LOOKING AT THE FIELD AS WE ARE ON THE ROAD

MANIA NEWS

A lot of fans are upset about what appears to be the main event at Wrestlemania 40: The Rock vs. Roman Reigns.  Hashtag #WeWantCody was trending worldwide over the past weekend.  It is unknown whether the WWE had a hand in this and brought the Rock out to stand face to face with Roman simply as a ruse for a guest referee spot and a big pop for a Cody vs Roman rematch.  Nevertheless, WWE is getting a lot of heat online for not letting Cody "finish the story" and pitting him against Seth Rollins (someone who he has beaten on several occasions).  Here is the solution in my eyes:  

1. The Rock can announce that he would like to have his Wrestlemania moment, but he does not want to stop Cody from "finishing his story". 

    A.  The Rock can team with his cousin Jey Uso to take on the remaining Bloodline members Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso in a night one main event tag match. Furthermore, the Rock and Jey can offset interference from the Bloodline in the Cody Rhodes Match.  

    B. The Rock can referee the match between Cody and Roman and still have his oneoff match at any time and price.

2.  Drew Mcintyre can win the Elimination Chamber and take of Seth Rollins for the Heavyweight Championship.  This shores up two legit earned title matches, without simply handing it to the Rock.

Other observations on the road:

1.  Bailey should be returning to Hug Life (garb and all) now that she is leaving Damage CTRL and wrestling Iyo Sky. 

 2.  The women's Elimination Chamber is shaping up to be great as the winner will take on Lea Ripley/Nia Jax for the belt at Mania.  

3.  With Becky qualifying for Chamber, I believe she will be joined by Liv Morgan, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, Jordynn Grace, and Naomi. 

MADNESS NEWS

Here is how the field looks as of tonight's action:

2023: REVIEW OF MARCH MADNESS AND WRESTLEMANIA

 

It seems that every March tops the last one.  

Fairleigh Dickinson stole the show in the first round, but San Diego State shocked everyone when they made the Finals.  I would say that people were less surprised to see FAU in the Final Four than to witness a random Aztecs team show up.  Wrestlemania's night one Main Event was great.  The crowd was hyped to see the Uso's drop the belts to KO and Sami. Night two fizzled when outside interference knocked Cody out of contention and the Head of the Table brought the belts back to the Blood Line.  There have been many lackluster endings in Wrestlemania history, but it does not go to show that it ruins the event. As the March Madness finale was not competitive, it was still one of the greatest tournaments of all time, a poor showing at the end of Mania did nothing to lessen the impact of the entire show.  Logan Paul's antics, the Mysterio face off, the men and women multiple tag team showcases were all off the hook.  The production of Mania was clean and bright as always.  The March to Mania continues to get better every year, can't wait to see what Madness develops in 2024.

BEST AND WORST RUMORED MATCHES FOR WRESTLEMANIA

BEST:

1. KO and Zayn vs Uso's

2. Omos vs The Beast Incarnate

3. Rey vs Dominik

4. Charlotte Flair vs Lea Ripley

5. Bobby Lashley vs Bray Wyatt

WORST:

1. Cody vs Roman Reigns

2. Asuka vs Bianca Belair

3. Austin Theory vs John Cena

4. Becky Lynch, Lita, Trish Stratus vs Damage CTRL

5. Edge vs Finn Balor 

AEW VS WWE: A CATEGORICAL RANKING

 

 

PRODUCTION QUALITY:

-WWE IS LIKE WATCHING A HIGH BUDGET CINEMA EVERY EPISODE.  AEW JUST DOES NOT SEEM TO GET THE LIGHTING RIGHT. 

WWE WINS THIS CATEGORY AND IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE

WRESTLING STYLE:

-AEW HAS AN AVERAGE FASTER PACE, WHILE WWE SOMETIMES SEEMS LIKE SLOW MOTION.

AEW WINS

BELTS:

-BOTH COMPANIES HAVE A NUMBER OF BELTS, ALONG WITH SISTER COMPANIES ROH AND NXT.  HISTORICALLY WWE BELTS ARE HELD LONGER, MEAN MORE, AND LOOK COOLER.

WWE WINS

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:

-WWE GIMMICKS ARE USUALLY BETTER.  AEW HAS A MUCH LARGER ROSTER AND HAS ITS SHARE OF INTERESTING CHARACTERS.

TIE

FEMALE WRESTLERS:

-THE WWE HAS SO MANY WOMEN WITH SO MUCH PERSONALITY.  AEW IS DRAB.

WWE IN A LANDSIDE

TAG TEAM WRESTLING:

-THE USOS HAVE BECOME TIRESOME AND HAVE HELD THE BELTS FOR FAR TOO LONG.  THERE IS JUST NOT ENOUGH TALENT TO CHOOSE FROM IN WWE.  AEW HAS THE BEST TAG TEAM IN THE WORLD WITH THE BUCKS, PLUS THEY HAVE TRIOS TITLES WITH A TON OF STABLES.

AEW IN A LANDSIDE

STAGES:

WWE HAS ALWAYS HAD A BETTER ENTRANCE WAY AND BETTER PYRO. AEW HAS MADE HEADWAY SWITCHING TO BIG SCREENS FROM THE TWO TUBE CODY ANOINTMENT, BUT WILL NEVER COMPARE TO WWE.

WWE IN A LANDSLIDE 

RINGS: 

THE WWE RING HAS A LOT CLEANER LOOK.  THE AEW RING OFTEN HAS ADVERTISING ON THE MAT.  THE ORIGINIAL WWF RING IS THE GREATEST.

WWE WINS

CAGES: 

AEW'S CAGE IS MUCH LARGER THAN A TYPICAL WWE OPEN TOP CAGE.  BOTH HAVE THE SAME WAR GAMES CAGES.  THE HELL IN A CELL IS THE BIGGEST, BUT IT HAS A TOP COVERING.  WWE HAS MADE THE HELL IN A CELL INTERESTING WITH THE TOP BEING USED FOR MANY HUGE SPOTS.

WWE WINS

TELEVISION SHOWS:

-WWE KEEPS IT COOL WITH 2 SET SHOWS A WEEK, PLUS AN EXTRA 2 HOURS OF NXT.  RAW IS WAY TOO LONG AND NEEDS TO GO BACK TO 2 HOURS.  AEW SOMETIMES FEELS WATERED DOWN WITH TOO MUCH INTERNET PRODUCT THAT GOES UNWATCHED.  IT IS HARD TO WATCH RAMPAGE AFTER A 2 HOUR SMACKDOWN.

TIE

PAY-PER-VIEWS:

-WWE PREMIUM LIVE EVENTS, BUT SOMETIMES RUN A LITTLE LONG.  AEW HAS FEWER EVENTS, SO THEY MEAN MORE. YET WWE STILL HAS THE GREATEST SHOW OF THEM ALL AND A NICE CORE OF RUMBLE, SUMMERSLAM, AND SURVIVOR SERIES WHICH DATE BACK TO THE EARLY 80'S.

WWE WINS

PROMOS:

-MJF vs WHO? WWE HAS A NUMBER OF WRESTLERS CAPABLE OF HANDLING THE MIC AND TWO CEOS WHO HAVE A MUCH STRONGER PRESENCE THAN TONY KHAN.  PAUL HEYMAN IS THE GREATEST PROMOTIONAL MANAGER.

TIE

SO WHO WINS IN THE END?

TIE! THEY BOTH KICK ASS

LOOKING AT THE FIELD AS WE ARE ON THE ROAD

 

ASUN: Kennesaw State

AMERICAN EAST: Vermont

AAC: Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati

A10: VCU, Fordham

ACC: Pitt, Miami, UVA, Clemson, Duke, NC State

BIG 10: Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU

BIG EAST: Marquette, Xavier, Providence, Creighton, UConn

BIG SKY: Eastern Washington

BIG SOUTH: UNC Ashville

BIG 14: Purdue, Maryland, Northwestern, Indiana

BIG WEST: UC Santa Barbara

CAA: Charleston

CONFERENCE USA: Florida Atlantic (No one imagined this)

HORIZON: Youngstown

IVY: Yale

MAAC: Iona (Rick Pitino an Al Pacino lookalike...The Devil's Advocate)

MAC: Toledo

MEAC: Norfolk State

MVC: Bradley, Drake

MWC: San Diego State, Nevada, Boise State, Utah State

NORTHEAST: Fairleigh-Dickinson (Really WTF cares)

OHIO VALLEY: Morehead (Always A Good Thing)

PAC 12: UCLA, Arizona, USC, Arizona State

PATRIOT: Colgate (Toothpaste)

SEC: Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas

SOUTHERN: Furman

SOUTHLAND: Texas A&M CC

SWAC: Grambling

SUMMIT: Oral Roberts (HAHAHA)

SUN BELT: Southern Miss (Cinderella's going dancing)

WEST COAST: Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Santa Clara

WAC: Utah Valley

 

ELIMINATION CHAMBER PREVIEW WITH NOTES THAT I WILL TYPE AFTER THE SHOW

 

Sami Zayn will lose by disqualification after Kevin Owens shows up and together they beat up the Blood Line.

-OK the ref was out for a long time, and Roman should have been disqualified, KO showed up at the end, so I was partially right.

Seth Rollins will outlast the competition and win the U.S. title.

-Seth would have won if not for the actions of Logan Paul.

Asuka will win the women's chamber match.

-Right on.

Brock will obviously defeat Lashley.

-Strange seeing a nut shot result in a dq, but there was no way Lashley would beat the Beast fairly.

No one cares, but Edge and Beth will win.  

-Maybe people did care, as a lot of people said this was their favorite match.

THE REASON CREIGHTON HAS ZERO CHANCE TO WIN IT ALL

 Baylor Scheierman should be starting at point guard for the Creighton Bluejays and the potential of him running point was what had Creighton so highly touted in the preseason.  He is Pistol Pete Marovich incarnate and brings a panache to the game that has not been witnessed often.  Please Bluejays put the ball in his hands and let him run point, then maybe we will be treated to true genius and spectacle. 

IT SEEMS AS IF HE HAS BEEN PLAYING FOREVER, SUPER SENIOR OF 23

Kihei Clark, University of Virginia: 

He won a title with the Hoos in 2019.  It seems as if this kid has been playing for UVA since before their dismantling at the hands of UMBC in 2018.