn't sit well with Stephanie McMahon for SOME reason—did Cena say anything disrespectful? I understood the idea of Stephanie taking offense to Cena throwing around a name like Andre, but he didn't do it in a blasphemous way. He simply stated that he would be entering the �Battle Royal. The back and forth between the fourth-generation McMahon and the fifteen time world champion was outstanding; I love it when Stephanie gets on her moral high horse in situations like this, suggesting that Cena can't just announce he's in a match—"since when do Superstars book their own matches?" This continued until the BIGGEST pop of the night; as Cena argued with Stephanie, the music hit and Curtis Axel appeared, wearing a Hulkamania-style t-shirt with "Axel" replacing "Hulk." What really moved me about this segment was a combination of how over Curtis Axel was, and how great he came across on the microphone. He's clearly been rehearsing in the mirror, as he didn't slip or stumble, and made every word count in making the overture to challenge John Cena at Wrestlemania. Personally, I would really like to see that match—not more than Cena vs. Rusev II, but I think there's true potential in an Axel/Cena squabble, especially if John Cena can capture the U.S. championship. Axel was in the zone, as he mimicked Hulk Hogan's mannerisms PERFECTLY . But John Cena wasn't done talking just because he was set to compete. In a calm and cool tone, Cena warned Curtis that he should really get out of the ring, because if the match starts, he "will not walk out." The match was a squash, but the story of the segment was the shirt-ripping and pandering by Axel. I'll admit that I've been down on this guy since he split from Paul Heyman, but given his extraordinary pedigree, I think we've just now started to see what the "Axe Man" is capable of.

2. Triple H Fires Booker T
While the showdown between Triple H and Sting is sure to be the biggest match at �Mania, I'm not 100% confident in the way that WWE is structuring their rivalry. For one thing, WCW closed FOURTEEN years ago—why is this program based on WWF's feud with World Championship Wrestling? I think there's a story to be told based on what Booker suggested in the ring with Hunter; perhaps the reason Sting never signed has more to do with the political atmosphere in the WWE, rather than his desire to continue on with the NWA. There's been a lot of rumors in the past about Hunter and his "friends" burying talent before they have a chance to get over, so there's certainly a chance Triple H didn't want Steve Borden stealing his spotlight in 2001. With Rey Mysterio now gone, Booker T is the last vestige of WCW, outside of the U.S. championship, so it makes all the sense in the world for him to get involved in a WCW storyline. I thought Triple H's promo was really good, and it helped fill in the gaps between 2001 and the upcoming match at �Mania. I wasn't sure what to expect when Triple H "fired" Booker T. Obviously he wasn't really fired, this isn't TNA—people aren't terminated on television when they least expect it. But I didn't think he was going to invite Book' back to the announce desk so soon. I thought for sure he would have let the �Universe believe that he fired Booker T, only to have him return the following week. But I guess it worked as a part of what Triple H was trying to convey, and that is the greatest extent of his power in the WWE. I hope to hear from Sting before the match, perhaps he'll have some incite as to how the past fourteen years have been for him as an outsider looking in. I think it's safe to say Sting will go over at Wrestlemania, he'll probably hang around the roster for a year, wrestle Undertaker in Dallas, and go into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2016.

1. "The Daily Show" starring Seth Rollins
It's funny how celebrity involvement works in professional wrestling; oftentimes outside personalities get booed off the stage, as was the case with Kathie Lee and Hoda during their Susan G. Komen cross-promotional appearance. But sometimes a guest clicks in a way that even the most ardent internet fans are impressed, and that's what we had tonight with the Daily Show's Jon Stewart. I was confused as to how a TV show from a Viacom network might interact with Universal properties, but was pleasantly surprised when I heard the official Daily Show theme, and saw a pretty convincing mock-set. Seth was pretty entertaining, and made me laugh on occasion with his routine jabs at Jon Stewart's success as a film director. I respect Jon Stewart because he's obviously a wrestling fan. Both he and his pal Adam Sandler can be seen at multiple events on either side of the country. When Jon listed some of the most influential names in history, such as Bruno, Hogan, and Austin, he clearly knew what he was talking about, which made me trust what he had to say relating to Seth's position at Wrestlemania. Leave it to a comedian to get to the point—"What has the Authority done for Seth Rollins?" As Jon said, it's not Seth in the main event at Wrestlemania, it's not Seth challenging for the world title, and no matter what, it won't be Seth who reigns supreme in California. I really liked the brutal honesty from Stewart, playing Devil's advocate, even suggesting that Seth Rollins might be too good for the Authority. I especially enjoyed Stewart's repartee with J&J Security—I imagine the "Katzenjammer Kids" reference went well over the head of the WWE Universe. In the end, Jon Stewart walked the line of sensibility to perfection; he didn't engage in an official match such as Seth Green, but he also didn't half-ass his appearance as did Al Sharpton. He came to Monday Night Raw with a purpose, and that was to use his enormous celebrity to enhance the developing program between Randy Orton and Seth Rollins. He wasn't there to push a book, or a movie, or even his upcoming comedy special that was mentioned in passing after his appearance. Following the low-blow to Rollins, Jon Stewart ran up the ramp swinging his jacket in victory. When he got to the back, he gave the best interview of the night, frantically inquiring whether or not he was safe backstage. Jon Stewart proved tonight that he is more than just a celebrity, he is a member of the WWE Universe, and for one night , he was a SUPERSTAR!

I'm still not sure what kind of main event to expect out of Brock Lesnar, an unpredictable world champion with no contract in place after �Mania, and Roman Reigns, who has yet to connect with the WWE Universe. I'm quite impressed with the WWE's effort in building up the undercard in such a dynamic way. About three months ago I started writing an article about John Cena as IC champion, and how a Superstar of his magnitude could positively influence the title. I ended up scrapping the idea however, as Cena is now challenging for the U.S. belt and Daniel Bryan is in the intercontinental hunt. I'll be the first to admit that the WWE's current landscape is littered with potholes and pitfalls, but it reminds me of that old saying—about breaking eggs to make an omelet? I think I'll leave you with that. Until next week this has been Mark Adam Haggerty reminding you to keep checking out Cheap-Heat and to follow me on Facebook by LIKING "Mark Haggerty's Pro Wrestling."