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| Jeuron Dove talks about the current scene in WWE; Rise of Evan Bourne |
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by Jeuron Dove This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Hello fans. Those reading this article may wonder where in the heck have I been hiding at over the last couple of months. Since you all deserve an answer, I’ll be honest and admit that I got burnt out. I never realized until writing for this website, that writing good quality pieces on a consistent basis can be an extremely tiring process. When I started out this past summer, I had a stash of ideas and topics that I wanted to discuss with you all. After about ten weeks, it seemed like they all vanished. I also made a promise to myself that I never wanted to become a writer that just rants on HHH and WWE booking all day. There are plenty of other websites you can get that from. This website and newsletter is known for setting the standard that all other wrestling news websites and publications follow, and I refused to do anything to cheapen that standard. Taking this little break has given me an even greater respect for Todd, Joe, Dan, Jeff and all the others that regularly contribute to this site. I’m not going to promise that I’ll have a story every week, but I can promise that every story I do write from here on out is going to deliver. I guess you can say that I’m trying to make classics each time out like Jay-Z. A lot has happened over the last week in the WWE. Cyber Sunday came and went and was a pretty good show from what I’ve heard and read about it. The biggest story to come out of the show would have to be Batista becoming a 4-time world champion by beating Chris Jericho. It was almost a forgone conclusion that Austin would be voted in as the referee. Seriously, what performer on the current roster could possibly win a fan vote against Austin or the Rock. Even though Austin was the ref, it was still pretty neat how Orton and Michaels were incorporated into the match as backup refs after Austin was knocked out. It told a good story of Jericho being screwed and the outcome of the match also set up some key programs such as JBL-Michaels and Orton-Adamle. The 800th edition of Monday Night Raw will air this week and the main event is going to be Batista and Jericho in a steel cage rematch for the belt. Also, DX literally has an opportunity to make or break the careers of two of the hottest young prospects in the company in the Miz and John Morrison. I fully expect DX to win the match, but the way that they do it will be more important than the end result. They can either treat them like the Spirit Squad in 2006 or they can go out there and have a competitive match that will actually help to elevate them in the minds of the fans. History tells me not to bet too much on the latter, but hopefully I’ll be proven wrong. And speaking of young talent that has been elevated, I would like to talk about a man who is arguably (from an in-ring perspective) the most exciting man in the WWE today and that would be Evan Bourne. To say that Bourne has been a success in the WWE this year would be an understatement. He's worked his way up the ranks from his debut in ECW this past spring all the way to being considered a legitimate star in the eyes of the fans. I remember when I first saw Bourne wrestle on ECW this past spring. I didn’t think much of it because after all, he was a short man with an average physique that could actually work, which meant that he would go nowhere in the WWE. On that note, Bourne may have debuted at the right time since it appears that the company is putting more of an emphasis on ringwork and young talent more than they have in a very long time. When he debuted, he went by his ROH alias of Matt Sydal. Strangely, the company decided to give him the new name of Evan Bourne. That name has grown on everyone now and actually fits him being that he does resemble actor Matt Damon of the “Bourne” series of films, not to mention that he performs many “death-defying” acts just like Bourne did in the movies. When Punk came in from ROH in 2006 they didn’t change his name, but looking back, I’m glad that they did change Sydal’s name and not Punk’s. The biggest shocker of Bourne’s quick rise to prominence is that it has happened in a era where the fans have been more conditioned to get behind star power rather than good performers, more so perhaps than in any period in company history. Being a star in today’s WWE is based on how much television time and main event slots you get. Very rarely, do you get that one guy that has such an over the top drive and work ethic that he breaks away from the pack and is perceived as a star despite the fact that he's only gotten one shot at a major title. He got the ultimate vote of confidence from the fans of the “WWE Universe” when he was voted into the ECW title match at Cyber Sunday with a whopping 69% of the vote. That was the highest percentage in the voting second only to Austin’s 74%. If that isn’t impressive then I don’t know what is. It’s also worth mentioning that the two guys he beat in the voting have been prominently featured in major programs and title matches on the Smackdown brand over the last year before they were switched to ECW. Even before Cyber Sunday, it appeared as if the company had given him the vote of confidence as well. On the final ECW show before the PPV, he won a triple threat match involving the other two candidates for the title match. For anyone whose kept track of the company’s record during these interactive shows, they try to make sure that they’ve ingrained a clear image into the minds of the fans of who they want them to vote for. Going over clean on two men who are much bigger than him and have been in the national spotlight for far longer than he has was definitely one heck of an endorsement by the company. Of course, you could say that Bourne’s entire run thus far has been one big sign of the company getting behind him. Bourne’s amazing aerial offense is something that the WWE wouldn’t normally let fly from its smaller wrestlers, with the exception of Rey Mysterio. When I saw my first Bourne match, I was shocked to see that he used the shooting star press as a finisher, since that is a move the company banned after Billy Kidman hurt Paul London with it back in 2004. He also does many other risky moves that the company wouldn’t let any other guy do. The reason why Bourne gets to wrestle like he does is because he is that darn good and he never hurts his opponents. I’ll go on record and say that Bourne is the most fluid high flier I’ve seen in North American rings since the heyday of the WCW cruiserweight division. And that covers a heck of a lot of ground when you look at the list of who’s who that competed in that division. For now, it seems that the company is doing everything right with him. He is prominently featured every week on ECW and has even ventured out to the Raw brand. He and Mysterio have had two of the best matches of the year on Raw. The first was their tag match against Morrison and the Miz where it was apparent that Bourne and Mysterio should’ve been made into a top level tag team immediately after and their phenomenal singles match from this past Monday. During each match, the Raw audience has treated him like a genuine regular star of the brand. It appears that the company is listening as Bourne and Mysterio have been linked together ever since and are now entering into a tag program against Mark Henry and Kane. The short tenure of Bourne has been a rare example of a time when the WWE has gotten it right in pushing new and deserving talent. For a company that is often criticized at every end for cutting the legs out from under countless guys that could be groomed into future stars, they should be commended for doing everything in their power to make sure that this man CAN be a star. Kudos to the WWE and to the fans of the “WWE Universe” for making sure that this guy gets every possible opportunity he deserves. Because he does deserve it. Thank you for reading. All feedback is much appreciated and can be sent to the above address. I will do my best to respond to every message. Could any of my old readers that have responded to my work in past please hit me up to let me know that you are still alive! Want to read Hotmail messages in Outlook? The Wordsmiths show you how. Learn Now |
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