Welcome back to ringside folks.
News & Shit
*Jeff Jarrett to turn face.
Luckily, he was going to take 4 months off in order to make fans forget that his name is Jeff Jarrett. Sadly, he’s taking no time off and will go through with the face turn. So whose bright idea was this? Is Russo marking up one in the loss column already? Has Jarrett completely lost his mind? My guess is that it’s some one of higher power. Ok, I’m kidding of course. I’m sure this is Jeff Jarrett’s idea as he is sick of having the fans pelt him with trash at every chance they get. The question is, will it work? TNA is still in Orlando and I’ve always that if Jarrett was to turn face, they would have to leave the state of Florida. Jarrett has caused the Impact Zone fans far too much pain and agony for them to ever cheer him at this point. Rumor has it that Jarrett will play the sympathy card by bring his wife into the equation. Sorry Jeff but you showed no sympathy on us by cutting boring promo after boring promo and wrestling over booked match after over booked match so why should we show you sympathy. Sorry your wife is in the state she is in but if you have to play the Eddie Card, you still don’t deserve my sympathy. Sorry Jeff but to me, you can never be face again. Maybe you should have thought about all of this before you hogged the main event scene for 4 years. Honestly, Jeff Jarrett will always be THE heel in TNA. He can try to turn face but if the Impact Zone has any sense, they’ll continue to boo the hell out of him.
*Jericho to TNA?
So a report states that Jericho and TNA are very close to signing a deal. This of course contradicts reports saying that Jericho will only return to WWE if he were to return to wrestling. That report of course contradicts the theory that anything can happen in the world of wrestling. So what do I think of these reports? I’ll believe it when I see it. What do I think of Jericho coming to TNA? I’ll believe it when I see it. It was odd to see Jericho and his band Fozzy play Impact out on Thursday but really, things like that shouldn’t have me jumping to conclusions. Jericho is trying to promote his band, TNA is trying to gain more viewers, fits like a glove don’t you think? If Jericho shows up at Bound For Glory then awesome. If he doesn’t then it’s no loss.
*Brown done, Moody Jack out, Konnan on the verge.
So it looks as if Monty Brown is done with TNA. Now I’ve always been on the fence with Monty Brown. On one hand, I used to think he had a passion for the wrestling business. On the other hand, he was bad in the ring and just decent on the stick. Plus he hasn’t done shit in TNA for months now so it’s not really that big of a loss. I, like Eric, feel he will be better suited in WWE as he has the look and pretty much wrestles the WWE style already. Moody Jack isn’t a huge loss but I always enjoyed his announcement of LAX so for that, I will miss him. Konnan would be the biggest loss of the 3 at this point and that’s not saying much. While he no longer wrestles, he cuts a very good promo and suits the LAX gimmick. He, much like JBL, fell into the right gimmick and has so far ran with it. If LAX where to lose Konnan, they would lose their mouthpiece and off the top of my head, there’s not a solid replacement on the market for him. The only good I see coming out of this is that Homicide would get more mic time.
Bound For Glory Preview
So as you should know, Bound For Glory is this Sunday. Once again, I will miss the show due to no cable box but I will watch it through torrents before next week.
*Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett: So this match is still happening? You wouldn’t know by the hype (or lack there of) given to them by TNA. If this truly is TNA’s Wrestlemania, they should promote their Main Event match just a bit more. Of course, I don’t mind that Jarrett isn’t taking up 20 minutes of Impact but if this truly is your money feud then maybe you should promote it better. Now I know the feud has been promoted for roughly 10 months now but Cena/Edge went on forever and they continued to get loads of TV time (nothing compared to DX or the McMahon’s but still). I guess lack of TV time will do that to you. Still, I think I would rather listen to Jarrett cut a promo then watch Lethal, Dutt, and Sabin be a bunch of jackasses. As for Sting, what’s up with the face paint? I hope he’s going back to Surfer Sting (as that was the first wrestler I ever marked for) but I don’t want him to be a 40 year old man acting like a 20 year old kid (I’m looking at you Wayne and Garth errrrr Shawn and Hunter).
Of course, the wild card in this match is the one they call Kurt Angle. Does Kurt Angle call it down the middle or will he be a biased party? If he minds his own business on the outside only to count the fall when the ref gets knocked out (because we all know it’s coming) then Sting will no doubt win this match. If Angle is to screw anyone in the match, it will be Sting. I personally don’t see how TNA could possibly turn Angle heel this quickly. Angle, unlike Christian, plays a face just as good as he plays a heel.
Sting NEEDS to win this match. Right now, his momentum is completely killed. His one goal in TNA was too rid Jarrett from the company and thus far, he’s failed. Combine that with the fact that Kurt Angle is now in TNA and Sting is all but forgotten at this point. If Sting loses his entire run in TNA was pointless. I don’t care if he comes back 3 weeks after his career is supposed to end (because that’s the wrestling world for you), his career is done if he loses this match. Give the man the belt and have him drop to Angle on the next episode of Impact for all I care, just make sure to give him the belt by 11 PM on Sunday.
*Samoa Joe vs. Spike vs. Raven vs. Abyss: One of these things is not like the other, one of these men just doesn’t belong. Samoa Joe is the odd man out in this equation. Spike, Raven, and Abyss have a history with each other, Samoa Joe is just in this match because they have nothing better for him to do and he needs a big win heading into his World Title push. Luckily for TNA, Samoa Joe is the f*cking man and he has no problem being involved in a hardcore match and kicking ass in the process. As for the other three, while they have the history together, they are nothing but pons in this match. Still, I expect this match to be just as violent as the previous Monsters Ball matches and why shouldn’t I? Joe is about the least experienced hardcore worker in this match and even that comes 2nd nature to him. As for the other 3, we all know they’re willing to kill themselves just to hear the crowd chant, “This is awesome”, “TNA”, or “Holy shit”.
We all know Joe is going to win and my guess is that Spike takes the fall considering Abyss needs to save face and Raven well, I can’t come up with a good excuse on why he shouldn’t lose.
Wait, how could I forget Jake Roberts? That promo on Impact, that’s how. Was he trying a new gimmick in which he speaks like Randy Savage? If so, damn, he’s got that down perfect. Maybe TNA will take their Jackass stunts to a whole new level and they’ll allow Jake to whip out the snake and have it bite someone.
*AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Latin American Xchange: Yikes, that was some bad hype on Impact. Luckily for TNA, they’ve built this feud up very well over the past few months and 3 of the 4 workers in the match are god-like. Still, I don’t give a damn about Hernandez tossing Gail Kim fifty feet when LAX has nothing to do with AMW at this point in time. Maybe they were setting up a future feud or maybe they are trying to show that LAX can beat up anyone but whatever the case may be, it wasn’t a good job to sell me on the Tag Title Match this Sunday. Still, TNA is throwing 3 solid workers in a cage and turning them loose, who am I to complain?
So who wins this match? The Naturals are seemingly the next contenders for the titles so LAX seems like the logical choice. But did Konnan’s little fit cost his team the belts? I doubt it. LAX is currently the hottest team in TNA so why ruin that momentum? Styles and Daniels will stay over because they are Styles and Daniels. If LAX can gain a huge PPV win over them and more importantly win the feud, they are solidified as the top team in TNA.
*Low Ki vs. Chris Sabin: If this match is as good as their last match minus the stupid ass stuff then we are in for a treat. We of course forget how could the match was between these two last month because of the Jackass stunts but the ending aside, these guys almost stole the show. I expect no less from them this Sunday at Bound For Glory. I also expect no Jackass shit this Sunday at Bound For Glory, thus making the match 10 times better. These guys seem to have a solid chemistry and it comes off in the ring. Again, if this match goes as I expect, it could sneak in as MOTN (although it’s going to be tough to beat out the Tag Title match).
You’ve got to think Sabin wins this match. They’re in Detroit and Low Ki hasn’t really done a thing with the belt since winning it. Sadly, there’s no real challengers in the X Division at this point as Lethal and Dutt are face and as good as the matches are, I don’t want to see Sabin/Williams for the 100th time. I’m all for TNA trying to restore some type of credibility in Bentley and Kazarian but I highly doubt that is going to happen. If Impact is any indication then Sabin and Lynn are seemingly heading down the feuding road. Hey, I’m all for that. It will put Sabin over as a star (something Nash failed to do) and it will produce a solid match in the process. As for Low Ki, a feud with Lethal seems to be in the books.
*Christian Cage vs. Rhino: So what exactly is an 8 Mile Street Fight? My guess is that it’s just another name for a hardcore/no dq/falls count anywhere/no holds barred/non sanctioned/well you get the point match. But maybe TNA will become original and actually have Christian and Rhino destroy each other up and down 8 Mile. Hell, have Eminem performing in the background to complete the scene. Now that right there is worth 30 bucks alone.
But since it will be nothing more than a No DQ match, I expect these guys to be held back. What? They can’t blow their load on this match with Monsters Ball no doubt going on later. Maybe they’ll still get original and actually take a street fight”¦to the streets or at least the parking lot. That’s not out of the question now is it?
So who goes over? Rhino is in his hometown so he seems like the logical choice but Christian is still the hottest heel in the company. My guess is that Rhino still goes over. Christian is the master at bitching after a loss while Rhino most likely can’t save face if he loses “his match”. I still don’t know if the feud ends here though. I would like it to end here and Christian to move onto Sting but for some reason, TNA seems completely against cashing in on a feud that they self-made. Se Rhino wins, Christian bitches, and we get a re-match next month. Awesome.
*The Naturals vs. James Gang vs. America’s Most Wanted vs. Team 3-D: Do I care about this match? No. Sorry but with James Gang and Team 3-D being stale as stale can be, AMW on the verge of the break up, and the Naturals seeming like the obvious winners, I have no reason to care. The Naturals win and AMW finally splits after months of teasing.
*Larry Zybszko vs. Eric Young: If I didn’t care about the last match, I really don’t care about this match. Young wins.
*X Division Gauntlet Battle Royal: As always, Kevin Nash and Alex Shelley brought the funny with that press conference on Impact. Glad to see they re-united the two as they almost seem meant for each other. Hopefully TNA doesn’t screw it up this time and they allow Shelley to be a star once Nash leaves instead of jobbing him out to the entire TNA roster. So who is most likely in this match and what legit shot do they have at winning?
-Alex Shelley: Should win, could win, won’t win.
-Jay Lethal: 3rd best shot.
-Sonjay Dutt: No legit shot.
-Frankie Kazarian: No shot.
-Matt Bentley: No shot.
-Petey Williams: 4th best shot.
-Austin Aries: 2nd best shot.
-Kevin Nash: Will win.
That’s right, Nash wins and continues to burry the division for a few months before putting some one over as a blow off to this whole angle. If he doesn’t win then I’ve got to see Aries will pull one off. If they are serious about pushing him, they will allow him to go over in this match. If not, then he will turn out to be just another Trytan (expect with you know, skill).
As of right now, that seems to be the card and to be honest, it’s a very solid card. TNA has actually taken the time to build most of these feuds and they will seemingly blow off at Bound For Glory. If I had a cable box, I would order this event but I don’t, so I’m stuck with a torrent. Oh well, enjoy it if you get it.
Angle vs. Joe
So if you watched Impact on Thursday then you probably marked out like a bitch during the last 15 minutes or so. If you missed Impact on Thursday, you missed marking out like a bitch. If you missed it or just want to see it again, click here or here.
Now I won’t get into the details of this feud because if TNA is smart, they’ll slow build the entire thing instead of pulling the trigger so quickly. Instead, I’ll talk about the mark out moment.
If you don’t know, I watch Impact with pretty much non-wrestling fans. One person knows a little bit from being a fan a few years ago while the other knows jack shit. So when this moment happened, both of them got goose bumps. Not because they knew what the hell was going on, but because of how excited the crowd was. Just watch the crowd when you watch that video, it looks like a damn riot scene. The person who knows jack shit made the comment, “Wow, those people are going crazy over this”. I told her they were going crazy because that’s Kurt Fuckin’ Angle and Samoa Fuckin’ Joe aka two of the best wrestlers in the business today. And when they finally face off, we are all in for a treat.
UFC 64
So as I mentioned last week, I rented UFC 64 this past Saturday and damn what a treat. Sherk vs. Florian was a 5 round war that could have gone either way once Florian cut open Sherk with his razor like elbows. In the end though, Sherk was too strong for Florian and ended up becoming the 2nd ever UFC Lightweight Champion.
As for the Main Event, there’s only one war that can sum it up: Destruction. Rich Franklin came into the fight after a 6 month lay off and I don’t know if that was his down fall but whatever it was, he wasn’t ready for Anderson Silva. Right from the start Silva dominated the fight with knees to the ribs followed by the knee to the face that pretty much did Franklin in. Maybe fans will now realize that Silva isn’t to be f*cked with and that he deserved his Middleweight Title Shot after only one fight in the UFC. Maybe Franklin will realize the same thing and he takes him more serious next time they meet (trust me folks, a rematch is in the works).
The under card was solid and added to the show overall. I’m debating on getting UFC 65 but if you’re an MMA Fan or trying to get into MMA, UFC 66 is a must buy.
The End
Catch you guys next week with a recap of Bound For Glory and the road to Genesis. Drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time, At Ringside.
