I'm Back!!

Hello there.

It's me, Mike Tedesco, and I'm back with a new column after an extended absence due to writer's block and an extreme lack of news in the wrestling world. Oh, and the fact that I turned 21 and this whole month was just a big party! However, I figured I'd just gut it out and see what I can put together!

Should I talk about the big news or should I just list my thoughts on the Backlash Pay Per View? I think I'll talk Backlash first.

I didn't make any picks for Backlash but from the way I was calling the matches during the Pay Per View I would have been in good standing, picks wise. I rate all matches out of four stars unless something blows me away, like Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels. It's rare. Last time that happened was Wrestlemania 20 with the Triple Threat Main Event and before that it was Hogan vs. Rock. Probably won't happen on Backlash.

US Title Match - What a way to open up the Pay Per View! A real strong opener. Matt Hardy came out looking huge here, ending MVP's near year long reign as champion, but the real star of the match - in my mind - was Montel Vontavious Porter. MVP is getting better and better and there's really no stopping him. He's a huge future star in the making and I have a feeling he's going to be huge - as long as they don't go the way they did with Booker T. You don't remember? When they first made Booker T a main eventer, legit style - not by the Invasion storyline - they accentuated this mistake that Booker made years ago, in which he robbed a Wendy's and went to prison. It's no secret MVP was in prison for many years so I just hope they don't do that. Doubt it, given his character - but you never know... especially with that racist Michael Hayes as head of Smackdown. More on him later. Anyway, it was a tremendous match and completed this tremendous feud and Matt Hardy's comeback. I'm really happy for Matt Hardy. He deserved this. I give this match *** stars! Great stuff!

ECW Championship - Did anyone really believe that Chavo Guerrero stood a chance in this match? The real loser of this match is Bam Neely - Chavo's bodyguard. Does Chavo Guerrero really need a bodyguard. I don't like playing God with people's livelihoods but I have a feeling like this guy is going to be gone within the year - or at least back in developmental. It was an OK match. I give it ** and 1/4 stars.

Side Note: I think it's disgraceful taking Joey Styles off the ECW commentary team in place of this no talent garbage Mike Adamle. Joey Styles and "The Tazz" were a good team and about the only link left with the old ECW. What the hell does Mike Adamle know about wrestling? Dick Ebersol's boy. The only good Mike Adamle can bring to ECW is making me crack up by making mistakes, as highlighted in this wonderful video. Enjoy that.

Big Show vs. Great Khali - We knew going into it that this match would be "bowling shoe ugly", to quote Mr. Jim Ross, and we weren't wrong. This was a terrible match and none of the blame goes to the Big Show. Show did the best he could with that Indian behemoth Khali but it wasn't enough to save this match. It was just ugly as all hell. Good thing Big Show won because that would've killed his return if he lost to Khali. Another good thing is Khali will be leaving our TV screens for a while! YES!!! I give this * and a 1/2 stars just for Big Show's effort.

Shawn Michaels vs. Batista - For the past two weeks they've been teasing Chris Jericho as the wildcard in this match being that he was the special guest referee and for all that hype nothing happened and that was the right call. It gave Jericho something to do for the Pay Per View, added a little more intrigue in a match that was built spectacularly for the past few weeks, and made the match feel just a little more important, like something big was riding on the line. The match was great. HBK brings out the best in Batista, as evidenced during their match at Armageddon 2003 and last night was no exception. Good wrestling, good finish. They sold really well too! I give it *** 1/2 stars and I hope they keep going with this feud.

12 Diva Tag Match - Not a bad tag match considering how on the heel team 5 out of the 6 could actually wrestle and the face team only 2 out of the 6 could actually wrestle. They put it together well, everyone did their finishers, and in the end the heels won with a Beth Phoenix "fisherwoman's" suplex, helping to drive home the fact that Mickie James' upset win over Beth may have just been a fluke! Finally a woman's division storyline!! I give it ** stars.

World Heavyweight Championship - Undertaker and Edge put on a great return match, on par with their Wrestlemania effort. It was still predicatable, given the build of the match. Still, it's great to be watching what looks to be the last long title run of Undertaker's career. There wasn't anything too crazy here, just a couple of run ins from the Edgeheads. Undertaker won with that still unnamed gogoplata that I hate so much. 'Taker retained, as if there was any doubt. I give it ** and 3/4 stars.

Interesting Side Note: Don't know if anyone else has ever done this but have you ever called a time when you believe the Undertaker will make it to the ring and the action will begin? My friends and I do it all the time. Last night his entrance started at 9:39 so I called that he would be in the ring and the music would be off at 9:43 and the action would start at 9:44. Nailed it.

WWE Championship - A Fatal Four Way Elimination Match for the WWE Championship. I think the last time they did a four way elimination match for the WWE Title it was at Wrestlemania 2000. Correct me if I'm wrong. You had to know Triple H was winning this. Deep down I actually wanted JBL to win it all but they made the right call with Triple H. I just hope he turns heel because I'm tired of joke-joke Triple H. That's why I'm not going to RAW tonight, even though I live twenty minutes away from the IZOD Center. I think this match would have been so much better if Orton was one of the first eliminated instead of JBL and Cena going first. That way the suspense builds because we KNOW we're getting a new champion. But whatever - the match was still good anyway. Triple H is a 12 time champion and all of Orton's World Title reigns have ended at the hands of Triple H. I give the match ** and a 1/2 stars.

Final Thoughts - Overall the Pay Per View wasn't bad at all. I like the addition of Mick Foley on the Smackdown announcer's team. He's a great addition to the team and offers a lot more wrestling insight than Jonathan Coachman and he definitely knows a lot more than Coach. All the matches were good for the most part and it was a good follow up from Wrestlemania. Good show.

Now, onto the big stories of April.

Before I start, I'd like to say goodbye to Balls Mahoney and Dave Taylor, victims of the yearly WWE Roster cuts. Balls is a good guy. I met him at Six Flags Great Adventure during Fright Fest '06 and he was really decent with me. Even signed some autographs and took some pictures when he didn't have to. He wasn't really given a chance in WWE. If they did throw him a bone, they never followed through with it - like when he was trying to ask out Kelly Kelly. What happened to their date? Oh well. Another link to the old ECW gone. Who's left? The Tazz, Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer?

Dave Taylor was an old WCW guy and when Regal went to RAW they couldn't do anything with him. Sensible cut.

Now, onto the real big stuff.

Freebird Michael "PS" Hayes, head writer on Smackdown, has used that legendary tongue (with a mixture of drinks) to get himself into trouble, yet again. At a Wrestlemania party during the weekend of the event Michaels Hayes said to Mark Henry - a guy you really don't want to mess with - that he's more n****r than he is. Why, Michael, why? For what reason did you have to say that? Trying to be funny? Taking a stab at someone's race isn't fashionable. It's not allowed. Especially in a big corporate company like WWE, who obviously has harassment rules.

Good thing Mark Henry took the high road and issued a formal complaint instead of just slugging Hayes, which he deserved. Now PS is suspended for 30 days and is embarrassed because a lot of big news sites picked it up.

I don't think he'll be fired because he's too valuable to Smackdown - he was instrumental in putting together the Mayweather/Big Show match - but this will let him learn a valuable lesson... and that lesson is the South lost and the North won and racism is BAD. Someone should e-mail him the video of Barack Obama's speech on racism. It'd help.

King of the Ring made it's return to the WWE last Monday on RAW. I always loved the King of the Ring tournament. My first event was actually King of the Ring 2001. If anyone has a copy I'm dead center front row, backwards black hat, red shirt. The tournament wasn't bad this time around. I like how they threw a curve ball and made William Regal King of all WWE. That's the best choice. It fits his character and hopefully it gives Regal a much deserved push. I hope he goes to the top and beyond. Regal is a great wrestler and WWE needs more like him.

Now, from what I hear, the WWE Draft is coming up. I can't wait for that. They'll probably do it in June. When that comes around I'll put up some predictions for it. I have a few ideas but I'll keep them to myself for now.

Until next time, wrestling fans.

Wrestlemania XXIV Review and Thoughts

Hello there.

We are about one day removed from Wrestlemania XXIV in Orlando. From the looks of the reviews of the fans the event was pretty hit or miss. I watched the event live on Pay Per View so I have some of my own opinions but they're not too dissimilar from everyone else's. It wasn't a horrible Wrestlemania but it definitely was ONE OF THOSE Wrestlemanias. Hate to say it but I told ya so!

Anyway, like all Wrestlemanias, the "biggest Wrestlemania under the sun" had some ups and downs but this Wrestlemania contained a Wrestlemania moment that I will never forget for as long as I live - "Nature Boy" Ric Flair has wrestled his final match. One of our last links to truly classic wrestling has taken his final bow in one of the most beautiful and emotional matches I've ever seen but I'll talk about that in a bit when I get to that part of the review.

Now, as for my review, I'll go through all the matches and give you my analysis and opinions and I'll give you my match rating. I rate out of four stars.

Here we go...

24 Man Battle Royal - It was a total shot in the dark when I picked Tommy Dreamer to win the Battle Royale and face Chavo Guerrero at Wrestlemania. I figured Kane would get the win but I thought it'd be another one of those "boyhood dream" moments at Wrestlemania and a Wrestlemania moment for Tommy Dreamer, who has really just made a career of losing. Still, it wasn't a bad Battle Royal. I watched the video of it when I got home from Hooters. They had some nice little spots. Definitely loved the Jamie Noble comedy spot.

JBL vs. Finlay - Not a bad way to open up Wrestlemania. It wasn't a great match by any stretch of the imagination but it was a good plan to open up with a smash mouth, in your face brawl and to get this feud out of the way which has gone over probably worse than the Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show angle. Unfortunately with the JBL win, which I called, it looks like we'll be getting a continuation of this feud. What's next? Finlay and Hornswoggle vs. JBL and Mini-JBL? Didn't they do that with The Boogeyman? I gave the match ** stars. Couldn't touch the greatest opener in the history of Wrestlemania which was Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart from Wrestlemania X.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match - Complete and total spotfest and my hat is off to all the men in this hellacious battle. There were some really crazy bumps and some really hard hits in this one and moments that left me nearly covering my eyes in fear of seeing someone get seriously hurt. I watched anyway but still - at least I had concern! There were a lot of awesome moments in the match. My first favorite goes to a definite Wrestlemania Highlight which I'm sure will be replayed as one of the sickest bumps in Wrestlemania history is Shelton Benjamin on top of the ladder in the middle of the ring getting flipped off that ladder on top of a ladder propped up between the ring apron and the barricade, breaking the ladder - and apparently himself - in two! What a tremendous spot that was!! Another great spot was Mr. Kennedy going to suplex Carlito off the ladder and Shelton, before his big spot, sunset flips them and it turned into a superplex/powerbomb combination! Very nicely done. John Morrison certainly impressed me with this one spot he did. He got to the top rope holding a ladder and moonsaulted off the top rope to the outside with the ladder across his chest on top of a bunch of wrestlers! Wow!! Carlito seemed to do pretty well in this match. I thought they booked him well. Hitting his Backstabber finisher off the ladder was a nice touch. My favorite moment came when Matt Hardy made a HUGE return, Twist of Fating MVP off the ladder, foiling his attempt to become Money in the Bank! It was even better that I called it. Then, the bad part came. CM Punk became Money in the Bank, stopping Chris Jericho from taking it. Jericho put him over like a mad man, too, making him seem unstoppable, but I've got to say I'm disappointed with the ending. Y2J really should have won it but I knew this was coming. The misuse of Chris Jericho continues. The fans at Hooters certainly were disappointed. Sounded like John Cena won Money in the Bank. From what I hear the live crowd was pissed, too. Now the challenge is for WWE to build Punk up to a Main Event caliber performer. I give the match *** 1/2 stars.

Batista vs. Umaga - Wow, was I disappointed in this one! This was one of the matches I was extremely excited for! I thought we were going to get a knockdown, drag out brawl. Instead we got a dull Pay Per View match that belonged on Judgment Day, not Wrestlemania. Batista could hardly get Umaga up for the Batista Bomb when he did it. Smackdown is the "supreme" brand. Yeah, right. Now they're going to move Umaga to Smackdown but it's dumb because he was easily defeated by Batista. What kind of a threat is he? They might as well have put these guys in Money in the Bank, too. That seems to be what they do with people they don't have anything for. This match was similar to when they threw together a match with Booker T taking on Edge and they were feuding over a fictional Japanese Shampoo Endorsement. I'm not kidding. I give this match * 1/2 stars.

ECW Championship - WWE has finally paid Kane back for his years of service by giving him his first "serious championship" since 1998 and allowing him entry into the Wrestlemania history books for the shortest match ever. Six seconds. Kane is the new ECW Champion. The match gets 1/2 a star.

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels - You want to talk about passion for the business, emotion and Wrestlemania moments, all three of those traits were projected loud and clear in this epic match that will top the list of one of my all time favorite Wrestlemania matches. Ric Flair was in rare form tonight, pulling out all stops in what proved to be his final match. He even pulled out an old school cross body, the move he used to defeat Harley Race in a Steel Cage for the NWA Title in that classic match at the first Starrcade in 1983!! Flair wrestled this match like he needed it to get through the rest of his life and Shawn Michaels certainly did give him his best. I thought Flair had Michaels with the Figure Four Leglock but alas, it wasn't meant to be. I desperately wanted Flair to win because I really never want him to retire but all good things must come to an end. Flair had a tremendous run and there is no argument - he is the best wrestler that ever lived. The last superkick was so emotional. Flair was crying as he got up because he knew it was the end and HBK said he loved him before taking his head off. I literally started crying at that point. I have witnesses at Hooters. I wasn't the only one though. The crowd really gave him a great last ovation and I hope Ric Flair is satisfied with his career. That match made me proud to be a fan of wrestling. I give it ***** stars. I know I rate out of four but I gave an extra star.

BunnyMania Match - Atrocious. Snoop Dogg was just terrible and the match wasn't any better. I firmly stand by my beliefs that I'd rather just have a fantastic Women's Championship Match like Beth Phoenix vs. Candice Michelle vs. Melina rather than this. The blackout at Wrestlemania, the first ever I believe, certainly didn't help. Snoop Dogg looked 100% unimpressed. Whatever. I give it * 1/2 stars just for them continuing to fight while the lights were out.

WWE Championship Triple Threat - I thought this was going to be the Main Event but I understand why it wasn't. It wasn't a bad Triple Threat by any means of the imagination but it couldn't touch the Triple Threat Main Event at Wrestlemania XX, which I was there live for. Having the lights out for half the match probably didn't help either. Like I said it wasn't a bad match and I'm behind WWE 100% for having Orton retain the title. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Orton would lose. It wasn't if he's going to win, it was who was going to beat him. Nice swerve by WWE. I like being surprised. I give it *** stars. Very good but not as good as other WWE Title matches in the past.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs. Big Show - The match went pretty much the way I thought it would. It was just a spectacle - a cheap way for WWE to make headlines heading into Wrestlemania. I hope it worked for them and that I didn't have to suffer for nothing. I didn't really enjoy this match at all. I sat through it and I was glad when it was over. It was predictable and it was irritating. Big Show ought to be given the World Heavyweight Championship for putting over Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather couldn't even win without cheating. Lame. I gave it ** stars just for all the spectacle involved. At least ESPN covered it and didn't give it a scathing review.

World Heavyweight Championship - The last predictable match of the night. They put in a few near falls to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, even letting Edge kick out of the Tombstone, but in the end, after two spears, Edge tapped out to that ridiculous submission move of the Undertaker. I hate that move and I hate that it ended Wrestlemania. I get it - they're trying to freshen up the Undertaker. Got it. They did a good job of that by giving him a new robe to come out with and a newer kind of entrance but, seriously, like the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That move should only be used on guys that Undertaker can't Tombstone, like Khali and Big Daddy V, not smaller guys like Chavo Guerrero and Edge. I gave the match *** stars because Undertaker is the man anyway and I'm looking forward to what looks to be the last long title run of his career.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible Wrestlemania but it's not up there as one of the best. It was just "one of those." Ric Flair made this Wrestlemania by having the match of the night and his life. Thank you for the memories, Naitch!!

Until next time, wrestling fans.

Wrestlemania XXIV Picks + Other thoughts

Hello there.

It is Sunday, March 30th. Wrestlemania XXIV is upon us! I know I've done some bashing on this year's Wrestlemania but nonetheless I'm as excited for it as any Wrestlemania just because I'm a fan. It may also be because I just came back from a terrific independent show in Connecticut (I'll talk about that later) and watched the Hall of Fame. Either way I'm really excited for the capping off of my "wrestling weekend".

First of all before I give any predictions or talk about anything else I want to send a HUGE congratulations to the Hall of Fame Class of 2008 - Congratulations Ric Flair, Rocky Johnson, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, The Brisco Brothers, Mae Young, Eddie Graham, and Gordon Solie. All classic names. Watching the Hall of Fame is special for me every year as I truly, unequivocally respect each and every superstar that has ever laced up a pair of boots but this year something about the Hall of Fame was even more special to me. Watching "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair get inducted into the Hall of Fame left me with a lump in my throat. I truly am so very happy for Ric Flair and as I watch I know that we're on borrowed time with Ric Flair but if his last match is tonight at Wrestlemania then I hope he has a tremendous one because win, lose, or draw Ric Flair will always be a champion with me. WOO!!

OK, now on to my Wrestlemania predictions!

Wrestlemania FreeView
24-Man Battle Royal
Winner faces ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero later in the night

I understand the reason why they're doing the Battle Royal before Wrestlemania as these Battle Royals tend to become giant cluster-you-know-whats however I do wish that they had it on the card just so that immediately after the winner is declared the opportunistic ECW Champion, obviously taking lessons from his "familia" (Edge), could come out nice and fresh and add a degree of suspense to the match. I can just here Joey Styles now: "Tazz, how can the challenger possibly take on the veteran and savvy Chavo Guerrero after just going through 23 other superstars to get the shot?" Tazz would of course tell Styles to shut up as he should always. Anyway, of the 24 men in this Battle Royal, there are only a few I could really see winning. Kane is at the top of my list. I don't believe that WWE would allow a snooze-fest like The Great Khali vs. Chavo Guerrero to happen on Wrestlemania. Sentimentally, I'd love to see "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan get the dupe and become ECW Champion. Hey, the title can't take any bigger beating than it has already... can it? Other favorites to win it are Tommy Dreamer, Kofi Kingston and Festus. Come on, Festus has a ton of potential and a ton of fans! That'd just be ridiculous if he won. But there can only be one winner and I just have a feeling that we got just a tiny piece of it on Tuesday. I believe that the winner of the 24-Man Battle Royal, who will go on to face Chavo Guerrero later in the night, is going to be none other than Tommy Dreamer!! ECW!!!!

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito vs. John Morrison

Let me just say, first and foremost, that this is one of the matches that I just cannot wait for. I'm happy that this match is becoming an institution every year at Wrestlemania. It's done wonders for careers - just look at Edge. Well, actually, he's the only one... but now he's in a Main Event at Wrestlemania challenging the Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak and has won dual World Championships just off the Money in the Bank. Tremendous. Also, as I watch this match I'll be thinking of Jeff Hardy and what he's doing and hoping he gets over whatever demons that are plaguing him.

Now, Money in the Bank.

There are quite a few people that I can see winning this. Chris Jericho is definitely one of them. Jericho is one of the most underrated superstars in WWE history. I know, you can say "But Mike! He's had his chance at the World Championship - how can you say he's underrated?!" He just is. Look at how they use him. The man can put on tremendous five star matches with anyone he wants, cut a terrific promo, generate excitement and WWE just continues to leave him stuck in the midcard. Why? MVP is another tremendous talent that has a great chance of winning the Money in the Bank. Personally I do not believe that he is ready to be Money in the Bank Champion yet but as is with WWE anything can happen. Even Carlito can win it! I do smell a Matt Hardy return, stifling MVP's chances of winning the Money in the Bank match, of course while he's just inches away from the briefcase. They'll continue their feud and it'll be happy times. I'd like to see Mr. Kennedy win it again and get the shot he didn't get last year but I highly doubt he'll be a back to back winner. He'll have to win his title shots the old fashioned way. CM Punk is another guy who realistically has a terrific shot at winning the briefcase. He's ready. It's about time they take him out of ECW Purgatory and move him to a real show. I'd like to see him go to Smackdown and feud with MVP, Edge, Undertaker, Batista - you know, all the big guys. CM Punk can be a good champion given the right circumstances. However it'll all come down to one man and that one man that I believe will win Money in the Bank is CM Punk.

ECW Championship Match
Tommy Dreamer vs. Chavo Guerrero (c)

Just a recap: Tommy Dreamer is my pick to win the 24-Man Battle Royal.

OK, we all know that Tommy Dreamer eats, drinks, sleeps and bleeds ECW. We all know that Tommy Dreamer, even though he looks like a doughboy, fights with all the passion of a rookie finally getting his chance to be someone. ECW is a struggling brand right now, let's admit it. The die hard fans have said "To hell with this, we're done". The show does ratings in the low to mid 1.0s. No one is watching. WWE needs to try to bring back that old fan base by giving a little of what the fans want and what the fans want is something at least remotely resembling the old ECW. Jim Ross said it best - "ECW is ECW in initials only". Well said, JR. Give Tommy Dreamer the belt and let him do his thing. However, I know most people will disagree with that idea and I doubt that will happen at Wrestlemania anyway so I'm picking Chavo Guerrero to retain.

Belfast Brawl

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Finlay

Personally I could care less about this match. I have about as much emotion invested in this match as I do for cauliflower... and I hate cauliflower. The thing that stinks is they both are really great brawlers. If only their feud didn't consist of a leprechaun being the bastard son of Vince McMahon and then being revealed by JBL as being Finlay's actual son (doesn't that make Finlay a heel for being a neglectful parent?) I'd be as excited for this match as any match. Unfortunately that is exactly what they are feuding about and even worse, I just have a terrible feeling that the rivalry will continue on. Hornswoggle will of course come back in this match but it will be too late and JBL will end up getting the win. Woo-hoo.

BunnyMania Lumberjack Match
Maria & Ashley vs. Melina & Beth Phoenix

Special Guest Emcee: Snoop Dogg

I don't understand how this is "BunnyMania". Only half the team was in Playboy. Whatever.

Personally, if Candice Michelle hadn't been injured, I'd have rather seen her taking on Beth Phoenix for the Women's Title. Melina is absolutely right - the women wrestlers should be graded and pushed on their ability, not what they take off. Unfortunately that's all that seems to matter to the bookers, and the fans for that matter. Too bad. Looks like the Women's Champion and Melina will be falling to Maria and Ashley. Too bad. With the imbecilic Snoop Dogg officiating nonetheless. Hey - just an aside but wasn't this called a LumberJill Match last year??

Smackdown vs. RAW
Batista vs. Umaga

Don't you think with something as big as "brand supremacy" on the line that these two would have had more buildup then they actually have had? Seriously, what has this feud really been - two backstage vignettes of challenges, some squash matches and a spine buster and Samoan Spike. Whoopie!! Let the fun begin!!

Anyway, for as little time as they've put into this thrown together match, I highly expect this to be a knockdown, drag out brawl between these two monsters. I'm actually looking forward to this one. I don't think it's going to be a long match but it'll be enough to whet the appetite for more. Umaga needs to go to Smackdown and start fresh again. He's gone through everyone on RAW. Can you imagine Undertaker vs. Umaga?! I'm salivating at the thought! If the reports on the Internet are correct and there is going to be one of those controversial endings that may become a reality. I'm taking Batista to win the Smackdown vs. RAW battle. In controversial fashion, of course.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs. Big Show

Ugh, this feud has left me with more than just a bad taste in my mouth. This is just terrible. The build-up for it hasn't been good at all. Hell, we don't even know who to cheer for and who not to! Of course we, as wrestling fans, will boo and cheer whoever the hell we want, but WWE hasn't even made clear to us who they'd like us to cheer and boo for!! Even with the "No Holds Barred Must Be A Winner" rule and the alleged "swerve that no one will see coming" at the end, I'm still not excited for this match and I doubt I will be even while watching it. I'm taking the obvious pick: Floyd Mayweather and his posse. Those idiots.

Career Threatening Match
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels

Wow, you want to talk "Wrestlemania moments", expect a ton from these two. The staredown alone between them will rival Rock vs. Hogan in 2002. I don't know why but for some reason I just don't even want this match to happen. I'm too scared of the implications. Either way I believe it's going to be the end of Ric Flair. I don't want to wake up Monday morning in a wrestling world without that limosine ridin', jet flyin', kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', son of a gun Ric Flair! I expect an epic but I won't be disappointed with whatever happens. Either way it's the end of an era. I'm actually going to go with Ric Flair in this! There's too many obvious picks on the card and I think they're going to swerve us and have Ric Flair win and then retire on his own accord the next night on RAW! One more time: WOOOO!!!!!!

World Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker vs. Edge (c)

I love how WWE is billing this as "Streak vs. Streak". Don't they know that last year Edge lost at Wrestlemania?! Anyway...

This is going to be a great match. These two are going to tear the house down. Undertaker is a different performer during Wrestlemania and he always rises to the occasion. I fully expect Edge to do the same. I cannot wait for this match. This is one I couldn't wait for since back in May when Edge screwed the Undertaker out of the World Heavyweight Championship! What a match it will be, what a match! I, of course, have to go with the Undertaker on this one. 16-0 and he gets probably the last World Heavyweight Championship reign, at least lengthy one, of his career.

WWE Championship
Triple H vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton (c)

This is going to be the closer for the night. This is going to be a terrific match. All three can really work and can really wrestle. Well, two out of three of them can really wrestle well. I don't mean to knock Cena but in my opinion he hasn't been quite the same since returning. Maybe it's because they really botched up his return and he's kind of lost some of his heat. That's just me - I may be wrong!

Randy Orton has been a pretty good champion. He is a good heel and I know he is because everytime I see him I want to just wring his neck!! He's been a pretty good champ but his reign is over. And you know what, wrestling fans? It's time to play the game. Triple H is your NEW WWE Champion.

Until next time, wrestling fans.

Uh-oh - It's one of THOSE Wrestlemanias!

Hello there.

It looks like WWE is continuing the tradition that I've found they've been following since Wrestlemania 16 where every other Wrestlemania is pretty bad with a few good matches.

If you need me to break that down for you I will.

OK, I was doing a little thinking because lately the news in wrestling has been stale and there hasn't been anything to really talk about so I thought about this year's Wrestlemania and I was thinking it's shaping up to be another one of THOSE Wrestlemanias.

If you've noticed, pretty much every other Wrestlemania since Wrestlemania 16 has been a lackluster event. Here's my logic:

• Wrestlemania 15 was a great event with a great feud going into it and a great Main Event.
• Wrestlemania 16 was a terrible event. It felt like a glorified Judgment Day Pay Per View instead of Wrestlemania! This stands in history as the only Wrestlemania to not have a classic one on one singles match! The closest it came was The Kat vs. Terri in a "Cat Fight". The matches that saved this show was the Triangle Ladder Match for the Tag Team Championship and Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho. Excellent matches.
• Wrestlemania 17 - One of the greatest Wrestlemanias of all time.
• Wrestlemania 18 was a good one but certainly not one of the best. It had Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock but other than that it was a stale Wrestlemania. The lowest point of it had Booker T and Edge feuding over a fake Japanese hair endorsement. That and Maven from Tough Enough actually competed on it.
• Wrestlemania 19 was a fantastic Wrestlemania emanating from Safeco Field. One of my favorites of all time.
• Wrestlemania 20 was a good one. I was there for it and I'd hate to say it but it wasn't the best Wrestlemania of all time. Only good match really was the Triple Threat Main Event. Honorable mention goes to Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero and The Rock N' Sock Connection vs. Evolution.
• Wrestlemania 21 - Wrestlemania goes Hollywood. Another one of my all time favorites!!!
• Wrestlemania 22 was terrible. Nothing about it got me excited except John Cena vs. Triple H and Mick Foley vs. Edge.
• Wrestlemania 23 was a fantastic Wrestlemania! ANOTHER one of my favorites of all time!

Can you follow my logic now? That was exhausting to write out that history!

This year's Wrestlemania truly IS shaping up to be "one of those". The build for this year's 'Mania has been pretty bad. There's only three matches I really want to see: Money in the Bank, Undertaker vs. Edge and Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels. The rest is really hit or miss.

The build for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show match has been horrible. The feud itself has gone over like a fart in a windstorm. It's really bad and the audience isn't responding at all. Floyd Mayweather isn't getting paid $20 Million but he is getting a substantial amount of money to appear at Wrestlemania and he can't even appear on any of the shows to promote the match. It's always "Live via Satellite" or some crap with him. Big Show is carrying this feud and he won't get any payoff from it. Are we really supposed to believe that a 150 pound boxer can beat a 450 pound wrestler like the Big Show? I feel bad for Show - first Akebono now Floyd Mayweather. What's worse is that Mayweather can't even talk. He keeps getting bitched out by the Big Show! Oh, now there's a guy I want to see go over! I can really get behind him!! (Note the sarcasm). Pathetic.

One match I am looking forward to seeing is Batista vs. Umaga (or U-man-ga) in a battle for brand supremacy. However the build for this match has been terrible at best. It's really just been relegated to one minute backstage segments and one Umaga squash match. This should be a big deal match, especially because it's for the supremacy of RAW and Smackdown. Maybe WWE is realizing that the lines between the two brands is almost invisible. Oh, and last time I checked wasn't ECW a brand too?! Oh yeah, WWE doesn't care about that. It should be a Triple Threat Match with CM Punk but according to Joey Styles, ECW isn't going to have a presence at Wrestlemania. ECW doesn't have a presence anyway - who's he kidding?

How about that vomit inducing storyline between JBL and Finlay? All August we kept hearing Mr. McMahon has an illegitimate son. We even have a lawyer from the mother of the bastard WWE Superstar appear to tell us the bastard of Vince McMahon's loins is the midget leprechaun Hornswoggle. Months later (after many terrible segments) we find out from JBL that Hornswoggle isn't Vince's son - he's FINLAY'S!! Oh wow what a swerve on us!!! (Sarcasm) Next week Finlay comes out and admits it's true and he's proud of it and then JBL attacks Hornswoggle while Finlay fakes caring. That whole segment invalidated a half a years worth of a storyline. If Finlay knew the whole time why did he allow this to happen? What would be the reason for Vince's family to trick him like that? That would ruin their inheritance. Nothing of this storyline makes sense. It's way too complicated for wrestling. This is very reminiscent of the hideous "Custody of Dominick" storyline from the Summer of 2005. How horrible was that?! A ladder match for the custody of a small child. That was a terrible storyline. So is this one. I know I'll be seeing this on Online World of Wrestling's Hall of Shame for 2008. Hopefully the match will be good.

How about this for looking bleak - The Triple Threat Main Event for the WWE Championship. Hopefully if WWE is smart (unlike last year) they'll put Undertaker vs. Edge as the Main Event and put this as the Co-Main Event because Undertaker has a tendency for stealing the show, especially at Wrestlemania. I don't know why but this feud doesn't really seem to have any real heat going into it. It doesn't feel like a Wrestlemania Main Event, which is odd because it has three huge superstars. I guess I'm just not really behind this match because I'd rather have seen Triple H vs. John Cena. Oh well can't get what you want all the time I guess. They need to do something big for this match and quick!

I really hope I'm wrong about Wrestlemania XXIV but I have a sneaking suspicion I'm not.

Until next time, wrestling fans.

Introducing myself and thoughts on WWE's ECW (or WWECW)

Hello there.

Welcome to Behind The Barricade, my blog.

Who am I? I'm Mike Tedesco - a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember. I started watching wrestling at a very young age. I've attended numerous wrestling events all around the Tri-State area. I've attended many RAWs (I was there when Bischoff debuted and when Kane unmasked) and Smackdowns (I was there for the ill-fated Al Wilson funeral, unfortunately). I've attended shows for many local promotions, even an NWA event down in Wildwood, NJ. I was there at WrestleMania XX and Summerslam 2007 - I even sat front row at King of the Ring 2001! If you have the video I'm dead center in the ring wearing the red shirt and black hat, right in front of the legendary Tye Dye Guy.

I also run a Fantasy Wrestling website with my friends. If you'd like to join up with that I'll be sure to post when we'll be starting another season. In addition to that I'm a well of useless wrestling knowledge.

Having watched wrestling for so long and surfing the "dirt sheet" websites and reading columns written by fellow wrestling fans it's only natural that I'd want to follow in that trend and post my opinions for the world to see.

OK, now that I've clarified my wrestling credentials, we can get on with this.

Behind The Barricade begins NOW.

So what should be my first discussion? That's a tough question. Whatever I discuss first will be the first impression you people get of me and a first impression is a lasting impression... or so I've learned from selling cars.

OK, for my first column I'm going to discuss what went wrong with Vince McMahon's version of ECW. I know, I know. It's a topic that's been discussed over and over again by many wrestling journalists but dammit this is my blog and I want to get my opinions on it out there.

There's numerous points I'd like to bring up on why I play "Funeral For A Friend" on my piano every time I watch ECW but first I'll offer a brief history of how this ECW came into fruition.

It all started in 2004 when WWE produced the documentary "The Rise and Fall of ECW", probably one of the best DVDs they've ever come out with that isn't a Pay Per View. It sold like hotcakes and if I'm not mistaken it's still one of the best selling wrestling DVDs that has ever been produced. That showed Vince that there is an audience out there that still loves ECW and would want to see it back.

McMahon took the cue and BAM - we have an ECW reunion show titled "ECW: One Night Stand" in 2005. What a show it was! I still remember like it was yesterday racing to my friend's house just to see it (I'm too cheap to buy an actual Pay Per View, but that's another column). Awesome show even with WWE trying to throw it's stars in there and, from my understanding, it did awesome buyrates - probably beyond what WWE was expecting.

Towards the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006 there were rumblings on the Internet community that ECW was going to come back and get a TV deal. Finally we'd have our ECW back! Our ECW that TNN robbed us of before ECW went bankrupt.

June 2006 comes and we have ECW: One Night Stand Part II. It didn't quite capture the magic of the previous year in my opinion but we now had confirmation that ECW had a TV deal on the Sci Fi channel and Rob Van Dam was WWE Champion.

Everyone expected RVD to do on the first episode what Shane Douglas did in 1994 with the NWA Title - throw it down and declare himself ECW Champion. That would have been awesome and I completely understand why WWE ultimately vetoed that idea but if Vince McMahon was really committed to seeing ECW succeed, why wouldn't he take a chance and allow ECW to make a statement by separating itself from RAW and Smackdown and truly become a separate entity? That was the WWE's first mistake fatal mistake.

The second happening that would ultimately lead to ECW failing was all at the fault of Rob Van Dam and Sabu. RVD, WWE Champion AND ECW Champion, and Sabu, ECW icon, were arrested for Marijuana possession. McMahon, understandably so, was pissed and that Monday's RAW RVD lost the WWE Championship to Edge in a Triple Threat Match also involving John Cena and the next night on ECW he lost the ECW Championship to The Big Show, of all people. Van Dam was then suspended for 30 days and Sabu stayed. What would follow over the next 30 days that RVD was gone were unbelievably terrible title defenses with Big Show facing off against Sabu, the highlight of their terrible feud being at Summerslam 2006. I believe Paul Heyman even dressed up as a purple gorilla during this feud and interfered in a match dressed as such. I'm not kidding.

The next dismal failure of ECW was the unfortunate December To Dismember. It did what it was intended to - completely dismember any hope the fans had of ECW coming back. The undercard, with the exception of The Hardyz vs. MNM, was atrocious. Absolutely unbearable. Then the Main Event - The EXTREME Elimination Chamber. The only thing extreme about that match was how horrible it was. You had Sabu taken out of the match and replaced with the hack Hardcore Holly. The match didn't even have a chance to succeed. You had the fan favorite CM Punk, who was undefeated at the time, being the first one eliminated and then shortly after that Test - yes, the same Test who Mick Foley lambastes in all of his books - eliminates Rob Van Dam. Then Bobby Lashley comes out, tears through everyone in about two minutes and wins the ECW Championship in one of the final straws the broke the camel's back in the eyes of the true fans. This was the Pay Per View that led to Paul Heyman leaving the WWE, sealing ECW's fate.

Since then we've seen Vince McMahon of all people win the ECW Championship, the emergence of the New Breed led by the extremely sloppy Elijah Burke, Johnny Nitro change his name to John Morrison in one of the biggest "WHY?" moments of 2007 and CM Punk get jobbed over and over again and his title run never given the proper due it deserved. How much worse can it get? Paul Heyman deep down must really be upset.

A few weeks ago, The Sun posted an interview with Paul Heyman and in it he discussed what he originally wanted to happen in the Main Event of December To Dismember and if McMahon didn't disagree with it the show would have actually been really good!

That's what makes me think that Vince McMahon, the genius promoter who brought WWE from being a regionally based promotion to a global phenomenon, only brought back ECW because he wanted to vanquish the ECW chants that would occur after a tremendous spot at all the events. He succeeded. I hear no more ECW chants. A sad reminder of that was when I was watching ECW last night and Tommy Dreamer was pounding on his chest to get fans to chant ECW and you couldn't hear a thing. "If the fans want ECW I'll give them MY ECW or they won't get it at all!" is what I can imagine Vince saying. I'd rather not have it.

How do you fix ECW? How do you fix something that is this broken?

I truly believe that you can't. It seems to me that WWE doesn't even want to fix it. They're content with ECW being a show like Heat, only televised. The ECW Championship means absolutely nothing - if it did Chavo Guerrero, ECW Champion, wouldn't have been in the Royal Rumble match. I call it the European Championship because that was another title that was viewed as a joke.

The only way to save ECW is for it to lose it's TV deal and go quietly into the sunset and let those fans of the original ECW keep whatever memories they have left of what it was like in the good ol' days.

Of course that won't happen.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first column. Please feel free to shoot me some feedback - if you think it was good, if you agree or disagree. Anything would be a big help in helping me make this column be the best it can possibly be.

Until next time, wrestling fans.