Welcome to the John Report. This won't be a column on a single topic like I tend to do. This is a case where I have three different things I want to talk about, but don't want to talk about them in one column, so what you'll get instead are three condensed pieces rolled together into one. Simple, no? I think so. The three things involve Backlash, Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar. Obviously another big recent story is the revival of ECW, but I hope to tackle that topic next week at some point once more details are known.
Quick Backlash Preview
The days of writing long previews for every WWE PPV are over for me, except for WrestleManias. While I'm still watching the show (and doing live coverage at the Oratory and Rajah.com), I don't feel the need to make a whole column previewing Backlash. Still, there is some stuff to discuss regarding the show including the debut of God! Yes, he's making his debut here I think because Vince McMahon wanted to find somebody older than him to wrestle. I guess Mae Young was busy. On with the quick preview.
Carlito vs. Chris Masters
Not sure how good or bad this is going to be. Two young guys who each have shown potential at various times mixed against eachother could be a disaster or it could be decent. The worry is Carlito is barely a face and unless the fans are REALLY into him it could be a dead match. For a winner, I'll go with Masters although I'm guessing this feud continues from here, so I'm expecting a shady ending with a Masterlock win after cheating or a DQ type of finish.
Ric Flair vs. Umaga
UMAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I can't say I'm too excited about this one. On the list of people I want to see Flair wrestling, Umaga is near the end of the list although he is well ahead of the Great Khali on Smackdown. The whole Umaga character is straight out of the early '80s even with the thumb to the throat finisher. It's a shame because the former Jamal is actually a good athlete that is now doing a gimmick that hides that athleticism. I guess Flair wins. Not like it matters much.
Kane vs. Big Show
I think I figured out why Kane is afraid of May 19th. It's because his movie is going to get killed in the box office against the Da Vinci Code. Not a big fan of either guy these days, especially against each other. They're both way more enjoyable as heels, I think. Please keep this under ten minutes, I beg of you. BTW, one of the worst matches I can ever remember was Big Show vs. Kane @ King of the Ring '99. Absolutely atrocious. Both are better these days, but still, I'll never forget how bad that one was. I guess Big Show wins due to Kane going nuts for the 4,714th time.
Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus for the Women's Title
This was fun for a while, but then they repeated the same "I steal your look, you steal mine" routine like three weeks in a row. When they did it on the last Raw I just thought, okay, they really are running dry with this feud. My hope is that with Backlash being a small card in terms of number of matches that these two will finally get over ten minutes in the ring. At New Year's Revolution they did, but left me wanting more. At WrestleMania they made some mistakes, especially the ending, that make me we want to see more of them. So we'll see how much time they get this time. I guess I'll pick Mickie to win although the belt is in truly in bad shape because of a lack of credible women wrestlers. I guess they can move Jillian Hall over from Smackdown as a fresh face to be added to the division. Could use a couple more too. BTW, I like blonde Trish better than brunette Trish. Not that I look at her hair that much.
Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin for the IC Title and Money in the Bank Contract
I don't see how or why they would book RVD to lose this. It would be foolish. What I'm wondering is why they had to put the IC title on the line here if RVD's going after the WWE title most likely at June's ECW PPV? Then on Smackdown you've got Rey Mysterio defending the world title against the US champion JBL. It would be the same thing on both shows. Weird. Anyway, Van Dam is likely going to win in what I hope is a match that shows just how athletic these two are. Could be a lot of fun or their styles could clash so much that the match gets hurt because of it. The winner is RVD here.
Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels & "God"
Lots of talk about this match here. Too bad it's not the good "I really want to see this match" type of talk, though. This is more of the "this is really stupid" or "this is really funny" kind of talk. Personally, I'm not offended by the angle or upset by it. It's more ridiculous than anything. It's also good to know that God has the same pyrotechnic skills as the Undertaker and Kane. Maybe they're related. I'm looking forward to when the Michaels/McMahon feud is over. I thought it was done at Mania. Guess not. I'm thinking it ends here, so I'll pick Michaels and "God" to win probably by pinning Shane. The highlights of this one will be the facial expressions from Vince McMahon as he tries to sell the pyro display provided by the man upstairs.
John Cena vs. Edge vs. Triple H for the WWE Title
This should be awesome in the sense that the crowd is going to be all over the place during this match. I imagine that Cena will get more boos than cheers, Edge will get mostly booed and HHH will get some loud cheers, especially if he ends up winning. What's interesting about this match is that unlike some main events that rarely see the top guys wrestling eachother on TV in the weeks leading up to it, we've seen these guys against eachother a lot. I think that's actually a good thing because now they're really used to working together and hopefully they use that to make this a really strong match. As I've said previously, with this card being generally thin they should have plenty of time for this match. Probably 20 minutes or so. I see it being pretty good, about four stars or so, with a good deal of pinfall attempts as well as props being used. The finish, to me, is HHH pinning Cena after a Pedigree. I could see Cena retaining to go into the ECW show as a major heel against RVD, but I'm going to pick HHH here. I just think it's the right time and the right place to move the belt onto The Game.
Overall, this is not the most exciting card or the best brand exclusive show you're ever going to see, but it's alright. I do think that Show/Kane could be really bad and Masters/Carlito could be as well depending on how it's booked. Other than that, I mostly like the matches. Again, there is the ridiculous stuff like the "God" match, but it's WWE and you sorta get used to at least one really stupid idea every card. The main event will be intriguing at the very least. It'll be a solid match too. I think they'll have to do some angles and/or promos through the show too because with only seven matches they're going to have time to fill.
I'm also upset at no Spirit Squad being on the card. Oh well, at least I've got the video of Spirit Squad member Johnny Jeter getting chopped at a hotel bar as part of some sort of initiation. Now that's some good viewing.
The Suspension of Randy Orton
It's been a pretty big month for news and the suspension of Randy Orton is one of the more prominent tidbits. What we know is that as of WrestleMania weekend he did something to push management over the line, so much so that they suspended him at least for 60 days effective the middle of April. That means the earliest we would see him back would be the middle of June. As a subscriber to the Wrestling Observer, I've anticipated reading every week what happened with Orton. Sadly, there's not one specific incident that is detailed to pin the suspension. It seems to be one of those things that just accumulated over months. He was rude to women, he violated some backstage rules and he got fined up to $5,000 allegedly a number of times. He didn't seem to care since his behavior remained unchanged and now he's been sent home for at least 60 days. Now there are some questions to answer:
If he wasn't a main eventer would he have been fired for this?
I would say yes. Considering his age (26) and his experience as a main eventer I think he avoided being fired. Management isn't stupid (okay they are, but they're not THAT stupid) enough to let him go, allow him to go to a company like TNA and be direct competition to them. If he was five years older maybe and they had more top heels to build around in the future then he might not have been allowed back. As is, though, they need him too much to fully fire him.
When will he be back?
Middle of June is the minimum amount of time. I think a comeback in July or August makes sense because that's on the build to Summerslam and he could be fresh by then. Whether or not his attitude changes for the better is another story.
When he does come back, how quickly will he be back in the main event picture?
I think WWE has to be hesitant about putting him back into the title hunt again. While nobody really knows for sure, I think if his behavior was better he might have actually won the World Title at WrestleMania. According to some, the plan was for Batista to lose the belt to Orton at Mania, but of course Batista tore his muscle and that plan changed. That just lets you know that they were ready to build around Orton on Smackdown.
I like Randy Orton. I thought he had improved since he moved to Smackdown. He was having really good matches with a number of different people. Now that stops while he sits on the sideline and hopefully matures. It seems like he can never be a constant contributor. He's had injuries that sidelined him and now this. It's too bad.
The Lesnar Case is Over
In the past week or so the Brock Lesnar lawsuit against WWE came to a close. What we know is that when Lesnar asked to leave WWE in 2004 they made him sign a contract that said he couldn't wrestle for an American wrestling company other than WWE until 2010. After failing in the NFL, he tried to get out of that deal and now they've come to some sort of agreement. While the details are not known, expect Lesnar to continue working in Japan for New Japan and unless he comes back to WWE, which I would bet against, I doubt we'll see him in North America anytime soon.
What's funny is that last year there was every indication that Lesnar indeed would be back in WWE. Everywhere you looked people were talking about the inevitability of it happening, yet it never came to fruition even though he did meet face to face with WWE officials. The biggest reason was because WWE wanted him to work a full time schedule, or at least close to that, while Lesnar never really enjoyed that type of schedule and is likely still hesitant to accept that sort of thing. Talks broke down soon after we could get really excited about a comeback.
As I'm sure most of you know, he's wrestling for New Japan these days. I could conceivably see his work through tapes or online somehow, but it's not the same. I miss seeing him weekly on Smackdown. I miss watching him develop both in the ring and on the microphone as a character. He had all the tools. A young guy that was athletic, that had a legitimate body without the enhancements we see so much of in wrestling and he had the drive to always get better. I loved his matches even against people like Big Show and Undertaker, guys who I'm not huge fans of. That's because of Brock's appeal. He came off as a "real" athlete the same way Kurt Angle does. The legitimacy that he has was part of the appeal.
If you asked me two years ago who WWE's three biggest stars would be in 2006 I'd have said Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and John Cena in that order. Now one is long gone, the other is suspended indefinitely and the third is one of the biggest stars, if not the biggest. Funny how things turn out sometimes, huh?
I wish Lesnar the best in his life. I've read that he's getting married to Sable in May. I'm happy for them, but as a fan, I'd be even happier if he did come back to WWE one day so we could see just how good he could be.
In Closing…
That's it. Sorry if this is on the short side. I'm trying to write more and I will be doing so because the stuff that has kept me busy the last four months is over now (I was in school, now it's back to the 9-5 job thing). I should be writing regularly again in the very near future. Not just about wrestling, but about sports at the Sports Oratory as well. Look for my work under the name "John Canton" there. There's nothing yet by me, but there will be. There is other content written by our other staff, though.
I'll see you on Sunday night for live Backlash coverage. Thanks for reading.
Smell ya later,
John C. - oratoryjohn@gmail.com
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