Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Yes I've come up with a new feature for my blog, and yes you've guess it its a new way to waffle on about wrestling! In this feature I have a look at the highlights of the weeks action and introduce my brand new Wrestler of the Year League Table! Yes you heard that right, I'm going to try and get the most objective Wrestler of the Year Award ever by actually giving formula one style points (10 to 1) out each week. Should be fun. Positions in the weekly standings will be based on good matches, good promos, and generally being entertaining or newsworthy. Anyway lets get down to business it'll be interesting to see where we are by Mania next year.

Wrestler of Week: Shawn Michaels: There could be only one in this wrestlemania week, Shawn Michaels lived up to his nickname as the Showstoppa as Wrestlemania was litterally stopped dead in its tracks after the HBK-Taker match, seriously nothing could top it and nothing could follow it. Shawn cemented his legacy and made himself a genuine contender for the Mr. Wrestlemania tagline. He didn't appear on Raw, Smackdown or ECW but he did more than enough. (10 points)

2nd: The Undertaker: Well Shawn had to be number one because there's no doubt who caried the match but Taker wasn't simply a passenger, he showed just how far he's come as a worker since those dark days of the early nineties. A legendary performance and a lucky near death escape to boot. (9 points)

3rd: Ricky Steamboat: The Dragon had a week to remember, turning back the clock at Wrestlemania and then proving that it was no one off by puting on another fine display display in the eight man tag. More than just a strong in ring performance Ricky won over the crowd getting a bigger reaction than John Cena on Raw. (8 points)

4th: Team 3D: Ray and Devon have shown real class lately. They've played the more toned down respectful veterans who want to help the younger generation develope and to their credit they've pulled it off brilliantly. Devon in being calm and relaxed has shown charisma none of us new he had and have helped make their encounter with Beer Money the most anticipated TNA tag match in a long time. (7 points)

5th: John Cena: He's finally back to being serious, thank christ because the goofy comedy shtick is just horrible. He really did his best in his wrestlemania match up, while he was stuck in the shadow of Michaels-Taker he worked his arse off and with Edge he got the best out Big Show. He caried his seriousness over to Smackdown and cut a deadly serious money promo with Edge in centre ring the type that gets the entire arena foaming at the mouth to see a match rather than groaning at his lame pop culture references. (6 points)

6th: Kofi Kingston: Kofi stole the show in the money in the bank match with some great innovative spots and continued this momentum over with a good performance on Raw, a decent match with Big Show, and a very nice promo on Smackdown, with his laid back delivery standing out as a real contrast to the rest of the WWE lockeroom. Hell if he keeps his up, works hard and pays his dues this could be his break out year, I wouldn't bet on it but you never know. (5 points)

7th: Edge: Like Cena he made the best of a bad situation and manage to work a good triple threat match up with the Big Show. Overcoming the post HBK-Taker crowd apathy, and then recovered his momentum bringing back the non pussy whipped Edge we all know and love with his Neurotic "I hate everything about you" promo on Cena. (4 points)

8th: Randy Orton: Orton had a rough time in that Wrestlemania main event, that was poorly booked and underwhelming, that said Orton brought his A game, with big intensity, brilliant selling and amazing body language even with a jaded crowd he drew huge boos with just a look or a shrug of his shoulders. Orton really recovered his credibility back on Raw with a brilliant promo with the superb "how about I pay Linda a visit, haven't seen her in a while" drawing huge "RKO" chants. Randy Orton is a superhot heel, he was robbed of what should have been his defining moment at Wrestlemania. (3 points)

9th: The Colons: Unfortunately by all accounts we missed a great tag team unification match at Wrestlemania but we got a great glimpse of it on Raw and we got another dose of The Colons on Smackdown against Rhodes and Dibiase on Smackdown. The Colons have come such a long way since Primo's embarssing debut, they bring the work rate each and every time and Carlito has actually found a way to be useful. (2 Points)

10th: Matt Hardy: This was probably the biggest week of Matt's career getting a big win over Jeff at Mania, following it up with a solid opening promo on Smackdown and then having a good TV stretcher match with Jeff on Smackdown. Whether this will genuinely elevate Matt is yet to be seen, he certianly drew massive heat in the opening segment of Smackdown but It'll be interesting to see if this maintains when he's not feuding with the "beloved" Jeffery Hardy. (1 point)

In future weeks I'll present a league table but for week one its obviously rather self explanitory.

Breaking News This Week: The Animal Returns

Batista made his return this monday on Raw to side with the McMahons, he will likely turn on them at Backlash and join the Legacy grouping, however there are still multiple possibilities left on the table especially with the draft coming prior to Backlash the complexion of the WWE could yet change.

Embarssing Moment of the Week

Now there's alot of competition this week, from Kid Rock to Mickey Rourke to ODB's dreadful skit on iMPACT! but there's only one moment cringeworthy enough moment to make this weeks number one. Triple H tells Vince to Finish Randy Orton: yes Triple H expecting Vince to wipe the floor with Randy Orton and finish him once and for all, this might be passable were it not for the ridiculousness of having to witness the top heel in the WWE sell for a 60 year old man. Vince and Shane should get killed when they step in the ring, without gimmicks, end of.

Anyway until next week, I'll be intrigued to see who wins on this system.