Midgets have always been a part of wrestling. Heck, there was even a television show chronicling the real life of midget wrestlers. However, despite involvement throughout the years in WWE, there has never been a midget in a match at Wrestlemania. That is all going to change this year.
If you caught Monday's edition of Raw, you know what I'm talking about. Not Hornswoggle, but Snooki of Jersey Shore fame will be competing in a match at Wrestlemania! At least that's the way it seemed when she told the team of Dolph Ziggler, LayCool and their "manager"? Vickie Guerrero that she'd see them there. As of this writing, it seems the plan is for the LayCool/Ziggler team to take on Snooki, John Morrison, and Trish Stratus.
This came as a legitimate surprise to most people, as I'm sure no one expected Snooki to be going to Wrestlemania. That wasn't the only surprise on Monday either, as a few shocking returns added fuel to the already massive fire that is the Lawler/Cole feud. There was even the return of an icon..........or so we thought after the main event was over.
With such an action-packed episode of Raw, who stood out? Who was HOT and who was NOT? Let's take a look:
HOT
1. The Miz - I know, he's been on this list so many times and you are a total Miz mark. Perhaps I am, but it's because objectively speaking, the guy has been nothing short of brilliant recently. Even the greatest of doubters have to have taken notice of what this man has done over the past few weeks. My biggest fear with all of this is that it's all building up to Cena overcoming the odds to win at Wrestlemania, leaving Miz behind and in limbo as to when he'll get in the title picture again. That's an issue for another day though, as this is about Monday night. On that night, Miz saved us from a pretty bad Rock promo (we'll talk about it later). His promo was nothing short of brilliant, and his live skills in terms of dealing with the crowd are about as good as it gets these days. Watch his promo and listen to the crowd chant "you suck" as loud as they can. All the heels in WWE should take note, as THAT is what you want to hear. On top of all that, Miz impersonated Rock, complete with a bald cap, at the end of the night in a shocking/funny moment that fooled the live crowd. I tune in every week to see what Miz will say or do next. The last person I did that for? The Rock around 1999-2000. That should say a lot.
2. The Lawler/Cole Feud - This is the best all around feud, period. There is nothing that people want to see more than Michael Cole getting his ass kicked at Wrestlemania and that's how it should be. What's been great about this feud though is how it has definitely gotten better by the week. Last week, Steve Austin became guest referee for their bout and it seemed the Cole was down and out. This week was a different story. To get into Lawler's head, Cole sought out an unlikely source. It was Jerry's biological son, Brian Christopher. For someone who saw that man main event a show (Raw in 2000 at Nassau Coliseum along with his Too Cool team), this was a very cool moment. Christopher didn't look so great, but he cut a great heel promo on his dad. When it seemed bleak, out came Good Ole JR! Two surprises in one segment? You better believe it, and I think the surprises are going to keep on coming. That whole segment was truly fantastic and I will be including it at the bottom of this article because everyone needs to see it. This is an early candidate for feud of the year, and easily has the most heat of any match on the Wrestlemania card. Great, great stuff on a weekly basis.
3. Vickie Guerrero - She has a job again. I think that's reason enough to get onto the HOT list. Though she'll never be hot in the sense that I will swoon over her looks, she is a heat magnet in the WWE and this solidifies her place on a roster. The Raw roster is getting mighty crowded, but I'm sure it will all be sorted out after Wrestlemania. Her match led to an angle and added a match to Wrestlemania so we could definitely call the segment a success, and a small part of that has to be attributed to Vickie. She pissed off Snooki, and you do NOT piss off a girl from Jersey! I guarantee that you see Snooks take it to Vickie at ringside come Wrestlemania, and that will just be some good, old-fashioned fun!
NOT
1. Alberto Del Rio - I'm fully prepared for the heat I'm going to get for this, but I am not impressed by this man. He comes out ever week, cuts the EXACT SAME PROMO, and then has someone else do his work. They have given him a special ring announcer, a fancy entrance, and now a fat enforcer, and he STILL does not get even half the boos that Miz gets. Somehow though, this is the man who won the Royal Rumble and is getting a title shot against Edge? Give me a break! I do see potential in him, but he's not there yet. As far as Monday goes, he looked like a jobber facing Cena, as he got in a little offense before Cena took over and was about to finish him. This led to his minions causing the DQ and starting a beatdown. The whole thing was there to lead to Miz's Rock impersonation, so when the challenger to the other main title is simply fodder for Raw's big match, that should tell you something about this #1 contender. He stinks, and I may shoot myself if he wins the title at Wrestlemania. In a year's time, he could be an incredible heel, but at this point, he reminds me of Joe Pesci's line in "My Cousin Vinny"-he's showing you bricks. He's showing you the edges, the shape, the texture, but he's not showing you the depth. Well, it's something like that.
2. The Rock - It's that kind of day where I know I'm going to piss people off with my opinions, but I simply don't care. This was a bad Rock promo. Remember, this is coming from one of the biggest Rock marks of all time, but this was bad. We got literally 10 minutes of Rock talking to a child in John Cena clothes and I wasn't sure if he was insulting the kid or Cena. The whole thing was really lame, and for all the detractors of Cena who say he's corny, watch this promo. There is NOTHING Cena has ever done that has been this corny and childish. It wasn't all that funny and it certainly didn't get people on Rock's side unless they are so hypnotized by the Rock's return that they'll buy anything he's selling. I wasn't, and to make matter's worse, the corny music in the backround when Rock tried to get serious about Miz was just laughable. I really want Rock to pull out his best stuff and be awesome, but ever since he decided to Bring It via satellite, he's been below what I've come to expect of him. I really hope that changes when he decides to come back to a ring again.
3. Mason Ryan - He was here, Orton punted him back to FCW, now he's gone. Same story, different week. His is just shorter than the rest. Do I need to say more?
Raw continues to be a fantastic show and this show in particular had so many great moments that it was hard to sit still. I fear that this will end once Wrestlemania is behind us, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Who knows who might return next week or what surprises may come? They continue to surprise me and and every week so at this point, I'm just sitting back and enjoying the ride!
*Disclaimer - the clip I have included only has JR's part in the segment. If you want to see the Brian Christopher stuff, I will add a link in a comment as soon as I can find a good one.
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