Two things River City Wrestling star Steve McEnroe and tennis legend John McEnroe share are their last names and love to play to tennis. But the difference between them is John doesn't take beatings inside a wrestling ring from opponents bigger than him and going back for more. Steve is an RCW superstar on the rise, having earned the adulation of fans because of his resiliency to never give up and his athleticism and charisma. In January, McEnroe was beaten half to death by his adversary, RCW Champion "The Largeador" Michael Faith. With the fans chanting "McEnroe, McEnroe;" the man known as "Mac Attack" exacted some revenge, beating Faith in a non-title match at RCW's "It's Time 5." I had the opportunity to get to know "Mac Attack" a bit and talk about his upstart wrestling career and his goals in RCW and elsewhere.
Follow me @WholeFnSchmo
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
CM Punk's WWE Title reign is historic but not because of its longevity
In professional wrestling, feuds are generally between two wrestlers, or in some cases two tag teams, who have a personal issue with each other.
Whether it's for a championship, pride, or just personal animosity, the feuds develop over the course of time and culminate in a big match at a pay-per-view.
After the grudges are settled, fans can debate about how great the rivalry was between the two singles wrestlers or teams and its placement of great feuds in wrestling history.
I think in this "modern era" of wrestling, fans don't realize that the best stories aren't usually just between two wrestlers.
The best stories usually involve multiple wrestlers, and sometimes, one central story can spawn multiple characters into the spotlight.
CM Punk's WWE Championship reign is not only historic because of the 434 days that he held it until losing to the Rock at the Royal Rumble Sunday. It's historic because his reign somewhat elevated new talent into the spotlight and kept established talent in the mix.
Punk feuded with Daniel Bryan and Kane during the summer. The three were involved in a love quarrel with AJ.
That feud spawned a rivalry between Bryan and Kane, leading to a match between Kane and Bryan at Summerslam, which Bryan won. The climax of the feud led both to taking anger management classes at the behest of AJ, who was Raw General Manager at the time, and being forced to tag with each other. Team Hell No was born and they are currently WWE Tag Team Champions.
At the Raw 1,000 show, the Rock came back and declared he would challenge the WWE Champions.
Bitter that a man who only competed in one match that year was getting a title opportunity, Punk shocked the world when he hit Rock with Go To Sleep, causing Jerry Lawler to declare that Punk turned his back on the WWE Universe.
Rock would not be seen til earlier this year, meanwhile, Punk defended the WWE Title against John Cena and Big Show at Summerslam and against Cena in a singles match at the Night of Champions in September.
After sneaking away with the title for two straight pay-per-views, it was believed a third match between Punk and Cena would be contested at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October.
It was revealed Cena was injured and was not healthy enough to compete at the pay-per-view. Looking for a replacement over enough to compete against Punk in a main event match, WWE decided to give Ryback the big match, as he was an undefeated monster at the time and a star on the rise.
Ryback had Punk beat at Hell in a Cell until referee Brad Maddox low blowed him, and Ryback's undefeated streak was ended flukishly.
A few weeks later, Mr. McMahon made a triple threat match for Survivor Series where Punk defended his title against Cena and Ryback.
Punk's title again was thought to be in jeopardy.
Enter the Shield!!
The Shield made its debut at Survivor Series, powerbombing Ryback through the announce table after Ryback nailed Cena with Shellshock. Punk picked up the scrapps and made it to one full year as champion, having defeated Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship at the previous Survivor Series.
It was debated whether the Shield was in Punk and manager Paul Heyman's back pocket.
The evidence was clearly there. The Shield said they were out to cure injustice by attacking WWE Superstars.
They never touched Punk.
The Shield helped Punk retain the WWE Title over Ryback in their awaited Tables, Ladders, and Chair match on Jan. 7.
A week before the Rumble, the Shield attacked the Rock, leaving him vulnerable and for Punk to have the advantage in their match.
The Shield allegedy attacked the Rock during the match with Punk at the Rumble when the lights were out due to McMahon saying a week earlier if they interfered, Punk would be stripped of the title.
It was revealed on Monday's Raw during Paul Heyman's performance review that Heyman and Punk were colluding with the Shield and Maddox the whole time.
Before McMahon could say those two magic words "you're fired," to Heyman, Brock Lesnar made his return after quitting WWE in August and gave McMahon the F-5.
The Lesnar assault on McMahon more than likely lead to Triple H coming back to avenge his father-in-law and his loss to Lesnar at Summerslam.
Punk's title reign may be significant due to the class of greats he is associated with because of his long title reign. It's historic to be mentioned alongside Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Pedro Morales and Hulk Hogan for longest WWE Championship reigns in history.
But it's even more impressive that Punk's reign led to Team Hell No being formed,the rise of Ryback, the debuts of Brad Maddox and the Shield, the Rock winning his eighth WWE Championship more than 10 years after his last reign, and Brock Lesnar coming back.
And nobody remotely thought about this feat.
Follow me @WholeFnSchmo
Whether it's for a championship, pride, or just personal animosity, the feuds develop over the course of time and culminate in a big match at a pay-per-view.
After the grudges are settled, fans can debate about how great the rivalry was between the two singles wrestlers or teams and its placement of great feuds in wrestling history.
I think in this "modern era" of wrestling, fans don't realize that the best stories aren't usually just between two wrestlers.
The best stories usually involve multiple wrestlers, and sometimes, one central story can spawn multiple characters into the spotlight.
CM Punk's WWE Championship reign is not only historic because of the 434 days that he held it until losing to the Rock at the Royal Rumble Sunday. It's historic because his reign somewhat elevated new talent into the spotlight and kept established talent in the mix.
Punk feuded with Daniel Bryan and Kane during the summer. The three were involved in a love quarrel with AJ.
That feud spawned a rivalry between Bryan and Kane, leading to a match between Kane and Bryan at Summerslam, which Bryan won. The climax of the feud led both to taking anger management classes at the behest of AJ, who was Raw General Manager at the time, and being forced to tag with each other. Team Hell No was born and they are currently WWE Tag Team Champions.
At the Raw 1,000 show, the Rock came back and declared he would challenge the WWE Champions.
Bitter that a man who only competed in one match that year was getting a title opportunity, Punk shocked the world when he hit Rock with Go To Sleep, causing Jerry Lawler to declare that Punk turned his back on the WWE Universe.
Rock would not be seen til earlier this year, meanwhile, Punk defended the WWE Title against John Cena and Big Show at Summerslam and against Cena in a singles match at the Night of Champions in September.
After sneaking away with the title for two straight pay-per-views, it was believed a third match between Punk and Cena would be contested at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October.
It was revealed Cena was injured and was not healthy enough to compete at the pay-per-view. Looking for a replacement over enough to compete against Punk in a main event match, WWE decided to give Ryback the big match, as he was an undefeated monster at the time and a star on the rise.
Ryback had Punk beat at Hell in a Cell until referee Brad Maddox low blowed him, and Ryback's undefeated streak was ended flukishly.
A few weeks later, Mr. McMahon made a triple threat match for Survivor Series where Punk defended his title against Cena and Ryback.
Punk's title again was thought to be in jeopardy.
Enter the Shield!!
The Shield made its debut at Survivor Series, powerbombing Ryback through the announce table after Ryback nailed Cena with Shellshock. Punk picked up the scrapps and made it to one full year as champion, having defeated Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship at the previous Survivor Series.
It was debated whether the Shield was in Punk and manager Paul Heyman's back pocket.
The evidence was clearly there. The Shield said they were out to cure injustice by attacking WWE Superstars.
They never touched Punk.
The Shield helped Punk retain the WWE Title over Ryback in their awaited Tables, Ladders, and Chair match on Jan. 7.
A week before the Rumble, the Shield attacked the Rock, leaving him vulnerable and for Punk to have the advantage in their match.
The Shield allegedy attacked the Rock during the match with Punk at the Rumble when the lights were out due to McMahon saying a week earlier if they interfered, Punk would be stripped of the title.
It was revealed on Monday's Raw during Paul Heyman's performance review that Heyman and Punk were colluding with the Shield and Maddox the whole time.
Before McMahon could say those two magic words "you're fired," to Heyman, Brock Lesnar made his return after quitting WWE in August and gave McMahon the F-5.
The Lesnar assault on McMahon more than likely lead to Triple H coming back to avenge his father-in-law and his loss to Lesnar at Summerslam.
Punk's title reign may be significant due to the class of greats he is associated with because of his long title reign. It's historic to be mentioned alongside Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Pedro Morales and Hulk Hogan for longest WWE Championship reigns in history.
But it's even more impressive that Punk's reign led to Team Hell No being formed,the rise of Ryback, the debuts of Brad Maddox and the Shield, the Rock winning his eighth WWE Championship more than 10 years after his last reign, and Brock Lesnar coming back.
And nobody remotely thought about this feat.
Follow me @WholeFnSchmo
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Whole F'n Schmo ep.2- Interview with River City Wrestling Superstar Ann Dromeda
I recently conducted an interview with San Antonio promotion River City Wrestling superstar, the exotic, vibrant Ann Dromeda.
He talks about his tenure as a wrestler and his goals for RCW in 2013.
Follow me on Twitter @WholeFnSchmo
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Interview with Chavo Guerrero Sr.
Here is my first video interview in the Attitude Adjustment era.
I interviewed wrestling legend Chavo Guerrero Sr. aka Chavo Classic, father of Chavo Guerrero and brother of World Wrestling Entertainment hall of famer Eddie Guerrero.
Classic accompanied his son Chavo to the ring during River City Wrestling's "Texas Explosion VII" event at the Good Shepherd Activity Center Dec. 8. His son Chavo teamed with his Total Nonstop Action Tag Team Champion partner "Super-Mex" Hernandez and Homicide to take on the RCW Heavyweight Champion Michael Faith, Joey Spector, and Coach Michael Patrick.
Chavo talks about the historic Guerrero legacy in Texas, his wrestling career, and I think he mentions he has a book coming out.
I interviewed wrestling legend Chavo Guerrero Sr. aka Chavo Classic, father of Chavo Guerrero and brother of World Wrestling Entertainment hall of famer Eddie Guerrero.
Classic accompanied his son Chavo to the ring during River City Wrestling's "Texas Explosion VII" event at the Good Shepherd Activity Center Dec. 8. His son Chavo teamed with his Total Nonstop Action Tag Team Champion partner "Super-Mex" Hernandez and Homicide to take on the RCW Heavyweight Champion Michael Faith, Joey Spector, and Coach Michael Patrick.
Chavo talks about the historic Guerrero legacy in Texas, his wrestling career, and I think he mentions he has a book coming out.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
CM Punk: The last of a dying breed in wrestling
It's proven that wrestlers and even athletes in the general sports world who draw the ire of fans can bring said fans back next time a wrestling/sporting event comes back to town.
They are known as the "heels."
The greatest heels have had that innate ability to draw the fans' thirst to see them get their behinds handed to the next time a wrestling event returns to their town.
Rowdy Roddy Piper had that ability to make fans hate him with a passion with the hope of seeing him get what his. The Nature Boy Ric Flair ditto. A who's who of the greatest villains in professional wrestling history from the late Goregous George to even WWE owner Vince McMahon have had the skill that made fans spend their hard earned money to see their heroes upend the villains.
One of the complaints about the state of professional wrestling today are that there is a shortage of villains who draw that ire of the fans that the bad guys of yesteryear were able to do.
On this past edition of Monday Night Raw, we saw CM Punk take the torch of yesterday's villains and continue the tradition that those before him did by becoming a despicable heel who fans would pay to see lose the WWE Championship.
His alliance with Paul Heyman certainly helps because anytime Heyman speaks on a microphone, fans clamor for him to shut up or for someone to shut him up.
After Punk verbally blasting referee Brad Maddox for not seeing his foot on the rope as he counted the 123 to give John Cena the victory in last week's tag team match, the Second City Saint got into a war of words with both Mick Foley and Cena throughout the show to cement himself as a vile heel.
His way of disrespecting fans and rivals after clamoring for respect of his own makes fans see him as a hypocrite who wants the fans to adore him, but yet, doesn't reciprocate appreciation back makes Punk a bullish heel.
Punk may be the one heel who has gotten 90% of the fans in attendance at WWE live events clamoring for Cena to beat him for the WWE Championship.
The title "Best In The World" may be subject to debate from fans, but if Punk's skill as a vile heel gets Cena over as a babyface then the subject may not be that debatable.
Punk proved Monday night with his disrespect of Foley and belittlement of Cena that he is the torchbearer for a lost tradition in professional wrestling.
He's the one great heel in WWE with the skill to rile up fans and make them want to see someone give him his comeuppance.
Whether it's Cena or a potential new foe like Ryback, who stared down Punk at the end of Monday's Raw after the WWE Champ attacked Foley in the back stage area, fans will want to get behind that person and cheer them on to dethrone Punk.
The art of being a great heel has been lost over the years in wrestling, and Punk has found the lost art and made it into a masterpiece skill.
It's a skill the WWE roster should study the next time Punk speaks on the microphone and draws the ire of fans.
For it's those heat seeking skills that could help them be draw money in a lost-art business.
Follow me @LuchaLoco210
They are known as the "heels."
The greatest heels have had that innate ability to draw the fans' thirst to see them get their behinds handed to the next time a wrestling event returns to their town.
Rowdy Roddy Piper had that ability to make fans hate him with a passion with the hope of seeing him get what his. The Nature Boy Ric Flair ditto. A who's who of the greatest villains in professional wrestling history from the late Goregous George to even WWE owner Vince McMahon have had the skill that made fans spend their hard earned money to see their heroes upend the villains.
One of the complaints about the state of professional wrestling today are that there is a shortage of villains who draw that ire of the fans that the bad guys of yesteryear were able to do.
On this past edition of Monday Night Raw, we saw CM Punk take the torch of yesterday's villains and continue the tradition that those before him did by becoming a despicable heel who fans would pay to see lose the WWE Championship.
His alliance with Paul Heyman certainly helps because anytime Heyman speaks on a microphone, fans clamor for him to shut up or for someone to shut him up.
After Punk verbally blasting referee Brad Maddox for not seeing his foot on the rope as he counted the 123 to give John Cena the victory in last week's tag team match, the Second City Saint got into a war of words with both Mick Foley and Cena throughout the show to cement himself as a vile heel.
His way of disrespecting fans and rivals after clamoring for respect of his own makes fans see him as a hypocrite who wants the fans to adore him, but yet, doesn't reciprocate appreciation back makes Punk a bullish heel.
Punk may be the one heel who has gotten 90% of the fans in attendance at WWE live events clamoring for Cena to beat him for the WWE Championship.
The title "Best In The World" may be subject to debate from fans, but if Punk's skill as a vile heel gets Cena over as a babyface then the subject may not be that debatable.
Punk proved Monday night with his disrespect of Foley and belittlement of Cena that he is the torchbearer for a lost tradition in professional wrestling.
He's the one great heel in WWE with the skill to rile up fans and make them want to see someone give him his comeuppance.
Whether it's Cena or a potential new foe like Ryback, who stared down Punk at the end of Monday's Raw after the WWE Champ attacked Foley in the back stage area, fans will want to get behind that person and cheer them on to dethrone Punk.
The art of being a great heel has been lost over the years in wrestling, and Punk has found the lost art and made it into a masterpiece skill.
It's a skill the WWE roster should study the next time Punk speaks on the microphone and draws the ire of fans.
For it's those heat seeking skills that could help them be draw money in a lost-art business.
Follow me @LuchaLoco210
Thursday, September 6, 2012
An alliance that could lead to CM Punk... turning back babyface?
The biggest story coming out of Monday Night Raw, surprisingly, didn't crash the World Wide Web like I thought it would.
During the John Cena-Alberto Del Rio Falls Count Anywhere match, CM Punk returned after saying he was taking a personal leave earlier in the night and costed Cena the match by driving him head first onto the hood of his town car.
As Raw was about to fade to black, Paul Heyman stuck his head out of the window and revealed himself to be Punk's driver.
With the reveal of a Punk-Heyman alliance, I was surprised servers around the country crashed after tweeting and chatting about the possibilities the internet wrestling community's two favorite wrestling darling could create.
It is speculated that the Punk-Heyman alliance could lead to a faction of well-known independent wrestlers like Claudio Castognoli, who is WWE U.S Champion Antonio Cesaro, Chris Hero aka Kassius Ohno in WWE developmental, and Tyler Black, who currently reigns as NXT Champion while going by the name Seth Rollins.
While it would be a cool idea to witness a Punk-led group of wrestlers dominate the landscape, my crystal ball says that plan is not in the works.
If I were writing WWE television, this is how I would book the Punk-Heyman alliance to lead back to Punk turning back babyface come Wrestlemania 29.
I would have Punk challenge to Cena to waive any right to a WWE Championship rematch if Punk returns at Night of Champions next Sunday.
Punk retains the title under nefarious means in Cena's hometown of Boston.
Cena would not accept how Punk won so he would try to goad Punk into giving him another rematch.
A week later, while Cena again tries to get Punk to give him his rematch, Heyman comes out on behalf of Punk and tells Cena that Punk will give him his rematch on one condition: he has to beat an opponent of his choosing at the next pay-per-view who happens to be another Heyman client, Brock Lesnar.
Cena and Lesnar would collide in a rematch from their epic match at Extreme Rules at the October pay-per-view.
Towards the end of the match, with Cena making another improbable comeback to overcome Lesnar, Punk interferes and costs Cena his one last opportunity to get a rematch for the company's prestigious prize. The pay-per-view ends with Cena and Lesnar standing over Cena with Heyman looking on.
After two weeks of brutal beatdowns from the WWE's newest dominant force, Cena calls on the one guy who can help him out against his biggest foes at Survivor Series: the Rock.
I would have Punk pin the Rock at Survivor Series to set up their eventual showdown at the Royal Rumble.
Rock would go on to beat Punk at the Rumble, ending Punk's 14 month reign as WWE Champion.
Punk would enter the Royal Rumble match later on the night, realizing an opportunity to get back wrestling's greatest prize.
With a final four of Cena, Punk, Lesnar, and Randy Orton, I would have Lesnar eliminate Punk on purpose, setting off Punk on why his ally would rob him of a chance of the WWE title.
In the WWE Championship match At Elimination Chamber, Punk and Lesnar's problems come to ahead as Lesnar eliminates Punk once again from trying to reclaim his WWE Championship. Punk gets furious and hits Lesnar with a steel chair, allowing the Rock to retain his title.
The disintegration leads to a Wrestlemania showdown between Punk and Lesnar, with Punk going in as the babyface fed up with Lesnar screwing him over reclaiming the WWE Championship.
This is not necessarily how it will go down come Wrestlemania 29, but only one can hope the new storyline with Punk and Heyman can be best in the world.
Follow me @LuchaLoco210
During the John Cena-Alberto Del Rio Falls Count Anywhere match, CM Punk returned after saying he was taking a personal leave earlier in the night and costed Cena the match by driving him head first onto the hood of his town car.
As Raw was about to fade to black, Paul Heyman stuck his head out of the window and revealed himself to be Punk's driver.
With the reveal of a Punk-Heyman alliance, I was surprised servers around the country crashed after tweeting and chatting about the possibilities the internet wrestling community's two favorite wrestling darling could create.
It is speculated that the Punk-Heyman alliance could lead to a faction of well-known independent wrestlers like Claudio Castognoli, who is WWE U.S Champion Antonio Cesaro, Chris Hero aka Kassius Ohno in WWE developmental, and Tyler Black, who currently reigns as NXT Champion while going by the name Seth Rollins.
While it would be a cool idea to witness a Punk-led group of wrestlers dominate the landscape, my crystal ball says that plan is not in the works.
If I were writing WWE television, this is how I would book the Punk-Heyman alliance to lead back to Punk turning back babyface come Wrestlemania 29.
I would have Punk challenge to Cena to waive any right to a WWE Championship rematch if Punk returns at Night of Champions next Sunday.
Punk retains the title under nefarious means in Cena's hometown of Boston.
Cena would not accept how Punk won so he would try to goad Punk into giving him another rematch.
A week later, while Cena again tries to get Punk to give him his rematch, Heyman comes out on behalf of Punk and tells Cena that Punk will give him his rematch on one condition: he has to beat an opponent of his choosing at the next pay-per-view who happens to be another Heyman client, Brock Lesnar.
Cena and Lesnar would collide in a rematch from their epic match at Extreme Rules at the October pay-per-view.
Towards the end of the match, with Cena making another improbable comeback to overcome Lesnar, Punk interferes and costs Cena his one last opportunity to get a rematch for the company's prestigious prize. The pay-per-view ends with Cena and Lesnar standing over Cena with Heyman looking on.
After two weeks of brutal beatdowns from the WWE's newest dominant force, Cena calls on the one guy who can help him out against his biggest foes at Survivor Series: the Rock.
I would have Punk pin the Rock at Survivor Series to set up their eventual showdown at the Royal Rumble.
Rock would go on to beat Punk at the Rumble, ending Punk's 14 month reign as WWE Champion.
Punk would enter the Royal Rumble match later on the night, realizing an opportunity to get back wrestling's greatest prize.
With a final four of Cena, Punk, Lesnar, and Randy Orton, I would have Lesnar eliminate Punk on purpose, setting off Punk on why his ally would rob him of a chance of the WWE title.
In the WWE Championship match At Elimination Chamber, Punk and Lesnar's problems come to ahead as Lesnar eliminates Punk once again from trying to reclaim his WWE Championship. Punk gets furious and hits Lesnar with a steel chair, allowing the Rock to retain his title.
The disintegration leads to a Wrestlemania showdown between Punk and Lesnar, with Punk going in as the babyface fed up with Lesnar screwing him over reclaiming the WWE Championship.
This is not necessarily how it will go down come Wrestlemania 29, but only one can hope the new storyline with Punk and Heyman can be best in the world.
Follow me @LuchaLoco210
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