Six months after WWE ceased the brutal rape of ECW's corpse, Tommy Dreamer came along to give it a proper burial. Thanks to TNA, the legends of extreme were given the opportunity to say goodbye to an era that will never be duplicated and to give a final farewell to the fans and many of their former ECW brethren. When this was announced, many were skeptical, assuming it was yet another weak attempt by TNA to gain some attention, or to cash in on the legacy of ECW. It was said that the wrestlers were too old and washed-up to perform as they once did. However, it wasn't about popping a buyrate or riding the coattails of the past. Primarily, TNA's Hardcore Justice PPV was about closure.

Anyone that followed Tommy Dreamer knew what his feelings were regarding WWECW, as he was writing quite a bit, from 2006-2007, in a feature on WWE.com called "Tommy Dreamer's Diary of Violence", or something along those lines. His disappointment was quite evident and it was sad that he really believed that they were going to get a second lease on life, not seeing the writing on the wall.

In the promo that he did on Impact, he made several good points, as far as the way ECW was 'resurrected' and whored out, doing nothing but tarnishing its legacy and that of those who busted their asses and gave their all to make that company a success, back in the old days. Many were brought in to WWECW, treated like a joke and jobbed out. Like anyone with a brain could have seen, from a mile away, Vince merely squeezed a few more bucks out of the ECW name and then made sure that it was completely worthless beyond that. And, yes, it was a sad thing to witness.

Thankfully, Dreamer was given the green light by TNA to do a one-shot PPV, as a tribute to ECW and a way for some of the guys to get their closure. This way, they can put it to rest on their own terms, and the lasting memory the fans will have won't be the aberration put on by Vince McMahon. After last night's show, I can say that they succeeded and even exceeded everyone's expectations.

From top to bottom, the show did very well to convey the old ECW spirit. During the first match, there was even a ridiculous dance-off; something I did not really appreciate years ago, but it gave a good sense of nostalgia and fun. It was nice to see Little Guido and the rest of the guys again. As the night progressed, many faces from the past appeared, including Balls and Axl, Joel Gertner, Francine, The Gangstas, Beulah, Fonzie, and the homicidal, suicidal, genocidal Sabu. All of the matches were far better than they had any right being. In particular, the final showdown between Raven and Tommy Dreamer was brilliantly done, and was a perfect way to end this epic feud. As for the main event, from the moment it was announced that Sabu would fill in for the injured Jerry Lynn, the critics began to call for a botch-fest. As I've said many times before, Sabu is one of the most disrespected wrestlers on the planet, considering all that he's done. It was greatly satisfying to see Sabu and RVD put on a hell of a match that was sure to put all of the naysayers in their place.

Watching this show felt really good, and I'm very grateful that TNA allowed this to happen, for ECW to be laid to rest in a proper way, once and for all. I loved that promotion about as much as one could, without being directly involved, but I really hope that this show lives up to its billing: One Last Stand.

WWECW R.I.P.

Tonight marks the end of an era. In June 2006, Vince McMahon exhumed the rotting corpse of ECW, to the dismay of the hardcore fans. We thought it was a wretched attempt to cash in on something that he deserved absolutely no credit for. While that may have been part of the reason, the full truth was something far more diabolical. Vince's ego couldn't stand that ECW's legacy was still strong. He wanted to undermine what was done. He wanted modern fans to associate those three letters with HIS vision and HIS product.

Despite the bad feeling that we all had, we watched out of some morbid curiosity. To us, it was a personal matter and we still had to see what was going on, despite our powerlessness to stop it. From the beginning, they began to rape the spirit of ECW. We had to endure a zombie, among other ridiculous characters. Lame and worthless pieces of garbage, like Test and Bob Holly were on the roster. Sabu was being disqualified for using a table in an "ECW" match However, there were some positives (if you could stretch that far). Rob Van Dam, finally, achieved his goal of becoming ECW World Champion and though most of us don't really count this resurrected belt as part of the true ECW World Title lineage, RVD's reign counts. It was also nice to see some familiar faces on television again, such as Sabu, Little Guido, Balls Mahoney, etc. The problem was that they were all jobbed out, immediately. Instead of building the Originals before feeding them to the new guys (so the victories would mean something), they simply turned them into jobbers from the start. Also, the launch of CM Punk's WWE career was a major highpoint of WWECW. Most will agree that Punk was tailor-made for ECW and would have been there had the company survived. Thanks to the fact that he debuted in front of the ECW fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom, his career has been quite successful thus far.

Outside of seeing some old friends getting nice paychecks, RVD becoming ECW World Champion and the rise of CM Punk, WWECW was a doomed affair. There were a few key events that were detrimental to the success of this endeavour. The inclusion of so many Raw and Smackdown wrestlers, right off the bat, only served to water-down the product. Enforcing the rules was another negative aspect of the show. The RVD and Sabu drug bust was the first serious blow. RVD was carrying the show and it was being built around him. Following this ordeal, he was suspended and never regained the momentum that he lost. We were then forced to suffer Big Show as ECW Champion. The crowds expressed their disgust to the point that WWE gave up running traditional ECW areas. Following this, it seemed that Kurt Angle would step up and carry the brand, but he suddenly left for TNA. Angle never belonged in ECW, based on his pathetic objections to the product in 1996, but it can't be ignored that this was another blow for the new show. As a result of the RVD bust, the ECW Title eventually came to rest around the waist of Vince himself, as the ultimate "fuck you" to the fans. Bobby "Webster" Lashley was no better. Finally, in the summer of 2007, it appeared that things were looking up. Chris Benoit was drafted to WWECW and was set to win the tournament to, finally, become ECW World Champion. Imagine a heel Benoit working a program with CM Punk. We were set for some real classics. Then, the Benoit incident took place and all those plans were scrapped. They tossed a no-name midcarder into the title picture and made Punk look like a weak contender. He only finally got the belt after Morrison was suspended for some wellness violation, though it seemed clear that a Punk title run was in the cards at some point.

WWE's vision of ECW was sabotaged from early on. It was quite likely Vince's intent to water it down and turn it into more stale and typical WWE nonsense. In a few short years, casual fans associated "ECW" with some bullshit that they saw on Sci Fi, as opposed to the true ECW. They stopped chanting those letters anytime something extreme happened, as it lost all meaning to the casual fans. There was never any effort to really make this project succeed. While we knew it was never going to compare to the real ECW, they did have the opportunity to do something different from the norm. "A New Breed Unleashed" seemed to imply that we'd be getting some alternative to the garbage on Raw and Smackdown. Despite the plethora of issues, the early episodes managed to be some of the most entertaining stuff WWE had produced in years. Of course, that's all it took for them to realize that they must put a stop to it and sabotage it. It was loaded with green rookies and washed-up pieces of trash that had no business there, for the most part. I gave up on it, with the exception of watching Punk's title run, about six or seven months in. I couldn't take it anymore.

The time for even considering a McMahon-run ECW would have been back in 2001, when they had so many ECW wrestlers on the payroll and if they had allowed Heyman a free hand in booking. 2006 was far too late. They still could have come up with something, but Paul E. was neutered and the Originals were all jobbed out and disappeared. RVD jobbed himself out with his dumbass mistake. Thankfully, it all comes to an end tonight. Hopefully, the title will be retired as well.

It was good to see RVD as ECW World Champion. It was pleasant to see Angle booked as a wrestling machine, briefly, and the debut and rise of CM Punk. Outside of this, the entire thing was worthless and served only to tarnish the legacy of ECW. Tonight, the final episode airs, before being replaced with a reality TV show. Good riddance. Let's hope this abomination is soon forgotten and that only the true ECW is remembered.



Some past thoughts on this matter; a few words from 2008 and some quotes from my initial reactions in 2006:

In the last few years, those of us who truly cared for ECW have witnessed nothing short of the total raping of its memory. In 2004, WWE released the "Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD. On the one hand, it was a decent tribute. However, Vince and Co. like to rewrite history. While this was no big deal to those of us who lived it, it misrepresented the company for those just being introduced to it through this DVD. And that brings me to my next point.

Following the release of the "Rise and Fall of ECW", suddenly, thousands of 'experts' sprang up out of nowhere. You couldn't get within a hundred yards of a wrestling message board without seeing these children talking about the subject as if they were the authorities. One idea that was expressed within the DVD, in particular, seemed to take hold with these marks; especially since it was a common mistake already. Many seemed to believe that ECW was simply a niche promotion; that it was all about blood and guts. This was something that true ECW fans had to deal with, even back in ECW's prime. Somehow, the barbed wire, tables and chairs took precedence over everything else. In reality, "Barbed Wire City" only ever promoted about half a dozen barbed wire matches. ECW was not a garbage promotion. That's one reason these other wannabe organizations, like XPW or CZW, can never hope to achieve what ECW did. They focus on one aspect: the violence. Even worse, these imitators strive for violence for the sake of violence, with no regard for telling a story or having a decent match. Sure, Ian and Axl Rotten did this, but that was the exception, rather than the rule. Raven was one of the most brutal wrestlers in ECW, yet what he did mattered and worked toward telling a story.

ECW was more than blood and guts. Anyone that was watching, in the mid 90s, can tell you that the best wrestling action in the US was taking place in ECW rings. Yes, ECW had Terry Funk, Sabu and Cactus Jack. However, great technical wrestlers made their home in ECW as well, including Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero, 2 Cold Scorpio, The Steiner Brothers, Taz, The Eliminators, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffatt, etc. Many wrestlers got their first exposure in the US, thanks to ECW, thus allowing them to be noticed and offered jobs with the Big Two.

ECW was hardcore, yet many fans don't seem to know what that means. Hardcore doesn't just mean swinging chairs or putting people through tables. It's a state of mind. Hardcore is going out there, night after night, busting your ass for the people that paid to see you. It's getting in the ring and wrestling, despite being injured, for the good of the business. It's about giving 100% whether there's a thousand people in the audience or ten thousand. Shane Douglas, Mikey Whipwreck, Perry Saturn and countless others sacrificed their bodies and wrestled through the pain of injuries. It doesn't take a body covered in scars to prove how hardcore you are.

But I have digressed for too long. After the DVD, there was renewed interest in ECW. Most of this must have been from fans that had never really been exposed to it. There was also a wave of nostalgia. In 2005, WWE promoted an ECW reunion PPV, called One Night Stand. This served as a decent nostalgia trip and was a fitting goodbye to the most revolutionary wrestling organization of the 1990s. It even inspired the Hardcore Homecoming tour and the "Forever Hardcore" DVD (a good companion piece to the "Rise and Fall..." DVD).

With the success of One Night Stand, the McMahons saw that there was more money to be made off ECW's legacy. In truth, that's the real motivation behind the DVD and the PPV. No one gave a damn about paying tribute to ECW. They simply knew that there was money to be made off the memories. However, by 2006, it went from exploitation to pure rape.

Some of my thoughts, at the time:

"First of all, this is a bad idea. What I mean is, for anyone that actually cares about what ECW meant, this is terrible. To dig up a rotting corpse and parade it around as if it's alive... This is a disgrace. But, on the other hand, let's assume that the idea isn't lame. The time to have done this was back in 2001 when WWF first acquired all of the ECW and WCW guys; before they completely buried each and every one of them. They had Raven, RVD, Dreamer, Snow, Storm, Taz, Credible, Awesome, the Dudleys, Jericho, Saturn, Rhino, and by early 2002 Benoit and Guerrero were back in as well. If Vince had plans to rape the memory of ECW, the timing would have been much better back then. Not to mention the fact that the casual wrestling fan would have been more likely to remember it. WWE fans have short attention spans and limited memory. Many probably don't have a clue as to what ECW was. The timing is off on this one. But it doesn't matter since it's a bad idea, anyway."

"There is no new ECW. This is not a return, it is sacrilege. I miss it like hell, but this will be a disgrace. A McMahon-owned ECW will be about as extreme as elderly Japanese women knitting sweaters..."

"Let's see how long it takes for Heyman's optimism to be crushed by the final word of Vince McMahon...He has the final say. I can't see Heyman putting out a great product and making the other shows look bad for long. Vince's ego would never allow that. And am I the only one who thinks that, good idea or bad idea, the timing for this would have been much better back in 2001 when they had so many former ECW stars on the roster, such as Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, (an active) Taz, the Dudleys, Justin Credible, Raven, Rhino, Dreamer, RVD (before being squashed all to hell), Jericho, Tajiri, etc.? Instead of the dumbass Invasion angle, they could have put more time and planning into it and given this idea half a chance back then....."

"Another thing to consider is the dedication of the wrestlers. Back in the day, the wrestlers would give their all and break their bodies because they believed in ECW and what it stood for. How many are going to be willing to sacrifice their bodies for McMahon? ECW was the perfect stage for these men to come in and prove themselves and showcase their talent. How neutered are they going to be? I certainly don't expect to see Dreamer being chokeslammed from a balcony, for example. I don't see any of the former ECW wrestlers falling for this and actually caring about the product the same way that they once did. For what purpose? To line Vince's pockets with their blood and sweat?"

"Vince is playing the nostalgia card. Period. He's USING the name and legacy of what once was to make a buck. It's not a bad idea for him to make money, but it's a bad idea for anyone who ever truly cared for what ECW stood for. And I guarantee, yeah 'new ECW', whatever; it will be a far cry from what it once was. So again, why bother using the name for something that is admittedly going to be quite different? And I'm sorry to those too blind to understand, but Big Show, Orton, etc...these people do not belong in ECW or even being on an ECW show. So, think back to what it once was, and why people like me might think that what is currently going on is a god damn disgrace. Why couldn't they have just come up with another (un)clever name for the third brand? Why rape the memory of something important? I don't think I want to see ECW become what it always hated, sports entertainment...."

"The Smackdown environment is really killing any potential for this to be enjoyable. I mean, I have to sit through the utter bullshit of Big Show being ECW World Champ and now lame people like Hardcore Holly (Hardcore, my ass) and Matt Striker coming in to join with Test and Mike Knox in the "let's be as anti-ECW as possible" group. And, personally, I find Holly's presence on here to be very insulting. There is nothing hardcore about that guy, period. Anyone that approves of this just shows how little they understand... While I knew this wasn't going to be ECW, only in name, I thought it would at least be an alternative to their regular, hard-to-watch, programming... Instead, it seems to be the 99 cent bin for WWE's reject wrestlers..."

"I am trying to judge this on its own merit, as I do with TNA. I have seen some positive things, not by true ECW standards, but I'm not holding this to those standards. A standard response to those of us who are disgusted with this is, "Don't watch!" "It's not supposed to be like the old ECW!" No kidding. I don't think any true ECW fan expected this to be like the real thing. My inital problem is that they were whoring out the name and even some of the talent but, make no mistake, I'm clear on what this is. Now, all of the advertising has indicated that this is supposed to be somewhat different from the regular product. At times it is. But, more often than not, it seems like the same old shit, as the Hammerstein fans noticed as well. Now, they proved that they could put on a decent wrestling program, and those are the standards I am holding them to. I've been watching this, putting the ECW part out of my head. The show in front of the Hammerstein crowd was actually enjoyable, and CM Punk's debut match was nice as well. I was hoping for something at least as good as that, not old ECW. They gave me a decent show or two, and now they don't seem to be doing so."

"I understand that they want to put these "new" guys over by giving them wins over all of the "ECW Originals", but why do they feel the need to totally bury the real ECW people? RVD and Tommy Dreamer, for example, don't need to be jobbing to put over Big Show and Bob Holly. Anyone that has been watching WWF/E for the past 5 years know that the old ECW guys have already been jobbing to these guys anyway. The "ECW Originals" have been buried for years, and it doesn't seem to make sense that they're still being buried. It doesn't matter for, say, Big Show to beat up Tommy Dreamer in an "ECW" ring, because to WWE fans, Dreamer is nothing but a jobber anyway. I thought, maybe, they'd take the time to showcase these guys and build them up a bit, first, before feeding them to make new stars, or to establish their vision of ECW.

If it was important enough to start a new show and call it ECW, then to showcase some of the old ECW guys, it would also make sense to me for them to undo the damage of the last several years (burying the ECW guys that were on the WWF/E roster) before using them to build the guys that are new to WWECW. It doesn't make a star out of anyone to get a win over somone who hasn't won a match in ages.

I realize that RVD beat Holly. Really, Rob Van Dam did a lot to hurt this project show. His irresponsible actions cost him and all of us. The show seems to have made an abrupt shift since his trouble with the law and subsequent suspension.

In his short reign, Big Show has already beaten all the major ECW guys (Sabu, RVD, Sandman, Dreamer) so it makes them all seem lame. When one of them does defeat him for the title, it seems that it will make less sense since he already decimated the whole roster. If he destroys everyone, then who will be a believable contender? They want these old ECW guys to lend credibility to the new guys, by jobbing, but they haven't established them (in my view) as anyone worth beating anyway.

Sabu is probably getting more exposure than he's gotten in years. The matches aren't really doing much to cement his legacy or to show any newer fans why he is/was such an innovator, but it is good to know that after busting his ass for years, he's finally going to make a few bucks. I hope that he can save enough to make his life more pleasant in the future. He certainly deserves quite a bit, in my opinion, after all that he's contributed. I hope he finally gets the recognition he deserves from mainstream fans.

I understand that Dreamer lost quite a bit, in ECW. Most of those losses were to Raven, but he did manage to beat others. See, losing to Raven didn't make him look like a jobber. He still got in plenty of offense, during the match, and put a hurting on Stevie and Beulah when he got the chance, as well. He still carried himself a certain way, and was perceived as a top guy in the company, regardless of wins or losses. Since joing WWF/E, in 2001, he has been reduced to a joke. He was buried, in my opinion, and they never did anything to really change that. They didn't even bother building him up for this WWECW thing. It seems to me that they could have established him a little better, before feeding him to Big Show and Test. Hell, give him a few wins over Little Guido and Stevie Richards first...

And I think Sandman should have been kept away from Big Show. I thought they were trying to build him up a bit, but they killed it already by jobbing him out already and making it seem like all of his offense comes from the cane, in the process. As if he couldn't get a win without it. I wasn't happy about him only being used to get rid of the gimmick people each week, anyway, but he should have been kept in reserve. I feel that they already jobbed all of the main talent to new people, at one time or another, and now their credibility (which has been damaged for the ones already in WWE for the last few years) is suffering from it. For mainstream WWE fans, Sandman is still relatively unknown. They should have built him up a lot more before jobbing him out to the champ. A few video packages of his accomplishments in the real ECW wouldn't have hurt. They might as well make some use of all that footage.

As for Justin Credible, I feel that he was overrated in ECW and I never agreed with Heyman's decision to push him to the moon at the expense of the older ECW wrestlers. I'll just say that he's one guy that I wouldn't mind to see get put in his place. I couldn't care less if he got buried, since he didn't belong in the first place.

Kurt Angle as the "Wrestling Machine" is very nice to see. His match with RVD was one of the best I've seen from WWE, in years. However, and it hurts to say this, he has no business in a ring with the letters E-C-W on it. Kurt Angle opposed ECW in 1996, making a big deal and ruining the crucifixion angle, between Raven and Sandman. Despite his wrestling acumen, it's a further insult to have him associated with this in any way, despite the good matches he's capable of having."

The summer of 2006 was a painful time for true ECW fans. The few remaining ECW alumni were jobbed out and buried even deeper. However, after several months, the complaining began to die down. Many simply accepted it for what it was. Vince got what he wanted. He killed the memory of ECW, for a lot of people. Now, casual wrestling fans associate those letters not with the revolutionary Philadelphia-based independent promotion that took the wrestling world by storm, in the mid to late 90s, but with this mediocre abomination on Sci Fi. He shaped it to what he saw it as and most don't notice the difference. In 2007, he even put the ECW World Title on himself. In the last couple years, even the most argumentative of us became desensitized to what was going on. I stopped watching, around September 2006, only tuning in again, a year later, to see CM Punk win the title.

Really, the only worthwhile things to come out of this were RVD's reign and Punk's rise to the top. All the hype from 2006 was wasted. "A new breed unleashed" really meant, "Watch us job the ECW Originals out to our developmental talent and neuter the name ECW as much as possible." The Heat and Velocity concepts seem to have failed, but with name ECW, they seem to have accomplished several goals... much to the disappointment of fans of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Taz leaves WWF/E

The first time that Taz stepped foot into a WWF ring, he was there as part of an ECW 'invasion' that was to promote ECW's first PPV "Barely Legal". That night, he stretched Mikey Whipwreck. Just under three years later, Taz returned to make his debut as a WWF wrestler, ending Kurt Angle's undefeated streak and choking him out at the 2000 Royal Rumble, in front of an energetic crowd at Madison Square Garden. For ECW fans, such as myself, it was sad to see Taz leave but we were sure that big things were in store for him. In no time, he was mixing it up with The Rock and even defending the ECW World Title against HHH. Surely, the man that elevated the ECW World Title would go on to win the WWF Title, in due time. We just knew he would be having classic matches against the great talent that WWF was bringing in at the time, like Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, etc. However, an injury put him on the shelf for a while and he returned with much less fanfare. He was tossed into a feud with Jerry Lawler and joined forces with Raven, for a short time. It all went downhill from there.

Taz became a commentator, rather than suplex the entire WWF on their skulls. The only gold he ever held was one half of the WWF Tag Team Title (unless you count his five seconds with the Hardcore Title). Most fans, today, have no idea that their amusing Smackdown commentator was once one of the most feared men to lace up a pair of wrestling boots. Well, now that seems to have come to a conclusion. Taz gave his notice to the company a few weeks back with his final appearance set to be last night. According to sources, this was a call by Taz and he apparently wanted a break as he has been working for the company for almost ten years. Hopefully, he's saved his money over the years and will do just fine away from the business. Still, it's sad to think how it's ended for him, after coming in with such promise. Then again, he'll probably show up in TNA. Who knows?

Here is a public statement from Taz:

"Yo,

Well, after leaving WWE recently, I would like to make my first public comments here on the page. I would like to thank the Pro Wrestling fan base for the support through all my years with ECW & WWE! I especially want to thank all of you on this Facebook fan page from all over the world! I try to read most of your comments and I am truly flattered on how many of you supported what I did in the real ECW and my broadcasting accomplishments in WWE. Lets face it, after my debut at MSG vs the great Kurt Angle their wasn't much for me to "hang my hat on" as a wrestler during my tenure wrestling for WWE.Now, I want to clear up some "true & false" for all of you....

TRUE
-My contract expired the end of March and I had given my notice several weeks prior
-I ask WWE for my release to pursue other interest
-I offered to call Wrestlemania while I was not contractually obligated....and offered to call the show for free to the company.
-I have fulfilled EVERY obligation to the WWE, and pride myself on leaving the proper/professional way.
-On my way out, from Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn & Stephanie ALL treated me great...which was cool.
-I APPRECIATE all of the offers for appearances but right now I'm just doing very few appearances (if any). I'm gonna chill out and watch my kid hit baseballs.
-I am done wrestling. At 41 years old, several neck and shoulder issues...not happening. I would be a former shell of myself.
-I too have hated the extra "Z"

FALSE
-Burnout (If anything, I'm more inspired & motivated now than ever)

Hopefully that clears up some things people were saying in regards to my situation. Also, I have had the opportunity of becoming friends with so many talented & awesome people within the WWE while working there for nearly 10 years and will miss many of them! I would like to thank the writers, road & studio crew and all the talent...especially guys I have a closer friendship with.

I especially want thank three of the main play by play guys I've work with.

Joey Styles
-A dear friend whom I've been goombas with for 15 years and will stay friends with! I felt Joey never had a chance to truly be "Joey Styles" in WWE as an announce talent...that's a shame. But the announce style is completely different than anything Joey ever really did in the business....tough to adapt.

Jim Ross
-The best of the best! True Hall of Famer and a man I respect and appreciate. I cannot thank him enough for all he has taught me as an announcer...as of recent JR & I were the Smack announce team and were doing a strong job in my view....we have shared some good times on many road trips as of recent...BOOMER SOONER!! And I'm a Nebraska Husker fan (lol)

Micheal Cole
-One of my best friends...a guy that truly gave me the confidence to excel as a color commentator years ago in WWE...Cole taught me how to get over the talent, the storylines and get over the brand! He was the only one that had the balls to flat out say to me "its not about you anymore"...I respect that. Amazing work ethic, always would try to find a way for me to get over on him...zero ego & underrated!

I been hearing that Cole has been getting bashed by some on-line fans lately- check this out, if you work at McDonald's and your boss wants you to cook BicMac's...you than go and cook BIG MACS! Anyway, I look forward to working with Cole in the future in some capacity be it TV or Radio.

I want thank World Wrestling Entertainment and the McMahon Family for all the years and all the opportunities...they allowed me a great ride which I truly appreciate.In closing, I've been in the Pro Wrestling business for 23 years and I don't plan on disappearing anytime soon.

I plan to make an impact real soon in this, the ultimate in businesses and keep it's honor....lol....sorry for crossing the line with my sophomoric humor! Survive if I let you.

FTW
Taz"

Looking back, WWF 2000 v. WWE 2008

In 2000, WWF had many of my favorite wrestlers (Which is why I tuned back in around 2000). The list includes Chris Benoit, Taz, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero, Cactus Jack, Perry Saturn, Raven and even Al Snow. They also had Kurt Angle, and his athleticism made me a fan, pretty quickly. Many of my favorites were seeing title reigns; Intercontinental, European and Hardcore. The main event scene consisted of HHH, The Rock, Austin, Angle, etc. Usually the same four people, but it was entertaining for a while. I didn't like The Rock, but at least he was somewhat humorous. All in all, 2000 showed a promotion with a decent amount of potential.

In 2008, WWE has Chris Jericho, William Regal and CM Punk. Jericho and Punk have seen title reigns this year, most unexpectedly. As for the rest of the main event scene, it leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the main eventers are glorified midcarders, in my opinion. None of them have that 'it' factor, if you ask me. There's a few mainstays such as HHH, HBK and Taker, but two of the three seem close to retirement and none of the others really seem to belong. Chris Jericho seems to have finally made it to the main event, years later than he should have. When he leaves, I will probably stop watching WWE altogether. WWE in 2008 seems beyond stale, in most regards, and I fail to see much potential in the so-called stars of tomorrow.

The path to success...

In professional wrestling, the path to success is a good heel run. Edge is a good example of this. His comedic heel days with Christian helped to establish him. Once they tried to push him as a singles wrestler, he floundered. He was very stale, as most babyfaces are. Then, he gets a decent heel run and, in no time, he's a success. He went from shocking many and ending John Cena's first title reign to a multiple-time World Champ that has feuded with the Undertaker. At some point in the next couple years, they may turn him face. However his success will have been built on a heel foundation.

Several of the top guys in WWF/E, over the last 15 years or so have come from a good heel background. That is to say, they really got over and established themselves as heels. Bret Hart was in a heel tag team, the Hart Foundation. He went on to be the face of the company for some time. Shawn Michaels was another bland babyface, whose success as a singles wrestler began when he turned heel and threw his partner through a window. Kevin Nash, as Diesel, held the WWF Title for about a year. He began, in the WWF, as a heel bodyguard. Scott Hall, as Razor Ramon, was hugely over and held the Intercontinental title four times (which was a record, at that point) and he first got over as a heel. Steve Austin, one of the company's top faces of all time, really built up momentum and gained a loyal following during his heel days. The same with The Rock. They tried pushing him as just another generic babyface and everyone was sickened. Once he turned heel, he got over with the people and, eventually, became the company's top babyface. Even out of the current crop, Cena and Batista, both, made names for themselves as heels. It was the momentum that they built up back then that has allowed them to coast along as faces. If either one had debuted as they are now, and remained that way, I guarantee they'd have never gotten over.

It seems that, for the most part, the fans are tired of wrestlers that debut as bland babyfaces and get pushed to the moon. Somehow, for most, working as a heel allows them to really develop some sort of character that later transitions from heel to face.

In Memorium

From 7 September through 23 November, with the exception of eight days, Chris Jericho reigned supreme as the heavyweight wrestling champion of the world. He defeated Batista, Kane, JBL and Misterio to win the World Title, over six years after losing the Undisputed World Heavyweight Title. He successfully defended the title in a steel cage match, against CM Punk, while still nursing injuries from his most recent encounter with HBK. He followed this up by successfully defending the title in a ladder match, against Shawn Michaels.

Following this, instead of gaining more respect, he soon became the most disrespected champion in recent history. As he moved on to Batista, he suffered the indignity of having his challenger laugh right in his face and treat him like an afterthought. In the meantime, he wrapped up his feud with Michaels, by defeating him in a last man standing match. After dropping the belt to Batista, he quickly reclaimed the title in a steel cage match. The point was made quite clear; don't underestimate Chris Jericho.

His next challenger did nothing to earn a title shot. WWE force fed the fans video packages of John Cena, the returning hero. The outcome was quite predictable, from a mile away. Sure enough, Cena prevailed and robbed Jericho of the World Title, in the main event of Survivor Series. He still looked fairly strong, going into his title rematch, last night. However, "Lionheart" was disgraced by having to tap out to Cena's STF. It would seem that the wind is being taken out of his sails. There was no need to have him submit. Now, we'll see if WWE intends to go down the same route, as in 2002, and kill every bit of Jericho's momentum.

In 2002, at Wrestlemania 18, Jericho lost the Undisputed Title to HHH. He defeated The Rock and Austin, on the same night, to become the first ever Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion in WWF history. He held the title for around four months, making him the longest-reigning Undisputed Champ as well. However, afterward, he was pushed into the midcard, to the point where he wasn't even considered a serious threat. It took years to undo the damage they had done. Now, it seems they may do it to him again.

Puroresu

A brief summary of Wrestling in Japan...

Definition

The word puroresu is an abbreviation of "purofesshonaru resuringu," which is simply Japanese for "Professional Wrestling." Thus, puroresu is not a real word and technically should be pronounced "pro res" since the "u" is frequently silent in the Japanese language. Puroresu shouldn't be considered a style, as it only means Professional Wrestling in a different language. The different promotions in Japan have their own styles and use their own terms to describe their style, but the wrestling in Japan is too diverse to clump together. But since the abbreviation is derived from a Japanese word, puroresu for years has been meant as Professional Wrestling in Japan when used by fans around the world. Besides the problem that there is no way to pronounce the word, generally outside of a handful of anal fans the word "puroresu" is used to describe any wrestling promoted by a promotion based in Japan.

Past

Professional Wrestling in Japan first gained popularity in the 1950s, when local hero Rikidozan battled American wrestlers Lou Thesz and The Destroyer to monster TV ratings. After Rikidozan's death in 1963, the popularity of puroresu dipped but soon rose when Rikidozan's students Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki raised to take over their leader's place. Giant Baba was more heavily pushed by JWA (Japanese Wrestling Alliance), and this led to Antonio Inoki becoming unhappy and he tried to take over the company. When that didn't work he split off and formed New Japan, while not soon after Giant Baba also left JWA and formed All Japan. This lead to JWA disbanding. New Japan and All Japan were both very popular in Japan and both Inoki and Giant Baba became nationally recognized stars. The promotions had different styles to help differentiate between them, with Inoki preferring his matches be more realistic and "shoot-style," (he participated in many karate and boxing matches) and Giant Baba having his matches more structured. For more information on Strong Style (New Japan) and King's Road (All Japan), I highly recommend Adam's article on the history of each. You can find his article posted under the Articles section.

While the promotions at first were cordial to each other, by the mid-80s relations were strained as each promotion "stole" stars from the other. Other promotions also began forming, including the UWF (the first shoot-style promotion) and later FMW (the first promotion in Japan to use Death Matches in the main event). This lead to more diversity in Japan, as all four promotions (UWF and its off-shoots, FMW, New Japan, and All Japan) had their own distinct style. Also, from the mid-80s to early 90s many of the greatest wrestlers debuted including Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono, Mitsuharu Misawa, Shinya Hashimoto, and others. These wrestlers helped pave the way for wrestling in the 90s and beyond, as in the mid-90s the popularity of puroresu reached heights that it had not reached in decades. All Japan, All Japan Women, New Japan, FMW, and UWF all were drawing sell-out crowds as high as 65,000 people and at the time there were no signs of it slowing down. Other promotions that formed in the mid-90s included Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Michinoku Pro Wrestling.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last as the next crop of young stars never fully reached the level of success as the previous generation. New Japan suffered due to the rise of MMA and Inoki wanting his New Japan wrestlers to be seen as just as tough as fighters in Pride and K-1. Unfortunately New Japan wrestlers were embarrassed in a series of MMA matches, leading to the opposite happening. For All Japan, Giant Baba's death in 1999 lead to discord within the promotion, as his presence and booking ability had kept the promotion together. FMW slowly faded and finally died after their star Hayabusa was paralyzed, and the shoot-style promotions lost fans when MMA became more popular. The problems in All Japan lead to Misawa splitting away and taking the vast majority of the roster with him to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Big Japan Pro Wrestling took a major hit after a feud with CZW that saw their attendance dramatically drop. By 2003 the future looked bleak, and even though the main three promotions were surviving none were near the popularity that they had reached only a few years before.

Present

Professional Wrestling in Japan has recovered. While not near the popularity that it obtained in the mid-90s, the major puroresu promotions have finally shown promising signs. After a few generations were skipped in terms of finding a stand-out star, now there are a crop of wrestlers that show serious potential. For the smaller promotions, both Big Japan and Michinoku Pro are still active, with Big Japan recovering and growing new stars. All Japan almost went bankrupt on several occasions, but with a new backer and creative booking the promotion is plugging along. Kohei Suwama, Ryuji Hijikata, and other young stars seem ready to ease the role of established stars Kojima and Mutoh. In New Japan, Antonio Inoki no longer has any power (nor his son-in-law Simon Inoki) and the promotion has strived in his absence. While still not able to fill the Tokyo Dome like it could in its hay day, young stars Nakamura and Tanahashi are finally showing their potential and established stars Nagata and Nakanishi are still popular. Finally, Pro Wrestling NOAH has a number of stars that are growing such as KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji, and Go Shiosaki. Even though the jury is still out on whether they will be able to lead the promotions back to their previous status, after the gloomy predictions from only a few years ago now none of the major promotions seem to be on the brink of disaster.

Oh my god!

One of the most newsworthy events that transpired on World Wrestling Entertainment's tour of Iraq last week took place nowhere near any of the cameras that were filming the tour. I was stunned at hearing the following story over the weekend and initially chalked it up to being just an urban legend, but as it turns out, it was completely accurate.

Retired WWE announcer (and current WWE.com personality) Joey Styles punched out former WWE champion JBL in Iraq during an altercation between the two, busting JBL open under the eye.

No, that is not a typo.

As the story was initially explained to me (and all versions I've heard since have matched the original report I was conveyed), JBL made Styles something of a target because it was Styles' first tour of Iraq for the company and was hazing the former ECW announcer.

I was told JBL was trying to bully Styles with a lot of condescending comments and actions, including allegedly spilling a drink on Styles on purpose. JBL was more or less pulling a lot of the shenanigans that a lot of of the performers in the company can't stand but deal with since he has the political stroke of being a tenured veteran.

Several days into the tour, JBL (who by all accounts, had been drinking) did something that caused Styles to physically retaliate in defense. A number of wrestlers stepped between them and held the two apart. When JBL broke free, he went towards Styles, who "nailed him perfectly with a pretty good shot" according to one witness, laying JBL out, busting him open and blackening his eye.

There were no further incidents between the two on the tour after that.

There were a number of performers who pointed out to me that the story was something of karma coming back to bite JBL in the rear because his antics had caused Smackdown talent Palmer Cannon to quit the company during a European tour (and Cannon wasn't the only victim of JBL's hazing over the years) as well as the famous 2005 ECW One Night Stand beating of the Blue Meanie during the PPV closing brawl inside the ring.

At last night's Raw in Philadelphia, the story was the talk of the day among wrestlers, who were amazed by the incident. I was also told JBL was acting completely subdued at the taping, something absolutely out of character for him, as he knew the story was making the rounds. Styles, meanwhile, was trying to downplay the incident to those who brought it up to him at Raw.

It was considered doubly embarrassing for JBL among the wrestlers since he was so involved with setting up the Iraq tours.

In a strange way, some theorized the incident would get Styles over with Vince McMahon because it showed his "toughness" and could pave the way for his return to TV. I have no idea whether Styles' cameo last night was part of any direct result of the "Iraq Punchout", as it was termed to me.

Strong Style v. King's Road

When the original Japanese professional wrestling organization, the JWA, dissolved in the early 1970s, its top two stars, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, formed their own promotions that presented each man's vision of professional wrestling. Inoki created New Japan Pro Wrestling and developed "Strong Style" while Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling and defined his promotion's style as "King's Road."

STRONG STYLE

First lets talk about Strong Style. It is the most common word used to describe the type of wrestling performed in New Japan, which is the largest federation in the country and second largest in the world. The title "Strong Style" itself describes New Japan's philosophy and the philosophy of its founder, Antonio Inoki. New Japan refers to itself as the "King of Sports," so in their eyes it must also have the strongest style of fighting. New Japan's style isn't static, but over the years has taken elements from other types of wrestling and incorporated it into their style.

Today, Strong style means hard-hitting New Japan matches, basically. It incorporates submission finishes more frequently than "King's Road", as Inoki's vision was Pro Wrestling as a Mixed Martial Art. You are more apt to see a quick cross armbreaker (jujigatame) finish in New Japan, as the move is established as a very dangerous submission that many times results in an instant tap-out. The three different representatives of Strong Style throughout New Japan's existence were Inoki himself, Riki Choshu, and then Shinya Hashimoto in the 1990s. Since Hashimoto left the company New Japan really hasn't gotten a "stylistic leader" or true "ace" at the level of those three men, but has pinned its hopes on the current top wrestlers Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

When New Japan first opened up in the 1970s there was a heavy emphasis on a long portion of early matwork, a legacy that lives on today. Inoki would regularly work holds for an extended period of time and then turn it on for a big finish with high impact moves like the dropkick and suplexes. In later years when matwork as the major vehicle for telling stories fell by the wayside, this type of structure often lead to big New Japan matches featuring cursory matwork in the beginning of the match that didn't really play into the later portions, where they seemed to start the "real match" and bring out their hard hitting arsenal. Inoki's vision of pro wrestling presented it as a style of fighting, to be put up against other martial arts disciplines like judo and karate. This lead to him working in many "different style fights" against top practitioners of other fighting styles; worked matches, mind you, that Inoki used to put himself and pro wrestling as a whole over. Inoki would later lose sight of that goal with the later MMA-influence movement that came on the heels of PRIDE's success, but that is another topic for another time.

Strong Style took a turn for the faster paced when Riki Choshu turned heel and started up the Ishigundan (Restruction Force), an anti-establishment faction that looked to topple the Inoki/Fujinami hierarchy of New Japan's Seikigun (regular army). Choshu and his compatriots - hard-working veterans Masa Saito and Killer Khan, the young Yoshiaki Yatsu and the little spitfire Animal Hamaguchi - brought rapid-fire double and triple team moves to their matches and a more brisk pace in between periods of inactivity with restholds like the Figure 4 Headscissor.

Another contributing influence to "Strong Style" was the formation of the UWF by breakaway stars like Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, and the young Akira Maeda. The UWF group stressed more realistic "fighting" in their wrestling and pushed clean finishes (a concept that was directly against most booking in Japan at the time as even tournament finals and title matches often ended in screwjob finishes to protect the wrestlers from losing outright). When UWF version 1 closed its doors, many of the wrestlers came back to New Japan and ran an "invasion" angle, where their "kick suplex and submission" style really caught on with the fans and began to be incorporated into New Japan matches. A classic match in the tradition of the two colliding styles was Akira Maeda vs. Tatsumi Fujinami from June 12, 1986.

Upon Choshu's return to New Japan in the late 80s and his ascension to the head booker of the company the type of match known not-so-affectionately as "Lariat Puroresu" became the norm. These matches regularly featured repeated hits with a wrestler's signature striking move while the opponent attempted to endure them to show his "fighting spirit." It was not uncommon to see Riki Choshu use 6 or 7 lariats in one match to finish off an opponent, and his disciples like Kensuke Sasaki and Manabu Nakanishi followed suit. Choshu's hand-picked successor Shinya Hashimoto represented "Strong Style" perfectly during his years on top of New Japan in the 1990s. Hashimoto's offense was largely based around hard kicks and chops along with his signature DDTs, but he was able to project an aura of strength and power throughout his IWGP title reigns that had audiences coming to see him and the New Japan product in record numbers. Two matches that represent Strong Style in the 1990s are the 1991 and 1995 G1 Climax finals, the first match being the breakout performance by young superstars Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, and the second featuring Shinya Hashimoto relinquish his reign as "ace" of New Japan Pro Wrestling to Keiji Mutoh. My personal pick for a match that truly encapsulates "strong style" is when former top star Riki Choshu faced then-current ace Shinya Hashimoto in the 1996 G1 Climax.

There is some confusion on the internet and in some circles about just what "strong style" is. Part of that confusion stems from its early usage by Dave Meltzer and others in the Wrestling Observer crowd. They often referred to what we would now call "worked-shoot" and submission style wrestling as "Strong Style," especially in reference to promotions like UWFi and Pancrase. Dave has since corrected himself and noted that it is generally just a referent to New Japan's style. American Independent wrestlers and announcers also refer to many of their matches as "American Strong Style." To US Indy guys "Strong Style" = "Very Stiff" and features many head-dropping maneuvers more accurately associated with the All Japan style of wrestling, but such attention to detail can't be expected from people who are using "buzzwords" to cash-in on the niche of pro wrestling smart marks who follow the Japanese scene.

KING'S ROAD

King's Road is also called "Oudou" and it is the type of wrestling envisioned by All Japan's founder Giant Baba. Like "Strong Style" there were still hard strikes and stiffness, but by the mid-90s the matches were built differently with emphasis on a feeling out portion, a middle body working portion, and a finishing run. King's Road stressed stamina rather than mixed martial arts techniques.

You can basically say that King's Road is a logical progression from the US '70s style of wrestling from a build standpoint, but with the ante upped in the big move department, whereas Strong Style is a combination of traditional wrestling with the martial arts. Due to the heavy emphasis on top foreign talent from the NWA, King's Road tended to reflect the style of the NWA World Champions of the 70s, who focused on building a match and struggling for moves moreso than Strong Style, which features more back and forth action with quick transitions. With notable exceptions, this leads New Japan's matches to tell simple but strong stories, whereas All Japan's matches tend to try and delve a bit deeper.

King's Road was rooted in All Japan's direction under Giant Baba and through Jumbo Tsuruta, who worked a traditional pro wrestling style with some of the best gaijin (foreigners, literally translates to "outside people") of the era in the 1970s. Whereas Inoki looked to redefine pro wrestling as a style, Baba was content to hone in on the storytelling aspects of matches, using his extensive NWA connections and friendships to bring over the top American wrestlers like Harley Race, Jack Brisco, the Funk brothers, and Ric Flair to battle him and Jumbo. Prime examples of All Japan's style in the 1970s are the NWA World Title match between champion Terry Funk and young challenger Jumbo Tsuruta from 6/11/76 and an excellently structured match between Giant Baba and Billy Robinson for the PWF Heavyweight Title on 7/24/76.

By the early 80s many New Japan fans began to criticize Baba and All Japan for the slower and more methodical pace of their matches, but then King's Road was given a kick in the ass by Riki Choshu and his invading army in 1984. Ishigundan are responsible for significantly speeding up the pace of All Japan matches and incorporating quick tags and rapid-fire multiple-team moves, as well as shifting All Japan's booking focus from the old native vs. gaijin format to the more lucrative native vs. native programs. Comparing great All Japan tag team matches from earlier in the decade, such as the Funk Brothers vs. Bruiser Brody/Jimmy Snuka from the 1981 Tag League, to the main tag team feud of the mid-80s, Jumbo/Tenryu vs. Choshu/Yatsu, you can see the difference in pacing and moves.

With Riki Choshu gone, Genichiro Tenryu petitioned Baba to break away from his babyface team with Tsuruta and start his own heel group. Upon forming the group "Revolution" Tenryu became the most popular wrestler in All Japan, keeping the pacing and swagger from Choshu's group and incorporating harder strikes and hits like All Japan's top gaijin Stan Hansen. Tenryu was popular, but it took Jumbo Tsuruta's guidance and character to take what Tenryu and Choshu were doing and blend it with what All Japan was doing since its inception.

Jumbo Tsuruta took the traditional 70s style past the limit as he carried Genichiro Tenryu through the singles feud of the 80s in the absence of Choshu, creating the blueprint match that Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, and Taue (often referred to as the Four Corners or Four Lords of Heaven) would follow and improve upon in the 90s. This blueprint involved a hot opening segment followed by a slow build to the bigger moves, constant teases of finishers and signature moves, playing off of previous matches and finishes, and telling a story within the context of a match based on the wrestlers' history with each other and their place in the promotion.

Tsuruta and Tenryu used the fast pace and adrenaline spurts from the Choshu-era matches and plug them into that formula to keep the matches moving in an age where the audience might not be receptive to two wrestlers working around a headlock or a headscissor for 7 minutes before moving on to the next hold to tell a story. All Japan was able to make that successful shift from using technical matwork to big moves to establish the roles the wrestlers were playing and the story of the match. Tsuruta's feud with Tenryu, culminating in their Triple Crown Title match from 6/5/89, established the formula that he would later build on by feuding with the younger generation of Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi in the early 1990s.

Misawa and company took Jumbo's and Baba's developed style to the next level by incorporating more dangerous moves and complicated striking sequences, along with the use of adrenaline, or "fighting spirit," attempting to fight through the pain of moves to get in one last hit. With the unfortunate absence of Jumbo Tsuruta, the Four Lords rose to the occasion in the early to mid 90s and All Japan featured the smartest wrestling in the world, matches that were all tied together as one huge story that spanned years, and unraveled more and more with each match. Many people still herald Misawa and Kawada's Triple Crown Title match from June 3, 1994 as the greatest match of all time. To me, a quintessential "Kings Road" match was the last match in the style to truly live up to its full potential, the Finals of the 1996 World's Strongest Tag League.

As time went on (the late 90s), the All Japan style began to focus more and more on those "fighting spirit" segments and the big bumps that would lead to them, desensitizing their fans to the bigger moves and creating a "top this" environment in their big matches that the undercard couldn't match and the main eventers couldn't possibly keep up. The Kings Road of Baba, Tsuruta, Misawa, and Kawada was nearing its end. A new "Road" was constructed, but it lacked the depth and storytelling abilities of its predecessor; it was a shell. The top wrestlers still put out contests that nobody else could match, but building more on the spots and bumps took the focus off of the fundamental 70s style build that all of the best All Japan matches had at their heart. The "Head Drop Era" represented a regression in psychology and build, and thus a break with its foundation in US 70s style where the moves and holds were secondary to the story being told. Probably the last great example of King's Road was Kawada putting on an amazing performance in a Triple Crown match against a very broken down Kenta Kobashi on 6/12/98.

Once Misawa and friends left All Japan to form Pro Wrestling NOAH, the promotion began to look more like New Japan stylistically. The big matches after the split (Kawada vs. Fuchi, Kawada vs. Tenryu, Tenryu vs. Kojima) clearly had a "Strong Style" flavor to them with brutal strikes and big moves, but with little struggle to get them off. Mutoh entering the promotion exacerbated that effect, and now All Japan's style is essentially Mutoh's style with a sports entertainment bend and a few signature All Japan spots (like attacks off the ring apron and learned reversals) peppered in. Pro Wrestling NOAH's style is still essentially what All Japan was before the split, but with more Jr. heavyweight action thanks to the rise of Marufuji and KENTA, and a bigger focus on many strike exchanges as NOAH's main patriarchs, Misawa and Kobashi, can no longer wrestle at the pace they once could. I personally think NOAH is at its most entertaining when the matches and booking are refreshingly character-driven, such as when Masao Inoue challenged Jun Akiyama for the GHC Heavyweight Title on 4/23/06.

CONCLUSION

Don't necessarily let my focus on the 1990s and before discourage you from seeking out current matches from Japanese promotions, as there is still a thriving community of fans that greatly enjoys matches from New Japan, NOAH, and All Japan. I do, however, advise you to also look back to earlier years, as there is a wealth of great matches and great stories that have come from previous decades. I've offered only a few suggestions here.

Supercena

My 2 cents on John Cena.

The guy seems nice enough. He appears to have respect for the business. These are good qualities. though he's not a very good performer, in my view. His ring skills are generic and boring. Honestly, at times, he still seems pretty green. Also, his promos are some of the worst. It's not just that he's bad but the obvious fact that he's trying too hard. The Rock was funny. He made me sick, but I also came to appreciate his humour, over time. Austin could be pretty humourous, as well. Cena tries his best to imitate both of them (though this could be the writers feeding him lines) but he just can't do it. He's not convincing. Even when he attempts to sound angry, it comes off as lame and contrived. But, worst of all is how he's booked.

He just came back from a neck injury that required surgery. Last week, he took a DDT from the ramp to the concrete floor. Even the Immortal Hulk Hogan, himself, would have been selling that injury, on this week's show. He'd probably have been wearing a neck brace. Even if it's just for a week, it would have advanced the storyline. Tonight, Cena came out and no-sold the events of last week. That made everything that happened completely worthless. That is exactly why he can't get really over as a babyface. He's always made to look so strong that there's no way anyone can feel sympathy for him. He's consistently overcoming the odds, which got old a long time ago. The fact that it takes several people to lay him out is just idiotic. Even still, he usually no-sells it and fights them all off. Again, even Hogan got his ass beat a few times. The heel has to get heat somehow, but Supercena doesn't allow for that. I doubt this is actually Cena's fault. Surely, WWE Creative are to blame for this, if not Vince himself.

Instead of coming out and selling the neck injury and, maybe, addressing it, Cena went right in to the lame jokes and playing tough guy. He lost any chance at getting sympathy from last week's attack and hurt the psychology of the upcoming PPV match with Jericho. If being attacked by four men and DDT'd from the ramp can't take him out, then why should anyone expect Jericho to win? We shouldn't. It's seeming far too predictable that Cena is going to steamroll over Jericho. If they're intent on keeping this guy as their top face, the least they could do is allow him to look vulnerable, from time to time. Hell, if the beating from last week wasn't enough to leave a few marks, then he might as well retire as champ now because it won't be believable for anyone to defeat him.