Henry's World

 My goodness, it's been a long time since my last blog update, almost four months. For the most part, I've not had any interest in discussing my future plans, partly because they change so frequently, partly because it's just not as fun as jumping straight into something. But I want to discuss some things today, and build hype to what's coming next, because I have some very intriguing ideas for August.  To start, I'm pausing/cancelling my WWE pay-per-view reviews, as I've reached a point where the product is too stale for me, and I need something more exciting. That was planned to be a continuation of my AEW reviews, but with Bleacher Report still yet to bring back their archive of Dynamite episodes and pay-per-views, that option remains off the table. I hope it won't be for much longer, with All Out coming in about a month's time, they'll need some way for customers to pay for that event, so maybe the folks over there will have something sorted out ...

 WrestleMania 20 may have been a deeply flawed night of action, but it ended with a glorious main event, as Chris Benoit captured the World Heavyweight Championship, taking it away from the grasp of Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a pulsating, intense, and emotional triple threat match, one of the greatest closers to any WrestleMania ever. The way Benoit won the title has been immortalized, at least in the eyes of the fans, but rarely does anyone talk about what came next for the "Rabid Wolverine". Today, I begin to look at what happened after the confetti fell for Benoit, and grapple with how this organically built megastar ending up falling by the wayside. The starting point for Benoit as World Heavyweight Champion comes here at Backlash, in his hometown, as he defends in a rematch of that 'Mania classic.  - Backlash 2004 comes to you from Rexall Place (now the Northlands Coliseum) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the home of the Oilers for over 40 years before they finally...

 For the 20th anniversary of his crowning achievement, Vince McMahon has gone all out to try and build as much hype as possible. For most of last year, the sign displaying the WrestleMania 20 logo has been hung at every pay-per-view, which was an odd sight when the show itself was many months in the future, but it did create that constant reminder of something great on the horizon. Vince shelled out the big bucks for a spot at Madison Square Garden, which allowed him to really bring out that deep-buried nostalgia in many a lapsed wrestling fan, tying the promotion of this show into the history of the WWE at MSG, including the first WrestleMania back in '85. There were two huge world title matches booked, plus a bevy of intrigue across the card, with the most fan interest surrounding the return of The Undertaker, and how he would be presented, as well it was obvious that he would be back in his "Deadman" persona, the theatrics of the gimmick could be far greater than most ...

 Much like the Royal Rumble, I don't know how much a long intro is really necessary. For most wrestling fans, No Way Out 2004 contains the most beloved and iconic match they've ever witnessed. After almost two decades in the business, surviving serious addiction issues, chaotic and harmful booking in multiple promotions, and a straight-up firing from the biggest wrestling company in the world, Eddie Guerrero finally reaches the mountaintop on this night. After Chris Benoit, the Royal Rumble winner, elected to jump ship to Raw, the WWE Championship picture has been left wide open, and Eddie, as unlikely a main event star in the WWE as had ever been seen to this point, has now elevated to take his rightful spot as the face of the blue brand. Win or lose, just the prospect of Eddie mixing it up in a pay-per-view main event with Brock Lesnar would be enough to get most fans to pay up, but to their credit, the WWE went above and beyond with Eddie on this night to create several belo...

 I honestly don't have that much to say to preview this show that doesn't result in a spoiler for the end result, which I typically try to avoid. I think everyone, including non-wrestling fans, are aware of why this event ended up being controversial, so let's not waste any time and just get right to it. The Road to WrestleMania begins with the Royal Rumble, where 15 competitors from Raw and 15 from SmackDown face off for a trip to the main event of the biggest show of the year.  - The 2004 Royal Rumble comes to you from the Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of two of the most cursed teams in sports, the Flyers and the 76ers. Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler are on the call for Raw-branded matches, while Michael Cole and Tazz call the ones from SmackDown.  - A tables match for Raw's World Tag Team Championships opens, as Batista and Ric Flair of Evolution defend against the Dudley Boyz. This comes after a lot of feud...

 Factions/Stables in the WWE have a weird and generally underwhelming legacy. In the mid to late 80s, even with the Four Horsemen taking over the wrestling world down South, they didn't really exist in Vince McMahon's promotion. You would technically have groups that formed due to multiple competitors having the same managers, as guys like Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, and Mr. Fuji really got around, but that didn't stretch to large groups that would interfere in matches or anything. The concept of factions began to take hold a bit more in the 90's, when less overall star power meant you had to combine multiple acts in the hopes that fans would be interested in seeing a group rather than an individual. The Million Dollar Corporation held a solid spot for a year or so in the WWF, while WCW went full hokey with the Dungeon of Doom, then struck gold with the New World Order. That spurred Vince to finally invest in factions in the late 90's, mainly to feud with "Stone ...

 For the past couple years, Survivor Series has regained it's place as one of the most important events on the WWE calendar. In 2001, it held the climax to the over-arching "Invasion" storyline, and in 2002, it saw the debut of the Elimination Chamber, and two world title changes. Now, after a long and largely underwhelming year on pay-per-view, 2003's Survivor Series has been stacked with a star-studded card, including the culmination to months worth of storytelling between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff, Shane McMahon and Kane, and Goldberg and Triple H. All of the biggest names and feuds in the company are represented on this night, which features a Buried Alive match, an Ambulance match, and two traditional tag team elimination bouts, each filled with talent. My expectations heading in were fairly high, as there just seemed to be so much potential entertainment to be mined out of this show. Could the last major e...