I'm Probably Gonna Get Sued For This

I'm Probably Gonna Get Sued For This

As you all know, I am a wrestling fan. While it isn't as well known these days as it was way back in my youth, I still keep myself relatively up to date with the goings on of the WWE and to a lesser extent TNA. Now, I'm not the guy that is going to go stake myself out in the floor lounge to watch every week, but if I see it on, I'll probably check it out until I either get bored or find it way too ridiculous. That is why I came up with this, taking the current WWE roster, I am going to go over a series of storylines that could be used on television if they were smart. The only change to the current roster is that I am going to re-hire Cryme Tyme...not just because they were funny but because they would work the part I need, I also am going to re-hire Teddy Hart. So, without further ado...

First things first, trade Snitsky to Smackdown for MVP, Hardcore Holly/Jim Duggan to Smackdown for Chris Masters and Kenny Dykstra and Santino Marelli/Super Crazy to ECW for CM Punk/Elijah Burke. From there begin a feud with the returning Cryme Tyme with Cade and Murdoch. Have Cryme Tyme return as a team of thugs instead of the fun guys they used to be, sell it on the way they were fired as a means to get over. Wait a couple weeks and give them the belts after they destroy the tag team ranks of Raw and go on to start trying to recruit Superstars such as Elijah Burke, MVP and Shelton Benjamin. Have Burke and MVP join up but delay Shelton for a couple weeks to set up a will he/won't he situation and end it with Benjamin turning on Haas to start a feud there. While this is going on, keep up the Shawn Michaels feud with Orton, maybe even giving Michaels a small run there going in to Survivor Series. During a promo for Michaels, have Harry Smith cut in talking about his families history, bring up the Montreal Screw Job and say that he wants to bury the hatchet between Michaels and the Hart family at Survivor Series. End Survivor series with the New Hart Foundation debut with Teddy Hart, Nattie Neidhart and TJ Wilson screwing over Michaels and giving Orton the title. From there have Michaels and inevitably HHH feud with the New Hart Foundation to put them over. The following night, have Orton cut a promo where Cryme Tyme, Burke, MVP and Shelton come out to intimidate Orton saying that their boss wants to "meet" with him. Lead this up for a few weeks and reveal the boss to be a returning heel Lashley and set up a Randy Orton/Bobby Lashley feud. Have Orton form a counter-alliance with Charlie Haas, Cody Rodes and Kenny Dykstra as the "New Blood" tag team, Chris Masters and Ken Kennedy. Jeff Hardy can feud with Umaga and Carlito over the IC belt, the tag belts can go between Cryme Tyme, the New Blood, Hart Foundation, Kendrick and London, Cade and Murdoch and anyone else they want to throw in there. Have Lashley beat Orton for the belt and play and Orton sidelined storyline giving Kennedy the chance to challenge and elevate himself. When the time comes, they can do the John Cena return and even have him go heel and side with Lashley or even take over Lashley's crew after a loss to Kennedy for the belt.

Accounting for nearly everyone on the Raw roster, aside from the pending Chris Jericho return, and then also adding a few familiar faces, this is a surefire way to bring back the old faction feel to Raw in a limited fashion as a hope to boost ratings and garner new interest. Sure, it may sound like a re-hash of the Nation of Domination, but it worked and can probably work again. It's not like they haven't reused old storylines and factions before, look at the nWo and DX.

It is only when I finish this that I realize how much of a nerd I am, or how much I should be writing for WWE, or both. See what the Red Sox do to me?

Credit for names, characters, everything to WWE including it's logo. Please don't sue me, I promise I know the product.

The Canadian Crippler

As I'm sure that it does for everyone right now, I really don't know what to think at this point in time when I look at the picture of Chris Benoit. As a fan, I watched as he was a member of the 4 Horseman, when he resisted and fought the nWo, when he had his match with Bret Hart at Kemper as a memorial to Owen Hart (one of my top 10 favorite matches), when he finally won the WCW Championship in their last ditch effort to keep him from leaving the company, when he showed up on RAW with Malenko, Eddie and the rest, his many close calls at winning the WWF/E championship, the Royal Rumble win, and the culmination of everything with his win at Wrestlemania XX and the subsequent title reign. Through the wonders of DVD I've been able to go back and watch his ECW days as well, and through a series of connections with my Mom's company, I also got to meet him my senior year of high school. Chris Benoit was one of the greatest entertainers in the business, and his death has truly saddened me.

After nearly a week, after countless developments in the whole ordeal, and after the complete disacknowledgement of Benoit by the WWE, I still don't know how to respond to any of this. What he did was despicable, it's a real tragedy and inexcuseable on every level. The legacy of Chris Benoit is tarnished irreparably, and barring everything the investigators are saying being wrong, there is no way it can ever be recovered. Over the course of this week I've covered nearly every conceiveable emotion on subject, sadness, anger, disappointment, shame, none of it seems to make sense.

That is where the problem comes in to play, on the one hand, Chris Benoit was a character on a television show. At that, he was portrayed as a bad ass, a tough guy that was one of the best and respected as such. He was a legend and a future Hall of Famer with the WWE, and had just been switched to another roster to work as a player/coach of sorts in an effort to help develop new talent for the next generation. On the other hand, Chris Benoit is now a murderer, a possible roider, and overall just a horrible human being. How do we view him with his two different persons? Are we ok to view him as the great that he was in the ring, despite his overwhelming character flaws and issues that stand to destroy the name he made for himself in his profession? I guess this is kind of similar to OJ Simpsons in the effect of, OJ was great as a football player which was his profession, but lets face it, he did it. So are we supposed to now ignore what he did as a football player in response to what he did off the field? Is it wrong for us to still give credit for what Benoit was as an athlete/entertainer despite what he did outside the ring? Only time will tell how this will all play out. It's about seven months away from when they will begin to announce the class for the 2008 WWE Hall fo Fame, should Benoit be considered?

Think about it.