Hello and welcome to the 50th installment of the most popular and most updated blog on Wrestling101, the CBlog!

I know it has been a while since I posted a typical CBlog, but I think I am overdue for one. I hope you all enjoyed the special edition of the CBlog that took a look at the history of the WWE Iron Man Match and, as always, thank you for the comments.

I had a partial CBlog saved for a few weeks now that I have been meaning to finish. It was originally going to discuss Booker T returning to WWE in the future and a look at the, then upcoming, Bragging Rights event, as well as give my thoughts on the shocking departure of Shane McMahon, but that seems like old news at this point. With all due respect to Booker T (wouldn’t it be something if he read this blog?) and the other topics I was originally going to discuss, I think the big story in wrestling right now is the legendary Hulk Hogan signing with TNA. I will be discussing that ever developing story, as well as giving my thoughts on WWE Bragging Rights, the upcoming Survivor Series event, the recent push of Kofi Kingston, and so much more! I hope you enjoy this CBlog and your comments are always appreciated.

Well, I might as well start off with the biggest story in wrestling today; Hulk Hogan signing with TNA. Now, I think it is pretty much general knowledge among the people who read my blogs that I am not a fan of TNA, to say the least. I still believe that their game plan is to try and be the new WCW, but attempt to succeed at it. They allegedly have a lot of internal problems when it comes to how the wrestlers are booked and all that.

Now that I got that out of the way, let me discuss TNA signing Hulk Hogan. In a business sense, Hogan signing with TNA is a big move for TNA as regardless of the organization, Hogan always draws. So far, TNA has not screwed up this mega signing and they would be smart to keep Hogan out of the ring for his own safety more than anything. Let’s face facts, Hogan is pretty much one big bump away from being in a wheelchair. I am not saying this to point out that Hogan is old or anything, but it’s just general knowledge that Hogan pushed his career a little bit too long for his own good. TNA should keep him out of the ring at all times. While I am tempted to say that one match every once in a while is fine, I don’t believe that. You combine the laundry list of Hogan’s injuries with the fact that he has not wrestled for quite some time and it’s not a good combination to say the least.

TNA did pick the right time to sign Hogan. Hogan is one of the big media stories right now with his upcoming autobiography and his controversial personal life. TNA can stand to make a lot of money just based on having Hogan appear in their ring (which he is yet to do, but I suspect they are waiting for a pay-per-view appearance).

The Hogan story just keeps on adding “chapters” as Bubba The Love Sponge (radio host and Hogan’s good friend) was adamant in saying that Hogan will be running TNA. Something that TNA denies, but Hogan has apparently confirmed as truth. According to Hogan, his plan is to “mold” TNA into a successful company by working behind-the-scenes with the company. He also says he taught Vince McMahon how to do business. Whether that is true or not is something only Hogan & Vince know, I suspect.

Something just occurred to me and that is, I wonder what Jeff Jarrett is thinking. Jarrett’s relationship with Kurt Angle’s ex-wife has resulted in Jarrett taking a “back seat” when it comes to running TNA. In short, Jarrett is out and Hulk Hogan comes in to “run” the company. While we have heard comments from Jerry Jarrett, I am yet to hear of any comments by Jeff Jarrett on the signing of Hogan. It’s an interesting state of affairs (no pun intended).

With Hogan coming into the company, one has to think that some of the TNA roster are getting worried about their spots as TNA is quickly filling up their roster with a lot of “legends”. This is all if Hogan actually gets involved in matches and storylines on-screen. TNA just needs to make sure that they keep most of the roster happy. Allegedly, AJ Styles had a bit of a run in with Vince Russo over Nigel McGuinness costing AJ a feud with Kurt Angle. This is an example of a situation that TNA needs to smooth over as AJ is quite a catch for any organization and if he ends or quitting or getting let go, then TNA has lost a talented guy to say the least. The whole Hogan/TNA situation and all the things that go along with it is one of those “time will tell” scenarios.

Well, I think I have taken up more than enough room talking about Hogan signing with TNA, now let’s move to a wrestling organization that I actually watch; the WWE.

A week from this past Sunday, WWE held the first annual Bragging Rights event; an event I thought was very well done and had solid matches and angles for most of the show.

Though I have read quite a few disagreements, I believe the Iron Man Match was an excellent match and a serious contender for 2009 Match of the Year. It was unique, but exciting. There is not a lot to say that can explain the match. Just watch it is the best thing to say here.

Now the result of the match was that John Cena is the WWE Champion for the fifth time (and his seventh time as a World Champion overall). Much like with TNA, we all know where I stand when it comes to John Cena. However, I do give kudos to Cena for the match he and Orton had at Bragging Rights. I think it is inevitable that Cena’s reign as champion will suck in the future. That’s just the way it goes with long title reigns sometimes. I just hope something happens to where they come up with some fresh challenges and/or challengers for this reign.

The Fatal 4-Way for the World Heavyweight Title was really overshadowed by Batista turning heel and attacking Rey Mysterio. I think it was well done and I think that Batista as a heel is a good move; especially considering that it’s possible he will be retiring next year. I do think that Batista should get a “courtesy reign” as champion before he leaves. As a matter of fact, I am predicting that Batista will be the next World Heavyweight Champion.

I am interested to see how this Batista/Mysterio feud goes.

I was disappointed in the match between The Miz and John Morrison at Bragging Rights. It could have been so much better. For some reason, the Bragging Rights Tag Match was interesting at the time, but now it doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

The natural progression here is to discuss the next WWE pay-per-view, Survivor Series.

As of this blog, two matches are confirmed for the event with John Cena defending the WWE Title in a Triple Threat Match against DX; Triple H & Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker defending the World Heavyweight Title in a Triple Threat Match against Jeri-Show; Chris Jericho & Big Show. Now, I think it’s evident that these two championship matches are similar in a lot of ways and will probably progress in a similar manner. With that said, I am interested to see the Cena/DX Triple Threat Match as DX is more tightly knit as a team than Jeri-Show has been. Now, I am a big fan of DX so I am hoping that they are not planning to split them up and I don’t really see them doing that.

I am definitely glad that they put together a WWE Title match that has some interesting elements to it as if they had Cena face Triple H or Shawn Michaels one-on-one, it would not be all that great as it’s been done before. I do see Cena retaining the title here, but I do think that if there was to be a new champion crowned, Shawn Michaels is the most deserving of the three. I say this because HBK has not won a World Title since 2002 (at Survivor Series, no less). I spoke about a “courtesy reign” for Batista earlier and I think that Michaels should be given the same courtesy.

When it comes to the Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Title, it is also an interesting set up. However, I am still in preference of the WWE Title match. I see Undertaker retaining the title in this one, though it would be interesting to see Big Show or Chris Jericho trying to lug around three title belts. Plus, it would be a nice addition to the impressive resume of Big Show as he has never been the World Heavyweight Champion. As it stands, he is the only WWE Superstar to have held the WWE, WCW, & ECW Championships. Winning the World Heavyweight Title, even if he held it for one night, would look good for him in the future. Being a RAW Superstar, Big Show winning the title would create another one of those “both champions on one brand” situations and it seems like they just did that (they sorted that out in April, I believe). Jericho is a possibility, as well, but I can only see him “stealing” the title in some sort of “opportunist” ending to the match.

I expect to see at least one of the two Triple Threat Matches end with the champion in the match taking advantage of the tag team fighting with each other.

Next up is the push of Kofi Kingston; a push that seems to have come out of nowhere. After they took the U.S. Title off of him on October 5, I thought that Kofi was going to just fall back on the roster and become a jobber or something. As it turns out, they actually got the title off of him to elevate him on the roster and that is awesome.

All of a sudden, Kofi is involved in a feud with Randy Orton, who, at this time two weeks ago, was the WWE Champion. Not only is Kofi getting pushed, but it seems like MVP & Mark Henry are as well.

It’s good that WWE is pushing some young stars on RAW as you can only do so much with Cena, Orton, Triple H, & Michaels before it gets to be too much.

I fully expect to see a Team Orton Vs. Team Kofi 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match at Survivor Series. After some thought, I have figured out a very likely set of teams. Team Orton will have Randy Orton, Legacy, Sheamus, & The Miz while Team Kofi will have Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, Jamie Noble, & Evan Bourne. The only “iffy” part of that is Jamie Noble as he is nowhere near the same level as the others in terms of where he is on the roster. In any case, this line up makes the most sense at this point.

In a bit of news that is more recent, former TNA star Lance Hoyt debuted on ECW on Syfy last night as “Vance Archer”. He was pretty impressive in his debut, but the true test will be his first “real” match where his opponent is not a jobber. I don’t expect to see that for a few weeks, but I do see Archer being the next contender for the ECW Title after William Regal gets his title shot next week. ECW really needs new stars, which is funny to say considering they just added some stars a few months back, but while they do have some new stars, they need to elevate some stars to be contenders for the ECW Title; and I mean serious contenders. Not “one off” title defenses like they did with Zack Ryder and Yoshi Tatsu.

Well, that is all for the 50th edition of the CBlog. I hope you all enjoyed it and I look forward to reading you comments. Remember, you can follow me on Twitter at: WWELife

Peace out!