After some success with my former column, Deadly Dream Matches, that I've published three editions of over the last four months, I've decided to retire withDDM and move on to a new series of articles entitled WWE's Pushed to Punished.
In this weekly series, I will recall some of WWE's breakout stars of the past few years and how they basically went from pushed to punished, or in other words, released. My first guest will be none other than Kenny Dyktra. Does the name ring any bells? Dykstra first started in the Spirit Squad, a stable of male cheerleaders, for much of 2006. Being named simply "Kenny", he won the World Tag Team Championship with his partners from Big Show and Kane before feuding with legendary tag team D-Generation X. The angle ended when all five members were "killed off" by DX, sending them all back to developmental, where most of them would soon meet their fate with a pink slip. But not Kenny Dykstra. Dykstra would acquire a last name, new attire, and a new theme, being pushed as a very talented mid-carder on RAW in the beginning of 2007. After picking up three straight wins against Ric Flair, the future looked bright for this rising young star. However, following the feud, Dykstra would find himself contained to Sunday Night Heat, forming a short-lived tag team with Johnny Nitro before being drafted to the SmackDown brand via the 2007 Draft. It was there where most people believed this cocky Superstar would finally get the push he deserved, as do most people when they move to SmackDownto breathe. After being claimed as a "future WWE Hall of Famer" and a future WWE Champion, Dykstra did no such thing. Moving to the blue brand actually hurt Dykstra, becoming a jobber to Superstars named Chuck Palumbo, Matt Hardy, and even Jimmy Wang Yang. Despite a short relationship with Victoria, the future looked grim for Dykstra, as he quickly disappeared from television. Dykstra returned after nearly a six-month absence in August 2008, losing in a squash style to WWE Champion Triple H. Once again disappearing from television, Dykstra would be released in November 2008. Since I became a fan of WWE in April 2008, I wasn't around when Dykstra began his singles run. What was it that got him in the dog house? Was it lack of heat, ability, or mic skills? After watching him wrestle (via YouTube), he seems like he had the whole package. Maybe not a future WWE Champion, but certainly a potential Intercontinental or United States Champion at least. Only of the young age of 24, I say WWE should re-hire him and give him a second chance at the big time. Looking back at him, he reminds me of The Miz, except Dykstra wasn't pushed in the same style Miz was. He even tried out for TNA but still didn't make it! Something must be wrong with you if that happens. Well, I hear he's currently a part of Bischoff's new Micro Wrestling something or other soon. Best luck to him there. Anyways, the point I'm trying to get across is that WWE certainly dropped the ball on the guy. If Miz could make it, why not Dykstra? Better yet, what WWE see in co-Spirit Squad member Dolph Ziggler, who went on to become Intercontinental Champion, that they didn't see in Kenny Dykstra? Thanks for reading everyone! Make sure to leave feedback on Dykstra and whether my first edition of Pushed to Punished was successful. GSM out. Last night, I prepared myself to finally be treated to a watchable season of NXT, where each episode wouldn't make me cringe. I set high standards for the expected roster of rising stars, including Tyler Black, Brett DiBiase and Xavier Woods.
For anyone who tuned in to the season premiere of WWE NXT, I was brutally proved wrong. Instead of something "we've never seen before," it was exactly the opposite. WWE had former losers of past seasons return and seek redemption for a second chance. But just not any losers—only the six competitors who were eliminated nearly first from the respective seasons. The pros were no better, as sadly enough, the biggest name on the show is Chavo Guerrero. The rest are "WWE Superstars Regulars" including JTG, Tyson Kidd, Vladimir Kozlov, Yoshi Tatsu and even (as it pains me to write it) former Crusierweight Champion Hornswoggle. Yes, I said Hornswoggle. A midget who fails to teach anything to anyone, much less speak English. But here's the best part—the winner earns an opportunity to compete in Season Six. As bad as that is to continue this show, the stakes just got lower, along with the few amount of viewers NXT ever received. My biggest question regarding this show is the presence of former Nexus member Darren Young. Obviously, WWE cares about this show as much as they do about TNA—nothing at all, and it shows. Listen to the commentary on Season Three, specifically Michael Cole, and he will tell you how excruciating it was view the Tuesday night program. But do they care about it so little that they believe that we, the IWC, are mindless? No one can forget Darren Young from NXT Season One, where he thereafter played the "weak link" in the Nexus for two months before finally being exiled in August. Following a two month hiatus, Darren Young returned as a WWE Superstars regular for a short time, with (by my count) only two wins out of approximately ten. Wouldn't his place on WWE Superstars mean he was under contract to RAW for the last six months, despite how sporadically he was used? Darren Young obviously needs improvement, and sending him back to train would benefit, but defying logic in the world of wrestling plainly insults my intelligence. Don't get me wrong; I am not a hater of Darren Young, nor am I his No. 1 fan. I enjoy his charisma, and as William Regal said, has potential within him that only he can pursue. Darren Young is my new favorite to win the competition with already a singles win and three Redemption points, but basically forgetting his entire past will only confuse viewers already familiar with him, and will display how much WWE really takes their "next evolution in television" seriously. I'm also unhappy that sending Young back to NXT means he will no longer use the Tyler Reks-remix entrance theme that I enjoyed. Oh well. For the record, the only reason I will continue to watch this dreadful program is due to William Regal's new place on commentary, but that's another story for another article. Thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave your thoughts on this NXT misconception below. World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated Drew McIntyre
Decent match, but it had more potential than what was given. These two have chemistry, and if McIntyre can re-establish himself as a threat, then this would be a great future feud over the world championship. I give this Match of the Night due to the overall lack of wrestling on this show, in addition to being a good opener. Here's hoping McIntyre gains more momentum heading into WrestleMania. On a side note, McIntyre was not fired due to the outcome. He would have been fired had he not competed. Cody Rhodes Promo Cody Rhodes has always been good on the mic, and this was no exception. I'm not saying it was a tremendous promo, but it got over the basics in saying why he did what he did and to challenge Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania. I'm glad he was able to get over by himself without his father, and looks to be a promising heel on the Friday Night brand. Their rivalry should be good on the Road to WrestleMania and lead to a good blow-off match. WWE Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel defeated Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov (WWE Tag Team Championship Match) What else is there to say about this match? We've seen it time and time again, and nothing changes. Very predictable and boring to this viewer. The Undertaker Returns Awesome promo by the Deadman. This surpassed Triple H's promo by far, and set up an already established confrontation between the two. Taker's return should give people another reason to tune into SmackDown. Lay-Cool defeated Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes Obviously a miss, as the match lasted only two minutes. Just when I thought WWE began to take the Divas division seriously, they revert back to short throwaway matches. They don't accomplish anything, and certainly aren't building towards anything relevant atWrestleMania. Please do us a favor, WWE, and debut Awesome Kong now. Big Show defeated Kane by Disqualification The match itself was okay, and fun while it lasted. As former rivals and tag team partners, Kane and Big Show have chemistry, so it usually makes for a decent match. From rumors I've heard, The Corre is fighting Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston, and Christian in an eight-man tag team match. I'm not looking forward to that at all, as it seems as just a desperate effort to fit the forgotten SmackDown stars into a match at WrestleMania. Turning Kane face in the post-match was a terrible idea, as he just had a tremendous run as a heel and shouldn't be reverted so quickly. Let's hope if they do choose to keep him as a face, let it be a tweener at the very least. Jack Swagger defeated JTG Pointless match, but at least it was successful in getting both Jack Swagger and Michael Cole some more heat. A match wasn't needed, but it was only JTG who was squashed, so it doesn't make a difference. Very looking forward to some more heel comedy from Swagger and Cole leading up toWrestleMania. World Heavyweight Champion Edge and Alberto Del Rio Contract Signing; Christian Returns The contract signing was good for what it was worth. The attacks from Del Rio onto Edge in the past few weeks have been great and have accomplished getting Del Rio even more heat than he already has. The feud has been good, but the match just doesn't feel special to me. Involving Christian may not be intriguing to some people, but in my opinion, it adds a more intense and historic feel to the match if he does participate in some form. Hyping his return on next week's show was a great idea to have more people tune in. His first promo back since September should be interesting, and explain his participation in the match if any. Final Review A show that was very short on wrestling, but high on promos. As noted by other people, people look to SmackDown to make up for RAW's lacking in wrestling each week, but I guess it's expected since we are on the Road to WrestleMania. With numerous feuds continuing to heat up, the ratings continue to accelerate for the Friday Night show. An enjoyable episode nonetheless. Before I begin, I would like to apologize for my absence from Bleacher Report for the last month. I've been busy as of late, and had to re-apply to be able to write again.
R-Truth defeated William Regal Very boring contest. Regal is a very technical wrestler, and as my favorite, I always look forward to him wrestling. However, his style does not mix well with the botch-filled style of Truth. Predicable and logical win for Truth, but it adds nothing to him. After dropping the ball on his heel turn, what does WWE continue to see in R-Truth? And where does he go from here? Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov defeated Zack Ryder and Primo Decent match. It was a rematch from a few weeks ago, so it was nothing different than the first time they met. Being the comedy team they are, I expected the faces to win this match. However, in my opinion, the team of Kozlov and Santino is starting to become stale. Santino is ready to stand back on his own, and give Ryder and Primo some more momentum. Chris Masters defeated Curt Hawkins Very disappointed in this match, as Hawkins has tremendous ability but isn't allowed to use it. I'm not against Masters' new push, but I'd rather see Hawkins picking up more wins and enter the Intercontinental Championship picture. Sadly, I could see him getting released following 'Mania. The post-attack by Tyler Reks on Masters made up for the match itself, and it's great (and rare) to see a feud erupt on Superstars. The Rock Promo Replay Unlike most WWE fans, I watch all four shows of WWE programing (it's a curse), and re-watching this for the third time this week aggravates me. Luckily, I watch Superstars from YouTube, so I can easily skip these replays. Final Review A lackluster and forgettable show. That is understandable on the Road to WrestleMania, as much of the emphasis goes on the main shows. Not a dreadful episode, but a boring hour of wrestling to say the least. |
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