One of the main reasons I visit pro wrestling web sites is to see the inside workings and why things happen. I wonder why guys get demoted, why guys get pushes, why guys go over and others are held back, you know, the usual stuff. In the past few days, I've learned that Randy Orton has become a backstage leader against the "Over 40 Club." I've always been weary of the older Superstars and their influence on how things work. It was most apparent in WCW. Hulk Hogan and the other Superstars basically ran the show and got the belts when they wanted and carried them for however long they wanted. Seniority is a part of business & life and it will always be there. But, in recent weeks, there's a few guys that keep throwing their weight around in good & bad ways.

Unless you've been living under a rock or just haven't been paying attention, Triple H is married to Vince's daughter, Stephanie. By doing this and sitting in creative meetings, he has a lot of power and influence most other guys don't have. If he wants the title, he can have it within a few months. If he wants to bury a guy, he can, i.e. Carlito. Triple H reminds me of the guy that has some dirt on you and basically holds it over your head to get his way. He may put guys over like Jeff Hardy to get his rep in good graces but he can turn around and bury somebody. Hulk Hogan put over Goldberg but it wasn't long before Goldberg was being buried again. Remember Starrcade, a cattle prod, and Kevin Nash? Triple H commented about Jericho's return and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Hell, Jericho can freshen up the product. I honestly don't like seeing the same guys in the title picture over and over again. Look at Smackdown. They went from Batista & Undertaker to Edge & Rey Mysterio.

Back to Orton, during the Iraq tour, HBK went off on Umaga because he apparently had green on his trunks and green is apparently Triple H's color. It reminds me of an old married couple arguing over some dumb stuff that's pointless. Long story short, Orton stood up for Umaga and he's one of the outspoken guys against the older crew. Without pro wrestling news web sites, I would have thought Triple H was fine and dandy. Getting mad over the color of somebody's trunks? Jeeze. I understand if it was something big and a certain guy wore a certain color all of the time. But really, when John Cena debuted, he wore different color trunks every week and I don’t recall anybody getting pissed at him. Did the guys from DX and The Nation get yelled at when they wore black because Stone Cold also wore black? I think these guys need to relax and stop throwing their weight around over stupid stuff. We talkin’ bout trunks. Trunks. We sittin’ here talkin’ bout trunks. Not a match, not a match. We talkin’ bout trunks. How da hell is wearin’ a certain color of trunks gone make the match better? We talkin’ bout trunks. TRUNKS!

If you’ve seen the Allen Iverson video of him talking about practice, you’ll think that previous lines about trunks were funny, I hope.

I saw the news article about the guys backstage and their thoughts on Ric Flair's retirement storyline. They think it's goofy because Flair might go on a Goldberg-type run. It's not like Flair's going to go on a 100-plus-straight-win-streak. They can have him win by DQ or count out like they've been doing. It's not like he has to get a pin or submission every single time. I think it's a cool concept that if he doesn't win, he's gone. They can really build it up big for Wrestlemania. Flair deserves one last run for all that he's done for the business.

Moving right along, Chris Jericho's return hasn't lived up to expectations. I think this is for many different reasons. For one, the Internet Wrestling Community knew about the return way before it actually happened. They waited until after Survivor Series, which is another reason. I think they could have done it sometime sooner and it would have had more bang for the buck. Another reason was, despite the build up, the live crowd didn't really pop as loud as I thought they would. Follow that up with a dead crowd the next week and people think it's a waste of time. I thought he should have feuded with somebody other than Randy Orton for his first feud. They thrust him into the title picture when most everybody knew he wouldn't win. Now he's feuding with JBL and I think it's going to be something good. I just wish they weren't having a match at the Royal Rumble. I think with the right build up, it would be a great match to see at Wrestlemania. Then again, with the right build up, any feud could be great.

Over on the Smackdown side of things, the stuff with Edge & Vickie Guerrero is a little hard to watch. I realize Edge is supposed to do things to make people hate him and all. I just have a hard time watching him make out with EG's widow. I'm sure he doesn't have a problem with it because he would want Edge to do what's best for the business and to further his character. I don't want to spoil Smackdown but there's a segment with Edge, Vickie, Chavo Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio. I won't watch it because the segment seems like it would be difficult to watch, especially with the people involved. I'm an Edgehead but I just wish they would stay away from this stuff.

Did anybody see the match on ECW for the WWE Tag Team Championships between Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore against The Miz & John Morrison? Amazing. It was a pretty good match. I enjoyed the ending that opened up the possibility for a rematch. This is the stuff that separates ECW from the other shows. They have some great wrestling and a few decent promos. I don't get the whole Chavo thing but I do like the Gold Standard Shelton Benjamin. I personally don't want to see Big Daddy V.

Speaking of Big Daddy V, does Vince think people want to see big fat guys? V and Mark Henry have paired up and I really don't want to see them. Khali is feuding with Finlay and Khali is without a doubt the worst wrestler on the face of the planet. I mean, I think Mae Young could wrestle better than him and she's like, 90. I don't mind the Undertaker. I don't mind Kane. I never minded the Big Show. These guys could actually move. But it's gotten to the point that the current big guys in the WWE suck. They're constantly being forced on us and it's a train wreck every time. Even Snitsky has gotten to where he sucks and the crowd doesn't care about him. So, I've come up with a proposal. If you go to a live event, any time a crappy big guy comes out to wrestle, unless it's Undertaker or Kane, walk out and go to the bathroom, get something from the concession or merchandise stand. There's a second part of the proposal. If you're watching RAW, ECW, Smackdown, or anything and a crappy big guy comes out to wrestle or cut a promo or whatever, turn the channel. They study the ratings to the Nth degree. I personally believe if they notice a trend that when one of these guys comes out and the ratings go down, they might do something about it. It sounds like one of those plans to get gas prices down by not buying gas on a certain day. It's a crazy plan but I think it could work.

Excess Power Rankings
1. Randy Orton
2. Edge
3. CM Punk
4. Jeff Hardy
5. Triple H
6. Shawn Michaels
7. MVP
8. Chris Jericho
9. The Undertaker
10. Batista

Wrestling Autism

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