In 2011 I said that the WWE should never go back to Buffalo, NY for anything more than house shows. I said this because the Night of Champions PPV event, hosted in this festering city of 260,000, had a crowd with about as much life in it as the World Bodybuilding Federation. This has been a trend in Buffalo for a while now; live crowds that give little to no reaction to any segment or match.

Tonight during the 3/4/2013 RAW the Rock came out to one of his most muted receptions in recent memory. John Cena was booed slightly, but was met with another muted response. Their combined promo, which was better than you'd think based on said crowd reaction, was met with disinterest and quiet. Past legends such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, The New Age Outlaws, and the Honky Tonk man did not elicit any reaction whatsoever. Triple H was met with silence. Whether you are a fan of the aforementioned wrestlers or not is irrelevant. For them to be met with no enthusiam, whether boo's or cheers, was not the proper response.

Let's analyze why Buffalo is a cesspool for professional wrestling. It's not due to it's geographic location. Toronto, just minutes away, is one of the best WWE cities. New York City, in the same state, is another excellent wrestling city. It's not due to the city's small size. Cities with populations under 500,000 such as Green Bay, Tulsa, and Pittsburgh have always been known to give good reactions. To understand why the atmosphere at Buffalo WWE events is so bleak you need to have a knowledge of Buffalo itself. Buffalo is a dying city. It's population has declined every decade since 1950 due to steel and other heavy industry getting exported out. This has lead to a poor local economy and high crime. Drive around Buffalo and you will see innumerable destered shopping plazas with boarded up stores. Drive a little more and you will find yourself in unending high crime areas. Buffalo is a dying city and the crowd reflects it's city.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; WWE: stay away from Buffalo for RAW and PPV's. House shows are fine, and SmackDown is fine as they can edit in crowd noise. The bottomline is Buffalo is a dying city and the crowd reflects it's city.

Alas Children of Ilúvatar, it is I, Bard Repo Brad, with Royal Rumble predictions for the year two thousand and thirteen.

The general consensus seems to be that of John Felix Anthony Cena winning the greatest of all rumbles. Cena is a good, if not surprising pick as the odds are in his favor to prevail over the 29 other entrants. Cena winning the rumble doesn't make sense from the stand point that we all know he is going to have a rematch with the Rock at WrestleMania 29. The Rock will likely be the WWE Champion for this match. Does Cena really need to win the Rumble in order to have the right to challenge Rocky? Of course not as he is a shoe-in for the match whether he wins the Rumble or not. Henceforth and therefore, I think it would be a waste to have Cena win.

For my official prediction I will go in a different direction and pick Randy Orton to prevail. Rumors say he is in line for a heel turn. Alberto Del Rio is in the midst of a face turn, and he also so happens to be the World Heavyweight Champion. Put that together and it makes sense for Orton to use his Rumble victory to challenge Del Rio for the title at WM 29. Orton would help Del Rio get over as a face and could provide a good feud leading up to the big show. Can you imagine the sadistic acts performed on Ricardo Rodriguez? Ohh my!

There aren't many solid candidates to chose from for this year's rumble. Sheamus seems to have slipped a bit and isn't in a title contending situation. Dolph Ziggler would be a solid choice if not for his MiTB briefcase. Ryback was a good choice a month ago, but he has since fallen out of the title picture.

But let's be honest here, a Damien Sandow or Santino Marella victory would be the icing on the proverbial cake. Sigh... If only that dream came true I could finally retire in happiness to Aglarond as Lord of the Glittering Caves.

Results, Reaction, Review, and Recap for the 20th Anniversary of WWE RAW, episode #1,024.

WrestlingNerds.com provides the fastest and most entertaining Live RAW updates on the internet.



Result: Mr. McMahon kicked off the 20th anniversary soon joined by the Big Show and Alberto Del Rio. The promo soom delved into a fight which Del Rio came out on top of.

Reaction: This promo was so blatantly and obviously trying to get Del Rio over as a face it bordered on being cheesy. I understand they are turning ADR from heel to face and thus need to get him over, however if this promo could be compared to a food it would be cheetos. Del Rio was a bit over the top and his tactics seemed juvenile. Calling the Big Show a "Jack Ass" as some sort of big reveal? Ugh.



Result: Wade Barrett defeated Randy Orton with a Bullhammer Elbow.

Reaction: It seems like we've seen this match thousands of times, however I am willing to accept this one as the result is just. Barrett winning cleanly should be the result as he is the Intercontential Champion, however we've seen all too often Orton winning when he shouldn't.



Result: An anger managment session was held with Dr. Shelby, Daniel Bryan, and Kane, later joined by Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes. Rhodes Scholars eventually caused Dr. Shelby to go into a fit of rage which sparked a brawl.

Reaction: I like the anger management sessions with Team Hell No because they haven't been overdone. They are comedic to both adults and kids.



Result: Damien Sandow lost to Kane in about two minutes via Choke Slam.

Reaction: Sandow, for being the best wrestler on the roster at this moment, is losing far too often of late. Poor booking.



Result: Mick Foley was introduced as the first member of this year's hall of fame class only to be surrounded by the Shield. Ryback, Orton, and Sheamus made the save and sent the Shield off.

Reaction: My prediction: Since Sheamus, Orton, and Ryback are all out of the title picture for the time being they will challenge the Shield to a 3 v. 3 match at WrestleMania. The Shield will lose, and their fate will ultimately be like that of the Nexus; a great faction beaten and disbanded far too soon.



Result: Kaitlyn pinned Eve for the Diva's Championship.




Result: CM Punk forced Brodus Clay to submit to the Anaconda Vice in a sub four minute match. Punk cut a short promo at the end.

Reaction: It would have been nice to see the supposed monster last more than 4 minutes.



Result: 3MB beat Sheamus in a handicap over-the-top-rope challenge. Sheamus then Brogue Kicked all three members when celebrating after the match.

Reaction: Nice win for 3MB, however you knew Sheamus wouldn't go out quietly.



Result: MizTV featured Ric Flair only to get interupted by Antonio Cesaro. Cesaro proceeded to get beat down and figure four locked.



Result: Daniel Bryan scored a tap out victory over Cody Rhodes using the Yes! Lock.

Reaction: So Rhodes Scholars get buried in a combined 3 minutes...........



Result: John Cena defeated Dolph Ziggler in a cage match after an Attitude Adjustment for the pin and the win.

Reaction: Cena beat Ziggler after kicking out of a finisher? Shocking! 



Result: The Rock concert included Rock signing and insulting the usuals on the WWE roster. It culminated in Punk coming to ringside and brawling with the Rock while referees tried to seperate them.

Reaction: Rock introduced Dusty Hill from ZZ Top. I've interacted with Dusty in the past, he isn't very personable. Rock was also self-deprecating with his "Escaped mental patient getting ready to audition for the Backstreet Boys" comment in regards to his Rocky Maivia character's look.


Overall: The 20th anniversary of RAW was a disappointment. It wasn't a bad show, but for a  milestone show it was. There was no Undertaker, Stone Cold, or Shawn Michaels. I assume WWE banked on the Rock's concert to get ratings, however many casual viewers tune in to see legends of the past (which is why those shows always get higher ratings) but WWE didn't follow through.

Results, Reaction, Review, and Recap for WWE RAW episode #1,023.

WrestlingNerds.com provides the fastest and most entertaining Live RAW updates on the internet.



Result: John Cena kicked off the show with a promo on all things WWE. Dolph Ziggler, AJ Lee, and Big E Langston interrupted. Cena challenged Ziggler to a match and Big E accepted on his behalf.

Reaction: Waves, weiners, Andrew Dice Clay, and Big E Langston finally talking. I like how Big E draws out his words when he speaks. Good opening segment. 



Result: John Cena defeated Dolph Ziggler with an Attitude Adjustment in an action packed 17 minutes.

Reaction: Excellent match and a great way to start 2013. Ziggler hits his old finisher, his new finisher, Big E Langston hit his finisher, and Cena kicks out each time. Yet Cena hits one AA and Ziggler is finished? That just doesn't seem right, especially if Ziggler is getting built up to the main event level. I'm not saying Ziggler should have won clean, but Cena kicking out of three finishers and Ziggler losing to one doesn't seem right.



Result: Kaitlyn was victorious over Eve due to a count-out. Eve retained her Diva's title.



Result: The Lord of Literacy and Cody Rhodes beat Team Hell No after Cody pinned  Daniel Bryan.

Reaction: I like both Team Hell No and the Rhodes Scholars, however they have had what seems like hundreds of matches in the last few months. I was glad to see Rhodes Scholars win clean here as they have looked weak of late. The beacon of light in a harbor of iniquity, Damien Sandow, is probably by current favorite wrestler.




Result: Randy Orton RKO'ed all three members of 3MB for the win.

Reaction: 3MB deserves better. They are the best trio in years. I am also now pretty sure that Orton will win the Royal Rumble.

 

Result: Wade Barrett vanquished the indomitable Santino Marella with a bullhammer elbow.

Reaction: Barrett is the king of unimpressive finishers. A fireman's carry and now an elbow strike? Yawwwwwn. Barrett should be on the mic more and in the ring less.



Result: Antonio Cesaro finished Great Khali with the neutralizer.

Reaction:  This may sound trivial, but I believe it to be true, Cesaro's noticeable male pattern baldness will hold him back from ascending any further in WWE than he is now. He is 32 years old but looks like he is nearing 50.



Result: Sheamus Brogue kicked every member of 3MB for the victory.

Reaction: An obvious ending. Meh.




Result: CM Punk retained his WWE Championship over Ryback in a near 20 minute TLC match.

Reaction: Ryback was once again protected due to the Shield's involvement. A good TLC match, not a classic, but some big bumps were taken. The outcome was never in doubt as Punk v. The Rock is the only sensible match-up for the Royal Rumble.



Result: Big Show knocked out Kofi Kingston in less than 30 seconds.

Reaction: My source within WWE texted me that the reason for the short match was due to time constraints. The TLC match went approximatly 5 minutes too long, hence WWE needed to rush this match to get back the lost time.



Result: CM Punk delivered his self-described pipe bomb promo. The Rock rebutted with his usual jargon. Rock eventually stood tall in the ring after nailing Punk with a Rock Bottom.

Reaction: Punk's suppose pipe bomb wasn't really a pipe bomb, but more of a bottle rocket. He talked a lot, but didn't say much. He hit on some 'shoot' issues such as the glass ceiling in WWE, Brodus Clay and Daniel Bryan's goofy gimmicks, and Little Jimmy being favored over Tyson Kidd. However he mixed in cheap audience hating heat that took away from the 'shoot' aspects. Punk was then cut off by a commercial break. After the break he was still in-ring saying a lot about nothing. I wouldn't be so down on the promo if not for it being advertisted as a pipe bomb. As a promo it was good, as a pipe bomb it as delusive.

In my opinion Punk was even more harsh on the fans than usual as the WWE is worried about the Rock's reception. On the road to WrestleMania 28 the Rock was on the receiving end of enormous pops at first, but that soon fizzled out to the Rock getting boo'ed in Boston and getting somewhat muted receptions elsewhere. Punk lit into the fans so they'd be sure to get behind the Rock's promo.

After the Rock cut his usual schtick he and Punk had and extraordinary back-and-forth that culminated in Punk receiving a Rock Bottom. I was under the impression, subconscious though it may be, that they seemed intimidate by each other to some degree. Excellent promo overall, and it looks as though Punk's time will be up. Unless the Shield gets involved. Remember I said that.

P.S., Since I'm sure people will be googling it, STRAIGHT EDGE SCROTUM! COOKIE PUSS! #googlehits

In the opening segment, Jeremy Borash announced the five nominees for "2012 Wrestler of the Year" as being Bully Ray, James Storm, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries, and Jeff Hardy. More attentive viewers may notice that whenever a cheap trophy is in the ring, it is a matter of minutes before it's found smashed over somebody's head. Roode and Aries argue down the aisle, fully expecting themselves to be the recipient. Oh-ho! Imagine their surprise (and mine!) when Jeff Hardy is declared winner of this admirable plastic award (decided by the fans via internet polling, it was a real coupe the only good guy was the victor).

Jeff "The Charismatic Enigma" Hardy gave a promo that would've gotten him swept off stage by a comically-large broom had he delivered it Amateur Night at the Apollo. The gist was holding up his belt, declaring himself champion, declaring the fans to be of the utmost importance to him, and booking himself in a match against both Roode and Aries at Genesis.

James Storm beats Kaz - I enjoyed the bait-and switch beginning, Chris Daniels took his shirt off on the way to the ring, ascended the apron, and Kaz hit Storm from behind (for it was he that had the match). I like Storm, but isn't he a bit too massive to be doing double-knee facebreakers?

Meanwhile, backstage, D-Von Dudley tries to convince Mr. Anderson to join Aces and Eights. The beer bottle being fondled between Anderson's legs by a duo of blondes was incredibly subtle. Did anyone else see that? What did it symbolize? I never quite noticed until now how much D-Von looks like a crazy person and how at ease he is talking like one. In stark contrast, Doc (Luke Gallows) belongs on the student film circuit.

Doc comes to the ring and it becomes evident that Aces and Eights have the only decent music in the entire locker room. Doc begins by calling out tired cliche #54: "Stinger, come out, come out, wherever you are!" Sting does not surface, but a bat falls from the ceiling. This psychological cat and mouse takes a real toll on Doc. I thought he got a raw deal being let go from WWE, and maybe he did, maybe there was nothing he could do with this writing, but this was lost poorly in its own thoughts.

Christian York beat Kid Kash for a spot in the X-Division tournament. They set it up like Kash was going to win by a pre-match segment of him talking to Kenny King. Nice swerve. Kash took a pretty decent bump. Isn't he a bit old to be called Kid? I don't see why he wouldn't want to be known as Man Kash...

Chavo and Hernandez cut a promo and Hernandez is great. What Chavo says is a little derivative, but he delivers.

Hernandez beats Joey Ryan via DQ. Matt Morgan claimed injury, sent the impressively dapper Joey Ryan to the ring to fight for him, then took off his cast and attacked Hernandez with a discus clothesline. This move may seem excessive, but considering he was selling just how not-injured his arm actually was, it was a real nice touch.

Hogan family histrionics with Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan. Hulk lectures Bully on the "bro-code." It is apparently not brodacious to date your general manager's much younger daughter without telling him, very unbrofessional. Years ago, he would have reduced Bully Ray to brotoplasm, but today, as General Manager, he suspends him as well as Brooke.

Hulk was serviceable here. Brooke filled her role. Bully Ray was superlative. He's hands down the best thing TNA has got going right now.

A follow-up on Joseph Park (Abyss's brother who looks suspiciously like him) at OVW. It appears that after rigorous training, Joey Park is ready to wrestle. I love the character, love the segments, love the Abyss connections and think it could take things to a great new level.

Mickie James and Miss Tessmacher beat Gail Kim and Tara - why is Tessmacher not the female face of the company?

Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe beat Aces and Eights... ready? ...in a steel cage! A good cage match, Angle promised to unmask one of the Aces and 8s members (being it was D-Von and a masked man, we should hope it would not be D-Von). They won. Aces and Eights stormed the ring, Sting trotted into the frame, hit some of them with a bat, this was a very underwhelming return. The masked opponent turned out to be Mike Knox.

Say what you will about Mike Knox, when he gave his educational promos about the human body on Smackdown, they made me a believer. I don't quite understand why it is important that Aces and Eights wear masks, perhaps unmasking them is TNA's version of a chocolate advent calendar leading to Genesis.

To sum up this experience, the second hour was leaps and bounds better than the first. Two hours of TNA is the same length as WWE's three hour RAW. The people they have that can talk really can talk, but a lot of the performers need to take at least improv classes. There are too many wrestlers and not enough characters.

Did you know that paint watches TNA dry?

I can only watch TNA a few times a year now as that is how often I hear fans say it "got better." I have yet to find this to be the case. What TNA does provide is good wrestling matches, but what it fails to provide is reason to care about these matches.

Where do I start?

The notion that "wrestling matters" is absurd when confronted with the question "why does wrestling matter?" Does a chase scene alone make the action movie a success? The 1971 crime thriller The French Connection was famous for it's car chase, but try watching that sequence isolated from the rest of the film. Is it a race against time? What is at stake? Who are these folk and why should I care?

A wrestling match only matters as much as its characters and their pursuits, and I'm afraid to say that overall TNA does not provide enough compelling drama for their characters to matter. This minimizes the impact (not a pun, this isn't that kind of blog) of whatever a wrestler is trying to achieve, which usually does not seem too important.

The late great director Alfred Hitchcock once said that if it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on. The sound could go off in TNA and the audience would have a better story of what was going on.

On this episode I witnessed:
-AJ Styles coming to the the ring and hinting retirement before declaring that he's now "looking out for number one."
-Bobby Roode angry that Aces & Eights didn't uphold their end of the bargain of making certain he would regain the TNA championship. Aces & Eights replied that he was out-bid by someone else. It was later revealed to be Austin Aries.
-Hulk Hogan acting mad at Aries and Roode about this turn of events.
-Austin Aries delivering a monologue about no honor amongst thieves.

...and a whole mess of platitudes and trite expressions. It feels entirely adolescent. Is "I believe in myself!!" a tagline yet? Or "I'm a good friend to have, but you don't wanna be my enemy!"? There's little the wrestlers say that you can't hear from anyone else anywhere else in the world.

What I did enjoy was this:
-The quality of the wrestling. It's good.
-Joseph Park training at Ohio Valley Wrestling. This was the only segment that didn't itself as seriously as a smug internet wrestling columnist...
-Bully Ray and Hulk Hogan talking about... Bully Ray's romantic involvement with Hulk Hogan's much younger daughter?! If Brooke Hogan has a place in TNA, it is most definitely as the jailbait girlfriend of the ever frustrated and infinitely older Bully Ray. It's seedy, the stuff of Jim Thompson novellas. It's the main reason I'll most likely watch the next episode.
-The production value. It's at the level it needs to be, it's good enough to not be a distraction, but not too good where it makes the set seem more elaborate than the stories (which, by the way, need to catch up). The music, though, is Toccata and Fugue minus Toccata.
-The editing and camera work. The reality style can be hit or miss, but has ultimately been a success. The vehicle is fine, they just need to take the content in different directions.

The roster is a tricky situation. They have a lot of great wrestlers who do good in WWE with the proper packaging. A Jersey Shore themed tag-team isn't valued as highly as one Zack Ryder gimmick. An entire locker room of men with dark hair wearing black tights and acting like "real people" is not my cut of pea. While WWE may have "the Viper" or "the Animal," TNA has "the Cowboy" and the "Charismatic Enigma." Please, TNA, make these people fun to watch.

The women get more time in the ring, but this might be damaging. The overall show is rather mild, but the women have trashy introductions (pointing to various body parts on their march down the aisle). Families could technically watch the entirety of the show, but the Knockout's intros make it seem like things may get rather scandalous (they don't). For all the talk of controversy, I never have seen anything to it on TNA. Fro this I can only deduce that they still do not know who their audience is.

My final verdict is that TNA has a lot of good qualities and a few entertaining moments, but has yet to ever "get better" in my years of giving it chances. I do not dislike the product, but I do not feel particularly seduced by what they present. It really would only take a few major changes (such as motivated characters, storylines that went roster deep, and promos that don't sound like a high schooler's hamfisted fantasy speech) to gain my weekly eye. Also, if they're going to do such blatant product placement for 5-Hour Energy, I want to see someone take a sip and storm the ring in unspeakable rage.

Results, Reaction, Review, and Recap for the 12/18/2012 Commercial Free WWE Super SmackDown.

WrestlingNerds.com provides the fastest and most entertaining Live SmackDown updates on the internet.



Result:  The show kicked off with a MizTV segment featuring Dolph Ziggler, AJ Lee, and Big E Langston. The Miz mocked his three guests until Ziggler unleashed Langston resulting in Miz getting beat down.

Reaction: A good way to start off SmackDown. It solidifed what appears to be a stable with Big E, Dolph, and AJ, and ended with a Miz drubbing which is always good.



Result: Damien Sandow was victorious over Sin Cara after ringside distraction from The Shield. After Sandow pinned Sin Cara the Shield entered the ring and delivered a beating to the Luchador.

Reaction: I like how the Shield attacks seemingly at random, and how they haven't really been surmounted by anyone in WWE thus far. Unstoppable dominance in professional wrestling goes a long way in terms of building storylines and crowd investment.



Result: Santino Marella defeated Tensai via pinfall in a 5 minute match.

Reaction: A nice win for Santino and finally a decent amount of ring time given to him. It's sad to see Tensai fall so far, however Santino is one of the most talented wrestlers in recent memory so I have no complaints. I could see Santino becoming Tensai's mentor of sorts. They have been paired together multiple times recently and Tensai isn't going anywhere, so why not make them into a tag team?



Result: Kofi Kingston and Team Hell No beat Wade Barrett and the Prime Time Players after a Kane chokeslam to Darren Young.

Reaction: I've noticed that whenever the Prime Time Players lose it is almost always Young getting pinned. Titus O'neill is going to be a star in the future.



Result: CM Punk and Paul Heyman cut a promo in-ring degrading any and everything, which prompted Ryback to come out and challenge Punk for a title match at the first RAW of the new year. 

Reaction: Ryback didn't say anything other than a challenge to Punk and conducting a "Feed Me More" chant. The rise to stardom comes through good promos.



Result: Ryback beat Antonio Cesaro with a Shellshock.

Reaction: I don't know why Cesaro is being fed to Ryback. The former Claudio Castagnoli has been a decent U.S. champion, though he is still not over with the crowd. Having him lose clean, even to Ryback, doesn't make sense to me especially if WWE has plans to build him into something bigger and better down the road.



Result: Eve and Kaitlyn had a match, but I missed the ending as I was taking a dump.



Result: Brodus Clay pinned Brad Maddox after a big splash. The Shield then stormed  the ring, mauled Brodus, and finished him with a triple powerbomb.

Reaction: I'm enjoying the Shield running over everyone. They can't keep doing this week after week, however. There needs to be some sort of goal for them to accomplish other than 'justice'. Speaking of Justice... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K55SWywvXS0



Result: Sheamus and John Cena were victorious over Dolph Ziggler and the Big Show due to a disqualification as Big E Langston once again interfered on Ziggler's behalf.

Reaction: Essentially the same ending as on last night's RAW. It will be interesting to see where this progresses, especially with Ziggler's MiTB briefcase now being almost secondary to his feud with Cena. I just hope Big E doesn't get squashed by Cena. Nothing hurts a potential rising star more than getting pushed too fast and losing a big match.