Pro Wrestling Roundtable: The Inaugural Session, Part II

Following suit with the rest of Bleacher Report’s elite writers, I have decided to bring about the roundtable for Pro Wrestling. There are so many questions and so many opinions. For this week’s ATH, I’ve assembled three of pro wrestling’s top writers to discuss several topics involving the WWE and TNA.

With that said, allow me introduce the panel: Representing the Rockies of Colorado, Nadene Dodge. Representing Team Canada, Adam Wright. Representing King James Country, Cleveland’s own Ryan Ohio. And representing the Gateway City of St. Louis, yours truly, Ron Johnson. Now…let’s go to work.

Topic One: Who will step in to take control of an anarchic RAW?

AW: All signs point to William Regal. Coming off his suspension, he is eligible to return this Sunday at the Great American Bash. Maybe the WWE will pull the story that Regal himself was responsible for Vince’s accident in a plan to get his old job back as GM.

Surely, he is a prime suspect…and that story would make sense. But it is predictable, and I’m hoping for the unexpected.

ND: Stone Cold Steve Austin! He is still on the RAW roster, and in order to bring the kind of order they want for RAW, you don’t have to wrestle. I can see the sheriff come back to town. Despite the history between the two, I think Vince would like to see the kind of law that Austin 3:16 has brought in the past.

It’s been proven that when he was sheriff of RAW, he had zero tolerance for those who thought they were above his law. That’s what the show needs right about now to counter the heel GM of SD!

RO: After careful consideration, I feel that this is the right step for RAW to take: no one hopefully. JBL may have declared martial law, but it’s clear that Vince is on his way back after the final warnings of his children were swept under the rug. It’s clear that something is on the horizon in regards to RAW with the children’s guarantee of consequences on the minds of everyone.

RJ: I am split down the middle on this one. I could see Regal returning back to his original post as GM (without the King of the Ring title) mainly because it would silence JBL at least a little bit.

My second choice would be Eric Bischoff. Though he’s been fired several times by the Boss, he did create enough of an impact and buzz to keep people tuned in.

My third and final options are one of the McMahons or Stone Cold Steve Austin, mainly because Shane looks a little ticked about the situation and Austin would love to exhort his authority on a dysfunctional RAW.

Topic Two: Should ECW bring in another championship?

RO: Absolutely not. ECW is going in the right direction with its New Superstar Initiative. They should leave the show for what it is: the proving grounds for young talent.

Kofi proved himself on ECW, and now he’s the Intercontinental Champion on RAW. Evan Bourne (formerly Matt Sydal) is proving himself and is on pace to become a No. 1 contender down the line. Besides the fact that it is just a one hour show, ECW is heading in the right direction, so no more championships are necessary.

ND: I agree with Ryan on this one, but for another reason. ECW stars are bouncing between their show and SmackDown! so much that another championship isn’t necessary. ECW has the ECW Championship and the United States Championship thanks to the WWE Draft.

Since the talents bounce between shows anyway, there isn’t really much need to add more gold to the Land of Extreme.

AW: Tough question! Many think ECW is a joke, but I have to disagree. Yes, it isn’t the old school "ECW," but it’s still not a joke. It’s where we get to see brightest young stars.

As for another title, I say YES…but only if it had some sort of stipulation. Either the Cruiserweight or Hardcore Championships would be a great fit for ECW.

RJ: As I look at the current title standings in WWE, nothing would make me feel better than knowing that ECW will return to its roots. I say this because ECW has become more technical than hardcore.

RAW has the World Heavyweight Championship, Intercontinental Championship, Women’s Championship, and World Tag Team Championships. If you combine ECW and SD!, they have the ECW Championship, WWE Championship, WWE Tag Team Championships, United States Championship, and Divas Championship.

No other championship is necessary unless they shake things up between ECW and SmackDown!

Topic Three: Will Kane answer the million dollar question about who “he” is?

ND: Eventually it will come out, but it makes better ratings to not say it yet. Everyone will continue watching to see if he will say who “HE” is.

RO: I agree with Nadene. Eventually, we’ll find who “HE” is. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but my money’s on Vince.

AW: There are three options to this one. Option one is The Undertaker for either a feud with his brother or helping in the resurrection of the tag team division.

Option two would be Paul Bearer because the last time anyone saw him was ironically enough The Great American Bash.

The final option would be…KANE! The original Big Red Monster who used to set people on fire and leave a path of destruction everywhere he went. By the way, my answer is yes, he will answer the question.

RJ: I say yes on this one. It will most likely be answered prior to Summerslam. It’s already known through inner wrestling circles that Undertaker is slated to return at Summerslam or Unforgiven.

As for Paul, he is happy being retired so I wouldn’t expect him back anytime soon. But Kane could be talking about himself or Vince. Since no one has seen Vince since the accident, my money’s on Vince a little bit.

Topic Four: John Cena: Better as face or heel?

RJ: I remember Cena as a heel. It was the moment that the Doctor of Thuganomics actually arrived on the scene.

Even when he was a heel, we still found ourselves cheering for him. Cena’s biggest problem is he has almost the same popularity as Austin. That would make it real hard for him to make the push to heel. And since everyone has the Spinner Championship, Adam, it must be good enough for Randy Orton and Triple H to hold onto.

So to answer the question, Cena as either a face or heel works…just as long as JBL is in the path of destruction from the Chain Gang Commander.

RO: This question requires thinking from both sides of the spectrum. From the business side, he should stay face because people are still cheering for him, buying his merchandise, and the demographics are in his favor.

From a personal standpoint, I think he needs to go heel to keep a fresh perspective on his character. It’s clear that his switch a few years ago went off smoothly, so why not execute the transition again?

ND: Definitely heel. He does better when he is getting back at someone than when everyone loves him. He will have more fun with Cryme Tyme playing the bad boy. And everyone will be glued to the TV to see what the trio will do next.

AW: Oh Cena. As I said earlier, a heel’s job is to draw heat. But what happens if a FACE draws that much heat? It means he is an awful face. He desperately needs a heel turn. The supposed “face” of the WWE should not only be cheered by kids and women.

Cena is a great worker. But he needs to go back to what he was early in his career. Right now, I think a lot can agree that he is downright irritating. And please don’t bring Hogan into this conversation because I never heard Hogan doing POOP jokes.

Final Topic: Is Edge the best heel in wrestling right now?

AW: Yes! Just read some of the posts here at the Bleacher Report, he is despised by some! A heel’s job is to make us hate him/her. Edge does that perfectly! Not only can he generate heat on himself, everyone associated with Edge becomes the ultra-heel, too.

No two words can draw more heat from a crowd than the words, “EXCUSE ME!!!!” coming out of Vickie Guerrero’s mouth. The only person right now who could match him would be Randy Orton. Adam Copeland is definitely the best at his job.

ND: Are you kidding?! If Edge is anything right now, he’s the puppet master pulling the strings of the WWE’s biggest heel since William Regal: Vickie Guerrero.

Vickie has become a royal b**** since taking the reigns of SmackDown! from Teddy Long. Look at the posts from several of my columns. Everyone agrees that Vickie is a bigger heel than Edge. Now that Triple H is on SmackDown!, expect some serious plot twists to happen.

RO: As much as I would like to say yes, the best heel is without a doubt Vickie Guerrero. Sadly, without trying hard, Vickie has gotten unmatched heat. But to give the Rated R Superstar credit, he is pretty close to the title of best heel.

RJ: I despise Edge and enjoy him at the same time. But he is not the best heel in wrestling right now. In fact, if you were to look at the ratings, Booker T edges (no pun intended) Edge as far as heel goes. Booker has reprised his “royalty” character from WWE, and after Victory Road, it’s hard to argue with the anarchy that is on the horizon.

As hard as Edge won’t like this next statement: He wouldn’t be almost on top of SmackDown! if Vickie hadn’t made his road easy.

Good talk everybody! Tune in next week when we will have three new panelists and several new topics including Victory Road and Great American Bash.