The Return Of Armin's Hammer
It's late and I'm very, very tired. Still, I want everyone to check out the following:
Armin's Hammer
Like a cold sore, I'm back
"Hello there, it's been a while, not much, how bout you, it's been such a long time, and I really just wanted to talk to you." Words from a popular song by England Dan and John Ford Coley, and borrowed by me since it's been a while since my thoughts have invaded your monitor.
So you might ask, where has this Armin Legg fellow been? Due to a bit of wrestling malaise, general disinterest in sharing my sometimes ridiculed views, an addiction to Words with Friends on Facebook and a little bit of frivolity on Skype and Yahoo, I guess my once proud and long running wrestling column got put on the back burner.
To those who know me, I'm an old man in a young kids business, and my strong interest in this whacky game started before most of you that will read this were born. Now that I have reached my 62nd year on this planet, and now that I have retired from working full time, I figured it was time to get off this wrinkly old backside and share my sometimes antiquated views of what's going on in the wrestling world. In the words of the late Caspar Weinberger, "Let's get it over with."
We're just about ready for the latest addition of Wrestlemania, the granddaddy of them all in the wrestling business. Anyone that reads this column will know the time, date, location, etc. of this event, so I won't waste my gnarly fingers typing out the details. The lead ups for the main matches have been well done by the folks in Stamford, and this one shapes up to be at least a good middle-of-the-road WM. If the weather doesn't cooperate with this outdoor event, it could put a damper on the festivities, but the matches look to be promising. I'll just give a short take on the more important matches.
Rock- Cena.... I see Cena going over in this one. The Rock suited his purpose, getting a lot of mainstream publicity for the show, and nobody can argue his acumen on the microphone, so it was a win for WWE. Some have argued that letting him carry the belt might not be a smart idea, but I have no issues with it.
Jack Swagger- Alberto Del Rio.... Pure genius on the part of WWE creating the Zeb Coulter character and using Zeb and Swagger in their vignettes to rail on this country's immigration policies. Getting heat is the number one goal of a good heel and these two hit it out of the ballpark. Del Rio is a fabulous worker but I'm still not sure I prefer him in his babyface role. That being said, Del Rio will go over and this feud might have some shelf life left after this match.
Undertaker- C.M. Punk.... I'm torn on this one. Taker is at the end of his career and I hope he doesn't do like some others before him have and hang around after his expiration date. Punk, who claims to be the "best in the world" is one of my favorites from this generation of stars. I saw him in his formative years on the Midwest Indy circuit, and saw stardom in his future. I had slight reservations due to his size, but his workrate has always been world class. Eight years ago, Vince would have never booked a barely 200 pound worker without bulging muscles into anything more than being fodder in mid-card squash matches. In the WWE, circa 2013, thankfully, attitudes have changed. Taker will keep his streak alive going 21-0 in WM appearances and Taker still has enough left in the tank to make this a believable, and potentially great, exhibition. Punk can work with anyone and make them look good, so this one is a hit. Punk won't lose any credibility in this loss. Also, with the recent loss of Taker's longtime manager, William Moody aka Paul Bearer, this should also give WWE reason to have Taker go over.
Brock Lesnar- Hunter Hearst Helmsley McMahon Levesque.... HHH puts his career on the line against former UFC champ Lesnar. I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, being a constant detractor of HHH in past columns, I'm kind of pulling for him in this one and see him going over. HHH still has a few good runs left in him and he does seem to want to do what's right for business now that his future is totally secure. Brock is a monster but I don't think his heart is in the business and a loss won't hurt one way or the other.
Sheamus-Orton-Big Show - The Shield.... I'm not all that enthralled with this match and I think that The Shield has run its course. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with two faces and a heel teaming up. I'll go with S.O.S. going over but there might be a heel turn by Orton in this one. Orton is a natural heel and he never really caught on much as a babyface, so a turn in this match might be the right time for it.
The WWE Hall of Fame inductions will be taking place that same weekend and I'm fine with their cast of inductees. Foley, Booker T, Stratus, Backlund and Sammartino on the wrestling side and Donald Trump. In particular, I'm pleased to see Bob Backlund inducted as he was their standard bearer for them in the pre-attitude era, a fabulous wrestler that was a credit to the business. If I was pleased about Backlund, I'm doing cartwheels and handsprings over Brunos decision to put past differences aside and let him take his place in the WWE Hall. He was a champion for over 8 years who put wrestling on the East Coast on his shoulders and carried it to unprecedented heights at the time, a true gentleman and deserving of any accolades sent his way. Bravo to Bruno and WWE for patching things up.
TNA Impact has been awesome in this old timers opinion. I thought the Aces and Eights angle would have ended by now, but it's even better than it has been. I watched the 5 promos that Bully Ray did, explaining how he master minded this whole thing, and it was top notch. Congrats to whomever it was that wrote this angle. Bully is great, as are Aces and Eights in their roles. Nice touch having Taz and D-Lo enter the fray as non-wrestling members. I'm still not the fan of Hogan and his kid, but this all makes sense and making sense is something this promotion hasn't always made. Hats off to this one. I'll still take the TNA locker room over WWE in respect to wrestling abilities of its roster and now that they are taping on the road, this also bodes better for their future success. They've been around for more than 10 years when most said they wouldn't last 6 months (not this writer mind you, and I have archived proof that I was a believer in them) and I don't think they'll be leaving us in the immediate future.
As is always the case, this old dude has been going to many Indy shows in this area and each promotion has it's own style of booking their shows. What a great bargain for your 5-15 dollars. Three hours of fun to be had by one and all. It is so important to support your locals as the more they get to show their skills, the more of a chance that they may someday progress to the next level. Take in an Indy when you get the chance.
A quick get well wish to X-Pac (Sean Waltman) whose backside was split open during a match in Minnesota this past weekend. Talk about a pain in the arse. Sorry, couldn't resist.
This evening on LogoTV, they ran a documentary on G.L.O.W. the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and it brought back some fun memories. While their skills will never make you forget The Jumping Bomb Angels or Donna Christantello and Toni Rose, their schtick was always fun. They interviewed quite a few of them and it was a great watch. Check your cable listings as I'm sure it will be repeated.
I'm sure there is more I want to talk about, but being 62, I probably forgot half of what was on my mind. Rest assured, now that I don't have the constraints of a work schedule to deal with, you'll be hearing from me again with much more frequency.
The Leggman will be dropping the Hammer on you again, very soon. Now run along and play.
Mike "Armin Legg" Martin
3-26-13
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