Alright, so here’s the thing…

As I said in past articles, I’ve been writing like crazy for ProWrestling.net. I’m happy to be on the staff there and am pretty much getting to write whatever I would have written here for them.

To everyone who supported this blog, I thank you and I will try my best to get some content up here, but it may need to move from your daily site check list to a weekly one. DotNet is where I’ve wanted to end up for years and I’m privileged to be given such a great opportunity with them.

Given that we are a prominent source of wrestling news plus some super awesome commentary, I strongly encourage everyone to check out DotNet and stay tuned there for Pruett’s Pause and product reviews, along with some occasional live coverage from me. If you want to be updated when my columns go live on DotNet, follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

TNA does the right thing for the wrong reasons

Last Thursday on TNA Impact, we got the payoff to the latest “They” saga. I say it was the latest payoff because this is their second “They” saga in about three months. Perhaps the writers thought paralleling the two was a witty idea, but it just seemed redundant.

Their original plan was to bring back the Main Event Mafia (as evidenced by the return of Scott Steiner), but that feel through on Sunday when Kevin Nash and Booker T made their returns to WWE (not to mention the rumored arrival of Sting to WWE). When this fell through, TNA decided to accelerate their already in place stroyline of turning Fortune babyface to combat Immortal.

Now, we can all sit around and poke holes in the story (which includes Crimson choking AJ Styles), but I would rather look at the positives than the few negatives. TNA is finally getting to the mission that they undertook during the 2008-2009 Main Event Mafia story. They are pushing their homegrown talent as babyfaces and giving the fans true TNA stars to get behind.

Maybe TNA will finally get their priorities in order and get back to the last time they were actually experiencing growth; in 2005 when they pushed their X-Division stars to the main event. It is a company in need of something truly new. The show as it currently is looks like someone put WCW 2000 in a blender and pushed purée. With Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett being prominent figures on the show, all we see is the same old thing we saw in WCW and from Bischoff in WWE from 2002-2006.

Would the Main Event Mafia have provided the same boost of excitement that Fortune can? Not on your life. Even waiting for the Fortune turn might have been a bad idea. They would have been the primary whipping boys of MEM until Immortal eventually won the feud. We may have a couple weeks of poor TV because of the Fortune turn, but after the initial explanation phase, we could have a hell of a feud.

Going into TNA Lockdown this April, we may actually have two quality teams feuding in a logical setup for the Lethal Lockdown match. It may look an awful lot like a replay of last year’s team Hogan vs. team Flair Lethal Lockdown, but it will be homegrown talent fighting as babyfaces against the invading heels.

If TNA continues to do the right thing, they may finally get around to correcting their failures from the Main Event Mafia angle two years ago. This is a prime opportunity for a reset from about a year of failure. Best of luck to TNA and I’m very much looking forward to seeing Fortune become the number one babyface force.

Will WWE finally feel the Sting?

What kind of lame headline is that? I’m keeping it, but please be aware that I don’t like it (much like the “People’s Column” name I have finally been able to dump). Just when we thought WWE had nothing to create a buzz around the wrestling world to sell Wrestlemania, we got the 02-21-11 video on Raw Monday night.

I gave a short version of my thoughts on that in my Pruett’s Pause on prowrestling.net (I’m getting to Mick Foley status with all these cheap plugs), but I would love to throw out more long-form thoughts here.

First of all, there is the obvious. WWE is already advertising (through the Fresno Arena) that The Undertaker will be returning on 02-21. He is the only other man that that has worn a long black trench coat and black boots and would deserve that kind of buildup. The video was a little out of sorts to be the standard Undertaker comeback though. Usually Undertaker’s videos have the iconic gong sound in one form or another. They also don’t usually try to make Undertaker’s return a surprise (since he is the biggest star in the company and doesn’t need surprise build).

The video also has the distinct feel of the old Sting video packages that we saw prior to his 1997 return in WCW. If it is him, it will take a bit of a trick to bring back his old vengeful persona. Sting was nothing without being out for vengeance. Once he returned and claimed said vengeance in 1997, he meant so much less than he did beforehand.

I do have to wonder who Sting will face at Wrestlemania if he does come to WWE. Will they go with the dream match between Sting and Undertaker? That match won’t be pretty, but it could sell a whole lot of pay-per-views and tickets to a show that is in danger of underperforming. I there anyone else who Sting could face? Every feud I can dream up pales in comparison with the awesome visual that would be Sting and Undertaker facing off at ‘Mania.

If there is no return of Sting, then Undertaker’s option do not look super attractive. I like the Triple H match the most, but as ‘Mania nears, it seems like Sheamus is the more likely option for “The Game.”

What we do know at this moment is that there is some serious buzz around Wrestlemania that there was not a few weeks ago. If 02-21-11 comes around and it is not Sting, then WWE has an uphill battle in keeping that buzz present.

Pictures from ROH on 1/28 in Los Angeles

Quick blog note: If you are used to reading my blog due to a link from another website (nodq.com or Inside Pulse Wrestling) please make sure to bookmark my blog, since I will no longer be writing for those sites. You can subscribe via RSS or email. You can also follow me on twitter and get the latest updates on my blog that way.

Aright, so if you read my report on prowrestling.net, you know I had an amazing time at the ROH show last Friday. Sadly, I did not get photos with most of the wrestlers I met, since I didn’t want to be that super annoying guy asking for pictures. It really was the most fun I think I’ve had at a wrestling show.

If you can catch ROH (or any of the other major indies) in your area, I strongly suggest you go.

This is the ballroom the show took place in. You’ll see that it was just the standard carpet, no pads on the outside. The wall that you see someone standing against is where my buddy (shoutout to Dean!) and I ended up sitting/standing on our chairs for most of the show).

The All Night Express posing at the end of their match. A great team that had a not-so-great match against subpar opponents in The Cutler Brothers. I would get a chance to speak with ANX later in the night and I could not believe how nice they were.

Davey Richards as he entered and prepared to tear the house down with TJ Perkins. Another phenomenal performance that had me out of my seat for most of the match. This was the match of the night and may have been the best match I’ve ever seen live.

Me with Davey Richards just minutes after his match. Boo yah.

Mark Briscoe coming off the top rope in his TV Title match with Christopher Daniels.

The Kings of Wrestling and Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin shaking hands as before their tag team rematch.

Roderick Strong bringing the hurt to El Generico.

Death by Roderick on El Generico.

Daniels, Briscoe and Richards helping El Generico as Roderick Strong ran off.

This show really was that good folks. I apologize for the lights being right in the way of my camera for the entire evening. I hope you enjoy this little blog bonus and I look forward to bringing all sorts of thoughts to this space in the future (as well as to Pruett’s Pause on prowrestling.net).

10 Thoughts on WWE Raw 01.31.2011 – Major Announcement

Hey everyone! If you’re waiting for my 10 Thoughts on Raw, I have a major announcement for you. That column is actually be ran as “Pruett’s Pause” on prowrestling.net.

I’m very grateful for all of the support that all of the blog readers have given me in the last few months and will make sure to continue to post here. Enjoy friends and I hope you like the new gig at prowrestling.net.

For notifications on when I’ve posted here and on Dot Net, follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

10 Thoughts on WWE Royal Rumble 2011 – Alberto Del Rio Wins the 40 Man Rumble, Edge and Miz Retain

Welcome to my 10 Thoughts on the 2011 Royal Rumble! If you would like to see my real time thoughts on the show, check out twitter.com/itswilltime. Also, if you haven’t seen it already, my report on the 1.28 Ring of Honor show in Los Angeles is up on ProWrestling.net. I’ll be back later in the week with some additional thoughts and pictures from that show.

Now on with the Royal thoughts!

1. Aside from Elimination Chamber, I don’t like the idea of a pay per view opening with a World Championship match. I also believe that a champion should enter last all the time. Edge and Dolph Ziggler violated both of those rules.

2. Was it just me or did the Edge and Ziggler match slow down to a crawl whenever Ziggler took over on offense?

3. Dolph Ziggler sold the spear like he was shot with a cannon ball. Hot ending to this match with Edge pinning Ziggler with Christian’s Killswitch. If Edge loses the championship at Elimination Chamber, could we finally see Edge and Christian collide on a major stage?

4. The Miz and Randy Orton had a really nice main event style match. It wasn’t the standout performance everyone wants The Miz to have, but it was not a bad match. Solid is what I’ve come to expect from Randy Orton (aside from his awesome performance at Backlash 2004).

5. CM Punk’s interference came out of nowhere, but WWE has 63 days to explain why Punk did it and why he waited until the Royal Rumble to do it. If there is anyone that can bring Orton from solid to outstanding, it’s CM Punk.

6. The crowd seemed completely let down when Eve came out instead of Awesome Kong. Sad times for the new Diva’s Champion.

7. Seeing CM Punk and Daniel Bryan begin the Royal Rumble had me thinking of what ROH stars we could see do so in five years. My money is on Davey Richards and Chris Hero. Also, I don’t enjoy commentators using the phrase “marking out” when calling matches. It makes everyone remember that they are watching something fake. Why not say freaking out?

8. Nice moment from John Morrison with the barricade catch and jump to the stairs. That was the spot of the first half of the Rumble and will be remembered. I was hoping for Morrison to last a little bit longer in this match, but his time in the match was memorable. I only wish he could have been eliminated by someone to set up a ‘Mania program instead of becoming a victim of The New Nexus.

9. The section of the match dominated by The Nexus was really nicely done, but it came too early in the match for me. Will people remember it tomorrow when it was not highlighted in the second half of the match?

10. The Booker T and Diesel (Kevin Nash) surprises were both highlights of the night and perfectly done. They were effective without stealing too much of the spotlight. They kept the audience awake and involved. Booker’s reaction was especially surprising when Boston erupted for him. Could Booker T be coming back to WWE full time? What about Kevin Nash? He dyed his hair, which should last until Wrestlemania.

They super-sized the Royal Rumble, which means I can super-size my thoughts into BONUS THOUGHTS!

11. We went from a serious match with Nexus dominating to John Cena and Hornswoggle dominating just minutes later. This illustrates just what WWE sees as audience pleasing and appropriate. In reality it is neither. Kids may enjoy it, but it makes the wrestlers look weak to be beat up by Hornswoggle, which undermines the product and causes people to walk away from it.

WWE Royal Rumble 2011: Official Predictions

Alright, so here we go again with some Royal Rumble goodness. There are so many questions hanging over this year’s show and the Road to Wrestlemania. We don’t have a clear main event going into Mania (although Cena vs Miz is a pretty safe bet). We don’t have a clear cut Rumble favorite as we have in the past. Even the surprises are predictable (Triple H, if it happens and others that have been spoiled) but the winner is not.

Without further ado, here are my Rumble picks.

World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs Dolph Ziggler: I could see this match as the opener (short of us getting a throwaway tag match or a US Championship match) which is a little disappointing. However, this match could be the major coming out party for Dolph Ziggler. He will feel motivated in this match to put on the best show possible. He has never been in such a high profile position and this is WWE’s auditioning him for future main event status. I don’t see WWE pulling the trigger on Ziggler tonight, so Edge will retain. Look for this one to be the match of the night.

Diva’s Championship: Natalya vs LayCool: I don’t think WWE wants to take this championship away from Natalya. This match is on the card so we can breath between championship matches and so Melina wouldn’t get a PPV payday. Such is life in WWE. Natalya will retain and we could see Awesome Kong debut during or after this match.

WWE Championship: The Miz vs Randy Orton: I really could not see a circumstance where WWE would wan to take the belt off of The Miz before Wrestlemania. They need all of the mainstream publicity that they can get going into the biggest show of the year and The Miz as champion will be a big part of getting that publicity. How will The Miz win? He’ll pull off some sort of dirty trick that leads to Randy Orton falling prey to the Skull Crushing Finale.

The 2011 Royal Rumble Match: Last year, people were picking Shawn Michaels or Edge (with the John Cena and Triple H picks also in play). This year, no one knows. John Cena is always a major possibility. If Triple H returns, he has a great chance of winning (since surprises often lead to wins). Alberto Del Rio may just keep his word and accomplish his “destiny” of winning the Rumble. CM Punk and Wade Barrett both have a chance. Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler may show up in this match and have to be talked about as slight favorites. John Morrison has been pushed hard lately and may be the dark horse that gets a star making moment. Sheamus is a threat. The field looks to be wide open (and I hope I mentioned enough people here that I called the winner). I’ll go with the old faithful pick of John Cena. I believe his win makes the most sense because Cena vs Miz is looking like the obvious Wrestlemania main event. If Cena does not win, Alberto Del Rio is an easy number two pick to make. He could become a bigger star with a Ric Flair (1992) like performance tonight.

If WWE adds a Tag Team Championship match tonight, let’s go with The New Nexus winning the tag titles to make them look a little bit more intimidating.

I’ll most likely be tweeting some thoughts during the show (twitter.com/itswilltime) and will be back tonight or tomorrow with 10 Thoughts on the Royal Rumble.

Predicting Wrestlemania XXVII v2.0

As many of you know, I made an attempt to guess the Wrestlemania card a few months back. It’s pretty fun to continuously try this just to see how right I can be from fairly far out. Since a fair portion of the card seems to be just over the horizon, this may be the last time I can make semi-blind picks.

WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs The Miz: This is the match that WWE has made the most obvious in the past few weeks. Ever since The Miz said that Cena would not get a match with him unless it were for the championship at Wrestlemania, this match has been on my mind. It’s perfect that Miz’s breakout moment two years ago was a series of promos against John Cena. This is him coming full circle to face his greatest rival at the biggest show of them all.

World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio vs Edge: A little bit harder to pick is this match. I actually believe that it is a little too soon for Del Rio to be in a championship match at ‘Mania, but this is a star making moment. Del Rio is the next big thing on the WWE roster. Smackdown does not have another heel capable of this spot against Edge and this match will lead to some fun promos.

The Undertaker vs Triple H: Out for vengeance for the retirement of his best friend, Triple H will challenge The Undertaker and become the third man to make a second Wrestlemania appearance against the Deadman. The key to this match is to have Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. We will get the drama of HBK holding ‘Taker’s streak in his hands and experience another year of HBK promos going into ‘Mania. Triple H himself is no slouch and will hold up his end in the build to this match.

CM Punk vs Wade Barrett and/or The Corre vs The Nexus: These matches are tied together for me. It makes sense for Punk and Barrett to be involved in Nexus vs Corre, but then they do not have the singles matches they have more than earned at Wrestlemania. It looks like Corre vs Nexus is a program that WWE can run with until Summerslam (possibly leading to a return of WarGames, which I know will never happen). In order to do that, I could see both of these matches happening and one group claiming a win in each.

CM Punk vs Randy Orton: This match may also be a way to utilize Punk. Orton needs an opponent and Punk is as deserving as anyone to be in that major spot. This would then put Barrett in the faction tag team match.

Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes: Given the current Smackdown storyline, I definitely see Cody wearing a mask at some point in the future. He will put it on the li e against Rey Mysterio and lose at ‘Mania. Hopefully this will get more time than Punk vs Mysterio last year.

Money in the Bank (if it happens): Sheamus, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and more: I don’t know who else to put in this match, but I expect John Morrison to win it. He’s been getting a push that says this match could easily be his. If he does win, he may be the first winner to cash in in an honorable way since RVD and he will do so on Smackdown.

10 Thoughts on WWE Raw for 01.24.2011 – Miz vs Edge, CM Punk vs Wade Barrett

Alright, so I know it’s a little lame, but you can actually get Amazon gift cards from this site if you sign up and use it to search. Totally worth it. Use the link below to sign up and I win too! Thanks!

Welcome once again to a Royal Rumble preluding edition of 10 Thoughts on WWE Monday Night Raw! In case you did not see it, prowrestling.net published my review of Goldust’s new book and you can check out that review here. Also, if you are not following me on twitter, you are officially silly and need to get on it. Follow me at twitter.com/itswilltime.

Now, on with the thoughts!

1. Why did Edge have any reason to win the over the top rope challenge that began Raw? He would lose nothing if he jumped over the top rope and would conserve his energy for his match later. Did that match really lead to anything but jobbing out Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Tyson Kidd?

2. John Cena just can’t take that referee shirt out of his bag.

2a. Note to WWE: please do not give the microphone to Ezekiel Jackson or Mason Ryan.

3. The Nexus vs The Corre will be a major moment in the Rumble match. Aside from that point where we crown a winner, it is what I’m looking forward to most about the Rumble.

4. Enjoyable tag match with John Morrison and Mark Henry taking on Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus. It was nice to see Sheamus get a win, even if it was Del Rio getting the submission and attention afterwards. John Morrison continues to impress going into the Rumble and WWE may have me convinced that he is a contender to win it.

5. Natalya vs Melina was more physical than any match we have seen from the Divas in years. I could have done without the announcement of LayCool vs Natalya on PPV once again. We saw it for the second half of 2010 and now it will begin 2011. It’s not a bad match, but can the three of them really bring something new to the table?

6. Every time it seemed like Edge and The Miz had something good going, they cut to a commercial break. This match should have meant so much more than it did. The commentators were too busy arguing or talking with Dolph Ziggler to pay attention to what was supposed to be a historical match.

7. Did Daniel Bryan and Gail Kim start dating because they are both tremendous yet underutilized wrestlers? Gail proved that she can be a good valet with America’s Most Wanted in TNA, so if that becomes her role, it would still be a step up from afterthought.

8. If “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka is in the Rumble, he will come face to face with Santino. It’ll be like “Meet the Parents” with more punching and less funny. On a more serious note from the tag match, Husky Harris is a beast.

9. I know I harp on this fairly often, but is it really a babyface tactic to hit others when they can’t hit you? John Cena made two of the biggest heels in the company look like idiots tonight.

10. That was an odd ending. It’s like someone forgot that everyone was supposed to brawl at the end of the last Raw before the Rumble and just sent everyone out when it didn’t make sense at all.

Wow. I’m really surprised by how not good this Raw was. Usually we get something decent going into the Rumble, but this show was anything but decent. Sorry I was so negative tonight, but for some positive thoughts, follow me at twitter.com/itswilltime and see my live thoughts during Ring of Honor’s Los Angeles show on Friday night. I’ll be back with more later in the week. Thanks for reading and comment please!

Predicting the Royal Rumble

Alright, so we are about three meaningful TV shows away from the Royal Rumble and I feel like it’s time to make blind and most likely incorrect predictions. This time last year most people were predicting that Shawn Michaels would be winning the Rumble to face Undertaker. No one saw the Edge surprise coming.

This year, there is no favorite, so anyone would really be a surprise. I’m going to throw a few potential winners out there so I can say that I was about half right when the eventual winner walks out.

John Cena has to be the first possibility this year. I began feeling like he would be the winner when, as a Nexus member, Wade Barrett made Cena leave the ring during a battle royal. I saw that moment and predicted that we would see a similar moment in the Royal Rumble with Cena and Barrett as the final two. That program ended before then and we probably will not see it now. It makes the most sense for John Cena to win because it looks like Miz vs Cena could be happening at Wrestlemania. Many people would hate this option and see it as another big win Cena would take from a younger star, but if WWE does not know what else to do than it would be fitting.

Triple H has to be mentioned as a potential winner. He is healthy enough to return and it is very possible that he will be making his return soon. I don’t want to see him win it, because I don’t know what current champion he would be interesting against at Wrestlemania. I would rather see him take on The Undertaker. If he returns at the Rumble and does not win, it will be anticlimactic. I believe if his music hits and he enters the Rumble, he will be the favorite to win it. Look for a Triple H return if Sheamus looks dominant at any time in the Rumble match.

Alberto Del Rio is running around saying that he will win the Rumble, so why not let that happen. I don’t believe he is ready to main event Wrestlemania, but if the rest of the card is strong, why not allow him to grow as a star by main eventing Wrestlemania? Del Rio could definitely do his part on the mic, but I wonder if he can do well enough in the ring to make it through a twenty minute match on the biggest stage of them all.

What is John Morrison actually wins this? They are pushing him hard and the payoff could be a star making Rumble win and Wrestlemania main event. His problem is almost the exact opposite of Alberto Del Rio’s. He has shown that he can go in the ring, but on the mic he is weak. In order to get through the 10 weeks between the Rumble and Wrestlemania, promo ability is a must. I don’t believe that this will be Morrison’s year, but I wouldn’t be shocked if this actually happened.

Could there be other surprises? Sure. Batista could return and win the Rumble, but what does that say about all the talent that was around for the last year? What if Wade Barrett won it with help from his new faction? On the same note, could CM Punk win it? I don’t think it make sense in the storyline he is in, but they went with Randy Orton when he didn’t make a ton of sense winning.

I hope this year’s Rumble is more 2010 and less 2009. Less people in the ring, more star-making moments and a nice story at every moment in the match. I won’t make a final prediction on the match until I see next week’s shows. Who are your picks and dark horses to win the Rumble? Hit me with the comments!