XWL Newsletter 1/23: Shawn Michaels is emotionally hurting

“HAHA!
OH WOW!”

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[S1] Archives
[S2] Overview
[S3] Spotlight Article
[S4] Feud Updates
[S5] Rambles & Raves
[S6] Rumor Mill
[S7] Interview
[S8] The Stars Speak Out
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[S10] Superstar Rankings
[S11] Winners & Losers
[S12] XWL Roundtable
[S13] Win or Go Home
[S14] Beyond Wrestling
[S15] Wrap Up

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[S1]
Missed an old newsletter? Want to re-read an old article? Catch up here!
9/23/11, 10/2/11, 5/13/12, 5/20/12, 5/27/12, 6/3/12, 6/10/12, 6/17/12,
6/25/12, 7/1/12, 7/16/12, 7/22/12, 7/30/12, 8/7/12, 12/4/12, 12/12/12, 12/19/12, 1/3/13
1/8/13

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[S2]
Our monthly week off left us refreshed and ready to go and don’t worry, just like last time, we got both shows covered for those of you just dying to get our take on things. A lot of stuff has gone down, and just as much stuff hasn’t gone down and we’re here to analyze every single down to its very core. So sit back, relax, enjoy your tea and enjoy this edition.

[S3]

This title meant the world to HBK.

Winning this one would have meant so much more.

Who’s been getting on each other’s nerves lately?

Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
More and more people keep getting hurt as the bounty hunt continues. Unfortunately for Dolph, Dean is doing most of the hurting, to himself and to others.

CM Punk vs. XWL
Punk’s demands weren’t humored last time around, but he and Heyman swear that if it happens again that they’ll make the company regret it.

MVP vs. Carltio
Carlito returned the favor by coming out to commentate on MVP’s match, and while The Ballin’ Superstar still pulled out a win, Carlito’s distraction was enough to get MVP pushed off the turnbuckle by Aries sending him crashing down to the outside.

Ted DiBiase vs. Shawn Michaels (& Vickie Guerrero)
Ted has turned the tide around in a major way by shoving his rival into the Gulf of Mexico, but HBK is going to come back with a vengeance and Ted better hope he’s ready to face Michaels’ wrath.

Stone Cold vs. Eddie Guerrero
Guerrero has yet to respond to Stone Cold’s challenge but the Texas Rattlesnake has made it clear that he’s ready for a fight, or at least a face to face confrontation.

Chris Jericho vs. Triple H
Jericho tried to play some mind games by replaying the video of his savage attack of Flair, but The Game took care of that issue with his trusty sledgehammer. The match between the two is official and it’s shaping up to be one hell of a clash.

Jeff Hardy vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Hardy’s injuries have kept him away from the arena, but his cryptic message about thing being in his favor has even got the champion stumped, who’s suffering a bit from his own injuries as well.

Kaitlyn vs. Brie Bella
Kaitlyn managed to get her hands on Nikki, though it’s ultimately Brie she wants to shut up once and for all. Of course, Brie isn’t going to go down quietly, and she still believes that beating Kaitlyn is a possibility.

The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar
Rock stood up to the beast, and put down his messenger and it’s not always you see Lesnar backing away from a fight and one has to think that he’ll be bringing the fight to Rocky pretty soon.

Layla vs. Beth Phoenix
Beth announced, or rather showed Layla, that their next bout will be a submission match, and she almost put Layla through another table. Luckily for Layla, the refs were there to lend a helping hand, but they won’t be able to do the same at Uprising.

Paige vs. Alicia Fox
Another heated confrontation between the two ends in a fight as these two women are determined to prove that they’re better than the other.

John Morrison vs. Christian
Morrison still doesn’t feel Christian has proved himself enough to warrant a shot at his title, but Christian has basically guaranteed that he will get the match that he wants. How will he do it?

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[S5]
We give our thoughts, whether they make sense or not, on the segments that graced our televisions this week.

Breakdown SuperShow

Spoiler:

Redemption SuperShow

Austin Aries
Aries is feeling pretty upset about MVP’s comments regarding his match against Carlito last week. Aries backed up everything he said last week and beat Carltio, and MVP should be worried that Aries will build up a little win streak of his own at his expense. He’s out for respect, for some payback on his match getting disregarded and to XWL that he should be in contention for a championship.

The Miz
You gotta like how Miz isn’t afraid to speak his mind, if he could to a better job of making things a bit smoother when he speaks. He completely tore apart his opponent to tonight, which I would consider a waste of breath considering that his opponent most likely won’t respond. But where Miz really shined was where he took it to the management for the big drop off in the quality of opponents, but then again he went into his world title match thinking Jericho was beneath him and remember how that match ended?

Mia Yim
Mia Yim going by the “Blasian Barbie” won’t go over so well with so many women in XWL dedicating their lives to eliminating Barbies. Though Mia looks like she can protect herself, and in that really enjoyable interview we learned a lot about her and her goals and her motivation. She seems like a nice addition to the diva’s roster, now let’s see if she sticks around.

Wade Barrett
Maybe the return back to England was just what the doctor ordered for Wade. He got a chance to clear his head, and while we would have liked him to say a little bit more, he still got the point across and barring any more trips back to his homeland, Barrett should be back in title contention, but he should worry about other things first.

Dean Ambrose
Even when he’s nowhere near Ambrose, Ziggler’s presence is still felt in a major way as his bounty is forcing Ambrose to sleep with an eye open. The problem? Ambrose doesn’t seem fazed and no matter who goes after him, Ambrose always finds a way to leave them in a bloody mess. He likes the pain, he welcomes it and the people who try to inflict it on him. But how much longer can Dean keep this up?

Alicia Fox
First off, that Fox/Tamina encounter was pretty humorous, and second of all did Layla really call out Fox for caring too much about fashion when Layla went on and on about what she would wear when she won that gauntlet? Wait, why do I remember that? Oh God, Layla’s in my head. Anyway the banter between the two was pretty entertaining and I was actually hoping that it would go a little longer, but then Layla of all people decided to end things by actually giving Fox some credit. That’s not the Layla we’ve come to know and hate, maybe Beth is actually changing her and she hasn’t even realized it.

MsChif
*Guest Contributor: Day-V
Vickie Guerrero better be praying she she doesn't have anything to do with this very brave yet stupid referee. But the signs are pointing to the fact that Vickie may have in fact hired them to prevent Mschif from sidelining even more divas. The facts are menacing, but nowhere near as much as Mschif, she wants answers, and it looks like next week all hell is about to break loose because she promises to spend the entire night hunting down what she feels is Vickie's accomplice, did Vickie hire the rogue referee? Or is there more to this than meets the eye?

Paul Heyman
The mystery continues and the plot thickens. Heyman can no doubt talk the talk, but what is it exactly that CM Punk wants and why does he need to do it live? With Heyman and Punk apparently threatening to take legal action that could have financial implications, what will XWL do now that Punk and Heyman have placed the ball in their court?

Dolph Ziggler
So Ambrose beats up a kid and Ziggler doesn’t care? It’s good to see that morality is thriving in the modern wrestling world. And it’s great that Ziggler can find time to kick back and relax, it shows how confident he is that his bounty will take care of Ambrose for him. But eventually Dolph will have to leave the comfort of wherever he is and step into the warzone that is XWL and I’m sure Dean will be waiting to tell him personally how he feels about Dolph’s bounty.

Paige
I guess the true lesson to be learned is don’t slap a referee if you want to win matches in the future. Paige held her own against Layla tonight, just as she did against Layla in the ring last week. You also just have to love how Layla decided to show up to take a couple of shots at Beth Phoenix, but mostly to brag about how she beat Paige. Where is Beth anyway?

Shawn Michaels
The Heartbreak Kid is never short on confidence, and it would seem that he isn’t short on money either if he can afford to hire his own security to patrol the arena. He brushed off his recent setbacks as if they were nothing, and it looks like that as long as HBK can get the best of Ted then that’s all he needs to do to be able to sleep soundly at night. And if HBK really feels that his DiBiase problem is dealt with, does that mean his relationship with Vickie is done with or does he need a few favors cashed in?

Antonio Cesaro
Wow, I guess Cesaro isn’t just Anti-American, he just hates everything…makes me feel better about being American. Just like the week prior, Cesaro is determined to make 2013 his bounce back year, although unlike last week now he has a chance to back his talk and walk the walk.

Stone Cold
Did I mention how great it is to have Stone Cold back? Now when the crowd shouts “What?” it doesn’t sound forced or out of place. Stone Cold didn’t seem to be forcing anything either during his segment tonight as he told Randy Orton exactly what he planned to do to him, while also not forgetting to bring up Eddie Guerrero and their unfinished business. Stone Cold made the first move, or I guess the second since Eddie didn’t come out last time, by challenging Eddie to a match at Uprising, and so we’ll see if the man who lies, cheats and steals will accept.

Ted DiBiase
Ted screws Shawn out of a match, destroys his limo and then throws him into the Gulf of Mexico? For most men that would be enough to put them at ease, but Ted has gone through more than most men have. He convinced HBK to accept the match and then sent a message to the Heartbreak Kid who was too blinded by his own rage to see that DiBiase was goading him.

Chris Jericho
Jericho keeps throwing around the term “favoritism and plagiarism” and while the first part of that makes sense it’s the second half that throws me off. Is talking about other superstars plagiarizing and trying to be Chris Jericho? Like the Miz stealing The Skull Crushing Finale, Damien Sandown stealing his big words or Kofi Kingston stealing is weird shaped pecs? But then again, in Jericho’s eyes anyone that isn’t him is trying to be him, because apparently it’s great to be Chris Jericho. A great interview from Y2J here, but I wonder if he realizes that lawyers and a DVD won’t stop Triple H from beating him again.

Bit of commentary
Tara’s in Hollywood, Jeff’s injured and Hurricane wins. Got it.

Kaitlyn
A solid promo between these three lovely ladies with Kaitlyn standing tall at the end with an emphatic spear. Nikki accepting Kaitlyn’s match offer wasn’t that much of a surprise especially after Kaitlyn basically talked her into it by comparing the sisters. They traded some catty words which eventually escalated into a mini-cat fight, and Kaitlyn has to realize that she’s fighting against the numbers, though defeating Nikki will give her the chance to solve half of her problems.

Brock Lesnar
Rock was on fire in this promo and he just took Heyman and Lesnar along for the ride. From calling Heyman a walrus, to his last big speaking part, Rock clearly hasn’t missed a beat and hasn’t lost any sleep over missing a shot at the world title. Rock is ready to defend Breakdown from Brock, but The Next Big Thing isn’t going to be an easy beast to tame.

Triple H
It’s good to Eve make herself useful tonight since she didn’t wrestle like she said she would the week prior. Triple H was pretty peeved as you could expect after what happened with Ric Flair. Once again, The Game finds himself having to deal with a man who would rather use the law to fight his battles than his fists, but Triple H has gone to jail recently to prove a point, and Jericho better be careful because Hunter may be willing to do it again.

John Morrison
Good to see that JoMo isn’t one of those champs who thinks no one is worthy to get a shot, he just feels that way about Christian. Morrison used this time to make the point again that Christian hasn’t done anything to deserve a title match, and that he’ll further increase his own stock by defeating Chris Jericho later on.

Ezekiel Jackson
Speaking of fighting champions, Zeke is here to be one of the few to say that he defeated Triple H. Also, just like the rest of us Zeke can’t quite understand what Hardy meant when he said the match will be in his favor, so here’s hoping that Jeff sobers up and explains himself.

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[S6]
The top stories being talked about around the water cooler.

Dead Man’s Hand
In The Bella Twins/Kaitlyn segment, one of the Bellas stated that they’d be champion for a long time, and then rattled off the list of pay per views. One of those was the recently rumored Dead Man’s Hand, and apparently it’s set to occur after final stand. Details on the new pay per view are still unknown, but at least we have a better idea of when it is.

Couple’s Retreat
Dolph Ziggler recently stated that he’d been at home relaxing, and Diva AJ Lee has been absent from XWL television as well. A source close to both has informed us that Dolph may have begun seeing AJ to get back at his former lover Vickie for getting too close to Shawn Michaels.

Demotion
Although she tried her best to cover it up, that was clearly Eve interviewing Triple H and rumor has it that she was demoted for the role as a result of her attitude which included refusing to compete.

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[S7]
Next week we’ll sit down with the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels and get his thoughts about his beef with Ted DiBiase along with whatever other random questions we can think of.

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[S8]
The other week we asked the stars what their New Year’s Resolution was. Let’s see what they said and if they’ve done a decent job sticking to the gameplan:


[Kaitlyn] What was my New Year’s resolution? Basically my new years resolution is what it has been ever since I came into the wrestling better. Train and improve myself so I can be better and accomplish more then I did last year. And what is my major goal for 2013? Hold the Diva's Championship for a good amount of time and I know this is two, but they kinda tie in together so I think it works. My second would be winning awarded the Slammy Award for the Diva of the Year and so far, things are looking pretty good for me. So I'll keep up the good work, seems like something I can do pretty good without letting anyone or anything distract me.





[Randy Orton] My New Year's Resolution is quite simple, to be back in the same position I was in on November 23rd, 2008. And in case you don't know or forget what happened on that day, allow me to fill you in. I RKO'd my way to becoming the first ever XWL World Heavyweight Champion and my major goal this year is too once again hold a championship in my hands. Do I care if it's the United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship or World Heavyweight Championship? Not really, the only thing that matters is who I can get my hands on first.



[Christian] New Years Resolution? Not to slip up and let someone like John Morrison beat me again. Major Goal? As of right now, once again become your Intercontinental Champion. For the rest of the year, become the greatest Intercontinental Champion to date and to do that, it's gonna be a pretty hard challenge because the man who is the best right now is tough to beat. Amazing in the ring. Magnificent on the microphone. And I must say, pretty good looking. Defeating my old reign will be pretty hard but I'm sure I can do it, just have to take baby steps first and defeat the Hollywood Trash known as John Morrison to regain my Intercontinental Championship.



{Layla}
What was my New Year's Resolution? To somehow, someway, go above and beyond everything I've done, and once again set a new standard for others to fail miserably at living up to. Last year I became the first diva ever to cash in her Money in the Bank contract in advance, on the grandest stage of them all, and not only walked out of Final Stand as your Divas Champion, I reigned for an astonishing and record shattering seven months! Something no diva has, nor ever will break, besides my self of course. But not only that, I was named the Diva of the year for the SECOND year in a row! My 2012 was, just like me, FLAWLESS!



{Layla}
My major goal for 2013 is to continue to do as well as I have since my return from injury. It's been a long road, but the fact that I've been able to push through so much for so long, and accomplished even more, it's just unbelievable....All of my hard work, it's paying off, and I know 2013 will once again be the year of Layla. I'll regain the Divas Championship, I'll break my own record, and I'll become the first diva to be Diva of the Year for the third consecutive year!

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[S9]
Can you identify who said what on the last show?

“That means a lot coming from a woman who's been shoveling on that whore paint for the past 10 minutes.”

“What fun is an instant kill when you can prolong pain, suffering and torment so that it lasts an eternity?”

“Only an idiot would stand and fight against another man wielding a sledgehammer.”

“Everyone goes through a bad patch, but I've always got the job done when it counts.”

“I went back to England and spent my time there becoming stronger, faster... deadlier whilst all of you were sat on your arses eating chips I was becoming the ultimate weapon.”

“There's not a damn thing that I'm not willing to do to survive another day, it's either me or them.”

“Do you know what happens when I get ignored? I get angry and when I get angry I raise some hell.”

“I was conquering homework while they were conquering the WWF Women's Division!”

“lock him in a cage like the Walrus he is, he'll wait there, clapping his hands while shouting your name...BRAWK! BRAWK! BRAWK!”

“He even said he beat up a kid! But do you think I care about little things like that?”

“Why in god's name is my opponent tonight Seth frickin Rollins?”

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[S10]

Men’s Power 15

1- (30.5)
The Game has been as intimidating and focused as ever heading into his title defense against Jericho at Uprising.

2- (21.5)
Carlito’s streak may have ended, but he’s still been pretty impressive and his spot on this rankings confirms that.

3- (21.5)
Jericho has constantly been a thorn in the side of Triple H and XWL, and his win against the Intercontinental Champion didn’t hurt.

4- (20.5)
Zeke hasn’t been competing as much due to injury but his solid segments have managed to keep him in the top 5.

5- (20)
JoMo came up short against Jericho, but he’s still champ and there’s still time for him to bounce back.

6- (19.5)

7- (18)

8- (17)

9- (15.5)

10- (14)

11- (13)

12- (12)

13- (12)

14- (11)

15- (9.5)

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Women’s Power 5

1- (33.5)
Brie Bella’s convenient title defenses have kept her at the number one spot, but after Uprising she’ll have to fight to keep her belt.

2- (31.5)
MsChif bounced back from a loss against Phoenix to defeat “The other divas champ” Brie as her hunt for the rogue ref continues.

3- (29)
With some entertaining backstage encounters, Layla gets into the top three, though she’ll have to beat Beth if she wants to remain here.

4- (22.5)

5- (22)

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[S11]
Here we take a closer look at three superstars who did pretty well for themselves and three who probably couldn’t wait for the week to be over.

Winners
Chris Jericho
Jericho got his match, got his DVD and got into the head of his opponent. It would seem now that the calm, cool and collected Y2J is in control of things as he continues to purposely rile up Triple H.

Kaitlyn
The Hybrid Diva and current divas champ, got to see her rival lose and then speared her sister to add insult to injury. Even if she didn’t have a match, Kaitlyn has to feel good about the way things played out.

The Rock
The Great One told off Brock Lesnar and his sidekick and then stuck it to them by laying out Paul Heyman with The Rock Bottom.

Losers
Children
Neither Dean Ambrose, nor Dolph Ziggler care about your well-being. Sorry.

Whoever is in charge of XWL’s finances.
Not only does the poor guy have to worry about lawsuits from Jericho and Punk, but now he has to spend to replace the titantron Triple H destroyed.

Shawn Michaels
He lost his match, lost his limo and then lost his pride when DiBiase threw him into the Gulf of Mexico. It just wasn’t a good week for The Heartbreak Kid.

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[S12]
Our Roundtable has a bit of a different line up this week, but I’m sure the answers will be just as good in the second edition.

Name three feuds that you'd want to see in XWL sometime in the future.

Austin: The first feud I've wanted to see, and actually be good this time unlike the past, would be CM Punk (Shuggz) versus Shawn Michaels (Bang) for quite a few reasons. One of the main reasons is because HBK and Punk are my two favorites of all time, Shawn also being the first star I started liking when I got into wrestling and Punk I've been a fan of since his ECW Debut. Both Bang as Michaels and Shuggz as Punk can pull out some pretty awesome promos most of the time so it would be interesting to see what they could do together. The second feud I could think of is The Rock (Zander) versus Dolph Ziggler (Adam). Both are good at promos and it would be something interesting if it were to go well. Both play the characters perfectly and I feel that promos between Ziggler and Rock could be as great as Awesome Truth with Adam and Zander. The last feud would have to be Eddie Guerrero (Zander) versus Chavo Guerrero (Krzy)! I know Krzy has moved on from Chavo, but I think one last run as him would be awesome, and to top it off, feuding with Zander who is Eddie Guerrero would seem like a perfect feud. Two of the best promoers in XWL going at it with Guerrero family members, seems like it's a perfect recipe for success to me.

Zander: VS

Jiggas showed amazing promise in his first promo as Cesaro and what he needs is a great feud to get him off to a hot start right off of the bat, Krzy's MVP could provide some great promo's and match write ups in a feud where two different worlds collide. The contrasts in characters are so drastic that it could be set up pretty easily and have the potential to have everyone talking. Plus Krzy's excellent match write ups and Jiggas's great attention to detail when writing brawls and descriptions would create a solid PPV match to read.

VS

It's no secret that Adams promos as Dolph Ziggler are some of the best in the league, my personal favorite at the moment. Right up there in the promo department is Bang who I worked with in my previous feud and he's by far the hardest working member in the league for getting shit done, the dude knocks promos and matches out like the deadline is tomorrow, even quicker when it is. I know for a fact that the ideas flowing between these two would make for an amazing read and one hell of a ride that would spill over onto several PPV's, how would Dolph adapt to Mankinds craziness? Would he step up to the plate or find a way out?

VS

Austin is new to Orton and a good feud would do him wonders for being noticed in the promo department as him, also in town we have a relatively new Miz and he's on my radar for promos to read. He's quickly becoming a good promo'er and I look forward to reading more of his stuff in the future, a big feud with an experienced name would set him off on what could be the start of something great. The Miz's antics coupled with Orton's craziness would prove to be fun and entertaining (in XWL at least)

Bang:There's a lot of feuds I'd like to see in XWL to be completely honest but it completely depends on who is playing those characters. These aren't necessarily my top three just the first three that came to my head.



I'd love to see a Rock vs Austin feud. I know it's been done a whole lot in WWE before but they were great! And they're both characters who can carry a promo, and Z plays an amazing Rock. And Kyle plays a very good Austin, does too many what's for my liking, I'd rather he played it more like 1997-1999 Stone Cold, but it's up to him. That feud would great.



As with Rock vs Austin, I have a feeling this one has been done before, but Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart would be great to see, I think there's a lot more to be explored between the two of them, and with the real life tension there's be a whole lot said between the two of them and it could be a very different to what was done before. Don't really care if it's me as Michaels or not, it would be a good feud without a doubt.



Hopefully Shuggz and Z aren't so sick of each other after their year long feud this would be a great feud. With Eddie's well known drug and alcohol abuse I'm sure Punk would have more than a few things to talk about as well as their previous match in IWA along side Rey Mysterio which Punk has previously addressed in XWL. It's a feud that has the potential to get really dark really quick and I'd love to see it.

Shuggz: The Rock vs Chris Jericho - It's Red and Zander, two of the best promo'ers in the league as two of the most charismatic people in the industryand I know they would just make it an exciting feud.

Mankind vs Dean Ambrose - I really wanted to see this feud in the WWE but sadly Dead "dropped the ball" with it and mentioned Foley's kids. So why not go to the next best option? Bang has been amazing as Mankind and Legal is great as Ambrose and their characters could go so well together so it would be a nice little feud.

E/T: Joey Ryan Vs Dolph Ziggler
CM Punk Vs Dean Ambrose
The Rock Vs Antonio Cesaro

Do you think The Rock should beat CM Punk for the title at The Royal Rumble?

Austin: No, I feel a better place for Punk to lose it would be the Elimination Chamber. Why? Because Punk is looking pretty strong as champion, going at it for four hundred plus days and I think a simple one on one loss would just ruin it. It needs to be a bigger match and if it isn't Wrestlemania, then I think it should be Elimination Chamber. Have the five people in the chamber be people Punk has defeated during his four hundred days (The Rock, Daniel Bryan, Kane, The Miz, and Ryback), something like that, and they would just destroy Punk inside the Elimination Chamber and in the end, eliminated and no longer champion. Rock still has it, but I don' think this reign should end in a one on one match, it should end with Punk "paying for his sins" basically inside a place where Shield, Maddox, Heyman, Lesnar or anyone else can't help him. Would take the championship off of Punk and give him stuff to "Pipebomb" about on the microphone.

Zander: This may come as a surprise to many but my answer is: No.


Sports Entertainment goes one on one with Professional Wrestling

At this point in the game I would really hate to see the longest reigning champion of the modern era go down at the Royal Rumble, to a superstar who isn't even an active member of the roster no less. I'll go ahead with a Pros and Cons list.

Pros:
-WWE gets more exposure in areas of the Media that would usually be uninterested
-Ratings will more than likely spike due to casual fans
-Punk dropping the title at mania could be a lose/lose situation

Cons:
-The title should be dropped to someone more deserving
-Who knows how long The Rock will stay around for this time, if it's not very long, ending a massive reign in exchange for a short one would leave a bad taste
-The Rock having the title means he's came in on two different shows and beat the top two guys in the WWE, making the WWE look weaker than the past generations

It's very much down to opinion, my opinion is that he should not win at the Rumble.

Bang: No.



But will he? Yes. I hate the idea of a part-timer(apart from Triple H or Undertaker) coming in and taking the belt off CM Punk, especially at the Royal Rumble, more so considering you'd have to assume Rock would be going onto Wrestlemania to face Cena for the title. If Rock dropped the belt back to Punk then I'd be fine with that, but I don't see it happening. I'm sure it will be a great match and we'll see a few more great segments between the two of them. I'd like to think Rock will prove me wrong and appear each week and it be entertaining every single time, and I'm hoping whatever they do that they have something great lined up for CM Punk at Wrestlemania because he's by far been the best thing going in WWE for the last 18months.

Shuggz: Call me biased but The Rock shouldn't beat CM Punk at the Royal Rumble. Everyone has that feeling that The Rock will win at the Rumble, so where will be the surprise? I think it will be better for both men in the match for CM Punk to retain at the Rumble, it makes him look a stronger Champion for the time being and we all know The Rock isn't going to be in weekly matches or even be on Raw week after week from the Rumble until Wrestlemania making it pointless. If they really want to put the belt on him they should wait until the Chamber, that way they can concentrate their efforts on whatever match they want and only have the Championship missing for a month.

E/T: No.

What is your all-time favorite video-game (or games)?

Austin: I have been playing games for quite a while, and I gotta be honest, hard to pick one out that has been my "all-star" favorite video game so I gotta go with games instead of games, just going to name a few games, maybe a series because of games like Halo. Halo: Has always been fun, except ODST somewhat. Awesome game to play with friends too. Call of Duty: Most hate this and call it unrealistic, but it's still fun to me and I enjoy playing it. The Story in Black Ops 2 was pretty epic as well. WWE Games: First WWE game I played was Here Comes The Pain with my cousin, and I haven't stopped playing wrestling games since then. Played nearly all of them since the Nintendo 64, might've missed a few but ones like HCTP, Raw 2, DOR2 and others just have been incredibly fun. Assassins Creed: Best free roaming game out there, in my opinion. Always fun, interesting story. For AC3, Boston isn't the best location for the game but it is still pretty fun to play and I have yet to beat it. Others include GTA Series, Kingdom Hearts Series, Madden Series, Pokemon Series, and a few other games/series I've played over the years.

Zander: 1.Pokemon Gold



This mother fucker right here changed my damn life. As a kid it taught me how to walk, talk, sleep, eat and shit with a gameboy colour in my hands. I ran the in game clock up to 999:99 and it stopped moving, THAT'S how much I played this. I loved the cartoon and in-game the possibilities were endless, I could keep mixing up my team and training more Pokemon, plus in school I'd battle all my friends and trade with them. I was the coolest though because I had a cheat cartridge and I used to charge my classmates 20 pence to download a Pokemon. I made like 4 pounds a day, little boss.

2.Banjo Kazooie



It's a fact that if you don't recognize that bear and bird duo, you didn't have a childhood, so if you don't? Sorry bro. This game nearly topped my list of favourite games ever and I didn't even complete it until last year! As a kid I always got stuck in the last level, tick tock woods, but when I downloaded it last year for XBL I took a trip down memory lane and it only got better with time. Everything about it is fantastic and it was a revolutionary game for it's time. For those who had the game, remember this asshole of a level?


Rusty Bucket Bay...My god I still have nightmares...

3.Smackdown Here Comes the Pain



Look at that roster, you won't ever see that roster again. That feel when every character you played as felt unique and had their own damn moves, the only time you went into create-a-moveset was with a CAW. So many hours well spent with friends on this game and it is still the benchmark for many wrestling fans that all other games will be compared too.

Bang: Final Fantasy IX



It's a close call. I have a huge soft spot for the original three Crash Bandicoot games and they still hold up pretty well. I'm sure there are newer games that are by far superior to Final Fantasy IX, however for whatever reason I can't seem to get into the story of current-gen games as much as I did with PS2 and PS1 games. Although The Walking Dead game was amazing and it made me feel like shit for killing someone off and the end was really upsetting, but the cut-scene after the credits was just another giant punch in the ovaries. Which was something the Final Fantasy series hasn't really ever done, apart from when Aeris died, the cop-out ending of FFX and just playing FFXIII did a great job in making me want to punch myself in my own face. I'll always like the Halo, Metal Gear Solid and GTA series, but FFIX was the first game I really got into, but due to a faulty memory card(remember those) I never got to complete it(I was on the final three bosses, thanks dodgy third party PS1 memory card). But now I'm playing it again on my Vita at the end of the third disk, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it soon.

Shuggz: didn't really have to think about this question too much because whenever somebody asks me this question I always give the same answer. My favourite game of all time is The Warriors.



While it may not be the greatest game graphically, gameplay wise and it is a Rockstar game so it does have it's fair share of glitches, I have still yet to have as much fun on any other game as I have whilst playing The Warriors. It is a great game based on a great movie so what's not to like? The multiplayer modes were addictive as hell and just playing through the campaign with friends was always provided good laugh and I have set the PS2 up a few times to play it again because sadly it is not compatible with the 360.

E/T: This is a hard one because I don't really have an "all-time" as a kid I really loved the Spiderman games, played those A LOT also the pokemon games like snap for the 64 and then the GB/A games. For PS2 I liked Grand theft auto a lot, I guess that'd be the games I really consider my favorite games.

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[S13]
The draft is over and the game will start soon. Take a look at how the teams that were put together:
Stay- Stone Cold, John Cena, Triple H, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Layla

Pats- The Rock, Undertaker, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Brian Pillman, Colt Cabana, Seth Rollins, Trish Stratus

BBL- British Bulldog, Ryback, Edge, Booker T, Brodus Clay, Kane, Bret Hart, Kaitlyn

Ash- Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Mankind, JBL, Mark Henry, Kofi Kingston, Bobby Roode, Eve

Sdogg- Wade Barrett, Adam Cole, Kevin Steen, Dean Ambrose, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno, Angelina Love

Shuggz- CM Punk, Chris Jericho, AJ Styles , Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels, Michael Elgin, Jeff Hardy, Kharma

Zander- Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Antonio Cesaro, Lord Tensai, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Jey Uso, Lita

Zack- Shawn Michaels, The Miz, Hawk, Animal, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, AJ Lee

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[S14]
There’s life outside wrestling, let’s see what’s going on in the real-world.
Five ways to hack a better Netflix experience

Guy from Big Bang Theory coming out with new show (Because some of you like it for some reason)

New co-op XBL game could be slick

Interview with Tales of Xilia Director

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[S15]
So above all I’m doing this newsletter for you guys, so if there’s something that you want to see added or changed or tweaked, let me know and I’ll be happy to take a look into doing something about it. If you also ever want to guest write a spotlight article, nominate a winner or loser or a quote, submit an interesting news story, ask to be interviewed, join the roundtable panel or contribute in any way just tell me… or else. Also, shout outs to Gaz for telling me how nice this was in advance.