411 Fact or Fiction 12.17.09: TLC, Final Resolution, Sheamus as World Champion and More!

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 12.17.2009

Did TLC live up to its potential as a Pay-Per-View? Is Sheamus's title win the surprise of the year? Did the Slammies disappoint? Is Hulk Hogan dreaming when he talks about a 3.0 Monday Night Impact rating? 411's Mathew Sforcina and Jeremy Thomas debate these topics and more in the latest edition of 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction!



Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the latest edition of 411 Wrestling Edition of Fact or Fiction! I'm Jeremy Thomas, and this week we have TLC in the books with its shocking title change, plus TNA Final Resolution and a host of other news to talk about! On our panel we have Mathew Sforcina, the master of wrestling knowledge who answers your questions every week in "Ask 411 Wrestling," taking on none other than yours truly. There's a lot to get to, so let's get right down to it!

Questions were sent out Monday.

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

1. The Tables, Ladders and Chairs Pay-Per-View lived up to its potential as a whole.



Mathew Sforcina: FACT, although it's one of those wishy washy 'Kinda Sorta' facts. I mean, TLC's potential was to be an exciting PPV filled with some good hardcore matches, even if the booking was as obvious as a potato. It ended up as a PPV with more shocking booking choices than your average Russo booked Impact. Well, maybe not THAT many, but it's still a hell of a different PPV than it was expected to be, so I guess it has that going for it.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION. TLC was a decent Pay-Per-View and there was nothing incredibly bad on it. However, considering the gimmick and the potential some of the matches had, I don't think it lived up to the potential as a whole. Christian vs. Shelton was really impressive and I loved the DX vs. Jericho and Big Show TLC match; the booking of Sheamus over Cena is of course what everyone will be talking about. However, I don't think that Kofi/Orton lived up to what it could have been and the SmackDown World Title match was definitely below-average with a stupid finish to it involving the low blow and the match restarting. I think that the show could have been a lot stronger and it will end up being remembered as better than Breaking Point or Hell in the Cell, but not for being the great show that it could have been.

Score: 0 for 1

2. Final Resolution looks to be a solid way for TNA to finish off the year.

Mathew Sforcina: FACT. I'm stuck on this one, given Tara. But for all the faults you can lay at the booking problems TNA is having, the card is very solid, and it should be a good show. It looks solid, being the key. TLC looked solid, and look what we got. And TNA seems stuck in this War mentality, I'm kinda nervous about them going crazy, but hey, I'm sure it'll all be fine...

Jeremy Thomas: FACT. TNA has done a lot to rebuild itself over the last year and particularly since Bound for Glory, and I believe that the match-ups here should put an exclamation match on that. Tara and ODB should be able to have a pretty solid match and AJ/Daniels will be great. Wolfe and Angle should be able to deliver based on their match last month and I love the Invasion and MCMG's, so that should be good. I'm always hesitant about Feast or Fired and the elimination match doesn't appeal hugely to me, but otherwise I think this will be a pretty good show for the company.

Score: 1 for 2

3. Sheamus defeating John Cena for the WWE Championship is the biggest kayfabe surprise that any of the major promotions gave us this year.

Mathew Sforcina: FACT, and once again, Drew McIntyre must be thanking his lucky stars that it happened, otherwise everyone would be questioning his position. Out of all the kayfabe twists and turns, I don't think anyone outside of 2 people I know called this, and both of them were half joking. Of course, there is a difference between what's surprising and what's GOOD...

Jeremy Thomas: FACT. In terms of kayfabe surprises, I can't think of anything that really comes close. Nearly everyone (myself included) was expecting this to be a slam-dunk for Cena that would put Sheamus over just by being in the match. But hey check it out, the 'E decided to shock the hell out of us all and put the Irish bastard over. Simply put, this is huge and I don't have any real complaints here. I'm not positive that the arenas are ready to accept Sheamus as a champion but he's off to a good start and the 'E has to be given credit for finally giving someone new the ball, in a big way. Between Sheamus, Kofi and others, the main event scene is starting to look a little fresh again.

Score: 2 for 3

4. Hulk Hogan is dreaming when he claims that Impact will score a 3.0 rating when it goes up against Raw on January 4th.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION. He's not dreaming, he's spruking. He's selling a product. And the 'Moist Von Lipwig' approach is in full force here. Don't promise them something possible. Promise them something impossible. Because sometimes the impossible is possible, and even if it isn't, you'll still get the attention for trying the impossible. I don't think he honestly believes they'll get a 3.0, but he's just selling TNA, no more, no less.

Jeremy Thomas: FACT. Assuming that he's serious—and I believe that he is—he's absolutely dreaming. I realize that a lot of what Hogan's said has just been for attention, but I also think that in this case he truly believes he will pull in ratings comparable to Raw. Frankly, I'd love to see it happen, because it would force the WWE to take TNA seriously and improve their product, and it would be to the benefit of both companies. However, the fact of the matter is that even with Hogan's name recognition, there isn't enough of a wrestling audience to give both shows that level of ratings. And the WWE fans are just as serious about their promotion as TNA fans are about theirs, so there probably won't be enough people switching channels to push the rating that high. I think a 2.0 is very possible and that will be a huge success for the company, but 3.0 is flat-out unattainable.

Score: 2 for 4


SWITCH!

5. The Slammy Awards Raw was a major disappointment compared to last year's show.



Jeremy Thomas: FACT. I actually rather liked last year's Slammy Awards. The awards were done well, with the Miz and Morrison speech being off-the-charts awesome, and the matches weren't bad. This year we got the Kanye West thing, and that was about it. The matches were beyond short and largely pointless. Did we really need to see another seven-on-seven Divas match? The whole of the show lagged and felt longer than it was, leading to a seriously subpar effort. Some may have liked it, but it definitely wasn't my cup of tea.

Mathew Sforcina: FACT. Kanye Batista notwithstanding, it was hardly a superb show. And giving an award to someone for vomiting does not comedy make. And when you have 3 hours, maybe you can, you know, let some matches have some time? Crazy concept I know...

Score: 3 for 5

6. Mick Foley was right on the money when he criticized the WWE for not acknowledging Umaga's death on TV.

Jeremy Thomas: FACT. Listen, if the WWE can acknowledge the deaths of a lot of other guys who died under less-than-positive circumstances, it can do it for Umaga too. And yes, I realize they were the people who put the announcement out on behalf of the Fatu family, but I would have liked to see a brief tribute shot or even a "Remembering Umaga" article on WWE.com. I realize that this is bad publicity for Linda's campaign, but that's already out there and the best way they can turn that around is being respectful to the man and honoring his legacy. By not doing anything of that sort, they're hiding from it and it makes them look bad, even if that's not their intention.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION. Apart from the fact that Linda's running for the Senate, and thus WWE is clearly going to have a different PR code than they would have without it (which, while debatable, isn't something you can really blame them for), the fact is that WWE does not have a legal or moral responsibility to drop everything and show loving tributes every time one of their former employees dies, and that's not even touching the circumstances of Umaga's passing. I'm saddened by his passing, but I don't blame WWE for not giving it any airtime.

Score: 3 for 6

7. Dennis Miller made a solid guest host for Raw.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION. I enjoy Dennis Miller outside of this particular event. I don't agree with his views, but I enjoy his style. That being said, this went over worse than his NFL commentating position did. That whole global warming rant was jarringly off-kilter and his snarky attitude didn't seem to fit with the show as a whole. There was the Bret Hart thing which drew a lot of raised eyebrows but Miller's style just didn't mesh with Raw here and I think it contributed to the lackluster three-hour show.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION, on the basis that while I like him, and I get him... Well, this is gonna cause half of you to love me (maybe) and half to hate me (probably), so whatever: The average wrestling fan is not that smart. The IWC are sometimes too smart for their own good, and I'm not saying wrestling fans are stupid, but there's a reason you don't get Frasier or Yes Minister reruns leading into wrestling shows. I think Miller did a good job, but he didn't quite fit. Now, someone like Stephen Colbert, who can do both smart comedy AND slapstick stupidity, he'd make a great GM.

Score: 4 for 7

8. AJ Styles vs. Daniels has a solid chance to knock off the triple threat from Turning Point as TNA's Match of the Year.



Jeremy Thomas: FICTION. I think it has a chance, obviously. Does it have a SOLID chance? Not so much. This is to say nothing against Daniels or AJ, and I'm not trying to imply that Joe carried the match. What I mean is that I think their style works better in a three-way dance because it allows for the format to work as it should, let someone get off a huge spot and then recover while the other two go at it. I think that the match will certainly be a great match, but I don't see it topping AJ/Joe/Daniels.

Mathew Sforcina: FACT. I don't think it will, but it does have that potential. But it'll need a hell of a lot of stars to line up just right for it to happen.

Score: 4 for 8

Mathew and I split the difference on this one and end up batting .500! Thanks to Mathew for his responses, and thanks to you our readers for checking out what we had to say! We've got some major stories brewing (Cross-Reference: WWE + Hart, Bret) and Final Resolution to talk about, so come back same time, same channel for more 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction!

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