Do Not Push Brian Kendrick

See this guy pictured to the left here? His name is The Brian Kendrick and I'm officially over this guy. He needs to go away. Allow me to elaborate on why I think this should be.

First off his name is terrible, it means nothing to the audience. The word "the" should only be placed in front of action verbs with an -er for a wrestler name, like The Crusher or The Tickler. You know what you are getting there, a guy who crushes things and a guy who tickles things. With The Brian Kendrick I guess I am getting the best of all the Brian Kendricks. That would be okay if I had a frame of reference, like if I knew other guys named Brian Kendrick and they were all over the top people. Then I could say "Wow, the five Brian Kendricks I know are infamous! This guy must be outrageous since he is THE Brian Kendrick!". That would be great if it was the case but it is not. He is not the very best of a group of outrageous individuals that all share the same name. He is a guy that can not think of a cool name to save his life.

There is also the matter of his attire. Look at that jacket pictured above, it's terrible. It is slightly cooky but not enough to really say that you are really an outrageous person. Especially considering in contrast to other more wilder looking wrestlers on the roster. This coat looks like he dug out of the closet in the WWE wardrobe room, no one was ever going to wear that thing. It also does not really fit him, it is too long for his arms so he looks like a child in it. That does not really help him since he is a small competitor already. If you want to have your character wear outrageous clothing then go over the top with it. A fine example is Shawn Michaels, pictured to the right. Shawn understood what I am talking about since day one. A wrestler is like a living comic book character, so dress like it. Since Kendrick is a graduate of Shawn Michaels wrestling school you would think he would know this. Instead I have this guy prancing around in a jacket that even Haddaway would not be caught dead wearing.

Then there is his adviser Ezekiel Jackson, pictured to the right. He is a big man and he definitely looks like he could beat people up...but why does he always come out dressed in white linen? He is way too casual for my tastes. He dresses like a guy that should be walking the beach in the Caribbean. He just hangs out on the outside of the ring in his loose fitting, breathable clothes and watches The Brian Kendrick toodle around the ring. It bores me and I wish it would go away. They should really set Ezekiel Jackson up with a good gimmick and run with that instead.

To Kendricks credit I do think he has some talent in the ring itself, he is a capable wrestler. I just can not get over how lame his character is. He has had many opportunities to let us know who The Brian Kendrick is but it just has not worked. He has had his time in the sun now please let another wrestler try their hand in the spotlight. I know a certain individual that looks like a viking that could use it.

Push Mike Knox

When Mike Knox (pictured on the right booting that fool in the face) first debuted on the new ECW he was Kelly Kellys jealous boyfriend he looked more sleazy than intimidating. He maintained his heat by covering Kelly up whenever she felt the need to start stripping her clothes off, she was an exhibitionist then you see. Naturally his actions upset the male demographic, I can sum this up easily below...


1. Am I going to see a naked woman? Yes. Hooray!

2. Am I going to see a naked woman? No. I hate this

It's a simple concept for a character which works and couple that with his size, strength and speed and you have the tools for something decent. His mic skills are either non existent or have yet to be explored, I have not seen this from him yet so I can not say for sure. I think in time though it could be something that could be taught, assuming they're bad.

Anyways, he goes on a hiatus for a bit and then debuts on RAW. Now a single man who is silent, brutal and has long hair and an amazing beard much like a viking. Now he looks badass, we're making strides here. Then his first action is to attack Rey Mysterio and beat him viciously and appear out of nowhere when he does. Now he is a badass, mysterious, viking looking guy who is beating up a former world champion with ease. I am still into this at this point. Then when finally asked why he is doing what he has been doing to Rey Mysterio he says he does not know, he just does it... at this point I am sold. He is just a brutal looking guy who just beats people up, it is simple and I'm officially into this.

I feel like Knox has a lot of potential for growth if they give him the right opponents. I don't really feel that is what has been done for him thus far. Squash matches don't really do anything for character development to me. I know Mike Knox can beat up Johnny Red Trunks from Hoboken with ease, a jobber can be seen from a mile away. I want to see him beat people who matter with meaningful feuds. While he was in the elimination chamber at No Way Out he was eliminated early and has not really been seen much since. I am nervous that he is going to fade away at this point, which would be a shame. He needs a standout match with a legitimate opponent so the audience knows he will be around long enough so they can get behind him.

An example I often use when I talk about making new characters seem legitimate is when Gene Snitsky first fought Kane. This was back during the time when Lita had a miscarriage, while carrying Kane's bastard child, due to Gene Snitsky knocking her over. Naturally Kane is upset as we all find out that Kane has apparently always dreamed of being a daddy so he challenges Snitsky to a match! You can't just let a guy get away with this after all. What was supposed to be Kane getting the last laugh turned into Gene Snitsky crushing his windpipe with a steel chair. Snitsky won and all of sudden you know that Snitsky is serious now.

Mike Knox needs a match like this before the WWE creative team lets him fade into obscurity. He has a good look, good movement in the ring for a large man and he is young. Give this guy a legitimate push already.

Wrestlemania Predictions

I recently, 3/17/09 to be exact, made up my mind about who was going to win what at Wrestlemania 25 this year. One of my choices has already lead my friend Bobby to tell me I'm an idiot so please feel free to comment on my choices.

25 Diva Battle Royal:

Mae Young? I would think so as they seem to enjoy wheeling her out and having her put on geriatric strip shows.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match:

I'm picking Shelton Benjamin to win this. Out of all the participants I only see two that could believably beat a champion, Christian and Shelton Benjamin. While I do like Christian I do know that Vince doesn't so that leaves me with option two. Benjamin has been involved in every Money in the Bank match and is always a noteworthy participant. He finally has a gimmick that is decent and his mic skills have improved over this past year. He is an amazing wrestler in the ring, good enough that if you had to face him out of the blue your championship would be in jeopardy.

Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker:

Taker is going to keep the streak alive and defeat the Heartbreak Kid...not without putting on a sensational match though.

Jeff Hardy Vs. Matt Hardy (Extreme Rules):

EXTREME! Jeff is going to win this match for sure. The build up for this has been lackluster which explains why they made it an extreme rules match so that people will be more interested. I love those types of matches and I'm sure these two will put on a quality match. Hopefully this will have Matt Hardy change his look after this and drop all those trinkets he wears on his pants...trinkets are not extreme.

JBL Vs. Rey Mysterio (Intercontinental Title):

Hey hey hey! An IC title bout at Wrestlemania! People love watching rich guys from New York who dress like cowboys getting beat up by masked men so expect Mysterio to gain the IC title.

The Miz & Morrison Vs. The Colons (Tag Team Unification):

The Miz and Morrison beat these guys every time they fight and they stole their girlfirends last week, burn! As a tag team The Colons are lame and should lose to Miz and Morrison at Wrestlemania, especially if we are trying to decided who the real tag champs are. I am hoping this match will be a showstealer as all the talent involved are capable of putting on an awesome match.

Edge (c) Vs. Big Show Vs. John Cena (World Heavyweight Championship):

Expect Cena to walk out as the champion as he usually does at Wrestlemania. With any luck this will finally end Edge and Vicky being "married" as the idea of anyone sleeping with her makes me pray for death.

HHH (c) Vs. Randy Orton (WWE Championship):

This is the one where Bobby told me I was an idiot! Randy Orton is going to win this match! Will HHH beat the hell out of him? Definately, but it is Ortons time and mark my words he will be WWE champion after Wrestlemania.

There you have it folks! I'll check back to this in a couple weeks to see what I got right. Feel free to post your predictions in the comments below...or just tell me I'm an idiot.

**UPDATE** Added 3/24/09

Chris Jericho Vs. Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat and Roddy Piper:

I am a Jerichoholic through and through but I'd be a fool to think you can beat up old men and harass a movie star for a couple of months and not get what is coming to you at Wrestlemania. I love Chris Jericho but the legends will have their day in the sun in this one.

More Intercontinental fodder

Just to show that I'm not the only one, here is what ol' JR had to say when asked about an IC title match at Wrestlemania.

On JBL Defending the IC Title at WrestleMania: Is there an IC Title bout in WM25's future now that JBL is the new Intercontinental Champion? How long has it been since there has been a hot, IC Title bout at Wrestlemania? Just like those old, Wolf Brand Chili commercials, "Well, that's too long." It will be difficult for any IC Title bout to ever overshadow Steamboat-Savage from WM3. Nonetheless it is good to see the IC Title get some "shine" at 'Mania if that does occur.

Needs to happen!

A return to intercontinental glory?

In late 2008, when William Regal was the champion, they set up an Intercontinental tournament to see who would face him for the title. This was an effort to help restore the prestige to the title that has been lost in recent years. It made for some quality matches involving both new and old talent which made people think that this is something the wrestlers cared about again. CM Punk ended up winning the tournament and after a few meh matches on RAW against Regal was able to capture the title.

This was supposed to be the beginning of a return to greatness for the title. I was hoping for the current mid carders to really turn it up and put on some show stealing matches at pay per views, cut some quality promos on RAW, make themselves look like they could someday win the world or WWE title. It would be like how it used to be with the IC title being a stepping stone to the major championship. I tried to ignore the fact that the history of the IC title dvd set came out the same time the tournament took place, hoping this wasn't just a marketing scheme.

Instead CM Punk got a fashion accessory. He defended the title against Regal one more time which ended up being the blow off for the feud. After that he didn't defend it all, not on RAW or a pay per view. I still held out hope though knowing that Wrestlemania 25 is right around the corner. Perhaps this could be CM Punk's big moment to have a show stealing IC title match at Wrestlemania much like Savage Vs. Steamboat. He needs a high quality match for his career, in my opinion anyways. What better place for him to do it than the grandest stage of them all with the IC title on the line? It's a win win!

Instead he beats John Morrison and The Miz in a three way to qualify for the money in the bank match at Wrestlemania. Seriously? We just spent months talking about how important and prestigious the title is and then you have the current champion say to hell with it, I want the world/wwe title instead? That is the opposite of what you were trying to do! I look over at my IC title history DVD set and feel as if Vince got the drop on me.

More time goes by and I hope that maybe CM Punk will get into a feud with someone and drop out of the MITB match so he can defend the IC title at Mania 25. I begin to lose hope until I see that he will defend the IC belt against JBL on the 3/9/09 edition of RAW. I thought it was kind of an odd pairing but JBL did need a match for Mania so I had my fingers crossed. Instead of building a feud JBL just wins the title in another meh match. It was good in a way because now the IC champ wasn't in the MITB match...but JBL? I'll take anything at this point as long as we start getting some serious matches involving this belt.

Now my hopes and prayers rest in JBL's hands. Will JBL defend the IC title at Mania and maybe, just maybe, put on a stellar match? I certainly hope so for the sake of the title itself. It was supposed to be a return to greatness in recent months but it has only been a large reminder as to what is wrong with the IC title scene. It has become irrelevant in the eyes of the bookers. Which is sad due to the amount of young talent they could be prepping for the world/WWE title scene in the future. Maybe the bookers and writers should go watch the DVD set they just spent so much effort getting you to buy, maybe then they will get it.

May the wrestling god himself find a way to save it.