Wrestling: The Kayfabe Countdown - 04/24

#1 Edge [--] (17-1-1) (WWE)
For the tenth week running, Edge remains in the statistical top spot on The Kayfabe Countdown, a fact inevitably finite due to his retirement last week. Some of the fun of watching wrestling from this unique perspective will now be seeing who WWE calls upon to replace their most dominant star of 2011! Earlier in the year it seemed Alberto Del Rio (#4) would be the man whose destiny was to be the most winning star in WWE, but now Randy Orton (#3) has taken that confidence. Rey Mysterio (#2) is most poised to do it, taking the fan-favourite second tier that saw Kofi Kingston (#21) overtake Big Show (#8) in 2010, but with injuries brewing there, he probably won't have the distance. Plus, Orton's got the ticket to ride as long as he sits second to John Cena (#41) and Miz (#18), with goons aplenty to run over.

Sin Cara (#68) went 2-0 with a tag victory alongside Cena in an elevation of his credibility as a major signing. Going against The Miz and Alex Riley (#130) was probably a safer scenario for the sometimes stumbling star than Primo Colon (#64), who helped him train in the WWE style, but bungled crucial spots on his first in-ring debut on RAW a week or so ago.
#2 [--] Rey Mysterio (13-6-0) (WWE)
#3 [--] Randy Orton (12-6-0) (WWE)
#4 [--] Alberto Del Rio (11-7-2) (WWE)
#5 [--] Santino Marella (11-10-0) (WWE)
#6 [+1] Robert Roode (9-0-0O) (TNA) [Tag Team Champion]
#7 [+1] James Storm (9-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champion]
#8 [RE] Big Show (9-5-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champion]
#9 [--] Eve Torres (9-5-0) (WWE)
#10 [-1] Justin Gabriel (9-9-0) (WWE)

#1 [--] Robert Roode & James Storm (9-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champions]
#2 [--] Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater (7-6-0) (WWE)
#3 [--] Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov (6-6-0) (WWE)
#4 [+1] Big Show & Kane (5-0-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champions]
#5 [+1] Sarita & Rosita (5-1-0) (TNA) [Knockouts Tag Team Champions]
#6 [-2] Layla & Michelle McCool (5-3-0) (WWE)
#7 [--] Angelina Love & Winter (3-2-0) (TNA)
#8 [--] Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal (3-2-0) (TNA)
#9 [--] Edge & Randy Orton (2-0-0) (WWE)
#10 [--] John Morrison & R-Truth (2-0-0) (WWE)

The Kayfabe Countdown is based on the cumulative tally of wrestler win/loss records, based on televised matches from WWE and TNA 2011 broadcasts. At present, they includes TNA: Impact!, WWE: RAW, WWE: Smackdown, and monthly Pay-Per-View events. 

Wrestling: The Kayfabe Countdown - 04/17

#1 Edge [--] (17-1-1) (WWE)
[World Heavyweight Champion]
It was a shocking announcement, but apparently legit: Edge has retired! First impressions were to wonder if the whole thing wasn't just a work, but the sincerity of the delivery made it difficult to argue. Even beyond the obvious immediate symptoms of numbness that Edge had been apparently dealing with -- I wasn't aware of the severity of Edge's injuries. Having my interests distanced from major league wrestling during his rise to the main event (circa 2005-2008), I must have surely missed some of his biggest injuries, and that might have pushed the negativity of my feelings toward Edge further than necessary.

I've often been critical of the low impact nature of Edge's moves. I prefer more grappling than his typical low-contact series of glancing drops and adjacent slips, but now that I know he once broke his neck, I can be a lot more forgiving of that. I wonder if calls for his guaranteed Hall of Fame entry aren't a little generous. I still don't believe he was worthy of the list of accolades he obtained in a rapidfire of very short years. I think he is a figure who helped usher in some of the ugliest years for World Wrestling Entertainment and its top championship belts, but I also feel it is a great shame that he has had to retire, and that he sustained these severe injuries that I previously had no knowledge of. The silver lining to all of this is WWE's Wellness Policy, and the fact that the tests it includes might have protected the future quality of life that Edge will be able to live.

While I would never wish severe injury on anyone, Edge's retirement certainly comes at a convenient juncture. Despite losing at Wrestlemania XVIII, it has been pleasing to see that the Alberto Del Rio (#4) experiment is still alive! He may not be the World Heavyweight Championship, but post-Mania he has been seen to remain strong. Edge's departure also has obvious benefits for Christian (#??) -- his fictional brother who entered WWF barely a year after Edge, but has never held a major championship. The void left makes it a no brainer to serve Christian up as a legitimate champion, even if it is only as a transition to Alberto Del Rio's first reign. It is a terrible human cost that Edge would be in this condition, but it may yet force WWE into a position that is an attractive change of pace for business.

#2 [--] Rey Mysterio (12-6-0) (WWE)
#3 [--] Randy Orton (11-6-0) (WWE)
#4 [--] Alberto Del Rio (11-7-2) (WWE)
#5 [--] Santino Marella (11-9-0) (WWE)
#6 [+3] Justin Gabriel (9-8-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champion]
#7 [RE] Robert Roode (8-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champion]
#8 [RE] James Storm (8-1-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champion]
#9 [-3] Eve Torres (8-5-0) (WWE)
#10 [-3] Chris Masters (8-5-0) (WWE)

#1 [--] Robert Roode & James Storm (8-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champions]
#2 [--] Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater (7-5-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champions]
#3 [--] Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov (6-6-0) (WWE)
#4 [--] Layla & Michelle McCool (5-3-0) (WWE)
#5 [--] Big Show & Kane (4-0-0) (WWE)
#6 [--] Sarita & Rosita (4-1-0) (TNA) [Knockouts Tag Team Champions]
#7 [--] Angelina Love & Winter (3-2-0) (TNA)
#8 [RE] Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal (3-2-0) (TNA)
#9 [-1] Edge & Randy Orton (2-0-0) (WWE)
#10 [-1] John Morrison & R-Truth (2-0-0) (WWE)

The Kayfabe Countdown is based on the cumulative tally of wrestler win/loss records, based on televised matches from WWE and TNA 2011 broadcasts. At present, they includes TNA: Impact!, WWE: RAW, WWE: Smackdown, and monthly Pay-Per-View events. 

Wrestling: The Kayfabe Countdown - 04/10

#1 Edge [--] (17-1-1) (WWE)
[World Heavyweight Champion]
Sin Cara made his eagerly anticipated arrival, getting the better of Sheamus in a surprising choice of starting points. I can't say I was especially wrapped in his revised attire, more colourful than the whites better known to Mistico, but it was certainly an interesting and surprising start! I'm disappointed that the choice of attack doesn't reflect the main event potential hype packages of his signing suggested, but I'm still quite excited by his arrival. He isn't quite the post-Mania debut of a scale like Brock Lesnar or Goldberg, but I dig it.

Less promising is saying goodbye to Superstars, which made its final US broadcast this week. Santino Marella and Chris Masters owe their impressive rankings on the Countdown to the show, which has specialized in offering some of the interesting third-tier talents that aren't seen on RAW and Smackdown every week. Almost a supercharged FCW brand unto itself, Superstars had started developing some great on-going feuds between the likes of Masters and Tyler Reks, which was genuinely interesting. Fortunately, motivated fans can follow Superstars on WWE.com, where it will continue to be available weekly. Superstars will also continue to air in overseas markets.

#2 [--] Rey Mysterio (11-5-0) (WWE)
#3 [--] Randy Orton (11-5-0) (WWE)
#4 [--] Alberto Del Rio (11-7-2) (WWE)
#5 [--] Santino Marella (11-8-0) (WWE)
#6 [--] Eve Torres (8-4-0) (WWE) [Divas Champion]
#7 [--] Chris Masters (8-4-0) (WWE)
#8 [RE] The Big Show (8-4-0) (WWE)
#9 [-1] Justin Gabriel (8-7-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champion]
#10 [-1] Layla (8-7-0) (WWE)

#1 [--] Robert Roode & James Storm (7-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champions]
#2 [--] Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater (6-5-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champions]
#3 [--] Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov (6-6-0) (WWE)
#4 [--] Layla & Michelle McCool (5-3-0) (WWE)
#5 [--] Big Show & Kane (4-0-0) (WWE)
#6 [--] Sarita & Rosita (4-1-0) (TNA) [Knockouts Tag Team Champions]
#7 [--] Angelina Love & Winter (3-2-0) (TNA)
#8 [--] Edge & Randy Orton (2-0-0) (WWE)
#9 [--] John Morrison & R-Truth (2-0-0) (WWE)
#10 [--] Rey Mysterio & R-Truth (2-0-0) (WWE)

Superstar Spotlight:
#123 Christopher Daniels
(0-1-0) (TNA)
Sin Cara (Mistico) made a big splash with his debut on RAW, but in the interest of spreading the love (and awareness), I've got to turn the spotlight on "The Fallen Angel", Christopher Daniels!

The "piss ant" (as he was called by Ric Flair in a stunned promo) made a return to TNA, presumably abandoning the now television-less Ring of Honor, which he jumped ship to last year. It's a glimmer of hope in an otherwise matte finish for Total Non-Stop Action, who as a company seem to be content to resigning themselves to a minimum of wrestling on TV, and a string of familiar old scenarios.

Daniels has flirted with the big time before in TNA and as the TNA Championship situation says goodbye to Jeff Hardy and hello to a limited and repetitive routine of Rob Van Dam, Ken Anderson, and Sting, I'm going to hope that Daniels can find his way into the picture. It would certainly be refreshing for this lingering Hogan/Bischoff era to finally crown a champion who hasn't had his best days in WWF or WCW.

The Kayfabe Countdown is based on the cumulative tally of wrestler win/loss records, based on televised matches from WWE and TNA 2011 broadcasts. At present, they includes TNA: Impact!, WWE: RAW, WWE: Superstars, WWE: Smackdown, and monthly Pay-Per-View events. 

Wrestling: The Kayfabe Countdown - 04/03

#1 Edge [--] (17-1-1) (WWE)
[World Heavyweight Champion]
Another Wrestlemania, another disappointment...

On paper, this had the potential to be a card that bucked against the trend of underwhelming shows, but alas, the opportunity was squandered. The tone was set with the pre-show announcement that Bryan Danielson (#19) and Sheamus (#31) would be relegated to dark match status in their US Championship match, later to be wrapped up in annual battle royal shenanigans. Edge and Alberto Del Rio were relegated to the opening match -- not necessarily a negative placement for this type of exciting encounter -- but an insult to the tradition of the Royal Rumble winner as a main event contender. Their bout was given little time and little inspiration, but probably sits in the positive half of the show review, never the less. Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes (#41) did good business with a fun Captain America nod from Rey, Jerry Lawler (#55) and Michael Cole (#84) overstayed their welcome with a result that made it all seem for moot. Finally The Rock came back to Wrestlemania, and finally The Rock came back to do a move, but in the end, it was a convoluted finish with a rusted silver lining -- John Cena (#47) loses, but The Miz (#15) wins. Bittersweet. Ultimately, for any positive, it was another Undertaker [see spotlight] year, with his match against Triple H easily the only reason to really buy -- something I did not do, and something I won't do (on DVD).

Meanwhile, observant readers must note the (somewhat expected) departure of TNA's representation in the joint statistical top ten. There will be time for this to be reversed if TNA latch on to a prominent posterboy in the next few months, but without that, it's a last hurrah from Robert Roode as his Beer Money partner, James Storm (#11), slips just outside the stack. With that companys problems I'm not sure I would expect anything else, but... it's an instinctive alarm bell for a fan of their potential.

#2 [--] Rey Mysterio (10-5-0) (WWE)
#3 [+1] Randy Orton (10-5-0) (WWE)
#4 [-1] Alberto Del Rio (9-7-2) (WWE) [Royal Rumble]
#5 [new] Santino Marella (9-8-0) (WWE)
#6 [-1] Eve Torres (8-4-0) (WWE) [Divas Champion]
#7 [-1] Chris Masters (8-4-0) (WWE)
#8 [-1] Justin Gabriel (8-6-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champion]
#9 [-1] Layla (8-6-0) (WWE)
#10 [-1] Robert Roode (7-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champion]

#1 [--] Robert Roode & James Storm (7-0-0) (TNA) [Tag Team Champions]
#2 [--] Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater (6-4-0) (WWE) [Tag Team Champions]
#3 [--] Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov (6-6-0) (WWE)
#4 [--] Layla & Michelle McCool (5-2-0) (WWE)
#5 [new] Big Show & Kane (3-0-0) (WWE)
#6 [-1] Sarita & Rosita (3-1-0) (TNA) [Knockouts Tag Team Champions]
#7 [-1] Angelina Love & Winter (3-2-0) (TNA)
#8 [-1] Edge & Randy Orton (2-0-0) (WWE)
#9 [-1] John Morrison & R-Truth (2-0-0) (WWE)
#10 [-1] Rey Mysterio & R-Truth (2-0-0) (WWE)

Superstar Spotlight:
#85 Undertaker (1-0-0) (WWE)
Heading into this match, there was a lot of speculation about whether or not Undertaker was even physically capable of pulling it off. Deciding who would contend the covetted "streak" spot came late, the build only a month long. If you were watching during the month, you were hopefully convinced a little bit more each week, until expectations made this one of the biggest matches on the card -- and if you watched Wrestlemania XVII -- I hope you were able to enjoy it to that fullest extent.

Undertaker and Triple H (#122) went on to have what I believe was the only really significant match on the card. Some critics may subscribe to the idea that it walked ground already bravely pioneered by Shawn Michaels, but I think the tone was inevitably different with Triple H. This was less a wrestling match and more a violent epic between two mythological creatures. Finishing moves were less constructs of a conceptually rule driven performance-sport, and more akin to claps of thunder as two titans collided. Arsenals were obliterated -- as was furniture -- as the pair blitzed WWE's soft PG policy and wrapped a chair around with violent intent. The match didn't really veer into the nineties garbage style hardcore showcase that both have touched upon in the past, and I consider that a compliment.

On a Wrestlemania card that gambled away its wrestling credentials for questionable non-wrestlers, I appreciated a tense finish that dovetailed back to the wrestling arena, seeing two spent men locked together in a final test of wills. Undertaker's gogoplata "Hells Gate" submission was the perfect, fluid transition to an end, which saw Triple H desperately, blindly reaching for a sledge hammer that failed to finish a job that not even multiple pedigrees or a tombstone piledriver could. The Game was finished. Undertaker won.

It seems this was the first Wrestlemania in a long time that finished with no titles changing hands. As nostalgia for the micro-era where Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar competed in the main event in a wrestler's wrestling match grips me, I wish that fact meant more. If nothing else, at least Undertaker and Triple H made it count.

The Kayfabe Countdown is based on the cumulative tally of wrestler win/loss records, based on televised matches from WWE and TNA 2010 broadcasts. At present, they includes TNA: Impact!, WWE: RAW, WWE: Superstars, WWE: Smackdown, and monthly Pay-Per-View events. Blogger errors delayed the publication of this post until April 10.