WWE News: Reviews, Analysis and Rumors for Week of March 18
Excitement is mounting as the biggest event in wrestling, WrestleMania, is now nearly a week away. The WWE is starting to tie up the loose ends in terms of the build toward Mania, and there is certainly no shortage of events and news to talk about.
All the matches are set with the exception of a few moving parts, but there is still plenty of hyping left to do. All of the main feuds progressed on RAW and SmackDown this past week, while the undercard continued to take shape as well.
In addition to all of that, the WWE Universe is abuzz after a vignette hyping the debut of a new superstar. Also, a current WWE superstar suffered a serious injury and another entrant into next Saturday's WWE Hall of Fame class was announced.
This is most definitely the most exciting time of the year on the WWE calendar, and things will only get crazier in the coming week. Here are all the biggest news pieces and rumors emanating from the WWE over the past week.
Vignette Airs Touting Debut of Lord Tensai
1 of 5A mysterious promo aired on RAW Monday night, and it sent wrestling fans across the globe scrambling to find information on Lord Tensai. It didn't take long for the new superstar's identity to leak on the Internet. According to Richard Gray of Wrestling News World, Lord Tensai will be portrayed by Matt Bloom, who was previously in WWE as Albert, or A-Train.
There hasn't yet been any indication as to when Lord Tensai might debut, but the Asian connection is interesting since Bloom spent six years wrestling in Japan as Giant Bernard after departing the WWE. This character figures to be a major departure from the one in his previous tenure.
My Take
This one sort of came out of left field, but I can honestly say that I'm excited about it. I was never a big Albert fan during the Attitude Era, but I never hated him either, so I'm not as upset as some that he is returning. What people need to understand, though, is that even if you didn't like Albert, Lord Tensai is a completely different guy. While the person playing the character is the same, the gimmick promises to be completely different, so he might be quite entertaining.
Almost every wrestling fan likes Kane, but very few liked Isaac Yankem. Both characters are or were played by Glen Jacobs, but the Kane character is far more compelling. I'm expecting something similar with Lord Tensai. I'm not saying that I think Lord Tensai will be a main-event talent, but few ever thought that the guy playing Isaac Yankem would be a world champion, so you never know what might happen.
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Evan Bourne Suffers Serious Foot Injury
2 of 5Just when Evan Bourne had finishing serving his suspension for violating the WWE's wellness policy, he was dealt a major blow as it has been revealed that he suffered a serious injury. According to ProWrestling.net, Bourne broke his foot in four places and dislocated it in five after being involved in an accident.
Bourne also posted photos of the injury on his Twitter page, but be warned that they are pretty gruesome looking. Bourne didn't divulge exactly what type of accident he was in, but we can assume it was automobile-related.We can also assume that this is a major setback in his comeback attempt.
My Take
I'll be the first to say that I'm not a big fan of Bourne's and that I felt like he should have been released following his second wellness violation, but I really hate to see something like this happen to anyone. Bourne likely had high hopes of getting back on the road, but this certainly puts a damper on things. As much as I may not enjoy his character, I understand that Bourne has value as a high flyer and would have added depth to the roster.
Also, Bourne is a popular competitor who gets a good crowd reaction as a feisty underdog, so the creative team is probably a bit bummed by this news as well. We can only hope that Bourne will continue to work hard to rehab his foot and get back into wrestling condition. If he does that, then there is a chance he could be in a WWE ring again one day, but this injury could put him in the danger zone in terms of getting released.
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Team Teddy and Team Johnny Each Add Two New Members for WrestleMania Match
3 of 5In what looks to be the most high-profile undercard match of WrestleMania, a team led by John Laurinaitis will take on a team led by Teddy Long in a 12-man tag match, with the winning team earning their general manager the opportunity to run both RAW and SmackDown. Both teams added two new members this week, meaning each has just one spot remaining.
Team Johnny added a pair of former world champions in Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger on RAW, while Team Teddy accepted the strange duo of Zack Ryder and Great Khali on SmackDown. It remains to be seen whether the other two slots will be filled next week or if they will be left as a surprise until WrestleMania, but this match is certainly taking shape.
My Take
While this may not be ground-breaking news, the majority of the additions to this match were good ones. Ziggler and Swagger were obvious choices for Team Johnny, as they have been allies of sorts with Laurinaitis for quite some time and were two of the top superstars not yet on the card. As for Team Teddy, Great Khali is a lame selection, although the company clearly likes to involve him in order to draw in the Indian audience.
Putting Ryder on Long's team makes perfect sense, as he is still one of the most over guys in the company and will really get the crowd behind the team. Team Teddy is being made to look like a group of weirdos with no chance of winning, so I could see them pulling off the upset, but I still like Team Johnny to win at WrestleMania. My prediction is that The Miz will join Team Teddy and ultimately turn on them by helping Team Johnny win the match. Either way, this is a match to look forward to.
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Yokozuna Announced as Newest Entrant into WWE Hall of Fame
4 of 5This year's WWE Hall of Fame class is already a star-studded one, but a literal huge addition was made this week as it was announced that Yokozuna would be inducted. Yokozuna, who passed away in 2000, was the heaviest WWE champion of all time, as he was billed at close to 600 pounds at one point. He held that title twice, as well as the Tag Team championships twice with Owen Hart.
Yokozuna will join the likes of Edge, Mil Mascaras, Ron Simmons, Mike Tyson and the Four Horsemen. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on the Saturday night before WrestleMania and, although it won't be televised live, a shortened version will air on USA Network the following Monday before RAW.
My Take
People can say whatever they want about Yokozuna not being a deserving inductee, but there is no question in my mind that Yokozuna should be in the Hall of Fame. I'm not saying that he's at the level of Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart or Steve Austin, but when you consider that Koko B. Ware and Drew Carey are in, it's tough to leave Yokozuna out. Not only is he a two-time WWE champion, but he was an incredibly impressive athlete for his size.
Few men of that size could execute crescent kicks or go off the ropes, but Yokozuna did it all. He also main-evented both WrestleMania IX and WrestleMania X. When he lost the title to Hart at WrestleMania X, it ended a 280-day reign, making him one of the longest-reigning heels of all time. Yokozuna was only with the company from 1993 until 1998, but he held plenty of gold and made a long-lasting impact on the wrestling business.
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John Cena vs. The Rock Documentary to Air Prior to Monday's RAW
5 of 5If the year-long build doesn't already have you pumped about the encounter between The Rock and John Cena at WrestleMania, then perhaps the hour-long documentary about their rivalry will. Once in a Lifetime: Rock vs. Cena is being advertised for Monday, and it will air at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network before RAW.
It looks as if the documentary will look at Rock and Cena's respective paths to the top, as well as how their feud came to be. It will also air on several other NBC-owned networks in the week leading up to WrestleMania. Rock vs. Cena is already being touted as the biggest match of all time, and this documentary will fuel the fire even more.
My Take
The "cool guy" response is probably to brush this news off and complain for no reason, but I, for one, am excited about this documentary. Anything that the WWE can do to make this match and WrestleMania as a whole feel more important is a plus, and this documentary promises to do that. I'm very interested to see the progression of both The Rock and Cena and how it is related to the WrestleMania match itself.
I'm all for getting as much wrestling-related content as possible, so I applaud the company for putting this on before RAW. Not only will all the hardcore fans tune in, but many of the fringe fans will likely watch as well, and then stick around for RAW. Unless the documentary really bombs, there is nothing bad that can come of it, but the WWE does such a great job with video packages and DVDs that I expect it to be excellent.
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Rock/Cena Doc to Air on USA via Wrestle Zone
WWE Airs Documentary on 11 Networks via TV by the Numbers
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