CHIKARA Event Center (7.19.12) (Marty Jannetty Promo)

YAMATO Returns To Dragon Gate USA Pro Wrestling

CM Punk Returns With a Cult of Personality

by Brian Phelps

http://wrestlersway.blogspot.com

On Raw, last night the roof blew off as a WWE Champion was crowned twice, and a 3rd returned. Rey Mysterio defeated The Miz to be crowned the new WWE Champion since you know who walked out of Chicago with the title at Money in the Bank. However, Triple H declared that Rey Mysterio would defend the title later that night against the man he claimed deserved a rematch, John Cena. Upon hearing that, the wind was completely let out of my sails. You just knew Cena would win, and he did. As John Cena celebrated his 400th World Title reign, mysterious music hit. It described someone with a "cult of personality". Then, as John Cena looked around confused... CM Punk waltzed out on the ramp with the real WWE Title around his waist, and a crowd pop worthy of insanity. As he took in the ovation, you could see a bewildered look on Cena's face. He looked like a man that saw a train coming at him from a mile away. It's like John Cena had a look in his eye like he knew his days as the face of the WWE were coming to an end, and the worst part is he can see that train coming a long way out. Punk climbed into the ring, and Cena tried to take his fraudulent WWE Title and hoist it into the air... getting some cheers and more boos. Then Punk raised the rightful WWE Title into the air to a deafening cheer. Cena then just walked out, like he was taking his ball and going home. The future is here, and it's a Cult of Personality.

Sting Snaps!

This past Thursday on Impact, Sting cut one of his best promos that I've ever seen on Hulk Hogan. Check it out!

Disco Inferno Returns! (Mr. Anderson wows again)

On Impact, it was promoted as the first edition of Sting's "Scorpion Sitdown" interview show (like Piper's Pit). Well, we were all fooled when Anderson came out dressed as old school Sting again. Mr.Anderson once again looks just like old school Sting and I truly believe that these impersonations are doing wonders for Anderson's career in terms of being memorable. Anyway, Anderson comes out and claims that he is going to call out someone from Sting's past. You start wondering... who could it be? The obvious choice would be someone from WCW that is currently in TNA... Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, and Ric Flair are obvious choices. Shannon Moore is a less obvious choice since he was in WCW during its dying days as a member of the boy band faction '3 Count'. You also wonder if they could get someone from WCW that is not affiliated with WWE, but not in TNA. You think guys like Buff Bagwell and Rick Steiner. Now, Rick Steiner seems like the best choice because Sting and Luger were great friends with the Steiners in WCW... and because Rick Steiner was almost always a face. Well... shocker time! Anderson calls out... Disco Inferno? Really? The one guy you would least suspect. Sting and Disco really didn't interact, and to my knowledge they never even had a match against each other. I'm baffled as to the logic of that choice, but nevertheless it is awesome to see Disco. Disco looks like he hasn't aged at all, and really added a lot to that segment. It really made me miss Disco Inferno. Impact Wrestling needs to sign back Disco Inferno even if he's only a jobber. He's still very entertaining. Once again, Anderson wowed as old school Sting and Disco Inferno made a memorable appearance by defending Sting and not backing down to Anderson. Great moment on Impact!

Flashback of the Day: Sting Cuts a Classic Promo in Preparation for Slammiversary

In this flashback of the day, we see the Stinger cut another classic promo for TNA in preparation for the Slammiversary PPV. I keep going back to Sting promos for these flashbacks of the day, because I think people tend to forget how great and under rated Sting is at cutting promos. Stings charisma is unmatched in pro wrestling by anyone but the Rock when it comes to promos. This is also for the newer generation wrestling fans, who have never really seen Sting cut any promos and think that The Miz or John Cena cuts great promos. Gimme a break. Stinger is one of the all-time great mic workers, along with The Rock and Ric Flair.

Flashback of the Day: WCW Starrcade 97 Promo

This is to this day, one of the greatest PPV promos I have ever seen. This felt closer to a movie trailer, than a PPV promo. In less than a minute, this promo told a story without ever saying a word. This is yet another example of what wrestling has the potential to be. It's promos like this that made the now legendary Sting vs Hogan encounter that much more amazing. Enjoy!

Flashback of the Day: Epic Sting vs Goldberg Promo

This was an epic promo for Slamboree 1999, Sting vs Goldberg. It's a shame because this should've been saved for Starrcade, and could've been one of the greatest matches of all-time and could've been one of the biggest PPV draws ever. This should have been up there with Sting vs Hogan, The Rock vs Hogan, Hogan vs Andre, and Warrior vs Hogan as one of the biggest matches ever. Sadly, WCW dropped the ball on this feud BIG TIME and the match was a dud.

Flashback of the Day: The Steiner Bros cut a great promo on Team3D

All I have to say is that Scott Steiner is the funniest promo man in pro wrestling. Enjoy!

Why the Nexus is a rip off of the World Elite

Ever since The Nexus has stormed the scene in the WWE, the wrestling world has been buzzing. While the Nexus has so far been widely praised as a breath of fresh air for the WWE, many have also criticized the faction for being unoriginal. Everyone has been comparing the Nexus to the nWo, but I am utterly shocked that no one has made the biggest connection of them all. The Nexus is a blatant rip off of the World Elite. Think I'm lying? Think about it. The ideology behind the Nexus in 2010 is they're a bunch of young guys tired of the establishment holding them down and pushing the veterans, so they have decided to take matters into their own hands and take over. This ideology and plot was taken nearly verbatim from TNA's World Elite faction from 2009. Every time I hear Wade Barrett cut a promo about being tired of being ignored, I have flashbacks to Eric Young cutting an identical promo with the World Elite. At the end of the day, the Nexus just copy-and-pasted the World Elite's ideology with the nWo's style. If pressed I'd say that the Nexus are just a more polished and glossy World Elite. I like the Nexus, but I got to call it in spades.

Flashback of the Day: Sting Promo 2007

This was a classic Sting promo from TNA, back in 2007 when Sting was trying to convince Abyss that he didn't need Father James Mitchell anymore, and that Abyss could be his own man. This was just before Sting fought Abyss in a "Last Rites" match at Destination X 2007. This promo showed the awesome potential TNA had even with the shoe string budget they were on at the time.

Flashback of the Day

From time to time, I will feature a flashback to a great moment in wrestling. Today, we take you back to RAW about 3 1/2 years ago, where The Natureboy cut a classic promo to Carlito's face. Enjoy!

Pope is Pimpin'

TNA's "Pope" D'Angelo Dinero was once a mid-carder named Elijah Burke on the weakest brand in WWE, the now defunct WWECW. In other words, he was a nobody. Then... WWE released him. Big mistake. TNA picked up the young wrestler, repackaged him under a street preacher gimmick, and delivered him to the masses January 4th, 2010. Since then, the Pope has since become a beloved TNA Superstar who is poised to become the next big star in pro wrestling. This is one superstar to look out for this year. Vince McMahon has got to be slapping himself for letting this guy go and keeping Hornswoggle. Ouch!