The Wednesday Wire: 01.25.12: It's Getting Impactful In Here

Posted by Nick Marsico on 01.25.2012

I finally get to some TNA... and I, I, I -- like it? The Royal Rumble is this weekend. Who's gonna win the Rumble match?

It's Royal Rumble week! Since there hasn't been much build up for the match itself I'm hoping for a good running storyline throughout the match. Or at least a series of good sequences or spots.

For further reading and excitement:

- Randle has The Experience
- Cook continues to sit in The Corner
- TJ Hawke goes one-on-one with Player Uno
- It won't take an hour to Go Broadway with William Renken
- Bazar gives us the Contentious Ten best Rumble eliminations

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Rumble this Sunday
Who's going to 'Mania?
Could be CM Punk

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Barry Windham starts us off, and as a respectable champion and soon-to-be member of the WWE Hall of Fame he disagrees with my no-finish sentiment:

"The problem with your defence of the Roode-Hardy finish is that the match was a pretty boring, **1/2 main event. Angle-Austin at Summerslam was an easy ****. You see an awesome match and it ends in DQ - you probably won't be too disappointed. You see an average match end it DQ - you're less likely to bother ordering a PPV in future.

Yes, PPV and TV are both used in an episodic format. But if you expect fans to pay for PPV you have to give them something they're not going to get on TV. Roode-Hardy gave neither a good match nor a satisfying finish. 0 for 2."

I understand the critique of match quality -- I personally thought Roode/Hardy was better than you are giving it credit as being, but that's all subjective. Same goes for the satisfying finish argument. The idea there is that as long as there are other reasons to be satisfied with the show, in this case the Monsters Ball with Abyss and Bully Ray which provided both a clean finish with the face going over as well as the promised brutality, a DQ finish to end the night isn't so bad. I think that the Monsters Ball match alongside the X-Title match as well as the Storm/Angle match were more than enough to make the PPV worth purchasing even though the finish of the main event may have been unsatisfying to many people.

In the end it all comes down to personal taste. I enjoyed the show and the DQ finish didn't bother me. It made me want to see what was going to happen in the following weeks on TV and leading up to the next PPV. And remember, these aren't one match shows. Unlike boxing, they aren't promoting one match as the huge draw with a few undercard matches that nobody's going to see. As I said above, they had Abyss returning to the ring in a hardcore match against the very hot Bully Ray, another match in the Angle/Storm series, the X-Title match and more. I have no issue with how it ended based on that criteria.

How about the rest of you? Was the finish of Hardy/Roode an inherently bad thing? Should a PPV never end that way?

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Team J-Rod calls me out on the nickname comment:

""His name is Jody Kristofferson and he goes by "Big Country," which certainly isn't a name that has already been used for years in MMA."

Oh, c'mon...that's like ripping on Ray Leonard for using the "Sugar Ray" moniker. You gonna accuse him of ripping off Bryant Reeves and the band Big Country, too?"

Fair point. I went that direction because I didn't have anything else to say and that's what popped into my mind. I wasn't necessarily "ripping" Jody (or whoever gave him the name) for using it, but you're correct that it's not a big deal at all. As Brodus Clay would say, 'my bad'!

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G-Walla provides a right-minded theory:

"I think the reason the crowd wasn't into Ryder kicking out of the Swaggerbomb is because Swagger hasn't won a match with the Swaggerbomb in like 10 years. Hell, he hadn't won a match, period in about 6 and a half years. Now if he had kicked out of a couple Zigzags, Skull Crushing Finales or Unprettiers, then he'd have gotten a reaction. I mean, hell, Cole called the damn thing a Gut Wrench Suplex, and even when he corrected himself on a subsequent one, he didn't note that it was one of Swagger's finishers."

I don't know why I didn't think of that. And to be fair to Swagger, he hasn't really won many (any?) matches period, powerbomb or not, for a while. He only has heat thanks to his association with Vickie and to a lesser extent TZZM, so what could have been a pretty significant moment for both Ryder and Swagger ended up falling pretty flat. On another note, I'm pretty sure the corner pump splash is now the Swagger Bomb. The gutwrench powerbomb has been 'the gutwrench powerbomb' ever since he started using the Ankle Lock as a finisher and the powerbomb as more of a transition.

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The WedWi's smallest reader, Andre the Midget, has WrestleMania comments:

"I think the good thing about this years WrestleMania is they have some wiggle room to mess around with the rest of the card because Rock vs. Cena has been the selling point for almost a year now. Without Rock's return I don't think they would have put enough faith in Daniel Bryan to be in a match for the title. And I'm not all that intrested in Taker vs. HHH again unless HBK comes back to be special ref. That puts a whole new spin on things and would promise to be very intresting."

I don't see what would be all that interesting about having Michaels step in as the guest referee for another 'Taker/Triple H match. The reason Michaels/Taker made sense to do for a second year in a row was Michaels' desperation. Triple H is a much more dominant character and in-ring wrestler, and a second match against 'Taker would be about Triple H trying to show everybody that his dick is bigger than everybody else's. Shawn wanted to prove to himself that he could beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania. He didn't want to show the world that he was the only man that could end the streak. That's Triple H's MO. Let a younger guy get his shot at 'Taker and get the rub from coming close to ending the streak in a losing effort. I agree with their ability to be a little different and agressive in setting up the card this year because of the built-in Rock v. Cena money match.

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Guest#4119 weighs in on HBK being the guest ref for a 'Taker/Triple H rematch:

"I honestly don't see how adding Shawn Michaels as Guest ref would make the Taker-HHH match better. I thought last years was great. But if they add Shawn 3 prevalent options are. 1) Shawn screws Taker. B) Shawn screws HHH 3) Shawn calls it right down the middle. No one wants to see the streak ended by HHH, esp. in screwjob form. What's the point of Shawn screwing over HHH? He's retired and they've feuded enough. If he calls it right down the middle, why not just have a regular ref down there?"

That pretty much sums it up. Anybody care to elaborate on what might be intriguing about HBK taking the refereeing duties?

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The VP of Talent Relations and Interim GM of Monday Night Raw, Mr. Ace Crusher, has thoughts on Shaq and D-Bryan:

"If Shaq vs Show actually happens, I'm hoping Shaq is heel and plays a guy who is delusional about being past his prime and believing his own hype. He should come out in SHAZZAM attire, cut promos about whipping out some SHAQ-FU to drop bitches, and somehow incorporating a spot that uses a basketball or a dunk in his match. Danielson is great in his role. Hopefully he gets to bust out the 'I have 'till 5, referee' line at some point. Small dickish gestures like that get him way more over than just promo time."

First of all, it's Kazaam. Two weeks in a row it's been miswritten as "Shazzam" and I am personally offended by that.

Anyway, I don't think heel Shaq would play with the crowd. They will want to cheer him and if they go against the crowd's wishes they will probably shit all over it. Those antics would be awesome though. I would mark out for that big time. I would also mark out for "I have 'til 5, referee!".

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Regarding Evan Bourne, weed isn't addictive. If you're spending tons of money on weed it's not an addiction, it's a poor choice.

Regarding Gail Kim, she is uber hot.

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The Great Capt. Smooth brings us home:

"Angry Cena kinda reminds me of Popeye."

He is what he is and that's all that he is. Spinach, Loyalty and Respect.

And Brodus Clay is Bluto.


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Let me be the first person to say I'm shocked, but I've watched Impact in full for the past two weeks and it has been enjoyable. Nothing overly stupid or bad and nothing that made me scratch my head or want to punch a wall in frustration. Sting is absolutely fantastic in his role as authority figure. He's something of a parallel to Teddy Long. The biggest difference is that Sting can physically lay down the law if need be and he shows up a lot more often than Long tends to, but he's still able to be unobtrusive, which I surmise is because he doesn't have an agenda. His role is to keep order and he isn't serving anybody specific like so many evil authority figures. I can only hope that he has the kind of longevity that T-Long has enjoyed over the years.

I have read a lot about the candid backstage segments and after seeing two full episodes worth of them I definitely am a fan. I think they could use more of the interview segments where it's an anonymous guy behind the camera talking to a wrestler. Those are great to get reactions of the guys after matches. They did it recently with Jeff Hardy before a match and that works as well. It's impressive that they have been able to make all of the non-interview segments look realistic, as if the camera people lurking around the building are finding guys having conversations and filming them without being seen. It adds a bit of much welcomed realism to the program.

Another thing I would like to make mention of is the entrance music. They seem to have made the attempt (often with pretty decent success) to have a lot of theme songs sound epic and dramatic. AJ's music stinks and was much better before they redid it for the 54th time. James Storm had damn good singles music before Beer Money and I think it's even better now. JUst fantastic. Roode's new music is really good but not quite there. It almost seems like it wants to be 4 Horsemen-like. Jeff Hardy, who did his own song again, sounds pretty generic at the beginning, but it is pretty instantly recognizable and once it kicks in it ain't too bad. It's better than his original TNA theme. MODEST... AT THE TOP... STRAIGHT TO THE TOP AND THEN I THING THINGIE THING...

Bobby Roode is doing great as the World Champion and I love his "Leader of the Selfish Generation" gimmick. I wish Tenay would stop calling it "The Generation of Selfishness". It sounds stupid and Roode has never called it that.

I'm glad I finally am getting to see Aries in this role, and as expected he's fantastic. Plus, I start watching TNA again and Shelley returns to start a feud with Aries? Shit yes! Great segment between the two of them as well.

The team of Morgan and Crimson are a very good team of huge dudes, although it appears that Morgan is still as stiff and clunky as he ever has been. The guy is supposed to be a superior athlete and a blueprint and whatnot, but he looks like he is completely uncoordinated. He also can't talk. Crimson is pretty darn good I'd say. Weird-looking though. I like the Joe/Magnus team as well.

Thus far I am really enjoying my return to watching TNA. They've put out some really high quality wrestling on the TV show and the Genesis PPV also featured some solid wrestling. Nothing they've done has made me want to hit my head on the wall yet. We will see how it continues, but I have high hopes. Not crazy high expectations, but a positive outlook.


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RAW really dragged this week. My wife noted that it was getting late, then I looked over at the clock and it was 10:17. I don't know why, but the show just seemed to keep going and going and going and...

I wonder if I was somehow too distracted to recognize the good stuff that was going on. Based on the three reports (Acero | Elusive | Nevett), the show was quite a good one, much better than expected from a go-home show for the Rumble. I'm somewhat upset because of the fact that they haven't done much build at all for the Rumble match, and as my favourite event of the year they seem to have done as much as they possibly could have in order to make sure I can't get excited over the match. The only guys they have positioned as true possible winners of the match are Barrett and Sheamus and I don't really see either of them having a legitimate shot at winning the darn thing. As other guys have mentioned, they're stressing that "everybody" is eligible for the match, even though wrestlers that participated in earlier matches on the show have been in the Rumble match in the past and I don't remember them ever making a big deal out of being in an earlier match disqualifying someone from showing up and participating in the over-the-top contest. It makes me think that Punk may lose the title from TZZM and then win the Rumble match.

Jericho speaks! The crowd was absolutely elated when he spoke. And then that was it. The t-shirt gun was a nice touch too. I also saw, for a brief moment, a troll face sign and I assume it was for Jericho. So is he going to win the Rumble?

Ryder v. Kane went way too long. I'm glad they changed their minds on the broken back angle though. Who the hell thought that was a good idea? I'm thinking that after WrestleMania we might see heel Cena continue for a little longer to take on face Ryder, who is getting retribution for all the crap Cena has done to him.

Truth arguing with Miz about his name was hysterical. The match happened at the point in the show where I realized it was just dragging on and on so I couldn't tell if it was any good.

I hope William Regal gets a spot in the Rumble and we get a bit of time with he and Brodus Clay alone in the ring. Regal was great talking about how he's the better dancer as if it was a complete outrage that anybody could possibly dance better than him.


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Daniel Bryan is getting himself some heat! Are people going to give up on the "he has no charisma" thing now? His disingenuous heel character is great and I'm marking out for him now more than I have in his time in the company up to this point. Him snaking his way out of the ring during the brawl at the end was fantastic.

I am glad to see Justin Gabriel getting a chance to mix it up with a guy like Cody Rhodes. I hope this is the beginning of a bit of a push up the card for him.

Is the stop-start kinda push for the Usos going to ever be sustained one way or the other? Either use them or don't.

Regal and Vickie SO outdanced the Funkasaurus on Friday. Elaine dance for the win! The crowd also did NOT like Clay squashing Regal mid-dance. I wonder if they were going to edit the boos and make them cheers but then decided to have Regal follow up on the attack, therefore keeping it in would make sense.

Sheamus and Barrett had themselves a really good little table match. The finish was incredibly uncreative but everything leading up to it was very enjoyable. These guys have some good chemistry together.

Fun blindfold match! So what happens with Drew now? Why was he a lumberjack after being fired? Are they still pissed at him for getting beat up by his girlfriend?


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It seems like Evan Bourne might not have much time left on the WWE payroll. If he were to get a third suspension, the punishment would be either a year off or termination. It's said that they would be hesitant to put any sort of momentum behind him due to such a harsh punishment for another violation of the policy. They had no problem not giving him any momentum (or TV time) back when he wasn't on strike 2. Why would it be so hard to just throw him on Superstars every week or have him get jobbed out to make other guys look good?

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Daniel Bryan won the PETA2 award for 'Most Animal Friendly Athlete'. His competition were Chase Utley, Jake Shields and Willis McGahee. Bryan on his vegan lifestyle:

"My vegetarian diet allows me to lead a healthier lifestyle, reduce my carbon footprint, and save the lives of more than 100 animals every year," says Bryan. "I'm stronger and healthier than ever, and I feel good about doing something positive for myself, animals and the planet."

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Justin Credible will be joining Shane Douglas, Sabu, Sandman, Jerry Lynn, Raven, Rhino, The Gangstas, Axl Rotten and Tracy Smothers as names currently set for the Extreme Reunion event coming up on April 28. Why does anybody care any more? How many times do people need to get together for a reunion to become just another weekend with the boys?

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The Rock is being advertised for the March 12th episode of RAW Supershow in Cleveland. A little bit late to be his first date back though. I hope this is just a case of the arena being excited to promote that a big name will be showing up.

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Jim Ross got his Escalade totaled over the weekend but has confirmed that he does not, indeed, have a broken back. No word on whether Kane was driving the car that hit him or if Katie Vick was in the passenger seat.

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WWE is hoping to bring back Rey Mysterio in time for WrestleMania XXVIII. Think that means he's going to make a surprise return at the Rumble instead?

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Congratulations to the Tennessee Cowboy James Storm on welcoming his second child into the world, baby boy Mason James Cox.


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Royal Rumble Match 2012: Who ya got?

I hope my favourite event of the year doesn't disappoint me as much as the build (or lack thereof) has. There are absolutely zero storylines that are leading into this match, and though I guess it's a good thing, there's nobody who seems like the frontrunner. I guess they want us to think Sheamus, Barrett and Jericho are the top three? I think it's going to be either Jericho, Orton or Punk. I got Punk.

CM Punk v. The Zig Zag Man, WWE Championship

TZZM starts the year off as the challenger to a brand's top title two years in a row, last year challenging Edge for the World Title and this year taking on Punk for the WWE Title. I'm honestly surprised that they have kept him with Vickie Guerrero this whole time. I wonder how much longer they'll be together? Maybe he'll dump her after he can't get the job done. However, I am indeed going with TZZM. I hope they get a good 30 minutes to tear down the house.

Daniel Bryan v. Big Show v. Mark Henry, Cage match, World Heavyweight Championship

I think it's pretty clear that I am loving D-Bryan's new character. He's great in the role and I want him to be the champion forever. Or at least long enough to defend the belt against some guys that he can actually wrestle against. I think Bryan sneaking out of the big melee last Friday is some foreshadowing as to how he's going to keep the belt on Sunday. He will win by sneaking out through the door.

John Cena v. Kane

I guess we're going to get to see Cena embrace the hate at the PPV. Could be good. Don't know how much I really care though. If they let these two go out of control and have a crazy brawl they could put together something pretty darn good. Cautious optimism with this one. I'll go with Kane.


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That's all we got this week. I'm going to try to implement weekly Impact Wrestling thoughts starting next week and do so for as long as I can. Wish me luck.

Next week: Special guest star!*

* = no special guest star


- Nicholas A. Marsico