Bleacher Report - Articles by Alevyn Shareef

Making Wrestlemania Feel Right

Alevyn Shareef — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:57:17 -0400

The other day I had a sudden urge to re-watch Wrestlemania 23 and I thought to myself, This is how a Wrestlemania is supposed to feel! It had everything a wrestling fan could want from a 'Mania. Sure it had it's matches that were a bit useless (Khali vs Kane, Melina vs Ashley) but for the most part it was a damn good show.

Money in the Bank was still as exciting on the replay as it was the day of the night. Jeff Hardy's death defying "Wrestlemania size" leap on long time family rival Edge was still breathtaking, the "battle of the billionaires" still felt like a big-time event, the two world title matches put the legends against the two biggest names the WWE had to offer in what were very good matches.

The ECW Originals getting that win on the biggest stage of all against the since forgotten new breed was a heart felt moment, and we saw then up-and-coming MVP go hold for hold with one of the best technical wrestlers to ever live. Wrestlemania 23 was pure beauty.

What really made this Mania was the fact that it just felt right. Something that I can't say about Wrestlemania 24. This year's mania just felt like they tried to hard. None of the matches build up really felt 100% besides Taker and Edge. Everything else just felt like they tried to make a Wrestlemania. It felt so insert big match here.

Not to say that it didn't have its moments—HBK retiring Ric Flair was very heartfelt—but we just knew it was happening and why.

The build up to this years entertainment match with Big Show and and Mayweather just was to forced. Half the time you couldn't tell who was the face from the heel. The diva's match was void of any wrestling and was to much of a streched gimmick. Wrestlemania just need's a woman's title match to feel right for that division.

The triple threat title match was just to get all of them in on a big match at mania. Batista and Umaga was just to not leave them off the show. The Money in the Bank match was a bit empty without Jeff Hardy who was out on suspension. The ECW title match was well seven seconds. JBL and Finlay's storyline was so horrible. It just didn't feel right. It looked like a Wrestlemania, but just didn't feel right.

I hope the WWE can recapture that magic for 25. It has to give the fans what feels right. The stars must realign themselves in wrestling fans favor. For me, I'd love to see these matches make Mania 25.

Triple H vs Edge
HHH has a who's who list of people he has faced at Mania. It's to the point were you can name almost any main-eventer in the WWE and he's probably had a match with them at Mania. Anybody else at this point would be a rematch. This is really the only match that is left for him with a big enough name that could possibly headline. This match could easily be for a World Title.

In all honestly I'd like to see Edge win a Royal Rumble with his gimmick he could brilliantly steal a rumble win. Think about it: Edge tries to get a title match at the Rumble so that he wont have to compete in the lottery like Rumble match. He loses a number one contender's match, the next week he wins a slot in the rumble but gets a pretty high number like five or something.

He gets thrown over the ropes by someone likely to win like Batista only one foot touches the ground he rolls back ring thinks about it and rolls out leaving wrestlers to believe he is eliminated. A major fan favorite "wins" the rumble and Edge comes in and tosses them out the ring during their celebration.

HBK vs Undertaker
If not now then when? Them two facing off at Mania in Texas just feels right. They are legends. On paper the match could go either way. Anything that threatens the streak add's tons of excitement. A lot of people like how the Y2J and HBK feud is going and want to see it ride until 'Mania. I say watch Mania XIX for that match at a mania. Its a great feud but we've seen them at Mania. We have never seen HBK and Taker at Mania and if not now then when?

Batista vs Cena/ or Orton
Whoever Batista's opponent is you just can't go wrong with it form these two. Cena and Batista put on a great match at Summerslam my only hope is that they can top it. It's going to boil down to who is healthy in this case. Orton and Batista have history as member's of Evolution I know the writers can get something good out of that.

CM Punk vs Jericho
I am going on a limb and I am saying it. This is the match I want to see. It does not need to be for a World Title. I actually think that would go better with a Batista/ Orton match. If they can get some tension and a good story going then the match will make it self. I think Jericho will be able to help Punk put on a solid first singles mania match.

I think if the WWE can build around that we will have a very good Mania in '09.

WWE vs. TNA: Let The Bidding Wars Begin

Alevyn Shareef — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:02:13 -0400

Let The Bidding Wars Begin

Gone are the days of there being one major wrestling promotion in America. The WWE may act like they don't feel the pressure of TNA, but it's to a point they cannot simply ignore them anymore.

A few years ago if a wrestler left the WWE, you probably wouldn't have much of a chance of seeing them perform anymore. Now if a wrestler is released from a company, there's a big chance you will see them at the rival promotions show.

As a wrestling fan, seeing the two sides grabbing wrestlers out of spite for the other company, you know that competition is heating up. This could get very entertaining soon as some big names are on the list of potential ship-jumpers.

This is almost like a NBA offseason when you wonder what team will your favorite player sign with—the only difference is you don't have to wait months to continue watching the sport.

If this is a war, then WWE may have fired the first warning shot with Gail Kim and R-Truth. If they make big impact in the companies then it would really look like TNA dropped the ball on them. As a matter of fact, you have to think that TNA is hurt about losing Gail Kim after putting so much effort into their X-Division.

Mick Foley is, without a doubt, a future Hall of Famer. From the looks of things it's pretty obvious that he will be leaving the WWE to TNA when his contract expires in a couple of days. Acquiring him could be one of the biggest shots that TNA can fire right now.

From a wrestling standpoint, he's probably beyond his years as a title contender, but for a ratings standpoint having Mick Foley in the ring again gives TNA plenty of superstar status. Some may tune in just to see Mick Foley and nothing else.

Plus, Foley has never been one to keep a tight lip about how he feels on a issue he could very well cut a shoot promo on the WWE that alone could give TNA a lot of viewers.

Rumors of Team 3D coming back to WWE have been going on for months. Unlike most wrestlers who are well known in a tag team and eventually want to make a name of their own, Team 3D seems pretty content with being remembered as one of the greatest tag teams of all time.

Looking at the current tag teams on the WWE, they could use that veteran coach to help out the young guys. The biggest thing with them is does the WWE want them back? Randy Orton recently went on record for his dislike for Brother Ray the WWE may not want to risk angering one of there top stars for them to return.

Orton isn't the only one not a fan of Brother Ray and D'Von may just be guilty by association.

Christian Cage hasn't been very happy with the booking in TNA as of late, and to make matters worse his contract is almost up. This could be the biggest loss TNA could take as he reached a bit more star power in TNA than in the WWE.

When he first left WWE, he was burnt out of the heavy schedule and wanted to do some acting. He hasn't done much of it and that motivation for not wanting to stay with WWE may be gone. There's no doubt that WWE would want to use him now that he is a bigger star then he ever was.

If it comes down to a money issue, TNA will lose as they just started seeing profit. But since a lot of wrestlers with big names don't want a huge schedule or just not on good terms with the WWE, TNA has a pretty decent shot of grabbing some names.

What Brand Should Gail Kim Go To?

Alevyn Shareef — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:27:50 -0400

In TNA Gail Kim was the centerpiece of their successful women's division—a solid performer that made the other knockouts around her more entertaining. It's no doubt that this is a huge acquisition for the WWE.

I'm not going to go into how it will hurt TNA, as all they can do is move forward and continue to build off what they have. They do have Taylor Wilde as champ, and with Kim gone, her role and need to be a star just increased.

Now the trick with WWE is how can Kim be used most effectively. Some people say that she can go over to Smackdown and contend for the Divas championship as a face. No doubt that she would be a good asset to have there, but her usage could be more effective on Raw.

When talking about how a certain wrestler will play into a division, you have to look at the roster as a whole.

The Raw face divas include: Mickie James and Kelly Kelly right now. Of course, there's Candice and Melina, and potentially Layla (who hasn't commited to being a heel or face since being drafted to Raw), but they aren't on the active roster.

Layla is taking a bit of time off, Candice was gone before the draft and could be moved over to Smackdown, and Melina was injured on the draft show. They could potentially not reappear on Raw.

Raw's heel's include Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, and Katie Lea. Three solid in-ring workers.

Smackdown, on the other end, includes Michelle and Maria as faces, and Natayla, Victoria, and Maryse as heels.

The WWE is looking content on pushing Michelle as the top face diva on Tuesday nights. Plus, it's a division that is fairly new, considering they just got the belt. Candice Michelle has been advertised on making appearances with the Smackdown roster, so it could be an indication that she will be moving over there.

Now, in a mode of seriousness, looking at the Divas belt—who really takes that thing serious? The belt right now has no credibility. It's a pretty belt, but the focus isn't really on the wrestling for it. It's just there to have a belt on both brands.

Given some time it may build up prestige, but that will come from defenses and feuds from the divas already there.

Right now Gail Kim's name is hot. Wrestling fans know what she did in TNA. WWE will never acknowledge it, but they know it. Her momentum should be brought over to the "A" show.

With Raw only having one credible face diva, Kim and Mickie will be able to alternate roles as the No. 1 face. She can instantly make a splash on the division, and it will appear to strengthen.

When you strengthen your division on the flagship show, it makes the division as a whole look stronger.

Could We Really See A New Champion at WWE Unforgiven?

Alevyn Shareef — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:16:33 -0400

By now most of you are aware of both Raw and Smackdown's Championship Scramble matches. After watching Smackdown, I'm very interested in this concept.

Much like this year's No Way Out, the concept for Unforgiven's main event is the same for Raw as it is for Smackdown, but they have different purposes.

While Raw's is due to a surplus of main eventers, Smackdown's is to raise the mid card. This is a very interesting, but much needed move.

This year's draft was good to both brands (and for the record ECW has done a good job staying entertaining while seemingly getting raped in the draft).

After the draft the two brands almost felt even, as Raw had an all-star cast of main eventers in Batista, John Cena, JBL, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Kane and Rey Mysterio. With the addition of CM Punk to the main event, you can run your own WrestleMania from that roster.

With Smackdown switching networks they took the "you gotta tune in" approach casting "must-see" wrestlers such as the always popular HHH, the always exciting Jeff Hardy, the unpredictable Edge, the (no introduction needed) Undertaker, The outspoken Mr. Kennedy, along with guys The Big Show, Umaga, The Great Khali, and MVP.

Raw's overcrowded approach seemed to work better for them, as they were able to use it to their advantage with everyone chasing a title or each other. The problem is they don't have enough faith in their champ to see him headline a PPV on his own. While CM Punk is popular, he doesn't have the star power like other guys.

Smackdown's luck in the world title picture...well, it kind of went dry. Mr. Kennedy and Umaga both went out to injury. Edge has to sell an injury. The Undertaker is seeking revenge on La Familia, Khali blew his chance at Summerslam, and The Big Show is being "overlooked."

So the WWE answered both of their problems with a concept new to the World Title's. A Championship Scramble. It seems like a great idea. Raw will no doubt have the main event of the night surrounding Punk with big names in an exciting match. Smackdown will put on a great showing with their new stars.

For many, this will be their first time in a world title match. Shelton Benjamin is a guy who could always put on a show but never could do much with his pushes. He has some credibility as he is the current United States champion and has actually beaten HHH before a few years back.

Jeff Hardy is right on the brink of the main event. He's had a bittersweet year as he's been arguably this year's hottest wrestler, but his personal problems have kept him from going to that next level.

MVP had a tremendous year last year and it seemed like he was on the brink this year competing in the elimination chamber and Money In the Bank then after losing to Matt Hardy he was kind of just lost on Smackdown. The WWE appears to be trying to build his momentum back up.

The biggest surprise in this match however is The Brian Kendrick. A man who re-debuted on Smackdown a few weeks ago. Since then he's been in a squashing jobbers with the help of his bodyguard. The WWE seems to have wanted to split him up from Paul London and give him a push for a while, even including a small heel turn just before Wrestlemania.

Now it looks like they were able to do it with the draft. Unlike the other names in the scramble, he has never even made it to the upper-mid card. In fact he's the only guy in the match who has never held a singles title.

So who will win these matches?

The match is advertised as only recognizing the winner of the match as the champion, so if you won it at the 10 minute mark at the end of the match you were never the champion. It's like the winner an Iron Man match you can get the 1st pin fall, but it's only the real winner of the match that counts.

So who do you have as the real winner? We will probably have a big gimmick match from Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho to headline the PPV. Undertaker will probably have a match with someone from La Familia or maybe all of La Familia.

ECW will have a world title match (in all actuality, they could use a scramble, as Henry, The Miz, Morrison, Finlay and Hardy all could use the ppv to gain momentum.)

Kofi seems to be chasing the title he never lost and a diva's or woman's championship match is on every ppv. (Beth vs Mickie has the most momentum). We may even see Team Priceless and Cryme Tyme have a tag title match.

After those matches have gone on, you bring in your title matches. When you have two of the same matches both for titles in order to keep them both exciting you need to pull a swerve.

In other words, if someone retains in the first of the two matches then you lead the viewer to believe that the odds are beatable, so it's predicable and unentertaining to see the second match carry out the same way.

With CM Punk being the new champion, he will benefit greatly from retaining over Kane, Cena, Batista and JBL. Overcoming those odds will give him even more credibility.

It's one thing to beat Kane, Batista, and JBL, but to beat them all at once gives you a big boost. None of the opponents really need this win right now anyway.

Cena will probably benefit more from not being champion right now as fans like him as long as he isn't holding the belt for a year at a time. Batista can be looked at is a similar manner.

This match is a way to prolong a one-on-one rematch between the two as long as possible (if Mania is possible).

Kane looks to have an interesting storyline with Mysterio in the works and doesn't need the belt right now to get over, and JBL is beyond his years for being the centerpiece of a show but he can still be an entertaining antagonist. With nobody really needing the win, there we look at the Smackdown scramble.

HHH, the 12-time World Champion, is in a match with four superstars who altogether have a total of 0 world title reigns.

Needless to say, he doesn't need the belt to get over. So let's look at his title reign so far. He had a full-fledged feud with Orton that they milked dry. Then he had the rematch that the WWE has been wanting to do for years with Cena.

HHH had a halfway feud with Edge that looked like it was a side story to Edge's real story with Undertaker and Vickie, and a match against a fresh opponent The Great Khali.

Let's look at the other opponents he could face to continue his reign. Edge is always an option. However, with Edge there is a few things you have to look at:

In the conclusion of his last match with the Undertaker, Edge was set on fire. The WWE's next video game features an Inferno Match. Unforgiven is also the 10th anniversary of the 1st Inferno match.

It would be a smart business move to have one on a PPV to promote the feature. Undertaker and Edge looks like the only feud that could go that far without looking like a obvious plug.

Edge is also a very big name right now and could be a very big match at Mania. Looking at HHH's Wrestlemania history and the current WWE roster there isn't many people who HHH could have a match with at Mania that's not a rematch. (Big Show at WM2000, Undertaker at X7, HBK at XX, Y2J AT X8, Orton at 24, Cena at 22, Batista at 21, Kane at XV). So it's best the WWE save new someone with momentum for Mania.

For HHH's reign to be exciting, he needs matches now. When Orton comes back from his break, he does have a legit reason to come after HHH. He could easily move to Smackdown, as the new home will give him fresh opponents, not new but opponents he haven't faced in a while. A blow off match with HHH could get exciting for one ppv.

Back to Triple H, The Undertaker is always a feud that can be done but he has some unfinished business right now with La Familia, and a HHH/Taker match should not be a side feud. The Big Show looks to be regaining a bit of momentum after last night's Smackdown and could get a title shot eventually, but right now he's not in the title picture.

So losing this belt to a new guy would give HHH will give him a fresh opponent for now. This match is also so weird that it can appear that HHH got screwed. HHH never has to get pinned to lose this belt. Add in the fact that HHH's desire to be champion is well documented and you have a instant interesting rematch.

Now who is the person to give the belt to? Let's look at the participants:

The Brian Kendrick will get a rub out of just being in this match; all he needs is a good showing an his momentum increases 100 percent. You will have a guy that will be a instant upper mid-carder.

Shelton Benjamin is the current United States champion; that belt did wonders for MVP. A good showing for Benjamin and even a possible pinfall mid-match will boost him and give his title reign more momentum.

So that leaves MVP and Jeff Hardy. Of these two you have to look at who is ready for a title reign. MVP reminds me much like Randy Orton of last year. While Orton had already been a world champ before it had been years since so it was a rebuild of sorts.

For much of 2007 Orton had been in many matches involving world title's or world title shots, being one of the Final Four of the Rumble, Money In the Bank, a Fatal 4 Way at Backlash, A 5 way at Night of Champions. Orton was so close to his eventual title reign for much of that year.

MVP is much like that this year with his Elimination Chamber Matches and MITB matches and now this match. He's getting the big match experience needed to be a world champion, just not right now.

So that leaves us with Jeff Hardy. He's the most credible from an experience standpoint . He's held the most gold of any competitor in this match besides the champ. He's had plethora of big matches within the last year with names like HBK, Y2J and Orton. Plus he's beaten the champ before at last years Armageddon.

Hardy is the one guy in this match fans won't be disappointed to see win. In fact, the crowd would erupt. He's extremely over with the crowd, and is known enough by casual watchers to bring in viewers.

A feud with HHH will do him wonders in the future. HHH is allowed to win the belt back from Hardy after a feud to bring in other matches like HHH/Taker, HHH/Edge or HHH/Big Show.

Jeff Hardy getting the belt even for a month or two will give him credibility to win it again in a bigger match. Winning it right now people, will look at it like "yeah, but he was in a match with nobodies," but being the champ makes you credible regardless.

What a Hardy/HHH feud will give him the most is big match training with one of the best in this industry. Love HHH or hate him you cannot deny his resume of big matches as a ring general.

He puts on matches that will be remembered and talked about for a very long time and he's been in the main event for a decade. He can prep Hardy now for big matches later by having big matches now.

So Hardy is the best logical choice to win the Scramble.