The No Smark Zone 21: In Front Of The Firing Squad

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Kaedon

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The No Smark Zone 21: In Front Of The Firing Squad.

Before I sat down to write this edition of the NSZ, Montana came to me with the idea of asking me questions to get into my wrestling philosophies a little more. It’s a great idea so here, for the first time on the No Smark Zone, Kaedon steps in front of the Firing Squad.


Montana:You were recently live at Monday Night Raw, tell us about your experience

Me: It was great actually. HHH’s entrance is a must see thing, it was just amazing. I’m pretty sure they cranked up the volume for his entrance above all others as his music was fucking loud. I really liked the view we had, we were the second level up from the floor almost center so I got a good view. Had we been one level lower we would have been on TV a lot when they took a long shot of the right turnbuckle on the announcer side.

We got a lot of solid action, nothing great, but still good. The cage match was great and seeing Coach take an F-U through a table was great to see as well. The Highlanders also pulled double duty as they did Heat and Raw and that was cool because they are my favorite tag team. The WWE were also pretty generous as they gave out a bunch of Jeff Hardy glowsticks to everyone. Also, Mr. DAMN himself, Ron Simmons made an appearance in the crowd talking to the kids who were handicapped. It was really cool of the WWE I thought.

After the show my friends and I headed to a Denny’s and we ended up meeting Santino Marella and my favorite tag team, The Highlanders. They were nothing but gracious and nice to everyone who came up to talk to them. They signed my ticket and had a great conversation. They were in their kilts too, so I don’t know if they are really Scottish or if they are that committed to their character. Rory asked me if I saw their turn coming and, of course, I said no because they were the LAST team I’d expect to turn in any way. He got this big smile on his face and went “Gotcha!â€￾ Santino acknowledged that I had my “DAMNâ€￾ shirt on and I told Santino that I loved hate his character. I don’t know if he took it as a compliment or not but I told him I meant no disrespect and I really enjoy his character. As far as Robby, well he signed my ticket in the only way he can. He signed it “IM ROBBYâ€￾. The Highlanders said they have action figures coming out in October which is cool to hear. All in all it was a great experience and I think that everyone should go to one WWE Live show to experience it.



Montana:ECW Elimination Chase: Love it or Hate it?

Me: To be honest, I have missed ECW in recent weeks as I haven’t been that interested but I did see it tonight and I will say I do like the idea. It’s something that, to my knowledge, hasn’t been done this way in the WWE ever and I think ECW is a good testing ground for new ideas. The only thing I didn’t like about it was Kevin Thorn got eliminated tonight. I love Thorn as he has some damn innovative moves.



Montana: Does the roster need a shake up again, or once the injuried/suspended wrestlers return all will be good once again. Also do you feel the talent is spread fairly over the three brands. With Raw, the A show getting the most talent?

Me: I don’t think a major shakeup would be good at this point. I think the WWE tries to stack the Raw brand as it is “the A showâ€￾ and while I don’t agree with that idea, it seems to be working right now because a lot of guys are suspended or injured. But when people come back, you will have Bobby Lashley, Ken Kennedy, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Umaga, Triple H, Randy Orton, Vince McMahon, and John Cena all on the same show. AND THAT IS JUST THE OVERCARD. I mean come on, that’s a lot of talent to try and keep exposed. Over on SD, you have Rey Mysterio, Undertaker, Batista, and The Great Khali along with the soon to be returning Edge. I think that SD could really benefit from having ONE more guy from Raw come over to help them since Flair isn’t really active now. ECW needs more guys, its that simple since they have NO undercard. None. It’s Viscera, The Boogeyman, The Miz, Balls Mahoney, and Mike Knox. Seriously, who wants to watch that?



Montana:Who’s your 2007 MVP for the WWE, as far as over all performance and why?

Me: This is a tough one because there are so many facets to performing. Guys like John Cena are quite obviously some of the best in drawing in the crowd on an emotional level where as guys like CM Punk have it cornered on a “workrateâ€￾ level. While Cena is far from the best worker, he is still, in my opinion, the guy who works the hardest in the WWE, but that’s not quite enough. No, my MVP for the year is going to go to a guy who is, unfortunately injured right now. The man who is the overall best wrestler of the year is Edge. There is not one more hateable person in the WWE so he has charisma but he also has a fairly good “workrateâ€￾. I don’t think he can “make peopleâ€￾ look good like Undertaker can, or work as hard as Cena does, but his natural ability overshadows all of that. And when I say he doesn’t work as hard, it’s not because I think he is a slacker, I think it’s because I think it all comes a lot more naturally to him. And you know, 2 years ago, I never would have said this. I used to turn off the TV when Edge would come on because I wasn’t entertained by him. But when he started his feud with Kane on Raw and then later went on to face Flair which really grabbed my attention. So there, in a long way, my MVP of 2007 is Edge.



Montana:Save_Us.222…..Your Thoughts, If its Jericho, how would you use him?

Me: Well I think it’s a good idea that it is so cryptic, but you have so many “smartâ€￾ fans thinking its Y2J so I would swerve them and bring him in in a way connected to it but not directly resulting from it. Like make it someone else and then have Y2J come in and beat his ass or something. So the fans go “ohh its not Jericho, YES IT IS!!!â€￾ I think I would be a shitty booker because I could see myself spending all of my time trying to swerve the “smartâ€￾ fans.



Montana:What’s your top 5 WWE matches of the year?

Me: In no order…

Batista/Taker- Wrestlemania: This first meeting was their best IMO. This is what should have been the main event of Mania too but the WWE want us to see Cena as THE GUY so there we go. But still a great match.

Nitro/Hardy- NYR: This was the best steel cage match, regular cage match, of the year. These guys really mesh well in the ring which is why I think Jeff Hardy would be great in ECW when Johnny comes back.

Cena/Orton- Summerslam: This was Cena’s and Orton’s best individual effort of the year. These guys did everything they could to get this match over. I know, there were a lot of chinlocks but Orton really wasn’t resting as he was always cranking, wrenching, or doing something else and Cena was always trying to get out of it. I feel the WWE is in very good hands with these two to lead the way.

The 2007 Royal Rumble: Wow!! What a match this was!! This might be able to finally topple the 1992 Royal Rumble as the greatest of all time. I never thought Id see something to top that but this one did, especially considering how it ended as you really had no idea who would win. If it had come down to HBK and anyone else or Taker and anyone else, you would have known, but this was really one of those times, no matter how “smartâ€￾ of a fan you thought you were, there was no way to tell who would win. And they had a hell of a 10, almost 20 minute match when it came down to just them two as well.

Cena/Umaga- Royal Rumble: This was a Last Man Standing match. This is another place where Cena shows that he busts his fucking ass to give the people a great show. He and Umaga put on one HELL of a match that had the crowd almost giving them both a standing ovation.



Montana:TNA is gearing up for their biggest ppv of the year, and is about to debut with 2 hours. What are your thoughts on the BFG card?

Me: I am not all that familiar with the TNA product but I will do my best here…


Sting vs. Kurt Angle

TNA are FINALLY doing the right thing by getting Sting and Angle together. They are the biggest stars in the company and as such, they should have been working together a few moths after Angle came. Then again they might have been saving it (save that 4 minute shitfest on IMPACT) for their Wrestlemania so to speak. This is a match I want to see.

Ultimate X

Ok this is a good idea I guess, one of TNA’s better ones. Its basically a jacked up gimmick on a pole match. I don’t see much in the way of psychology coming out of it but it should be fun to watch at least.

X-D Title

I don’t really know about XXX so I cant really comment on it and I am really not a fan of the Macho Man parody but all I can say is, at least they are trying.

Samoa Joe vs. Christian

This is one of the feuds that I think has been built up well. Joe has always played this gay little tweener role and now that he is facing Christian he is the CLEAR face. Good idea to have CLEAR divisions.

TNA Tag Title Match

Why are heels challenging heels for the tag titles? And why is Pacman Jones a champion IF HE CANT TOUCH ANYONE!!!!??

The Steiners vs. Team 3-D

A tables match on a PPV seems like cheap filler to me. I am really not a fan of them as you can always see the end coming a mile away. Plus, all of these guys are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY over the hill.

Women’s Gauntlet

I guess it’s a good idea to push Women’s wrestling as the WWE don’t do it. However I don’t see it lasting that long because women don’t draw as much attention as men. If they didn’t draw when they had a Women’s Tag Team Division, I don’t think they are gonna draw now.

The Reverse Battle Royal

I hate reverse matches. They are dumb. I don’t really see the point of it and I really don’t like them.


Montana:How would you alter TNA?

Me: They are taking the first good step with Sting/Angle and Christian/Joe. Those are the 4 biggest stars in TNA so feud them and milk it for as long as they can. When they go to 2 hours, I would lie, cheat, steal, rob, or do whatever I have to do to get some megastars in like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, or The Rock. All of these guys can legitly draw, like it or not and they would boost ratings, if only in the short term. But I would bust a nut if I saw Goldberg come out and spear Angle or The Rock give Sting the people’s elbow. I would also package some more tag teams, some more FACE tag teams to be exact. Id cut the fat, IE the Steiners, Team 3-D, and VKM. Id feud guys like Daniels, Styles, and Abyss with the over guys like Angle, Sting, and Christian and start making more stars. I would also let Dustin Rhodes push the Rhodes name only because I like seeing guys use a family name like that.



Montana:Thoughts on the Project 161 storyline?

Me: Well from what you have told me it was a great storyline and booked to near perfection. The only problem I have with it was that ROH didn’t allow the fans to suspend disbelief or try to make them think it wasn’t “a workâ€￾ by calling it “Project 161.â€￾ You knew what was up. When that is associated with almost “outsidersâ€￾ coming into the company, you know it’s a work so why would you try to look at it any other way? Otherwise it was great. I love anti-establishment angles.



Montana:Favorite wrestling show of all time?

Me: Its so hard man, there are so many. Well in the past it has always been the 1992 Royal Rumble. From top to bottom it was a great PPV with damn good matches and a ME that couldn’t be beat. Then I saw the 1990 Survivor Series. I love multiman matches and I think this was the best one of all time. Wrestlemania 8 was always my favorite Mania for the longest time as Hart/Piper and Flair/Savage are my two all time favorite Mania matches. I got a chance to see WM 4 for the first time after I saw 8 and I thought it was amazing. I love tournaments, always have, and always will. You got to see rare dream matches and I just love it. I didn’t really like a lot of the stuff from 1993 till 99 or 2000 PPV wise as the undercard almost always sucked. Later Mania’s I liked were WM 20 and 23. And like I said before the 2007 RR was just great IMO. The best Summerslam in recent memory for me was SS 2005 because there was not ONE bad match on the card and the ME was amazing. Summerslam 1991 was a great one too because of the Hart/Perfect match.


Montana:Who’s your “young gunâ€￾ pick to eventually lead the wwe one day?

Me: Without a doubt it’s gonna be MVP. The guy is just so smart and so good in the ring. He is gonna be the first full on Black WWE/WHC and then finally people can shut the fuck up about Vince and the color barrier. BEFORE he gets there though, Ken Kennedy will lead the WWE within the next 5 years.


Montana:Anything you change about the wwe?

Me: I hate Khali. I hate his guts and I do not want him on my TV. That being said, if I had my way, they’d come here just so I can see him in person because I am impressed by big people. I’d give tag teams some more exposure with some “starâ€￾ teams along the lines of MVP and Hardy because I like those teams and they used to be great back in the day. I went through the roster change thing already so I wont get into it again. I’d give Kane a legit main event push and maybe even give him the title just to give him enough cred to put over a few more guys. Id fire Vis, Miz, Boogey, Balls, Dykstra, Khali, Snitsky, and a few others as they really serve no purpose. I’d also keep the title on Cena until Mania and have him turn heel then.


Montana:Do you feel like the wwe is marketing their product to a younger audience the past few years, and is this a good strategy?

Me: I think the WWE have been doing it since Vince took over and I think it’s the best idea because let’s face it, as you get older, it is a LOT harder to like wrestling. You get to be too smart for your own good. Like these two guys I saw at Raw. They sat there, arms folded, didn’t cheer, boo, smile, laugh, or fart for the most part. Turn around and see a little kid who see’s his hero John Cena and he is screaming his head off. Who is having more fun? It gets a lot harder to suspend disbelief as you get older because its hard to turn your brain off. You notice errors, you notice little things that kids don’t and most people get turned off and tune out. So unless you market to kids, you aren’t going to have a market. And I have no problem with that whatsoever. Wrestling is for the young and the young at heart and I want to stay as young at heart as possible. So if they wanna have heroes and villains, so be it. I like cheering for the good guy and booing the bad guy. JBL makes me laugh to no end, but I still hate him and want to see him get his Texas ass kicked. I like booing Santino because if I really don’t like a character, it means he has broken through my always working brain and said or did something shitty that it makes me go “Ooooooooooooooooh what a bathturd!â€￾


Wow that was an adventure wasn’t it? Montana sure didn’t pull any punches. I wanted to thank Monty for asking these questions as I enjoyed responding a lot. If anyone else wants to put me in front of the firing squad, just send me some questions and I’d love to answer them. There WILL be a SD Review this week, so I will see you all then.
 

the dark knight

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so...all this hype for 2 months that you're going to watch raw live, AND YOU DONT EVEN TOUCH CANDICE, YOUR HOMETOWN KITTY? what a queer :gun_rifle:

atleast a pic ya know..

elimination question
i agree, nothing to add.

roster getting a shake up
took the words right outta my mouth.

MVP of the year
yaaaay, edge has been mentioned.

top 5 matches
bullshit, you forgot about hbk vs cena at raw + edge vs orton.

*skips the tna and roh questions*

young gun
nope, not mvp. if they both get a decent push, carlito and kennedy are going to be the ones leading it. oh and, mvp wont be the 1st 100% nig cough cough black guy to win the WHC/WWE title..booker was. if thats what you meant..

wwe change
khali should die now. when he won the title with the run jerk sin guy, he was cool and he was the best choice. but putting him against tista more than once = Blue. should've let kane beat him up...

as for letting cena hold the title till mania, i already stopped watching wrestling. and hearing that cena's still champ for 6 more months = :hang: forever.

what else? firing dykstra? why? explain that please..

wwe for 12 year olds..

i never saw the wwe being booked for smarks. the difference between the previous eras and now is that the new talent are soooo annoying (gorilla, gay face expressions) and so fake, they even make the kids throw up. but i dont really hate them for doin it, they have the right. we are already addicted to it, and we're staying this way. take me for example, i said that i stopped watching wrestling...right now im itching to watch raw :(.


next time write a column about "your mom" :gun_rifle:
 

icebox

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After the show my friends and I headed to a Denny’s and we ended up meeting Santino Marella and my favorite tag team, The Highlanders. They were nothing but gracious and nice to everyone who came up to talk to them. They signed my ticket and had a great conversation. They were in their kilts too, so I don’t know if they are really Scottish or if they are that committed to their character.

Sounds good :). And as far as i am aware they are originally from Oban, up north.



I agree with most what what you said really, though I actually found it easier to like wrestling as i got older,understood it more i suppose.
 

Montana

Guest
Thanks for answering all the questions in full detail. Your answers aren't too different from mine, here is what i didn't agree with or what stood out.


2007 mvp....i hate to say it, but its gotta be Cena. He's had the biggest fueds/matches this year. 2006 i'd say edge though.

Top 5 matches....well, mine would look like

Cena vs Umaga
HBK vs Cena I
HBK vs Cena II
PUnk vs Morrision
Taker vs Batista Last man standing

Although with the LMS match, i think a handful of matches could take that 5th spot. But that's how mine would look.

- I liked how you said, lie cheat and steal to do whatever it takes to bring in a goldberg/Brock. Me Personally, don't think thats the answer. Those guys are too expensive and bury the tna roster. I'd focus on traveling and making money.

- Royal Rumble 92 was a classic. Probably the first ppv i had on vhs. I watched it at least 4x. I liked SummerSlam 92 too. 1992 was a good year in general.
 

Y2Jasmine

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I always love to read your stuff Kaedon but I especially enjoyed youre being the one to answer the questions...lol. i havent really got a chance to watch alot of wrestling recently and its always nice to be able to hear other peoples thoughts and though I dont always agree with your views I respect your opinions. I hope we dont have to see Cena for another 6 months. I honestly know almost nothing regarding TNA or ROH so ....but I think its great you think of Edge as the MVP this year because atm he is the heel I love to hate the most. And lets hear it once again, the flat out truth...Khali SUCKS.
 

Kaedon

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so...all this hype for 2 months that you're going to watch raw live, AND YOU DONT EVEN TOUCH CANDICE, YOUR HOMETOWN KITTY? what a queer :gun_rifle:

atleast a pic ya know..

elimination question
i agree, nothing to add.

roster getting a shake up
took the words right outta my mouth.

MVP of the year
yaaaay, edge has been mentioned.

top 5 matches
bullshit, you forgot about hbk vs cena at raw + edge vs orton.

*skips the tna and roh questions*

young gun
nope, not mvp. if they both get a decent push, carlito and kennedy are going to be the ones leading it. oh and, mvp wont be the 1st 100% nig cough cough black guy to win the WHC/WWE title..booker was. if thats what you meant..

wwe change
khali should die now. when he won the title with the run jerk sin guy, he was cool and he was the best choice. but putting him against tista more than once = Blue. should've let kane beat him up...

as for letting cena hold the title till mania, i already stopped watching wrestling. and hearing that cena's still champ for 6 more months = :hang: forever.

what else? firing dykstra? why? explain that please..

wwe for 12 year olds..

i never saw the wwe being booked for smarks. the difference between the previous eras and now is that the new talent are soooo annoying (gorilla, gay face expressions) and so fake, they even make the kids throw up. but i dont really hate them for doin it, they have the right. we are already addicted to it, and we're staying this way. take me for example, i said that i stopped watching wrestling...right now im itching to watch raw :(.


next time write a column about "your mom" :gun_rifle:


I would get rid of Kenny because he has done absolutely nothing what what he has been given. They gave him a hateable gimmick that he could have turned into a hateable character and he hasnt done shit with it. He is not over in the least and there is no reason for him to be on anymore unless he jobs.

Also, I think when the time is right, the WWE should allow an ROH invasion angle. I think it could do wonders for both the WWE and ROH if done right. Well, now that I think about it, the ROH fans will bitch that their guys were "held back" from doing "more" but it would get them a lot of exposure and it would give the WWE a nice angle to play with.
 

Montana

Guest
As much as a ROH invasion sounds like a great idea, I just don't eveer that happening. In due time, if everything were to fall into place, ROH could be a legit threat to the wwe. Back in 95-96 when ECW did their invasion, it was different. THe WWE was helping ECW, not to help ECW, but to help themselves, as they were in massive competition with wcw.

Not to mention the wrestling styles is a 180 from wwe to roh. I can't see Vince allowing "his" superstars in the ring, with "those" guys. Even though a handful of ROH has had development deals with the wwe. The wwe could even do a ROH invasion with its current roster Punk, Cabana, Steel, Noble, Wang, London, Kendrick, and Matt Sydal. The ROH style is much harder and stiffer. I can't see wwe wanting to help out ROH, Especially since ROH runs 2 big shows Wrestlemania weekend, in the same city as mania, and tries to steal the show.

Anyways, I don't think we will ever see The Briscoes vs Cena & Lashley. Although that would be pretty entertaining.
 

MJ807

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Great job Kaedon this was an enjoyable read I haven't really read you others before but I decided I really should so I will probably go back and read them eventuall and make a habit of reading them from now on. And those were some great questions Montana kind of reminded me of the Budweiser Hotseat from Sportscenter.
 

the dark knight

Guest
I would get rid of Kenny because he has done absolutely nothing what what he has been given. They gave him a hateable gimmick that he could have turned into a hateable character and he hasnt done shit with it. He is not over in the least and there is no reason for him to be on anymore unless he jobs.

they're not giving him any chance to talk on the mic! and he's not in any storyline now. all he does is wrestle, cheat, bang victoria, leave. you cant really prove yourself in this situation. same goes with shelton benjamin right now..
 

Kaedon

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they're not giving him any chance to talk on the mic! and he's not in any storyline now. all he does is wrestle, cheat, bang victoria, leave. you cant really prove yourself in this situation. same goes with shelton benjamin right now..

There is more to character enhancement than by cutting a promo. All the SD announcers say is that he is this cocky young kid who thinks he's a legend, but he does nothing physical to show that. He comes in, has a shit match, and leaves.


And Shelton has had MULTIPLE chances to get over and he STILL CANT do it. But I wouldnt cut him as he could be used to make others look better.
 

phantomgerald

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Kenny is still 21. You don't have to throw him into any storyline right now. Just have him continue learning for another 2 years first. Maybe put him in a credible tag team. Look what happened to the Hardys. They started out young but haven't got any where near the major titles. Kenny needs a better gimmick though. I'm just not digging what they're trying to do with him, but this guy has talent.

And oh yeah, he got to have nicer trunks. They just look gay.
 

Kaedon

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Well see the difference with the Hardys was when they were brought to Raw, they WERE ready for at least a tag team run. They spent their days on Shotgun Saturday Night getting ready and that other shitty show Jakked or whatever. Kenny isn't ready at all even after being on the big shows for almost a year now right?
 

HHHforever

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As always a good read. I liked the twist with Montana asking you the questions. I am really glad to hear that HHH's entrance is amazing, because I'm going to the live taping at the Q on Monday. I've never been to a Raw taping so I'm pretty excited about it. I went to a Smackdown/ECW taping in August and it was pretty sweet, of course we were 4 rows up from the ring which made it a little better, but it was still a pretty cool experience. My tickets aren't nearly as good for this Monday, but I think this show should be a lot better. HHH vs. McMahon will be good and I'm expecting something big to develop with Kennedy since he is returning this week. I still believe that in the near future it will be revealed that Kennedy is the true son and there will be some weird twist as to why its not Hornswoggle. But anyway I just can't wait for this Monday!