The Triple Threat 10.25.09: The 162nd Edition – Bragging Rights, Lance Cade, Nigel To TNA, More

Posted by David Martell on 10.25.2009

This week we preview WWE's Bragging Rights, we talk about Nigel going to TNA, Lance Cade coming back to the WWE, title changes at Bound for Glory and TNA's new direction with younger talent. The Iron Man Match is our Gimmick Match Highlight this week. Please Enjoy!

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Topic # 1 WWE‘s Bragging Rights is this Sunday. What are your thoughts on the card?

David Martell: When I first heard about this PPV, I really didn't think I was going to buy it. It didn't seem like anything special and being only three weeks from the last PPV, Hell in a Cell, it just didn't seem like it would stack up to be a good card. Once they booked the Iron Man match, I was sold. I absolutely love Iron Man matches. To me it is the ultimate feud ending match. Although the storyline between Cena and Orton hasn't been all that great, this is a damn good way to end a feud. This two are arguably the biggest face and heel in the WWE today. This is also a chance for them to prove themselves in a match that the best in WWE history have been through. I personally hope this can be something special. I think John Cena is going to win the match here. There really isn't a reason for Cena to leave RAW and since him winning would make it impossible for Orton to go for the belt as long as he has it, he could easily feud with a newly face Ted Dibiase. In face, I think Ted will cost Orton the match. Luckily, the undercard is pretty decent as well. The Miz vs. Morrison could steal the show and it is good to finally get some pay off with these guys. This could of easily been a Wrestlemania match next year but I am not complaining. I have a feeling Morrison will get the win here for Smackdown. To match up the score, I also think that the RAW Divas are going to win the their match for RAW. The fatal four way match for the World Title has a lot of potential to be solid match. A lot of people believe that this match was made so that the Undertaker could lose without being pinned. I am definitely one of those people. I have a feeling we are going to see a Batista heel turn here which will make Batista the freshest he's been in the last several years. I could really dig a Batista vs. Rey feud. With that said, I think Punk is going to win the World Title for the 4th time in his career. It might be caused by Batista's heel turn and maybe Batista will even be his rumored body guard. Just some interesting things to think about. The 7 on 7 tag match could be fun but these guys are going to have to work hard to make this match worth anything. There is just to many people. I think if it were an elimination match, it could be a lot better but then again Survivor Series is next up on the calendar and they are obviously saving that type of match for that PPV. I really think team Smackdown is going to win here because of Big Show screwing over team RAW. I can live with that. Overall, I think this is a very interesting card and it is hard to tell if it is going to be good show. It has a lot of potential, like most WWE PPVs, but I hope that this one actually lives up to something.

Sean Garmer: Well its that time for a PPV again on the WWE side of things. I have season tickets to the Dallas Cowboys so I won't get to watch the show live because ill be at the game and it starts late. Zach and David willI'm really excited for this PPV though. All the matches except for the Divas 6-person one have good to great build, not something you can always say for a PPV outside of the big four. Speaking of the big four, isn't Survivor Series in a month? Why are we doing a Survivor Series type match the month before? I hope that doesn't mean we aren't going to get a SS type match at the actually PPV its named after. I understand they wanted to make sure to get as much talent on the card without overloading it, but they could have done something else. But then again, I guess it makes sense with the PPV name and all. That's why I'm not too cool with WWE renaming some of these PPV's, this would have been the perfect time to introduce War Games, nothing says bragging rights and tag team better than that match-up. Then you can still have the Survivor Series thing next month.

Anyway, there isn't a bad match on this card. The Divas one seems like a throwaway especially since I can see this turning into a all out Divas brawl with the tension between McCool and Beth Phoenix. Not to mention Natalya is really only on there because her boys are involved in the other tag match. Miz vs. Morrison looks like it could be pretty good and actually go on for a couple more PPV's. I wasn't too convinced about the Fatal 4 Way, but now that they've done a good job of making all four men look viable going into it, it interests me. I don't think there is gonna be a surprise here (as I expect this will be the match used to make the crowd be happy about something.) Seeing as I really think we are going to get the obvious swerve of Big Show costing Team Raw the tag match. I do like that they changed up Team Smackdown and put in some real mid-card talent next to Jericho. Orton vs. Cena I'm kinda worried about because this could very well turn out not to good. Cena is gonna have to really step it up here and learn some new moves to keep this one going. I don't doubt he will, because he always does, I don't rate Orton as this uber-talent in the ring, so it will be something to keep your eyes on for Sunday. If they pull it off though, these two could very well cement themselves as made men in sports-entertainment.

The sad thing is that JR probably won't be there to call the ironman match either. Keep him in your prayers as he's dealing with his 3rd attack of Bells Palsy.

Zach Brown: I will be buying Bragging Rights, but I must admit that the card could be better. I'm only really looking forward to two matches: the Ironman match and Miz vs. Morrison. It would be a pleasant surprise to see the other matches be good, but I'm not getting my hopes up. The Divas match could be somewhat decent, and I like the Smackdown team a little more, so I hope they win. As for Miz and Morrison, this match is super smart booking. These two never got a full blown feud after their breakup, and their Dirt Sheet segment last week was phenomenal. I hope Miz wins because Morrison can afford to take a loss right now, while Miz needs to look like a credible champion. I'm not looking forward to the Smackdown vs. Raw match because I tend to dislike tag matches with this many participants. Smackdown's team now looks considerably better with the overhaul of the team, but I think Dolph Ziggler deserved to be on the team. I'd choose him over R-Truth any day. Oh well. I'm expecting Big Show to play Benedict Arnold and kill all of Team Raw to score the victory for Smackdown. And for some reason, I keep forgetting that the Fatal Four Way is even happening. I guess that could tell you how not excited I am for this match. Whatever happens, I think Rey is taking the pin. I just hope Punk wins. And I smell a heel turn for Batista coming on from Rey costing him the win. Finally, the Ironman match is the reason I'm buying the Pay Per View. Without this match, the card would look extraordinarily weak. I just hope this match ends up being one of the best matches of the year, because it has all the potential to do so. They have been teasing for weeks that Cena will most likely go to Smackdown, and that would be a good outcome. But I can definitely imagine Cena saying "The Champ is still here" on Monday. Plus it looks like Orton might feud with DiBiase, and I doubt they would throw DiBiase into the title picture this soon, meaning they'll likely have a non-title feud. But it's kind of a toss up in my eyes. Overall, Bragging Rights is in the buy category for me, but not by much.

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Topic # 2 Nigel McGuinness swerved everybody and went to TNA, debuting on Impact as Desmond Wolfe. What are your thoughts on this situation?

David Martell: At first, I was kind of disappointed with this swerve. I was really looking forward to Nigel joining the WWE ranks. Just thinking about all the different match ups he could have had got me excited. Luckily, TNA did a damn good job of putting him on the map in TNA. If it is true that the WWE shyed away at giving him a contract because of his past injuries, I can understand that. WWE has a lot of guys that tend to be injury prone, especially guys in the main event. People like John Cena, Edge, and Batista seem to get injuries on a yearly basis and having more wrestlers coming in to suffer the same fate isn't a very smart business move. In a way, this is good for Nigel. Now he is for sure not going to end up being job fodder. TNA instantly put him in a storyline with Angle and that could definitely lead to great things. He even closed out Impact. That is huge! It looks like his career in the major leagues is looking bright from the get go and maybe somewhere down the line when he is fully established, he can enter a WWE ring.

Sean Garmer: This is good on him, he probably did the smart thing because more of the people that know who he is, watch TNA than WWE. I understand WWE being weary of him because of many pre-existing injuries. After what happened with Kennedy I think WWE is making sure they take every step possible to avoid that situation again. No doubt WWE let a "hot prospect" go, but similar to Chris Jericho, he may see the light in WWE one day, plus he gets to hone his skills in another company first. Desmond Wolfe gets to wrestle with some friends he knows, and TNA did a great job with his debut. Desmond is a great worker and I'm sure he will light it up starting with Turning Point against Angle, so really I see it as a win for Mr. Wolfe. If he continues to grow in TNA, it may make WWE rue their decision, but right now I don't think you can pass judgment on that.

Zach Brown: This was really unfortunate to me. Whether you're a fan of WWE or TNA or both, I think it can be agreed upon that WWE is the company to go to if you want to become a superstar. The fact of the matter is that TNA just doesn't pull anywhere near the same ratings that WWE does. If Nigel is happier in TNA, more power to him. But I think he could have done great things in WWE and hit the main event possibly even faster than CM Punk did. Nigel McGuinness has the look and charisma to make it that fast in my opinion. I'd definitely like to see Nigel in the TNA main event scene. But being in the main event in TNA is very different from being in the main event in WWE. I know there is a rumor about him failing his medical screening for WWE. If Nigel really is that prone to getting injured again, I really don't blame WWE. After guys like Mr. Kennedy and Edge, I don't blame them for wanting to be cautious towards guys that can be out of commission for several months due to an injury. It's just unfortunate. Even though I would have preferred Nigel to be in WWE, I can't say that TNA isn't pushing him right. Attacking Kurt Angle right off the bat is pretty much as big a push as TNA can give. And it looks like a solid feud already. But it just sucks because I'll always be thinking what could have been with Nigel in WWE.

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Topic # 3 Lance Cade recently signed a new WWE contract. How do you feel about this?

David Martell: It will be good to see Lance Cade back in the WWE. I was really digging him during his little stint with Jericho and it was unfortunate how he get booted out of the E. I always thought that Cade had the ability to be something big one day and right now is the best time for someone like him to get over in the WWE. I think the WWE and TNA are finally realizing that the younger guys need to be built up and pushed. I can only hope that Cade will end up on Smackdown or ECW because we all know he would be lost in the shuffle on RAW. I just hope he doesn't come back with some stupid cowboy gimmick. Hell, I think it would be a great idea if the first day he came back on TV he beat Chris Jericho. That would instantly give him credibility and it would lead to some interesting storylines. I just hope Cade can have a successful run this time around.

Sean Garmer: I don't know if Lance Cade will ever be more than a mid-card guy, but he is a good talent and did well with Trevor Murdoch on the tag team scene. He's been working in Japan and If he can continue to hone his skills in the ring you never know what can happen for the guy. It's good for WWE because they get another young guy to place in whatever mid-card they so choose (probably ECW), and maybe Cade will do something as a single's wrestler. He has the training and backing of Shawn Michaels and WWE must like him for some reason to hire him back.

Zach Brown: I'm glad to hear that Cade is coming back to WWE. I was disappointed when Cade was released back in the day because I thought that he was finally starting to make some headway. Allying himself with Jericho and cutting promos about Shawn Michaels were great steps forward, but it ended up not mattering anyway. Now as happy as I am for Cade, some things need to happen with his character. First of all, he needs to be repackaged in some way, shape, or form. I mean the guy looks like Mike Goldberg and he has very little charisma. And as much as I liked Lance Cade, I often felt like I was the only one who did. The guy was just not over with the crowd, plain and simple. Second, he needs to get a new finisher. A lariat just isn't enough for the WWE audience these days. Case in point, he was using a lariat, and wasn't getting over. Hopefully, Lance won't be coming back as plain ‘ol vanilla Lance Cade. Because if he does, I think he'll be lost in the mid-card shuffle.

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Topic # 4 What are your thoughts on all the title changes that took place at TNA‘s Bound for Glory?

David Martell: Although there were two belts that changed hands at Bound for Glory, none of them were really a big deal. One of the most useless belts in wrestling changed hands. The Legends Title still means absolutely nothing so the fact that Eric Young won it just doesn't seem important. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for the guy but the title is just worthless. I will say this though, I am happy that the British Invasion won the TNA tag belts. They are one of the best tag teams in any company at this point and they are well deserving of those belts. If they end up feuding with the MCMG's, I am all for it. It should be an interesting match up and I look forward to enjoying their reign. I just hope team 3D never touches those belts again.

Sean Garmer: I was hoping Hernandez would get the belt because I really think he can do big things in TNA. Eric Young deserved it just as much though. Nice thing that they already are starting this feud up between just Young and Nash, it would make for a good and funny little man vs. big man match-up. We know both of those guys are good on the mic too, so it can be better than a lot of people think. Not to sure about two different teams holding two different tag belts. They didn't do anything about this on the first Impact either. So I guess we will have to wait and see on that, but I wonder why they don't just unify them honestly.

Zach Brown: Bound For Glory was a great show, but these title changes were kind of just side stories in my eyes. First of all, no offense to Eric Young, but I could give a shit who holds the Legends title. It's just a useless piece of jewelry to me. Hell, Booker T just created it to have something around his waist. That does not equal prestige or long title lineage in the slightest. That being said, Eric Young does deserve a title belt right now. It's unfortunate that it has to be the Legends title, but it's more recognition than he has without it. I did hear a rumor that they are turning the Legends belt into more of a "Global Title" of some sort. If that's true, that's a step in the right direction. But it will need a few years of title holders before I consider that belt to be worth a damn. As for British Invasion winning the tag belts, it is long overdue and a great thing to see. The British Invasion is one of my favorite tag teams in TNA, and I'm glad they finally won the belts. All in all, I was satisfied with the title changes, and I hope The British Invasion have a long reign as champs.

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Topic # 5 What are your thoughts on TNA‘s new direction with younger talent?

David Martell: This is great news because I usually find it so hard to watch TNA. I finally watched Impact after several months of not paying attention to TNA and I have to say, it was a major improvement. Saying that, the show still isn't great. I did enjoy the emphasis on the younger guys and the way they put over Desmond Wolfe was phenomenal. To see guys like Wolfe, Matt Morgan, the MCMG's and AJ Styles getting strong pushes in TNA is great. It is always good for any company to steer towards the future and this is something TNA severely needed. This will ultimately give us better matches, fresh new feuds and a fresh product. Lets just hope that TNA doesn't screw this up.

Sean Garmer: A new TNA, that's a very good idea. This is something I think many people have been clamoring since Russo came in and almost made TNA, WCW 1.5. I like that Desmond Wolfe was used perfectly in his debut. Eric Young got the title and now he feuds with Nash, Angle comes on and puts over the young guys in TNA. Rhyno got some good face time (though he is already established). Though we've seen the Triple Threat title match that will happen at Turning Point, many times it is good for TNA to focus on its young core of talent. They are even using Lashley pretty well too. They should use the Stenier's, Nash's, and Angle's to enhance that talent, not make them look bad. I don't know if I'm too cool with Tomko attacking AJ, but at least Matt Morgan got to look good once again. If things continue to go like this, it will make TNA a definite watch, because before this there really wasn't much to look forward to.

Zach Brown: It's great to see TNA finally realize that acquiring older ex-WCW or WWE guys isn't the best way to go. Booker is out, Steiner looks to be on his way out, Sting may be retiring, Jarrett might be gone, and I don't know how much longer Father Time aka Kevin Nash can last. It's very refreshing to see all the TNA gold on younger talent. I wish someone besides Amazing Red had the X-Division title, but that's a minor complaint on some very smart booking from TNA. It's good that TNA knows that they need to create new stars now that the older ones are on their way out. As harsh as it may sound, this is exactly what TNA needs. TNA has wasted the past 2 years into basically reviving WCW instead of making TNA fresh and interesting to watch. They should have been concentrating on what they had in 2006: young and exciting talent that can do incredible things in matches that you simply won't see in WWE. That's what made TNA great back then. Instead of keeping with that, TNA decided to snatch anyone up that had an ounce of spotlight in the past in order to be some sort of competition with WWE. I hope that TNA management finally realizes that they need to be themselves instead of trying to be WCW-lite. But I digress. As much as I love Sting and respect Jarrett, their spots would be better used for a younger guy to be in the main event. It's so obvious that TNA is favoring the younger guys that even Rhino and Team 3D cut a promo about how that's exactly what's happening right now. And that was probably the best promo I've ever heard Rhino cut. Probably because he actually feels that way. It's great booking all around and I just hope that TNA keeps this trend of pushing the younger talent. Now if only they could give some gold to Hernandez...

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Gimmick Match Highlight



Our thoughts on the Iron Man Match.

David Martell: To me, the Iron Man Match is the ultimate feud ending match. Although not all the Iron Man Matches ended feuds, this Sunday at Bragging Rights, the lackluster feud between Cena and Orton will finally come to an end. This is a match where wrestlers can prove their worth. To wrestle one straight hour is a toll to any man. It is hard to believe that matches in the distant past use to last one hour plus on a normal basis. Basically the Iron Man Match is a game of one upmanship. The man who ends up winning this match should end up looking like the superior wrestler, no questions asked. Unfortunately, it might not look that way for this Sunday's Iron Man Match. Having an anything goes Iron Man Match kind of takes away from the match itself, although it could still be very entertaining. I am just afraid that there will be some kind of interference that sways the pin count in someone's favor.
I can't really think of a bad Iron Man Match and I was fortunate to actually witness the one between HBK and Angle at the RAW homecoming show in Dallas. It is by far one of the most epic matches in wresting.

Sean Garmer: I love the Iron Man match because it usually has two great performers in it, and they are usually pretty damn good matches too. The first two officially were in the early 90's in WCW. They both actually involved Rick Rude. The first one ever was between Ricky Steamboat and Rude and that one was actually pretty decent. The first 60 minute one will always be a highlight for me because that's when my favorite wrestler ever won his first WWE championship. Way back in 1996, I cried along with HBK because I was so happy, also cause I kinda didn't like Bret Hart back then. The Rock vs. Triple H showed us in a different way, how to add drama to the match, I watched it not too long ago and still enjoyed it. I was at the one between HBK and Angle at Homecoming. The next one holds a lot of intrigue for me as I stated above. It has been a match that has cemented legacies and this one could do the same thing for Cena and Orton if done correctly. I just hope WWE lets them truly show what they got and not overbook it or anything. Everybody should go watch an Ironman match just to get themselves ready for this one.

Zach Brown: I love the concept of the Ironman match. One of my chief complaints about any match that doesn't live up to expectations is that the match simply wasn't given enough time. It's often one of the key factors that I'll be thinking about going into a Pay Per View as well. For example, I really hope they give Miz and Morrison a good chunk of time this Sunday. But that's besides the point. That complaint goes out the window with the Ironman match. Maybe the problem is solved with a bit of overkill, but I'd rather have the match be too long than too short. And there is a minor problem of most Ironman matches being somewhat slow in the middle portion, but that's a minor complaint. It's still awesome. I also love the concept of scoring pinfalls or submissions one after another in order to win. It's a smart match concept that doesn't ever seem overly gimmicky. With so many matches that revolve around cages and tables and ladders and weapons, it's refreshing to see a special match type that is only revolved around pure wrestling ability. And an Ironman match is such a special event. Case in point, it's one of the only reasons that I'm buying Bragging Rights. I think I've only ever seen maybe four Ironman matches in my entire life; two in WWE and two in TNA. Hell, WWE hasn't even done one in maybe 4 years or so. It's kind of an event when one happens in my opinion. Overall, the Ironman match is one of my favorite match concepts. I would want WWE and TNA to do it more often, but it's so special because it's so rare. So I guess it's fine the way it is.

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That is all for this week. Feel free to comment at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!