By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The build-up for this year’s Extreme Rules has seemed lackluster. But perhaps that’s not fair. WWE apparently wants to cast Ryback as their new lead villain. But CM Punk is such a tough act to follow, especially after all the controversy generated by his Wrestlemania angle with the Undertaker. Then we’ve also got the inevitable comparisons being made to last year’s red hot Extreme Rules main event between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. It’s not easy to be Ryback these days. But given time I’m sure he’ll be an effective lead villain, if in fact that’s the direction WWE wants to keep going with him. With luck, this main event match with Cena will help him in that respect.

Let’s see what we’ve got to look forward to…

PRE-SHOW MATCH:
The Miz vs. Cody Rhodes

The Miz has had some issues getting on pay per views this year. This is the second consecutive big event he’s been relegated to the pre-show. Granted, he took a bit of time off to do a movie, so there wasn’t necessarily much time to work him into anything. But if this trend continues, he might want to consider a return to his heel roots. It’s nice to see Cody Rhodes getting a somewhat high-profile singles match. I’m ready for him to resume his singles career, especially after that match he had with Randy Orton a few weeks back. But this night belongs to the Miz. Unless maybe they want these two to start a program together, which might be interesting.

Rob’s Prediction: The Miz

Chris Jericho vs. Fandango

The outcome of this match likely depends on how long Chris Jericho will be sticking around. If he’ll be here another month, then I say let’s give this one to him, and wrap it up with some kind of gimmick match in June. If he’s leaving soon, then let’s give this one to Fandango and keep his upward momentum going. I’m going to hazard a guess that Jericho’s sticking around, so let’s give him a win.

Rob’s Prediction: Chris Jericho

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH:
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dean Ambrose

What was it I said back when Kofi won the title? “So Kofi Kingston wins the United States Title from Antonio Cesaro. Why? So he can drop it to a different midcard heel?…So the question isn’t really about what Kofi’s going to do with the US Title, but who the next champion is going to be.” Apparently, it’s going to be Dean Ambrose. And good for him! He deserves to be the Shield’s breakout member, because he’s got the most charisma, and the most star power out of the three. Or at least that’s how it seems right now. Let’s toss the strap on him and see what he does.

Rob’s Prediction: Dean Ambrose

WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:
Team Hell No (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns

I had originally predicted Team Hell No’s run would end back at the Royal Rumble. But they’ve lasted well into the spring. And they won those belts back in September! But I do believe Extreme Rules is the end for them. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns aren’t exactly a dream team. But for storyline purposes it makes sense to put the belts on them. Hopefully this will open the door for a babyface tag team (The Usos, Tons of Funk, or maybe even the Prime Time Players) to work their way up the card and challenge the tyrannical Shield, ultimately becoming the first team to beat them.

Rob’s Prediction: Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns

EXTREME RULES MATCH:
Randy Orton vs. The Big Show

I don’t have high hopes for this one. But making it an Extreme Rules match definitely opens some interesting doors. I keep waiting for Orton’s inevitable heel turn to happen. You’d think Wrestlemania would have been the perfect chance to turn him, and put him against Sheamus. But instead we’re keeping this story with Big Show alive. Orton’s ring work is always solid, but it’s definitely time to freshen him up from a character standpoint. I understand WWE is reluctant to invest a bit more in him right now, as one more wellness policy strike means they’re obligated to let him go. But he’s been back awhile, and apparently things have been fine. So I saw use him while we’ve got him. I’m going with Big Show on this one, with the theory that it’ll be another step toward an Orton heel turn.

Rob’s Prediction: The Big Show

STRAP MATCH:
Sheamus vs. Mark Henry

As an older fan, I like this one. When was the last time we saw a good ol’ fashioned strap match? I can’t even remember. When I think strap match, I tend to think of Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega from 1996, Triple H vs. The Rock from 1999, or Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL from 2004. Didn’t Randy Orton and Dusty Rhodes have one a few years back? Either way, I like this one. It’s a good way to play up Mark Henry’s size and strength. Let’s just hope we don’t get a stupid tug o’ war spot. I like Sheamus as the conquering hero here. I imagine this will probably go another month, though.

Rob’s Prediction: Sheamus

“I QUIT” MATCH TO DETERMINE #1 CONTENDER:
Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger

No big mystery here: It’ll be Del Rio. We were building to a Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio match anyway, right? Jack Swagger crapped the bed by getting arrested for marijuana possession in the middle of the biggest push of his career. But let’s take nothing away from his athleticism, and indeed, there’ll likely be some great athleticism on display here. No doubt we’ll also see Ricardo Rodriguez and Zeb Colter involved in some way. But in the end, it’s a win for Del Rio, likely with the cross arm-breaker, and he goes on to face Ziggler at the appropriately named Payback pay per view.

Rob’s Prediction: Alberto Del Rio

STEEL CAGE MATCH:
Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar

So…it’s got to be Brock Lesnar, right? After that rant Triple H had this past Monday about Lesnar’s mystique, and that essentially another loss would make him just another guy. If Brock is going to be a special attraction, the last thing they want him to be is just another guy. Triple H got his big Wrestlemania win, and proved his still an ass kicker. So let’s go ahead and let Lesnar have this one. Let him be the “beast incarnate” that WWE needs him to be.

Rob’s Prediction: Brock Lesnar

LAST MAN STANDING MATCH FOR WWE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE:
John Cena (c) vs. Ryback

The best advice I can offer to Ryback for this one? Watch out for duct tape. We all remember what Cena did to Batista in their Last Man Standing Match a few years ago, right?

For me, the biggest question surrounding this match is whether Ryback will join the Shield, and as such win the title. It would make sense, wouldn’t it? The company’s would-be lead heel, in-league with the hottest heel faction they’ve seen in years. Still, he doesn’t necessarily have to join them at Extreme Rules. If it does happen, I see it being in the final segment of a Raw. Cena handing Ryback yet another major defeat might be the last straw in terms of finally pushing him onto the ranks of the Shield.

Rob’s Prediction: John Cena

Front page image from bleacherreport.com. Interior images from wwe.com.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts From Raw:

- Nice to see Dean Ambrose rewarded for his work these past few weeks. He had a solid showing with the Undertaker, and then a really good match with Daniel Bryan. And now he’s set to have his first singles match on a pay per view against a star like Kofi Kingston, for the United States Title no less. He’s unquestionably the stand out member of the Shield, not only because of his work in the ring, but his stellar work on the mic.

Meanwhile, we’ve got Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns challenging Bryan and Kane for the tag belts. I had originally pictured Rollins and Ambrose getting the shot, with Reigns acting as the bodyguard/enforcer. But it’s worth it if Ambrose can get a shot as a singles star.

Speaking of which, tonight former WWE writer Seth Mates tweeted: Question for all of you: @drtompritchard & I are making a bet – will Ryback join Shield on Sunday? I say yes, he says no. What should we bet?” Doesn’t seem too far fetched does it? Also, if you’re keeping score at home, hat = heel Ryback, no hat = babyface Ryback.

- Wait, is Triple H not C.O.O. anymore? Michael Cole said the Triple H/Lesnar rivalry began “back when Triple H was C.O.O. of WWE.” When did he stop being C.O.O.? I’m so confused…

What happens to Paul Heyman after Extreme Rules? CM Punk is on break, and Brock Lesnar is probably going away for a little while. So Heyman’s got nobody left to manage unless he takes on a third wrestler, which I don’t see happening. WWE TV is damn sure going to miss Heyman. Without he and Punk, we’ve got nobody to cut those long, masterful heel promos. No offense to Ryback, but I don’t exactly see him stepping up to that plate.

Triple H did a nice job selling the cage match at Extreme Rules with his point about Lesnar’s mystique. That’s actually something the internet wrestling community has done its share of talking about since Lesnar lost to John Cena at Extreme Rules last year. Brock has had three pay per view matches since he’s been back, and has lost two of them. If he loses this one, well…we’ve kind of neutered the beast, haven’t we? Wrestlemania was one thing. But it’s time to give Brock back his status as that spine-chilling killer.

- No Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules? Ugh, that sucks. As I said last week, that triple threat ladder match would have been a show stealer. The “I Quit” match between Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio could be good, of course. But that ladder match could have been one for the ages. I suppose as long as Ziggler gets better, that’s the important thing. Lord knows after all he’s put in to get that belt, it would be a shame for his run to be cut short.

- That Natalya/A.J. Lee match was the first divas contest in a long time that I’ve had any interest in whatsoever. granted, I had to mute my TV because the Bellas were on commentary. But it was certainly nice to see Nattie get to wrestle on Raw for once. Also, a great maneuver by AJ to end the match. More please.

- I have to say, I was a fan of Fandango’s trippy rainbow-colored attire this week. The best thing about what went down with that whole dance competition between he and Chris Jericho? There was very little actual dancing. #wewantwrestling

- A fairly predictable elimination match featuring John Cena, Team Hell No and the Shield. But it was still well done. There’s always room for great drama in those types of matches, which is part of the reason why the Survivor Series pay per view has stayed alive for so long.

- Hey, did you guys hear WWE has an App? #enoughalready

- Thank you! Finally the Prime Time Players get a win on Raw! From a charisma standpoint, there are few wrestlers I enjoy watching more than Titus O’Neil.

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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts From Raw:

After seeing Raw this week, I’ve got several questions regarding the upcoming steel cage match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules…

1. Is there a discernible difference between an “old school” steel cage match and a regular steel cage match? I joked about this a few weeks ago. But as a long time fan it seriously makes me think of those cages with the big blue bars. Remember those?

2. So Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, two WWE employees, went to WWE headquarters. How is that breaking news? They buried their lead with this one. I would have promoted the destruction of Triple H’s office. Makes for better hype.

3. Was this show the first time we’ve heard the I Dream of Jeannie theme song on Raw? That is what Heyman was whistling in the elevator, right?

4. Furthermore, was this show the first time we’ve referenced Triple H’s full real name (Paul Levesque) on TV?

Thankfully, it all added up to a solid promo by the Game, which is the important thing.

- That ladder match between Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger is going to steal the show at Extreme Rules. As evidence, I cite that insane inverted superplex Del Rio gave Ziggler this week. Throw in some ladders, and everybody’s respective entourages, and you’ve got a recipe for a hell of a presentation. Incidentally, it just recently occurred to me that all three of those men have won Money in the Bank ladder matches. There’s an interesting coincidence for ya.

- Ryback vs. Kane in the main event? *snores* You know what the “Ryback rules” catchphrase reminds me of? Billy Madison. “O’Doyle rules!”

- Is Summer Rae not Fandango’s dancing partner anymore? They’d made a point to introduce her… Either way, it seems Fandango is indeed a heel again. They seemed to be pondering turning him face for a few weeks there.

- I’m not sure JBL remarking that Kaitlyn’s admirer “could be Brett Favre” was entirely PG.

- Jeez. As if it wasn’t already obvious the Shield was going to win that six-man tag, they put them against the Uso Bros and Kofi Kingston. #throwaway

- Happy to see Antonio Cesaro ditch the yodeling and get back to business. From my vantage point, he got over with his raw strength and athleticism, as opposed to a gimmick. During the show, renowned comic book artist Jill Thompson actually tweeted “That would have been a perfect moment to debut @KassiusOhno [a.k.a. Chris Hero] and start a feud between him and @AntonioCesaro.” I can’t argue that point.

And A Little Bit About Possible Returns…

- The subject of a Batista return came up in the ol’ rumor mill recently. Personally, I don’t think we’ll be seeing him in a wrestling ring any time soon. Remember, “the Animal” was just cast in Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. I suppose he could make an appearance or two to promote it, but that won’t be until 2015. In all honesty, I could go my entire life without seeing another Batista match and be perfectly fine. Nothing personal, but he never really did it for me. The only match of his I really have any fond memories of is his Wrestlemania 22 match with the Undertaker. The sad thing about Batista is that he seemed to be hitting his stride on the mic just before he left. He was stuck in that bland babyface character for years before he actually got to show a a little charisma. He wasn’t a great heel. But he was a good one. And he was funny! Give me heel Batista, then I might change my tune a little bit…

- Speaking of the Undertaker, rumor has it WWE wants to book the Dead Man at Summerslam this year. Sounds great to me! At this point, more ‘Taker is better than no ‘Taker. At this point, Lord knows the man’s already given us more than we could have reasonably asked for.

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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts From Raw:

- Hey long time fans: Remember after Wrestlemania XX when the Undertaker would appear on Smackdown, and Michael Cole would hype it up as a “rare television appearance,” even though he showed up almost every week? It’s rather surreal that we’ve now reached the point where it actually is rare to see him on television, especially in a wrestling capacity. But tonight we got to see it, and indeed it was a rare treat. It’s also pretty rare that we saw the dead man lose (Daniel Bryan took the fall, but ‘Taker’s name was in the loss column nonetheless). I don’t think that’s happened for at least a few years. That’s a heck of a notch on the Shield’s belt.

- By the way, seeing the fans hold up cell phones as the Undertaker walks to the ring is no where near as cool as back in the ’90s when they held up lighters. These kids today with their newfangled phones…

- WWE.com put an article up today speculating about a fourth member being added to the Shield. Personally, I’m hoping the group stays a triad. Considering this group is supposed to be stealthy and quick-striking, I think it’s best to keep it small. Three is a nice round number. The original incarnation of the n.W.o comes to mind.

- So at this point, can we assume the Shield is going to play some kind of role in the John Cena/Ryback match at Extreme Rules? They’re essentially half the basis for the entire feud. What if we did a lumberjack match where Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns got to beat the crap out of both of them? Come to think of it, that would probably be more entertaining than the actual match we’ll get…

- WWE made good use of Mick Foley this week. Whenever a heel needs a spare good guy to cut a “Look what you’ve become!” promo, Foley’s always a good guy to call. Incidentally, I picked up For All Mankind: The Life and Career of Mick Foley this past week. It’s a good buy, particularly if you dig wrestling documentaries like I do.

- Defeating William Regal in England was probably one of the only sure fire ways for Fandango to gain even a sliver of his heat back. The fans booed him for a solid second or two when he got the three count. That was a cool little moment when Jericho busted out a little of his Dancing With The Stars repertoire. I’m surprised it took this long to reference that. You’d think that could have been the jumping off point for the whole program.

- News broke this week about the divas getting their own reality show on E!, which might be interesting. Natalya, the Bella Twins and the Funkadactyls will star, along with two developmental divas. Though I can honestly say I have no real desire to see Brie and Nikki Bella on my television longer than necessary, a behind-the-scenes view of the business from a woman’s perspective might be interesting. “Smart” fans know that John Cena is actually dating Nikki Bella, Daniel Bryan is dating Brie (Or is it the other way around?), and Tyson Kidd dates Natalya. I’m wondering if any of these real-life relationships will make air. Lord knows Tyson Kidd needs all the screen time he can get.

- “Ziggly Puff.” Was that a Pokemon reference on Monday Night Raw? Kudos for that one AJ.

- So yeah, AJ won the diva battle royal, and is now the number one contender for the oh so prestigious Diva’s Championship. Wow, what a surprise. She’s the only diva left with any kind of presence out there, with Natalya being the one exception. The problem with WWE continuously talking about how AJ and Kaitlyn used to be good friends, is that the majority of that stuff was on C-list shows like NXT. And their relationship wasn’t exactly deep, was it? Granted, I think they’re friends in real life. But on screen they were just sort of put together as the two divas on the undercard. That doesn’t necessarily make for an entertaining angle about former friends.

- Here’s hoping Rosa Mendes is okay, as she was sent home from WWE’s European tour today. I swear, WWE can still do great things with her if they just give her the ball…

- So is “crazy” R-Truth officially a thing of the past? We’re back to that cheesy “What’s up” song? Well that sucks. You know what also sucks? Antonio Cesaro’s yodeling gimmick. But you know what sucks even more than that? Cesaro having to job to Truth.

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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Wow. Who’d have thought? Fandango is apparently WWE’s newest breakout star. He won his Wrestlemania match with Chris Jericho, fans were singing his entrance theme at Raw the next night, and Stone Cold Steve Austin boldly predicted on Twitter that he’ll be Intercontinental Champion within six to eight months.

Obviously this is all a very pleasant surprise, considering a lot of fans were rolling their eyes at this character at first. So what’s the secret to Fandango’s success? There’s obviously a lot that factors into it. But in the end it all comes down to one thing: Curtis Hussey.

The man behind Fandango has actually been a WWE contracted wrestler since 2008, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it unless you’ve followed the company’s farm system, and later NXT. Wrestling as Johnny Curtis, Hussey won the big competition on the show’s fourth season, and was to have wrestled alongside R-Truth for the WWE Tag Team Titles. For whatever reason, that never happened.  He eventually popped up on Smackdown, and in his first match was squashed by Mark Henry in less than a minute. He ended up back on NXT, anxiously awaiting an opportunity.

But cream always rises to the top, as they say. Hussey’s charisma, which was clearly visible at least as far back as his NXT days, likely made him a natural choice to play Fandango. When he speaks in that ludicrously throaty “Fahn-dahn-gooooo” voice, I believe it. And I believe it because he believes it. Fans were right to be skeptical about this character, because in the wrong hands it could have been terrible. But Hussey’s portrayal, combined with WWE having just the right idea about how big and bold to make things, has thus far proven to be quite effective.

So…shall we dance?

Thoughts From Raw:

- So it looks like Ryback is officially a heel. I suppose that’s as good a move as any. Obviously John Cena isn’t going to be changing his babyface tune any time soon. And as he needs some heel challengers anyway, a move to the dark side might help Ryback get some more experience under his belt, which will be good if and when he does have to take that top spot some day. That being said, that pre-tape promo was pretty long for my taste. Heck, Cena even brought that up during his promo at the end, where he really tore into Ryback. In any event, I’m interested to see what kind of match these two have at Extreme Rules. It could really go either way in terms of quality.

- That spot where Sheamus put the Big Show on his shoulders was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring. How is Sheamus’ spine still intact? That spot deserves to be on highlight reels for months. Come to think of it, Show spent a decent amount of time in the air this week, didn’t he? He took that second rope DDT from Randy Orton, and then got pretty high for the RKO. Show takes a decent amount of flack from fans for being slow in the ring, but never discount how well he gets around for such a huge man.

- Hey, how about that? We get more than one Undertaker match this year! That’s a hell of a treat to look forward to next week.

- So if Triple H and Brock Lesnar are going to have an “old school” cage match at Extreme Rules, does that mean we get the old school blue bars back?

- So Kofi Kingston wins the United States Title from Antonio Cesaro. Why? So he can drop it to a different midcard heel? That’s exactly what happened when he took the Intercontinental belt earlier this year, isn’t it? Kofi’s held both the US and IC title so many times (three and four respectively), there’s not really any new ground to cover, is there? So the question isn’t really about what Kofi’s going to do with the US Title, but who the next champion is going to be.

- King’s right. That title does look good on Dolph Ziggler. And yet, even with the title he’s jobbing to everyone. *sigh*

- The Prime Time Players just can’t get a win. They deserve it so much, but they just can’t get one.

 Front page image, image 1 and image 3 from wwe.com. Image 2 from allwrestlingsuperstars.com.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Between Wrestlemania and Raw we had a big week. Let’s dive in with some broad strokes about the big pay per view…

Thoughts From Wrestlemania:

- I’ll echo my old buddy Mike Bessler’s thoughts on Wrestlemania, and say the event was “fine.” If you watch the full event from start to finish, it tends to be exhausting, which it was. I think WWE made a mistake putting our three main events on one after another without any “buffers” in between. I was fading during Brock and Triple H’s fight, and then Cena and Rock turned out to be a snoozefest. Toward the end they just hit their finishes again and again. There’s not much art in that as far as I’m concerned.

- For the fifth year in a row, the Undertaker stole the show at Wrestlemania. His match with CM Punk was epic, and the only match on the card worthy of the name Wrestlemania. There’s a pretty vocal group of fans who don’t take kindly to part-timers (or in ‘Taker’s case, one-nighters) taking up so much space at the big dance. But sadly, I can count the number of full time guys capable of giving us magic like that on one hand. Heck, less than one hand. As if it wasn’t already obvious, the match solidified Punk’s status as the best worker on the full-time roster.

- Chris Jericho and Fandango turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect things to be so one-sided in favor of Jericho, but of course Fandango pulled out the win as expected.

- Ryback had a heck of a Wrestlemania moment. I didn’t think it was humanly possible to hold Mark Henry on one’s shoulders like that. Damn sure one for the books.

Thoughts From Raw:

- Gotta love a night after Wrestlemania crowd. I actually felt a little bad for Randy Orton and Sheamus, having to work through various non sequitor chants of “Randy Savage,” “RVD,” “JBL” and even “Michael Cole!” This show also marked the first time I’ve ever heard a crowd hum a wrestler’s instrumental entrance theme. That’s an interesting little distinction for Fandango.

- Well how about that? Dolph Ziggler cashes in and wins the World Heavyweight Title, perhaps one night later than he should have. Given how Ziggler performs, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who thinks he doesn’t deserve it. Did you hear that crowd pop when Ziggler’s music hit? Looks like we can look forward to a Dolph Ziggler/Alberto Del Rio match at Extreme Rules.

- Ryback attacks Cena? Well that’s…unexpected.

- My years as a wrestling fan have prevented me from seeing the Undertaker and Kane together without hearing “Rollin’” by Limp Bizkit in my head.

- I’m terrified Seth Rollins is going to break his neck one day when he dives over that guard rail.

- Not at all surprised to see Miz take the title at Mania, only to drop it back to Wade Barrett on Raw. Miz made his babyface turn work, and he deserved a Wrestlemania win. And heck, this is exactly what they did with Cody Rhodes and the Big Show last year. They just sped up the process this year.

- I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by Big E. Langston. But he seems to have a lot of explosive power, and he seems to move around pretty well. Maybe we’re in luck and he’s not our typical boring, sluggish big man.

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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

- I wish it hadn’t taken this long for the Undertaker/CM Punk rivalry to reach the intensity level we saw this week. Up to this point, Punk had basically just been tossing the urn around. But having Punk use some of ‘Taker’s trademark stuff against him, and then actually dumping the ashes on him made for a heck of a segment. It hits a little close to home if you’re a long time wrestling fan, but that’s what it was designed to do.

I think if people remember that Paul Bearer was just a character that William Moody played on a TV show, it makes it a bit easier to digest. That was the problem I had with the build up to that Randy Orton/Rey Mysterio match several years ago, when they wrapped Eddie Guerrero’s death into the whole thing. Granted, Eddie always played a character too. But the line between Eddie the character and Eddie the man was pretty blurred at times. So when Randy said that horrendous line about how “Eddie’s down there in hell,” it was that much more offensive.

- When John Cena called Rock “the greatest WWE Champion of all time,” I literally dropped an F-bomb. Are you kidding me? Great star? Obviously. Great champion? No. Hey, I was watching back then, ya’ll. I know. That being said, it was nice to see Cena get a little angry toward the end there.

- While I’m sure the match itself will be interesting, the build up for Rock/Cena II has been fairly lackluster from where I’m sitting. Rock was gone for two consecutive weeks, so we missed some opportunities for added depth there. Okay, so Cena wants redemption, and the Rock is confident because he beat Cena last year. Got it. They fleshed things out a little bit in this episode, but things still feel a little shallow. Remember folks, this is the main event of Wrestlemania we’re talking about…

- I actually think the best developed Wrestlemania angle this year has been Triple H/Brock Lesnar. They’ve got some nice history between them, and with Paul Heyman’s help they’ve done a nice job making it personal. Involving the likes of Vince, Stephanie and Shawn Michaels has raised the emotional stakes, and has set the stage for a great collision at the pay per view.

Shawn Michaels always delivers when they bring him back. I still remember his post Summerslam promo on Triple H and Brock Lesnar fondly. He didn’t have a heck of a lot to dive into tonight, but adding him to the Wrestlemania match adds a little extra dimension to it.

- Looks like Stephanie McMahon will be the one to induct Trish Stratus into the Hall of Fame. I would have preferred Lita, myself. But Steph and Trish had a heck of a match back at No Way Out in November 2001. It was one of the most hard hitting and exciting ladies matches I’ve ever seen on WWE TV.

- So wait, The Miz and Wade Barrett are relegated to the pre-show, but the eight person tag match with the Bella Twins gets on the show? Well THAT’s BS.

- So who wrote King’s “999 megabytes, ’cause they haven’t had a gig yet” line?

- I think Alberto Del Rio’s Jumanji reference was lost on the audience because of his accent. Nice one, though. You’ve got to believe that at some point, Ricardo Rodriguez is going to pull a Paul Bearer from Summerslam ’96, and turn on Del Rio. It’s really just a matter of time, isn’t it? Could it be this Sunday?

- Haven’t seen a Tarantula on Raw in quite some time! My hats off to Daniel Bryan for that one. Heck of an impact on that double cross body block too. Bryan and Dolph Ziggler usually put on a solid show at the very least.

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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

William Moody, best known for his portrayal of the Undertaker’s manager Paul Bearer on WWE television over the years, has passed away. He was 58.

WWE.com broke the news Tuesday evening.

Several wrestling personalities took to Twitter to speak out about Moody’s passing.

Michael Cole: “So sad. We lost a great person and a wonderful man today. Rest in peace paul bearer. God bless his family and Godspeed.”

Jim Ross: “Just informed via WWE.com Paul Bearer aka Percy Pringle passed away earlier today. I have no other details. RIP old friend.”

Zeb Colter: “RIP PAUL BEARER. GREAT MANAGER. WONDERFUL MAN.”

Diamond Dallas Page: “Sad to hear of the passing of Bill Moody (Paul Bearer)… Not a nicer man in the biz. RIP bro”

Triple H: “Rest in peace, Paul Bearer. You will never be forgotten. There will never be another. #PaulBearer”

Tyson Kidd: “Sad to hear about the passing of Paul Bearer. One of the best managers of all time. Pretty sure EVERYONE has tried imitating his voice”

Shawn Michaels: “I’m so sorry to hear of the passing of Paul Bearer. Our prayers go out to him and his family. God Bless!!”

Goldust: “Very sad! God be with william moody’s family! God protect the moody family, please. Prayers sent. So sad”

Source: NoDQ.com.
Image from WWE.com.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts From Raw:

- I’m happy to see that after months of speculation, the CM Punk/Undertaker match at Wrestlemania is finally in stone. I’m interested to see how they build this up over the next month, specifically in terms of Punk’s promos. Over the last three years, each of ‘Taker’s Wrestlemania matches has been built off the previous one. The story kept rolling and rolling until it finally ended with the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Triple H leaving the arena together last year. This year we have to start fresh. But f anybody can make an interesting opponent for ‘Taker, Punk can. I’m curious to see how involved Paul Heyman will be here, if at all.

- On a related note, can we get rid of Undertaker’s spikey robe? It worked well as a Wrestlemania outfit, but I’m not digging it for every show. I also found it amusing that the graphics team had to Photoshop ‘Taker’s hair off the fatal four-way match graphic. I think now that his long hair is gone, the days of him wearing the classic wide-brimmed hat are officially over.

- The promo with John Cena and the Rock was surprisingly meaty. It wasn’t the same jokey trash talk we saw last year. The redemption angle is something different, which is good. But I’m wondering how they’re going to keep that interesting. They can’t just keep talking about Cena losing last year. Though it is nice to hear a Cena promo that doesn’t sound like a press release, or God forbid, a rant about  Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj.

- Triple H’s promo on Brock Lesnar was also really good. One of his best in recent memory, in fact. The close up on his face at the end was perfect. Like Rock and Cena, Hunter and Brock have to find something to talk about until we get to Wrestlemania. Thankfully for them, they can bring Vince, Stephanie and Heyman in to expand the story.

Incidentally, last week I tweeted the following: Now that @TripleH and @StephMcMahon are on Twitter, there’s only one person missing…Vince himself. #nevergonnahappen.” Now, @VinceMcMahon is on Twitter. At least that’s supposedly him. That’s right folks, I totally did that. Like, totally. Not that it matters. I’m convinced Vince McMahon will never tweet on a regular basis. He’s just not that kind of guy. But I’d love to be proven wrong.

-  They should do Old School Raw every year, preferably in either late spring or the middle of fall when we’re between the bigger pay per views. Granted, we’ll have to try and bring in bigger names than most of the guys we saw on this episode. But it’s a fun gimmick show.

- The New Age Outlaws looked great out there. I only wish the damn kids n the audience knew who they were. Their music hit, and the crowd hardly gave them anything. I guess they’ve got to be in the right town. Also, somebody apparently forgot to tell the sound guy that their music stays on when Road Dogg is talking during their entrance. Do your homework, folks!

- So it looks like we’re going to get the Shield against Sheamus, Randy Orton and the Big Show at Wrestlemania, and the big question will be how Show will co-exist with the babyfaces. I guess we can officially write off the Sheamus/Wade Barrett thing as something that was done to promote Dead Man Down. It kind of sucks to have three stars of their magnitude shoved into a six-man, but we’ve got to have the Shield on the show in some form, right? By the way, whenever they air one of those handheld camera promos, the Shield ends it by putting the cam down and walking away. All I can think about after those promos is how somebody has to pick that cam up after they’re done. From an in-story perspective, who does it? Do they walk back over and pick it up? Is it some stagehand guy? It must be weird…

- Yeesh, Kofi Kingston dodged a bullet this week. He almost had to job to Fandango! Johnny Curtis really needs to surprise people with his portrayal of this character. We’ve got a lot of good midcard heels these days (Cody Rhodes, Antonio Cesaro, Damien Sandow, Wade Barrett). He needs to make the character stand out or he’s going to be left out in the cold. Still, at least the character gives Johnny a chance to be flamboyant, which he’s good at.

Is this stuff with Team Hell No and the Prime Time Players leading up to something at Wrestlemania? If so, that’s fantastic! It’s more likely though, that we’ll get some kind of four-way tag match, possibly featuring those two teams, Team Rhodes Scholars and Tensai & Brodus Clay. It seems like if they were going to pull the trigger on a Kane/Daniel Bryan match, they’d have done it by now. It likely would have been forgotten among all the big matches anyway. No offense, guys.

- So we’re calling Tensai “Sweet T” now, huh? You know what? I’ll take it. It’s better than what he was doing before.

- It looks like Ryback and Mark Henry might be working together at the big dance. If we’re not going to do Ryback and the Big Show, then putting him with Mark Henry is a good move. It puts a nice spotlight on both men in a “battle of the monsters” kind of way.

- So between the three matches that have been announced, along with the Triple H/Brock Lesnar match, the six man tag, and what might will likely be Ryback/Mark Henry, Wrestlemania is starting to really take shape. Considering the card usually has between eight and 10 matches (not counting the pre-show), the show is more than half full already. And we’ve still got to find room for other marquee stars like Team Hell No, the Miz and Dolph Ziggler…

All images from WWE.com.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The fact that this image on the left even exists makes me pretty uncomfortable. Throw in everything else that’s happened and it’s enough to make me nauseous.

If you haven’t heard by now, the immigration angle that Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger are doing caught the attention of right-wing pundit Glenn Beck, who slammed WWE on his radio show for allegedly smearing the Tea Party, and went on to call wrestling fans “stupid.” In response, WWE invited Beck to this week’s Raw in Dallas (he declined). They also posted a YouTube video of Colter and Swagger breaking the fourth wall and explaining to Beck that it’s topical entertainment, they’re playing characters, etc.

This whole situation with Glenn Beck comes off like a very obvious and very desperate grab for publicity on WWE’s part. Even a lot of right wingers will tell you Glenn Beck is essentially a cartoon character, who grabbed a huge chuck of his mainstream attention by acting downright bizarre on his old Fox News show. More than anything else, WWE seems to be celebrating the fact that someone with Beck’s fame acknowledged them, which is more sad than anything else. WWE doen’t need someone like Glenn Beck to pull in viewers for Wrestlemania season. Come on guys, let’s do it the right way…

Thoughts From Raw:

- After this week’s show, it’s obvious WWE isn’t going to be pulling Jack Swagger from TV after his February 19 arrest for DUI, marijuana possession and speeding. Obviously that’s extremely bad publicity, and something that could have potentially derailed the biggest push of Swagger’s career. There’s been a lot of speculation that all the mainstream attention Swagger’s angle with Zeb Colter has gotten is what saved him. Though I obviously have no firsthand insight, I wouldn’t doubt that at all.

- A pretty strong segment between Swagger, Colter, and Alberto Del Rio. All parties injected a decent amount of tension into the match at Wrestlemania. Del Rio’s line about all Americans being descendants of immigrants was an important note to hit, and he nailed it.

- Smart move by WWE giving John Cena and CM Punk a solid half hour. Those two guys have developed some awesome chemistry over the past year and a half, and had the crowd right where they wanted them this week. Hell of a match. And now we officially have Cena vs. Rock II at Wrestlemania.

- I was pretty disappointed we didn’t get to see the Undertaker this week, especially after he had a match at a WWE live event this past weekend. That being said, it’s fairly obvious he’s facing Punk at Wrestlemania. If his warm up match at a live event wasn’t indication enough, WWE played the footage from said event before the Punk/Cena match to plant the seed. He’s coming, folks. We’ve just got to be patient. Remember, there’s still plenty of time.

- By the way, did CM Punk steal that “I am God” line from Ric Flair? I seem to recall him saying something similar to Jay Lethal on TNA TV awhile back.

- I’m not sure Vince meant to say “Ultimate Fighter”…

- Quite a surprise to kick off Raw with what was essentially a mini street fight between Triple H and Brock Lesnar. And WOW! Lesnar got a heck of a lot of color. He allegedly had to get 18 staples to close the wound. This reminds me of when I talked about this during Lesnar’s feud with Cena last year. In the PG era, a little blood goes a long way in adding a different level of intensity and brutality to a feud.

- I don’t think Sheamus is being a STAR these days. He’s bullying Wade Barrett! You’re not bein’ a company man, fella!

- Donald Trump in the Hall of Fame? I suppose it was inevitable. But yeesh, do we have to give this guy even more publicity? Last I heard, he was suing Bill Maher over a joke. Oddly enough, the one moment that’s stuck out to me about Trump’s big appearance at Wrestlemania 23 was his God awful attempt at taking a Stone Cold Stunner.

- Ugh. Well that’s one way to kill off a talented tag team. Can the Prime Time Players rebound from jobbing to Team Hell no in a silly gimmick match? One would hope so…

- At this point, I’m convinced the Great Khali is employed solely to serve as a heavy object for guys like Mark Henry to body slam. Was there nothing else for Henry to do in the middle of Wrestlemania season?

Front page image from bleacherreport.com. Image 1 from about.com. Images 2, 3 and 4 from WWE.com.
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