Thursday, May 18, 2017

Twitter Request Line, Vol. MURDER

Tell me you wouldn't be lit for Ceddy (right) vs. Cena
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:

Basically, it's me replying to shitposting from Twitter with shitposting on Blogger. Quite a fine system of content generation if I do say so myself!

Cedric Alexander is the jerk reaction. He's the best overall package in the division, even if someone like Neville or Jack Gallagher reach higher total heights. Cena tends to do well with all-rounders like AJ Styles, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan rather than wrestlers who concentrate in niches in most cases, and both Neville and Gallagher fall into "most cases." Alexander, however, is the guy who would probably most flourish if the cruiserweight classification disappeared tomorrow and everyone got released into the openweight structure of the regular WWE ecosystem. He and Cena would rake together.

You're not, but it is worth caring about when you consider the dynamics. Basically, Rip Rogers may be a nobody in the grand scheme of things, but he has people listening to him, people in WWE who have the backing of a corporate machine with lots of money who can choose whom it rams through into the main narrative, whether they're supremely talented or just marginal with one really good things about them. When THOSE scions with worldwide reach start co-opting the message, then things start to get dangerous. Randy Orton and Tyler Breeze, among others, boosted Rogers' signal, which does more to hurt indie companies than those companies can do to promote themselves. Orton, who is the most formulaic wrestler in WWE with the highest probability of phoning in a match in my experience, can mobilize enough people to boycott the indies, enough to impact bottom lines of companies who live on margins. That's reason enough to care about this dive thing, and reason enough to be mad about these shitbag wrestlers spewing this poison and the fans who eat it up like candy.

I'm biased, but Kimber Lee, or whatever she ends up being called, would please me most as a winner. Honestly though, until this slate gets its equivalent to TJP in the Cruiserweight Classic, I'll be fine with anyone winning among the current slate of rumored competitors. As for the prize, it should be a Money in the Bank briefcase for the NXT Women's Championship. Why? Because it'll be fun. Sometimes, that's the only reason needed.

The best match from WrestleMania 22 was Edge vs. Mick Foley, right? I haven't watched it in years. But nothing on that show really sticks out to me as something great. That being said, this weekend, I spot two matches that could exceed it. At NXT Takeover, watch for Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate to be smashing, to use one of their Brit-words. Dunne seems at home in a WWE ring, and his match vs. Mark Andrews on NXT is one of my favorites in the year. On the Backlash card, a few matches could shine, but the best shot is probably AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens. Styles has a proven track record, and the fact that anyone considers the Shane McMahon WrestleMania match to be anything better than awful is, in my opinion, all on Styles. Owens is far more capable in the ring.

As always, NyQuil's ability to allow me to sleep through a nuclear apocalypse is unmatched by any other medication I've taken, prescription or otherwise.

RAW TO SMACKDOWN: Cesaro. I know HOSS International is a great team and everything, but my man Cesaro has better matchups for him on Smackdown, like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger... plus the creative staff would probably be more nurturing for him there.

SMACKDOWN TO NXT: Jinder Mahal. Sending Mahal to NXT isn't to get him off the show I like most because I actually like NXT the most. However, I feel like he'd benefit better there from a worker standpoint. Also, NXT might help him develop a character better than "I'M NOT FROM HERE. BOO ME BECAUSE I'M ACTUALLY A GOOD PERSON UNLIKE THE PEOPLE YOU CHEER."

NXT TO RAW: Bobby Roode. He has no business being on NXT right now. He doesn't fit the vibe, in the ring, and his character is a fit for Monday nights.