Looking Back & Looking Ahead

Nice knowing you, 2011.

Another year has come and gone, and just as I’m sure everyone else says it, I’ll say it too – where the hell did the last twelve months go? Is it just me, or does it feel like it was only May or June a couple of months ago? Yet we’re over a week into 2012 already. Son of a bitch!

I work in a very lightning-paced environment. Now this requires some explanation, because I DO NOT mean that my two coworkers and I run around the office like tweens loaded up on Red Bull. In fact, there are days that seem to crawl by with little to no activity. No, I mean that this chosen profession of ours – the weekly newspaper gig – operates under a five business day cycle in which the ultimate goal is to be done with one issue on Tuesday afternoon and already try to have in mind what’s going in the next issue before the current one even arrives by courier to our back door. What might be the hottest topic of one week is just a memory after two or three more issues, and the cycle continues as I resume that voodoo that I do do.

It’s because of this that time seems to jet by without a moment’s notice, and 2011 is now in the record books.

With that, I feel it’s appropriate to try and make sense of the last 365 days and highlight some of the most notable occasions that I’ll take with me to my grave.

Overall, I feel that my 2011 was a pretty good year, all things considered. Work has been steady, and the raise I got near the beginning of the year was a nice boost to my morale in addition to my bank account. In non-office related news, my Stephen King project, “Mute”, saw some significant progress, though I’m still a good deal away from yelling “ACTION” on set. So far, the script has been finished for nearly a year, having been completed after an all-night write-a-thon and hitting ‘Save’ at roughly 5:30 am on Saturday, February 19. Perhaps the biggest chunk of the project’s budget was taken care of in October, when I snagged the camera I’m going to use to shoot it, as well as any other ideas in the future – a Canon Vixia HF M-400, one of the newest ones on the market. This came as a result of a car rally that my mom hosted at her bar (that’s Ma’s Tavern in Conquest, everybody!) that people paid $5 to take part in. It raised over $260, so it was a huge help in buying the camera. Yes, you read that right – people in small towns still help each other, and being neighborly is not a thing of the past.

Right now, I’m trying to get my hands on a few set pieces to use and hammering down locations, as well as working on getting the script to a few actors, although I do have my ‘deaf and blind’ hitchhiker cast, so that casting call has been heeded! If I were forced to reveal any kind of deadline, although there isn’t one and I’d only be giving myself a date that would be looming over my head, I’d say that I want to be finished shooting by the end of April and use May as my obsessive, two packs a day, mucho-cursing-from-the-basement editing period. Progress is slow, but it’s coming.

The recent Christmas and holiday season was a damn good one, at least from my point of view. We were done here at the paper on Wednesday, December 21 and had a sweet, mini-vacation of an eight day break before coming back on the 29th. From there, it was just two days of work before the New Year’s long weekend, and here we are, back into the groove once again.

My Christmas celebrations shaped up like this:

December 21: Done work for over a week, I celebrated by preparing myself a gourmet feast and popping the most enjoyable Christmas movie ever made into my PS3 – “Die Hard”. Consisting of a baked lobster tail, two seasoned chicken breasts, potato wedges and crab-stuffed shrimp, the meal cost a little more than grabbing a burger and fries (altogether, and glancing at grocery store receipts, it was roughly $38), but I had a holiday to ring in, dammit! Hardly the modest type, I snapped a pic and threw it on Facebook, claiming that I had just “won the Internet tonight” before chowing down.

December 23: The day before Christmas Eve, I got together with my gang of fellow rapscallions – Alex, Chris and Kyle – up at Alex’s condo in Saskatoon for a night of movies, cards and intelligent discussion and debate regarding the state of the world economy as we head into 2012. (Try and guess which one of those is complete bullshit. Oh c’mon, guess!) As plans have a way of changing, we ended up getting together a little later than planned, but all was well when Kyle finally got to Alex’s at roughly 8:00, having made the drive all the way from Swift Current, and a kudos to ‘Big Country’ for making the cross-province trip with no complaints. We had originally planned to watch a few movies, but once I brought out the cards, we ended up playing and sitting around Alex’s kitchen table all night, talking about anything and everything and listening to ’70s and ’80s classic rock (thank you, Sirius satellite online radio). Exchanging gifts, it turned out my friends decided to go the gift card route, as they doled them out from Best Buy, Walmart and HMV, respectively, and I think they were happy with the t-shirts I found for each of them, consisting of Ghostbusters, Mortal Kombat and Back To The Future, respectively.

Though there was no tree or turkey to tear into (we opted for Domino’s), the night was a huge highlight of my holiday, and I think it was something that all of us needed. Among the bigger news items to come out of it was the fact that Chris and his wife Kristin have found a house they want to buy and are currently in the midst of a mountain of paperwork and negotiations. Here’s hoping they get it, even if I’m just looking forward to the housewarming party. Hehehehehehehe, is he joking?

December 24: Running around and picking up a few last-minute things before all the stores close, I ran into an old chum of mine in front of the Co-op in Outlook, Kevin Guillet, who was down for his own massive family gathering out at the farm. Kev lives in Victoria, a former stomping ground of mine, and seems to be doing well for himself with film and video gigs here and there. Back at home, we had Christmas Eve celebrations over at my brother Perry’s, though by this time a stubborn and ill-timed nose congestion really decreased my enjoyment. We played Uno, ate food, joked around – a typical Ruttle family gathering. When everyone else either went home or back to their motel rooms, Brendon and I stayed behind and we all watched “A Christmas Story”. I hadn’t seen that movie from start to finish in years. After getting home, I wasn’t ready to go to sleep so some fat guy could break into my house and leave me a bunch of shit I didn’t ask for, so I watched “Christmas Vacation”, a must-see staple of the holiday season.

December 25: The main event. I was the last one to wake up – remember my duty to watch Chevy Chase attempt a family holiday at home – and open a few gifts, consisting of some new clothes, new bedding, couple of books, and some other stuff I can’t remember right now. I never asked for anything specific and made no list of any sort, so whatever I got, I had to be happy with. No complaints. We had our big family dinner, gift opening and all the aftermath at the tavern, which was an odd idea on paper but turned out great because it had tons of room. Again, more food, more games, lots of photos taken and yes, just as an Irish-Scottish family will partake in, plenty of liquid courage flowing.

The rest of my time off before heading back to work was spent unwinding and recharging my batteries, as well as blowing my nose alot and trying to get that cleared up. I also watched a ton of “Degrassi Jr.” and then “Degrassi High” on Netflix, which really took me back to my childhood when I watched the show on CBC after school every day. Someone send the guy who invented Netflix the finest bottle of scotch they can find, and send the bill to someone who isn’t me.

On December 30, I hit the city looking for some good shopping deals and came out of it pretty decent, picking up seasons three and four of “Oz” and the TRON: Legacy soundtrack for the magnificent total of just under $22, thanks to Kyle’s HMV gift card. I cruised over to Amazing Stories and bought a Batman comic collection I’ve been looking for forever, as well as a neat Freddy Krueger action figure, and he now stands on one of the shelves of my entertainment unit at home, guarding the place along with my larger figure of The Undertaker in all his finger-knived, red and green-sweatered glory.

After satiating my retail urge, I went and saw David Fincher’s North American remake of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”. Overall, I thought it was an incredible film, unique at times and very disturbing in others (rape is a heavy theme), but Fincher knocked it out of the park. I wasn’t exactly ‘wowed’ with “The Social Network” last year, but “Dragon” is Fincher at his best – directing an epic (nearly 2.5 hours) with real, gritty and dark drama that makes for some fantastic storytelling. Daniel Craig sure as hell isn’t James Bond here, and Rooney Mara – a relative unknown now getting some much-deserved attention – throws herself into a role that more than half the actresses in Hollywood don’t have the balls to try. As well, it doesn’t hurt that the opening credits sequence of the film is a total creative mind-fuck. Just gotta see it.

My New Year’s Eve was actually quite uneventful, to be honest. I don’t usually make a big deal out of it, as I consider Christmas to be more significant during that week-long time period where both events take place. I cooked up some skewered shrimp (or lollipop shrimp, as the marketing folks at President’s Choice call it), poured myself a rum n’ Coke or three and bounced back and forth between the South Park and Drew Carey Show marathons on TV. Man, what a bad boy I grew up to be.

Rewinding back to the summer months of 2011, I loved the Conquest Centennial long weekend celebrations back in July. I wore many hats over the course of those three days; reporter, photographer, proud Conquest resident, as well as a son, brother, nephew, uncle, and pyrotechnics supervisor as I blasted off a bunch of fireworks on the night of July 1. Saw some family, took in the events to celebrate my hometown’s 100th, and just enjoyed being in that environment.

I gotta say though, I think the village of Milden got it right with their own centennial celebrations just four weeks later. They kicked it off with a parade on Saturday morning that seemed to never end, and had a street dance that night, filling the prairie air with the sound of music. As fun as our own community’s weekend was, I wish we’d taken advantage of what we have and done the same things. Oh well.

In August, I took a day out of my two-week break from work and drove up to my late uncle’s old cabin at Candle Lake at the beginning of August. It was only for one day and night, and I was by myself, but I have to say that it was the best thing that I experienced last year, bar none.

My original intention was to just make a day of it and actually drive home late, but I’m glad I ended up staying overnight. Making the four-hour drive and armed with a loaded MP3 disc, a change of clothes and my trusty Canon PowerShot, all my old memories came flooding back to me almost instantly as I approached the cabin. This was a place where my family vacationed for many summers when I was a kid, and I hadn’t been up there in 11 years. Older, wiser, and experiencing a lot more in life since that time, I started to feel like a kid again as I saw all the same buildings and businesses that made my summers up there so memorable; the general store/laundromat that even in 2011 still rents out VHS tapes and VCRs, the walk-up fast food restaurant on the corner with vintage advertisements and a carnival-like color scheme, the mini golf course, the petting zoo, and everything else from the mechanic shop to the restaurant/lounge. There’s also quite a bit of new infrastructure up there, including more food services like Family Pizza, a clothing outlet, and even a health centre. What’s neat is the way Candle Lake has been able to adapt to the new century and capitalize on the economic boom and public demand, but a lot of things are still the same and seem to have not changed a bit. It’s an old school meets new school fusion that seems to work for everyone.

I got to the cabin and just took in the surroundings. It’s definitely an old cabin, and quite frankly you’re living a bit rustic when you’re up there, but it’s got power and four walls, so I was happy. I grabbed my camera and just took a drive around the area, taking in the sights and getting reacquainted after a decade-long absence. Saw some wildlife, checked out the trout pond used by those who just want a quaint and quiet day of fishing instead of the choppiness of the lake, and obviously, Candle Lake itself, which seemed no more bigger or smaller than when I was a kid. The water had a silvery grey color to its surface and was alive as it churned tide-by-tide to the shore.

I picked up some dinner, consisting of two medium pies from Family Pizza (pepperoni & bacon, shrimp & mushrooms), as well as a few things at the store before sitting down to watch some electrifying entertainment – whatever the hell was on either CTV or CBC. The cabin is equipped only with an antenna, so you’re stuck with whatever happens to be on those two channels. To hell with it, I say. In the middle of summer, you shouldn’t even be indoors at Candle Lake during the day. I watched the news and then went back down to the lake, relaxing in my lawn chair with my feet in the sand. It wasn’t long before I walked into the water, and doing so once again threw me back in time to when I was up there as a kid, splashing around with my brothers and tossing handfuls of wet sand at each other, which the other guy would take square in the chest and pretend he got shot.

I'll be back.

I fired off quite a bit of photos while both on the sand and in the lake, simply because my surroundings were begging me to. It was roughly 8:00 pm, and the sun was starting to call it a day. As it descended in the northwest, it created an incredible silhouette out of a bunch of tall trees, and the dimming light had begun to shine a light off the surface of the water. It literally looked like some painting a tourist would buy in a gift shop, so I snapped away. The lake is surrounded in this U-shaped section of land, and trees and lakeside cabins dot the properties, which has always made me jealous. I’d kill for a cabin right by the water up there, because I’d be driving up there all the time and nobody from around here would see much of me in the summertime. Christ, I wish I was there right now. No lie.

The next morning, I took one last drive down to the lake and just sat there for a little while; looking out at the beach, the water, the cabins all around the area, a few boats cruising around, and some family enjoying the day. I told myself that I’d be back a hell of a lot sooner than another 11 years, and I fueled up before making the long drive back home.

I intend to keep that promise. I don’t mean to get all soft and ‘deep’ on this, but I went up there to try and reestablish a connection that had gotten lost years ago. I wanted to feel like a kid again. In this hyperspeed world we live in, life jets by waaaaaay too fast at times, and we get lost in our daily lives that consist mainly of work and just waiting for Friday to come so we can recharge and get ready for another workweek. You have to wake up and smell the coffee. Step back and look at things from a different point of view. I went up to Candle Lake to try and reawaken some form of worry-free emotion in my gut that everybody had when they were growing up; to take in my former source of childhood memories and – even if only for one day – not worry about a fucking thing else on Earth and just do as Frankie says, and that’s relax. I’m happy to report that I was successful on all fronts.

And it seems that I got up there just in time, as the word going around my mom’s side of the family is that my aunt Hazel has told her kids to put the old cabin up for sale. Not that it’s worth much, and frankly it’s mainly the land that someone would be buying, but I still wish they’d reconsider and keep it in the family in some way. Hell, I’m sure my family would put some money into it and share it with someone. Time will tell on that front, but when I return to Candle this coming summer, I’ll more than likely be renting a cabin anyway.

From asking ‘Are we there yet?’ to renting my own cabin – yup, getting old sucks.

From there, I actually drove home into a somber affair. My aunt Mabel, on my dad’s side, had died in June and while there was a funeral service out where she lived in Cochrane, Alberta, the graveside service and burial was in Conquest in early August. As my clan tends to do, we managed to turn a negative situation into a positive, and the outpouring of relatives that I hadn’t seen in many years made it into a makeshift Ruttle Family Reunion as we celebrated Mabel’s life with enough food to feed two and a half countries and plenty of alcohol. Hey, it’s what we do.

Looking back, these events were really just a taste of what I encountered and experienced in 2011, but they were the ones that left the biggest lasting impression by far. I don’t know how your year was, but I can look back on mine and say it was satisfying on several different levels. Hope you can say the same.

With that, I don’t know what 2012 holds for me. I know what I’d LIKE to accomplish – getting “Mute” off the ground, shot/edited, and then submitted to film festivals around the country – and I know what I’d like to do again – return to Candle Lake – but that’s the mystery of a new year, I suppose. No idea just what will happen.

In the meantime, it’s nice to think about.

DWR

WWE: Where They Went, Where They’re Headed

Greetings from the office of a roving writer who apparently doesn’t know what it means to keep up a consistent blog. I know that I haven’t posted in some time – the last entry having been in August – so I think it’s appropriate to take a look back at 2011, now that we’re nearly a week into 2012.

This first post – there should be two today – will focus on all the big happenings in the WWE this past year. Yes, I’m a wrestling mark, you already knew that, but I thought I’d sorta resurrect my old “Blood On The Canvas” column and highlight the biggest headlines of 2011, while looking ahead to the new year.

February 14 – The Rock returns to the WWE.

The People’s Champ had been on the company’s TV shows twice in the past four years, but they were pre-taped segments and he had not appeared live and in person inside a WWE ring since 2004. That changed when at the end of Monday Night Raw, the lights went out in the arena, the audience started getting antsy, and a loooooong pause built the anticipation to see who would be the special guest host of WrestleMania 27. It was The Rock, who seemed genuinely happy to be back ‘home’ and proceeded to cut a 20+ minute promo in a segment that would go down as possibly the best superstar return ever in professional wrestling.

April 3 – The Undertaker and Triple H tear the house down at WrestleMania.

People had their doubts over how good this match would be, but the two longest-serving veterans of the WWE produced an instant classic of a battle at WrestleMania 27. Triple H had not competed in nearly a full year, and many questioned the health of The Undertaker, who had only been gone since late October with a shoulder injury and returned in February. However, with a great story told in and outside the ring, their No Holds Barred match was a half-hour war as announce tables, ring stairs, steel chairs and even Michael Cole’s ridiculous ‘Cole Mine’ sanctuary became victims of the onslaught. Nearing the conclusion, Triple H tried everything in his power to put the Dead Man away, including three Pedigrees, a barrage of chair shots to the body and even a crack in the head, which raised many eyebrows since blows to the head are a big no-no, per the WWE’s Wellness Policy. Taker would not stay down, and even grabbed HHH by the throat in a weak attempt to rally back. The Game was not to be stopped, and even hit Taker with his own Tombstone piledriver. Now I’ll admit, THAT made me think for three quarters of a second that the Streak was over. Taker kicked out, and when a shell-shocked Triple H grabbed his trusty sledgehammer as a last resort, the Phenom snatched him down to the mat and locked in the Hell’s Gate submission. The Game squirmed and struggled, but his strength was sapped from his body and he tapped out. And although he’d lost the match, Hunter was at least able to walk out of the arena on his own two feet, while Taker collapsed at ringside and had to be stretchered out. The Dead Man hasn’t been seen on WWE TV since.

April 11 – Edge is forced to retire from the WWE.

Edge, real name Adam Copeland, debuted in the company in the summer of 1998 and enjoyed an impressive rise up the proverbial ladder of the wrestling world, capturing everything from the Tag Team Titles (14 times) to the Intercontinental Title, and after becoming a main event talent going on to win the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Title a combined 11 times. In between all the title wins, he also made history as the only WWE superstar to win the King of the Ring, Money in the Bank contract, and the Royal Rumble. But the life of being a pro wrestler caught up to him, and on the April 11 edition of Monday Night Raw, he walked to the ring, still holding the World Heavyweight Title that he retained at WrestleMania 27 only eight days earlier, and announced that he had to call it a career in order to avoid risking paralysis or worse while performing, citing lost feeling in his arms relating to his past neck problems. This being wrestling, some fans thought it was a work of some sort, but it was all too real for fans of the Canadian superstar and Edge himself, who thankfully got to retire in good health and even as the World Heavyweight Champion.

May 20 – Randy Savage tragically dies after a heart attack & car crash.

Unfortunately, we as wrestling fans are all too familiar with loading up an industry news website and seeing headlines about some indie guy, or a past or present star’s untimely death. Nobody saw the death of the “Macho Man” Randy Savage coming, and it was a hard kick to the nuts of millions of fans around the world who grew up idolizing The Savage One, me included. He was driving in Florida on May 20 when he suffered a heart attack, which caused the vehicle to smash into a tree. Randy was 58. The news really shook up the wrestling world, and even made mainstream news since Savage was second only to Hulk Hogan as a globally known superstar responsible for the WWF/E’s rise to prominence in the ’80s. The WWE acknowledged his passing at their PPV that weekend, and then aired a very well-done tribute piece on Raw and Smackdown the following week. CM Punk even wore pink Savage-style tights during a match on TV and has since adopted Randy’s flying elbow drop as a signature move. And although all signs point to the Macho Man finally getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, lifelong fans such as myself hold it against Vince McMahon that Savage wasn’t inducted years ago. He should’ve been alive to accept the honor.

June 27 – CM Punk cuts a work-shoot promo on the WWE.

Though he’s had some big success in the WWE since arriving in 2006, CM Punk was never really given the ball and allowed to run with it. Yeah, he’d been World Heavyweight Champion three times and had feuds with talents like John Morrison, Jeff Hardy, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton, but he always believed he could be that #1 top dog in the company like John Cena. On the June 27 Raw, he sat on the stage near the end of the show and in the biggest controversy of the year cut a promo that blurred the lines between fiction and reality, lambasting the company for dropping the ball with him and targeting figureheads like Vince McMahon and Triple H. He mentioned names that under the routine policy are strictly avoided, like Paul Heyman, and gave a shout-out to good friend Colt Cabana. He even said he likes to think that the WWE will be run better once McMahon is dead, and seconds later his mic was abruptly cut off. Whatever fans thought of the promo, whether it was an elaborate work or Punk venting real frustration, the end result was that it was a blend of the two, as Punk ended up winning the WWE Championship at the Money in the Bank PPV in July in the best match of 2011.

July 17 – Money In The Bank is WWE’s best PPV of 2011.

Even though WrestleMania is the company’s biggest PPV of the year, the end result has been iffy the last few years, and a bland and uninspired main event of The Miz vs John Cena sure didn’t end Mania 27 on a high note. Enter July’s Money In The Bank PPV, which wound up being the most enjoyable and downright best show of the year. Taking place in Chicago, the fans on that night made it seem like a Madison Square Garden atmosphere as they were loud, energetic and very invested in the show. CM Punk, the hometown hero was to battle WWE Champion, John Cena in the main event, but that wasn’t the only thing that raised eyebrows and made history as in the opening match, which was Smackdown’s MITB Ladder match, Daniel Bryan won after an awesome contest, giving the indie sensation a huge boost of credibility and paving the way for his World Title victory in December. Of course, the main event of Punk vs Cena was amazing and fantastic storytelling, as the match reached over half an hour in length and both men pulled out all the stops. Punk’s eventual victory blew the roof off the arena and set the stage for the Straight Edge Superstar’s permanent place in the main event picture.

November 20 – The Rock returns to action at Survivor Series.

The Rock returned to the WWE, but he hadn’t returned to the ring just yet. His upcoming match at WrestleMania 28 against John Cena still set in stone, The Rock ended up joining forces with Cena in Madison Square Garden at the Survivor Series, taking on the team of The Miz and R-Truth. If anyone had doubts about his abilities after nearly eight years outside the ring, Rock shut them up as he hadn’t seemed to lose a step and looked great mixing it up with Miz and Truth. It remains to be seen whether or not he gets in the ring one more time before Mania, as the Royal Rumble is only a few weeks away. Elsewhere on the card, CM Punk won the WWE Title again, this time from Alberto Del Rio in a very good match. Punk even had legendary announcer Howard Finkel introduce him prior to and after the bout.

December 12 – Kane returns under a new mask.

The Big Red Machine originally shed his mask in June 2003 and had been the bald monster ever since, but following an injury from Mark Henry on Smackdown in July, he came back on Raw in December, interrupting a match between Henry and John Cena. At first wearing some kind of outer metal mask, almost something the Predator would wear, he stalked to the ring and, instead of targeting Henry, chokeslammed Cena before taking off the metallic piece, revealing a newly designed face mask. He even has long black hair, although most of it must be a wig piece attached to the mask. Nevertheless, Kane seems more conditioned and monster-like than he has in years. It probably doesn’t hurt that the company can now market Kane masks again for the first time in over eight years. Ka-ching!

January 2 – Chris Jericho returns as the one behind the ‘It Begins’ videos.

Fuck it, I’m including it here, even if it was 48 hours into the new year. Jericho hadn’t been seen on WWE TV since September 2010, when he was written out of programming after Randy Orton punted him in the skull. In reality, his three-year contract was up and Chris just wanted a rest from the ring and a chance to further his other professional loves, like his rock bank Fozzy and grabbing some other showbiz gigs like Dancing With The Stars. In November, the WWE started airing viral video clips that spoke of a dark and cryptic nature, signaling of the end of the world and that ‘it begins’. The videos stated ‘he’ would come on the second day of 2012, which of course fell on the first Monday Night Raw of the new year. It turned out to be Jericho, who wore an electronic sparkling jacket and soaked up the adulation of the welcoming crowd. Perplexing about his return was that it was basically the same one as his 2007 return, and was hardly any sort of dark or apocalyptic event that the videos made it seem. But as Jericho seemed to milk the crowd and ham it up so much that it became creepy, with a disturbed and out-of-it smile across his face, it became clear that this was not the Y2J of old. He didn’t say a word, and exited the arena to half-boos from the crowd. The Internet exploded with half outrage and half praise for Jericho’s return, but clearly there is a much more serious story to be told as the weeks and months roll on.

As far as 2011 in the WWE goes, as well as the first big moment of 2012, that’s about it in a nutshell as far as history goes. Sure, there were really good moments and feuds, as well as some excellent matches on TV and PPV, but these were the biggest stories in the last twelve months. I can’t say for sure where 2012 will take the WWE, but with a confirmed WrestleMania main event of The Rock vs John Cena, as well as other speculated matches, it’s safe to say TV will be memorable as the biggest show of the year shapes up.

However, on the flip side of that coin is the interest to see if the company can create new stars before, at, and then after Mania to ensure that people stay tuned into the product following the biggest show and match of the year. It’s always awesome to see guys from the old guard stepping back into the ring (Rock, HHH, Taker, a future final match from Austin) but the company can’t rely on those guys forever, and they need to push this current crop of guys to the moon, and quit with the go-stop-go-stop-reset philosophy on pushing others (Alberto Del Rio being the prime example). They either need to be confident in someone to draw money and interest, or don’t be.

Should've been a Christmas card.

But it’s not all negative at the moment, and the WWE has actually taken great strides in the last half of 2011 to develop the new breed of main event superstars and tomorrow’s future legends. The current crop of title holders, consisting of WWE Champion, CM Punk; World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan; Intercontinental Champion, Cody Rhodes; United States Champion, Zack Ryder; Divas Champion, Beth Phoenix; and the Tag Team Champions, Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne, are a potent mix of experienced indie veterans who’ve finally hit it big on the biggest stage (Punk and Bryan) and those that have the ability to break through the proverbial glass ceiling (Rhodes and Ryder). There’s a great photo floating around the Web of this class of champions, and when I look at it, I get the sense that the WWE is on a really good path so far and they’re making some decent strides towards filling their talent pool deeper. I definitely look forward to seeing where these champions, as well as other guys like Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and Sheamus stand when 2012 comes to an end.

Hopefully, in the case of Barrett, the WWE and its Smackdown brand makes its way to Saskatoon again, so I can make my simple, yet witty sign that says “Pade 2 C Wade”. Time will tell.