THE FUTURE ENDEAVORS POWER POLL: 01/20/11

Every week I, along with several other wrestling blogs (including my blogging YOSHIHIBRO, TH of The Wrestling Blog), will be sending in my top ten wrestlers to Don Owens of Future Endeavors. My votes are compiled with those of the other bloggers and that gives us the Power Poll. Here's this week's rankings (go to Future Endeavors to view the official write-up) and don't forget to check out the Future Endeavors Podcast.

NUMBER ONE THIS WEEK

CM PUNK

Photo - WWE.com

NOT RANKED THIS WEEK

RIC FLAIR

In wrestling, getting down on one knee either means you're being welcomed into Nexus, or you've been iced.

FUTURE ENDEAVORS POWER POLL: 01/20/11

1. CM Punk

2. Dolph Ziggler

3. Wade Barrett

4. The Miz

5. John Morrison

6. Edge

7. Daniel Bryan

8. Alberto Del Rio

9. Kofi Kingston

10. Mason Ryan

PIZZABODYSLAM POWER POLL VOTES: 01/20/11

1. CM Punk

- IN KAYFABE: def. John Cena via evil-genius-DQ, acquired a new member of Nexus in Mason Ryan (popular nicknames include "Fauxtista" and "Batistwo.")

- OUT OF KAYFABE: Had a great match with Cena to close RAW; remained a charisma overlord with his post-match knighting of Mason Ryan. His "kick me" pose was amazing, and will likely be used in every Punk/Cena video package from here 'til 'Mania.

2. Dolph Ziggler

- IN KAYFABE: Beat up Edge on SmackDown; lost to Randy Orton on RAW; watched his rookie Byron Saxton lose on NXT.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: He's a future World Champion. Maybe not at the Rumble (almost definitely not), but some time soon. This year? Maybe. History shows that since 1998, at least one guy per year wins their first-ever (WWE) World Championship - could Ziggler be the one to do it in 2011? A lot of guys could fill that role - Del Rio, Christian, Daniel Bryan (a boy can dream). But Ziggler is killing it right now, maybe the best he's ever been. And he's hilarious on NXT. Along with literally everyone else.

3. Daniel Bryan

- IN KAYFABE: def. By John Morrison on RAW; with his rookie Derrick Bateman, def. Ted DiBiase and Brodus Clay on NXT; developed telepathy in the NXT Rookie Challenge (Steve Blackman!); is, uh... a virgin. Or at least according to the Bellas. Maybe that's just the conclusion they came to when Bryan resisted their whorish charm. "He doesn't want to bang two sisters at once? WELP MUST BE A VIRGIN"

- OUT OF KAYFABE: He's still one of the few people I legit look forward to seeing on RAW. I mean, sure, I like Randy Orton and stuff, but I don't perk up when his music hits. And like Dolph Ziggler (and, I mean it... everyone else) he is hilarious on NXT. I think I look forward more to NXT than RAW or SmackDown every week. Maybe it's because, at one hour long, it's way easier to digest. Or maybe it's because the comedy is natural and off the cuff and actually funny and it pokes fun at itself and isn't just a billion John Cena Triple H gay and poop jokes. Or maybe it's because it's not 45% video packages. Whatever it is, it's working.

4. John Morrison

- IN KAYFABE: def. Daniel Bryan on RAW; had to listen to a man in a cape yell at him from fifty feet away.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: Continued his string of good matches - and he didn't have to jump off a school bus or something!

5. The Miz

- IN KAYFABE: Beat up Randy Orton.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: Had to endure John Cena's best attempt at PG humour (that's resilience right there).

6. Alberto Del Rio

- IN KAYFABE: Teamed with Cody Rhodes in a losing effort against R-Truth and Rey Mysterio on SmackDown; gave us a fucking hilarious comedy match in Conor O'Brian vs. Ricardo Rodriguez; watched his rookie (O'Brian) get eliminated from NXT.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: His backstage segment with Rodriguez and O'Brian was amazing ("are you trying to embarrass me?!"). And he's closing in on being the best promo on any show... but you already knew that.

7. Wade Barrett

- IN KAYFABE: Lost to the Big Show on SmackDown by DQ; let Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater tag along; welcomed Ezekiel Jackson into his new stable, because hey, even Ahmed Johnson joined the Nation that one time; got new crappy music.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: Had a decent match with Big Show until Ezekiel Jackson appeared on the apron just staring for no reason. I feel like that could've been done way better. Totally underwhelming for me.

8. Kofi Kingston

- IN KAYFABE: Retained his Intercontinental Championship against Jack Swagger.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: The match was good! I think. I kinda forget. I feel bad saying this, but Brandon Stroud might be right again.

9. Jack Swagger

- IN KAYFABE: Lost to Kofi Kingston on SmackDown.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: Somehow when from actual World Champion to Intercontinental contender. And now not even #1 Contender, like at least #2 after losing so many times. Why is he filling this workhorse loser role?! GET THE EAGLE BACK JACK

10. Derrick Bateman

- IN KAYFABE: Teamed with Daniel Bryan to beat Ted DiBiase and Brodus Clay on NXT; won the NXT Rookie Challenge via telepathy.

- OUT OF KAYFABE: I find him funny. Naturally, he gets a decent amount of boos, because hey, if your humour doesn't involve tripping over Hornswoggle or making a Justin Bieber reference, you're not funny to the WWE Universe.

FUNNIEST SHIT OF ALL TIME: I WHIP RIC FLAIR BACK AND FORTH

Via We Watch Wrestling

And if you don't get it, you're better off. But if you still wanna find out... well... here you go.

LOOK AT BANNER, MICHAEL!

Just put up this bangin' new banner, once again made by my good buddy Mike over at World Champion of Something. Mike does this without me asking, which is pretty awesome. In return, I do nothing. Quite a deal I've struck.

This time around, he ditched the Ultimate Warrior, Austin Aries, the Hardy Boyz, Michael Hayes and Batista in favour of...

MICHAEL

COLE

DAVEY

RICHARDS

RIC

FLAIR

OWEN

HART

DESMOND

WOLFE

and finally,

EVAN

BOURNE

Thanks Mike! Someday I'll repay you by making you a banner for something. Except it'll have to be a real life banner made with pencil crayons, because I can't make things on my computer.

WOOPACHE - VIA COLT CABANA'S "ART OF WRESTLING" PODCAST

The latest edition of Colt Cabana's podcast (which I link in the sidebar - and right here in these very parenthesis) features the best pro wrestling/Sugarhill Gang mash-up I've ever heard! I was cracking up at this, and thought it'd be a good thing to share. It also opened up a whole new world of wrestling mash-ups that I didn't know existed. Including this Hulk Hogan/Headbangers/Apple Pie mash-up that defies description.

But first, here's Woopache:

Subscribe to Colt Cabana's "Art of Wrestling" podcast at WeLoveColt.com - and you can satisfy all of your Colt Cabana needs at ColtMerch.com

WORDS I WOULD HAVE NEVER KNOWN IF IT WEREN'T FOR WRESTLING: CONSORTIUM

con-sor-ti-um [kuhn-sawr-shee-uhm, -tee-]

- noun, plural -ti-a [-shee-uh, -tee-uh]

1. a combination of financial institutions, capitalists, etc., for carrying into effect some financial operation requiring large resources of capital.

2. any association, partnership, or union.

3. Ric Flair

Origin:

November 19th, 2001 on Monday Night Raw.

History:

Shane and Stephanie sold their share of WWF stock (which they still owned when they were spearheading the WCW/ECW vs. WWF feud) to a "consortium" which ended up just being a fancy word for Ric Flair, which made Flair and Vince McMahon co-owners of the WWF. I still don't understand this word. Thanks, wrestling!

MY FAVOURITE MATCH OF RIGHT NOW: FLAIR V. STEAMBOAT - CHI-TOWN RUMBLE '89

I just watched this one again a couple nights ago and HOLY DAMNIT does it ever hold up as being one of the greatest of all time. The crowd is hot as blazes, the wrestling is perfect (obvs) and I just love the overall presentation and style of it all, mainly because it looks like a sport.

If you have this on DVD (Rise and Fall of WCW + I could've sworn it was on the Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, but it's got their WrestleWar '89 match, also one of the greatest) you should definitely put it on and give it another go.

If not, here's the match in it's entirety:

NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - CHI-TOWN RUMBLE '89

"NATURE BOY" RIC FLAIR VS. RICKY "THE DRAGON" STEAMBOAT

FLIPPING BETWEEN RAW AND IMPACT: 03/08/10

This will likely be the new format for any Monday night wrestling review. Me and my pal Steve (hi steve) decided that the best course of action was this:

9:00 - Impact

9:15 - RAW

REST OF NIGHT - Flip between the two with a Justin TV stream on the go, letting us know what's going on during Impact.

In Canada we get RAW at a 15-minute time delay, so Impact will always get a lead-in with us. After that, it's fair game.

Now here's the problem, which will be fixed the next time this nerdy showdown of watching wrestling on a TV and a laptop simultaneously goes down. I don't remember exactly when we flipped back and forth, so the night ended with me wondering if Sting was with Batista or not. So the segment comparisons below might not be 100% accurate.

The best part about this whole deal to me isn't really about which show was better than the other, but more about piecing one good show together out of the two.

Our night had a lot of "oh, Divas tag match turns into POOF - X-Division three-way!" or "Brooke Hogan is crying to her dad turns into POOF - Evan Bourne's SSP!"

Here is how the competition shaped up for us, essentially (in terms of what we chose to watch instead of what):

MINDFREAK & THE JOHN CENA GAUNTLET VS. HOGAN & FLAIR GETTING JUICE THREE TIMES BETWEEN THEM (IN 2010)

THE BREAKDOWN

TNA Main Event tease def. Score RAW Preview RAW

TNA X-Division 3-Way def. Taker/HBK, Divas Tag RAW

RAW Criss Angel's eyeball def. Dixie Carter TNA

RAW Miz talkin' DREW Knockouts/Pope & Desmond TNA

RAW ShoMiz vs. Mo'Truth def. Commercials? TNA

TNA Sting/RVD def. Some tricks--sorry ILLUSIONS RAW

RAW Legacy Handicap Match def. The Banned (ha?) TNA

RAW Batista interview def. Young/Pac denim match TNA

TNA Army Lumberjack promo DREW HHH/Sheamus RAW

RAW Criss Angel squashing paper cups def. Tenay/Taz TNA

RAW Bourne/Regal def. Jarrett/Foley/Beer Money TNA

TNA No DQ Main Event def. Vince McMahon RAW

RAW Feats of Strength with John Cena def. Nothing TNA

And here are my favourite moments of the entire night...

GREATEST MOMENTS FROM MONDAY NIGHT

- Taz calling Hulk Hogan "Help Hogan"

- Evan Bourne filling the last MITB spot

- The X-Division Three-Way

- Shannon Moore getting a Title shot by applying the foolproof TNA strategy of staying off TV for months

- Jeff Hardy cleans house and let's us use our ImagInation for the Swanton Bomb!

- The absolute INSANITY I felt enter my mind as I watched the TNA main event. Just a hilariously scary thing to watch. Ric Flair looked like someone from my nightmares.

- Taker/HBK announced as NO DQ: Take bets now on how scary the Shawn Michaels table spot will be. I bet it will be at least an 11 on the DBMM.

- Jeremy Borash dumping champagne down Lacey Von Erich's cleavage.

- The pop for RVD.

- The endless beatdown of RVD.

- Dis N Dat point at a sign.

- Generation ME/MCMG announced for Destination X as an Ultimate X match. That match will almost certainly look like CGI it will be so goddamned crazy.

- Vince McMahon inventing rules for matches that have never existed before anyway.

- Batista's "all eyes on me" spotlight-cueing thumbs.

If this can just keep happening every week where I get thoroughly entertained by two wrestling shows, by flipping between the two... I will be greatly pleased.

And it appears that next week will be even crazier, somehow. RAW will have Michaels/Jericho, Show/Cena and HHH/Orton with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the host, who will likely monitor the Bret/Vince contract signing.

While TNA is boasting an insane tag team match pitting Jeff Hardy & Rob Van Dam against AJ Styles & Desmond Wolfe. That, plus Generation Me wrestling, according to Matt Jackson on Twitter, should make for some tough channel flipping.

It's WAY more exciting watching both at the same time/flipping channels than it is DVRing one and watching both one after the other. You just get so worn out by the end of it all. But two shows at once makes for a wild evening that makes you feel like you've been drinkin' and druggin' with reckless abandon.

WWF TITLE BELT SIGNATURE QUEST OF GLORY (AND GEEKDOM. MOSTLY GEEKDOM.)

When ROH announced that they'd be coming to Toronto for Death Before Hishonor VII's two-night weekend, I was all kinds of excited. But when they announced that Bret Hart and Ric Flair would be attending, I pretty much ruined my jeans and computer chair.

I'd always wanted to buy a replica belt, and now I had the perfect excuse. Getting the WWF Championship (Winged Eagle design) signed by not only two of the greatest of all-time, but two men who actually wrestled for and exchanged that very belt, would be so cool. So I bought it, they signed it, and I went home happy as Michael Cole calling a Batista Bomb.

But now the plot thickens. Hulk Hogan will be making an appearance in Toronto soon to promote his new book, and I could very well ask him to sign the belt as well. Thus making it signatures from Flair, who then dropped the belt to Bret, who then dropped the belt to Hogan (er... well Yokozuna then Hogan... but it was in the same night, so wah).

So with Bret, Flair and Hogan already on the belt... why stop there? Why not see if I can get the signature of every still living man who held that very design of the WWF Title?

I don't expect to really do it. I'm sure someone else already has. But fate has knocked on my door -- I already had tickets to the ROH shows before Bret Hart and Ric Flair were announced as appearing. I found out about the Hulk Hogan signing because my girlfriend works for the company hosting it. I didn't seek out these opportunities - they found me.

See? Fate. I can't wait until Diesel starts dating my aunt or something.

- mitts