Brock Lesnar, The Conquerer

If you thought breaking The Streak made Brock Lesnar the most dominant force in the WWE, well I guess literally breaking John Cena last night at Summerslam made him a mythical titan in that ring.  While the quality of the match did not even come close to the extremely high expectations we all had for it, everyone can agree you could not keep your eyes off that massacre of a match.  Apart from a couple flurries of punches and an Attitude Adjustment, Brock Lesnar beat John Cena for 15 minutes straight.  Even after getting hit with the Attitude Adjustment (John Cena's finishing move), Brock Lesnar sat up in a very similar manner to the Undertaker and laughed like the move did nothing to him.  Much like when Brock Lesnar broke The Streak, Brock Lesnar's complete dominance over John Cena was surreal to watch.  Personally, I wanted the match to be a knock-out drag-out fight with both Lesnar and Cena soaked in blood and sweat due to the ferocity of their blows, but looking back Lesnar's dominance was the right call.  With this one match, Brock Lesnar has become way more than a dominant monster; Brock Lesnar is a god among the mere mortals that step through the ropes of a wrestling ring.  Now whoever manages to beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, be it Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt or Cesaro, will easily be made as a bona fide main eventer in the WWE.

While Brock Lesnar is a part-timer and has been a part of two of the most polarizing matches in terms of quality and result in years, he is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and the star of WWE television for the next four to eight months.  With the right booking and creative use of talent, Brock does not need to be on every show to build feuds, hype matches and bring prestige for to the WWE Title.  There is no problem with part-timers holding the WWE Title as long as WWE Creative does not solely use video packages and solo promos as a replacement for actual interactions between wrestlers.  Although it did take destroying the old guard in The Streak and John Cena to do so, Brock Lesnar is the first legitimate monster heel the WWE has built in well over a decade and his position as such is important to the WWE and professional wrestling's foreseeable future.

The Silver Report: April 29-May 5

One week removed from what has been considered the best WWE PPV since last year’s Money in the Bank.  Chicago seems to bring out the best in the WWE.  Every PPV should be in Chicago at this rate.  Last Sunday’s Extreme Rules was one eventful night that saw both CM Punk and Sheamus defend their titles in two highly praised matches and Cena nearly beat Brock Lesnar in a bloody confrontation.  While I was a little disappointed that Cena went over Lesnar, I am going to make sure to pick up Extreme Rules on DVD when it comes out to see this great PPV for myself.  The fallout from Extreme Rules dominated WWE programming this week as we move closer to Over the Limit, which is just two weeks away.

Johnny Cracks

Raw opened with one heated segment involving John Laurinaitus, Triple H and Brock Lesnar.  Triple H was at Raw to address Brock’s unreasonable terms that Laurinaitus agreed to the week before.  The COO of the WWE put his foot down and that did not satisfy Brock.  Brock and Triple H came to blows which ended when Lesnar hooked in the Kimura and broke Triple H’s arm.  Just like that after all of Laurinaitus’ hard work in building Lesnar to be the face of the WWE, Brock blew a gasket and seemingly got himself fired.  Left in a state of shock and panic, Laurinaitus turned his attention to John Cena as he would announce Cena’s opponent at Over the Limit at the end of the show.  John Cena came out to the ring in a sling as his arm was hurt during his match with Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules.  Immediately following that Laurinaitus came to the ring to announce Cena’s opponent.  At first everybody thought Lord Tensai would be Cena’s opponent because the wrestler formerly known as A-Train made his way to ring after Laurinaitus came to the ring.  WWE tricked us all as Laurinaitus hit Cena over the head with the microphone before announcing that he would face John Cena at Over the Limit.  While I know that this match will be far from a technical masterpiece, I have been waiting for somebody to finally get their hands on Laurinaitus since Cena hit Mr. People Power one of the stiffest clotheslines during his match with Punk at last years’ Money in the Bank PPV.  It will most likely be an overbooked mess, but I personally believe it will be a very entertaining overbooked mess.

CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, WWE Championship, Over the Limit, the Internet Has Exploded

If the title does not make the Internet Wrestling Community collectively mark out, I don’t know what will.  Many hardcore wrestling fans have been waiting to see CM Punk and Daniel Bryan face-off on WWE PPV ever since the WWE signed Bryan back in 2009.  While I personally would really love to see this match main event WrestleMania someday, WWE did the smart thing of putting this match on what is mostly considered a throwaway PPV in the minds of many wrestling fans including yours truly.  It gets wrestling fans that would usually skip Over the Limit to keep watching Raw to see the build and possibly order the PPV to see this one match.  We will have to see how WWE builds this match in the next two weeks, but CM Punk and Daniel Bryan have a long history from their time in ROH to their matches from earlier this year that WWE can pull material from to perfectly build this match as the main event of Over the Limit even in such a short time. 

A War Is Coming Across the Border

It has been a long time since I have mentioned anything about Ring of Honor on the Silver Report.  With how busy I was these last six months, I stopped watching ROH because I never really had much time to watch ROH on my computer.  About a month ago, I found out that Fox 29 (channel 28 on my TV) had ROH on Sunday nights at 11.  So I have gotten back into the swing of things with this great wrestling promotion just in time for their biggest iPPV of the year, Border Wars.  Next Saturday at the Ben Reeves Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ROH will bring one of their biggest cards of 2012.  Roderick Strong vs. Fit Finlay, The Briscoes vs. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team in a Fight Without Honor for the ROH Tag Titles, Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett, Eddie Edwards vs. Rhino, Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole and Jay Lethal vs. Tommaso Ciampa fill out the incredible undercard.  The main event goes to possibly the most anticipated ROH World Championship Match of 2012 in Davey Richards vs. “Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare” Kevin Steen.  Being that this match is Kevin Steen’s only chance at the ROH Title, this match should be off the charts and see the Canadian Kevin Steen walking away with the ROH Title around his waist.  I am personally cheering for Kevin Steen because I can see ROH becoming a lot more interesting with Steen as World Champion.

WrestleMania Hangover: Quick Preview of WWE Extreme Rules 2012

No matter what happens at the biggest show of the year, there is always some sort of fallout.  Each year the PPV immediately after WrestleMania is used as the place to blow-off to many of the feuds that hangover from WrestleMania in order to make way for new feuds and storylines for the months to come.  This blow-off makes the PPV immediately after WrestleMania be it Backlash or Extreme Rules as exciting as WrestleMania itself.

Much like WrestleMania, most of the excitement for Extreme Rules comes down to one match, John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar.  WWE has done a pretty good job of building this budding feud between the Face of the WWE and Laurinaitus’ handpicked Face of the WWE.  Considering how big this match is, this writer thinks WWE will find a way to keep it going for the next few months than have a definitive winner this Sunday at Extreme Rules.  Along with Cena vs. Lesnar, WWE has packed Extreme Rules with what looks like some great bouts.  With the amazing Chicago crowd, there is a high probability that Extreme Rules will turn out to be one of the best PPVs of 2012.

Randy Orton vs. Kane in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Prediction:  Randy Orton wins

Nikki Bella (c) vs. Beth Phoenix for the Divas Championship

Prediction:  Nikki Bella retains

Big Show (c) vs. Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship

Prediction:  Cody Rhodes wins the Intercontinental Championship

Sheamus (c) vs. Daniel Bryan in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match for the World Championship

Prediction:  Sheamus retains

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar in an Extreme Rules Match

Prediction:  Match goes to a No Contest

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight for the WWE Championship

Prediction:  CM Punk retains

Great build, solid six match card and one of the hottest wrestling crowds in North America, WWE Extreme Rules has everything going for it.  We will just have to wait this Sunday evening to see if the WWE executes on this incredible situation.  Personally my hopes are high for this PPV considering the conditions and the top three matches on the card.  Nonetheless it should be an exciting night of wrestling to say the least. 

The Silver Report: April 15- 21

I have been a very busy week for yours truly with working two jobs and writing for two blogs.  Did not even get to watch Smackdown due to how busy I am.  This week saw the WWE go to Europe for their annual tour that always takes place after WrestleMania.  Raw was a really good show and I don’t know how Smackdown was, but I believe it was much better than Super Smackdown from the week before.  This coming week is the last week before next Sunday’s Extreme Rules PPV so hopefully we get two good go-home shows that properly build this great card.

Just Not Cena’s Month

April just has not been John Cena’s month.  He lost to The Rock on the Biggest Stage of Them All and Brock Lesnar and his signature F-5 have laid him out for two straight weeks now.  What could have gone wrong for the Face of the WWE this week?  To prepare for his match against Lesnar at Extreme Rules, John Cena was put into an Extreme Rules Match with an opponent of John Laurinaitus’ choosing.  To John’s dismay, Mr. People Power chose Lord Tensai, who has ran through his opponents the last two weeks on Raw, to face John Cena.  It was a highly competitive back-and-forth match as Lord Tensai and Cena traded moves.  Not much of an Extreme Rules Match as we say no weapons enter the match at all, but a really good main event nonetheless.  Right when John locked in the STF on Tensai, David Otunga hit the ring to break the hold.  Otunga did break the hold, but was on the receiving end of a big Attitude Adjustment.  With Cena pre-occupied with Otunga, Lord Tensai got some time to catch his breath before spitting green mist right into Cena’s eyes.  The green mist stunned Cena long enough for Tensai to hit his devastating sit-down powerbomb finisher for the win.  While it was another devastating loss for Cena, Lord Tensai needed the win much more than the self-proclaimed Champ as WWE tries to build him as their newest monster.  Now things get interesting for Cena as this month has been the most vulnerable he has been in about a decade.  It is strange; Cena no longer feels like the superhero the WWE has built him up to be.  He feels like a normal human being and it is the most interesting he has been in years.  We will have to tune into Raw this week to see if John Cena’s luck turns around or if his bad luck continues.

Punk Vanquishes the World’s Strongest Man, Moves Onto Y2J

After weeks of losing to Mark Henry via count-out and disqualification, CM Punk had to put-up or shut-up this Monday on Raw as he faced off with Henry in a No DQ, No Count-Out Match for the WWE Championship.  Personally, I was quite surprised this match kicked off Raw because I thought WWE would have saved it until later in the show, but it came as a nice change of pace as Raw starts with a promo most weeks.  With Chris Jericho as a distraction, Punk focused at the task at hand, taking down the World’s Strongest Man and retaining his WWE Championship.  Punk and Henry fought back-and-forth trading blows, holds and chair shots.  This match was not one of the most extreme No DQ Matches in the world, but Punk and Henry used enough chairs to justify putting the stipulation on the match.  Seeing as Mark Henry is a hefty fellow, there was no way Punk was going to lift him up for the GTS.  Neither did they follow the trope some these big man, little man matches have when the smaller guy tries to lift the bigger guy early in the match, but fails then miraculously is able to lift them in the ending moments to hit their finisher for the win.  Instead Punk went to his tribute to the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage to finish Mark Henry with a little bit of a twist.  Punk went to the top rope after hitting his signature high knee bulldog combo with a chair in hand.  Punk hit a variation of the flying elbow while holding onto the chair on Henry for the 3 count.  CM Punk vs. Mark Henry was another highly entertaining match from this past Raw that those who missed it should check out.  After Punk’s victory, Chris Jericho appeared on the Titantron to announce Cm Punk vs. Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules and to try and get under Punk’s skin yet again.  Considering that Extreme Rules is in Chicago, this match should blow off the roof next Sunday.  I am really hoping Punk vs. Jericho will be the main event over Cena vs. Lesnar because this match could be one of the best of the year.

3 Hour Raw, But For What Occasion?

Well tomorrow’s Raw is going to be a 3 hour extravaganza.  Usually WWE has themes for their 3 hour Raws to make them seem more special than a normal 2 hour show, but nothing has been announced for this 3 Hour Raw and it seems a little weird.  Normally after WrestleMania, WWE likes to shake-up the roster with the annual draft, which usually takes right before or right after Extreme Rules.  Yet nothing has been even mentioned about the draft.  Making me think it might happen a little later this year, as I do not think WWE will have two 3 Hour Raws in a row.  They have done it before so it will not surprise me if they announce the draft will be the Raw after Extreme Rules.  The only thing announced for the show is a contract signing for John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules.  It will be interesting to see how WWE fills the rest of the show.  Hopefully it will be as good as the last few Raws have been because this is the best Raw has been all year.

The Silver Report: April 8-14

A week removed from WrestleMania 28, things seemed to have settled down quite a bit in the WWE.  Programs are gearing up for what should be a crazy Extreme Rules PPV in Chicago.  The Chicago crowd should be up to their usual amazing selves, which should add a lot to the PPV.  Raw was solid while Smackdown was horrible.  Honestly, there has to a curse on every Super Smackdown as everyone WWE has done in the past year has absolutely sucked.  Around this time last year, Smackdown was much better show than Raw, but now things seem to slipping on the blue brand.  Smackdown’s slip from glory is a topic for another day.  Right now, let’s look at the biggest news from the World of Wrestling this past week.

Cena vs. Brock, Extreme Rules

Brock Lesnar’s return at the end of last week’s Monday Night Raw will most likely go down as the greatest moment in the WWE for this year.  There was no doubt that all eyes were set on this week’s Raw to see if the fallout to live up to that legendary return.  In short, it was not as good as Brock’s return, but it was great set-up for their match at Extreme Rules.  Raw started with a bang as Brock and Cena came to blows, which saw the entire roster come out to break them up and Cena busted open.  That confrontation was not it as “People Power” Johnny Laurinaitus set the Leader of the Cenation to face his stooge David Otunga in the main event.  While the match between Cena and Otunga was nothing to run home about, it was not that bad either.  After the match, Brock made his way into the ring and hit another devastating F-5 to end the show.  Did I just have a déjà vu?  Yes, this past Raw ended the exact same way as the week before, but I did not mind it as much because WWE is trying to put over how dominant of a force Lesnar is.  We got two more weeks to go until Extreme Rules, but speculation is already flying on John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules.  Personally, I can see the match going one of two ways.  Either Brock outright beats Cena or the two fight to some sort of no contest, double count-out or double DQ in order to set-up a second match at Over the Limit.  No matter what happens it should be good.

Is Jericho in Punk’s Head?

Before WrestleMania, CM Punk seemed to be able to handle Chris Jericho’s attempts to get in his head.  Jericho’s attack from the previous week looks like it finally broke Punk’s composure as he was a complete mess on Raw this week.  Set to defend his WWE Title against Mark Henry for the second week in a row, CM Punk took it upon himself to make an example of the World’s Strongest Man as he immediately hit Henry with punches to kicks to even a TV monitor, which got Punk disqualified.  Punk was on his way to sending a message when Chris Jericho’s music distracted Punk for just a moment.  A moment was all Henry needed as the World’s Strongest Man laid out the WWE Champion for the second week in a row.  Jericho was not done as he brought down two cases of beer to share with Punk after laying the Champion out with the Codebreaker.  So after the events of this past Raw, is Chris Jericho really in the head of CM Punk?  This writer certainly thinks so, but this writer thinks by getting into Punk’s head, Jericho has released a whole other crazy can of worms that will not stop until Y2J rightfully atones for his sins.  We might even get a preview of crazy Punk as he faces off with Mark Henry for the WWE Championship in No DQ, No Count-Out Match tomorrow on Raw.

Sheamus, Bryan, 2 out of 3 Falls

Out of the three major feuds going on in WWE right now, Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan feels the least interesting.  That is not the fault of Bryan and Sheamus as they have been trying to make the best with the little they are given.  It is WWE’s fault for first giving them only 18 seconds at WrestleMania and now placing the two in different storylines that seem to have no connection with their feud.  Sheamus seems to be starting a feud with the returning Alberto Del Rio and Bryan is busy with his break-up with AJ.  The fact that they have had little to no interaction with each other these past weeks makes their rematch at Extreme Rules seem out of place to say the least.  Not to say, I am not excited to see this 2 out of 3 Falls Match.  It should be much better showcase of what these two wrestlers can do together than their WrestleMania match was.  At the very least, this 2 out of 3 Falls Match ensures the match will last longer than 18 seconds this time around.