Hello all. It is your owner Cwalker, Cwalks, Crip Walker(Thanks Dom), CW, Cory, whatever you want to call me. I'm back yet again with another ediiton of Outside The Ropes. First off, I want to thank everyone for the positive remarks. I had just as good a time taking that trip down memory lane as you guys did. This week, not only am I back with a new column, but I'm going to add a little extra. For those who read EOR's last edition of Effective Thinking, I recommended that he give a little more insight into the Smackdown matches that were booked in an attempt to give you guys more of a behind the scenes type of vibe. Well that's exactly what I'm doing for the Raw side of The Great American. You'll find out why I did what I did in terms of booking. But that's a little later. As I promised you last week, this edition of Outside The Ropes will feature the top ten TTers in my opinion. I was going to do this out of character, but I feel as though I would have forgotten some people. Then Lewb mentioned something that got me thinking. What if I did it in charcter? So that's what I'm doing. So I give you Cwalker's Top Ten Efed Characters!
Honorable Mentions: Just like last week, you can't have a list without a few honorable mentions.
James Storm: James Storm was played by the legendary Vita. Storm ran rampant over Smackdown and ruled with an Iron Fist. At one point he was the longest reigning UCW Champion in history. James Storm didn't make the list because I wasn't around to witness the greatness. I had to see it after the fact. And just like in professional wrestling, you can't comment on greatness that you never saw. People say Bruno Sanmartino was a great World Champion, I never saw it, so I can't comment. But don't fret, Vita has another character on this list that I have an extensive history with. We'll get to that later though.
D'Angelo Dinero: Yes, I'm being a mark for myself. It's my column I can do that
. Seriously, I've never had as much fun playing a character as I did playing Pope. Started off as a heel, which provided great material for me to work with. Ended up turning face because I was put in a feud with Chase and Rawisrey. I actually turned face before the television character I think, which meant I had nothing to go off of, so I kind of just went out there and did whatever. For those who were apart of UCW, you know where this story goes, so I'm not going to go into detail. But without a doubt, Pope is my favorite character that I've played. I think everyone has one character that they become known for, and he was it for me.
Cody Rhodes: It was difficult to keep RawisRey's Rhodes off this list. I've watched the character evolve from "Dashing" to "Grotesque" and it seems that week in and week out, Rey has more fun with him. A former World Champion, although it was cut short, nobody is more consistent that Cody Rhodes.
And now Cwalker's Top Ten Characters off All-Time
10.Billy Kidman: Billy Kidman was played by Justin. Personally, I thought Justin's portrayal of Kidman was brilliant. The feud he had with JKdog's Kofi Kingston spanned over two years I think. I know they had two consecutive Wrestlemania matches and Kofi is credited as breaking Kidman's neck. I missed Justin's first run, but managed to catch the second one. The highlight of his run as Kidman was obviously winning the UCW Championship in a five on five elmination match at No Mercy(I could be wrong.) in 2009. Billy Kidman's last match was aganist Vita's Beer Money in a 2 on 1 handicap match. Although Kidman would lose that match, Justin would continue on. He would take Alex Riley(Yes, Alex Riley) and become UCW Champion again, ironicially beating Vita.
9. Batista: This particular Batista was played by our very own Aniking. I was torn between Batista and another character that AK won a World Championship with; Sim Snucka. While taking a character as obscure as Snucka and making him the man was impressive, Batista was just an animal; no pun intended. Batista would reign as Television Champion and Tag Team Champion feuding with Chris Dresden's Steve Austin, Lewbrication's Alberto Del Rio among others. Batista would become a Triple Crown Champion by winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam 2011. I teamed with Batista and faced him(at the same time actually) and I can tell you how good he was. Had AK not lost the desire to play Batista, I feel as though there would have been more than One World Championship reign to his credit.
8. AJ Styles: AJ Styles was played by another UWF main stay; Chase. As I said earlier, most guys have one character that they are known for, and this is the guy for Chase. The list of titles and accolades for Styles is so long that I can't even list all of them. Off the top of my head, he's a former UCW Champion, Money in The Bank Winner, Global Champion and X Division Champion(maybe?). There are more titles in there, but without going over to PWM and looking this up, I can't be 100% sure, but I am sure that AJ Styles was a beast.
7. Kofi Kingston: Never have I seen someone pull off a heel Kofi Kingston, but JKdog managed to do so. And he did so while playing two other characters at the same time. JK played Kingston, Shelton Benjamin and Layla all at once. His major success came as Kingston though as he would never go one TT without mentioning that he was the longest reigning X-Divison Champion of all time. It actually bordered on annoying, but that's the mark of a good heel. Kingston and Benjamin would also hold the World Tag Team Championships before JK dropped Shelton and joined the nWo(nowhere near as good as UWF's version btw). I don't think anyone can surpass JK's Kofi Kingston.
6. Chris Jericho: As I said in my last cloumn, the greatest Chris Jericho ever was played by Shane. It didn't matter if he was the heel "Best in The World At Everything He Does" or the "Y2J" face, Shane pulled it off to perfection. The longest reigning United States Champion in UCW history also formed Jerishow by picking up the big man and won the UCW Tag Team Champions. He attempted to unify said titles with the World Tag Team Championships but came up short aganist Canadian Pothead's Kings of Old School team of Vader and Steve Corino. A former World Champion, Shane just misses out on the top five because he never had the one long World Championship run that he deserved.
5. Alberto Del Rio: Controversy aside, Lewbrication's Del Rio was more interesting to me than the actual Alberto Del Rio. Survivor Series 2010, Team Del Rio defeated Team Dinero in a Survivor Series Elimination Match which earned Del Rio his first shot at the UCW Championship. I was so pissed because my team didn't show up for this match(I know how you feel in regards to the 4 on 4 tag match Dresden). But either way, Lewb would go onto challenge Slim's Rock for the UCW Title. Some shady business went down and Lewb won his first World Championship. Del Rio would drop the title back to Rock rather quickly before taking it back in an I Quit Match at The Royal Rumble, making him a Two Time World Champion. Things got a little shaky on PWM during Del Rio's second reign as the site went down, causing a restart. That's good for Lewb I guess, as it was highly speculated that his Del Rio was going to drop the UCW Championship to Aniking's Jack Swagger. Del Rio would go over to Smackdown and challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania, but came up short. Eventually Del Rio won Smackdown's Money in The Bank briefcase and attempted to cash in on CM Punk, but became the first person(in efeds and real life) to unsuccessfully cash, in another controversial ending. Amends were mde the next week as Del Rio won the World Heavyweight Championship in a scripted Battle Royal. Del Rio would be Champion until running in Batista at Summerslam 2011, dropping the title to Aniking like he was supposed to earlier in the year. Like Shane, Del Rio is held back by the lack of a long run as Champion, but three World title reigns in such a short period of time is nothing to scoff at.
4. Stone Cold Steve Austin: Three Time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, One Time UWF Champion, former UCW Legends Champion, one-half of S.C.A.R, there's a laundry list of things that Chris Dresdon has accomplished. Stone Cld busted onto the scene in UCW in either late 2009 or early 2010, but either way he came in with an impact. He quickly won the Legends Championship from Quad's Dolph Ziggler at Wrestlemania 3. I don't remember who he dropped the belt to or how long his reign lasted, but I remember him being Champion. He was the face of thes short-lived TNA Impact brand, winning their World Championship three times. He had a huge feud with Sam's Sheamus character that really got the brand over and even with Blizzard's "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. Retained the title in an Extreme Elimination Chamber. Austin moved over to Smackdown after the site went down and entered the Gold Rush tournament in an attempt to crown a new World Champion. Sadly, Austin ran into D'Angelo Dinero(I actually think this was the only time I've ever beaten Dresden). Austin would go onto Main Event Wrestlemania 4 aganist The Rock. Since coming to UWF, Austin has been more succesful. Turning heel, assocaiting with Diamond Dallas Page and winning the UWF Championship. In an era where guys switch characters frequently, Dresden is the epitome of consistency.
3. Sting: As I said earlier, Vita would be mentioned again. This time, it's with a charcater that I've seen. It's also a character that I've faced, and even had the pleasure of being in a stable with "The Icon" started off 2010 embattled in a feud with Bukowski's Shawn Michaels. The two were shceduled to meet in the first ever one on one Elimaintion Chamber match at No Way Out 2010, but Sting repelled out of the Chamber, refusing to fight Michaels. Eventually the two, along with Jay Lesnar's Edge would meet in a Triple Threat Match at Wrestlemania 3. Sting won the Championship on that night and never looked back. He would defend the title for months on end, losing the Championship to Justin's Alex Riley just six days shy of becoming the longest reigning UCW Champion ever. This match with Riley would be the end of Vita's career as Sting and the end of his career in general. I've had the honor to face Sting and I was even a member of The Four Horsemen alongside him, JKdog, BluJay and eventually Chris Dresdon, and I must say, it was a blast.
2. The Rock: It was hard to distinguish #1 and #2, but one thing separated it for me. What can you say about Hollywood Rock? Most people like to play a face Rock, because they can just spit out the old cliche catchphrases. Slim's Rock didn't entail that. His Rock had substance. Trish Stratus carrying around a Woman's Championship that didn't mean anything was a great touch for a heel. The only man in UCW history to hold the UCW Championship, ECW/WCW Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. A multiple time World Champion who saw two awesome "retirement matches" aganist Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 4 and CM Punk at Summerslam 2011.
1. Edge: How could the longest reigning UCW Champion in history not be on the list? Played by the great Jay Lesnar, it was brillaint to watch Jay embrace the Rated R Superstar and Ultimate Oppourtunist gimmicks and make them his own. He won the UCW Championship at the 2009 Great American Bash(I think) and reigned all the way to Wrestlemania 3, a span of eight months. In efeds, that's unprecedented. Edge would win the World Heavyweight Championship from 2Gangster4U's John Cena in Ultimate Edge fashion. Edge was in charge of Smackdown and booked himself aganist Cena. Cena won only to have Edge restart the match. Cena won again and for a third time, Edge restarted the match, this time winning the big gold belt. Like Shane and Vita, Jay Lesnar has called it a career, but nobody can forget Edge.
There is my top ten characters of all time. I hope you enjoyed the read, and if you're not on the list, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoyed anything you've done, I only have a finite number of slots. But as I promised, there is a bonus to this edition of Outside The Ropes. It's my spin on Effective Thinking, where I take you behind the scenes and into the mind of Raw's head booker as we discuss The Great American Bash. Let's do it!
UWF Tag Team Championship
The Black and White Machine vs. Shark Boy and William Regal
This match wasn't supposed to happen the way it's presented. After Lewbrication dropped Wade Barrett, I wanted to keep the European Revolution going, so I teamed Antonio Cesaro and William Regal to form the European Revolution 2.0. Problem was, Sam grew tired of Cesaro and wanted to play Shark Boy instead, hence Shark Boy and Regal together as a comedy team of sorts. Sadly neither Sam or Doink has shown up for this match, so it seems as if it didn't matter if it was Cesaro, Shark Boy, Sheamus or any other of Sam's characters. Disappointing, but the show must go on.
Randy Orton versus Austin Aries
This match pretty much booked itself. After Backlash, I planned on having Aries and Orton feud since Orton punted Aries in the skull after he lost the title. Sadly, Chriss had some computer issuses that caused the feud to be put on hold. Instead, we got Cena/Orton, which was without a doubt a good substitute. When the issuses were solved, it was obvious that Aries was going right after Orton. So there you go, this was pretty much set in stone. Chriss threw a curveball in a few things when he came up with the stipulation that if Aries wins, the nWo is no more and if Orton wins, Aries must retire, but I ran with it. I'm all about giving guys some sort of creative control(example: Stone Cold beating the hell out of the Raw announce team). This match has been written and it's been billed as "An End of An Era" as either the nWo won't be around or Aries will be gone.
Robert Roode vs. MVP
This match was made because I honestly had nothing for either guy. Had I known Killz was going to disappear, Albo would have won the match at Starrcade and gotten the shot aganist Austin instead of Anderson. But there's nothing I can do about it now. But I think that Albo, EoR and even myself from a booking standpoint did a good job in getting something out of nothing. There's a little spite in this booking that I'll touch on as I talk about the next match.
UWF United States Championship
Cody Rhodes(c) vs. CM Punk
Like I said, this match was made out of spite. Everybody saw the back and forths between Cody Rhodes and Robert Roode. Well that's because EOR wanted Roode versus Rhodes for the US Championship. And usually if guys go out of their way to put all the effort in promos like these two did, I would reward them with what they desired. But at the last minute, I changed my mind. And here's why. Back in May, before the Backlash Pay-Per-View, EOR and Rawisrey were teaming up as Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes respectively. EOR literally begged me for competition, but at the time there were no tag teams to have them face. So instead, I booked Rhodes versus McIntyre. I gave him the competiton he wanted. And what happened? He no showed! Now my logic is, why would I give you a match that you've already no showed once, especially a Championship match. Wasn't going to happen. Enter DOM, he told me he wanted in UWF and he promised that he was going to show up each and every week. And he hasn't let me down. We had Rhodes versus Punk for the title a few weeks ago on Raw, and the two of them did such a great job with that, I decided to do it again. And I have no regrets in booking this match.
UWF Championship Match
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin(c) versus Christian
I've said it to AK. I've said it to Dresden, but now I'll tell all of you. This match wasn't supposed to happen. There was no plan for Christian to be challening for the World Championship right now. But a few things happened that thrusted him into this match. First of course was Killz disappearing act. I went out on a limb and gave Killz a shot and he vanished, so I didn't have a challenger. But Killz wasn't the only person I was disappointed in. I was disappointed in Dresden. Not necessarily because his quality was slipping, but because I thought he was losing that desire to play Austin. And I remember when I said to myself that it maybe time to change things. On an edition of Smackdown a few weeks back, Sam's Bray Wyatt faced Dresdon's Sting. I read that thread, both guys did a great job. They both managed to get three posts in, great for a weekly show. Fast forward to the following Raw, Steve Austin is in the main event and I get one trashtalk. From my World Champion, that's frustrating. And that wasn't the first time that happened. And then I look at Aniking's Christian. Every week, multiple trashtalks, promos, the dedication of a World Champion. So about a day or two before I put Raw up, I added the stipulation that if Christian won, he'd be in the World Championship Match. Now I talked to Dresdon a few weeks ago, and I let him know that I was starting to lose faith. He reassured me that he's still got that fire though. So let me be the first to tell you that despite eveything I've said about this match, there's no guarantee that there's a new UWF Champion. Don't go crowning Aniking Champion just yet. We'll find out on Sunday if The Rattlesnake is still the man.
We there you go. I hope you've enjoyed another edition of Outside The Ropes. I've got some Pay-Per-View matches and Raw matches to start writing. You will all enjoy the final product come Sunday. As a certain former Two-Time UCW Champion used to say "And that's Gospel!"
