Welcome back to ringside everyone. I was off last week to get some rest and relaxation as the end of my summer comes to an end. Now to the news.
News & Shit
I’ve done away with the rating just because it’s a week behind and I don’t want to confuse people.
*The Greatest Day In TNA History
JEFF HARDY IS GONE!!!!!!!!! Now he can join his bitch brother in WWE where he will no doubt job or be gone in a month due to the Wellness Program. Lets take a look at the issues here:
*How is this any type of loss for TNA? Hardy hasn’t been used in TNA since what, November where he was on the pre-show? It’s not like WWE signing Hardy is going to throw a wrench into any current TNA storylines. Hell, it could help their storylines because now, even if they only put 1% of effort into it, they don’t have to worry about how to bring back Hardy. The whole merchandise thing is overblown. Sure he was a top merchandise seller awhile ago but since then TNA has come out with great DVDs and new shirts that have out sold Hardy. So all you anti-TNA people claiming this is the death of TNA, think again, this is great for TNA.
*How does this even help the tag division? Isn’t Matt Hardy suspended for 30 days thanks to Wellness Program or his staph infection? So that’s 30 days without the Hardy Boyz right there. Furthermore, how does 1 team all of a sudden help a teamless tag division? Ok, London/Kendrick vs. Hardyz but where do they go after that? Again, I don’t see how 1 team, past their prime at that, is going to save a division that WWE clearly has no interest in.
*If he’s a singles worker, what do they do with him? He’s not Main Event material in WWE, sorry Hardy marks but it’s true. So they put him in the IC/US title picture thus possibly depushing Carlito, Shelton, or Nitro or getting himself killed in a stiff match against Regal or Finlay.
*Bring him to ECW? Yeah, the SDECW fans will love it but if ECW gets their own crowd like it’s rumored, he’s done. ECW fans are more or less smarks. If ECW didn’t create it or WWE did create it, they won’t like it. Go watch his match in ROH, the crowd shits all over him because they know that he’s nothing but a glorified spot monkey. To quote the announcer in ROH, “There’s 100 screaming girls and 1100 ROH fans”. Figure that one out for yourselves.
*WWE screwed themselves over when the announced this. No, not because it’s Jeff Hardy, but because they announced it. How much cooler would it have been if Hardy just randomly showed up on WWE TV? The reaction would have been so much bigger and the feeling would have been so much better. Now, we expect it, so it won’t be as big. Imagine if WCW announced that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were going to show up on consecutive Nitro’s. How big of a deal would it have been then? It would have still been huge but nothing like it was when you saw it live. Now I’m not comparing Hall jumping from WWF to WCW to Hardy going from TNA to WWE but you get the gist right? Hell, not only did they announce it, but they are now promoting it. Way to a kill a special moment.
Have no fear Eric, he won’t last long and in a few months, he will be back to putting lampshades on his head for no reason at all.
Furthermore, Alex Shelley doesn’t like him and is Alex Shelley doesn’t like him, nobody should like him because Alex Shelley > You.
*Ron Killings is still uppity and black
So Jarrett and Killings got into once again because Killings jobbed to A-1 on some show that 10 people watch. According to reports, Killings threatened to quit the company. So should I care? Honestly, I have no problems with Killings. He’s a very solid worker and for the first few weeks, I loved his “What’s Up” theme. But what has he done for me lately? He has been on and off TV so much this year that sometimes I forget he’s even in the company. I think TNA ruined a big chance with him during his feud with LAX. A much better move would have been to add Killings to LAX with Homicide instead of Hernandez. That’s no knock on Hernandez as I think he’s been great so far in LAX but tell me that Killings/Homicide doesn’t have more appeal than Hernandez/Homicide.
Sean Waltman is apparently trying to get Killings to join that MTV project which has been talked about for months now but I haven’t seen shit progress wise. If he does leave TNA the MTV thing could be the best choice for him because we all know he’ll go nowhere fast in WWE.
*New LAX member: Ricky Banderas
The only question is, is he an addition to the group or is he addition by subtraction? Stay tuned everyone.
Establishing PPVs
So according to many fans (and even Jim Cornette himself), Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett is a huge drawing match. Which means this is a PPV that I should care about right? In a sense, sure. But an idea came to me when thinking of the “big drawing PPV”. See, that’s a problem that lies within TNA if you ask me. Which PPVs should I care about? If any WWE fan asks you “I can only get one PPV this year, what should it be?” You of course tell them (in this order most likely): Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series. With TNA, what do you tell the fans? Bound For Glory is being pushed as their WM and the list pretty much stops there correct? Sure Slammiversary is known for the King Of The Mountain, Lockdown is know for being all cage matches, and Destination X is known for Ultimate X but are those the other three PPVs you go out of your way to rent? It used to be with TNA that you couldn’t pick one PPV because most if not all were average at worst but that hasn’t been the case as of late. Don’t get me wrong, almost everything TNA has put out this year has been at least one step above everything WWE has put out that same month. Still, even the biggest TNA mark should admit that the quality is down a bit from last year.
So what does TNA have to do to establish one of those “Can’t Miss PPVs”? Well they’ve done a nice job with Slammiversary making it mean something by having the KOTM match every year and if the World Title is always on the line, it gives you a sense of “anyone can win”. So for now, we’ll call Slammiversary the Royal Rumble for TNA. What about Lockdown? Can you compare that to the Survivor Series considering Survivor Series used to be mostly elimination matches and Lockdown is all cage matches? Sure, you can make the comparison but how much longer can TNA run with the Lockdown gimmick? With Survivor Series matches, they aren’t meant to blow off a long feud, they are meant to continue the feud. A cage match though, that’s a feud blow off match right there. TNA doesn’t really treat it like that. Christian/Abyss, they went another month after Lockdown. Daniels/Low Ki was nothing more than a filler match with no build. Catch my drift? Right now you might be able to compare Lockdown and Survivor Series but how long will that continue? While I mentioned Destination X due to the Ultimate X match, it really should have gotten no mention. Destination X was the worst TNA PPV last year and this years wasn’t much better. So we’re going to take that one out of the running.
Last year you could make the case that Unbreakable was much like SummerSlam because of how good the card was. But this year, there’s no sign of Unbreakable on the TNA PPV Schedule.
So here’s what I’m asking, TNA, give me some PPVs to care about. If I’m budgeted to order one TNA PPV a year, tell me before the year starts what that PPV is. Stack the Victory Road card as high as you want but let it be known to me that no matter how stacked that card is, Bound For Glory will be better.
Hard Justice Preview
So I’m splitting the cost of the PPV this Sunday so hooray for me.
*Gail Kim vs. Sirelda: Aside from previous build and one bad promo from Gail Kim, has this match been promoted at all? I guess the less the better but damn, give the ladies some type of build. TNA clearly doesn’t give a shit about this match so why should I? I’ll most likely get a drink and pop some corn during this one.
Gail Kim goes over because she’s Asian.
*Eric Young vs. Johnny Devine: Where in the hell is Alex Shelley? I assume he’ll be in the corner of Devine in this match but come on, let the man wrestle. Another match that I’m honestly not too big on. Sure it’s a battle of former Team Canada members but these are the “other” members of Team Canada (aka not Roode or Williams). I suspect this will be a comedy match considering Eric Young is in it and Devine can bring some comedy with him.
I’ll say Young goes over because Shelley goofs up and costs Devine the match. Still, I don’t care about this one and neither should you.
*The Naturals vs. Bentley & Kazarian vs. America’s Most Wanted vs. The James Gang: Now we’re getting into the solid stuff. That’s right, I’m going to say that this match will be solid and not as bad as I’m sure some people think. Just look at the people in the match, you have 3 accomplished tag teams and 2 accomplished workers, how can you go wrong? The build for this match has completely sucked but that’s neither here nor there.
So I assume that this match is elimination, which means Bentley and Kazarian will be the first team out. Sorry boys, you guys are now the token tag jobbers while Diamonds In The Rough are on vacation. The James Gang will follow them because everyone wants to see AMW/Naturals one more time. The Naturals will of course win this match because they’re being groomed for this huge push thanks to Shane Douglas. You can’t job these guys out, especially if it’s elimination because that means they will have to be defeated. If the match it’s elimination then…who the hell am I kidding, The Naturals are winning either way.
*Abyss vs. Spike Dudley: I’m calling it right now, Spike is going to die in this match. Ok, that’s a stretch but there’s no doubt that he will be seriously hurt in this match will take some time off after this event. I know Spike can take some abuse but for some odd reason, I’ve got a feeling that this match might be the most abuse he’ll ever take. Just look what he did on Impact, jumped from the top of the entrance. That was on Impact, why won’t he take it a step further on PPV? I expect this to be a brutal match and anything less will be a disappointment. Honestly, I get the feeling that this match will be the most brutal hardcore match in TNA history. I don’t know why I get that feeling, I just do. Then again, how can I not get that feeling? Spike weighs 110 pounds at best and Abyss weighs 300 pounds at worst. I honestly expect Spike to pull out all stops to defeat Abyss but in the end, come up short. Seriously, I’m actually looking forward to this match.
As for the outcome, Abyss wins. If Spike wins, Abyss might as well face it: he’s nothing but the hardcore jobber. Think about it, Abyss is hyped up to be this hardcore monster yet when it comes down to it, he never seems to win the hardcore matches. Lets go back a full year and look at his record in hardcore and only hardcore matches:
*Unbreakable: Defeats Sabu
*Bound For Glory: Loses in Monsters Ball
*Turning Point: Loses to Sabu
*Against All Odds: Loses to Rhino
*Lockdown: Loses to Christian Cage
*Sacrifice: Loses to Christian Cage
*Slammiversary: Loses in King Of The Mountain
*Victory Road: Defeats Team 3-D
So in hardcore matches only in the span on 1 year on PPV Abyss is a combined 2-6. How can I believe he’s a hardcore monster when he never wins a hardcore match? That’s why he must beat Spike Dudley because if he can’t beat little Spike in a hardcore match, I just can’t buy him as a hardcore monster anymore.
Now the question is, where does Raven come into play? Every time Abyss has a match, Raven is looking on. I for one pray to God that he doesn’t help Spike win the match. It would be much better if after Abyss won, Raven told him to pick on someone his own size (and lets be honest, Raven looks to be the size of Abyss at this moment in time) , and thus we have a feud set up heading into Bound For Glory.
*Kevin Nash vs. Chris Sabin: The question here is not if Sabin wins but how will Sabin win? Will Sabin go over in a clean fashion, thus proving that bigger is not better or will Nash slip on a banana peel thus proving bigger is not better on this night? See, if Nash slips and loses the match, Sabin really proved nothing except for the fact that he can take advantage of a man when he screws up. Now if it’s an even match and Sabin pulls it out in the end, then he proved something and Nash did his job by putting an X Division guy over in a clean fashion. Honestly, how buried would the X Division look if Nash has spent this entire time ripping it to shreds and then in the big blow off match, he doesn’t even do a clean job. While the guy seems very loveable and what not, he has yet to be defeated by an X Division worker and he has done nothing but more or less trash the X Division in every promo. The guy was brought back to put someone over, Sabin just happens to be that someone.
Lets face it, the X Division needs any type of rub they can get right now. Every since Joe, Styles, and Daniels moved on, the division hasn’t been the same. If Kevin Nash wins, it does nothing but continue to bury the division. Throw in some extra money so Nash can put Sabin over in clean fashion. Hell, give him what you were paying Hardy, it’s a much better investment in my eyes.
So again, it’s not if Sabin goes over, it’s how.
*Bobby Roode: I know he’s not on the card but shouldn’t he have some type of roll? There was no video package for Roode this week, which was a shame. A simple “At Hard Justice, I will choose my fate” would have been fine with me. Then at the PPV, he picks his manager, simple enough right? They gave Team Canada 20 minutes to break up, couldn’t they give Roode 5 minutes to pick a manager? My only solution is that they are holding off on a decision until Traci gets back from Iraq so they can announce what we should already know, Traci is the new manager for Roode.
*Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki vs. Petey Williams: So why was Jay Lethal added to this match? In my mind, a title will be changing hands. Why else would they add him to the match? Oh, because Cornette was impressed with him in a losing effort? I’m impressed with Shark Boy in those squash matches but he’s not getting title shots now is he? Why shouldn’t they switch the title anyway? According to reports, Low Ki isn’t even working under a contract. I don’t know about you guys but if someone isn’t working under a contract, damned if I put a belt on him. WWE could offer him a contract tomorrow (although he would get buried because he would make RVD’s kicks look like Ashley Massaro’s punches) and Low Ki could head up north and throw the belt in the trash.
What’s wrong with Jay Lethal anyway? TNA seems to have some type of faith in the kid or else they wouldn’t have given him the World Title Shot and Jarrett wouldn’t have made him look very good in that match. In my mind, Jay Lethal seems like a prime choice to be the next X Division champion. Hell if that happens, I say put Nash over Sabin (with help) and the put Lethal over Nash (without help). Lethal could use the rub much more than Sabin right? Chris Sabin is a former X Division Champion who has been in numerous good matches in TNA. Who is Jay Lethal? A guy who wrestled as Hydro in ROH. You put Lethal over Nash and he becomes a bigger star in TNA. Wow, when I think of it like this, TNA has seemly created many possibilities for themselves. I honestly wouldn’t mind if Nash won as long as Lethal wins. Now if Nash wins and Low Ki wins then I’ll bitch next week.
Maybe that’s why they added Lethal to this match in the first place. Lethal can defeat Petey, thus keeping Low Ki looking strong. So I’ll go out on a limb and say the X Division title changes hands at Hard Justice.
*AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Latin American Xchange: Ladies and gentlemen, here is your match of the night. Daniels, Styles, and Homicide are 3 of the best workers in TNA and I’ve been impressed with Hernandez since he’s returned to TNA. Now we all know LAX is going to add Ricky Banderas but it’s just a matter of how. Will he be an addition to Homicide and Hernandez or will replace Hernandez. If he is just an addition, LAX will win this match thanks to the help of Banderas. Now if he’s out to replace Hernandez, LAX will lose this month but will take the gold next month. I honestly hope that he’s just an addition to the group. Honestly, how many members have LAX gone through since they’ve started? The count has got to be at 3 or 4 by now. They need to establish one group with set workers. Not one group with a few set workers and one rotating member.
The build to this match has been very good and the match will be even better. I suspect LAX will win because The Naturals will no doubt win their match and you’ve got to have the face vs. heel set up for the next PPV.
*Samoa Joe vs. Monty Brown vs. Rhino: I once claimed that TNA booked themselves into a corner with this match and at that time, I was correct. Well since that time, it have come to everyone’s attention that Brown’s TNA contract is coming to an end and they most likely won’t renew it. So that of course means, Brown will lose this match. The question is, who does he lose to? It’s easy, Samoa Joe. Why Joe? Again, easy. Joe wins this match against two top heavyweight contenders, moves on to face Jarrett at the next PPV in a contenders match, and then moves on to face Sting at Bound For Glory for the NWA World Title. All makes sense correct?
*Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett: Yes, I ‘m looking forward to this match, sue me. I’m a Sting mark from way back in his WCW days and nothing is going to change that mindset I have. I also can’t stand Jarrett so it’s like one of the battles were you feel like a kid and you have no clue who will win. Of course, being part of the IWC, I know who’s going to win. Sting will win this match because if he doesn’t, as mentioned by Jarrett, he might as well retire. What is left for Sting to do if he loses this match? His whole TNA goal was to rid TNA of Jarrett. Well here’s his chance and if he doesn’t get it done, he’s done.
Now we all expect Christian to turn heel and I’m all for it but not during the match. Please TNA if you’re going to turn this guy heel, turn him after Sting wins the title. Have Christian ruin the glory moment that Sting wants to have. Why? Because that’s the best route to go. Sting will be upset that his moment was ruined and he will challenge Christian to a match. That gives both men something to do while Joe keeps Jarrett occupied in the set up match. Sting wins, case closed.
Overall, the card looks very good on paper. Aside from the first two matches I listed, I’m looking forward to every match on this card and the best part is, I don’t have to pay full tab for it.
YouTube Match Of The Week
Well since Hard Justice is this Sunday, lets take a look back at last years Hard Justice:
Event: TNA Hard Justice 2005
Match: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Jarrett
Rating: ***1/4
Plugs
Steve continues to look at everything in a positive way. Ok Steve here’s one for you, what good came out of this:
Aside from a great laugh of course.
Brashear continues to allow me to remember the glory days of wrestling.
Bambi remember Trish Stratus and I don’t think there were too many pieces of hate mail for that.
Vinny doesn’t realize that Tag Team Wrestling in WWE is dead even after this very good feud.
The End
Drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time At Ringside.
