411 Fact or Fiction 12.10.09: Monday Night Impact, Umaga's Death, ECW's Fate and more!

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 12.10.2009

Is TNA making a huge mistake in going up against Raw on January 4th? Is it too early to speculate as to the cause of Umaga's death? Would it be a mistake for the WWE to do away with ECW? Will TLC end up being a middle of the road PPV? 411's Owain Brimfield and Chad Nevett debate these questions and more in the latest edition of 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction!



Welcome to the middle of the week, folks, which means it's time for another edition of 411 Wrestling Edition of Fact or Fiction! Jeremy Thomas, here, holding down the fort as always, and this week we have some pretty major news events to talk about! On our panel we have Owain Brimfield, (see, I got your name spelled right this time!), our Ten Deep and Movie Roundtable guy who will sadly be departing us in the next few weeks, so this may well be is his last Fact or Fiction appearance. And in a note of irony, he takes on a 411 staffer who is making his first appearance in Fact or Fiction, namely Chad Nevett, of "High Road/Low Road!" It's almost like I planned that or something…hmmm. Anyway, we have a lot to cover, so bring on the questions!

Questions were sent out Monday.

Participants were told to expect WWE & TNA-related questions.

1. TNA is making a huge mistake by going up against Monday Night Raw on January 4th and will suffer for it.



Owain Brimfield: FICTION. I don't think they really have much to lose here, do they, other than a bit of pride? It's not like they're jumping ship to Mondays, they're just testing the waters. Naturally, everyone likes to bitch about how this will expose Dixie Carter for the naive and clueless businesswoman she is, or how this will be the death knell for TNA, or other such nonsense. It seems half the stuff I read on 411 is discussions about the vaunted "ratings" and how they're apparently the life and death of any wrestling company. Frankly, I don't care, I just watch the show to be entertained. Do all of you who complain about the ratings all the time sit there analysing the number of viewers 'The Simspons' gets on a week-by-week basis? Of course not, you watch it if it's entertaining, and you don't watch it if it's not entertaining. TNA has the chance to compete against a supposedly superior product and see which show people find more entertaining; if they do poorly, they slink back to Thursdays a little chagrined and carry on as before, and if they do well then maybe we finally have a chance to see the threat of competition improve the product on both sides of the fence.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. A mistake? Perhaps. A huge mistake? No. The debut of Hulk Hogan is a bit deal and treating the event as different than any other edition of Impact is good. Giving the impression that TNA is ready to be competition for the WWE is good. Will this launch another Monday Night War? I hope not, because I don't think TNA could really compete at that level yet. Unless the novelty of it causes TNA to think they can compete on Monday nights, I think it's a smart, bold, attention-getting move. Anything more and we'd be heading into mistake territory.

Score: 1 for 1

2. TLC will end up being a middle-of-the-road Pay-Per-View at best.

Owain Brimfield: FICTION. I can't abide the gimmick-ifying of seemingly every other WWE pay-per-view, but at least this has the jump on Hell In A Cell for only featuring one of each particular gimmick match on the card. Those concerns aside though, the card actually looks pretty strong thus far. Orton and Kofi has been one of the best feuds in WWE in a while, Christian and Shelton could easily steal the show, DX and Jerishow have the chance to go all out, there's finally a new name in the main event mix (even though seemingly everyone wanted a new face in there, they wanted a different new face, but frankly Sheamus has the chance of a lifetime here), and Taker/Batista should be suitably violent. Besides, I'm not really one of those people who likes to judge shows before they've actually happened, I'd rather go in with a note of optimism.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I'm calling this 'fiction' technically, because while I think it will probably be a middle-of-the-road PPV, it does have the potential to be great. Setting aside the Sheams/Cena match and even the Undertaker/Batista one, the card is rather solid. The Drew McIntyre/John Morrison match should be good, as should the Randy Orton/Kofi Kingston match. SheriShow/DX in a TLC match has a lot of potential, but depends heavily on the booking. The clear-cut candidate for match of night, the ECW Ladder match between Christian and Shelton Benjamin also looks like the most likely to be sabotaged since it's for the ECW title, which often gets the shaft when it comes to time. If the TLC and Ladder matches are given the time they need, I think they alone could make TLC a very good PPV. I don't think that will happen and it will be mediocre, but it has the potential to be better.

Score: 2 for 2

3. The continuing angle between Desmond Wolfe and Kurt Angle has become the best-booked feud in TNA this year.

Owain Brimfield: FACT, although I freely admit that may be selective memory speaking, as I seem to remember the MEM/Jarrett and co. feud from the start of the year being pretty decent too. I'm also a fan of the way the Daniels/AJ feud is building, but the fact that in such a short space of time Wolfe has come in and essentially become the company's top heel, and seemingly gotten Angle's number, is a breath of fresh air. The '3 Degrees of Pain' match, despite sounding like the name of a bad screamo band, promises an interesting concept for their next matchup and has every possibility of delivering an improvement on their last encounter, which as anyone who saw it can attest, would be a remarkable achievement. As long as they don't include a blindfold match anywhere down the line, this could surpass Harris / Storm as my favourite TNA feud in a good long time.

Chad Nevett: FACT. TNA feuds tend to become overcomplicated, bloated affairs that fizzle out rather than delivering and, so far, this one has been refreshingly simple, direct, and has delivered. Each man has had victories and set backs and, going into Final Resolution, both look like they could walk away the winner. Not only that, both men are very good in-ring performers and have been given the chance to show that. While their matches against others have fuelled the feud, it's largely been about the two of them, no factions or stables, no outside interference aside from one another, no lame swerves.

Score: 3 for 3

4. It's too early to push Drew McIntyre into a feud for the Intercontinental Title.



Owain Brimfield: FICTION. It seems churlish that for so long one of the WWE's flaws has been its failute to build new stars, and as soon as they give it a go everyone is quick to decry their choices. McIntyre isn't the most inspiring of midcarders to be given a boost at this stage, but if we're honest, neither were The Miz or Dolph Ziggler a little while ago, and they seemed to turn out ok. As the old advert goes, let's just suck it and see. The guy has a good look and is pretty decent in the ring, so let him have his moment in the sun and who knows, he may pick it up and run with it like so many before him have done.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. The feud makes sense as it builds off of Morrison's loss at Survivor Series with McIntyre as the only Smackdown wrestler on the winning Team Miz. This is a good way to give McIntyre a chance to prove himself while Morrison also begins to establish himself as a guy who can take charge in the ring and make younger wrestlers look good. The WWE is very high on McIntyre and this is the best way to put him in the spotlight given his current status. I think it's too early for McIntyre to win the IC belt, but this is the right feud to solidify him in the WWE as someone to watch.

Score: 4 for 4


SWITCH!

5. The TNA Epics show has every chance at being another success for TNA and SPIKE TV.

Chad Nevett: FACT. With the attention Hogan coming to TNA brings, a show that gives new fans a chance to learn about the history of the company and its wrestlers has a very good chance of succeeding. WWE Vintage Collection seems to be doing well in Canada and other countries and a similar show for TNA could do equally well. Hopefully, they go the WWE route and aren't afraid to show matches featuring wrestlers no longer with the company and focus more on showing key moments and highlighting the best of TNA's past.

Owain Brimfield: FICTION. This aired in the UK for a while, and having watched a few episodes I don't think it's really something that'll catch and keep viewers' interest. Sure the principle is neat, but showing two or three classic PPV matches may sound great in theory, but when they're actually gutted by commercials it's another thing altogether. Considering the show was cancelled here after only running for a few months, in a market that supposedly is even more favourable to TNA than the US, I can't see this catching on and sticking around for too long. Still, I do hope it does, as there's plenty of truly classic matches in the TNA archives.

Score: 4 for 5

6. It would be a mistake for the WWE to do away with ECW and replace it with a "Superstars" type show.

Chad Nevett: FACT. ECW plays a vital role in preparing young talent to take their place on the two larger brands as well as providing a place for veterans to stay out of the spotlight, get re-energized, and come back when the audience is ready for them again. Now, I do think ECW needs to be altered, not called its own brand, and treated directly as a training ground. Perhaps alter the ECW title so that only rookies can hold it, introduce a ranking system, hold tournaments where the young wrestlers fight for their spots. Maybe none of these ideas are viable, but a "Superstars" style of show isn't the answer, particularly for the problem of getting young talent ready for "Raw" and "Smackdown." Embracing more directly what ECW is already may be the best solution.

Owain Brimfield: FICTION. Well, I wouldn't particularly like it, but there's a reason WWE doesn't consult me on business decisions, so I can't exactly claim it would be a mistake. Sure ECW had - and in fact still has - plenty of potential in the third brand position to be a proving ground for youngsters, and to a certain extent it's succeeded in that role, but if we're honest I don't think it would be a huge loss if it was replaced with a different style of show. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy ECW (it's pretty consistently more enjoyable than Raw, at any rate) and it'd be shame to see the brand die out, but as it stands the show isn't achieving much that couldn't be done through alternative means. I hope it does stick around, though.

Score: 4 for 6

7. Jeff Jarrett's return to TNA television will be to the company's benefit.

Chad Nevett: FACT. Say what you will, Jeff Jarrett is so tied to TNA in the minds of its fanbase that him not being involved with the company in some capacity seems wrong. With Hogan coming in, a confrontation between the two seems necessary, Jarrett representing the old, traditional TNA, Hogan representing a new, different TNA. With possible big changes on the horizon, addressing Jarrett's history with the company seems like a must. He's been gone for four or five months now, which is plenty of time for whatever personal problems arose to have cooled down enough for everyone to be professional and work together. Definitely to the company's benefit.

Owain Brimfield: FACT. I had to think for a while about this, but they key I think is purely in the semantics of the statement. While Jarrett has been away from TNA it seems the on-screen product has improved considerably, but I'm going to take what may be a rather gullible approach and hope that the improvements behind the screen can continue, the creative team having learned some lessons, and that Jarrett's on-screen character can slot in to the current state of affairs without too much disruption. The guy can still go in the ring, and providing there's not a slide backwards from the recent gear change, I'm hopeful his presence can only help the company provide an entertaining product. After all, that's what it's all about, not politics.

Score: 5 for 7

8.It's far too early to start speculating that drugs were responsible for the death of Ekmo "Umaga" Fatu.



Chad Nevett: FICTION. It's never too early to speculate however distasteful I find the practice, but, it is too soon to state with certaintly that drugs were responsible. Given the circumstances under which he parted company with the WWE and the long history of drug-related deaths of wrestlers, speculation that drugs were related to Umaga's death by the IWC is natural. However, saying that drugs were responsible as a fact is premature, particularly from people whose information on the matter is rumor at best. Very few people know the facts surrounding Umaga's life and death, and waiting for those facts to emerge is the best course of action.

Owain Brimfield: FACT. Although that won't prevent people from doing so, just like people were leaping to condemn Kurt Angle during his recent run-in with the law, before any of the facts were released. Of course it's too much to ask of these people that they have the common decency to not to drag the guy's name through the mud before they even know the full story. And even if you do know the full story, frankly, no one cares what you have to think. An accomplished talent has died before his time, it's a sad incident, and that's all the input you or I need to have on the matter. Unleash the comment trolls in three... two... one...

Final Score: 5 for 8

Things were looking very copacetic in the first half, but disagreement in the second half spoiled that to leave Chad and Owain at just over .500, with 5 for 8. Thanks to the both of them for their answers, and to you the readers for clicking on the link and seeing what they had to say! That's all we have for this week…check us out next week for more 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction!

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