Apr 20

Weekly Plus/Minus: NHL Playoffs, Brock Lesnar/John Cena, Goalies, Violence, and More!

Posted on by

Greetings one and all! After taking a couple of weeks off, welcome back to the Weekly Plus/Minus were we look at the best and worst in the ring and on the ice. With the NHL Playoffs well underway and the WWE being in a great post-Wrestlemania period, there is certainly a ton to discuss. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

American Born Goalies: For the longest time Canada, and especially Quebec was seen as the Goalie Factory. In recent years, some have made the argument that Finland has supplanted French Canada as the new place to look to find a good back-stopper.

This post-season could end up as a bit of a coming out for American Born goalies. While Tim Thomas has taken a slight step back he’s still been very good. Scott Clemmensen has played very good in relief, Corey Schneider has been even better, and Craig Anderson has flown under the radar this post season, and has been keeping pace with Henrik Lundqvist since the 3rd Period of Game 1.

Of course the one American goalie who has been down right spectacular has been LA Kings netminder Jonathan Quick. This entire season has been a coming out party for Quick, but he has really upped his game against one of the best offenses in the league. If they awarded a Conn Smythe every round, Quick would be the runaway favourite to take it for the first round. Make no mistake here we are watching something very special here with Jonathan Quick, and it wouldn’t be very surprising to see them make it pretty far this Spring.

If you’re still not sold on the strength of American goalies, remember their 2010 Olympic Hero is out golfing. These guys are going to be very tough to score on in Sochi.

Goalies That Play in Pennsylvania: This series has flown in the face of all logical, sane predictions. Everyone expected the big names on Pittsburgh to run roughshod over the Flyers and give us a very long, intense series.

Instead we’ve had Claude Giroux and Sean Coturier top the scoring, we’ve had the Penguins blow two 3-0 leads, and we’ve had three straight blow outs that have been better known for the cheap shots and violence than the majesty on ice which we were all expecting.

At the core of it though, there are the men behind the net. Before the playoffs everyone was trumpeting Marc-Andre Fleury as a money goalie and that currency has certainly been devalued. Ilya Bryzgalov has (perhaps less surprisingly) been impossible to predict. On one moment he absolutely robs Kris Letang with the save of the year, and the next moment it looks like the Tupac Hologram would be a more serviceable goaltender.

Both teams were hyped as Cup contenders before the playoffs, but whoever wins this Keystate Showdown is going to be in serious trouble if they come up against Tim Thomas or Henrik Lundqvist in the future.

New Stars Rising: WWE Legend Mick Foley has recently been engaged in an on-line feud with prospect Dean Ambrose, these two calling each other out on Twitter has been blurring the lines between fiction and reality quite nicely. Apparently the plan is to give Ambrose a huge program right away and make him a major name very quickly.

Add in the fact that recently (re) debuted Lord Tensai got a huge win over John Cena, and it looks like we may finally be seeing some new stars come in. Sure it won’t be as big as the Class of 2002 which included Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, and Shelton Benjamin, but it looks like we may finally be getting some new big names on the horizon.

Randy Orton vs. Kane: This feud is still going on, really?

It was boring and obvious filler before Wrestlemania, it’s boring and obvious filler for Extreme Rules, and damnit it’s boring and obvious filler in this column.

Orton deserves better, and so do you, Dear Readers.

 

Brock Lesnar: The return of The Next Big Thing, could be one of the best things to happen to the WWE in a very long tim. He’s brought with him a ton of buzz, cross-over appeal, and some legitimacy.

While many would obviously question matching him up with Cena right away and not holding off until Wrestlemania, sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot. Having him give an F5 to John Cena the night after Wrestlemania was an amazing way to have him return, and to have those two face off so soon really helps carry the post-Wrestlemania buzz even longer.

The possibilities for Lesnar going forward are incredibly exciting, and it’s fun to imagine potential matchups with The Rock, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, or CM Punk, and it’ll be even more fun to not have to imagine them anymore.

Obvious Double Standards: Here at a site that’s 50% Dedicated to professional wrestling, you certainly won’t find a ton of complaining about violence in sports.

The complaint here is coming out of the Department of Player Safety. Brendan Shanahan has the hardest job in the league, and for the most part has been very good at it. However, some things here are a little strange.

Aaron Asham cross-checks a guy during play and gets four games while Niklas Backstrom gets only one game for a cross-check to the face when the clock ran out. The book will certainly be thrown at Raffi Torres for his late hit on Marian Hossa, but James Neal only got one game for obvious head-hunting. Shea Weber gets nothing for ramming Zetterberg’s head into the boards, but Andrew Shaw gets three for bumping a goalie, of a team owned by the league no less.

The message is clear, third and fourth liners are fair game for suspensions but people who have the ability to dictate the game like Neal, Backstrom, and Weber can get slaps on the wrist. This makes it seem like Johnny Laurinitus is in charge and all of these top liners are people like Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler, and that’s in nobody’s best interest.

 

 

Prediction for the Week: Only one series goes to seven games.

Apr 12

Penguins vs. Flyers and Why the NHL Won’t Change Their Playoff Seeding

Posted on by

Last night we had to privilege of watching a phenomenal game of what should be a phenomenal series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. After this series was clinched a few days ago the complaints starting coming in.

How could these two great teams meet in only the first round? The Penguins had the second best record in the Conference and fourth in the league, while the Flyers had the third highest point total in the East and sixth most in the league. Meanwhile inferior teams in Boston and Florida get a higher seed, an easier opponent, home ice advantage, and a better chance of advancing. It’s a shame that one of the Pennsylvania teams will be golfing in two weeks, to say nothing of those two Central Division teams in the same situation.

Cries have gone up to switch things around (including on this very blog) with the three most common suggestions being: Top 8 in each Conference just make it, Division leaders guarenteed a playoff spot; The NBA Model with the Division leaders getting a top four spot; or Top 16 make it no matter what.

As intriguing as it would be to have a Top 16 NHL Playoffs, this option seems highly unlikely. The travel schedule would be unreal, and perhaps more importantly, there is less of a chance to have rivalries and repeat matchups. What are the odds that Vancouver and Chicago would have played each other for the past three years if they weren’t locked in the same half of the league? So let’s throw this out as both fair and fun to consider, but highly unlikely.

The other two options leave things certainly more equitable. They would instead give us the following series:

TOP 8 IN CONFERENCE                                         
#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators
#2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #7 Washington Capitals
#3 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #6 Florida Panthers
#4 Boston Bruins vs. #5 New Jersey Devils

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings
#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
#3 Nashville Predators vs. #6 Phoenix Coyotes
#4 Detroit Red Wings vs. #5 Chicago Blackhawks

NBA MODEL                                         
#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators
#2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #7 Washington Capitals
#3 Boston Bruins vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
#4 Florida Panthers vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings
#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
#3 Nashville Predators vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks
#4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

First off, it’s entirely coincidental that both of these options give us the same Eastern Conference matchups, as we can see it doesn’t hold true in both Conferences.

Of course everyone looking at that is salivating at the thoughts of another Crosby-Ovie showdown, but that’s only an option because of how disappointing the Capitals were this year. Had they preformed even half way to expectations things would be very different. Outside of that fluke, the only real “WOW” series is Detroit-Chicago in the 4-5 slot. Of course, hardcore hockey fans would probably find some fascination in all of the matchups, but the fact is: we’re not the target, and we can’t be.

The fact is that we’ll watch anyway. Even if there somehow was a Columbus-Minnesota showdown in the first round, those of us who come up with these crazy schemes are likely to watch it anyway. What the NHL needs to do is get ways to hook in the casual fan, and for better or worse the Philly-Pittsburgh and to a lesser extent Detroit-Nashville help with that.

With this current crazy system lets the NHL (and NBC) do is give a higher chance of a true “Main Event” to happen in the first round. The league gets to hype the hell out of one, or both, of these showdowns to get eyeballs on the television. Of course, they would draw better if they were playing in the 3rd round, but there are no guarentees of that happening, with all of the upsets that happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

To take it to the other half of this blog, professional wrestling, we should look to the King of the Ring tournament. From 1993 to 2002, the WWF/E would have an annual tournament on Pay-Per-View with the winner being crowned King of the Ring. This was great for hardcore wrestling fans, but the casuals didn’t seem to want any part of it.

In the 1993 event, Bret Hart had great 2nd and 3rd round matchups with Mr. Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow, which many casual fans would have paid to see, but there was a big problem. They weren’t advertised, since they happened later on in the night, and were only deemed as possible. Instead the company was only able to hype up matches like Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, as they were the first round showdowns, which few people really wanted to see.

The company had to change their plan and instead give us first round matchups that could help sell the card on their own. Perhaps the best example of this was in 2000, when the two favourites to win the tournament were Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. It would have been great to have these two face off in the finals, and it would really add some prestige to the event, but instead they were matched up in the first round. After Angle won, his next two matches against Crash Holly and Rikishi were pretty much foregone conclusions, but that point it didn’t matter. We had already made the investment and bought the event, we were stuck with those matches. People paid for the definite matchup in Angle-Jericho who may not have paid for the possibility of Angle-Jericho.

And that’s where we come back to hockey. People will watch Philly-Pittsburgh in the first round, hopefully some of those casual fans will be entertained enough to follow the winning team to the second round and beyond should they be so lucky.

The league needs a marquee series in the first round. They need something to sell people right from the start, and hope to get them hooked going forward. The second round usually gives us at least one good series like Boston-Philadelphia, Detroit-San Jose, or Pittsburgh-Washington, while the third and fourth round can usually sell themselves (unless it’s Edmonton vs. Carolina and you don’t live in Canada).

Still don’t buy that this is the league’s motivation? Consider their failed realignment plan, if we had those divisions and the same standings (which is of course impossible since there would be different standings and we would get: VAN-LAK, PHX-SJS, STL-CHI, NAS-DET, BOS-BUF, OTT-FLA, NYR-NJD, PIT-PHI.

Yes, we would still get Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia in the first round, to be our first round Main Event, with Nashville vs. Detroit to serve as a nice undercard. The proposed Conferences involved lumping most of the big US Draws in one division to give us a good chance for a Main Event in the first two rounds, and then the other top draws like Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, and Chicago get divided up and placed with some second tier draws like Tampa Bay, St. Louis, and even Nashville and Dallas to give us a good chance of a solid undercard for those other nights or late games.

The fact is that the NHL is a business, and as such is focused on the bottom line first and fairness second. It just makes more business sense to have a higher chance of having a guaranteed barn burner then to hope for one later, and like it or not, we’ll most certainly be getting these Angle-Jericho style matchups were the potential winners are going head to head at the beginning.

Of course the Stanley Cup Playoffs will most certainly lead to some more compelling series in the second and third rounds, since hockey isn’t scripted like professional wrestling. That is unless you’re a Flyers fan, then you may have other opinions on that…

Apr 11

NHL Playoffs: Another Pair of Idiots Guide to Every Series in the Eastern Conference and the Stanley Cup Finals

Posted on by

Yesterday, myself and special guest Troy looked at the playoff series in the West, today we’ll look at the East, which features the real marquee matchup of the first round in Philly-Pittsburgh.

#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators

The Battle of teams that are 6-8 places ahead of their pre-season predictions! That’s right, the Senators were expected to be near the bottom of the Conference, while the Rangers were thought to be a bubble team, sitting in their usual 7-9 spot, but yet, here we are. Both teams have worked very hard and been very well coached to get to this point, but the clock will strike 12 for one of these Cinderellas very soon.

Troy Says: How surprised is everyone to see the Sens on the playoffs? I don’t think there were many people this year that thought they had it in them. Karlsson has emerged as one of the best defencemen in the league. According to NHL.com he’s joined by Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, and Denis Potvin as the only players to lead blueliner scoring by more than 20 points. That’s just flat out impressive. Their goaltending has also been good this year even though Anderson has been inconsistent at times. The play of Alfredsson and Spezza has been a big boost and their veteran leadership will certainly help this team. Too bad they’re up against the Rangers though. New York is a team I’ve enjoyed making fun of for the last number of years because they’ve been trying to buy their way to a cup and each time they’ve fallen flat on their faces. This year though they’ve finally got it right. Brad Richards has fit in very nicely and their young D corps has been impressive. Add to that Lundqvist in the net and this will be a hard team to beat. The only chance Ottawa has it to outscore them, which they are capable of doing.

Most Interesting Story: Goaltending, goaltending, and goaltending! The Senators have been striking gold all season with their men in the cage. First Anderson plays dynamite, and then when he gets hurt, Lehner steps in, and then they give Bishop a whirl and he looks great too. It doesn’t matter who they seem to put in, they seem to have some success.

Success, though is in the eye of the beholder, as few goalies have been as successful as current Vezina favourite, and potential Hart Trophy nominee, Henrik Lundqvist, who has been absolutely lights out this year. These two teams oddly match up very well in every other position, great playmaking centre, dynamic (but injury prone) scoring winger, and some great young d-men, but when it comes to the most important position, it’ll be like Ancient Rome. The Senators may have to bow to the King, but it’ll be a close fight to the end.

Et tu Bishop?

Most Interesting Stat: The Rangers earned 17 more points than the Sens this year, and allowed 53 less goals than they did. Both of these differences are tops amongst all of the playoff matchups this year. That being said, the Sens scored 23 more goals than the Rangers.

Glen’s Prediction: Rangers in 7 with both teams combining for four shutouts along the way.

Troy’s Prediction: For my money though this is New York’s series.

New York in 6

Coin’s Prediction: Senators in 7

#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals

Let’s see, where do we even start here? The defending champions taking on a team that thinks “Because it’s the Cup” is a reference to their Jock Straps? Or Tim Thomas exercising his rights as a Free Citizen by winning some games in DC, or will that damn Lamestream Media throw him off his game?

This is a simply fascinating series both on and off the ice and will no doubt provide endless analysis going forward.

Troy Says: This is not going to be a fun series for Washington. Washington is a team that tends to choke in the playoffs and they’re going against the defending champs. Not good. What is good though is that Ovechkin finally decided in the last few weeks to put the team back on his shoulders again and he has been his old self which is fun to see.

Most Interesting Story: Toughness! You have one team that is perceived as being soft against another team that often has the words “Big” and “Bad” in front of their name. Both teams have a ton to prove.

Chara vs. Ovechkin will be the most interesting matchup on the ice to watch for the next two weeks. Both men are big, both men can hit, and both men can take a hit. Chara is one of the best in the league and slowing guys down, but if Ovechkin is truly motivated than he’ll have his work cut out for him.

Most Interesting Statistic: The Boston Bruins scored 61 more goals than they allowed this year, far and away tops in the NHL, while the Capitals allowed 8 more than they scored. The Caps join their division rival Florida as the only teams in the league to make the playoffs with a negative goal differential.

Glen’s Prediction: Bruins in 4 with both Alex’s combining for only 2 goals

Troy’s Prediction: This could be a fun high scoring series, but it’s not going to last long.

Boston in 4.

Coin’s Prediction: Capitals in 6

#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils

Much has been said about how little the Panthers deserve this spot. They backed into the three seed with a series of losses, they only have the sixth best record in the Conference, they have an embarrassing -24 goal differential, they lost a zillion games in overtime, and I heard some people blame them for both the Kennedy Assassination and the hole in the ozone layer. But the fact is, all of this doesn’t matter. Sure the standings probably should be changed, but they haven’t been. The 2012 Florida Panthers are not the first inferior team to benefit from the standings, and probably won’t be the last one. Right now everyone has zero wins and that’s all that matters.

Troy Says: Florida?? Really? They still have a team? Wow….and not only are they in the playoffs but they won their division so they actually have home ice against the Devils. As much as I like to make fun of this team they are worthy of their position. They don’t have that high end talent but they are consistent and can wear you down. The Devils however do have that high end talent. And they have three 30 goal scorers this season so if one cylinder isn’t firing, they have lots more to go to. Add to that Marty Brodeur who – even though he’s gotta be in his 50s by now – is still a damn good goalie and I think Florida’s return to the post season will be short lived.

Interesting Matchup: Coaching! Peter DeBoer was hired as the Panthers coach, was given nothing, and then thrown under the bus for it. Thankfully he was given another chance by the Devils this year and made the most of it, helping them return to the playoffs and post over 100 points in the process.
But rookie head coach Kevin Dineen has been pretty great this year too, sure Dale Tallon gets a ton of credit for his July 1 chemistry experiment working out, but Dineen was there to make sure that it didn’t blow up in anyone’s face.
Interesting Stat: This is only the third first round series since the Lockout between two teams that both didn’t make the playoffs the year before. The other two were both in 2008, Montreal-Boston and Washington-Philadelphia.

Glen’s Prediction: New Jersey Devils in five with three of the games going to overtime.

Troy’s Prediction:  New Jersey is like Detroit in that once they’re in the playoffs all bets are off.

New Jersey in 6.

Coin’s Prediction: Devils in 5

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
This is the absolute main event! This series will be a rough, high scoring affair featuring two of the most exciting and dynamic teams in the league. These two teams have a chance to show everyone what’s right about our beautiful game, but also what’s wrong with it. Hopefully they make the right choices.
Troy Says: This is the series everyone wanted. I can’t wait! The only shame is that this is happening in the first round and not the third. This series is worthy of a Conference Final and at the end of it, a very good cup contending team will be going home. Philly is a tough team, much tougher than Pittsburgh, but they also boast some serious offensive ability. It’s this toughness that will be hard on Pittsburgh. Also, for the first time in a long time, Philly finally has a legitimate and unquestioned number one goalie in Bryzgalov. He stunk out the joint last year in the playoffs with Phoenix so he’ll definitely be looking to atone so look for him to be strong. Other than the toughness, Pittsburgh can counter everything Philly has. Pittsburgh has unreal talent up front and a solid defensive group that will make life tough for the Flyers. Behind it all you have the reliable Marc-Andre Fleury and that’s what could tip this series. This one could go the distance.
Most Interesting Matchup: It may be cliche to say goaltending here, but how could it be anything else?
In the red corner you have a calm, cool, collected goalkeeper who showed Niklas Lidstrom how clutch he could be back in 2009. In the blue corner you have a man best known for waxing poetically about masks and the size of the universe.
How these two men perform when it counts will be a fantastic story to watch for the next few weeks.
Most Interesting Statistic: Despite these two being labeled as blood rivals, they’ve only met in the playoffs five times before, with two of those coming post-Lockout. The Flyers have faced the Rangers twice as many times in the playoffs, with the Penguins most common playoff opponent being the Washington Capitals.

Glen’s Prediction: Pittsburgh win in six of the best game you’ve ever seen

Troy’s Prediction:  Pittsburgh in 7.

Coin’s Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6

Quick Picks: The 2nd and 3rd Rounds

Glen Says: 

Devils over Rangers in 6 stunning games
Penguins over Bruins in 7 heavy games
Penguins over Devils in 5 to move on to face the Canucks
Finals have Penguins over Canucks in five with Crosby scoring the Overtime winner to leave the city very conflicted.

Troy Says:

NYR over New Jersey in 7 (Callaghan gives a Messier-like guarantee!)
Pittsburgh over Boston in 7
Finals: Penguins over Canucks in 6
Coin Says:

Penguins over Senators in 6
Devils over Capitals in 4
Penguins over Devils in 7
Finals: Detroit over Pittsburgh in 5

Does the coin know it’s not 2008 anymore?

Apr 10

NHL Playoffs: Another Idiot’s Opinions on Every Series in the Western Conference – UPDATED

Posted on by

Unless you’ve been living under a rock and/or are in Phoenix, you must be getting excited about the NHL Playoffs. The first round starts on Wednesday with some pretty exciting games.

Every series has a fascinating storyline or two coming through. How about DeBoer coaching his old team? How about Jonathan Quick’s potential to Halak a series win here? How about the Predators arriving on the big stage? And let’s not even get started on Philly-Pittsburgh, which will be the absolute main event of this round!

I’ll do my best to project every series in advance, and I’m pretty certain that I’ll be wrong. I’ll flip a 1 Jiao coin (0.1 Yuan) and see it no doubt beat me. This post will feature the Western Conference, tomorrow we can look at the East and the finals.

UPDATE – April 11: We’ve also been blessed to have the thoughts of our very good friend Troy. Followers of my old blog will certainly remember his hockey related thoughts.

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings

This series is not the mismatch that you may expect out of a 1-8 matchup. The Canucks are a two-time President’s Trophy Winner, and reigning Western Conference Champions. The Kings were fantastic down the stretch, save those two games with the Sharks and Ryan Clowe’s stick from the bench.

Most Interesting Story: This story will be all about three men, Jonathan Quick, Roberto Luongo, and Cory Schneider. If there is anyone out there who could pull a Halak, it’s Jonathan Quick. He’s long been overlooked and underrated, but it’s safe to say that he’s arrived this year. His 10 Shutouts and 1.95 GAA is borderline otherworldly. Luongo’s meltdowns against Chicago and Boston were eye opening and every bad goal he has is going to get everyone looking at the bench to see if Alain Vigneaut is going to bring out the hook. Nobody in the playoffs is under more pressure than Roberto and it’ll be fascinating to see how he preforms.

Most Interesting Statistic: The Canucks scored 54 more goals than the Kings this year, the biggest difference of any series. Of course, Jeff Carter is returning from an ankle injury and who knows anything about Daniel Sedin’s concussion.

Official Prediction: Canucks in 7 with Schneider winning games six and seven

Coin Says: Canucks in 6

Troy Says: This could be an interesting series. In my mind Vancouver isn’t as strong as they were last year, and LA is stronger than they were last year so this is hardly a typical 1 vs 8 matchup. Having said that though I believe Vancouver is stronger mentally and although LA is a team just waiting to explode, I don’t think this is their year just yet. Make no mistake though, Jonathan Quick is entirely capable of stealing this series. Luongo is going to have a short leash and if LA’s goaltending is better than Vancouver’s then this will not be a fun series for Canucks fans. Fortunately for Vancouver Luongo tends to choke later on in the playoffs so I’m sure for now he’ll be good enough.

Vancouver in 6.

#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks

I scribbled down my playoff predictions at the start of the year, which was lost, and I do think that I had these two facing off in the 2-7 seed. Now before I pat myself on the back, it was the other way around, the powerhouse #2 Sharks against the upstart #7 Blues. Funny how things change. These two teams have been incredibly surprising, for insanely different reasons.

Most interesting story:  It’s been said many, many times that life is managing your expectations. The expectations for this series are fascinating. Somewhere the Blues became a Cup Contender (or did they?) and the Sharks became the plucky underdog. The Sharks haven’t been a lower seed in the playoffs in years, and haven’t been a true underdog in even longer. Everyone who was watching hockey in the mid to late 90s remembers their huge upsets over the likes of the Detroit Red Wings, Calgary Flames, and yes even the St. Louis Blues. Can they do it again? On the other hand, the Blues have won a ton of games against teams that overlook them. How on earth will they perform as heavy favourites?

Most Interesting Statistic: Both teams has stellar home records. The Sharks were 26-12-3 at the Shark Tank this year, which has the fifth best home record in the Western Conference. One of those teams ahead of them? Why the St. Louis Blues who were a stunning 30-6-5 at home. The Sharks played 0.500 hockey on enemy soil and the Blues weren’t much better. The Sharks will need to pull out at least one road win in order to advance, and the Blues will be looking to the same to make this a quick series.

Official Prediction: Blues in 6 with Game 6 being their only road win of the series

Coin Says: Sharks in 4

Troy Says: St. Louis has been a monster of a team this year and in fact came very close to beating out Vancouver for the President’s Trophy. Their goaltending tandem of Elliot and Halak has been stellar and their young guns are extremely good. As for San Jose it’s really hard for me to see them going far in the playoffs because….well…let’s face it…they usually choke. I don’t think they’ll choke this year but unfortunately they’re up against a really strong team. San Jose was winless against the Blues in the season series and in fact only scored three goals in those games so it’s going to be a tough road for the Sharks.

St. Louis in 5

#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks may be back. They won the Stanley Cup in 2010, were forced to dismantle and barely made the playoffs last year. They spent a very good portion of the fall and early winter near the top of the Conference before dropping down for a bit in February, before putting it on at the end. There were very low expectations for the Coyotes this year, but once again they surpassed them by a mile. The last two years the off-ice distractions got the better of them, will it happen again?

Most interesting story:  For approximately the 412th straight year, the story is the same. Will this be the last time the Coyotes play in Phoenix? It seems all but set that they will be on the move. Don’t expect there to be any announcement until after they’ve been eliminated, the NHL needs those home dates after all.

Most Interesting Statistic: Both of these teams come in very hot! These two teams have a combined 13-2-5 in their last 10 games.

Official Prediction: Blackhawks in 7 with all four games in Phoenix as sellouts with crazy crowds

Coin Says: Blackhawks in 5

Troy Says:  This is a bit of a pick em series for me. It’s 3 vs 6 series but Chicago finished the season with more points than Phoenix so it’s hard to say who the better team is. The big equalizer is Mike Smith. He’s been lights out this season but if Chicago were to get Toews back before the end of this series watch out. He makes them a better team and could be the difference. Chicago has some game breakers on their roster but if Mike Smith keeps to his regular season form this series will turn into a battle of attrition.

Phoenix in 7.

#4 Nashville Predators vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

This is the clear marquee match in the West, Weber vs. Lidstrom, Trotz vs. Babcock, Swedish vs. Russian forwards. This series is going to be a ton of fun and should flat out be a war.

Most interesting story:  This series is clearly Old vs. New. Both teams are clearly very good, but also clearly heading in opposite directions on the trendline. The Predators are looking to make their maiden voyage to the promised land, while the Wings are looking to get there one last time. Other then ages, these two teams are very similar, great defense, phenomenal coaching, and scoring by committee, so the Master vs. Student vibe should carry over well.

Most Interesting Statistic: The Nashville Predators have played 40 playoff games as a franchise. Niklas Lidstrom has played over six times as much, clocking in at 258 heading into this postseason.

Official Prediction: Nashville in 6 with Rinne stealing at least one game, and three games heading to overtime

Coin Says: Detroit in 6

Troy Says:  We’ve seen this series before but I don’t think Nashville has ever been the higher seed. When’s the last time Detroit went into a series as the underdog? It’s hard to think of Detroit in that way but that’s what they are. Especially after Radulov came back. He changes everything. He’s another major weapon that Nashville can use against the Wings. Nashville has been the more consistent team while Detroit – even though they won a record 23 games in a row at home – comes into the playoffs with a lot of questions. Having said that though, how hard is it to bet against Detroit in the playoffs? They’re the anti-San Jose Sharks! I believe this is Nashville’s series though. It may take them every home game, but I think they’ll get it done.

Nashville in 7

Quick Picks: The 2nd and 3rd Rounds

Glen’s Predictions:

Vancouver Canucks over Chicago Blackhawks in seven emotional games

Nashville Predators over St. Louis Blues in seven hellacious games

Canucks defeat the Predators in six to advance to the finals

Troy’s Predictions:

Vancouver over Nashville in 5
St. Louis over Phoenix in 7
Van over St. L in 5

Coin Says:

Vancouver over San Jose in seven

Detroit over Chicago in six

Detroit over Vancouver in five

Tune in tomorrow for the East and the finals!

Apr 09

Historical Stats for the Sixteen Playoff Bound Teams

Posted on by

With the NHL Playoffs scheduled to start tomorrow, everyone and their mothers are throwing playoff predictions out there (expect some on here tomorrow by the way…), but before that, we should learn a bit about the sixteen teams headed to the big dance.

In this blog, we’ll look at some strange historical statistics for every team. Obviously not every team has an equal history — we’re looking at you Nashville — but there are some interesting and rather bizarre stats out there.

All stats come from Wikipedia, most of them from the List of [Insert Team Here] Seasons.

Boston Bruins: The Bruins and the Canadiens seem to need each other in a Batman-Joker kind of way — we’ll leave you to figure out which team is which comic book character. Dating all the way back to the Bruins inaugural season in 1924, they have only made the playoffs seven times previous to this when the Habs missed out. Of those times, they won the Stanley Cup once in 1970, lost in the second round once in 1999, and lost in the first round the other five of those times. They’ll look to buck that trend and not join the Canadiens on the golf course this time.

Chicago Blackhawks: Since losing the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Blackhawks have only won nine playoff series, six of which came in 2009 and 2010!

Detroit Red Wings: If making the playoffs the past twenty seasons wasn’t impressive enough, they have only lost in the first round six of those times, with three of those loses coming in the first four years of this streak.

Florida Panthers: Since defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 1, 1996 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Florida Panthers are 1-12 in playoff games.

Los Angeles Kings: Since making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993, the Kings have made the playoffs only six times, and were only able to win one playoff series, and that was eleven years ago now!

Ottawa Senators: The Senators have made the playoffs 12 times in their history. Nine of those times they were defeated by either the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, or Pittsburgh Penguins. Oddly those other three loses came in mile stone series for them. First trip to the second round, defeated by the Capitals. First trip to the third round, defeated by the Devils. First trip to the finals, defeated by the Ducks.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins lost a playoff series when they had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal all in their lineups was the 2008 finals to the Detroit Red Wings.

Philadelphia Flyers: The franchise has lost their last six trips to the Stanley Cup finals (1975, 1980, 1985, 1987,1997, 2010), which ties the Detroit Red Wings six finals loses from 1956 to 1995 for longest streak in NHL history.

Nashville Predators: Last year, the Preds won six playoff games. In their previous five trips to the post-season, they won a total of eight.

New Jersey Devils: Despite going 2-5 in playoff series since the Lockout, the Devils are a stunning 22-17 in playoff series dating back to their miracle run in 1998.

New York Rangers: In the six previous times that the Rangers lead their division in the regular season, they tended to not do very well in the post-season. They were only able to win two rounds of the playoffs once during those years.

Bonus Stat: 87% of people said “94″ aloud after reading the last paragraph.

Phoenix Coyotes: The last time this franchise won a playoff series, Sidney Crosby was in his mothers womb. In the past 25 years, they have blown a 3-1 series lead three times, a 3-2 series lead once, and lost another game seven. This gives them a streak of 12 consecutive failed attempts to close out a series

San Jose Sharks: Their 21 seasons without a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals is second only to the Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets 1.0 for longest of any active franchise in the league.

St. Louis Blues: Like the Panthers, the Blues are in a very long playoff slump. Since winning Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks on April 16, 2003, the Blues have been an abysmal 1-11 in the playoffs since then.

Vancouver Canucks: Since the NHL assumed control of the Stanley Cup in 1926, the losing finalist has only ever won the Cup the next year six times, the ’33 Rangers, ’43 Red Wings, ’53 and ’68 Canadiens, ’84 Oilers, and ’09 Penguins. Being a true Canadian team, the ’12 Canucks would like to Make it Seven.

Washington Capitals: This franchise has blown a 3-1 series lead four times, tops of any team in the league.

 

Mar 31

Wrestlemania XXIX: Predicting the Card a Year in Advance

Posted on by

Sure Wrestlemania XXVIII is tomorrow, but what about the event after that? Will they announce a Main Event a year early again? Will the Rock show up? What about CM Punk? How about The Streak, is tomorrow truly going to be the end of an era?

This post features a look at nine potential matches for the event next year, sure it’s early and about a zillion things can change between now and then, but it’s fun to consider, isn’t it?

 

Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio and Christian
WWE Tag Team Title Match

It’s sort of a shame that Rey and Cara didn’t get to have a match at this years Wrestlemania. With both due to return soon, it seems likely that they may just have their big match by Summerslam. After that feud is done, it seems like there is a ton of money that could be made in marketing those two as a tag team. This could help since both of these wrestlers seem injury prone, so maybe their shelf lives could be extended with the two being put together.

Christian and Alberto don’t necessarily have a ton of storyline reasons to be together at this point, but they would make a great team in the Jerishow or Awesome Truth variety, and be logical opponents for Rey and Cara.

Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz

Of course, these two are both heels at this point, but there have been rumblings about having either guy turn face for a while, and really why not? All of the best rising stars in the company are heels, so it seems like someone will need to turn face in order to break through, much like Sheamus did this past summer. My money would be on having Ziggler turn, but it could just as easily be Miz. An extended feud between these two could be a ton of fun, and could really go a long way to elevating both men to the top of the card where they clearly belong.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan

You want to talk about best in the world? We need this match in one way or another, and why not put it on at Wrestlemania? When Bryan first announced that he would cash in at Wrestlemania, this was the only match I wanted to see. But of course plans changed and here we are. These two would put on an absolute clinic in the ring and there an extended feud here would be nothing short of spectacular.

Chris Jericho vs. The Undertaker

This match has been discussed for the last few Wrestlemanias. If this match is really going to happen, it had best happen soon. Jericho is one of the few big names that hasn’t been added to The Streak, and it’ll be incredibly fresh. Given Jericho’s history with both HHH and HBK, he could easily slide into that storyline, which has been running since Wrestlemania XXIV, seamlessly.

United States Title Defended in a Battle Royal!
featuring: Santino Marella, Lord Tensai, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Big Show, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Hunico, Epico, Primo, Drew McIntyre, David Otunga, Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Jinder Mahal, and More!

This match is quite obviously filler, but it would be fun filler if nothing else. I love the idea of Santino Marella holding pulling a Honka-Meter of some sort and being forced to defend the title against everyone in a battle royal. It would be a great way to get some legends involved in a bit of an Old vs. New Type Match.

HBK vs. Triple H

As I said yesterday, I can’t help but think that we are going to get a Wrestlemania Match here between these two. It seems like HBK is going to cost HHH the match (probably innocently) and have it go from there. This could very well be announced as early as April 2.

Kharma, Kane and Big Show vs. Kelly Kelly, Brodus Clay and Zack Ryder
Mixed Tag Team Match

This is most certainly filler. I’d love to see Show turn heel, align with Kane and go on a rampage with Kharma. The face team was chosen just to have them all come out to Clay’s intro, what’s not to love about that?

Randy Orton (c) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Title Match

This could very easily be split into two separate matches, but we haven’t had a good multi-man match at Wrestlemania in a while, so why the heck not? This year will oddly be Randy Orton’s third straight year out of the title picture at Wrestlemania. He has been stellar in the ring this year, and flat out deserves to be closer to the top of the card. All other three men could help make this a great title match, especially since two of them have yet to hold the title, but I imagine that will change soon.

John Cena (c) vs. The Rock
WWE Title Match

Why the hell not?
I have a feeling that Cena will win this match, then they can set up a rematch for Summerslam, only for The Rock to win, leaving this to be a rubber match. To make it a title match could really add to the hype, as that was teased by Cena last spring but quickly forgotten once Punk burst onto the scene. We may as well make the big match even bigger, right?
I think having The Rock somehow win the title at Rumble or Elimination Chamber could make this even cooler, but I’m not certain that things will go that way.
Mar 30

Wrestlemania XXVIII Predictions

Posted on by

John Cena faces the Rock in a generational showdown in two days. Triple H and The Undertaker will “End an Era” in two days. CM Punk and Chris Jericho will determine the best in the world in two days.

Wrestlemania is in two days.

To say I’m excited would be an absolute understatement.

As we’ve looked at in the analysis of different Wrestlemania Trilogies, this will mark the beginning of a new age. Will it be Cena Striking Back? Will it be the Era of Punk? The Return of The Rock? So many possibilities!

As a slight aside before we get to the predictions, we’ll be taking a week long break here. I’m going to be heading to Thailand tonight and will have to put the last six posts in the 40 Blogs in 40 Days series after. Sure it’s a little cheap, but it’s the best I can do. Also, I may have to wait and watch Wrestlemania after I get back and I don’t want to talk about anything else until then.

Now without further ado, the OFFICIAL Blade Jobs of Steel predictions for Wrestlemania XXVIII, with match order included. for fun.

Pre-Match Battle Royal: Brodus Clay wins by last eliminating Hunico and Epico to set off Wrestlemania size Funkfest.

Fireworks!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho
WWE Title Match

This has been rumoured to be the opening match; while that may rub a few people the wrong way, it’s probably for the best. This does need to be seperated from Cena-Rock and Triple H-Taker. Also, since it will probably be the best technical match, it sets the bar very high for everyone else to try and set.

Punk should walk away the winner here, but I don’t see it being fully decisive, maybe with a quick roll up or something like that. There is a ton of mileage left in this feud and a clean GTS/Anaconda Vice finish wouldn’t exactly make people shell out for the rematch.

Prediction: CM Punk via roll-up

Fantasy Booking Time: Ref bump, Jericho hits Punk with the belt or a chair, gets a bottle of whiskey out and pours it down Punk’s throat. Punk spits it in Jericho’s face and gets a quick roll-up as the ref wakes up, one-two-three!

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show
Intercontinental Title Match

After hearing rumours of Big Show vs. Shaq and Cody vs. Golddust, it was easy to be a little disappointed when this match was announced. But the build has been nothing short of fantastic. Cody has played the absolute perfect heel here, and it’s very obvious that he has an insanely bright future ahead of him. Show is of course on the downhill of his career and is great for putting over talent now. That makes the outcome of this match pretty set. What’s curious is just how clean the finish is going to be here, there is nobody set to interfere, no obvious foreign object — like Cody’s mask was last year — it seems like it could just be man-o a man-o and I doubt that Show will lose cleanly.

Prediction: Cody Rhodes hits the Beautiful Disaster after a low blow.

Fantasy Booking Time: Big Show gets to be involved in some sort of “Wrestlemania Moment” maybe he goes through the announce table which gives Cody a chance to gloat. He sets Cody up for the Choke Slam later but then Cody kicks him in the junk and hits his finish move to win the thing.

Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, Booker T
vs.
David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Drew McIntyre
GM vs. GM Battle

This match could be obvious filler, but it could also be a great, fast-paced affair. Most of the guys in this match can flat out deliver, and if they keep the likes of David Otunga, and The Great Khali to a minimum we could just have a great match on our hands.

The obvious money is in Team Johnny winning. A heel authority figure seems to do better than a face one in the long term. Plus, Johnny’s team is just flat out better, featuring four former world champions. The tough call though is who gets the pinfall for the team? Storyline wise, Drew McIntyre may be the best choice given just how long his feud with Teddy Long has gone on, but The Miz would make a ton of sense too. The darkhorse, which I’m going to take her is Ziggler getting the pinfall. By all accounts he is ready for Prime Time, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him drafted to Smackdown and get a summertime feud with Sheamus over the Big Gold Belt (oops should have said Spoiler Alert in there somewhere).

Prediction: Dolph Ziggler pins Booker T after Vickie pulls a distraction

Fantasy Booking Time:  After a finisher buffet, where everyone hits everyone else with their big moves, Vickie interferes and allows Ziggler to pin Booker. This sets off a little feud between Booker T and the Zig Zag Man that can cover the next few months as Ziggler gets ready to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Ohh and when Christian returns he gets his title shot that comes with a Team Johnny win against the very man who (storyline) injured him…

Hall of Fame intro and old guys wave

Randy Orton vs. Kane

This just reeks of Batista vs. Umaga from Wrestlemania XXIV, no real build, no real feud, just an excuse to get some main event talent in a singles match, and it will no doubt be forgotten shortly afterwards.

If anything can be learned from that match it’s this: when in doubt, go with the face and/or the bigger name.

Prediction: Randy Orton via RKO

Fantasy Booking Time: Nothing much to add here. Orton wins, moves up the card, possible feud with Daniel Bryan or a returning Alberto Del Rio.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H
Hell in a Cell Match
Special Guest Referee: Shawn Michaels

This match really is fascinating. Clearly they won’t waste The Undertaker’s streak on a semi-retired performer, would they? But what about Shawn Michaels? How on earth will he call it?

It really depends on if Shawn Michaels intends to step back into the ring or not. If he does, then the finish is pretty obvious isn’t it? He screws over Triple H. But what drama is there with him calling it down the middle? Maybe he makes an honest mistake or a longer slow count, I don’t know. But I have a feeling that HBK wants to step back in the ring against Triple H one last time…

Prediction: The Undertaker after a Tombstone

Fantasy Booking Time: HBK makes an honest mistake that leads to Taker getting the win, Triple H freaks out and lays him out the next night on Raw, challenging him to a match at Wrestlemania XXIX.

Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve

With all of the potential matches for Diva’s, this is the best they could come up with? It’s a little sad, but I guess such is the state of Diva’s Wrestling. I imagine that Kelly may have to start the match alone with Maria’s injury, only for her to run out, make the save and get the win.

Prediction: Maria pins Eve.

Fantasy Booking Time: Not much! Maybe have Kharma come out after the match and level Kelly Kelly and Maria, joining Beth as a team of Super Divas for the next few months.

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus
World Heavyweight Title Match

This match seems likely for these Semi-Main Event spot. These two can put on a great match that gets the crowd energized without fully burning them out. The feud between these two has been very underwhelming, but the match should be great. Both guys can flat out go and I love the idea of them competing for the top prize a  year after being bumped from the card.

Prediction: Sheamus hits a Brogue kick for the clean win

Fantasy Booking Time: Hopefully these guys are given more than the Cena-JBL treatment. I would like to see them get at least 15 minutes to show their stuff, and hopefully Daniel Bryan doesn’t end up looking like a chump the whole time.

John Cena vs. The Rock

What else can be said about this match? It’s Icon vs. Icon, Generation vs. Generation. The match is going to be nothing short of a classic. The outcome is really rather obvious here, but it’s interesting to consider what will happen going forward.

Apparently the Rock is considering returning for another match at Wrestlemania XXIX, but who would it be against? A rematch against Cena, a one-on-one with CM Punk, The Miz? Someone else? It’s hard to say exactly, but it’s damn intriguing to consider. Either way, Cena needs to win cleanly here.

Prediction: John Cena after the third Attitude Adjustment

Fantasy Booking Time: Clean as a whistle, no shenanigans whatsoever.

Mar 29

Overanalyzing Wrestlemania: Historical Themes Part VIII: Your Time is Up; My Time is Now.

Posted on by

Welcome to the eighth  post of a series here at Blade Jobs of Steel. In the countdown to Wrestlemania XXVIII, we’ll be looking back at a few different topics related to the big event, and giving it more analysis than most sane people would give to a worked sport.

In this post, we’ll be exploring an idea first presented in 2009 by a former writer at 411mania.com, Jake Chambers, Wrestlemania Themes. He postulated that hidden in every trilogy of events there is a theme. We’ll expand this a little bit more and look at some different themes and stories that have been present in the different trilogies. In this post, we’ll look at the themes in the eighth trilogy, spanning from the 22nd to 24th editions of the event.

WRESTLEMANIA XXII-XXIV

YOUR TIME IS UP; MY TIME IS NOW.

After spending three years trying to find a new man at the top of the card, they found their man. John Cena won the WWE Title over JBL at Wrestlemania XXI with very little fanfare, but over the course of the year he would slowly shift to become the focus of the show.

He had great feuds with Chris Jericho (sending him out of the company in the process), Kurt Angle and Edge. Ignoring a three week interruption in January, John Cena held the WWE Title for pretty much an entire year. While he was getting pushed very hard as a face, there would be some dissent growing along the way as more and more boos could be heard during his matches.

John Cena was set to defend his WWE Title against one of the top stars of the previous era, Triple H. A man looking to end his Wrestlemania Main Event losing streak at 2 matches.

Wrestlemania XXII would emanate from the greater Chicago area, the same site of Wrestlemania XXIII. And in some ways we had a repeat of the famed double turn nine years prior. The crowd turned on John Cena, the hero, and sided with the villainous Triple H. This wasn’t the first time the crowd had turned on Cena, but it certainly was the biggest time up to that point.

But the crowd wasn’t enough, Triple H would tie The Rock’s record with three straight Main Event loses at Wrestlemania. Worse still, Triple H would submit for the second time in three years.

Triple H’s time was up; John Cena’s time was now.

John Cena would undisputedly by the man in the next year. After short reigns for both RVD and Edge, Cena would reclaim the title in September 2006 and hold it tightly.

Apparently the plan was to have Triple H challenge Cena again at Wrestlemania XXIII but a torn quad ruined that plan. Instead, Triple H’s running mate, Shawn Michaels would rise to the challenge.

For the second straight year, Cena would defend the title against a member of D-X in the Main Event, and for the second straight year, Cena would make that man tap out.

Shawn Michaels’s time was up; John Cena’s time was now.

Cena would hold on to the until until an injury forced his hand in October, when a torn pectoral muscle forced the longest reigning World Champion in decades.

The “Age of Orton” would begin after that as Randy Orton would go on a dominant run as champion defeating the likes of Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, and Jeff Hardy, while simmering a feud with Triple H.

It looked as though Triple H would win his second Royal Rumble and set up a one-on-one showdown with Randy Orton. Instead John Cena surprised everyone by returning early and winning the Rumble to avenge the man that injured him. But after a variety of moves, we ended up with a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Title, with both Cena and Triple H challenging Randy Orton.

John Cena was undefeated at Wrestlemania, and seemed set to have his own streak continue here. But it wasn’t to be, John Cena was pinned by Randy Orton after Triple H’s pedigree. It was clear, Cena didn’t need to be super any more. He could take a loss and still be fine.

John Cena’s time was up; Randy Orton’s time was now.

It seemed clear, John Cena was so over he could lose and not worry. Also, he was getting stale and someone new was needed at the top. That man seemed to be Randy Orton, who could finally be the next big star to carry the company through the next era.

But it wasn’t really meant to be.

The next night, few people were talking about Orton’s huge win. Everyone was talking about victories of two stars from bygone eras, who would shockingly come to define the next era in Wrestlemania.

Mar 28

Overanalyzing Wrestlemania: Historical Themes Part VII: Star Search Part II

Posted on by

Welcome to the seventh post of a series here at Blade Jobs of Steel. In the countdown to Wrestlemania XXVIII, we’ll be looking back at a few different topics related to the big event, and giving it more analysis than most sane people would give to a worked sport.

In this post, we’ll be exploring an idea first presented in 2009 by a former writer at 411mania.com, Jake Chambers, Wrestlemania Themes. He postulated that hidden in every trilogy of events there is a theme. We’ll expand this a little bit more and look at some different themes and stories that have been present in the different trilogies. In this post, we’ll look at the themes in the seventh trilogy, spanning from the 19th to 21st editions of the event.

WRESTLEMANIA XIX-XXI

STAR SEARCH PART II

The year 2002 was one of the most transitionary years in the companies history. A full year after being the only game in town, things were changing drastically. The company lost a long standing legal battle with the World Wildlife Foundation, and had to be renamed WWE, their formerly unified titles were split in two, and most shocking, the rosters were split in two, one exclusively for Raw, one exclusively for Smackdown.

Add in the fact that the two biggest stars of the previous era, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock both left as full-time performers, leaving a huge void at the top. This new era, clearly needed some new stars.

Like the search to replace Hogan fifteen years earlier, this wouldn’t be easy.

The night after Wrestlemania X-8 saw a phenomenal talent show up. Brock Lesnar rolled through the roster en route to being crowned King of the Ring, and WWE Champion by August. He would lose the title shortly later and chasing new WWF Champion Kurt Angle in an amateur wrestling dream match.

Wrestlemania XIX ended with Brock Lesnar celebrating and it seemed like a new star was crowned, the Lesnar trilogy was all set to begin. A year later he was set to face Bill Goldberg in a true dream match to really solidify his place in wrestling history. But as usual it wasn’t that simple.

Not long before Wrestlemania XX it was revealed that Brock Lesnar was going to leave professional wrestling. All of the company’s hard work would be for nothing. There was a need to find a new star.

The company seemed to try to look to ten years before for inspiration. Wretlemania X ended with Bret Hart as the top dog in the company. The company went with a well respected veteran who could work a great match with anyone then, and they would do it again.

Wrestlemania XX ended with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit holding the two titles, two veterans, two friends, two phenomenal wrestlers, two world champions. The company seemed poised to try to have a workhorse at the top of the card.

But for a variety of reasons, neither men set the world on fire as world champion. A different option was needed.

They wanted Randy Orton to be the guy, but that was botched. Instead, a fellow stable mate was placed in this high-profile spot. Batista won the Royal Rumble and instead of challenging WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield, he went after his menton Triple H.

Wrestlemania XXI ended with Batista holding the World Heavyweight Title after Triple H suffered his second straight Main Event loss.

But Batista wasn’t to be their guy. Earlier on the card there was another World Title match that didn’t get the same treatment. In a very short, borderline squash match there was a new WWE Champion crowned.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, their time was up, his time was now.

Mar 27

Overanalyzing Wrestlemania: Historical Themes Part VI: Do You Smell What’s Cooking?

Posted on by

Welcome to the fifth post of a series here at Blade Jobs of Steel. In the countdown to Wrestlemania XXVIII, we’ll be looking back at a few different topics related to the big event, and giving it more analysis than most sane people would give to a worked sport.

In this post, we’ll be exploring an idea first presented in 2009 by a former writer at 411mania.com, Jake Chambers, Wrestlemania Themes. He postulated that hidden in every trilogy of events there is a theme. We’ll expand this a little bit more and look at some different themes and stories that have been present in the different trilogies. In this post, we’ll look at the themes in the sixth trilogy, spanning from the 16th to 18th editions of the event.

WRESTLEMANIA XVI-XVIII

DO YOU SMELL WHAT’S COOKING?

Wrestlemania XV ended with Stone Cold Steve Austin winning the WWF Title over Vince McMahon’s corporate champion, The Rock. Fast forward twelve months and things were of course, very different.

First Steve Austin had re-aggravated his neck injury and had to be “hit by a car” and would miss almost a year of action. The Rock was also cast out of The Corporation and was once again “The People’s Champion” and very clearly filled Austin’s place as top babyface in the company.

The Main Event for Wrestlemania XVI (called Wrestlemania 2000) ended up being a four-way elimination match between The Rock, Mick Foley, The Big Show, and WWF Champion Triple H as there was a McMahon in every corner. While Foley and Big Show were given prominent roles, it was obvious that the two big stars here were The Rock and Triple H.

They ended up as the final two in the match, it seemed like The Rock was destined to win, but Shane and Vince McMahon allied with Stephanie and cost The Rock the match. This made Triple H the third person to defend his title successfully at Wrestlemania, and also the first heel to leave the event with the top belt.

But don’t let that fool you, the top star was clearly The Rock, and he showed it the very next month winning the WWF Title from Triple H at Backlash. After a few other interruptions to his run, he would enter Wrestlemania X-7 with his then record setting sixth WWF Championship reign. To take on the record setting three time Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

For the third straight year The Rock went on to lose the Main Event at Wrestlemania, but this one was especially significant. In a clear battle between two men at the absolute top of the wrestling world, it was the former rebel Steve Austin who needed to seek help. He needed Vince McMahon’s help in order to beat The Rock. The message was clear, The Rock was the top star now, Austin could only hope to be second best.

The Rock got to be such a big star that he would leave the business for almost six months in 2001 to film The Scorpion King, his first full feature film.

By the time Wrestlemania X-8 came, things were rather different. After the purchase of WCW, the company saw a huge glut of new talent come in, but none of them a bigger name than Hulk Hogan, who came in February 2002. He immediately set his sights on The Rock and an Icon vs. Icon match was set for Wrestlemania X-8 in Toronto.

The Rock finally ended his losing streak at the Big Event with one of the biggest wins in history. He defeated Hulk Hogan clean as a whistle in this multi-generational showdown. Despite his two tainted losses, The Rock was clearly established as The Man. Many said that day, and many more have said since then that Hogan-Rock should have closed the show. Were that the case, The Rock would have tied Hogan’s streak for closing the event four straight times, but it was not meant to be.

The Rock was such a big star that the WWF would be forced to lose him. Not long after he defeated Hogan, The Rock went back to Hollywood, where he would more or less stay from then on. Sure he would have a few more matches in the coming years, but nothing concrete.

The company was forced to do the same thing that happened when Hogan left, find somebody new, and that of course would take time.