411 Fact or Fiction 3.18.10: Destination X, Stone Cold as Guest Host, Hogan Not Wrestling and More!

Thursday is upon us and that means one thing: it’s time for the latest edition of 411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction! Jeremy Thomas at the moderator stand as always; this week, we have TNA’s latest Pay-Per-View coming up in Destination X! In addition we had the return of an icon as Steve Austin hosted Raw, more WrestleMania matches being set into place and the continuation of several angles in TNA. Here to discuss those and more this week are our two panelists; the first is Chad Nevett, who hosts “High Road/Low Road” and does the Impact R’s. He’s going up against the Ask 411 Guru of Wrestling AND Games, the one and only Mathew Sforcina! We’ve got a lot to get into, so let’s get down to it and let the panelists speak!

Questions were sent out Monday.

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

1. Destination X is set to be a solid Pay-Per-View on the strength of the matches.

Chad Nevett: FACT. Out of the eight matches, almost all of them look like they could be good or better. The X-Division Championship match between Moore and Williams suffers a little from Moore getting a shot out of nowhere, but both guys are good workers and can deliver a solid match. The ladder match has four guys that can do nice high spots, same with the Ultimate X tag match, which has the potential to be match of the night. Angle/Anderson should be good, same with Styles/Abyss and the tag title match. The only matches that look like they could be let downs are the Knockouts title match given Tara’s recent track record of mediocre matches, and the Young & Nash/Band match since… well, only one (maybe two) of those guys looks capable of giving a great match. ‘Solid’ is how I could describe the card. Not much looks like it will be great, but not much looks horrible either.

Mathew Sforcina: FACT. Solid, but hardly spectacular. I mean, apart from the KO match (which is pretty high up the dream list for me), there’s hardly anything that really drags in my attention, but I’m hardly going to complain watching it. Well, apart from the Nash/Waltman/Hall wankfest…

Score: 1 for 1

2. Steve Austin was the best guest host overall that Raw has had to date.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. Austin was really good, but there have been other really good hosts like Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes, Ted DiBiase… Hell, Shatner had a couple of great bits like his spoken word entrance themes. Austin didn’t get too involved except in the contract signing and that was the right choice in the build to WrestleMania. I don’t think he was the best host they’ve had, but he would definitely be on my list of five or six hosts that I’d agree were all kind of equal in greatness.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION. Best Wrestling related Guest Host? No question. Best Guest Host in terms of storyline progression? Hell Yeah. But best guest host overall so far, bar none? Sorry, but that’s not right. Not with Bob Barker’s performance still on the list. Plus, you know, there was this:

Nope, still not stale to me.

Score: 2 for 2

3. The constant shifting of Epics in Spike TV’s schedule is killing any chance the show has of succeeding.

Chad Nevett: FACT. I know, the funny joke answer would be to answer fiction and claim it never had any chance to succeed, but I think it did. Maybe it’s because I watch WWE Vintage Collection every week and love the collection of old matches, but I think Epics could have succeeded. Part of the problem is the constant shifting, but I think they also need to put out more episodes. With the goal of drawing in new viewers, a show like that could also provide newcomers to TNA with a sense of what’s gone before. The hour before Impact seemed like a great spot for those people that want a little bit of extra wrestling and knowledge about TNA’s past. Tying it to Impact, either before or after, seems key since people are probably more inclined to watch then.

Mathew Sforcina: FACT, although it’s one of “It’s not helping” more than actively killing it. I mean, Epics is going to be a hard sell regardless of it’s time zone, given that TNA is currently touting itself as all about the future, and yet has names from the past and has this show which often has people no longer with the company… Having a solid schedule would at least give the quality of the matches a chance to show, so yeah, shifting it about is stupid.

Score: 3 for 3

4. The triple threat match between Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes will fail as a WrestleMania match because no one buys Legacy as a threat to Orton.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I don’t think it will fail for that reason. I think it may fail because recent matches involving those three have been tedious and dull, and they haven’t built up to the triple threat aspect of the match well. Rhodes and DiBiase don’t look like threats alone, but they also don’t need to pin Orton to win. Who knows, this match could be a sleeper hit. But, it’s far from perfect given the build.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION. It’ll fail because no-one buys Legacy full stop, not just because Legacy’s not on the same level as Orton. I mean, WWE picks the wrong one to be ‘the guy’ (Cody’s hardly a sure thing, but at least he has some, you know, talent), and then expects the tag team, you know, the 2 guys, to be the faces when they get turned on by the one guy, when the 2 have only been tag champs and the one’s a multi-time world champ. This whole angle has been botched at practically every turn. The only way it could possibly work out is if every second/third gen star WWE has got under contract all run out at WM and they proceed to ritualistically murder Orton in the ring, letting Ted and Cody pin him, thus kicking off a year of “The Legacy Army V Everyone Else” or something. And even that will get overshadowed by HBK/Taker.

Score: 4 for 4

SWITCH!

5. Whether he steps into the ring again or not, Hulk Hogan’s angle regarding his promise not to wrestle again is a good storyline move by TNA.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION, as much as I hate to say it. Even though the ratings are agreeing with the net fans about the product (ie. FOCUS ON THE NEW GUYS), the fact is that Hogan is the drawcard, at least in terms of publicity. By stating that he’ll never step foot in the ring, anyone who might tune in to see him will leave because there’s not chance, and those who stick around will be annoyed when he does step back in, which he will. You gotta leave them with a hook, and I’m not sure TNA has done that…

Chad Nevett: FICTION. Hogan wrestling is the two-ton elephant in the room when it comes to TNA, but I’d rather they left it alone. We saw this ‘can’t stay away no matter how old and broken down I am’ story before with Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, and the other Legends last year and I don’t want to see it with Hogan. All it reminds us of is that he can’t go anymore and Hogan’s place is to help elevate younger guys. He shouldn’t be the focus of stories at all.

Score: 5 for 5

6. Nine competitors is one too many for the Money in the Bank match.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION. Look, MITB is a car wreck match, plain and simple. It can have a story, and should, by all means, but at the end of the day, it’s still designed to be a match where shit happens in spectacular fashion. Provided everyone can stand in the ring and trade blows, the number of people is irrelevant. Nine is fine, in that you need a couple people to get taken out by huge moves (I’m thinking a Bourne SSP through Swagger on a table or something), a couple more to be lying KOed, a couple to brawl on the outside and a few in the ring with one winning. 9 can do that.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. One more guy doesn’t seem problematic to me. I’m not convinced that they’ve got the right nine guys, but one extra wrestler shouldn’t drag the match down. It’s a chaotic match with lots of high spots… how is nine too many compared to eight?

Score: 6 for 6

7. None of the title matches at Destination X are likely to result in new champions.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION. Uh, what? Sure, most of them aren’t going to have titles changing hands, by all means, but the tag match is, in my mind, a no-brainer. Morgan/Hernandez was always a short term team, and Beer Money are a good a team as any to win them. And remember: If a heel team has the belts, then the Nastys are unlikely to get them.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I think Beer Money have a very good chance of walking out of Destination X four-time tag team champs. The Matt Morgan/Hernandez team looks ready to implode and Beer Money is back in the spotlight. I don’t foresee any of the other titles changing hands, though. Styles is booked to face the Pope after this, Daffney doesn’t seem like the type of Knockout they’d put the belt on, and the management is high on Doug Williams. But, Beer Money look like they’ll be the next tag team champions.

Score: 7 for 7

8. Based on the consistent strength of his work and crowd reactions, CM Punk is the best heel in wrestling at the moment.

Mathew Sforcina: FICTION, you hypocritical parasitic worm. Based on the consistent strength of his work and crowd reactions, CM Punk is ONE of the best heels in wrestling at the moment, but Chris Jericho is right bloody there dude. Plus he’s, you know, World Champion and everything, which is harder to pull off. Once Jericho loses the belt at WM (To Christian…), and Punk gets his head shaved, how he incorporates that into the act, that’ll decide if he’s the best at the moment or not.

Chad Nevett: FACT. And I would have said that before Friday’s episode of Smackdown, but, after his interruption of Aaliyah’s birthday celebration, is there any doubt? The Straight Edge Society has pushed Punk into a place where people just hate him and he’s delivered some of the best promos of his career as a result, particularly during matches at PPVs. Before the SES gimmick, I think Jericho was the best heel, but, now, Punk has surpassed him. He’s also maintained his skill in the ring, even walking away after losing looking like the winner, as was the case when he last faced Rey Mysterio. Looking at the rest of the roster or at the heels in other companies, no one can touch CM Punk right now.

Score: 7 for 8

Things were looking like a perfect set of agreement up until the end, but CM Punk and Chris Jericho cause Chad and Mathew to disagree and we end up seven for eight! I’d like to thank both men for their answers, and you guys for clicking and seeing what they had to say! For Chad Nevett and Mathew Sforcina, this is Jeremy Thomas saying join us next week for another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction!

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