May 2nd, 2006... screw the introductions... let us get to the point!
On to our feature presentation...
There was a time when the phrase ‘anything can happen in the WWE’ was a cornerstone phrase for the events that transpired each and every week on Monday Night Raw. World Championship Wrestling was a direct rival with the World Wrestling Federation, and being led by Eric Bishoff, dirty tactics were used to try and kill the leader in sports entertainment. It was a war that forced the Federation to employ a new tactic to try to destroy not just its opponent, but destroy the very rulebook that has been used in professional wrestling for the last century. It was called the wonder & shock wave effect. An event would transpire that would cause a great deal of shock and awe, followed by a period of wonder that would make you try and guess what will happen next. For the last few years, pro-wrestling has lost this amazing concept, and opted for a more planned and scheduled system of delivering stories and moments. Although it helps make for a more structured way of progressing their characters, the WWE has now delivered predictable TV for almost half a decade now. But ever since the start of 2006, everything has changed. And now, we are in the midst of the biggest wonder & shock storm of all time.
Let’s Be Pro-Realistic: The Wonder & Shock Storm of 2006
November 13th, 2005 will be forever known as the day Eddie Guerrero, one of the greatest professional wrestlers (see Joey Styles, some of us remember what that word means) to ever grace the squared circle was found dead. His death had its obvious emotional impact in the hearts of millions, but when it came to inside the ring, it had another impact as well. That week on Smackdown, the World Heavyweight Champion Batista was set to defend his championship in a triple threat, involving Randy Orton & Eddie Guerrero. After suffering an injury that would restrict his in-ring work, the WWE was thought to be going in the direction of giving Eddie another run at being the World Champion. The plan, already in motion, was to give Batista some time off before he would return to the title scene. However, that was when Eddie was found dead. Shocked, saddened, and caught off guard, the WWE was faced with a situation uncommon to such a franchise. Their plan was damaged by an unforeseeable circumstance, and the WWE were in trouble.
This is when Batista decided he could not go. He refused to let the injury sideline him, he wanted to stay and support Smackdown! Batista then began a program with Rey Mysterio, the best friend of Eddie Guerrero. These two were Eddie’s closest friends at the time on and off screen. Batista had become very close with Eddie, and with his death, a side of Batista that was unwilling to fold emerged. But Batista was injured once again. This coincided with the shocking turn of events at the close of Raw’s New Year’s Revolution. After the unstoppable WWE Champion John Cena continued to repel the challengers one by one, Edge shocked the wrestling world when he cashed in his Money in the Bank and drilled Cena with two nasty spears before pinning the exhausted and bloodied champion! Edge walked into Monday Night Raw the new WWE Champion, an event unseen for the last 9 months on Raw. Within the same time frame, Kurt Angle jumped ship from Raw to Smackdown to win the World Title Batista had finally been forced to drop. With just a few weeks before Wrestlemania 22, the face of the WWE was altered like never before. The monotonous tone of Raw was shaken up. The rocky foundation of Smackdown had finally become stabilized. And yet, no one knew where it would all go from there.
These events all occurred between November and the first two weeks of January. Many people had become frustrated with the same garbage week in and week out given to us. We vented our frustration at the figure head of the WWE, John Cena. This is the reason Cena gets all the boo’s and the heat, because is acting like the captain of a sinking ship. But when Edge got the 3 count on Cena, it seemed as if things were going to start getting hot. The shock had sunk in, it was time to wonder. How fast would John Cena reclaim the gold, if at all? Who would Kurt Angle face at Wrestlemania? These questions were quickly thrust into my head following the intense few weeks. But as the Royal Rumble drew closer, more and more questions were being asked while less and less answers were being given. When the Rumble finally came, we saw another shock. Rey Mysterio won! The lucha libre that weighed less than the Cruiserweight Division maximum won the event that has led to more championship wins than any other event in the WWE’s history. At the same time, the new hero to challenge the once-again WWE Champion John Cena (who squashed Edge at the Rumble) is, ironic enough, the man who had been accused of the exact same thing a million times over, Triple H. Triple H has stolen the title from every big name in his time, Mick Foley, The Rock, The Big Show, Shawn Michaels, and even his own protégé Randy Orton. But the King of Kings failed to reclaim his throne. After weeks of wondering about if HHH would dethrone John Cena or not ended with Cena retaining. The hope for the end of Cena’s reign was met with utter disappointment. But the wonder was not gone. Quickly following Wrestlemania 22, Edge refocused his path on the title, and we then set to go to Backlash for a triple threat.
Meanwhile, a shocking moment occurred when Rey Mysterio did achieve the dream that his late friend Eddie Guerrero had been booked to accomplish until his unexpected death. Mysterio broke records, and even with the majority’s attitude about his size and credibility, continued to pull off big time matches with Orton, Angle, and soon to be JBL. His legacy had become solidified as the greatest lucha libre of his generation. But with all these shocking moments occurring, a bigger block buster looms in the distance.
Announced a few days ago, ECW would be making its return to not just PPV, but to a full-time promotion status. This, along with Rob Van Dam’s Money in the Bank win, has many questions beginning to surface. It seems as soon as one set of questions get answered, three times that amount explodes into the minds of fans everywhere. Who will RVD face at One Night Stand? Will he even still have the Money in the Bank? Will it be John Cena, Triple H, JBL, or Rey Mysterio defending their title against him? Will RVD leave the WWE with the title if he wins? What would happen if John Cena entered an ECW ring? Will Cena ever lose the title? How will this effect both Smackdown and Raw?
So many questions, so many different directions, only one path. The WWE has the entire professional wrestling industry waiting to see what the summer of 2006 will bring. The destiny of wrestling will be once again thrown into a hit or miss situation, with every move by either TNA or WWE may either make or break the business. TNA may be small to the WWE, it is big to the wrestling world. Christian jumped ship and became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Sting made his full-time return, and other huge names have been pouring in to both promotions. Brock Lesnar & WWE have ended their dispute, Stone Cold & Hulk Hogan have been rumored to be in the works for a dream match, and the very future of the wrestling business rests on the shoulders of the next crop of stars. All these ideas, dreams, and wonders all cause any die-hard wrestling fan to have an information overload. Every day I wonder about the possibilities that can really happen. Will D-Generation X reunite? Even just that one question would be enough to drive me to a more intense passion to watch Raw.
What may have really started with Edge & Matt Hardy’s shoot feud, has now become a phenomenon. It seems every real situation transpires on screen, from Joey Styles’ promo when he quit to the acknowledgement of Cena’s flip-flop character status. What is real and what is not, it seems everything the WWE is doing is all making for a must-watch TV time slot. Not once in the last 5 to 6 years have I felt what I felt now. We are truly in the midst of the biggest wonder & shock era in wrestling history. Please sit back, dream, and enjoy what is going on right as we speak, the very evolution of professional wrestling history! Anything can truly happen, once again, in the WWE.
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