Wrestlemania 27 Reaction: International Influence

Alright, Wrestlemania 27 ended a few hours ago and I feel I have a duty to give some reaction to it. Now I'm not going to give a complete overview of it, but instead I am going to concentration on the international aspect of it. For those who didn't get to see it, you can check out the live blog below to see what action you missed. Sorry if it is kind of long, but it was a four hour event. I did my best. Anyway...

For starters, the matches that were shown on the pay per view, which was eight, half of them involved a wrestler from other country than the United States. The first match: Edge and Christian from Canada and Alberto Del Rio and his ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, from Mexico. The second match: Rey Mysterio, a former luchador from Mexico. In the third one: Santino Marella (from Canada but billed from Italy), Kofi Kingston (Ghana), Wade Barrett (England), Ezekiel Jackson (Guyana) and Justin Gabriel (South Africa). To tell you the truth, that match felt like the World Cup all over again, haha. The last match that featured an international presence was the mixed tag team match with Trish Stratus from Canada.

In addition to all those names, the Sheamus-Daniel Bryan match, which was cut to due time, involved Sheamus, an Irish born wrestler. That match would eventually to turned into a over the rope elimination match with The Great Khali, who is from India, winning the match.

Another international aspect of WM 27 involved an early blog entry, the Spanish announce table. Sadly, it was not the first thing destroyed at this year's wrestlemania but it did see two men go through it. During the Triple H-Undertaker match, Triple H countered the Undertaker's move and sent him through the table. The first thing destroyed was the Cole Mine, but sadly Michael Cole was not in it. Damn....

Of course like any other pay per view the WWE puts on, it is telecast in other countries. I happen to come along one of them while searching for a good stream, but couldn't tell what language it was. Also going off of that, this event attracts many people from other countries. Wrestlemania Axxess attracts many fans from all over the world to meet their favorite personalities and with the number of people in attendance from the WM 27, I'm sure some were from another country.

The point is this wrestlemania, whether it was bad or good, had a big international influence on it. But most importantly, the influence of lucha libre and Mexican culture probably had the biggest influence on it. The Spanish announce table was there, which meant Hugo and Carlos were there to call the action. The event started with matches features former luchadors from Mexico; Del Rio and Mysterio. It seems like the company is really trying to push for more viewers from south of the border to watch their product. But the question is, will it work? The answer to that is, we will not know until numbers come out, if any. But the WWE can only hope that will happen with the arrival of Sin Cara tomorrow on Monday Night Raw.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

Wrestlemania 27 Blog

Follow all the action happening at Wrestlemania 27 live from Atlanta, Georgia. Nine matches as of right now. Four hours of coverage. The Super Bowl of wrestling. Wrestlemania 27 with special host: The Rock.



-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

WM XXVII: Thoughts and Predictions

As many of you know, this Sunday Wrestlemania 27 will take place in Atlanta, Ga in the Georgia Dome. Before I get into my prediction for the Super Bowl of wrestling, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts.

The main thing I want to touch on is the significance of luchadors on the event. I remember when I first started watching wrestling on a regular basis, the only wrestler that was of Mexican origin was the late Eddie Guerrero. Now 11 years later, this pay per view will feature two luchadors, one who will be fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship -- Alberto Del Rio.

Not to mention, on the Monday Night Raw following the pay per view, the company will debut Sin Cara on television. According to ewrestlingnews.com, Sin Cara has worked a couple of house shows, but will finally make his debut on April 4.

The point is in a little over a decade, wrestling as a whole is starting to move toward international wrestlers; specifically luchadors. I am willing to bet back in 2000, the only reason Hispanics were watching wrestling is because of the likes of The Rock, Triple H, Stone Cold and the Undertaker. But now, they will be tuning in to watch Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. And hopefully if put on a good show they will also see the debut of Sin Cara.

And now for the interesting part of this post, the predictions...

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
I got Orton is this match, mainly because I want to win and he is my favorite wrestler. Also, with the way things to do in the business, most people can pretty much tell Orton is going to win. But this rivalry is far from over.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Let's go with Rey Mysterio here. Rhodes as had his number in the past couple of weeks, but I see Rey Mysterio coming back with some revenge.

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan
I'm picking Sheamus here he only became champion a couple of weeks ago. They need to build him as credible champion and having him lose would make him a paper champion.

Kane, Big Show, Santino Marella, and Vladimir Kozlov (with Tamina) vs. The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater)
Not really sure how this match will be played out; as an elimination or just a regular tag team match. But I think The Corre will win. They need to make the credible and what better way than beating two giants and the former tag team champs.

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Trish Stratus and John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) (with Vickie Guerrero)
This match, like for most people I really don't care for. So I'm picking the team of Trish, Morrison and Snooki. Don't expect much out of this match...seriously.

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger)
God I hope Lawler beat the crap of Cole. It's not just because I hate Cole, but more because I miss Jim Ross calling the action. I just hope he calls the match. That's would be awesome. But I got Jerry 'The King' Lawler in this one.

Triple H vs. The Undertaker
With the way things went down on last Monday Night Raw, I think Shawn Michaels will play some role in this match. However the steak will continue. 19-0 for the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

Edge (c) (with Christian) vs. Alberto Del Rio (with Brodus Clay)
Del Rio says its his destiny to win the World Heavyweight Championship. And I just can imagine how his ego will inflate if he wins the match. Well I guess we will have to wait and see on Friday. Del Rio wins this one.

The Miz (c) vs. John Cena
The Rock will cost John Cena the WWE Championship. He will payback for the Attitude Adjustment John Cena gave him on Monday Night and all this will lead to a match at the next pay per view. The Mix retains.

Now for the special blog post on Sunday. In case you will not be able to watch the pay per view, tune in here as I will blogging the whole event (do my best ability of course). So check here Sunday night to see all the happenings of Wrestlemania 27.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

*Photo courtesy of WWE*


This was the only promo video I could find with most of the matches

The One, the Only...Spanish Announce Table

As most of you are reading this blog post (all 12 of you out there), are probably thinking that I am going to talk about some wrestler. Well, you are wrong. Sorry =[. In this week's blog post I will be talking about an object. What kind of object you may asking yourself? Well it's something you really wouldn't think I would talk about. Ok, enough of this rumbling talking. This week's topic is about the Spanish Announce Table in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Really, the Spanish Announce Table. Yes. And no, most of the blog post will not revolve around the dimensions of the table and other related stuff (I know that most of 12 people would stop reading my blog if I pulled off something like that). What this blog post is intended to do is let you guys in some of the funny and bizarre happenings around the announcing area.

First, I have to tell you about the Spanish announcing team. The play-by-play commentator is Hugo Savinovich and his partners Carlos Cabrera and Marcelo Rodriguez. Savinovich is a former wrestler from the country of Ecuador, while Cabrera is from Colombia and Rodriguez is from Venezuela.

Ok, for incident number one. I have to take you back to Wrestlemania XIX. The match was Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon. Actually, instead of describing what happened, the video will do more justice. Enjoy.



Incident number two: the using of the announce table as a weapon. Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntrye at the Money in the Bank pay per view. In this video, Kingston beats his opponent onto the table, then uses a ladder to, well inflict maximum amount of pain on him. About seven seconds into the video, you can see Savinovich standing near the table. Probably hoping that is beloved table will not fall victim to another wrestler destroying it.



Now that incident leads me to the final incident I want to point out; CM Punk and the Spanish Announce Table. For some reason whenever an announcer table is destroyed at a pay per view, it's always the Spanish one. Why? I have no clue. Probably have to ask the creative team about that one. Maybe it's an inferior table or something like that, anyway. It's a recurring theme, except for one time on Monday Night Raw.

John Cena was 'fired' from the company and decided to buy a ticket to the event. Well he decided to matters into his own hands and get revenge on the people who got him 'fired'. Listen to what CM Punk has to say around the 2:00 minute mark.



The influence of lucha libre or from anything from the culture of Mexico has been making an impact on the WWE, even if it means throwing your opponent through the table. But seriously, the impact that the Spanish announce table has made on the company is something to talk about. Without the table, there would be no announcers. No announcers would mean most people in the Spanish speaking part of the world would not be able to enjoy the telecasts in their native language. And with no fans, the company would be losing a demographic that is important to them, especially with wrestlers like Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio, Chavo Guerrero and Sin Cara to promote the brand overseas.

On another note, check back here sometime mid-week to see what my predictions are on the matches involving former luchadors at Wrestlemania 27. And also stay tuned for my special blog on Wrestlemania 27 next Sunday. And if any of you guys care, check out the new version of wwe.com, looks pretty sweet.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

Who is Alberto Del Rio's ring announcer?

Las damas y caballeros,

Es mi gran honor de introducir a usted aqui,

Un hombre con una inteligencia superior

de hacer su debut aqui en Smackdown

El es, Albertoooo Del Rrrrrrrio

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great honor to introduce to you here,

A man of great royalty

A man with a superior intelligence

making his debut here in Smackdown

He is, Albertooo Del Rrrrrrrio

That is what Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez said during his boss' first appearance in the World Wrestling Entertainment.

But other than being known for being Del Rio's personal ring announcer, who is Rodriguez?

Well, not much is really known about him, but one thing I bet that most of you did not know was that this guy can actually wrestle. Now for those of you who watch WWE NXT on their website (now there is a shameless plug for them; your welcome WWE), you might have seen him in a match against Conor O'Brian. And yes he did end up scoring the victory in the match, but has this guy done anything else in the past? Well the answer to that question is...yes.

According to his wikipedia page, he has wrestled in many wrestling promotions in Mexico under the name of Chimaera, who wears a mask. Heck, the man has even won a lucha libre title in the CWX. Now I'm not trying to say that the guy would not be able to get into the ring because he looks unathletic or something like that, it's just I never thought he was an actual wrestler.

Until I decided to google his name, I would not have not imagined he was a wrestler. I guess I still have this preconceived notion that most of the wrestlers in the business today are big and muscular. But I guess that is what kind of influence lucha libre is now having on wrestling here in America.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

*Photo from wwe.com*

What about TNA?

By now, some of you who have been reading my blog might have noticed a common theme among the blogs. And no it's not the influence of lucha libre on American wrestling (that would be easy theme to recognize). No, the theme is that all the blogs involve wrestlers from the WWE.

Now, for those who primarily read this blog just to see my thoughts about lucha libre and American wrestling, I have to inform you that there is another major company out there -- TNA Wrestling. The reason why I have not written anything about wrestlers from this company is because I simply do not know much about it. It's not that I don't like the product, it mostly has to do with the fact that it doesn't appeal to me (but that's a totally different subject and blog post). But the underlying reason why I have not written anything from TNA is there is not much talent that has ties to lucha libre, until I looked at there website recently.

Earlier today I took a look at their website, mainly because I was trying to find something to write about in today's post, and came across one wrestler who has ties to lucha libre. And that wrestler is Sarita.

She is originally from Canada but moved to Mexico to improve her skills as a wrestler, according to her wikipedia page (gotta love wikipedia haha). In early part of her career, she wrestled under the name of Dark Angel, and wore a mask in the Lucha Libre Femenil. She would eventually lose her mask in a match before she departed for the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. However she left the wrestling company because she was put to work as one of the card girls, instead of wrestler.

She then headed to the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, the rival promotion of the AAA. In the CMLL, she has competed in many matches, including winning the women's championship and the bodybuilding championships for five straight years. She still a part of the company despite being a wrestler for TNA Wrestling.

In her short time in TNA, she has won the Knockout Tag Team championship twice; once with Taylor Wilde (pictured right) and with her on screen cousin Rosita (currently hold right now). FYI: the knockout division is what they call their women's division of wrestling.

Sarita, who's real name is Sarah Stock, is starting to leave an influence of her lucha libre career in TNA. Her wrestling skills are not the only things that have lucha libre ties, but her knowledge of the Spanish language (see video below). With her being able to communicate with the lucha libre culture, she is able to reach a different demographic and expand the viewership of the wrestling company. And chances are these two factors will prolong her career that much more in the wrestling world.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

*Photos from TNA Wrestling website and information comes from her wikipedia page*

The Late, Great Eddie Guerrero

For those of you who may know me personally, you know that I am from El Paso, Texas. Some of you may be asking, 'why does that have to do with this blog or wrestling?' Well, it has a lot to do with wrestling. See, the topic of this blog involves the late, Eddie Guerrero.

Eddie Guerrero was born in El Paso and attended Jefferson High School, where my mom and her brothers/my uncles attended. He then went onto the University of New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands University, according to wikipedia. While in school, he participated in wrestling at the high school and collegiate levels. He would soon start training to become a professional wrestler.

Guerrero would accomplish many things during his time in the square circle. Some of his accomplishes can be seen here. But perhaps his biggest accomplishment was what he did for the sport of professional wrestling.

I remember when I first started watching the sport, there was not much of a lucha libre influence in then World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment. Off the top of my head, the only wrestler with a luchador style in the WWF besides Guerrero was Essa Rios. But Rios was someone who didn't have the potential to be a main eventer; but neither was Guerrero. In fact, after he was arrested for drunk driving in 2001, he was released by the company. But he would eventually be brought back the following year.

Now in my opinion, he really didn't do much in his first stint in the WWF. Sure he won a championship but really didn't do anything to wow me (then again I was only in the 7th grade at the time, what did I know). But during the second stint is where he started to make a splash.

During this period, he started to capture the eyes of many in the Hispanic community. He would team up with his nephew, Chavo Guerrero Jr., to form the tag team of Los Guerreros. After an injury forced his nephew out of action, he would complete for and win the United States Championship. But his biggest feat was around the corner.

In February 2004, he defeated Brock Lesnar at the No Way Out pay-per view view to first his first WWE Championship reign (did have some help from Bill Goldberg, but that's not the point). He would later defeat Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania XX. Guerrero would lost the championship later in the year and start a feud with fellow luchador, Rey Mysterio. Even though all these events did impact his life, they also had an impact for Hispanics.

This was a time when you saw more of a lucha libre influence in the company. Rey Mysterio was becoming more of a focal point in the company, Chavo was not just seen as another wrestler and other Mexican wrestlers were hitting the scene like Super Crazy. But one of the things that seems to be overlooked is his confrontation with Eric Bischoff, president of World Championship Wrestling.

Back in 1998, Guerrero was upset with his character and demanded he either be pushed or given a raise. Bischoff decided to do neither and let him walk out the door. Later, he would return and form the LWO, the Latino World Order (a play off the New Order World created by Bischoff). The reason for the formation of the group was to send a message that the Latino wrestlers in the company were not happy about not being pushed to the main events. Even though all of this was a work, it did send a message to the entire wrestling world that Latinos were as good as anybody else in the ring.

In my eyes, Eddie Guerrero is a true pioneer of the sport. Sure there have been countless luchadors who have had an influence on the sport, but they have not had one like Guerrero. He formed a group of Latinos to say they could mess with the big boys in the ring. He would many championships during time in the WWE, including the tag team titles, the Intercontinental championship, the U.S. Championship and the WWE Championship. And all of this lead to his induction in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, the second Hispanic wrestler to be inducted (the first being Tito Santana). His legacy is what laid the foundation in what you see today in professional wrestling. For me, he is the star who led the influence of lucha libre in American wrestling.

The only sad thing about this is that he did not get a chance to see all of this happen today. I remember watching a NASCAR race on television back in November 2005. During the race, there was an alert on the bottom of the scene. I thought nothing much of it; probably just a weather alert of emergency test of the broadcasting system. But as I read the message, I couldn't believe it. Eddie Guerrero found dead in his hotel room on the other side of the country.

Eddie Guerrero is missed everyday in the wrestling world and many wish he was alive to see what he has done for the sport of professional wrestling.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

*Information obtained from wikipedia*