Canton’s Corner: April 14 Q&A Edition

 


 

Welcome to Canton’s Corner. I hit the writer’s wall this week so to speak, so instead of any commentary on Raw, Smackdown or Impact Wrestling I decided to do a Q&A on my Facebook page. People asked me questioned on there and my replies are the meat of this week’s column, which covers a lot of thing. I think it turned out well.

Last Week’s Poll Results
The last poll question was: Is it a good thing that Brock Lesnar is back in WWE? The results after 2,100+ votes:

Yes — 74.87%
No — 5.75%
Too early to tell — 19.38%

I voted yes, so the majority was with me on that. I think that it’s fair for some to be anti Lesnar because he did leave WWE in a bad way in 2004. However, I also think that enough time has passed that we can accept him back into the fold. Plus, he’s a good performer and that always helps.

For now the poll question will be removed from this column. I have another idea I may try next week or down the road.

I hope you’ve checked out the new TJRWrestling.com, which just opened up this week. All of TJR’s writers have come along for the move and we’re posting columns on a daily basis. I wrote an exclusive column about why WWE’s use of Twitter is a good thing. Give it a read and be sure to visit the site daily for more exclusives from myself as well as the rest of the TJR writing crew. I know it’s not the same as the old site. It takes some getting used to, but I think once there you’ll enjoy it as much as you did the old site. At least I hope so.

Question & Answer with John Canton
Earlier today at around 12pmET I asked for questions on my Facebook page and I answered them over the next hour. The result of that Q&A is what you see below. I’ve put the questions in bold and italics while my answers immediately follow.

Why does WWE not give tag team wrestling a chance anymore?

I’m not really sure. I think it’s easy to book tag team feuds and to also break up teams when the time is right so those wrestlers can feud as well. For whatever reason, in the last decade or so, tag team wrestler has been on the backburner in WWE. I guess you could say it’s been longer than that. The peak of tag team wrestling in WWE was the late 80s and early 90s. Hopefully now that Hunter has more influence they will focus a bit more on teams, but that’s not a sure thing by any stretch.

What’s the chance wwe actually goes through with the rock winning the wwe title?

I think Rock will win the title likely at WrestleMania 29. Don’t see him being around very much before the start of next year due to his movie commitments. If Lesnar walks in as champ and Rock beats him that would get a lot of press.

Do you think wwe will go back to Raw & Smackdown having their own rosters or will they stay mixed for a while?

I would love for them to keep the brands separate and exclusive. I think by having Smackdown talent on Raw it has killed the Raw midcard. I don’t see the brand extension ending because it’s vital for the house show business, which is a big thing for WWE. I think it’s better for the brands to be exclusive or to have something that makes them different from the other, but the fact that Laurinaitis is the GM on both shows likely means this “Raw supershow” stuff is continuing for the near future.

Who do you think will benefit most from switching shows in the draft this year?

Even though I know he was on Smackdown in the past, I think Dolph Ziggler needs to go back to that show. That’s the best place for him to be a World Champion, which he should be. I also think Cody Rhodes moving to Raw is very likely because there are a lot of fresh feuds for him over there. Those are the two guys that stick out to me.

What are your top 3 most memorable spots? Like the ones where it brings you out of your seat.

I assume you mean all time? I would go with Foley’s bump off the cell through the table at King of the Ring 1998, Austin passing out in the Sharpshooter at WrestleMania 13 and the last five minutes of that Undertaker/Michaels match at WM25 just because of how great it was.

Serious question if u had to watch one match over and over for the rest of your life what would it be and why?

Probably Undertaker vs. Michaels at WrestleMania 25. There are dozens of others I could pick that stand out, but that’s the one that sticks out the most.

Who else that is out there (big name wise) do you think the WWE will bring in? Would they bring in Scott Steiner, X-Pac???

Steiner likely won’t ever be back in WWE and X-Pac is also a name from the past that likely won’t be brought back. I don’t know if there are any big names out there that they could bring in other than maybe a Batista return. Perhaps more UFC crossover like a Tito Ortiz, but he’s not as big of a name as he was before. I’m not sure about there being a lot of “big names” out there.

If you could pick five wrestlers not currently signed to WWE to bring into the company, who would they be?

Probably four from TNA that I really like: Kurt Angle for one more run in WWE, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Austin Aries. The fifth would be MVP, who I felt was underutilized in WWE and deserves another run if he wants to do it. He’s happy in Japan these days.

Do you see a major heel turn coming in either TNA or the WWE?

In TNA they turn people every month. Nothing is major there. In WWE, I don’t see any major turns happening. Maybe a guy like Mark Henry turning babyface after this long heel run he’s had, but otherwise I can’t really predict any major ones.

You’ve always said 2000 was the best year in WWF/E history (and I agree). What would you rank as the second best year they’ve ever had and why?

It’s hard to pick just one. The ones that stand out to me are: 1997 – the year the seeds were planted for the Attitude Era that gave us plenty of great matches. 2001 – the Invasion angle wasn’t booked great, but the best Mania ever happened that year and lots of great matches as well. I think 2002 on Smackdown was incredible in the second half of the year and 2004 was pretty solid as well.

A Daniel Bryan face turn: good or bad idea?

Bad idea. It’s too soon after his heel turn that happened late last year. You need to keep him in the role for at least a year. I think he’s capable of being a great performer no matter what he does, but if you change his role again you’re going to hurt his growth as a performer. Plus, I really want that Punk/Bryan feud to happen this year. And it would be dumb to turn Punk heel.

With the latest news about Lita speaking about the state of the divas and over her own career, do you see this as a way for her to come back? Would this be good for the current women?

I like her and I think that she’d be a good addition to the Divas division, but I also think the booking of the division is generally pretty awful. It’s not necessarily a talent issue. It’s a booking issue. No character is ever going to get over when you give them 90 seconds of TV time, which is what divas matches tend to get. I don’t know if she wants to come back, but I think she’s probably recharged her batteries enough that she could definitely put in another two or three years if she wanted to. She might as well do it now while in her 30s because if she gets the itch ten years from now she’ll be too old for it.

Do you think John Cena will ever break Ric Flair’s 16 world title record?

I do. If you asked me this five years ago, I would have said HHH would beat it too but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. In Cena’s case I think it will happen. I’d be fine with it. It would be smart for WWE to do it because they can say he’s won more titles than anybody else although there’s an asterisk because there have been two world titles in the last 11 years.

On the basis where everything has room to improve, where do you think the five different areas in the WWE need the most improvement albeit additions to the roster, changes within etc. etc. Do you believe the WWE can reach the popularity it once had in the past by approaching it from a different angle with the PG/TV-14 approach that they’re going for?

I don’t think the Attitude Era popularity will be repeated any time soon. The world has changed. The way people watch wrestling has changed. The TV14/PG rating thing is overrated. If the shows are good then people will watch. If the shows are bad then less people will watch. It’s a consistency thing. The roster in the Attitude Era was the best roster there’s ever been and it’s not going to be easy to replicate that. Times have changed.

What does ROH need to do to pass TNA in terms of marketability and “status” (global/national/cult etc) to the North American crowd? ROH has already made that leap in the Japanese and UK markets. I think it’s more than a broader television deal, because they had that before and were still #3. I think the WWE allowing them to use Punk and Danielson could make some noise.

A better TV deal. Any wrestling fan that watches ROH and TNA can see ROH is better. But TNA is on national television while ROH is only syndicated and while they post their shows online that’s not as good as being on cable television. Plus, TNA is on in other countries like England where they have a good fan base. The exposure is why TNA is bigger. They also have more money, but that doesn’t mean they are more successful.

Do you ever think jr will commentate for wwe full time again?

I don’t think so. I think he should obviously, but Vince McMahon appears to think differently whether we like it or not.

When does John Cena get his revenge on the Rock? Are they trying to do the same thing they did with Rock vs Austin where the Rock didn’t beat SCSA until his third shot at him at Wrestlemania, which was ultimately SCSA’s last match?

Rock is filming three movies back to back to back so the odds of him appearing in WWE again before the end of the year is unlikely. Perhaps he could wrestle at Summerslam versus Cena in a rematch, but that seems like a farfetched idea at this point. I don’t know if there will be rematches. They have quickly transitioned from Rock/Cena to Brock/Cena, so that “once in a lifetime” line for Rock/Cena may turn out to be true after all.

What is next for Daniel Bryan? What is the best thing WWE can do with him?

I think a feud with Randy Orton would be fun. Perhaps it could be a three way feud with Sheamus involving the title and then when Sheamus retains the other two could build a rivalry from there. I also really want to see Punk vs. Bryan although I’m not sure if that’s in the cards or not. There’s a lot that DBry can do. He’s a man of many talents.

If you could book a PPV with TNA and WWE talent what matches would you book?

Undertaker vs. Sting would be fun huh? Personally I’d go with Punk as a face vs. heel Kurt Angle. I’m such a huge Angle mark and want to see him against some of the newer WWE guys like Punk or Bryan that he hasn’t wrestled. Obviously I’d love to see matches involving Joe, Styles or Aries too, but Angle’s my favorite in TNA and I would love to see him go up against some of WWE’s “new” top dogs.

Is there one more WWE or World Title run left for HHH?

Who’s going to stop him if he wants it to happen? Haha. I don’t think it will happen though. He knows his career is near the end and he’s a part timer at this point. I don’t see it happening.

John, do you think the WWE saw this explosion of fan support for Daniel Bryan coming when they booked this mania match or did that Monday Miami crowd set the tone for it?

It was the Sunday WrestleMania crowd too. The Monday crowd was likely 70% people from out of town too. Online fans have our favorites and Danielson is one of them. I think it’s great that he’s getting this kind of reaction and it was smart of them to make the “yes” shirt too. That doesn’t mean he has to go face though. It just means they should realize what kind of star he is and that he should continue to get a push going forward.

Headed to Afghanistan tomorrow, hopefully I’ll be able to catch your column on a normal basis still. That said: Thoughts on Ryback? I personally think he’ll bust the way Gene Snitsky did. Seems WWE brass like him though. What say you?

I think he has good potential. He’s had to work very hard to come back after a serious ankle injury and he’s got the kind of look that we know Vince McMahon loves. It appears as though he’s starting as a babyface. As I say all the time they need babyfaces, so there’s a chance for him to get a quick push as a heel killer type of character. Cue up the “Goldberg” chant I guess. Finally, be safe, God bless and thank you.

If CM Punk turns heel for a Wrestlemania 29 showdown with Steve Austin, how would you do it?

I wouldn’t turn Punk heel for a few years. No need to do that. They could have a face vs. face match. I don’t think Austin will wrestle, though. Just my opinion.

Do you think TNA will ever get close to Raw’s ratings?

I don’t think so. They’ve been in that 1.0 to 1.3 range for six years now. Raw is usually stuck around the 3.0 to 3.3 mark. I don’t see those numbers changing very much.

Raw with Cena bleeding made the whole scenario far more believable. Do you think the WWE will ever lose the PG rating and we get back to blood on tv?

I don’t think blood is a necessity. I understand those that like it and I do too, but you can still tell stories without it. The blood made the Lesnar fight seem more “real” and I liked that about the angle. Plus they’ve said “bitch” and “ass” way more in the last year than they did in previous years of the PG era, so they are more lenient about what’s PG and what’s not PG these days.

Do you think Paul Heyman should come back?

Should? Yes. Absolutely. I think Heyman is one of the best minds in the history of wrestling. However, he reportedly butted heads with Vince McMahon and others within WWE so that’s why he left six years ago. Do I think he will ever work there again? No. And I would love to be wrong about that.

One superstar who you saw and said “this guy will be a top guy some day” but didn’t even come close.

Sean O’Haire. Not only when he was in WCW, but when WWE brought him in and put him with Piper too. I thought he had a good look, size and athleticism. For whatever reason it didn’t work. Plus I loved that “I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know” catchphrase.

I’ve always thought that a Rankings system would be effective to determine #1 contenders, with the right application it would make challengers look very legitimate, what do you think?

I agree. They use it in boxing and although boxing can be messed up with how they do things, it’s an easy thing to keep track of. I remember TNA did it for a few months too before completely ignoring it. I don’t see WWE ever doing it because McMahon is set in his ways, but as a different concept I think it would absolutely work in WWE.

Not including Canada, what international wrestler past or present do you say made the biggest impact in the WWE?

I think Iron Sheik is the biggest name from the past. He went on to hold the WWF Title and dropped it to Hulk Hogan. Now he’s the most entertaining person on Twitter! Also British Bulldog had a great career too although he didn’t win the WWF Title. He had a nice run, though.

How would you book Christian when he returns?

As a heel. That’s his best role. I don’t see him getting the World Title again, though. His two brief runs is all he’ll get, I think.

Is the Miz still a relevant main event player? What does he need to do to get back to the “glory” of his title run (emphasis on the “glory” part)?

I’ve written before that he needs to turn face. I don’t think he is taken seriously as a heel. I’m not sure he can be a top face if he did, but it might be the better role for him. You can obviously see that guys like Jericho and Bryan are better heels. They have more credibility. Miz is an annoying heel, but doesn’t come off as being tough or scary in any way.

Do you think the WWE has the talent (whether on roster or in development) to build the tag team division back up to where it was in the 90s?

Yes absolutely. It’s a matter of wanting to do it and pushing it on your television shows. These days they don’t want to do it obviously. I think that’s a mistake. I love tag team wrestling.

In the very well done video package hyping the Storm/Roode match TNA bleeps out “ass” but allows “bullshit”. Also in all promos “ass” is bleeped out…what’s up with that? Are we that stupid? I thought “ass” was more acceptance than “shit.”

Ha. I don’t have an answer for that. Seems odd to me too.

How would you categorize Goldberg’s wrestling career?

I think he was in the right place at the right time because WCW knew they had to create a star so they picked him. I don’t think his career lasted that long because he lacked the talent to be a sustainable entity in the business. His promos were very average. His work in the ring was just okay. If he had a match longer than five minutes you could see how limited he was. Plus, he wasn’t a safe worker either. I was never a big fan of his.

What annoys you the most about being a wrestling fan or in your case writer in this day and age? For me it’s def the lack of surprises (ie: big returns). Bonus question: If you could change one thing about the business what would it be?

I agree with lack of surprises. If we weren’t reading online we would have been genuinely shocked to see Lesnar on Raw two Mondays ago. However, news surfaced that he was in Miami so most of us expected it. If I could change one thing about the business I would love to see TNA as a bigger company that had better people running the organization. It’s good for the business to have a company other than WWE being very successful. It would have been nice if they could have got Paul Heyman to book it or anybody not associated with the downfall of WCW.

Have you ever tried to get employment in wwe? If not, do you ever intend on doing so?

I’ve never applied to work for WWE. I’m not sure if I ever will. I like the life I have. But as they say “never say never” right?

What do you think/make of Scott Steiner’s recent twitter outbursts? Publicity stunt or genuinely trying to inform fans about the “brain trust”?

I think his grammar sucks, but otherwise I agree with him and a lot of it is true as far as I know. He’s probably upset he got fired. So he’s venting. I like Steiner. Holla if ya hear me.

A lot of people blame lack of territories for character development in WWE. I personally think the script writing is what is turning everyone into a generic replica on the person before them. Do you think Austin would’ve had Austin 3:16 if he was scripted? Would we be smelling what the Rock was cooking? Would HHH be the game and that damn good? How much of an impact does scripting the superstars have on character development?

It’s hard to know what characters benefitted from writers and what ones didn’t. The Austin 3:16 speech was not scripted. He winged it and nailed it. A lot of Rock’s stuff has been scripted. I think it’s up to wrestlers to come up with ideas and pitch them to whoever needs to hear it because nobody is going to know a character better than the performer himself or herself. I think scripting is needed in some cases and for others you need to do less of it. Everybody is different. I like the question a lot, though.

What’s the greatest wrestling match you have seen live and how would you describe the direction WWE is going in right now?

Best match I’ve seen live is Undertaker vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 28. Only two weeks old now! Direction is not much different from where it’s been the last decade. They’re doing fine, but not exceptional or anything out of the ordinary.

Do you believe Daniel Bryan will regain the title before the years’ end?

I don’t. It’s nothing against him. I just think there are others that may get to hold onto it before he does again…if he ever gets it again.

What’s the best part about a live WrestleMania event?

Being blocked by a palm tree. Haha no. I think the atmosphere of being there live is amazing. When you see something special it feels really cool to be able to say you were there live for it. Plus the “YES” chants are fun too.

Who do you think the WWE should get rid of and should bring back to the roster?

Get rid of? Khali. Bring back MVP and Low Ki. I like both of them.

WWE calls up five guys from FCW and releases five guys from the current roster. Who would you call up/release?

Anybody that’s not on TV is a possible release candidate so pick one. Five to call up would be Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Richie Steamboat, Antonio Cesaro and Xavier Woods. I like a lot of FCW talent, though, so I hope we see more of them soon.

As a 7 year old I was at Summerslam 92 in London, England. Do u think WWE will ever bring another big 4 PPV back to England?

They should, but they won’t. What they would have to do is have the PPV at 8pmET England time, which is 3pmET because I doubt they’d want results going on the net before that. They used to have afternoon PPVs airing here. That was in the early 90s though. I don’t think they’d ever do that again, though. If it was me though, doing that kind of thing for the June or July PPV would be great.

When wrestlers are hanging out socially with each other, do they generally call each other by their real names or stage names? I’ve heard that when actors are filming a movie, they get in the habit of using their character names when talking to each other, so to cut down on screwing up their lines and having to do re-shoots. Does this happen in wrestling?

Everybody is different. I’ve heard and read that most people called Undertaker just “Taker” instead of his real name Mark. I’ve met Tommy Dreamer many times and most call him Dream or Dreamer. Not his real name obviously. It depends on the person, the social situation and things of that nature.

When will JoMo come back??

I think Morrison will be back by year’s end or maybe the Royal Rumble. He let his contract expire, he’s on good terms as far as I know and he’s still got many good years as an active wrestler. These days he’s doing some indy shows, making appearances and working on acting. I think his heart is in WWE though, so we’ll see him back there in 2013 I think.

Divas division question…when will they listen to Beth and Natalya and stop going after Divas who used to model instead of females with actual wrestling talent?!

I hope it’s soon. It’s a philosophical thing, really. In the early 2000s they did have a lot of good women that could wrestle and I think most fans would agree that it was a strong time for the divas division in WWE. In the mid 2000s, they brought in and developed trained wrestlers like Mickie James and Beth Phoenix, but they also found success with models turned wrestlers like Michelle McCool and Candice Michelle, who were pretty good. I think the current philosophy is to find the pretty girls via model searches and turn them into wrestlers. The thing is, not all of them can wrestle. Look at Rosa Mendes. Not a great wrestler, but she’s obviously very pretty and they’ve found a good use for her as a manager. By looking at trained wrestlers though, you know what you’re getting and they would require less training. If it was me, I’d hire more of the trained wrestlers. Guys like watching pretty women, but we also like seeing them have great matches too. I wish things were better in the divas division. Give me that Beth vs. Nattie feud. It could be great.

That’s all for this Q&A. I’m not sure how many questions it was, but I think we covered a lot.

Random Clip of the Week
TNA is holding their Lockdown PPV this week. One of my favorite matches in TNA history happened at the 2008 Lockdown event as Kurt Angle wrestled Samoa Joe. Check it out if you’ve never seen it.

Fun. I miss Joe in main events.

Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Melo Out on the new and improved TJRwrestling.com website! To those that continue to visit and give a crap about The John Report, thank you for your continued support. It was a long week for me both work wise and having to redo all of the wonderful column banners, but I survived shockingly. But now it’s time to just sit back, relax and Melo Out.

One thing I haven’t really touched base on is the return of Brock Lesnar. Unless you have been living under a gigantic rock, this shouldn’t be a spoiler at this point. I still can’t get over how ridiculously loud that pop he got was when his music began playing. The Miami crowd was simply spectacular and at their best. One of the better crowds I have even seen on TV, unlike this past Monday in Washington DC. After watching both RAW and Smackdown this week, it became painfully obvious that we are now back to the usual weekly feel of what to expect when watching WWE programming. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I am saying that they were horrible shows. I am just saying that with the return of Lesnar it still seemed like there was something that was missing. We got blood when he punched Cena in the face at the start of the show and that was interesting and all but it still just felt like that special feeling of what a great RAW show should be was missing. I could be referring to that Wrestlemania feeling that has since come and left us and I could be alone here, but I expected more I guess.

It also doesn’t help that last week’s post Wrestlemania edition of RAW was one of the best RAW shows from top to bottom that we have had the pleasuring of witnessing in years in my opinion. So I guess when you look at it from that perspective, this week was definitely a step back. I just hope next week we are able to once again go two steps forwards. As far as Lesnar goes, I am very excited he is back. I don’t understand why they are trying to make him a heel after the ovation he got upon his return. I also don’t understand why the WWE is omitting the “Yes” chants that Daniel Bryan has been getting. I love the WWE and wrestling and I always will, but fuck this company sometimes and the stupid choices they make based on their own selfish desires. Daniel Bryan is taking off and they obviously know that since they have released the new “Yes” t-shirts. It’s all about the merchandise. That’s why Cena is still a face to the ladies and kids. Personally I know that there is a lot of excitement over this whole Lesnar and Cena feud, but I for one am more excited to see what other feuds will transpire as the year pans out. This one just ain’t doing it for me. Maybe time will change my mind.

Until next week, sit back, relax and melo out, because that is what wrestling is all about.

Steve “The Melo Man” Melo
Facebook: MeloOutTJR
Twitter: @MeloOutTJR

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That’s all for this week. Keep checking out the brand new TJRWrestling.com for daily content from our amazing crew of writers and I’ll be back on Tuesday with the Raw Deal as always.

John Canton – [email protected]
TJRWrestling.com
Twitter @johnreport
Facebook Facebook.com/thejohnreportnet

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