Thursday, April 2, 2015

Twitter Request Line, Vol. 114

Are moments like these too special for the rest of the year?
Photo Credit: WWE.com
It's Twitter Request Line time, everyone! I take to Twitter to get questions about issues in wrestling, past and present, and answer them on here because 140 characters can't restrain me, fool! If you don't know already, follow me @tholzerman, and wait for the call on Wednesday to ask your questions. Hash-tag your questions #TweetBag, and look for the bag to drop Thursday afternoon (most of the time). Without further ado, here are your questions and my answers!

I don't know if a wrestling event can be too special, to be honest. The question, if I'm reading it right, posits that the Mania/RAW After combo sets too high a bar for the rest of the year, which given WWE Creative's (read, Vince McMahon's) feeble capacity to do good things more than one week out of the month is a valid concern. But WrestleMania being the best show of the year is a phenomenon that has only been true at the very least three times and at most maybe what, five times out of the history of the event. I would have killed for WrestleMania 2000 or Mania XXV to have been the highlights of their years.

Plainly put, companies should strive to make their biggest event their best event. It would be great if they tried hard to give quality with the other shows of the year, but your crown jewel should shine the brightest, right?

My pick would be the debuts of Adrian Neville and Kalisto. NXT guys being brought up to the main roster is nothing new, but other than Rusev, which ones have gotten a legitimate shot to shine even from their debuts since The Shield made hay at Survivor Series '12? The only one was Paige, and she was sunk by terrible booking after her initial shock win. Adam Rose got stuck with Jack Swagger and within a month was floundering. Emma had signs in the crowd and then no one knew what to do with her so she was stuck with Santino Marella. The Ascension from jump had everyone in the booth yelling about how they weren't as good as the Road Warriors.

But Neville came out and cut off Curtis Axel, who's a dude who gets reactions for spotlight segmetns, and Kalisto got a shitload of shine in an eight-man tag that was ostensibly all about him. I don't wanna get too over the moon over their chances here, but it's arguable that they've gotten the best initial push of anyone from NXT except Paige. It'll be interesting to see how they progress and if their inclusion on the roster will mean better development for the midcard and the tag division.

Well, hopefully, he's rehabbing that ankle if it's as sprained as reported. He toughed out the match against Undertaker, but the most telling thing was that he was not on RAW or, as far as I know, the Smackdown tapings. Frankly, leaving him off TV for a little bit might be good for him since the booking has done him no favors since Elimination Chamber last year. While recursion usually isn't a good idea, I would have him come back and summon Luke Harper and Erick Rowan back to his side. The Wyatt Family left a lot of trail unexplored as a group. Then, I would book him the way he was always meant to be booked, as a force for change. If you feud with Bray Wyatt, you fundamentally are altered as a person, for better or worse. Having people feud with him like he's post-Legend Killer Randy Orton or any other [regular WWE guy] is asinine. Wyatt is a transformative character, and he should be treated as such.

If Brock Lesnar got mad on Monday, then no one in that arena would be alive right now. Brock Lesnar is completely in control of his emotions, and that's the scary part.

My knee-jerk answer is Charlotte, but I'm still not convinced that the main roster women's scene is "fixed" yet. Let me see two or three months of long matches, story development that isn't "ugh, bitches, amirite?" and announcing that doesn't say asinine things like "Women naturally hate each other," and I'll be excited for her and Sasha Banks to ascend, no matter how many reports say Vince McMahon is high on them.

My real answers right now are Enzo Amore and Big Cass. Sure, they haven't won titles in NXT, but they've been chewing scenery and developing this act that needs to be tested on a bigger stage. I'm not sure they can get the same response in 15K+ capacity arenas as they do at Full Sail, but the only way to find out is to try. Their upside is through the roof; Amore can be the next big charisma generator. While Big Cass isn't exactly polished in the ring, I'm not sure anyone in NXT outside of Kevin Owens is going to help him get better at what he needs to get better at. Meanwhile, the main roster has a bunch of hosses who could season him up, from Mark Henry up to Cesaro, ESPECIALLY Cesaro.

This was addressed somewhat on Twitter, but I'm not sure it's the complete answer. Sure, some guys debut on live RAW while they have NXT episodes in the can, but while it's not completely common for guys to exist on both planes regularly, it's also not uncommon to see wrestlers make spot trips down. The most famous example of a dual citizen is Cesaro, who was a part of the Real Americans on the main roster while continuing his NXT feud with Sami Zayn. Others like Big E and Rusev have made "special appearances" back at their old stomping grounds. Even main roster wrestlers have done the thing for various stints. Dolph Ziggler, Rob van Dam, and Santino Marella have all done the "special appearance" thing, while Tyson Kidd and Curtis Axel have made residency down there after getting looks on the main roster.

Basically, the main roster and NXT are different brands, but they have a lot of fluid movement between the two. It's all in the perks of being owned by the same corporate umbrella, I suppose.

I am just throwing shit against the wall here, but here goes:
Rematch of the Century: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, Steel Cage match
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
United States Championship Match: John Cena (c) vs. Big E
Intercontinental Championship Match: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Adrian Neville
Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Cesaro vs. Ryback
Tag Team Championship Match: J and J Security (c) vs. the Usos vs. Lucha Dragons vs. the Ascension
Divas Championship Match: Paige (c) vs. Charlotte

Watch the card not look a damn thing like that now.
I've never had Cherry Garcia, so Phish Food by default. But the real answer is Late Night Snack.

Mr. America was, you guessed it, Frank Stallone.
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