The Triple Threat 05.10.09: The 139th Edition - Tag Team Wrestling, Tommy Dreamer, William Regal, More

Posted by David Martell on 05.10.2009

This week we talk about a resurgence of tag team wrestling, what we think is the best weekly wrestling show, and if the WWE should go back to a twelve PPV format. William Regal is our Superstar Highlight. Come on in!




Welcome back once again to the Triple Threat Column. This week was a slow week for wrestling news so I put some questions that everybody seems to be asking now a days. This week we talk about the possible resurgence of tag team wrestling, Joey Ryan going to RoH, Tommy Dreamer winning the ECW or retiring, if WWE should go back to a twelve PPV schedule, and what is the best weekly wrestling show. Please enjoy!


Topic # 1 Do you think that there will ever be a resurgence of tag team wrestling on a major scale?

David Martell: I sure do hope so. In the WWE, tag teams have taken a back seat, so much so that they even unified the two separate tag belts. There seems to be only three tag teams left in WWE and they are Cryme Tyme, The Legacy and Carlito and Primo. Three tag teams isn't going to make tag team wrestling popular in the WWE. On the other hand, TNA has several tag teams. The problem there is that many of these teams are either thrown together or just not any good. There are three tag teams I enjoy in TNA: Beer Money, LAX and the MCMG. These three teams are great. Tag teams like Suicide and Amazing Red, and Jethro Holiday and Eric Young just seem thrown together. The Team 3D tag team tournament is fun but I doubt any of these guy are going to be stealing the show. Until this whole MEM, Mick Foley, and Jeff Jarrett thing is over with, tag team wrestling isn't going to seem very important. Is there going to be a resurgence of tag team wrestling? I think its very possible. TNA is starting off things well by having a lot of depth in their tag team division. Let the tag teams main event every so often and things will start picking up. I am sure if the WWE wanted to, they could pick up several tag teams off the indy circuit and start showcasing them on all three brands but there focus is obviously on singles wrestling. Only time will tell really. Hopefully one day we can relive the moments of the Hardys, Dudleys and Edge and Christian.

Alex Mattis: In the E? Not for a LONG while, if ever. For some reason Vince & Co. stopped giving a shit about tag team wrestling years and years ago. It's a fundamental part of professional wrestling but it hasn't been prevalent or important in the E for 7 or 8 years. When TNA had their shit together, when they were the best product on TV, one of the high points was their tag division. Then they went to the shitter and are in the place they are now... all their tag division has right now are the Machine Guns. Ring Of Honor has always had a phenomenal tag division and still does to this day with The American Wolves as their champs and the impending return of the greatest tag team in professional wrestling today... The Briscoes (no one who knows what they are talking about can argue that fact). But anywho back to the original question, to make a long story short tag team wrestling on the "big scale" I'm assuming that means the E will mean anything of any importance in the fore-seeable future.

Zach Brown: As of right now, I don't think tag teams have that much of a bright future. WWE just doesn't take their tag team division as seriously as I'd like them to. And TNA respects their tag division a little more, but their whole product is so much of a mess that it's hard to even sit through their whole show to get to the tag team stuff. But that's not to say that there aren't a few excellent tag team stand outs. I honestly believe that Miz and Morrison were the best thing to happen to tag teams in the last 5 years or so. The Colon brothers weren't a bad addition either, and they were a good choice to hold the unified tag team belts. But really, having only 2 tag teams that are worth their weight are not nearly enough for an entire division. On the TNA side, I'm a big fan of both LAX and Beer Money. But I hate Team 3D, Lethal Consequences is a joke, and every other random tag team in TNA just seems like it's sloppily put together in my opinion.

Topic # 2 What are your thoughts on Joey Ryan going to RoH?

David Martell: This was only a matter of time because Joey Ryan is one of the most popular guys on the indy circuit. This guy has a lot of character and is pretty damn good in the ring. With RoH having their own weekly TV show, Joey Ryan could add some character aspect to the show to draw more people in. Lets face it, people like gimmicks and Joey Ryan plays sleazy to the max. It will be interesting to see who he would feud with and I look forward to see what happens.

Alex Mattis: A rather interesting turn of events here. Ryan is a very big name and well known wrestler on the West-Coast but never dabbled in ROH and there has never been much mention of him working for the company but sure enough the Sleazy One will finally be making his debut in Ring Of Honor. I have always been a fan of Ryan and look forward to what he can bring to ROH. Plenty of great matches he could have, but also the heat-magnet that he is I can't wait to see what kind of work he could do in front of the ROH/East Coast crowd.

Zach Brown: Who wants a Moustache Ride!? This is a great step for Joey Ryan. I've seen the guy wrestle live on numerous occasions, and I've always thought that Joey was meant for bigger and better things. His gimmick is hilarious, he's great on the mic, and I've always liked his wrestling style. So for him to be mostly confined to PWG doesn't do him enough credit. Not to say that PWG isn't a great promotion. PWG is incredibly entertaining, and it definitely fits Joey's character and sense of humor. But I like that he's moving on to ROH. Ring of Honor is arguably the biggest stage in indy wrestling, and I'd like to see Ryan take the next step in his career. Hopefully this could lead to WWE picking him up and actually utilizing him instead of having him do the job to John Morrison or Mark Henry and going under the name "Joey Blaylock."

Topic # 3 Should Tommy Dreamer win the "ECW" title at Extreme Rules or should he just call it a career?

David Martell: I personally think Dreamer should call it quits. I do think he's a decent wrestling and he's great at helping younger guys get over but I doubt he's actually happy in ECW. He is the last ECW original in WWE and I am sure that eats at him. Although I think ECW is a pretty damn good weekly show, Dreamer probably doesn't think its on par to what they had in the past and rightfully so. I think he would be much better in a back stage role or even as the GM of ECW. Lets face it, Tiffany is terrible. She is a pretty face to look at and it seems that she tries very hard to make things interesting but overall she is just god awful on the mic. Dreamer as GM would be fun and make complete sense. For the most part, he had a great career and its not a bad time to put up the boots.

Alex Mattis: Dreamer has gone about as far as he is going to go with his career in professional wrestling. He had an incredible, and very unlikely, run in ECW that forever cemented his status and his place in the history of American pro wrestling. Move on to his time in the E, it was clear from the start what Vince and Co. thought of him, they have pretty much used him as a joke and a massive jobber. At this point I would be so happy to see Dreamer given some props and the "ECW" title, but like I said I believe he has peaked and doesn't have much else to do. Plus his married to Beulah... his life is good.

Zach Brown: Tommy Dreamer should just hang up the boots in my honest opinion. On this past ECW, Jack Swagger was echoing everything I thought about Dreamer's involvement with the title. So Tommy Dreamer is retiring. Why does he need to take one last shot at the title? Not even Ric Flair did that. I honestly would have respected Dreamer much more if he had just cut a heartfelt promo about his time in wrestling, and then respectfully bowed out. But no, he has to take one last shot at the title in order to "prove he's a man." I just don't see the point. I've never been a big fan of Tommy Dreamer. I'm very familiar with how important he was in ECW back in the day, but even then, I wasn't a fan of his wrestling ability. I think Dreamer will get a title match, lose the match, and then call it quits. But in my honest opinion, watching Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian is not something that I would order a PPV to see. Hopefully, WWE will make it a Triple Threat match with Swagger thrown in there. And let's say that through some miracle, Tommy Dreamer won the title. No one would care. It would just be pointless. He wouldn't be a believable champ when there are guys like Koslov, Christian, Swagger, Finlay, Tyson Kidd, Evan Bourne, and even Mark Henry all on ECW. All of those people are arguably more talented and more believable as champions. So even if Dreamer won the title, which I sincerely doubt, then it would be a farce for him to defend it against any one of those challengers. I hate that I'm writing this about Tommy Dreamer because I really do respect the guy and all he's done for professional wrestling. But sometimes, the truth hurts, and some guys need to know when to hang ‘em up.

Topic # 4 Should the WWE go back to a twelve PPV year?

David Martell: YES! Right now the WWE currently has four PPVs and it just makes things cluttered. Having the twelve PPV format gives them more time to make feuds, simple as that. I understand that the WWE is money hungry and more PPVs means more money in their pocket but when you have two PPVs in a single month, its hard to make a decent card. There are two PPVs that I think are completely useless: Extreme Rules and Cyber Sunday. First off, Extreme Rules is a terrible name for a PPV. I am also not a fan of a PPV only having gimmick matches. That is just overkill. Just like I am not a fan of TNA's Lockdown PPV. Cyber Sunday is an interesting concept but I think it would do a lot better as a three hour RAW. Cyber Sunday is usually not a very good PPV and if I am right, it gets the lowest buys out of all the WWE's PPVs. Twelve PPVs makes perfect sense. It gives more time to create feuds, allowing better chemistry with wrestlers and it could end up giving us better planed out matches.

Alex Mattis: YES! I can not stress this enough. 16 or 14 or whatever they are at right now is WAY too many; I think 12 is too many. I'm a firm believer in the 9 PPV's a year method. But anyway yes, back to 12. One per month, not as many rushed storylines and feuds, and the E could damn near guarantee a slight, if not large, rise in PPV buys. I just don't understand why all the overkill, hopefully they'll drop a couple here pretty soon so that we have more than a 3 week period in-between spending 45 bucks.

Zach Brown: Yes, absolutely they should. One PPV a month is perfect. You get decent build to the big matches with 4 weeks of shows. And lets talk about the shows that just downright suck, shall we? Cyber Sunday has definitely got to go. It's just so stupid when WWE gives us the opportunity of voting on match stipulations, but then in the fine print, it basically says "WWE reserves the right to do whatever we damn well please." And even after the you know that the voting is totally pointless, they often make the choice completely obvious. For example, two years ago they had the choice of picking a special guest referee for Batista vs. Taker. Should the WWE Universe pick:
A. JBL
B. Mick Foley
C. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN

If you can't tell already, people were going apeshit for JBL as the potential guest ref. And I could also do without the Great American Bash. It's almost always bad, and I could just do without it all together. All in all, WWE could stand to trim some fat with their PPVs because it could immensely help out the product overall.

Topic # 5 What do you think is the best wrestling show on TV currently?

David Martell: Smackdown IS the best weekly wrestling show. The draft really make Smackdown something to watch and for the past two weeks I have been impressed. Smackdown is the wrestling show. For two weeks know we have been given a lot of decent matches and a whole lot of new and interesting feuds. I haven't been this interested in watching Smackdown since Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle were on the show. The feuds of CM Punk vs. Umaga, Morrison vs. Shelton, and Jericho vs. Rey are all great mixes of styles and athleticism. Smackdown almost has enough going on to have their own PPV! With the lack of Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton, and John Cena on the show, younger guys have the chance to shine and possibly main event. RAW is for entertainment, ECW for development, Smackdown for wrestling, RoH is for independent wrestling and TNA is just terrible. Overall, Smackdown is the best overall wrestling show on TV today and I hope it stays that way.

Alex Mattis: Interesting question. The question states the best wrestling show so hands down it's Ring Of Honor. That's the only real, pure wrestling show on television. Now granted I don't see the show as much as I see Raw, but the episodes I have seen show that it is the solid professional wrestling show on TV today. It has many kinks that need to be worked out and some of it does seem a bit rushed but the focus of the show is on the wrestling. The E has got the spectacle and whatnot, TNA has... a good roster on paper and..., SmackDown is very good right now and has a lot going for it and probably the best ALL-AROUND show. So take your pick it really depends on what you want, but the best WRESTLING show comes from the best WRESTLING company in this country - Ring Of Honor.

Zach Brown: Well, judging by Smackdown's recent quality, I have to go with the blue brand. It's just been absolute quality for the past few weeks, and I've been enjoying every minute of it. I just hope Smackdown keeps it up and keeps giving their younger guys more of a push towards the main event. Right now, I think RAW and ECW are tied for me. RAW has been the A show for me for so long, but their ridiculous amount of main event talent is overwhelming, and they've just had terrible storylines for the past few weeks. ECW has been pretty solid lately, and the only thing that holds it back for me is that I think that the hour for Superstars should have gone to ECW to make it a full-fledged 2 hour show. Granted, ECW would need a bigger roster for that to happen, but still. And TNA Impact...oh boy. These past few weeks of TNA have been downright awful, terrible, no good, bad times. If you thought you knew what the bottom of the barrel was for TV wrestling, just watch an episode of Impact. TNA drills right through the bottom of that barrel. They spend so much more time backstage than in the ring. And I might be able to mind it if their segments were at least halfway tolerable. But alas, I want to claw my eyes out when I watch them. And the Main Event Mafia is a freaking joke. Kurt Angle calls himself the Godfather of TNA and holds a fake rose as he says "every rose has it's thorn." Did no one tell Kurt that his prop rose doesn't have thorns? Meanwhile, Booker T is doing the worst acting of his career, they ruined Samoa Joe, Nash looks like he belongs in a home, and Mick Foley is their champion. It's terrible. The Motor City Machine Guns, Christopher Daniels, and Jeff Jarrett are some of the only guys keeping TNA afloat. And I would comment on ROH, but I unfortunately don't get HDNet. All in all, Smackdown is untouchable right now, and I hope they keep it up.



Superstar Highlight

William Regal


Our thoughts on William Regal.

David Martell: For the most part, I have always enjoyed watching William Regal. He is a fantastic wrestler and is a very talented talker. I loved his run with the Intercontinental Title several years ago and when he became GM, he was getting heel heat out the wazoo. There was even a time where I thought Regal was becoming one of the biggest heels in wrestling. I was even convinced that he could win a World Title but we know what happened there. After coming back from his suspension, he has been on the back burner. He has just started a feud with MVP and I am all for it. Regal is a great teacher and could help MVP hone his ability even further. I hope someday soon Regal will be able to become the monster heel he was meant to be but for now I will just enjoy the matches he is put it.

Alex Mattis: Ah good ol' Willy Reg, gotta love 'em. Love classical wrestling? See Willy Reg. Love stiff ass shit that can make you cringe? See Willy Reg. Unfortunately for Regal though he was given the biggest chance he had had in his career he blew it. Since then he hasn't done too much of note, but I'm hoping that could change. I would love see him have one last great run as he has to be on the or close to the downslide of his career, factoring in his age and such. I have always been a huge fan of the Man's Man and look forward to seeing what he has left.

Zach Brown: Ah, Willy Regal. I love this guy. Such a great character, a great wrestler, and someone that I have an enormous amount of respect for. This guy is one of the sickest practitioners in the ring today. He's probably the stiffest guy that I can think of in WWE, and one of the most technically sound as well. That being said, there have been times where I'm watching Regal, and I can't help but be worried that he'll injure his opponent. For example, there was one time I saw Regal throw Orton over his head, and Orton landed so awkwardly on his head that I thought he broke his neck. But if you get past that, Regal is incredibly entertaining to watch. And when he had his run as RAW's GM in ‘07-‘08, I was a huge fan of his. He was one of the best GM's that Raw had seen in a long time. He won the King of the Ring, he was turning in some great work, and he was such a monster heel that it's not even funny. And he got derailed for substance abuse. Such a shame. I hope WWE gives Regal the ball again sometime in the near future. Because he was hot shit for several months as GM, and I'd love to see it happen again soon.


That is all for this week. Please feel free to submit comments at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!