The Bell to Bell News Report 04.12.09

Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.12.2009

WrestleMania is in the books but there's not time to take the foot off the pedal as Backlash, the WWE Draft and TNA Lockdown are all looming on the horizon. Check in with this week's Bell to Bell for my thoughts on all of those stories as well as my final word on the big show from Houston....





As the WWE resets towards a new year and TNA looks to the past in the main event of their upcoming Lockdown pay-per-view, it's time once again for the best week-ending news report in the business, the Bell to Bell. This week we've got what will likely be the final, FINAL look at WrestleMania XXV and all of the fallout from the events in Houston, as well as the continuing build for TNA to their all-cage match PPV. On top of all of this wrestling news, we're just three days away from the beginning of the greatest playoff season in all of sports as the Stanley Cup playoffs get underway on Wednesday night.

With my Canadian roots, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will always hold a special place for me and this year will be no different, especially with the numerous compelling stories coming into the playoffs. Columbus finally ended their drought by qualifying for the playoff dance for the first time, making them the last of the NHL's thirty teams to accomplish that feat. This year has also seen some teams that used to be perennial playoff performers making their returns as both the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks are in the sixteen-team tournament with the Blues story being even more remarkable based on their lack of depth, their youth and the massive amounts of man-games lost due to injuries. The Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks have torn up the league this year in the East and West respectively, but there's still some questions with both teams as to their ability to stand up to the grind that is the playoffs. They're incredibly talented teams to be sure, but there's no question that they'll have to provide some answers as April turns into May if they're going to be considered legitimate threats this year.

As always, teams like Detroit and New Jersey are in the thick of things as well with New Jersey having made the playoffs despite losing the services of Martin Brodeur for the majority of the season. If Marty's in shape and back to 100%, the Devils could prove to be tough again this year as they seem to be consistently in the Cup chase come May and June. Detroit also has some issues with their goaltending as they are in the midst of having to choose between proven veteran Chris Osgood and very capable backup Ty Conklin. Osgood has helped the Wings win the Cup in the past, but has had problems this year with consistency, while Conklin has yet to make a big run in the playoffs but has shown himself to be a bit more stable throughout the season. When the Red Wings have had troubles in the playoffs, it's usually been their goaltending that's caused them and this year is no exception. I can guarantee that there will be some tense moments in the Harrison house as the goaltending scenario in Detroit plays out over the weeks ahead.

There's a lot of news coming out of all three of the major North American promotions after the biggest wrestling weekend of the year and we've got a draft coming next week that will shake up the WWE landscape considerably. With that in mind, let's ring the bell and get this news report on the road!



Sunday


The Show



WrestleMania XXV Results:

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Finlay - Winner: CM Punk
25-Diva Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal - Winner: Santina Marella
Chris Jericho vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Winner: Chris Jericho (pinfall, Codebreaker on Steamboat)
Extreme Rules: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy - Winner: Matt Hardy (pinfall, chair-assisted Twist of Fate)
Intercontinental Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. JBL (C) - Winner: Rey Mysterio (pinfall, springboard top-rope splash)
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels - Winner: The Undertaker (pinfall, Tombstone piledriver)
World Heavyweight Championship: The Big Show vs. John Cena vs. Edge (C) - Winner: John Cena (pinfall, Attitude Adjuster on Big Show)
WWE Championship: Randy Orton vs. Triple H (C) - Winner: Triple H (pinfall, Pedigree)


It's been a little less than a week since I've had the chance to check out WrestleMania (I wasn't able to watch it live due to a scheduling conflict with my job at Nokaut), and I have to say that while it wasn't top three on the list of all-time worst WrestleManias, it wasn't far off. Like every WrestleMania, there were some moments that were actively bad (Kid Rock's performance, the Diva Battle Royal, etc.), but those were things that were expected to be bad, so I can let those go. The biggest problem that I had with the show was the pacing of things and the format for the night. In terms of pacing, the WWE really dropped the ball as they ended up having to cut the WWE Tag Title unification match that they've spent the better part of two months building, placing it before the main card as a "DVD exclusive" match. That's bullshit, complete and utter bullshit. If Kid Rock hadn't been prancing around the stage like a horse's ass for twenty-five minutes or they had shaved five minutes off of the end of the "epic grudge match" between Triple H and Randy Orton, they could have had more than enough time to put this match onto the show. If the match got cut because they couldn't find the time for it, it's inexcusable. If they knew going into the show that the match wasn't going to make the main show and they continued to build it as such, it's a bait-and-switch of the worst order and is something that will leave a really sour taste in my mouth for some time.

My other problem with the pacing is that this show had a very WrestleMania X-8 feel to it as a match that was booked as a co-main event ended up stealing the show and made the two matches that came afterwards feel anticlimactic. I'm not one of those people who felt like Rock/Hogan should have gone on last because a lot of those calls didn't come until after the event was over and people saw how magical that match became. However, I have felt like since it was announced, HBK/Taker should have been positioned in the main event slot. I get that the world titles have to be featured prominently because they're the focal point of the TV shows, but in reality it wouldn't have hurt them to have the two Texas boys going on last in probably their last mega-hyped match against each other in front of a huge crowd in their home state. The World Heavyweight Championship has survived the disaster of a match in the middle of WrestleMania 22's card and a reign from The Great Khali. The WWE Championship has survived changing hands more times than a hot potato in the past year while looking like a toy belt. They could have both managed to stay strong with second and third billing behind two of the most legendary figures in the business. I'm not suggesting that Orton/Triple H or the triple threat match would have been any better if they had not had to follow HBK/Taker, but it certainly didn't help either match in the end.

Moving on to the good of the show, what more really needs to be said about HBK/Taker that hasn't already been said. It was a well-paced match that managed to tell a story while integrating some of the highlight spots from each man's career as well as some new spots that show that despite their advanced age, they're still able to pick up some new tricks. I'm not going to call this one a five-star match like some other people have because the ending of the match with all of the laying around felt a bit too much like the Triple H/HBK Hell in a Cell match. This one could have easily been trimmed to about twenty-five to twenty-eight minutes and been much better served as a tighter ending could have turned this from the instant classic is was to a true classic that people would remember forever. That's not to say that people won't remember this match twenty years down the road, it's just that it will probably be one of those matches that ends up remembered as better than it was. It was great, it just wasn't the epic "best match ever" that some people have built it up to be. When all is said and done, it was a match that delivered on the hype and served as a great Hall of Fame informercial for both men, but could have been a true classic that would have stood the test of time with a few tweaks here and there. Props go out to The Undertaker for not only surviving the suicide dive where he landed headfirst on the floor, but also for his great facial expressions at the finish including the disbelief in his eyes when Shawn continued to kick out of finisher after finisher. Hopefully the WWE's newer crop of stars made this match a backstage sell-out and picked up some pointers to help carry the shows once HBK and Taker eventually retire.

The Legends match between Chris Jericho and the WWE Hall of Famer's was also one of the pleasant surprises on the night. The portions of the match that featured Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka were just as bad as we all expected them to be and they were kept rightfully short with Jericho scoring eliminations on both men within the first five minutes of the match. When it came down to Jericho and Steamboat, "The Dragon" shocked everyone by not only being a lot closer to ring shape than people expected, but by also putting on a believable quality match with Jericho. He hit all of his signature spots, looked great doing them and by the end of the match had the fans on the edge of their seats for his near-falls as the people held out the slightest of hopes that they could see one of their legendary heroes pick up one more big win on the biggest stage in all of wrestling. Ultimately, Jericho went over and they got to have their forced WrestleMania moment with Mickey Rourke getting into the ring and knocking Jericho out, but even that didn't manage to sour me on the work Steamboat and Jericho put in beforehand. To me, the best way to finish would have been to have Steamboat send the crowd home happy with the upset win before Jericho laid out the Legends forcing Rourke to make the save. That would have come off a lot better for the crowd in the stadium, the crowd at home and probably would have seemed a lot more natural than the actual finish with Jericho having to get on the mic and beg Rourke into the ring was.

As I said earlier, the main event for this show should have been HBK/Taker and after seeing the actual main event between Triple H and Randy Orton, I feel it even more strongly. After some up-and-down building towards the match, they had actually managed to salvage it in the last couple of weeks, setting up a nice little grudge match with the added element of a championship on the line. Instead of hatred, instead of contempt, instead of the heat that should accompany a WrestleMania match, we got something that looked like it could have been the main event at the Great American Bash. It felt like just another main event match at any of the random pay-per-views of the year rather than the blow-off to the biggest feud in the company at the biggest show of the year. The crowd was dead throughout the entire match, the finish completely buried Orton after spending months of building him to the level of the top heel in the company and after all of the thoughts about McMahon interference, swerves and turns, it was a relatively clean finish to boot. Not only was Orton beaten by a sledgehammer and a Pedigree into a clean pinfall, he had to take his own punt to the head from Trips. After taking a beating like that and not getting anything to help carry forward any of his heel momentum, how the hell is Orton supposed to go back to Raw and do anything of consequence. He essentially has to try to rebuild his heat from scratch and will be hard-pressed to do so if he has to keep dealing with Triple H after WrestleMania.

I've thought about WrestleMania for a few days now and I think that the best way that I can sum up my feelings is that it didn't feel like a WrestleMania show. Sure, there was the huge crowd, the elaborate entrances, the C-list celebrities and all of the usual trappings that come with the show. Outside of that, the matches and the programs could have probably been featured on any other pay-per-view this year and not seemed out of place. It's not that I'm expecting every match at WrestleMania to be an epic because there's no way that it could ever meet that kind of expectation, but a lot of it felt more like it was furthering storylines rather than ending them. Granted there's always been some carry-over from WrestleMania to Backlash, but most of this year's WrestleMania felt like it was starting storylines to carry through the rest of the spring, rather than paying off the storylines they've been building since January. Out of all of the matches I previewed in last week's Bell to Bell, I only managed to get two of them right. Oddly enough, those are the two that had the most logical pay-offs of the night. The Orton/Triple H conflict is seemingly going to continue but not in the same sense as now it appears that Batista is going to be involved as well. All of the rest of the matches on the card had a lot less to do with paying off feuds with babyface victories and a lot more to do with trying to build for the future. People watch WrestleMania to see a culmination of a year and to see the babyfaces pick up big wins while being thoroughly entertained. This year saw flashes of all three of those, but nowhere near enough to make it feel like a WrestleMania. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but it's not disappointment in the way things were booked or the way the wrestlers performed. The real disappointment is that if the WWE had chosen to keep things simple, this show had the potential to be something special. The crowd was hot at points, some of the wrestlers put on the performances of their lives and there were some moments that could last a lifetime. Sadly, all of that could be lost in the shuffle because the bookers seemingly forgot what WrestleMania is meant to do.


The Stories


"Hi....I'm nearly unemployed..."

-- As would be expected, Sunday was pretty much quiet as the entire wrestling world focused on Houston and WrestleMania. There was a bit of news coming out of the WWE though as Dolph Ziggler was hurt in a WrestleMania AXXESS match the day before with the news only coming out on Sunday. Ziggler wrestled in one of the live matches at the WWE fan fair and is believed to have suffered a broken collarbone during a match with Sim Snuka. While I hate to see anyone hurt, this is probably doubly bad for Ziggler as he's done little to earn TV time outside of a silly catchphrase and a handshake. I'm not saying that this is going to be a kiss of death for Ziggler, but the WWE is known to do a little housecleaning around the time of the Draft after WrestleMania and I'd be surprised if Ziggler wasn't on the chopping block. I don't think it would be the worst thing in the world for him as he could find some work on the independents to gain some skills and valuable experience that could make him a better performer if he gets a return ticket to the WWE in the future. I realize I'm talking like Ziggler's already been released, but his lack of presence and the injury seem to make it only a matter of time.



Monday


The Show



Monday Night Raw Results:

Lumberjack Match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships: Carlito and Primo Colon vs. The Miz and John Morrison - Winners: Carlito and Primo Colon (pinfall, Backstabber on Miz)
Melina, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Layla and Jillian Hall vs. Maryse, Eve Torres, Maria, Gail Kim and Natalya - Winners: Melina, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Layla and Jillian Hall (pinfall, Mickie hits Tornado DDT on Natalya)
10-Man WrestleMania All-Star Match: John Cena, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Ricky Steamboat, & Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho, Edge, Big Show, Kane, & Matt Hardy - Winners: John Cena, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Ricky Steamboat, and Rey Mysterio (pinfall, Mysterio's springboard top rope splash on Edge)
Santina Marella vs. Beth Phoenix - Winner: Santina Marella (pinfall, blocked bodyslam using the ropes)
Vince McMahon vs. Randy Orton - Winner: No Contest (Shane-o-ference and Legacy-ference)


After having his legs cut out from him on Sunday night in Houston, Randy Orton tried to get the train back on the tracks on Monday night's episode of Raw, cutting a great promo to open the show while demanding a rematch after the sledgehammer became involved in the finish the night before. He continued threatening the McMahon family and drew Vince out to the ring, eventually goading him into a one-on-one match after a six-man was made for Backlash featuring Legacy against Triple H and the McMahons. Luckily for Orton and partly because he's that good, the crowd was eating out of the palm of his hand and he's gone fo far into heel heat that he's starting to get babyface pops. I really hope that they resist the urge to turn him because we've seen that when Orton goes face, he loses everything that makes his character so great. If they decide to turn him or the crowd decides to, they need to have him be someone like The Rock or Stone Cold in that he's still the same person whether the crowd boos him or cheers him. Orton acting like a Hulk Hogan-style "good guy" will just never work. As for the promo to start the show, Orton did what few men can and held his own in a promo with Vince McMahon. That's some pretty rarified air and Orton is showing that despite still being about as interesting in the ring as a sink of dirty dishwater, his character is dialed in and clicking on all cylinders.

The Orton/McMahon/Triple H saga bookended the show by closing things out with the match between McMahon and Orton. The match itself was about as good as you'd expect a match between McMahon and Orton to go. McMahon took over early and I'll agree with what fellow 411'er Jeremy Thomas said during the R's that the beating from McMahon seemed to be a little too much. Usually in McMahon's matches he gets the dog beaten out of him, cheats to gain an advantage and then goes on the offensive. Having McMahon as a face means he had to control from the outset and while I don't think it did anything negative to Orton, it did require a little bit more of a suspension of belief than usual. Orton weathered the storm though before turning the tide and picking Vince to pieces. For as methodical as McMahon's beating was, Orton's was that much more and that much more vicious, which was pitch-perfect. Orton's RKO on McMahon was absolutely epic, as was Cole's commentary making it seem like Randy had practically jizzed himself on the delivery. From there, Orton set up for the punt, Shane McMahon made the save and a six-man brawl between Legacy, the McMahons and Triple H ensued. After losing a lot of heat the night before at WrestleMania, Legacy got some back by thoroughly beating down the McMahon clan. We got a big surprise to close out the night with the return of Batista to stop the beatdown by Legacy. Luckily for the WWE, Batista didn't blow anything out while running down the ramp and he beat up Legacy before Bastisa-bombing Cody Rhodes nearly through the ring. Batista became part of the six-man main event at Backlash, taking the place of Vince and making it a much more enjoyable match. The only thing I hope for is that this leads to an eventual heel turn for Batista because as I was saying from the time of his injury, his face act is stale. He got a huge pop for his return, but within a month I'd expect him to be in the same funk where he was before he got hurt.

The rest of the show suffered from a mix of WrestleMania hangover and next week's Draft show as there were a lot of multi-man tag matches and a WrestleMania rematch between the Colons and Miz and Morrison. I am all in favor of seeing Miz and Morrison and the Colons get their chance after being stiffed the night before at WrestleMania and they did a great job in their eight or nine minutes to show the crowd what they had missed when the match got bumped to the pre-show. The chemistry these teams have continued to shine and they didn't get too bogged down by the lumberjack stip, which was something I was really concerned about heading into WrestleMania. The only problem is that now that the program seems to be over and there is a split being teased between Miz and Morrison, where does that leave the Colons? They're on Smackdown as the unified champions and there are literally no teams for them to feud with on either show. Legacy are tied up in the Orton/McMahon feud, Cryme Tyme has fallen off of the planet, and I honestly can't think of any other teams after that. I'm probably missing somone obvious and if I am I apologize, but the point I'm trying to make is that the Colons have been made into a legitimate tag team with this feud and sadly it will all likely go for naught as there's no one for them to work with after Mizzorrison. I'd also like to add that after seeing it on Raw, it's even more of a travesty that this match got bumped in favor of a twenty-minute Kid Rock ego stroke. This could have been one more bright spot on a show that sorely needed them.

Though Orton vs. Vince closed the show, to me the real main event was the WrestleMania all-star match. Unlike other all-star games like the Pro Bowl, all ten men involved in this one worked their asses off and delivered a quality match in an environment where it could have easily fallen into clusterfuck territory. Featuring nearly all of the top stars in the company, these guys got plenty of time and Ricky Steamboat got his moment in the sun after a great performance the night before at WrestleMania. The crowd was right there with Ricky through the entire match and he barely looked out of place with the best the business has to offer today. He even played the Ricky Morton role in the match, making sure to give back to all of the heels that bumped their asses off for him to make him look like he hadn't missed a step. As with most multi-man tag matches, the finish came after a big schmozz and while it was fun to see Rey's double-619 on Jericho and Edge as well as Steamboat's big splash on Edge before the final pin, in my own selfish little mind I would have loved to see Steamboat get the fall as a reward for all of his great work throughout WrestleMania weekend. I know that things turned out much better with Rey getting the pin and that Ricky wouldn't have wanted to take a pin that could hurt someone on the current roster, but there are times where you just have to go against the flow and it would have been fun to see "The Dragon" get a win after doing a great job while doing the job at WrestleMania.

As I said, this one was pretty much a way to continue the feud between Legacy and the McMahons while putting things into a bit of a holding pattern until the Draft. It will be interesting to see how things are shaken up and what difference if any it will make as the WWE seems to be slowly coming around to the idea of dissolving the brand extension, at least on television. Should be a fun show next week with the Draft, even though the three-hour Raw's are usually death.


The Stories

-- Despite not being high on critical acclaim, WrestleMania XXV proved to be a huge commercial success for the WWE as the company issued a press release stating that the event outdrew the Super Bowl held in Tampa in February and grossed neary $7 million dollars, making it the highest grossing live event in the history of the company. While there's no clue yet as to how much the show was going to do in terms of pay-per-view buys, the fact that they were able to do a huge gross and get a massive crowd into the Reliant Stadium in Houston, the WWE is showing that they can still do big business in a tougher economic climate. It seems like bigger chains are going out of business every week with money and credit being tight, but I think that the WWE will be recession-proof forever. Wrestling is one of those industries that's managed to survive nearly everything that has been thrown at it in the past hundred years and the fact that a record like this was set in economic times like this is just proof that it will continue to live forever....just like cockroaches.


"My suits look even more expensive in HD...."

-- Monday also saw Ring of Honor announce that Ric Flair will be a part of their next set of TV tapings for their HDNet program. This is big for ROH as they have benefitted already from having Flair appear at their live shows. Having him on their show to give the rub to a new promotion on a new network gives them a big shot in the arm in terms of credibility. While I'm sure there are people who will chalk this up to Flair being willing to do anything for a buck, I think that it has just as much to do with Flair wanting to give back to the business that has given him so much and to help a younger generation to have their best chance at success. Flair showed in the build to WrestleMania that he can still contribute a lot while on the microphone, so it's going to be fun to see what he does in a somewhat more releaxed atmosphere in Ring of Honor.



Tuesday


The Show



ECW on Sci-Fi Results:

Tyson Kidd, The Miz, and John Morrison vs. Evan Bourne, Carlito, and Primo Colon - Winners: Evan Bourne, Carlito, and Primo Colon (pinfall, Bourne's shooting star press on Kidd
Mark Henry vs. Finlay vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian - Winner: Finlay (pinfall, shillelagh shot on Henry)


ECW this week saw some big changes as we have a new GM and a new chase for a number one contender for Jack Swagger's ECW Championship. The show started out with Teddy Long announcing that he was going to be heading to Smackdown to be that show's GM after Vickie Guerrero became Raw's GM. That left ECW without a GM, though not for long as Long introduced resident ECW hotpants Tiffany as the new interim GM of the brand. Jack Swagger appeared and thought that he was going to get some special treatment, but Tiffany shot that down and set up the championship elimination chase that will give Swagger his next challenger. Mark Henry, Tommy Dreamer, Christian and Finlay were announced for a fatal four-way main event with the man taking the pin being eliminated from the chase. The match itself wasn't very good and was gutted by a commercial that took pretty much any chance of a decent match away. In the end, Finlay cracked Mark Henry with the shillelagh and eliminated the World's Strongest Man from title contention.

While I agree with Henry being eliminated first and with the participants involved, I'm not sure if I am liking how this is going to go as it's pretty much a given that Christian is going to end up being the winner. Finlay's already had his chance and Vince shit all over the title match he had with Swagger and Dreamer is about three months away from his deadline and his likely title shot, the answer is pretty clear as to who is going to come out on top. I've liked the ECW chase idea when they've done it previously, but after seeing a lot of these guys interact with each other all through the Money In The Bank build, I think I've seen enough of Christian, Mark Henry and Finlay in the same match for a long time. The other problem is that there's now three faces left in the running for the title shot and it could lead to some very split reactions in the next couple of weeks as they whittle the ranks down to the last man standing for the number one contendership. I can see whoever wins the chase having some work to do to get all of the fans back on his side after some splits in the crowd leading up to the title shot. The other thing I hope for is that they don't do the chase and then give the title shot the following week. I rather like it when there's a couple of weeks of build given to the match even after a chase and it would mean a little more for the winner to get a couple of weeks to build on any prior history they have, rather than just rushing to a title match after spending a month to figure out who's going to feud for it.

The only other match on ECW on Tuesday featured six of the WWE's future stars and high-fliers as Evan Bourne teamed with the Colons to take on The Miz, John Morrison and Tyson Kidd. This was a very, VERY good six-man tag match and was a solid fifteen minutes of action. Kidd and Bourne continued their interaction to push their feud which has been simmering as the push to WrestleMania took over and the Colons and Mizzorrison still have the same chemistry they've always had. The Colons and Bourne ended up picking up the win, continuing the losing streak of Morrison and the Miz and I have to wonder if this is just continuing the potential break-up because if they were looking to continue to have them perform as a credible team they wouldn't be being handled so easily match after match by the Colons. Granted they didn't take the pin in this one and the finish didn't involve either Colon, Miz or Morrison, but it's still an issue that Miz and Morrison are seemingly getting buried as a team out of a feud that had them running neck and neck and even ahead of the Colons prior to WrestleMania.


The Stories


Still layin' the Smack down on some candy asses...

-- The only story worth mentioning on Tuesday was an interview with Dwayne Johnson that made the rounds and features him talking about the challenge laid down last week by current WWE superstar John Cena. Cena and Johnson have seemingly been intertwined for the past few months, mainly at Cena's insistence as he has taken issue with how Johnson has seemingly left his wrestling roots behind as his success in Hollywood has grown. Johnson pretty much put the kibosh on any plans that Cena or the WWE might have had in goading him into the ring by shooting down the idea and laughing it off. I spoke in a previous edition that Cena needed to stop trying to be a repeat of a popular performer of the past and focus on being himself. Hopefully Johnson's shooting down the challenge that Cena put out will help him get past this need to try to measure up to what The Rock used to be and put him on the path to finding success in his own right. I do have to admit that even when giving an interview where he's not terribly interested in talking about wrestling and at a time where he's further away from the business than he ever has been, Johnson can flip a switch and cut a promo with the best of them.



Wednesday


The Stories


Just add me to Michael Cole and you'll get instant disaster...

-- The announcing situation within the WWE suffered a bit of a reshuffle after last week's news that Tazz was leaving the WWE to recharge his batteries and to take some time off. Todd Grisham has been moved off of ECW to Smackdown where he and Jim Ross will share duties as PBP and color men. Josh Matthews has been promoted from fetching coffee for the other announcers and hosting programs for WWE.com Legacy and the WWE On Demand service to working as a play-by-play man for ECW. I was actually a fan of Matthews' work back in the days of the "B" shows and I think that if they give him a chance with ECW he could actually grow into something serviceable. All of this could end up being a moot point with the Draft coming up next week and the likelihood that announcers will switch brands, but right now the WWE's announce teams seem like they're as strong as they can be, so switching people around would probably only do more negative than positive. Let's hope they leave the announcers alone because even with a reunion of JR and the King on Raw or Smackdown, that leaves us with Cole and Grisham on the other show, which is a prospect too disturbing to even consider.



Thursday


The Show



TNA Impact Results:

Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Suicide - Winner: Sheik Abdul Bashir (pinfall, WMDDT on X-Division Championship belt)
Booker T vs. Samoa Joe - Winner: Samoa Joe (pinfall, powerslam)
Scott Steiner vs. James Storm - Winner: James Storm (disqualification, Big Sexy-ference)
Awesome Kong vs. Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne - Winner: Awesome Kong (pinfall, sunset flip)
Handicap First Blood Match Mick Foley vs. The Motor City Machine Guns - Winners: The Motor City Machine Guns (first blood, Sting chairshot on Foley)


I'm going to take a departure from the norm this week and instead of recapping my recap and giving some extended thoughts on the TNA show from this past week, I'm going to address some of the thoughts from TNA fans and TNA haters alike. I had more than a few commenters in this week's Impact report saying that I should look for another show to cover if I was going to be so blatantly biased against TNA. If there's anything that I'll take issue with, it's the fact that I'm biased. I give every show equal chance from one week to the next and as far as I'm concerned, TNA gets a clean slate from me at 6pm PST every Thursday night. I'll admit that I wasn't able to get totally into TNA until they started in on Fox Sports Net and then Spike, but I am no less of a TNA fan than I am an ROH fan or a WWE fan. I am a fan of professional wrestling plain and simple. When it's good, I'll give it praise and when it's bad, it will be called as such. I would be being disingenuous if I gave less than my honest opinion when talking about TNA's product and it would be unfair to the people who read this site if I chose to gloss over the bad aspects of any show while overly hyping the good.

I've had numerous TNA fans call me a WWE "homer" and that I am being unecessarily hard on TNA because I'm too big of a WWE mark to see good in any other product. If the people who read my TNA reports read this news column, they'll know that I am just as likely to call WWE on the carpet and tear them a new one for a stupid booking decision as I am TNA. The difference between the two is that WWE will take a bad booking idea and either scrap it completely or give it a little twist to try to right the ship and turn it into a good idea. TNA will take a bad booking idea (Samoa Joe's new knife, "The Governor", etc.) and run it completely into the ground, spending week after week hammering us with it so that they're sure we get the joke or we get the cutting-edginess of it all. When you see someone making a mistake and then continuing to make that same mistake over and over again it can be frustrating and I never make any attempt to hide that frustration. TNA has a talented roster full of young guys that can be the future of this business and a group of older talent who have reached the top of this business that could be guiding them along the way. That could ultimately be how it ends up happening and I'm more than happy to give TNA the benefit of the doubt, but it feels like TNA is booking week to week to try to keep bumping the ratings with no real thought being given to any long-term future in the company.

Speaking of the talent on TNA's in-ring roster, they have some of the best workers in the business, but you can never tell it from watching Impact because they get to have three or four minute matches while the main eventers spend half an hour of the show talking about their match. If you look back over the past few months, the best shows that TNA has been able to put on have been able to find a balance between in-ring promos, quality wrestling and backstage nonsense. Lately it's felt like TNA has begun to rely too heavily on in-ring promos and backstage nonesense, completely moving away from the one thing that could truly differentiate themselves from the WWE and make them their own product that could stand on its own rather than trying to ride coattails to success. When TNA is on and humming with the promos and ring work, they can compete with WWE and in some weeks actually put on better shows than the WWE. My frustration that comes out in some of the weekly reports is that you can see the pieces and you can see that they fall into place on the odd weeks, but for the most part it all falls a little bit short. Much like a first-round draft pick that has all of the potential in the world but fails to deliver, TNA is a company that has all of the components to be a huge success, they're just not using them properly.

I've never been someone who is down on a product just because of the name or the reputation. If I was, I would never have signed on to be the Impact recapper because I had heard some horrible things about the show and seen some terrible episodes while other people held that duty. In the time that I've watched the show I feel like I've experienced the highs and the lows of the show with some of the best action I've seen being followed the next week by a show that reaches levels of boredom and distraction that I can't believe. TNA is the wrestling equivalent of a bi-polar patient. When it's good, it's good, but when it's bad, it's REALLLLLY bad. If they could get rid of some of the really bad portions of the show from week to week, which they do on occasion, I would have less of a problem with their show. It's when they take the nonsense out one week and stick it back in twice as heavy the next that I really take issue. The answers for TNA to become even more successful and to stay there are right in front of them. If they take a second to look around and realize what works and what needs to work for them to have a future, they'd be a lot more consistent week to week and would put on a much better show. I'm pulling for them as they have lots of talent and the potential to be a great wrestling company.


The Stories


No Larry makes Randy a sad panda...

-- The biggest news coming out of Thursday is that Larry Sweeney is apparently done with Ring of Honor or vice versa after Sweeney wrote via his MySpace page that he was suspended by the company without pay. From the looks of Sweeney's MySpace post, it looks like he was suspended because the company thought he had a substance abuse problem that Sweeney has since explained is a bipolar disorder that he's been living with since his teens. Sweeney has decided that he's going to wait for ROH to pay him for the bookings that he is owed and that he will not be back until they "make things right". If I was in the shoes of Cary Silken, I would be trying my best to make things right as soon as possible because Sweeney and Sweet and Sour Incorporated are cornerstones of ROH at the moment and as I said a couple of weeks ago while covering ROH for the Bell to Bell, Sweeney has the makings of being this generation's Bobby Heenan. Not having him in ROH would leave a huge gap for a lot of talent including Sara Del Rey, the American Wolves and others. It seems like this is a static situation and something that could change rather quickly, but both sides seem to be resolute in their positions at the moment and for now Sweeney is on the outs. Sad, sad, sad. That's about all I can think of.

-- Speaking of sad news, The Sun newspaper out of the UK is reporting that Andrew "Test" Martin's cause of death was oxycodone intoxication as a result of an accidental overdose. There is no word as to what level of intoxication he suffered or what drugs he was taking that could have caused the overdose, but more information will likely be coming out in the weeks and months ahead. Oxycodone intoxication also killed WWE Hall of Famer Sherri Martel and actor Heath Ledger and the pill is known to be one of the most widely abused prescription drugs on the market. Many people figured that drugs would be involved with Martin's death when the chemical screens came back, but it doesn't make the news of it being confirmed any less disappointing.



Friday


The Show



Friday Night Smackdown Results:

The Big Show vs Kofi Kingston - Winner: The Big Show (pinfall, KO punch)
The Great Khali vs. Santino Marella - Winner: The Great Khali (pinfall, Punjabi Plunge)
Michelle McCool vs. Gail Kim - Winner: Gail Kim (pinfall, roll-up)
The Colons vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes - Winners: Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes (pinfall, CrossRhodes on Carlito)
Stretcher Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy - Winner: Matt Hardy


The last show before the WWE Draft next Monday was actually a nice change from Raw as Smackdown seemed to be in more of the mode of a regular show rather than a placeholder show. It felt like there was more in-ring action than on Raw and that things were actually going places as the feud between Matt and Jeff Hardy progressed in the ring and the championship feud between Edge and John Cena continued on the microphone. There has been a lot of talk about the promo between Edge and Cena and how it was the most believeably intense we've seen Cena in a long time. I'm inclined to agree with that and go one step further by saying that it's probably the most believable Cena has been in intensity ever. When Cena gets intense, he tends to suffer from the Triple H syndrome of using muscle-shaking and constipated faces to get the point across. This time, he was understated and used the less is more approach and it was great. I've been of the mind that Cena as a face has become stale and a shell of what boosted him into the main event scene. With this kind of intensity, he brought another layer to his face character and may have even bought himself a few more months as a face before the act wears thin again. If he brings this kind of intensity to a feud with someone outside of Edge (maybe a newly minted heel Punk), it would be a welcome change of pace from what we've usually had to sit through from the new champ.

As I spoke of earlier, Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy continued their feud on Smackdown with a stretcher match. The match was set up by some great heel mic work from Matt Hardy to start the show (yeah, I never thought I'd say that either) and it led to Teddy Long making the stretcher match to play off of some of Matt's comments during his promo. I'm usually not a big fan at all of the stretcher matches because they tend to wilt under the weight of the way the gimmick is structured, but this one was great because it had a lot better story to it than their match at WrestleMania. Because of the Extreme Rules tag, everyone was expecting crazy spots in Houston and while there were plenty of spots, it still felt like it didn't live up to what people had been expecting. This match may not have had the same expectations going into it, but to me it actually exceeded them. Rather than being based on a couple of big spots with a lot of blank space between them, they used psychology to get past the gimmick of the stretcher and even used the stretcher to their advantage. Sure there were plenty of highspots, including Jeff's insane swanton attempt onto Matt on the stretcher, but it felt like a much more intense match than it was at WrestleMania. In the end Matt picked up the second win in a row in the feud, continuing on with his roll as of late and from here I'll be interested to see how long they keep allowing Matt to have the upper hand. Hopefully it's for long enough to cement his status as a main eventer because he's showing he's worthy of the spot with the new edge to his character.

After talking about the depleted tag-team scene of the WWE during my take on Raw earlier, Smackdown decided to try to prove me wrong by having Legacy taking on Primo and Carlito Colon in a non-title match. The match itself was solid and there was nothing objectionable to it, but it felt more like a stop-off match for Rhodes and DiBiase rather than the beginning of an actual feud. As long as they're tied up with being Orton's back-up during his feud with the McMahons it's going to be hard for them to have an actual feud, especially one over the unified Tag Titles. For the first match between the two teams it was a good match and a nice tease for what we can expect to come from a potential feud from them, but as I said it's sad to think that this will probably be on the backburner until after Backlash, if not longer. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the huge growth by the Colons since their team began. When they began, they were a guy who was nearly on his way out of the company and a total newcomer. After months of being able to mesh together while feuding with a great team like Miz and Morrison, they're a fully integrated and very enjoyable tag team that goes beyond working well as brothers and into working well period. I'm not suggesting they're on their way to becoming the next Steiners in terms of success, but they're doing better than I had ever imagined they would have when the team was formed.

The rest of the show featured a bunch of mish-mash as we got to see The Great Khali for the first time in a while, squashing Santino Marella and a Divas match between Gail Kim and Michelle McCool. Kim looked good in what I believe is her first one-on-one match since her return to the WWE. They had some bright moments, but I can't help but feel like Kim has been a step off since her return. I'm not sure if it's because of the long layoff between her re-debut in the WWE and her last match in TNA or if it's that she's not working with the same caliber of talent in the WWE as she was in the TNA Knockouts division, but she doesn't seem to have the same crispness that she had when she was taking on Awesome Kong. I'm glad to see her in the WWE to be sure and I'm looking forward to seeing her really cut loose against gals like Beth Phoenix and Natalya once she's gotten herself readjusted to life in the WWE. As I said before, I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's something that I'm noticing as I watch her week after week.


The Stories

-- The TNA ratings watch continues as this week's edition garnered a 1.32 in the ratings. No word on how many viewers watched the show, but it is likely less than last week's record viewership as I'm sure that if they broke 2 million they would be screaming it from the top of Universal Studios. Each week is seeing TNA making small gains in the ratings and if they continue to make those minimal gains, they could be turning into larger gains before too long. The show this past week wasn't very good, but next week's show will feature a big return and be the major go-home show for Lockdown, so it could see another small rise. People have talked about how the WWE's ratings are dwarfing TNA's ratings and that's true, but right now TNA needs to be concerned with growing their audience rather than competing with the WWE. If they can continue to be one of the most-watched shows on Spike, they could see even more advertising and even more chances for new fans to see the show. I've noticed while catching up on CSI: NY episodes during the afternoon on Spike that TNA was getting featured more during commercial breaks throughout the weekdays, which means that more people are being made aware of the product which can only be a good thing for TNA.



Saturday


The Show



ROH on HDNet Results:

Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega - Winner: Austin Aries (pinfall, brainbuster)
Delirious vs. Ernie Osiris - Winner: Delirious (pinfall, Shadows Over Hell)
Daizee Haze and Neveah vs. Sara Del Ray and Sassy Stephie - Winners: Daizee Haze and Neveah (pinfall, Haze's Mind Trip on Stephie)
Jerry Lynn vs. Brodie Lee - Winner: Jerry Lynn (pinfall, roll-up)


Unfortunately because of my duties as main play-by-play recapper for MMA events over at Nokaut, I was unable to catch this week's edition of ROH on HDNet in time for it to be fit into the column. I apologize for missing out on the program and ROH will be back next week with more bullet-pointy goodness. Sorry about that ROH-bots, and I mean that as a term of endearment rather than a slur.


The Stories


You think that pyro is scary, wait 'til you see Bonaduce's roid rage...

-- The only thing that I've seen cross the wire on Saturday that even seems worth mentioning is the talk that the Danny Bonaduce vs. Eric Young match at TNA Lockdown is going to be a pre-show match rather than on the pay-per-view. When I first heard about the possibility of him appearing on the show, I figured that it was going to be one of those situations like TNA and other smaller promotions have done in the past where they have a local DJ be a manager for talent during a house show or have a dark match featuring a DJ against a manager or something of that ilk. If Bonaduce was going to actually be making an appearance on the pay-per-view broadcast, I'm guessing that TNA would already have been pushing it to the moon and promoting it better than any of their main events. It doesn't make it any better that Eric Young is going to be wasted on bullshit like this rather than the actual pay-per-view, but at least he'll be spared having to have it be on DVD for all eternity. Granted, Bonaduce was the best of a bad lot in Hulk Hogan's CCW, he still has no business stepping into a real professional wrestling ring for anything other than a comedy match. My prediction for the match, Bonaduce gets the win and Young continues to question why he didn't take the fall instead of Petey Williams.


That does it for me this week folks. It's been a big week in the past seven days with WrestleMania and all and it promises to be just as big a week next week with all of the pre-Lockdown and post-WWE Draft buzz as well as the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And yes, I will be talking about them until they're over, even if Detroit happens to be eliminated before the end, so get used to hearing about it. In the meantime and in between time, I hope to see you back here next time for another edition of the week-ending tradition at 411, the Bell to Bell News Report.


If you're a fan of MMA, be sure to check out Nokaut.com for more of my work.