411 Fact or Fiction 10.27.11: HHH vs. Nash, Muppets, Storm as Champ, More

Posted by Steve Cook on 10.27.2011

Are we interested in a match between Kevin Nash and Triple H? Will the TNA be able to sustain their ratings increase for Impact? Will Gail Kim's career flourish in TNA? 411's Terra Calaway & Andy Critchell debate these topics and more in this week's 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling!



Hi, hello & welcome to the wrestling edition of 411 Fact or Fiction! I'm Steve Cook, and it's been quite the week in the world of wrestling. WWE held their Vengeance PPV, which re-invigorated the issue between Kevin Nash & Triple H & had Mark Henry & Big Show implode the ring with a monster superplex. A new Divas challenger was established on Raw, more Twitter mentions were made than any show in the history of the universe, and the Muppets will be coming to town next week! Meanwhile, Impact Wrestling got a huge rating, James Storm won the TNA Championship, & Gail Kim made her return in surprising fashion.

We'll be discussing these issues with two fine folks. First of all, the newest member of the 411 Family…she's the WILD North American Champion, one-fifth of my Ladies Fave Five & writer of The Hot Stuff every Sunday, the lovely & talented Terra Calaway!

Her opponent is the co-host of the 411 on Wrestling Monday Edition, Mark Henry's number one fan & an Offtheteam.com regular…say hello to Andy Critchell, SON!

Questions were sent out Monday, before Impact had their taping on Wednesday just to render my TNA questions irrelevant.

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

1. Triple H vs. Kevin Nash is something you want to see.



Terra Calaway: FICTION. Maybe it's because I am a newer face in pro wrestling, but I want to see the younger guys being pushed. I'm sorry, if I wanted to watch Triple H and Kevin Nash, I've got tons of wrestling DVDs to look back on. I'm tired of being force fed the old and begging for the new.

Andy Critchell: FICTION. This is pretty simple; the match wasn't good when they did it in 2003 and both guys are older, slower, and less apt to have a good match now than they were then. I think a Nash/Triple H match in 2011 will have to be some kind of weapons match to cover up for their shortcomings and even then it would still probably be slow and plodding. Regardless of what I want to see, I know that this match will happen and my hope is that Triple H will recognize his limitations (I don't think that is an issue for Nash, he has always known his limitations) and keep this match short and to the point.

Score: 1 for 1

2. Mark Henry & Big Show imploding the ring was an awesome way to end their match at Vengeance.



Terra Calaway: FACT. It was a perfect way to end the match. It keeps Mark Henry strong and keeps Big Show from losing his return PPV match. They are both beasts in the ring by size alone, so they can't just make one look bad. Then you have the fact one is a champion, so of course he has to look strong. Then you have the other that is bigger than the rest of the roster, so if you make him look bad, you just look silly. Perfect way to end it and to keep the fans happy with a match that didn't end with a winner.

Andy Critchell: FACT. This is also very simple. They were able to recreate one of the most significant spots in the history of WWE and it completely made sense given the context and the two men involved. Just watching it and seeing the crowd react the way they did tells me that it was an awesome way to end the match. Sure, it was done before but only once and that was back in 2003 so more than enough time has passed. I know that DQ/no contest finishes tend to piss people off, especially when they are done on PPV, but an exception can clearly be made in this case if for no other reason than what we saw was clearly exceptional. It had two added bonuses; it allowed for both guys to end the match looking strong and provided a really interesting starting point for the ADR/Cena match. I know that a lot of people think Vengeance was an unremarkable show but this particular spot will make it stand out from the crowd and stay in the fans' minds for a long time.

Score: 2 for 2

3. You are looking forward to seeing The Muppets on Raw.



Terra Calaway: FICTION. I get that they are a part of entertainment history. I get that. I also get that WWE brings in celebrities to help push their movies which in turn gets mainstream attention to WWE. What I don't get is why WWE is willing to let themselves look foolish. I'm sorry, but a grown 6'4" beefed up guy talking to a Muppet, and God forbid, have him embarrassed by a Muppet (I'm thinking it'll be Ziggler), makes the company look like crap. If Kermit the Frog can punk a Superstar, then a 10 year old kid is going to think he can punk the same Superstar.

Andy Critchell: FICTION. When this was first announced I rolled my eyes and figured this was some kind of attempt at generating false hipster nostalgia (like going to a bar to see Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell) which will ultimately fall flat. I mean there are a lot of things that we thought were cool back in the day and when we look at them now it is clear that they sucked but we were just too stupid to know any better. I figured the Muppets were in that realm. Then on Monday night I saw the commercial for their appearance and seeing Kermit in the Cena hat and doing the You Can't See Me bit was very charming but still overall I just don't care. I am not actively opposed to it and I figure that the Halloween edition of Raw will just be a goofy throw away episode but to say I am looking forward to it is a bit of a stretch.

Score: 3 for 3

4. Alicia Fox is a good choice for Beth Phoenix's next challenger.



Terra Calaway: Fa--ict--Er... I really can't tell you. Yeah, Alicia can be a good wrestler... when she wants. She's not a consistent performer. I've seen her botch an entire match and I've seen her put on a nice little performance. However, with the amount of time WWE has been giving their girls, I am hopeful that she can keep up a consistent good performance for those 2 minutes.

Andy Critchell: FICTION. Normally I am in favor of anything that allows me to see Foxy on the regular but in this case I can't say she is a good choice if for no other reason than she doesn't really have any character at all. Honestly, I thought she was a heel so having her be a babyface challenger seems kind of random. Of course, this is a symptom of a larger problem within the Divas division where most of the girls don't really have a character. We knew who Eve was because she would pal around with Kelly Kelly every week but Alicia Fox has spent so much time on the B-shows that it was easy to forget that she is still with WWE. I expect that if they are going to build Fox as a challenger that we will get to see some character development but right now it just isn't there. So basically Fox is not a good choice but to be fair there really aren't any good choices right now.

Score: 3 for 4


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5. James Storm is a deserving TNA Champion.



Andy Critchell: FICTION. Obviously in real life James Storm has been a long standing employee of TNA that has always performed at a high level and not caused any problems so he deserves the title as much as anyone else. But from a storyline perspective, Storm absolutely does not "deserve" to be champion. He's never been higher than midcard status and has not been on any kind of significant winning streak that would necessitate his insertion into the world title picture. He was basically just a random guy picked by Sting to face off against Angle and he was lucky enough to get a fluke win. Doesn't that make Storm look incredibly weak? I like Storm and think he will do a great job as champ but in the here and now, you can't say that he is "deserving."

Terra Calaway: FACT. I think he is deserving and long overdue. That title has been bounced around to the same few people for a good minute now. If TNA wants to amp up their game, they push the guys to that status. WWE refuses to do the same. I am happy he is the champion, I think the moments after the match (When he tried to give the title to Roode) really made it a moment people would connect to, and I think he's going to be a great face for that company.

Score: 3 for 5

6. Impact's high rating last week is the beginning of a trend of higher ratings for the show.



Andy Critchell: FICTION. If history is any indication this high rating is just an outlier and TNA will soon be back at the level they are always at. It seems to me that TNA popped a rating because they totally fucked up Bound for Glory and people were curious to see the results, like slowing down on the road when you pass a car wreck. Also I would imagine the spoilers saying that Storm would be winning the title also drove viewers. Besides, it is one thing to pop a rating, quite another to sustain it and in my mind TNA has not done anything to do that. You have James Storm as a weak champ and you have 80 year old Hulk Hogan as the top babyface in the promotion. Who's that going to attract?

Terra Calaway: FACT…FOR A LITTLE I think people will get excited to see the new champions (Storm and Sky), however with the "lovely" creative staff they have there, the rest of the show will get stale and people just won't be able to stomach it anymore. So the next week or two will be nice ratings, but they'll go back down unless something drastically changes in that company.

Score: 3 for 6

7. Gail Kim's career will be revitalized in TNA.



Andy Critchell: FICTION. I think Gail Kim will be much happier in TNA and I think she will be given more of a prominent role but to me this is kind of a zero sum game. In TNA she will once again be the big fish in a small pond rather than the small fish in the big WWE pond so I am not sure she will really be any better off in terms of career exposure. And really, TNA's viewership is much less than WWE's so there is a good chance she will actually have less exposure. Plus, I can't imagine she will be making as much money with TNA as she was in WWE and that should be considered as well. Maybe I'm nuts but being seen by less people for less money doesn't exactly sound like revitalization to me.

Terra Calaway: FACT. I think with her shoot interview, she's a super hot item in wrestling right now. She got a lot of attention from those who only glanced her way and gained the attention of so many new fans that she's going to be sky rocketing. Hopefully she and TNA take that fire behind her and get that Knockouts division poppin'! Well, more than it already is. I also think pairing her with Rayne, one of the lesser talented (I'm not saying she isn't talented, I am saying that with the quality of women in that company, she's a little bit lower on the totem pole), she'll be able to help push Rayne up.

Score: 3 for 7

8. Twitter is a good way for wrestling promotions to further storylines & characters.



Andy Critchell: FACT. I don't think there can be any argument about this. Part of what makes Twitter so popular is that it can provide real interaction between the wrestlers and their fans and it allows for the wrestlers to control their own message and character to a degree. It doesn't cost WWE anything to do it and it can only benefit them in the long run as it allows them to continue storylines 24/7, not just when their programs are on. As an added bonus it helps to foster a fan community so that maybe the closet WWE fan won't feel out of place for actually being a fan and would be more apt to see a live event or buy a PPV without fear of being made fun of.

Terra Calaway: BOTH. Twitter is a good way for WWE and TNA to further storylines and characters because they are on TV. They can easily tie Twitter in with video packages, announcers, etc. For independent promotions looking to do the same, hate to tell you but not everyone that goes to your shows have a Twitter. So you start a storyline on Twitter, the next show you have you're going to have some verrry confused audience members.

Final Score: 4 for 8

It seems that our two friends mostly agree when it comes to WWE, but disagree on TNA topics. TNA can be very divisive. I must say I am somewhat shocked by the Muppet hate going on here, but it is what it is. I'd like to thank Terra & Andy for their participation, and you the reader for reading & commenting on what they have to say. For Terra Calaway & Andy Critchell, this is Steve Cook saying thanks for reading, and join us next week for more Fact or Fiction!

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