In the spirit of my beloved WCW Saturday Night, welcome to the Shore Weekend Promo. Every week I will mention, the good, the bad, the ugly, and whatever else I want to talk about across all of wrestling.

Opening Series (My overall thoughts on the week): As a kid growing up, I got into boxing as a natural extension of my wrestling fandom. Boxing was on fire at the time as a young kid from New York with the most devastating uppercut I had ever seen was unifying the title on HBO. But another star was being made in my eyes. As awe inspiring as Mike Tyson was, nobody was cooler to my pre-teen version than Michael Buffer. His, "Let's get ready to rumble!" was the best thing I had ever heard, and I spent many an hour practicing to sound like him. I even told my mom I wanted to be a ring announcer when I grew up. Partly because I didn't want to ever get hit by Tyson, but mostly because of Buffer.

So last night when I climbed into the ring, dressed in my suit and ready to rumble, as it were, it was actually more than I had hoped for. Very few of us ever get to relive a childhood dream, let alone make it come true. It wasn't Mike Tyson, it wasn't Caesar's Palace, and I sure as hell wasn't Michael Buffer. But for a moment, as my voice reverberated across the Cabarrus Arena and the crowd cheered, I was 12 years old again, and reminded of why I love the culture that surrounds the squared circle.

Pops (The best of the week):

-Dot Net reader Mark Olley pointed out in an email to me that I had failed to adequately analyze the Daniel Bryan announcement of cashing in his Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 28. I had covered it in audio, but I really should put my thoughts in writing so here they are. I worry about what this means for the Rumble winner because I'm pretty sure John Cena vs. The Rock will be for the WWE Championship, and I don't want Bryan cashing in on a triple threat match. Plus I'm also worried that WWE won't have the patience to actually wait until WrestleMania.

That said, if they can overcome all these potential problems, I think they have a real chance to make Daniel Bryan into a star. Since he's made his announcement, he can spend from now till April preparing for that match. And since Bryan is a guy you want to cheer for, it's a readymade story for a new, hot, babyface. If everything goes as planned, Daniel Bryan could be a big star this time next year. Which would mean longer matches for him and more chances to show his stuff. Maybe I forgot to put all this in print because the idea thrills me so much I dared not vocalize it for fear of it happening. So it is all your fault when it falls apart Mark!

-There can be no doubt that C.M. Punk has some sort of agreement with WWE. It doesn't matter if it is a new contract or some sort of handshake deal, the Comic Con event proves it. And I have to tell you, I absolutely love it. The story is good, sure. But this is so unlike anything WWE has ever done--at least in my memory--that I would applaud it even if the story wasn't playing out as well as it had.

We here on the "dirt sheets" are the first to be critical of storylines and wrestlers, as we should. It is our business to report and analyze. But then we must also be the first to applaud anything new and creative, even if it doesn't work. That doesn't mean we should blindly continue to if it sucks. I thought NXT was a great idea, it just didn't work and now it desperately needs to go. But this time, WWE may have not only found an innovative idea, but the story they are crafting out of it is also appears to be a winner. Bravo.

Heat (The worst of the week):

-The World Heavyweight Championship, like most titles in WWE, has been marginalized to a point that it almost means nothing. And WWE's handling of the Christian vs. Randy Orton feud seems intent on destroying the last remnants of credibility the title has. This feud started out with so much promise, and like so many things in WWE it just lost its way. Dominant faces with heels that can only win with technicalities and screwy stipulations may sell a lot of merchandise, which I'm sure helps the bottom line, but it does absolutely nothing for storytelling.

-Speaking of storytelling, after watching the end of Raw 35 times because of replays, it has occurred to me that I don't like this nearly as much as I did before. I still like the core story, but the telling has been exposed by too many replays. Hunter wasn't near as good as I thought he was, especially after they cut up the end a little to shorten it. And it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the man with the BMF walk to cry like he did. I realize he's been playing that character a little different recently, but there was no fight at all in Vince. That flies in the face of everything we know about this guy. Expecting logic all the time in wrestling is the definition of futile, to be sure. But this may have been a leap too far, even for WWE.

-And speaking of leaps of logic, why in the blue hell is Ric Flair getting back in the ring? And why in the double blue hell will it be against the TNA Champion? As the biggest Flair mark from 1983-1999ish there can be no doubt that I think he's the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots. But he's 62. I'll say that again, because it bears repeating. He's 62. It's bad enough that a champion has to wrestle a guy who is a decade older than him, but when the champion is 52 it goes beyond words. So explain it to me TNA defenders. I say that not as a mocking challenge, but a desperate plea to not just shrug my shoulders and declare TNA a dead man walking.

Tweet This (Best Tweets from "The Boys"):

-Steve Corino: Great. Amy Winehouse died. Does this mean I have to hear her shitty music & fake tributes about how "great" she was for the next few weeks?

Colt Cabana: If Kurt & Eric formed a tag team in Japan we can only assume they'd be the Jumping Bomb Angles

-"The Manscout" Jake Manning (Live from Money in the Bank): Thanks divas for making the concession stand lines long as shit

C.M. Punk: On my couch. About to put the title on the line against Piston Honda.

-Obligatory Iron Sheik Tweet: magic johnson have sex with a lot of white girls. he was like the ric flair f***ing the girls everywhere

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @TheShoreSlant.

Go Home (The Big Finish, Whatever I Want):

I have to give Patrick Wright and Pro Wrestling Evo much credit. They went from a crappy looking and wrestled event with 60 people that will never be released to a well thought out, well designed, great looking, fantastically wrestled event seen by around 160 people that you will want to buy when the DVD is released. There were problems of course. What show doesn't have them? But the difference between the two events is too much to explain in this space. So be sure to check out the Through the Curtain article. Here's their most recent "Underground" webisode. Keep your eyes on this company. They have good talent, good minds in the back, and no small amount of luck. Oh, and I hear their new ring announcer is pretty good.



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