Welcome back to ringside everyone. This week I take a look at TNA’s biggest PPV and rip on WWE for being idiots.
Impact! Recap
I got you covered with the live report or you can check out Neely’s coverage in the ever popular growing NeelDown.
WWE Screw Ups
I’ll start with WWE this week because I feel that I should save the PPV Preview for last. So it was a busy few weeks in WWE as they created a new division, brought in a new worker, brought back a old era, and fired their most respected announcer.
*Jim Ross gets fired: First off let me state that Jim Ross is not my favorite announcer. I think he screws up move names too much and I get tired of his little catch phrases. That being said, I respect Jim Ross. I respect that he has been in the business through the good and the bad times. What happened to Jim Ross was wrong. Not only was it wrong, it was pointless. They gave that segment the final slot on Raw and it helped nobody. The McMahon’s are The McMahon’s, they don’t need to humiliate anyone to be hated, we already hate them. Instead they decide to humiliate Ross for no real reason other than to gain heat that was already gained during the Austin segment the previous week. They couldn’t just go with a normal “You’re Fired” either. No, they fired him, kicked him in the nuts (literally), and then pissed on him with this past week’s video. Good job WWE you disrespected your most loved announcer and one of your most loyal workers all in 2 weeks.
*The McMahon’s Are Back: So now WWE is trying to rekindle the USA Rating magic by bringing back The McMahon’s and having them feud with Steve Austin. Listen, we have seen this all before. We all know what happens. This is nothing new. Why are they putting us through this? I will admit, I am a Steve Austin mark. When he throws out a Stunner and then drinks beer, I’m marking out. But let’s be real, Steve Austin can’t go out and deliver a good match anymore. Unlike Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin is a old veteran that WWE brings in for name value and nothing more. If Austin could go out and still deliver a good brawl then hey, by all means, let him brawl. But we all know that if he takes one bad bump, his life could be over. Nobody wants to see the McMahon’s take up airtime that should go to guys like Shelton Benjamin. The McMahon’s elevate no one (unless they begin to feud with a upstart talent) and hold back many.
*I’m The Boogyman: Did anyone see this guy on Smackdown! How pointless was he? How stupid was his intro to Smackdown? He just walks in the locker room, cuts a bad promo, and hit himself in the head with a clock. Wow. He’s the Boogyman, so have him do something scary. The lights should have gone out, he should have snatched some planted guy from the audience, took him to a closet, and killed him. There’s a movie based on this character. It’s not rocket science just to follow the movie plot. Now some people are saying that The Boogyman is WWE’s way of making fun of themselves and WrestleCrap. Ok, so why give him airtime? What kind of logic is that? “Let’s give this guy airtime and promo time and cut down the match time of Chris Benoit and Christian.” It’s just retarded. And what’s up with the whole clock-smashing thing? If they give this guy 1 promo a week and he smashes a clock over his head it will start to get expensive. Get this guy off the air right now.
*The Juniors Division: When I read the heading “Junior Division Announced” I at first laughed at Hevia’s tagline and then I thought “finally, the cruiserweights will get time.” Boy was I wrong. Midgets? Are they really going to give midgets airtime? Listen, midgets have no place in wrestling unless they are used to make fun of other wrestlers. When Shawn Michaels held MiniBret back with one hand, I laughed. When MiniBooker did a sin-a-roonie, I laughed. When MiniHardyz and MiniDudleyz came out with PlayHouse Tables and Step Ladders, I laughed. When Max Mini wrestled MiniVader, I changed the channel. TNA tried this whole midget they and they quickly got rid of it. All WWE is proving here is that Smackdown is the lesser brand (notice how the Juniors Division isn’t on Raw) and that they would rather see Midgets wrestle over Chris Benoit and company. Some people are saying that this is a stab at TNA’s X Division. If WWE has to go this far to make fun of TNA, then we may be witnessing the start of a war. This little ploy won’t work anyway. A normal person sees a midget wrestling and thinks “It’s sad how they make fun of little people.” A wrestling fan sees a midget wrestling and thinks “This is retarded.” Midgets just don’t work in wrestling, sorry.
So what is WWE trying to accomplish with all this? That remains to be seen, but for right now it’s nothing but a big waste of time.
Bound For Glory Preview
Diamonds In The Rough vs. Apolo, Shark Boy & Sonny Siaki: This match was never really hyped up. All TNA is doing is giving some loyal workers a little bit of ring time. I still expect this to be a decent match considering the talent. Skipper and Shark Boy are probably the best workers for each team although Diamond knows the basics really well. I don’t expect much from Siaki, Young, or Apolo mainly because I don’t like any of them. I think TNA should push the Diamonds In A Rough as a buyable tag team and stable instead of jobbing them to a throw together team.
Winners: Diamonds In The Rough.
Lance Hoyt vs. Monty Brown: I actually like this match. Hoyt is way over in the Impact Zone and for some reason, I just like Monty Brown. That being said, that match itself will probably suck. Monty Brown is no Chris Benoit in the ring and while Hoyt is very good as a big man he can’t carry a match. I expect this to just be a brawl and nothing more. These guys don’t need to go out there and mat wrestle, they just need to go out there and put on the best match that they can. I think Brown will go over here because Hoyt won’t lose popularity if he loses to a dominant force like Monty Brown.
Winner: Monty Brown
Sonjay Dutt vs. Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong: I don’t know why this match is on the card but damned if It won’t be awesome. Dutt impressed the hell out of me in his time against Daniels this past week on Impact. I know that Shelley can do what is asked of him in any situation. Aries has his impressed the hell out of me in his matches against Daniels. I really want to see what Strong can do as his only match in TNA was a squash by AJ Styles. I think this could be the dark horse match of the night. If everyone is hitting on all cylinders than look out and the winner could make a huge leap into the X Division title picture. I would love to see Aries go over here as I think he has the brightest future in TNA. I wouldn’t mind seeing Shelly go over though.
Winner: Austin Aries
Samoa Joe vs. Jushin Liger: I know that Liger won’t be the Liger of old but if he is half that, then we are in for an awesome match. We have all seen what Samoa Joe has done against speedy X Division guys. He kept up with Daniels and Styles step by step in the 3 Way Dance last month. I haven’t seen Liger wrestle since his WCW days so I am anxious to see what he can still do. I expect the best out of these two and any less will be a let down to me. I think Joe will win this match because he has longer staying power in the company. Liger will most likely do this match and be done with it.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Rhino vs. Sabu: Brawling, brawling, and more brawling. That is what you will see out of this match. I expect these guys to use everything that’s not tied down. We have all seen these 4 men take a sick bump in a match. We know that they will harm their bodies just to please the crowd. Hell, to win the match you have to slam your opponent on thumb tacks. I expect sick bump after sick bump in this one. If everyone doesn’t go through a table, this match will be a let down of sorts. I think Jeff will win this match because he seems to be one the losing end as of late, I would say it sets up a Hardy vs. Jarrett feud but I’m making a bold main event pick.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Matt Bentley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams: Ultimate X is back. That’s really all I need to say to hype this match. Every Ultimate X match is a good one. All 3 of these men have been in a Ultimate X match and 2 of them have won one. I want to see these guys pull out some cool spots. Maybe Bentley will superkick Sabin off the X Wires. Maybe Sabin will somehow Cradle Shock Petey from the top rope. Hell, maybe Petey will piledrive Bentley off the wires. I just want to see a spot that makes me go “how in the hell did they think of that?” All that said, I think Bentley will win this thing. He hasn’t really had a one on one shot for the X Division title. Plus he’s Shawn Michaels cousin, so TNA can market that.
Winner: Matt Bentley
Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash: I don’t expect much from these guys. They put on a good match at Against All Odds and if they can do half that, I’ll be impressed. Ortiz is the referee but all he is, is more overbooking. We know that we can expect that in a Jeff Jarrett title defense. Jarrett will use the guitar and Nash will use the belt. Ortiz will try to keep the peace but people like America’s Most Wanted, Gail Kim, and Team 3-D will no doubt find a way to interfere. I think Kevin Nash will win. Why? Because I want him to. I think when the time for the match is about to end, Raven will come him, Evenflow Jarrett and Nash will pick up the win. That or Raven will Evenflow Nash for getting the shot and Jarrett will win. I’m hoping for the former of the two.
Winner: Kevin Nash
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels: 30 Minutes, The top two workers in TNA, the X Division title. Need I say more?
Winner: AJ Styles
The E-Mail Bag
Love TNA at Ringside Mr. Lambert.
As for the C Cup, the match I want to see AJ vs. Daniels compete in. A 60 minute Iron Man match. Its just going ot be one hour at Bound For Glory. They’ve wrestled to a 60 minute draw in PWG, but that wasn’t an Iron Man rules match.
I’d also like to see them compete in these types of matches: Ladder match, best 2 out of 3 falls, and six sides of steel.
I think the difference between Bound For Glory and Against All Odds is this. At Bound For Glory, the RIGHT match will be the main event. AJ/Daniels is going to be the final match on the card ala the triple threat at Unbreakable. Not this Nash/Jarrett farce.
Plus, you have a card with already THREE MOTYC’s. This is going to be the best wrestling PPV of the year WITHOUT HYPERBOLE. Wrestlemania 21 only had ONE really great match. Eddie/Rey was sloppy and did not deliver compared to their past WCW matches and even their WWE matches that were on FREE FUCKING TV. The ladder match was good, but is nothing compared to Ultimate X. Plus the guy that won did the LEAST amount of work. HHH/Batista and JBL/Cena were garbage.
At Bound For Glory you’ve got a professional wrestling dream match: Jushin Liger vs. Samoa Joe. The first time this match has EVER taken place in pro-wrestling history. Joe and Liger have history having teamed together in ROH.
You have a fresh Ultimate X match in Williams vs. Sabin vs. Bentley. This will only be the SECOND traditional Ultimate X match this year. It features three of the top X division contenders not to mention three guys who held the belt longer than anyone else in the division save for Christopher Daniels. Bentley won the X division title in Ultimate X on two occassions. Chris Sabin is the X division king having competed and won more of them than anyone else in TNA. This will be Williams third Ultimate X match and he’s the darkhorse/underdog of the match. Williams has NEVER won Ultimate X before and he could be due for a win now.
Monters’ Ball 2, while I doubt it will be a five star classic will probably be watchable enough and be a fun brawl/hardcore match. Abyss is the best big man in wrestling today. Rhino has experienced a tremendous rebirth in TNA. Sabu’s been having good matches as of late. So I’m excited about the match in that sense.
-Jeff
I could go for a AJ vs. Daniels Ladder Match. Right now I’m too tired to respond to every little thing but well said and I’m sure WWE marks will give me some hate mail for your comments.
4. The “names” they did bring out for the show are either (A) Embarassing in the ring (Hardy), (B) Washed up (Nash), (C) Heavily publicized WWE rejects (Rhino….ACK, MY VASE!), or (D) partially own the company (Triple J). Given, they worked with what they have, but none of the “big name” competitors they have will make people turn over to TNA. The casual fan, who only knows WWE, will see people like Rhino, Team 3-D, and Jeff Hardy and go “hey, I remember them…must not have been too good if they’re not in the WWE anymore.” That is the casual, mark fan response to these names. If they’re not in the WWE, they’re not any good. Marks are like that.
/4. I agree with most of your points but TNA is trying to draw people in by showing them workers that they know. That’s not a bad thing as long as it doesn’t continue for a long amount of time.
JUST to chime in on this. I think the guy you was responding to was making something of a straw man arguement. The only peopl TNA can put on TV are (1) wrestlers that the marks have never heared of or (2) WWE “rejects”. WWE has practically every “legend” under contract now. I’m not convinced a mark would view Rhino etc as rejects anyway. They wouldn’t know all the politics etc behind their WWE careers and taking on WWF rejects in the mid 90s gave Bishoff’s WCW a huge boost.
-Xander
I agree, good points.
The C Cup
Bound For Glory Best Match: What will be the best match and what was the best match?
The End
Back to Blitz: The League before I catch some sleep. Drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time At Ringside.
