The Road Less Traveled: Dragon Gate USA Heads South

Dragon Gate USA continues their WrestleMania Weekend tradition by debuting in North Carolina on Friday, then presenting an iPPV on the brand new WWNLive.com site (order here: http://www.wwnlive.com/signup.php?id=219) from Atlanta on Saturday and wrapping up the weekend with a traditional PPV taping on Sunday in Atlanta as well.

Dragon Gate USA was born from the success experienced by the partnering of Dragon Gate and Ring of Honor that began in 2006 and delivered some of the best matches the following year’s of 2007 and 2008. 2009 was the first WrestleMania Weekend without a Dragon Gate presence due to the separation of Gabe Sapolsky and ROH. A hyped return in 2010 in Phoenix drew mixed reviews, but the Dragon Gate USA product has grown, developed and fleshed out some of its core talent in the last year and arguably enter this weekend with the most punch in connection to their storylines and in-ring talent since they began this now annual tradition.

Here is a look at what is in store:

Friday in Burlington, North Carolina DG USA presents "Open The Southern Gate"

This show has a theme of The Stable Shootout, pitting Blood Warriors vs. Ronin
The Shootout will have the following matches:
1) 1-on-1 battle between one member of each stable.
2) A dream partner tag team match, but a participant cannot team with someone from his own stable.
3) This is actually two matches. Each stable will get to book a member of the opposing team against any available opponent.

Dream Partner Tag Team Match
PAC & Ricochet vs. Chuck Taylor & Akira Tozawa

Blood Warriors vs. Ronin One-On-One
CIMA vs. Johnny Gargano

Ronin Picks Doi's Opponent
Naruki Doi vs. Jon Moxley

Blood Warriors Pick Swann's Opponent
Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann

The Shootout concept is really cool and the matches that have been booked as a results are great on paper. This feud really picked up a lot of steam in January during UNITED Weekend and solidified Ronin as a top babyface act, while turning Blood Warriors and specifically CIMA, heel in DG USA. The sub stories on display here are great: The Chuck Taylor-Ricochet Rivalry, The PAC-Ricochet Rivalry, The Continued Rise of Akira Tozawa and CIMA’s continued disrespect of Johnny Gargano and Ronin overall. The winner of the Shootout will carry momentum into Atlanta.

The other matches in North Carolina focus on the Breakout Challenge:

Four Way Freestyle - Breakout Challenge Match #1
Arik Cannon vs. AR Fox vs. Facade vs. Shiima Xion

Four Way Freestyle - Breakout Challenge Match #2
Jimmy Rave vs. Jon Davis vs. Kyle Matthews vs. Sugar Dunkerton

Breakout Challenge Match #1 winner vs. Breakout Challenge Match #2 winner

DG USA has been delivering big time with their Four Way Freestyle concept match, as they are often action-packed and very exciting. This now is coupled with another great element that DG USA can pride itself on – allowing wrestlers on the cusp of bigger and better things the stage to breakout! These matches pit veteran and name wrestlers than indy fans know like Arik Cannon and Jimmy Rave along with fresh names with a fresh style like AR Fox, Jon Davis and Shiima Xion.

Saturday as DG USA debuts in Atlanta, they kick things off with “Mercury Rising 2011” and they will look to deliver as stated before because of their audience and this being the first iPPV they are running on their WWNLive.com platform. This show has it all: High Profile Title Matches, the Six Man Tradition Match pitting arguably the hottest feud of Ronin and Blood Warriors and a mix on the undercard with wrestlers having opportunities to excel.

Main Event #1 - Open The Freedom Gate Title Match
YAMATO defends vs. Austin Aries
*Aries has stated he will leave DGUSA if he does not win the Championship

With Austin Aries’ history, this match should be fantastic. When Aries is on his “A Game” he delivers. YAMATO has been one of the stars of DG USA since the beginning of the promotion when he and BxB Hulk opened the first show and almost stole it! Add the stipulation that it is YAMATO’s Title against Aries’ career and that adds to the drama. My pick here is YAMATO, only because he won the title just 2 months ago from Hulk and I am interested to see what transpires with Aries and if this is his last weekend with DG USA.

Main Event #2 - Grudge Match - The Six Man Tradition Returns
Blood Warriors of CIMA, Naruki Doi & Ricochet
vs.
Ronin of Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann

As I mentioned in the Carolina preview, this feud has been hot. The brash Ronin seemed like destined heels to me when they came in and debuted in October of last year, but their breakout and great matches during UNITED weekend coupled with the disrespect lead by CIMA and Blood Warriors brings us to this match. I expect a lot of action here and really have been a HUGE fan of the Taylor-Ricochet interaction and story in DG USA. I feel like this is a pick’em because I don’t see the feud ending here. I will go with Blood Warriors because of their shot at the Open the United Gate Titles this weekend and to add heat to this feud.

Main Event #3 - Open The Brave Gate Title Match
PAC defends vs. Akira Tozawa

2010 was a breakout year for Akira Tozawa across the United States, but his DG USA coming out party was held in January as he put on a series of fantastic matches culminating with a potential Match of the Year with BxB Hulk. He was beginning to get better and better reactions from fans and to the dismay of Jon Moxley and Kamikaze USA, thus they booted him from the group. He is possibly primed now as the biggest single babyface in DG USA. His bout against PAC is a great chance to not only have another great match, but to win a singles title as well. PAC is also someone that DG USA fans have just had a sprinkle of, but he has proved that he is worth watching especially after his great bouts with Masato Yoshino as they captured the United Gate Titles as a duo in January. With that in mind, it leads me to my pick and that is Tozawa to get the gold here and continue to chase YAMATO and the Open the Freedom Gate Title.

Special Attraction Match - Non-Title
Open The Dream Gate Champion Masato Yoshino vs. Sami Callihan

This is a classic bout of Speed vs. Power. Callihan has posted creepy videos targeting the Japanese stars of DG USA and he gets another shot here against Yoshino. It should be a good match, but I think Yoshino takes it.

Elimination Match
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Brodie Lee vs. Stalker Ichickawa vs. Silas Young vs. AR Fox vs. Jon Davis

I expect all kinds of goodness here with these six who can fly, brawl and hit high impact moves from anywhere. From a storyline perspective, Jacobs needs the win and I think he gets it here.

Special Challenge Match
Jon Moxley with Trina Michaels vs. Arik Cannon

This should be an unhinged brawl with Moxley getting the win. Cannon has been very impressive in DG USA and that should continue here even in a loss.

Finally, DG USA will bring the weekend to a close with “Open The Ultimate Gate 2011” that will be taped for what I believe will be a May PPV debut.

Open The United Gate Title Match
Masato Yoshino & PAC defend vs. CIMA & Ricochet

This will be the first defense of the titles that were introduced and won just a few months ago. The World-1 duo won the belts in a clean sweep of the round robin tournament and now face a Blood Warriors duo in an extension of the battles these teams have had in Japan. In addition to that, PAC and Ricochet’s simmering rivalry will likely now hit full gear in this match. World-1 should retain.

Non-Title Grudge Match
YAMATO vs. Akira Tozawa

This is could very well be the match of the weekend. The split from Kamikaze USA and the wedge between these two brings us to this match. Tozawa wants the title, but due to Jon Moxley pulling the strings and orchestrating the behind the scenes on-goings YAMATO won’t defend here (if he does get past Aries). My pick is Tozawa as he builds his case for a title match more and more.

Special Request Match
Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs
*Aries has stated that if he wins the Open The Freedom Gate Title on April 2nd he will defend it against Jacobs. If he loses on April 2nd this will be his farewell DGUSA match.

I am a big fan of this match, simply because of the history of the two. I believe a big part of this weekend is to say farewell to Aries (if it is legit) and to get Jacobs back on the winning track. I think both those things can be accomplished very well here.

Blood Warriors vs. Ronin Challenge Match #1
Naruki Doi vs. Johnny Gargano

This should be really good. Gargano has continued to prove his worth time and time again in DG USA. The bout against Doi is just another logical step from a singles perspective and in the landscape of the stable feud. Gargano tapped out CIMA in January to his “Gargano Escape” – can he do the same to Doi here?

Blood Warriors vs. Ronin Challenge Match #2
Brodie Lee vs. Chuck Taylor

On paper, this is a bout that I have been least drawn to. I am a big Chuck Taylor fan, but Brodie Lee hasn’t completely won me over yet. I have open expectations and think Taylor picks up the win.

Six Way Freestyle
AR Fox vs. Arik Cannon vs. vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Lince Dorado vs. Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan

The Freestyle Match is a highlight for DG USA and this should be no different. I think it will make for a hot PPV opener and Sami Callihan should get the win to keep him strong.

There you go – a quick look at what DG USA is bringing to the table this weekend. I am excited to attend both of the Atlanta shows live with Jim and it is my first time to see DG USA live since September 2009.

The Road to Wrestlemania - The Main Events

Welcome back to Two Spot Monkeys, and The Road to Wrestlemania!  Today we’re going to take a look at the five main events of Wrestlemania 27!  Let’s get right to it!

RANDY ORTON VS. CM PUNK

They have built this match up really well, with Orton taking out Husky Harris, David Otunga, Michael McGuillicutty and Mason Ryan along the way to ensure that at Wrestlemania, he gets a one on one match with Punk.  Punk meanwhile has been reinvented in some ways as the leader of the “New Nexus” now that the Straight Edge Society has run it’s course.  Punk is just awesome as the leader of a group, as he’s easily one of the top promos in the business right now (and in my eyes, he’s the best…before the Rock leaves, can we please have Punk and Rock have a promo together, it would be GREAT!)  If this match is given time, it could certainly be a good to great match.  Punk is awesome in the ring, and Orton has shown that he can go as well.  I don’t think there’s a huge question here as far as who wins this match, as it’s set up for Orton to win and finish his run through the “New Nexus”.  The question for me is where do both Orton and Punk end up going after ‘Mania, if their feud really is done.  If John Cena beats The Miz, I hope Punk is his first contender, as we never got a real end to that issue.  Or, maybe Punk will be missing for a while, as I wouldn’t be shocked to see Orton punt him to end the match.

MICHAEL COLE (w/ JACK SWAGGER) VS. JERRY LAWLER – SPECIAL REF: STEVE AUSTIN

This match has been coming, seemingly forever.  It’s perhaps the best built of the matches on the card.  This is of course the Wrestlemania debut for both Cole and Lawler in an in ring capacity.  Lawler has deserved this moment for a long time, and it’s cool to see him get a match at Wrestlemania, and to have a match that is so well built up.  By having Swagger out there, he’ll likely get involved a few times (perhaps if Austin is distracted by something else…Brian Christopher maybe?) before Austin catches him in the act and hits him with a stunner.  I’d expect a little bit of offense from Cole, but after that, it’s going to be Lawler beating the hell out of him for however long they are given.  This shouldn’t go over 10 minutes, and there’s no way on God’s green earth that Lawler loses this match.  The question for me is, does Cole lose to the fist drop off the second rope, or does Lawler break out the piledriver?  I personally hope they allow Lawler to use the piledriver for this one, as it would be the fitting end.  I also expect Cole to eat a stunner as well at some point, either leading to the pin (hope not) or after the match. 

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH

EDGE (w/ CHRISTIAN) VS. ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/ BRODUS CLAY)

Christian really deserved a spot in a match on Wrestlemania, but at least he’ll be appearing it seems on the show.  When Del Rio won the Royal Rumble, I fully expected him to win the World Heavyweight Title at Wrestlemania, in his Wrestlemania debut, but now with the way they’ve booked him recently, I am not nearly as sure.  Part of me thinks that if he does win it, then Christian is right in line for shots since he’s beaten him twice lately.  The other part of me wonders if Christian will turn on Edge (no real reason I wonder this…just that it wouldn’t make much sense, so I could see WWE doing it).  At this point, I think Del Rio is likely to be the one to dethrone Edge, but I just don’t see it happening here.  Maybe at Extreme Rules next month, or somewhere down the line, but unless Christian turns on Edge, I don’t see Edge losing this match right now.  I could change my mind three or four more times before Sunday though.  This is the biggest toss up to me on the card.

WWE TITLE MATCH

THE MIZ © VS. JOHN CENA

When Cena won the Elimination Chamber, I would have laid any amount of money that he was going to walk through The Miz and win the WWE Title.  I’m not so sure anymore.  Though Cena has never lost a singles match at Wrestlemania (and The Miz has never had a singles match at Wrestlemania), I think this is the year he could lose one.  The Miz was booked very strongly the last few weeks, laying out Cena multiple times.  He comes in as a much more believable threat, and a much more believable champion than he did after beating Lawler at the Elimination Chamber.  Of course one of the main stories of this match will be how The Rock gets involved, and we all know he will.  After Cena hit Rock with an Attitude Adjustment last night, you have to think Rock will be looking for retribution at Mania.  Could he cost Cena the match?  And if he does, how will the crowd react to that?  The crowd in Chicago last night booed Cena when he hit the AA on Rock…but the minute his music hit afterwards, there was a rather audible cheer.  So, it’s a fickle audience.  Cena was GREAT in his promo last night, and really laid things out in an almost CM Punk like way, where you didn’t necessarily want to believe him, but nothing he said was wrong, he was totally right.  So, will he be cheered?  Booed?  What about The Rock?  And where does this all leave The Miz?  They need to book this strong so that Rock/Cena doesn’t overshadow The Miz.  If it’s me, I have The Miz win clean.  (Have Rock interfere, but don’t let it lead directly to the pin), and then do whatever you want to do with Rock/Cena…perhaps with The Miz coming back in and laying out whoever is standing tall.  This will be the most interesting match to me, as they can go a lot of different ways with it.

NO HOLDS BARRED

TRIPLE H VS. THE UNDERTAKER

This is the first time I can think of when there has been no physical contact between guys, yet the match is very well built, and anticipated.  This match will live or die (no pun intended) based on how much The Undertaker can do.  They’ve obviously added the “No Holds Barred” piece so that they can use any sort of extra gaga to work around ‘Takers limitations, which seems like a really good plan.  While I understand those who think Triple H could be the one to end the streak, I just don’t see it.  The only reason you should ever end the streak is to strap a rocket to someone on the rise.  To end it with Triple H would be a huge mistake in my eyes, and would only fuel the fire of those who see Triple H as a backstage mastermind who only looks out for himself.  Honestly, I think Triple H has enough respect for Undertaker to not even consider ending the streak himself.  I could be wrong on that, but it’s my belief none the less.  One factor to this is if Shawn Michaels gets involved, but I hope he doesn’t.  Let him have his Hall of Fame moment, and let that be it.  I think this will be a good brawl, but in the end, it’s chokeslam, tombstone, 1-2-3, the streak lives on.

All in all, I am looking forward to this Wrestlemania more than the previous three I have attended (with the possible exception of Wrestlemania 23, but that was only because it was my first Mania experience).  I think there are some matches that could be really good matches, and seeing The Rock live again will be a lot of fun.  I can only imagine the reaction from 75,000 people when his music hits on Sunday night!  As Tom has mentioned, he and I are both headed to Atlanta this week, so we will check in with reviews over the weekend as we are able!  Thanks for visiting Two Spot Monkeys!

Pre-Road Less Traveled/Snapshot of a WWE Smackdown House Show

It's WrestleMania Week!!! Woo Hoo! I always excited this time of year and moreso this year because in a few short days I will be making the trip down to Atlanta for a great time with friends and of course, some of the best wrestling that is showcased each year. As Jim kicked off a few days ago and will continue soon, his Road to WrestleMania entries give a good look at what to expect from WWE this weekend. As for me, either tonight or tomorrow, I will look at the Road Less Traveled and preview the Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA shows, which should be very good to great!

However, before I get these, I want to take the opportunity to review quickly the WWE Smackdown House Show I attended on March 26th at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI. I've not attended a WWE show since May 2009. WWE hits my home market about once a year for a house show and we get a RAW or Smackdown taping every 2-3 years as well. Heading into this show, I was most interested in seeing Alberto Del Rio live and in person.

First here are the quick results from the show:
1. Kofi Kingston won a battle royal to earn a shot at the Intercontinental Title
2. Layle El & Katelyn over Beth Phoenix & AJ
3. "Showtime" Percy Watson over Drew McIntyre
4. Jack Swagger over Chris Masters
5. The Big Show & Kane over The Corre of Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel w/ Ezekiel Jackson via DQ in a World Tag Team Title Match
6. Christian over Brodus Clay
7. Intercontinental Title Match: Wade Barrett over Kofi Kingston
8. World Heavyweight Champion Edge & Rey Mysterio over Alberto Del Rio & Cody Rhodes

Overall, the show was a lot of fun. Clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, including about 10-15 minute intermission, it left the crowd (made up mostly of families with young kids) happy. The best match was the main event and it was a 20+ minute match, with only about 10 or so minutes of action in the ring. You might read that and think, how in the heck can it be good? The pre-lock up heel stalling and heat drawing of Del Rio and Rhodes was just great, as they traded tags and then collectively avoided Edge and Rey, working the crowd into a frenzy. I was also surprised by the Barrett-Kingston match, especially the clean finish when Kofi was put down by The Wasteland and was looking up at the lights. The only other match for me that really was note worthy was the Tag Title Match. Show and Kane were dominant, but the Corre used double teaming and Big Zeke on the outside to tip the scales in their favor. Zeke's late interference was the caused for the DQ. Show and Kane then hit stereo chokeslams on the champs and a double team chokeslam on Ezekiel for big crowd reactions.

I'd give the show a 7 out of 10. It delivered and again, left those that paid for their tickets to go home happy. If you can hit a house show near you and are looking for a fun night of action, I'd recommend it.

The Road to Wrestlemania - The Undercard

This is the first in a two part post that I’ll be doing taking a look at the Wrestlemania card. As Tom mentioned in the previous post, he will be joining in with a look at The Road Less Traveled, which will take a look at the Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA cards among other topics. 

Today, a look at the four “undercard” matches.  I split the eight announced matches, and one rumored and seems like it’ll happen match into four undercard matches and five “main events”.  Obviously there will be only one main event, but I consider the five matches I’ve put as the “main events” to be the ones selling the show.  I’ll be back on Monday night with my look at the four main events, but here’s a look at the four (including the rumored bout) undercard matches on Wrestlemania this year. 

WADE BARRETT, JUSTIN GABRIEL, HEATH SLATER & EZEKIEL JACKSON VS. THE BIG SHOW, KANE, SANTINO MARELLA & VLADIMIR KOSLOV

This match hasn’t been announced yet, but it seems this is the direction they are going, though there could be a spot for Kofi Kingston here if they have The Corre lay out Marella or Koslov before the bout backstage.  Kingston really deserves a spot on the main card, so I do hope something along those lines happens and he gets it.  This is the Wrestlemania debut for the entire Corre side of things, and also would be the Wrestlemania debut for Koslov if he makes it.  Marella has appeared in a match on the PPV before, but this would be the first time he’s fought men at Wrestlemania.  There’s no other way to go here than to have the faces win most likely, though how much could it do for The Corre to win a Wrestlemania match involving The Big Show and Kane, two top level guys who have been around forever.  I’d love to see them have Barrett pin one of them clean, but let’s be honest, Barrett’s eating a couple of chokeslams, and a knockout punch and looking up at the lights in his WM debut. 

US TITLE MACH

SHEAMUS © VS. DANIEL BRYAN

This is the Wrestlemania debut for Daniel Bryan, who was a part of the NXT Season One cast last year at this time.  Sheamus makes his second appearance at Wrestlemania, after losing to Triple H this year.  Nothing against Bryan, but this is definitely a shift down the card for Sheamus this year, though I expect it will be a much better in ring match than last year’s bout with HHH.  Sheamus just won the title a couple of weeks back from Bryan, and this is the rematch.  I would expect this to either open the show, or perhaps be the “cool down match” 2^nd from the top between Miz/Cena and Triple H/Undertaker, whichever the 8 man tag doesn’t do.  Either way, I expect this will be a good in ring bout, and being a huge fan of Bryan from his days on the indies, it’s very cool to see him get a singles bout on Wrestlemania, the only member of any season of NXT so far that will have that distinction.  I’d love to see Bryan get the big win here, but I think they are rebuilding Sheamus, so I would expect another win from him most likely, but Bryan should shine in the loss. 

JOHN MORRISON, TRISH STRATUS & SNOOKI VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER, MICHELLE MCCOOL & LAYLA EL

This will obviously be the Wrestlemania debut (and the pro wrestling debut) for Snooki.  If Snooki’s in ring time is kept to a minimum, this could actually be a really good match, as Morrison and Ziggler are two rising stars who would love to steal the show, and Stratus, McCool and Layla are all strong in ring women wrestlers.  I don’t expect this is leading to any sort of full time comeback for Stratus, as I think she’s just back to promo Tough Enough, but no matter what, she’s a welcome (even short term) addition to the Divas roster.  We all know the finish here is Snooki pinning one of Laycool (I’m going to guess Layla), so it’s all about how we get there.  Let the others carry the bulk of the match and build to Snooki getting a big spot at the end and getting the win, and I think it’s a win win situation all the way around.  I would expect that Vickie Guerrero will be at ringside obviously, so I also think we’ll see Kelly Kelly come out to neutralize her interference at some point.

REY MYSTERIO VS. CODY RHODES

If you’d have told me after Wrestlemania last year that Rhodes would have a singles match this year on Mania, and Ted DiBiase would be the one on a losing streak, and being booked to be a loser, I’d have said you were crazy.  Cody Rhodes has grown leaps and bounds in the last year, and could be an outside contender for a breakout year this year.  A good showing against the always popular Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania would be a great way to continue his build and his climb.  Cody really needs this win more than Rey Mysterio does, but I’m not convinced he gets it either.  Many times the babyfaces win at Wrestlemania, but in this case, I don’t see Mania being the end of the feud, so I think Rhodes will win, maybe after a shot with the face mask, which will continue this feud on as we go through the spring.  I would be surprised if this match is anything less than good.

Come back on Monday night and see my take on the five main event matches of Wrestlemania 27!

Quick Update - It's About to Get Busy!

With apologies from Jim and I, numerous things have taken place in our personal lives to not permit the attention and effort to keep an active stream of entries here.

That stated, keep your browser near to Two Spot Monkeys in the next week, as we take a look at The Road to WrestleMania and The Road Less Taken, which will spotlight Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA, among other on-goings that all get going in about one week in Atlanta.

Jim and I will also both be live in Atlanta attending many events live and as such, will be collectively posting thoughts and reviews from what is a highly anticipated weekend.

The death of the youth movement

There has been a lot of talk in the last few weeks that WWE has decided to do away with the youth movement they’d been undertaking since Summer and are again going to using the “old names that people know”. They noticed that the pops for Triple H and The Undertaker’s return, along with The Rock were bigger than anything Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz or anyone else was getting.

The line of thinking here is one of the stupidest things I’ve seen in a LONG time. Of course those guys got big reactions for their returns. Triple H had been gone almost a year, Undertaker has been gone a while, and Rock was gone SEVEN years! You know what they say about “absence makes the heart grow fonder”? That applies here! When you have huge stars that have been gone a while, they’ll get a big pop for their return, absolutely. And guys already at that level will likely get a good pop most times they come out.

You know why they’ve reached that level? Because when they were young guys, some veteran put them over. For Undertaker it was guys like Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, The Ultimate Warrior, hell Hulk Hogan himself. Triple H got big when he got aligned with Shawn Michaels. The Rock made the jump to the top of the pack when he worked with Mick Foley. It takes the veterans truly putting over the young guys for them to come along.

Let’s look at the young guys that WWE has tried to push lately. (You know me, I like my lists…so, here’s another one!)

Wade Barrett – Came in as the winner of Season One of NXT, and led the Nexus in one of the most well done debuts in recent memory. The Nexus could have been red hot, but what happened? Super Cena had to eliminate every single one of them before killing Barrett off too, and then they shipped him off to Smackdown where he’ll now get beat down by The Big Show and Kane.

The rest of the Nexus – With the exception of Daniel Bryan (who of course got fired and then re-hired so was only a one night member), every member has been destroyed or is on their way to being destroyed by either Cena or Orton. Gabriel and Slater have a slight chance of having staying power since they have the titles…but seriously, how much attention does Vince pay to those titles anyways?

Dolph Ziggler – Ziggler had some really good matches with Daniel Bryan when they did the IC champ vs. US champ storyline. And it wasn’t just Bryan leading him through them either, Ziggler more than held his own. Then he had a series of really strong matches with Edge for the World Heavyweight Title, and the only way he was ever champion was when Vickie Guerrero handed it to him after “firing” Edge, only to have Edge re-hired that same night and beat him fairly quickly to “win it back”. Now, where is he in the build to ‘Mania? Nowhere to be found.

John Morrison – Not really a new or young guy necessarily, but would be a new face in the main event picture. Some amazing performances over the last six months or more…and where is he as they put together the Wrestlemania card?

Kofi Kingston – See Morrison, John

They’ve done a good job with Alberto Del Rio, that I’ll give them credit for. And Daniel Bryan seems to have settled into the mid-card for now. Hopefully in the next few years, he’ll slowly make his way up the card, but I don’t have a lot of hope for that either.

I’m just really frustrated that they say the new guys aren’t getting over, and they are the ones who can help control that by how they book the guys…and they refuse to book them strong enough to get over.

Quick TSM update!

Hey Two Spot Monkey fans! Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were unable to get any new posts up last week. That all changes tomorrow with a new post! Check back on Monday! Thanks for your patience!