From the NAI Archive – June 19, 2015 – DC Diary – Watching This Week’s Smackdown

From the NAI Archive – June 19, 2015 – DC Diary – Watching This Week’s Smackdown

For many of us, the advantages of adult-ness more than trump the challenges of childhood. With every time we pine for the days of being carefree and irresponsible, there are ten other times we flaunt our ability to spend money without asking permission, eat whatever we want at restaurants and stay up MUCH too late listening to #NAI52.

Still, folks, there is one part of being a kid that all of you are missing, even if you don’t quite know it. We teachers know it VERY well – In fact, we know it even more than the students.

Those first hours of summer vacation.

From the NAI Archive – May 20, 2015 – What If Wednesday – What if The Four Horsemen existed in 2015 WWE?

From the NAI Archive – May 20, 2015 – What If Wednesday – What if The Four Horsemen existed in 2015 WWE?

With all the hullaballoo (such a fun word to type, let alone say) in WWE / NXT of late, it seems I have fallen off the What If Wednesday wagon, so thanks to a suggestion from NAI Fan Friday contributor and host of RealWorldChamp.com Josh Petrie (@jpetrie18), let’s get back on the horse.

Speaking of horses. . .

What if the Four Horsemen existed in WWE today?

From the NAI Archive – April 24, 2015 – Finisher Friday – New moves for Big Show, Cesaro and Bray Wyatt

From the NAI Archive – April 24, 2015 – Finisher Friday – New moves for Big Show, Cesaro and Bray Wyatt

I’m not a patient man.

Perhaps its only child syndrome or perhaps its just impulse control issues, but patience and I have never really gotten along. This, like most things, can be a blessing and a curse. For one thing, it gave Mrs. Matthews and myself a very entertaining engagement story. (My fervent paranoia comes into play there as well, but that’s another column.)

In terms of writing, my lack of patience means that when I get an idea that I think is good, I can’t help but run with it. To that end, I’d like to welcome you to the first installment of Finisher Friday. If you have read my initial column, where I gave new finishers to the former Shield brothers, you know what’s in store. If you didn’t read it, how dare you! Go read it, so you’re all caught up.

From the N2C Archive – October 31, 2014 – The Teacher’s Book: 9 New Tag Teams to save the Division

From the N2C Archive – October 31, 2014 – The Teacher’s Book: 9 New Tag Teams to save the Division

Let’s face it, folks. . . Tag team wrestling, at least in the WWE, stinks. As I blogged about in my HIAC recap, there have been 3 sets of tag champs in the last 12 months… Two of those teams are the ones we saw on Sunday (Dust Brothers and Usos) and the other is Mr. Ass and Road Dogg, the New Age Outlaws, who were 50 and 44 years old during their reign.

Let that sink in for a second; Billy Gunn is 50 years old.

From the N2C Archive – October 22, 2014 – The Teacher’s Lounge: Why the best match of Sunday’s PPV WON’T be in a Cell.

From the N2C Archive – October 22, 2014 – The Teacher’s Lounge: Why the best match of Sunday’s PPV WON’T be in a Cell.

Quickly, without thinking, who is the best wrestler in WWE?

Right off the top of your head, who you got?

Time is ticking away, hurry up! Who is it?

. . .

You picked Ziggler or Cesaro, didn’t you? I’m willing to bet most of you did. Oh sure, some of you MAY have said Seth Rollins. . . I bet even a small few of you picked Randy Orton. And we all know that one guy who said “John Cena”, just to be a jackass…

From the N2C Archive – August 5, 2014 – RAW Response: The Teacher flies solo.

From the N2C Archive – August 5, 2014 – RAW Response: The Teacher flies solo.

With my friend and partner Doc Manson taking a well-deserved vacation this week, I thought I’d shape our Raw Response a little differently. Being an only child, it made the most sense for me to make this as self-centered as possible, so as I watched last night’s program, I jotted down my likes and dislikes, and now I’ll share them with you, since I am sure you are desperate to know my thoughts.

Liked: The Authority opening the show, specifically Triple H and Stephanie.

From the N2C Archives – July 21, 2014 – Battleground 2014: Reaction and Discussion

From the N2C Archives – July 21, 2014 – Battleground 2014: Reaction and Discussion

The Teacher: Alright, Doc, before we go into great detail, give me your overall thoughts on Battleground in ten words or less.

Doc Manson: Solid matches, with few surprises. I want Ambrose v. Rollins.

T: I think the vast majority of WWE fans echo your sentiments completely. Continuing to tease the Ambrose and Rollins match is causing us to salivate with anticipation. Their sequences throughout the night had a very “Attitude Era” feel to them, especially Rollins searching for Dean in the parking lot only to have him emerge from the trunk. Good stuff.

DM: This. This so much.

From the N2C Archives – July 20, 2014 – The Teacher’s Lounge: Fantasy Booking the Battleground Main Event

From the N2C Archives – July 20, 2014 – The Teacher’s Lounge: Fantasy Booking the Battleground Main Event

Tonight is Battleground, the PPV lead-in to August’s Summerslam extravaganza. Our main event this evening is a Fatal Four Way for the WWE title, as John Cena defends against Randy Orton, Kane and Roman Reigns. If you asked 100 average wrestling fans who they thought was going to win this match, I’d wager at least 85-90% of them would say that John Cena will defend his title. Between the leaked promotional material for SummerSlam as well as Paul Heyman’s cryptic “Plan C”, all signs are pointing to John Cena and Brock Lesnar for the title next month.

But what if that’s just what WWE wants you to believe?