Welcome back to ringside folks. Nothing from me last week as I had a busy schedule. Hell, I’ve had a busy this week as well but seeing as there’s a PPV this Sunday, I felt the need to produce something, no matter how bad it may be.
News & Shit
*Thursday Night Impact Rating: 1.0
Down from last week, but still in the 1.0 section, so nothing to worry about. I expect the rating to drop off this week as they were stuck in a really bad time slot. TUF3 can’t end soon enough.
*Jarrett wants to play the lead face
The only way this is going to happen is if TNA moves out of Orlando. There’s no way the Impact Zone will cheer for Jarrett after all he’s put them through (boring promos, over booked matches, and long titles reigns). If they move out of Orlando, a face change is possible, but until then it won’t happen and if it does happen, it won’t work. An idea I have pondered is the possibility of a double switch. Jarrett turns face while Christian turns heel. Again, in Orlando, it’s not going to work but outside, it’s possible. Jarrett can play an effective face, he did it in the weekly PPV days. Christian plays a much better heel than he does face and his promos will be much better as a heel. I don’t think it will happen anytime soon but come October, this is all possible.
*Rhino signs a new TNA contract
So much for the theory that Rhino was going to jump to the New ECW. I honestly wish he would have jumped to the New ECW, that way a guy like Bobby Roode (who will now most likely job at the PPV) could have gotten a solid push over Rhino. Oh well, Rhino is staying and will get to beat up on Canadians instead of Zombies.
*Bentley & Hoyt have issues
Here’s an example of two guys, with talent, who have done shit to earn their ego. Ok, so Bentley is a former X Division champion, big deal. He hasn’t done shit since his short reign and hell, he didn’t do shit during his reign. As for Hoyt, he’s never done shit. These guys need to check their egos and maybe they’ll get a push because they have talent. Whatever, TNA could release them both and it would be no loss. Bentley would go to WWE where he will suffer the same fate as Kazarian and Hoyt can go to WWE where he’ll feud with Test or play roles such as Fake Undertaker or Fake Kane.
Slammiversary Preview
So Slammiversary is this Sunday and since June is my all PPV month, I’ll end up renting the show. Slammiversary is”The One”, whatever that means. I thought Bound For Glory was TNA’s version of WM but it seems as if TNA can’t make up their mind. I always thought they should push Slammiversary as their WM, but that’s just me. Anyway, lets look at this years card and if the PPV is worth renting.
King Of The Mountain Match: Christian Cage vs. Ron Killings vs. Abyss vs. Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
The King Of The Mountain match has to be without a doubt one of the most confusing gimmick matches in the history of wrestling. I’m not even going to go into details about this match because it’s hard enough to explain this match through voice, much less trying to type everything out. Just know it’s a reverse ladder match with a bunch of shit in the middle.
As for the workers in this match, I honestly think that anyone in the match can win, which makes it interesting.
*Ron Killings: Killings is of course the wild card in this thing. He’s a former World Champion that nobody remember because he was stuck in 3LK. I wouldn’t mind Killings winning the belt but the question is, will the fans buy Killings as the champion? He’s a solid worker and can be good on the mic but as of late, his whole mic work has consisted of “What’s Up” and lines from his rap song. There’s then everyone else in the match: Christian, Abyss, Jarrett, and Sting. All 4 of those men are established main eventers that the crowd can get behind. Killings on the other hand is most known for his run with 3LK and being the forgotten man when the group was beginning to split. I don’t think Killings will win this thing but if TNA wanted to shock the crowd, they will put the belt on him.
*Abyss: I feel that Abyss should be the World Champion heading into this match but TNA management felt different. I honestly can’t buy Abyss as the World Champion at this point. Over the past 2 months he’s jobbed twice to the champion in gimmick matches. Before that, he did nothing but job to Rhino. Abyss seems to be the token main event jobber that’s willing to take hardcore bumps in order to keep his job. I think Abyss could carry the belt far if TNA decides to go that route. He’s a good wrestler, above the hardcore shit you see, and he’s got Mitchell cutting promos for him. Honestly, he’s the perfect big man combination. He’s better than The Big Show or Kane and those douches got World Title runs (albeit short runs that nobody remembers, with good reason). If TNA had balls, they would put the belt on Abyss.
*Sting: Unless Sting is going to transition the belt to Samoa Joe, I don’t see the point in him winning the title. I know, he is Sting, he’s a legend in WCW, and he’s never been to WWE. Still, he does nothing to advance the younger talent if he’s the World Champion. Again, unless he’s going to drop it to Samoa Joe, I don’t see how Sting makes any sense to win the belt on Sunday. Unless TNA is going with the crowd pleasing ending, Sting shouldn’t walk out with the belt.
*Jeff Jarrett: Jarrett makes the most sense to me. He of course can win the belt, feud with Sting over the belt (high profile and money making), and drop the belt to Sting. That gives Jarrett another World Title reign (and of course, it’s quantity over quality). Then Sting can of course transition the belt to Joe, thus passing the torch. Jarrett winning the belt pleases everyone. And if it doesn’t please you, learn to love it, because it’s going to happen.
*Christian Cage: Now you guys know that I’m probably the biggest Christian mark here at IP but even I will tell you that his World Title reign has been pretty stale. His promos haven’t been up to par and his matches haven’t been the greatest thing ever. Sure, his match at Lockdown was solid, but he followed it up with an over hyped Full Metal Mayhem at Sacrifice. If Christian walks out with the belt, where does he go from there? A feud with Steiner could be in the works but that just means Steiner jobs again and if they’re trying to put him over as this bully, jobbing him out two straight PPVs wouldn’t be the smartest thing. I honestly can’t see Christian winning the belt and if he does, I pray his promos get better.
In conclusion, Jeff Jarrett is the smartest choice to win the belt. I won’t be shocked if he doesn’t win, but I sure as hell won’t be shocked if he does.
Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner
Am I the only one looking forward to this match? It wont be the match of the year or anything but it will be stiff and intense (like most Joe matches). Of course, this whole match is just to put Joe over. There’s no other reason to book this match. Scott Steiner has the reputation of beating up anyone and everyone. Samoa Joe has the reputation of just beating anyone and everyone. This match is a clash of two bullies, there’s no other way to put. Scott Steiner has bullied jobbers during his TNA run and Joe has bullied the X Division during his TNA run.
All that said, there’s only one outcome to this match, and that’s Samoa Joe going over Steiner. If there’s a schmooze ending or Steiner goes over, I’ll say that TNA has no clue what they’re doing when it comes to booking Samoa Joe. He’s not a hard guy to book. Joe beats people, people don’t beat Joe. Yes, it’s that simple. Scott Steiner ending the winning streak of Samoa Joe (on the anniversary of Joe’s TNA debut) would be the biggest crock in wrestling since Kevin Nash ending the winning streak of Goldberg. Now, when Samoa Joe wins, where does he go from there? The only solution is for him to drop the X Division title. But how does he do that? A triple threat match of course. See, you can’t have Joe beat Steiner and then drop the X Division title to anyone. A triple threat match keeps Joe from getting beat and moves the X Division title to some one in the X Division. Of course, the only logical triple threat match is Joe vs. Sabin vs. Shelley. Have Shelley beat Sabin and go from there. Joe then can refocus on the Main Event and the World Title. As for Steiner, losing to Joe isn’t going to hurt his credibility. Steiner can still move into his inevitable feud with Sting (where he will most likely job again) or he can move into a feud with someone like Rhino (where he can actually go over).
As long as Joe goes over, I won’t complain about this match, no matter how bad it could be.
America’s Most Wanted vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels
Ok, TNA didn’t have the balls to put the belts on Styles and Daniels last month, so do they have to balls to do it this month? I say they need to put the belts on Styles and Daniels. AMW have run their course with the belts. They’ve faced most teams, beaten most teams, and even got a break from Tag Team wrestling for a few months. Unless TNA is going to pull the trigger on the AMW/3-D feud, move the belts to Styles and Daniels. At least Styles and Daniels can carry the belts and begin fresh feuds with a team like the Naturals. With AMW, unless they’re going to pull the trigger on the AMW/3-D feud, why do they need the belts? Hell, if they’re going to feud with Team 3-D, why do they need the belts? AMW vs. Team 3-D is going to draw no matter what (probably more 3 months ago, but that’s another story) the belts aren’t going to make it draw anymore than it already would. The belts just signify that Team 3-D will win the feud in the long run. At least without the belts on the line, AMW could steal this feud. With Styles and Daniels, they could have a nice stint with Team Canada followed by a nice stint (and some great matches) with Aries and Strong (bring them back and job them, it’s all good).
That said, I expect this to be just as good as their match last month (MTON last month for me). These are just 4 guys who know how to work a match and who look like they’re having some bit of fun out there when they’re facing each other.
Rhino vs. Bobby Roode & Scott D’Amore
One week ago, I would have said that Rhino would be jobbing Roode and then heading to WWECW. Now, I think Rhino will be rewarded with a win over Roode, which really sucks. Roode has all the tools to make it big in ECW. He reminds me of another Rude (Rick), which is a good thing. Rhino on the other hand, has been to the mountain top (for a week) and brings nothing new to the TNA table.
Maybe TNA will stick with Roode winning but I highly doubt it. Rhino publicly ripped up a WWE contract and just signed a new TNA contract. There’s no way TNA rewards him by having him job on PPV. I hope that Rhino goes over D’Amore, which allows Roode to continue with his push. Fuck you Rhino, go job to Kurt Angle on a Justin Credible level.
The James Gang vs. Team 3-D
I’ve spoke enough about this feud. It’s happening 8 years too late and both teams are stale as f*ck. Still, all 4 men are having fun with this feud and if they’re having fun, I can’t fault them for that.
I figure Team 3-D will take this feud just because they’re Team 3-D and they’re still grooming a Team 3-D vs. AMW feud. I expect this match to be decent but nothing too special and it will look horrible compared to Styles & Daniels vs. AMW. I’ll probably channel flip when this match comes on my screen, God knows I did it last month.
Kevin Nash vs. Chris Sabin
I’m honestly looking very forward to this match. Again, it won’t be in the Match of the Year running, but it will be a big contrast of styles and it will be a big test for Kevin Nash to see if he can keep up with a guy like Sabin. The last time we saw Kevin Nash in a wrestling ring…we didn’t see Kevin Nash is a wrestling ring (not counting his squash on Impact). He was scheduled to show at Lockdown last year and he couldn’t make it. He was scheduled to show at Bound For Glory to face Jarrett and he couldn’t make it. Now he’s scheduled to face Chris Sabin this Sunday, so will he show? He says that the doctors have cleared him but that doesn’t mean shit to me. Until I see him in the ring, with his gear on, and trying to catch Sabin, I won’t believe he’s going to show. That’s how little faith I have in Kevin Nash at this point in time. As for Sabin, I’m not worried about him. He always delivers in the ring and I expect this match against Nash to be no different.
As for the outcome, we all know that Chris Sabin is going to win and Kevin Nash will fade back into nothing.
I’m sure TNA will add more matches at the last minute but as of now, that’s the current card on TNAWrestling.Com.
The E-Mail Bag
enjoy reading your column and think you make some good points, but I have to disagree about JJ getting the belt back at Slammiversary. Christian should walk out the champ for a number of reasons. For one, his title run hasn’t been great yet and he shouldn’t lose it until he has a nice run. Taking the title from him now, he would have had the same kind of reign as Benoit did when he had the title.
I think that Christian just doesn’t have to face a heel, he could easily go into a program with Ron Killings, Raven, or even move A.J. and Daniels into the title picture if they don’t stay a tag-team. He coud revisit his feud with Brown, which I feel didn’t live up to its potential. Christian could even turn heel stating how the spotlight has taken away from him and everyone is focusing on Sting and Samoa Joe.
The feud between JJ and Sting doesn’t need the belt and I think if JJ get’s the belt back, he would want to be the one to lose to Joe. Having him win the belt back even to transititon it to Sting I feel is a wrong choice, with so many other possibilities.
-Darius
Eh, his title reign hasn’t been great and that could be the reason to yank the title from him. Why keep the belt on some one who has had a stale run? TNA has done that enough in the past. Also, his title reign is nothing like Benoit’s because Christian has actually Main Evented PPVs while being Champion. Aside from Summerslam (where he lost), Benoit was never the last match on. And don’t give me that shit about “He fought Michaels and HHH at Backlash” because that whole rematch was just a way to further build the HHH/HBK feud. Benoit just happened to be the Champion and the third man in the equation.
Sure, he could take on a face but are you honestly dying to see a Christian/Killings program? Sorry, but I’m not. Raven wouldn’t be so bad as they could play off that whole September 15th storyline. As for a heel turn, don’t count on it for the reasons I mentioned earlier.
No, Sting vs. Jarrett doesn’t need the belt, but it helps. Hell, Jarrett can even beat Sting with the belt on the line for all I care. As long as Jarrett winning transitions into Joe getting the belt, I’m all for it.
YouTube Match of the Week
Listen to Mike Tenay if you want the rules for the KOTM:
Match: King Of The Mountain 2005
Event: Slammiversary 2005
Rating: ***1/2
Plugs
Tom debuts his new column by finding little good in the new ECW. I can’t blame him, that show sucked.
Brashear shows that WWE won’t be the first company to f*ck up the legend that is known as The Sandman.
Steve continues to look on the bright side. I sent Steve an e-mail on this column, so expect to see that in his next column.
GRUT is back and to me, he delivers.
The End
Peace everyone. Next week I hope to deliver something but if I have another week like these last two, don’t count on it. I end with a Lets Go Canes and ask you all to drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time, At Ringside.
