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Truths And Lies 12.10.13: WWE/TNA Week In Review

December 10, 2013 | Posted by Justin Watry

Is everybody ready for this Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view?

Truth be told, I was probably more excited to watch the Slammy Award wackiness than another wrestling PPV event. In any case, this will be final “huge” show of 2013. The next few weeks are going to be your usual holiday filler and nothing more. If anything monumental is going to happen before the calendar ends, it will be this weekend.

Moving on to things here in ice cold Wisconsin, snow is falling from the sky. The Milwaukee Bucks are falling out of relevancy. The Green Bay Packers are NOT falling from the NFC North standings, and Ryan Braun is still trying to apologize to anybody who will listen. Okay, that is enough rambling for now. Bring on the social media plugs…

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Comments

Let’s start like I do most weeks – taking a look at the best posts from the comment section without any cuss words or insults. Trust me, there were a few out there of the 60 comments in total!

Ice Dagger: “a viscous monster” Brodus Clay is gonna get his sweat on?

Yes, I made a typo. It was not the first time and won’t be the last time. For kicks and giggles, let’s see here…

Fake username (Ice Dagger) used? Check.

No profile picture displayed? Check.

Saying the word “gonna” while pointing out a typo? Check.

Seems about right. Welcome to the IWC!

AG Awesome: So all of TNA Thanksgiving was bad but Titus puking was cool?

Actually, I never used the word “cool.” Here was my exact quote from last week:

“Now, THIS was your classic Thanksgiving fun. Anything that gets JBL on screen more is fine by me. That man is great. Titus defeating The Great Khali in an eating contest and puking everywhere was just your stupid holiday nonsense. Deal with it, laugh and move on. Make it a win, Titus! Make it a win.”

Pretty much that. What I saw on Impact was just unfunny ‘comedy’ segments – one after another after another after another. It just never stopped. All for a whooping 0.7 television rating by the way! Titus puking all over ringside is just stupid holiday nonsense that lasted a few minutes. Now, he was also doing the same bit days later on Raw. In that case, you would have a point if it continues. No more puking please. Please! Leave it on Thanksgiving only and move on…

Scott: I don’t read Ask 411 but I liked this – waaay too brief though in my opinion. Hope to see how the column develops.

For the first edition last month, I felt it was too long. Go back and read that – very lengthy. Also, a few comments (and emails/tweets) expressed the same thought. Thus, that fair constructive criticism from myself and others was fixed. Since then, it has been trimmed to include quick truths/lies and an overall summary of each show. Definitely needs to be a balance. I do not want it to feel rushed but also can’t rant and rave over every segment.

eric t: The funeral segment was awful; every joke was flat and forced. Each person there seemed to phone it in and seemed to be counting the minutes they were wasting by doing this poorly written segment. There was no continuity between speakers, and it didn’t seem like they were celebrating the end of the big bad; it appeared like they’re having a joke on a d*** even though it makes them all seem d**** for doing this segment. The end was ridiculous. Ray shows up with a door that magically opens on its own; watch the footage again. He makes a terrible criminal threat after saying he got “raped” (how did what happened in the ring equate to rape I don’t know?). Six people just stand there in shock. Come on, one vs. six is an odd position to be threatening people in. Poor segment that should get the company fined by SpikeTV and their policy of (threatening) harm to women.

There were many problems with that particular segment. Honestly, I thought the part with Bully Ray was fine, even if the door did magically open. He DOES need to tip toe that fine line though of threatening a pregnant girl. Come on, even for being edgy and controversial – we don’t need to hear that kind of stuff. This is not the Attitude Era or ECW in blood thirsty Philadelphia anymore. This is 2013. Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson is NOT going to ‘draw’ business (attendance, ratings, PPV buys, etc.) regardless, so going to those lengths is just more ridiculous than anything.

GirthMoon: Another question about your views on sharing copyrighted WWE footage on YouTube and how it differs from watching streams of WWE events. You’ve said in previous columns that you’ve covered this on other websites, so I’ve done a bit of googling of your name (as you suggest at the end of the column).

I read through quite a few articles (I had some time to kill on a six hour round trip to Bruges), but none that I read really answered how it’s acceptable to link to copyrighted footage in articles. About the closest I got was an article titled…

UFC Going After Individual Online Piracy Consumers; Is WWE Next?

…on the Bleacher Report on 14th March last year. That’s the one where you put forward your support for SOPA, and again you stress your views on how you are a paying customer of the WWE. I broadly agree with you on the illegal streaming issue, but to my mind embedding YouTube videos of WWE footage is similarly depriving the WWE of revenue and is also illegal.

Now, I am genuinely interested in what your views are. In total, I’ve probably spent about three hours (I know!) hunting for the article that expresses your views on embedding YouTube videos that you say that you have written on “other websites,” but I’m really drawing a blank. “Other websites” doesn’t really help narrow down the search a great deal – there are quite a few out there. I am asking you, please, can you post a link to an article that explains why the embedding of copyrighted videos is acceptable Alternatively, if you don’t want to post the link, maybe you could indicate whether you are willing to email me the link – just say this in your column next week and I will email you and we can take it from there.

Many thanks.

Wow! A well written question without any cuss words or insults? Bravo. I applaud you. As noted before, I am more than happy to respond to anything HONESTLY 100 PERCENT, as long as it is put in a respectful manner. Here is a reply:

Of the hundreds of thousands of articles I have written for 10-15 different websites throughout the past five years, I have absolutely ZERO saved on my laptop. Zero! None from 2008. None from 2011. None from 2012. Not on a flash drive. Not on a disk. Not on a single Word document. Not on an email. Once I publish something, it is gone. Deleted. Bye-bye!

When I ask people to Google my past work, it is simply the best option. I have to do the exact same thing. Again, nothing on my end is saved or kept on file. Not sure why – I just am not a fan of hoarding useless things. The article is finished and up on the internet; why keep a copy? Just does not interest me and never has. That being said, I did my own little search on this particular topic. Within ten minutes, I found a little section from ONE article last year in September. Here is a snippet, although it is not complete:

1. Ownership

You will notice under most videos, it is very clearly marked as “Not my own property, all credit goes to WWE” or something like that. To start off, the user is giving up any rights to the video. They are clearly making it known that they do not own anything.

2. Copyrights

This goes back to the previous point. If WWE wants a video taken down, they will do it. Trust me – what WWE wants is what they will get. You may have read some recent news reports about that exact scenario. Some Youtube users have NOT been giving WWE the rights, thus they lose their rights to the videos. Through copyright laws, WWE has them taken down.

3. Buzz

Sometimes, WWE does want videos/pictures to be out there through viral/online means. You may remember the Mick Foley – Dean Ambrose confrontation from a few months ago. Clearly, it was set up and then “leaked” for fans to start buzzing about it. Also, most of the TMZ ambushes are staged and purposely let out to the public. It works in a few ways, but WWE can live with a few clips being out there for their own benefit.

3. WWE Network

Guess what folks? All those WWE-Youtube clips may not be available forever. If the WWE Network goes to Hulu or any other outlet, you think there will be FREE content just floating out there? Highly unlikely. As I always say, you have to PAY to play. WWE may be slowly doing that – eliminating as much as possible, so you MUST subscribe to their network for all the videos. Smart business.

4. Illegal stream sites

As mentioned before, WWE has a partnership with Youtube. It is a 100 percent, legal deal that is promoted on Raw/Smackdown/elsewhere every week. I don’t see any illegal stream sites being promoted by WWE. That is because they clearly steal the content, and give ZERO ownership/rights to WWE for any profits/views they get. Youtube has a working relationship with them. Whether it is on their own channel or not, WWE is given all ownership over the videos and can remove any clip violating the rules as they see fit.

That was just a small portion. I am sure there is plenty more out there somewhere! Now, enjoy some holiday cheer from WWE…

Truths: TNA Impact Wrestling (12/05/13)

1. Ethan Carter III just couldn’t help himself – Was Andre The Giant ever in TNA? Was Bret Hart ever in TNA? Does anybody care to mention Hulk Hogan and his TNA run ever again? Once again, a talent just had to mention WWE Hall of Famers to get something over in their company. Don’t like it. Focus on TNA and bettering yourself! Never, ever bring up WWE.

2. Jeff Hardy is relevant again – Pop quiz! Tell me something Jeff Hardy has done meaningful since April 2013. Go ahead. I will wait. This man is apparently your biggest draw (whatever that means in TNA). Yet, he has just bounced around doing nothing of note for the past six months. We can argue his out of the ring nonsense all day long. If he is going to be on your roster and on television, do something with him! On Thursday night, for the first time in months, he did something worth while. Nice job!

3. There was NO in-ring segment with Dixie Carter. – Thank you! The worst character in all of wrestling television was kept backstage, and it was much appreciated. Still too much screen time though. Even five seconds is too much…

4. Samuel Shaw is an intriguing character, but… – …he threatened to kill a man on national TV. I am all for suspending disbelief. Trust me; this is professional wrestling. However, TNA brings this on themselves by going for reality/shoot aspects. Once you break that fourth wall, these loopholes have to be explained. Not to mention, isn’t Christy Hemme married? Also, does she watch the show back and see this behavior from Shaw? Can’t try to be a “reality” show and miss this stuff. I am a fan of this “new” act so far, but you can’t be an American Psycho personality and come off as believable at the same time.

5. TNA Impact Wrestling looked excellent tonight compared to the Thanksgiving episode. – I can’t even put into words how dreadful the Thanksgiving edition of Impact was. However, that is in the past. It makes you excited for regular episodes after that kind of programming. My full thoughts are below, but it just feels nice to be far removed from Turkey Day.

Lie: Sting should stay with TNA for another year – After a month of being gone, Sting just randomly shows up and walks around backstage telling jokes to Rockstar “Brad Maddox” Spud. Yep, welcome back Stinger! For those of you who have read my columns all year, I have been very clear that this should be Sting’s final year with TNA. I have thought that for the past 12 months, and Thursday just confirmed my thoughts. He is in their Hall of Fame, can’t wrestle for the title anymore and loves that big baggy shirt of his. Lose to a few young guys for the next month and be finished with Impact Wrestling. Time to FINALLY head up north…

*Decent episode actually. For the most part, TNA let their talented roster control the show and not get in the way. Hardy defeating Bobby Roode in a tables match was fine, even though the company just had to squeeze in a screwy finish first. Kurt Angle vs. Magnus was good, although we have reached gimmick overload. The rest was mostly filler (plus ECIII and Youtube videos) showing each division in their current light. The X-Division has been gone for nearly two months and has a title match next week – take a guess at what happens then. The Knockouts are still the same few girls, with the open challenge lasting 2-3 minutes. Then the tag scene is a joke. Everything with Dixie Carter/AJ Styles is just so laughable and highlights why “worked shoots” in 2013 are nearly impossible to pull off.*

Truths: WWE Smackdown (12/06/13)

1. Daniel Bryan is still in the main event plans for the future. – The Yes Man of WWE delivered a passionate promo about constantly being screwed over and never losing cleanly to Randy Orton the past few months. This was good stuff and a nice potential foreshadowing moment. Who says the Royal Rumble will not feature Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena II for the Unified Title? Or we get one final Randy Orton/Daniel Bryan title match on pay-per-view next month? Or how about Bryan winning the 30 person Royal Rumble match and getting that moment at WrestleMania XXX? This doom and gloom “whinefest” surrounding his current position on the card is ridiculous. The man is RIGHT THERE near the top of the company…with more to come.

2. Big E Langston is doing well so far. – His little feud with Damien Sandow will not amount to much, but it is something. Both men are talking about the prestige of the IC Title. Both men are talented enough to be on television each week. One is a rising heel. One is a rising face. Let them go at it for awhile and see how it goes. Simple formula.

3. Cody Rhodes lost and SOLD frustration/anger. – First, why is Curtis Axel still on TV each week? When somebody gives me a good answer, it will be a first. Ryback (despite recent false reports) will be just fine; it just won’t be teaming with Axel. The sooner this ends, the better. As it is, these two look to be facing Cody Rhodes and Goldust for the tag team titles soon. With Mr. Perfect’s son getting the ROLL-UP OF DOOM victory over Cody, that seems to be the idea. More importantly, Cody lost and sold anger. Sold frustration. Sold the moment. Sold the loss. But…but…but…but the dirt sheets said WWE instructed their wrestlers not to do that anymore! But…but…but…but WWE officials are big stupid poopy heads. Stop believing that online junk people. Stop.

4. The main event is worth watching. – If somebody wants to do some research for me, list every main event from Raw and Smackdown since late October 2013. It seems Daniel Bryan is there more often than not. A few weeks ago, he had a streak of four or five shows in a row closing the evening. If you watch ONE thing from Smackdown this past week, make sure it’s Orton vs. Bryan. These two can flat out wrestle in there and even on a shorten length, this was the best part of the show.

5. The Wyatt Family is looking to recruit another member. – After multiple teases and cryptic messages, the words are now clear. Bray Wyatt wants Daniel Bryan to join up with him, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper. While nobody expects that to actually happen, it is interesting. When the Wyatt vignettes started to air, we saw tons of people in the woods and elsewhere looking to worship Bray. My ideal choice would be Matt Morgan, but be on the lookout; another member is coming…

Lie: Big Show is an interesting character. – Boy, that was a quick fall, huh? For the past few months, I actually cared about Big Show and where things may go. Now? He is teaming with Rey Mysterio right after main eventing Survivor Series. Yikes!

*Lots of stuff to skip here. CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose was good. The main event match with Bryan and Orton topped it. The Wyatts had a quick cameo that was fun. Everything else seemed like filler chugging along to the TLC pay-per-view. If anything, WWE did two thing very well here: Put emphasis on the importance of the World Title and the WWE Title AND build up the Slammy Awards on Monday night. I do not put stock into the statues one bit or the ‘winners’ at all. However, it is usually a nice night of entertainment. With Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Christian and others set to appear, it is sure to deliver!*

Truths: WWE Slammy Awards (12/09/13)

1. The Slammy Award winners mean nothing. – Before I begin, let’s just get the obvious out of the way. Off the top of your head, can you tell me who won last year’s Slammy Awards or how about 2011? No? Exactly! I couldn’t tell you either. None of these awards are legitimate. Not this year, not last time, not ever! They are as scripted as your normal episode of Raw or Smackdown. I don’t care if John Cena, CM Punk, or Heath Slater wins Superstar of the Year. I don’t care if Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar or Alicia Fox vs. Melina gets Match of the Year. Who cares? Whatever makes for the best three hour is what will be presented on television – not any kind of voting or fan polling matters. Do NOT get upset or throw a hissy fit over who WWE picked as their “winners.” They mean nothing!

Edit: How much do I care about the “winners” of the Slammys? Earlier in the day on Twitter, I said my vote for Superstar of the Year was Funaki. Of course, hours later, Funaki himself (somehow) found the tweet and retweeted it out to his Twitter followers. Only in wrestling…

2. That being said, I do look forward to the Slammy Awards each year. – Not the actual awards. As noted above, those mean absolutely zero. By next week, I will have forgotten all the “winners” and “losers” anyways. What I do enjoy is the overall presentation from WWE. The hosts. The presenters. The lighting and stage. The legends returning. That is the fun part. Everything else is just extra.

3. Sin Cara needs a name for his finishing move. – JBL said Senton. Michael Cole said Swanton. Oops! Jeff Hardy may have a problem with that. Cara has to think of something clever if he is going to start racking up victories.

4. There is dissension between The Shield. – The hints have been there for awhile. By the end of the night, all three seemed to be on the same page (again). However, all of the subtle clues are starting to add up. I do not think a full blown breakup is coming this Sunday night, but do not be shocked if it happens shortly thereafter. Personally, my opinion is to stretch this out for another few months. Nothing is better than watching a Batista-like situation with Evolution where the implosion just builds and builds and build and builds and builds.

5. The final segment convinced me we WILL get a unified champion. – Call me gullible. Call me naive. Call me whatever you want. With all the former champs out there and the belts hanging above, I will trust WWE here. Now we all have suspicions of a screwy finish. For the next six days though, let’s just go with the idea that one champion will be crowned. Randy Orton and John Cena have defined this era, so it is only fitting they are the two men wrestling in such a historic match.

Lie: WWE gave a lot of attention to the TLC pay-per-view. – Not really. The card shaped up nicely last week. There were a couple of intriguing bouts set, as well as a big main event. This week? Tons of focus on an awards ceremony that may be entertaining but is not going to mean anything by next week. The buy rate for TLC will. You know…money. Getting fans to PAY for something. Yeah, that. Also, the last minute or so of Raw was completely out of the blue and felt tacked on.

*Pretty good. Most of the matches were strictly filler. Seattle was a great crowd and really loved Daniel Bryan. Excellent home state response there. Read my Smackdown review again – Daniel Bryan is RIGHT THERE folks! Relax, he is not going anywhere. Their reaction towards Shawn Michaels was interesting but confusion was expected after his recent story line involvement. Outside of that, the live audience booing the Bellas was funny. I guess people wanted AJ Lee to win Diva of the Year…LIKE IT MATTERS! Before the final 20 minutes of the show, TLC took a backseat to the Slammys. Too bad; the pay-per-view card has the potential to deliver good in-ring action and a memorable main event between Orton and Cena.*

Ask Yourself

The next time you read an online report, ask yourself if the story actually makes sense…or is your typical gossip with no truth whatsoever. Just from the past week or so, let’s take a look:

Hulk Hogan may work a tag match at WrestleMania XXX with John Cena. – Do I even need to explain why this won’t happen? Sigh. Go ahead and believe this. When April 2014 rolls around and it does not happen, try to be surprised.

The planned Triple H vs. Big Show match may not happen. – …and there you go. This thing was ‘postponed’ month after month after month. Yet, the dirt sheets just would not give it up. Now, it may not even happen. I actually wanted to see this two brawl one more time before both retire for good. Oh well…

Triple H vs. CM Punk has been discussed for WMXXX. – I would actually like to see these two feud again. However, what happened to all of that nonsense about Punk winning the Rumble? Or facing Orton? Remember that stuff? Again, this is just someone tossing out ideas, and the copy/paste websites posting it as “news.” Next week will likely include a different scenario.

WWE could force TNA out of the Universal sound stage on Orlando. – Certainly an interesting rumor. However, a second follow-up report stated this was more about a new restaurant and nothing wrestling related. Wait and see maybe then?

CM Punk injury update – He did not wrestle last Monday to receive a night off. Yet was back in the ring 24 hours later for a Smackdown taping? Makes sense. Maybe, JUST maybe Raw was simply scripted as is without any kind of ‘backstage’ reason.

The Thanksgiving edition of TNA Impact Wrestling scored 921,000 viewers. – It was actually 825,000 viewers. The original report was wrong and instantly spread around to the countless copy/paste websites with an incorrect number. Any of those check on their own? Nope. Any of those double check sources? Nope. Any one of those bother at all to do their own work? Nope. Just saw a (wrong) number and reported it! The beat goes on…

WWE has told faces not to sell losses. Eva Marie was cited as an example. – Yeah because anything Eva Marie does out there means the same for the rest of the roster, right? Nice try! On recent episodes of Raw (and Smackdown), faces lost a match and sold it afterwards. Instantly, this garbage is proven wrong. Again, why was this reported? Better question, why would anyone believe it? WHY?

Vince McMahon and Triple H are in charge of WWE. – How is this any different than the past decade? Vince is the final say, while HHH and crew do the rest. In other news, the sky is blue, and grass is green.

Your weekly update on the WWE Network – Nothing to note. Same old song and dance…

Your weekly update on Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards – *sighs*

AJ Styles done with TNA Impact Wrestling? – Didn’t we do this worked shoot two years ago with CM Punk? Fans got all riled up then and are doing the same thing again. Until I see Styles show up on WWE TV, he is still with TNA.

CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar was not nominated for match of the year because of Triple H. – Right on cue, all the internet fans jumped to attack Triple H, call him names, and proclaim the Best in the World to be CM Punk. Hook, line, and sinker! Works every time. This story is about as bogus as anything posted above. Again, why are the “smart” fans the easiest to work over?

Have any more examples? Please share them below in the comment section. Until then, just remember the next time you click on an article to ask yourself first how much will be truth and how much will be fiction.

Self-Promoting Finale

Finally, let’s get some “ME!” plugs out there for all of you…

Just Google my name.

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