411 Fact or Fiction 12.24.09: Final Resolution, Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan, Bashir and Dreamer's Departures and More!

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 12.24.2009

Did Final Resolution deliver as TNA's last Pay-Per-View of the year? Will Bret Hart's WWE return have more impact than Hulk Hogan's first TNA appearance? Is it time to put an end to Feast or Fired? Are Shiek Abdul Bashir and Tommy Dreamer's departures losses for their respective companies? 411's Michael Bauer and Shawn Lealos debate these topics and more in the latest edition of 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction!



Welcome to the Christmas week edition of 411 Wrestling Edition of Fact or Fiction! I'm your host Jeremy Thomas, and this week we have Final Resolution to talk about, as well as a few departures from the big two companies, one potential HUGE signing and a lot more! On our panel in their Holiday Finest we have my Movie Zone comrade Shawn Lealos who does the Three R's of the Movies, Alternate Takes and the TNA Pay-Per-View previews here in Wrestling Land. Doing verbal battle with him is none other than Michael Bauer, who does the ECW Report, the Wrestling Zone Top 5, Buy or Sell and the R's of ECW. Lots of news this week and our panelists are ready, so let's get down to it.

Questions were sent out Monday.

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

1. Final Resolution delivered as TNA's final Pay-Per-View of the year.



Michael Bauer: FICTION. Yes, there were two four star matches at the end of the card, but outside of that, this was a pretty mediocre Pay-Per-View. Don't get me wrong, Angle vs. Wolfe and Styles vs. Daniels were insane matches, but it takes more than two matches to make a great show. Even as a good show, TNA didn't deliver the best of goods here. Starting at the top, The Guns facing the British Invasion was an okay opener, but the ending was screwy and it lacked for what The Guns can truly do. The Knockouts Title match was totally horrid. You would expect that out of Jenna and Sharmell, not Tara and ODB. The "Feast or Fired" match always never sat well with me, especially when three of the cases went to The World Elite. I'm sorry, but they are not the Main Event Mafia. At least Joe got a World Title shot, which makes the most sense of anything. The Elimination Match had all sorts of stupidity involved and I don't think it was as good as people are saying, which isn't much anyway. Last Man Standing was about as boring as the Ring of Honor Final Battle Main Event, just 50 minutes shorter. And then we have Raven and Stevie facing Abyss and Foley in a garbage brawl. While entertaining, this should not be the third best match on the card with everything else you had. So yeah, a decent show, but far from "delivering" by TNA.

Shawn Lealos: FACT. Chris Daniels vs. A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe makes it a great card. AJ/Daniels got 20+ minutes in a spectacular match while Kurt and Wolfe got almost 30 minutes. These are the kinds of PPV matches TNA used to always deliver. The Foley/Abyss vs. Raven/Stevie match delivered for the people who like hardcore brawls and at 10-minutes it was just the right length. I hated the fact there was no X-Division match (and Red was nowhere to be found) but the MCMG got over 10-minutes against the British Invasion which is always a good thing. I wanted to see MCMG get the belts but other than that I was very happy with the card.

Score: 0 for 1

2. The WWE's updates to its Wellness Policy over the last week are necessary moves to further legitimize the policy in the public's eyes.

Michael Bauer: FICTION. This is fiction on the basis that the WWE needed to legitimize the policy to the public in the first place. Let's be honest. The general public is sick and tired of all of this steroid bullshit, from legitimate sports like baseball and football to the worked art of sports entertainment. In pro baseball, do I care if a steroid user holds the Home Run record? Absolutely not. I understand about the long term effects and how people don't want kids who don't know any better to get started. I get that, but I'm also a fantasy baseball player and I want to see home run after home run smacked out of ballparks. Wrestling to me is no different. I, like most normal people, want to see great matches in the ring. I don't care about all the drama out of the ring, whether it be steroids or a wrestler's personal life. But yet, because Congress feels like they have to be involved in steroids and fixing College Football, this is the type of updates that were bound to happen. You know, because Congress has no real issues that actually matter, like the failing economy and a war in the Middle East that I don't even understand the reasons behind anymore.

Shawn Lealos: FICTION. Who cares? They have made the marijuana and alcohol updates and those don't matter. The steroids and pain killer addictions are what needs to be addressed and are what is killing the sport from the inside. Strengthening penalties on drinking and smoking pot will make no difference one way or the other in the public eye. Besides, when will anyone outside of wrestling fans and lawmakers ever care about the WWE Wellness policy?

Score: 1 for 2

3. TNA lost a valuable asset to the X-Division in Sheik Abdul Bashir.

Michael Bauer: FICTION. In order to even consider this to be a fact, you have to assume the X-Division has any value in the first place, which it hasn't in quite some time. Now, while Bashir was a nice commodity, he was far from a valuable asset to the X-Division. Yes, he held the title, but I can't remember the last time he was relevant to TNA, let alone the division. And yes, while a challenger has disappeared for Amazing Red, I wonder where he disappeared to anyway. Unless I'm mistaken, I didn't see Amazing Red at the Pay Per View last weekend. The same can be said for Homicide, who has been going after him and his title lately. Which makes the X-Division pretty irrelevant right now and anyone associated with it right now is pretty much the same.

Shawn Lealos: FICTION. What the hell has Bashir done recently? He has become a jobber with Kiyoshi and they are dead weight at this point in their TNA careers. Also, the X-Division title was not even defended on the last PPV which is a crime. The X-Division is always what made TNA different and now it is being ignored. Bashir can't be a valuable asset to a division that doesn't seem to matter anymore. I think he needs to be Shawn Daivari again and go to Ring of Honor or Dragon Gate USA to hone his skills some more.

Score: 2 for 3

4. It's well past time to put an end to the Feast or Fired match.

Michael Bauer: FICTION. At first, I was going to say fact, and then I realized that TNA has opened all the cases already and there is no confusion or false hype or wondering this year, which I think is a first. The Feast or Fired concept is great because it sets up your natural feuds, without having to try and find a reason for them. For example, Samoa Joe now has a guaranteed TNA Heavyweight Title shot. You don't need to bring in any cheap angles or past history of a wrestler's personal life to hype a feud with AJ Styles or Kurt Angle or whoever has the title. It's as simple as I have the shot, I want to take it then, and build from there. Or if Joe goes the cheap route and gets one of those CM Punk style victories, the chase back to Joe has built itself. Likewise, the same can be done for the Tag Team Titles or the X-Division Title, if they care to not make it a joke. It was just the nonsense of the cases going back and forth with nobody knowing what was in them that needed to put to an end and it was.

Shawn Lealos: FACT. I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE this match. I don't mind the briefcases because with every title represented it makes it just different enough from the Money in the Bank match. However, it is the Fired portion that I really hate. The fact that a person who wins a briefcase gets fired is ridiculous. Why is a winner getting fired? I know the reasons can be to eliminate talent that wants to go (Petey, Bashir) but why would Chris Daniels lose the match twice? The Fired stipulation is the dumbest in professional wrestling. This match needs to die.

Score: 2 for 4


SWITCH!

5. Bringing Lance Cade back on SmackDown would be a benefit both for Cade and Friday Nights.



Shawn Lealos: FACT. This is one of those old Faction questions. This is a great move for Lance Cade because he would be getting his next chance to succeed in the WWE. It has nothing to do one way or the other with SmackDown, though. His return will not help or hurt the show. Because that is a neutral statement and his return is good for him, that makes it more fact than fiction. I have always seen some Barry Windham in Cade and that could be a great thing if used right.

Michael Bauer: FICTION. I definitely think it will benefit Lance Cade as he will be back on mainstream television. I have no clue what his gimmick would be, but you would have to assume it wouldn't bury him like Scotty Goldman did for Colt Cabana. But I question how much it would benefit SmackDown. Sure, Friday Night needs another big name to get in the midcard scene and the main event, but this is the show that should also be expecting Edge any time now to partially fill that void in the main event. So if Lance Cade comes into the midcard fold, where does he go? Does he feud with Morrison, assuming he gets back the IC Title? Or is he the new face to go after McIntyre? I think a lot of these questions would need to answered first before I can truly answer this question.

Score: 2 for 5

6. Bringing Mark Madden on as an announcer to replace Taz would be the worst move TNA has made in quite some time.

Shawn Lealos: FACT. Mark Madden is an idiot and is annoying on the same levels as Don West. Taz is one of the best color men working today (although Matt Striker has passed him by) and his contributions to the TNA broadcast makes them so much better than they used to be. If Madden came in, Mike Tenay would revert back to the annoying shill he was with West sitting with him. I don't entirely blame West for his commentating because I think he was made worse by Tenay's continued failings as an announcer. Hell, Tenay could make Tony Schiavoni look good when he is with Don West. Now Taz has leveled the talk team back to a respectable level that is actually interesting to listen to. Madden would be worse than West was.

Michael Bauer: FACT. A GAZZLON TIMES FACT! Listen, I don't care how good of an announcer you have to replace Taz, you will be making a mistake for one simple reason. Bringing on Taz to replace Don West was the BEST move TNA has made since they went to television four years ago. So to replace him, after a few months, is completely asinine. And we are talking about a company that has done some pretty dumb things in the past year or two. There was god knows how many "Something on a Pole" matches that all sucked. There was the complete failure of Hernandez's push and the wacked out one of Samoa Joe's Nation of Violence. Oh and let us not forget Joe's horrific title reign that almost killed whatever momentum he ever had. There was the entire TNA Victory Road Pay Per View, especially the match between two people who don't wrestle. I think I've made my point and all of that pales in comparison to what taking Taz off the announcing team would be. It would show that you made a mistake bringing in Taz, which it wasn't, because Don West is god awful and Taz is one of the best commentators around today and probably the best outside of the WWE.

Score: 3 for 6

7. It will be a shame to see Tommy Dreamer, the last of the ECW Originals, leave the company.

Shawn Lealos: FICTION. I said my goodbyes to ECW a long time ago. Tommy Dreamer is the last man standing in a federation that has nothing to do with what ECW was all about. I honestly wish they would change the name and let ECW rest in peace. Tommy Dreamer would be better as a road agent in TNA or working behind the scenes in Ring of Honor than as the character he has been portraying in the WWE the last few years (his title reign included).

Michael Bauer: FICTION. It would have been a shame had Tommy Dreamer left before getting a token run with the ECW Championship in the WWE. The reality is, Tommy Dreamer is much better off not being an active wrestler right now as there is really nothing left for him to do. And yes, he had better than average microphone skills, but his in ring work has been lacking lately. As much I wish I could say it was due to him not caring, I know that is not the case, because Tommy Dreamer is the blood, sweat, and tears that are left in the ring. The problem is, when ECW has only about a dozen guys and you are not featured even every other week on the show, you know it is time to move on. While it is disappointing that he is finally leaving in the company, this was just another thing that was bound to happen and it is just time to move on.

Score: 4 for 7

8. Assuming the rumors are true, Bret Hart returning to the WWE on January 4th will have more impact that Hulk Hogan appearing on TNA.



Shawn Lealos: FACT. Hulk Hogan has come back so many times over the years that his appearance anywhere isn't as big of a deal as it once was. Yes, it is TNA's biggest acquisition but so many people believe he will hurt more than he helps that his eventual appearance will be filled with as many positives as negatives. I think more people want to know how Hogan will screw up TNA than anything. However, Bret Hart returning is a HUGE deal. Hart has only been seen twice in McMahan land since he left the WWE, once for his interviews on the DVD and the second time for his HOF appearance. Only one of those was on TV. Bret Hart has stayed out of the public eye for a long time now and people want to see him back. Look at the pop his entrance video got when Shawn Michaels pulled the prank a few years back. People want to see Bret Hart much more than they want to see Hulk Hogan at this time. I am a TNA fan and was planning on watching it live on Jan. 4 over the WWE but if Bret Hart returns, I will end up DVR-ing TNA instead.

Michael Bauer: FACT. Yeah, I'm saying this because of the pure difference between Hulk Hogan appearing on TNA and Bret Hart appearing in the WWE. Hulk Hogan on TNA might seem incredibly surreal, but we have seen plenty of Hogan promos and press conferences on TNA programming already, so the shock value isn't there anymore. However, Bret Hart showing on January 4th, or any show, even if announced a week in advance, will be so insane because there isn't one WWE fan who ever, EVER, though they would see Bret Hart in a WWE ring again. So tuning into Raw for that week, also being the first week without Monday Night Football in 16 weeks, would be more than easy and the motivation is right there for them. Now while seeing Hogan in an TNA ring is out of this world also, keep in mind that we are talking about a guy who has whored out his entire family, leading to his divorce, his insanity, and his need to do something to get an income. He needs to be in TNA when the WWE doesn't have a reason to bring him in. BERT HART DOESN'T NEED THE WWE!!! And that is the biggest difference between the two appearances and why I am much more excited to see if Bret Hart comes back to the WWE. Just please don't have him wrestle a match with his condition.

Final Score: 5 for 8

Shawn and Michael go just over .500 this week with a 5 for 8 finish! Thanks to both of them for their responses, and thanks to you our readers for checking out what we had to say! Enjoy your holidays, whatever they may be, and come back next week for more 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction!

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