Stone Cold's Return: a Little Too Much, A Little Too Late

So after many years of fan's anticipation, the WWE is toying with the idea of bringing back Stone Cold Steve Austin. Really? Now? And not until 2014...what? Steve, just in case you didn't know, you are not getting any younger. Will he be chugging beers or prune juice? I love Stone Cold, don't get me wrong, and would have loved to have seen him come back a few years ago...yes, a few years ago, not now. But, I understand with the WWE's lack of charisma in the current roster they rely on comebacks to keep the fan's interest.

So why bring back the the over-the-hill superstar?  After mulling this over in my mind, a few of opponents come to mind. The Rock, two part-time past superstars come to collide on Austin's last fight. Yep, I don't see Austin sticking around more than a year. There will be one feud.   Which leads me to believe in the more possible Wrestlemania match with The Undertaker. If this happens it means my prediction that Wrestlemania 29 will be Undertaker's last will be wrong. Yes, he will come back to take on Austin for 30, and then wrap it up. The Streak should never be broken, let The Phenom go out in style, please. Which again, leaves me scratching my head exactly why Austin would return to lose....My last prediction is Lesnar, which by no means would believably lose to Stone Cold, not now. Maybe back in the day when Austin was in his prime...but no, not now.

So, I am rolling with The Phenom Vs. Stone Cold in Wrestlemania 30. Gimme me a hell yeah...and then let's put these fellows on the shelf. It's time to get the current roster a chance to be better on the mike and stop relying on the past.

Triple H Retire? No way...

The hype and speculation since Triple H's loss to Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam all points to retirement. The WWE superstar's Twitter feeds, the appearance by a very aged Shawn Micheals on Raw last week, the ringside comments by Micheal Cole and Jerry Lawler all try to hold the WWE fan's hand and pull them to the conclusion that The Game will finally call it quits and retire. Why not? He is a part-timer now, and holds a big corporate position. His giant loss at the hands of The Beast pretty much sealed his exit. I thought the End of An Era match between HHH and The Undertaker would have been a better way to exit. Which is exactly why The Game is still in it.

 

 

The retirement nonsense is going to play out in a storyline, most likely with the Game being angry at "his best friend" for even mentioning such a thing. Last year, I would have went for a Shawn Micheals/ HHH match. Now, after seeing an out of shape Micheals limping to the ring at every appearance, I don't think that would be such a good idea. Shawn, please stay out of the ring and let the fans remember your greatness. If Shawn were to continue with brief backstage or ringside appearances, I would be more than happy. Micheals is hysterical, and his presence is always appreciated. With that said, I in no way shape or form want HHH and Shawn Micheals to get in the ring together to prove who really is the best of the two. It makes no sense, since Lesnar could beat them both. And the way Micheals cowered from Brock at the recent Raw appearances, maybe Lesnar could take them on both at once.

 

So, what does the future hold for the Game? I see him calling out Lesnar eventually, all leading up to a rematch at Wrestlemania. Lesnar's contract is up, which opens the door for Triple H to prevail and regain his position  in the WWE as The King of Kings, and then retire. He must beat The Beast, simple as that.

 

 

Now, if that were true, then The Undertaker versus Brock Lesnar would not happen at Wrestlemania. Which is okay with me. So who will The Undertaker face at Wrestlemania? John Cena would be a good match, but with him all tied up with CM Punk, I'm not sure that will happen. The Rock? Nah, he's after the title. Hmmm...so what other name is big enough to try to break the streak? None... So, I am reneging and saying Punk will face The Rock for the championship, leaving John Cena to face The Phenom.






$49.95...Can I justify that PPV price?

Summer Slam...one of the big WWE events of the year. So enthralled with the return of Shawn Micheals in this whole Lesnar-HHH feud, I have been engaging the thought of pressing in the Pay per View title. So, there I went, ready to have it all set for my DVR....then that's when I saw it...the price. $49.95????? Really. Wrestlemania was only like ten bucks more, and that is the event of the year. I maybe would have thought twice about 39.95.....but 50 bucks? No way. I know what you are thinking, it's only ten dollars more. Buck up, cheapskate. Those same thoughts ran through my mind for a few fleeting seconds,  so I understand them. Then as I set to push the dreaded "okay" command to authorize this robbery, I paused and looked at the torn window screen to the back of my house. And I thought, I bet you Vince cMahon doesn't have a torn screen. Yep, that's all it took. I then reasoned with myself, assuring my inner fan that I would pretty much see everything the next night on Raw, so don't feel so bad.

Which is the truth. With the new extra hour, that leaves plenty of padding. Usually, they just run replays of things that happned that night. Now they will have no choice then to pad that bad boy up with Summer Slam highlights. These are the thoughts that are getting me through this decision.

Predictions:
CM punk will defeat Big Show and Cena. Wouldn't be surprised to see The Rock.
HHH will defeat Lesnar, and a new feud between Micheals and HHH will emerge. Not liking that...Ii would much rather a DX re-occurance than these guys against each other.
Does anyone care about any of the other matches? Okay, let's pretend we do...
I would like to see Dolph Ziggler defeat Jericho. Jericho looks tired and bored to me.
Daniel Bryan will defeat Kane. Bryan is on fire as of late, and Kane is being used as part of the supporting
cast. Most likely a Charlie Sheen appearance, though no one knows quite why.
The Miz will defeat Rey Mysterio...The Miz has the potential to be a better superstar. His mike skills are pretty good. I think with a good storyline, he would improve them. I love Mysterio, but he doesn;t bring anything new to the plotlines. Especially since his duplicate, Sin Cara arrived.
The tag team match...ugh. Why does the WWE hate Kofi Kingston so much? This guy is so under-used it is tragic. Okay, he has a tag team championship belt. So what? The tag teams as of late are pathetic. The Cena/CM Punk tag team AJ threw together last week would easily beat any tag team around today.

After Summer Slam, can Brock Lesnar go away? I can only wish. His schtick is getting tiresome. Heyman helps his cause as his mouthpiece, but how long can The Beast play the same routine. Should he just break everyone is the WWE's arm? Can we just do it in one night and get it over with? I would like to see maybe him and Ryback is he is going to stay around. Lesnar wants to be champ, but he has yet to start a beef with one...One can only ask why?

CM PUNK, THE EMERGENCE OF A SUPER STAR

WWE Champion CM PUNK has been around for quite some time, but his time in the spotlight for the last few months has been nothing but completely enjoyable. Punk's charisma is something that is lacking in about 75% of the rest of WWE's roster, which is why they have to rely on veterans and comeback wrestlers to stir up any real fan attention. 

I am so glad The Punk has outgrown the ridiculous Nexus nonsense that the fans were spoon-fed way too often a couple of years ago. What has emerged is a very likeable, and very determined CM Punk. His "I deserve respect" rhetoric is getting old, but the truth is, he has an absolute point. The Rock's over-hyped mini-appearances never sat well with me.  Seeing CM Punk slam The Rock on Raw's 1000th episode was sheer awesomeness, and has opened the door for CM PUNK to be a very major player in the ring for years to come. Very nice to see after the ridiculous story-line before Wrestlemania between him and Chris Jericho. I want to see him face The Rock at the Royal Rumble this year, and I hope this victory goes to Punk...just like it should have gone to Cena at the last Wrestlemania. Yep, I said it.

CM PUNK gives me some hope for some personality for the next few years. Cena, and short appearances from HHH and past super-stars can only hold  up the show for so long. The new anti-hero in Punk is just what the WWE universe needed.

AJ, Crazy Like A Fox....

Okay, the WWE divas appearances were always a good time to get up and grab a snack or take a bathroom break. But, AJ is just a whole 'nother story. Since this crazed mentally and verbally abused ex-girlfriend on Daniel Bryan arrived in the limelight Raw audiences have been mezmorized. It's not her looks, because let's be real, she looks very mousy next to the real-life Barbie that is Kelly Kelley. It is her mental instability that has bottle rocketed her popularity. I'm not sure what that says for us as fans, but it all makes for great television.

Since Vince McMahon made her general manager of Raw, the shows are very entertaining, even if the three hours may seem just a wee too long. Let's pretend I believe AJ is putting these matches together. CM Punk and Cena Vs. The Big Show and Bryan? Brilliant. Punk and Cena would make an unstoppable force as a tag team, if they could stop their pretend feud. Their comradary was apparanet during the match. Sometimes the WWE underestimates the fan's eyesight.
I'm not sure when I started to soften and enjoy the ever-looney Miss AJ. Maybe when she skipped out dressed in Kane-inspired attire around the ring, making the Big Red Monster follow her like a rat trailing after that fellow with the flute. Yep, that could be it. Either way, she has single-handedly changed my very low opinion of the WWE Diva, and that in itself is something else.