Tonight's Raw is stacked with big name talent and legends being featured on the program. Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan will be taking part in a "panel discussion" regarding Brock Lesnar as champion and his rematch with John Cena at Night of Champions. This is a unique way to utilize talent to camouflage the fact that Brock Lesnar will probably not be appearing on the show. I, personally, don't think anything needs done to mask the fact that Lesnar will not be appearing weekly, I think it makes Brock Lesnar and the title seem more of an attraction that he is not there regularly.
There was a time, a time where wrestling did very well, that the title nor the champion were featured every week and it only made his appearances seem more special. Remember seeing Hulk Hogan on WWF Superstars every Saturday afternoon? No, because he wasn't on, sure he was mentioned but rarely seen; but when he was on, most likely cutting a promo to Sean Mooney it meant something. The same can be done for Brock Lesnar and champions moving forward. Especially with the WWE network capable of being a vehicle to feature whomever WWE wants to there is no reason why Lesnar can't still be a major focus without being on weekly.
I am looking forward to seeing the development of the Rollins versus Ambrose feud, from what I gather from wwe.com, Ambrose abruptly left the care of physicians and ran off after being curb stomped through cinder blocks last week. This is an excellent way for the an unstable character to miss a few weeks, while shooting a movie, as I believe Dean Ambrose could be the type to just disappear for awhile into thin air. I hope that Ambrose missing time to film doesn't negatively affect his momentum because he is the hottest ticket wwe has going right now and this storyline is making him and Rollins big stars that i believe everyone is taking note of.
I expect the main event of Raw to be the return of John Cena after being destroyed by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, I would assume John Cena will come back with his typical mantra of never back down and don't give up but it will have to be delivered in a different way that normal. I feel that Lesnar's dominance of Cena gives the wwe a great opportunity to kind of reinvent Cena, or re-tool him maybe more appropriate, by going back to a much more serious and determined John Cena. Getting pummeled the way he did can actually create a fan base that earned respect for Cena because of his toughness and if he came back as a serious and more stoic superman the universe may be less likely to give up on him again.
Per circumstance at work that I couldn't get around I missed out a "buddies get-away weekend", but did have an evening to take in an independent wrestling show. I attended the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) show this past weekend and came away from the performance thinking a number of things. First, independent wrestling quality has gotten much better since the last time I took in a show; second, the workers on these independent show care so much and work so hard to put on a good show and finally, the options for really good independent wrestlers is so limited in the current wrestling landscape and that is ashame.
The IWC Caged Fury show consisted of about nine matches and top to bottom there was not one performance that was lousy, nothing offensive to the audience; but instead a roster full of talented young men, all of different skill levels, who tried their best to really entertain the fans. And, they succeeded! The moves were snug and stiff but not dangerous, each match flowed together and made sense and every match told an up and down story that fans of ages could enjoy with high spots and good psychology for the most part. There were a few guys that stood out and there a few guys that you could tell needed a little more seasoning but no one was put on a bad show and every wrestler had the ability to carry themselves in the ring. The wrestling quality of this show was really good and was great to see that IWC is bringing in guys as well as training guys to meet a quality standard that is sometimes lost at independent shows.
One thing that was also certain was how much the wrestlers cared about putting on a good show for the fans and for themselves. There was multiple dives to the outside, many high risk moves including during the cage matches and off the top of the cage and there was even a "car wreck" of crash through two tables where the two men certainly put their bodies on the line. The crowd was into the entire event and the presentation is not childish but is also, for the most part, child friendly. I can't imagine anyone left the show being disappointed.
The last thing that the iwc show made me think about is how limited an independent worker is for major employment anymore. It used to be that a young Indy work could work his way getting attention from wcw, wwe or even ECW and the competition between the two major promotions created a lot of opportunity for young hungry workers. Now, it is wwe or bust for a lot of guys who would jump at the chance to go to Japan to work; but the downside is you have to go to Japan, or try to catch on with ring of honor which does not mean good pay necessarily. IWC, which is probably the best Indy in the pittsburgh area, has featured wrestlers over the years like cm punk, Austin Aries, aj styles and Christian to name a few and currently boast talented men like facade, Sammy guevera, RJ city and John mcChesney who are all exciting watch and understand how to entertain the audience. I believe that is we were still in the boom wrestling period you may be able to see any of these competitors on television. It is unfortunate that now it is pretty much wwe or struggle because I feel there are many quality independent promotions that utilize very talented and hard working men and women.
In closing, if you would be willing to see a local band at a bar, or would take in an Indy film at the local theater why not give local independent wrestling a shot? Most likely there is a promotion in your area and it is filled with hard working guys and girls who love wrestling, could use the support and will put on an entertaining show for the fans. But that is just this marks remarks.
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