His return was just genius. He completely played the live crowd and the television audience. People are going to be tuning in next week to see what he’s all about. It was a fantastic swerve that nobody could have predicted.

While I’m sure that he was genuinely excited to perform in front of a WWE crowd again, I’m going to guess that the smiling was disingenuous as far as his character is concerned. I can see him berating the crowd next week for cheering him like a returning hero. He’ll mock them for reacting to his return that way when he thinks they’re all hypocrites, parasites, sycophants, and gelatinous tapeworms.

Then again, maybe he won’t. Jericho’s return has people wondering what will happen next and his character has an awesome unpredictability that should be milked. I don’t know where he’s going with this run, but I can’t wait to find out.

What did you think of Chris Jericho’s return to WWE Monday Night Raw?

For the last couple of months WWE has been teasing the return of a “mystery” WWE Superstar. Several sources believe that Chris Jericho will be making his return to pro-wrestling in tonight’s Monday Night Raw. What do you think? Is “the best in the world at what he does” coming back? Or will it be someone else? (I’m hoping for Festus…just kidding.)

Certainly WWE would be better with Jericho. He’s an established star that’s absolute money on the microphone and strong in the ring. Jericho setting the tone for WWE in 2012 would be fantastic. That said, the next few months are sure to be dominated by John Cena vs. The Rock. If Jericho is coming back, wouldn’t it be better to have him return after WrestleMania in a (mostly) Rock-free WWE?

Anyway, please let me know if you think the mystery WWE Superstar is Chris Jericho. If you think it is, are you excited by his return? If not, who do you think is coming back?

Haven’t done one of these in a while. If you guys and gals still have your magnets, please send in some holiday-themed photos if you have the chance. For now, please enjoy this excellent picture from RPadholic nightshade386. He put his magnet on a classic WWF — not WWE! — Intercontinental Championship! The Honky Tonk man would be proud.

I’m totally marking out for WWE programming right now. This has been my favorite period of WWE television since Shawn Michaels retired. A guy that used Twitter to get over and two guys I watched with dozens of other people at Ring of Honor shows are holding championship belts. I love that three guys that work hard and genuinely connect with fans are getting pushed by WWE. While I have an aching suspicion that at least one of the three championship reigns will be short, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. Join me as I reflect on three of the current WWE champions.

Zack Ryder United States Champion: I wrote a bit about the crazy phenomenon of Ryder a few weeks ago. As an Internet nerd, I have to give it up to a guy that used Twitter outreach and YouTube videos to connect with fans. I completely respect and admire what he did; WWE management wasn’t giving him an opportunity to shine, so he took matters into his own hands and created his own success. While I’m happy for Ryder, it’s not the same level of excitement I feel for the next two champions.

CM PUNK WWE Champion: I know that a few of you are down on Punk because of his size, but you can’t question his in-ring ability or deny the fact that he has cut the best promos in WWE all year. As you probably know, I’m partial to Ring of Honor alumni and love when those guys do well in bigger companies. Punk also gets mad bonus points for posing with some of my Pokemon dolls for a Games Radar article I did back in the day. I love that my photos of Punk and my Pokemon are on the first page of Google results when you do an image search for “CM Punk”.

Punk is just a great wrestler that has worked hard to get one of the top spots in the business. I think it’s great that he’s old school. I love that he prefers the term “pro-wrestling” over “sports entertainment”. It was nice that he wore a Randy Savage outfit and started incorporating  Savage’s elbow drop shortly after Macho Man passed away. Even though I generally don’t trust people who drink, I think Punk is awesome. He’s my second-favorite straight-edge person.

Daniel Bryan World Heavyweight Champion: Before WWE re-branded him as Daniel Bryan, Bryan Danielson was one of my favorite Ring of Honor wrestlers. I believe he’s one of the top three wrestlers in WWE today. His game is just so diverse, mixing outstanding mat wrestling, high-flying moves, and modern MMA twists. Yeah, he’s still finding his way on the mic, but he’s getting a lot better (something John Morrison never did). More importantly, his wrestling is so good that fans connect with him and want to see him do well. It’s weird seeing him (fake) tan and wearing more black than red these days, but he’ll always be “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson to me — one of the best wrestlers I’ve seen live.

I love the photo above from CM Punk’s Twitter feed. Seeing Punk and Danielson with the two major WWE straps gives me warm fuzzies. It’s great seeing two guys that are superiors wrestlers make it to the top. It’s sweet that two guys that have known each other for more than a decade and have wrestled in hundreds of high-school gyms are headlining shows that are watched by millions of people. In many ways, the photo reminds me of when Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit held those belts. Similar to how Punk and Danielson made their way through the indie scene together, Guerrero and Benoit went from ECW to WCW to WWE together. The two were also great wrestlers that were on the small side. When Benoit and Guerrero were celebrating with their titles at WrestleMania XX, I remember thinking, “Damn. That’s a lot of confetti,” and also, “It feels nice to see that the right guys have the belts.”

Sadly, I don’t have a ton of faith in WWE creative to leave the strap on Danielson. Hell, he only has it now because Mark Henry suffered a groin injury and they had to quickly rewrite the match. It’s too early to tell, but I fear he’ll just be a transitional champion.

I don’t know how long these three WWE Superstars will keep their championships, but it’s great to see that, once again, the right guys have won.

If Tebow vs. ‘Taker went down at WrestleMania XXVIII, how do you think it would go down? Kindly vote in today’s poll and describe the match you see in your head in the comments section.

WWE has revealed more details on the upcoming WWE Network. The most recent teaser video shows that programming will be a mix of live events, classic matches, and reality shows. I’m especially excited by the prospect of watching legendary matches from the NWA, WCW, and WCCW days. Sports Business Journal Daily claims that WWE Network will launch on April 1, 2012 — the same day as WrestleMania XXVIII — and that most PPV shows will be moving to the network.

Although I’m not into reality television and I was never too into Tough Enough, I’m intrigued by the Legends’ House show. In my head, making anyone live with the Iron Sheik will result in hilarity. Abdullah the Butcher would also be an interesting roommate. Mae Young would be the den mother, of course. Making WWE Legends live with each other and filming it sounds like it could be fun, especially if the show focuses on Iron Sheik ranting about making people humble.

I’m also curious about the pricing. Will it be part of a channel bundle? Or will it be a premium network? Let’s assume the latter. As an example, my crap-bag provider Time Warner Cable charges $20 a month for every flavor of HBO and Cinemax combined. Let’s say WWE is in that price range and it costs $10 to $15 per month. Even though that’s only one channel, it’s still cheaper than paying $45 a month for PPVs.

I’m still waiting for more details, but I’m pretty sure I’m on the hook for WWE Network. Between the classic matches and “most” PPV events, the cost will be worth it to me. Legends’ House could end up being a pleasant surprise. How about you? Are you interested in the channel? Are you a potential WWE Network subscriber?

I’m truly amazed by the rise of WWE Zack Ryder. He went from one of Edge’s two indistinguishable sidekicks to one of the most over wrestlers in WWE today. The crowd reactions he has been getting for the last few months have been phenomenal. The amazing part is that it wasn’t an outstanding match or a strong push by corporate that got Ryder over. It was his sharp use of YouTube and Twitter.

Ryder wasn’t getting enough match time to show what he could do in the ring. He also wasn’t getting great material to work with from WWE’s writers. He took the initiative to develop his character through a series of YouTube videos called Z! True Long Island Story and reach out to fans via Twitter. It completely worked. The fans connected with him, probably because it’s easy to see how much he cares and how badly he wants to succeed. He took his character to a new level with YouTube in a way that WWE television wouldn’t allow. It’s a great success story that shows how powerful social networking services can be.

What do you think of the Zack Ryder phenomenon? Are you impressed that hard work and social networking has made him one of the most popular WWE Superstars  in 2011? Also, woo woo woo! You know it!!

I finally got around to watching the Scott Hall segment from ESPN’s E:60. It’s a fantastic look at the turbulent life and career of the man formerly known as WWE’s Razor Ramon. The piece covers Hall’s abuse of alcohol, recreational drugs, and steroids. It’s a hard-hitting look at a pro-wrestler that could have been one of the all-time greats, but succumbed to numerous temptations.

Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Eric Bischoff, PJ Polaco (Justin Credible/Aldo Montoya), Stephanie McMahon, and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman make appearances in the piece. One of the most surprising revelations was made by McMahon; she admitted that WWE has spent more than six-figures on Hall’s various rehab stints. Extensive footage of Hall at an indie show — hopped up on Percocet and Soma — was disturbingly sad.

Here’s a teaser for the segment:

I remember when I first saw Hall in the American Wrestling Alliance as “Big” Scott Hall. I thought, “If this dude gets rid of his white-man afro, he could be huge!” He went onto a successful stint in the WWE as Razor Ramon and one of the hottest runs of all time in WCW as part of the N.W.O. Hall was solid in the ring, killer on the mic, and had a great mind for booking. Like I said before, he could have been one of the best ever.

ESPN did a fantastic job on this piece and I can’t recommend it enough. Check it out hen you get a chance and let me know what you think (please!).

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The age of Claudio is almost upon us! Claudio Castagnoli, my favorite indie wrestler for the past seven years, has been revealed on the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) site as Antonio Cesaro. FCW is WWE’s developmental division headed up by Steve Keirn (The Fabulous Ones, Doink the Clown).

If you haven’t seen Claudio in action then you owe it to yourself to watch his YouTube clips. He has the size that Vince McMahon loves combined with wrestling ability that Ring of Honor marks like me cherish. His European uppercuts are amazing!

It’s funny that WWE saddled Claudio with a name that sounds even more Italian. Years ago I envisioned Claudio being introduced as Santino Marella’s cousin with a limited knowledge of English. Claudio would play up his “Heeeeeyyyyyyyy” gimmick and Santino would give him the rub by constantly taking advantage of him. Claudio would initially get sympathy from the fans and have the opportunity to win them over for life with his superior wrestling skills. You know, I should write wrestling storylines or something….

So yeah! I’m super psyched that Claudio’s WWE career is progressing. I can’t wait to see him on the big shows soon! He has the talent and charisma to be a top-of-the-card guy. I’m counting on all of you to become Claudio marks too! Heeeeeeeyyyyy!!!

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